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

For the second successive day, the weather played spoilsport and forced Duckworth-Lewis to decide what was shaping into a fascinating contest. This time, Chennai Super Kings were on the right end of the result, as their total of 55 without loss after eight overs, chasing 150, was three runs ahead of the par score when a severe dust storm descended upon the Eden Gardens, and the rains that followed ensured there was no chance for the match to resume. The two points to Chennai moves them up to 14, while Kolkata Knight Riders are stuck on ten points from 11 games.The weather marred the contest, but through 28 overs the crowd witnessed a couple of fine performances. At the same ground where he had announced his arrival in international cricket, Salman Butt played another gem, scoring a classy 73 off 54 balls, to lift an otherwise subdued performance from Kolkata. Chennai had their own man for the moment, as Makhaya Ntini took the third hat-trick of the IPL, dismissing Sourav Ganguly in his third over, and then returning 11 overs later to bowl Debabrata Das – who had been involved in an 86-run stand with Butt – and David Hussey off successive balls.That stand gave Kolkata’s bowlers something to defend, but the most crucial moment of the match came three deliveries before the interruption. Their defence of the total had got off to a poor start as Shoaib Akhtar struggled with what seemed an injured ankle. Stephen Fleming, at last showing the form and fluency of old, and Parthiv Patel had eased to a half-century stand when Parthiv top-edged a pull, but Ashok Dinda put down the skier, and in the process allowed a single. Had that chance been taken, Chennai would have ended level with the par score, and with no further play possible, Kolkata would have gone away with one point.The only positive for Kolkata was that their batting put together a reasonable performance after their abysmal display against Mumbai Indians, when they had been bundled out for 67. Butt’s knock wasn’t the fastest by Twenty20 standards, but considering the context – a pitch lacking in pace, and a batting line-up lacking in confidence – it was just what Kolkata would have wanted.Their start was poor yet again, as Ntini struck twice in his first three overs – Mohammad Hafeez flicked to fine leg and Sourav Ganguly attempted an ungainly heave and found his middle stump knocked back.At 28 for 2 after five overs, Chennai had taken the early honours, before Butt found a partner who was ready to play the support act. Das, drafted into the side in place of Aakash Chopra, creamed a couple of audacious straight sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan – who had a day to forget – but for the most part he was content to play second fiddle to the classy Butt, who played an outstanding knock.As is his wont, Butt was all silken grace through the off side, either making room to cream drives through the covers, or getting behind the line to pepper the point and cover boundaries off the back foot. Manpreet Gony was crisply hit through the covers in his first over, while Ntini, who otherwise gave little away, leaked successive fours off two exceptional shots, as Butt moved away and lofted one through the covers, and then square-drove the next ball through point. Muralitharan was not spared either, as Butt slog-swept a six over midwicket, and then carved three successive fours through midwicket and third man in his last over, as Muralitharan finished with unflattering figures of none for 41.Apart from that partnership, there wasn’t much cheer for Kolkata. Ntini, bowling a full length and attacking the stumps, bowled both Das and Hussey to complete his hat-trick and ended with excellent figures of 4 for 21. Gony’s control was exceptional as well, landing the ball on a length and allowing the batsmen no room. The fielding wasn’t as impressive – S Vidyut was guilty of sloppy misfielding and a missed catch off Butt, while Gony dropped one late in the innings – as Kolkata managed to reach a competitive target. With Shoaib in the attack, there was plenty of hope for the home crowd, but his limp performance, followed by the rain, means Kolkata have plenty of catching up to do to win a semi-final berth.

If he’s not careful, there’s a danger that Paul Harris might become the kind of multi-skilled cog in the machine his country is so renowned for producing, rather than the uni-skilled square peg in a round hole everyone loves.What other conclusion can be reached on a day when he first helped South Africa add valuable, unexpected lower-order runs with a career-best 46 and then took two wickets to halt an impetuous Pakistan start?Harris’ innings was built on brave, if awkward, foundations. He was struck on the head early, but eventually recovered to play some suspiciously well-oiled sweep shots and one on-drive that lit up the day. Mickey Arthur was asked whether he was surprised by Harris’ innings, a laugh accompanying the query.Decorum allowed Arthur only a little snigger, but he said, “Look I have to be honest, he’s worked damn hard. With the team that we have gone with we have a pretty long tail and something we haven’t had for a bit. I’ve given those players responsibilities and asked them to take it. It worked out well and I was really happy for Harry that the hard work paid off today.”With Mark Boucher, Harris put on 88 runs, each one sapping Pakistan’s spirit a little more. It allowed South Africa to go past 350, when this morning 300 might have been wishful. “It was a fantastic partnership. We knew we needed one big partnership this morning. We needed someone to hang around with Mark as he was going to be the key for us. Harry did fantastic because not only did he hang around, he also scored.”But even Harris’ uniqueness has been accompanied by solid contributions from the rest and it has been that way through the tour so far. Andre Nel and Dale Steyn have worked well with Harris and dominant though Jacques Kallis has been, he’s gotten by with a little help from the other batsmen – Hashim Amla, Ashwell Prince, Boucher and even the openers. No changes in the script today and Nel, in particular, came in for some praise.”Nel is giving us exactly what we’ve known and come to expect from him. He gives us two options and we can attack with him and defend with him. He’s been fantastic for us through the series.”And that series is very nearly in the bag, though not quite, as Arthur was at pains to point out. “I certainly wouldn’t say the series is wrapped up. We’ve done the right things apart from our burst with the new ball where we probably over-attacked and tried to take a wicket every ball instead of trying to sit in a more defensive pattern. Other than that we’ve done the right things in this Test and put ourselves into a good position. There’s still a long way to go but we’re heading in the right direction.”That Inzamam-ul-Haq, after a rusty start, was still standing possibly prompted the caution. Appearing in his final Test, Inzamam was given a guard of honour by the South African team as he walked to the crease, something the team had briefly discussed but was essentially a spontaneous gesture. “I was very proud to see our team do that and it was the right thing to do.”Sending him back early tomorrow, he will be equally proud of, however. “He’s a quality player and will be hard to get out. We’re going to have to execute our game plans against him pretty well to remove him. We know what he can do, we know what he’s achieved.”Anything can happen in a session so there is still a long way to go. This series has fluctuated through sessions. We just need to do the right things tomorrow, sit down, plan it and strategise tonight, come out and execute it. If we do that, we’re heading in the right direction.”

Nicky Boje, the South African spinner, has said he did not have apprehensions about travelling to India for the Champions Trophy, insisting that his omission from the squad had nothing to do with the risk of being questioned by the Delhi police regarding match-fixing.”I don’t know what the Indian media is writing about me. I do not have to fear for anything,” Boje, captain of a South African side for the Hong Kong Sixes, told The Indian Express. “I was ready with the answers to the questionnaire sent by the Delhi Police and I had even readied my lawyer to accompany me. But I was dropped from the squad. That is the fact.”Boje and Herschelle Gibbs had avoided touring India since 2000, after supposedly failing to obtain any assurance from the police with regards to questioning on the match-fixing scandal. But Boje pointed out that if Gibbs could travel, so could he.”I really don’t know how the Indian media blew it up without getting their facts right. Where did I come into the picture?,” he said. “I was never indicted for match-fixing or any other suspicious activity. It was simply a case of police wanting to know certain things. They had sent me a questionnaire and I had all the answers ready.”Despite not being selected, Boje was confident of touring India in the future: “I have a proven record on your tracks as a bowler and I can be a handy batsman [as pinch-hitter] at the top of the order”. It was a view endorsed by Ray Jennings, the former South African coach who’s currently in charge of the Hong Kong Sixes side. “Boje is the best spinner available in the country, and it is still beyond my thinking how and why he was left out of the squad. He is a very handy batsman who can score quickly and can send down some nice tight overs.”

Considering that the Indian Board President’s XI lost their first two wickets in 8.1 overs, captain Mohammad Kaif will not be too displeased with the final total of 275 for eight declared on the first day of the three-day match against the touring West Indians at Bangalore.Winning the toss, Kaif opted to bat, but he must have had his heart in his mouth as Merv Dillon skittled out first Sanjay Bangar and then Gautam Gambhir. But the fall of the second wicket meant that Kaif himself had to walk out to the middle – which he did, going on to add 91 runs for the third wicket with Hemang Badani.Badani hit seven fours in his 67 off 129 balls, the knock coming in 200 minutes. The Tamil Nadu southpaw is still looking forward to make his way back into the Indian side, although the recent strong performances by the youngsters in both the Test and one-day teams will make it difficult for him to do so.One of those very youngsters, skipper Kaif made 40 off 95 balls with three fours, playing solidly with Badani to ensure that the Board President’s XI did not suffer any more hiccups after those early ones. Kaif fell with the score on 108, and Dinesh Mongia carried on nicely where Kaif left off, putting on 50 runs for the fourth wicket with Badani.With Badani being dismissed, bowled by left-arm paceman Pedro Collins, a slew of wickets followed. Parthiv Patel, Murali Kartik and Sarandeep Singh departed within the space of 21 runs, and at 186 for seven, the West Indies had a hold of the match for the second time in the day.And as before, they lost this one too. Mongia batted steadily with leg-spinner Amit Mishra to add 55 runs for the eighth wicket. Mishra contributed a vital 10, and after he was dismissed, Mongia then batted on with Tinu Yohannan, completing his century off 149 balls with 12 fours and three sixes.Kaif declared after Mongia reached three figures, and the West Indian openers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds had to play out five overs before close. Gayle ended on 14 off 17 balls, while West Indies reached 20 for no loss. But more than the batting, the West Indians will be worried about the fact that their bowling – especially the spin of Carl Hooper and Mahendra Nagamootoo in helpful conditions – made little impact on a cobbled-together domestic side.