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The fact that anything can happen at any time is both the greatness and drawback of limited overs cricket. There is little weightage for form, for confidence or for the past. What happens on the day is the only thing that decides the outcome. The second limited overs international between India and Australia played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Pune on Wednesday saw the visitors completely outplay India and coast to an eight wicket victory.The ever so elegant Mark Waugh, who signaled his return to form with two half centuries in the final Test at Chennai made an impeccable unbeaten 133, taking Australia to a comfortable victory. Notching up his 18th one-day century, Mark Waugh is now behind only Saeed Anwar (19) and Sachin Tendulkar (26) in the all time list of century makers. There are few people as unfussy and elegant when in form as Mark Waugh. Tendulkar gives the ball a hard thump, Brian Lara shuffles a lot in his crease but Mark Waugh is simple, precise and a treat towatch. Even the New South Welshman’s detractors would have to grant that. Scoring 133 of the finest runs, Mark Waugh struck the ball to the fence 15 times and cleared the ropes once.But it was not all Mark Waugh. Matthew Hayden, still hungry for runs, continued to milk India at the top of the order. Despite coming out to the crease with a target of 249, Hayden was calm as ever and went about his task of gathering runs with consummate ease. In the company of Mark Waugh, Hayden made 57 (116 mins, 81 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and put on 143 for the opening wicket. Despite a mix up and run out of Darren Lehmann just 20 runs later, Australia made it home with almost five overs to spare. Michael Bevan, not out on 33 was at the crease when the winning runs were scored.Earlier in the day, when Sourav Ganguly won the toss he had no doubt in his mind that batting first was the right thing to do. Even the fact that the wicket appeared to be dry and looked like it had spots on it did not deter the Indian skipper. Hemang Badani, batting at number five, relished the captain’s decision. Helping himself to his maiden one-day international century, Badani scored at better than run a ball and held the Indian innings together.Then again, the Tamil Nadu southpaw had to produce a big innings. Involved in two run outs, Badani would have been keen to push the Indian score on. Stroking the ball around the park in characteristic fashion, Badani looked calm and composed even as things fell to pieces around him. Ganguly’s woeful form with the bat continued into the second limited overs game. Spending half an hour at the wicket, Ganguly made just 4 before dragging a ball from Glenn McGrath backonto his wicket. Sachin Tendulkar, in aggressive form once more, made a quick 32 (35 mins, 29 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) before mistiming a short ball from Damien Fleming to be caught by Darren Lehmann in the midwicket region.VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid then attempted to replicate their joint efforts, employed so successfully in the past in this series but failed. In the first of three mix ups in the innings, Dravid (13) was run out. Laxman then settled into a good rhythm and in the company of the fluent Badani went about the task of rebuilding the innings. The pair managed to add 93 for the fourth wicket before Laxman was run out by Steve Waugh in another mix up. When Badani played the ball to Steve Waugh in the 35th over, Laxman (51, 86 balls, 3 fours) set off for a single without waiting for a call. Scrambling to get back home, Laxmanwas found short by Steve Waugh’s throw. Dinesh Mongia making his debut in one-day cricket did not last long, making just two before finding himself at the wrong end of yet another run out.At the fall of Mongia’s wicket, India were 157/5 off 36.1 overs and a score of around 220 looked likely. Showing great maturity, Badani raised the bar. After seeing that 200 was a reality, Badani went on to tame the bowling, although his innings was not excessively dominant. Badani’s innings seldom are, the manner in which he held out against both pace and spin made him a thorn in Australia’s flesh. When he finally holed out to Lehmann in the deep, Badani had made exactly 100 (142 mins, 98 balls, 10 fours, 2 sixes). India ended with 248/9 offtheir 50 overs, much more than what looked likely halfway through the innings.

The final day of Glamorgan`s Championship match with Kent at Swanseaeventually began at 3.50pm after another morning of continuous rain and apersistant sea fret. Both teams had patiently waited in the Swanseapavilion, hoping that the mizzle would lift in mid-afternoon, and with bonuspoints at a premium, both captains were eager for the chance to secure afurther point.As on the previous three days, the shroud of mist slowly lifted as the tidewent out in Swansea Bay, and in the 16 overs that were possible, both teamswere duly rewarded for their patience, each picking up a further batting andbowling point.Glamorgan resumed on 177-8, with Darren Thomas and Dean Cosker initiallythwarting Kent`s hopes of a third bowling point. Their partnership hadreached 36 as Darren Thomas guided Ben Trott to the third man boundary toput the Welsh county in sight of their first batting point. But in the nextover, Cosker was bowled off his thigh pad as he tried to fend off a shortball from Saggers.Eight balls later, Darren Thomas saw the Welsh county to their first battingpoint with a pull for two off Trott, and then with the doughty support oflast man Steve Watkin, Thomas then set about seeing the Welshmen to what hadseemed at first the unlikely prospect of a second batting point.Thomas duly became the top scorer in the Glamorgan innings when he straightdrove Trott to the sightscreen, before Watkin guided the ball to theunguarded third man boundary. Watkin repeated the stroke on two otheroccasions to take their partnership to 40, but then Thomas chipped Flemingto backward square leg where Robert Key took a chest high catch.There were 13 overs remaining as the players took to the field again, butbefore another ball could be bowled, the rain and mist descended again, andthe game ended in a soggy draw.In all, over 200 overs were lost in this, the first of three games whichform this year`s Swansea Festival. The loss of so much play was a hugedisappointment for the cricketing folk of south-west Wales, and inparticular the St.Helen’s Balconiers who have worked so hard over thewinter months to organise the Festival.After three days of thick low cloud, steady drizzle and a dank sea fret,there was hardly anything festive about the conditions at the historicSt.Helen`s ground. However, the weather forecasters are more optimistic aboutconditions for the rest of the week, so hopefully the loyal supporters willbe rewarded for their hard work with a prompt start to the Championshipmatch against Yorkshire at this ground on Wednesday.After so many blank days, they will be eager to get back out into themiddle, none more so than captain Steve James, who missed the openingfortnight of the season after a knee operation. So far in 2001, theGlamorgan opener has had just one Championship innings, in which he scored asingle, and he will be hoping to take his seasonal aggregate into threefigures with a more lengthy stay at the crease against Yorkshire.It was not that long ago that county batsmen at the start of each seasonaimed to join the small and illustrious group of players who had scored1 000 runs in first-class cricket by the start of June. Graeme Hick was thelast batsman to reach this landmark, back in 1988, but if the weatherpatterns of the past fortnight are repeated in the years to come, there is achance that no other county batsman will ever reach this milestone again.

In Division One of the Frizzell County Championship, there was just an outside chance that Yorkshire, having been forced to play second fiddle to Kent throughout the match, might just have been able to conjure up a result against the run of play. That would have needed Richard Blakey to press on beyond his century, but he fell for 90 and Yorkshire could only add 23 to their overnight total. There were five wickets for Martin Saggers. Even so, set 168 to win, Kent lost six wickets in reaching their target.Only 11 overs were possible at Old Trafford in the match between Lancashire and Sussex which was therefore consigned to a draw. It was the same story at Taunton where the players did not even manage to get on the field.At Edgbaston, Hampshire batted out time for a draw. Neil Johnson was 74 not out at the close as Warwickshire’s bowlers failed to break through to achieve the win that looked likely when Hampshire were forced to follow on.In Division Two, Glamorgan completed a five-wicket win over Durham at Cardiff. Set 201 to win, captain Steve James led them home with 121 before his was fifth out when his side was just two runs short of their target.John Stephenson, who only played for Essex because of injuries to other bowlers, took seven for 44 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 140 in their second innings. That left Essex 135 to win and, despite one or two scares along the way, they got home with five wickets in hand.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson powered Australia to another victory•ICC/Getty

Shane Watson has carried Australia in every match of this tournament and has now all but muscled them into the semi-finals with another outstanding all-round performance against South Africa. Watson picked up two wickets to help restrict South Africa and then crunched 70 from 47 balls to set up their successful chase of 147, as the Australians cruised to victory with 14 balls to spare.The South Africans were lacklustre with the bat and sloppy in the field, and while the result has not yet knocked them out of the tournament, they will need other results to fall their way if they are to progress to the semi-finals. For that to happen, Pakistan would need to lose to both India and Australia, and South Africa would need to beat India and then hope their net run-rate was good enough to sneak them ahead of Pakistan and India.By the same token, the win has not technically confirmed Australia’s place in the semi-finals, but their very strong net run-rate meant that for them to miss out, not only would India need to beat both Pakistan and South Africa but Australia would also need a disaster in their last match against Pakistan. The way Watson is playing, such an outcome seems about as likely as Simon Taufel being drafted in to Australia’s XI.For the fourth time from Australia’s four games in this World T20, Watson was Man of the Match. He ended the game on top of the tournament run tally and wicket list. It didn’t all go the way of the Australians early in their innings this time around. David Warner was kept quiet and then on 5 had his middle stump knocked back by Morne Morkel when he backed away and tried to release the pressure. Australia were 10 for 1 in the fourth over, and South Africa had a sniff.But Watson batted precisely as he had to. He picked up the first boundary of the innings in the fifth over when he cut viciously for four off Jacques Kallis’ first ball, and then plundered three boundaries off the next over from Morkel. Watson was away, and it didn’t take long before he was really heaving, lifting Robin Peterson over midwicket for six and pulling Wayne Parnell for six to bring up his half-century.By that stage, South Africa could not afford a single mistake, and they made one when Watson, on 52, skied Peterson and was put down by Parnell running in from long-off. Eventually Watson fell – caught by Parnell at long-off from the bowling of Peterson, oddly enough – but by then he had added another 18 runs and put Australia within sight of victory.Michael Hussey kept the runs coming – a lofted six over wide long-on from the bowling of Parnell was especially impressive – and South Africa couldn’t find a way to pick up the wickets they needed to slow Australia’s run-rate. They could have had one when Hussey advanced to Peterson and the ball skidded through, but AB de Villiers fumbled what should have been a straightforward stumping.