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Played at an advanced stage of the league phase of the 2003 World Cup, with all sorts of permutations and combinations adding to the pressure of an India-Pakistan tie, this was a game that crackled with tension from ball one almost till the time Rahul Dravid made the hit that brought victory to his side and spent Pakistan spinning ever closer to relegation.Pakistan had played India in each of the three previous World Cups and never won a game, but by the time the 1st of March came Waqar Younis’s side had lost to both Australia and England, and it was time to skip the history lessons and launch a do-or-die effort. India, by contrast, were in a more comfortable position, having won four games out of five, but there could be no loss of momentum in such a crucial tournament.Pakistan won the toss and chose the standard big-game option of aiming to put up runs on the board first, but both teams took time to settle, and play in the opening overs was nervy. Then Pakistan slowly began to break away, led by a veteran of many an India-Pakistan clash, now in the last stage of this career, Saeed Anwar. Even though wickets fell regularly, and Inzamam-ul-Haq, suffering from the leanest trot in his career, was comically run out, Anwar kept the scoring-rate at five an over almost singlehandedly. By the time he was fifth man out at 195 in the 41st over, shortly after bringing up his hundred, Pakistan were well set for a late thrash. They eventually totaled 273. Now history, it seemed, was on their side: India had never successfully chased more than 222 in a World Cup match.The game had been simmering slowly upto this point, but in the first five overs of the Indian response it rose to a boil, and how. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were quickly out of the blocks, taking a boundary each off Wasim Akram’s first over, but the game really took off in the second over, when three balls from Shoaib Akhtar were dispatched by Tendulkar over point for six, through square leg for four, and then down the ground for another boundary.50 was up inside five overs, and Tendulkar, rising to the occasion, was in the most gorgeous touch he had been for some time. Undisturbed by the loss of Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly to successive balls, he lashed the ball to all corners, cutting and pulling viciously and driving powerfully on the up. After 15 overs India were 120 for 2, and Tendulkar had ensured that the run-rate would no longer be a problem for India: now it was all about keeping wickets in hand.Shoaib, returning for a second spell, caught him out just short of a hundred with a well-aimed bouncer that he fended to point, but by this time India needed less than a hundred with more then twenty overs remaining. Dravid, just the right man for such a situation, and Yuvraj Singh, radiating confidence, saw India home by six wickets. But the final margin of victory gave little hint at how tempestuous the drama of the day had been.

Jacques Kallis could miss the first Test against India at Kanpur due to a side strain he suffered during the tour game against the Indian Board President’s XI. He was advised to not take further part in the match, and a media spokesperson for the team said that Kallis’s fitness would be assessed before he would be picked.”He has been advised not to take any more part in the ongoing match,” the BBC website quoted Gerald de Kock, the media spokesperson. “His fitness will be assessed on Wednesday before a decision is taken regarding his participation in the Kanpur Test.”Kallis scored 10 runs off 39 balls before bowling only three overs in the game. His role as a No.3 batsman as well as a quick bowler was seen as pivotal for a largely inexperienced South African side that had struggled to compete recently. Since the start of 2004 South Africa have lost 12 of 18 one-dayers, and have won only two of seven Tests. Kallis’s part was a significant one during the year, for he scored 1585 runs and picked up 22 wickets. Admittedly, the wickets came at the unusually high cost of 43.18.A few days earlier, Kallis had admitted to feeling good about his game. “I have always seen myself as a batsman and bowler. The ball is coming out sweetly, and I am confident of doing well,” he had said to PTI. But his absence would mean that South Africa will have lost a player well-versed with Indian conditions – a futher blow to a side reeling from the late withdrawals of Nicky Boje and Herschelle Gibbs. It was something that Kallis recognised and mentioned only days before the injury. “We have lost experienced players since the World Cup and you can’t buy experience in some supermarket. It takes a while to replace the vacant slots.”

Reacting to a story about the possibility of Muttiah Muralitharan missing cricket for eight to ten weeks, the Australian surgeon who treated Muralitharan’s shoulder downplayed the injury, saying it wasn’t as bad as the MRI suggested.David Young put Muralitharan through an arthroscopy following a scan that revealed a tendon tear, and was pleased with what he found. AAP quoted Young as saying, “I’m rapt. I’m very, very reassured by the scope compared to what the MRI had suggested. It was a quick scope, little more than diagnostic. It’s a partial tear, he doesn’t need it repaired and he will head home on Friday.More reassuringly for fans who missed Muralitharan for much of last year, he added that Muralitharan had a chance of participating in the tour of New Zealand.

Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel have been dropped from Australia’s list of centrally contracted players for 2004-05. The announcement all but ends their international careers, although Cricket Australia has pointed out that uncontracted players would still be considered for selection.”Michael Bevan has been a wonderful player for Australia over many years, particularly in the one-day arena,” said Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors. “However, it was felt that [his] contribution to the one-day side has decreased. We won’t be picking him for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, and therefore we consider it’s time to move on. We’re looking to the future now … it’s time we started to form a core group of players that we think will represent Australia at the next World Cup.”Andy Bichel has played a vital role in our sides over recent times,” Hohns continued. “However, it is fair to say we showed our hand during the summer when he was omitted from various teams in both forms of the game. With the fast bowlers currently representing Australia and the emerging fast-bowling talent around the country, we couldn’t find a place for Andy on the list.”Brad Hodge and Shaun Tait were offered contracts for the first time, and Michael Hussey stayed on the list for the third year. Matthew Elliott was brought back into the fold after a prolific season for Victoria, the Pura Cup champions, while Michael Kasprowicz and Simon Katich were upgraded to full-year contracts.Hohns said weight of runs was the factor that led to Elliott’s recall. “The amount of runs Matthew has scored over the last couple of years we found irresistible,” he explained. “He just demanded inclusion in this list, as did Brad Hodge.”Nathan Bracken, Ashley Noffke and Nathan Hauritz were also dropped from last year’s list, while Steve Waugh retired in January.Contracted players receive a basic retainer fee, besides match fees, tour fees and prize money. The minimum retainer is $140,000, and match fees are $12,100 for Tests and $4850 for one-dayers.Contracted players
Michael Clarke, Matthew Elliott, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Ian Harvey, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Michael Kasprowicz, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Darren Lehmann, Martin Love, Stuart MacGill, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Brad Williams.

Though it ended badly, with a 127-run hammering in Australian hands, BrianLara was fairly satisfied with West Indies efforts over the pastfortnight. And though they have to pre-qualify to defend their ChampionsTrophy crown, Lara was confident that those three matches would help theircause before they came up against the big boys.”I thought in the first half of the game, in the field, the guys workedreally hard,” said Lara, when asked for his thoughts on the match.”Unfortunately, we didn’t get things going in the second half. We lost toomany wickets early on, and put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We havecrumbled in the past in this tournament, and it happened again this timefrom the beginning.”Getting to the final was a plus. We’ve got a week in Malaysia beforegetting to the ICC [Champions Trophy], and we’re going to be trying ourbest there. We are the defending champions and we have to go into that full ofbottle, full of zest, and do ourselves proud.”Lara reckoned that the format might even play into West Indian hands. “Isee it as a good way of going into the tournament,” he said. “Australia,England, and Pakistan will arrive for their first game, but we willalready have had three games going in. That’s a slight plus.”Qualifying for the final here, ahead of a higher-ranked Indian team, wascause for satisfaction. “I do feel that being second-best against twoteams rated higher than us was a good effort,” he said. “I still haveconfidence in the guys, and it’s just a question of working on thephysical, mental, and technical aspects of our game.”It also pleased him that West Indies beat both Australia and India duringthe fortnight even with some players patently out of form. “Some guys arelimited in their skills, and they want to work and enhance their game asmuch as possible,” he said. “We have two or three coaches. We’ve gottrainers, physios, and everyone trying to gel together and ensure not onlythat we win tournaments, but that we get better.”Despite a brittle middle order, Lara was optimistic when asked whatpositives he took from the tournament. “I think Dwayne Smith – we justneed to get his batting together,” he said. “You can see he’s apower-hitter, but we need to get him to spend more time in the middle. Ithink Jerome Taylor improved as the tournament progressed. Chris Gayle hada pretty good tournament. We’ve got five or six in and around form. Thereare other players we have to massage and get together. I still believe inthem.”There was also no fuss over his own dismissal, given out caught after thebat had brushed the pad. “Of course I was disappointed to get out, but thesethings happen,” he said. And though he trudged back slowly, Lara suggestedthat he certainly hadn’t been angling for a recall to the middle. “Whenthe umpire gives me out, I’m not going to go back,” he said, perhapsreferring to the Sachin Tendulkar incident on Friday evening.They may have come up well short today, but on placid Indian pitches withlightning fast outfields, the West Indian batting remains capable ofshocking anyone. And if they can get Corey Collymore fit and into rhythm,they’ll be dangerous floaters in a draw that has several teams strugglingfor a semblance of form.

Jacques Kallis is a slight fitness worry for South Africa as they prepare for the second one-day international against West Indies at Port Elizabeth. Kallis, who scored his fifth century in as many matches during the opening fixture at Cape Town, has been suffering from flu but expects to be passed fit.”Jacques went to the doctor and he’s been given some medicine,” said South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith. “He’ll be able to put his feet up and he’ll be okay for tomorrow’s game.” But even without Kallis, South Africa are overwhelming favourites for the match, after bundling West Indies out for their lowest ODI total of 54 at Newlands, en route to a thumping 209-run victory.”We came into the match thinking we had our best XI, and seven hours later, we were devastated,” said Brian Lara, the West Indies captain. “But it would be bad thinking to make major changes,” he added. “The defeat was one of those things that can happen in cricket.”One change that might be on the cards is a first cap for the Barbadian opener, Kurt Wilkinson. But Lara’s words suggest that he will have to wait his turn.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Boeta Dippenaar, 5 Jacques Rudolph, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Lance Klusener, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 Shaun Pollock, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Makhaya Ntini.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Dwayne Smith, 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Ridley Jacobs, 8 Vasbert Drakes, 9 Ryan Hurley, 10 Merv Dillon, 11 Corey Collymore.

Day 3 ReportFrizzell County Championship Division OneEssex 271 for 6 v Leicestershire 600 for 7 dec at Southend
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Only 16 overs at Southend, but it was enough for Leicestershire to tighten their grip on the game. Charlie Dagnall bowled Antonio Palladino for 5 in the first over of the brief evening session. Andy Flower, however, hung on to remain 125 not out and James Middlebrook hit a sprightly 28 not out before the close. Essex need another 179 to avoid the follow on.There was no play elsewhere in either division due to rain.Surrey 411 v Middlesex 346 for 8 at Guildford
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Jimmy Ormond had a day to remember with four wickets in six balls, including a maiden first-class hat-trick, to give Surrey the edge against Middlesex at Woodbridge Road. To add to his heroics with the ball, Ormond nearly scored what would have been the second fifty of his career earlier in the day as he and Saqlain Mushtaq added a further 36 runs to Surrey’s first innings of 411. Andy Strauss (87) and Sven Koenig (42) then replied in emphatic fashion, putting on 101 for the first wicket. But when Strauss became Ormond’s first victim, Middlesex lost five wickets for only two runs. Ormond’s hat-trick accounted for Ben Hutton, Ed Joyce – who suffered his third golden duck against Surrey this season – and Paul Weekes. And when Owais Shah fell to Martin Bicknell for 22, Middlesex had collapsed to 165 for 6. However, Abdul Razzaq (78) and David Nash (69*) saved them with a stand of 155 as Middlesex closed 65 behind Surrey, and with two wickets in hand.Lancashire 575 for 6 dec v Warwickshire 192 for 8 at Old Trafford
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Glen Chapple continued his sparkling form with the bat – not the mention the ball – as Lancashire took total control over Warwickshire in Manchester. Chapple scored 132 and shared a partnership of 228 with Stuart Law, who ended unbeaten on 236. It was a mammoth effort from Law: the fourth double-hundred of his career and his highest score for Lancashire. He batted for over eight hours in all, and smashed 32 fours and two sixes. Three of the Warwickshire bowlers went for over 100, and Neil Smith had the embarrassment of being despatched for 22 off four consecutive balls. Warren Hegg declared on 575 for 6 and he then took five catches behind the stumps as wonder boy Chapple took 4 for 43 to leave Warwickshire staring at the follow on at 192 for 8.Frizzell County Championship Division TwoNorthamptonshire 325 beat Somerset 96 and 168 by an innings and 61 runs at Northampton
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Somerset lost an astonishing 18 wickets in one day as they crashed to an inning defeat against Northants at Wantage Road inside two days. Resuming on 26 for 2, and 203 behind, Andre Nel and Adam Shantry took three wickets each as Somerset crumbled to 96 all out. And things didn’t go much better second time round. This time it was Jason Brown who starred as he spun out six wickets in Somerset’s second innings of 168. Michael Burns (55) and Ian Blackwell (40) put up some resistance with 83 for the fifth wicket, but once they were both out, Brown made light work of the tail with the last four wickets tumbling for 11 runs. While questions were thrown up about the state of the pitch, ECB inspector Peter Walker afterwards confirmed that although it was, in his opinion, “below average”, he would not be docking Northants any points. He said: “It was a lot of wickets to fall in a day……but you had one side on the top of their form and another at the bottom of theirs.”Gloucestershire 271 v Worcestershire 392 for 7 at Cheltenham
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Ben Smith and Andrew Hall drove Worcestershire into a strong position against Gloucestershire at the College Ground. Resuming the day on 48 for 1, Worcestershire made steady progress to a valuable first-innings lead, despite a mid-innings wobble. Graeme Hick made only nine on his return to the side, caught off Shoaib Malik, and when Anurag Singh also fell to Malik, the score was 103 for 4. However, Vikram Solanki got the show back on the road with a solid 35, before Smith (92) and Hall (73) put on 108 for the sixth wicket as Worcestershire increased their lead to 121 runs.Yorkshire 384 and 23 for 0 v Hampshire 289 at Scarborough
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Simon Katich single-handily rescued Hampshire against Yorkshire at the North Marine Road Ground. Katich likes to reserve his best against his former counties and he saved Hampshire from the depths of 96 for 5 with a gutsy 143 not out, including 20 fours and a six. It was his 19th first-class century and his second of the season, and both have come against his former clubs, Durham and Yorkshire. After polishing off the Yorkshire tail for 384, Hampshire were in immediate trouble as Chris Silverwood (4 for 86) and Steve Kirby (2 for 79) removed four of the top six for ducks. But Katich came to the rescue and with some sturdy support from Shaun Udal (26) and debutant Iain Brunnschweiler (34), Hampshire avoided the follow on. However, they still have some work to do as Yorkshire closed with a lead of 118, and all 10 wickets in tact.Day 2Derbyshire v Durham 434 for 7 at Derby
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Dominic Cork’s decision to put Durham in at the County Ground turned out to look as foolish as his new mullet hair cut as Vince Wells and Nicky Peng cashed in on some wayward bowling. Jonathan Lewis (77) and Michael Gough (36) put on 110 for the first wicket and built the platform for Wells to smash 106 from 112 balls, and for Peng, who in the end fell for 99. It was a long day, and one to forget, for Derbyshire’s bowlers. Kevin Dean went for 0 for 117, and Lian Wharton 2 for 103 as Durham ended on 434 for 7.

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Fluent centuries from Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia combined with the loss of ten overs due to rain gave India B a resounding 82-run win against India A in the final league match of the Challenger Series. India B batted first on a belter of a wicket and piled on a mammoth 340 for 2, which comprehensively shut the door on India A. Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar gave the A side the slightest whiff of hope when they set out to chase a revised target of 308 from 40 overs. But when the two of them were dismissed, the wheels fell off, wickets tumbled and India A were all out for 225.When the day began, warm and sunny, Dravid was glad to win the toss and bat first. Mithun Manhas, who is playing his first game for India A in this tournament, dropped Mongia off the very first ball of the match at second slip. Aavishkar Salvi was the unlucky bowler, and Mongia practically grinned his way to 121 (117 balls, 19 fours). Yuvraj, though needed no help in getting to an unbeaten 111.Yet again, there was nothing in the wicket to aid any type of bowler, and the batsmen realised this early on. After his early reprieve, Mongia put his head down and began to take full toll. His driving through the off was impeccable. He used his height and upright stance to great effect, getting right on top of the ball and driving through covers. Anything on the pads was whipped away and the boundaries began to come at a fast clip.Satyajit Parab (41) made a sensible start, but missed out, driving Kumble to Mohammad Kaif at cover. That was the only blip in the India B innings.Yuvraj Singh swaggered out to the middle at No. 3 and brought confidence and vigour to the batting. He played a lot of cricket with Mongia and knew exactly what to do with the bowling. A high bat speed combined with effective placement sent perfectly good deliveries to the off-side fence. Fielders were left stranded as fiercely-hit balls pinged the advertising hoardings.Mongia meanwhile continued to score freely. When he reached his hundred, the floodgates opened. He went after almost everything that was bowled at him cutting, flicking and driving with gay abandon. Eventually it was an air of overconfidence that did him in. He attempted a reverse sweep to a Kumble slider and was palpably lbw (219 for 2). Mongia’s 121 (117 balls, 19 fours) helped add 118 runs for the second wicket.There was no reason for Yuvraj to improvise though. Swinging cleanly through the line of the ball Yuvraj treated the spinners and pacemen with utter contempt. He played the pick-up shot to perfection, depositing Kumble and Salvi into the stands over midwicket off consecutive overs.The most brutal blow came in the last over of the innings. Irfan Pathan sent one down in the slot and Yuvraj simply teed off. The ball sailed over the bowler’s head and landed on the roof of the stands at long-on. Another six and four followed, taking his tally to 10 fours and four sixes out of 111 off just 82 balls.If India A were sweating at the prospect of chasing 341, their task was made harder when 45 minutes were lost to rain and their target was revised to 308 off 40 overs. Tendulkar (22) and Gambhir (58) got the side off to a frenetic start, reaching 47 from just 4.5 overs. After hooking Amit Bhandari for one magnificent six, Tendulkar presented Dravid at mid-off with the simplest of catches (47 for 1).Gambhir kept hopes up, picking up boundaries with regularity. When he was bowled around the legs by a Sarandeep Singh offbreak, India A slipped to 87 for 2 and never recovered.Mongia (4 for 31) added to Manhas’s and India A’s misery, picking up four cheap wickets as India A limped to 225 all out. India B, the least fancied team in this series won the dress rehearsal comprehensively. The same two teams will be back tomorrow for the final and fans will look forward to a more keenly contested game.

For the first time since England arrived in Sri Lanka two weeks ago, the rains failed to materialise yesterday afternoon. The irony was not lost on the England camp, who had looked on forlornly as the one-day series died the wateriest of deaths on Sunday. Instead, as attention shifted towards the first-class leg of the tour – which begins with tomorrow’s warm-up match against the Board President’s XI – Colombo was being basted in the sort of ferocious heat that England encountered on their previous visit in 2001.England’s 2-1 victory on that trip is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Nasser Hussain’s four-year tenure as captain, and though he is back in the ranks this time around, he was on hand yesterday to remind everyone just how tough the next month is going to be. “This is the most difficult place in the world to play cricket,” he said. “It is harder even than taking on Australia in Australia. The wickets are different to anywhere else in the world. The outfields are slow and, with the heat, you have to work hard for your runs.”Hussain is keenly aware that this is not his show any more, and he was at pains to stress than Michael Vaughan is his own man as captain. Nevertheless, it would be a surprise if England chose to deviate from their tried and trusted game-plan on the subcontinent. “My idea was always to stay in the game,” explained Hussain. “To still be in there on days three and four, when the pressure then shifts to the opposition. Whether it’s the crowds or the expectation that they ought to have beaten us already, they seem to feel the pressure more if you hang on to the end. All our victories came right at the death.”England’s top five are all familiar with the subcontinent, while Andrew Flintoff is a more rounded player of spin than the man who scraped 26 runs in five innings in India two years ago. But Hussain, who has returned from a three-week break after missing the one-dayers, warned that no amount of preparation can make up for time in the middle against the greatest bowler in the world today, Muttiah Muralitharan.”It’s a lovely game for Murali,” said Hussain. “He’s got that touch of genius, and a wicket is always somewhere around the corner. The rest of us have to work at our games. With him, it is never a matter of demolishing his bowling – it’s more a case of keeping him out. If he is going to take five wickets in a innings, make sure those are spread over 50 or 60 overs.””I don’t think there’s any harder job in world cricket, than when you first go out to bat in Sri Lanka, when Murali’s got men around the bat, with the ball spitting both ways out of the footholes. Every wicket out here is different so it’s a case of learning on your feet. As far as preparation goes, all you can really do is visualise your innings – decide what shots you can and can’t play – because the angles he achieves with his offspinners are unique.”If England had it tough in 2001, they were at least a team at the peak of their powers in the bowling department. This time around, however, Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, and even that subcontinent specialist, Craig White, are all missing. “Those guys had a lot of experience,” said Hussain. “They could change their game-plans in a session. In the first Test at Galle, for instance, they came out after lunch and were bowling offcutters. This time we’ve got a lot of inexperience in our team, and you can’t win a Test unless you take 20 wickets.”It will take a repeat performance of the 2001 victory to wrench public attention away from England’s rugby heroes, something of which Hussain was wistfully aware. “It was obviously a great feeling watching that final, but at the same time I couldn’t help wishing we had done the same in our own World Cup. I’ve always felt the country are right behind us wherever we’ve played, and what hurts the most is thinking that you’ve let people down. We would do anything to have that feeling of going home as heroes.”It is a lesson to us all,” added Hussain. “If you put all your plans in place, if you get a great coach in Clive Woodward, and a superstar in Jonny Wilkinson, a good side can become a great one. Cricket, football, it can happen to all of them. From what I’ve read, we got plenty of credit for our victory in Sri Lanka last time. But there are two things that are permanently etched in people’s memories, World Cups and Australia. The rugby boys were very fortunate – they nailed them both in one afternoon!”Those are the two things that I didn’t put right as a captain. Now it’s up to someone else to do so.”

Chris Cairns will not bowl during the forthcoming triangular one-day seriesinvolving New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan after aggravating an old sideinjury.Cairns strained his right side during a recent one-day match forNottinghamshire. He will play as a specialist batsman during the seven-matchtournament.Cairns’ side strain is the latest in a long list of injuries that haveplagued his career. He missed most of the last year after majorknee surgery and has struggled to regain full fitness since."It’s frustrating," said Cairns. “I keep trying to come back all the time but myproblem is that I am coming back in a game and I am not giving myself enoughtime in the nets."You always want to do a good job, be it for your country or county, but Iam not doing justice to myself by playing when I am not ready.""I don’t want to set a time frame on my recovery…I just want to make surethat when I do bowl again in a game that I am fully fit."