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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.

Newcastle United journalist Dominic Scurr has now spotted that Fabian Schar was also absent from training alongside Allan Saint-Maximin.

The Lowdown: No Saint-Maximin again

Saint-Maximin has been out for the St. James’ Park faithful’s last not been pictured in training ahead of their next match at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon is certainly worrying.

However, he was not the only absentee, begging questions over how many players Eddie Howe has available for the visit of the Seagulls.

The Latest: No sign of Schar

Taking to Twitter, Scurr also noticed that Schar was not pictured in training either, raising concern over whether he will now be available against Graham Potter’s men:

“Fabian Schar also not pictured in training this week. Unsure why at this stage. The Swiss defender has been in fine form for #NUFC recently.”

The Verdict: Worry

To potentially lose Schar as well as Saint-Maximin for the weekend would certainly be a worry for the North East club, especially given his form.

They have not lost in the last benched.

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Nonetheless, it will have to be confirmed by Howe why Schar was absent, and hopefully he will be still fine for the clash.

In other news, find out what ‘brilliant’ Magpies update Mehrdad Ghodoussi has now revealed here!

Kevin Pietersen will be available to bat in England’s second innings in Kandy despite breaking a bone in his finger.Pietersen suffered the break to his right little finger during Sri Lanka’s first innings and has not been on the field at all during their second innings. However, as he sustained the blow during the match he will be able to bat in his usual position because the rules state that it is an “external” injury.Had he pulled a muscle, however, or suffered any other type of internal injury he would have not been able to bat higher than No. 7.

Scorecard

Dan Marsh celebrates a wicket as New South Wales struggled © Getty Images

Tasmania survived a late mini-collapse to keep their season alive with a three-wicket win at Sydney’s Telstra Stadium. In a match reduced to 45 overs a side due to early rain, the Tigers got to 4 for 150 chasing 182 when they lost 3 for 10 as they pushed for a bonus point. But New South Wales were unable to make the final breakthroughs required and Damien Wright and Xavier Doherty carried the visitors to victory.Doug Bollinger (3 for 30) removed Travis Birt and Dan Marsh within three balls to give the Blues a sliver of hope but their failure to take early wickets cost them dearly. Tim Paine and Michael Di Venuto survived some excellent swing bowling by Bollinger and Moises Henriques and built an opening stand of 66 before Nathan Hauritz dismissed Di Venuto for 32.Paine top-scored with 43 and George Bailey entertained the crowd with 42, including two huge sixes before the match petered out to a regulation Tasmania win. The Blues let themselves down in the field and should have had Bailey on 9 when he lofted Henriques into the covers but the confused Dominic Thornely and Ed Cowan each thought the other was going for the catch.The Tigers had the huge advantage of winning the toss and sending New South Wales in on a pitch that was dampened by rain as play started an hour late. Phil Jaques made a partial return to form with his first limited-overs half-century since November – his last was also against Tasmania – as he anchored the New South Wales innings with 54. David Warner provided a rare highlight when he lofted Marsh over the bowler’s head for six to get off the mark in his FR Cup debut.Marsh said Tasmania knew they required a bonus point at some point in their next few games to reach the final. “We were just behind the eight-ball and we just kept losing wickets,” he said. “We had a go, we thought it was a good opportunity to get a bonus point after getting them out for 180.”

Andre Nel complained to Graeme Smith after he was subjected to racial taunts at Sydney © Getty Images

South Africa have complained of another incident of racial abuse by a spectator against Andre Nel during the third day of the final Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.Nel was fielding close to the boundary and reported the taunts to Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, who informed the match umpires. They in turn reported it to Chris Broad, the match referee. All three Tests in the current series have been marred by racist incidents.”None of the team minds any form of abuse because it happens in any country, the home side really gets behind it,” said Mickey Arthur, South Africa’s coach. “But we feel once it becomes a racist taunt then the boundaries are being overstepped and the South African team categorically deplores that type of behaviour.”Peter Young, the Cricket Australia (CA) spokesman, said that CA had a zero tolerance view to racism and had sent extra security staff to the section of the crowd but were unable to identify the culprit. Ground authorities reminded the crowd with a public announcement and a notice on the electronic scoreboard that such behaviour was unacceptable.”We made our point again and it has been reported and I’m sure it’ll be dealt with through the right channels,” added Arthur. “I don’t think we can do too much more other than just make our point that we categorically deplore it and we do feel that boundaries are being crossed when that sort of thing transpires out there. A lot of it’s been light-hearted and a lot of it’s been really good and that type of barracking is acceptable and beefed him [Nel] up. Everyone boos when he (Nel) comes on but I think he’s going to leave Australia as one of the more popular guys. It’s a bit of a love-hate relationship.”In the first Test at Perth, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Garnett Kruger and Shaun Pollock were taunted in Afrikaans as “kaffirs” or “kaffir brothers”. This prompted Ali Bacher, former South African captain and chief executive, to call for life bans for offenders. In the second Test in Melbourne a man was ejected from the ground for making racist and offensive comments towards Nel.

The Oval will host a Twenty20 match between Asia and the Rest of the World on June 20 to raise money for the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami. The game has been given the go-ahead by the ICC and the ECB, and Brit Insurance, the ground sponsor, has pledged a “significant donation.””We are delighted to be able to play a small part in helping to rebuild the shattered lives of the victims of this terrible disaster,” said Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive. “A large number of our Asian friends and supporters will have an opportunity of seeing some of their greatest heroes in the first Twenty20 event of its kind.”The match at The Oval is just one of the several that have been organised to help the tsunami relief efforts. On January 10, Melbourne hosted a one-day international between Asia and the Rest of the World which raised more than £6 million for tsunami relief. And later this month, New Zealand are set to play a World XI captained by Shane Warne to fill the gap created by the Sri Lankan team that has returned home to help their countrymen who have suffered the effects of the tsunami.

Stephen Fleming has clarified that his photo shoot for a liquor firm in Rajkot was part of a contract, and that he had no intention of causing offence to the people of Gujarat, a state where liquor is prohibited. The incident sparked off controversy, with politicians claiming Fleming’s action to be an "insult" to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.”I wasn’t aware of the impact it would have on the culture and I apologise if it’s offended anyone,” he said. “It was just a photo shoot in plain clothes near a dam.” Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand team manager, echoed those sentiments: “There was no offence intended or implied against state regulations or any historical figure.”Earlier, the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had both criticised Fleming. “This is a dry state, the birthplace of Gandhiji who is the father of the nation," said a spokesman for the Congress Party. "Fleming should not have done the advertisement here.” Raju Dhruv, an official of the ruling BJP, was equally critical. “Cricket is hugely popular in our country and any visiting team should keep in mind Indian sentiments while playing here.”