Titans 178 (Myburgh 60, du Preez 4-46) lead Eagles 82 for 3 (Jacobs 48*, Steyn 3-34) by 96 runs
ScorecardAfter a break of a month, the SuperSport series resumed with the Eagles bowling the Titans out for 178 in 61 overs after winning the toss at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein. When bad light ended play early on the first day, the Eagles had moved along to 82 for the loss of three wickets.Johannes van der Wath and Dillon du Preez, making his first-class debut for the Eagles, caused the early damage as the Titans struggled to recover from a weak start. Wickets fell at regular intervals with Johann Myburgh, 60, and Andre Nel, 36 not out, the only two batsmen able to contain the rampant Eagles bowlers. They added 49 for the eighth wicket while du Preez finished with 4 for 46.Jonathan Beukus and Davey Jacobs gave the Eagles innings a brisk start by putting on 53 in 13 overs before Dale Steyn bowled Beukes for 21. Jacobs continued with his normal aggression, but Steyn’s fiery spell grabbed him two more wickets, those of Boeta Dippenaar and Ryan Bailey.With Jacobs having just struck two consecutive boundaries, it was something of a surprise when the umpires offered the light to the Eagles. But Morne van Wyk had only just arrived at the crease so they accepted, finishing on 82 for 3 with Jacobs not out on 48.Lions 300 for 2 (Bacher 140*, Motaung 80) v Dolphins
ScorecardAdam Bacher made light of his one-day disappointment against Zimbabwe to continue his fine domestic form, as the Lions took full advantage of winning the toss on a batting paradise at the Wanderers. They closed on 300 for 2 after the first day of their match against the Dolphins, with Bacher himself unbeaten on 140.He added 178 with William Motaung as the Dolphins bowlers struggled on a lifeless pitch. Motaung was first to go as he edged to the keeper Duncan Brown for 80 off the bowling of Ugasen Govender, who was making his first appearance for the Dolphins. The same pair then got rid of Justin Ontong for 41 after a second-wicket partnership of 93.Bacher, on 140, and Neil McKenzie, on 14, will continue for the Lions when play starts on day two.Western Province Boland 305 for 5 (Puttick 141*, Tsolekile 72) v Warriors
ScorecardThe Warriors will regret asking Western Province Boland to bat first on a good-looking pitch at Mercedes Park in East London, as WPBOL closed on 305 for 5.Derrin Bassage and Andrew Puttick started the proceedings with an opening partnership of 64, which was eventually broken by Tyron Henderson, who had Bassage caught behind for 31. Two more wickets fell in quick succession to bring Thami Tsolekile out to join Puttick, who took the score to 213 before Brent Kops trapped Tsolekile lbw for an excellent 72.The day belonged to Puttick as he batted through to the close for a magnificent 141 that included 19 fours and a six. He will start day two alongside Vernon Philander, who was not out on 24.

Daniel Vettori has been named New Zealand’s player of the year at their annual awards ceremony. He has been fighting a lone battle over the winter, as New Zealand’s bowling attack has fallen to pieces, but has managed to emerge from the wreckage with 42 wickets at 27 apiece in Tests, and 22 at 20 apiece in ODI’s.During the recent carnage caused by Adam Gilchrist, Vettori has been the only bowler Stephen Fleming has shown any confidence in. It was the same situation in the two Tests played in Australia during November. Martin Sneddon, chief executive of New Zealand cricket said: “His bowling has been superb and he has also continued to show real ability with the bat and has emerged as a leader both on and off the field."Vettori’s successful year comes despite a poor Test series in England, when he only managed four wickets in two matches, before missing the third Test with injury. His figures where boosted by 20 wickets against Bangladesh, including his best haul for the period, 6 for 28 at Dhaka. But it is not just the wickets he brings to Fleming, but the control. He rarely concedes more than 2.5 runs per over in Tests and is also miserly in ODI’s. In the Natwest Series final against West Indies he took five for 30, as New Zealand registered their high point of the year.His batting continues to grow in stature, to the extent that he often proves more troublesome to remove than the top-order, and he proved an able captain when he stood in for Fleming during the one-day series in Bangladesh – if Fleming’s trials and tribulations continue a permanent elevation may not be far away.The other bright spot for New Zealand has been the rise of Hamish Marshall, and his batting success, cumulating in a maiden Test century against Australia at Christchurch, has been recognised with the batting award, while Craig Cumming was named State player of the year.Awards
Daniel Vettori
Hamish Marshall
Craig Cumming
Nic Browne
Haidee Tiffen
Rebecca Steele
Merv Wallace

South Africa 255 for 2 (Smith 103) beat West Indies 253 (Sarwan 72, Ntini 4-46)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Since the end of the Test series, Graeme Smith has been in the news for what he may or may not have said to Dwayne Bravo in the closing stages of the bore draw in Antigua. But as one form of the game gave way to another, Smith carried on as he has done all tour, and let his bat do the talking. For the fourth international fixture in succession, Smith led from the front with a relentless century, and paved the way for an emphatic eight-wicket victory in the opening one-day international at Kingston.Since an indifferent first Test in Guyana, Smith has now amassed 572 runs in six innings, including four centuries and a lowest score of 41. Furthermore, today’s oeuvre – an imperious 103 from 102 balls, with 13 fours – was his fourth one-day hundred in eight innings, and seeing as he had not scored any in his previous 58 ODIs, that represents quite some breakthrough.By the time Smith was dismissed, two balls after bringing up his hundred with a cut for four off Dwayne Smith, South Africa were home and hosed. A thunderstorm over the Blue Mountains had briefly raised fears that Messrs Duckworth and Lewis would be called upon to adjudicate, but thanks to a rollicking 131-run stand between Smith and Boeta Dippenaar, who revelled in a rare chance to open the innings, there was never any danger of South Africa being denied.Dippenaar made 56 with seven fours and a six, after taking over from AB de Villiers, who enjoyed a superb run of form in the Test series. He was eventually extracted by the part-time medium-pace of Wavell Hinds, but by then South Africa were streets ahead on the run-rate. Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s apathetic captaincy transmitted itself to the previously vocal stands, and as they began to empty long before the close, Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs had only to deal in singles. Gibbs eventually got bored and smacked two sixes in an over off Corey Collymore, before Kallis sealed the deal with two fours off the final two balls he faced.

South Africa’s rollicking start was in stark contrast to West Indies’ early efforts, after they had won the toss. Their intent had been the same, particularly with Chris Gayle coming into the match with a career-best 317 under his belt, but their execution had been somewhat awry. Hinds was bowled early by Makhaya Ntini, whose first eight overs went for just 19 runs, but it was a stunning piece of individual brilliance from Gibbs that changed the game. His full-stretch left-handed pluck at short extra-cover, to intercept a Gayle exocet, was one of the catches of the year, and immediately drove West Indies into their shell.A composed fourth-wicket stand of 106 between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chanderpaul paved the way for a belligerent finish from Dwayne Smith, who clubbed 46 from 37 balls, but by then they had once again been rocked by a brilliant piece of fielding – this time from Mark Boucher. Under a helmet and standing up to Shaun Pollock, Boucher pulled off a wonderful legside stumping as Sarwan flinched in his followthrough. It was the first time in his decade-long career that Pollock the fast bowler had suffered such an “indignity”, but from the euphoric reactions of his entire team, he hardly seemed to mind.Sarwan had top-scored with 72 from 111 balls, but without his ballast, West Indies’ tail was all too easily extracted as five wickets fell for 21 runs. Dwayne Smith lost his middle stump to a loose swing at Langeveldt, Bravo holed out to long-off, and when Pedro Collins ran himself out while attempting to distract the umpire from an lbw appeal, the end of the innings followed swiftly. A total of 253 was some 30 runs short of par, but as Graeme Smith showed, not even that could have restricted South Africa.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the West Indian captain, was suitably delighted with his and the team’s performance so far in the first Test against Pakistan in Barbados. Chanderpaul notched up an unbeaten 153 – his first Test hundred against Pakistan – as West Indies made 371 in their second innings, giving them an overall lead of 572. At close of play on the third day, Pakistan were struggling at 113 for 4, needing a further 460 to win.”It’s always good to get a Test hundred, no matter who you are playing against,” Chanderpaul was quoted as saying by . “It’s my first against Pakistan, I’m happy. We needed someone to stay out there and give us a good innings and most of the batters went already so I had to put my head down and stick it out.”Earlier in the match, Brian Lara scored first century against Pakistan, and in the process became only the sixth batsman to score hundreds against all Test-playing nations. Chanderpaul hasn’t yet reached the three-figure mark against New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka – he hasn’t yet played a Test against the Lankans – but for the moment, Chanderpaul’s focus was firmly on wrapping up the victory.”Coming out with a win is going to be a big booster for us. Hopefully, we can do that probably tomorrow (Sunday) or the next day and help the team confidence.”Meanwhile, Fidel Edwards was quite chuffed after his five-wicket haul in the first innings, and attributed it to his improved fitness. “I have been working pretty hard over the last couple of days, mainly on my fitness, trying to prepare for this game and it paid off,” Edwards told the daily after the second day’s play. “The last couple of Test games I played, I was struggling to get some wickets and I really wanted to get some wickets in this game and prove my worth.”Edwards was forced to leave the field in Pakistan’s second innings due to a hamstring problem, but by then he had already done enough damage, taking 5 for 38 in the first innings, and then dismissing Salman Butt for a duck in his first over of the second. It was a welcome return to form for Edwards – his last four matches had fetched him three wickets for 442 runs. His career was also set back when he sustained a back injury during West Indies’ tour of England last year. When he returned, against South Africa at the same venue last month, Edwards conceded 112 runs and went wicketless. This time, he insisted, the wicket made a difference too: “The pitch had a little more bounce than the last time we played here. It is still a good track for batting and bowling and hopefully we can get the job done.”One aspect that didn’t impress him as much, though, was the lack of support from the crowd – only about 3000 people turned up for each of the first three days. “It’s very disappointing. Even in the South Africa series [it was the same]. The support is decreasing a lot and the more support, the better it is for us in the long run as a team trying to get back up there.”

Who will be India’s new coach? With the BCCI on the verge of interviewing condidates for the job, another contender has thrown his hat into the ring. Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a qualified coach and a member of India’s World Cup-winning team of 1983, has announced that he would like the job.Speaking to reporters, Sandhu said: “I feel I should also be one of the contenders for the national job. If not as a regular coach, at least as a bowling coach.” He refused to speak out against India having a foreign coach, but did say that he didn’t believe that the current players necessarily wanted a foreigner for the job.Sandhu has coached Mumbai, among other sides, and is currently the bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. He seems to be throwing his hat in the ring rather late, after it has already been fenced off, but in Indian cricket, one never knows.

Carrying a dossier that has gained weight regularly since the disastrous end to the 2001 series, the Australians were rewarded by playing to their plan. From a more patient batting approach, to sweeping discerningly, and abandoning the follow-on. From picking one spinner, to adjusting the line to the stumps instead of outside off, and employing Shane Warne’s huge hands to knead the ball to enhance reverse-swing. All were successful, and so was the opportunistic entrance of Michael Clarke.But wait, this has happened before. India were thumped in the first Test of 2001 as Australia clinched the final win of their 16-match streak. The memory of losing the epic tussle in the next two matches will nag at Steve Waugh longer than the current drought between series successes in India (currently 34 years, 299 days and counting). The surviving team-mates need no reminding of the dangers of relaxing, but the stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist did it anyway. With only three days before the second Test at Chennai there is little time to lose momentum.Taking away the Bangalore crowd noise and watching the team’s body language, it was the Australians who looked to be playing at home. They picked their traditional three-pacemen-and-Warne attack on a crack-riddled pitch, and Glenn McGrath controlled the output and early breakthroughs as he has, barring a season out with an ankle injury, since the West Indies series of 1995. While Warne eyed the world’s most-wickets mark, McGrath became the greatest dismisser of batsmen for ducks. Aakash Chopra was his 80th, two more were added to the list by the close, and he is now four wickets from 450.Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz also ran their fingers down the seam, finding severe cut, steady reverse-swing and wickets of significance. Warne was probing, as VVS Laxman was twice reminded, but missing the devastation of opponents Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. With the pacemen firing he didn’t need to be. But the sooner he claims the two victims to pass Muttiah Muralitharan the better, so he can ditch the red-striped shoes that clash with the tuft of ginger on his chin.

Another player in a hurry was Clarke. Brash and spontaneous, his arrival – and partnership with Adam Gilchrist who, don’t forget, made 104 off 109 balls – was stunning, and as Man of the Match he rode off with a motorbike. Picked to replace his boyhood idol Ricky Ponting, Clarke created a batch of his own admirers with an innings of 151 that began with Australia in trouble. More runs in the second Test will mean a tough selection meeting if Ponting’s return from a thumb injury keeps to schedule. Not everything Clarke touched turned green and gold, and on the final day he experienced his first Test disappointment, dropping a sharp catch at second slip. Gilchrist quickly encouraged his debutant, as he did when Clarke struggled through the nineties on the second day, and gave him a bowl as well.Despite the convincing victory margin Australia can apparently still improve. The top order was the main complaint, and the match was not finished before the coach John Buchanan greedily asked for more. A way to dispose of Kumble and Harbhajan without popping off catches to close-in fielders is also recommended. But it might be wise to leave some things to instinct. After 2001 Australia know all about the best-laid plans.

Sri Lanka A pulled off a thrilling four-wicket win, with eight balls to spare, in the third and final unofficial Test against West Indies A, at the Saravanamuttu Stadium, to clinch the three-match series 2-1.Sri Lanka left themselves chasing a target of 218 off 43 overs after dismissing West Indies for 205 in the second innings. But their chase was stalled by rain, which lopped off four overs, making their task a little tougher than expected. However, from 93 for 2 when the interruption came, Sri Lanka did not give up the chase but kept pursuing the target despite losing wickets constantly.Russel Arnold and Tillakaratne Dilshan lifted the spirits of the team with a 53-ball 64-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Dilshan, running fast between the wickets, made 40 off 35 balls without hitting a single boundary and Arnold contributed 39 off 34 balls. But it was left to Danushka Lokuhettige, a hard-hitting fast bowler, to steer the side to victory with a few hefty blows, in an undefeated knock of 22 off 19 balls.West Indies, resuming on 114 for 4, struggled against the left-arm orthodox spin of Sajeewa Weerakoon. He troubled all the batsmen on a wearing pitch to pick up his third consecutive five wicket haul in the series.Weerakoon’s final figures of six for 57 off 40 overs, and eight wickets in the match, gave him a series haul of 26 wickets and he was the deciding factor between the two sides. Darren Sammy put up strong resistance, keeping one end going, batting over three hours for an unbeaten 40. But, apart from Dave Mohammed who contributed 30 in a stand of 40 for the eighth wicket, the rest of the batsmen succumbed to the wiles of Weerakoon.West Indies won the first ‘test’ at Dambulla by 57 runs and Sri Lanka squared the series by winning the second at Colts ground by an innings and 16 runs The two teams now meet in a five-match one-day series starting on July 13 at the Nondescripts CC grounds.

The latest chapter in the Javagal Srinath saga began on a positive note with his inclusion in the Indian squad for the first Test against West Indies which starts in Mumbai on Wednesday. Rookie legspinner Amit Mishra was the only surprise inclusion, though he may not find a place in the final XI, with Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble likely to be the two spinners playing, supported by the pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Srinath.Ajit Agarkar was omitted from the squad after his dismal showing with the ball in England, as were Tinu Yohannan and Wasim Jaffer. Ajay Ratra also got the boot, with Parthiv Patel chosen as wicketkeeper. Both SS Das and Sanjay Bangar were in the squad, with Bangar favoured to continue in his role as Virender Sehwag’s opening partner.Interestingly, in the first squad they have selected, Brijesh Patel and his newteam of selectors have shown an inclination to continue with the policy of Chandu Borde and co., of backing young players and not being afraid to experiment. Picking two legspinners is a bold move – Sarandeep Singh or Murali Kartik would have been the clichéd choices for third spinner, but Patel and his men, clearly, are not afraid of backing their instincts.Indian squad 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Sanjay Bangar, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Sachin Tendulkar, 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Zaheer Khan, 12 Ashish Nehra, 13 SS Das, 14 Amit Mishra.

Fast bowler Ashley Cowan has been awarded a benefit by Essex in 2006.Cowan, 30, who toured the Caribbean with England but failed to make an international appearance, made his debut for Essex in 1995 but his career has been blighted by injury.”I have received a lot of support from the Club and it is an honour to have been given a benefit,” Cowan said. “It’s been a frustrating period over the last three or four years with my knee injury resulting in such a long time out, coming back and getting a little bit involved last season but then this year has not been as successful as I hoped it could have been. But the club have stuck by me over the last few years and have awarded me a benefit.”David East, the county’s chief executive, added: “It is always a great milestone for any county cricketer and we are particularly pleased for Ashley because he has been troubled by some career-threatening injuries. We wish him well for next season and hopefully he will have a very good benefit to reward him for the service he has given us.”In 102 matches for Essex, Cowan has taken 280 wickets at 32.26 and scored 2231 runs at 17.84.