Scorecard

Late wickets put Victoria back on track after Justin Langer impressed with his first Pura Cup century since his Test farewell. Langer’s 108 was the highlight of a low-scoring day at Melbourne, though he had good support from Marcus North (69) as the Warriors reached 5 for 264 at stumps.Shane Harwood returned near the close and had North caught behind, finishing with outstanding figures of 2 for 34 from 23 overs. He was almost single-handedly responsible for the low run-rate of 2.75 as Darren Pattinson and Andrew McDonald struggled to contain Langer.North and Langer added 102 for the third wicket after the Warriors began with a solid opening stand. Langer made the most of an early chance on 13 when he edged McDonald’s first ball to the diving Adam Crosthwaite, who spilled the opportunity in front of first slip.He brought up his hundred with three consecutive cover-driven fours off Pattinson just before tea, reaching the milestone in 154 deliveries. Cameron White, Victoria’s frontline spinner with Bryce McGain omitted, troubled Langer several times and removed him straight after the last break with a wrong’un edged to Crosthwaite.Pattinson enticed a thick edge to gully from Adam Voges, who showed little of the form that earned him a one-day call-up last month and took 72 balls for his 12. Rogers passed 1000 runs for the season as he contributed 34 in the 66-run opening stand with Langer but became Peter Siddle’s first Pura Cup victim when he pulled to midwicket.White’s decision to bowl perhaps had more to do with Victoria’s success chasing fourth-day targets than the pitch, which offered little assistance even in the first session. Both teams are desperate for a win to stay in the race for the final.

On the face of it, Bangladesh’s shock victory over the World No. 1s, South Africa, in Guyana was the best possible result, both for the World Cup as a whole, and for England in particular. Suddenly, from a point of no return, England have been hauled back from the brink. Sunday’s game against Australia is no longer their make-or-break moment in a disappointing winter, but just another encounter – their 14th, in fact, since hostilities resumed at Jaipur in October.Maybe that’s not so ideal after all for England. After pumping themselves up for their trip to last-chance saloon – and following hard on the heels of their agonising two-run loss against Sri Lanka on Wednesday – to now have an inkling at the back of their minds that there could be another way out could be self-defeating. It was, after all, the knowledge that there was no other way to go that galvanised the side and set them up for their surprise CB Series win in Australia in February.Certainly, all the pre-match talk in the England camp was of Eve-of-St-Crispin’s-Day proportions. “This will be the ultimate buzz,” Paul Collingwood said. “To play them in the World Cup, in a must-win game, this is what cricket is all about.”We’ve got a lot of belief. We are excited to go out there and put the Aussies under pressure. Our performances now, we are not that far away. We are gradually getting closer to a perfect game. We just need to kick on as a batting unit and get those big scores like we did against Australia, get those hundreds. That’s what you need to do against these better sides.”That’s not something that England have made a habit of lately. Aside from Collingwood, only Ed Joyce has reached three figures in one-dayers this year. After a barren patch of form, Joyce looks set to miss out of this crunch tie in favour of Andrew Strauss.”Strauss has done fantastically well since he hasn’t been in the side,” Collingwood said. “He has managed to get a bit of a bigger bat so he says he is hitting the ball a little bit harder, and a little bit further.” The comment was made partially in jest, although it doesn’t disguise the fact that – no matter who is chosen to partner Michael Vaughan – England’s top three lacks the sort of oomph that sets the big teams apart in this tournament.”We feel if we concentrate on what we are doing, it doesn’t matter who we are playing, we will win the game,” said Glenn McGrath, who is determined to make the encounter the last against England of his illustrious career. “We probably had one eye on the World Cup at that stage,” McGrath said as he explained his team’s loss in the CB Series, “but now we are here, focused on this, we’ve played some decent cricket and no team has got close to us.”It’s true as well. Australia have played five matches at this tournament, and nobody has come closer than the South Africans in Basseterre, who started their run-chase brightly but were ultimately thumped by 83 runs. That in itself has created one or two slight problems.The middle order duo of Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds, not to mention the tail, have been desperately short of batting match practice, while a bowling attack that twice lost to New Zealand in February despite defending more than 330 runs has yet to be put under pressure. As South Africa proved against Bangladesh, no side is immune to a bad day at the office.

If England are to win, however, then a big performance is needed from the two men in whom so much of their momentum is invested. Though Vaughan said after the Sri Lanka defeat that he would always buy a platform of 102 for 2 after 25 overs, unless Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are in a mood to cash in, it is a tactic that is fraught with pitfalls. Though Pietersen looked good for his 58 on Wednesday, the form of Flintoff is a cause for much concern.”I’ve always said I consider myself as a batsman who bowls, so I’d better start scoring some runs pretty damn quick,” said Flintoff, who has not made a one-day half-century for 11 innings. “I don’t know why I’m not scoring many runs, to be honest. Every time I try to hit the ball, it doesn’t go anywhere, but hopefully I’m just 20 or 30 minutes at the crease or a good net away from kick-starting my batting.”England are adamant that Flintoff will be given a free rein to keep playing in his own way. “The last thing I want Freddie to do is to suddenly go into his shell and start playing defensively,” Vaughan said. “I want him as an instinctive batter taking the opposition on because I think when he does that he’s playing his best cricket.”He’s the kind of guy that sometimes when he gets out, it looks ugly. But I’ve seen him clear the guy many times before and got a four and he’s away.” Circumstances have dictated that the end is not so nigh as it might have seemed before today, but England will need to match their intensity against Sri Lanka then raise it an extra notch if they are going to turn Easter Sunday into their own private resurrection party.Australia (probable) 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Brad Hodge, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Andrew Symonds, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Shaun Tait, 11 Glenn McGrath.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Paul Nixon (wk), 9 Sajid Mahmood, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty Panesar.

Sri Lanka’s experience of facing Lasith Malinga should help their batsmen deal with Shaun Tait’s slinging action, according to the coach Tom Moody. While Malinga is expected to miss the Super Eights game in Grenada on Monday, Tait will be one of Ricky Ponting’s main weapons after breaking on to the international scene with 14 wickets at the tournament.However, Moody is not overly concerned about Tait’s high speed and late swing. “They might find adjusting to Tait’s line and trajectory a little bit easier given they are used to facing Malinga in the nets,” Moody said in the Courier-Mail.”Instead of looking where you traditionally look for the ball – over the top – they may be able to adjust slightly quicker than other teams. Tait has added a little bit of spark to the Australian side, but if there’s one nation used to unusual actions, it is Sri Lanka.” Malinga, who has not bowled to Australia in an ODI, is expected to continue his recovery from an ankle injury.

South Australia are reportedly chasing the services of Lou Vincent for the 2007-08 season. Vincent spent most of his teenage years living in Adelaide and playing for representative age-group teams before returning to Auckland.If the Redbacks were able to sign him, it would give their batting a significant and much-needed boost after only three of their players made first-class centuries in 2006-07. The state finished last in the Pura Cup competition and secured their only win in the final game of the year. reported that Vincent was involved in negotiations with the South Australian Cricket Association and was “understood to be strongly leaning towards a move to Adelaide”.Vincent was arguably New Zealand’s best batsman during the CB Series, when he made three half-centuries from four innings after being a late addition to the squad. He made 101 against Canada at the World Cup before his tournament ended with a broken wrist courtesy of a Shane Bond delivery during a net session.A SACA spokesperson said the reports of Vincent’s potential signing were speculation. The state will not finalise its list of contracted players until early June.

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

An indifferent batting performance and an inexperienced bowling attack proved more than enough for South Africa to roll over Ireland in a rain-hit one-off ODI at the Civil Service Club in Stormont. Perhaps rusty from not having played any cricket since the World Cup, South Africa struggled to 173 for 4 against a disciplined bowling attack but didn’t need to be at their best in the field to clinch victory by 42 runs.After a delay of close to five hours, owing to heavy rain, the game got underway on the same pitch as the Ireland-India game on Saturday with South Africa being put in to bat. The energetic AB de Villiers got them off to a racy start with an opening stand of 75 in 12.3 overs, but the innings slowed after his dismissal for 40 from 35 balls. South Africa looked on course for 200 at that point, but some slow batting from Morne van Wyk and Jacques Kallis, on a sluggish pitch, kept Ireland in the game. van Wyk’s 52, his maiden ODI fifty in his comeback innings after four years, proved the highest score for his side, but it took 84 deliveries and he relied on two shots, the cut and the flick.With Kyle McCallan bowling a superb line with his fast, flat offspin, and Trent Johnston keeping van Wyk quiet, Kallis withdrew into a shell during the middle overs. Though he hit one huge six over long-on during his 47-ball 46, his failure to hit out against a very inexperienced bowling attack kept Ireland in the game.The best bowling came from Australia-born Alex Cusack, recently qualified to play for his adopted country, whose 3 for 15 on debut checked South Africa’s progress. He took a fantastic catch on the boundary to cut de Villiers short, and then removed van Wyk, Herschelle Gibbs and Kallis in succession.Defending their total, South Africa’s new-ball bowlers struggled to get early breakthroughs and it needed a moment of Irish misfortune to snap a plucky 45-run opening partnership – plays and misses meshed with positive nudges and flicks – between William Porterfield and Kenny Carroll.Having defended one from Dale Steyn off the back foot, Carroll’s right leg slipped and hit the stumps. Clearly embarrassed at having gotten a wicket like that, Steyn picked up Thimus Fourie three balls later but was then sent for duty on the boundary.

Vernon Philander, on ODI debut, gave himself a 22nd-birthday gift when he forced Porterfield to edge to a leaping Mark Boucher behind the stumps. Niall O’Brien played all over a nasty inswinger and Philander had his second in no time. Dominick Joyce played a few pleasing drives before edging Kallis and barring Cusack (36 not-out) the rest of the order didn’t put up much of a fight as Philander finished with 4 for 12.A few close shouts for leg before aside, South Africa were let down by a lack of penetration at the start. Makhaya Ntini, in need of match practice, was generous with the extras and owed his solitary wicket in his second spell to JP Duminy’s brilliance sliding down at long-on. Steyn, called back to the squad after a successful stint with Warwickshire, took a while to hit his straps and looked a shadow of the bowler he’s capable of being. Thandi Tshabalala, the sole spinner in South Africa’s squad for this tour, looked pedestrian on ODI debut, serving up one too many full tosses. Philander proved the most successful bowler, but is likely to make way for the likes of Andre Nel, Andrew Hall or Charl Langeveldt.In the end South Africa will be happy they won in the absence of some key players, but they’ll need to pull their socks up ahead of the three-match contest against India coming up here.

Mark Dobson is relishing the challenge of being England’s new coach. A Level-3 coach, he brings with him a host of experience of the women’s game, having been involved in Junior Super Fours for three years and has recently take on the role of coach for the senior Emerald side.For 12 years he has been head of PE at St. Edmund’s School in Canterbury, a role he will now surrender. It’s a big step to leave the relative predictability and anonymity of school life for a full-time coaching role, which will involve overseas tours and media commitments. But Dobson, who has played for Kent and coached the Kent Academy, is ready.”I’m really excited,” he told Cricinfo in his first-ever interview. “I was looking for a change.” Not to mention a challenge. England had a poor showing in the quandrangular series in India in February – and they were lucky to come third rather than last, after losing their group games. Then their vice-captain Laura Newton retired.They now face New Zealand this summer – and they will be lucky if their captain Charlotte Edwards is fit in time, while Katherine Brunt is all-but-ruled out with surgery of her own. He’s not yet seen enough of the players to decide who he would like in the side, and that means he’s not had time yet to think of the new vice-captain. The captain, however, is another proposition.”I’ve had some fruitful meetings with Charlotte Edwards,” he says. Edwards is keen on the appointment, and she gives Dobson her full backing. “He is one of the most inspiring coaches within women’s cricket with loads of new and exciting ideas.”Gill McConway, the ECB director of women’s cricket, has also paid tribute to his innovation. “He’s a very enthusiastic individual who expects strong work ethics. He has an amazing ability to turn training sessions into high levels of entertainment through his creative and innovative coaching styles.”Dobson already has plans for change, and will bring over some of these from the men’s game. “Certainly, men hit harder. We will be looking to hit in the air, to open the score ones, twos or threes. We’ll be looking for a wider range of strokes.”There are no current plans for bowling tactics – these will be developed once he’s had a chance to see the Kiwi players. “I’m not too aware of the New Zealand batsmen just yet,” he says.He’s not had much chance to work with his own squad, in fact, as he is seeing out his contract at school. But he will link up with them ahead of the New Zealand series this summer. And he’s already seen some of the players at the Super 4s, the competition from which the England side will be drawn. “I’ve been impressed with the standard.”

Ireland A completed back-to-back wins over Denmark at Stormont, but it was anything but one-way traffic and Denmark finished with plenty to build on.On Saturday, Ireland did dominate, easing to a seven-wicket win with more than 20 overs in hand. Denmark’s batsmen all struggled in bowler-friendly conditions as they crawled to 126, and while Ireland lost wickets, they never looked likely to be in any serious trouble.On Sunday, Ireland were more fortunate and they needed a last-wicket stand of 41 to rescue them after they were reduced to 112 for 9, Thomas Hansen and Bishar Shah sharing eight wickets. In reply, Denmark recovered from 20 for 3 to 94 for 4 before their innings crumbled.

“I’d like to take everyone to where we started some months ago. Then people asked, ‘where will you get cricketers from?’,” boomed Kapil Dev in his typically theatrical style. “This is the cream of the country,” he said, pointing to the group of 44 Indian cricketers assembled at the Indian Cricket League’s big launch in Mumbai.”The courage these people have showed, even I didn’t have at that age. We need people like this who want to make their own decisions. They take pride to play for their country, not being pushed or threatened by someone. What we need is to entertain the people in this country.” As if that wasn’t pushing things a bit far, Kapil added, for good measure, “I will back you till the last day I live.”As the press conference got underway, a note was slipped around mentioning the signing of Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdur Razzaq and Imran Farhat, South Africans Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje, and 44 Indian cricketers.The manner in which Kapil, the chairman of the ICL’s executive board, answered questions, mostly without clarifying anything and alternating between bemusement and thinly veiled anger, achieved one thing: this was completely different from any BCCI press conference. But only in that it was difficult to take it seriously.When asked what these cricketers would do for the remaining 325 days in the year, while they were not playing the Twenty20 tournament, Kapil said, “In this age we have to give them cricket. Our league is starting this year with Twenty20. This is the first step. We plan to have fifty-over matches and three-day matches in the coming future.”When asked if they had finalised either dates or venues for the proposed Twenty20 series, the answer was equally unenlightening. “We will tell you in the near future,” said a spokesperson for Zee.After several minutes of fencing back and forth, one journalist asked Kapil where the transparency that ICL had been banging on about had gone, and what would happen to these players after three years. “Can you tell me what will happen to your job after two years?” Kapil shot back. “As long as they keep on playing well, they will do well. These are professional people who have to make their own lives.”On the dais, apart from Kapil, were Himanshu Mody, from Zee, Sandeep Patil,Kiran More, EAS Prasanna, Bharat Reddy, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Madan Lal,Rajesh Chauhan and Pranab Roy.What was equally interesting were the players’ responses to the questions put to them. When a journalist asked Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, the young Bengal batsman, a question, there was a flurry as the organisers searched for Jhunjhunwala in the crowd to hand him a microphone. “I thought of all the pros and cons. Playing domestic cricket does not give me a chance to play against international stars,” he said. “This gives me very good security.”For Jhunjhunwala it was security, for Dinesh Mongia it was a need to play cricket. “My clear thought is, as a cricketer I want to play cricket. I play club cricket in Chandigarh, in Madras I play in corporate tournaments, I play Ranji Trophy for Punjab, and league cricket in England. Here again I get a chance to play with youngsters who are good, and foreign players.”Mody, the head of the initiative, claimed he knew nothing of the circumstances surrounding Nicky Boje, after announcing his signing. Boje had withdrawn from South Africa’s last tour of India because the Delhi police wanted to question him regarding match-fixing allegations in the Hansie Cronje affair. “I suppose Boje has taken all that into consideration when signing the contract,” Mody said. “He has signed with us and that’s all I know. I’m not aware of these allegations of betting or whatever it is you’re speaking of.”

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

After withstanding a ferocious early onslaught from Bangladesh, SouthAfrica eased to a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the final leaguematch of the ICC World Twenty20. Needing just 145 for victory, GraemeSmith and Albie Morkel made 41 apiece after JP Duminy had set the tonewith an aggressive 36. A huge six from Justin Kemp finished it with sevenballs to spare, but not before Bangladesh had given more glimpses of justwhat a dangerous side they are in this format.Smith and Duminy started fairly sedately, knowing that no great heroicswere needed to keep up with the asking rate. Smith charged MashrafeMortaza and struck two splendid shots down the ground, while Duminyconcentrated on the gaps in the leg-side field. He played the pull withimmense power, while a paddle for four off Syed Rasel showed that he couldfinesse the ball as well.Predictably, Mohammad Ashraful turned to spin as soon as the fieldingrestrictions were lifted, and Abdur Razzaq immediately had a very goodappeal against Smith turned down. Ashraful’s own legspin wasn’t aseffective, and it was Razzaq that delivered the breakthrough, trappingDuminy in front after being clubbed to long-on for a six.Bangladesh couldn’t build on that though, as Morkel, promoted to No.3,smashed the first ball he faced straight back down the ground. Through thecourse of his innings, Morkel revealed just why he’s such a fearedTwenty20 hitter, clearing the midwicket fielder and the rope withridiculous ease. One massive loft off Shakib Al Hasan travelled nearly100 metres into the stands.The target was within reach, when Smith – who had bludgeoned and nudged intypical fashion for his runs – went for a slog-sweep against Shakib. Theball looped off the top edge and Mushfiqur Rahim took a great catchrunning towards square leg. A similarly unnecessary shot from Morkel,thumping Razzaq to Farhad Reza at deep cover, gave Bangladesh a glimmer ofhope, but AB de Villiers and Kemp shut the door with a couple of bigheaves.Bangladesh had started like a runaway train, scoring their first 38 runsin boundaries, but then careered off track. Aftab Ahmed smashed athrilling 36 from just 14 balls, but the overly gung-ho attitude cost themdearly as wickets fell regularly. South Africa’s new-ball pairing of ShaunPollock and Makhaya Ntini came in for a real pasting early on and it wasleft to the likes of Mornè Morkel, Johan van der Wath and Vernon Philanderto rein in the rampant batsmen.The tone was set in Pollock’s very first over with Tamim Iqbal crashingthe first ball through the covers for four. An audacious loft overmidwicket followed, as Bangladesh appeared intent on showing that they hadno respect for lofty reputations.At the other end, Ntini trapped Nazimuddin first ball, but was thenstunned as Aftab nonchalantly thumped sixes over midwicket and mid-off. Aflick for four ended the over, but right after, Bangladesh were two downas Tamim’s charge at Pollock found Smith at mid-off.Ashraful, the architect of that famous World Cup win over South Africa in Guyana, came to the crease and promptly clouted Pollock over square legfor six, before moving across his stumps and flipping him down to fine leg for four. There wasn’t to be any luck the third time though, as a miscued loft straight down the ground was taken by Smith running across from mid-on.The fall of wickets had no effect whatsoever on Aftab though, with Ntinipulled, flicked and driven for fours. In desperation, Smith turned toMornè Morkel, only to see Aftab play a coruscating drive through cover forfour. That was as good as it got though. The next delivery was a beauty,timed at 146.9 km/hr and it took Aftab’s off stump on a long journey.Shakib played some lovely strokes behind point, but then paid the pricefor misjudging a single, caught inches short by Duminy’s brilliant pick-upand throw from mid-off. Consolidation was the need of the hour then, butyou wouldn’t have thought it from the way Mortaza took massive swipes atthe first four balls he faced.The fifth and six he faced, both off Philander, were clubbed for bigsixes, but another almighty heave was then brilliantly taken on the run byDuminy at deep cover. Alok Kapali struggled to eke out 14 from 35 ballbefore another wild heave spelt his end, and it was left to Reza to slamstraight sixes off Pollock and Philander before a miscue was taken by Kempin the deep.That left South Africa the sort of middling target that could have provedtricky to chase under lights, but with the Guyana humiliation no doubtfresh in their minds, they made few mistakes. England are up next onSunday, and a repeat of the rugby result will go down a treat for whatwill undoubtedly be a capacity crowd.

The Canadian team flew out of Toronto on Sunday night, heading for Africa where they face Kenya and Namibia.They are due to arrive in Nairobi late on Monday and will play a warm-up match on Wednesday before the start of their four-day Intercontinental Cup tie on October 12. There are then two ODIs, again in Nairobi, before the side moves down to Namibia on October 21. Once there, they will take part in another Intercontinental Cup game.Canadian Cricket Association (CCA) president Mr. Ben Sennik was at the airport to see of the squad, as were various relatives, friends and some other leading local cricketers, including Abdool Samad and Mohsin Mulla. Sennik is not going to Kenya.Most of the squad play in the Toronto and District Cricket Association. Three players – Qaiser Ali, Abdul Jabbar Chaudrey and Krunalbhai Patel normally take part in the Federation Quebecoise du Cricket/Quebec Cricket Federation.