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Centuries from Kraigg Brathwaite and Anthony Alleyne gave West Indies Under-19s a 76-run first-innings lead in their three-day match against Australia Under-19s in Dubai. With only a day to play, a draw is the most likely result, especially since Australia knocked 54 runs off the lead at the end of the day, but West Indies gave themselves a chance by scoring at 4.43 runs an over while accumulating 426. Their captain Brathwaite played the anchor role, scoring 168 not out, and the rest of the team batted around him. Alleyene took just 136 balls for his 106, while Kavem Hodge got a run-a-ball 46. Australia's legspinner Marc Simonds took the most punishment as his two wickets cost him 144 runs. Seamers Jacob Judd and Corey McMahon took two wickets each. Brathwaite, who has made two first-class centuries, said that his aim was to "bat through the innings". Every time I get a chance to bat I see it as a golden opportunity. From the start I was looking to bat through the inning

Big picture After lacklustre starts to the tournament, both Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore have taken bold steps to try to improve their fortunes; for each of them, the moves worked in their last games. The newly-prepared green top at the Feroz Shah Kotla allowed Virender Sehwag and David Warner to play their strokes, as the ball came on to the bat, and the Delhi fast bowlers enjoyed the bounce they got from the track. For Bangalore, the shot in the arm came in the form of new signing Chris Gayle, whose century helped turn around a trend that had seen Bangalore not manage an opening stand of more than seven in their previous four matches. The switch from the traditional slow-and-low Kotla wicket to a livelier one makes sense for Delhi, since all their foreign players are either Australian or South African - and therefore used to bouncy tracks - while their most-expensive player, Irfan Pathan, is a seamer. Tuesday's match will be a test of whether the win against

James Taylor and Josh Cobb both hit half-centuries as Leicestershire Foxes picked up their first points in the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition with a comfortable 32-run victory against Scottish Saltires at Grace Road. An unbeaten 81 from Taylor and a limited-overs best of 61 by Cobb helped the Foxes post a challenging 253 for 4 after being put into bat. The loss of two early wickets put the Saltires on the back foot and, despite a battling 50 from Ewan Chalmers, they could manage only 221 for 9 and slipped to their second defeat in 24 hours. Cobb and Jacques du Toit gave the Foxes the ideal start with an opening stand of 88 in the first 14 overs, with the Saltires' bowlers failing to find the right line or length. Both players cashed in with some well-struck boundaries, with du Toit bringing up 50 with a four off Josh Davey in the ninth over. But the stand was broken when du Toit hit a full toss from Gordon Drummond to long-on. Cobb continued to bat well, reaching his maiden half-c

Netherlands claimed a second county victim in successive days as Derbyshire were beaten by 13 runs in Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A at Derby. Skipper Peter Borren followed his unbeaten 56 with bowling figures of 3 for 29, stifling the Falcons' late charge after a stand of 117 between fourth-wicket pair Wes Durston and Wayne Madsen threatened to deny the Dutch a repeat of their thrilling victory over Yorkshire at Headingley. A one-day best of 74 from Wesley Barresi earlier lifted the Netherlands to 204 for 6 as they doubled the number of wins they managed in the competition last season. The Dutch hit early trouble in their innings as Derbyshire's tactic of opening the bowling with left-arm spinner Chesney Hughes paid off when Eric Szwarczynski charged down the wicket and was bowled with only one run on the scoreboard in the second over. Tom Cooper was caught at mid-off trying to hit Steffan Jones over the top and when Michael Swart was caught behind off Mark Turner, the score was

Chris Gayle says he had written off IPL 2011 and was getting ready to resume international duties before being dropped from the West Indies team for the series against Pakistan. Gayle spoke to ESPNcricinfo on the eve of his second IPL game for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday. "It was to be international cricket for me. Had I been picked, that would have been what I would have done," Gayle said. "I didn't have any thoughts about IPL4. I had written off IPL4, rather I was looking forward to its next year. I should have been there (in the West Indies) playing with the national team, but I am here. It is unfortunate but that is how it is." Gayle said he had never expected to be in this part of the world at this time. The offer to play for Bangalore came "out of the blue at 3 am. After a party." Gayle's IPL arrival was emphatic, with an  unbeaten century that set up Bangalore's win against Kolkata Knight Riders after

A disciplined performance from Chennai Super Kings in the field saw them get their IPL campaign back on track as they comfortably defended 142 against the Pune Warriors. Chennai backed up their bowlers' efforts with superb commitment in the field as they made 142 look a lot more daunting than it was. Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger started the assault, peppering the Pune openers with short balls. Mohnish Mishra, who survived an appeal for caught behind off Morkel's third ball, was undone by the slowness of the pitch. He tried to steer the ball down to third man but inside edged it onto his stumps. Jesse Ryder was also battling to negotiate the extra bounce but ended up falling to R Ashwin whose arm ball disturbed the middle stump as the batsman backed away for the offbreak. Manish Pandey was dismissed in almost the exact fashion as Mishra was, trying to run a Morkel ball to third man and chopping it on. Pune's troubles worsened when Ashwin turned on the magic with a full b