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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A sensational spell of 4 for 13 from Rudra Pratap Singh dumped South Africa out of the Twenty20 party as India romped to a comprehensive 37-run victory that sealed a place in the semi-final against Australia. South Africa, previously unbeaten in the competition, again proved masters ofthe choke, falling 10 short of the 126 that would have taken them to the last four and eliminated New Zealand.India, rocked by the withdrawal of Yuvraj Singh before the game with tendonitis of the left elbow, had struggled with the bat themselves, slipping to 33 for 3, but a tremendous 85-run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Mahendra Singh Dhoni propelled them to 153 for 5 on awell-grassed pitch of variable bounce.Rohit Sharma, in his first innings in the tournament, struck some sumptuous strokes through the cover region, making room and lofting the ball cleanly over the infield. He also targetted themidwicket region, finishing the innings with a glorious six over square leg off a Johan van der Wath full-toss. At the halfway stage India had only 57 on the board, but Rohit Sharma and Dhoni amassed 56 in the last five overs as a frown started to crease Graeme Smith’s brow.India’s defence of 153 started in appalling fashion with Sreesanth pushing the first ball down the leg side for four wides, and when Smith clipped one off his pads for four, South Africa had 11 from the first over. That, though, was as good as it would get. RP Singh made the perfect start, trapping Herschelle Gibbs leg before, before a stupendous Jonty Rhodes-like dive from Dinesh Karthik at wide second slip sent Smith on his way.Enter Sreesanth. AB de Villiers survived one vociferous appeal for leg before, but the second one was so plumb that he might as well have walked. And though both Justin Kemp and Mark Boucher started with fours, the runs dried up as a hint of swing led to more flails at air than solidconnections.Kemp was always going to be dangerous, and the manner of his dismissal once again illustrated the value of youth in the side. Boucher tapped and ran, but Rohit Sharma raced in from cover to pick up and throw in a fluid motion that caught Kemp marginally short of the crease.The home support was in shock, and that quickly turned to despondency when RP Singh came round the wicket to deliver a peach that cleaned up Shaun Pollock’s leg stump. At 31 for 5, it seemed like game over. But Albie Morkel had been in magnificent hitting form all tournament, and Boucher held down one end as South Africa watched the asking-rate spiral beyond 10an over.When Joginder Sharma, who bowled fairly tidily, came on, Morkel drove him through cover – the same fate that met Irfan Pathan when he gave a little too much width. Generally, though, the bowling was impeccable, forcing both batsmen to settle for singles and the odd two into the outfield.The momentum shifted slightly when Harbhajan Singh was introduced. Boucher tucked a full-toss off his pads for four, cut one late to third man and then clipped one beautifully between the leg-side fielders; 15 came from the over. But even when Morkel swung Joginder Sharma for a massive six straight down the ground, the asking-rate remained 12 an over.That pressure eventually told when Sreesanth was brought back for his final over and the 17th of the innings. Boucher chopped one back on, and as he walked off, it was apparent that the limit of South Africa’s ambition would be the 126 needed to qualify for the last four.Vernon Philander and van der Wath both went down swinging, stumped by Karthik – who had taken over the gloves once Dhoni felt some back pain early in the innings – off Harbhajan, but the final nail was hammered in when RP Singh produced a magnificent yorker to end Morkel’s defiance at 36.

It left Smith to ponder just what had gone wrong, after miserly bowling from Pollock had reined in the Indian openers. Gautam Gambhir was the aggressor early on, and he enjoyed a reprieve as well, when Philander made only a half-hearted attempt to catch a miscued pull.On his home patch it was Pollock who made the breakthrough, having Gambhir mishit one to Smith at mid-off. And it soon got worse for India as Karthik chipped the first ball he faced to Albie Morkel at square leg.It then became three wickets in four balls when Virender Sehwag’s attempt to guide the ball down to third man ended up in Boucher’s gloves. With the run-rate going nowhere, and two new men at the crease, India were in disarray.Robin Uthappa walloped one mighty six off van der Wath, and was then put down by Philander at mid-on. With Rohit Sharma starting to play his strokes, the mood in the dug-out was starting to lift a little, but then Uthappa drove Morne Morkel on the up to Smith at mid-off.Despite the blip, Rohit Sharma started to time the ball beautifully and the South Africans began to get flustered about errors in the field. Dhoni clouted Albie Morkel over long-on with a tennis forehand, and also benefited from a top edge over the keeper. There was a massive six over midwicket as Morne Morkel overstepped, and it was all India thereafter as a match that they began in a bullock cart ended in a magic carpet ride. For South Africa, another major tournament, and the Chuck Palahniuk novel….

In what is being seen as a corporate move, Harbhajan Singh’s pictures have been taken off all the advertisements that promote the Mumbai Indians, including the team’s website.Reliance Industries, the owners of the franchise, thought this was a sensible move, taking into account public sentiment. Harbhajan was found guilty of slapping Sreesanth in the league game against Punjab last week and was banned for 11 IPL games subsequently.”When we know a player is not going to be available for the team it really doesn’t make sense for us to have his picture,” Kaushik Roy, president of branding, Reliance Industries, told Cricinfo.Roy felt the company decided that as long as Harbhajan was not going to take part in the tournament it would be ideal to not include his pictures in any promotional activities, especially when the pictures were meant to attract the crowds. “So as long he is not going to be playing the matches, there is a clear directive.”Retaining Harbajan’s image would amount cheating, Roy felt. “The pictures are for gate sales. You cannot show the pictures of a player who is not playing the game. So there is no use fooling people. That would be unethical advertising.”The team management, meanwhile, is silent on the matter. “It is a corporate decision. In any case it doesn’t make sense to have the picture once he is not playing,” a top official in the Mumbai team said.But the franchise is terming the move “temporary”, and hopes that if Mumbai’s fortunes soar and they make it to the IPL final then Harbhajan will be back on the advertisements. “We hope this will be a temporary arrangement. Mumbai Indians hope to reach the finals, and god willing if that happens, Bhajji will be free to play in that,” an official said.Fearing the move might be termed as controversial the team’s brand managers are now planning to introduce new faces as part of their campaign as that would help newcomers gain public recognition.”The current hoardings featuring Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock were put up in the run-up to IPL, because they were the big crowd-pullers,” an official said. “But a decision had also been taken that as the IPL progressed, we would give exposure to the younger lot by turning them into recognisable forces through the hoardings.”

Shaun Tait is expected to be ready for a first-class comeback at the start of next season, according to his manager Andrew McRitchie. Tait walked away from cricket indefinitely following his unsuccessful return to the Test team in January, citing physical and emotional exhaustion.However, McRitchie said things were looking up and Tait was keeping in peak physical shape by training with a football team in country South Australia. “We expect he will be ready to go by game one next season,” McRitchie told the .”Shaun is thinking about what he has to do to get back to playing at the highest level, which is a good sign. If you think back to when he first stepped away, none of those things were in his sights and now they are. He wants to be back playing but knows he has a bit of work to do.”The Redbacks are playing their last match of the season in Sydney, meaning Tait will have to wait until the start of 2008-09 to consider a comeback. “He could quite possibly put his hand up in readiness for the West Indies [tour in May] but the fact he hasn’t played any cricket would probably be held against him,” McRitchie said.Ryan Harris, who has been one of South Australia’s leading bowlers in Tait’s absence, said the players had caught up with Tait since he walked away. “He is just taking a break and seems happy,” Harris said. “Whether we get him back this season or next is his decision. Hopefully he does come back next season but he has to be happy with that and his life.”McRitchie said Tait had received support from several AFL players who had suffered similar problems and also from Marcus Trescothick, whose battled with a stress-related illness was well documented. “Marcus’ message was: ‘hang in there and just realise there is more to life than playing international cricket’,” McRitchie said. “Marcus also went through a tough time in a high-profile situation.”

The one-day series between England and New Zealand is one of the most eagerly awaited in years by local fans who are still unsure how good Daniel Vettori’s team is. Recent performances have given little away and the side to play England has a new look.Since the last time the teams met, when New Zealand won convincingly at the World Cup, the home side is missing five players and the regenerating team lost the Twenty20 series 2-0. The two most notable absentees are Stephen Fleming and Shane Bond. Fleming, who retired after 280 matches and 8037 runs, left a big gap when he departed, but the loss of Bond is bigger.Bond, who has terminated his New Zealand contract and joined the Indian Cricket League, has been the spearhead whenever he has been fit to play. In 67 ODIs he has taken 125 wickets at the phenomenal average of 19.32 and his departure is as significant as when Richard Hadlee stepped down in 1990. Justin Vaughan, the New Zealand Cricket chief executive, felt the departure of Bond was by far New Zealand’s biggest loss to the ICL and was a concerning development for the international game. The upshot is they now lack a genuine fast man.The others not included since the previous encounter are Lou Vincent, who has been dropped, Craig McMillan has retired and James Franklin is injured. In another major blow, Vettori may not be fit for the beginning of the series. He rested from the two Twenty20 matches with an ankle injury and is in doubt for the first ODI.Brendon McCullum, the stand-in captain, said Vettori would be sorely missed. “Dan’s injury is quite a big blow to the make-up of our bowling stocks,” he told NZPA, “and also just the general team.”With the loss of experience, the remaining senior players must step up if New Zealand are going to retain third place in the ODI rankings. Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum and Peter Fulton will need to score their share of runs, while Chris Martin and Kyle Mills will lead the bowling attack.Although Styris has just announced his retirement from Tests, he must now lead the ODI batting line-up. He has an impressive recent record in ODIs and this will need to continue if New Zealand are to compete with England. “The rigours of international cricket have become increasingly demanding,” he said, “and I would like to extend my career by focusing on the shorter versions of the game.”The niggles and injuries he has suffered by playing first-class cricket over recent years have made it difficult for him to get on to the park. “I am really enjoying both one-day and Twenty20 cricket,” he said, “and am looking forward to being heavily involved with New Zealand on our journey to the World Cup in 2011.”While his fitness to stay involved in the first-class arena was a concern, there are no worries about his productivity in limited-overs affairs. Styris excelled at the World Cup, making 499 runs at 83.16, and followed that up in South Africa where he averaged 62.Among the bowlers, Mills has a good ODI record and much will depend on him as they try to cover for Bond. He has already shown his ability to take wickets without having Bond at the other end. In the three match ODI series in South Africa late last year he took nine at 11.33, while he captured another nine against Bangladesh at 12.55. England will offer a greater challenge to his improvements.Martin, on the other hand, has a less than impressive record, but has come of age in Tests over the last few years. In the shorter version of the game, he has played just 15 matches and faces a steep learning curve against an England team of young and experienced batsmen. His omissions over recent seasons have been due to his high economy rate of 4.95 runs per over and it must be brought down closer to four for him to be useful over the next five matches.

The New Zealand opening combination will be another interesting focus of the series. If the young Auckland batsman Jesse Ryder opens with McCullum, there could be fireworks from the beginning. Ryder’s selection has met a mixed reaction. Adam Parore, the former New Zealand wicketkeeper, is a critic and told he had seen Ryder on the evening news and “there was no room for fat players in international cricket because the days of David Boon are gone”.But Hadlee, the chairman of selectors, believes Ryder can form an explosive opening partnership with McCullum. “He has certainly dominated New Zealand A tours,” Hadlee said, “and deserves an opportunity.”His performance is as highly anticipated as the series itself due to the debate over his selection and because he has been involved in a number of disciplinary problems off the field. One of these was when he signed to play for Ireland last year as an overseas professional and failed to turn up to the match against Surrey at the Oval.If the opening partnership can succeed and the bowling attack can get some quick wickets, New Zealand have a good chance of winning the series. But if not, their fans may decide they are no longer a team of the quality that drove them to a world cup semi-final.The 2-1 loss in South Africa was disappointing, but very few teams come away from there satisfied, and the victory was only the second New Zealand success in that country. On the way home Vettori’s men faced Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy and were comprehensively beaten, something most teams encounter.The next assignment was a home series against Bangladesh, who were annihilated as expected. This is why the jury is still out on Vettori’s regenerating team. With the arrival of England, there are no expectations either way, so the fans will finally have a chance to decide how good, or bad, their national side is.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A chanceless 159 from Hashim Amla, buttressed by vital contributions fromMark Boucher and AB de Villiers, was the springboard for South Africa todominate the first two sessions of the second day, but India’s openersthen inflicted some punishment of their own on a dozy pitch where thebowlers were seldom more than peripheral players. By the time stumps weredrawn, with four of the scheduled 90 overs still to be bowled, India hadknocked off 82 in pursuit of an imposing South African total.Amla’s superb innings spanned 262 balls and ended only with a runout, but there was still time for Boucher, who made 70, and Morne Morkel,with a brisk 35, to flog sagging spirits before Harbhajan Singh returnedto mop up the tail and finish with 5 for 164. The 100 minutes of battingthat India faced had the potential to be tricky, but Sehwag’s insoucianceand Jaffer’s elegance made light of the challenge posed by a three-manpace attack.Sehwag started with a crisp cover-drive for four before rocking back tocarve Makhaya Ntini over third man for six. A magnificent square drive offDale Steyn and a couple of rasping cuts also roused the crowd, and Jafferwas quick to follow suit at the other end.There was a gorgeous on-drive off Steyn, and an unexpected slap over thirdman for six as Ntini again dropped short. The first 10 overs produced 47runs, and though Ntini and Morkel exerted more control in the final hour,Sehwag still found time to slash over point and drive languidly throughthe covers on his way to a half-century from just 59 balls.The run glut helped India forget a wretched fielding display, with runsleaked in every conceivable fashion. After 19 had been conceded inthe opening three overs, the new ball was taken. There was no immediatereward, though both Amla and de Villiers were extremely fortunate to seethick outside edges fall short of the slip cordon and speed to the rope atthird man.There was nothing fortuitous, however, about the three gorgeouscover-drives with which Amla, unbeaten on 85 overnight, reached hishundred. Sreesanth, as he had on the opening day, tried to do too much,and Amla cashed in with superb timing. He reached his century in 173balls, and India’s plight then got worse as de Villiers cut and pulled theinsipid RP Singh for fours.With such tripe being dished out, it was hard to see where a breakthroughwould come from, but Anil Kumble kept faith in Sreesanth and was soonrewarded for it. After a couple of entirely unnecessary sledges in thedirection of de Villiers, Sreesanth suddenly remembered that wickets aretaken with the ball and not the mouth. A superb delivery just outside offstump induced the edge and Dhoni dived to his right to hold-on.With the fast bowlers leaking runs, Kumble turned to the medium pace ofSourav Ganguly. The over-rate was abysmal and wasn’t helped by a ballchange and frequent consultations with the fielders, and Sreesanth’s lucktoo ran out as Boucher edged one and then survived a huge leg-before shoutcourtesy the thinnest of inside edges.By the time Kumble pressed himself into the attack with Harbhajan, South Africa had cruised past 400, and it only got worse on a real dog-day afternoon for the home side.

Amla’s grip on proceedings was absolute, and with RP and Sreesanthproviding comical examples of how not to stop the ball in the outfield,the scoreboard ticked along merrily. The ease with which the runs came wasembarrassing and Kumble was reduced to bowling into the pads from roundthe wicket to try and limit the damage.Sreesanth was brought back for another burst, but both batsmen continuedto cut and nudge at will on a pitch that might as well have been a fluffypillow. In such situations, the fielding side can only pray and any divineentreaties were answered with Amla being run out. Boucher played the ballinto the vicinity of Sreesanth at cover and though he threw to the wrongend, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was alert enough to rifle the ball through toKumble, who did the rest.Amla, whose ancestors went to the Cape from Surat a few generations ago,left to a richly deserved standing ovation, but India’s misery was farfrom over. Morkel was gifted a full toss by Sreesanth to get off the mark,and two confident off-drives further ruined RP’s woeful afternoon. Boucherand Morkel stretched the partnership to 54 before Boucher’s attempt toswipe Sehwag over midwicket ballooned off the top edge to Rahul Dravidbehind the stumps.Morkel then chipped a return catch to Harbhajan and it was left to Steynto swell the total a little more with some hefty slogs, the pick of whichwas an impudent reverse-slog-sweep off Harbhajan. Harris, reprievedearlier after gloving one to slip, was caught behind, and Harbhajan thenhad Steyn caught in the deep to end the innings. By then though, Indiawere playing catch-up.

Pakistan’s hopes of restricting India on the second day suffered a significant blow as Shoaib Akhtar, their leading strike-bowler, will be allowed to bowl only after spending 205 minutes on the field. He took the field at the start of the second day and, if he doesn’t go off, will be allowed to bowl at 1.38 pm.Shoaib, who was suffering from back pain, bowled only ten overs on the first day before leaving the field for the final time after the 32nd over, shortly after lunch. He was taken to hospital for an MRI scan after suffering back pain during the first day of the final Test against India in Bangalore. The scan revealed no injury but he was experiencing muscle spasms.In the absence of Shoaib and with Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Sami and Danish Kaneria tiring, Younis had to resort to part-timers to help finish day’s overs. He brought himself on to bowl and also used Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt in tandem. They bowled 12 overs in all and conceded 50 runs as Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly accumulated runs with ease against a toothless attack.According to the laws of the game, if a player is absent from the field for 15 minutes or longer, he shall not be permitted to bowl until “he has been on the field for at least that length of playing time for which he was absent.”

ScorecardNicky Boje produced a fine all-round display, following three wickets with an unbeaten 74 as Northamptonshire eased to a six-wicket win, continuing Warwickshire’s alarming slump in form. Boje was well supported by Riki Wessels and David Sales as they chased down 231 with four overs to spare.Warwickshire looked like making a game of it when they removed both Northamptonshire openers early, but Boje and Wessels, who clubbed 52 off 29 balls, added 77 to put the chase on course.Boje then combined with Sales, who faced 52 balls for his runs and hit seven fours and a six. Ant Botha claimed two wickets on his Warwickshire debut, but it wasn’t enough.None of Warwickshire’s batsmen went on to produce a major innings, six of them falling between 24 and 41. Jonathon Trott top scored and some late hitting from Nick James and Alex Loudon boosted the total, although Northamptonshire made it appear well under par.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A hundred from Mohammad Yousuf and a fine all-round performance by Shoaib Malik led Pakistan to a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Zimbabwe at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Yousuf and Malik put on 141 for the third wicket to steer Pakistan’s chase, with Yousuf’s 14th century the first in what has been a horribly one-sided Mobilink Cup. Malik’s 88 added to the three wickets he took earlier to restrict Zimbabwe to 244.The pair came together after Pakistan’s newbie openers had gone by the 15th over. Malik had already settled by then, returning to the one-down role he had once made his own, with Younis Khan resting. He averages over 40 from 34 innings at No.3 and it was immediately easy to see why so many argue for him to move up the order. He was off the mark immediately, clipping off his toes for four and in the next over he drove and cut Gary Brent for a couple more.Soon after, he twice cut Elton Chigumbura and then did likewise to Brent five overs later. Having grabbed the initiative then and with no real pressure, Malik’s calculating approach came out, as he dabbed and nudged runs for fun. A swift fifty was brought up, and though he lofted Ray Price over the boundary and welcomed Hamilton Masakadza with a brace of boundaries soon after, he was more than happy to play second fiddle.Yousuf, meanwhile, began regally, picking up singles when he felt like it and only occasionally breaking sweat to find the boundary. It seemed for a while as if he wasn’t even there, at least until a late dab to third man in the 27th over brought up the fifty partnership.He made his presence known after it, twice depositing Masakadza over wide mid-on to bring up his own fifty. His pace picked up to such an extent that only 34 balls later, he was bringing up an effortless hundred, the highlight of which was a magnificent loft over long-on off Price. The only blemish on a flawless innings was a mix-up with Malik, which prevented the captain from reaching a hundred of his own.It didn’t prevent Malik from taking the Man-of-the-Match award. He had already excelled earlier, prompting a slump as Zimbabwe – not for the first time in this series – let slip a position of considerable strength after opting to bat. Sean Williams and Tatenda Taibu had rescued the innings early, with an intelligent 85-run partnership, but just when much was promised, Malik dismissed both, and Brendon Taylor, during eight mid-innings overs.The pair have been Zimbabwe’s best batsmen this series and it was soon apparent why. Taibu repeatedly came out of his crease to neutralize the early swing which so bewildered the openers, most effectively when he drove Kamran Hussain past mid-off for the day’s first boundary. He cut twice soon after, but the real spurt came from Williams in the 14th over.Hussain tired after an impressive opening spell and Williams took toll, twice flicking him through midwicket for three and driving over point to bring up Zimbabwe’s 50. He then targeted Shahid Afridi, driving him elegantly through extra cover to mark the fifty stand, before cutting and lofting him for six an over later.Taibu provided typically impish support and at that stage, until Malik brought himself on little was of concern. But in his second over, Williams inexplicably chipped back two short of what would have been his third fifty of the series. Taylor went in Malik’s next over and the drive quickly petered out of the innings. Taibu fell immediately after getting to his ninth half-century and runs soon slowed to a trickle.Singles were grudgingly given up, boundaries even more so. Chigumbura and Chamu Chibhabha battled well without any great urgency and it was only at the death, through Keith Dabengwa, that Zimbabwe rallied. He took 19 off the last over, part of a 33-ball 45, to drag Zimbabwe to a competitive score. Competitive, but no more.

Sri Lanka’s selectors recalled bowlers Rangana Herath and Thilan Thushara and batsman Malinda Warnapura, and included fast bowler Ishara Amerasinghe for the two-Test series in the Caribbean next month.Following the retirement of Sanath Jayasuriya from Tests last year, left-hand batsman Upul Tharanga was expected to fill in the vacant slot, but his poor form sees Warnapura being picked to open the batting with Michael Vandort.Warnapura, the nephew of Sri Lanka’s first Test captain Bandula Warnapura, played in two Tests against Bangladesh last year and has been a regular player in the Sri Lanka A team. Herath and Thushara get their recalls after excellent performances in the domestic circuit.Herath, the left-arm spinner, played the last of his 12 Tests against Bangladesh in 2005, has regularly been among the wickets in the domestic scene for Moors SC. His match-winning performances have helped Moors SC to third place in the Premier league tournament. In four matches, Herath has captured 19 wickets (avg 15.84).Similarly, 26-year-old left-arm medium-pacer Thilan Thushara has performed consistently to keep SSC on top of the Premier league table, capturing 18 wickets (avg 20.11) from four matches. He also played an important role in Kandurata ending as Inter-provincial limited-overs joint champs, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 11 wickets (avg 8.00) from five matches.Thushara has a solitary Test appearance and that was in the Caribbean five years ago when he played in the second Test at Jamaica and went wicketless conceding 59 runs.Selection committee sources revealed that Thushara became the obvious choice as another left-arm bowler Chanaka Welegedara is struggling with his follow through in Australia and has so far been overlooked for selection for the VB Series games after being warned in one of the practice matches.Amerasinghe, 29, a right-arm fast bowler, gets the nod following some impressive bowling in the on-going CB Series in Australia where he has captured six wickets (avg. 24.16) from three matches.Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara have been retained as captain and vice-captain for the tour which begins in mid-March. After the two Tests, Sri Lanka will play West Indies in two Tests at Guyana (March 22-26) and Trinidad (April 3-7). They will also figure in a series of three one-day internationals (from April 10-15) for which there will be changes made to the present squad.Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Vandort, Malinda Warnapura, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Farveez Maharoof, Ishara Amarasinghe, Rangana Herath, Thilan Thushara

Karen Rolton is on target to be the second player in the history of the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) to score 4000 runs. Rolton, the Australian captain, needs just 18 runs to reach the milestone first achieved by former captain Belinda Clark.Rolton will lead the South Australia Scorpions on their away trip to Sydney next week, which will feature a practice match v ACT, prior to the WNCL matches against New South Wales.Two new players join the squad: fast bowler Leanne Davis, and Tegan McPharlin, the middle-order batsman. Both players have been chosen following strong grade/district performances.England’s Jenny Gunn, who plays grade cricket in Sydney, will also play for the Scorpions for the second successive year.