Ganguly cracks a defiant 142

Sourav Ganguly shrugged off an indifferent start to his English season and cracked a defiant 142 for Glamorgan in their County Championship game against Kent at Cardiff. He smashed five sixes and 15 fours and was the last man out after a tenth-wicket stand of 80 with Andrew Davies had salvaged some pride for his struggling side. Ganguly had got into his groove in the first innings with a solid 69 and ended up as the joint top-scorer along with David Hemp. However, Glamorgan had fallen too far behind by then and were eventually beaten by ten wickets.

The other Indians playing in England didn't have much to cheer. Irfan Pathan couldn't pick up any wickets in his 23 overs while playing for Middlesex against Surrey at Lord's and ended with 0 for 73. He had earlier made a good impression with the bat, though, and his breezy 68 had taken Middlesex to a healthy 437 in the first innings. There was a mini-battle in the game as Pathan faced Harbhajan Singh, his Indian collague who is representing Surrey this season. Pathan spanked 11 fours in his 93-ball knock, including a brief charge against Harbhajan, but he was finally deceived by an offspinner that turned sharply and was bowled. Harbhajan finished with 2 for 87 from his marathon 35-over bowling spell.