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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The fall of Chris Gayle, for an energetic 83 was the only real blip in a positive day’s cricket for the West Indies where they bettered India without ever seeming to strive hard to do so. Brian Lara won the toss and chose to bat, and after being denied the first session because of overnight rain, West Indies reached a comforting 207 for 1.India began well enough, with their fast bowlers – Sreesanth, fit again and making a reappearance to the Test eleven, and the ever improving Munaf Patel – putting the ball in the right areas often enough to give it a chance to swing or seam on a pitch that afforded much-needed bounce.What would have been especially pleasing to Bennett King, the West Indies coach, was Gayle’s decision to put caution before all else. Gayle left the ball alone with the assurance of a traditional Test opener, and West Indies had managed just 11 runs from seven probing overs. The ball had moved late, after pitching on a length not quite full enough to drive, especially for Patel, and to the credit of West Indies’ openers they did not chase the ball.Suddenly, just as the dark clouds gathered over the bay, Gayle straddled the crease and, with typically unapologetic power, rammed a Sreesanth delivery into the stands over long-on. The shot took Gayle to 4000 Test runs and also confirmed the belief that he could clear the ropes in this ground without being completely to the pitch of the ball.A short stoppage in play for a passing shower only helped West Indies’ cause. Rahul Dravid brought his spinners on, and though Anil Kumble was bang on target, and tough to get away for runs, Harbhajan Singh was very much to the liking of the long-limbed Gayle. With nimble footwork not being essential to success – other than on the dancefloors in Bassaterre – Gayle was able to take the attack to Harbhajan like an axe-murderer to a platinum blonde in a bad horror film.Five sixes and five fours later, Gayle had yet another half-century, and the ballboys at long-on and long-off, tired arms. Ganga, for his part, had stuck to his task, surviving the new ball despite some scares where the ball deviated enough to beat the bat and strike the pad or body and bounced away.Suddenly, though, the Indians were in a bit of disarray as the bowlers could not go past the bat in a threatening manner and the opening partnership bounded past the century mark. It was only on 143, of which Gayle made 83, that he shouldered arms to a Patel delivery from round the stumps that took off stump and gave India some respite.But if they harboured any hopes of one wicket leading to another, they were misplaced. Ramnaresh Sarwan, seemingly hell-bent on taking the attack to the opposition, batted positively, always on the front foot trying to force the ball away. India’s cause was not helped by Brian Jerling, the South African umpire standing in his first Test, refusing to entertain even the most earnest appeal from Kumble. Perhaps Jerling, like Ganga, was looking for the elaborate turn that simply was not there, but he denied more than one close shout that might otherwise have been given, and drove Kumble to distraction.At the end of the day, though, Ganga, who has come under some fire for his recent performances, was still at the crease, reposing the faith his captain had placed in him. Ganga was unbeaten on 64 from as many as 187 balls, Sarwan had 44 to his name and West Indies would be utterly pleased with their efforts. With rain perpetually around the corner and the pitch playing so true, it already seems asking too much to expect a result from this game unless West Indies put 600 on the board by the end of the second day, and India collapse. It could happen, but a sensible man would not bet on it.

Chris Gayle b Patel 83 (143 for 1)

South Africa’s tour of India will not be affected by any Delhi police interest in questioning Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje over their supposed links to match-fixing, according to Gerald de Kock, the South African cricket board’s media manager. He said that both players were available to be interviewed by the relevant authorities ahead of the tour, which is due to start on November 14.”We have heard nothing from the Indian authorities in any case,” said de Kock. He then denied suggestions that Gibbs and Boje, who were implicated in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga, would be detained for questioning by Indian police if they travelled to India, saying there was no basis for such speculation.”There’s no chance of them being arrested as they land, but if the Indian authorities would like to interview Herschelle and Nicky, then they must just let us know,” he said. “We would need to get legal representation for the players and arrange a suitable time and place for the interviews. But there has been no official request.”South Africa are due to play two Tests in India, the first at Kanpur from November 20 and the second at Kolkata from November 28.

Less than a year after its inception, Twenty20 cricket continues to gather momentum. Earlier this week Cricket Australia announced that it had agreed in principle with the England & Wales Cricket Board to play a one-off international during next year’s Ashes tour, and now Victoria’s leading clubs are preparing to vote on whether to launch a midweek version of the game next season.A report in Melbourne’s Age explained that the clubs would vote on the idea on June 21. “It’s slather and whack, 20 overs – there’s something happening every ball,” Peter Binns, Victoria’s cricket manager, told the newspaper. “I think the bowlers hate it because they get smashed all over the place but it is a really exciting concept. We think it gives clubs a great opportunity on a Tuesday night, for example, to make a real evening of it, invite the local mayor down and supporters and sponsors.”The proposal being discussed is for six groups of three, organised by regions, in a month-long evening competition. The Age added that the final might even be played under lights at the MCG.Twenty20 was launched last summer in England and attracted considerable media interest and large crowds. South Africa followed suit in March, with similar success, and yesterday Pakistan announced that the format would be incorporated into their domestic schedule in the coming season.

Philip Weston, the 29 year-old Worcestershire left-handed opening batsman who joined the county in 1989, has been released from the final year of his contract. He has joined Gloucestershire on a two-year deal.Weston appeared in 170 first-class matches for Worcestershire, scoring 9,132 runs at an average of 34.07 with 17 hundreds. He was not as well-suited to limited-overs cricket in which he played 128 matches, scoring 2,157 runs at an average of 20.94 but he did manage two centuries.He captained England at Under 19 level and in 1991 scored 146 in an Under 19 `Test’ against the Australian Young Cricketers side captained by Damien Martyn and including Adam Gilchrist.He comes from a sporting family of the highest pedigree. His brother, Robin, has played for Durham, Derbyshire and Middlesex, while father, Mike, played minor counties cricket for Durham and was a notable rugby union international winning 29 England caps.Director of cricket at Gloucestershire, John Bracewell, said: "For some time we have been searching the country for a tall left-handed opener who likes to get forward. The last two years, we have witnessed Philip Weston’s skills from the wrong side of the county line. We believe Philip has the skills to contribute in all forms of cricket and, at the age of 29, is in his most productive years.”The players and I believe that Philip is a major signing for us in our pursuit of the best balanced team in county cricket.”We welcome both Philip and his wife Sarah to GCCC and wish him every success."

"A reward for the players" says Peter Anderson after victory at Canterbury.Minutes after seeing Somerset gain a resounding victory over Kent in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me,"This is a fitting reward for the players after they have struggled in the one day matches for much of the season. At last they are playing with some consistency."He went on "it was good that they achieved this result without any major input from Andy Caddick, Marcus Trescothick, Jamie Cox or Peter Bowler. It was a good all round performance, especially from our bowlers who bowled very well."With regard to the semi final tie he said "We’re looking forward to playing Warwickshire at Taunton, and we will expect a full house for the match."It is likely that the club will erect a portable stand to accommodate an extra thousand spectators, which will increase the capacity for the match to 7500.Details regarding tickets will be made available as soon as the club get them, but the advice from Mr Anderson is to get tickets early.

Wilfried Nancy finally picked up his first win in charge of Celtic on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Aberdeen at Parkhead in the Scottish Premiership.

The French head coach had lost his first four matches in the dugout for the Hoops, the worst start by any manager in the club’s history, and he will be hoping that this latest result can kickstart a successful tenure in Glasgow.

Goals from Benjamin Nygren, Kieran Tierney, and James Forrest earned the hosts all three points, but there were still several players who underperformed, including Johnny Kenny.

Why Johnny Kenny should be dropped by Celtic

The Ireland international was given another chance to lead the line up front for the Scottish giants, with Kelechi Iheanacho out with another injury, and failed to take it.

Per Sofascore, the 22-year-opld centre-forward failed to find the back of the net from four shots on goal, as he missed two ‘big chances’, before being taken off in the 70th minute.

Unfortunately, sloppy finishing has become a theme for Kenny in the Premiership this season, as he missed an absolute sitter in the defeat to Dundee United earlier in the week.

The Irishman has missed a staggering nine ‘big chances’ in six starts in the league this season, including four in the last two matches, which is why Nancy must drop him from the side for the clash with Livingston next time out.

Nygren, who has scored eight goals in all competitions this season, could be an interesting option for the manager to call upon as a replacement for Kenny.

Kenny, though, is not the only undperformer from the win over Aberdeen who should be dropped from the line-up for the game against Livingston.

The Celtic flop who should finally be dropped by Nancy

These last five games will have been incredibly informative for Nancy as he gets to learn which of his players he can trust and which of those he cannot, like Kenny.

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Unfortunately, first-choice goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel’s performances continue to suggest that he is set to fall into the latter category, as he struggled once again against Aberdeen.

The veteran Danish shot-stopper had a nightmare for ten-man Aberdeen’s equaliser in the second-half, as he was slow to get down to Bilalovic’s shot, which bounced off the goalkeeper’s hand and went backwards into the back of the net.

Schmeichel, who was given a 4/10 player rating by 67HailHail, conceded one of the two shots against him in the game and won zero duels, which shows that he had little to do in the match aside from the goal that Aberdeen scored.

Unfortunately, it was not a rare mistake from the experienced goalkeeper. Just a couple of games ago, the ex-Premier League title-winner was caught out for Jonah Ayunga’s header in the League Cup final.

On top of those clear errors in the last few matches, Schmeichel has conceded 2.31 more goals than expected in the Premiership based on the xG of the shots against him, and 1.58 more than expected in the Europa League, per FotMob.

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Nancy, therefore, must finally drop the 39-year-old flop from the starting line-up, as well as Kenny, because he has been a liability between the sticks this season, domestically and in Europe.

24/25 Premiership

Viljami Sinisalo

Appearances

6

Save percentage

78.9%

Clean sheets

2

Error led to goal

0

Goals prevented

+2.52

Goals conceded

4

Stats via FotMob

As you can see in the table above, second-choice Viljami Sinisalo performed well when given an opportunity in the Premiership last season, conceding 2.52 fewer goals than expected.

His 0.42 goals prevented per 90 would work out at 15.96 goals prevented over a 38-game season in the league, whilst Schmeichel is currently on course to concede 5.32 more than expected with -0.14 goals prevented per 90, per FotMob.

These statistics suggest that the Finland international, who is yet to start a league game this season, has the potential to be a big upgrade on the Danish number one as a shot-stopper.

Sinisalo has not played a single minute for Nancy in any competition in the last five matches, but he should finally be given a chance to play because of Schmeichel’s poor form.

Related Celtic now plotting move to sign Championship striker who Sutton called "unplayable"

They desperately need an attacking addition.

Posts 1 ByTom Cunningham