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Kings XI Punjab captain Adam Gilchrist has raised doubts over Shaun Marsh’s dismissal during their eight-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday, saying that he was not convinced the ball carried through to the wicketkeeper.Marsh was controversially dismissed in the 14th over, when his edge off a Brett Lee delivery was taken low by wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla. The on-field umpire then ruled him out, even though TV replays suggested there was a doubt. Kings XI relied on Marsh to give them momentum, after Gilchrist pulled a hamstring in the 11th over while completing a quick single. Until Gilchrist’s departure, Kings XI were going along at 7.50 but post-Gilchrist, it had declined to 5.93.”I am not convinced it was out, but I think there’s a huge element of doubt there,” Gilchrist said. “Shaun asked the wicketkeeper, which I must say is the way I like to play the game, you ask the fielder and the wicketkeeper told him ‘yes I caught it’, so Shaun walked off.”Following the dismissal, Gilchrist stepped in to quash a debate between the team owner Preity Zinta and match officials. “I saw her on the sidelines and all I said was ‘let me handle this’ and she responded and sat down.” Gilchrist said.After the match, Knight Riders medium-pacer Rajat Bhatia said that Gilchrist’s injury and Marsh’s dismissal helped them restrict Kings XI to 124. “Bisla never said that he took the catch. He said that ‘I think I took the catch’. If the umpires would have given it to the third umpire then the decision would have been different. That really helped us, to be honest,” Bhatia said.Having lost three matches and won two in the IPL, Gilchrist said that consistency is important to succeed in the tournament. “We all need to contribute as there’s a full batting line-up there. It’s up to all of us to get the runs. We’ve been inconsistent and that’s an area where we can improve.”Gilchrist also said he was concerned about the security of players after an intruder ran on to the field during the match.”There’s always concerns when you get pitch invasions in any sports,” Gilchrist said. “We’ve seen historically there’ve been some terrible things happening. When someone runs on like that and runs towards players, we can never be too sure what’s going to happen. It is a concern and no doubt the ground authorities will try and improve on security and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

ScorecardCenturies from Wes Durston and Dan Redfern (pictured) had limited value after Derbyshire failed to agree to terms with Hampshire on a possible run chase•Getty Images

Derbyshire are the longest-serving second division outfit. It is not a great claim to fame, admittedly – and should 12 seasons out of the top tier turn into 13 once this campaign is done and dusted then they may just look back on today and think: “If only…”If only Hampshire had agreed to engineer a run chase amounting to something like 240 off 70 overs (a suggestion which had a miniscule chance of being accepted and probably received an LOL text response). Or, perhaps even, if only Derbyshire had been really brave and gone along with Hampshire’s original proposal (believed to be for a double forfeiture and the pursuit of 353 from 96 overs).As it was, no deal could be done and spectators had to settle for watching a less than enthralling battle for bonus points. Given that the first two days of this match were lost to rain, a draw had long been the likeliest outcome but events at Bristol, with Yorkshire prepared to try to hunt down 400, and then succeeding in style, showed that where there is a will there is sometimes a way.Not to say the final day here was completely without interest. With Kabir Ali and James Tomlinson playing their first championship matches of the season after suffering injuries on the warm-up tour of Barbados, Hampshire’s new-ball attack had a sharp cutting edge.Unlike Derbyshire’s seamers 24 hours earlier, the pair barely wasted a delivery for half an hour or so and they put the visitors into a bit of difficulty at 37 for three. Just for a while there was the possibility of a stunning collapse – and had Liam Dawson, the leading slip catcher in the country so far this season, held a chance offered by Wes Durston, off Sean Ervine, with the total 73 then fantasy just might have become fact.Instead, Durston settled into one of those blockbusting innings which has helped to revive a professional career that appeared dead and buried when Somerset released him in 2009. With Dan Redfern providing less belligerent but splendidly staunch support, Derbyshire’s ship was not only righted but also set on a serene, full steam ahead course. Between them the pair added 178 for the fourth wicket and, quite rightly, both scored centuries.Durston’s hundred was packed with ferocious blows. His second 50 took only 32 balls and by the time he was bowled off stump, by Ervine, for 121 he had struck five sixes as well as 16 fours. No-one suffered more than Dawson, the fielder who dropped him on 37, with all but one of Durston’s sixes coming off the left-arm spinner’s bowling.With Redfern playing with more and more confidence, it would be surprising if at least some of those in the Derbyshire dressing-room were not wishing they could turn the clock back a few hours in order to reconsider Hampshire’s original offer.It would be silly, of course, to state with any degree of certainty that events would have followed the same course had the visitors been chasing a win, rather than batting under minimal pressure. And Hampshire could have defended once the total started to grow, instead of searching relentlessly for wickets.Whatever the ins and outs, though, when Derbyshire reached 353 they were only seven wickets down and 22 overs remained.Redfern had gone by then, though not before bettering the 110 he made against Northants during the first match of the season. The 22-year-old left-hander walked away with a new career-best of 133 but just think how much more satisfaction he would have gained from scoring those runs in a winning cause.Derbyshire’s view was that never in the club’s history have they chased as many as 353 to win a game – and 10 points in the bag are not to be sneezed at. But with Yorkshire winning they have lost their outright lead at the top of the table.As for Hampshire, captain Jimmy Adams admitted to “a frustrating day.” And he added: “I think both sides were keen for a game but unfortunately what we thought might be fair was different to what they thought was fair so we couldn’t come to an agreement. I’ll keep the negotiations quiet but I think they wanted a shorter chase than we did.”

ScorecardChristi Viljoen made a crucial 50•ICC/Helge Schutz

A patient unbeaten by Christi Viljoen took Namibia to a modest 154, but it proved enough in the end as the bowlers combined to shut Canada out in a low-scorer at the Wanderers Cricket Ground. Sarel Burger and Craig Williams took three wickets apiece and led a combined bowling performance to bowl out Canada for 133.It was a game dominated by the bowlers. Canada’s Rizwan Cheema ran through the batting order to take 6 for 34. Namibia’s Burger and Ian Opperman added 52 for the second wicket but that turned out to be the highest stand of the innings as the middle order collapsed to Cheema. Viljoen’s unbeaten 50 included four fours and came off 88 balls. Cheema recorded his career-best figures to bowl out the hosts within 46 overs.Canada got off to a rocky start in their chase, losing four wickets for 33. Jimmy Hansra and Tyson Gordon put Canada’s chase on track with a stand of 60 for the fifth wicket. But Viljoen broke the stand when he had Hansra caught for 34. A double-strike by Bernard Scholtz, the left-arm spinner, left the visitors in deeper trouble at 98 for 7. Gordon and Rustam Bhatti gave Canada hope with a stand of 33, but Burger’s three-wicket burst gave Namibia the match.

Premier League Tier ATamil Union and Colombo Colts kept up the pressure on table leaders Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) by recording their second wins of the season in the ongoing Premier League Tier A tournament. Both teams grabbed maximum points on a rain-hit weekend when the rest of the matches ended in draws.Tamil Union consolidated their second position in the standings with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over defending champions Bloomfield.Two of Sri Lanka’s promising fast bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Isuru Udana combined well to dismiss Bloomfield for a moderate 178 in the first innings after the home team opted to bat. The duo took six wickets between them and received good support from their captain Sachithra Serasinghe who picked up four wickets with his probing offbreaks.Tamil Union were boosted by a career-best knock of 121 by former Sri Lanka Under-19 player Kithuruwan Vithanage. With supporting half-centuries from another former Sri Lanka U-19 player Ashan Priyanjan and Serasinghe, Tamil Union built up a first-innings lead of 154.Lakmal pushed Bloomfield on the back foot with an early breakthrough in the second innings when he got through the defences of in-form opener Dilshan Munaweera for nought off the third ball. From there onwards it was an uphill task for the home team to avoid defeat. Despite a plucky 98 off 120 balls from captain Chamara Silva, Bloomfield could manage only 276 which gave Tamil Union a target of 123.They achieved their target on the third day before lunch after a shaky beginning that saw them lose three wickets for 30 before Priyanjan and Serasinghe steered them home with successive half-centuries in the match. Sri Lanka Test wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, returning from surgery, displayed great skill behind the wickets to snare six victims, which included five in the first innings.Colts thumped Moors Sports Club by eight wickets at Havelock Park. Dilruwan Perera scored a half-century and grabbed a match haul of eight wickets with his offspin. Colts’ batting was inspired by the two young Silvas (no relation) – Anuk who was unfortunately dismissed hit wicket, ten short of his maiden first-class hundred and Roshen who went onto remain unbeaten on 132 out of Colts’ total of 398.Moors’ first innings was destroyed by tall right-arm quick Kanishka Alvitigala, who recently toured South Africa as replacement for the injured Nuwan Pradeep. In a sustained spell of fast bowling Alvitigala took 4 for 26 off 16 overs as Moors were dismissed for 196.Following-on they slumped to 142 for 7 before a stand of 70 between Udara Peiris and Irosh Samarasooriya saw them avoid an innings thrashing. Left with 51 to chase, Colts got home in eight overs after losing both openers.SSC were denied their second win of the season by some stubborn resistance put up by Ragama Cricket Club‘s batsmen led by opener Ian Daniel. After Ragama were forced to follow-on 223 runs in arrears on the first innings, Daniel stuck it out for 209 balls to compile an unbeaten 117, his second century of the season. He received solid support from the lower order as Ragama escaped with a draw scoring 292 for 7 in their second innings.SSC piled up an imposing 425 for 4 declared riding on opener Dimuth Karunaratne’s maiden first-class double hundred – an unbeaten 210 off 285 balls. SSC still maintain a slender lead at the top of the table. Ragama remained in fourth place but had Chilaw Marians breathing down their backs.In spite of their fifth draw of the season, Chilaw Marians picked up valuable points in their game against Badureliya Sports Club at the Surrey Village Ground. Chilaw’s slow-left armer Malinda Pushpakumara took eight wickets in the match to retain his position as the leading wicket-taker of the season with 30 victims from five matches.Nondescripts Cricket Club continued to remain at the bottom of the table after they conceded first-innings points to Lankan Cricket Club in what could be termed as a shock result. After being asked to bat, Lankan CC batsmen rattled up an impressive 424 largely through their openers Ashen Silva, who went onto score a career-best 175, and Deshan Dias, who scored 69 in a stand of 110.Former Sri Lanka player Jehan Mubarak’s undefeated knock of 127 proved a vain effort as Nondescripts could muster only 292. They were dismantled by the pace of former Sri Lanka fast bowler Sujeewa de Silva (5 for 58) and the 22-year-old left-armer Vimukthi Perera who took his first five-for (5 for 69).Premier League Tier BSri Lanka Army moved to the top of the Premier League Tier B standings when they thrashed Sri Lanka Navy by an innings at their home ground in Panagoda. Navy were clueless against the legspin of Seekkuge Prasanna who took ten wickets in the match including 7 for 52 in the first innings to rout the opposition for scores of 119 and 208.While Navy slumped to their first defeat of the season, Burgher Recreation Club capitalized on their chances to move to third slot nine points behind Navy when they beat Colombo Cricket Club by four wickets. Burgher used nine bowlers in each of CCC’s innings.Saracens Sports Club also made steady progress up the table moving to fourth position with their second win. They pulled off a narrow 24-run victory over Panadura Sports Club.Air Force lost their No.3 position when they conceded first-innings points to Police Sports Club in a match where they were lucky to escape with a draw having been reduced to 171 for 8 chasing 266.

Lance Klusener, the former South Africa allrounder, has been appointed interim coach of the Dolphins, the Durban-based franchise, until the end of the 2011-12 season. Klusener replaces Graham Ford, who resigned with immediate effect last week and has been confirmed as Sri Lanka’s new coach.Klusener, best remembered for his Man-of-the-Series performance in the 1999 World Cup, retired from international cricket in 2004 and has since had a range of cricket-related work. He has a Level 3 coaching qualification and has been involved with age-group sides at the Dolphins for the last three years. He has also worked with the South African High Performance Program and assisted the South Africa A side.”Being a former Dolphin, I am very proud of my team and want to be part of the process of rebuilding the team to its rightful place as South Africa’s No. 1 franchise,” Klusener said.The Dolphins have not won a trophy since they shared the SuperSport Series in the 2004-05 season, and are targetting the upcoming domestic Twenty20 competition as an opportunity for silverware. They have contracted Chris Gayle for the series and had also lined up Australia quick Shaun Tait, but he pulled out with an elbow injury.”We are still focused on the T20 competition,” Faeez Jaffer, the Dolphins president, said. “With Lance’s vast experience at our disposal, we believe that our players will be challenged and want to perform. Lance also has first-hand knowledge of the dynamics and makeup of our team.”Jesse Chellan, the Dolphins chief-executive, told ESPNcricinfo that the franchise is still looking for another big-name player.The mid-season change of coach has not affected the Dolphins team, Chellan said. The senior players filled the gap and have been organising and running team practices. “Team leadership stepped in and everything has been running well,” Chellan said.The Dolphins will soon undertake a formal process to recruit a new head coach for the start of next season.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Umesh Yadav ripped apart Australia’s top order in their second innings•Getty Images

Indifferent batting from India and an abject response by the Australian top order left the first Test tantalisingly poised after a helter skelter third day on which 15 wickets fell at the MCG.The visitors and the hosts traded collapses on a track still offering a modicum of help to the bowlers, India slipping from 2 for 214 to 282 all out before Australia slumped to 4 for 27 thanks to Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma. It was a hole plugged only partially by the staunch efforts of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, who was undefeated on 79 when the close arrived at 8 for 179, the lead standing at 230.Rahul Dravid, bowled second ball of the morning by the recalled and renewed Ben Hilfenhaus, completed his unhappy day by shelling the sort of slips catch he would expect to claim when Hussey advanced to R Ashwin on 69. Though Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon departed thereafter, it may yet prove a crucial drop.Hussey and Ponting were both under enormous pressure for runs coming into this match, given their poor recent returns, but younger team-mates were grateful for their calming presence in a partnership of 115 after the tumult that marked the start of the second innings. Hussey’s innings was particularly strong, counter-punching from the start to build some sort of lead.India had earlier surrendered 8 for 68 to be halted 51 runs short of Australia’s 333. Hilfenhaus followed up Dravid’s defeat with the wickets of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and the dogged nightwatchman Ishant Sharma, while Siddle neutralised the threat of VVS Laxman and rounded things off by disposing of Ashwin for a useful 31.The continuing flood of wickets was attributable to smart, full bowling but also poor batting, with David Warner, Ed Cowan and Shaun Marsh all guilty of vast misjudgements. Michael Clarke was less culpable, out to a corking delivery from Ishant. Ponting’s dismissal was followed by another flighty innings from keeper Brad Haddin, who must be under severe scrutiny for his spot despite claiming five catches.Starting out with a 51-run advantage, Warner and Cowan were unable to get themselves going in the manner of the first innings. Warner looked uncomfortable, tugging at the ball rather than timing it, and it was no great surprise when he dragged Yadav onto the stumps with an angled bat. Cowan had left the ball with great skill on Boxing Day, but two balls after Warner he would die by the sheathed sword, padding up to a Yadav delivery that straightened and as such having scant cause to complain about the lbw verdict.Marsh evaded a pair, scoring his first Test runs in Australia, only to perish in a similarly ugly manner to Warner when he snicked a full, wide delivery from Yadav onto the stumps. After an outside edge in the first innings, an inside edge in the second, it was clear Marsh lacked Test match touch after injury and one Twenty20 knock.At three down India had the scent, and it became a pungent whiff with the fall of Clarke to a beautifully-pitched delivery from Ishant that seamed back and removed the leg bail via the inside edge. Clarke’s exit was all too swift, and echoes of Cape Town hung tangibly in the air.Hussey and Ponting responded to their predicament with firm intent and attractive strokes, pulling, cutting and driving to extend the lead and take Australia past the accursed 47. Ponting was fortunate to survive Zaheer’s lbw appeal from around the wicket when he was 15, replays indicating the ball had struck him in line and would have plucked out middle. Hussey’s first boundary was an edge through the slips, but thereafter he was decisive and impressive, attempting to make amends for an awfully slim run of scores since a bountiful tour of Sri Lanka in September.Tea came and went, and the partnership assumed significant proportions against bowling that remained diligent but with the backdrop of slackening field settings. Dhoni was intent on saving runs, and Hussey and Ponting were able to knock the ball into gaps consistently with the odd boundary. Both passed half-centuries, raising generous affirmation from another healthy crowd, this time 40,556.Ponting’s period of greatest peril is starting to resemble Shane Watson’s – when fit, fall somewhere between 50 and 100. Zaheer returned for a spell with the old ball and slanted across to draw a sliced drive and a catch in the gully. As he walked off, Ponting offered an unfussy wave of the bat to the MCG – who knows if he will be back to do so again.Haddin sold his wicket dearly enough in the first innings, and did well with the gloves after an early dropped catch. But now he played another innings far too aggressive in the prevailing circumstances, essaying a handful of shots that weren’t quite there before waving his bat brusquely at Zaheer and edging to second slip.Hussey’s innings might have ended soon after when he advanced and was beaten by a nicely dipping off break, but Dravid could not hold on to the edge. Siddle was unable to reprise his first innings, hanging his bat out at Yadav and being held well by Dhoni, diving in front of first slip. Lyon was granted a promotion in the batting order, perhaps to retain a right and left-handed union, but he had not scored when Ashwin’s carrom ball pinned him in front of leg stump.Dravid and Ishant had walked to the middle a little more than six hours before, their sights set on establishing a first-innings advantage. Hilfenhaus had been ineffective late on the second day, yet started things off on the third and enjoyed instant success. Dravid played the day’s first delivery to mid-on, but the second slid subtly away from him to elude his defensive bat and flick off stump.Laxman took guard on a ground where he has never enjoyed success, in marked contrast to the rest of Australia. This time he lingered 21 balls for two, before finally being undone by a Siddle delivery that shaped nicely away to catch an edge that Haddin pouched. Given the torment he has inflicted on them in the past, the Australians were understandably exultant.Clarke only allowed three overs of Lyon’s spin before recalling Hilfenhaus, and second ball the Tasmanian found the ideal line to draw Kohli’s outside edge and grant Haddin another catch. Six wickets were down before the arrival of the second new ball.Dhoni, so difficult to contain on Indian pitches, has shown vulnerability in foreign climes before, and there was a hint of the England tour about his brief stay. Now using a fresh projectile, Hilfenhaus gave India’s captain a trio of straight deliveries before floating one wider, with bounce. An airy drive and a catch in the gully ensued, sinking the visitors deeper into the morning mire.Let down by his batsmen, Ishant finally lost patience, and swished at another outswinger. Zaheer Khan was not inclined to hang around and he was soon bowled by Pattinson, having an unsightly heave at a full-length ball. Ashwin and Yadav offered a cheeky last-wicket stand of 23 before Siddle nipped out the off spinner.