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ScorecardMichael Lumb’s aggressive 57 maintained Nottinghamshire’s winning start to their Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign with a seven-wicket win over Warwickshire in a rain-interrupted contest at Edgbaston.The England Twenty20 international struck nine fours and a six from just 41 balls to ensure that Nottinghamshire, who were set a revised target of 194 from 30 overs, were well ahead of the rate when it was further adjusted to 133 in 21 overs after another stoppage for rain. Nottinghamshire needed 21 from 20 balls when the players returned but they eased home with nine deliveries to spare thanks to a composed unbeaten 39 from James Taylor.Warwickshire’s total of 186 for 7, based around Rikki Clarke’s first one-day half-century in a year, looked competitive – but Lumb soon made it look inadequate as he contributed 43 to an opening stand of 52 with a subdued Alex Hales. Lumb had mustered only 16 runs in his previous three innings in the competition this season but he was quickly into his stride, taking three fours from Chris Woakes’ opening over then straight driving Chris Wright for a six.Woakes and Wright both absorbed heavy punishment so Warwickshire turned to New Zealand offspinner Jeetan Patel who struck with his first ball when Hales shovelled a catch to Ateeq Javid at square leg. Lumb raced to a 28-ball half century but then failed to dig out a yorker from Steffan Piolet’s first ball.Samit Patel holed out to deep square in Boyd Rankin’s first over just before umpires Neil Bainton and Steve O’Shaughnessy took the players off for rain but Taylor finished the job that Lumb had started. Warwickshire managed only 29 in their opening eight over Powerplay and, thanks to Lumb’s superb strokeplay, Nottinghamshire needed only 18 balls to pass that figure.Warwickshire’s innings was twice interrupted early on by hailstorms which meant that the match was reduced first to a 37 overs contest and then to 30 overs after a second and more lengthy stoppage. Warwickshire stuttered as Varun Chopra struggled to time the ball but Clarke got the innings going after he was promoted up the order by lifting Patel for six over long-on.Chopra grafted for his 42 before he went leg before wicket sweeping Steve Mullaney but Clarke was more fluent and reached a 42-ball 50 in the penultimate over of the innings. Clarke, who was bowled pulling Jake Ball, was given spirited support by Tim Ambrose and Piolet, who provided late acceleration with unselfish cameos, but Warwickshire were still left seeking their first win in this season’s competition.

ScorecardJimmy Adams marshalled the last two wickets to an extra 167 runs and counting•Getty Images

They say top level sport is won and lost in the head and Hampshire left it to their captain and No. 10 to do all the clear thinking to dig them out of a huge hole at Bristol.Having not looked likely to make three figures at lunch on day one, a record partnership for the ninth wicket between Jimmy Adams and Danny Briggs turned disaster into a solid total and two batting bonus points.The pair showed application that deserted the eight other batsmen on the opening day, who recorded 49 runs between them. It was a further failure after two poor showings in defeat at Essex last week, which was a surprise after Hampshire racked up 954 in two innings at the Ageas Bowl in their first two matches.Introspection is required. They have been guilty of not adjusting from their home wicket but Adams denied there was any hangover from Chelmsford.”The guys have played a fair bit of cricket away from the Ageas Bowl in recent weeks so they should be used to playing away from home by now,” Adams said. “Perhaps losing the toss wouldn’t have been a bad thing here and at Chelmsford but we thought both wickets were good enough to have a bat first on. I thought the positive option was to have a bat.”After the first five overs I was thinking everything was fine. But we had a flurry of wickets and sometimes that’s what you get. We gave away too many cheap wickets. It was hard work and I was just trying to get through those passages of play.”Adams, astute at the crease on the first day, found the going a little easier on the second morning and went through to his second Championship century of the season in 221 balls. He now has over 500 first-class runs this season at an average of 131.25. His knock here included 12 fours, nearly all of them square on both sides of the wicket.Adams’ success was down to his mental fortitude: gritting it out when the ball was new and swinging and claiming the wickets of most of his fellow batsman; working his way up to a half-century to get something on the board for Hampshire; and then marshalling Briggs and James Tomlinson very effectively in so far adding 167 for the last two wickets.The second morning saw 99 runs added in 33 overs. It was straightforward progress against a softer ball that moved nowhere. Gloucestershire were also a bowler light. Will Gidman, having left the field on day one with a jarred ankle, was ruled out of bowling in the remainder of the game. His injury is yet to be diagnosed and it was a major blow for Gloucestershire who are quickly running out of fit bowlers. A week off from Championship cricket next week has come at the perfect time. John Bracewell will use the break to attend his daughter’s graduation back in New Zealand.Only Benny Howell looked like taking a wicket on day two. He had Adams’ dropped on 76 by wicketkeeper Cameron Herring who was stood up to the stumps and spilled a healthy edge. It took Briggs to pull Alex Gidman’s first ball of the innings to midwicket for the ninth wicket to fall.It was a poor end for Briggs who had played so circumspectly in settling in with Adams for 22 overs before the first day’s rain. He went through to a maiden Championship half-century in 109 balls by driving Jack Taylor through extra cover. It was some bonus for Hampshire. Briggs’ previous highest score in the Championship was 36, made in 2009.He and Adams added 128 in 37.1 overs – a ninth-wicket record for Hampshire against Gloucestershire. And the hosts’ frustration continued as James Tomlinson extended the innings with a 47-ball resistance – the first 43 of those without scoring. It allowed Adams to bring up a second bonus point.Adams would have been very nervous as the second new ball was taken with him on 98 and Tomlinson taking strike. But Tomlinson survived six Craig Miles deliveries and allowed Adams to bring up a tremendous century in the next over by pulling David Payne through square leg.

ScorecardThe three-day tour match between the Sagicor High Performance Centre (SHPC) and Zimbabweans ended in a draw after both sides failed to wrest a decisive advantage.SHPC added 17 runs to their overnight score before they were dismissed for 230, 25 runs short of the Zimbabweans’ first-innings total. Legspinner Graeme Cremer added two wickets to his five-wicket haul on day two to finish with match figures of 7 for 79.The SHPC bowlers kept the Zimbabwean batsmen in check, picking up regular wickets. Vusi Sibanda was the only batsman to score a fifty in a line-up that had five of the top six get into double-figures. His 80 came off 108 balls and included 13 fours. Yannick Cariah and Jomel Warrican were the most successful bowlers for SHPC, picking up two wickets each.Apart from Sibanda, only Hamilton Masakadza and Malcolm Waller had a decent game with the bat for the visitors ahead of the first Test against West Indies which starts from Tuesday.

Match facts

March 2, 2013
Start time 1400 local (1800 GMT)Malcolm Waller can deliver for Zimbabwe in the middle order• WICB Media/Randy Brooks Photo

Big Picture

The scoreline may read 3-0 but West Indies’ dominance also had to do with Zimbabwe’s own sloppiness in the ODI series. The visitors suffered for the lack of depth in their bowling attack but made it worse by conceding too many after looking good in short bursts. For what is a good fielding side, simple run-out chances were missed, and the batsmen struggled to read Sunil Narine.The result may have been along expected lines in the 50-over format, and a tougher challenge awaits them in a two-Test series, but the T20s may offer them the best chance to cause an upset. They were unable to cause any during the World Twenty20 last year but, though they are up against the champions in the format, they do possess some firepower in their batting to make an impact. West Indies play their first T20 international in the Caribbean after winning the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

Form guide

Zimbabwe: LLLLL
West Indies: WWWWW

In the spotlight

Malcolm Waller is one of Zimbabwe’s batsmen who can accelerate. He looked good in the ODI series, scoring a half-century and then getting some quick runs in the middle order, including two sixes, in the second ODI. He has a healthy strike-rate of 84 in the ODI format but is yet to do something significant with the bat in the shortest version.Guyana allrounder Christopher Barnwell has made it to the West Indies squad after 17 months. He was impressive in the Caribbean T20, making 245 runs in eight games and taking six wickets.

Team news

There’s no Kieran Powell in the West Indies squad so Lendl Simmons could get a chance to open. Shannon Gabriel and Barnwell have made it to the squad based on their performances in the Caribbean T20 and West Indies captain Darren Sammy said they are likely to get a go in the XI in at least one game out of the two this series. Antigua has been a venue favourable for spinners, Sammy said; both Narine and legspinner Samuel Badree were expected to make the starting XI, he added.West Indies (possible): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Kieron Pollard, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Darren Sammy (capt), 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Christopher Barnwell/Shannon Gabriel/Tino Best, 10 Samuel Badree, 11 Sunil Narine.Zimbabwe have retained the same squad for the Twenty20s.Zimbabwe (squad) : Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor (capt), Craig Ervine, Malcolm Waller, Regis Chakabva, Chamu Chibhabha, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Natsai M’Shangwe, Kyle Jarvis, Chris Mpofu.

Stats and trivia

• It was nine years ago that Tino Best made his Test debut, but he has played just one T20 international in all that time – earlier this year in Brisbane.
• Prosper Utseya has an impressive economy rate in T20 internationals, of 6.74 in 20 games. He does even better in T20s overall, with 6.43 in 69 matches. .

Quotes

“The key to bowling in T20 cricket is consistency and that helps to build the pressure on batsmen. I will look to maintain the pressure we have created.”

ScorecardAjaz Patel produced his career-best figures of 6 for 57 to take Central Districts to the top of he table by beating Canterbury at McLean Park in Napier.Canterbury had to score another 244 runs when they started the fourth day, but Shanan Stewart was dismissed before he could open his account in the morning. Peter Fulton also added only nine before he became Kyle Jarvis’ second wicket and fell for 59. All middle-order batsmen got off to starts and scored in double figures but Patel ripped through their line-up as Canterbury lost their last five wickets for 61 runs and fell short of their target by 81.In the first innings, Central Districts had taken a 11-run lead when they score 303, led by half-centuries from Jeet Raval, Mathew Sinclair and Kruger van Wyk . Canterbury, in reply, were struggling at 22 for 3, but Dean Brownlie and Andrew Ellis savaged the innings and took them close to 300. Kyle Jarvis and Andrew Mathieson took four wickets each ensuring they got a lead.Central Districts scored 320 in the second innings, out of which Kieran Noema-Barnett scored 90, and set Canterbury a target of 332.Central Districts now sit at the top the table with 92 points, 15 more than Otago who were at the top till yesterday.
ScorecardNorthern Districts dismissed the Auckland team in a single day for the second time in the match to complete an innings win on the third day in Hamilton.By the time they declared on 614 for 7 on the third day, Northern Districts had taken a lead of 374 runs and their bowlers struck twice before lunch to leave Auckland on 22 for 2. Reece Young and Craig Cachopa then put together 106 runs for the third wicket before Young was dismissed for 49. Cachopa completed his century just before tea, when Auckland were 188 for 3. But in the last session, Northern Districts took six wickets in 32 overs to complete the innings win.Earlier, when Auckland were put in to bat on the first day, Anurag Verma, playing only his second first-class match, took seven wickets to leave them at 125 for 8 before Dusan Hakaraia’s unbeaten 141 took them to 240. Northern Districts’ top order imposed more agony on Auckland when Daniel Flynn, Brad Wilson and James Marshall scored hundreds and ensured that their team batted only once.
ScorecardOtago completed a massive innings win over Wellington within three days of the match at the University Oval in Dunedin.Otago chose to field on the first day and Blair Soper and James Fuller shared nine wickets between them to restrict Wellington to 254. Apart from Aaron Redmond, all of Otago’s top and middle-order batsmen scored heavily to march ahead of Wellington’s total. While Michael Bracewell and Neil Broom scored hundreds, Hamish Rutherford (90) and Derek de Boorder (68) scored half-centuries as Otago declared at 651 on the third morning to take a lead of 397 runs.Before the Wellington openers could settle down, James Fuller struck twice and Jesse Ryder departed for 18, with the score on 36 for 3. After lunch, Otago ran through Wellington’s lower order to take their remaining seven wickets for 107 runs, completing an innings win. Fuller finished with career-best figures of 6 for 24 and took ten wickets in the match.

Owais Shah has appeared in 11 Twenty20 line-ups over the past decade; this experience gives him the right to judge which tournaments can be categorised as good, and which are sub-standard. After his successful Bangladesh Premier League debut for the Dhaka Gladiators, Shah said it is too early to judge just where this Twenty20 league stands, though he felt comfortable playing for his new team.”There is a lot of stuff [that counts]. Like organisation, the way the grounds are maintained, the facilities provided for the players to practice, and also how the entire tournament progresses over the four or five weeks,” Shah said. “I think everything seems to be in place here. It is organised and it seems good, so hopefully that will go on for the whole month.”Shah has had stints with Cape Cobras, Delhi Daredevils, Essex, Hobart Hurricanes, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Kolkata Knight Riders, Middlesex, Rajasthan Royals, Wellington and, now, Dhaka Gladiators, which have given him an understanding of bowling attacks, pitches and the general pace of Twenty20 cricket. The pressure to perform for a franchise was different to that which comes when playing for your country, he said: “There is pressure on me to perform because the financial rewards are good. When you make the decision to play in T20 leagues around the world, you need to perform.”The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced that the players will be paid 25% of their fees before the tournament, 25% during the tournament and the rest within 150 days of the tournament ending. Given his experience, despite the BPL’s previous financial issues, Shah can expect to be paid on time”We were told by the Professional Cricketers’ Association in England that there have been problems with payments, but this year the way the tournament has been structured, we should be getting paid by the board in the next day or so,” he said. “We have put our trust in the Bangladesh Cricket Board and they shouldn’t let us down.”Shah’s next assignment will be the T20 Domestic Challenge in South Africa, where he will play for Cape Cobras. “I am supposed to go to Cape Town to play in their T20 tournament [from February 17]. So I had a month with no cricket on and when this opportunity came, I was excited to be a part of the Dhaka Gladiators.”

ScorecardShikhar Dhawan’s hundred led Delhi to a shock win against the England tourists•K Sivaraman

England suffered their second successive defeat in a tour game as their bowlers failed to defend 295 against Delhi at the Kotla in seemingly bowling-friendly conditions. The ineffectiveness of the bowlers against a side possessing only a couple of known players is a worrying sign for Ashley Giles, the coach, ahead of the first ODI that begins in three days’ time on a likely flat track in Rajkot.Choosing to bat first, the England batting clicked after they had collapsed to 175 all out in the previous warm-up match. Ian Bell followed up his 91 against India A with a century that helped other players to attack around him and post a daunting 294. However, they were not prepared for a backlash from Shikhar Dhawan, the Delhi opener, whose aggressive hundred set the tone for the other batsmen as Delhi overhauled the target comfortably in the penultimate over.While Bell’s innings had been scratchy, Dhawan’s was dominating right through. Whether it was Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meaker, Steven Finn or Chris Woakes, Dhawan played freely against them all. He drove majestically and was quick to pull anything short, the extra pace offered by the England bowlers suiting his strokeplay. When Meaker pitched short to him, he pulled one deep into the stands at midwicket for one of his three sixes.Dhawan, who has been on the fringes of India selection for sometime, also staked his claim for the opener’s role in the national XI. Virender Sehwag, India’s regular opener, has already been dropped and Gautam Gambhir’s position at the top isn’t any firmer.His 100 came off 98 balls with a slog-swept six off Tredwell. Dhawan also found solid support from 21-year-old batsman Milind Kumar, who remained unbeaten on 78.The Delhi batsmen, though, were helped by some wayward bowling by the England bowlers, who were also a touch short throughout the innings. The seamers were taken for 188 runs in 30.3 overs on a track where the India and Pakistan fast bowlers found help a couple of days ago.James Tredwell, deputising for the rested Graeme Swann, accepted that England needed to improve markedly in the opening ODI against India in Friday.”It’s obviously not been ideal,” he said. “We like to go in and win these games but we’ve not hit our skills in the way we’d have liked. We need to make some improvements in the next couple of days. We didn’t hit our lengths consistently enough to build pressure over periods of time.”The result is irrelevent, but to be able to turn it around in the next couple of days going into the first ODI is crucial. We all have massive pride in our performances so when things don’t go to plan it’s disappointing. We can build on that disappointment and put it right going into the first game.”While the bowling attack suffered, England’s experienced batsmen made most of their time in the middle. Apart from Bell, three other batsmen – Alastair Cook, Eoin Morgan and Craig Keiswetter – made useful contributions and got the much-needed batting practice ahead of the five-match series.Bell, who opened the batting along with Cook, looked uncomfortable initially as the ball didn’t come on to the bat and seamer Parwinder Awana troubled him with a tight line outside off. But he saw through the period by dropping anchor at his end and letting Cook play aggressively.Cook, the England captain, was in good touch and two of his shots – a cover drive and a backfoot punch through cover-point – both off Awana, stood out. He scored 44 before seamer Sumit Narwal breached his defence, but an opening stand of 70 had already given the visitors a good start.Although Joe Root and Samit Patel missed out, Morgan and Kieswetter attacked in the latter half of the innings, scoring 52 and 41 respectively, to put up a strong total. The bowling today, however, let the advantage slip through.