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ScorecardFile photo – Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah took two wickets and complemented pacer Aswin Crist•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A four-wicket haul from the medium-pacer Aswin Crist helped Tamil Nadu to crucial first-innings points, against Madhya Pradesh in Indore. MP, who began the day well-placed at 181 for 0 in reply to Tamil Nadu’s 596, suffered a mini-blip once Rahil Shah provided the breakthrough to dismiss Aditya Shrivastava for 90. Shrivastava’s opening partner Jalaj Saxena made his way to a century, but quick strikes from Crist meant MP fell from 213 for 0, to 288 for 7. Naman Ojha offered a brief resistance, scoring 87 and putting up a 94-run stand with Puneet Datey, but Rahil and L Vignesh soon cleaned up the tail, ensuring MP were bowled out 407, and that TN took away three vital points.
ScorecardAndhra claimed three points against Gujarat on the back of a first-innings lead of 113 runs. Resuming the final day on 24 for 1, Gujarat were held together by four half-centuries. Opener Priyank Kirit Panchal added 109 with Bhargav Merai before he became Bodapati Sumanth’s maiden first-class victim. Panchal was the next fall when he was trapped lbw by Prasanth Kumar for 72 off 173 balls. Ruijul Bhatt and Parthiv Patel also hit fifties as Gujarat finished at 254 for 4 in 90 overs.Wicketkeeper-batsman Srikar Bharat, who scored 127 in the first innings, was named Man of the Match.Mumbai v Punjab: Herwadkar six-for seals Mumbai’s innings win

Without doubt the biggest fixture of a pretty encouraging Round of 16 in the EFL Cup is Manchester United hosting Manchester City. It seems like only yesterday the two titans clashed in the Premier League, and with the 2-1 beating the Citizens dished out still fresh, revenge is sure to be on Jose Mourinho’s mind.

However, the Portuguese also has the pressure of recent results weighing on his shoulders, too. There’s no way ‘The Special One’ will be excited by the prospect of taking on one of his greatest rivals, Pep Guardiola, after a miserable two weeks. Another loss will only heighten the criticism he’s currently receiving, after all.

Guardiola himself cannot really do without at least a good performance. Man City are quickly beginning to forget what winning feels like  and another big game slip will raise serious questions given the quality of the players at the ex-Barcelona man’s disposal.

This game is set to be a cracker, then. We at FFC Towers are convinced of this, and we think there will be some interesting battles on the pitch…

David de Gea vs. Kelechi Iheanacho

Mourinho is unlikely to put his faith in Sergio Romero for a game that he’ll see as must-win now, so De Gea will almost certainly keep his place.

The Spaniard, aside from his hesitance for Pedro’s Chelsea goal on Sunday, has been in decent form so far this season, but he’ll be tested by whichever of their attacking threats Manchester City choose.

We have a suspicion Iheanacho will get the nod, with the Nigerian having come off the bench to net the equaliser during the 1-1 with Southampton on the weekend. The pacey youngster needs game time and Sergio Aguero could do with a match out of the limelight.

Wayne Rooney vs. Fernandinho

So long as he can shake off a thigh injury, Rooney should be put into the Man United XI. The Red Devils’ skipper sat out of the Chelsea game with the aforementioned problem, but Mourinho needs to rotate a little and will be eager to have his skipper involved for such a huge match.

Fernandinho could well be Man City’s deepest midfielder and the Brazilian has been formidable under Guardiola. If he’s at the top of his game, Rooney may struggle to find any space.

Marcus Rashford vs. Claudio Bravo

Rashford’s game time has been limited in terms of playing as the main striker this term, but with Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of sorts, the teenager may get his chance at Old Trafford. The England international is sure to be afforded opportunities by a Man City backline that has shown itself to be porous in recent weeks, so chances are he’ll have a straight-up duel with Bravo.

The Citizens’ Chilean has been criticised for his erratic playing style since making his move from Barcelona, but he’s an athletic shot-stopper who is, lest we forget, very much decorated in terms of medals won. Rashford’s pace and energy will be vital in terms of closing him down and forcing errors.

Jose Mourinho vs. Pep Guardiola

We’re sure the cameras will be focused on the Iberian tacticians. Anyone with even a passing interest in football know the great bosses don’t have the healthiest of relationships, so things could boil over on the touchline. After all, the duo need wins, given recent results on both the red and blue halves of Manchester.

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Leroy Sane vs. Luke Shaw

Sane is slowly breaking into this Man City team after his big-money move to England from Schalke and he’s likely to be afforded some game time here with Raheem Sterling due a much-needed rest. The youngster has pace to burn, which will be a worry for Luke Shaw, who himself is rusty after a while out of the action.

The English full-back is a fearsome prospect in a defence full of confidence, but Man United are very much at the other end of the scale at the moment – so Sane will surely have opportunities to get at him.

Allrounder Shane Watson has suffered an abdominal injury less than five weeks out from Australia’s opening match of the World Twenty20. The injury occurred while Watson was bowling for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League on Friday; he was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament and was to fly home for assessment by Cricket Australia’s medical staff.Watson was named in Australia’s 15-man squad for the World T20 after he smashed 124 off 71 balls opening the batting in the third and final T20 against India at the SCG last month, the second-highest individual score in T20 international history. In that match he also became the ninth man to captain Australia in T20 international cricket, with Aaron Finch injured and Steven Smith and David Warner in New Zealand ahead of the ODI series.”I’ve unfortunately made this video because I injured myself last night bowling,” Watson said in a video posted on the Islamabad United Twitter account on Saturday. “Disappointingly I’m going to have to head home back to Australia to get assessed with the medical people back at Cricket Australia to try and get right for the Twenty20 World Cup.”Azhar Mahmood has been drafted in to the Islamabad squad as Watson’s replacement for the remainder of the PSL. Watson played each of Islamabad’s first six games, even leading the team in two matches in the absence of regular captain Misbah-ul-Haq. At the time of his injury, Watson was Islamabad’s leading run-scorer, with 194 runs at 32.33.Watson, who retired from Test cricket last September, has mainly been playing T20 matches in recent months and at the IPL auction last week he bagged the biggest deal, being bought for Rs 9.5 crores by Royal Challengers Bangalore. His absence will be a major setback to an Islamabad side that has won just two matches all tournament and is currently rooted near the bottom of the table.”Thankyou so much to my franchise, Islamabad,” Watson said. “I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun … to be able to get to know all the local players has been a lot of fun.”

Sri Lanka began their post Jayawardene-Sangakkara era on a winning note by defeating West Indies quite convincingly in the Test and ODI series, but captain Angelo Mathews admitted that his team will face their toughest challenge so far in New Zealand, later this year.”We played some really good cricket against the West Indies, we outplayed them in all three departments in all formats but it will be a completely different tour in New Zealand because conditions and the opposition are different,” Mathews said before his team’s departure on Thursday.”We have got to start off from zero, this is a bigger challenge for us because the weather is not going to be on our side, it will be tough and cold but it’s the mental aspect,” he said. “If we can get our mindset right we shouldn’t be too worried about the cold or anything else and make any excuses, we can just go on the tour and play to win.”New Zealand is a very competitive and strong team, not only at home but away as well. In the last couple of years they have played their best cricket. They are a very competitive unit right now, with a very good, balanced team of youth and experience and it’s going to be a tough ask for us to beat them. But I am pretty sure if we do our very best we can beat them.”Sri Lanka toured New Zealand last December and were thrashed 2-0 in Tests and 4-2 in the ODI series, at a time when Sangakkara was still playing and Jayawardene had yet to finish in ODIs. The present side is vastly inexperienced, with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (65) and Mathews (54) as the only players with over thirty Test appearances.Mathews, however, believes that the level of experience is less important than the players applying themselves.”We are going to play some really good cricket and we expect to win,” Mathews said. “We don’t expect to go there and lose or compete, whether it is inexperience it doesn’t really matter. We had experienced guys in the last couple of years and we still lost to some countries over the years. It’s about applying ourselves, we are definitely not going to lose or compete it’s just a matter of taking up the challenge and doing your very best.”Especially in the Test line-up we have loads of newcomers and only a couple of senior guys in the batting who have played more than 20 Test matches. It’s going to be a tough tour but if we apply ourselves and take up the challenge I am pretty sure we can give New Zealand a good run for their money.”Mathews also refused to accept that batting was the weak point of his team. “We’ve got an inexperienced batting line up but skill-wise even the newcomers have scored a lot of runs. When it comes to Kithuruwan [Vithanage] and Udara Jayasundara – they have scored a lot of runs in New Zealand and they have a good feel of the conditions,” he added.Mathews also stated that Jerome Jayaratne, the interim head coach of the team, was working very closely with the batsmen by helping them ‘to counterattack and hang in there when difficult situations arise”.Mathews said that for practice, his team has been playing on tracks that will be similar to the seam-friendly wickets of New Zealand, but due to the weather and conditions it has been difficult for them to prepare those kind of pitches.”Even the pitches have been prepared in a way where the seamers have a lot of assistance. We’ve been training for the past two weeks on those tracks,” Mathews said. “We are trying to practice on surfaces similar to ones that we will get in New Zealand. You don’t get the ideal wicket because our weather and conditions but we have tried our level best to prepare wickets as close as possible where it helps seamers quite a lot and the batsmen have been batting pretty well on it.”Bowling is an area where the pacers have delivered for Sri Lanka but the inexperience shows. Sri Lanka’s pace quartet of Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal and Dushmantha Chameera have a combined total of 66 Test matches and captured 167 wickets compared to the experienced Herath, who has taken 293 wickets from 65 Tests and will be Sri Lanka’s key strike-bowler on the tour even though the conditions may not be to his liking.One of the main causes for Sri Lanka’s defeats in New Zealand was their poor catching and fitness. However, on this occasion they have addressed that area carefully with the help of their English trainer, Michael Main, who has put them through their paces and the results of it were seen in the recently concluded series against West Indies.Another key area Sri Lanka has worked on is removing the fear of failure, which the players had when Jayaratne took over as head coach for the West Indies series.”We talked a lot about it when it comes to dressing room atmosphere and the fear these individuals have,” Mathews said. “We tried our very best with Jerome’s help to make sure the players get rid of their individual doubts as well as play with a lot of freedom. He’s worked a lot with the support staff as well to clear the environment so that we are not afraid to do mistakes.”The coach has a very big part to play in the team and he has to get involved in making the players mindset right, trying to give them a lot of confidence and make sure they get rid of their individual fears. It plays a massive part in the team as well you feel the team environment is really good, the boys are very happy. You can still do mistakes but the fear of failure is not there.”Mathews then revealed that playing music in the dressing room has helped the team relax and keep the dressing room alive during a Test.”That is the fear that the individuals have, the fear of failure is something that each individual has and if you can cope with that, if you think you are not afraid to do any mistakes, less number of mistakes will occur. It’s just a matter of mindset and we tried to keep the dressing room alive by playing a little bit of music and keeping it relaxed and it has helped a lot. We introduced it initially in the Test series and it worked pretty well they are very happy and they are moving in the right direction.”Mathews was optimistic that if his team could come through in the New Zealand tour with a win it would have a massive impact on the players for the future.”We are quite an inexperienced team when it comes to Test cricket and also beating New Zealand in their conditions is very tough, not many teams have done that. If we can do that it will make a huge impact and create a lot of confidence in the group going forward,” Mathews said.

Australia hope to find a replacement for Cathryn Fitzpatrick in 16-year-old Ellyse Perrry © Getty Images

At an age when teenagers start thinking about what to do with their lives Ellyse Perry probably needs to think of what not to do. Perry, 16, is not only likely to be the youngest Australian player if she appears against New Zealand in the Top End Series, which starts on Thursday, but also perhaps the youngest double international when she represents the Australian soccer team in Hong Kong soon after the series.A long professional career playing both cricket and soccer is something her cricket and soccer coaches know she may not be able to have. “Ellyse knows she will have to make a decision somewhere down the track,” Lisa Keightley, the Australian women’s cricket coach, told . “Does cricket have as big a drawcard as soccer? I’m not too sure. From when I started playing to now, it’s worlds apart.”In cricket Perry is considered a genuine all-round prospect and toured New Zealand with the Australian Under-23 team earlier this year. She was picked with the intent to fill the huge gap following the fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick’s retirement.”She’s definitely capable of playing senior international football and cricket, so there probably will come a point in time when she won’t be able to do both,” Alen Stajcic, the New South Wales Sapphires coach, said. “I think women’s football offers a lot in terms of what girls can do now, and definitely down the track.”But both coaches are careful not to put any pressure on Perry to make a choice. “We really haven’t put any pressure on her at the moment, and neither has cricket,” Stajcic said. “We’re all being fairly flexible and letting her cope with both. It’s difficult, and I don’t know if it can last forever.”Keightley felt the team was lucky she could combine both sports. “She’s getting her fitness at soccer, so we concentrate on more skill-based activities for her,” Keightley said. “She still wishes to continue both, and I feel it’s her decision. Good luck to her, she’s a very talented sportswoman, and she’s got fantastic parents who drive her around and support her away from sport.”Perry herself isn’t too worried right now. “At the moment, I’m really lucky I can still play both and I have supportive people around me that allow me to play both sports,” she said. “While I can, I sort of think, why not?”I think it’s really important, especially at my age, to have balance. I really enjoy doing both, and that makes it easy to fit in.” Perry said it was hard to pick a favourite. Australia play New Zealand in five ODIs and one Twenty20 at Darwin from Thursday.

Darren Lehmann won’t be returning to Yorkshire after this season © Getty Images

Darren Lehmann has confirmed that this will be his last year of county cricket, after first playing for Yorkshire in 1997 and having six seasons at Headingley.Lehmann’s 172 in the current Championship match against Kent was his 25th hundred for Yorkshire and his fifth century of the season. Earlier this year, Lehmann was named in the Greatest Ever Yorkshire XI by in a readers’ competition.Talking of his announcement, Lehmann said: “I have had some great times playing for Yorkshire over the years and I have been honoured to wear the White Rose of this famous county. I will certainly miss the players, staff and supporters who have been fantastic to me over the years.”Stewart Regan, the Yorkshire chief executive, said: “Darren is not only a fantastic cricketer but is also a genuinely nice bloke who is adored by our fans. His contribution to this club has been immense and he will be sorely missed.”However, he has made it known for a number of weeks that his body was struggling to cope with the demands of a rigorous first-class cricket schedule and this season was likely to be his last for Yorkshire. Having made up his mind, we fully respect his decision and thank him whole-heartedly for a magnificent Yorkshire career”.

Action from USA v Canada © ICC

USA beat Canada by 39 runs
Defending champions Canada were on the receiving end of a surprise first-day defeat at the hands of the USA on the opening day of the Americas U19 Championships in Toronto. The host nation, winner of both previous U19 Championships in 2001 and 2003 respectively, were beaten by a committed United States outfit by 39 runs.After being put in to bat, the USA scored consistently to set themselves up with a good total, thanks largely to second and third wicket partnerships of 47 and 83 respectively. Opening bat Ravi Timbawala, later named Man of the Match, put together an excellent innings of 67 in 94 balls, and his partnerships with Akeem Dodson (23 in 40 balls) and Hemant Punoo (32 in 56 balls) put the US side in a commanding position at 148 for 2 after 25 overs.Accurate bowling from Krunal Patel (3 for 44 in 10 overs) and Trevin Bastiampillai (2 for 38 in 10 overs) brought Canada back into the frame, but a 51-run sixth-wicket partnership between Ramsabad Kumar (42 in 73 balls) and Danai Nathanial (22 in 32 balls) eventually guided USA to 246 all out in 50 overs.In reply, Canada were pegged back by some consistent bowling and tigerish fielding, and in contrast to the USA innings, simply could not put any meaningful partnerships together, being reduced to 100 for 5 after 20 overs. It was left to middle-order batsmen Gunjan Patel (28 in 73 balls) and Waqas Junaid (37 in 60 balls) to try and mount a real challenge, but eventually 207 all out in 46.1 overs was as far as the Canadians could go.Excellent bowling from Usman Mohammad (2 for 49 in 10 overs) and Anil Deopersaud (3 for 44 in 10 overs) were the best of a fine all-round team effort.Bermuda beat Argentina by nine wickets
Argentina elected to bat first, but apart from a determined innings of 30 by Pedro Bruno, no other batsmen really mastered the Bermudan attack, and they were bowled out for 92 in just 26.5 overs. Man of the Match Stefan Kelly ended with fine figures of 4 for 22 in 9,5 overs. Bermuda made light work of their target, romping home in the 16th over, led by 49 from skipper Oronde Bascome.

Virender Sehwag: “Definitely we are on par with them [Australia]”© AFP

Virender Sehwag dishes out the verbals with the same frankness and confidence that he clatters the ball over the infield. In an interview featured on the BBC website, Sehwag said that India are as good as Australia. “Definitely we are on par with them [Australia]. If we can go there and beat them on their home ground, definitely we are up there.””To beat a team like Australia, we have to battle it out for all the five days of a Test, and that’s what we did when we beat them in Adelaide,” said Sehwag. “We hope that we can put up a similar fight when they come here, and win the series.”When India toured Australia last, and drew 1-1, Australia were without Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. When they tour India later this year, Australia hope to have a full-strength bowling attack at their disposal and Sehwag has taken note of this. “If you ask me about their bowling strength as such, yes, it would definitely be a lot better than what they had in the last series in Australia, with four good bowlers in Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Shane Warne.”Sehwag, however, is not overawed by Australia’s bowling arsenal. “Against such high-quality bowling scoring runs will be a worry, but it would depend very much on what form the batsman is at that time. If the batsman is in good form, it does not matter what the bowling attack is,” he said.”One-day cricket is a difficult game, the result is achieved inside a day,” said Sehwag. “In one-day cricket there is always this fear, tension, as to what’s going to happen and when, but I don’t think they have any psychological hold over us. Maybe they are a better team, and a better team always wins.”Sehwag looked back at his record-breaking 309 against Pakistan with some degree of pride. “It feels good but the feeling was the same as that I have upon reaching any other milestone,” he told the Press Trust of India. “Very few cricketers manage to come even close to the 300-mark, so I am happy to have that figure to my name. To make 300, you need to stay very long at the crease and for that you need patience, dedication and technique too.”Sehwag also brushed off suggestions that his technique was lacking. “In my case, I kept attacking,” he said. “Maybe I was lucky too, I had my chances before crossing 300. But technique is essential, without that you can’t survive, at least for such a long time. Many say that I am not technically sound but as far as I am concerned I am comfortable with my technique. It is a good technique, which was why I was able to make 300.”

Kenya’s best chance of reaching an astounding semi-final slot in the World Cup almost certainly rests in their Super Six match against Zimbabwe, a team they have never beaten, at Bloemfontein. Implausible though it may still seem, a win tomorrow would see the Kenyans through to the last four, regardless of whether they can achieve an upset of volcanic proportions in their final Super Six game against Australia.Past form makes Zimbabwe red-hot favourites – they have won 12 out of 14, with two washed out – but misfortune with injuries has hampered them, most recently against New Zealand when Brian Murphy was unable to deliver a ball after injuring a calf muscle in the nets. Neither he nor Mark Vermeulen, who suffered another net injury, a hairline fracture of the skull, will take any further part in the tournament. Their places in the squad have gone to Stuart Matsikenyeri and former captain Alistair Campbell, whose omission from the original 15 surprised many.Zimbabwe’s progress thus far has been achieved without a win over significant opposition. Their points are from wins over Namibia and the Netherlands, a forfeit from England and a washout with Pakistan. Beaten by New Zealand on Saturday, they desperately need a win. And Kenya’s former captain Maurice Odumbe, who has found timely form with bat and ball, believes now is the time to draw first blood.”They have had the better of us over the years, although we have come close to beating them," Odumbe said. "But there’s a new confidence in our team these days. We’re playing good cricket at the moment, and we’re enjoying it.”Kenya made their first international splash in the 1996 World Cup, beating the West Indies, but unlike Bangladesh, whose victory over Pakistan three years later catapulted them prematurely into the Test arena, Kenya are still waiting. Their Group B win over Bangladesh was a succinct statement on the situation, while to defeat Sri Lanka as well was an outstanding result. Add to that the New Zealand forfeit, and Kenya remain in third place despite losing to India last Friday.”We’ve been criticised that we’re not supposed to be in the Super Sixes,” Odumbe said. “In any World Cup you want to see surprises, and that’s just what we have delivered. But it seems some people are still not happy. We deserve to be here. We didn’t ask New Zealand not to come to Kenya. Who knows, maybe we could also have beaten them?”Odumbe is confident of overcoming a thigh strain by tomorrow, and is looking to current captain Steve Tikolo and Ravindu Shah for telling contributions. “Steve is due for a good score, and Ravindu should also enjoy himself here,” Odumbe added.One man Kenya will not want to see in the Zimbabwe line-up is fast bowler Henry Olonga, who took six for 28 in their last encounter in Bulawayo in December. Olonga has played in just one World Cup match so far, against Namibia, in which he and Andy Flower wore black armbands as a protest at human rights abuses in their country. Olonga bowled just three overs and was then dropped.”I had a great game against Kenya last time and I’d love to have another crack at them,” Olonga said today. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity of playing against them again, but it’s not up to me. I’ve done a lot of fielding (as 12th man) but I’m very fresh, there’s plenty of energy left in these legs."Flower, who has retained his place in the team despite the protest, is still troubled by a groin strain but is unlikely to sit out such an important match. If Zimbabwe win tomorrow, they still have a chance of reaching the semi-finals, depending on other results and whether they can beat Sri Lanka in East London on Saturday.

Kent completed the ‘double’ over near-neighbours Essex with opening bowler Martin Saggers returning figures to influence another wretched batting display by the bottom-of-the-table side.The visitors had declared half an hour before lunch having built a first innings lead of 246 runs. Robert Key added another 23 runs to his overnight 100 before Justin Bishop ended his six-hour 45-minute vigil. That was one of four wickets for the 19-year-old bowler who returned figures of 4-120, a personal Championship best.Mark Ealham, with 44 which is his best CricInfo Championship score of the campaign, helped his side to their fourth batting point and a total of 353-7 before the declaration came.Although Essex negotiated the five overs before the lunch interval, they floundered in the next session losing eight wickets for 102 runs with only Paul Grayson appearing to relish the challenge.He eschewed any semblance of risk with an innings of composed restraint while his colleagues’ application fell wantonly short of the required application as a number of batsman brought about their demise with self-inflicted wounds.Spinner Min Patel provided the initial breakthrough, finding the edge of Richard Clinton’s bat where ‘keeper Paul Nixon took a uniform catch to start the Essex collapse.Saggers then made his striking intervention on proceedings as Darren Robinson became the first of his five victims, caught at short-leg for two runs. But it was the capture of two wickets in the space of three deliveries for the 29-year-old that tore the heart out of the home side as Stephen Peters was bowled for two and then Ronnie Irani completed a ‘pair’ after pushing feebly forward to be caught at second slip.Ben Trott offered chief support for his fellow paceman Saggers, initially accounting for James Foster for eight before he too grabbed two wickets in an over. Ashley Cowan and Bishop both fell in the penultimate over before tea and, with Tim Phillips having already been prised out by Matthew Fleming when he dabbed the Kent skipper to Nixon, Essex were facing another ignominious defeat at 110-8 wickets at tea.All the while, Grayson offered resolute resistance and seemed likely to become the first Essex opener since John Stephenson in 1991 to carry his bat through an innings but after losing Peter Such, who gave Saggers his fourth wicket, the former Yorkshire player’s model approach spanning almost three hours ended when the 136th delivery that he faced clipped off stump. That afforded bowler Saggers his best Championship figures of the season and his side victory by an innings and 132 runs earning them 19 points.Meanwhile Essex, with just two points, were left to lick the wounds of a fifth Championship defeat on their last six matches and they now look odds-on certainties for a return to Division Two at the end of the summer.