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A victory off the last ball. There can’t be a more exciting finishthan this and while there have been quite a few such results in thehistory of one day internationals, the six-match series between Indiaand England on the 1992-93 tour could not have gotten off to a betterstart. For England won the first game at Jaipur byfour wickets off the last delivery.

Kambli and Tendulkar matched each other in both stroke and run production.It was the left-handed Kambli’s 21st birthday and he could not have wishedfor a better gift than an unbeaten 100 which ensured him the man of the matchaward.

The man of the match however was on the losing side. Put in to batbefore a capacity crowd at the Sawai Man Singh stadium on a coolJanuary morning, India could not have made a worse start with the lossof Navjot Sidhu without a run on the board in the second over. VinodKambli entered at this stage but soon lost Manoj Prabhakar, who made aquick 25. Paul Jarvis had taken both wickets. Mohammad Azharuddin toodid not last long, out leg before to Chris Lewis for six.Three down for 59 was no way to start an innings but now SachinTendulkar joined his old Bombay school chum and there was a suddentransformation. The two put the bowlers to the sword while sharing anunbroken 164-run stand for the fourth wicket. Kambli and Tendulkarmatched each other in both stroke and run production. It was the lefthanded Kambli’s 21st birthday and he could not have wished for abetter gift than an unbeaten 100 which ensured him the man of thematch award.He faced 149 balls and hit nine fours and a six. Tendulkar finished ona brilliant 82 not out, compiled off just 81 balls, hitting six foursand a six as India could post a challenging total of 223 for three in48 overs.Kapil Dev gave an early breakthrough by removing skipper Graham Goochfor four in a total of 29. But then vice-captain Alec Stewart tookover. First, he added 56 runs for the second wicket with Robin Smith(16). This was followed by a third wicket stand of 60 runs betweenStewart and Mike Gatting (30). By the time Stewart was third out at145 for 91, the match was nicely balanced. Stewart played the spinnersAnil Kumble and Venkatpathi Raju particularly well and twice he usedhis feet to hit the left arm spinner over the ropes.He faced 126 balls and besides the two sixes, hit six fours. NeilFairbrother and Graeme Hick (13) supplied the necessary accelerationat a vital stage by adding 39 runs for the fifth wicket. Prabhakar andKapil came back to bowl the final overs but the left-handedFairbrother was equal to the task. He and Chris Lewis inched Englandtowards the target and when Prabhakar started the last over, six runswere required for victory. The bowler was left to rue an overthrow ofhis own penultimate delivery that enabled England to draw level. Ascrambled single off bat and pad from the last ball signaled apulsating victory. Fairbrother remained unbeaten on a timely 46, madeoff only 38 balls with the help of five fours and a six, and Lewis oneight. England went on to take a 3-1 lead before India took the lasttwo matches and ensured that honours remained even.

Malaysia-inningsThe match being played at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium commenced with Malaysia batting first. They opened the innings with Hairul Amirudeen and S. Sathiswaran against Singapore’s bowling attack of Maxim Mok Kar Yuen and Siddharth Verma. The Malaysian openers provided their team a solid start when at the total of 86 Ameer ud Din was adjudged LBW to Zeeshan for 38. Sathiswaran the second opener was the next to go, being bowled by Zeeshan for 36. Malaysia lost 2 wickets for 100.It was followed by a long and defiant partnership between Indran (55) and Vickneswaran (57) that yielded 98 runs. Piling up runs valiantly Malaysia ended its innings at 240 for the loss of only 4 wickets, offering Singapore a victory target of 241.Singapore’s inningsFacing a challenging target of 241 runs Singapore opened with Zeng Renchun and Anand Santhanam. They provided a sturdy start to the innings till Renchun was out after playing an exciting innings of 40. Singapore lost the first wicket at 72.To their dismay a collapse followed in which the team lost 5 quick wickets that brought down the score to 97 for 6 in 24 overs.Zeeshan (50) and Glenn Meyer (32 not out) put up relentless efforts to stabilize the innings but the initial loss was rather too much to recover. They were still able to raise Sri Lanka to a respectable total of 192 in 39.5 overs. Peter Chung grabbed 4 wickets for 28 runs. Malaysia thus defeated Singapore by 48 runs.

Wolves defender Ki-Jana Hoever appeared to be distraught as he left the field through injury in the first half of the defeat against Crystal Palace, according to Tim Spiers. 

The lowdown

The young Dutchman made just his fourth league start of the season on Saturday but lasted only 25 minutes before he was forced off through injury.

Wolves were already without one of their right wing-back options in Nelson Semedo, who isn’t currently expected to be back until the middle of April (via Premier Injuries). Jonny Otto is capable of playing there but is naturally a left-sided defender.

The latest

With Hoever about to be substituted for Jonny, The Athletic’s Wolves correspondent Spiers took to Twitter to issue a worrying assessment.

He observed: “Hoever limping off, looks devastated. Jonny being called.”

The verdict

Bruno Lage isn’t just frustrated with the timing of this particular injury. He said after the match that Hoever suffered the hamstring strain ‘because he is not prepared’ and ‘doesn’t work with the same intensity’ as some of his team-mates in training.

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Spiers interpreted this as blaming the 20-year-old ‘for getting injured’, and after such a stinging rebuke, you have to wonder how severe the repercussions will be for Hoever, not just over his involvement this season but also in terms of his Wolves career as a whole.

In other news, Wolves had already suffered this injury blow

	Ray Mali: “It’s now time for the focus to return to the cricket” © AFP

Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, has defended the decision to replace Steve Bucknor with Billy Bowden for the third Test in Perth, saying it was done for the better of the game and not to please India. “We could have taken a confrontational tone but we took a diplomatic approach,” he told the . “We have got an international sporting incident where countries are polarised. What we are seeking to do is avoid having that turn into an international crisis.”We have taken away one of the points of issue that has caused this passionate response in both countries. If Bucknor had been umpiring, commentators and public would have pored over every decision Steve made.”Speed also felt the Australian side need to realise the brickbats they are receiving for their behaviour. “They are a great cricket team; I would hate to see them remembered for any reason other than that,” he was quoted in the . “The team is being criticised, members of the team are being criticised and they need to to be aware of that – they need to respond to that.”Meanwhile, ICC president Ray Mali also backed the decision to remove Bucknor from officiating in Perth. “We recognised from the outset that the umpiring in the second Test was below the very high standard we have come to expect from our Elite Panel and we noted with concern the enormous reaction to it and realised that we could potentially have a serious international diplomatic incident on our hands,” Mali said. “By standing Steve down for the third Test we have successfully defused the situation, at least for the time being, and so what was a sporting issue has not become a political crisis.”We could easily have taken an inflexible stance and gone toe-to-toe with those who were calling for Steve’s withdrawal but instead we chose to adopt a more diplomatic and reasonable approach. And on balance it was the right thing to do, for the game and for the series.Mali also issued a reminder that Bucknor’s removal had nothing to do with Harbhajan Singh’s appeal. “It is also worth reminding people that the decision to replace Steve for this match had nothing to do with the Harbhajan Singh Code of Conduct hearing. That process is ongoing and will run its full course.”As is his right, Harbhajan has appealed the guilty finding of the hearing. The appeals process has been part of the ICC Code of Conduct for seven years so there is nothing new or unusual about this.Mali said he expected all parties to accept the decision of the findings of the appeals’ commissioner and hoped the attention would shift to the game . “Over the past few days there have been too many emotive comments from too many people and it’s now time for the focus to return to the cricket.”Speed dismissed suggestions that the appeal on Harbhajan Singh’s three-Test ban will be delayed so as to ensure the series will go on without further controversy.”We may have the hearing before the third Test. If not, we are hopeful we can have it before the fourth Test,” Speed said. “I am very pleased the tour is going ahead, there is a process in place for appeals and Harbhajan has appealed,” he said. “India have signed off on the appeals process. They were there when all the discussions took place.Speed said the ICC won’t budge under the pressure of the Indian board. “We can’t have one set of rules for the India team and another set for everyone else,” he said. “We will follow the process and and I hope whatever the outcome all parties will be able to say they have had a fair hearing.”

Rahul Dravid: ‘When I’m asked a question regarding comments or opinions of people, I would expect questions about people who have at least played the game’ © AFP

The usually unflappable Rahul Dravid lost his cool today when asked to comment on a leaked report by Chetan Desai, the manager of the Indian team on the tour of South Africa, that claimed that Greg Chappell and Virender Sehwag had had a spat ahead of the Durban Test.A television channel had quoted Desai’s confidential report to the Indian board – which the Board today said it had not yet received – as claiming that an argument took place between Chappell and Sehwag when the latter refused to attend a special practice session on the eve of the second Test at Durban.”I’ve not read the report, but to be honest, there’s no problem in the team. I think it’s important to put it in perspective and understand things,” Dravid snapped when asked about the story in the press conference ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Kolkata tomorrow. “I’m being asked questions and being asked my views on a report given by someone who, when I last looked at the history of Indian cricket, I didn’t necessarily see his name featuring very prominently,” said Dravid of Desai, who is the honorary secretary of the Goa Cricket Association.Having made the sharp comment, Dravid, who usually does not get into controversies of any kind, pressed on. “When I’m asked a question regarding comments or opinions of people, I would expect you to ask me questions about people who have at least played the game and have some standing in the game and been involved with the game in some capacity,” he said. “Anyone’s entitled to give an opinion, anyone’s entitled to file reports but me commenting on that – I think you know I will comment on it only if its worthy of my comment.”At the same time, Dravid neither denied nor concurred with the contents of the said report. The news story alleged that Desai’s report, while speaking in broad terms on Sehwag’s indiscipline, also referred to Dravid backing Sehwag’s inclusion – in the face of near-unanimous opposition – in the side for the second Test .The BCCI, meanwhile, declined to comment on Dravid’s comments in Kolkata and said that a thorough inquiry will be made into how the tour report was leaked.”The President [Sharad Pawar] received the report today. We are now trying to find out how it was leaked to the media before it reached the President’s office,” Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president told PTI. “We will go through the contents of all these reports and if any corrective measure needs to be taken, it will be done.”

Allan Donald: withdrawn application © Getty Images

Allan Donald has withdrawn his application for the vacant England bowling coach position after meeting with South African board officials.Donald’s announcement came after he held talks with Gerald Majola, the board’s CEO, and Vince van der Bijl, its general manager of professional cricket.The meeting was called by Majola to discuss comments in the media last weekend that Donald, who is employed in CSA’s high performance programme as a specialist bowling coach, that he had applied for the English post.”I have given much thought to the matter, and have withdrawn my application for the England bowling coach post,” Donald told reporters. “I will rather stay with Cricket South Africa’s high performance programme and throw my full weight behind it.”My heart lies with South African cricket, and I want to do everything I can in the effort to make us the best in the world. I will also be writing to the board of Cricket South Africa to apologise for making a public statement about my England application before discussing the matter with CSA. I want to put the whole matter behind me, and carry on working with the high performance structures in South Africa”.”Vince and I had a full and frank discussion with Allan,” Majola said. “We are delighted that he has decided to stay with South African cricket, and build the game here for the future. Allan was one of the South Africa’s greatest bowlers and we regard him as a national asset.”We recruited him into our high performance programme as soon as it was possible after he stopped playing international and domestic cricket.He will continue working in the high performance programme as a specialist bowling coach in terms of a two-year contract, renewable after the next World Cup in 2007.”His tasks are to identify and groom promising young fast bowlers, and to assist established bowlers should they lose form. Allan will also be available on request to assist the national team.”Donald had emerged as the favourite to replace Troy Cooley, who finishes as England’s bowling coach in May, after the India tour. With Donald out of the way, others being linked with the vacancy include Phil DeFreitas, Mike Watkinson, Steve Watkin, Kevin Shine and Andy Pick, although the ECB wouldn’t confirm exactly who had applied.”We wouldn’t comment on any application for roles at the ECB,” their media relations manager Andrew Walpole told Cricinfo. “Interviews will be taking place shortly and we would hope to be in a position to make an announcement during England’s tour in India.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Brett Lee castled Yousuf Youhana as Australia rattled the Pakistan top order© Getty Images

Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath devastated Pakistan’s top order after Andrew Symonds corrected an early batting wobble and helped Australia take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three VB Series finals at the MCG. Lee provided the pace and McGrath the accuracy to strike three times in the first three overs, and put Pakistan on the defensive immediately.As hard as Pakistan tried through Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, whose flame was short and bright, they were unable to rise from the dreadful start. Both sides struggled in the opening ten overs on a pitch offering valuable bowling help, but Pakistan experienced the greater danger.The memory of Lee swiftly charging in to bowl at 150kph will linger for a long time in the minds of the batsmen and spectators. Lee struck in his first and third overs with beautiful deliveries to remove Salman Butt leg-before – although Butt insisted he hit it – and clean-bowl the in-form Yousuf Youhana (3 for 9). In between, McGrath, playing his 200th match, dismissed Kamran Akmal to a lazy pull for his 299th career wicket. He became the eighth bowler to collect 300 when Mohammad Hafeez skyed a pull that had much height and little distance, which Shane Watson took easily (4 for 27).McGrath’s record was one of a small collection of fine displays that were scattered around an unusual number of stumbles in the showpiece event. The occasion visibly affected both sides, but Australia’s fright at 3 for 53 was settled by Symonds’s brutal and sensible 91, and then vanquished by their opening bowlers.Inzamam and Malik played themselves in before swinging to pick up Pakistan. Both registered half-centuries in a futile fightback. The runs were made carefully, but when it was time to let loose they could not keep pace. Lee came back in the 31st over and soon added the crucial wicket of Inzamam (5 for 118). Inzamam has been the most consistent player of the series with five fifties, but Pakistan needed his first century.In desperation, Malik and Afridi spectacularly opened their shoulders and cleared the rope before failing in the delicate balance to keep their heads. Malik found Darren Lehmann at mid-off and when Simon Katich caught Afridi, who chopped 26 from 15 balls, in the deep the match was decided (8 for 171). Lee finished with the satisfying figures of 3 for 23 off 10 overs but Symonds was Man of the Match.

Andrew Symonds returned to his brutal best as Australia got out of trouble© Getty Images

While Australia’s fast bowlers were in step, they were given initial breathing space by Symonds, who showed what a difference a medal can make. Before winning the Australia One-Day Player of the Year award on Monday, he had five ducks in six innings and was lined up for plucking alongside the dropped Matthew Hayden.In 50 overs of up-and-down cricket, Symonds hauled Australia to safety after the top three were sent packing, but on his departure at 213, the innings was once again unsteady. Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, who were both on hat-tricks, were responsible for curtailing the galloping in a team performance that contained moments of brilliance, crazy lapses and a collision. The upshot was a restricted total of 237 that supporters of the underdog believed was a job well done.Symonds’ self-belief was quickly evident when he warmed up with two powerful off-drives and a pull, and he looked as dangerous as during his 143 not out against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. With his helmet covering the frizzy hair that would make Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons break into song, Symonds became the main event. He was strong and delicate in hitting seven fours in a display that Australian fans had waited for all summer.Afridi was the only bowler to really trouble Symonds, who survived a couple of strong lbw appeals – the umpires were reluctant to raise their fingers throughout the innings. Symonds and Damien Martyn shone in a 137-run partnership that steadied the rocking innings. Martyn was the support act for his partner’s attacks and managed a smart 53 without a boundary until he was stumped off Afridi (4 for 190). Darren Lehmann replaced Martyn and was caught-behind first ball to an embarrassing reverse-sweep.Michael Clarke was preferred to the out-of-form Hayden as opener, but the move was less successful than Hayden’s series average of 10.5. After a rocky start in swinging conditions it was Clarke who was out for 9, lbw playing back to Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who stayed on tour rather than return for his father’s funeral (1 for 29). Adam Gilchrist went to a fine jumping catch by Razzaq. He and Ricky Ponting were unsettled in strange cases of early nerves on the big stage.Naved had an eventful match along with his bowling team-mate Mohammad Khalil. The pair collided in the field, forcing Khalil off to hospital for X-rays on a suspected dislocated shoulder. Naved then combined for a gallant 45-run partnership with Iftikhar Anjum at the close. Pakistan’s response against the world champions was brave, but again the challengers fell short.Peter English is the Australasian editor of Cricinfo.

Sri Lanka’s leading cricketers will return to action after a 10-week break as the Premier League Limited Over Tournament (PLOT) commences on the weekend.The first 56-match round of this year’s tournament has been crammed into just 16 days. The 16 Premier League teams have been spilt into two groups of eight. The top two in each will qualify for the semi-finals, which along with the final are to be played after the England tour on January 6,7 and 9.All the national players are expected to participate, giving John Dyson,the new Sri Lanka coach, a good opportunity to see for himself the talent athis disposal as he prepares for England’s arrival in November.Muttiah Muralitharan, once he returns from Kent and assuming he recovers from a groin injury, will take over the club captaincy at Tamil Union. Mahela Jayawardene will lead the Sinahalese Sports Club. Russel Arnold captains Nondescripts CC, but he will miss some of the tournament because of Sri Lanka A’s tour to South Africa.Several players have moved clubs this year. Tamil Union are the most affected having lost Upul Chandana, Malintha Gajanayake and Gayan Wiyekoon. Chandana has joined NCC.Bloomfield Sports and Athletic Club, lead by Kumar Dharmasena, are thereigning one-day champions.

Sri Lankan umpire, and former Test player, Asoka De Silva will be the overseas umpire for New Zealand’s first Test against England, starting in Christchurch on March 13.De Silva is one of several overseas umpires officiating at the ICC Under-19 World Cup being held at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University near Christchurch.He is to stand in the tournament final on Saturday with New Zealand Test umpire Tony Hill, who made his Test umpiring debut in New Zealand’s first Test against Bangladesh in Hamilton in December.No New Zealand appointments have been made for the Test series year and may well not be made until the completion of New Zealand’s One-Day International National Bank series against England which starts in Christchurch on Wednesday of next week.The ICC match referee for that one-day series is South Africa’s Denis Lindsay who is travelling to New Zealand straight from the India-England series where is also in charge.

Worcestershire, having chosen to bat first, laboured through the first day but thanks to a century opening partnership between Elliott Wilson and Philip Weston laid the platform for a sizeable first innings total. Four late wickets will give Notts hope of dismissing the home county on the second morning though when Worcs will resume on 248-5.91-0 at lunch, both Weston and Wilson passed their half centuries shortly afterwards but were parted when Paul Reiffel induced Weston to nick the ball through to Chris Read.Wilson maintained a watchful vigil, often his score was less than the number of overs bowled, but he had ground his way to 74 not out by tea. In gloomy, overcast conditions after the break he played a supporting role as Paul Pollard, tried to be the aggressor with his highest Championship score since May last year.Jason Gallian, the Notts skipper, rotated his bowlers regularly and although wickets were hard to come by, the scoring rate was always kept in check on a fairly lifeless surface. Wilson only scored 11 runs in the first eighteen overs after tea as the pressure of getting in sight of the third first class century of his career began to mount.The Worcestershire 200 didn’t come up until the 92nd over, courtesy of a fluent square cut by Pollard off the bowling of ‘AJ’ Harris, in the same over a more ‘uppish’ drive through the covers took him to his 50, off 148 balls with 9 x 4’s.Pollard wasn’t to add many more runs though as, on 53, he played on to a ball from Jason Gallian. It looked as if the batsman had tried to leave the delivery but the ball just flicked the underside of the bat and dislodged a bail. Pollard and Wilson had added 93 for the second wicket in 43 overs.The dismissal of Pollard brought David Leatherdale to the crease. Leatherdale, who had scored a century when the sides met at Trent Bridge last month, survived a confident shout for lbw first ball from Gallian, bouyant after capturing only his second wicket of the season.A streaky four through slips took Wilson to 97 and the 23 year old reached three figures with a legside push off Harris. His hundred had come off 258 balls, with 15 boundaries and arrived in the 98th over.In rapidly fading light Notts picked up a third wicket and with it their first bonus point. Century maker Wilson drove loosely at a widish delivery from Harris and Gallian at point pouched the catch.Worcestershire sent in Matthew Rawnsley as nightwatchman but after a couple of streaky shots he fell lbw when Reiffel took the new ball. More success followed in the next over when Ryan Driver fell for a duck, also lbw, not playing a shot at Harris. Worcestershire had lost wickets in three consecutive overs and needed Leatherdale and Kadeer Ali to see them through tot he close.