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Durham will start next season with point deductions in all three competitions after breaching the salary cap in English domestic cricket.Counties are not allowed to pay their staff more than £1.8million in total and Durham exceeded this level, although by less than 2%. The result, apart from a £2500 fine, is a 2.5 point deduction in the Championship and a quarter of a point in both the CB40 and Friends Life t20.Durham notified the ECB as soon as they were aware of the issue and their co-operation throughout was taken into account in the final judgement.”The tribunal concluded that the sanctions in accordance with the regulations should reflect the fact that it was Durham who notified the ECB of the breach and Durham had co-operated fully and openly,” an ECB statement said.”Durham had admitted a category one breach of the regulations which state that a county should not pay its players in total more than £1.8 million a year. A category one breach is the lowest of the five categories of breach under the team salary payment regulations which apply to all 18 first-class counties and were introduced by ECB in 2010.”In a separate statement, Durham said: “In its submission to the ECB Durham explained the difficulties faced by counties who wish to remain competitive in all competitions and produce players for England.”In particular the lack of certainty relating to players in the England system means that it is impossible to have absolute certainty around the final salary bill.”

ScorecardMiddlesex left Essex rooted at the bottom of the Clydesdale Bank40 Group A table as they carved out a nine wicket victory at Chelmsford. After the home side totalled 146 for 7 in a clash reduced to 25 overs per side because of rain, Middlesex achieved success with 15 balls to spare.Their crushing triumph was inspired by Chris Rogers and Dawid Malan who gathered runs with embarrassing ease. They were cautious at the outset, scoring just 16 from the first five overs against David Masters and Graham Napier. But then they increased the tempo considerably as the 50 was raised in the 10th over and 100 in the 16th.The only early blemish came when Rogers offered a chance to a leaping Tom Westley at slip when he had made 16, but the Australian made good his escape to reach his half-century from 48 balls. He had moved to 64 with the aid of two sixes and six fours, before he holed out to Masters off Tymal Mills having taken his side to within 11 runs of their target.Malan finished unbeaten with 76 from 68 deliveries that included seven fours and two sixes and fittingly it was he who took Middlesex to their target with two boundaries in an over from left-arm fast bowler Mills.Apart from Mark Pettini, the Essex top-order struggled to make an impact in the face of tight bowling backed up by fine work in the field. It was one piece of great work in the deep that brought Pettini’s innings of 44 from 43 deliveries to an end. Rogers was responsible for that as he threw down the stumps from deep mid-wicket as the Essex captain for the day attempted a second run.Pettini, who was leading the side because James Foster was excused duty as his wife is due to give birth, scored his runs from 64 balls before he departed in the 14th over.It was another six overs before the 100 was raised but much needed impetus was provided late on by Adam Wheater and Jaik Mickleburgh. They put together 53 in five overs, Wheater smashing three sixes in making 33 from 19 balls before he was caught in the deep while Mickleburgh’s unbeaten 22 arrived in 15 balls.Toby Roland-Jones was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers with 3 for 25 from his permitted five overs, an effort that enabled the visitors to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages in the competition.

Pakistan and Australia will play three Twenty20s and three ODIs in the UAE in in August and September, it has been confirmed. The matches will begin in the late evening to avoid the worst of the daytime heat.The ODIs played between August 28 and September 3 will begin at 6pm local time, and end at 1.45am the following morning. The Twenty20s that follow are set to begin at 8pm and end at 11.The average daytime temperature in the UAE in August-September is 38-40C, while the average nighttime temperature is 26-29C.There had been much debate over the actual make-up of the series, which is a ‘home’ series for Pakistan. The Australian Cricketers’ Association had expressed its concerns about playing ODIs in such hot weather. This had prompted the series to be changed to a six-match Twenty20 affair, which was approved by the ICC in June.The PCB had however then approached Cricket Australia during the ICC’s annual conference in Kuala Lumpur in the last week of June, putting forward a request to review the composition of the series once again. ESPNcricinfo understands that the series’ broadcaster had objected to six Twenty20s for commercial reasons. The Australian board reportedly agreed in principle to the PCB’s proposal, but would not sign off on the deal until it had discussed it with its players.The series was initially scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka but Pakistan were forced to search for an alternate venue after Sri Lanka backed out of hosting it in May. The inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League is to be played in August, and clashed with the dates of the proposed Pakistan-Australia series, prompting Sri Lanka Cricket’s decision to withdraw as hosts.

ScorecardChris Nash’s first day hundred was as good as the game got for Sussex•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire pounced on the final day of a sun-drenched match to seal a seven-wicket win and edge Warwickshire off the top of Division One.With the holiday feel of the south coast giving way to weekday mode, the visitors were businesslike, taking six wickets in the morning session to dismiss Sussex for 263 and marching to the victory target in 44.3 overs.The best sides separate themselves from decent ones by grasping key moments and that’s precisely what the visitors did to deliver their first win at Hove since 1983. It took them a point clear at the top of the table, though Warwickshire have a game in hand, and coach Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, was suitably impressed.”We haven’t won here for 30 years,” he said. “I think that shows how hard we find it coming to grounds where pitches are very different to the kind of pitches we would prepare. I think it’s a great win, and having lost the toss I think it’s an even better win.”Set a target of 145 in two sessions Nottinghamshire leapt out the blocks and were guided home by an unbeaten fifty from Samit Patel. The pitch was worn enough for the first ball of the run chase, from James Anyon, to catapult off a length and almost take Riki Wessel’s throat off. Thereafter Anyon was loose and the Notts openers profited. The fifty was up in the 10th over and with that the game was as good as won.Michael Yardy rotated his bowlers desperately, making 10 bowling changes in less than two sessions of play but without meaningful consequence. All the while Monty Panesar was struggling to make an impact. He was switched from end to end but couldn’t make a decisive contribution. Despite a probing final spell from the Sea End, where he dismissed Michael Lumb and severely troubled James Taylor, Panesar managed just two wickets from 52 overs in the game. It doesn’t compare well with the other spinners – Chris Nash, Patel and Yardy – who took 12 between them.Sussex, though, were chasing the game after squandering good batting conditions on day one. “We fell short on first innings badly,” Sussex coach Mark Robinson said. “We were in a position to get 400 in the first innings and didn’t. From there you lose the ascendancy and we paid the penalty. Some of our shot selection and execution was probably our downfall in both innings. We’ve got a little bit of naivety and inexperience in our team and with a young team you’re going to get those kind of mistakes.”The morning of the first day had followed a late finish to Sussex’s CB40 game the night before and though Robinson was reluctant to make it an excuse he did admit that it hampered preparation. “The average player went to bed at 1.30am and that can’t be right, while the other team were in bed. It’s tough. We’re paid to adapt, professional sportsman have to cope, but it was not ideal.”Coming into the final day Sussex had pinned their hopes on the experienced pairing of Murray Goodwin and Luke Wright, who’d added an accomplished 77 the previous evening. For almost 10 overs they advanced untroubled. But the introduction of Andre Adams quickly changed things.He beat Goodwin with his fifth delivery and struck in his second over. Wright had past fifty, to go with his first-innings hundred, and looked well set for more but on 55 fenced outside off and Chris Read flew to his right to clasp the edge. From that chink, Nottinghamshire burst through. Patel had Ben Brown caught behind for the second time in the match and Goodwin clipped Adams to midwicket to fall for 77. He will be delighted to have found form but disgusted to get out so softly. Sussex suddenly found themselves just 104 in front with their recognised batsmen dismissed. Though the tail fought to drag the lead up another 40 it was never enough.

Cricket Canada has said that it is looking at a tour of Pakistan by its national team later this year. If the plans materialise, Canada would be the second international team, after Afghanistan, to tour Pakistan after the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus during the Lahore Test in 2009.”I have reached out to my counterparts in the PCB to strengthen ties between Pakistan and Canada,” Cricket Canada’s chief executive, Doug Hannum, told ESPNcricinfo. “We have asked for details with respect to a potential tour but have not had any formal discussions about the tour yet.”On Wednesday, the PCB welcomed Canada’s interest in the tour, saying the board is working on a proposal for a series to be held after September. “PCB has thanked Cricket Canada for their interest in sending their national team to Pakistan. We believe in strengthening the relationship between the two boards,” the PCB said.Canada, an Associate member of the ICC, failed to qualify for the 2012 World T20 championships after finishing sixth in the qualification tournament in UAE. They also lost all four matches in the Caribbean T20 tournament held in January this year. Pakistan beat Canada in the group stages of the 2011 World Cup.PCB’s efforts to restart international cricket in Pakistan were hit last month after Bangladesh postponed its tour following a Dhaka High Court ordered suspending the tour on security grounds. Former PCB chairmen who met last month advised the board to focus on associate teams rather than the ten Test-playing nations in their efforts to revive international cricket.

Match facts

Sunday, May 6
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Lasith Malinga has continued to be Mumbai Indians’ MVP•AFP

Big Picture

Wins for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in their previous games helped clear a few lingering doubts for both teams. Mumbai Indians just about held on, but got their opening combination to click. They had tried six combinations in nine games prior to that; with James Franklin and Sachin Tendulkar adding 50, they may have finally settled on one. But the middle-order collapse that ensued and the absence of Kieron Pollard due to injury pose another headache.Super Kings’ win over Deccan Chargers revived their campaign, helping them bounce back after a winless two weeks that involved two losses and a rained-out game. The win also kept them marginally ahead of competitors below them in the points table and with the tournament now well past the half-way stage, Super Kings need to achieve some consistency to retain that advantage.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Chennai Super Kings: WLLWW
Mumbai Indians: WWLWL

Players to watch

It is probably safe to say that Lasith Malinga would be leading the wicket-taking charts this IPL had he played all of his team’s 10 matches. He missed three due to a back injury, but since his return has continued to be his side’s MVP, playing an instrumental role in his side’s two wins in that period.Suresh Raina, after an indifferent start to the season, has finally got going, making 44 and 32 in his previous two games. But he’s been relatively restrained on a slowish Chennai track, and will hope the Mumbai conditions offer him a chance to be play with more freedom.

Stats and trivia

• Seamers have taken 310 wickets thus far in the IPL, out of 464, almost 67%. Spinners, though, have been marginally more economical, going at 7.26 an over as opposed to 7.82 *
• Fifteen matches thus far in the IPL have gone into the last over.
  

  Quotes

  “Franklin gives us stability (in the top order), but we are still looking for a middle-order batsman who can fill Franklin’s spot. We have Dwayne Smith (he has joined the squad as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Johnson) and hopefully he can fill that slot.”
  “We have the best fielding unit in the tournament but still there are areas we need to improve like with our direct throws. For a team, there is always some scope of improvement.”

  * Stats do not include numbers from Saturday’s matches

Steven Finn is keeping his fingers crossed that he is the man chosen to replace the injured Stuart Broad for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Broad was forced to fly home on Friday with a calf injury leaving England needing to fill a fast-bowling slot as they aim to level the series and cling onto their No. 1 Test ranking.Finn, who has taken 50 wickets at 26.92 in 12 Tests, has endured a frustrating time on the sidelines of the five-day team despite consistently impressive one-day form against India and Pakistan. Since being dropped after the third Ashes Test in Perth he has played just one more match, against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, but has made sure he has channelled his disappointment into a drive to improve.”We don’t know who is going to play, but if I get my opportunity I’m ready to take it,” Finn said. “I have felt as though I have been ready for a little while now. I have done a lot of bowling this winter and a lot of work on becoming a better bowler. Hopefully I can reap the rewards of that if I get a chance.”Despite not yet playing a Test during England’s overseas campaigns in 2012 Finn hasn’t been short of bowling. He was the stand-out performer during the 5-0 one-day whitewash against India, taking eight wickets at 31.62, before a trip to New Zealand to play domestic cricket for Otago. He didn’t fill his boots in the Plunket Shield – taking nine wickets in four matches – but it kept him ticking over. Then, after sitting out the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, he claimed an outstanding 13 wickets at 10.30 in the four-match ODI series. Finn admits to moments of frustration but has learned to be patient.”When you have the ups and downs of being in the mix but not playing you can feel down pretty quickly but it’s a team game and we need to have a strong squad,” he said. “We have to be able to compensate for injuries as we’ll have to in this next Test match. All I can do as a back-up player is to be ready when the opportunity comes.”However, it may not be quite so simple as a straight swap of Finn for Broad. That one change would give England a tail of Finn, James Anderson and Monty Panesar which could leave Andy Flower uneasy. Tim Bresnan is an all-round option, although to play him as one two quicks may not be enough given Bresnan’s lack of bowling in recent months so they may have to consider dropping Monty Panesar.”Broad is a huge and important player for us but we’ve got a group of guys in the wings who can cover for him,” Finn said. “But Broady is a massive part of the team and will be missed.”Finn also repeated the mantra from the dressing room that the team remains in good spirits despite four straight Test defeats. Another reversal in Colombo and England will concede top spot in the rankings to South Africa and it could get worse than that. If Australia then go on and whitewash West Indies in their three-Test series, they will move above England into second.”Yes, we’ve lost four Tests this winter but we’ve been in positions to win three of them,” Finn said. “We are not out of the hunt. We got to No. 1 for a reason and we just have to keep the belief. A lot of things over the last two or three years have gone our way and we realise it does come around to even itself out.”Edited by Alan Gardner

ScorecardGary Wilson’s composed innings ensured Ireland didn’t suffer a second upset in three games•Barry Chambers/International Cricket Council

The eclectic talents of Italy almost caused a major upset at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, running Ireland to the final couple of deliveries.Italy rely heavily on players of Italian heritage – rather than those born in the country – and were a match for Ireland until the very last over. Italy’s batting was below par, barely scraping past 100, but the slow bowling and fielding ensured a tight finish for Phil Simmons’ men. In the end the margin was two wickets with just two balls to spare as Gary Wilson kept his head in a tense finale.The left-arm spin of Damian Crowley was almost Ireland’s undoing as the Nottinghamshire 2nd XI player took 3 for 12 off four magical overs.Gary Wilson admitted it had been a “smash and grab” win for Ireland. “All we can take from the game are the two points – and run,” he said. “Two or three guys got starts and didn’t go on so we wouldn’t have been in that position if one of them did.”William Porterfield was even more critical of his batsmen. “We made it hard for ourselves in the middle order with a couple of soft dismissals,” he said.Italy won the toss and batted on a slow surface. The Irish fielding was its usual tigerish self and the Italians struggled to get on top of disciplined bowling. Ireland kept the boundary count down once again, conceding just three fours and a pair of late sixes clouted by captain Alessandro Bonora.Ireland offspinner Paul Stirling was given the new ball and responded with two immaculate overs costing just one run, as well as picking up the scalp of Andy Northcote. There was also the novel sight of a 37-year-old New South Welshman bowling to a 38-year-old Tasmanian. Trent Johnston won that contest, bowling a maiden first up, but Michael Di Venuto played a backbone role to top score with 23 off 44 balls as wickets fell around him.After five overs Italy had made just 16, and the half way score of 39 for 2 was no platform for expansion. Middlesex allrounder Gareth Berg stuck around for 19 before he played an awful shot to square leg to give his club mate Stirling a second wicket.Berg and Di Venuto had taken the score to 55 but the Italians lost five wickets for 22 runs as first the spinners cashed in and then Boyd Rankin returned.The 6ft 8in paceman had recorded a T20 career best the day before, and improved on that with two lethal deliveries to send Crowley and Hayden Patrizi back to the pavilion. The Warwickshire bowler has concentrated on bowling at the stumps and was rewarded by seeing the poles cartwheel twice in a fiery second spell.Max Sorensen, who came in for Andrew White, was entrusted with the 18th and 20th overs, and picked up Carl Sandri to a catch in the deep. Bonora took the total into three figures when he just cleared the fielder on the square-leg rope.”If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” they say, but Ireland failed to heed that old saw and separated the pairing of Stirling and William Porterfield that saw them to a ten-wicket win over Kenya. Kevin O’Brien was promoted and carved the first ball to the third-man boundary but perished to the first delivery of the second over, bowled by Carl Sandri. The Melbourne-born offspinner has been in fine form in the tournament and picked up two more scalps to take his total to eight.Porterfield and Stirling put on 25 before the Italians found their range and the Middlesex man edged behind to Patrizi. Ireland then made heavy weather of getting the runs as the middle order departed in a flurry.Crowley caused all sorts of problems as Ireland almost became unstuck.A fantastic piece of fielding by Di Venuto saw John Mooney depart to a direct hit and Ireland were confronted with the serious possibility of an early departure from a tournament they were expected to win.As the tension mounted the cool head of wicketkeeper Wilson was required and he tapped judicious singles before taking on Northcote in the final over. With eight wickets down Ireland still needed seven off five balls, but a reverse sweep reached the fence, followed by a two and a clubbed straight hit to leave Wilson unbeaten on 30 and Ireland joining Italy on two wins out of three.Edited by Alan Gardner

USA have included four uncapped players in their final 14-man squad on Thursday for the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier next month in the UAE. Only six players were retained from the squad that finished runner-up to Canada at last summer’s ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in Florida.Elmore Hutchinson, Adil Bhatti, Abhimanyu Rajp and Nauman Mustafa are the first-timers who will be flying to Dubai in March. Offspinner Rajp, 25, was the vice-captain for the USA Under-19s team at the 2006 ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka. He had a five-wicket haul against New Zealand during the tournament and was the leading wicket-taker in USACA national tournaments in 2010, but is only now getting a chance to tour with the senior national team.Mustafa was originally included in USA’s squad for the ICC Americas tournament in July, but was then removed from the squad to make way for Sushil Nadkarni, who had been controversially dropped and then recalled to the USA squad for Florida. Nadkarni wound up being the leading scorer for USA in the event and was recently named captain for the team travelling to the UAE.The selection of Mustafa, 37, as first-choice wicketkeeper comes at the expense of Akeem Dodson, 24. Dodson had been seen as a wicketkeeper of the future for the United States and was one of just two US-born players in the preliminary squad, along with Steven Taylor.However, USACA sent invitations to as many as six other wicketkeepers for a selection camp last month in a sign that they were not confident in Dodson’s short-term prospects, despite the fact that he received the Best Wicketkeeper Award at the ICC Americas tournament in July. Overall, the squad is one of the youngest ones the USA has fielded in recent times, with eight players under the age of 30.Former USA player Mark Johnson has been named head coach and former Pakistan international Asif Mujtaba has been named assistant coach. Shoaib Ahmed will be the team manager on tour. A pair of USACA board members will also be part of the travelling party. Akhtar Masood Syed and Nasir Javed, both longtime allies of USACA president Gladstone Dainty, will serve as the team physiotherapist and bowling coach respectively.USA is tentatively scheduled to leave on March 6 from New York for Dubai to get acclimatized to conditions before their first match of the tournament on March 13 against Uganda in Sharjah. USA is also scheduled to play Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Namibia, Oman and Scotland in Group B.USA squad: Sushil Nadkarni (capt), Aditya Mishra (vice-capt), Orlando Baker, Adil Bhatti, Ryan Corns, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Asif Khan, Andy Mohammed, Nauman Mustafa (wk), Abhimanyu Rajp, Gowkaran Roopnarine (wk), Usman Shuja, Steven Taylor (wk).

After India’s worst day of Test cricket in recent memory, Virat Kohli, who top-scored with 44, had the look of a man wronged by the world. There was a point when he seemed like he actually had a lump in his throat, there was a point when he was angry, there was a point when he gave the Australian bowlers credit, there was a point when he blamed poor luck.Most noteworthy was when he revealed the kind of pressure he has been under, trying to keep his place in the side. “I don’t know why people were after me even after the first game,” Kohli said. “I had scored two fifties before that in the match against West Indies [in Mumbai], and suddenly I was on the verge of being dropped after one match.”Scoring eight hundreds in one-day internationals can’t be a fluke. It’s international cricket as well. I don’t know why people have been questioning my technique or temperament so much. I have been playing at No. 3 in one-dayers, and I have not gone in to bat in very good situations in all of the 70 [odd] matches I have played. All of this is a learning curve for me. I am playing on difficult wickets, in Australia.”As much as I have learned, I have just played six matches before this, and as much as I can learn and adapt to these situations it will be better for me in the future. This is not the end of the world, this is not the last series that is ever going to be played. I have still got to be positive. I have still got to keep working hard and not think about if I am going to get dropped or if someone else is going to play in my place. I really have no control over that. I can only go out and bat. That’s all I am going to do.”Kohli went out and batted today. He got off to a good start too. He admitted he had better batting conditions than those who batted in the top order. Minutes before tea, though, he played a loose stroke, trying to drive length delivery uppishly. “I said this in Mumbai as well,” he said. “I was questioned why I played that shot in the first innings [there]. Cricket always has a thin line between a mistake and pulling off really good shots. Those kind of deliveries, you need to hit for boundaries in international cricket. The way they were bowling, they weren’t giving much. And you need to convert those loose balls into boundaries. Unfortunately I tried to go for one, I couldn’t execute it properly.”Virat Kohli: “I have still got to keep working hard and not think about if I am going to get dropped or if someone else is going to play in my place.”•Getty Images

That, though, has been the story of the tour. “From what I see, we have lost wickets at important stages of the match,” Kohli said. “Even today we had an 80-run [68-run] partnership, and then we lost two wickets before tea. Those sort of balls you need to put away for boundaries if you want to score runs. You just can’t go into a shell.”The Australians came out and played their shots as well. Sometimes they [the shots] fly into gaps, sometimes they don’t. Luck is a very important thing in cricket, which unfortunately hasn’t been going our way in important phases. Just before breaks, after breaks, just before lunch, just before tea … we have lost important wickets at important times in matches. Just when we are about to convert that 80-run partnership into a 150-run one, we lose a wicket. That’s all that has been happening. I don’t think anyone has a lack of temperament or technique. Just that things haven’t been going our way recently.”Kohli was asked if that actually might have more to do with the team not being mentally as strong as is ideal. He said: “I don’t think we are not mentally competing with them,” he said. “We haven’t done well during those important phases in Australia. It’s all about holding your temperament during those important phases, and pulling through, which unfortunately we haven’t been able to do. Some do it well, some don’t. That’s the way the game of cricket goes. So when it goes our way we will make sure we take advantage of it. The game has four days to go. Anything can happen in cricket. They might lose wickets in a cluster. You never know what happens in cricket. It’s a funny game.”Asked if this was the worst day of international cricket he had been part of when playing for India, Kohli, incredibly, said it wasn’t. “I don’t think so,” he said. “We have had days when we have fielded longer than this. It’s just one day. We still have four days left. I don’t rate this as the worst day of Test cricket I have experienced.”