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Scorecard
Despite a career-best 119 from Matt Boyce and a record opening partnership, Leicestershire were left facing a desperate battle to save the follow-on against Gloucestershire at Grace Road.A dramatic collapse saw Leicester lose seven wickets for 77 runs in 20 overs and they finished the third day of the County Championship Division Two match on 315 for 9 – still needing another 40 runs to avoid being asked to bat again.Leicestershire looked in no danger as they progressed smoothly to 236 for 2 in pursuit of Gloucestershire’s first innings score of 504 for 9 – but then seamers John Lewis and Ian Saxelby turned the game on its head with the second new ball. Lewis took three wickets for two runs in 20 balls and Saxelby three for eight in 19 balls to rip the heart out of the home side’s batting.It undid all the earlier good work from Boyce and Will Jefferson (90), who looked in no discomfort at all as they shared an opening stand of 195 – a record for Leicestershire in games against Gloucestershire. Having survived eight difficult overs yesterday evening the opening pairremained together throughout the morning session as Gloucestershire toiled awayon what was still a flat and easy-paced pitch.Boyce, whose previous best score this season was 41, reached his half-century off 94 balls with eight boundaries while the more cautious Jefferson took 131 balls and hit six fours on his way to a 50. But he failed to make it to three figures, dismissed for 90 when he was givenlbw as he pushed forward to off spinner Kane Williamson.Two runs later the New Zealander struck again claiming the wicket of former Gloucestershire man Kadeer Ali in identical fashion. But Josh Cobb joined forces with Boyce to take Leicestershire to 200 for 2 by the tea interval with Boyce needing eight runs for his century.It came soon after the break and included 13 boundaries and took 223 balls. It was the second of Boyce’s career and then he went passed his previous best score of 106 made against Warwickshire in 2008. But when the second new ball was taken at 226 for 2 in the 80th over the game swung Gloucestershire’s way.Lewis claimed the wickets of Cobb, Boyce and Jigar Naik in a devastating spell with Boyce caught behind as he drove outside the off stump. Then Saxelby stepped in with the wickets of Andrew McDonald, Paul Dixey and Claude Henderson and suddenly the home side were in desperate trouble.Nathan Buck also went before the close and it was left to Matthew Hoggard and Nadeem Malik to survive the final two overs in the gathering gloom. But Gloucestershire will fancy their chances at victory if they claim the final wicket quickly on the last day and enforce the follow on.

Match facts

Monday, May 2 Mumbai
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Adam Gilchrist returns to the Wankhede, where he played one of his best Test innings back in 2001•AFP

Big picture

Having played only six games, Kings XI Punjab are in a far better position than their eighth place in the points table suggests. They will know, though, that they could have been much better off if not for defeats in their previous two games. The bowlers came a cropper in the run-fest against Delhi Daredevils, before the batting misfired against Kolkata Knight Riders. Punjab’s other problem is potential rustiness. They have played only twice in ten days, a luxury rarely afforded in a tournament with mind-bogglingly fast turn-arounds. Positions in the league have changed with the randomness of a top-end washing machine; the next few days could be Punjab’s chance to move up the ladder.Their defeat in Jaipur notwithstanding, Mumbai Indians have been a clinical and efficient juggernaut. If anything, they will be smarting from the drubbing at Rajasthan Royal’s hands. Sachin Tendulkar has had a couple of failures after a strong start to the tournament. Davy Jacobs and Ambati Rayudu have also gone off the boil in the last week. Punjab’s bowlers should brace for a strong resurgence. Their batsmen should find armoured toe-caps since Lasith Malinga will once again look to sling down those yorkers.

Form guide (most recent first)

Mumbai: LWWWW (third in points table)
Punjab: LLWWW (eighth in points table)

Team talk

Abhishek Nayar’s place in the Punjab XI will come under scrutiny. Paras Dogra or Mandeep Singh could come in if they look to bolster the batting. They might also choose to bench one of their three spinners, in which case either Piyush Chawla or Bipul Sharma will sit out.Mumbai might have run out of reasons to retain R Sathish. T Suman will consider himself unlucky if he misses out again.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

Paul Valthaty loves to get a half-step forward and hit cleanly through the line. Lasith Malinga loves to push batsmen like Valthaty into their crease with scorching yorkers. The former is from Mumbai. The latter plays for Mumbai. The real fans at the Wankhede will root for Valthaty. One way or the other, this mini-battle should be fun to watch.Adam Gilchrist played one of his most memorable Test innings at this very ground, back in 2001. He came up against Harbhajan Singh, on the threshold of greatness, and tamed him with an unforgettable assault. Ten years hence, Gilchrist has called time on an illustrious career, and enjoys himself in the IPL. Ten years hence, Harbhajan has managed to produce sparks of brilliance without reprising 2001. Expect fireworks when he runs in to Gilchrist on Monday.

Prime numbers

• Malinga has the most wickets (17), the best strike-rate (9.7) as well as the best average (9.64) in the tournament
• Harbhajan and Malinga have picked up two of the three five-fors in the tournament

The chatter

“They are the best team in the competition, no doubt about that. They have a star-studded line-up that includes some good Indian domestic talent.”

South Africa allrounder Ryan McLaren has been signed by Kings XI Punjab for IPL 2011. Punjab were seeking replacements following injuries to Stuart Broad and Dmitri Mascarenhas, and have settled on McLaren.McLaren’s IPL assignments made him unavailable for South Africa A’s matches against Bangladesh A next month. Andrew Birch of the Warriors and Kyle Abbott of the Dolphins were called up to the South Africa A squad as replacements. Birch will take his place in the four-day squad and Abbott will play in the one-day matches.McLaren was with Mumbai Indians in the two previous editions of the IPL.

Haroon Lorgat, chief executive of the ICC, is confident that security in Bangladesh is up to the task of policing the country’s remaining World Cup matches, despite the stoning of the West Indies team bus on Friday. “I am satisfied that the security is firm enough to withstand that sort of issue,” Lorgat said at a press conference in Chennai. “The police that were present there have made certain arrests.”Angry Bangladesh fans, whose team was bowled out for 58, the lowest total by a Full Member at a World Cup, threw stones at both team buses, cracking two of the West Indian team buses windows. None of the players were injured. Lorgat played down the incident, calling it “minor,” and explained why it was not as serious as had been originally reported. “It was a few individuals who threw pebbles at the bus, and they were pebbles.”Bangladesh has hosted three matches in the tournament so far, as well as the opening ceremony, and Friday was the first incident of any security breach. Bangladesh lost their tournament opener against India by 87 runs but there was no sign of aggression from the home fans after that. They had since leapfrogged the West Indies into eighth position on the ODI rankings, and the home crowd may have expected their team to beat the West Indies as proof of their loftier position. Lorgat thinks that may have caused the chaos. “It was, I guess, disappointed fans at the result of their home team being defeated so convincingly by the visitors.”England, who pulled out of a match in the 2003 World Cup against Zimbabwe because of security concerns, are the next team due to travel to Bangladesh. Netherlands and South Africa are also scheduled to play their group stages in Bangladesh and there were some rumours swirling that the teams may not want to go to the country and the matches would have to be moved. Lorgat stamped out any such possibility. “We have a very robust security plan in place and I am convinced that the tournament is going to continue as scheduled.”He did not rule out the possibility of moving games, but said that Friday’s incident was not enough to merit doing so. “We would not move a game lightly, but it is not something that we would discount. I don’t believe that particular incident justifies moving the game.” Bangladesh will host five more World Cup matches, including two quarter-finals.

Shahid Karim, Mohammad Amir’s lawyer at the spot-fixing hearing in Doha, has said that the ICC tribunal’s decision to defer their verdict gives his client renewed hope.”The last day of the (six-day) hearing was very positive,” Karim told on his return to Lahore. “It could be a silver lining for us. I hope Amir will be exonerated next month when the verdict will be announced.”Karim had earlier requested the three-man tribunal examining the charges to take more time to study the case before announcing its verdict, which was initially due on January 11. Following the six-day hearing, the tribunal deferred the verdict to February 5.Karim hopes Amir’s age and unblemished record will work in his favour. “I am happy with the procedure of the hearing,” he had said in Doha. “The ICC code of conduct has a clause which points to looking at the player’s age and past disciplinary record and Amir is young, so we hope the tribunal will keep this in mind.”

Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and David Hussey have all been given the chance to press for World Cup selection after being named in Australia’s squad for the first ODI against England. The match in Melbourne on Sunday will be the only one-day game Australia will play before their 15-man World Cup group needs to be finalised, so there is plenty at stake for several fringe men.Nathan Hauritz was also chosen, having not been part of Australia’s team in any format since he was axed before the first Ashes Test. Hauritz, Xavier Doherty and Steven Smith are all in the 14-man squad, and with the World Cup to be played on spin-friendly subcontinental surfaces, they will all be keen to impress in the 50-over format.Michael Clarke, who last week announced his retirement from Twenty20s, will captain the side with Ricky Ponting still sidelined by his finger injury. Brad Haddin was picked and will be Australia’s first-choice gloveman at the World Cup, despite the selectors giving Tim Paine the vice-captaincy for the two Twenty20s against England this week.Lee will be aiming to play his first ODI since October 2009, after a severely injury-disrupted 2010, and he has already made clear his ambition to be part of Australia’s World Cup defence. He will form part of a quick attack with Tait, Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle forming the rest of the fast-bowling group.One of the most interesting selections was that of David Hussey, who hasn’t played an ODI since a one-off match against Scotland in August 2009, and has been considered a Twenty20 specialist by the national selectors since then. Despite having scored only 143 runs at 23.83 in the split-innings Ryobi Cup this summer, Hussey has been give a chance ahead of his Victorian team-mate Brad Hodge, who is the competition’s leading run scorer.There was no room for Callum Ferguson, although that might be because he is already considered a lock-in for the World Cup, while Shaun Marsh was also overlooked. A new squad will be chosen for the remaining six ODIs against England, and that is likely to comprise the 15-man World Cup group, as it will be their final hit-out before flying to India.”We’ve given David Hussey the opportunity to push for inclusion in the World Cup squad as we think he will be well suited for the sub-continent conditions which will be faced in the World Cup,” the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said. “Ricky Ponting is recovering from a finger injury sustained during the Ashes, which gives Michael Clarke another chance to lead the one-day side.”His vice-captain will be Cameron White, who has had a real impact on this form of the game in the last year and Cameron will be coming off leading Australia in the two Twenty20 internationals this week. We have some explosive fast bowling with Shaun Tait, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle all selected in this squad. Shaun and Brett will therefore have an opportunity to impress in this form of the game before World Cup squad selection.”We’ve included Nathan Hauritz, who has been a key part of our one-day side for some time now and Xavier Doherty in this squad, who played well against Sri Lanka at the start of the summer. This gives us a chance to look at both of them prior to the World Cup.”Squad Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Xavier Doherty, Peter Siddle, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger.

Match Facts

Friday, December 10
Start time 09:00 (03:00 GMT)
Abdur Razzak is three wickets away from breaking the record for the most wickets in a five-match bilateral ODI series•Associated Press

The Big Picture

Zimbabwe just cannot seem to solve the Abdur Razzak conundrum. The left-arm spinner has taken 13 wickets in the three matches so far, and Zimbabwe coach Alan Butcher has said his batsmen were having technical problems in playing Razzak. Batting has clearly been an area of concern for Zimbabwe. The problem seems to be an over-reliance on Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu. On the four occasions Zimbabwe have managed to score more than 250 runs in 2010, either of those two has got a half-century. With both struggling so far in this series, the other batsmen haven’t been able to take Zimbabwe to decent totals.Bangladesh, on the other hand, are motoring along nicely on all fronts. Shakib Al Hasan said the most pleasing thing about the previous match was the performance of his fast bowlers. Shafiul Islam and Mashrafe Mortaza had taken just one wicket between them in the first two games, but combined to pick up five in the third. Bangladesh will hope they can continue to assist the left-arm spinners so they have a more balanced bowling attack going into the World Cup.There is some extra motivation for Bangladesh as well. They have a chance to break into the top eight in the ICC ODI rankings if they win the two remaining games in the series. With West Indies’ one-day series in Sri Lanka postponed till next month, Bangladesh could go equal with them on 67 points, after which the rankings will be determined by the trailing decimals.

Form Guide

(most recent first)
Bangladesh: WWLWWZimbabwe: LLWLL

Watch out for …

Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwe’s stand-in captain for the third ODI, tops their runs and wickets charts for the series. Utseya’s offspin and Ray Price’s left-arm spin were Zimbabwe’s main bowling threats on the slow Mirpur track. After his 67 in the third match, Zimbabwe may consider pushing Utseya up the order.Shafiul Islam took a career-best 4 for 43 in the previous match. Ahead of the fourth game, he said he has bowled as fast as 143 kph in the nets. With Mashrafe Mortaza easing into rhythm on his return from injury, Shafiul has another chance to establish himself as Bangladesh’s lead seamer.

Pitch conditions

After three games in Mirpur, the action shifts to the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong for the last two ODIs. The wicket is expected to be slow and low, and, like Mirpur, assist spin. There have been only two scores of over 250 in nine ODIs at the ground. Price, however, noticed some differences in the conditions. “There is some long grass on this wicket,” he said. “The outfield too is different from Mirpur. So it is difficult to predict how the wicket will behave.”Shafiul said the surface was turning when Bangladesh practiced on it before the series, while Utseya expected 240 to 250 to be a good score. Zimbabwe struggled during the two ODIs they played in Chittagong in November 2009, getting bowled out for 44 in the first one.

Teams

Elton Chigumbura, who missed the previous game with a groin strain, trained with the team on Wednesday, but is doubtful for Friday’s match. “When I was fielding I felt sore,” Chigumbura said on Wednesday. “I wasn’t yet 100%, there is still some pain and I will know by tomorrow if I feel right.” Hamilton Masakadza replaced Keith Dabengwa for the third ODI but only scored 3, so he could be dropped again.Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Brendan Taylor, 2 Chamu Chibhabha, 3 Regis Chakabva, 4. Keith Dabengwa / Hamilton Masakadza, 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Craig Ervine, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt) / Graeme Cremer, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Shingirai Masakadza / Keegan Meth, 10 Raymond Price, 11 Chris MpofuBangladesh are unlikely to change their winning combination.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Naeem Islam, 8 Suhrawadi Shuvo, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Shafiul Islam

Stats and Trivia

• Abdur Razzak is two wickets away from equalling the record for the most wickets by a bowler in a five-match bilateral series. The record is currently jointly held by Ajantha Mendis who took 15 in five matches against Zimbabwe in November 2008, Zimbabwe’s Graeme Cremer against Kenya in January 2009 and Razzak himself against Zimbabwe in October 2009.
• Prosper Utseya’s career-best figures of 4 for 38 in the third ODI was only his second four-wicket haul in 120 matches. Utseya is now Zimbabwe’s fourth highest wicket-taker in ODIs and needs three more to catch up with Paul Strang.

Quotes

“In the first two ODIs, our fast bowlers did not bowl the right line and length. We [the seamers] had been facing some problems, which we have succeeded in overcoming with advice from our coach.””The last time I came here, Abdur Razzak used to bowl straight but this time he seems to be varying them, turning them, and it’s just a matter of watching the ball closely. We just have to try and play with the spin and cover our stumps.”

Darren Sammy, currently leading the West Indies in their Test series against Sri Lanka, has been appointed captain of the squad for the limited-overs leg of the tour. The 15-member contingent sees the return of Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh and Devon Smith to the one-day side, and also includes uncapped batsman Kirk Edwards. The selectors have not appointed a vice-captain.Ramnaresh Sarwan has been ignored for what is West Indies’ last ODI engagement before the World Cup, after having not been selected for the Tests as well.Edwards, Kieron Pollard, Nikita Miller and Ravi Rampaul will replace Brendan Nash, Devon Thomas, Nelon Pascal and Shane Shillingford, who are currently in Sri Lanka for the Tests. Fast bowler Andre Russell, who made his debut in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle and is yet to play an ODI, has also been included.While Baugh’s return as first-choice wicketkeeper in place of Denesh Ramdin now extends to the one-day sphere, Smith – the top-order batsman who last played an ODI for West Indies in September 2009 – has also made a comeback. The selectors have also included Barath, who made his one-day debut against Zimbabwe in March before being ignored for the South Africa series.Courtney Browne, the West Indies selector on tour said that this was an important series for them ahead of the upcoming World Cup in the sub-continent. “These are the last ODIs before the World Cup, so we expect the players to make the most of the opportunities.”Edwards, the Barbados batsman, was part of the West Indies A side that played Pakistan A on their just-concluded Caribbean tour.West Indies play five ODIs and one Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. The series begins on December 9 with the first one-dayer at Hambantota.West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh (wk), Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kirk Edwards, Chris Gayle, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Devon Smith

As most would have expected, South Africa secured the one-day series in Potchefstroom to follow their 2-0 victory in the Twenty20s. But while their batsmen have feasted on Zimbabwe’s bowlers, the hosts’ own bowling and fielding have not been on a par with their usual lofty standards. Graeme Smith, the captain, admitted his team has a lot of work to do ahead of potentially more challenging engagements against Pakistan in the heat of UAE, and India back home.”The little things don’t affect your game as much when you’re playing against Zimbabwe,” said Smith after South Africa’s eight-wicket win, “but they do when you’re playing in the subcontinent or when you’re playing India or England or Australia or Pakistan, which is coming up in Dubai.”We’re not at the standard that we had been at for quite a period of time, and there are a lot of guys that are still trying to find their feet in different positions in the field so we’ve just got to keep pushing them and hopefully they’ll get there. If we can keep training and thinking in the right way, and committing to our skills I think the guys will get there.”Smith did, however, make a special mention of Rusty Theron’s “terrific” maiden international five-for. Theron, who finished with 5 for 44, has experienced the South African dressing room before his international debut on this tour – he was part of the World Twenty20 side but didn’t get a game – and credited his IPL stint for easing the transition to the top level. “Coming back into the group again it wasn’t such an unfamiliar feeling,” Theron said. “The guys have been really good in helping me back into the set-up, and that’s really helped me settled down.”Other experience, such as the Champions League and IPL, has given me a lot confidence in the sense of playing against top international players and waging your skills against them. If you were to come straight from normal domestic cricket into international cricket it is a bit more of a challenge, so I’ve been helped by my experience.”After the final ODI at Benoni on Friday, Smith and his men leave almost immediately for Abu Dhabi where their series against Pakistan begins with two Twenty20s at the Sheikh Zayed stadium on October 26 and 27. Within a month, they will then play five ODIs and two Tests in conditions unlike any most members of the squad have experienced before – the last time South Africa were in the region was a decade ago.”We haven’t been there for ages,” Smith said. “Sharjah was the last time we went over to that area, so it’s going to be a big learning curve for us in terms of what to expect. We expect it to be quite similar to subcontinental conditions. I think the heat there is going to be a massive factor, and we expect conditions to be similar to what we would get in the subcontinent so hopefully once we get there we’ll be able to sum it up pretty quickly.”

ScorecardUsman Khawaja’s 214 will boost his chances of further opportunities at the next level•Getty Images

Moises Henriques destroyed South Australia’s top order after Usman Khawaja raised his first double-century for New South Wales to leave the Blues in control after two days. Afternoon rain saved the Redbacks from any further embarrassment but they will need more help from the weather to avoid defeat over the next two days.Henriques had James Smith and Michael Klinger both caught at slip and then followed with Daniel Harris lbw, before Trent Copeland continued the procession by bowling Cameron Borgas. It left South Australia at 4 for 56 at stumps, trailing by 473 on what the Blues proved was a fine batting surface.Khawaja began the day on 175 and he soon progressed to his double-century, in an effort that could have earned him a call-up for the first Ashes Test had it not been for Marcus North’s career-saving hundred in Bangalore. Khawaja was eventually out for 214, one of two wickets for Aaron O’Brien, who also removed Ben Rohrer (70).New South Wales batted on while Brad Haddin quickly regained his touch in his first Sheffield Shield match back from an elbow injury. Haddin finished unbeaten on 54 from 57 deliveries when Stuart Clark called an end to the innings with the Blues comprehensively on top at 6 for 529.