Report
Hayden stars on a day of hard slog
Matthew Hayden made history by getting to 30 Test centuries faster than anyone else, but the overall theme on the third day was slowness, with a usually dominant Australian batting line-up stymied by some disciplined and committed bowling from the Indians
Australia 3 for 322 (Hayden 103, Ponting 79*, Jaques 60, Clarke 37*) trail India 526 by 204 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Matthew Hayden made history by getting to 30 Test centuries faster than anyone else, but the overall theme on the third day was slowness, with a usually dominant Australian batting line-up stymied by some disciplined and committed bowling from the Indians. Ishant Sharma epitomised that with a magnificent spell of 9-2-10-1 after lunch, and Hayden's wicket was rich reward.
But a dogged innings from Ricky Ponting and his unbeaten 81-run partnership with Michael Clarke ensured that there would be no danger of India enforcing the follow on. They ended the day still 204 adrift of India's 526, with the run-machine having been reduced to a relative crawl.
Full postUAE left hoping for a captain's innings
Namibia ended the third day of their Intercontinental Cup tie against UAE in Sharjah in a commanding position after reducing the home side to 44 for 2 after setting them a target of 337
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2008
UAE 224 and 44 for 2 need another 293 runs to beat Namibia 164 and 396 (Botha 104, K Burger 76, Kotze 66, Khan 6-98)
Scorecard
Scorecard
Namibia ended the third day of their Intercontinental Cup tie against UAE in Sharjah in a commanding position after reducing the home side to 44 for 2 after setting them a target of 337.
Namibia, who fought back well yesterday after conceding a first-innings lead of 60, started on 164 for 3 and soon lost Dawid Botha, their Under-19 captain, shortly after he had completed his hundred. When Louis Botha followed with the score on 207, Namibia were five down and only 147 ahead.
But the lower middle-order and tail more than doubled the lead. Bjorn Kotze played the anchor innings with a dogged 66 and he received excellent support from Tobias Verwey and Kola Burger. It was Burger who really floored UAE as he smashed 76 including ten fours and two sixes in an eighth-wicket stand of 107 with Kotze.
Full postSorry West Indies a distant second best
On paper, the margin of South Africa's win over West Indies in the second ODI at Newlands was considerable, but even that doesn't give a clear idea of how much West Indies lacked intent and never even tried to win
The Bulletin by Martin Williamson
25-Jan-2008
South Africa 255 for 9 (Smith 86, Duminy 68, Taylor 4-34) beat West Indies 169 (Chanderpaul 54, Morkel 4-36, Pollock 2-13) by 84 runs
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How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Once Graeme Smith and JP Duminy had steered South Africa to 255 for 9, West Indies seemed to throw in the towel and even the TV commentators, usually the last to admit when a game has reached the pointless tediousness stage, were calling it way before the end. The final third of the match was utterly uncompetitive, and it was only that the bulk of the 17,500 crowd were happy with watching their side thump a substandard opposition that the old ground wasn't empty long before the finish.
On this performance it is hard to see how West Indies can get back into a series they are already two down in with three to play. They were a bowler and a half light, their batting was flimsy and their fielding again let them down under pressure. As if things couldn't get worse, already without Chris Gayle they now face losing Shivnarine Chanderpaul who was reduced to a hobble by an unspecified leg injury.
Full postPerera and Chandimal star in convincing Sri Lankan win
An unbeaten 93 from Ben Brown helped rebuild England's innings and steered them to a 16-run win over Pakistan in the Under-19 triangular tournament in Colombo
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2008
Sri Lanka U-19s 212 for 3 (Perera 66, Chandimal 65) beat England U-19s 208 for 7 (Taylor 43, Wood 43) by seven wickets
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Scorecard
Sri Lanka Under-19s cruised to a seven-wicket win against England Under-19s in the third match of the triangular series being played in Colombo. Chasing 209, they cantered home with more than 11 overs to spare after a second-wicket stand of 106 between Kushal Perera and Dinesh Chandimal .
Chandimal, the wicketkeeper, and Dilshan Munaweera added 68 in eight overs for the first wicket as Sri Lanka sped out of the blocks in their chase. Munaweera clubbed six fours and three sixes in a 32-ball 45 before being bowled by James Goodman but the momentum was firmly with Sri Lanka.
Chandimal and Perera continued the comfortable progress with a pair of composed half centuries, adding 106 in 23 overs, as England's bowlers laboured to find a breakthrough. Alex Wakely used seven options, however by the time Hampshire's Liam Dawson struck, the match was a lost cause.
Full postDavis defies Bollinger with century
Liam Davis outshone his more-fancied top-order colleagues with a century in his second match but Doug Bollinger's five wickets helped New South Wales fight back late on the first day in Sydney
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2008
Western Australia 6 for 312 (Davis 116, Voges 84, Langer 54, Bollinger 5-69) v New South Wales
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Scorecard
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Liam Davis outshone his more-fancied top-order colleagues with a century in his second match but Doug Bollinger's five wickets helped New South Wales fight back late on the first day in Sydney. Davis, a late addition to the side, posted 116 and at the close Western Australia had 6 for 312, with Marcus North unbeaten on 13 and Aaron Heal (2) falling on the final delivery.
The Warriors were well on top at 2 for 278 when a late rally from Bollinger with the new ball changed the situation significantly. Bollinger collected three wickets in five overs, the first of which was Davis lbw, ending a five-hour innings that would never have happened but for Shaun Marsh's late withdrawal with a hamstring injury.
Full postEngland's Ashes tour off to horror start
England arrived in Australia full of hope and expectation but fell to a thumping nine-wicket defeat to Victoria in the first warm-up
Cricinfo staff
25-Jan-2008
Victoria 1 for 143 (Haynes 50, Edwards 63*) beat England 137 by nine wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
England arrived in Australia full of hope and expectation but with a good deal of winter rust still to shake off, proven by a thumping nine-wicket defeat to Victoria in the opener on Thursday in Melbourne.
Their far-from-polished display, against a state team who came second from bottom in their domestic league, was possibly grounds to worry, but also explained perhaps by not having played any outdoor cricket for six months as a team. Then again, nearly half the side have been out in Australia playing grade, and sometimes state, cricket.
The visitors batted, then, and were rolled for 137, with Jenny Gunn the topscorer 29 from 77 balls. Gunn has been playing for Sydney and South Australia, while Lydia Greenway, who has also been Down Under for the last four months, made 20. Beth Morgan has also spent her winter here so far but she made just 1, while fellow opener Sarah Taylor reached 21.
Full postPlucky India grind down sloppy Australia
The story of the day was India's spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. They didn't break through with the ball, but a 107-run partnership with the bat helped push India past the 523 they made in their last Test here
Australia 0 for 62 (Hayden 36*, Jaques 21*) trail India 526 (Tendulkar 153, Kumble 87, Harbhajan 63, Sehwag 63, Laxman 51, Johnson 4-126, Lee 3-101) by 464 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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More than 20,000 walked through the turnstiles, many of them hoping to see a Sachin Tendulkar double-century, and a strong riposte from the home side. But Tendulkar fell for 153 halfway through the morning, and Australia's opening batsmen got only 21 overs to show off their wares.
One setback India may face on day three is not having RP Singh in their attack as Australia chase their first-innings 526. RP hobbled off the field clutching his hamstring after bowling four overs. He was examined at a local hospital and is unlikely to bowl on Saturday.
Full postBrown comes to England's rescue
An unbeaten 93 from Ben Brown helped rebuild England's innings and steered them to a 16-run win over Pakistan in the Under-19 triangular tournament in Colombo
Cricinfo staff
24-Jan-2008
England U-19s 213 (Brown 93*, Redfern 59, Aamer 4-29) beat Pakistan U-19s 197 (Salahuddin 56, Dawson 3-47) by 16 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
An unbeaten 93 from Ben Brown helped rebuild England's innings and steered them to a 16-run win over Pakistan in the Under-19 triangular tournament in Colombo.
Brown arrived in the middle with England in disarray on 44 for 5 but he added 105 for the sixth wicket with opener Dan Redfern who had stood alone while the top order folded. Brown received good support from the tail as England finished on 213.
Pakistan also lost regular wickets but with the exception of 56 from Usman Salahuddin, there was nobody able to play an anchor innings and their chase was further undermined by some tight bowling which saw them add only 35 runs between the 30th and 40th overs.
Full postMithun and Nadimuddin tons set up Bangladesh U-19s win
Mithun Ali and Nadimuddin slammed centuries to set up Bangladesh Under-19s convincing 111-run win over Nepal U-19s
Cricinfo staff
24-Jan-2008
Bangladesh U-19s 302 for 4 (Mithun Ali 142, Nadimuddin 118) beat Nepal U-19s 191 for 8 (Mandal 48) by 111 runs
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Wicketkeeper Mithun Ali and left-hand batsman Nadimuddin slammed centuries for Bangladesh Under-19s to set up a convincing 111-run win over Nepal Under-19s in the first one-dayer at the Khulna Divisional Stadium.
After being sent in, Bangladesh were in a spot of bother, losing two wickets to medium-pacer Paras Khadka. However, from that stage onwards Bangladesh were in control of the match with Mithun and Nadimuddin putting on a massive 261 runs for the third wicket. Mithun struck 14 fours and three sixes in his 137-ball 142 while Nadimuddin carted 13 boundaries in his 134-ball 118. Their superb partnership saw Bangladesh set a daunting target of 303 for Nepal, who did themselves no favours by bowling 18 wides. Of the seven bowlers Nepal employed, only their opening bowlers, Khadka and Amrit Bhattarai, managed to keep their economy-rates below six.
Nepal's chase got off to a poor start as Mahesh Chhetri was run out with only four runs on the board. A 65-run stand followed between Anil Mandal and Gyanendra Malla but their sedate pace of scoring stymied Nepal's chances of overhauling the target. Mandal and Khadka then stitched together another slow and steady partnership of 59 runs from 97 balls. A flurry of wickets saw the visitors stumble to 139 for 5 and despite being gifted 33 extras, Nepal fell well short of their target, mustering only 191. Barring wicketkeeper Mithun, all of Bangladesh's players bowled during Nepal's innings.
Full postBotha leads Namibia fightback
Namibia fought back strongly on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup clash against UAE in Sharjah, dismissing the hosts for 224 and gaining a lead of 104 by stumps. Dawid Botha, the opening batsman, was unbeaten on 96 at the close
Cricinfo staff
24-Jan-2008
Namibia 164 and 164 for 3 (Botha 96*) lead UAE 224 (Saqib 104, Klazinga 3-43) by 104 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Namibia fought back strongly on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup clash against UAE in Sharjah, dismissing the hosts for 224 and gaining a lead of 104 by stumps. Dawid Botha, the opening batsman, was unbeaten on 96 at the close.
At the start of the day, UAE were nicely positioned to launch a late-innings onslaught to extend their lead but Ahmed Raza fell early on to dampen their hopes. Saqib Ali - who resumed on 72 - found stodgy support in Zahid Shah, with whom he put on 56 for the eighth wicket and, in turn, brought up his hundred.
Saqib's dismissal, to a Michael Durant offbreak, for 104 prompted a predictable tailend crash as UAE slipped from 220 for 7 to 224 all out, taking a first-innings lead of just 60.
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