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Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers launched a fierce assault that led South Africa to an eight-wicket victory against tournament favourites Australia in a warm-up match at Centurion. Chasing 180, Smith remained unbeaten on 89 while de Villiers smashed 65 off 35 balls as South Africa overhauled the target with five balls to spare.Smith and Herschelle Gibbs raced off in pursuit of the target, adding 54 for the first wicket in 5.3 overs. Gibbs was bowled by Ben Hilfenhaus but South Africa only gained momentum once de Villiers joined Smith. They added 116 for the second wicket in 12.1 overs. Smith’s 89 took 61 balls and included 11 fours and two sixes while de Villiers smacked four fours and as many sixes. Australia used seven bowlers and Brett Lee – 0 for 14 off two overs – was the most economical of them all.Australia had got off to a poor start against New Zealand yesterday when Shane Bond dismissed Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden in the first over and they struggled once again. Shaun Pollock bowled Gilchrist and Brad Haddin off successive deliveries in the third over to reduce them to 16 for 2. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and it was left to Andrew Symonds – 45 off 26 balls – and the lower-order batsmen to take Australia to 179. Pollock finished with superb figures of 2 for 16 off three overs and was supported well by Makhaya Ntini who conceded just 17 off his three.An incredible spell from Daren Powell spearheaded West Indies’ 35-run victory against New Zealand in Benoni. Powell took 3 for 4 off four overs as New Zealand were bowled out for 115 in the 19th over while chasing 151 for victory.West Indies’ defence began superbly when Fidel Edwards had Brendon McCullum caught behind off the first ball of the innings. Edwards and Ravi Rampaul didn’t allow New Zealand to get off to a flier but it was Powell who had the decisive impact with his economy and wickets. He had Lou Vincent caught in the fifth over and then dismissed Ross Taylor and Scott Styris in successive overs. New Zealand were 44 for 4 and never recovered. Peter Fulton top scored with 51, and Daniel Vettori, who made 24, was the only other batsman to reach double figures.The West Indian batsmen also struggled earlier. Devon Smith was dismissed by Chris Martin in the second over and Chris Gayle had to retire hurt with the score on 7 after being hit on the side of his right knee by a delivery from Martin. Gayle had suffered a blow in the same area during practice on September 6. However, his going off was only a precautionary measure, and he is expected to be fit for the match against South Africa on Tuesday. Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo also fell cheaply, effectively reducing West Indies to 22 for 4, although only three wickets had fallen. Dwayne Smith propped up the innings with 47 off 46 balls and received support from Narsingh Deonarine and Denesh Ramdin to take West Indies to 150.

A solid opening stand of 94 between Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez helped Pakistan ease to a five-wicket win against Sri Lanka at Centurion. Butt scored 51 and Hafeez 45 as Pakistan chased down the target of 163 with more than an over to spare.After being put in to bat, Sri Lanka were off to a good start with Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga adding 45 in five overs. Mohammad Asif, who missed the warm-up against Zimbabwe due to a thigh injury, removed Tharanga for 30. Hafeez tied the batsmen down with his offbreaks, conceding 18 off his four overs and picking up two wickets. Sri Lanka lost their way a bit at 80 for 4, before Jehan Mubarak revived the innings, sharing stands of 36 and 41 with Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan respectively.Pakistan responded smoothly thanks to Hafeez and Butt as the seamers came in for a bit of stick. The Sri Lankans managed to pick up a few wickets but by then Pakistan were well on course to victory. Shoaib Malik steered his side home with an unbeaten 34.Kenya upset Bangladesh by six wickets with one ball to spare in the second round of warm-up matches in Benoni. A fantastic effort from Kenya’s bowlers dismissed Bangladesh for only 116 and their top order chipped in to achieve the target in the final over.Steve Tikolo’s decision to field paid off when Thomas Odoyo dismissed two of Bangladesh’s big hitters – Nazimuddin and Aftab Ahmed – cheaply. Tamim Iqbal offered resistance during his 56 off 41 balls that included one six, but he got no support from the other end. Aftab’s 17 was the second highest score in an innings where only three batsmen got to double figures. Odoyo’s spell of 2 for 21 swung the advantage Kenya’s way and he was well backed up by Nehemiah Odhiambo, who took 3 for 37, and Lameck Onyango’s 2 for 19.Kenya approached their small target sensibly with the Obuya brothers – David and Collins – adding 41 in eight overs for the first wicket. They kept abreast with the required run-rate and it was Steve Tikolo who provided the acceleration, during his 36 off 28 balls that helped Kenya over the finish line.Zimbabwe scored a five-wicket victory in their warm-up match against Scotland in Potchefstroom. Scotland scored 155 for 6 in their 20 overs and Zimbabwe chased it down with seven balls to spare.Scotland captain Ryan Watson top scored for his team, scoring 64 off 50 balls with five fours and two sixes. He received support from Navdeep Poonia, who scored 36 off 27 balls, and the pair added 83 for the second wicket. Zimbabwe used eight bowlers and Gary Brent returned the best figures with 1 for 20 off three overs.Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibhabha scored 42 and 43 respectively and laid a solid platform for Zimbabwe’s chase. They added 79 for the second wicket after Brendan Taylor had fallen cheaply. Stuart Matsikenyeri took Zimbabwe through to victory and remained unbeaten on 25 off 18 balls.

Spin me once, shame on you. Spin me twice, shame on me. South Africa went through the Test series calmly picking apart the myth that they wilt in the face of spin. On turning wickets, they rarely looked in any kind of trouble. But suddenly, twice in succession, an inability to prosper against spin has cost them matches.Spin over five days and spin over 50 overs are different prospects entirely. Against Danish Kaneria and Abdur Rehman in the Tests, the objective was to not get out to them, one they achieved so well they eventually scored runs comfortably against them. Against Shahid Afridi and Rehman in the ODIs, where swift runs are a must, South Africa have stuttered.The pair have seven wickets between them and have gone for under 4.5 an over; in these numbers have the games essentially been lost by South Africa. Pakistan’s plan has been simple: prepare a slow pitch and choke the middle overs.”We have seen the conditions after the first game,” said Graeme Smith. “They believe they can beat us on these wickets and their spinners have bowled well. Afridi and Rehman in the middle overs made it difficult for us and that is something we have to look at now and plan against that.”Spin at both ends began from the 30th over onwards, when South Africa were a not unreasonable 111 for 3. But in the subsequent, vital 16 overs, until pace offered relief at one end, they squeezed out only 71 runs and lost four key wickets doing so. Each time, it seemed, they started, they immediately stopped and no real partnerships were forged.The pitch fooled many. Yesterday the general consensus was that it had runs, and plenty of them, in it. Smith had little hesitation in batting when he won his fourth toss out of five on this tour. But after a confident start, when ball zipped off pitch and bat, matters slowed down.”Ten overs into the innings we realised the wicket was getting slow and stopping,” Smith admitted. “I think both teams struggled to bat on this wicket. Pakistan bowled well up front. Their spinners were very good because they got the ball to turn away. We got ourselves back in game but we lost too many wickets at crucial times. Mohammad Yousuf held their innings together and we needed that.”Indeed he might praise Yousuf’s innings for South Africa made every one of those 197 runs count. Smith’s assertion that another 20-30 runs to the total would’ve been very defendable has substance in light of the way they bowled, particularly Albie Morkel. Had one or two throws hit the stumps and one catch been held, even the target they set might have been defended.

“We bowled very well. I just think we needed one or two bigger partnerships in the middle. If we can set 220-250 it will be very difficult to chase on these wickets. We had run-out opportunities and we dropped Misbah-ul-Haq first ball. There are too many ‘ifs’ at the moment that we are not controlling. We are making little mistakes that are costing us. We need to be little more precise with our chances,” said Smith.All well and good and true, but you also wonder whether sending their star of the Test series, Paul Harris, back before the ODIs was such a clever move after all. He took 12 wickets in the two Tests and as much as his bounce and turn, it was his consistency in hitting the right areas and restricting runs that impressed.Johan Botha has done well in spurts, but Harris would’ve offered a different threat. Was Smith just a little rueful when answering the question? “I think Botha has done a good job. It might have been nice to have two spinners but the selectors have given us a team, we have backed it and we have to give the guys their opportunities.”

Nottinghamshire can take very little credit for making Middlesex bat for a second time as they slumped to an embarassing 10 wicket defeat inside 3 days at Trent Bridge.Nothing much went right for Notts after Jason Gallian inserted the visitors on the first morning as a punishing century from the Australian Justin Langer took Middlesex to 412 and full batting points. Notts were then dismissed inside 80 overs in their first innings and made to follow-on 167 runs behind.Resuming on the third morning at 29-0 seamers Angus Fraser and Richard Johnson wiped out the Notts top order in the first hour of play. Fraser picked up the early wickets of Welton and Gallian with successive deliveries and that heralded the start of a steady procession back to the pavilion as the former England player took 4 wickets and Johnson 3 before lunch.The spin of Phil Tufnell accounted for AJ Harris, who had earlier pulled the same bowler for 6, to leave Notts on 128-8, still 39 runs away from making Middx bat again.However, in the first hour of the afternoon session David Lucas and Paul Franks batted sensibly to ensure that Middlesex would have to bat for a second time. Lucas, on the way to beating his previous career high of 25, dominated a stand which grew in confidence and shot selection. The first 50 partnership of the innings necessitated a return for Fraser at the Radcliffe Road End. Though obviously still tired from his marathon unbroken morning spell of 13 overs he managed to end the stand when Franks clipped to Joyce at square-leg.Franks had reached exactly 50, coming off 98 deliveries with 7×4’s. Lucas had advanced to 46 not out but any hopes he had of a maiden half century were instantly dashed as Fraser had last man Matt Whiley caught behind first ball – to complete a pair.Fraser, three days after celebrating his 35th birthday, had taken 6-64 (9-103 in the match) to take the starring role in dismising Notts for 192 in just 60 overs.Requiring 26 runs for victory openers Andrew Strauss and Mike Roseberry saw Middlesex home side 4 overs to lift their side above Gloucestershire at the foot of the Division Two table.

West Indies Under-19 entered the quarter-final of the World Cup in controversial and tense circumstances, as Keemo Paul effected a mankad to claim the last Zimbabwe Under-19 wicket – that of Richard Ngarava – with three runs needed off the final over. Paul ran through the bowling crease without entering his delivery stride and broke the stumps, catching the non-striker Ngarava with his bat on the line while he was standing a couple of steps out of his crease.The two on-field umpires conferred before asking West Indies if they wanted to uphold the appeal, and once it was confirmed that they did, the third umpire was called in and found the batsman just on the line, ending Zimbabwe’s campaign in a game they had to win to make the quarter-final. The dismissal was within the rules of the game.A visibly upset Zimbabwe captain Brandon Mavuta refused to comment on the mankad after the game “We got so close, no comment about it. I don’t have anything to say right now,” Mavuta said. “No comment.”The West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer said he was comfortable with the decision to appeal for the wicket. “I would say yes, cricket is a game of uncertainties, we’ve seen it happen in cricket before, it’s not a big deal for us.””Probably not,” said Hetmyer, when he was asked if he thought if it was in the spirit of the game.The Zimbabwe manager Admire Marodza said the team was unhappy but there was little they could do but console the players because the dismissal was within the rules. “It is too early to comment but we are trying to get emotions under control in the dressing-room. Everyone is disappointed at the loss,” Marodza said. “Rules are rules. We can’t change them and we can’t change what happened. A run-out is a run-out. I don’t think it is anything to protest about. We are not happy about losing the game from such a good position. The way our boys competed, it is an achievement. We are happy how we played in this tournament.”The Zimbabwe coach Stephen Mangongo said he was “disappointed with the way the game ended.””I have debriefed the boys in the dressing room and they were all crying,” Mangongo said. “We have explained that technically the run-out is legal. We left it to the last man and we should not have done that. It was a hard lesson and they have learnt it the hard way.”I am proud of my boys. Restricting the West Indies for 226 on a batting-friendly wicket was a good performance and we were up for the chase. And like any other games, we lost quick wickets under pressure.West Indies coach Graeme West said he felt sorry for Zimbabwe after the game. “I can imagine what they must be going through now. I feel sorry for them because they got themselves into winning positions and then we pulled it back. I share their disappointment.”

Peter Siddle, Victoria’s early hero in the Pura Cup final, battled a severe tooth ache as he inflicted pain on New South Wales at the SCG. Siddle picked up the infection on Friday and was not able to eat during the initial exchanges of the contest, but it could not stop him from taking four wickets on day one and finishing with 5 for 66 as the Blues dropped to 281 early on the second morning.He was forced to leave the field late in the final session for treatment on Saturday, but returned to capture the crucial wicket of Brad Haddin. As soon as he reached the dressing room he was taken to a dentist to deal with the problem.”It’s pretty nasty, one of those ones that might have to be pulled out,” Cameron White, the captain, told AAP. “He was in quite a lot of pain.”He had so many drugs and couldn’t eat and he started to feel really ill as well. So it was a good effort to keep bowling for us. He has gone straight to the hospital now so hopefully some doctor can fix it up, pull them out or something for him. I think he’ll be OK, he’s a pretty tough lad.”Siddle showed no signs of the problem on the second morning and picked up his fifth victim when he had Nathan Bracken caught by David Hussey in the slips. It was his fourth five-wicket collection of the season and his 29th wicket in five Pura Cup games.

A couple of weeks ago you wouldn’t have thought too much while picking Baroda to be the overwhelming favourites over Hyderabad. Nine players had been pouched by the Indian Cricket League, leaving Hyderabad with a gaping hole in the team sheet while Baroda had been in the final four last season where they threatened to gatecrash Mumbai’s party. You would still expect Baroda to come out top on the honours board here but they can expect a fight from the hosts.Young players are filling up the vacancy with merit. Vivek Jaisimha, Hyderabad’s coach, and Kanwaljit Singh, the bowling coach, are sighing in relief at the performance of the young team. Despite yielding the first-innings lead and in a precarious position in the second, following-on, they fought hard to hung on to a draw against Bengal in the first game. Everything clicked in the second game against Punjab, where they came away with a first-innings lead and three points.”This is a young team, full of players who won the Under-22 South Zone title this season. We are not putting any pressure on them and are very pleased by the way the boys are showing hunger to do well,” Jaisimha told Cricinfo. “The target is to finish in the top three of the group and if we get into final four this season it would be great. If the boys carry on the way they are performing we can do it.”The team does have some promising talent. There is Ravi Teja, the dashing opener who has five fifties and a hundred – in a draw against Punjab – from seven games, Anoop Pai and allrounder Amol Shinde. The bowling, especially the spin department, is pretty decent. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner with India A experienced, will lead the attack. He has another promising left-arm spinner, Lalit Mohan, for company. Ashwin Yadav, SM Shoaib and Mohammad Khadar offer hope in the seam department. Daniel Manohar, who cracked a ton in the game against Punjab, offers the much-needed experience in the absence of VVS Laxman.Barada look a very settled side who have traversed the path to success. In Satyajit Parab and Connor Williams, who represented India in an unofficial Test against South Africa in 2001, they have a experienced opening combination. They have just thrashed Bengal by an innings and have the in-form Yusuf Pathan, who hit 183 and took ten wickets in that game, Rakesh Solanki, the top-scorer in the same, and Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner who picked 4 for 23 in the second innings. And then they have Irfan Pathan, a man who would have a point or two to prove after being not considered for the Tests despite the injuries to Sreesanth and RP Singh.But the pitch might thwart him and the rest of the bowlers. It looks loaded with runs and both Paras Mhambrey, Baroda’s coach, and Jaisimha reckon the match will be all about getting the first-innings lead. Both teams have had intensive nets session, spreading over three hours, for the last two days. Unless the pitch turns out to be a devil in saint’s clothes, expect a run-fest.

Daniel Vettori has got his wish of more responsibility after being named captain of the New Zealand squad for the Twenty20 World Championship. Vettori also wants the one-day job after Stephen Fleming stepped down following the World Cup, and the former leader was not included in the 15-man outfit for the tournament in South Africa in September.John Bracewell, the coach, said Fleming had been omitted to allow Vettori the freedom to run the side. “This is the first opportunity for Daniel to captain the team abroad and we wanted to ensure that Daniel and the team were not looking to Stephen for leadership,” he said. “We also thought it would be a good opportunity for Stephen to remain with Nottinghamshire to build towards the longer forms of the game.”The leadership switch was not the only change as the wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, Nathan McCullum and Bradley Scott were included after strong tours of Australia with New Zealand A. “Gareth gets under the ball and hits it a long way,” Bracewell said. “With their complementary skills, we are not going to lose anything if both Brendon McCullum and Gareth play in the same match.”Nathan McCullum is another aggressive lower-order batsman who performed well as a bowler on the A tour and Bracewell has been impressed with his all-round skills. Scott comes into the side instead of James Franklin, who the team management wants to focus on the one-day and Test scenes.”Chris Martin has been included in the squad as our second strike bowler in support of Shane Bond,” Bracewell said. “Batting at the end of the order, it is unlikely that his batting will be exposed in Twenty20 cricket.” Scott Styris has been picked subject to fitness after having back, knee and calf problems during his off-season stint with Durham.On left-arm seamer James Franklin’s omission, Bracewell said that he needed to rectify his action, given his tendency to fall away to the leg side on his delivery stride.”I think we’ve all noticed that there are things in Franky’s action that are not right, so we have decided this is the time to do it,” he told the . “It is tough on him because no one wants to miss out on cricket.”New Zealand squad Daniel Vettori (capt), Shane Bond, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Brendon McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Bradley Scott, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Lou Vincent.

England’s coach, Peter Moores, was left with plenty to ponder at the end of a troubling first day at the University Oval in Dunedin. After watching his probable Test batting line-up crumble for 131 in a mere 40.1 overs, there was little solace to be found in the efforts of his bowlers, who struggled for rhythm against a strong opposition, and conceded a lead of 46 with six wickets still standing at the close.”In general we played a bit loose and we paid the penalty for it,” said Moores at the close of play. “There is not much time now, they have got one more innings and they have got to make the most of any time they get out there. It’s all about getting into that Test-match tempo and getting into that way of playing.”Of particular concern is the form of Andrew Strauss, who was dropped from the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas. He has since been earmarked for the pivotal No. 3 position when the first Test gets underway at Hamilton next week, but with nine runs in two innings on the tour so far, there can be no guarantees that he will hold off the challenge of Owais Shah, who top scored with 96 in the two-day practice match earlier in the week.”We’re still trying to finalise our team,” said Moores. “We’ve had Owais with us for quite a long time, but we’ve not seen much of Andrew. Fortunately he got a hundred in his last game for Northerns last week, but he’s got to do the work to put his name in the hat. We’ve got an idea of our team, but this was a chance to look at our options, and we put a side out that gives us an opportunity to look at players.”One unexpected selection was Chris Tremlett. He had not been included in the original Test squad, but was kept on as cover after the one-dayers when Steve Harmison’s arrival had to be delayed to allow for the birth of his new child. He was given his chance in the starting line-up when Ryan Sidebottom sustained a grade one tear to his left hamstring. “While we’ve still got niggles we want to keep Tremlett on, because it’s obviously a long way to ship someone in,” said Moores. “He has a chance [for the first Test], and he wouldn’t have played in this match if he wasn’t in the frame. Places are still up for grabs in the bowling department, and we’ll take as long as we need to take to identify what our best team is.”That best team need not necessarily include Harmison. Not for the first time, and presumably not for the last, he produced an enigmatic day’s work, returning the unremarkable figures of 1 for 59 from 12 overs. “Steve’s had a challenging 12 months,” said Moores. “Today he bowled better, but he’s still not where he wants to be. He needs to find rhythm and consistency, which he was starting to find at the end of the West Indies series [in June]. But then he got himself injured through no fault of his own and that put him back.”At the moment, we are very conscious he needs to get outside and bowl because he’s not hitting his straps,” said Moores. “Physically he’s fit, but Steve will admit he needs to bowl to get into rhythm, at the moment he’s not had much bowling.” With Stuart Broad and James Anderson both waiting in the wings for their opportunities, Harmison will need to find his form soon. “We have other bowlers who are exciting cricketers,” said Moores, “and it’s a fair scrap to see who gets the Test spot.”

Kenya are not expected to make any changes to their squad for the Intercontinental Cup clash against UAE in Sharjah later this month.The side are due to resume training at the Aga Khan Sports Club on Monday (January 7) but the continuing unrest and political uncertainty following the disputed elections have thrown questions over how much preparation they can expect before leaving for the UAE next Friday.”We were to resume training [on Thursday] but the current situation in the country cannot allow us, it’s even unsafe for players,” interim coach Alfred Njuguna told The Standard. “We have decided to resume on Monday depending on how the situation would be. Before we broke for Christmas holiday, we were basically focusing on physical fitness, but we are now going to embark on serious fielding and batting practices. Despite UAE being underdogs, we are not taking them lightly,”.No decision has been taken over the home tie against Namibia at the end of January but there are already questions being asked about how safe Nairobi is. More than 300 people have died and as many as 250,000 left homeless in continuing violence following the presidential elections.

Marcus Trescothick is adamant his decision to retire from international cricket is binding, contrary to the impression he may have given during an interview on Sky Sports News. Trescothick told the channel he missed the buzz of playing for his country “every day” but clarified on the website that he will not return to internationals.”I have no plans to return to international cricket,” he confirmed, “for all the good reasons that have already been explained at length. I am committed to continuing my career with Somerset and understand that people may wish to try and continually link me with a return to England, but that will just not happen.”Trescothick withdrew from consecutive winter tours to India and Australia after suffering from a stress-related illness, and has not featured in the England set-up since the summer of 2006. Despite seemingly hinting at a comeback, he officially announced his international retirement at the end of March, after pulling out at the last minute from Somerset’s pre-season trip to Abu-Dhabi.All his energies are being concentrated on the start of a new county season with Somerset, but confusion arose when he spoke to Sky Sports News. He appeared to suggest that, at the age of 32, the chance might one day arise for him to pick up where he left off in the international arena. “It’s never an easy decision, of course it’s not,” he said of his retirement. “But I think it was inevitable at that point that it was the best thing to do for all parties.”It was time to move on, draw a line under that part of my life and my career that had gone by, which was great fun but it’s time now to challenge myself in different areas at Taunton and hopefully we can do well and make things happen here.”But Trescothick was asked whether he misses playing for England, to which he said: “Of course I do, every day, and I’ll get that for the rest of my life. The buzz you have from international games in front of a full house at Lord’s is irreplaceable. But you sacrifice that at different times for things which are more important to me. I’ve made the right decision and we’ll move on from there.”As for the future, Trescothick would not be drawn: “We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I’m not going to set targets or deadlines or anything at the moment, I’ll just continue to do the right thing for myself and make sure my health is the most important thing.”