Maddy helps to keep Bears in hunt

LV CC Division One, Trent Bridge

Close, day two: Warwickshire 298 & 271, Nottinghamshire 359

Nottinghamshire 7 pts, Warwickshire 5 pts

Warwickshire veteran Darren Maddy defied the pain barrier at Trent Bridge to keep alive the county champions' slim hopes of retaining their title.

Batting with a runner, the 39-year-old made a gritty 65 as the Bears batted all day against Nottinghamshire.

Warwickshire started this game with 139 points, while Nottinghamshire were on 113 points, but with a game in hand. Victory for the Bears would just about keep them in the title hunt, thanks to Yorkshire's wobbles and plunge Notts into real danger. A Notts victory would end the Bears' hopes of retaining their title. Backed by 63 from in-form Laurie Evans and, at one time partnered by teenager Peter McKay, who was also batting with a runner, Maddy saw the Bears to 271.

That set Notts 211 to win on the final day to ease their relegation fears.

Judging by the weather forecast for Friday, the expected day of rain looks favourite to have the final word in this contest.

But, if Trent Bridge were to escape the forecast deluge and Notts were to enjoy a successful run chase, that would then drag Dougie Brown's injury-ravaged Bears into the relegation picture.

Luke Fletcher was the pick of the Notts attack, taking a career-best 5-52, while wicketkeeper Chris Read's 746th first-class catch saw him break Thomas Oates' 88-year-old county record.

At the other end of the age scale, 18-year-old Warwickshire wicketkeeper McKay has also had a game to remember.

Chris Read's seven catches in the match have taken the 35-year-old former England keeper past Thomas Oates' Nottinghamshire record of 745 - set in 1925. Having also claimed his 900th career victim in this game, Read now has the chance to become only the 25th wicket-keeper in first-class history to go past 1,000 dismissals. On his first-class debut on Tuesday, as stand-in for the injured Tim Ambrose, he turned his ankle, had to bat with a runner (making an impressive 33) and has so far been unable to keep wicket, making way for two temporary replacements.

But, when he came in to bat with the Bears eight down in their second innings, he joined Maddy, who had also been forced to bat with a runner after sustaining a calf injury on Wednesday.

With four batsmen out in the middle, the pair put on 30 before Maddy, making probably his final first-class appearance, became the second of the two LBW decisions with which Fletcher wound up the Warwickshire innings.

Evans continued his fine recent run of scores before fending Harry Gurney off into the hands of James Taylor and Steffan Piolet made his highest first-class score of 30 before holing out off Fletcher.

BBC Radio Nottingham's Dave Bracegirdle:

"Another absorbing day saw Chris Read deservedly enter the county's record books as holder of the most catches for Notts - and also saw another career step taken by Luke Fletcher.

"The 6ft 6in fast bowler, nicknamed the 'Bulwell Bomber' by home supporters, claimed his best innings and best match figures as he picked up his second consecutive five-wicket haul.,

"If the gloomy weather forecast for the final day has been grossly exaggerated, we could be in for a thrilling conclusion to this contest."

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Hafeez helps Pakistan draw level

Pakistan 299 for 4 (Hafeez 136*, Amin 59) beat Zimbabwe 209 (Taylor 79, Waller 40, Junaid 4-15) by 90 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

With the series at stake, Pakistan hit back strongly by posting a total well beyond Zimbabwe's reach, thereby giving the final match greater context. Mohammad Hafeez led the way with an attacking, unbeaten 136 to lift Pakistan to 299, and although Zimbabwe had their moments in the chase, they failed to stretch Pakistan over a sustained period. A clump of wickets towards the end widened the gap between the two sides, as the margin of victory suggested.

Both sides, while batting, were removed from their comfort zones. Pakistan didn't have the safety net of a steady Misbah-ul-Haq innings for the other batsmen to bat around. A rare failure from Misbah gave Hafeez the chance to step up and guide the innings. Zimbabwe, for a change didn't have the luxury of a solid opening stand in the face of a daunting total, and the middle order couldn't cover the slack. Pakistan, though, responded better to the challenge.

Put in to bat, Pakistan had a better idea of the kind the score needed to intimidate a confident Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe were guilty of dropping catches in the first ODI but those let-offs, fortunately, didn't cost them in the end. While they were relatively better today, one lapse cost them plenty of runs. When on 30, Hafeez went for the slog sweep but as the ball dipped towards deep square leg, Brian Vitori was a touch too late on the dive. He couldn't hang on and Zimbabwe were made to rue the missed chance.

Hafeez's driving, flicking and defense against the seamers was solid and he used his feet against Prosper Utseya, lofting two sixes over long-on. He launched Elton Chigumbura over the same region as he progressed to his fifty off 65 balls. Following Misbah's departure - he limped to 3 off 23 balls - Pakistan had lost all their experienced batsmen, but Umar Amin stepped up to give Hafeez the support he needed. Amin looked busy at the crease, trying to push the singles and attempting the odd slog, looking on nervously at his senior partner who urged him to play straighter.

Amin opened up at the start of the batting Powerplay, taken in the 36th over, clipping Utseya wide of midwicket and then launching him over cover the next ball. He found the gaps with ease through the off side and reached his maiden fifty in ODIs off just 61 balls. Pakistan smashed 43 in the Powerplay without losing a wicket, setting the platform for their late-innings acceleration.

Amin was eventually run-out from a direct hit by Tendai Chatara, but not before adding a valuable 129 with Hafeez. Hafeez made sure his side didn't lose the initiative, like they did on Tuesday with a collapse, batting positively and finding the gaps. He had all but bettered his highest ODI score (139*), made on the same ground two years ago. A blazing cameo from Shahid Afridi took Pakistan to the doorstep of 300.

Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda had, until this game, produced opening stands of 53, 50 and 107 so it was a relief for Pakistan that the openers disbanded early in the third over. Masakadza found early momentum with some powerful boundaries off Mohammad Irfan before he was beaten for pace by Junaid Khan, losing his off stump. Much depended on Brendan Taylor to lead the way. He and Sean Williams weren't afraid to take on the spinners, reverse sweeping them regularly. They targeted Pakistan's main bowler, Saeed Ajmal, in his first over, playing the conventional and reverse sweeps to give the chase some momentum.

Taylor kept Zimbabwe's hopes alive with a positive fifty - his first in 13 innings - and it got to the stage where Pakistan were in need of a breakthrough. Ajmal provided that when he beat an advancing Williams, getting him stumped. Taylor had added 70 with Williams and 65 with Malcolm Waller, but all along they failed to keep with the rising asking rate.

The slide started towards the end of the batting Powerplay - taken after 35 overs - when Taylor top-edged a sweep off Ajmal, only to be caught one-handed by the 7ft 1" Irfan. Any other fielder, it would have been a boundary. Zimbabwe lost three wickets for one run, as Junaid ran through the lower order. Zimbabwe were rolled over with more than seven overs to spare. The lack of a match-turning partnership hurt them in the end.

*1651 GMT, August 29: The article had said "Pakistan lost three wickets for one run, as Junaid ran through the lower order". This has been corrected.

Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Kanishkaa Balachandran © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Michael Richardson's century helps put Durham into impregnable position against Yorkshire

For the second time in his fledgling first-class career, Michael Richardson demonstrated a liking for the Yorkshire bowling attack, in the process steering Durham into an apparently impregnable position in this collision of the County Championship’s top two sides.

The South African-born wicketkeeper-batsman made his championship debut against the White Rose at Headingley two years ago, scoring 140 runs in the match, including an unbeaten 73 that, until Thursday, represented his highest first-class score.

Since then Richardson has been something of a bit player, his 17 first-class appearances yielding 568 runs at an average of 22.72. But once again the whiff of battle against the Yorkies brought out the best in him.

He started the day with just three to his name and probably expecting to play second fiddle to his captain Paul Collingwood who, 74 not out overnight, looked well placed to become the third Durham batsman to reach three figures. Instead, Collingwood fell early, judged leg before as he shaped to turn a short delivery from Ryan Sidebottom to leg after adding only seven.

That nevertheless left Durham on a healthy 414 for seven and any hopes of Yorkshire wrapping up the innings in short order were dashed by Richardson, aided and abetted on an easy-paced surface by Mark Wood and Jamie Harrison.

After surviving a confident lbw shout against Adil Rashid on 29, Richardson reached his fifty from 80 balls with seven fours, on the way losing Wood, caught at cover after an eighth-wicket stand of 49 in 31 overs.

There was to be no let-up for Yorkshire, however. Once again, Sidebottom apart, their bowlers struggled for consistency and Richardson and Harrison were in no mood to let them go unpunished. They had added 84 in 22 overs when, with Yorkshire looking increasingly impotent, Harrison was run out at the bowler’s end for a career-best 35 by a direct hit from wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.

Richardson was 77 at that stage but soon moved into the nineties with a six over long on off Kane Williamson and repeated the stroke to reach his century from 141 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. He fell three balls later, well caught by Gary Ballance at deep mid-on as he went for a third big hit.

A Durham total of 573 was, however, not what the majority of another 5,500-plus crowd would have had in mind at the start of the match and their mood was not improved by the early loss of Adam Lyth, superbly caught at third slip by Ben Stokes as he aimed an extravagant drive at Chris Rushworth.

Yorkshire were still 555 in arrears at that stage but Phil Jaques and Willamson began the long haul to safety confidently enough, adding 54 in 13 overs before Scott Borthwick’s leg-spin deceived Jaques by some extra bounce and he was caught at short leg off bat-pad.

When Andrew Gale was trapped leg before by Harrison nine overs later, Yorkshire were 107 for three and on the back foot. Steady nerves were required and they were provided by Williamson and Bairstow.

New Zealand all-rounder Williamson, a late overseas recruit as cover for the possible absence of Bairstow and Ballance on international duty, had been dismissed for a golden duck in his only previous championship innings. However, once that ignominy had been avoided, he slipped into the groove, reaching a chanceless half-century from 81 balls with nine fours and by the close he and Bairstow had added 75 in 45 overs. Yorkshire are still the little matter of 242 away from avoiding the follow-on.

“The call from Colly was to push the follow-on target as high as possible,” said Richardson. “It’s going to be hard work to bowl pressure because the pitch is flat and the outfield fast. But things would change very quickly if we could get rid of Williamson and Bairstow early.”

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Goodwin helps Glamorgan to victory

Glamorgan 161-5 (19.1 overs) beat Worcestershire 157-6 (20 overs) by five wickets

Murray Goodwin and Jim Allenby both struck half-centuries as Glamorgan beat Worcestershire in the FLt20 in Cardiff.

Batting first, opener Thilan Samaraweera struck 65 off 42 balls to help the visitors to 157-6.

In reply, Allenby (50) and Goodwin (59) guided the in-form Welsh side into a strong position.

Gareth Andrew (3-27) dismissed both batsmen to give Worcestershire hope, but Ben Wright smashed 22 off 12 balls to complete the win in the final over.

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Torres helps own cause for first Mets win

METS 4, BRAVES 1

The force was with Carlos Torres on Star Wars night at Citi Field on Tuesday.

Torres used more than his arm to earn his first win as a Met, smacking an RBI single as well as pitching six innings of one-run ball in the Mets’ 4-1 win over Atlanta.

The righthander put himself in a quick 1-0 hole by surrendering a home run to Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons on the second pitch of the game.

The deficit could have been greater if not for Juan Lagares, who gunned down Atlanta’s Jason Heyward at the plate from center field after an Evan Gattis single.

“I really wasn’t that sharp at all today. I got a ton of help from the defense and a couple of lucky breaks,” said Torres, who hadn’t pitched since July 13. “I was just getting back on point.”

The homer would prove to be Torres’ lone blemish, as he consistently worked in and out of trouble between seven hits, two walks and six strikeouts in six innings.

“I think it was evidence of the 10 days off,” Terry Collins said. “As we saw going into his last start he does nothing but throw strikes. He was kind of off with his command with stuff. . . . but when he needed to make pitches he made pitches.”

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Torres struck back to make up for the Simmons homer by slapping a run-scoring single to left field – the second RBI of his career — off Atlanta starter Kris Medlen (6-10) to score Lagares and knot the score in the third.

“To tell you the truth I was actually kind of upset,” Torres said. “I got the hit, I was happy about that, but I jammed myself. It just so happened they were playing infield in and it squeaked through.”

The Mets put Torres in line for the win by adding three more runs in the sixth. Ike Davis put the Mets in front with a run-scoring double off the right field wall for his second RBI in as many days. John Buck followed with an RBI single, and a Lagares sacrifice fly upped the advantage to 4-1.

David Aardsma, Scott Rice, LaTroy Hawkins and Bobby Parnell combined to toss three innings of shutout ball in relief, putting Torres and the Mets back in the win column.

Though he was appreciative of the bullpen’s support, Torres was disappointed he couldn’t be of more help.

“If it wasn’t for a few lengthy at-bats and a few rough innings, I could have maybe gotten into the seventh and saved the bullpen an arm or two,” said Torres, who threw 96 pitches. “My biggest problem is going to be that I need to pitch to more contact. I need to get deeper into ballgames by getting guys to hit the ball more.”

Torres, who made his first start for the Mets on July 13, when Matt Harvey was skipped ahead of the All-Star Game, has allowed a combined three earned runs in 28.2 innings between starting and relieving. While most pitchers might be creatures of habit, Buck says the mixed responsibility has been perfect for Torres, who got his first win as a starter since he was with the White Sox in September 2009.

“He’s a little different than your average pitcher; he’s weirder than most,” the catcher said. “Spend a little time with him, you’ll know what I mean. He wears soccer cleats. I don’t know if much is going to bother that guy. I think he thrives on weirdness. The weirder you can make his schedule, the more comfortable he gets.” 

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