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News of bomb blasts in Mumbai will have caused some nervousness among New Zealand’s world champion women’s cricket team. They are due to tour India in later this year, two years after another scheduled tour was called off when the war against terrorism was being fought in Afghanistan.The cancellation of the tour in 2001 was a body blow to development of the New Zealand women’s team, as it delayed the introduction of several young players who were being blooded for the defence of the world title in South Africa in 2005. They have subsequently made their international debuts in England and Australia, but the loss of the Indian tour was a frustration.However, it has been reinstated and will now take place between November 19 and December 15. It will involve one Test match and five one-day internationals. The Test will be played at Vapi, Gujarat, at a private ground while the ODIs will be at Mumbai, Aurangabad, Bangalor, Hyderbad and Chennai. Dates for the matches will be announced when they have been confirmed by the venues.India finished third in the World Cup in 2000 and was beaten by New Zealand when the teams met during a tri-series in England last year and in a four-team mini series in New Zealand last summer.Meanwhile, the Women’s Cricket Association of India has started talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India over the prospect of the amalgamation of the two bodies. This is in line with moves at the international level. New Zealand, Australia and England are already merged.

Railways cantered to victory over Vidarbha, chasing a small total and winning their Ranji one-day match by five wickets at Udaipur.Winning the toss, Railways put Vidarbha in to bat, and their bowlers did not let them down. Barring a good opening partnership, none of the batsmen could put on stands until the very end, when Samir Khare and Harshal Shitoot added 66 runs for the sixth wicket.Chasing 225, Railways made light work of the total, achieving it in only 36.3 overs. Syed Raza Ali made an unbeaten 72 off just 62 balls, and he was well supported by skipper Abhay Sharma’s 49 off 32 balls.

Sharjah, March 24: South Africa clinched their 14th win on the trotover Pakistan but not before they were made to sweat in the SharjahCup match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Friday evening.Pakistan, batting first, limped to 195 for eight from their allotted50 overs. S. Africa reached victory with 33 balls to spare.Pakistan staged a compelling fightback reducing the South Africans toseven for 163 by the 39th over, but unheralded Nicky Boje rose to thechallenge from nowhere to blow their hopes. The gusty player, known byspinning fingers, smashed a cool-headed unbeaten 35.Pakistan, already handicapped by the absence of star players likeSaeed Anwar, Saqlain Mushtaq and Azhar Mahmood, suffered a furtherblow when Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhar were omitted due to groininjury.South Africa also owe thanks to Jacques Kallis (35) and Neil McKenzie(31) for making useful contributions after a stunning five-wicket haulfrom Man-of-the-Match Lance Klusener restricted Pakistan to a modest196.The match was still tight when Waqar Younis returned for his secondspell with South Africa needing 12 runs, but he conceded 11 runs andit was all and over for Pakistan.Earlier, Pakistan faltered badly after a pretty good start, theirseasoned batsmen once again failing to provide the solidity to theinnings in the middle. The pressure, of course, was there to step thescoring rate, but then that’s one-day cricket: things are never servedon a platter.Young Imran Nazir and Younis Khan played with cultured innings, nevermissing out on a chance to go for big hits after the early fall ofShahid Afridi. Nazir, in particular, was pretty impressive andexecuted strokes with grace and conviction.The two, who put on 115 runs for the second wicket in 176 balls, werenot exactly on fire, but that was understandable since it has beenlong since Pakistan batsmen have been among the runs. The first 20overs yielded just 54 runs and by the 30th over they were 103 for one.

Ange Postecoglou hasn’t found life easy when it comes to injuries at Celtic and ahead of their clash with Livingston on Sunday, it’s not good news for Kyogo Furuhashi.

What’s the word?

The Japanese forward was set to miss this weekend’s game anyway but it’s now thought that Kyogo may well have suffered yet another setback in his bid to return to full fitness.

That’s according to injury expert, Ben Dinnery, who spoke to Football Insider earlier this week about the Hoops’ star striker.

He said: “The club are suggesting it’s likely to be after the international break [his return].”

Dinnery continued: “But with these types of injuries, there are no guarantees. They have high recurrence rates, particularly when someone has been out long-term.

“Postecoglou has almost backtracked on his initial comments where he said he was nearing a return.

“Has he suffered a setback? Is there another problem? It’s possible. Or is it the same issue niggling away?”

Huge blow

Football Insider described this news as a ‘crushing’ blow for Celtic and indeed, it’s hard to argue with that assessment.

After all, the summer signing is still the club’s top goalscorer despite not featuring in the entirety of 2022 so far.

The 27-year-old has found the net on 16 occasions in 26 outings this term, bagging two more than Israeli youngster Liel Abada.

On that evidence, the news that he still won’t return for another few weeks is unlikely to please Postecoglou or the club’s fanbase.

Fortunately, the Bhoys will welcome Giorgis Giakoumakis back into the fray this weekend after a bout with illness but when you consider Celtic’s sluggish attack at presence, the return of Kyogo too will have been a welcome boost.

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The Glasgow giants have scored just twice in their last three matches and as they sit dead level on points with fierce rivals Rangers in the race to win the Premiership crown, Postecoglou will need all the firepower he can get.

That’s exactly why the continued absence of the Japan international will be a devastating blow and one that could come back to haunt them come the end of the campaign.

AND in other news, Sold for £990k, now worth 500% more: Lawwell call on 6ft4 “weapon” will haunt Celtic

ScorecardBermuda slumped to another heavy defeat, this time at the hands of UAE who recorded their first win in this season’s Intercontinental Cup series. Bermuda are now bottom of the table after four matches, with just six points.UAE resumed on 409 for 7 but were quickly dispatched by Bermuda’s bowlers who dismissed them for 449. This left Bermuda chasing 282 – a difficult, but not impossible target on a pitch (judging by the application UAE showed on the second and third days) was good for batting.They crumbled to 33 for 5 after Irfan Ahmed picked up three quick wickets and, this time, not even David Hemp could dig them out. Irvine Romaine cracked 32 from 45 and Malachi Jones offered 24 at a run-a-ball, but UAE’s bowlers shared around the wickets to dismiss them for a pitiful 143 inside 40 overs.For both sides, this match was a dead-rubber with just pride to play for. But nevertheless, it was a useful warm-up for UAE who travel to Namibia for the World Cricket League Division Two later this month. Bermuda, on the other hand, have a lot of soul searching to do.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Kenya	2	2	0	0	0	0	40
Netherlands	3	2	1	0	0	0	34
Ireland	2	1	0	0	1	0	29
Canada	4	1	3	0	0	0	26
Scotland	3	1	0	0	2	0	26
Namibia	1	1	0	0	0	0	20
U.A.E.	3	1	1	0	1	0	17
Bermuda	4	0	4	0	0	0	6

Kevin Pietersen: not only his bat did the talking © Getty Images

Strained friendship of the day
Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen didn’t look like bosom buddies after Warne threw the ball back to Adam Gilchrist and narrowly missed the batsman. Pietersen’s response was impossible to lip read incorrectly and included two short, sharp, one-syllable words. It wasn’t their only conversation.Lowlight of the Day
Andrew Strauss falling to his second poorly timed cross-bat shot of the game. As the vice-captain, he sent a poor message to his team-mates when he holed out off Stuart Clark in the first session.Injury of the day
Ricky Ponting’s back complaint got him out of fielding after he set England a modest 648 for victory.Shot of the Day
Paul Collingwood’s uppercut off Lee was special. The ball was short, fast and directed over the boundary in line with the first slip. A Gabba staff member took a smart catch.Ball of the Day
Warne’s second-up slider to Ian Bell, England’s mini-hero of the first innings. Just when it seemed he’d shaken off his bunny status, Warne nailed him with the straight one.Chant of the Day
“Give us our ball back!” demanded most of the eastern side of the stadium after a particularly heroic beach ball was finally captured by the fun police after evading questioning for a full 20 minutes. Sadly it was found guilty of trespass.Rumour of the Day
Started by the locals, perpetuated by , and clung on to by all England followers, there is apparently a severe thunderstorm ready to strike sometime tomorrow afternoon. Apparently.

Jacques Kallis hopes for a more active role in Melbourne © Getty Images

Justin Kemp, whose obdurate batting helped Jacques Rudolph to save the Perth Test, could miss the Boxing Day game with a niggling shoulder injury. Kemp had not trained for the past two days and was rated as a 50-50 chance despite intensive treatment from the medical staff. He faced a fitness test on Christmas day.Kemp waited 47 Tests for a recall, and his uncharacteristically dogged knock at the WACA included a titanic tussle with Shane Warne, who had quickly dubbed Kemp ‘Darryl’ and adopted him as his new bunny. If Kemp managed to prove his fitness, he was likely to face a two-prong legspin attack, with Stuart MacGill expected to link up with Warne at the MCG.Meanwhile Jacques Kallis, South Africa’s most respected batsman, was confident of recovering for the biggest date on the Australian cricket calendar. Both sides head into the Boxing Day Test predicting changes and the tourists are desperate for Kallis to play after he missed the drawn match in Perth.Kallis has batted in the nets in Melbourne this week and said his injured elbow would have to heal fully for him to be picked. “We’ll see how things go for the next few days but I’m pretty confident that I’ll be 100%,” Kallis said in . “I don’t know if it is an injury you can take in 90% because if you tear it again you’re out again.”After three weeks of being under pressure with poor warm-up results and injuries, the South Africans enter the match in a buoyant mood following the hard-fought draw in Perth on Tuesday. “The momentum seems to be with us and Australia is feeling the pressure,” Kallis said. “They should have knocked us over but we survived. It’s a huge turning stone for a lot of guys’ careers the way they played there.”The MCG drop-in wicket is expected to suit the fast bowlers but MacGill is determined and pleaded his case in the . “Personally, I would expect to play here, particularly seeing as we failed to bowl them out in Perth,” MacGill said. “Conditions may have conspired against the bowlers there but you always wonder whether it would have been the same if I were there.”Whilst it’s a slow transition, I think the public and cricket in general is starting to come around to the fact that you need to bowl your most potent wicket-taking team to win Test matches against sides that are prepared to stick around. Providing your team with wicket-taking opportunities is what I’m about.”MacGill is battling for a place with the left-arm swing of Nathan Bracken and Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, was pleased with his performance at the WACA, where he dismissed Graeme Smith twice. “Regardless of the surface here I’m confident and satisfied in making a claim for a position in this 11,” MacGill said. “I think I can provide Ricky Ponting with extra wicket-taking opportunities, even on a green-top.”

From saint to money-spinner: the newly named Sahara Oval© Getty Images

Once upon a time it was all about tradition, but these days cricket has become synonymous with crass sponsorship deals, from Australia’s Pura Milk Cup to the Pepsi-fuelled and LG-cooled Champions Trophy. But when it comes to rebranding their assets, it is the South Africans who really take the officially-recognised biscuit.Since the rejigging of South Africa’s domestic structure in 2003, no-one has suffered more than Cape Town’s cricket fans, who are now expected to rock up to “Sahara Park” in Newlands to chant for the snappily titled franchise team “Nashua Western Province Boland”. But Port Elizabethans haven’t escaped either, and since they last hosted a Test match in 2001-02, their ground has also undergone an implausible name change. The venerable St George’s Park is now an almost-sacrilegious “Sahara Oval”.Sahara (who vehemently deny being anything to do with the similar-soundingsponsors of the all-powerful Indian cricket team) complete a notable set by expecting Kingsmead in Durban to be known as Sahara Stadium, despite the fact that it is the least stadium-like of South Africa’s five Test venues, not to mention the least desert-like. Happily for those traditionalists present, however, the arrival of England’s fans and their plethora of flags meant that the St George and his cross were restored to their rightful position by the start of play.It is a bit of a mystery as to quite what Sahara do (they claim to be a computer company), although it’s not thought to involve alcohol. As of Monday, a new Eastern Province by-law comes into force which prevents the sale of alcoholic drinks after 8pm … shades of Prohibition. Port Elizabeth likes to be known as “The Friendly City”, although this is hardly a move to endear it to members of the Barmy Army – although at least the Sahara Oval will be living up to its name.Mind you, it was a pretty Saharan afternoon for England’s cricketers. Prior to the match, various local superstitions had been voiced about the direction of the wind and its effect on the pitch – if it’s an easterly sea breeze, said the sages, the ball will swing – but if it’s from the west, the pitch will dry out and the bat will dominate. For much of the afternoon session at St George’s (reclaimed) Park, the air was filled with the smoke from a large and noisome bushfire. Sure enough, it drifted across the ground on a westerly wind, and sure enough Jacques Rudolph cashed in on the arid conditions.To give PE its due, however, it has certainly offered a warm welcome to its English visitors, and not just in terms of the weather. The eve of the Test match, December 16, was Reconciliation Day, a public holiday of the post-Apartheid era, and a direct replacement for the old Afrikaner Day of the Covenant.Under its old title, December 16 had been a deeply divisive day of the year, for it served to commemorate the Voortrekkers’ victory over the Zulus at Blood River in 1838. But now, ten years on from South Africa’s first democratic elections, the focus of the holiday has been emphatically shifted. On Thursday the centre of Port Elizabeth was a ghost town, as the entire city forgave, forgot, and decamped to the beach for a party.Andrew Miller is assistant editor of Cricinfo. He will be following the England team throughout the Test series in South Africa.

Shane Bond seems unlikely to be fit in time for New Zealand’s Test series in India, after making a slow recovery from a stress fracture in his back. Bond, who picked up the injury in Sri Lanka in May, is New Zealand’s most potent strike bowler, and consequently his medical team have promised not to rush him back into action.Bond is currently at least a week away from being able to bowl in the nets, and thereafter he will be limited to light sessions of four overs at a time. That leaves him well short of the 15-20 overs he would be required to send down in a Test match. The first Test against India starts in Ahmedabad on October 8."Shane is making very good progress but it’s a long season and we won’t be pushing things," said NZ Cricket’s medical co-ordinator Warren Frost. “He is pain-free which is a very good sign, but he will need at least six weeks of build-up." A more realistic target for Bond would be the one-day triangular tournament involving Australia, starting on October 23.There was better news, however, concerning Nathan Astle. He underwent knee surgery back in April, but has started to bat again in the nets, and is almost ready to resume international cricket. “We’re just getting him [Astle] to feel confident on the knee but we’re reasonably confident he can be there for the India series," said Frost. “He’s pretty happy with how things are progressing.”

England’s assistant coach, Graham Dilley is expected to rejoin the squad in Hyderabad during the next 24 hours after an illness scare.Dilley, 42, was taken to a Mumbai hospital last night suffering from theeffects of the sun. The former England fast bowler did not travel to Hyderabad early this morning, but has since confirmed that he is feeling better.Dilley expects to rejoin the touring party tomorrow ahead of the next warm-up game against a Board President’s XI. He felt unwell during a coaching session with the five players omitted from the tour opener in Mumbai.