The summer transfer window may be closed but that doesn’t necessarily mean business is finished for the Premier League’s top clubs.

Indeed, until the Emergency Loan window closes on November 25th, they have the opportunity to offload some of their fringe players to the Football League; a privilege the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United usually reserve for youngsters desperate to gain some vital first team experience in the lower tiers of English football.

It worked wonders for Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin last season, who has emerged as an integral element in the Gunners’ starting Xi since returning from a temporary stint with Charlton Athletic.

So with that in mind, Football Fancast takes a look at FIVE of the Red Devils’ most exciting prospects who need the chance to earn their stripes out on loan, in the hope it will dramatically improve their first team chances upon returning to Old Trafford…

JAMES WILSON

Despite Manchester United’s lack of firepower, Louis van Gaal has already revealed his plans to send James Wilson out on loan, fearing another year as the Red Devils’ last-choice centre-forward could severely impact the youngster’s development.

There’s already plenty of interest in the 19 year-old, who boasts three goals in 14 appearances for United, with Championship outfits Bolton Wanderers, Cardiff City and Hull City all baying for his signature – according to Mirror Football.

Knowing full well that his striking options will be limited until January at the earliest, however, Louis van Gaal has insisted any loan agreement must include an ‘instant release clause’.

SAM JOHNSTONE

Amid huge uncertainty over the fates of Victor Valdes and David De Gea, Manchester United decided to keep hold of prodigious goalkeeper Sam Johnstone this summer – allegedly rejecting several loan offers from the Championship in the process.

Indeed, had the Spain internationals left Old Trafford during the transfer window as widely expected, the 22 year-old would be United’s second-choice ‘keeper right now after bosman signing Sergio Romeo.

But with De Gea and Valdes staying put, Johnston is now fourth in the pecking order and resultantly unlikely to feature in even the auxiliary tournaments this term.

The situation has reportedly left the England U20 rather frustrated and rightly so; he’s desperate to continue the impressive progress shown during loan spells with Scunthorpe, Doncaster Rovers and Preston North End over the last few seasons.

PADDY MCNAIR

With Daley Blind already proving to be an incredibly shrewd selection at the heart of defence, Manchester United might not be as reliant upon Paddy McNair as they once thought.

Indeed, Louis van Gaal was forced call upon on the 20 year-old regularly last season as the Red Devils were hit by a serious injury crisis.

But the Dutchman appears to have given up on his three-at-the-back formation whilst Phil Jones is expected to return from the sidelines by the end of the month, so barring a few token appearances in the Capital One Cup, McNair’s first team opportunities will be severely restricted until at least the new year.

Hull City were linked during the summer and could well decide to revive their interest in the coming weeks following Jones’ return to fitness.

With the England international and few defender Marcos Rojo both rather injury prone however, this might be another case that calls for an ‘instant release clause’.

ANDREAS PEREIRA

Andreas Pereira is widely regarded as Manchester United’s most exciting youth product, having claimed last term’s Reserve Player of the Year award and scored an equalising goal for Brazil during the summer’s U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

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Louis van Gaal clearly has high hopes for the teenage midfielder, issuing him a Premier League debut and an extended contract at the end of last season, but following summer swoops for Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger, there’s just no room for him in United’s engine room.

Clearly superior to U21 level, Pereira needs to get some first team football under his belt. The Express reported interest from Eredivisie outfit PSV last month, but the trail has gone cold since.

JESSE LINGARD

Jesse Lingard was one of the brightest sparks during Manchester United’s pre-season tour and the England U21s’ abysmal European Championship campaign, but any outside hope of first team football the attacking midfielder held have almost certainly been obliterated by the £36million arrival of Anthony Martial.

The Frenchman and Lingard aren’t exactly like-for-like but they will predominantly be competing for the same positions this term –  the flanks – and Martial’s transfer fee is an enormous disadvantage. His presence also bumps the Junior Lion further down the pecking order, behind the likes of Memphis Depay, Ashley Young and Juan Mata.

The 22 year-old has already previously impressed in the Championship with loan spells at Birmingham City, Brighton and Derby County, so you’d expect a cohort of the second tier’s top clubs to come calling once again before the loan window closes.

Warwickshire were thwarted by rain and bad light in their bid to gain revenge for their humiliating nine wickets defeat at the hands of Worcestershire a week ago.Warwickshire, seeking their first championship home win of the season, were moving into a commanding position at tea when play was halted prematurely.In reply to Worcestershire’s 263 they had obtained an impressive 224-1 with opener Mark Wagh their dominant player.The former Oxford University player recorded his personal best score of the season and when play ended for the day Wagh was 118 just six short of his previous personal best.On a friendly, easy paced wicket Warwickshire were never in any real trouble.Worcestershire, however, were to rue their indifferent fielding.Wagh, dropped in the first over of Warwickshire’s innings before he had even scored, made Worcestershire pay dearly for their lapse.Michael Powell, Warwickshire’s other opener, also gave a chance when 28. Warwickshire were then 59-0 but he too prospered and along with Wagh put on 166 for the first wicket.It was then that Powell was induced to play a forward return shot to a slower delivery from Glenn McGrath to enable the Australian pace-man to take an easy catch.Powell’s contribution was 69 which contained ten fours and at that stage Warwickshire were building what appeared a winning foundation.Wagh, whose previous best score this season had been 59, carried on relentlessly and sent up is century with a straight on-drive off Stuart Lampitt for four – his 14th of the innings.It was his third century of his career and he was only able to achieve this landmark because Nick Knight has been ruled out of action for the rest of the season because of a knee injury.Warwickshire, faced by a mediocre attack, moved to 224-1 when bad light and rain ended play on a day with 41 overs were lost due to the adverse conditions.

ScorecardNick Browne stood firm as Essex’s middle order collapsed•Getty Images

Toby Lester was not the most famous left-arm new-ball bowler playing first-class cricket in England on Wednesday afternoon. At Cardiff the Mitchells, Starc and Johnson, were firing the opening shots in an Ashes battle which will be waged for six weeks; at Edgbaston Ryan Sidebottom was collecting match figures of 11-76 as Yorkshire took another stride towards retaining the County Championship.By contrast, unless you were a cricket fan from Blackpool or followed Second XI games closely, you may not have been too sure who Lester was until Monday morning. It was then that he was named in Lancashire’s side to play Essex at Emirates Old Trafford. And by the third evening of the game both Jaik Mickleburgh and Liam Dawson were acquainted with him. For he had castled them both with his swing to give Lancashire a strong sniff of victory in a Division Two game which had been cursed by rain for its first seven sessions.By close of play that sniff had been encouraged by, what for Lancashire followers, had been the delicious aroma of collapse after James Faulkner, a cricketer as well known in Brisbane as Bispham, had removed three key members of Essex’s middle order as the visitors displayed all the carelessness Lancashire’s batsmen had most diligently eschewed.Ravi Bopara edged a flat-footed slash to wicketkeeper Alex Davies; Jesse Ryder’s irresponsible cut found only the safe hands of Arron Lilley at backward point; and Ryan ten Doeschate was lbw on the back foot to his second ball when Faulkner brought one back off the seam. None of the trio reached double figures.Ten Doeschate’s wicket left Essex perilously placed on 81 for five with over 22 overs left in what was a remarkable day’s cricket, and had it not been for the good sense of James Foster and opener Nick Browne, whose unbroken sixth-wicket stand was worth 58 by close of play Essex would have been in very deep trouble indeed. Browne ended the day unbeaten on 78 and he and Foster will be key men again on the final morning, especially since the pitch is offering assistance to Lilley’s off-spin.Even on the third evening, though, it still seems more likely that the game will end in a draw but the outcome is nothing like as certain as it appeared when Lancashire declared on 402 for 8 in mid-afternoon. Croft’s players can go into the last day very encouraged by the way in which they have approached a match which will be remembered, in part, for its grey skies and frequent showers.”Manchester on a rainy day,” wrote RC Robertson-Glasgow, “is the nearest thing I know to an academic speech on Free Trade.” Perhaps so, but Croft’s batsmen never let the gloom infect their approach to matters. Instead, they played with resolution and enterprise, no one more so than the skipper himself, who reached his second century of the championship season off 210 balls and added 144 with Faulkner, who put a tricky few days behind him to concentrate on his cricket skills.Reece Topley accounted for Croft, Faukner and Jordan Clark during a penetrative spell with the second new ball early in the afternoon session but the skipper’s 122 and the all-rounder’s 68 had changed the temper of the contest. Lancashire’s dominance was reinforced when Lilley’s breezy 40 off 31 balls helped the home side to their fifth bonus point and Croft beckoned his men off the field as soon as it was reached.

ScorecardGraham Onions picked up three wickets before Durham were themselves bowled out•Getty Images

The first morning of this match recalled the innocence of childhood. The wave-ruffled sea in Scarborough’s North Bay was sapphire blue and folk taking their constitutionals on Blenheim Terrace were gently buffeted by the warm air. People in Peasholm Park wished each other a good morning and you sensed they meant it. On such days the Famous Five sailed boats into adventure yet always returned in time for supper and sleep. This is the 129th Scarborough Festival yet it can have known few mornings more glorious than the one which greeted Yorkshire’s match against Durham.And the unspoilt prelapsarian mood did indeed presage a Fall but only an almighty clatter of wickets at North Marine Road where 5300 spectators saw 20 professional cricketers dismissed on a pitch which, while testing, hardly justified the rapid turnover of batsmen seemingly bemused by a surface which offered pace, plenty of bounce and some lateral movement but little more.The conditions at North Marine Road were well used by two of the best bowling attacks in Division Once yet once again there was a useful distinction to be made between batsmen who were dismissed by their opponents and those who were complicit in their own departures. It may be useful to say at the outset that the umpires Jeremy Lloyds and Nick Cook said at the close that they had seen nothing in the wicket to cause them to take further action. The pitch inspectors will not be arriving at Scarborough this weekend. This is particularly fortunate given that there is not a bed to be had in the town.By the close of play Yorkshire may be the happier side, given that they had battled back in the manner of champions after being dismissed for 162 in 43 overs. Their trials had begun as early as the fourth over when left-arm seamer Jamie Harrison brought one back in the air to have Andrew Hodd leg before for 9. Next over Alex Lees’s loose defensive shot to a ball from Chris Rushworth caused him to play the ball on to his stumps and what became something of a procession had begun.It was the bounce as much as anything which caused the batsmen’s grief. Both Jack Leaning and Gary Ballance were caught in the slips fencing at lifting balls which they did not need to play while Gale himself edged a ball which the excellent Rushworth pushed across him. Throughout a morning session which Yorkshire ended on 94 for 7 one felt that a lot more discretion would have worked wonders. Yet no one showed that level of judgement, not even Glenn Maxwell who, having driven the ball well in making 36, simply fell for the bouncer bowled by Graham Onions and gave a catch to Michael Richardson.Indeed, we had to wait until the last-wicket partnership for two batsmen to exhibit a proper level of judgement and common sense. That came when Tim Bresnan was joined by Ryan Sidebottom when the score was 95 for 9 and the calm of the morning seemed very distant indeed. Bresnan drove and cut with power; Sidebottom simply treated balls on their varying merits and did not play a shot when he did not need to do so. By the time Bresnan was yorked by Harrison for 47 – he deserved a fifty – Yorkshire had a total which their own skilled seamers could defend. Just as importantly, some of the initiative had been wrested from Durham’s bowlers despite the excellent figures of both Rushworth and Onions.In the second half of this truly bizarre day – Durham’s first innings lasted just two balls longer than Yorkshire’s – Sidebottom and his colleagues revealed one reason why the County Championship will, in all probability, be returning to Headingley at some point in September: their ability to respond to adversity is second to none.Yet for a few overs it seemed that Mark Stoneman and Graham Clark had weathered the new-ball attack. Then suddenly, three wickets fell in seven balls and Durham’s innings was never to be on an even keel again. Clark carelessly drove Bresnan straight to Gary Ballance at point; five balls later Stoneman hooked Patterson straight to Bresnan at long leg; then Gordon Muchall was leg before to his first ball from the excellent Patterson.Any recovery enjoyed by Durham thereafter was brief. In the evening session Michael Richardson inside-edged a ball from Patterson to Hodd. Jack Burnham, an 18-year-old who was making his first-class debut, was then bowled by the ball of the day from Liam Plunkett. It moved away and trimmed the off stump. That left Durham on 65 for 5.Indeed, that the visitors eventually conceded a deficit of no more than six is explained by another innings filled with common sense and well-judged aggression. It was played by Ryan Pringle who hit five fours and a six off Adil Rashid in his 54-ball 40, his 77-minute innings being played while his colleagues were making little or nothing of Sidebottom, who took four wickets in a fine spell from the Trafalgar Square End. It remained hectic stuff to the very end as Sidebottom celebrated every wicket as if it was his first and thus explained why he takes so many. Pringle was ninth out, well caught by Rashid off Sidebottom at deep square-leg. There was time for Hodd and Lees to play five overs in Yorkshire’s second innings; curiously, it was the calmest cricket of the day.

Michael Clarke has signed off for the final time as Australia’s captain with a plea for groundsmen to be granted the freedom to prepare the pitches they see fit, after the conclusion of the equal shortest Ashes series ever. No match reached the fifth day and two barely made it into a third, leaving Clarke to wonder if this was healthy.Australia have taken pride in the way home pitches are prepared by groundsmen largely independent of national team influence, meaning that each ground has a chance to develop its own consistent characteristics. However the surfaces at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge in particular seemed tailored to the whims of England’s captain Alastair Cook and coach Trevor Bayliss, expressed publicly through the media, resulting in short, one-sided contests after the Australians failed to cope with conditions.Clarke called for groundsmen to be allowed to dictate their own pitches. “I’d like to see groundsmen around the world – not just here – have the courage to go with what they think is a good cricket wicket,” he said. “I think we’ve seen in the first two Test matches a lot of talk from the media and the commentators . . . about how flat the wickets were, yet those two Test matches were over in four days. One team won and one team lost. The next three are over in two and a half and three days.””I think Test cricket is a five-day battle. I want to see good and fair cricket for both batters and bowlers. I think that’s the way the game should be played – and, most importantly, I want to see a winner and a loser. But if the groundsman feels he knows how to produce a good wicket that will be a great battle of Test match cricket then I’d like to see them back themselves and go with that and not be persuaded by what’s said in the media or what the commentators say.”Looking back over the series, Clarke argued that better cricket was witnessed at Cardiff and Lord’s than in the ensuring three Tests, even if Australia rebounded from their heavy losses at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge to win on a somewhat more equitable surface at the Oval. He also said that numerous English groundsmen had told him they were unhappy to be compelled to do the bidding of others.”Cardiff and Lord’s, we did see some really good cricket. I’m not saying the wickets were fantastic – don’t get me wrong – but we’ve seen a winner and a loser over four days,” Clarke said. “I think the past three Test matches have not been that case. People have tickets for today to watch a whole day’s play and tomorrow, and the same for Edgbaston and Nottingham. The fans of the game deserve to see a really good contest for five days.”I don’t know what influence the ECB had . . . and to be honest I don’t know what influence they [Cricket Australia] have in Australia either. If I go to the groundsman at the Gabba and say ‘I want it to be a turned like the SCG’ he’ll absolutely laugh at me. It might be different around the world. You’re given a role, a responsibility, and a job and you want to be able to do your best at that.”I’ve got a feeling, from the conversations I’ve had with a lot of the groundsmen in this country, they’re a little bit disappointed they haven’t been able to do as they’ve wanted to do.”Clarke finished his career with 115 Tests, of which 57 were played against either England or India. When asked about this slant in terms of fixtures, Clarke said he wanted to see the game grow as widely as possible, and hoped that administrators would genuinely seek to achieve that in the future.”I’d love cricket to be played in every country around the world . . . I’d love everybody to have the opportunity to see this great game,” he said. “In the same breath I cherish how lucky I’ve been to be able to play against England as regularly as I have, and play against India and South Africa and Bangladesh, whether it’s Test, one-day or Twenty20 cricket.”Whatever we can do to grow the game, make the game better, touch a lot of different people around the world, that’s what I would like to see. I’d like to see cricket played in all countries.”

The long-serving Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed, whose last stint with the team was in 2010, has died at the age of 80 in Lahore.Saeed was the son of Pakistan’s first captain Mian Mohammad Saeed, who led the country in unofficial Tests before they gained full status, and the brother-in-law of former captain and paceman Fazal Mahmood. Of his 59 first-class games, 50 were for Somerset on England’s county circuit.He stepped down from the team manager role after the spot-fixing debacle in England that saw three Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir jailed and banned from playing cricketing for five years.Born in Lahore before the partition of India, Saeed’s cricketing career lasted between 1953 and 1959. He played against MCC and had also featured in a match against West Indies in 1958-59. He picked up 106 wickets at 34.05 as a seamer and contributed 1547 runs at 15.47 with the bat. He also represented East Pakistan, Amir of Bahawalpur’s XI and Pakistan’s Central Zone.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShoaib Malik rescued Pakistan from a score of 29 for 3•AFP

A rearguard effort of 33 not out from Mohammad Rizwan and a strangling spell of 4 for 11 from left-arm spinner Imad Wasim kept Pakistan’s unbeaten T20 record against Zimbabwe intact with a 13-run win in the first match in Harare. Pakistan’s innings was first salvaged by Shoaib Malik, before Rizwan lifted them to 136 for 8.Zimbabwe went down with hardly any fight despite restricting the visitors to a below-par score as Wasim, in his fourth match, made sure most of Zimbabwe’s reputed batsmen fell for low scores. Only Hamilton Masakadza tried to establish the chase with a run-a-ball 25, and captain Elton Chigumbura gave the hosts some hope in the end with a 28-ball 31, but the asking rate had shot up too far after the early wickets.Wasim’s bowling from round the wicket reaped rewards from the very first over. He got Chamu Chibhabha for a duck and Sikandar Raza in the eighth over in bizarre fashion when the batsman came down the pitch and was stumped, but was also given lbw. Keeping the pressure on from the other end, Craig Ervine was trapped lbw by Sohail Tanvir as he unleashed a flick but missed. Masakadza started slowly with the fall of wickets around him and then tried to push the run rate with boundaries but the pressure showed when he holed out to long-on off Wasim, who made it four wickets in his four overs by getting Sean Williams lbw for 14 soon after.At 66 for 5 the task was left to Chigumbura but he was let down further by two run-outs – of Richmond Mutumbami and debutant Luke Jongwe. Chigumbura took the chase to the last over but 16 runs from six balls was too stiff with only two wickets in hand.Earlier, Pakistan were kept on a leash almost throughout their innings, barring two partnerships – one led by Malik and the other by Rizwan. Chibhabha – like the other Zimbabwe medium-pacers – hardly gave the batsmen any pace to work with, and threw Pakistan off track by removing their top order early. After not allowing Ahmed Shehzad to build on his momentum of three fours in the first three overs by knocking back his off stump, he dismissed Mukhtar Ahmed and Sohaib Maqsood by bowling a stump-to-stump line.Pakistan were rescued from a precarious 29 for 3 when Malik and Umar Akmal combined for nearly six overs to score 42 runs. Malik hammered a six off Graeme Cremer in the 10th over and Umar used the late cut effectively to keep the run rate around six, but he holed out to long-on in the 12th over. Pakistan would have been 74 for 5 had Mutumbami stumped Rizwan in the next over but Williams’ sharp turn beat both the batsman and wicketkeeper.That cost Zimbabwe the match as Rizwan scored another 31 runs with unorthodox shots to provide the finish his team desperately needed. He used his feet against the spinners, especially to smack a six off Raza in the 17th over that conceded 12 runs, and his alliance with Wasim (19 off 12) turned the match Pakistan’s way as they accumulated 46 runs from 4.4 overs. Wasim struck a consecutive six and four off the last two balls of Williams’ spell and Rizwan’s stay till the last over helped Pakistan collect 45 runs from the last five overs, despite scoring only nine from the last two overs off the slower balls of Jongwe and Tinashe Panyangara.

Man of the Match on Test debut against New Zealand, Man of the Match against India in his third Test, it seemed that anything was possible for James Pattinson back in 2011. He was 21 and it was reasonable to hope that by 24 or 25 he would be the leader of Australia’s Test attack. Instead, by then he was training greyhounds and embarking on a career as a builder. If nothing else, his time on the sidelines has given him perspective.There have been injuries to his feet, ribs and hamstrings, but the big problem has been his back. Stress fractures arrived during the 2013 Ashes and flared again in 2014, and he has played only 13 of a possible 48 Tests since his debut. Now, Pattinson has a chance to add to that tally for the first time in 20 months, and he views things differently after his time away from the game.”I’m probably not taking it as seriously as I did when I was younger,” Pattinson said last week in Adelaide after rejoining the Test squad. “It was sort of everything to me, cricket. But now, having been away from the game, I’ve got a few things outside cricket that I enjoy as well. So I’m really relaxed with my cricket now.”There’s a lot of hobbies, I’ve just started a Diploma in Building and Construction so that’s something that I’m really keen on. I’ve got a passion for the greyhounds because my brother [Darren] is a greyhound trainer so there’s been a lot of early mornings walking greyhounds around while I was in a back brace.”Pattinson did not play against New Zealand in the day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval, but he appears a certain starter for the first Test against West Indies in Hobart starting next Thursday. His opportunity has come at the expense of Mitchell Starc, who suffered a foot injury that has effectively ended his involvement in international cricket for the summer.Pattinson and Starc made their Test debuts together at the Gabba four years ago, only a fortnight after Pat Cummins also won his baggy green in South Africa. Like Pattinson, Cummins was Man of the Match on debut, while Starc already loomed as a left-arm successor to Mitchell Johnson. The prospect of that trio forming Australia’s future Test attack seemed exciting, and inevitable.Four years on and countless injuries later, Starc has played 25 Tests, Pattinson 13 and Cummins is yet to add to his single appearance. They have only once played together for Australia – in the third ODI against England in September. Less than three months on, Pattinson is the only one of the three who is fit, and he will likely work alongside Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle in Hobart.”There’s always opportunities with fast bowlers,” Pattinson said on Friday. “Everyone gets injured at some stage during their career. You’ve just got to be ready to take those opportunities. Our bowling cartel is pretty close, we’re always looking out for each other. It’s really exciting to see Josh do quite well in the last Test and Pete to get his 200 wickets. It’s pretty exciting to hopefully be joining them.”Pattinson, now 25, has tweaked his action to help his back, but he is still confident he can reach similar speeds to when he emerged as an international cricketer. So far this summer Pattinson has 10 Sheffield Shield wickets at 22.80, and Australia will likely look to him as a strike bowler, with Siddle proving in Adelaide he remains a highly effective stock bowler.Siddle’s efforts were especially impressive given the personal loss he suffered during the match – his grandmother died before the third day’s play. There were also times during the Test when Siddle seemed to be struggling with a sore back, but he was out in the middle to hit the winning runs on the third evening.”Sidds is a really strong character,” Pattinson said. “There was a lot of support behind him. It was fantastic for him to be out there and hitting the winning runs for Australia, I think that helped him a lot. You could probably see the relief on his face when he did hit those winning runs. He’s a strong character and I’m sure he’ll be up and about for Hobart.”He’s been a great help for me throughout my career, and not just at the start of my career. Over the last two years when I’ve been injured he’s been a really good sounding board for me and been great.”There is one thing about Siddle, though, that Pattinson hopes will change upon his inclusion in the Test team. Last time they played together in a Test, Siddle batted ahead of Pattinson.”I bat ahead of Victoria so I’m hoping I can get ahead of him for Australia. We’ll probably have a few debates about it, especially after he got the winning runs in Adelaide,” Pattinson said, before adding with a smile: “But I think I should be above him.”

Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Azharuddin,Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh. On paper that’s a truly formidable lineup. But 277 to win off 50 overs is a formidable challenge. A challengethat India were not up to on this occasion, succumbing to 205 all outin the Asia Cup encounter against Sri Lanka at the Bangabandhu stadiumon Thursday.An almost run a ball 93 from Tendulkar kept India in the running tillthat 36th over but when he pulled a ball from Weeraratne to the squareleg fence. Jayawardane took a well judged catch on the ropes and thatwas the end of the road for India. When Sachin’s wicket fell there wasstill a lot of work to be done. Needing over hundred runs off lessthan 90 balls, the load fell squarely on the broad shoulders of RobinSingh. One again the restrictive bowling of the Lankans kicked in andSingh nicked one through to Kaluwitharana.A Mumbai ‘all rounder’ in the shape of Ajit Agarkar did what he ismost famous for and departed without scoring a run. At 174/8 theIndian challenge was truly over. Having lost three wickets in thespace of seven balls without scoring a run, India had succumbedmeekly. From being in the race, India were staring at a humiliatingdefeat.Another ‘all rounder’, this time from Delhi, Nikhil Chopra followedand he too could do precious little as India slumped to a 71 rundefeat.Earlier in the innings Ganguly failed to replicate his performance ofyesterday and was choked into giving away his wicket. Sri Lankancaptain Sanath Jayasuriya stacked the off side field and to hisdelight Chaminda Vaas and Nowan Zoysa responded by bowling the ball injust the right spot. A frustrated Ganguly could not pierce the ring offielders on the offside and nicked the ball through to Kalu off thebowling of Vaas.Sunil Joshi was sent in to pinch hit but as he has done many times inthe past played one good shot and departed soon after. If the pinchhitting experiment was a failure, the arrival of Dravid at number fourwas another exercise in futility. Hitting the ball crisply to thefielders, Dravid was unable to get the scoreboard ticking over. In adrama replaying itself, Dravid tried to hit his way out of trouble andtapped the ball back to Muralitharan when he was on 24.With Tendulkar batting well at one end, Azhar and Jadeja breezed inand out. Neither contributed significantly to the chase and India wereprecariously placed at 156/5 when Robin Singh joined Tendulkar out inthe middle.The first big clash of the Asia Cup began earlier in the day promisingmuch. After a lacklustre performance against the hosts, India cameback strongly to nab the inform Aravinda de Silva, who struck the ballwith consummate ease on two occasions off the bowling of Kumaran earlyon. Perhaps it was the confidence that was De Silva’s undoing. Drivingon the up, De Silva had to wait long for the ball to arrive and endedup striking the ball high on the bat. Following through, Kumaran stuckhis left hand out and snatched the ball out of the air.After De Silva was dismissed, Jayasuriya played an innings befittinghis status as captain and took the Indian bowling on. Curbing hisnatural stroke making tendencies, Jayasuriya helped himself to acentury against an Indian attack that had no answer to the southpaw.Whether he was cutting ferociously or tapping the ball through thegaps for quick ones and twos, Jayasuriya was in command. Partneredwell by Marvan Attapattu, Jayasuriya took Sri Lanka steadily forward.In a partnership that lasted over a hundred runs, the pair took SriLanka to 162.However, when Attapattu was caught top edging an attempted sweep offTendulkar, Sri Lanka lost their way a bit. Although they had a goodplatform thanks to a mature century from Jayasuriya, it remained to beseen whether they could capitalise on that platform.The fall of four quick wickets reduced the Lankans to 209/6 after 41.4overs. In came Chaminda Vaas. Flat batting the bowling all around thepark, Vaas did what every Sri Lankan fan was waiting for. In aquickfire unbeaten 34 that came off just 26 balls, Vaas took Sri Lankato formidable total. In one Agarkar over, Vaas bludgeoned two sixes,one over mid wicket and the other square of the wicket on the legside. Kaluwitharana played sensibly for his 33 and Sri Lanka ended on276. The last five overs yielded 46 runs and broke the back of theIndians.

Divan Van Wyk continued his top form in the Costcutter U15 World Challenge 2000 with a superb innings to put South Africa in the driving seat in their semi-final against West Indies at Hove.When the rain returned with seven overs of the innings still remaining, left-hander Van Wyk, who has been South Africa’s top scorer in the competition, had made a mature and unbeaten 77 featuring eight boundaries and a touch of class.Umpires took the players off with the score 191 for five after the 43rd over produced two wickets, including Vaughn Van Jaarsveld, another left-hander who put on 105 with Van Wyk for the fourth wicket.Van Jaarsveld holed out to mid on while replacement batsman Peter Laing was leg before a couple of balls later, both wickets falling to West Indies skipper Tishan Maraj.With 7.1 overs left and the rain clouds still gathered above Eaton Road, the reserve day, put aside for tomorrow, could well be taken.Earlier, the rain delayed the start of play by more than an hour and South Africa, who qualified for the semi-final after finishing top of their group, decided to bat first despite the humid conditions.They struggled in the first ten overs of the innings to overcome the pace of the West Indies opening attack of Ravi Rampaul and Krishnar Santokie and in the sixth, Mpumelo Slwana, a 14 year-old from Port Elizabeth, was hit on the toe by a fiery Rampaul bowling down the hill.Physiotherapists attended to him for more than five minutes but the injury disrupted the young batsman’s concentration and he was bowled through the gate by Rampaul two balls later for eight, the first ball, which also bowled him, being ruled a no ball.South Africa were 11 for one and Graham Lewis from Kwazuku-Natal was settling in nicely when he was joined by Van Wyk. They scored quickly with both playing some fine shots both sides of the wicket as the West Indies bowlers lost their momentum.Lewis struck two consecutive square drives off Rampaul which finished up on he boundary and in 14 overs the 50 came up with both players laying the foundations for a decent 50 overs total.But two overs later, Lewis on 24 was run out in an exhibition of superb fielding by the West Indian side with a shy at the stumps from cover and South Africa had lost their second wicket for 70, the Lewis and Van Wyk partnership having put on 51.Van Wyk’s half century from 62 balls included seven boundaries and the youngster impressed with his composure and shot selection. His stand with Keagan Africa put on 12 runs before the aptly named Africa was run out for nine with the score 82 for three.