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Suspicions and doubts about the priorities of Cricket Australia’s management have filtered steadily out of the Australian dressing room in the months since the appointment of Pat Howard as the team performance manager.A year ago the players readily questioned the priorities of CA and its desire to equip the team in the best possible way to win matches, to the point that management and selectors were banned from the dressing room during the ODI series against England. Now there is confidence that Howard and the coaches and selectors underneath him are committed to creating the best environment for success, and will not allow compromising decisions to be made.Causes for most anger in the ranks last summer included the 17-man squad named in advance of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, and the refusal to release Michael Hussey and Doug Bollinger from the Twenty20 Champions League to prepare for a Test series in India.Such decisions fell within the remit of Michael Brown, the former general manager of cricket operations. Brown has left CA to oversee preparations for football’s 2015 Asian Cup, having been shifted to one side by Howard’s appointment. Paul Marsh, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association, said the new structure had bred trust.”Under the new structure I’m reasonably confident that we won’t see another 17-man home Ashes squad announced just to keep the marketing people happy,” Marsh told ESPNcricinfo. “What the players want more than anything is a support structure that gives them the best possible chance to be successful. I don’t think the previous structure always allowed this but the new structure has an individual in Pat Howard who is accountable solely for team performance.”This has quickly created an environment where the players now feel that they have someone within CA senior management who is completely aligned to the goals of the team. The immediate impact of this is that players are starting to feel that the performance of the Australian cricket team is the high priority it should be for CA, whereas for the past few years this has rightly been questioned by the playing group.”Brown’s former role was unwieldy, covering an enormous amount of ground. It included the team, playing conditions, disciplinary measures, television rights and pay negotiations. He was seldom heard from by the players unless it was a call to inform them of their selection in the national team, or to notify them of a disciplinary breach.By contrast, Howard is a consistent presence around the team in his oversight role, sitting in on selection meetings and working closely with the head coach Mickey Arthur. His background as a former rugby international and coach has also given him a closer appreciation of high performance sport and its demands than Brown was able to call upon.Ultimately accountable for the performance of the team, Howard has said he is less an auditor than an agent of collaboration, between players, coaches, the national team and the states.”I don’t see myself as looking over their shoulder, I see myself as enabling that performance – we’ve all seen there’s a lot of talent there – and making sure that talent gets an opportunity is really important,” Howard said. “And I think most of the Australian public have seen, given a chance there are some guys who are really well and truly up to it or can grow into it.”That’s one of the great stories of the summer. Everyone, be they players or management, want the same thing, they want Australia to win, to perform, and they bring to the table lots of ideas about how we can improve. If we can bring that collaboration to the table then as a consequence we can only improve over the next couple of years.”The strong results seen so far against India have suggested that the team is benefiting from the change, and Hussey said there was an air of refreshment that had come from the knowledge that everyone was working towards the same goal.”Certainly winning breeds fun, but also there’s been so much change around the team, and I think for a while there everyone did get a bit insular, and it was a bit quieter, we were a bit more intense,” Hussey said. “But I think now the new coach has set in, the new selectors have stepped in, the communication’s been really good, everyone knows where they stand, they know what their roles are, and they know where they want to take the team in the future.”I think that gives everyone a lot of heart and a lot of confidence. And then you can really be yourself and really see the characters come through in the team.”

South Zone

Medium-pacer Ronit More grabbed a six-wicket haul on debut and helped Karnataka skittle Goa for 54 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Karnataka took just 12.3 overs to chase the total, meaning the match lasted just 33 overs. More, who had not played any first-class or List A game before the match, ran through the Goa line-up, and finished with 6 for 18 in 6.3 overs. Reagan Pinto was the only Goa batsman to reach double figures.L Balaji took a five-wicket haul before Dinesh Karthik and S Anirudha completed an easy win for Tamil Nadu over Andhra Pradesh at the Rajinder Singh Institute Ground in Bangalore. Balaji helped bowl Andhra out for 247, and then Karthik scored an unbeaten century as Tamil Nadu reached the target in just 39.5 overs. Balaji struck two early blows after putting Andhra in to bat. Prasanth Kumar guided the innings with his 73 off 87 balls, and Andhra were steady through the middle overs. Balaji came back to take late wickets and prevent a final onslaught; Andhra were bowled out in the 47th over. Tamil Nadu did not have much trouble chasing the target. Anirudha gave them a quick start with his 94 off 81 balls, and Karthik completed the job with his 103 not out off 83 balls.Hyderabad chased down 267 against Kerala, with two wickets to spare, at the Jain International Residential School Ground in Bangalore. Kerala, after choosing to bat, were propelled by a century from No. 3 Rohan Prem. Prem finished with 113 not out, and the rest of the line-up batted around him to put up a total of 266 for 6. T Suman and Ravi Teja got the chase off to a solid start with a 53-run stand, before four quick wickets put Kerala ahead. However, Akshath Reddy kept the innings going and, with wicketkeeper Ibrahim Khaleel, did enough to steer his side home. He made an unbeaten hundred, while Khaleel made 54, both at better than a run-a-ball, enabling Hyderabad to eventually reach their target with nine balls to spare.

North Zone

Delhi‘s medium-pacers shot Jammu and Kashmir out for 120 to give their side a 125-run win at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi had 245 to defend and Parvinder Awana had J & K* stuttering at 18 for 2 with two early wickets. A wicket from Ashish Nehra and two from Pradeep Sangwan made that 33 for 5. Rajat Bhatia got into the act, taking three wickets to complete the job. Only four J & K batsmen managed to get to double figures, with Hardeep Singh’s 40 the top score. Delhi’s total had been built on a solid performance from the top order. Unmukt Chand scored 46, Mohit Sharma got 36 and Mithun Manhas scored 41 to set a solid base. There was a stutter in the middle overs but Sangwan and Nehra got some late runs to lift the total to 245. It proved to be more than enough.Himachal Pradesh won a hard-fought match against Services by 18 runs at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi. Himachal chose to bat and were off to a rocky start, before Prashant Chopra, Paras Dogra and S Sriram, in combination, put on partnerships of 102 and 98 to take them to 291. Dogra was the top scorer with 114. Services’ chase was built around an unbeaten hundred from captain Yashpal Singh and they looked the firm favourites when he was involved in a 106-run stand with Sanjeev Mishra, scored at almost seven an over. However, three late wickets within the space of 11 balls pegged Services back and they fell just short.A rapid half-century from Amitoze Singh helped Punjab chase down 244 against Haryana at the Palam A Ground in Delhi. Haryana chose to bat and were carried to 243 for 6 on the back of a solid showing from their top order. Opener Nitin Saini and Sandeep Godara put on a century stand, before Sachin Rana scored a quick, unbeaten 59. Punjab’s chase had several contributors. Karan Goel and Gurkirat Ahluwalia made scores in the 40s, Mandeep Singh and Bipul Sharma hit smaller cameos and Amitoze provided the finishing touches with a boundary-studded 76: he hit seven fours and two sixes in his 56-ball knock, ensuring Punjab cantered home in the 47th over, with four wickets to spare.

East Zone

Tripura never recovered from medium-pacer Arup Das’ early blows and ended up losing to Assam by eight wickets at the Jadavpur University Complex in Kolkata. Tripura were put in, and Das took three wickets to have them struggling at 61 for 4. They ended up being bowled out for 180 and Assam chased the total in just 38 overs. Vinayak Samant’s 45 was the only significant score in Tripura’s innings, and they did not last the 50 overs. Dheeraj Jadhav top-scored in the chase with 75, while Pallavkumar Das also got a half-century.A Sourav Ganguly-led Bengal side put in an all-round performance to comprehensively beat Orissa at Eden Gardens. Bengal’s bowlers maintained a tight grip on Orissa through their innings, and bowled them out for 201. Bengal lost three early wickets in the chase but Wriddhiman Saha and Anustup Majumdar shared a 190-run fourth-wicket stand to take them home in the 35th over. Majumdar scored his third List A century, getting 100 off 93 balls. Left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena was the standout bowler for Bengal, taking three wickets and conceding just 20 runs in his 10 overs.

Central Zone

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and RP Singh ran through Railways’ line-up, helping Uttar Pradesh successfully defend 186 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur. UP chose to bat** and none of their batsmen other than Mohammad Kaif, wicketkeeper Amir Khan and Bhuvneshwar could really contribute much, resulting in them being bowled out for 186. Krishnakant Upadhyay was the most effective bowler for Railways, taking 4 for 39. Bhuvneshwar and RP Singh then proceeded to tear apart Railways’ top order, reducing them to 27 for 5, before a half-century stand between Faiz Fazal and Ashish Yadav got Railways briefly back in the match. But once the partnership was broken, UP continued to peg away at regular, short intervals to edge home, bowling Haryana out for 169 in 47.2 overs.A team performance helped Rajashtan beat Vidarbha by three wickets at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur. Rajasthan were asked to field and their bowlers responded, sharing the wickets around in tidy spells to restrict the hosts to 206. Only Urvesh Patel could make a contribution of note for Vidarbha: 72, the highest score in the match. Five of Rajashtan’s top six got into double figures in the chase, which was enough to make sure the moderate target was overhauled. Dishant Yagnik was Rajasthan’s top scorer, putting together a patient 51 to set up the chase, before being run out.*February 21, 18:24: This report originally said Delhi had Assam stuttering. It has been corrected**February 21, 18:24: This report originally said UP chose to bowl. It has been corrected

One innings has been enough to make Richard Levi an IPL target•Getty Images

A week ago Richard Levi would probably not have made this list. What a difference 20 overs makes. The international spotlight fell well and truly on Levi following his record-breaking 117 in the second Twenty20 against New Zealand in Hamilton. The IPL has already come calling too. Levi’s agent Arthur Turner told ESPNcricinfo that, “Franchises are interested in his services and offers have been made.” If his 45-ball hundred is any indication of his potential, Levi could well have an outsized impact on the tournament.Ryan ten Doeschate is the only player from an Associate country to have played in the IPL. Kevin O’Brien could well be the second. The Ireland allrounder’s majestic century against England in the 2011 World Cup will live long in the memories of those who had the privilege of watching it. He doesn’t have a particularly great record in Twenty20, averaging 18.58. But he has made a hundred and with a strike rate of 139.46 plus the ability to bowl medium-pace, he could be a useful addition.Jacob Oram might be injured, but when he is on the field, he is one of the better allrounders in T20 cricket. He will be available for the entire seven weeks of the tournament, and having played for Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in the past, knows how to operate in Indian conditions. In the 2011 World Cup, he took 12 wickets at an average of 18.41. His standout performance came in New Zealand’s upset victory over South Africa in the quarter-finals. In that game, he took 4 for 39 and pulled off a stunning catch to dismiss Jacques Kallis to earn the Man-of-the-Match award.No England players were bought in the 2012 player auction but Ravi Bopara could be worth a second look. Bopara has impressed in the one-day series against Pakistan, scoring two half-centuries in three games and averaging 54. He can also turn his arm over and though he won’t be available for the entire tournament, a month of Bopara could prove a worthwhile investment for Pune.Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been quietly going about his business in limited-overs cricket, and is currently ranked No. 2 by the ICC in ODIs. The left-arm fast bowler has never played in the IPL, and went unsold in the auction, but his career T20 numbers are impressive. He has taken 36 wickets from 35 games at an average of 21.80 and gives away only 6.46 runs an over. His numbers in T20 internationals are even better. In nine games, he has taken 10 wickets at an average of 19.50 and has an economy rate of 6.09. South Africa also have no conflicting international commitments, so Tsotsobe could well join his South Africa team-mate Wayne Parnell in Pune’s squad.Edited by Siddarth Ravindran

David Wainwright marked his debut with a career-best match-winning performance to take Derbyshire to a crushing 202-run victory over Northamptonshire at Derby.Wainwright, the former Yorkshire left-arm spinner, found turn and bounce on a fourth day Racecourse pitch to take 6 for 33 from an unbroken spell of 26 overs as the visitors were all out for 134 after Derbyshire had set them 337 to win from a minimum of 72 overs.Any chance they had of chasing down that target quickly vanished when they slipped to 41 for 3 and Wainwright put Derbyshire well on the road to victory when he struck twice in eight balls before tea. James Middlebrook and Chaminda Vaas dug in for 15 overs but Wainwright removed them both and the end came 35 minutes before the close when Wes Durston bowled Lee Daggett.Derbyshire had been in control of the contest at the start of the day with a lead of 235, and the opening pair took their stand to 224 before Martin Guptill skied a pull to deep square leg and was caught for 137 which included a six and 13 fours.The only disappointment for the home side was that Paul Borrington failed to reach a maiden Championship hundred when he fenced at Daggett and edged to slip two runs short of the mark, but his 272-ball innings had been a big factor in putting Derbyshire into a winning position.Dan Redfern and Durston added quick runs before the declaration came at 314 for 3 and the morning session ended with a big wicket when Northamptonshire opener Stephen Peters was lbw to Mark Footitt off the last ball before lunch. Kyle Coetzer was taken at the second attempt at third slip off Tony Palladino and the rest of the day belonged to Wainwright, who bowled with guile and accuracy to snare his victims.After David Sales perished going half forward, Rob Newton, who made 58, and Alex Wakely looked to be steering Northamptonshire towards calmer waters but they both fell either side of tea after surviving 20 overs.The only threat to Derbyshire were the dark clouds gathering over the ground but the rain held off and the floodlights meant the visitors could not rely on bad light to save them. Luck was also against them when Middlebrook’s firm drive hit Redfern at silly point and ricocheted to Footitt at backward point and David Willey became Wainwright’s sixth victim when he was lbw playing no shot.Durston had the last word when he beat Daggett’s forward lunge to spark off wild celebrations among the Derbyshire fielders, who had launched their season with the county’s second biggest win over Northamptonshire.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 71 put Royal Challengers on track in a big chase•Associated Press

Last year it was Chris Gayle for Royal Challengers Bangalore, this year it’s AB de Villiers. Another fiery, match-winning hand from him transformed the game in a matter of two overs, revived Royal Challengers’ campaign, left Deccan Chargers shell-shocked and entertained the home crowd. Chargers clearly had the upper hand when Tillakaratne Dilshan fell after a half-century, their relatively inexperienced bowling attack punching above its weight. But de Villiers brought them down to earth and reserved special treatment for his South Africa team-mate Dale Steyn in a game-changing 18th over.Dilshan’s 71 had put Royal Challengers on track in a big chase but his wicket, in the 16th over, was one of three in quick succession – a stutter that helped Chargers sneak ahead. But Mayank Agarwal showed plenty of fight, thrashing Veer Pratap Singh and Ashish Reddy, both medium-pacers, for sixes to keep his team in the hunt. De Villiers’ subsequent onslaught snatched the game away from Chargers.The visitors brought back Steyn in the 18th over, with 39 needed, and he erred by dropping short first up, to be dispatched for six over deep midwicket. A slower one was slogged past wide long-on, and an attempt at a yorker went awry as it served up as a full length ball that de Villiers hammered over extra cover for a flat six by making room. If brute power lay behind those shots, the icing was the scoop past short fine. Twenty-three came off that over. With 16 still needed off two overs, five balls was all it took to finish things off. Anand Rajan was thrashed over extra cover and down the ground, before being launched over the deep-midwicket boundary. J Syed Mohammad was given the strike to score the winning runs, and he didn’t waste the chance. It was the only ball he faced in a stand worth 42, off 11 balls.The platform for a successful chase was laid by Dilshan, who was by far the more dominant opening partner and made up for Chris Gayle’s subdued stay at the other end. He played a busy innings, cut the ball well, used the scoop, swept frequently and promptly dealt with long hops. He charged out to Veer Pratap to smash him for six over extra cover and a swept four off Reddy underlined his confidence. The stand grew more threatening for Chargers when Gayle began to open up, swinging Amit Mishra and Rajan for sixes, but his fall in the 11th over triggered a slide.Mishra flighted the ball generously and got what he planned for, thanks to Steyn’s expert catching in the deep that accounted for captain Virat Kohli and Asad Pathan. When Dilshan was bowled, 65 were needed off 28 and Chargers could be spared to think they were in the ascendancy. De Villiers had other ideas, and inflicted a brutal punishment that scarred them further in their disappointing campaign, not allowing them a moment of security in a rarely-reached position of control.That performance consigned Shikhar Dhawan’s third half-century this IPL, opener Daniel Harris’ impressive contribution at the top and Cameron White’s powerful cameo at the end of the innings – each playing an important role in taking Chargers to 181 – to a passing mention in Royal Challengers’ outstanding comeback.

ScorecardKent got off the mark in the Friends Life t20 with a convincing eight-wicket victory over Surrey at Beckenham. Led by Rob Key, who hit an unbeaten 51, and Darren Stevens, whose 43 not out came off just 25 balls and included four sixes, the hosts cantered home with 22 deliveries to spare after Surrey could only muster 116 for 7 in their 20 overs.Surrey, who won the toss and elected to bat, struggled to make any real impression against a skilful Kent attack. Had Gary Wilson, who hit an unbeaten 53 off 43 deliveries, not been dropped twice the visitors’ card would have been even more sorry looking.Jason Roy slapped the first ball of the match to extra cover where Key took the catch, and three overs later, Rory Hamilton-Brown departed for 7 as Surrey found themselves 25 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.In the eighth over, Steven Davies cleared the fine leg boundary with a flick off Stevens for six but with Tom Maynard lofting Adam Ball’s first delivery to Matt Coles, who took a good catch running in from long-on, the visitors were 46 for 3 at the halfway mark.Davies departed in the 11th over, beaten by Sam Billing’s throw to the non-striker’s end from deep midwicket. When Matthew Spriegel, backing away to cut, went caught behind, Wilson was joined in the middle by Zafar Ansari with Surrey in some trouble at 62 for 5.However, the visitors were given hope by a stirring sixth-wicket rearguard, which produced 51 in 38 deliveries. Wilson, on 17, had a let-off when he was dropped at long-off from the bowling of Ball and just after reaching his half-century he was put down again, this time at deep midwicket, though not before Ansari had holed out to deep fine leg for 15.In reply, Kent were handed an excellent start by Billings and Key, who combined for 40 in six overs for the first wicket. Billings, shuffling across his stumps to Jade Dernbach, departed lbw for 18 and Azhar Mahmood was then stumped off Ansari but Key and Stevens put the result beyond doubt with an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 69 in eight overs.Stevens swept Ansari for a six and deposited Murali Kartik over long-on for another before completing victory with a straight maximum off Ansari.

ScorecardA five-wicket haul from Brian Vitori, followed by a half-century from Tino Mawoyo, helped Zimbabwe A consign Sri Lanka A to their second-straight defeat in as many games in the tri-series in Harare.Zimbabwe chose to bowl, and Vitori justified the decision right away, removing Kushal Perera for 2. In the 11th over, he claimed two in two balls, and Sri Lanka – who were already scoring at a far from threatening rate – hardly recovered. Vitori picked up the following two wickets as well, to complete a five-for. The other Zimbabwe bowlers all shared the wickets around, as Sri Lanka were bowled out in 45 overs for 160. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the only batsman to make much of a difference for the visitors, with 57 from 67 balls.In the chase, Zimbabwe were in a bit of trouble after losing Chamu Chibhabha and Sikandar Raza cheaply, but a 94-run stand between Mawoyo and Stuart Matsikenyeri put them back on course. Though they had the game firmly in their grip, a mini-collapse, in which they lost 3 for 22, meant they couldn’t finish the game in 40 overs to claim a bonus point. The five-wicket win was achieved in 40.3 overs.Zimbabwe play South Africa at the same venue on Sunday.