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The Goa under-19 team had to struggle all the way in the face of a good bowling performance by Kerala and were perched precariously at the end of the first day with only 71 runs on the board while losing eight wickets along the way in the Cooch Behar Trophy South Zone league match at the Medical College Ground in Trivandrum on Tuesday.Play started only at 1 pm due to overnight rains and put in to bat, Goa made a disastrous start losing opener SS Sandesh (1) in the seventh over of the day. S Santh who picked up the wicket of Sandesh struck again, trapping SD Saheel (7) in front of the stumps. His partner TA Yousaf then removed the other opener AA Swapnil (9). Goa were in dire straits with three of the top order batsmen dismissed and with only 25 runs on the board. But Santh was not finished and he struck once more when he had SK Suraj (4) caught behind.Goa’s innings was in real disarray, when Yousaf shattered the defence of KK Sagun (4) with only 33 runs on the board. Then R David (20) and RA Aditya (14) struggled along to take the Goa innings past the 50-run mark in the 20th over of the innings. But in the very next over Aditya departed, offering a return catch to NK Aneesh.NN Gautham then gave David some company, while taking the score to 71 before he was trapped leg before by Aneesh. David himself did not last long. Seven balls later, he struggled to reach his crease and was run out with no runs added to the score. Almost at once, Goa found some help by way of bad light which put an end to the proceedings. At this stage, Santh had taken three wickets for 17 while Yousaf had two for 23.

Hampshire will be hoping to continue their good run, as they seek a fourth successive Norwich Union League win againstr Derbyshire on Sunday.Hampshire will look towards the same side, and hope it produces the right result.Hampshire: Jason Laney, Neil Johnson, Derek Kenway, Will Kendall, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Lawrence Prittipaul, Robin Smith, Shaun Udal, James Hamblin, Chris Tremlett and Alan Mullally.

He might not be a sure starter in India’s limited-overs XIs nowadays, but Ajinkya Rahane has been given a Grade A BCCI central contract. It is an elite group: only four players have made it to Grade A, others being Test captain Virat Kohli, limited-overs captain MS Dhoni and offspinner R Ashwin.Rahane was the captain when India went to Zimbabwe without Dhoni and Kohli. Rahane had an excellent year with runs in Australia, both in Tests and at the World Cup, to go with his previous year where he scored runs in South Africa and England. Grade A carried a Rs 1 crore retainer.

The BCCI’s contract list for 2015-16

Men’s players
Grade A (Rs 1 crore): MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane
In: Ajinkya Rahane
Out: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suresh Raina
Grade B (Rs 50 lakh): Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammed Shami
In: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suresh Raina
Out: Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha
Grade C (Rs 25 lakh): Amit Mishra, Axar Patel, Stuart Binny, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Dhawal Kulkarni, Harbhajan Singh, S Aravind
In: Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, S Aravind
Out: Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Manoj Tiwary, Parvez Rasool, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav
Women’s players
Grade A (Rs 15 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur, Thirush Kamini
Grade B (Rs 10 lakh): Smriti Mandhana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Veda Krishnamurthy, Niranjana Nagarajan, Poonam Raut

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was India’s Player of the Series in England in 2014, has been relegated to Grade B as has Suresh Raina. Bhuvneshwar hasn’t been able to replicate his form from the previous year after his return from injury. Since he was given a Grade A contract last year, Raina has made another unsuccessful attempt at a Test comeback, and has had an average time in the ODIs.Test openers M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu, and fast bowlers Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami retained their Grade B contracts, which carry a Rs 50 lakh retainer.Ravindra Jadeja, who has made a successful comeback to Tests with the Man of the Match award in Mohali, went down from Grade B to Grade C. After a shoulder injury, he had an indifferent time in international cricket, which led to his being dropped from all formats after the ODIs in Bangladesh in June. Another Grade B contract holder, Pragyan Ojha, whose action came under the spotlight before he came back to domestic cricket with corrections, was not given any contract.The total number of contracts went down from 32 to 26. Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Manoj Tiwary, Parvez Rasool, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson and Kuldeep Yadav lost their contracts. Harbhajan Singh and S Aravind were given Grade C contracts, whose retainer is Rs 25 lakh. Naman Ojha, who made his test debut in Sri Lanka, missed out on a contract as well.Women cricketers were awarded contracts for the first time, with Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur and Thirush Kamini bracketed in Grade A that carries a retainer of Rs 15 lakh. Seven other players were handed Grade B contracts of Rs 10 lakh each.Last year the BCCI had not announced the various retainer fees for the various grades because there had not been an AGM owing to the impasse over IPL corruption issues. The retainer fees have not gone up from what they were in 2013.

It was day two on Tuesday at Deccan Gymkhana, Pune, in the Cooch BeharTrophy quarterfinal match between Haryana and Railways. ManvinderBisla who was unbeaten on 181 at the end of the first day’s playcarried on to score a masterly double century of 236. Bisla was severeon Railways bowlers as he went on to smash 28 boundaries and 3 sixes.By the time Bisla was dismissed he added 160 runs with Deepak Joon forthe fifth wicket. Joon who started the day on 35 added to Railway’smisery by notching up a century and went on to make 152. Haryanadeclared at 616/8 on Joon’s dismissal. His 152 came in as few as 191balls and included 16 strokes reached the fence and two that flew overfor sixes. Railways were brought to their knees by Amit Mishra14-7-25-3 and by the close of play were 117/4 in 41 overs with openingbatsman Sriram Yadav on an unbeaten 36 putting up a fight.

Mike Burns hit a 112-ball century as Somerset ended an excellent season in style with an exciting 12-run victory over Northants at Taunton.The C&G Trophy winners and Championship runners-up began the day needing victory to be sure of avoiding relegation from the Norwich Union League First Division, but eventually finished in fourth place.They only knew they were safe when, with Northants 239-9, chasing 256 to win, it was announced that arch-rivals Gloucestershire had lost to condemn themselves to the third relegation place.That news lifted the atmosphere and when Steffan Jones shattered the stumps of last man Jason Brown to dismiss Northants for 243, hundreds of supporters poured on to the field to celebrate a memorable summer.After losing the toss, Somerset were given a solid start by skipper Jamie Cox, who cruised to his half-century off 53 balls, with eight fours and a six, before being inhibited by a hamstring strain and requiring a runner.Cox was brilliantly caught one-handed on the long-on boundary by Jason Brown off Jeff Cook for 68. And when Keith Parsons fell for a single Somerset were in some bother at 126-4.They were rescued by an unbroken stand of 129 between Burns and Rob Turner (41 not out). Burns reached his hundred off the last ball of the innings, having emerged from a watchful start to hit seven fours and one six. Cook was the pick of the Northants bowlers with 2-44 from his nine overs.The visitors looked the more likely winners when Mike Hussey (91) and Russell Warren (59) put on 112 for the second wicket in quick time to take the total to 158-1 in only the 25th over.But the introduction of spinners Keith Dutch (3-38) and Ian Blackwell (3-39) turned the game as both picked up wickets regularly and put a sharp brake on the scoring rate.Hussey hit 13 fours in his sparkling innings, while Warren’s runs came off just 56 balls, with three sixes. But after them the Northants batting folded abysmally and only Alec Swann with 31 not out offered any resistance.

Northamptonshire prospered from some unconvincing Glamorgan batting and theaccurate bowling of their own paceman Michael Strong and off-spinner JasonBrown to have the advantage of Glamorgan at Cardiff.Strong took 4-50 and Brown returned 4-56 in the long spell of 31.2 overs.The home batsmen did not benefit from the example of Matthew Elliott andAdrian Shaw, and were dismissed for 198 (still 31 runs behind). The visitorstook that lead to 141 by scoring a further 110-2 by the close.
Matthew Maynard and Adrian Dale did not detain the scorers long, before Keith Newell gave Elliott more substantial support by putting on 54 runs for the fifthwicket. Elliott struggled for 70 minutes to put together six runs but shookof the ties to hit Brown for a straight and shortly afterwards hit GraemeSwann for three boundaries in an over.Newell edged a catch to wicketkeeper David Ripley from Tony Penberthy’s bowling. Ripley also caught Elliott (off Brown) with the Australian left-hander on 76 runs with a six and nine fours from 171 balls. Shaw and Robert Croft picked Glamorgan up from 145-6 only for the latter to be caught by Darren Cousins as the ball looped up gently from a deflection by Adrian Rollins.With Steve Watkin still injured Dale took the new ball for Glamorgan and soon had Rollins caught for his second duck of the match. Then Matthew Hayden took over by scoring his fifty from 70 balls, and when he was caught at the wicket Mal Loye and David Sales played through to the close.

Loughborough MCC University from England and Sri Lanka-based International College of Business and Technology stamped their credentials as strong title contenders as they crushed their opponents for the second-straight day at the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy in Dehradun on Tuesday.ICBT was put in to bat by their opponents, Jinnah Degree College from Karachi – during their Group B encounter – and they lost opener Hasan Perera in the fourth over for just four.Nipuna Arachchige fell two-overs later, as the team from Pakistan looked to make more enroads. But A Perera and Sadeera Samarawickrama dropped anchor thereafter and began rebuilding the innings.The duo added 93 runs for the third wicket and that brought ICBT back in to the contest. JDC rued their all-spin strategy, as ICBT made the most of the placid surface and drove home the advantage.Perera top scored for ICBT with a 37-ball 54. They posted 150 in their 20 overs. Their bowlers didn’t let their batsmen’s efforts go in vein and picked up wickets regularly. JDC lost two wickets in the first-five overs for just 28.Shahzar Khan and Saeed Moutabar were the only JDC batsmen amongst the runs. Khan scored 20, while Moutabar added 23.A middle-order collapse ended JDC’s chances of making a comeback, as they lost five wickets for just 24 runs. They eventually crumbled for 108 in 18.1 overs.Loughborough MCC University added to European University of Bangladesh’s woes as they thrashed them by seven wickets in their Group A clash.EUB were put in to bat first and their batsmen failed to find answers to LMCC’s new-ball attack. They lost two wickets in the first eight overs for just 29.Their middle order added 70 runs to their tally and that helped them post a respectable 118 in their 20 overs.LMCC lost opener Anish Patel in just the second over of their innings, but Irfan Karim and Nitish Kumar’s 91-run stand for the second wicket ended any hope of EUB finding their first win of the tournament.In the third match of the day, defending champions Assupol TUKS from South Africa thumped Dubai-based Heriot-Watt University by 109 runs to register their first win of the tournament.Murray Coetzee slammed the first ton of the tournament, which came off just 67 balls. Coetzee’s 160-run partnership with Gerald Pike, for the second wicket, helped TUKS post a massive 208 in their innings. HWU managed just 73 runs in reply.

Worcestershire 210 and 59 for 3 trail Sussex 510 for 5 dec (Wright 226*, Brown 103, Nash 90) by 241 runs
ScorecardLuke Wright passed 1000 Championship runs and recorded a double-hundred for the first time in his career•Getty Images

It was hard to see much hope for Worcestershire as they hauled themselves off the field after conceding 510 for 5. Sussex, their supposed companions in distress, will have high expectations of forcing an innings victory on the final day and, with Hampshire also winning at Chester-le-Street, Worcestershire are braced for the likelihood that they will enter the weekend as Division One’s bottom club.They have already lost three second-innings wickets, two them from the spinners as they were forced to bowl in indifferent light. They began this round with a points tally of 118 – the information number – and if they are foolhardy enough to ring it, they will probably receive directions to Division Two.Their undoing came against Luke Wright, who formulated a career-best 226 not out, the first double-century of his career, and shared in a fourth-wicket stand with Ben Brown of 282 in 64 overs – the fourth highest for that wicket in Sussex’s history. As with all Wright’s best innings, it was full of stocky aggression, a reminder of why England valued him so highly and gave him 101 caps in the two limited-overs formats.He finds himself the leading run-scorer in Division One, no longer able to be viewed as solely a white-ball specialist. “To be fair to Jonny Bairstow, he’s only had a couple of innings,” he laughed. “It will mean more if we stay up. This year I’ve been able to prepare, practice and play. It is my benefit year and I was determined not to let it affect my form.” The lack of bowling also takes the strain out of his knees.As for Brown, he has four Championship hundreds this summer and the best compliment that can be paid to him is that the retirement of Matt Prior because of a wrecked Achilles, so removing any possibility of him playing out his career in county cricket, has hardly been noticed. He struck 103, falling when he hooked Morris to deep square. They put on 335 together last season against Durham. “We complement each other,” Wright said. “I stay a bit more leg side and that can help us.”By the end of their suffering, Worcestershire’s pace trio looked spent. When Sussex called off the punishment, only three Division One pace bowlers – Steve Magoffin, Chris Rushworth and James Harris – had sent down more overs than Joe Leach (third in the PCA’s Most Valuable Player table for the Championship), Charlie Morris and Jack Shantry.With Saeed Ajmal’s magic no longer in evidence, they have shouldered the burden manfully, but the competitiveness seems to be draining from them and, although they will have the West Indies quick Shannon Gabriel in support for the last two games, they are more in need of help from Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Ajmal is departing early to celebrate Hajj, a long-standing arrangement that will not weaken Worcestershire on September surfaces.There are two Luke Wrights as far as entertainment in England goes. Luke Wright, the cricketer, has not as far as can be ascertained ever been confused with Luke Wright the performance poet. He has never been described as a decadent booze hound or as flouncing around looking fabulous and he has never played the Edinburgh Fringe. He is one of cricket’s solid citizens: even tempered, dependable, good to watch.But Luke Wright, the poet, did once write a poem called Mondeo Man, essentially about the ambitions of someone born in suburbia, and there was a time when his namesake was England’s Mondeo Man: solid, unspectacular, expected only to achieve so much. It is good to see him blossoming as he enters his 30s, not just a travelling T20 specialist, but a Sussex one-day batsman and a dangerous Championship batsman who has passed 1000 runs in a season, comfortably, for the first time.Wright had 98 overnight and spent 25 balls over his century. Immediately, he stepped up the tempo. There were lusty blows towards all Worcester’s oft-described landmarks: Ajmal lofted straight for six towards the old scorebox, a slog-swept six off Ajmal sailing towards the cathedral, tawny brown against a grey skyline, and another six, this time against the jauntily geometrical puzzle of Shantry, peppering the stand in front of the Ladies Pavilion. Luke Wright the poet once complained in a poem about Nigel Farage about England’s “cod lament for tea and scones” so on this occasion we had better not reference the cakes.There were no sixes towards the Premier Inn, as far as can be recalled, although that is unlikely to gain a mention unless brutish architecture comes into vogue.The only Sussex batsman to find life taxing was their stand-in captain, Chris Nash, who had retired hurt with mild concussion the previous day when he was struck by a bouncer from Morris and, soon after returning to the crease upon Brown’s dismissal, he was rapped on the hand by the same bowler. At least he made 90 for his troubles.Wright was dropped three times by a Worcestershire side that spurned half a dozen in all, the first of them, on 118, an edge to third slip which came just after Leach had taken the second new ball. Leach was deputising as captain for Daryl Mitchell, who was absent until early afternoon to see his wife give birth to a daughter, Ava. When Mitchell returned, somewhat disorientated, and missed the simplest of chances at extra cover off Shantry, it was lugubriously observed that he was the second Mitchell to drop one that day – the sort of mordant observation that might find its way into one of Luke Wright’s more risqué stanzas. The performance poet, not the cricketer.

ScorecardManoj Tiwary made his 20th first-class century•PTI

Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary and debutant Naved Ahmed saved Bengal with the help of rain to draw against Karnataka in Bangalore. The hosts were in a dominating position when the day started, with a lead of 167 runs and two Bengal batsmen dismissed, before Tiwary’s unbeaten century and Naved’s 95 ensured Bengal got one point. Rain interrupted play minutes before tea and the match was called off within an hour after that.

‘Our spinners could have bowled better’ – Vinay Kumar

On the pitch: “This time the wicket became very slow, we couldn’t trouble any batsmen. Maybe if we had played a five-day game it would have been better. It happened in the Irani Cup; on the fifth day it was very difficult to bat on.”
On Karnataka’s bowling: “Overall, we bowled well. Our spinners could have bowled better.”
On Bengal’s batting: “Manoj played really well. If we had got Manoj and Saha… we were just looking at those two wickets. If we’d got them, one end would have been open.”
On two draws in two games: “Compared to the last two years, this year the start has not been that great. But we conceded the first-innings lead in the first game and came back here. In the coming games, we will improve.”

Even if rain had not come down, Bengal were heading towards a comfortable position on a pitch that did not have much for bowlers. Tiwary and Naved saw through a watchful morning session and took their team into the lead when both were in the 90s with seven wickets in hand. Tiwary brought up his 20th first-class hundred, but Naved was soon run out five runs short of what would have been another century from a debutant this season.The most crucial part of the day was when Naved and Tiwary withstood the first session, as Karnataka started with a silly mid-off and short extra cover. The ball was fairly new and Sudip Chatterjee fell in the fifth over by going for an extravagant and unnecessary drive to be caught at second slip off Abhimanyu Mithun.At 65 for 3, Bengal’s deficit was still over 150 when Naved and Tiwary came together. The Karnataka bowlers persisted with a nagging and attacking line outside off.Naved relied on straight-bat shots to play the waiting game, and so did Tiwary by leaving more deliveries than his partner. Bengal were not looking for runs, they only had to play out most of the day and the two batsmen did exactly that by standing firm against Mithun’s first spell of 4-3-3-1.Tiwary allowed Naved to do the scoring early on to take the score past 100. Once the ball lost its shine, both batsmen scored freely. Tiwary started driving and punching comfortably and soon caught up with Naved. Vinay Kumar used all his bowlers with close-in fielders, but with no success and both batsmen reached their fifties before lunch.The story didn’t change after the break. Vinay brought himself on for another short yet unthreatening spell, and Tiwary started off by creaming a cover drive against Shreyas Gopal for four. Naved unleashed his firm drives as well and collected boundaries in consecutive overs to strengthen Bengal’s position further. Now that the partnership was appearing unbreakable, Karnataka’s only hope was the second new ball.Vinay took it as soon as it was available, 22 overs after lunch with Tiwary on 93 and Naved on 84, only to be flicked by the latter to the midwicket boundary, which gave Bengal the lead.The only thing left in the match was for the Bengal dressing room to applaud for the two centuries. Tiwary brought his up by nudging Vinay to the leg side but when he cut J Suchith to sweeper cover, Naved was late to react for the second run and an alert Vinay at slip caught Karun Nair’s throw to hit the stumps at the other end, finding Naved marginally short.When rain came down, Bengal were leading by 24 runs with six wickets in hand, and soon play was called off.Man-of-the-Match Tiwary said he was pleased with his team’s performance even though they got only one point in their opening match of the season. “We were looking for more [points], but happy to fight it out against the champion side after the situation we were in,” he said. “If there was no partnership between me and Naved, it would have been difficult for us.”This also shows that we’re heading in the right direction. There is a lot of improvement from last year. This type of effort from us was lacking the last couple of seasons.”

Match facts

Tuesday, April 28 to May 2, 2015
Start time 1000 local (0400 GMT)1:19

Isam: Team that wins toss likely to bat first

Big picture

An 8-0 streak, stretching back 14 years, for Pakistan over Bangladesh in Test cricket is now under legitimate threat after the hosts won the ODI series 3-0 and the lone T20 in Mirpur.However, with the change to whites comes the addition of captain Misbah-ul-Haq and the veteran Younis Khan to a batting line-up that will also have the in-form Azhar Ali at No 3. The onus will be on Misbah to change the mood within the team. His exit from the ODI side has coincided with immediate losses for Pakistan, so a lot will be expected of him. Younis had a forgettable World Cup campaign, but it is not quite so easy to forget his five Test centuries in 2014.Pakistan have a few other players whose experience worked last year but lately have run into poor form. Mohammad Hafeez, who has made 34 runs in four innings on tour, will be important at the top. Asad Shafiq, who has been limited to the nets and the bench so far, and Sarfraz Ahmed, who was “rested” in an ODI, are likely to shore up the middle-order batting at Nos. 6 and 7.The seam attack will be led by Wahab Riaz, with only Junaid Khan for company, and both have been off colour in Bangladesh. Saeed Ajmal too hasn’t had a good return to international cricket. So Pakistan could prefer a second spinner who can contain like Zulfiqar Babar rather than Yasir Shah, who missed the ODIs with injury but has since been bowling in the nets. The Khulna pitch turns from any point after the third day, so Ajmal will be more influential as the match progresses.Similarly, Bangladesh will expect Shakib Al Hasan to find his rhythm in the longer format, with Jubair Hossain and Taijul Islam for assistance. Their major concern will be the pace attack, which looks thin on threat and experience. Rubel Hossain and Shahadat Hossain have been around for a number of years, but have never come of age in Test cricket.Bangladesh’s batting resources are a bit more exciting. Most of the top and middle-order are in form and greater solidity can be found if Soumya Sarkar is used well. Much, however, will depend on Tamim Iqbal at the top and Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib in the middle.

Form guide

(Last five matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh WWWLL
Pakistan LDWWW

In the spotlight

Mominul Haque has a 60-plus batting average after 12 Tests but he will face a fresh challenge after losing his place in the ODI side. His role at No. 3 will be vital, so will be the way he handles the Pakistan attack in early and late spells.Sami Aslam made an impressive ODI debut and is likely to get his first Test cap in Khulna. A compact left-hander, Aslam has a first-class average of 37.65 with five centuries.

Team news

Bangladesh are set to hand Soumya Sarkar a Test debut at No. 7. Imrul Kayes will open with Tamim Iqbal. And among the seamers, Shahadat Hossain might be picked ahead of Mohammad Shahid.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Soumya Sarkar 8 Taijul Islam, 9 Jubair Hossain, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Shahadat Hossain/ Mohammad ShahidSami Aslam is likely to pip Babar Azam for the opening position, while Haris Sohail would have to wait his chance now that Younis Khan and captain Misbah-ul-Haq are back. Pakistan are also expected to pick two pace bowlers, which leaves no place for Imran Khan. Zulfiqar Babar could play ahead of Yasir Shah.Pakistan (probable): 1 Sami Aslam, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfaraz Ahmed, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Zulfiqar Babar

Pitch and conditions

Spin has been king at the Sheikh Abu Nasir Stadium, unless someone with high pace creates enough chances. Batting will get progressively harder. There are chances of rain in the forecast for the first four days as well.

Stats and trivia

• In the last Test held in Khulna, Shakib Al Hasan became the first spinner to take to score a hundred and taken 10 wickets in the same Test.
• Among the current players, Younis Khan and Mohammad Hafeez (418 in five matches) have the most runs in the Bangladesh-Pakistan contest while Saeed Ajmal has taken the most wickets (9 in two matches)

Quotes

“Our expectation is to win every series. We don’t take opposition for granted or overconfident. We try to do our best and if we do that, I think we have the ability to beat any team.”