Race to the top
Dubai: India's number one spot in the ICC rankings would be on the line when MS Dhoni's men square off against Australia in a seven-match ODI series starting in Pune on Sunday. India starts the series as the number-one ranked ODI side with 123 ratings points, with Australia in second place on 115 ratings points. To retain their number-one ranking, India has to win two or more matches in the series.
Pawar-Munde contest
Mumbai: The biennial polls of the Mumbai Cricket Association on October 18 will see a straight fight for the presidentship between two Maharashtra political heavyweights — Sharad Pawar and Gopinath Munde. Outgoing MCA president Ravi Savant announced on Friday, the last day for filing nominations, that there were only two candidates for presidentship — Pawar and Munde
North post 329
Kochi: Young opener Unmukt Chand led the way with a patient century as North Zone posted a formidable 329 for two in their Duleep Trophy semifinal against East Zone here on Friday. While the 20-year-old Chand made 116 off 230 balls, Ian Dev Singh was unfortunate to have missed his century by five runs due to a hamstring injury.
Mominul lifts Ban
Chittagong: Young left-hander Mominul Haque scored an impressive 181 as Bangladesh made light of New Zealand's bowling attack on the third day of the first Test here on Friday. The 22-year-old anchored the innings to notch up his maiden Test century as the hosts, replying to New Zealand's 469, cruised to 380-7 by stumps at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.
BCCI-CSA meets today
Mumbai: Seeking to end the deadlock over the much-anticipated India's tour of South Africa, BCCI President N Srinivasan will meet his Cricket South Africa counterpart Chris Nenzani here on Saturday for discussions on the bilateral series.Nenzani would be giving CSA's Annual General Meeting a miss to hold parleys with Srinivasan and work out a possible schedule for the series.
Amla, Steyn return
Johannesburg: Batsman Hashim Amla and fast bowler Dale Steyn are back in South Africa's Twenty20 squad for a two-match series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates next month. Amla took a year-long break from the shortest format of the game, while Steyn has recovered from various injuries.