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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRobin Uthappa and Unmukt Chand put on 178 for the opening wicket in 30 overs•BCCI

Robin Uthappa has endured five frustrating years on the sidelines since marking his international debut with a match-winning 86 against England back in April 2006 – the highest score by an Indian debutant in ODIs. He was part of the India team that lifted the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007. But a slump in form in 2008 led to him being dropped and ever since, Uthappa has been on ODI exile.On Sunday, he made a strong statement of intent with an all-round performance that guided India A to a comprehensive six-wicket win over New Zealand A in the first unofficial ODI in Visakhapatnam. Uthappa took four catches, and then struck a 114-ball 103 to set India A on their way to an easy victory. Uthappa put on 178 for the opening wicket in 30 overs with his captain Unmukt Chand, who cracked 94 off 88 after twin failures in the unofficial Tests.Uthappa got off the mark in rather fortuitous circumstances with an inside edge off Adam Milne that raced behind for four. But he soon settled in, and displayed the same confidence and flair which he had shown for India between 2006 and 2008.Uthappa made expert use of his wrists, attacking loose deliveries and sensibly rotating the strike. He reached his fifty in the 18th over by opening the face of the blade and picking the gap between point and cover for his seventh four. Uthappa showed increasing aggression as the innings wore on, executing the pull to devastating effect. He dispatched Matt Henry for two sixes and hit another one off Milne to reach his century in 110 balls.Chand smashed nine fours and six sixes, pulling repeatedly with power, and looked to be heading towards a well-deserved century, but departed for 94 after holing out to Tom Latham at deep midwicket.Uthappa carried on, and added another 48 with Aditya Tare, but eventually flicked one to Colin Munro at fine leg. Two more wickets fell in quick succession, but with just 23 more needed, India A remained comfortable. Kedar Jadhav hit the winning runs as India A overhauled the target with 5.5 overs remaining.It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for the hosts at first, after a 70-run eighth-wicket partnership between Ish Sodhi and Daryl Mitchell propelled New Zealand A to a competitive 257. The visitors, choosing to bat, got off to a solid, but unhurried start, as the openers Anton Devcich and Luke Ronchi added 36. But Uthappa got the breakthrough, diving wide to his left to take a blinder to send back Ronchi off Shrikant Wagh in the ninth over.Devcich, Latham and Carl Cachopa all made useful contributions, but wickets at regular intervals from Dhawal Kulkarni, Ashok Menaria and Rahul Sharma, who each finished with three scalps, left New Zealand A precariously placed at 183 for 7. Mitchell counter-attacked with a 62-ball 51, but was overshadowed by Chand and Uthappa’s match-winning blitz.

Match facts

September 26, 2013
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)With heavy dew expected, the batsmen could enjoy the advantage late in the evening•BCCI

Big Picture

Both Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad are coming off successful chases in their opening games. Super Kings made a chase of 186 look ridiculously easy in Ranchi, with Titans failing to control a rampaging top order with heavy dew around. The wet ball was a big factor and will continue to be so since the forthcoming game between Super Kings and Sunrisers begins late in the evening. Chasing might not be a bad idea and as allrounder Albie Morkel said on the eve of the game, the toss will be a big factor.Sunrisers’ chase against Trinidad and Tobago wasn’t as clinical, since it went down to the final over. Shikhar Dhawan played only a minor role though it was good from Sunrisers’ perspective that the lower order proved themselves when a challenge presented itself. Thisara Perera’s fearless hitting made the difference and Super Kings would have to strategise how to contain the big hitters like Perera and Darren Sammy. However, Sunrisers weren’t their sharpest in the field on Tuesday and that’s an area they need to improve on.Super Kings will be concerned that their bowlers leaked 185. They have relied on spinners to pull the run-rate back but against Titans, seven overs of spin cost them 85 runs.

In the spotlight

Dwayne Bravo‘s cameo 38 off 26 balls helped Super Kings edge closer to victory against Titans and he picked up two wickets as well as Titans looked to accelerate towards the end. However, he has struggled as a death bowler in recent one-dayers for West Indies, something he had admitted needed plenty of improvement. His first two overs against Titans went for 23, but he came back well in his next two, conceding 11 and taking those two wickets. He could use the ongoing T20s to sharpen his death-bowling skills.Sunrisers’ younger Indian batsmen have yet to shine in this tournament, starting from the qualifiers. Biplab Samantray, batting in the top order, was dropped after scores of 0 and 8; Hanuma Vihari made a cautious 18-ball 13 against T&T, and in the same match Ashish Reddy was out for a first-ball duck. Teams that aren’t overdependent on overseas players and bigger names tend to be more successful than others. If the younger players can click, it could help Sunrisers in a big way.

Quotes

“This is probably the most dew I’ve seen on a cricket field.”

ScorecardFile photo: Ben Cutting had a good all-round outing in Sydney•Getty Images

Queensland shot up to the top of the Ryobi Cup table after their bowlers handed a heavy 90-run defeat to South Australia, their fourth in five matches, in Sydney. The margin of the win could have been much bigger but for a late cameo by No 10 Adam Zampa, who scored a half-century and stretched the last-wicket stand for 6.1 overs in which 59 runs came. Zampa was finally dismissed for 66 that included four sixes in the 35th over.The damage had been done earlier though. Chasing 274, South Australia made a quick start to their innings, with Michael Klinger and Matt Weaver putting up 34 in first four overs; the two batsmen scored 16 off Ryan Harris’ second over. But it was Harris who made the first breakthrough when dismissed Klinger off the first ball of his third over. The chase went pear-shaped from that point.Eight wickets went down in the next 18 overs for the addition of 68 runs only. None of the batsmen were able to stick together for too long, with the 22-run stand for the fifth wicket between Alex Ross and Johan Botha being the highest. But once, Ross and Tim Ludeman were sent back off consecutive deliveries from Ben Cutting, the challenge was almost over although the tail delayed the inevitable for some time. Nathan Hauritz was the most successful bowler with three wickets from his 5.4 overs.Queensland had been put to bat and they had a strong start, with Usman Khawaja and Jimmy Peirson adding 71 for the first wicket. Although, they were slowed down in the middle after Botha’s triple strikes, they recovered well towards the end. James Hopes remained unbeaten on 49, but it was Cutting who led the final charge, scoring a quick 39 off 30 balls that included four sixes.

Nepal captain Paras Khadka has said his team is hungry to compete against Full Member nations, as they prepare for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE and aim to seal their passage to the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.Nepal is in Group B, along with Afghanistan, Netherlands, Scotland, Kenya, Bermuda, Denmark and Papua New Guinea. Khadka said his team had been focusing on fitness and skills in the lead-up to the competition, which begins on November 15.”The boys have been working really hard for the last two months. We’ve also toured India, with a trip to Delhi for some practice games and that has helped the team gain some momentum ahead of the tournament,” Khadka said. “Some of the newer players have come through our U-19 set-up, as well as the U-23 set-up. We have a balanced set-up, especially when it comes to our fast bowlers and spin bowlers. We have a couple of allrounders followed by a strong batting line-up, we’ve got it all there.”Nepal has not yet made it to a World Cup or World Twenty20 and Khadka said his team would strive to be able to play against the major teams. “It means everything to us, we want to be there as we have worked very hard to be here. We are hungry to get to the top and compete against the Full Members in the pinnacle of Twenty20 cricket.”All the teams must have prepared really well so we cannot take any team lightly. Everyone wants to make it to the World Twenty20 so it will be really competitive, but we’re ready for the challenge and we are looking forward to playing positively and concentrating on our strong points.”Nepal’s first game is against Denmark on November 15.Nepal: Paras Khadka (capt), Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Amrit Bhattarai, Mahesh Chhetri, Shakti Gauchan, Subash Khakurel, Avinash Karn, Gyanendra Malla, Anil Mandal, Jitendra Mukhiya, Sagar Pun, Basant Regmi, Sharad Vesawkar, Rahul Vishwakarma

ScorecardFile photo: Munaf Patel grabbed 6 for 13 in the second innings•AFP

Services crumbled to the lowest score of the season – 31 all out – as Munaf Patel grabbed a career-best 6 for 13 and spearheaded Baroda to an innings victory in Vadodara.Services began at 2 for 1, and still 176 behind. Only two runs were added in the first five overs of the morning when seamer Gagandeep Singh struck. With the opening made, Munaf burst through to leave Services dangling at 5 for 5 in the 11th over. Only two batsmen – none of them from the top order – scored more than 2 and Vishnu Tiwari was the only one to get into double figures with 14, as Services folded in the 20th over and slumped to their second innings-defeat of the season.”He [Munaf] was bowling sharp and was extracting some good bounce,” the Baroda coach Sanath Kumar told ESPNcricinfo. “The pitch suited our bowlers who tend to hit the deck. Going into the day, we were looking to restrict them to around 150, but we never expected something like this to happen.”Kumar said the Services collapse wasn’t due to any gremlins in the track. “It was a superb pitch,” Kumar said. “There was a lot of bounce, which is normal at the Reliance ground. We expected a little turn for the spinners but there wasn’t much, but they were getting good bounce as well. They [Services] did play a couple of poor shots, but we bowled really well.”Notorious for his susceptibility to injury, Munaf returned to first-class cricket after a two-year gap this year and was used rather sparingly. He has played three of Baroda’s six games so far, an improvement over a record of 11 Ranji Trophy games in the last six years.”We save him for the right games,” Kumar said. “He is coming out of injury so we have to use him the right way so that when he is picked, he can give it his all. He wasn’t doing anything different [today]. He just bowled normally and was excellent for us and was ably supported by Gagandeep Singh”Deepak Bhaskar, the Services manager, hoped the manner of their defeat was a one-off. “We batted poorly and Munaf did very well by keeping it in the right areas. There were no devils in the pitch. It was a positive wicket,” he said. “It is just one of those things that happen in cricket. The batsmen just failed to click.”Baroda’s victory was all the more sweet as Irfan Pathan made his first appearance for the season, but he was still “not fit enough to bowl”, said Kumar. “He’s bowling 20-30 balls a day but will need a couple of weeks [to be fully fit].”Dhiren Mistry was another positive for the home side as the 22-year old opener converted his third successive fifty-plus score into his maiden first-class century. His hundred in the first innings served as the backbone of Baroda’s 369. “It was a very mature innings, especially with the other batsmen being a bit out of touch. He used to go for too many shots and was a little flashy last season, but he’s become more compact.”The seven points from the innings win doubled Baroda’s tally, reviving a sagging campaign ahead of two away matches to round out the league phase.

After listless performances in the first two Tests in the UAE, Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has called for pitches that provide more support for spinners. He rued the lack of help from the surfaces in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, after managing only five wickets in those two matches but has vowed to bounce back in the Sharjah Test.He was wicketless in the second innings of the first Test for 49 overs, conceding 115 runs, and had to wait another 28.2 overs in Dubai to take his first wicket, making the stretch 77.2 overs. In a 32-Test career, Ajmal has never had to wait as long for a wicket: his previous longest wait was 41.1 overs, in the first innings against England at Lord’s in 2010 and he ended with figures of 2 for 126 from 44 overs.”I have been playing in Dubai for the last six years, but haven’t seen such a bad response here,” Ajmal said in Sharjah. “The ball used to turn in Dubai during the previous matches that we played, but this wicket was good for fast bowlers and was not supporting the spinners. I did a lot of hard work but couldn’t get a result, but I have never been disappointed with my cricket and will try to perform.”The PCB had flown their own curator to the UAE along with Intikhab Alam to help the local curators prepare the pitches in UAE for the series but Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq said the tracks are not the type they wanted for the series. For Sharjah there are two pitches being prepared, and Ajmal suggested the tracks will be batsmen friendly.Since May 2011, Ajmal has bowled 1931.3 overs – the most by any bowler in international cricket during the span – but isn’t worried about the workload. “We don’t play that much Test cricket there’s no workload,” he said. “I was rested for Afghanistan match, I did rest in South Africa, I was rested during the series against the West Indies so whenever team management gives me rest I do get and whenever they think I should play I am completely positive with this.”No there’s no pressure either, it’s cricket and there are ups and downs,” he insisted. “I don’t feel that if the performance is not good in the last two matches I should be disappointed, I am doing the hard work and will bounce back. The ball isn’t spinning and they are playing cautiously, if I had got some spin the result would have been different, they are relaxed while facing me and keep the bat inside and that’s why they are playing me well.”When asked a good bowler is always a good bowler, regardless of any sort pitch is, he replied: “The wicket was very slow and whatever abilities I had used it, but I didn’t get any support even on day five. The ball didn’t spin but yes it shouldn’t be a problem and I am not disappointed, I always play positively and I will do better.”

MS Dhoni has been ruled out of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh because of a side strain. Virat Kohli will lead India in Dhoni’s absence and Dinesh Karthik slots in as the replacement wicketkeeper.India will have to do without MS Dhoni at the Asia Cup•Getty Images

Dhoni suffered a grade-one strain to his left side during the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington and will undergo rehabilitation for ten days. The Indian squad landed in Mumbai today after failing to win a single game in New Zealand.Kohli has led India in eight ODIs previously, when Dhoni was injured during a tri-series in the West Indies involving Sri Lanka and then rested from a tour of Zimbabwe in July and August 2013. India won seven of those matches. Karthik has not played for India since the tour of Zimbabwe last year either.India’s first game in the Asia Cup is against Bangladesh on February 26. The tournament ends on March 8, and the ICC World Twenty20 begins on March 21, also in Bangladesh.

ScorecardSouth Australia’s bowlers failed to dismiss Victoria in the follow-on and had to settle for a draw at the Adelaide Oval. The two points put South Australia at No. 2 in the Sheffield Shield, level with toppers Western Australia on 26 points but behind on net run rate.The final day had begun with Victoria on 2 for 93 in the follow-on, still 109 away from avoiding an innings defeat. Marcus Stoinis and Cameron White resumed steadily enough, stretching their overnight stand of 64 to 113. However, they fell in quick succession to Joe Mennie, and Victoria’s first-innings centurion Glenn Maxwell was lbw to Chadd Sayers for 4. At 5 for 171, Victoria still trailed by 31.David Hussey and Matthew Wade had a 45-run stand that ensured South Australia would have to bat again, but it was the partnership between Wade and John Hastings that thwarted the hosts’ hopes of victory. Hastings made 47 and Wade remained unbeaten on 71; Victoria were ahead by 132 when the game was called off.

ScorecardA strong all-round Wellington show, led by Luke Woodcock with the ball and Stephen Murdoch with bat, helped the team edge past Canterbury in the third preliminary final in Christchurch and book their entry to the final of the Ford Trophy, against Northern Districts on April 5. It was Wellington’s second consecutive win in the preliminary finals – they ousted Auckland in their previous match – and it has now offered them a chance to take a shot at the title after finishing fourth in the group stage.Opting to bowl, Wellington broke the back of Canterbury’s innings within the space of 11 deliveries. Canterbury had made solid progress to reach 100 for the loss of one wicket in the 23rd over when Woodcock, the left-arm spinner, struck. He dismissed opener Tom Latham for 48, then had Rob Nicol stumped in his next over. In between, Grant Elliot removed Dean Brownlie for a four-ball duck. From 100 for 1, Canterbury lost three more wickets without any addition to their score. The situation worsened as they lost two more wickets in quick time to be 125 for 6 in the 33rd over. A late ripose by Andrew Ellis, who scored a career-best 81, revived the innings to 239.Wellington made a strong start to their chase, with the openers adding 55. Michael Papps was out for 32, but Michael Pollard and Murdoch put on 95 for the second wicket to blow away any thoughts of a collapse. Pollard, who hit eight fours and a six in his 70, was the only other wicket to fall as Murdoch found another able ally in captain James Franklin, who scored an unbeaten half-century. The two helped Wellington stroll past the target with four overs to spare.

The West Indies head coach, Ottis Gibson and captains Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo have been added to the selection panel, as part of 19 recommendations approved by the board of directors of the West Indies Cricket Board to help improve the game in the region. The recommendations were presented by Richard Pybus, the WICB’s director of cricket.The 33-page Pybus Report follows a comprehensive three month, region-wide study which he conducted between November 2013 and January 2014. Pybus, who coached Pakistan and Bangladesh apart from a host of domestic teams around the world, took on his new position last October.Gibson will have voting rights in the selection panel while Sammy (Test and T20 captain) and Bravo (ODI captain) are in the panel as non-voting members. They will be added to the panel that includes Clyde Butts (chairman), Robert Haynes and Courtney Browne.Another significant recommendation was the restructuring of the first-class game in the region. There will be a structured year-round cricket programme with each team playing a minimum of ten matches per season with a home and away format, stretching the domestic season to six months. In a bid to further professionalise the game, annual contracts will be given to 15 players from each territorial board.There will be professional coaching staff for all first-class teams and all matches will be played at international standard grounds. The WICB will appoint a Coaching Manager to implement and oversee coaching programme throughout the region and implement the Elite Coaches Pathway programme which will identify current and former players for accelerated coaching training.There was a recommendation to downsize the number of first-class teams from seven to six to make the Regional Four Day more competitive, but the decision was deferred..