Close South Africa 301 for 8 (Gibbs 153) beat Bangladesh 133 (Kallis 4-33, Ntini 3-20) by 168 runs
ScorecardA record-equalling third consecutive one-day international century from Herschelle Gibbs was the highlight as South Africa crushed Bangladesh in predictable style at Potchefstroom.Gibbs breezed to a career-best 153 off only 131 balls as South Africa reached 301 for 8. In reply Bangladesh laboured to 133 – although that represented a decent recovery from 43 for 6 – with Makhaya Ntini slicing through the top order to end with 3 for 20 and Jacques Kallis cleaning up the tail to take 4 for 33. As expected, there wasn’t even the hint of a contest.The dismissal of Al Sahariar, Bangladesh’s No. 3, summed up the gaping chasm between the sides. Ntini dropped one in short, and Sahariar turned his back on the ball while leaving his bat hanging vertically. It skewed off the side of the bat, and Kallis, running back from slip, took a stunning one-handed catch at the full extent of his dive.That left Bangladesh 10 for 2 in the sixth over, and things didn’t get any better. Tushar Imran carved Ntini straight to backward point, and Javed Omar was run out by a brilliant piece of work from Justin Ontong.At that point Bangladesh were 12 for 4 and looking at serious humiliation, even by their standards. But Alok Kapali hit three fours in a brisk 25, Khaled Mahmud flogged 24 off 18 balls, and their captain Khaled Mashud (34 not out) and Tapash Baisya (24) took them to something approaching respectability with a meticulous partnership of 60, a Bangladesh record for the eighth wicket, before Kallis finished things off with three wickets in an over.South Africa’s innings was dominated from the start by Gibbs. Given the paucity of the opposition, his was an inevitable century, but peas aren’t always shelled this gracefully.He added 63 for the first wicket with Graeme Smith (28), 107 in 17 overs for the third with Kallis (47), and 81 for the fourth with Boeta Dippenaar (41). In a match where nobody else reached 50, Gibbs’s innings was totally decisive – although in the final analysis, he could have made 0 and South Africa would still have won. Exhaustion forced him to retire hurt against India in the Champions Trophy; potential boredom was his only nemesis this time.His third consecutive century matched a feat previously achieved by the Pakistan pair of Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar. The fact that two of the three hundreds were against Kenya and Bangladesh might dilute the feat a touch, but Gibbs will not care for that.The middle order fell away after Gibbs flicked one down deep square-leg’s throat, with only 19 runs coming off the last four overs for the loss of four wickets. It was a spluttering finish – but South Africa’s fast start was more than enough for them to win this match.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Matthew Hayden took another giant stride on the road to batting redemption, and Adam Gilchrist produced another thrill-a-minute innings in a crisis situation as Australia put to bed ill-informed opinions about their cricket going into tailspin in the wake of the Ashes debacle last month. Hayden rode his luck to script a memorable 22nd Test century, and Gilchrist chiselled out a classy unbeaten 94 as Australia ended the first day of the Super Test at 331 for 6. The World XI rode on the skill of Muttiah Muralitharan – playing his first Test at the SCG in his 14th season of international cricket – to stay in touch, but even he had to cede the day’s honours to two men who raged against light that had supposedly lost its incandescence in England.Hayden and Gilchrist added 96 in even time either side of tea, and utterly transformed an innings that had been in the balance when Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori engineered a slump from 154 for 2 to 163 for 4. Michael Clarke became the first Test batsmen to be given out caught at bat-pad after a referral to the third umpire, and when Simon Katich was run out by a combination of Graeme Smith’s alertness at mid-on and a collision with Murali, Australia were tottering.But as has happened so often in Australian cricket’s recent past, the onset of a crisis was merely the signal for Gilchrist to come up with something special. With Hayden, who signed off from the Ashes with a pugnacious century at The Oval, also in belligerent mood, 73 runs were clattered in the hour after tea.Hayden swept with impunity, combining beautifully timed and precisely placed hits to the fence with the odd miscue that feel short of the fielders. Gilchrist got off the mark with a hard snick through slip off Murali, and there was further agony for the close-in cordon when an edge off Vettori just evaded Rahul Dravid at slip.The previous delivery had been warning enough, effortlessly carted over long-off for six, and when Andrew Flintoff and Murali were reintroduced in the closing stages of the session, Gilchrist said hello with a glorious square-cut and a searing cover-drive.Hayden endured a couple of nervy moments as he neared three figures, with Mark Boucher grassing a sharp chance off Murali, but an imperious on-drive off Stephen Harmison sparked a standing ovation that was richly deserved. He celebrated with an exuberant pull for four, but departed soon after, undone by extra bounce from Murali.

Gilchrist, though, stroked the boundaries without a care, driving and cutting with panache as Flintoff and Murali toiled without success. The disappointing Kallis was carved up and when Vettori was brought back, there were three towering sixes into the stand at midwicket. Shane Watson batted beautifully around the cavalier, picking the gaps and defending stoutly as the sixth-wicket partnership realised 63 runs.Hayden’s regular partner in run fests had lasted only three balls after Ricky Ponting won the toss on another beautiful batting strip prepared by Tom Parker. With a healthy smattering of grass on the surface, there was encouragement for the new-ball bowlers too, and Harmison summoned up sheer pace and late swing to sneak the third ball of the match through Justin Langer’s tentative prod.With the ball darting around and Harmison showing marvellous control, both Hayden and Ponting fenced uneasily at deliveries that zoomed in at the pads or came within a coat of varnish of taking the outside edge. Unfortunately for Smith, Flintoff, Ashes exertions barely a month in the past, was well short of his probing best, and Ponting set the tone for the riposte with a withering pull for four.Smith called on Kallis, his South African team-mate, to down the shutters but his lack of radar only opened the floodgates, as Hayden crunched two fours through the off side, and Ponting chipped in with a trademark pull that whizzed to the fence. He also played the shot of the morning, an exquisite cut down to third man when Flintoff got one to bounce appreciably, and then came dancing down the track to send a Murali delivery down to the sightscreen.But Flintoff persevered and a stunning catch from Kallis cut short Ponting’s gorgeous cameo of 46, giving local boy Clarke a first opportunity to cement his position at No. 4, where Damien Martyn had provided such sterling service. Clarke and Hayden took to Flintoff after lunch, and with Hayden unveiling the variety of sweeps that made him such a colossus on subcontinent pitches in his prime, the runs came at an alarming clip.Slow-motion replays then condemned Clarke to an early shower, and Katich followed, but Smith – who captained with verve and nous that many thought beyond him – and his boys were emphatically denied by two men on a mission to restore their reputations. The manner in which they accomplished that was an ominous warning for those who dared imagine that the baggy green had lost its aura.

Justin Langer b Harmison 0 (0 for 1)
Ricky Ponting c Kallis b Flintoff 46 (73 for 2)
Michael Clarke c Sehwag b Vettori 39 (154 for 3)
Simon Katich run out (Smith) 0 (163 for 4)
Simon Katich run out (Smith) 0 (163 for 4)
Matthew Hayden c Kallis b Muralitharan 111 (260 for 5)
A simple catch to point after a mistimed cut to a delivery that reared up. Shane Watson lbw Muralitharan 24 (323 for 6)

Scorecard

Western Australia (WA) sauntered to a comfortable six-wicket victory against South Australia (SA) in the ING Cup at the Adelaide Oval on November 12. Shaun Marsh (63) and Adam Vogues (56) put on an unbeaten 116 runs for the fifth wicket to chase down the target inside 40 overs and thus earn a bonus point. SA were restricted to a paltry 190 by Brad Williams (4 for 35) and Brett Dorey (2 for 25) .Williams, who came in as second change, troubled the batsmen with his pace and along with Dorey, engineered a collapse in the middle as SA lost four wickets for eight runs in four overs to slip from 1 for 73 to 5 for 81. Mark Cosgrove (71) added 41 for the sixth-wicket with Cameron Borgas, who came in as the Supersub to replace the tailender Paul Rofe, to help stem the rot before dragging a wide delivery on to his stumps. Test discard Jason Gillespie chipped in with a valuable 42 to lift his side to 190 but it was never going to be enough to test the strong WA batting line-up.WA in its reply faltered losing early wickets, including Adam Gilchrist who was run-out for 16 and Mike Hussey for 9, to reach 4 for 77 before Marsh and Vogues took them home. Gillespie, fighting for a Test comeback, went for over fifty runs and had to be contended with just one wicket.Marsh tonked two sixes and a four off the 39th over, bowled by Dan Cullen, to ensure that WA earned a valuable bonus point.

9.5 Inzamam-ul-Haq
A giant: he ended a year as he started in India, at the absolute zenith of his game. At no stage in the series did he look like he would be dismissed. As he has been doing, every one of his 431 runs came when Pakistan needed them most, none more so than his record-breaking second-innings century at Faisalabad, a masterpiece in tailend batting.Batting formed the basis of what Woolmer called his “growing captaincy” and never before has he looked as authoritative as he did over three Tests.9 Shoaib Akhtar
In 17 wickets and 114 overs, Shoaib Akhtar answered every question – of attitude, commitment, fitness, incisiveness – that had been thrown at him before this series. And that too on benign pitches. He led Pakistan’s attack in every way, providing them with breakthroughs – and the big ones – whenever Pakistan needed them and transformed himself into a stodgy tailender. Michael Vaughan called him, unequivocally, the difference between the two sides. And he provided the series its highlight reel: from his Multan yorker to Ashley Giles, his rousing of Faisalabad’s match and crowd on the third afternoon and of course his slower balls. Most vividly, his essence was revealed in every one of his 17 trademark celebrations, unburdened, free, arms outstretched, truly joyous. At 30, it was a fascinating renaissance.8 Mohammad Yousuf
After the abomination at Multan, this threatened to be another middling contribution. But as much for the quantity of runs he scored as for the manner and circumstances in which he scored, he should be celebrated. At Faisalabad he steadied Pakistan only to be cut short by a dubious decision. But when Pakistan needed him most, in Lahore at 12 for 2, he produced a defining innings; it was a career-best but for the way he led the batting, in Inzamam’s absence, he furthered his case exponentially as Inzamam’s successor. Marginally second as Pakistan’s most compelling reformation of the series.8 Danish Kaneria
Woolmer called him one of the best bowlers in the world today, and coming on a year of unparalleled success, this series proved it. The last days of Multan and Faisalabad saw him in his element; toying, deceiving, plotting and, to silence his critics, prompting spectacularly cheap collapses. As much as Shoaib’s slower ball, Kaneria’s Multan googly to Shaun Udal and his Lahori one to Andrew Flintoff gave the series its highlights. In his troubles at Faisalabad, with appealing, with Umpire Hair and running onto the pitch, he threatened to become anonymous but he fought back, as he forever will, in Lahore. Officially, he is a matchwinner now and would have topped the recognition it with a hat-trick but for Hair.

8 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan
An important series because of his poor Test record, within seven overs of his recall at Faisalabad, Rana broke through literally and figuratively, with two top order wickets. He almost won the match in the second with three more wickets but in every ball he bowled, every trick he tried, every variation he bowled, every batsmen he stopped from settling, every diving stop he made, every clap of encouragement, every run he made, there was pure endeavour. Was called, intuitively, by Scyld Berry as an upmarket Heath Streak, but by dint of playing on Pakistani pitches, he has a larger bag of tricks. Subtly, to lesser attention, his breakthrough in this series was as important as any for Pakistan.7 Salman Butt
With his contribution here, he has halved Pakistan’s opening problem. Although he occasionally gave in to his dash and flashed outside off, he will be remembered here for the gumption of his batting. Forsaking the bravado that has marked him, he was mostly circumspect, avoiding bouncers and tempters outside off-stump. The wristy scoops and flicks were there still, but revealed only when necessary. His fielding was a concern and he dropped a howler at Faisalabad.7 Kamran Akmal
It threatened to be a slump after uncertain displays in Multan and a poor one in Faisalabad. But he made up for it with two magnificently athletic pouches in Lahore and an improved performance. His batting was solid if often careless but with his magnificent series-finishing century, he again suggested, that at no.7, Pakistan have genuine depth in their middle order.7 Shahid Afridi
Afridi is as Afridi does. He was hero and villain, together, at Faisalabad. First he transformed a middling total into an imposing one and then, with four wickets, kept Pakistan in the hunt. It wasn’t so much his duck in the second innings that changed his role as his pirouetting on the pitch and subsequent ban. Possibly deserved more than three matches but will be missed in the ODIs.6 Shoaib Malik
Not enough evidence to suggest that he is the immediate answer to Pakistan’s opening conundrum. There is some solace in the fact that he did at least get starts but on pitches other than the subcontinent, he could struggle. His off-breaks provided relief to both his teammates and the English batsmen and three wickets in Lahore were gift-wrapped, early Christmas presents from the opposition. Now faces a fight, again, with his action under the scanner.6 Younis Khan
After a starry year, came down to earth. Regressed to his old, disturbing habit of getting out when well set and untroubled but when given the chance to lead offered again, evidence of a refreshing outlook to leadership. Remains a calming number three.6 Mohammad Sami
Looked rusty and ineffective for large swathes of the series but he had come back from a long-term injury. Bowled a hostile early spell on the final day in Multan, taking two key wickets and chipped in with a few at Lahore. But the emergence of Mohammad Asif and return of Umar Gul means he might no longer be an automatic selection.5 Shabbir Ahmed
A typically understated performance in Multan produced typically effective results with five wickets. But all that is now forgotten and with serious problems over his action again, tragically his future is, to put it mildly, uncertain.4 Hasan Raza
Looked out of place in Multan. He improved in Lahore but a loose dismissal and low score on a pitch on which the middle order hammered runs, and with Afridi and Asim Kamal in the frame, this could be his last opportunity for some time.4 Asim Kamal
One innings, and that too at an unaccustomed number three, and one failure. Unlucky to be dropped and only play one Test but his unflappability means he remains in the frame of the lower-middle order.

Uganda women’s opening bowler Belindah Maska has switched her allegiance to Kenya after getting married to David Tikolo.Maska said it was not her intention to ditch her country of birth but explained that: “God created a woman to join the man of her choice anywhere in the world.”I know this news will hurt my people back home,” she told Uganda’s New Vision website. “I have left a legacy that I am optimistic will be emulated by the current Uganda national team players and the youth to lift the country’s image in the sport.”

Rahul Dravid has said that India’s inability to capitalise on a wonderfullaunching pad had cost them the opening one-dayer at Peshawar, adding thatlosing on a technicality was an “unfortunate” outcome.”We should have got more runs in the last ten overs after the start wegot,” he said referring to India’s stutter from 305 for 5 to 328 all out.”Unfortunately a few legbefore dismissals happened to us and there weresome great catches taken too.”He defended the move to promote Pathan and Dhoni ahead of himself and saidthat he would have walked out to bat earlier had events taken a differentturn. “The plan was to mix the consolidators with the power-hitters whowere there till the 42nd or 43rd overs,” he continued. “It was acalculated move. I would have come out to bat early had Sachin got out.”Dravid was glad that Sachin Tendulkar had bounced back into form but feltthat the bowlers could have done a bit better. “He [Tendulkar] played agreat knock. If he bats for 100-120 balls he ends up making a hundred. Itwas good to see him back in form. It’s a good sign for us. We could havebowled better on the flat track, but at the same time we have to say thatthe outfield was pretty fast and there was hardly any distance between therope and the advertisement hoardings for the fielders to make a lunge atthe ball before it crossed the boundary line.”Yet, India squandered a great chance to go 1-0 up in the series and Dravidfelt that the game could have gone either way if bad light hadn’tintervened. “It was an unfortunate way to lose the match,” he addedtalking about the match being called off three overs in advance, “butrules are rules and they are part of the game. The match was headingtowards an exciting finish when it had to be called off.”

Scorecard
Points table
Travis Birt’s hard-hitting 160 ensured Tasmania remained in control at Bellerive Oval as New South Wales finished the second day needing another 96 to make the hosts bat again. The third-placed Blues are desperate to stay in touch in the finals race, but they will need a strong push from the middle and lower orders if they are to have a chance of gaining outright points.Tasmania stretched their overnight 4 for 110 into an impressive 353 through Birt’s muscular display, earning a healthy lead of 212 and two first-innings points. Birt thumped seven sixes and 19 fours in his 172-ball innings, which was his second hundred of the season and pushed his Pura Cup tally to 773 runs.The morning started badly for the Tigers, who are currently last, with the loss of George Bailey for 9, but Birt dominated valuable stands of 48 with Dan Marsh (14), 96 with Brendan Drew (23) and 27 with Ben Hilfenhaus (0 not out) before becoming Stuart MacGill’s second wicket. Grant Lambert was the most successful with 4 for 80 after adding Marsh and Brett Geeves today.New South Wales’ second innings was much healthier than their initial effort, but they were still waiting for their first half-century of the match after Matthew Phelps (35) and Greg Mail (23) gave up useful starts to Ben Hilfenhaus. Dominic Thornely remained unbeaten on 35 and Aaron O’Brien was 12 as the Blues reached 3 for 116.

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Shoaib Malik of Pakistan, the two century-makers in the drawn first Test in Colombo, have both made significant moves up the ICC Test batting rankings.Malik’s unbeaten 148, his maiden Test hundred spread over eight hours, not only helped save the match for his side but also propelled him up 24 places in those rankings and he now sits in 43rd place with a career-best tally.Sangakkara, meanwhile, moved up six spots to 11th after his 185, to become Sri Lanka’s highest-ranked batsman. He has overtaken the acting captain, Mahela Jayawardene, who has slipped two places to 13th in the list.Pakistan still have three players among the top 10 batsmen. Inzamam-ul-Haq is unchanged in fourth place; Mohammad Yousuf, who missed the Test through injury, is seventh, and Younis Khan is eighth, down two spots after scores of 0 and 8 at the Sinhalese Sports Club.Muttiah Muralitharan, who took six wickets in the Test, remains top of the bowling charts, clear of Australia’s Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.With Pakistan’s pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar (seventh) and Muralitharan’s team-mate Chaminda Vaas (eighth) both absent through injury, the visitor’s legspinner Danish Kaneria was the only other bowler on show in Colombo who features in the top 20. He is down one place to 15th position.Further down the bowling table, Sri Lanka’s young pace bowlers Farveez Maharoof and Lasith Malinga have both made positive strides. Maharoof is up 20 places to 68th and Malinga has risen four places to joint 29th (alongside Australia’s Michael Kasprowicz). Both have career-best tallies.Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting heads the batting rankings ahead of team-mate Matthew Hayden and Jacques Kallis of South Africa. Kallis tops the allrounder table ahead of England’s Andrew Flintoff.The second and final Test of the series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan starts in Kandy on Monday.For the full rankings click here

Bangladesh’s selectors have named a 13-man squad for their A-team series against Sri Lanka later this month, but there was no space for Mohammad Al Sahariar, the leading local player in the Premier Cricket League. Tushar Imran was appointed to lead a Bangladesh side that includes half a dozen Test caps.The local media flagged Al Sahariar’s omission as the main talking point, with the Daily Star claiming that he was close to selection for the ODI series against Kenya, which made it all the more surprising that he was not named for the A team.The team will play two Tests and four ODIs during the series which lasts from March 20 to April 9. All the Bangladesh side will play league cricket for their club sides this weekend.Bangladesh A Tushar Imran (capt), Nafees Iqbal, Nazmus Sadat, Sakib Al Hassan, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Mushfiqur Rahim, Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah Riyad, Shafaq Al Jabir, Tapash Baisya, Enamul Haque Jr, Nadif Chowdhury, Nazmul Hossain.

John Bracewell, New Zealand’s coach and convenor of selectors, has admitted that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has made little progress towards establishing a solid opening combination. After a season of mass experimentation, which saw four different opening combinations in the space of four Tests, Bracewell said that all efforts had resulted in failures.Following New Zealand’s 0-2 Test series loss to South Africa this week, Bracewell told Radio Sport that the management was still looking for a solution. “We used three different combinations in three Test matches, two of them because of injury, but we’re still no further ahead in that department,” he said. “It’s something we need to nail down as selectors, but in the end when you give guys an opportunity, they have to stand up and do it.”In March, Lou Vincent was controversially dropped for the series against West Indies after he reportedly claimed he did not want to open. In his place was put an out-of-form Hamish Marshall, who failed to deliver at the top. Jamie How, Peter Fulton, who debuted impressively against West Indies at No.3, and Michael Papps all opened in South Africa, with an unconvincing 50-run stand between Papps and Fulton in the third Test being the best performance.Bracewell lamented all this shuffling, which followed years of makeshift partnerships attempting to fill the gap. “You can’t put your hand in the hat and pull out a [prolific Australian opener] Justin Langer,” he said. “You have to have time to evolve that person, have to keep the faith, or hope that the system turns somebody out that has those skills, which at the moment isn’t the case.”Bracewell’s comments also hinted at a return for the discarded Vincent and Mathew Sinclair: “If we want to play our best players, the likes of the Sinclairs and Vincents and people like that, if they want to play, do they want to play there?”With New Zealand’s next Test series only in November against Sri Lanka, Bracewell said the hiatus would be beneficial as they searched for a solution. “That’s probably a good thing because it may in fact give us time to try and stabilise and look deeper into what we’re trying to achieve in that position.”