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Match abandoned
Scorecard A persistent drizzle in Durban resulted in India’s opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 being abandoned without a ball being bowled. Both India and Scotland got a point apiece, and it left India in a situation where they had to avoid a heavy defeat against Pakistan on Friday to make it through to the Super Eights. Scotland finished their engagements with a point after the 51-run defeat to Pakistan in their opening game.Ryan Watson won the toss and decided to send India in to bat at Kingsmead, but the rain came down again long before the players could take the field. For India, who have played just one Twenty20 game, it meant a day-long wait to give a largely new-look side a hit.Names synonymous with Indian cricket over the past decade and more – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly – were missing, and for the prodigal sons like Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan, it was an opportunity to revive stalled careers. They’ll now be back in the fray for one of the tournament’s marquee clashes, against Pakistan – assuming the inclement weather makes way for some sunshine.

Eagles 181 for 3 (Bosman 94) beat Zimbabwe 85 for 9 by 98 runs
ScorecardA lethal Loots Bosman condemned Zimbabwe to an awful 98-run defeat at the hands of the Eagles in their Standard Bank Pro20 match in Bloemfontein.Zimbabwe’s bowlers took some quite sickening punishment as Bosman plundered 94 off just 50 balls to take the Eagles to 181 for 3 after 17 overs in a rain-interrupted innings. He started sedately, scoring three singles off his first 12 balls, but then exploded into action, hitting six fours and a six off his next 10 balls. Busy innings by Morne van Wyk (21 off 21), Dean Elgar (24 not out off 15) and Ryan McLaren (27 off 17 balls) were the sideshows because the limelight was where it belonged, firmly on Bosman. He reached his half-century in 31 deliveries and struck seven fours and six sixes in all and it was a major surprise when left-arm spinner Keith Dabengwa eventually dismissed him in the 13th over. Bosman’s onslaught ensured that four of the six Zimbabwe bowlers would go for more than 10 runs an over.Zimbabwe’s target was adjusted to 184 because the home side’s innings was interrupted after 9.5 overs, and the Eagles struck a massive early blow in the Zimbabwe innings when former captain Tatenda Taibu was run out off a wide, without facing a ball, in the first over. Chamu Chibhabha was run out by Bosman in the next over and Zimbabwe simply had no chance of overcoming the escalating required run-rate. Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor baled some of the water out of the sinking ship, both scoring 28 of 26 balls. But offspinner Thandi Tshabalala then tormented the middle-order, who were hitting out in desperate fashion, to finish with 2 for 16 in his four overs.Cobras 143 for 6 (Gibbs 60) beat Dolphins 132 for 6 (Khan 50) by 11 runs
ScorecardThe Dolphins buckled under the pressure of good death bowling to give the Cobras an 11-run victory in their Standard Bank Pro20 match at Newlands. Tight bowling in mid innings by Tyron Henderson (2 for 16) and captain Con de Lange (1 for 18) had applied the pressure that was exploited in the final four overs. Charl Langeveldt took the wickets of grant Rowley and Morné van Vuuren with successive deliveries to tilt the game decisively in the Cobras’ direction.Vernon Philander conceded only seven off the penultimate over to leave the Dolphins requiring 19 from the last six balls and although the impressive Kent finished with 46 not out from 32 balls, Langeveldt had the final word. He took two more wickets in the final over to finish with figures of four for 26 from his four overs.The target had been largely posted by dropped Proteas star Herschelle Gibbs who took out his frustrations on the Nashua Dolphins attack. He powered to a quickfire 60 in the Cape Cobras 143 for 6 after being left bizarrely kicking his heels in the dug out for four overs while rising young star Richard Levi had a taste opening the batting in Pro20. Levi looks a fine prospect – and smashed all Jacques Kallis’s batting records at Wynberg Boys’ High – but he scratched around for four overs before being caught behind for 4. That opened the way for Gibbs to stride to the wicket and pull the Dolphins apart hitting seven fours and two sixes in his 42-ball innings. Andrew Puttick made 36 in 40 balls and Rory Kleinveldt hit two late sixes in his seven-ball 15 to lift the score beyond the Dolphins’ reach.

Retired Australian stars such as Michael Kasprowicz, Damien Martyn and Jason Gillespie were named in the squads announced by the unofficial Indian Cricket League for its Grand Championships. The event which starts on March 9 features eight teams – including one consisting entirely of Pakistan players – up from the six in the inaugural Twenty20 tournament held last December in Panchkula.Kasprowicz called time on his first-class career last month, finishing with a record 501 wickets for Queensland. “The decision to join ICL was actually a no-brainer. I have played 19 years of first-class cricket for Queensland, have had my time at the top with Australia and have also played county cricket,” he told Cricinfo. “It would be a great opportunity for me to live in India and play here. I love coming to India, I love the passion, hospitality and the people here. My best days of international career were here.”Asked whether he would able to give his 100% commitment while playing a Twenty20 league, he said, “It’s about personal pride. You can’t relax while playing and I have always played my cricket hard.”He also questioned the rationale behind banning players who have joined the ICL. “It can only be good for Indian cricket,” he said. “So many domestic players get a chance to play with the players from around the world and the quality can only go up. It’s sad that the players are being banned.”The other big-name signings for the ICL include New Zealand pair Shane Bond and Lou Vincent, Justin Kemp, Heath Streak, Russel Arnold and Wavell Hinds.Squads for Grand championships
Ahmedabad Rockets Damien Martyn (capt), Murray Goodwin, Heath Streak, Wavell Hinds, Jason Gillespie, Abhishek Tamrakar, Anshu Jain, Baburao Yadav, P Bhima Rao, Parviz Aziz, Rakesh Patel, Pallav Vora, Reetinder Sodhi, Sachin Dholpure, KM Sanjeev, Sridharan Sriram, Sumit Kalia
Chandigarh Lions Chris Cairns (capt), Mathew Elliot, Lou Vincent, Andrew Hall, Daryl Tuffey, Amit Uniyal, Bipul Sharma, Chetan Sharma, Dinesh Mongia, Gaurav Gupta, Harpreet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Karanveer Singh, Love Ablish, Manish Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Pal Singh
Chennai Superstars Stuart Law (capt), Ian Harvey, Russel Arnold, Shabbir Ahmed, Adam Parore, Michael Bevan, G Vignesh, Hemang Badani, Hemanth Kumar, J Hariesh, P Vivek, R Jesuraj, R Sathish, Syed Mohammed, Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, Thirunavukarasu Kumaran, V Devendran, Vasanth Saravanan
Delhi Giants Marvan Atapattu (capt), Avishka Gunawardene, Nic Pothas, Dale Benkenstein, Shane Bond, Abbas Ali, Abhinav Bali, Abhishek Sharma, Abid Nabi, Ali Murtaza, Dhruv Mahajan, Dishant Yagnik, JP Yadav, Mohnish Mishra, Raghav Sachdev, Shalabh Srivastava, Taduri Prakash Sudhindra, Ali Hamid Zaidi
Hyderabad Heroes Chris Harris (capt), Nicky Boje, Justin Kemp, Abdul Razzaq, Jimmy Maher, Alfred Absolem, Ambati Rayudu, Anirudh Singh, Ibrahim Khaleel, Inder Shekar Reddy, Kaushik Reddy, Pagadala Niranjan, Shashank Nag, Stuart Binny, Syed Sahabuddin, Vinay Kumar, Zakaria Zuffri
Kolkata Tigers Craig McMillan (capt), Lance Klusener, Upul Chandana, Nantie Hayward, Andre Adams, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Abu Nechim, Deep Dasgupta, Mihir Diwakar, Pritam Das, Rajiv Kumar, Rohan Gavaskar, Sayed Akhlakh Ahmed, Shiv Sagar Singh, Subhomoy Das, Sujay Tarafdar
Lahore Badshahs Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Mahmood, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Nazir, Hasan Raza, Naveed Latif, Humayun Farhat, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami, Arshad Khan, Riaz Afridi
Mumbai Champs Brian Lara (capt), Nathan Astle, Johan Van der Wath, Tino Best, Michael Kasprowicz, Anupam Sanklecha, Avinash Yadav, Dheeraj Jadhav, Kiran Powar, Nikhil Mandale, Pushkaraj Joshi, Ranjit Khirid, Robin Morris, Shreyas Khanolkar, Shridhar Iyer, Subhojit Paul, Suyash Burkul, Raviraj Patil

Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen believes Mitchell Johnson might be the man who can unnerve India’s strong batting line-up if he is picked for the Boxing Day Test. Johnson was impressive in his first two Tests against Sri Lanka last month but the re-emergence of Shaun Tait has left him uncertain of a place for the Melbourne match.However, Johnson has an excellent record against India in one-day internationals with 19 wickets at an average of 16 and he was the leading wicket-taker for either side in the recent ODI series in India. Nielsen said that would work in his favour when the selectors decided on their final 11 for Boxing Day.”He’s had really good success,” Nielsen said. “He’s knocked over their top order consistently over the last couple of years. When the selectors sit down and have a look at the best mix for a team against India I’m sure the fact Mitchell’s knocked over the likes of Tendulkar and Ganguly and Dravid consistently over the last couple of years will be a big tick in his box.”Tait was still recovering from elbow surgery when Australia played Sri Lanka, leaving Johnson as the obvious candidate to back up Brett Lee and Stuart Clark in the pace attack. But Johnson was left out of the ODIs against New Zealand as Australia wanted to give Tait some match time and Tait’s success meant Johnson was suddenly being mentioned as a possible 12th man for Boxing Day.”He’s been so good in the Test match arena especially,” Nielsen said. “The biggest challenge for him is not to think ‘what do I have to change to get back in’ it’s just to understand that 12 doesn’t fit into 11 [for the ODIs].”Australia have not decided whether to experiment with a four-man pace attack in Melbourne as the MCG pitch remains a mystery. Rain has bucketed down in Melbourne over the past few days, meaning the centre-wicket area is still under cover.

Scorecard
New Zealand jumped right back into Rose Bowl contention with a crunching 82-run win against Australia to leave the series level at 1-1. The home side made plenty of 240-plus scores at the Lincoln ground against England without always winning but found 238 was more than enough in the second match to conquer Australia, the current holders.Katey Martin’s good form continued with 45, while Nicola Browne and Amy Satterthwaite both posted 48. Sarah Andrews was Australia’s best bowler with two wickets, while Ellyse Perry, Shelley Nitschke and Lisa Sthalekar both took one.New Zealand’s new-ball pairing of Helen Watson and Sophie Devine then worked well together, taking two wickets each to set Australia on the back foot at 4 for 43. They could not recover, as Lucy Doolan chipped in with 3 for 42.Australia will take some comfort from a half-century from Jodie Purves, who was included as a specialist batsman while Leonie Coleman kept wicket. Her fifth-wicket stand of 82 with Perry made the score more respectable but by the time it was broken Australia needed ten an over from the last ten overs, which proved too much.

Scorecard Jalaj Saxena hit an unbeaten fifty to guide Madhya Pradesh to a four-wicket win against Jammu & Kashmir in a low-scoring thriller in Jammu. Having resumed on 18 for 3, needing a further 113 runs to win on the final day, MP lost three wickets to reach 85 for 6. Jalaj, who resumed the day on 11, then shared a 48-run stand in 16 overs with Murtaza Ali (29*) to steer MP home. Out for a duck in the first innings, Jalaj could not have found a better time to register his highest first-class score. The game had turned on its head on the third day when Anand Rajan grabbed a career-best six-wicket haul to help MP, who faced a first-innings deficit, shoot J&K out for 91.
Scorecard Powered by a career-best 7 for 90 from Ashraf Makda, Gujarat registered an innings victory against Tripura in Ahmedabad. At the start of the fourth day, the last six Tripura wickets needed 200 runs to make Gujarat bat again. Makda, the left-arm medium-pacer, grabbed four wickets as Gujarat took the required wickets in 42.4 overs of play to earn six points from the game. Nishit Shetty offered the lone fight with an 80, but he only managed to delay the inevitable.
ScorecardJharkhand lost their last six wickets for 52 runs as Haryana beat them by 132 runs with only three overs’ play to spare. Apart from the captain Manish Vardhan who scored 106, not a single Jharkhand batsman reached 20, extras (30) being the second-largest contributors to their score of 223.Haryana, after having attained a first-innings lead on the third day, had declared overnight with a lead 354 runs. Sachin Rana, their medium-pacer, followed his first-innings effort of three wickets with three more in the second innings.
ScorecardAt Palakkad, Kerala took the last five Services wickets for 25, enforced a follow-on, took eight second-innings wickets, but ran out of time and could not enforce an outright win. Services, who resumed at 325 for 5, collapsed to the bowling of Tinu Yohannad and Prasanth Chandran.Following on, Services made a steady start, but they lost their first two wickets at the score of 36. After a 69-run third-wicket stand, Services kept losing wickets consistently. Jasvir Singh and Yashpal Singh scored 43 runs each to keep them afloat. Sadanandan Anish, Kerala’s right-arm offbreak bowler, bowled 34 overs for his six wickets.
ScorecardGoa dismissed Railways for 425 to walk away with the first-innings points in Margao. Railways, in pursuit of Goa’s 535, began the day at 291 for 5, with wicketkeeper Mahesh Rawat approaching his first century for Railways. Rawat missed the ton by four, and his wicket at the team score of 348 triggered a collapse as the next four could add only 57 runs. Karan Sharma, who had scored a century in the previous game – his debut – was left stranded at 70. Harshad Gadekar and Robin D’souza took three wickets apiece for Goa.
ScorecardAfter rain had washed out close to three days of play, Assam and Vidarbha couldn’t force a first-innings result and took away a point apiece. Assam, resuming at 65 for 2, scored 216, thanks largely to S Sharath’s 60. Pritam Gandhe, the Vidarbha offbreak bowler, bowled 15.4 economical overs in which he took four wickets and gave way 20 runs.Alind Naidu, Vidarbha’s No. 3, made sure there won’t be any hiccups in getting the one point, by scoring 48 runs.

The Irish Cricket Union have announced a squad of 12 for their opening game against Scotland in the InterContinental Cup. Ireland, the holders, begin the defence of their trophy with a home tie at Stormont in Belfast from August 9-12.Boyd Rankin is again absent from the squad, but the Irish are boosted by the availability of their star batsman Eoin Morgan, and wicketkeeper Niall O’ Brien. There is also a place in the 12 for leg spinner Greg Thompson, who has been in action for Ireland A against the MCC in Malahide this week.Irish coach Phil Simmons said of his squad: “Unfortunately Boyd hasn’t fully recovered. He bowled last week, but experienced a little bit of pain. Greg Thompson has impressed me greatly with his legspin. He turns the ball a lot away from the bat, and he’s a wicket-taker, which is exactly what we need.”Tom Hayes, the chief executive of Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking said: “I’d like to wish the Irish team every success as they begin their quest to win the trophy for a third successive time. It’s been a marvellous year for Irish cricket, and as official team sponsor, Bank of Ireland is proud to be part of it.”Squad Trent Johnston (Railway Union, capt), Andre Botha (North County), Alex Cusack (Clontarf), Thinus Fourie (Merrion), Dave Langford-Smith (Phoenix), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Kyle McCallan (Waringstown), Kevin O’ Brien (Railway Union), Niall O’ Brien (Northants), Greg Thompson (Lisburn), William Porterfield (Rush), Andrew White (Instonians)

Imran Khan believes Australia should go ahead with their scheduled tour of Pakistan this year despite the unrest in the country after the assassination of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Imran, an opposition politician in Pakistan, said Cricket Australia and its players should not be influenced by images of street violence after Bhutto’s death and he did not expect the unrest to last too long.”I don’t think the cricketers are under any threat at all,” Imran told the Melbourne radio station . “Obviously it looks much worse from there than it is living in Pakistan. This is not going to last two months to when the Australians appear. In the context of cricket, there will be nothing to worry about if the tour is in March. I don’t think the Australians should have any worries.”Imran’s comments came as Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, offered to take calls from any Australian players who had concerns over their security if the tour went ahead. Andrew Symonds said on the weekend that he would be willing to pull out of the trip if he was not satisfied his safety could be guaranteed.”I would like to speak to them personally and tell them that we will have good security for them in Pakistan,” Malik told the . “India have come here and there was a lot of talk then, but in the end there was no problem. It will be the same for Australia.”I do not want to comment about the politics. I am a sportsman and not very good about talking about politics. But I would like to say that with what is happening in my country, it is getting under control, and it will get better. There is still more than two months. It would be bad for the game and for the people in Pakistan if they did not come.”Cricket Australia is still planning to send a security delegation to Pakistan in February to assess the situation and determine whether the team can visit as planned. But the date of the Pakistan election – and whether it proceeds as scheduled on January 8 – is looming as a critical issue in whether Australia will deem conditions safe for the security delegation to make its trip.Nasim Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has again said there would be no repeat of 2002-03, when Pakistan’s home Tests against Australia were relocated to Sri Lanka and Sharjah. “Playing at a neutral venue is not an option with us,” Ashraf told , “because it’s not only cricket, it’s a matter of the development of the game and the fans’ interest so we are confident that Australia will not deprive our fans.”

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

South Africa will long remember this day, one when they sealed a major series in the subcontinent after seven years. Pakistan will hurt after the reversal but will evoke memories of one of their finest batsmen, Inzamam-ul-Haq, bringing down the curtains on a resplendent career. Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf ensured Pakistan won the day; South Africa had done enough to secure the series.Well as they tried, South Africa’s bowlers couldn’t get past a set of batsmen who had steeled themselves for the rearguard. The story might have been different had Younis not been reprieved on 83 or had the new ball been taken earlier or had some of the edges not eluded the slip fielders but to Pakistan goes credit for hanging on. Younis’ aggression during his second century of the series blended well with Yousuf’s caution and Pakistan saw out the day with six wickets to spare.”Inzamam’s Test”, however, didn’t live up to its name. If the first-innings 14 was short, this one, a two-ball 3, was too abrupt. The anti-climax came a few minutes before tea when Inzamam, two short of Javed Miandad’s Pakistan record for the most number of Test runs, charged left-arm spinner Paul Harris, only to be stumped by distance. As South Africa celebrated, Inzamam walked off to a guard of honour from his side. The stunned silence at the Gaddafi Stadium soon gave way to a warm final applause, putting a full stop on a riveting chapter.Younis and Yousuf shone through the rest of the day. Resuming on 48, Younis showed no sign of reining in his aggressive instincts. He brought up his fifty with a streaky four, driving away from his body in the third over of the day, and celebrated it by crashing the next ball through covers for another four. He chanced his arm against Jacques Kallis: two airy scoops beat the short midwicket fielder set specifically for that shot. He enjoyed a large slice of luck when on 83, popping one straight to short midwicket only for Hashim Amla to spill the simplest of chances.

Younis was forced to slow down once Harris was introduced, the batsmen kept quiet with a defensive line from over the wicket, but occasionally attempted slog sweeps and innovative paddles. He was quick to pounce on anything off length, tucking anything slightly short in front of square, but preferred to play him out and take the attack to the rest. South Africa didn’t find it easy to dislodge him and it required Kallis to go round the wicket to induce an error, Younis nicking to the wicketkeeper while flashing outside off.Yousuf’s was a risk-free, stodgy innings, preferring caution to adventure. He occasionally cashed in on the loose offerings but didn’t try anything fancy. His 156-ball 63 held the innings together and he never really appeared to be going for the improbable win. The full-tosses and long-hops were dispatched but there wasn’t a moment when he tried anything out of the ordinary. It was a workmanlike effort, one that ensured that Pakistan ended the series on a positive note.South Africa’s previous big series win in the subcontinent was made possible by a left-arm spinner – Nicky Boje running through India in Bangalore – but another one couldn’t take them to 2-0 here. Harris snapped up two wickets in the day, forcing an indiscreet whip from Akmal and a reckless charge from Inzamam, but could have managed more with a bit of fortune. A couple of return chances fell short and a number of deliveries beat the outside edge of the bat without taking the snick.The rest of the attack wasn’t far behind. Andre Nel struck a probing length, Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini hustled the batsmen, and Kallis created opportunities. The pitch didn’t deteriorate that much and the prodigious spin was thanks more to the rough than the crumbling nature of the track. Graeme Smith delayed taking the new ball, probably to shut Pakistan out of the game completely, but he was the first one to pluck out a stump when the umpires called time, becoming only the second South African captain after Hansie Cronje to triumph in Pakistan.

Australia’s selectors have cast an eye to the future with their Chairman’s XI for Sri Lanka’s first warm-up match in Adelaide starting on Saturday. The side for the three-day match is made up of those who were not picked for the round of state games and has focussed on youth.Ronchi, the aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman, missed out on Western Australia’s Pura Cup team to face Victoria due to Adam Gilchrist’s return, but he has the chance to shine as captain of the XI. Ronchi’s team-mate Aaron Heal, the left-arm slow bowler, will also play after making way for Brad Hogg while Mick Lewis, the veteran of the group at 33, will be back in Adelaide following a successful domestic trip with Victoria’s one-day side last week.Doug Bollinger has been included after being pushed out by Brett Lee and Stuart Clark at New South Wales, who are hosting Queensland from Friday. He was overlooked by the Blues despite taking eight wickets in the Pura Cup win over Western Australia.South Australia have four representatives in Cullen Bailey, Australia’s back-up legspinner who missed the state’s trip to Hobart, Paul Rofe, Tom Plant and Callum Ferguson. The match was hastily arranged following a request from the Sri Lankan management, which felt one warm-up was not enough ahead of the two-Test series in Brisbane from November 8.Chairman’s XI Lloyd Mash, Greg Moller, Phillip Hughes, Luke Ronchi (capt, wk), Callum Ferguson, Tom Plant, Cullen Bailey, Doug Bollinger, Aaron Heal, Mick Lewis, Paul Rofe.