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A Johannesburg court has ruled that Cricket South Africa’s decision in February to remove Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka as president was unlawful and that he should be reinstated with immediate effect. However, CSA are appealing the decision of the south Gauteng High Court and told ESPNCricinfo that Nyoka would not return to his position until the appeal process is complete.Nyoka was ousted in a vote of no-confidence two months ago, 18 months before his term was due to end. The presidents of the 11 affiliates voted 9-2 to have Nyoka removed. CSA did not want to reveal the reasons for the decision but it came after Nyoka challenged them in court.”The applicant (Dr Nyoka) was removed because of his lack of leadership, his inability to communicate properly with the respondent’s board and management team, his erratic behaviour and his personal vendetta against [CSA chief executive Gerald] Majola,” AK Khan, CSA’s Acting President said in the body’s founding affidavit.CSA’s lawyers argued that “reasonable steps” had been taken to ensure Nyoka had notice of the February 12 special general meeting in which he was removed. Nyoka chose not to attend on the advice of his lawyer.Deputy Judge-President Phineas Mojapelo, hearing the case on Friday, found that Nyoka did not receive proper notice of the meeting that was set up to remove him from office, that the proceedings in the motion of no confidence were invalid and that Nyoka’s right to be heard before the decision was taken to remove him was violated.Nyoka’s spat with Majola is thought to be the central factor in his falling out with the board. Nyoka questioned the financial irregularities in CSA’s bonus payment structure after Majola and 39 other staff members were awarded bonuses after the hosting of the IPL and Champions Trophy in 2009.Bonuses worth R4.7 million (US$671, 238) were paid out after the events and were not fully declared to CSA’s remunerations committee (REMCO). CSA said that this was in keeping with precedents set from the 2003 World Cup, when bonuses were not issued through REMCO. Nyoka called for an external investigation into the affair but CSA decided to exhaust their internal measures first and held their own commission of inquiry, under Khan.The investigation cleared Majola of any wrongdoing but cautioned him against making “errors of judgement” and said that all future payments would have to go through REMCO. Nyoka accepted the findings at the time but was believed to be unhappy with them. If he is reinstated, it would no doubt prompt a reopening of the matter which may force CSA to make public their financial affairs. Part of Nyoka’s demands in the case is that CSA will have to reveal certain financial information.Nyoka left court shortly before the judgment was handed down to depart; he is believed to have flown to Kenya and could not be reached for comment.

Madhya Pradesh cruised past Orissa to reach the quarter-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on the back of an impressive performance by their seamers and dominant knocks from Mohnish Mishra and Jalaj Saxena at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. After putting Orissa in, MP maintained a lid on their scoring rate by taking wickets at regular intervals. TP Sudhindra struck twice early and then Anand Rajan got into the act as well, and both finished with three wickets each. Orissa’s innings never kicked off and they only managed 126 in their 20 overs. That proved an easy chase for MP, who reached the target in 17.4 overs. Mishra blazed his way to 48 off 27 and Saxena stayed unbeaten with 55 off 47, as MP won by eight wickets.The morning game also saw an easy chase, with Tamil Nadu blasting their way past Delhi’s 144 in just 16. 1 overs. M Vijay clobbered 38 off 18 balls, his opening partner Srikkanth Anirudha got 49 not out and S Badrinath scored 47 as Tamil Nadu got home with eight wickets in hand. Delhi chose to bat, but got off to a sedate start by Twenty20 standards, with opener Shikhar Dhawan taking 33 balls for his 36 and captain Mithun Manhas 34 balls to get to 31. Yogesh Nagar gave the innings some impetus in the end, smashing 44 off 21, but Delhi’s total was well short of enough in the end.

A blood sample taken from Graeme Swann shortly after his arrest on suspicion of drink-driving last year may have been contaminated, according to a forensic expert who gave evidence at the player’s latest hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.Swann, who is currently on paternity leave before linking up with his England team-mates ahead of their World Cup opener against Netherlands on February 22, was stopped near his home in West Bridgford shortly after 3.00am on April 2 last year, as he drove a white Porsche Cayenne towards a local supermarket, having arrived home to find his cat trapped under the floorboards.During his original trial in August, Swann admitted to having drunk three or four glasses of white wine to celebrate his birthday, and was alleged to have told the arresting officer, PC Steven Denniss, he “shouldn’t have probably been driving”, when pulled over for driving a high-performance car in an area beset by a spate of recent burglaries.The second of two blood samples showed that Swann had 83mg of alcohol in 100ml, which is over the legal limit of 80mg, although his solicitor argued that he had no case to answer, because it ought to have been the first that was used for testing. In December, however, district judge Julia Newton decided the trial should go ahead.Dr John Mundy, a forensic alcohol consultant who previously worked for the Metropolitan Police’s laboratory, told the court that the sample could have been contaminated by the rubber bungs used to plug the vials, and make the reading appear higher than it actually was.”If you get a bung that has contaminants – and they do have contaminants – I have seen quite bad contamination that can get into the blood and as such can interfere with the alcohol analysis one way or another,” he said. “It means that it would add to the alcohol amount because you have a small area of contaminant adding to the large area of alcohol and that would cause the alcohol to go up.”Swann denies one charge of drink driving. The trial continues.

While there is yet to be any official word from Zimbabwe Cricket, it would appear that there might be a few surprises in Zimbabwe’s squad for the World Cup. Opening batsman Hamilton Masakadza has paid a heavy price for his poor form in 2010 and is apparently not included in a preliminary 20-man squad, while Sean Ervine may well be in line for an international comeback after his name was included in press reports about the potential team.Masakadza, 27, is one of the country’s most experienced batsmen and has been a dominant force in domestic cricket for the last few years. After a prolific run in 2009, when he scored 1,087 runs in ODIs – the fourth best returns in world cricket that year – Masakadza’s form slumped alarmingly in 2010 and he averaged just 19.00 in ODIs for the national side.After making his debut as a 17-year-old in 2001, Masakadza missed out on selection for the tournament in both 2003 and 2007 – the first time because he was at university in South Africa and the second because of a dip in form and a perceived lack of fluency in limited-overs cricket. He struggled in Zimbabwe’s three most recent series, against Ireland, South Africa and Bangladesh, managing just 52 runs in seven innings.Uncertainty still reigns over Ervine’s inclusion. His younger brother, Craig, is a certainty after a productive first year with the national side, but the older Ervine is still under contract with Hampshire as a local player until the end of the 2011 season. He would have to revert to overseas status if he wanted to resume his international career with Zimbabwe, but Hampshire already have legspinner Imran Tahir on their books in that role.”I’ll speak with Sean and get to the bottom of this but I expect him to be with us next year,” Hampshire manager Giles White told in December. “We’ve offered him a new deal and he’s said he’d like to take that up. I will be interested to find out more about it because he is under contract with Hampshire. I will try to contact Sean but it’s difficult as he’s on a farm in Zimbabwe, but we will get him on the phone and sort things out so we can move things forward and hopefully get some clarity.”Ervine played the last of 42 ODIs for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club in March 2004 before becoming embroiled in the ‘rebel’ crisis and falling out with the board. He has since forged a successful career in County cricket with Hampshire, and remains part of their squad for the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament, which starts on Monday.Zimbabwe’s poor batting was the biggest let-down of their recent Bangladesh tour, and Ervine’s form and experience would certainly be a valuable asset to the national side. Zimbabwe’s batsmen will also be undergoing an intensive training programme ahead of the World Cup, with enhanced solidity at the beginning of the innings and an ability to play spin in the middle overs being the main objectives.”We have come up with an intensive training structure so that we can try and help the guys improve their technique going into the World Cup,” assistant coach Steven Mangongo told in Zimbabwe. “The Bangladesh series served as an eye-opener because we observed some worrying frailties in our batting department.”We want them to improve so that there is a bit more stability especially during the first 15 overs of an innings. We are currently working with the batsmen together with batting coach Grant Flower and we will be joined by the national coach Alan Butcher and we also expect to get some help from Brian Lara at some point later.”Zimbabwe open their World Cup campaign against Australia in Ahmedabad on February 21 before they face Canada in Nagpur on February 28.20-man squad: Elton Chigumbura (capt), Regis Chakabva, Chamu Chibhabha, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Terry Duffin, Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Greg Lamb, Tino Mawoyo, Shingirai Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Tinashe Panyangara, Ray Price, Ed Rainsford, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya, Sean Williams.

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, has promised that all the details of the Pakistan spot-fixing investigation will be revealed once the verdict is announced on February 5. The six-day tribunal in Doha concluded without a final decision and it was revealed two Tests were now under scrutiny.The key development over those days, where information was scarce and carefully controlled, was the charges brought against Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt in relation to The Oval Test, the third of the series, which wasn’t part of the initial spot-fixing controversy that erupted after a News of the World sting during the Lord’s Test that concluded the contest.Amir and Asif were cleared regarding The Oval match before the conclusion of the hearing in Doha but Butt, the Pakistan captain for the series in England, remains under investigation. Despite that news becoming public, Lorgat wouldn’t elaborate on the details which led the ICC to extending their investigation towards the match Pakistan won by four wickets to level the series.”You’ll recall when we held a press conference when the spot fixing first broke in London, Sir Ronnie Flanagan [the head of the ACSU] and myself indicated that wherever the evidence leads us we will proceed to investigate in absolute detail,” Lorgat told reporters in Melbourne.”As we proceeded with the initial Lord’s Test that was the subject of the original investigation there were certain leads which led us to The Oval Test match. We weren’t prepared to leave any stone unturned so we presented certain charges for that match as well.”We don’t comment on investigations, we don’t report on ACSU matters and once all of this is said and done and the verdict is out a more full report will be provided.”Despite the delay in the final outcome of the hearings, which means the decision will be given even closer to the World Cup, Lorgat was satisfied with how the investigation had moved. “I am pleased with the progress we have made,” he said. “It is a short space of time, it is a complex matter and it is running alongside a criminal investigation. I believe we have done very well to get to this position with a six-day tribunal that has sat and now we await a judgement.”None of the three players central to the controversy will be involved in Pakistan’s World Cup campaign, but the new date for a ruling on the case is just two weeks before the tournament launches on February 19. As much as the ICC try to separate the two it is likely to provide a significant cloud of the major global one-day competition.

Match Facts

Monday, December 6
Start time 9:00 (03:00 GMT)Will Zimbabwe look to hit Abdur Razzak out of his stifling rhythm?•Associated Press

The Big Picture

Bangladesh rectified their errors after the reversal in the first match to put up a clinical batting performance to complement the spinners and level the series. Watching their unit in the second game suggested they were putting in an extra effort to please Shakib Al Hasan after he had ripped into them following the shoddy show in the series opener. With the momentum back in their favour, the home side will fancy their chances of taking the lead in the third straight fixture in Mirpur.The opening exchanges in the first two matches followed strikingly similar scripts: Bangladesh fielded under foggy skies in both games, but their seamers wasted the conditions to gift Zimbabwe good starts. The spinners then checked the visitors’ progress and restricted them to gettable targets, which Bangladesh failed to reach in the first game and cantered to in the next. The thin seam resources in either side could preclude the morning juice from being capitalised on, and spin will continue to be the decisive factor. Can Zimbabwe come up with a new plan to counter the rampant spin attack led by Abdur Razzak? Zimbabwe rely on spin almost as heavily as their opponents, and Ray Price will fancy his chances of pulling off a slow left-arm choke on the master practitioners of the art. The visitors will, however, hope for a big lift from their batsmen, especially the top order that has thrown away strong starts twice.

Form Guide

(most recent first)
Bangladesh: WLWWW
Zimbabwe: LWLLLL

Watch out for …

The time has come for Elton Chigumbura to deliver. Twice in two games, he has been guilty of exacerbating batting collapses by attempting careless shots against the spinners early in his innings. A batting strike-rate of 84.06 suggests that Chigumbura is capable of increasing the tempo if he is at the crease for a considerable period of time, so the challenge for the Zimbabwe captain will be to play within himself until he can get accustomed to the conditions.Don’t bet against another strong performance from Abdur Razzak. Nine wickets in two matches, including a hat-trick, make him Zimbabwe’s biggest worry for the rest of the series. Will they look to hit him out of his stifling rhythm? Brendan Taylor is one of their most aggressive players against spin and, having got off to starts in both matches so far, he will look to kick on and combat Razzak and co. this time around.

Pitch conditions

The third match was originally scheduled to be held under lights, but was shifted back to a morning start once it was found that the stadium’s new floodlights were not yet fully functional. So far in the series, the Mirpur pitch has played true to it’s day-game history, slowing down and affording spinners assistance right through. There will be more of the same in the third match, and, if Zimbabwe bowl first, Chris Mpofu will hope to hit better lines than Bangladesh’s seamers did in the previous two matches.

Teams

Shakib got the changes he wanted after the first match, and the men who came in – Raqibul Hasan and Naeem Islam – played key roles in the turnaround. It is unlikely that Bangladesh will break the winning combination, though they will want Mashrafe Mortaza and Shafiul Islam to get into the game with the new ball.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Naeem Islam, 8 Suhrawadi Shuvo, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Shafiul IslamKeegan Meth has been unimpressive and may struggle to keep his spot for the third match. Shingirai Masakadza will be a like-for-like replacement but, given their batting woes, Zimbabwe could consider bringing Hamilton Masakadza back into the top order.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Brendan Taylor, 2 Chamu Chibhabha, 3 Regis Chakabva, 4. Keith Dabengwa, 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 7 Craig Ervine, 8 Shingirai Masakadza / Keegan Meth, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Raymond Price, 11 Chris Mpofu

Stats and Trivia

• Abdur Razzak’s hat-trick in the second match was the 27th in one-day history and Bangladesh’s second. Shahadat Hossain got the previous one, also against Zimbabwe, and Prosper Utseya was a part of the hat-trick on both occasions.
• Shakib Al Hasan is currently Bangladesh’s third-highest wicket-taker in ODIs. Razzak leads the way with 158 wickets, while Mortaza has 142

Quotes

“I need some time to get my rhythm back and I believe things will get better only if I keep playing matches”
“The batsmen applied themselves, the bowlers were good today and everyone chipped in, the fielding has also improved, we are playing good cricket, we are confident now.”

Michael Clarke does not want to reduce his workload even though he is one of the few Australian players appearing in all three formats. Clarke arrived back from India on Tuesday morning and will fly to Perth on Friday to lead his men in the Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka on Sunday.”I’d really like to be available for all games, all forms for Australia, no doubt,” Clarke said after landing in Sydney. “I think my body is in a pretty good place at the moment.”Clarke captains the Twenty20 side and led the one-day outfit in the 1-0 loss to India, while Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson were rested. There are no signs of giving Clarke a break ahead of the Ashes and he hit some form in the only fixture in India that wasn’t rained out. He posted 111 off 139 balls in Visakhapatnam but it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat.”I haven’t scored as many runs as I would like, so the only way to do that is to get out there in the middle and I’d love to be doing it for Australia,” Clarke said. “So hopefully I’ll be fighting fit and I’ll play every game available.”

Manoj Badale, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, has said the team has provided the BCCI and the government with all the information they had asked for but was not given a chance to defend itself before being expelled from the league.”That seems to us at least unfair,” he told the news channel . “It seems surprising to us that these issues, all of which were communicated, all of which were documented for the past three years, are suddenly brought up when there is regime change as opposed to being brought up in time.”Badale said he met with BCCI president Shashank Manohar last week and was told the team would be treated fairly. He did not reveal any other details of the meeting, however, saying it was a private conversation and not something he wanted to discuss with the media.While the franchise issued a statement in the wake of the announcement saying it would be considering legal action, Badale told another news channel, , that in his experience these things get resolved around a table, and it is only if negotiations fail that legal action will be considered. He also defended his franchise’s record of transparency.

The ripple effects

The ramifications of the case go far beyond these two franchises. Rajasthan had close ties with the English county side Hampshire, who on Monday issued a statement clarifying that no final deal had been signed as yet. The ties with Hampshire were part of a four-nation “global sporting franchise” planned by Rajasthan, but the plans are now presumably on hold.

“We voluntarily chose to submit an enormous document with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board back in July 2009, which went into extraordinary detail about our ownership structure.”The IPL governing council ejected Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab from the league this past Sunday on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”.The two franchises are now considering their options. A statement from Rajasthan Royals hinted at legal redress without explicitly mentioning it. The Punjab franchise said its legal team was studying the BCCI’s decision, which it also called unfair and not in the IPL’s collaborative spirit, and hoped for negotiations to settle the issue.

Stuart Binny’s unbeaten 47 took Bijapur Bulls home by two wickets in a last-ball finish against Mangalore United in Bangalore.Chasing a target of 143, Bijapur had slumped to 76 for 5 in the 12th over before Binny steadied the chase, even as wickets kept falling at the other end. Eight runs were still needed when Deeepak Anish was dismissed off the first ball of the last over. However, Binny kept his cool to steer his side home off the last delivery.Opener Karun Nair had earlier top-scored for Mangalore, with 63 off 52 deliveries, after losing his partner Bharat Chipli off the second ball of the match. Nair added 75 in 64 with Daniel Sequeria for the fifth wicket. Medium-pacer Nithin Muly took 4 for 15 to restrict Mangalore to 142 for 7.Ganesh Satish’s unbeaten half-century helped Malnad Gladiators beat Mysore Maharaajas by seven wickets in Bangalore.Sathish, the Malnad captain, hit four fours and a six in his 58 off 55 deliveries ato set up the chase of 134. Ryan Ninan’s 15 off 7 ball ensured there were no nerves towards the end as Malnad won with five balls to spare.Mysore, put into bat, had earlier struggled to 101 for 6 in the 19th over in the face of disciplined bowling by the Malnad spinners. However, captain Chethan William hammered four fours and a six off the five deliveries he faced to lift his team to 133 for 7.Bangalore Provident won their first game in three matches when they chased Bangalore Brigadiers’ 141 for 9 with seven wickets in hand.Wicketkeeper Thilak Naidu smashed an unbeaten 65 off 52 deliveries and dominated a 93-run opening stand. With 38 needed off 24, Aniruddha Joshi hit two sixes and a four in his 25 off 14 balls to dash Brigadiers’ hopes.Syed Ibrez and Lokesh Rahul had earlier got Brigadiers off to a strong start, putting on 85 off 74. However, their dismissals triggered a collapse as Brigadiers slumped to 108 for 5. N Vinu Prasad then hit three sixes in his 26 off only seven deliveries to enable his side to post a competitive total.

ScorecardNo play was possible on the second day of Glamorgan’s County Championship match against Derbyshire at Cardiff because of rain.With steady drizzle having fallen over the SWALEC Stadium throughout the second day, the umpires – Steve Garratt and David Millns – abandoned play for the day at 1430 BST.Glamorgan will resume on Wednesday on 120 for 6 in their first innings hoping James Allenby and James Harris can build on their 54-run stand for the seventh wicket as the county look to seal the second promotion spot in Division Two.