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Doug Bracewell could feature in the final Test against England if he comes through his Ford Trophy one-day outing on Wednesday with Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, admitting that his bowlers were “hanging by a thread” at one point during the Wellington encounter.By the time England were bowled out for 465 on the second day at the Basin Reserve, New Zealand had spent 317 overs in the field since the beginning of the visitors’ second innings in Dunedin. Although Hesson said they had all come through unscathed, and felt it had worked in New Zealand’s favour that they did not field for the final three days in Wellington, he acknowledged the demands of three Tests in three weeks on his pacemen.”It’s been great for us that we haven’t had to bowl the last three days,” he said. “Our guys were hanging on by a thread there for a while. It’s great to see they’ve had a decent break. I assume they’ll be fine but we need to show some due diligence.”The three we’ve got have done a great job, so we’ve basically brought in Doug and got Ian [Butler] there as cover. We’ll see how guys scrub up in Auckland because to play three Tests on the bounce is hard work for any seam attack.”Neil Wagner has nine wickets in the series, but Trent Boult and Tim Southee have just four and one respectively for their efforts. Bracewell, 22, missed the first two Tests after cutting his foot cleaning up glass after a party at his house the day before linking up with the squad in Dunedin. He had been expected to feature in the first-choice attack for the series having taken 46 in 15 Tests. There was hope he would recover in time for Wellington, but has only recently been able to put his full weight back on the foot.”It’s certainly good to have him back in the mix,” Hesson said. “It was an unfortunate incident. Hopefully he can get through tomorrow, 10 overs under his belt, and we will see how he scrubs up.”Another bowler making a comeback from injury, although much further from a national recall than Bracewell, is Daniel Vettori. He remains hopeful of being available for the England tour in May and, with potentially only one domestic game left in the season, is hoping to use the IPL to gain further match fitness.However, while Hesson said that New Zealand had missed Vettori in recent times – he has not played internationally since the World Twenty20 and his previous Test was in West Indies last July – he was also strong in his praise of Bruce Martin who has filled the spinner role in this series and claimed nine wickets in his first two Tests.”All signs are he’s made good progress so we’ll see how he goes over the next few days,” Hesson said. “We’ve missed him for six months, not only the experience he brings but also the skill he brings. Let’s hope his recovery over the next few weeks goes well. To be fair Bruce Martin hasn’t put a foot wrong…he has certainly shown that he’s a good campaigner.”Two other members already in the Test squad who have not feature in the series, Tom Latham and Ian Butler, will play their Ford Trophy games on Wednesday before joining the national squad for the final Test. The deciding Test in Auckland begins Friday.New Zealand squad for Auckland Test: Brendon McCullum (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell (pending getting through Ford Trophy game on Wednesday), Dean Brownlie, Ian Butler, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson.

Kenya have recalled seamer Ragheb Aga and batsman Dominic Wesonga for the Africa Twenty20 qualifiers in Uganda which start next week and form the route to the 2014 World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.Aga, who was released by Sussex in 2010, missed Kenya’s tour to Namibia last September and has not played for the country since facing Ireland in February 2012. He comes in for Duncan Allan who is studying in Australia. Wesonga, who played four ODIs in 2010 and 2011, returns in place of Shem Ngoche.The experienced core of the squad comes from the captain Collins Obuya, Maurice Ouma, Tanmay Mishra and Rakep Patel.This is the first time that Kenya have needed to play in the African qualifier following their relegation. The tournament also involves Botswana, Nigeria and Tanzania”We are not taking the Uganda tournament lightly. That is why we have named our very strong team, as we are seeking to climb back up the ladder to the top of the T20 rankings among the Associate teams,” Cricket Kenya administrative manager, David Odhiambo said.The top two teams will qualify, alongside Namibia, to represent Africa in the penultimate round of the World Cup qualifying competition in the UAE later this year.Squad Collins Obuya (capt), Ragheb Aga, Alex Obanda, Irfan Karim, Dominic Wesonga, Tanmay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Maurice Ouma, Nelson Odhiambo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Lucas Oluoch, Hiren Varaiya, Emmanuel Bundi, James Ngoche

ScorecardCameron Borgas scored 48 to set up Rangpur•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Rangpur Riders climbed to fifth place with a last-ball win over Chittagong Kings, who lost their first game after four consecutive wins. Kevin O’Brien and Danza Hyatt blasted the 16 needed off the final over bowled by Rubel Hossain.After Naeem Islam’s misfield off the first ball conceded a boundary, O’Brien hit another boundary, to point, played out a dot ball before taking a single to midwicket. Hyatt smashed a straight six before scampering a leg-bye off the final ball to seal the win. The pair added an unbeaten 33 for the sixth wicket off just 14 balls as Rangpur remained in contention of a successful chase throughout their innings. Imrul Kayes and Cameron Borgas made 48 each and added 96 for the third wicket in quick time. Kayes struck three fours and three sixes in his 40-ball knock while Borgas scored his runs in 41 balls with three fours and two sixes.Shaun Tait and Kevon Cooper took two wickets each, but Rubel’s poor final over cost them the match. His lack of control at the death overs has been a recurring theme in his career.Earlier, Chittagong posted 160 for 6 thanks to Ryan ten Doeschate’s good form, the Netherlands batsman this time scoring 50 off 32 balls with a couple of sixes and fours. Ariful Haque hammered an unbeaten 33 off 20 balls with four fours and a six to prop up the total.For Rangpur, Abdur Razzak and Nasir Hossain took two wickets each.

Scorecard
Gujarat scored a crucial win over Group A table-toppers Punjab at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Valsad. Punjab would have backed themselves to chase 231 for victory, but were bowled out for 193 and fell short in what was shaping up to be a thrilling finish. Left-arm spinning allrounder Rakesh Dhurv picked up eight wickets in the match, including five in the second innings.Punjab were on the back foot almost from the outset, losing their openers with just 11 on the board. Mandeep Singh made 42 but was short of support and Punjab slipped to 69 for 5. Gurkeerat Singh and Amitoze Singh stretched the score to 112 during their sixth-wicket stand, but Gujarat made inroads again. Dhurv removed Gurkeerat, Siddarth Kaul and Harbhajan Singh in a space of four runs. Punjab gave Gujarat a scare, though, with the last-wicket pair of Sarabjit Ladda and Sandeep Sharma putting together 63, but Dhurv bowled Sandeep to complete his five-for and seal victory for Gujarat. Punjab still lead the table, and Gujarat are second on 21 points.
ScorecardSaurashtra began the day with intent, going after the remaining 295 runs, but they pulled the shutters after they lost their fifth wicket. Having settled for just the one point, Saurashtra are now placed fifth in Group A, but only three points behind Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh, who are joint-third.Saurashtra had promoted Shitanshu Kotak and Sheldon Jackson on the third evening, and they set up a good platform through 73 runs in 22.3 overs. Cheteshpar Pujara, though, failed to make an impact for the second time in the match, and fell for 24. Kotak followed soon, and Saurashtra were now struggling at 129 for 3.Shah counterattacked now with a 35-ball 34, but Saurashtra lost two wickets together. From 164 for 5, Kamlesh Makvana and Aarpit Vasavavda shut shop, and added 53 in 27.2 overs.
ScorecardBy setting them 321 in 70 overs, Hyderabad didn’t leave Railways much time to go for six points, which they desperately needed, but Railways made a fist of it before having to settle for a draw. The one point left Railways at 15 points, well behind the contenders, but not quite out of the tournament. With nine points from seven games, Hyderabad have no chance of progressing.Kamal Sharma and Mahesh Rawat scored quick 48s to give Hyderabad nervous moments, but Pragyan Ojha accounted for both of them to set the chase back. Nitin Bhille played the anchor role, and scored an unbeaten 65 to ensure Railways salvaged the one point.

Match Facts

December 9, Lahore
Start time 1600 (10.30GMT)Ahmed Shehzad has another chance to stake his claim for a place in the Pakistan side•AFP

The Big Picture

Earlier this week Mohammad Hafeez said with a smile that his ‘heart will beat’ for Lahore Lions if he ends up facing his native side Faisalabad Wolves in the final. That moment has arrived, with Hafeez taking on Misbah-ul-Haq’s team. The champions of the Faisal Bank Twenty20 take home Rupees 2 million. Both teams have won the title once. The Wolves won the inaugural championship in 2005, and the Lions in 2010.Both sides have been very consistent this tournament. Lions, a powerful side with nine international cricketers, have been unbeaten this tournament and their margins of victory so far are; seven wickets, 30 runs, 30 runs, 6 wickets, 44 runs, 5 wickets, 51 runs. Wolves, too, have been undefeated but without many big stars; Saeed Ajmal left his home team after three matches to join Big Bash League in Australia though team had an inspiration of Misbah.Lions’ weakness appears to be their bowling, they’ve only managed to bowl a side out once so far. Wolves haven’t been explosive with the bat, chasing with steady approach.The Gaddafi Stadium will host the final and a full house is expected. The security around the stadium has been increased. It was near the stadium that gunmen fired at the the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009, and the country hasn’t hosted international cricket since then. The head of police in charge of security has said the city has a point prove by hosting the final successfully.

Watch out for…

Ahmed Shehzad, the right-hand opener, has made a case to return into the national side, after scoring a hundred against Bahawalpur Stags, including 20 boundaries. He is currently the highest run-getter this tournament. He has another opportunity in this competition to stake his claim for a place in the Pakistan side for the upcoming tour of India.Seamer Ehsan Adil could play a key role against a powerful batting line-up. He hit the headlines after the Under-19 World Cup and was the second-highest wicket-taker in the President Trophy. He’s also taken seven wickets in three T20 games.

Pitch and conditions

During day-night games, teams have preferred to field first to prevent the dew from affecting their bowlers in the evening.

Quotes

“We know we have the big names in the side and each player is sensing the responsibility to with the championship.”
Mohammad Hafeez
“Hafeez has been an integral part of our team and nobody can fill his vacancy but players come and go and it’s a part of the game. He is definitely is being missed but you have to manage without him so we will try to perform well and win.”

Yere Goud, the former Railways and Karnataka batsman, has announced his retirement, bringing to an end a 17-year first-class career.Goud, 40, made his debut for his home state Karnataka in 1994-95, before moving to Railways for a decade helping them win Ranji titles in 2001-02 and 2004-05. He won five other major titles, including three Irani Cups, one Duleep Trophy and a Ranji one-day trophy.In 2006-07, Goud returned to Karnataka as captain for a couple of seasons, before moving back to Railways where he played three more years. He became a member of a group of less than 20 players to win 100 Ranji caps in 2008. Goud ends his career with 134 first-class matches, in which he scored 7650 runs at 45.53.In 2001-02, a season in which he topped the Ranji charts with 761 runs, he was a part of the India A side, but he couldn’t progress to the Indian national team. “I have no regrets about that,” he said, at a farewell ceremony at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. “I gave it my best shot but it didn’t happen.”Like another Ranji stalwart who resigned this season, Sunil Joshi, Goud also hails from a small Karnataka town. “I used to travel from Raichur (his hometown, in northern Karnataka) to Bangalore for four years for coaching camps with (former India batsman) Brijesh Patel and Imitiaz Ahmed,” he said, recalling his early struggles. Post-retirement, he wants to get into umpiring and coaching, and also hoped he could help cricketers from small towns to make it big.Senior officials of the KSCA, including the president Anil Kumble and secretary Javagal Srinath, were on hand to pay tribute to Goud. “It is not easy coming from a mofussil town, and then excelling in cricket,” Kumble, who was Karnataka captain on Goud’s debut, said. “He was technically extremely sound, both as a batsman and a fielder, and his bowling was always handy.”To highlight Goud’s commitment, Kumble pointed to Goud’s time in charge of Karnataka. “Even as captain, he would stand at silly point and short leg, though many people have a temptation to put a junior cricketer in that position.”Perhaps the biggest compliment of the day, though, came from Srinath. “He is the Rahul Dravid of the Railways team,” Srinath said, referring to Goud’s consistency in domestic cricket. Both Srinath and Kumble regretted that Goud played only 17 first-class matches for Karnataka, and that he wasn’t part of the state side for a longer period.There was a surprise in store at the end of the ceremony, as Goud was presented with a Phd thesis on him, titled “A case study on a cricketer: Yere Goud, his personality and achievements.”

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said his side should be proud of the fact that they managed to put pressure on India, despite losing an evenly matched Bangalore Test by five wickets. After losing the first Test in Hyderabad by an innings, they fancied their chances of squaring the series in Bangalore by setting a target of 261. India stuttered, but got over the line on the fourth day after being reduced to 166 for 5.”I think we have made huge progress in this Test. The score we operated with in the first innings (365) was more than competitive,” Hesson said. “To get a first-innings lead against a quality Indian side showed that we’d made some improvements there. In the second innings the conditions were a bit tougher, we made a couple of errors at crucial times, we also could have fallen over but we didn’t. We took on some players with fearful records.”In the end, we set them a challenging a total that gave our bowlers a real chance. Sure we would have wanted more (runs). We still have to keep that positive mindset.”The defeat was New Zealand’s fourth in as many Tests since the tour of the West Indies in July-August. New Zealand are at No.8 in the ICC Test rankings, above Bangladesh. Hesson admitted, thoughk that the players were disappointed they couldn’t close out the game.”We are ranked where we are for a reason, but I thought there were good signs in all areas of the game in Bangalore,” Hesson said. “No one likes to lose and the dressing room was quite gutted because we put a top side under pressure, which many sides haven’t been able to do in India in a long time. To put ourselves into that position and not get over the line was frustrating.”The players are extremely hard on themselves, individually and collectively. Some talk about the inadequacies in other players to try and help them. We’ve got a good leadership group that’s learning to lead. We’re trying to get the guys to evolve so they can challenge each other and start to ask tough questions.”New Zealand left out their most experienced seamer, Chris Martin, for Tim Southee, whose 7 for 64 were the best figures for a New Zealand bowler in India. Southee’s efforts helped New Zealand gain a slender first-innings lead of 12. Hesson said leaving out Martin was a “tough call” but insisted that he was definitely in the mix for future selection.”We thought Chris bowled well in Hyderabad but we thought Tim was ready to go. He had been bowling beautifully and someone had to miss out. Chris has a lot of experience and helps pull the whole bowling group together.”Hesson said the side had a lot to learn in terms of decision making out in the middle, especially in Hyderabad, where New Zealand failed to pass 200 in both innings.”We lost a number of wickets in the first Test because we were indecisive, whether it be to play, or leave, to push for a single or to attack. If you make the wrong decision and commit to it sometimes you can get out of trouble. We tried to ensure we didn’t make those mistakes from Hyderabad in this Test.”Hesson said the players had done their best to simulate match conditions at the nets. “We have competitive nets. We create an environment in our net situation where the guys are under pressure. Very difficult of course to replicate 40,000 screaming Indians.”

David Warner will play for the Big Bash League (BBL) title-holders Sydney Sixers in the 2012-13 season. Warner has transferred to the Sixers – the team from Sydney’s eastern suburbs – from the Sydney Thunder, whom he captained in the inaugural BBL.The transfer was expected, after Warner had expressed interest in the Sixers and failed to strike a deal with the Thunder, leaving him unsigned at the end of the competition’s primary recruitment window. Subsequently, the Thunder had taken Michael Clarke on board for the 2012-13 season.Warner said he was happy to be representing the eastern suburbs. “I had a great time last year at the Sydney Thunder and thank the fans at ANZ Stadium [the Thunder’s base] for their support, but I’m an eastern suburbs boy and I am really looking forward to playing at the SCG [the Sixers’ base] for the Sixers,” he told the franchise’s website.Apart from winning the BBL last summer, the Sixers cultivated a happy team environment under the coaching of Trevor Bayliss and the wider management of Stuart Clark. By contrast, the Thunder battled for strong results and faced difficulties surrounding their home base, with transport believed to be one of several issues for players.As a current member of Australia Test team, Warner is unlikely to play more than one BBL game this year – the season-opening derby between the Sixers and the Thunder at the SCG on December 7 – but his presence would be considered crucial in terms of marketing the franchise and building its fan base.

Independent research that may have swayed the ICC’s executive board into approving mandatory use of the DRS was not shown at its meeting in Kuala Lumpur, despite being pivotal in convincing both the cricket committee and the chief executives’ committee of the technology’s accuracy.Wally Edwards, the Cricket Australia chairman, has revealed that the research on ball-tracking conducted by Dr Ed Rosten, an expert in computer vision technology, was left off the agenda of the executive board meeting, which concluded without the issue of DRS even being put to a vote due to India’s reluctance to accept its use.The ICC will now send a mission to India to show Dr Rosten’s research to the BCCI, alongside details of the enhancements made to Hot Spot, the infrared cameras used to detect edges that had their accuracy questioned after the 2011 Test series between England and India.Edwards told ESPNcricinfo that while other members of the board had also expressed some reluctance to go ahead with mandatory use of the DRS, he believed the tabling of Dr Rosten’s research may have resulted in a different outcome.”ICC had got some independent research done on the accuracy and all those issues. Now unfortunately they didn’t present that information to the board,” Edwards said. “India have agreed and the boards have agreed for ICC management to go to India and take all the information, take their presentations, take their technical support and talk to them over there.”India are willing to look at it, but they’re sceptical, and others are too – it’s not just India. I think it is part of the game for the future, but it’s a good time to review. Unfortunately if that presentation, or whatever it is they had, had been presented to the board it might have changed things. But we probably need another process, because people would have to go back to their boards and say ‘this is the latest, can we move from where we are to there’. Obviously Australia supports it, and we understand there’s still an error factor, but overall it’s better than what we had.”The accuracy of the DRS had been warmly endorsed by both the ICC’s cricket committee and chief executives committee, with Dr Rosten’s research a critical part of winning their approval. Following the CEC meeting, an ICC statement read: “CEC recommended to the Board the universal application of the DRS after being satisfied with the technology enhancements provided by new Hotspot cameras and the results of the independent research on ball tracking conducted by Dr Ed Rosten, an expert in computer vision technology. Dr Rosten had tested the accuracy and reliability of ball tracking in a recent Test series and concluded that the results were 100% in agreement with the outcomes produced from his assessments.”Much has been made of the back-room politics of the executive board, which appears to be far more consequential to the running of the global game than anything said in formal meetings. Edwards, however, said he did not find it unusual that the DRS was not tabled for a vote, based on his previous experience on various corporate and cricket boards in Australia. Instead, he awaited India’s response to the research they will be presented with.”Obviously if there are debatable issues we try to debate them. The more difficult the issue, the more you should talk,” Edwards said. “But in any boards that I’ve been on, there are very few decisions that will actually go to a ‘we’re going to count the votes here’ situation. Governance is one of them, but most others you’ll find a consensus that says ‘yeah right we’ll give that a run’. I didn’t find it unusual.”We knew where India stand on it, and at this point in time they’re not ready to change their thoughts. Those lines you see on TV, are they accurate, that’s the scepticism. It looks accurate, but from their point of view they are reluctant just to accept it as gospel. I think it is possible they’ll change, but we’ll have to wait and see how they go with this new information in India.”Previous attempts have been made to demonstrate the intricacies and accuracy of ball-tracking and other technology to the BCCI, notably via a planned trip to Australia during the 2010-11 Ashes series. On that occasion the visit was at first approved by the BCCI but then ruled out due to “scheduling difficulties”.

Alan Isaac, the former chairman of New Zealand Cricket, has taken over as ICC president for a two-year term, succeeding Sharad Pawar. In another expected top-level change, former South Africa wicketkeeper Dave Richardson has been confirmed as the ICC’s chief executive, taking over from Haroon Lorgat.Isaac is the ICC’s eighth president, and will be the last to hold the post in its current shape as it will become a ceremonial role once he steps down in 2014. Over the past two years, Isaac has been the ICC’s vice-president, a position that the body plans to abolish due to its fourth constitutional amendment since 1996.Isaac has not played top-flight cricket, but represented Wellington in the age-group levels and was captain of its second team. He was a member of New Zealand Cricket’s board for 18 years and became its chairman in 2008. New Zealand’s golf and rugby boards also feature on his resume, which is dominated by his 35-year career with auditing firm KPMG.”I recognise that there is, of course, much hard work and much progress needed if we are to maintain the game’s current healthy state,” Isaac said. “I believe that the challenges ahead are no less daunting than those we have faced in the last two years if we are to maintain the vibrancy and viability of the three formats of the sport.”Richardson, who played 42 Tests for South Africa and was ICC’s general manager of cricket for the last 10 years, also said he wanted to continue the work of his predecessor. “It is a real honour to be confirmed as the ICC Chief Executive and I want to pay tribute to Haroon Lorgat,” he said. “I have learnt much in the last four years and I inherit a game in great health with much to be optimistic about. I look forward to building on that and tackling the challenges ahead.” Richardson has become the first former Test cricketer to take over the role of the CEO, which has been held by Malcolm Speed and Lorgat.