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Tamil Nadu roared to a 203 run thumping of Goa on the final day oftheir South Zone Ranji Trophy tie at Margao today. Set 315 forvictory, the Goans crumbled in the face of a disciplined Tamil Naduattack led by skipper Sridharan Sriram and Rajat Bhatia. The visitorscollected eight points for their toils to go top of the table.Bhatia struck the early blows, removing wicketkeeper A Bhagwath andTamil Nadu exiles Satyajit Medappa and Tanvir Jabbar, to have Goareeling at 42/3. Sriram’s left arm spinners then mesmerised the middleorder, three wickets falling to him in the space of seven balls, allat the score of 68. The prize victim was rival captain Pravin Amre,bowled for 14.The remaining four wickets were grabbed by the four other bowlersused. Sriram’s fellow tweakers Balaji Rao and Kapoor snapped up oneapiece before Mahesh and Kumaran returned to polish off the tail.Kapoor’s return catch had accounted for opener V Kolambkar the mostobdurate Goan batsman who had grafted for 175 deliveries to compile48. The next highest was extras with 16, which included five byes whena Bhatia delivery struck the helmet behind the keeper. Goas’s effortwas terminated at 111 in the 70th over, Sriram’s unchanged spell of8-3-6-3 being the most attractive figures.

Teenager Andrew Puttick scored his maiden first-class century in just his third game, as Western Province got off to a useful start in their Supersport Series, top-of-the-table clash with Easterns at Newlands on Friday. Province closed on 273 for six, a good return on a pitch that never really favoured the batsmen.Puttick had to bat himself back into form after making way for both Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis two weeks ago, and took a while to find his timing. By stumps though, Puttick – who faced 317 balls over 386 minutes – had struck 18 boundaries to underline the clinical nature of his strokeplay, particularly through the off-side.It was a chanceless innings, but there was one flutter for the youngster on 98 when he struck a lofted shot through the midwicket region. Fortunately it beat the infield, but in his desperate bid to complete the two runs he needed, Puttick collided with batting partner Ashwell Prince and very nearly brought about the most catastrophic of demises. Fortunately the two of them recovered quickly to run two and allow Puttick to receive the acclaim of his team-mates and the tiny Newlands crowd.The innings could hardly have got off to a worse start as HerschelleGibbs found his feet in concrete and edged a good away-swinger from Andre Nel to be out for just one. His cheap dismissal will have annoyed Gibbs, who needs some heavy run-scoring over the next few weeks to impress the national selectors before his ban from international cricket is lifted at the end of the year.Easterns bowled with real discipline throughout, Kenny Benjamin returning with the second new ball to take the wickets of captain HD Ackerman, for 50, and Neil Johnson without scoring. If the visitors can make a couple of early breakthroughs on Saturday they will be very much in the game.

Scorecard and ball-by ball details 2:07

Isam: Bangladesh have made for intriguing viewing

Liton Das scored his first Test fifty and shared an 82-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan to help Bangladesh build their biggest lead, 78, against any team when batting second, but South Africa’s openers, Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl, all but wiped that away. They reached the close of a curtailed day unscathed and just 17 runs behind, with enough time, weather-permitting, to set a target.South Africa may regard this as their best day so far. Despite the Shakib-Liton partnership, Bangladesh’s last four wickets fell for 15 runs as Dale Steyn found his bite with the bouncer and finished one short of the 400-wicket mark. Then, the South African openers batted with more ease than their entire line-up did in the first innings and grew in confidence, especially against the spinners, to negate the advantage Bangladesh gained.The hosts’ day began energetically as Mushfiqur Rahim tried to make the most of the old ball. He took on Steyn and was successful until the fast bowler rapped him on the pads with a length ball, and asked for the review after Umpire Joe Wilson wasn’t convinced it was out. Replays showed the ball was going on to hit middle stump and Steyn had made his first incision in the series.South Africa took the new ball one over after it became available, and tasked Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel with picking up wickets. When neither could, Steyn was brought back, with Simon Harmer operating at the other end. Although Harmer found turn, he was at times too short and both Shakib and Liton were comfortable taking him on. They became even more comfortable after they secured the lead with Liton’s pinpoint drive off Steyn before lunch, and South Africa then had another spinner, JP Duminy, operating after the break.Shakib reached his highest Test score against South Africa and had a half-century in sight, so went for a glory shot off Harmer. But what he hoped would be a full-blooded pull turned into a top-edge to give Duminy a comfortable catch at short midwicket and leave Liton with the tail.Mohammad Shahid offered strong support when he took 18 runs off Harmer’s next over, all in boundaries. The first was a fortuitous outside edge; the next three meaty blows over mid-off, midwicket and straight down the ground. His fun only lasted ten more deliveries. After belting Vernon Philander through cow corner, Shahid tried to slog but van Zyl took a good catch at midwicket.Liton was more cautious and displayed maturity and class. His cover drive off Morkel was the most elegant stroke across the two-and-a-half days of hard grind of either side. There was nothing quite as stylish to bring up his half-century – it came with a single to the leg side off the 101st delivery he faced.Later, in the same over, his innings ended. Liton was caught in his crease by a sharp offbreak and inside edged the ball onto his pad. Quinton de Kock took the catch and broke the stumps at the same time and umpire Richard Kettleborough had to check for a clean catch, which replays showed it was.South Africa could see the end when de Kock appealed for a caught behind off Taijul Islam off Morne Morkel but Umpire Wilson gave it not out and it stayed that way on review, so Steyn was brought back. And it was with a vengeance. He banged it in short, hit Mustafizur on the helmet as a warning and then had Taijul caught at gully and Mustafizur Rahman at point to end Bangladesh’s innings, and give South Africa a chance to put pressure on Bangladesh for the first time.Elgar and van Zyl took that opportunity. They negotiated a tricky 40 minute period before tea, which included facing a spinner, Taijul, first up and then, Mahmudullah and Shakib, with caution and then knuckled down in a shortened third session. Bad light ended play after 50 minutes but not before both Elgar and van Zyl showed their ability to handle spin better. Unlike the first innings, when South Africa’s batsmen were often stuck in the crease, they moved their feet and looked for gaps in the field. They found the method worked but it will have to keep working if South Africa want a winning target.

An on-field brawl between two Bermuda club cricketers during the country’s Champion of Champions final on September 12 has resulted in one of them being banned for life and the other slapped with a lengthy suspension by the Bermuda Cricket Board.At the end of an over during the game, Cleveland County Cricket Club’s wicketkeeper Jason Anderson, while changing ends, smacked the Willow Cuts Cricket Club’s batsman George O’Brien on the head to spark off a massive fight. O’Brien swung his bat at Anderson, who – after a moment of calm – then rushed the batsman and pushed him to the ground. Anderson then appeared to aim at kick at O’Brien’s body too, and the pair had to be separated by a large number of players and officials as play was stopped.Anderson was given “a life ban from all cricket, and any involvement in the game of cricket in Bermuda in any capacity” by the BCB, while O’Brien was suspended for a length of time that will include six 50-over matches at the start of the next season.The Cleveland Club imposed more sanctions on Anderson, banning him from representing the club “in all sporting activities for life.” Cleveland coach Clay Smith wrote in his column for that the incident was a new low in Bermuda cricket.”Our standards of discipline have slipped tremendously, and what is deemed acceptable on the field of play is completely unacceptable,” Smith wrote. “Too few players are being written up for what some may deem minor infractions.”There is a solution to this madness, it just requires the Bermuda Cricket Board to implement the code of conduct that players are expected toplay under at the ICC international level.”The incident was criticised in Bermuda’s parliament. “What was to be a family and community event, has instead been marred by a repugnant incident of violence, lawlessness and unsportsmanlike conduct,” Shadow Sports Minister Michael Weeks said.

Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo are some of the prominent players who will feature in the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL), a franchise-based T20 tournament to be held in Doha in February 2016. The players’ interest in the tournament could stem a desire to be match-fit ahead of the World T20 which begins a month later in India.The agency that manages Gayle, one of the most valuable Twenty20 players, confirmed that he had signed the pre-draft agreement on Monday. Darren Sammy and Sunil Narine along with former England batsman Owais Shah will also be part of the PSL draft pool. It is understood that the Pakistan Cricket Board, owners of PSL, are seeking at least 25 overseas players for the tournament.”Obviously top guns like Gayle are stars who attract fans,” Najam Sethi, head of PCB Executive committee, said. “They lend commercial value, showbiz glitz and tournament credibility. They are also sources of inspiration and emulation for our budding players.”The first edition of PSL will feature five franchise-based teams from the provincial capitals – Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad – with prize money of $1 million. The tournament is scheduled to run from February 4 to 24 and will feature 24 matches.This will be the first major cricket tournament hosted by the Qatar capital, which will also host the 2022 edition of the football World Cup. The PCB had originally wanted to conduct the PSL in the UAE, where Pakistan have been playing their international matches. But they were forced to look for an alternative venue after being told by the Emirates Cricket Board that it was hosting the Masters Champions league (Twenty20 tournament featuring retired cricketers) on same dates.The PSL matches will be played at the West End Park International Cricket Stadium, with a capacity of about 13,000. Last year it was used for a women’s limited-overs tri-series involving Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.Last week, the PCB had roped in former captains Ramiz Raja and Wasim Akram as ambassadors for the first season. Both of them had been tied with the Masters Champions League, but Akram said, “I’m up for leaving anything for Pakistan cricket. I don’t want to earn money by playing cricket but instead want to give something back to my nation. We signed with MCL and had to work for them, but my priority is to help our country’s cause.”The logo of the PSL will be revealed in a ceremony on September 20, but the PCB said finding stakeholders to bid for the franchises and the broadcast rights is still a work in progress.

Fast bowler Rusty Theron has retired from South African domestic cricket following continual knee problems, but he remains available to play in T20 leagues.* Theron played four ODIs and nine T20s for South Africa between October 2010 and March 2012 and was a senior member of the Warriors franchise. He played his last game for them in February.”After the CPL this year and a bothersome knee, I decided to focus on my studies for now. I will still be looking to forward to the CPL, IPL and some cricket in the UK as of next year when I have had some time to work on and settle the niggles that have bugged me for the last while,” Theron told ESPNcricinfo.Theron’s hand was forced during the Caribbean Premier League this year when he suffered a knee injury from which he did not think he would recover in time to honour his deal with the Warriors. Theron was only due to turn our for them in the twenty-over competition but withdrew to concentrate on his studied in the USA and allow his knee to settle.Theron had a reputation for being a skillful death bowler, and earned a national contract before he even played a game for South Africa. He was contracted in February 2010, after a season in which he played a major role in the Warriors winning their first, and to date, only trophies in the franchise era. They lifted both the forty-over and twenty-over cups and Theron was their leading wicket-taker in both competitions. In the forty-over tournament, he was the leading bowler overall with 21 wickets from nine matches at 18.80 and in the twenty-over event, he was third overall with 11 wickets from eight matches at 19.27.Theron took 12 wickets in 50-over cricket at 14.41 and 12 again in T20 cricket at an average of 21.75, which included series against India and Australia. However, he struggled to establish a regular place for himself in a career that was plagued by injury.A stress fracture kept him out of cricket for almost a full season in the 2012-13 summer. Trouble with his knee meant he did not play any first-class cricket last season too. Theron has relocated to the USA where he is studying English and hopes to go into teaching on his return home.Theron’s retirement has left the Warriors without an international seamer after Wayne Parnell moved to the Cobras over the winter. They have some experience in the form of Basheeru-Deen Walters and will bank on the likes of Simon Harmer, who is part of South Africa’s Test squad, to mentor a young attack.*14.00GMT, October 8: This article was updated after Rusty Theron spoke to ESPNcricinfo.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:05