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ScorecardGloucestershire captain Alex Gidman hit his first century of the season as his team kept alive their hopes of a place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals with a nine-wicket victory over the Netherlands at Bristol.Michael Dighton (51) and Wesley Barresi (39) helped the visitors to 191 all out after winning the toss in excellent batting conditions. David Payne returned 3 for 33. The total never seemed likely to be enough, and the Gladiators cruised to victory despite losing Will Porterfield to the first ball of their innings, with Gidman’s 104 not out and James Franklin’s unbeaten 77 guiding them to their target with 3.3 overs to spare.The result put Gloucestershire back into second place in Group B with 16 points from their 11 games and, depending on other results, victory at Northamptonshire in their final fixture could see them finish as the best second-placed side.Gidman had just one moment of anxiety in a fluent hundred, made off 112 balls with 11 fours. Peter Borren thought he had caught him at short midwicket early in his innings, but the umpires decided the ball has been taken on the half-volley.Franklin was equally assured, picking the ones and twos, in a perfectly-paced partnership. By the end the New Zealander had faced 103 deliveries and hit only four fours.The Netherlands finish their group campaign with just a solitary victory. But they looked to have laid the foundation for a bigger score when reaching 132 for 2 in the 32nd over. Eric Szwarczynski and Wilfred Diepeveen gave them a solid start with a stand of 41 in 12 overs before Szwarczynski was bowled cutting at James Franklin for 18.It was 47 for 2 when left-arm spinner Ed Young took his first wicket for Gloucestershire, turning one past Diepeveen’s forward defensive shot. But Dighton and Barresi then added 85 in 17 overs with the best batting of the innings, Dighton reaching his half-century off 54 balls, with two fours and two sixes.The game changed when Dighton was run out by Gidman’s throw to the bowler’s end from midwicket as he attempted a quick single. It was the first of eight wickets to fall in as many overs as Gidman (2 for 23) and Steve Kirby (2 for 32) joined Payne in pegging back the visitors as they attempted to accelerate in the closing overs.

ScorecardJames Hildreth’s hundred built a good lead for Somerset, but they struggled to break through with the ball•Getty Images

News filtering up from Old Trafford and Headingley that there will be negotiations to try and conjure results won’t have pleased Somerset as they struggled to break the back of Durham’s second innings. At the close the home side fought hard to reach 171 for 2, a lead of 31, and Somerset will have to work hard for the victory that would assure them the Championship pennant for the first time.Somerset’s batsmen did their job, led by James Hildreth’s seventh hundred of the season, as they became the first team to collect a full hand of batting bonus points at Chester-le-Street this summer. They built a lead of 140 and victory here would make any arrangements in Manchester and Leeds pointless, but Michael Di Venuto ensured Durham, for one more day the reigning champions, weren’t going down without a fight.Something else to throw into the equation is that the final day is 84 overs instead of the usual 96 because the side’s agreed to play four extra on each of the first three days so that Somerset can leave in time to catch a flight to London. They could be in the situation of leaving the ground without knowing whether the title is theirs or not. The ECB plan to present the trophy wherever it is won, too, so a helicopter could be useful.Any target at Old Trafford would have to heavily favour Lancashire, but crucially Nottinghamshire would be in with a chance, while Anthony McGrath has confirmed there will be a game at Headingly weather permitting. If Durham continue to bat stubbornly towards a draw it will come down to whether Marcus Trescothick can agree to a run-chase with Phil Mustard, the home captain. It would make for a gripping final few hours of the campaign.For much of the day Somerset continued to work their way into pole position. They kept up a brisk scoring rate throughout, initially with Peter Trego and then Hildreth took over with a mature innings with highlighted the strides he has made this season. His hundred came from 175 deliveries with 13 boundaries, with his pull shot proving especially powerful.Somerset could provide quite a few England Lions tourists this winter and Hildreth will top that list. He moved ahead of Marcus Trescothick as the team’s leading Championship run-scorer and when he clipped a three through midwicket it took Somerset to 400.Trego had carried on where he left off the previous evening as he rattled to a 46-ball half-century. He had one fortunate moment on 54 when a top-edged pull wasn’t gathered by Phil Mustard. When Ian Blackwell’s left-arm spin was introduced the batsmen began cautiously, but it didn’t take long for Trego to slog-sweep him over deep midwicket for six.The hundred partnership with Hildreth came off 22 overs but ended shortly afterwards when Trego was beaten by a ball from Liam Plunkett that kept a fraction low and got dragged onto leg stump. The onus then switched to Hildreth as the bonus points were notched up. Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire could do nothing about it.James Buttler, who has enjoyed a prolific second half to the season and could well have caught the eye of England’s selectors, lived a slightly fortunate life alongside Hildreth. On 19 he was dropped at slip off Blackwell and the same bowler suffered again when Ruel Brathwaite dropped a sitter at mid-on after Buttler miscued a pull. Brathwaite is trying to impress the coaching staff at Durham during his two-week spell. His fielding won’t have helped.Durham, while trying to maintain their professionalism, started to wear the look of a team ready for the season to end. Buttler continued to play his shots and twice dispatched Blackwell through the leg side then edged Ben Harmison wide of the lone slip. Harmison, though, struck back shortly before lunch when he nipped one in to Buttler’s pads – although there was a hint it was missing leg – before Ben Phillips also fell lbw first ball to bring lunch.Hildreth, though, found a solid partner in Alfonso Thomas as the pair added 58 for the eighth wicket to secure all the batting points. Hildreth, looking to keep the scoring rate high, missed a swing at Brathwaite who then wrapped up the innings to finish with 3 for 93 to put the match back in the hands of Somerset’s bowlers.Phillips removed Mark Stoneman early when the left hander was plumb lbw, but the second-wicket stand proved tough to break as Di Venuto, who passed 1000 runs for the season, and Gordon Muchall added 113 in 30 overs. There was little in the pitch for the quicks and although Murali Kartik found a hint of turn it wasn’t alarming. Again, though, Trego showed his skill of taking vital wickets when he removed Muchall with one that kept low.Di Venuto and Harmison survived the final nine overs to close, albeit with a few alarms against Kartik who almost bowled Harmison. It all comes down to the final day.

ScorecardNorthamptonshire’s David Sales blasted his first century of the season as the hosts took control on the first day of their County Championship clash against Glamorgan at Wantage Road. Sales, who missed the whole of last season with a serious knee injury, scored 127 off 184 balls and his brilliant knock included 16 fours and one six. Ex-captain Nicky Boje fell for 98 off 107 balls and Stephen Peters also made 76, with James Harris and David Harrison claiming two wickets each for the visitors.Northants won the toss, chose to bat and got off to a solid start, with openers Peters and Ben Howgego making 47 between them before Harris forced the latter (18) to edge to Mark Cosgrove at third slip. Alex Wakely could only make 16 before edging Harrison to Glamorgan captain Jamie Dalrymple at second slip, who took a simple catch.Peters and Sales then survived until lunch with their side on 78 for 2, with Sales finally getting off the mark just after the break off the 28th delivery that he faced. Peters then completed a patient half-century off 106 balls and, having taken so long to get going, Sales followed suit off 71 balls thanks to a flurry of boundaries.Peters, who fell just one run short of a double century in his last Championship match at Middlesex, made it to 76 before edging Dean Cosker to wicketkeeper Mark Wallace to break up a third-wicket stand of 94. It was the only wicket to fall in the afternoon and Sales remained unbeaten alongside Boje as Northants reached 206 for 3 at tea.Boje made an explosive half-century off just 53 balls before Sales completed his century in the 77th over off 150 balls, his first ton in first-class cricket since his effort in August 2008 against Gloucestershire.Boje was just two short of his first hundred of the season when he was trapped lbw by Harris eight overs before the close to end a magnificent fourth-wicket partnership of 175. It was just eight runs short of the Northants record against Glamorgan, made by Sales and Rob White in Swansea two years ago.Harrison finally managed to remove Sales by taking out his middle stump in the following over as Glamorgan’s attack made full use of the new ball. Zimbabwe’s Elton Chigumbura and captain Andrew Hall then survived a late onslaught to finish unbeaten on six and five respectively.

Pakistan 385 for 7 (Afridi 124, Farhat 66) beat Bangladesh 246 for 5 (Siddique 97) by 139 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi broke the record for most sixes in ODIs on his way to a century•Associated Press

A new-look Pakistan, led by a new-look Shahid Afridi, bowed out of the Asia Cup with little to boast about but with their reputations enhanced, while Bangladesh ended their campaign by reaffirming the gulf between them and the top-flight teams. Afridi unleashed the kind of fury he is famous for to launch Pakistan to their highest ODI score, and subsequently their first victory in 2010. Bangladesh, however, belied a complete lack of purpose in both innings, as the match meandered to the kind of denouement that has administrators concerned about the future of ODI cricket.Bangladesh’s spirit was snuffed in the first half when they were caught out without a plan by the Afridi redux – as aggressive as the marauder of old, but inventive and measured as well. These are early days yet, but captaincy is bringing out the best in Afridi. He has retained the willingness to attack but, entrusted with the responsibility of shepherding a young team, has weeded out the risks. Without having to heave across the line, at least until he gets set, Afridi once again showed he has the range to score at enviable pace.Having collared Sri Lanka’s attack in more trying conditions, Afridi barely broke a sweat today. With Umar Akmal already in the groove when he entered in the 29th over, Afridi worked the spinners around for a couple of overs. He flexed his muscles in the 32nd, lofting Suhrawadi Shuvo over long on for six and cashing in on the over-compensation by pulling for four. There were two strokes of luck soon after: an inside edge missed the stumps, and a skier was dropped by Mashrafe Mortaza. After that, however, Afridi unleashed and Pakistan accelerated at a ridiculous rate.

Smart Stats

• Shahid Afridi scored the sixth fastest ODI century in terms of balls faced. He has three of the top six

• Afridi has now hit the most sixes in ODIs, going past Jayasuriya. He now has 272

• Pakistan’s 385 was their highest ODI total, going past the 371 against Sri Lanka in 1996-97

• Pakistan scored 129 runs from overs 41 to 50, the eighth highest on the list of most runs in the last ten overs in ODIs since 2000

• Shafiul Islam, who leaked 95 runs, is sixth on the list of bowlers with the worst economy-rates in a ten-over spell

An extra-cover drive, a tickle and a whiplashed cut off Mortaza gave Bangladesh a trailer of what was to follow. After reaching his fifty in the 41st over, Afridi plundered 39 off 10 balls, with eight fours and a six, off Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasab and Shafiul Islam. The two batsmen had been tied on 41 at the end of the 39th over; five overs later, Umar had reached a steady fifty, while his captain was three short of a hundred. Umar departed in the 45th over, just before the batting Powerplay.In the 46th, Afridi helped Razzak to fine leg to reach 100, off 53 balls, and in the same over he cut for four more before finishing with a loft over long on for his 271st six – the most by any batsman in ODI history. He smashed another length offering from Shafiul for No. 272 and stole one more four before his one-handed pull landed in the hands of square leg. Abdul Razzaq hustled 21 off nine balls, leaving the hapless Shafiul nursing figures of 3 for 95. The last ball of the innings was smeared over long off for six – Bangladesh had bled 120 runs in the last nine overs, and Pakistan had reached their highest ODI total, eclipsing a 13 year-old record, that was set up by – take a guess.Before Afridi’s assault, Pakistan’s openers laid the foundation in more sober fashion. After spanking his second ball for a six over extra cover, Shahzaib Hasan served notice of both his strengths and intentions by repeatedly driving Mashrafe Mortaza on the up. Shahzaib rushed to his maiden ODI fifty before he fell trying to heave Abdur Razzak across the line in the 13th over, having dominated the opening stand of 81 in 12.3 overs.With Shahzaib scoring freely, Imran Farhat had the breathing space to play out the seamers before settling in against spin. Having brought up his seventh ODI fifty, he succumbed to his own cheekiness, missing a late cut off Shakib. Bangladesh’s spinners rallied in the period of play following the 25-over mark, culminating in Asad Shafiq’s stumping in the 29th over. That was the Bangladesh captain’s 100th ODI wicket, and it gave his side an outside chance to seize the initiative, but his opposite number upset his plans.Bangladesh’s batsmen, reeling from the carnage, focused on batting out fifty overs instead of taking a shot at the target. Their approach ensured there was no interest left in the second half of the contest. Imrul Kayes was the biggest culprit, dawdling around without any intent to score, while Tamim Iqbal showed characteristic spunk in taking on Mohammad Asif. He had driven, flicked and pulled him for fours before Asif struck with a slow and short off-cutter. With Tamim’s dismissal, Bangladesh’s hopes of making anything out of the game receded. In an inexplicable display that underlined the rift between Bangladesh and the rest, Kayes and Junaid Siddique settled in to accumulate. Despite cutting out all risks against a spirited but tired attack, neither of them could reach three-figures. Siddique eventually unfurled a few shots for the gallery, but no one was applauding.

England’s coach, Andy Flower, believes that some of England’s key players will have to be rested during the forthcoming home series against Bangladesh, Pakistan and Australia, in order to make sure they are in peak condition come the Ashes and the World Cup this winter.Speaking in the aftermath of England’s triumphant World Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean, Flower emphasised the need to keep bodies and minds fresh in the course of a hectic schedule, and warned that key performers such as Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann – who are integral to all three forms of the game – are those most at risk of burn-out.”We have a very busy 12 months ahead of us and we are going to have to rest players at various times,” England Flower told reporters at Gatwick on Monday. “In certain situations it is possible that we will have to rest some players either for emotional reasons such as stress, and sometimes it will be for strength and conditioning reasons. With our schedule it will be hard to fit enough strength and conditioning in.”The issue of squad rotation comes into sharp focus this week with the return to action of the Test and 50-overs captain, Andrew Strauss. He has been resting since the end of the South Africa series in January, having been replaced by Alastair Cook for the recent tour of Bangladesh, but is set to lead the side at Lord’s next week for the first Test of the summer, against Bangladesh.Collingwood, who has become the first England captain to lift an ICC trophy in 35 years of trying, says that he has no wish to reclaim the job that he held briefly at 50-over level in 2008, and is ready and willing to return to the ranks when Strauss returns to the fray.”Andrew Strauss is obviously our captain in the one-day format and in the Test format,” said Collingwood. “He’s a fantastic leader, and a lot of this kind of success we’ve had over the last few weeks can go down to a lot of the values he and Andy Flower have installed in us over the past year. The team ethic has certainly helped the team gel together and become a strong unit.””The players are desperate to continue this kind of form and this brand of cricket and hopefully that will take us on to win a lot of silverware in the future,” he added. “The brand of cricket that we played in the Twenty20 is something we have to keep trying to improve. It has been successful in this tournament but we have to adapt it to different conditions now.”We have a World Cup coming up now on the subcontinent and so I’m pretty certain that Strauss and Flower will want us to continue with that same brand of cricket. It’s only another 30 overs on top of what we have been playing in the last few weeks so I’m sure that if we can go out with the same mentality we will go out and scare a lot of sides with the way we play.”

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Warwickshire seamer Andy Miller and Lancashire captain Glen Chapple eachclaimed five victims on an extraordinary second day of the CountyChampionship match at Edgbaston in which 20 wickets fell.Miller, Preston-raised and a product of Lancashire’s academy, swung the ball and exploited some low bounce in a used pitch to claim a maiden five-wicket haul to reduce his native county to 22 for 6.But Lancashire still finished the day well on top on 152 for 8, 393 ahead, having decided not to enforce the follow-on despite taking a first-innings lead of 241 after Warwickshire were dismissed for 113, their lowest score at Edgbaston in four years.Chapple undermined Warwickshire with 5 for 27 and Neil Carter, with anunbeaten 69, was the only Warwickshire batsman to reach double figures in an unbalanced scorecard.Warwickshire contributed to their own downfall with some rash strokes against the moving ball – and would have been 22 for 7 had Stephen Moore not dropped Tim Ambrose at second slip.England pair Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott both missed out in their finalchampionship match before next week’s first Test against Bangladesh.Bell, with just two championship fifties this season, was taken at gully trying to force Chapple off the back foot and Trott fenced outside off stump at Sajid Mahmood for his fifth-single figure score in eight innings.Jim Troughton’s edge to first slip, aiming a booming drive at Mahmood, suggested that it was bad batting rather than a poor pitch that was responsible for Warwickshire’s problems.Carter led the counter-attack with a 53-ball half century which he reached with a pulled six off Chapple. But he needed treatment for a cut ear after he ducked into a short ball from Mahmood and he later went to hospital where 15 stitches were inserted.While Warwickshire were collapsing, seamer James Anderson was having a nethaving been driven to Edgbaston from Gatwick Airport where he landed mid-morning with England’s victorious World Twenty20 squad.Anderson took the place of rookie all-rounder Luke Procter, who had beennominated to make way for him when the toss was made, and he was required as a batsmen late in the day after Lancashire collapsed against the accurate Miller.Luke Sutton edged to second slip in Miller’s first over and Moore, bowledmiddle stump on the drive, and Ashwell Prince, who edged to second slip, went in the space of three balls in his second.Tom Smith, who was caught behind, was Miller’s landmark victim but Mark Chilton and Mahmood, with his second half century of the season against Warwickshire, steadied the ship with an eighth-wicket stand of 54.

Chris Martin, the New Zealand pace bowler, has been cleared to play for Essex following a delay in the processing of his visa, and will link up with the squad ahead of their CB40 fixture against Middlesex at Lord’s on May 2.Martin, 35, was given permission by New Zealand Cricket to sign as short-term cover for Danish Kaneria, who was unavailable for the start of the season due to domestic cricket commitments in Pakistan.He had been due to play his first match against Lancashire, at Chelmsford, last week, but according to an Essex statement, there was an “unavoidable delay in the processing of Chris’s visa which was beyond the control of Chris and the club”.”We are delighted that Chris will be joining us,” said Paul Grayson, the Essex coach. “He is a top-class bowler and is keen to play County Championship cricket. Chris will be a good replacement in this interim period and we look forward to welcoming him to Essex.”

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Hyderabad would have fancied their chances after packing off the opposition for a paltry score but the pace duo of Samad Fallah and Kishor Bhikane had other plans as Maharashtra clinched the crown in a low-scoring affair at the Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground in Indore.The Hyderabad bowlers, in particular the spinners, justified their captain Amol Shinde’s decision to field first as the Maharashtra batsmen floundered from the onset. The highest score of 29 came from their semi-final saviour Digambar Waghmare, who came in at No. 8, while the highest partnerships were 24 for the third and eighth wickets. Offspinner Hanuma Vihari and legspinner Akash Bhandari profited the most with three wickets each while Shinde bagged two.Hyderabad suffered an early setback when opener Danny Prince fell for a four-ball duck, bowled by Fallah. But a similar story would pan out from thereon as Fallah’s early strikes completely derailed the chase. Anoop Pai managed a brave 36-ball 23, but with the fall of regular wickets, the target got steeper. If Fallah stole the show early on, Bhikane helped himself to two late order wickets, to make it three in total, as Hyderabad succumbed off the last ball of the innings.

New Zealand allrounder Jacob Oram is in doubt for the remainder of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series after sustaining a knee injury in the first ODI. Oram sent down seven overs, taking the key wicket of Shane Watson, before he twisted his left knee in the 28th over while fielding a single off Michael Hussey. His spikes appeared to stick in the turf as he fell to the ground, writhing in pain, and he was carried off by team-mates Tim Southee and James Franklin.”His knee is painful, it’s still unclear what it is…there will be further investigation in Auckland tomorrow and we’ll assess after that,” Dave Currie, New Zealand’s manager, said. “It’s pretty painful at the moment so we’ll have to wait and see.”Currie said no replacement had yet been made but fast bowler Ian Butler was a likely call-up. If there is ligament damage, not only will Oram miss the series but his participation in the upcoming IPL with Chennai Super Kings is in doubt as well.Oram, 31, retired from Test cricket in October after injury worries, involving his back and foot, limited him to 33 appearances over a seven-year career. In the two Twenty20s against Australia before Wednesday’s game he scored 1 and 0 and conceded 67 off six overs. Even as there were calls for him to be excluded from the ODI series opener against Australia in Napier, he found support from captain Daniel Vettori.The good news, though, for New Zealand is that Vettori, who was ruled out of the match in Napier due to a neck injury, is expected to back for the second game of the five-match series on Saturday.”His neck had a kink in it yesterday but he thought he would be all right,” Currie said. “Even warming up today he thought he would be all right but he wasn’t and there was no point taking any risk on it. He is fully expected to be back next game.”Ross Taylor enjoyed immediate success as new captain as New Zealand won a tense series opener by two wickets.

The year 2009 featured the ICC World Twenty20 in England, and with teams fielding their best available sides it is no surprise that five of the six nominations for best batting and bowling in the format for the year are performances from that tournament. Unlike cricket’s two other international variations, Twenty20 offers a greater potential for surprise; Australia have not been the best contenders in the shortest format, and three out of the six nominations have them at the receiving end. Pakistan, after distinguishing themselves in Twenty20 cricket by winning the global tournament, have three nominations.Australia were knocked out early in the World Twenty20, and Chris Gayle, who is among the three shortlisted for batting performances, shared a bulk of the responsibility, smashing a blistering 88 including two monstrous sixes off Brett Lee at The Oval to inflict a dispiriting defeat. But West Indies were unable to overcome Tillakaratne Dilshan in the semi-final, as he smote an unbeaten 96, the highest score in the competition, to post what proved an adequate 158. His trademark ramp shot was yet another example of the innovations wrought by Twenty20 cricket. In the other semi-final, against South Africa, Shahid Afridi chipped in with a match-winning display, scoring a 34-ball 51 to help Pakistan recover to a competitive total after a shaky start, and bagged two wickets to seal their place in the final which they went on to win.Umar Gul leads the bowling nominations with two entries, one from the World Twenty20. He finished with an extraordinary 5 for 6 against New Zealand at The Oval, leaving the batsmen clueless with his swing and accuracy to shut them out for 99. Daniel Vettori said he had “never seen someone reverse the ball after 12 overs”. Australia failed to measure up to Gul, as he grabbed 4 for 8 in Dubai to dismiss the opposition for 108 after they had started on a promising note. And finally, Ajantha Mendis, who, like he had done against India in a Test series, cut through Australia’s line-up, which was facing him for the first time. He picked up 3 for 20 to restrict them to 159, which Sri Lanka overhauled.The top three in each category were drawn on basis of votes from a 14-member jury that includes some of the leading cricket experts in the world and Cricinfo’s senior editors.A departure from the usual year-end awards looking at overall performances, ESPNCricinfo’s honours are in two categories: a jury-based award looking at the year’s best batting and bowling performances and a stats-based award using numbers from Cricinfo’s extensive database. The winners for all the awards will be announced on February 19.