England in India

Graham Thorpe has insisted he has no 'divine right' to play for England despite repeated calls that he needs to be urgently added to the team's misfiring batting line-up.

The left-hander, regarded as one of the finest players in world cricket when on form, has missed all three matches in the one-day series which India lead 2-1.

He was unavailable with sickness for the opener at Calcutta but surprisingly left out of the following two matches, at Cuttack and Madras.

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Batsman VVS Laxman has been dropped from the India squad for the final three games of the one-day series against England.

After a meeting during the third one-dayer in Madras, the selection committee decided to bring in Mohammed Kaif in the middle order.

The fourth match of the series is in Kanpur on Monday. India are 2-1 up in the series after Friday's four-wicket victory in Madras.

"The selectors thought Kaif deserved to get a look in against England while Laxman was not too consistent," Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said.

Triangular in Australia

Shane Bond took five for 25 as New Zealand won their fourth match in a row - and third in the series - against Australia, thumping them by 77 runs.

Bond shone after Nathan Astle, in his first match back after injury, hit 95 for the Kiwis.

And the margin of victory will lead to more head-scratching in the Aussie camp. It also gave New Zealand a bonus point, and they are almost certain to make the final.
Match report | Images | Scorecard

Pakistan in Bangladesh

Pakistan manager Yawar Saeed has played down the brick-throwing incident that saw Shoaib Akhtar injured in the second one-day international against Bangladesh.

"It was a very unfortunate incident and Shoaib, or any of our players, could have been hurt seriously," said Saeed.

Saeed also insisted the incident in Dhaka, which led to a 36-minute delay in play, had not soured relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

"I give credit to the Bangladesh board and government for handling the situation very well in the aftermath.

Under-19 World Cup

Group C:
Pakistan 183-4 (44.4 overs) beat England 182 all out (48.1 overs) by six wicket.

England's youngsters scraped into the Super League phase of the tournament by virtue of a superior run rate to Nepal after suffering their first defeat of the competition.

Captain Nicky Peng top scored with 59 and Lancashire all-rounder Kyle Hogg made 40, but England's last four wickets went down for just 18 runs as they failed to use up their 50 overs.

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Group C:
Nepal 177 all out (48.3 overs) beat Papua New Guinea 112 all out (43.5 overs) by 65 runs.

Nepal had to settle for a place in the Plate competition despite finishing on the same number of points as Pakistan and England.

Left-arm spinner Lakhpa Lama was their match-winner, taking four for 14 as Papua New Guinea collapsed after a good start by openers Frank Joseph (32) and Mahuta Dai (32).

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Group D:
Australia 335-5 (50 overs) beat Scotland 106 all out (34.2 overs) by 229 runs.

Cup favourites Australia gave another demonstration of their batting power with skipper Cameron White hammering a supoerb 156.

His 121-ball innings included four sixes and 10 fours and he was well supported by Daniel Christian, who made 93, in a fourth wicket stand of 212.

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Group D:
South Africa 42-0 (8.2 overs) beat Canada 41 all out (28.4 overs) by 10 wickets.

South Africa secured second place in the group by bowling out Canada for the lowest total in the event's history.

Free State's Ryan McLaren took four for nine as the Canadians were hustled out for just 41, nine short of Kenya's 50 all out against Australia last Sunday.

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