Vitori, Sibanda set up Zimbabwe win

HARARE: Brian Vitori became the first Zimbabwean to take five wickets on his one-day international debut and Vusi Sibanda made a cultured 96 as the home side beat Bangladesh by four wickets in the first of five ODIs at Harare Sports Club on Friday.

The 21-year-old Vitori took five for 30 as Bangladesh were restricted to 184 all out, the captain Shakib Al Hassan and Mushfiqur Rahim both scoring half-centuries in the only partnership of any merit.

Sibanda then led the way with the bat for Zimbabwe, striking 96 from 102 balls and sharing a second wicket stand of 86 with Hamilton Mazakadza (41) as the home side reached their target with 8.2 overs to spare.

“It was great to have a youngster performing really well and two old hands showing what quality players they still are,” said Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor who had no hestitation in asking Bangladesh to bat first when he won the toss.

The tourists made just six in the first five overs before left-arm quick Vitori left a trail of wreckage at the top of the order, snatching four wickets for 21 in a spell of eight overs as he removed Tamim Iqbal for four, Imrul Kayes (11), Shahriar Nafeez (14) and Mohammad Ashraful (2).

At that point Bangladesh were reeling at 33 for four and things got even worse when Mahmudullah was dismissed by Elton Chigumbura for five with the score 43 for five in the 17th over.

Shakib and Rahim then began the fightback, both batting sensibly and securely as they added 105 in 23 overs.

The stand ended, though, when Shakib, who made 53 off 63 balls with just two boundaries, was superbly caught by Prosper Utseya off Mazakadza.

Rahim lasted another four overs, making 59 off 93 balls with five fours, before falling to Utseya, the 100th wicket of his ODI career.

Ray Price and Vitori made short work of the tail with the innings folding eight balls early when Rubel Hossain was run out. Sohrawardi Shuvo, brought into the team in place of Robiul Islam, was left unbeaten on 20.

“We surrendered wickets too easily but when I have taken the time to settle down with them I expect rapid improvement,” said Bangladesh coach Stuart Law.

“They are a quality 50-overs side and that will come through.”

Zimbabwe lost Taylor in the fifth over, bowled for 10 by left-arm spinner Shakib.

Any thoughts Bangladesh may have had, however, of slicing through the Zimbabwe top order were thwarted by an intelligent partnership between the experienced pair Sibanda and Mazakadza, who added 86 in 18 overs.

The partnership ended when Mazakadza was run out by Mahmudullah for 41 from 58 balls. That was the start of a mid-innings wobble which also saw Tatendu Taibu and Craig Ervine both removed by Rubel Hussain for ducks – Ervine first ball.

At 124 for four, there was a danger that the innings might stumble to a halt by Sibanda found another good partner in Forster Mutizwa.

They were 10 runs from victory when Sibanda, closing in on a second ODI century, was caught off the splice by Mahmudullah off Hossain for 96. It was his 14th half-century and included two sixes and eight fours.

Hossain also removed Chigumbura to finish with four for 26 but Mutizwa’s unbeaten 27 was enough to drag Zimbabwe across the line with 8.4 overs remaining.

It marked a second success for Zimbabwe this week, having won the one-off Test between the two sides by 130 runs on Monday after a six-year self-imposed exile from the five-day game.

“We will surely keep on improving after beating Bangladesh twice this week,” said Taylor. “But we know they will come back at us strongly.”

The second ODI takes place in Harare on Sunday.

Cook helps England pile misery on India

BIRMINGHAM: Alastair Cook’s career-high score of 294 left England on the verge of claiming the No. 1 test ranking and a demoralized India facing a heavy defeat in the third test at Edgbaston.

Cook fell just short of a rare triple century, but he helped England pile on 710-7 before James Anderson’s dismissal of Virender Sehwag for a king pair meant India finished day three on 35-1, still trailing by 451 runs.

The four-match series between England and India was billed as a clash between the world’s two leading test teams, but by Friday had turned into a complete mismatch as the hosts posted their third highest test total.

England already leads the series 2-0 and only needs to avoid defeat in the final two tests to replace India as the world’s No. 1 test team.

The only disappointment of the day from the home side’s point of view was Cook’s failure to join a list of five England players to have scored triple centuries.

After 13 hours and 545 balls, he drove straight to Suresh Raina at square leg off the bowling of Ishant Sharma.

”It’s mad isn’t it, how you can still be disappointed when you’ve scored 290-odd,” Cook said. ”I suppose only cricket can do that to you, there’s a tinge of disappointment, but in reality I’m thrilled.”

It was a typically steady innings from Cook, who at one point faced 137 balls without scoring a boundary.

Cook and Eoin Morgan (104) put on 222 for the fourth wicket, while Tim Bresnan hit an unbeaten 53. Amit Mishra took 3-150 for India, but the tourists again contributed to their downfall by bowling 63 extras.

After Sehwag was out first ball for the second time in the match, Rahul Dravid reached 18 not out and Gautam Gambhir was unbeaten on 14 at stumps.

”We’ve put ourselves in a very good position in this game,” Cook said. ”There’s a lot of hard work to do tomorrow, but if we’re patient like we have been and bowl like we can do we can put India under a lot of pressure.”

Despite England’s dominance, Mishra struck a note of defiance. ”I’m very confident and positive that our batting line up will definitely get a draw here,” he said. ”The wicket is conducive to batting.”

England began the day on 456-2 and Morgan reached his half-century with a single from Praveen Kumar before rain caused a brief delay.

The hosts were on 503-3 when an early lunch was called due to further rain and scoring was slow when play resumed before the afternoon session briefly degenerated into a farce after an hour.

An electrical failure had cut the power in the 32 million pound ($52 million) New Stand at lunch, but when this was restored the floodlights then failed.

That led to the umpires taking the teams off when the natural light faded on the contentious grounds that Sharma, who was about to bowl, represented a danger to the batsmen.

When the players returned after a short delay, neither batsman had any trouble picking up the ball.

Cook passed his previous highest score of 235 with three off Mishra, while Morgan completed his second test century with a single through square leg from Mishra.

Morgan finally fell to Raina, caught by Sehwag at cover. Ravi Bopara, who replaced the injured Jonathan Trott in the team, managed to take England past 600 before he was out lbw for seven and Matt Prior was caught by Sachin Tendulkar on five —both wickets off the bowling of Mishra.

Bresnan then joined Cook but their progress was again held up by an 11-minute delay for bad light. Bresnan made a mockery of the decision to go off when he hit the first ball after the resumption for four through the covers.

Bresnan hit the same bowler for six an over later and England finally declared when Cook fell.

Gambhir hit the first ball of India’s innings for three, but Anderson’s next delivery to Sehwag was edged to Strauss.

Gambhir was lucky to survive an lbw shout against Graeme Swann in the 11th over and even part-time spinner Kevin Pietersen —brought on with the light fading —got the ball to turn impressively before stumps.

Wasim Akram should get his facts right before making statements: Mohsin

LAHORE: Chief selector Mohsin Hasan Khan on Tuesday said that former captain Wasim Akram had no business to make half-baked statements about matters like national team selection, and advised him to spare some time to know more about the policies of the selectors instead of criticising them without much sense and knowledge.


Replying to Wasim’s recent criticism of the selectors’ decision to rest Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, Mohsin said: “I was surprised and disappointed over Wasim’s criticism of the selectors over resting some players.


I know that Wasim is very busy with his commitments abroad, but it is very unfair that he comes back to the country after three or four months and without knowing the facts, give statements about the team, about the players and the policy, which can be very damaging.”


“A player of his calibre should realise that such statements can spoil the team spirit and create misunderstanding between the players and the management,” said Mohsin while talking to Dawn on Tuesday.


Mohsin, obviously miffed at Wasim’s comments about the need of consistency in the matters of selection, added: “As far as Wasim’s comments on the consistency in selection are concerned, let me tell him that selection committee knows its job much better than what he thinks.”


“I treat Wasim like my younger brother and undoubtedly he is one of the finest cricketers Pakistan has produced, but if he is so much concerned for Pakistan cricket, then he should be serving our cricket rather than other countries in different capacities,” said Mohsin, a veteran of 48 Tests and 75 ODIs.


“I know he has been approached by the PCB in the past to come and serve Pakistan cricket, but he could not spare time for this national cause,” he recalled.


“I think Wasim does not understand that we have adopted a certain policy to form a solid combination of senior and younger players for the future and this tour of Zimbabwe is the best opportunity for us to try out this combination.”


The chief selector pointed out that Wasim was quite off the mark when insisting on the inclusion of Umar Gul and Wahab and said that the two pacers along with left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman had been involved in all forms of cricket since last one-and-a-half years and, therefore, it was the appropriate time to give them some rest.


“This is an ideal series to rest them and test some budding youngsters since there will be much tougher assignments against Sri Lanka and England ahead and the selectors feel that they will not have any better chance to groom the back up players than against Zimbabwe,” reasoned Mohsin, known as the Lord’s hero for his dazzling double hundred in the 1982 series.


“In order to build a nice, balanced combination with a back up for the future, we are trying to utilise this tour of Zimbabwe because after this tour there are two very tough series ahead,” he said.


“I have no fear or reservations in trying out any young or talented player because I have full support of the PCB on this policy,” emphasised Mohsin.


“I am trying my level best to serve Pakistan cricket because Allah has given me a lot of honour and respect by playing for Pakistan,” said the former opener.


“I played my cricket for Pakistan with courage and honour and strongly believe that for every big achievement, you have to be brave enough to take a calculated risk,” said Mohsin.


When reminded that both Umar and Wahab were still playing county cricket and not exactly taking rest, Mohsin said that the PCB had instructed them not to play the longer version in the county championship and, secondly, there was a huge difference between the demands of county and international cricket.


Mohsin insisted that as chief selector he was constantly in touch with his cricketers, both at home and abroad, and he and his entire selection committee knew it fully well where and when the players could play or rest.

India block Pakistan-born Usman Khawaja’s visa

SYDNEY: Pakistan-born Australian batsman Usman Khawaja on Tuesday said he was being refused a visa into India for next month’s Champions League Twenty20 tournament because of his country of birth.

Khawaja vented his anger on social media site Twitter, saying India’s visa department “need to sort their issues out”.

“Refusing to let me travel to India as an Australian, because I wasn’t born here. Wow,” wrote the 24-year-old.

In an exchange with his Portuguese-born New South Wales team-mate Moises Henriques, Khawaja said it “wasn’t that I wasn’t born here but where I was, brother”.

Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed that Khawaja’s visa had been held up by officials at the Indian High Commission (embassy) but said they were confident of resolving the issue before the tournament.

“There has been a stoppage in the system at the Indian High Commission in Australia with Usman’s application,” CA spokesman Philip Pope told AFP.

“Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia are seeking to understand the detail behind the stoppage with our colleagues at the Indian High Commission.”

Pope said the cricketing body had a long-standing relationship with the Indian mission and “we generally find that we resolve our issues mutually, so we’ll work through this once we’ve understood the detail”.

“I can’t give you a timeline of when it will be resolved, but I’m confident given our history and our relationship that we will resolve this as soon as possible,” he said.

Khawaja, the first Muslim to wear the baggy green for Australia and also a qualified pilot, is on the 20-man long list for the NSW Twenty20 side, of which 15 will ultimately be sent.

The promising young left-hander made his Test debut for Australia in the fifth match of the Ashes series in Sydney in January, signing with Derbyshire later that month for the English domestic season.

Malik, Kamran miss out on Pakistan contracts

LAHORE: Pakistan on Monday dropped under-scrutiny former captain Shoaib Malik, wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria from the list of players awarded contracts.

The six-month contracts for 23 players from June to December this year, were not accompanied by pay rises.

Malik, 28, Kamran, 29 and Kaneria, 30 were not considered for central contracts because they have not been cleared of match fixing, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) director Intikhab Alam told a press conference.

“As long as Malik and Kaneria are not cleared by the PCB integrity committee, a meeting of which is scheduled for August 15, they will not be considered for the contracts,” said Alam.

Malik and Kaneria have been summoned to appear before the committee. Alam said Kamran’s fitness and performance were below par. He was in ‘A’ category in the last contracts.

Veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf, dropped from the 2011 World Cup squad for poor form, also lost out on a central contract this year.

All-rounder Shahid Afridi was also missing from the list after announcing his retirement from international cricket to protest against being dumped as one-day captain two months ago.

Alam said players were placed in three categories based on their seniority, fitness, discipline and performance.

Captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Adur Rehman were placed in the ‘A’ category and will receive a monthly salary of 250,000 rupees ($2,900).

Hafeez, Ajmal and Rehman had been ranked in the ‘B’ category for contracts awarded from Januray to June 2011.

Abdul Razzaq, Imran Farhat, Sohail Tanveer, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Wahab Riaz and Taufiq Umar were in the latest ‘B’ category and will receive 175,000 rupees ($2,024) a month.

Paceman Junaid Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Hammad Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Adnan Akmal, Yasir Shah, Rameez Raja and Sharjeel Khan were given ‘C’ category status and salaries of 100,000 rupees (1,156 dollars).

Wasim ‘puzzled’ by Pakistan selection

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said on Monday he was surprised over the decision to exclude pacemen Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul from the forthcoming Zimbabwe tour, saying it would hamper their progress.

Riaz and Gul were surprisingly rested while Tanveer Ahmed dropped for the tour which includes one Test, three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches, starting later this month.

The 15-man tour party includes four inexperienced pacemen in Sohail Tanveer, Sohail Khan, Aizaz Cheema and Junaid Khan – a strategy Wasim fears may backfire on Pakistan.

“I don’t mind taking Zimbabwe lightly and giving chances to youngsters but it is surprising that you rest Riaz who has just started his career a year ago and is progressing. He doesn’t need rest,” Wasim told AFP.

Gul, Wasim said, would have found his lost form in Zimbabwe.

“I have seen that out-of-form paceman get back to form by playing easier teams, but here we have rested the two main pacemen and they were allowed to play county cricket, instead of doing the national duty,” said Wasim.

Riaz represented Kent while Gul played for Sussex in the Twenty20 league in England.

Wasim described Riaz as Pakistan’s future.

“The idea to groom a young paceman is to give him more and more opportunities and not to rest him,” said Wasim, who took 414 Test and 502 one-day wickets during his illustrious career.

“Riaz needs opportunities and it’s not wise for him to rest at this stage.”

Wasim said teams like India and Australia who played continuously could rest key players.

“If we see India giving rest to their key players, it’s understandable because they play too much cricket throughout the year but Pakistan rarely plays Tests and here we are without our rising paceman,” said Wasim.

The 26-year-old Riaz, a left-armer like Wasim, has so far played seven Tests since making his debut on last year’s tour of England. He has also played 22 one-day internationals.

Wasim praised Cheema’s selection.

“Cheema has been leading wicket-taker in Pakistan’s domestic season, so he deserved a chance but there should be more consistency in selection,” said Wasim.

Injured Khan’s England tour comes to an end

LONDON: India paceman Zaheer Khan has been ruled out of the remainder of his side’s tour of England after being told he requires ankle surgery, it was reported Sunday.

Zaheer, who is also suffering from a hamstring strain, is expected to undergo surgery that could keep him out until November.

A statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India read: “Zaheer Khan is suffering from a recurrent right hamstring strain and a right ankle impingement.

“He will require a surgery for his ankle, followed by intensive rehabilitation for both the ankle and hamstring. He will need at least 14-16 weeks to recover completely.

“He will therefore not be able to participate in the ongoing Test series and subsequent T20 International and ODI series against England.”

The 32-year-old Zaheer, a crucial part of the Indian Test team which is 2-0 down in the four-match series against England, picked up the injury in the first game at Lord’s and missed the second in Trent Bridge.

He was able to bowl just three overs against Northamptonshire before leaving the field for treatment Saturday, prompting India team manager Anirudh Chaudhry to place doubt on his availability for the third Test at Edgbaston, starting on Wednesday.

India have called up fellow left-armer RP Singh for the remainder of the tour.

The 25-year-old Singh last played a Test match in April 2008 and an ODI in September 2009.

Dilshan hits ton in Sri Lanka victory

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan hammered a maiden Twenty20 century to set up Sri Lanka’s 35-run victory over Australia in the opening match on Saturday.

The captain made a 57-ball 104 not out, smashing five sixes and 12 fours in a superb display of hard and clean hitting to help his team post a challenging 198-3 in the day-night match at the Pallekele International Stadium.

Australia were restricted to 163-8, with opener David Warner top-scoring with a 31-ball 53 with the help of two sixes and six fours.

Sri Lanka virtually wrapped up the match when they reduced Australia to 63-4 in the opening nine overs, with debutant off-spinner Dilruwan Perera doing the maximum damage with three wickets.

Dilshan needed 16 runs to complete his hundred in the last over bowled by paceman Mitchell Johnson, but struck two sixes and as many fours. His second fifty came off just 16 deliveries.

The Sri Lankan captain and Jeevan Mendis (29 not out off 19 balls) plundered 104 runs in the last 7.3 overs to help their team set a stiff target.

“I am really satisfied. Earlier on I batted a bit slowly but then played big shots later. It was a good toss to lose,” said Dilshan, who was named man of the match for his brilliant knock.

“Perera did a great job. Mendis came and took a few risks and when runs are coming from both ends, it is very difficult for the bowling side.”

Dilshan, who also added 52 for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (30), went for big shots after 15 overs, hitting four boundaries in an over from seamer John Hastings and then two sixes and as many fours off Shane Watson.

“Full credit to Sri Lanka and Dilshan. We were in the game for 13-14 overs, but Dilshan took the game away from us,” said Australia captain Cameron White.

Sangakkara was batting confidently before driving Watson straight to White at mid-wicket. He hit four boundaries in his 22-ball knock.

Fast bowlers Brett Lee, Johnson and Watson each took one wicket. The second and final Twenty20 game will be played at the same venue on Monday. Australia will also play five one-day internationals and three Tests on their tour.

Trott out of England squad for India Test

LONDON: Batsman Jonathan Trott has been left out of the England squad for the third Test against India after failing to recover from a shoulder injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Saturday.

Trott, who was therefore omitted from the 13-man squad, will be replaced by Ravi Bopara, rather than the uncapped James Taylor, who had been touted as a possible replacement for a match that starts at Birmingham’s Edgbaston ground on Wednesday after impressing for the second string England Lions this season.

England have also named Steven Finn as fast-bowling cover for Chris Tremlett, who is expected to be fit after suffering from hamstring trouble and back spasms.

Trott sustained the injury diving in the field during England’s 319-run victory over India in the second Test at Nottingham that left the hosts 2-0 up in the four-match series.

Should England win again at Edgbaston they will replace India at the top of the ICC’s Test Championship table.

England national selector Geoff Miller, after announcing the squad, said:

“Ravi Bopara comes in for Jonathan Trott, who is continuing his rehabilitation from his shoulder injury.

“Chris Tremlett is recovering well from the back spasms that ruled him out of the second Test – and although we are expecting him to be fully fit ahead of Wednesday, we felt it was prudent to include an extra seam bowler at this stage.

“That means Steven Finn comes into the squad.”

Bopara has played 10 Tests for England but none since August 2009.

Former England off-spinner Miller added: “We have seen some very pleasing performances during the first two npower Test matches.

“But there is still plenty more to do in this series, and the squad and management will be determined to carry the momentum from recent weeks through to the remaining two Tests and push for a comprehensive series victory.”

England squad:

Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Ravi Bopara, Steven Finn.

India’s Dravid makes surprise ODI comeback

NEW DELHI: Rahul Dravid on Saturday was recalled to the Indian squad for next month’s one-day series against England, while injured Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh were left out.

Middle-order batsman Dravid played his last one-dayer in September 2009, but got the selectors’ nod following his impressive performances in the ongoing four-Test series in England.

The 38-year-old, who has scored 10,765 runs in 339 one-day internationals with 12 centuries, is the most successful Indian batsman on the tour with two hundreds in the opening two Tests.

India will play a one-off Twenty20 match against England at Old Trafford on August 31 before the five-match one-day series starts at Chester-le-Street on September 3.

Off-spinner Harbhajan (abdominal strain) and all-rounder Yuvraj (finger injury) were not part of the limited-overs squad, to be led by World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The duo have already been ruled out of the remaining two Tests of the four-match series due to injuries, suffered during the second Test at Trent Bridge.

The Indian cricket board on Wednesday said in a statement that Yuvraj’s injury could take around four weeks to mend, while Harbhajan was likely to recover in three weeks’ time.

They were replaced by left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and middle-order batsman Virat Kohli. India currently trail 2-0 in the Test series.

Middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, paceman Vinay Kumar and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who are not part of the Test squad, returned for one-dayers.

India twenty20 and one-day squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Parthiv Patel.

I was reduced to zero after World Cup heroics: Afridi

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has once again launched a stinging attack at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the management of the national team.

Speaking to the media at the launch of his new business venture ‘Fashion Valley’ the seasoned all-rounder stated that he was reduced to a ‘zero’ only a few days after being hailed as a national hero following the spirited performance of the team in the World Cup.

Afridi, who announced his retirement from international cricket in controversial circumstances after his abrupt removal from captaincy by the PCB at the end of the West Indies tour, was replaced at the helm by Misbah-ul-Haq for the ODI series against Ireland. Besides that, Afridi was also fined Rs4.5 million by the Board’s disciplinary committee which had earlier canceled his NOC for participation in the English T20 competition where he was to represent Hampshire.

The flamboyant big-hitter on Monday expressed dismay at PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt’s attitude during the entire retirement controversy and said it was unbecoming of a chairman and had caused him great distress.

Afridi reiterated his stance of not playing under the present regime of the cricket board. “I cannot play with people who conspired against me and worked against the team, they have their personal interests paramount to them and they are only damaging the team.”

He added that he had his heart in representing his country and did not want to let down millions of fans who reposed their confidence in him time and again.

“I have always maintained that playing for Pakistan is my priority, I would always prefer representing my country over any offer from anywhere in the world,” said an emotionally charged Afridi.

He thanked his fans and said that he had earned the respect of the nation due to his forthright attitude and passion for the game.

Afridi, who captained the team to ODI series win over the West Indies, dispelled the notion that his behaviour had cost the team the last two matches of the series.

“I did not take part in the selection meeting on the eve of the last two matches. The team was selected by coach Waqar Younis and Intikhab Alam and I had no input in the selection of the playing eleven.”

Afridi insisted that the national selection committee needed to be consistent in its policies of inducting new players in the team but should refrain from over-experimenting. “A pool of players need to be groomed for the years to come to raise a solid playing XI for Pakistan,” he said.

‘Naive’ Bell’s ton puts England on top

NOTTINGHAM: England century-maker Ian Bell admitted he had been “naive” after a bizarre mix-up still ended with him leading his side into a commanding position against India in the second Test.

England, in their second innings, were 441 for six at the close of the third day at Trent Bridge on Sunday, giving them a lead of 374 runs.

Bell made a superb 159, but only after being run out when on 137 off the last ball before tea.

Having completed three runs with Eoin Morgan following a misfield by Praveen Kumar, he sprinted off the field believing the ball had gone for four and was consequently ‘dead’.

In fact it was still ‘live and, after calling in the third umpire, the on-field officials gave a stunned Bell out.

England coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss went to the visitors’ dressing room at tea to ask India, whose coach is ex-England supremo Duncan Fletcher, if they wanted the appeal to stand.

And minutes later India withdrew their appeal.

Umpires Marais Erasmus of South Africa and Pakistan’s Asad Rauf emerged after tea to boos from spectators, unaware the decision had been reversed, as did India before the jeers became cheers when Bell resumed his innings.

Although Bell made only 22 more runs following the reversal of a decision which was quite correct, he added an additional 69 with Morgan in what turned out to be a fourth wicket partnership of 104.

Bell’s eventual 159 included 24 fours and was made in nearly five-and-a-half hours at the crease.

He was finally out when his cut off part-time left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh was caught by Venkatsai Laxman at slip.

“I was a bit naive to automatically walk off and assume the ball had gone for four,” Bell admitted after stumps. “I think the right thing’s happened for the spirit of the game.

He added: “Morgan hit it off his legs and we thought it was probably four, with the way the fielder reacted after he got up.

“I put my bat down after the third and it looked like we were just meandering off for tea.

“I had to wait and the decision was made, (then) the captains and coaches met to see if the decision was going to stand or if they wanted to change it.

“I was in the back room trying to figure out what had happened and whether I was going back into the middle. The umpires had walked out, there were a few of us with pads on and the message got passed on to me.”

India star Rahul Dravid said skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had led a team decision to withdraw the appeal.

“Under the rules he was out, but there was not a nice feeling in the dressing room,” said Dravid.

“We knew it was not in the spirit of the game. There was unanimity that we should reinstate Ian. The team was led beautifully by Dhoni.”

Left-hander Morgan went to a 60-ball fifty, featuring seven fours, with a straight six against off-spinner Harbhajan Singh before he was one of two wickets that fell to Praveen Kumar with the new ball.

However, wicketkeeper Matt Prior again proved a thorn in India’s side with the bat, hooking fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth for six on his way to an unbeaten 64.

He received excellent support from Tim Bresnan, 47 not out, in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 102.

Bell, 84 not out at lunch and scoring briskly, went to 98 with a fluent cover-driven four off Kumar.

Then a leg-glanced two off Sreesanth saw the 29-year-old Bell to his 15th hundred in 67 Tests and fourth this year.

England scored 417 runs in the day after resuming on 24 for one, still 43 behind despite Stuart Broad taking a hat-trick on Saturday on his way to Test-best figures of six for 46 on his Nottinghamshire home ground.

India’s first innings of 288 also saw Dravid make 117 — his 34th Test century and second in as many matches after his 103 not out during England’s 196-run first Test win at Lord’s.

England will replace India at the top of the ICC’s Test Championship table if they win this four-match series 2-0 or better.