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Sri Lankan off-spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, was the star of the show at the end of day three of the second Test at the Asgiriya International Stadium, Kandy, after his batting put his side in a strong position in the Test.He usually excels with the ball or in the field, but this time surprisingly it was with the bat. At the end of the day’s play, Muralitharan, who made an entertaining 67 runs in 64 balls, declared, "This is my best innings by far."With side struggling on 157 for nine, Muralitharan and Ruchira Perera put up a crucial 64-run partnership for the last wicket, Sri Lanka’s best partnership for the last wicket against India. Speaking about the partnership the Tamil speaking off-spin bowler said, "Nothing was going on in my mind. I was taking my chances and just hitting the ball and the runs kept coming. So I thought that I will keep going in that way and at the end we got a good partnership."That last wicket partnership helped Sri Lanka set India a victory target of 264 and Murali himself feels it’s a good one, "I feel that is a winning total."Ruchira Perera though made only six runs gave Murali marvelous support from the other end by staying in the middle for 76 long minutes, "Ruchira gave a marvelous support. It can turn out to be a crucial partnership at the end of the match. If not for his support we’ wouldn’t have gone past the 200 mark."When CricInfo asked him about the improvement he has made in his batting, he modestly said, "I don’t think there’s any improvement at all."He further said, " I don’t bat at the nets at all. So there’s no improvement whatsoever. But it’s just that I can play some shots. I just attack rather than defend and the runs flow."Murali ended the day on a high note claiming the only Indian wicket to fall. The bowler who’s playing at his home venue, Kandy, while speaking about his home ground wicket said, "It’s seaming a bit and provides some assistance for the fast bowlers, but not a bad wicket at all. We got to keep things tight on Saturday."" Definitely it would have been good if we had got a couple of more wickets, but at the end I think one wicket was good enough."When asked whether this is the first of many Test fifties, the 29-year-old Murali said, "Don’t know. I can’t predict myself at the middle."

Sarah Taylor, the England women’s wicket-keeper batsman, has broken into what was previously a jealously-guarded male preserve by becoming the first woman to play Australian first grade cricket. She gatecrashed what reputedly has been one of the last bastions of the macho Australian male by making her debut for Northern Districts in the South Australian Premier Competition on Saturday.Not all statisticians seem entirely happy to let a Pom to take the accolade, with references also made to a T20 match in Victoria once played by Cathryn Fitzpatrick, who stepped down as coach of the Australian women’s team in May, but Taylor’s achievement in being selected for a two-day game will gain universal recognition.SACA Premier Cricket is a two-day competition and represents the highest level of cricket played in South Australia outside first-class cricket.Taylor took on keeping duties and was scheduled to bat at No 8 for Northern Districts – aka the Jets – in the first match of the 2015-2016 season against Port Adelaide Magpies at the Salisbury Oval, alongside players such as South Australia and Leicestershire’s Mark Cosgrove and the former Hampshire batsman Joe Gatting – nephew of ex-England captain Mike Gatting.She joined a list of players that includes former Australian Test cricketers Darren Lehman and Ryan Harris to have represented Northern Districts CC in this competition.Taylor went to Brighton College, the same school as the former England wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, who said her catching talents were immediately apparent. She is particularly talented standing up to the stumps and has been advocated at times as worthy of a match in English county cricket. Mike Selvey, cricket correspondent of has championed her as unique: the only women’s cricketer he has ever seen with all the attributes to play at first-class level.”I’m really excited about this opportunity – it’s completely unexpected and offers another new challenge and environment for me to test my skills against some very strong cricketers. I had no idea that I would be the first woman to play at this level in Australia, but I am sure that I won’t be the last. I have grown up playing boys cricket at Brighton College and more recently in the ECB men’s premier league for Walmley CC, so I am used to playing with the guys.”Taylor will also feature in the Women’s Big Bash for Adelaide Strikers and is also currently playing 50-over state cricket for the Breezair SA Scorpions in the Women’s National Cricket League.The sight of women playing in what was traditionally men-only cricket has gradually become more common in England over the past 20 years. Earlier this year England women’s fast bowler Kate Cross became the first woman to play in the Central Lancashire League, one of the country’s most reputable and traditional leagues.

The Lodha committee was tasked with fixing the sanctions on Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Here’s the case made to the committee for a reduced punishment by Raj Kundra‘s advocate Kavin Gulati, and the committee’s responses.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

1. Gurunath Meiyappan

Having rejected all the arguments presented by Raj Kundra’s lawyers, the Lodha Panel imposed the following sanctions on Kundra:(i) He is declared ineligible from participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the Anti Corruption Code for the maximum period of 5 years under Article 2.2.1.(ii) He is suspended for life from the activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 (first offence) of Article 2.4 of the Code of conduct.(iii) He is suspended for life from being involved with the BCCI in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.The above sanctions shall run concurrently and commence from the date of this order.

Queensland’s first real blemish of the match – a missed catch at slip in late afternoon – threatens to undo most of its good work over the first three days of the Pura Cup clash with Western Australia at the WACA ground in Perth. Martin Love’s uncharacteristic error has allowed Damien Martyn (70*) and Simon Katich (39*) to add an unbroken century stand and reduce the Warriors’ overall deficit in the match to ninety-nine runs (with seven second innings wickets in hand) by stumps.Prior to the advent of the grassed chance, the Queenslanders had continued to dominate until almost the point of tea on another fine, sunny day. Indeed, the tale of woe that could have been recounted on the back of Western Australia’s batting performance yesterday soon needed extra paragraphs added to it when play resumed this morning. Following the two best individual performances amid the wreckage of an innings of 195, Adam Gilchrist (59) and Mike Hussey (41) both lost concentration and forced away from their bodies at deliveries cutting off the pitch. Soon, Jo Angel (5) was driving uppishly at a reasonably full outswinger from the ever-accurate Adam Dale (5/41) and lofting a catch straight into the hands of Jimmy Maher at a shortish cover position. And then, on the other side of lunch, Dale continued to capitalise on a similarly excellent effort behind the stumps from Wade Seccombe (who held six catches for the innings) by attaining the opening five-wicket haul at first-class level for the season. The right arm paceman had snared the final two scalps, and allowed captain Stuart Law to enforce the follow-on, when he induced Matthew Nicholson (35) into a top edged cut and then trapped Gavin Swan (0) lbw with an inswinger from the very next delivery.A mere nineteen minutes into the new innings, Hussey (5) suffered the ignominy of being dismissed twice in the one day as he made the mistake of pulling to mid on a delivery far too full in length to encourage such a shot. As if that was not bad enough, Australian number three Justin Langer (0) then encountered the rare horror of being dismissed for a pair as he drove loosely at, and outside edged, a ball swinging away two deliveries into the next Andy Bichel (2/32) over. Ryan Campbell (25) fought bravely for a time but was the next to head back in the direction of the pavilion as he tried to cover drive an Ashley Noffke (1/34) outswinger, only to mistime the shot and watch as Maher completed a fine catch high to his left at backward point.In between some scorching strokes to the boundary from the former, matters were initially no easier for either Martyn or Katich. Both played and missed repeatedly at Noffke and the right hander dodged a large bullet at 12 when Umpire Woolridge ruled in the batsman’s favour upon being subjected to a beseeching lbw appeal from Dale (0/24).But this was all before Love, normally as reliable as slips fieldsmen come, snatched at the opportunity to bring Martyn’s hand to a close in the same general manner as in the first innings – with an interception at first slip following an ill-advised slash at a leg cutter. At the time, the Test aspirant had just 25 alongside his name and the Western Australians were deep in trouble at a mark of 3/61, a scoreline which still left them as many as 186 runs in arrears.Batting has never been the almost impossible task that the Warriors had made it look in their first innings and the early stages of a second that eventually billowed to an overnight mark of 3/148. And, offered the reprieve on the still placid pitch, Martyn joined with Katich to prove the point as they took the sort of toll of a tiring attack that should have been exacted far earlier. The former hit some delightful shots behind point and through the covers, while the latter – playing his first match since returning home from a productive season of county cricket with Durham – concentrated his energies on executing some magnificent drives through the arc between mid on and mid off. Having weathered the series of early scares and been forced to bat against attacking fields for much of the afternoon, both truly earned their runs.Difficulties still loom for the Western Australians tomorrow if they do not show an equivalent level of application. But the extent of the resolve displayed by both Martyn and Katich must surely have served up something in the way of a general morale-boost among their teammates in the dressing room. Together with the accompanying sight of some uncharacteristically wayward bowling and sloppy fielding from the Bulls – one piece of it in particular – the generation of the best Western Australian stand of the match would certainly imply that the connection between Queensland and a eleventh outright victory from its last fourteen first-class encounters is not necessarily automatic.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNamibia’s left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz bowled 16 dot balls in four overs•ICC/Sportsfile

A power-packed half-century from 23-year old Stephan Baard was followed up by a triple-wicket maiden from Bernard Scholtz as Namibia outplayed Papua New Guinea by 49 runs in Malahide.Often times there is nothing quite like scoreboard pressure. It’s doubly useful on a tired pitch where the slower you bowl the harder it is to hit. Before the game, Namibia had decided that if the ball was too full or too short, their batsmen would go after it. Come game day, they amassed 181 for 5 in their 20 overs. As with such big scores, one of the top order goes on to score big.Baard typified Namibia’s pre-game attack plan. When the ball was overpitched, he drove viciously through cover and mid-off. Three fours and two sixes came from that part of the ground. Then when PNG were forced to bowl flatter and shorter, he used the sweep and the pull liberally. Meanwhile, Namibia got past 60 runs in the Powerplay for a third time in the tournament and he eased to a fifty off 27 balls.He did slow down thereafter, but consequently stayed at the crease until the penultimate over to ensure the early platform amounted to a sizeable total. Baard, with 233 runs at an average of 77.66 is the top-scorer of this year’s World T20 Qualifier, so Namibia’s middle order simply had to bat around him. Sarel Burget, at No. 5, made 38 runs off 20 balls in a fourth-wicket partnership that yielded 74 runs in 42 balls.That he didn’t pick up the Man-of-the-Match award indicates the value of Scholtz’s effort with the ball. He offered no pace for the batsman and profited when they tried to make some of their own. That can be a difficult plan for a spinner to trust, considering this was slam-bang T20 cricket. But in Malahide, the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat and it was a pretty large ground too.So Scholtz kept bowling slow and broke PNG’s chase in the 13th over. Charles Amini mistimed a loft because of the lack of pace and was caught at long-on. Next ball, Scholtz slowed it up further and Mahuru Dai swept across the line straight to deep midwicket. The hat-trick ball was looped up above the eyeline as well, got loads of turn to hit new batsman John Reva on the pads, but it had pitched outside leg stump. He would finish the over trapping Reva plumb in front for the score to dip from 90 for 4 to 90 for 7. Scholtz bowled 16 dot balls in his four overs, Papua New Guinea’s priorities shifted from hunting down the runs to lasting the 20 overs.Things had looked very different at the start of the chase. Tony Ura helped ransack 68 runs in the first six overs to keep Papua New Guinea well ahead of the rate. He had five fours and a six in his 21-ball 34 and was looking especially good while driving the ball. But Namibia found a way past him through a run-out and thereafter did not find much resistance to their progress to the top of the Group A table thereafter. If they remain on top until the end of the league stage, they will claim direct qualification into the World T20 in India next year.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
4:25

Agarkar: Rain made target a lot stiffer for KKR

Sunrisers Hyderabad overcame a limp finish to their innings, a Duckworth-Lewis readjustment, wet outfield, dropped catches, and fumbles in the field to successfully defend 117 in 12 overs. For the first 8.4 overs of the chase, 80 runs came during which the game was headed towards Kolkata Knight Riders, but a back-of-the-hand slower ball from Ravi Bopara and then three exceptional and yorker-filled overs from the Kumars of the badlands of Meerut made sure Knight Riders couldn’t score 37 off the last three overs.It was all going wrong for Sunrisers: David Warner found little support to his 55-ball 91 with the rest failing to even double the score in 10 balls more, Duckworth-Lewis wasn’t exceptionally kind to them, the conditions were wet ruling the spinners out, three catches were missed in the first four overs, and Andre Russell and Manish Pandey were threatening to turn this into a stroll. Russell was 19 off 9, Pandey 20 off 14, to go with Robin Uthappa’s 34 off 21, but then Russell went for a big hit off Bopara.It was a slower ball bowled out of the back of the hand, hit the bottom of the bat, and went straight to Dale Steyn at long-on. Steyn had seen two catches go down in his first two overs, but made no mistake here. Still with seven wickets in hand, wet conditions, and 38 required off 19 you would have backed the chasing side.Not, however, when Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Praveen Kumar are bowling to Indian batsmen. These two skilled but military medium quicks, who play first-class cricket for Uttar Pradesh, have got better of every batsman on the Indian circuit. For the next 15 balls they put on a workshop on how to defend when conditions are against you. They did nothing fancy, but went about executing the most difficult bowling skill in limited-overs cricket: the yorker. They erred on a few conditions, but never on the short side.Pandey and Yusuf Pathan, with due respect to their IPL records, are not the best when the bowling is of a certain quality. That certain quality was reached here. Both the batsmen were stifled and frustrated, but couldn’t do much. Bhuvneshwar bowled the 10th over. The batsmen did managed to convert a couple of yorkers into low full tosses, but they had no room to swing their arms at. One of the six balls was a yorker outside off, and it beat the outside edge of Yusuf, who was camping back. Five runs later, Bhuvneshwar handed over the baton to the wilier and more experienced Praveen.Praveen had earlier bowled an over in which he came from a six and a four off the first two balls with four yorkers that went for one run and a wicket. He continued doing that with the wet ball. There were two fumbles in the over that converted ones into twos, Praveen let that frustration show on his face but not on the ball. The first four were near perfect, they went for five, and with 27 required off eight he slipped in a slower legcutter to make it 27 off seven. A low full toss and a misfield followed, but Knight Riders still needed 25 to win off the last over.Bhuvneshwar refused to budge off the plan. Pandey hit the first ball, a low full toss, straight to deep midwicket, and Yusuf found extra cover on the full next ball. Incredibly, in the space of 14 balls, the Kumars had turned what looked like a stroll for Knight Riders into sixes required off each ball. New batsman Suryakumar Yadav could get only a single off the third ball thus ending the game, and in the end Knight Riders barely went past Warner’s 91.While the support cast chipped in with the ball, the batting was largely dominated by Warner. On a slow pitch, with the ball turning, Warner batted a level above the others. He used a switch hit, some bullying, and some crisp hitting to get the better of spinners. Shikhar Dhawan at the other end struggled to time the ball, but he provided Warner support going at a run a ball. When Warner fell, though, for 91 out of the 130 scored when he was in the middle, Sunrisers needed Dhawan to step it up from his run-a-ball innings until then.Dhawan couldn’t, nor could the other batsmen that followed, which meant only 46 came off the last 34 balls. That pales in comparison of 20 off the last three overs, which is what the Kumars reduced Knight Riders to.

The BCCI has extended its support to the cricket fraternity of Nepal, which has been devastated by a major earthquake that has claimed more than 5000 lives. In a meeting of its National Cricket Academy Board in New Delhi on Thursday, the BCCI decided to open the gates of its training facilities and technical expertise to Nepal cricketers till the country recovers from the natural calamity.”BCCI stands with Nepal cricket in this hour of crisis,” BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur told ESPNcricinfo after the NCA Board meeting. “We have offered our NCA facilities to Nepal cricket for coaching and training of their cricketers preparing for world events. Nepal has done well in cricket recently and we would like to support our neighbouring nations trying who are trying to emerge as cricket-playing nations.”With Nepal likely to take months to recover from the natural calamity, the BCCI has opened NCA’s doors to Nepal’s national squad to prepare for the forthcoming international fixtures. Nepal is set to compete in the World Twenty20 qualifiers in July, to be played in Ireland and Scotland.The earthquake had left Nepal’s preparations for the tournament in danger of suffering terribly. However, the BCCI’s helping hand would mean the Nepal cricketers can hope to qualify for their second successive World Twenty20 appearance.Thakur’s move is a welcome change from the previous BCCI dispensation. N Srinivasan-led BCCI had not responded to a request from Cricket Association of Nepal and Afghanistan Cricket Board. It is understood that Thakur met with representatives from ACB during Afghanistan president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s visit to India last week. Thakur has asked ACB to send in another formal request and is understood to have assured assistance in terms of technical expertise and training facilities.

ScorecardTom Curran had a fine all-round game in Surrey’s victory•Getty Images

After the euphoria of ending their long run of 37 championship matches without a win at Essex the previous week, Leicestershire’s heavy defeat against Surrey served as a reminder that they still have plenty of work to do. Surrey, meanwhile, keep up the pressure on Lancashire at the top of the Division Two table.Tom Curran, with a fine all-round display, added energy to Surrey’s display, giving them the verve they will need to remain in contention at the top of the table.A burst of three wickets in the first two overs after lunch put Surrey on their way to a conclusive three-day victory at Grace Road. The second ball after the break saw Chris Tremlett produce a superb delivery that straightened and bowled Foxes opener Angus Robson.In the following over Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove got a brute of a ball from Curran that reared off a length to take the shoulder of the bat and loop gently to gully, and two balls later, Andrea Agathangelou was leg before to a delivery that seamed back in and kept a little low.

Confidence remains – McKay

Australian all-rounder Clint McKay said Leicestershire knew they still had many areas where they needed to improve after slumping to a three day defeat by Surrey at Grace Road.
“It’s extremely disappointing after the up of beating Essex last week to come down as we did, especially after a great first day and a bit, when we’d bowled them out for 261 and were 100-0,” said McKay.
“We knew the wicket would seam sometimes, and the bounce might be a bit variable, but we didn’t play the conditions well enough, especially with the bat, although we did take 20 wickets again, which is pleasing.
“The confidence we take from the win against Essex doesn’t dissipate overnight. We know when we put four days of cricket together and follow the game plan we will win the game. We’ll fight back against Lancashire next week.”

Had Niall O’Brien not been dropped by Gary Wilson off Curran before scoring, the Surrey wicketkeeper getting his hand to a low chance diving to his left but failing to hang on, Leicestershire might have subsided in short order, but O’Brien went on to score a run a ball 50 before edging left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari to Wilson.Ned Eckersley and Ben Raine also fought hard, but on a wicket with increasingly variable bounce, the prospect of the home team chasing down the 356 they need to win the game was always going to be slim, and the end came shortly after tea, when James Burke picked up two wickets in two balls, both lbw, to end the game.Earlier, Leicestershire made the worst possible start after Surrey added 67 to their overnight score of 217-6, with Steve Davies, batting with a badly bruised hand, finishing with an unbeaten 47.Foxes’ opener Matt Boyce was leg before wicket to Matt Dunn’s first delivery, and it could have been even worse if Rory Burns had been able to cling on to a difficult chance at second slip after Robson edged a drive at Chris Tremlett in the following over, also before Leicestershire had scored a run.

Steve Harmison bounded back into Test cricket with a performance that, by his own admission, was his best for more than a year, as England belatedly demonstrated the full range of their firepower on the first day of the fourth Test at The Oval. By the close they had bowled South Africa out for 194 and responded with a scoreline of 49 for 1, an effort that enabled Kevin Pietersen to ease himself into his new role as England captain.England’s leading wicket-taker on the day was James Anderson, whose three-wicket haul included his 100th in Tests, but Harmison was the star of the show. His first over included a first-ball dropped catch and a split lip for his own wicketkeeper, Tim Ambrose, and he later followed that up with two wickets in two balls, including a 92.9mph yorker to demolish Hashim Amla’s middle stump.”That was a good ball,” said Harmison. “My tail was up, because I’d just got my first wicket, so it was nice to get one full and straight, and as quick as I could, and he played all round it. Some big men stood up today to be counted today, and we can be proud of the way the day has gone. I struggle to believe how this side is getting beat.”Harmison’s performance was a throwback to his glory years of 2004 and 2005, and defied the predictions that had followed his limp display at Hamilton back in March, after which he was banished from the side for eight consecutive games. While most observers felt at the time that he would never play for England again, Harmison was not among that number, and he admitted that the buzz of playing for his country was something that he had missed during his exile.”I had an interesting chat with Marcus Trescothick at Somerset,” said Harmison. “He’s happy there and retired from the game, but I could never do that. I couldn’t retire [from Test cricket], because that is what I’ve missed – playing for England and wearing the three lions. I can’t knock county cricket, but you might get that once every six weeks when you get a top, top player out. But to do it in front of 16-18,000 people, the atmosphere and buzz, that’s what I’ve missed, and it’s why I was never ever going to go away.”Someone said out there today that this is what England have missed,” said Harmison. “But I’ve missed it as well. I’ve not bowled like that for a while, not for 12 months before I was dropped. But I love playing for my country. It wasn’t going very well and I was right to be dropped, but I’ve had a break and I’m better than what I was. Hopefully this is the start of a long road to a more successful 12 months than I’ve just had.”Much of Harmison’s renewed vigour comes from a lengthy stint in county cricket with Durham, where he has finally enjoyed regular outings with upwards of 500 overs under his belt already this season, including 43 wickets from nine Championship fixtures. It is the most he has bowled in years – under Duncan Fletcher, England’s pacemen were routinely rested between internationals, while his 2007 season was interrupted by a hernia operation that ruled him out of the second half of the summer.Perhaps more important than the rhythm that he has picked up, however, has been the break from the spotlight, and the chance to groove his action without the pressure to perform that comes when the cameras are watching your every move.”When you’re out of form and out of touch, everyone’s an expert and jumping on your back,” said Harmison. “But it’s difficult to get your rhythm back in international cricket. The former players like Nasser [Hussain] and Atherton will say that playing county cricket is what has got me here, and there is that, but it’s also spending time out of the spotlight that has left me mentally refreshed. There must be something in that, because Andrew Strauss didn’t play a great deal of cricket before the New Zealand tour, and he got a hundred at Napier.”The break from the front line worked wonders for Harmison on this first day back. He was entrusted with the new ball by his new captain, Pietersen, and responded with a first over that set the tone for the day. “I was nervous coming back in, but quite keen to take the first over,” said Harmison. “I was just pleased to be back. The momentum came from that first over, and the majority of things that England have done today have been done well. It’s put us in a good position, and hopefully a day’s batting can ram it home.”It is, however, a moot point whether Harmison can follow this first-day performance with the sort of sustained aggression that once made him the most feared bowler in the world. Nevertheless, the signs are good from a player whose body language is a window to his soul. “I got a text off Kev last night saying welcome back and good luck, it felt like Christmas Eve. I was so excited, so God knows how Kev felt, going into his first day as England captain.”The support I’ve had in the last two to three months has been brilliant,” he said. “People telling me I’m bowling well, and getting back to what I wanted to be. I’ve been bowling well, but the lads in the team were also bowling well and deserved to keep their shirt. But now it’s about keeping the pressure on, and putting the ball back in the selectors’ court.”

Scorecard

Ross Taylor continued his fine form with 150 against Northamptonshire as the New Zealanders opted for batting practice on the final day at Wantage Road. After the home side declared yesterday afternoon there was the prospect of a run-chase being set up, but that clearly wasn’t on the agenda when the New Zealanders batted on after lunch with the lead already at 328.Taylor made the most of the extended time in the middle, hitting 17 fours and six sixes in his 154-ball innings. It followed his unbeaten 154 at Old Trafford, an electric knock which put his team in control on the first two days. He took 14 off an over from Jason Brown, and his main problem was when David Wigley hit him in the groin, cracking his box.However, while Taylor’s form is a plus for the tourists there remain two batting concerns heading into the final Test. James Marshall again fell cheaply on the second evening, and that was followed today by another failure for Daniel Flynn, who gave Wigley his ninth wicket of the match with a bottom edge onto leg stump.Flynn faced just 12 balls in the match on his return to the middle after losing two teeth against a James Anderson bouncer at Old Trafford. His confidence appears to have taken a knock and the New Zealand may consider leaving him out of the final Test. If that is the case, Peter Fulton would be drafted in, but that would still leave an out-of-form Marshall at No. 3.Gareth Hopkins, the reserve wicketkeeper, made 63 off 97 balls, albeit in comfortable conditions after the early threat of a collapse had been banished by a 125-run stand between Taylor and Brendon McCullum.Taylor finally decided he’d had enough time at the crease when he reached 150 and McCullum belatedly declared when Hopkins fell to Andrew Crook. Northamptonshire batted out 20 overs, Stephen Peters cracking a brisk 52, as Tim Southee and Kyle Mills bagged a wicket apiece.