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ScorecardFile photo: Ravikumar Samarth recorded his second first-class hundred in as many matches•PTI

Defending champions Karnataka piled on more runs and agony for Assam by setting them a massive target of 683 runs for the last day in Indore. Opener Ravikumar Samarth scored his second first-class hundred in as many matches before Karntaka declared on 415 for 5.The visitors were 137 for 2 overnight, already leading by 404, as Samarth and Robin Uthappa stretched their partnership to 173, nearly taking the score to 300. Uthappa followed his first innings hundred with 77 and was bowled by Syed Mohammad. Karun Nair and Samarth put on another 85 to strengthen Karnataka’s position further as Nair fell short of his fifty by two runs. Samarth’s 178 off 298 balls featured 17 fours and two sixes, lasting more than seven hours. Karnataka declared soon after Samarth was dismissed only ten deliveries after Nair, with Shishir Bhavane and Shreyas Gopal at the crease.Assam were given eight overs to bat, in which they scored 32 runs, but they face a steep task of not losing all 10 wickets to draw the match. Since Karnataka took the first innings lead, they will go through to the semi-finals if they don’t snare a victory.

Hampshire have sought to pep up their attack after promotion to Division One of the LV= County Championship by signing West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards for the second part of the 2015 season.Edwards, 33, will be available in all formats and joins Hampshire as a Kolpak player, therefore not being classed as an overseas player.Edwards has not represented West Indies since he faced Bangladesh in Khulna in November 2012 when he took six wickets in the first innings to help West Indies win the series.The right-arm fast bowler will arrive at the Ageas Bowl in time for Hampshire’s opening Royal London One-Day Cup match against the Sussex Sharks on July 27.Edwards said: “I’m delighted to have signed for such an ambitious club as Hampshire. I’m very much looking forward to my first taste of county cricket. It’s also an honour to follow other Bajans like Malcolm Marshall and Gordon Greenidge to Hampshire.”Edwards is hugely experienced in all formats with 55 Test Matches and 50 ODIs for the West Indies. In arguably one of his finest individual performances in international cricket, the seamer finished with impressive figures of 6-92 in a Test Match against England at Lord’s in May 2009.That he can still produce spells of explosive pace was emphasised when he destroyed Nottinghamshire to finish with figures of 8 for 40 during a two-day friendly for the Combined Campuses and Colleges in March this year. Notts collapsed from 60 without loss to 99 for 9 in the process.Hampshire’s director of cricket Giles White said: “Fidel is a good option for us. He arrives ahead of the Royal London One Day Cup and should give our attack variety which we feel is key in the 50-over format. His stay will also extend to Championship cricket and he will be available until the end of the season.”

William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, has questioned “the point in keeping going” for Associate nations if the ICC does not reverse its decision to cut the next World Cup to 10 teams.Ireland left the Adelaide Oval defeated but proud after losing by seven wickets to Pakistan in the final Group B match. But their real concern was not that they had been knocked out of the World Cup, but eliminated from all future World Cups.In this tournament, Ireland were eventually exposed by the paucity of their own attack and a Pakistan seam unit that provided a masterclass in death bowling.But, in the longer term, they face a far more substantial foe: the governing body that seems determined to keep them weak; the governing body that is run for the self interest of the few richest members and offers no more than lip service towards the rest.Certainly that is the view of Porterfield. Fresh from scoring a century against Pakistan, Porterfield renewed his attack on the ICC’s decision to limit the next World Cup – scheduled to be staged in England in 2019 – to just 10 teams.While Porterfield feels there has been growing criticism of the ICC’s stance – Steve Waugh, Martin Crowe and Sachin Tendulkar are the latest former players to recommend the inclusion of more teams – he fears the issue will fade in the public consciousness once the World Cup is over.William Porterfield signed off Ireland’s campaign with a century – but will they be back at future World Cups?•Getty Images

In particular, Porterfield highlighted the irony of the scheduling of the next tournament. Despite featuring fewer teams, it will actually be longer than the current event. And, as he sees it, if the ICC is insistent on limiting the showpiece ODI event, then all the countries outside the 10 Full Members might as well not bother to play.”I’m sure the ICC are hoping everything blows over in the next few weeks and they don’t hear much from us,” Porterfield said. “And then it’s just as easy to brush it under the carpet.”But I think something has to be done if they want to grow the game. Everyone wants to know what their vision for the game is, because if they cut the teams in world competitions, why not just have 10 teams playing cricket and every other country in the world doesn’t bother?”The next World Cup is two or three days longer than this World Cup. So if you’ve got four fewer teams and your competition drags out longer, that’s not an excuse for cutting the number of teams.”It’ll be interesting to see what their vision is and what their thoughts are behind the 10-team competition and what value there is for other teams playing outside of the top 10.”The frustration for Porterfield is that Ireland have continued to improve and develop but appear to have future opportunities blocked. Even in this World Cup, despite not reaching the quarter-final stages, they have beaten two Full Member sides – West Indies and Zimbabwe – which is two more than England managed.”The ICC is the International Cricket Council,” Porterfield said. “That’s global. They’ve got to develop the game. There’s a lot of countries out there that have done a lot of work over the last number of years. We’ve shown what we can do when we get to these competitions with the minimal fixtures that we’ve had.”I think when we do get more fixtures then we’re only going to keep improving, and it’s going to be the same with every other country. You’ve got to keep growing the game.”If you cut World Cups from the agenda, then what’s the point really in us keeping going? I think it’s the wrong move. I think a lot of people have spoken out and said that it is the wrong move. And not just from Associate countries, from Test-playing nations and a lot of influential people, too.”So I don’t think the ICC can just ignore that. I don’t think it’s right. It needs to change.”

Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, has said the warm-up match against Auckland helped him regain his rhythm after a back injury forced him out of international cricket for two months. Edwards missed West Indies’ triangular Twenty20 series in Canada and ODIs against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.He picked up 3 for 125 in Auckland’s first innings in the three-day match which was headed for a draw on Sunday. “My rhythm has been good,” Edwards was quoted as saying in New Zealand’s . West Indies used ten bowlers in trying to contain Auckland, who racked up 587 in their first innings, with captain Richard Jones scoring a maiden double-century.Edwards said it had been tiring to bowl on the flat track but it was a good workout all the same. “We haven’t played Test cricket for a while and the guys have been up for the challenge, even though this is a dead track. Hopefully, our batters will get a good workout because that’s what we really want – for them to get some runs on the table. When we first started we were looking to win this game but I don’t think there’s enough time left to get a result.” West Indies last played a Test in June against Australia.Jones said he declared Auckland’s innings only after tea on day two because he felt sure West Indies weren’t going to set up a game at any stage. “They’re just coming here to practice as well, so I was just working on the basis that they were going to look to bat for the next day and a half so there was no real point,” Jones said.Jones, who played his only Test in 2003, was delighted to get his first double-hundred in 108 first-class games. “It’s fantastic. It’s something that wasn’t in the resume up until today, so to get to that personal milestone was really nice.”

The waiting for an official word on whether to tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy next month is nagging at Stuart Clark, the Australia fast bowler. David Richardson, the ICC general manager of cricket, will lead a delegation in Australia on Friday that will try to convince the players and officials to take part in the tournament. A similar exercise was completed in New Zealand on Thursday.However, Clark said he wished a decision had been made two weeks ago. “At least there would be closure,” he said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “You hear about Australia closing its embassies in Pakistan, what are you supposed to think? And the back-up country has its own problems.”If the Champions Trophy, which is due to start on September 12, is not held in Pakistan it could be staged in Sri Lanka, which is also a place of risk for travellers, according to the Australian government’s advice. There have been bomb blasts in Pakistan this week and the Herald Sun reported warnings of more suicide attacks in the cities of Lahore and Karachi, which will host all the Champions Trophy matches.Clark says he can’t make a decision until he hears from Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association. “Once again I’m going to have to look at that report and see what it says,” he told AAP. “I can’t commit either way at the moment.”If we do go it’ll be on the basis of that all has been taken care of and that unease factor will hopefully be removed. There’s obviously something going on although I’m only hearing it second hand.”Clark, who visited the country on Australia A duty in 2005, said if the tournament was cancelled he hoped it would not mean a long break for tours to Pakistan. “It’s very important that that part of the world keeps playing cricket,” he said.”Obviously those countries are struggling, but if it doesn’t happen I hope they do whatever they need to rectify the situation.” Australia have not visited Pakistan since 1998, playing the 2002-03 series in Sharjah and Sri Lanka, and postponing the Test and one-day contests which were due to occur last March and April.

Allan Donald has backed Chris Martin, the New Zealand opening bowler, to make a big impression with Warwickshire after agreeing to be their overseas player from the end of June.Martin has been left out of New Zealand’s one-day squad to face England and will join his new team after the Twenty20 Cup as a replacement for Monde Zondeki, who will link up with the South Africa tour. Warwickshire’s England players, Ian Bell and Tim Ambrose, have both spoken highly of Martin after facing him over the last few months.”Chris will make a massive difference,” Donald, Warwickshire’s bowling coach, told the . “We saw how well everybody bowled around Dale Steyn last season and it could be something similar.”I can’t think of anything better than to bowl alongside someone of Chris’s quality and experience. He has gained a lot of respect with a lot of people – the Aussies talk very highly of him. He will be a really exciting addition and he is a good bloke, a very humble sportsman. People will learn a lot from him.”Martin will hope to improve on Zondeki’s return of nine wickets in four Championship matches. Zondeki was signed to be a spearhead in a young Warwickshire attack, but it has not quite worked out that way.”I still feel Monde was just a couple of wickets away from bowling a side out,” Donald said. “But things happen for a reason and he quite simply didn’t fire at all. Maybe the English game just hit him straight between the eyes. You finish a four-day game then travel somewhere for a one-day game, then next time you open your eyes you are back at Edgbaston.”

A toe injury forced Harbhajan Singh out of the Delhi Test and denied him the opportunity of bowling in tandem with Anil Kumble for one last time, but the offspinner is now “100% fit” and ready to bear the responsibility of being India’s premier slow bowler.Winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is the biggest stake for India in Nagpur, but apart from the wider picture, there are other sub-plots – the most significant being Sourav Ganguly’s final Test and VVS Laxman’s 100th. And Harbhajan has his own milestone to look forward to. He’s on the cusp of becoming only the third Indian bower to take 300 Test wickets, after finishing the Mohali Test on 299.”I would have liked to get the 300th in Mohali [his home ground] but unfortunately I couldn’t,” Harbhajan said. “Hopefully I’ll get it here in Nagpur. If I bowl well, hopefully, I’ll end up with 500.”For the majority of those 299 wickets, Harbhajan had Kumble to back him up at the other end, giving away nothing. He’s bowled with other spinners as well but Kumble’s absence in those phases, unlike the one which is beginning, has been temporary.”Obviously Anil retired and his will be very very big shoes to fill. To fill the gap left by a great player is very difficult. But we’ve got Amit Mishra and some other young bowlers. It’s a good chance for them to get in the team. They are good enough. They have played lot of domestic cricket and done well. I’m sure in time they will perform for the country as well.”Mishra made his debut in Mohali and picked up a five-for but had a poor game in Delhi, where he took only one wicket. Harbhajan also said that despite the emotion-laden circumstances under which the fourth Test would be played, India would not be content with protecting their 1-0 lead.”It’s very simple to be focused. You just have to focus on cricket. That’s it. If people are retiring that’s their decision. We’re 1-0 up and want to finish the series 2-0. Hopefully Sourav will have a very good match here and gets lots of runs. It’ll be great for the team and great for him.”Ganguly was one of two players – Zaheer being the other – who didn’t practice at the old Vidharba Cricket Association on Tuesday because practice facilities aren’t complete at the new Test venue. “Zaheer did a lot of bowling in the last three Tests and Sourav is feeling fatigued with the traveling,” Harbhajan said. “They are both fit but are taking it easy today.”The practice sessions on Wednesday – the eve of the match – are also scheduled at the old stadium, which means the new one, situated on the outskirts of the city, will be new territory for both teams when the Test begins. Harbhajan hasn’t even been there yet but didn’t think it was an issue at all.”We aren’t worried too much about how the wicket will play, how it won’t play, what will happen, what won’t happen,” he said. “We’re looking forward to playing some good cricket and finishing the series 2-0.”

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistan fast bowler, is trying to hire the services of Dr Graham Durgan, a sports medicine expert from England, to plead his case against the dope charges after he tested positive for a banned substance during the Indian Premier League.”Nothing is final as yet,” Shahid Karim, Asif’s lawyer, told . “But we are holding talks to secure the services of Dr Durgan.” Asif had also tried to hire Mark Gay, who is an anti-doping expert, but didn’t receive a response from the British lawyer.Asif had asked for the B sample test, which was scheduled for July 28 at a World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Switzerland, to be postponed in order to give him time to prepare his case and make travel arrangements. Karim said that they had sent two requests for postponement to the IPL, who hadn’t accepted or rejected the request.The IPL doping case is not the only cloud currently hovering over Asif. His 19-day detention in Dubai for allegedly carrying a banned substance is also the subject of a separate inquiry within the Pakistan board. Reports from Dubai authorities on the matter have finally been received by the PCB and Asif has been asked to attend a hearing in Lahore on Thursday.”We have received reports from Dubai regarding Asif’s detention there and will now be hearing the player’s side of the story,” PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi, one of the committee members, told . He said that the committee could take a decision on Asif after the hearing.Asif was in detention in Dubai from June 1 to 20 for suspected possession of an illegal substance. The case against him was dropped by the Dubai public prosecutor on the grounds of insignificance, though it was speculated that behind-the-scenes help had been provided by the Pakistan government and the board, who share close ties with the monarchy in the UAE.

Matthew Mott, the New South Wales coach, has made the initial cut for John Bracewell’s New Zealand job and will be interviewed over the next couple of weeks. Mott was asked to apply for the post, which becomes available in April, and has made a list that is believed to include Graham Ford, formerly of South Africa but now at Kent.”I was flattered to get asked and the thought of an international job is very exciting,” Mott said. “There’s a fair bit to think about before the job becomes available. I’ve got to fulfil a contract here at New South Wales – it ends at the end of the season – and that’s my first priority.”The whittling down of a group Justin Vaughan, the New Zealand Cricket chief executive, said included up to 20 serious candidates has only just began, but if they were to go with Mott it would result in a significantly different outlook to the 50-year-old Bracewell. Currently 34, Mott would be the same age as some of the players.The issue has not created concerns at New South Wales and he steered the side to the Pura Cup in his first season in the head job. “I’ve found it a good thing,” he said. “At New South Wales I hadn’t played with the guys so it was a new playing group. Being around their age I could relate to them and understand how things worked with the contract system and the structures.” Despite his empathy, he maintains he is capable of making unpopular decisions.Mott was appointed to the Blues in 2007 when Trevor Bayliss left to take up the Sri Lanka position and he was due to be an assistant with the Australia team on their tours to Pakistan earlier this year. When the trip was cancelled he joined John Buchanan, a former mentor at Queensland, at the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he linked up with the New Zealand wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.”It’s an exciting time for New Zealand,” Mott said. “They’ve got a good bunch of senior players as well as younger guys coming through.”A steady top-order batsman, Mott started his career in Queensland before switching to Victoria, playing a total of 66 first-class games and scoring 3723 runs. He retired early and one of his first coaching jobs was as an assistant with the Australia Under-19 World Cup squad. He also spent a season as player-coach of the New South Wales 2nd XI under the eye of Bayliss.Another of Mott’s former bosses is Ford and the pair worked together when Mott travelled to Kent for an off-season. Now the men are expected to be pushing for the same role. “Graham was an outstanding operator,” Mott said, “and a fantastic coach.” Bracewell will return to Gloucestershire, the team he left in 2003 to take up the New Zealand role, when his contract expires.

Indian left-arm fast-medium bowler Zaheer Khan is likely to miss the match against Central Districts starting in Napier on Friday.Khan badly bruised his knee while attempting to field a ball during India’s 21-run loss to New Zealand in a Super Max game in Christchurch tonight.Khan misjudged the ball and had it lift slightly on him, deflect off his knee and go into the Max zone, where runs scored are doubled.He left the field immediately and coach John Wright reported after the game that he was quite badly bruised and would probably be rested from the three-day game in Napier.