Report

After losing the first session to rain the Titans, who had won the toss, put the Warriors under pressure in East London as they took three wickets for six runs inside the first four overs. Dale Steyn and Ethy Mbhalati, relative newcomers to the first-class arena, caused the early damage. Arno Jacobs and Mark Boucher restored the innings with a stand of 55 before Boucher was trapped leg-before for 23. Steyn went on to capture four wickets, already a career best for him, as the Warriors limped to 156 for 8 when bad light stopped play. Tyron Henderson reached 33 and was still at the crease at the close.

Western Province Boland 127 for 5 v Eagles
Scorecard

Rain also delayed the start of the Western Province Boland match against Eagles in Cape Town. Play only got underway at 1400. The Eagles drew first blood after they won the toss and reduced WPBOL to 22 for 3, as Deon Kruis and Cliff Deacon used the conditions well. Deacon, a late replacement for Johan van der Wath, took the prize wicket of Jacques Kallis for 8. Wickets continued to fall and at 60 for 5, WPBOL were in serious trouble, but Con de Lange (30*) and Thami Tsolekile (31*) saw them through to 127 and early stumps, brought on by bad light.

In Bloemfontein, early morning rain left the outfield slightly wet but only 30 miuntes of play were lost as with Free State sent Border in to bat. At 24 for 3, Border looked in trouble, but a 155-run partnership between Michael Matika and Johan Botha restored the innings to 179 before Botha was bowled for 66. Matika went to his maiden first-class hundred, which included nine boundaries. If Matika was the star for Border, then Thandi Tshabalala was the star for Free State. Coming on as fourth change, he produced by far his best bowling as he took the last five wickets with his off-breaks. He had 5 for 72 when the declaration came at 278 for 8. With light failing quickly, Free State managed to see off six overs, but they lost one wicket.

Pool B: Western Province 65 for 2 trail Eastern Province 178 (Munnik 3-23) by 123 runs
Scorecard

Port Elizabeth missed all the rain as Eastern Province, after winning the toss, were bowled out by Western Province. Renier Munnik was the man with the golden arm, taking 3 for 23, as Eastern Province struggled to put partnerships together. Thanks to the tailenders they managed to recover from 71 for 6 and were eventually dismissed for 178. Western Province fared far better than the opposition: their score was 65 for 2 when bad light brought play to an early end.

Rachael Heyhoe-Flint leads England onto the field © Cricinfo

The women did one-day cricket proud at Lord's yesterday when England gained revenge for Sunday's defeat by beating Australia by eight wickets - Australia making 161 in 59.4 overs and England 162 for 2 in 56.2 overs.

A crowd bigger than for many a mid-week county match applauded enthusiastically, especially towards the end, with England chasing runs against the fast bowling of Sharon Tredrea and the left-arm medium of Anne Gordon. Enid Bakewell and Lynne Thomas had given England a fine start by scoring 85 before a mix-up resulted in Mrs Bakewell being run out. Having bowled her left-arm spinners accurately for two wickets, she made a splendid 50.

She was succeeded by Chris Watmough, a left-hander who gave a splendid exhibition of batting, hitting eight fours, including the winning hit. She had the experienced support of her captain, Rachael Flint, in a final partnership of 69.

On a day dominated by the bowlers, West Indies had the upper hand for much of the first two sessions, but the Sri Lankans, spearheaded by the irrepressible Chaminda Vaas, fought back magnificently after tea to edge ahead after the second day at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Restricted to just 285 in their first innings, thanks to Sri Lanka's effort with the second new ball, the West Indian fast bowlers hit back with a vengeance, dismissing the home team for just 227. But the onerous task of having to bat again under fading light against a marauding Vaas proved too much for West Indies' inexperienced batsmen, and they struggled to 17 for 3, only 75 in front, before bad light mercifully ended their misery on a day in which as many as 17 wickets fell.

The dominant player for Sri Lanka throughout the day was Vaas. He began West Indies' first-innings slide early in the morning, propped up the Sri Lankan innings with an invaluable 49 - in the process ensuring that Sri Lanka's last three wickets added 114 - and then returned to strike twice late in the evening to reduce West Indies to a shambles. In between, though, the West Indians had much the better of the exchanges.

Ryan Watson guided Scotland to their first ICC Trophy title after a commanding batting display, a miserly bowling performance and, to top it all, two crucial catches that broke Irish hope and heart.

Over 2,000 people packed into Clontarf CC hoping for a home victory on a pitch that has historically been a happy hunting ground. But news was not good from the outset as Jason Molins, their captain, failed a fitness test before the start - Kyle McCallan took over. He won the toss and that was the Irish high point.

The second day of the Test at the Bangabandhu Stadium was a scrappy, sweaty affair, but you wouldn't have known it in the morning, when James Franklin became the second New Zealander to take a hat-trick, and Bangladesh fell away for 177.

The pitch became slower and lower as the overs ticked by, and New Zealand's top order was done in by the slow bowlers. Mathew Sinclair played patiently for 76 while his chums fell cheaply, and when he got out, the possibility of Bangladesh taking the lead was very real. But Brendon McCullum hustled the bowlers on his way to 48 and took his team to 207 for 5, a lead of 30.

Western Australia coasted to a nine-wicket win over Tasmania despite an outstanding debut century from David Dawson on the final day of the Pura Cup match at the WACA. Resuming their second innings on 8 for 159, Tasmania were all out for 244, an overall lead of just 24 runs.

Mike Hussey, who was Man of the Match for his 210 in the first innings, and Murray Goodwin quickly knocked off the required runs after Ryan Campbell was dismissed for 10.

A 59-run, 10th-wicket stand between Dawson and Brett Geeves meant Tasmania avoided an innings defeat and Dawson finished unbeaten on 123. Brad Hogg collected career-best figures for Western Australia with 6 for 44.

In a match dominated by the two captains, both of whom batted at No. 3, Shivnarine Chanderpaul prevailed over Daren Ganga, primarily due to a better display from his support cast. Chanderpaul struck an unbeaten 87 to guide Guyana to a five-wicket win after Ganga had made a superb 101 not out to lift Trinidad and Tobago to 210.

The pitch at the Albion Community Centre lacked pace and bounce, requiring the batsmen to show plenty of patience. Ganga did just that, retrieving the T&T innings after they had lost two early wickets to slump to 10 for 2. Ganga found an able ally in Ricardo Powell, who made 41 and helped add 87 for the fourth wicket. However, the rest of the batting floundered, resulting in a modest target for Guyana.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu Stadium, but the end result was all too familiar. A bad start was followed by stirring defiance, but New Zealand were back on top as the day came to a close. Bangladesh reached 165 for 6 after making batting look both easy and unbearably hard, as they lost three early wickets, after which Mohammad Ashraful (67) and Rajin Saleh (41) put on a century partnership. After they departed, runs came sparingly against a New Zealand attack that gave very little away throughout the day.

The 115-run stand between Ashraful and Saleh came when Bangladesh were hobbling at 5 for 3. Jacob Oram removed Hannan Sarkar and Nafis Iqbal - both edged the ball - and James Franklin took care of Javed Omar. There was swing, the pitch had bounce, and Daniel Vettori made the ball turn uncomfortably. Weathering the conditions, both blocked and dodged and pulled away, and, barring the odd moment of indecision, did their best to survive. Just before lunch, Ashraful upped the ante as he swivelled to pull Ian Butler, New Zealand's fastest bowler, for a six. Two more came after lunch, and both were off Paul Wiseman.

Western Australia were on the verge of a crushing victory over Tasmania at stumps on the third day of their Pura Cup match at the WACA. The spinner Brad Hogg picked up five wickets in the final session to leave Tasmania 61 runs behind WA's first innings with only two wickets in hand.

A knee injury to the Test fast bowler Brad Williams in his fifth over was the only downside for the Warriors. Williams, who collapsed and was helped from the field, is believed to have suffered ligament damage. The results of an MRI scan will be known tomorrow.