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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

South Africa, inspired equally by their pace attack and opening batsmen, crushed a bedraggled Pakistan by ten wickets in the only Twenty20 international at the Wanderers. After Alfonso Thomas led the bowlers in restricting Pakistan to a meager 129 for eight, Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman launched a spectacular attack against a rusty-looking attack to see South Africa home with 8.3 overs to spare, an absurdly large amount in such a short game.The unbeaten stand between Smith and Bosman was the highest for any wicket in this form of the game and the margin of victory, the most emphatic in Twenty20 internationals. Ahead of a five-match ODI series, due to begin from Sunday, this was as forceful a statement of intent as any.Smith’s good work began early, winning a handy toss and inserting Pakistan in what appeared to be bowling-friendly conditions. Bowlers are meant to be fodder in this format, bowling straight and hoping for the best but they were liberated here. The ball swung and jagged so much, an attack of Shaun Pollock, Thomas, Roger Telemachus, Johan van der Wath and Albie Morkel effectively became spinners on speed.Pollock was beating the bat from the start, making Imran Nazir’s first over back in quasi-international cricket a particularly testing one. It was a brief return, as off the first ball of the second Thomas found Nazir’s edge.Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal, shorn of keeping duties, settled briefly for a 47-run stand. They mixed swipes with boundaries and singles before and when Hafeez pulled an easy six over square leg, Pakistan were progressing well. But that was only a precursor to an almighty totter.Hafeez fell to Pollock, having brought the fifty up. van der Wath came, bringing pretty outswingers with him and had Akmal edging one immediately, giving de Villiers another opportunity to make a difficult catch look simple instead.

Telemachus was getting movement Murali would’ve been proud and with one sharply incoming concoction, he struck Shahid Afridi a painful blow in the groin, forcing him to retire hurt. Just before he finished, Telemachus ended a promising 26-run stand between Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik, either side of a 20-minute rain break. The bowlers continued to swing it, the batsmen to miss it; Morkel kept up the good work a lovely and the remaining batsmen were wrapped up quicker than you could say tail-end bunnies.Whether it was the conditions or the bowling we’ll never know, but when Smith and Bosman came out, they tore into Pakistan. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shabbir Ahmed began tightly but it wasn’t to last.Bosman sparked it, with a 16-run over from Naved-ul-Hasan, the fifth of the innings, inclusive of a fabulous pulled six. It rubbed off onto Smith who tonked 17 off the very next from Abdul Razzaq. Razzaq looked like a man who hadn’t played in two months, dragging the ball short, allowing a pumped Smith to merrily ransack him repeatedly over and through midwicket. Having been so willing an hour or so earlier, Pakistan’s bowlers found the pitch in no mood to be as friendly as it had been to their counterparts, offering little of the swing and none of the bite.As fours and sixes rained down, Pakistan disintegrated, bowling short, serving up no-balls and misfielding with alarming regularity. Akmal continued his appalling catching form, dropping Bosman at long-on, in the ninth over. It hardly mattered that he was an outfielder, the game was up anyway. The openers brought up their fifties, and the team’s hundred in the 10th over, and a few deliveries later sealed an emphatic win. Fittingly, they did so with another six.

Several players from South Africa and Pakistan, who featured in the Under-19 World Cup last month in Malaysia, are part of academy sides to tour Bangladesh in April for the Grameenphone Academy Cup.Fast bowlers Matthew Arnold and Reeza Hendricks along with wicketkeeper Bradley Barnes, who were part of the squad that reached the World Cup final, are part of South Africa’s academy squad scheduled to reach Bangladesh on Tuesday.Pakistan’s Under-19 captain Imad Wasim, along with Adil Raza, Ahmed Shehzad and Ali Asad, has been included in the academy squad which will arrive in Bangladesh on April 14. Batsman Khurram Manzoor, who made his international debut against Zimbabwe last month, is also part of the squad.South Africa squad
Matthew Arnold, Sammy-Joe Avontuur, Bradley Barnes, Richard das Neves, CJ de Villiers, Reeza Hendricks, Rushdi Jappie, Mondli Mahlombe, Mafinki Serame, Mthokozisi Shezi, Abdul Temoor, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Dane Vilas, Neil WagnerPakistan squad
Khalid Latif (capt), Khurram Manzoor, Raheel Majeed, Asad Shafiq, Ali Asad, Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Anwar Ali, Adil Raza, Mohammad Aamer, Azharullah, Imad Wasim, Naeem Anjum (wk), Yasir ShahReplacements for the four-day matches: Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Fawad Alam

Desmond Haynes, the former West Indies opening batsman, is no longer a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) director. And Ricky Craig, whose services as chief executive officer of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) ended in controversial circumstances less than a year ago, is now a member of the local board.Haynes’ place on the WICB is taken by long-standing BCA board member Conde Riley. In a six-man poll to elect two WICB directors at the BCA’s fourth special meeting of members at Sherbourne Conference Centre last night, Riley received 73 votes to join president Tony Marshall, who polled 89 votes, on the WICB.Haynes, elected last year as the BCA first vice-president and a WICB director, got 51 votes. The other candidates were Joel Garner (47), Orson Simpson (34) and Hartley Reid (13). Craig’s election to the BCA board in place of Calvin Hope follows his departure as chief executive officer after his contract was not renewed last October.”I believe we all have to be adults. Adults can put professional and personal differences aside and focus on what is important, which is making sure that Barbados cricket is strong again,” Craig told . “I don’t see disparity between having been CEO of the BCA and now taking up a position on the board. As a matter of fact, it gives some advantages because I know the inner workings of the operation.”In a six-man battle to elect four BCA board members, Riley polled 89 votes, while Craig received 88. Riley, a BCA board member since 1996, surprised some observers with his election as a WICB director. “After the vote for the BCA board, I felt pretty confident. It said to me that the members recoginsed the work I had done before, especially with the lottery when I was the first chairman,” Riley said. “I’ve really worked hard for Barbados’ cricket and the members believe I can contribute to West Indies cricket. In terms of being a director, one of the first things I’d like to see happen is for the contracts dispute sorted out. There is a lot of revenue coming from the World Cup next year and I hope that some of that money could be used to sort this problem out.”The others elected to the board were Wendell Kellman (79) and Anthea Ishmael (67). The unsuccessful candidates were Clyde Griffith (65) and Calvin Hope (58). Vernon Williams and Donna Symmonds were elected to represent the BCA at the annual general meeting of the WICB for the second successive year. Just over 150 BCA members attended the meeting.

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The minnow-bashing was not as brutal as South Africa’s, but Australia motored along like a well-oiled machine and exploded during the final overs to bat The Netherlands out of the match with 358 for 5. After being stranded in the nineties twice this year, Brad Hodge reached his maiden one-day hundred during what was a perfectly paced innings. Defending 359 was always going to be a cake walk and Australia’s battery of fast bowlers was too hot for The Netherlands to handle and they were skittled for 129.The pitch was a belter and Ricky Ponting jumped at the chance of more batting practice. Adam Gilchrist provided the propulsion at the start, but once Australia lost him and Ponting with the score on 116, Michael Clarke and Hodge were impossible to contain during their partnership of 204.Hodge will be fighting for a spot in the XI once Andrew Symonds returns and he was impeccable today. Although both batsmen’s strike-rates were nearly identical when they reached their fifties off successive balls, Hodge soon left Clarke behind.Hodge finished with 123 off 89 balls with seven sixes, one short of equalling Ponting’s World Cup record. He had taken 61 deliveries to get to 50, but in his next 28 hammered 73. His favoured region was the arc between square-leg and long-on, though he sent several over the cover boundary as well. Only after Hodge was bowled by Peter Borren did Clarke step out of his shadow. He biffed three sixes off consecutive deliveries right at the death to make a sprint for his hundred, but with two balls left and eight to get, he took a single and had to settle for 93.

The Netherlands did themselves no favours by dropping both Gilchrist, on 34, and Ponting, who continued where he had left off against Scotland. Fortunately for them Gilchrist holed out on 57 and Ponting (23) was caught and bowled splendidly by Ryan ten Doeschate. If The Netherlands had hopes of an Ireland-esque performance after those quick wickets, Hodge and Clarke gave them a bitter reality check.The Netherlands openers showed stomach for a fight when Bas Zuiderent and Darron Reekers managed 36 for the first wicket at nearly six an over. But when Nathan Bracken deceived Reekers with a slower ball and trapped Alexei Kervezee leg before two balls later, The Netherlands began sliding swiftly towards defeat.They were struggling at 36 for 3 when Glenn McGrath was brought on at first change. Two balls later he nailed Luuk van Troost before making Daan van Bunge his 50th World Cup wicket.All the Australian bowlers used got wickets and Shane Watson didn’t even get an over. There were encouraging signs for Brad Hogg, who used his googlies and quicker balls to bamboozle the clueless Dutch tailenders. He picked up 4 for 27 as The Netherlands folded with 23.1 overs to spare.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOn a slow Harare surface, India wrapped up the ODI series with a performance that was pragmatic if never thrilling. The batting struggled to get out of third gear, but an opening partnership of 112 between Ajinkya Rahane and M Vijay ensured the bowlers had a solid total to defend. A target of 272 may have produced a tighter contest against a stronger batting side, even on a pitch as sluggish as this one, but it was more than sufficient to beat this Zimbabwe side by a handy margin.The approach of Rahane and Vijay looked dour, even dull at various points during their partnership, but the reasoning behind it was sound. The wisdom of it became apparent when Zimbabwe batted. At the 20-over mark, they were 79 for 3. India had been 78 for 0.Chamu Chibhabha had batted like the India openers, playing the percentages and going after only the loose balls – such as when he cut and flicked a wayward Dhawal Kulkarni for three successive fours. Three other top-order batsmen had fallen to unwise shots – Vusi Sibanda had driven away from his body; Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura had pushed hard at the ball outside off stump.Bhuvneshwar Kumar had dismissed the latter two, finding a bit of away nibble and a bit of extra bounce. He hadn’t swung the ball as extravagantly as he sometimes does, and had mostly only moved it away from the right-handers, but he had probed insistently in the corridor in a first spell that produced figures of 6-3-19-2. He came back and took the last two wickets to finish with his second four-wicket haul in ODIs. The wicket of Masakadza was his 50th.Needing close to six-and-a-half runs at the 20-over mark, Zimbabwe’s chase slowly fell away. Chibhabha went on to make 72, but there was little else that genuinely challenged India. The biggest partnerships of the innings were both worth 52 – the first between Chibhabha and Sean Williams when Zimbabwe needed to recover from 43 for 3; the second between Richmond Mutumbami and Graeme Cremer for the seventh wicket when the match was already lost, more or less.After being sent in to bat, Rahane had expected early help for the fast bowlers. “There will be slight movement initially and if we take our time [the pitch] will be good to bat on,” he said.The conditions partly explained India’s slow start, as perhaps did their fear of avoiding a collapse like the one that had left them 87 for 5 in the first ODI. But Rahane and Vijay also seemed to be finding their feet against the new ODI field regulations.The removal of the batting Powerplay and the addition of an extra deep fielder in the last 10 overs have added more pressure on openers to score quickly, but it has become more difficult for them to do so, with catching fielders no longer mandatory and fewer gaps to pierce in the 30-yard circle in the first 10 overs.Zimbabwe’s new-ball attack posed little threat to the well-being of India’s openers, but they were accurate, and with Rahane and Vijay showing no inclination to take risks, the scoring-rate remained sedate. Vijay kept playing good-looking drives and punches straight to off-side fielders: till the 10th over, he only scored one run on that side of the pitch.Rahane was a little more brisk early on – he creamed Brian Vitori and Neville Madziva for three fours through the covers in the first seven overs, capitalising whenever he was given width – but he grew becalmed as his innings progressed. Having scored 18 off his first 21 balls, Rahane only scored 45 off his next 62.After Chibhabha dismissed Rahane in the 26th over, finding his leading edge as he looked to work him across the line, Vijay and Ambati Rayudu gave the innings a bit of urgency. Rayudu whipped the legspinner Cremer wide of mid-on and hoicked Vitori to the midwicket boundary; Vijay lifted Chibhabha and Vitori for effortless sixes down the ground in successive overs.The partnership gave India 47 off 45 balls, and the next one, between Rayudu and Manoj Tiwary, 44 off 51. India entered the last 10 with eight wickets in hand, but both set batsmen went within four balls of each other.Rayudu had been lucky to survive so long, having been given not-out to a very good lbw shout from Chibhabha on 16 and dropped at long-on off Masakadza on 26. In the 41st over, he came down the track to Sikandar Raza and holed out at deep midwicket. In the next over, Tiwary flicked Donald Tiripano straight to short fine leg.With seven-and-a-half overs left to play, Robin Uthappa, Stuart Binny and Kedar Jadhav found the boundary with enough frequency to ensure India crossed 250 with wind in their sails, but the momentum fizzled out right at the end, with the last two overs producing only 15 runs for the loss of three wickets.

Younis Khan, the Pakistan captain, and Bob Woolmer, their coach, haveadmitted that they were “very disappointed” with the events that led to acouple of their players testing positive for banned substances, addingthat they would have to accept part of the responsibility for the same.Both refused to divulge too many details but said that the team couldn’tafford to be bogged down by this setback, especially before their crucialChampions Trophy opener against Sri Lanka tomorrow in Jaipur. Younis, while denyingspeculation about a third player coming under the scanner, admitted that thenews had come as a jolt but hoped that his team could pick themselves upand raise their game in tomorrow’s clash.Interestingly it was Woolmer who’d mooted the idea of testing players fordrugs – when the ICC officially instituted random dope tests for theChampions Trophy. “I instituted the idea of having our players tested fordrugs to try and obviate anything that might happen at a particular venueor tournament,” he told the media in Jaipur. “So we asked the medicalpanel to give the players drug tests – which they did at the end ofSeptember. So I take responsibility for that.”This is the first time that drug testing is officially instituted by theICC,” he continued. “Therefore we thought we’ll pre-empt that by having tosee what the players were doing. In a coach’s life, you prepare. The teamplays on the field, but you try to prepare the team. You try and make theenvironment to the best it can be, you try and give the players the bestopportunity you can. So what we need to do is to test our players – infact 25 players were tested – and unfortunately, the timing was not right,but there we are. If it’s going to happen, it happens.”However, he refused to be drawn into discussion about the exact reasonbehind the players taking banned substances. “I’ve been involved withProfessor Tim Noakes at the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town on theseparticular issues,” he continued, “and I do understand what happens. Theimportant thing is that the Pakistan Cricket Board will make a statement and let’s leave it at that for now.”Younis, who clarified that the delay in sending the results of the testsmeant the news broke on the eve of their first game, echoed the sameviewpoint. “In today’s situation, players take any small thing and itturns out to be a banned substance,” he said. “It’s all our responsibility- players, management. Hopefully it won’t happen again.”For a team that’s been shrouded in controversy over the last three months,the Champions Trophy couldn’t have got off to a more inauspicious start.Yet, Woolmer had no doubt that they would “rise to the challenge”.”We haven’t discussed this as a team yet as the events have happened veryquickly from yesterday to this morning,” Woolmer reflected. “We will besitting down with the team this evening and will chat it through. I’mpretty confident that the team will take any adversity in their stride andthey’ll rise to the occasion and play good cricket tomorrow. We have toput these issues behind us, as we have with all the other issues and get onwith playing cricket, because that’s our job, that’s what we’re paid to doand that’s what we have to do. We’ll make it very clear that we’re goingto go out there and fight very hard. It’s very important for us to try andgain two points against Sri Lanka tomorrow.”It’s been a tough few months for Woolmer, who’s had to experienceconsiderable turbulence as the Pakistan coach. He admitted that it was aunique journey – when asked if he thought about quitting the job – addingthat his love for the game was keeping him going. “There are a lot ofthings that go through your mind when these things happen,” he explainedemotionally. “One thing that holds me is that I love the game of cricket.I’ll be more excited tomorrow to get on the field and play some cricket. Iwill be honest – I haven’t come across anything like this in my life, itwill be a wonderful experience for me, it is a wonderful experience forme. It’s difficult to understand why it’s happening but it is happening,and therefore I have to deal with it as it happens. But I enjoy cricket, Ilove cricket and cricket is my first passion and only passion. I do thisjob because of that reason so whatever happens, happens.”

ScorecardSarfaraz Khan and Ricky Bhui during their match-winning partnership•PTI

A tight bowling performance followed by Sarfaraz Khan’s unbeaten 59 steered India Under-19s to a comfortable seven-wicket win in the tri-series final against Bangladesh Under-19s in Kolkata. Bangladesh collapsed to 116 in 36.5 overs, after which India reached the target in just 13.3 overs.Opting to bat, Bangladesh were rescued briefly by a third-wicket stand of 54 runs between Joyraz Sheikh and Nazmul Hossain Shanto after the openers fell early. The Indian attack, led by left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar, then rocked the Bangladesh middle order, reducing them to 96 for 6 from 67 for 2. As many as four Bangladesh batsmen were dismissed for ducks as they lost their last eight wickets for 49 runs.Jaker Ali’s 24 was the only resistance India faced after the third-wicket partnership, as no batsman apart from Joyraz, Shanto and Jaker crossed double-figures.India chased down the target with rather ease despite losing three early wickets in the space of 12 balls. Ricky Bhui then combined with Sarfaraz to post an undefeated 75-run partnership that saw India through.

Herschelle Gibbs, the South African batsman, has been declared fit and will be part of the one-day squad for the second and third matches against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town on Friday and Sunday.Gibbs had hurt his knee during the second Test in Centurion, which South Africa won by an innings and 59 runs to wrap the series 2-0. He missed the Twenty20 international and the first one-dayer in Durban, which South Africa won off the last ball to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.”Shane Jabaar [the team physiotherapist] told me that Herschelle came through his fitness test very well and could have played as early as today [Wednesday],” Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, said.Morne van Wyk, who was called up as cover for Gibbs, was released from the squad and would play for the Eagles in their Supersport Series match against the Warriors in Bloemfontein on Thursday.

Eddie Crush, who played for Kent for four summers after the war, has died at the age of 90. At the time of his death he was the county’s oldest surviving player.Crush was an offspinner, although he sometimes bowled seamers, and lower-order batsman who will best be remembered for dismissing Don Bradman in the county’s fixture with the Australian Invincibles late on the 1948 tour.He was also a war hero, winning the Military Cross for his part in the D-Day landings in 1944 as a subaltern in the Royal Engineers. Part of his Military Cross citation said: “As a result of his courage and determined leadership, anti-tank guns, troops and an anti-tank regiment of the Royal Artillery were able to get up to the objective for consolidation at a very early stage in the battle.”

Durham 72 for 7 (Plunkett 30*, Bichel 4-22) beat Essex 71 (Bichel 25, Plunkett 4-15, Killeen 3-9, Gibson 3-21) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Low-scoring matches are often not short of drama, and that was certainly the case at Riverside where Durham scrambled into the Friends Provident Trophy final, their first big day at Lord’s. They beat Essex by three wickets with more than half their overs to spare, but that hardly scratches the surface.After a delayed start, Neil Killeen and Ottis Gibson ripped through Essex, exploiting a damp pitch and some indifferent batting. From the moment Gibson had Alastair Cook caught behind for 0 off a thin edge in the second over, the innings fell apart.By the time Steve Harmison was called into action Essex were 36 for 6, and in his second over he conceded the first boundary of the innings. But Plunkett came on as second change and blew away the tail with a career-best 4 for 15, Andy Bichel offering the only significant fight.If Durham thought that chasing 72 was a doddle, then two early strikes from Bichel and one from the on-loan Martin Saggers had the home supporters on the edge of their seats. A mini revival hit the rocks when Graham Napier grabbed two quick wickets to reduce Durham to 38 for 7.Plunkett then took charge and dominated a vital eighth-wicket stand of 34 – the biggest of the match – with Gibson. But Essex should have taken another wicket within one run of Plunkett’s arrival when Danish Kaneria dropped a chance at mid-on from a chipped drive by Gibson. Their frustration multiplied when later in the same over Napier bowled a no-ball and Plunkett smashed the free hit for a massive straight six.From then on Plunkett ground Essex down and it was fitting that he cracked Saggers for four through the covers to seal a remarkable win.