Report

Batsman Scott Meuleman has made an amazing recovery from a dislocated shoulder and will play for Western Australia in the ING Cup match against New South Wales at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.

The return of Meuleman, who injured his left shoulder in the first over of Western Australia's opening match on October 15, is a big boost for the side that has missed his tenacious defence and sweet timing at the top of the order. The only change to the team that took on Tasmania was Beau Casson, the left-arm wrist spinner, replacing Aaron Heal, the left-arm orthodox spinner.

New South Wales have named an unchanged team to the one that lost to Tasmania on Sunday. The Blues were beaten by three wickets despite an impressive debut from the spinner Jason Krejza, who took 3 for 45. Krejza has been selected alongside the experienced legspinner Stuart MacGill.

Western Australia Michael Hussey (c), Murray Goodwin, Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Kade Harvey, Brad Hogg, Steve Magoffin, Scott Meuleman, Marcus North, Luke Ronchi, Adam Voges, Darren Wates.

Close Pakistan 279 and 179 for 3 (Taufeeq Umar 88, Imran Nazir 40, Warne 2-58) need 137 runs to beat Australia 467 and 127
Scorecard

The rain that arrived as the players sipped their tea provided an early full-stop for the fourth day's play at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. A moment of magic from Mark Waugh just before the interval had given Australia some hope even as Pakistan continued to march purposefully towards their target of 316. Taufeeq Umar had batted with admirable poise and concentration to get to 88, but a flayed drive off Brett Lee was superbly taken on the leap by Waugh at second slip. It ended a partnership of 56 with Younis Khan that had threatened to push Australia out of contention. Both batsmen were assured against Shane Warne, with Younis in particular playing some gorgeous strokes through the offside. Glenn McGrath proved to be stingy and almost unhittable, but runs weren't too hard to come by from the other end. Pakistan made a very cagey start in pursuit of a historic victory. Imran Nazir was given a life early on when Mark Waugh dropped one high to his left at second slip but as the morning wore on and the nerves calmed, he started playing his shots, especially against Warne. Nazir had another slice of luck when Adam Gilchrist completely missed a stumping chance after he gave Warne the charge. Minutes later, there was a heated altercation with Gilchrist after Nazir took a wild swing at Warne's shy at the stumps. Umar was far more secure, though he started sedately. He played some wonderful drives through cover and straight down the ground once Brett Lee came on. There were a couple of fortuitous edges down to fine leg too, but he visibly gained in confidence once McGrath finished his first spell. Both batsmen showed a refreshingly positive approach to tackling Warne, with Umar spanking him for three fours in an over - two straight down the ground and one swept through square leg. He got to his fifty in far from classical style, inside-edging McGrath to the fine leg boundary, but it was a priceless innings for a team that has struggled for so long to get good starts. Though Gillespie and McGrath bowled a couple of fiery overs apiece. Lee was well below his best, conceding almost six runs an over. It was smelling of roses for Pakistan until Nazir was undone by the classic one-two. Lee softened him up with a brute of a delivery that reared and crashed into the back of his helmet, sending him down for the eight-count. He got to his feet groggily, but moments later, a wild heave at Warne was comfortably caught by McGrath at mid-off. He made 40 and his exit brought Abdul Razzaq to the crease. He was absolutely clueless against Warne, ekeing out 4 runs from 52 balls, before being given out leg before minutes after lunch. Umpire Steve Bucknor wasn't fooled by the bat tucked behind the front pad and after a vociferous appeal from Warne, his finger went up. But Younis and Umar ensured there would be no slide and only Umar's dismissal - and the rain - took the sheen off what was an excellent day's work from Pakistan.

Close South Africa 155 for 0 (20.2 overs: Gibbs 97*, Smith 48*) beat Bangladesh 154 for 9 (50 overs: Ntini 3-28) by ten wickets
Scorecard

A savage onslaught by Herschelle Gibbs guided South Africa to an embarrassingly one-sided ten-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second one-day international at a sun-drenched Willowmoore Park. Gibbs cracked an unbeaten 97 off just 66 balls as South Africa reached their target of 155 with almost 30 overs to spare.

Gibbs began his innings looking for a record his fourth consecutive one-day century. In the end he fell one stroke short. Needing a four to reach his goal, and just one to win the match, he drove Alok Kapali straight but the ball was fielded ten yards in from the boundary. A second straight Man of the Match award was some consolation for Gibbs. Perhaps it was all for the best as it would have been a rather devalued record. Of his three previous centuries, two had come against one-day minnows - Kenya and Bangladesh.

An early finish was almost guaranteed from the moment that Shaun Pollock won the toss and put Bangladesh in. Javed Omar and Hannan Sarkar followed a game plan which appeared to be based on survival rather than scoring runs, and to that extent they succeed. Sarkar finally looked to open up and immediately perished, edging Makhaya Ntini to Adam Boucher for 7 (26 for 1). Four balls later Al-Shahriar Rokon was clean bowled by Ntini for 0 and the innings was following a depressingly familiar pattern.

Ramnaresh Sarwan completed a rare century as West Indies' tour match against an Indian Board President's XI at Bangalore petered out in a draw.

Sarwan, who has yet to score a hundred in his 24 Tests, scored 140 as the West Indies opted for batting practice rather than trying to force a win. At the close they had reached 606 for 4. Sarwan smashed one six and 18 fours in reaching his seventh first-class century, before retiring in order to give his team-mates a chance to gain batting practice.

Carl Hooper (67), Ryan Hinds (74) and wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs (50*) also made the most of the Board XI's lacklustre attack in the only practice match before the first Test. Hooper smashed three sixes and seven fours in his brisk 73-ball knock, while Ryan Hinds struck one six and nine fours before retiring.