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He might have been criticised for being over the hill at the start of the tournament but Glenn McGrath’s performances over the last two matches have shown what a well-oiled machine he is. Having turned in animmaculate ten-over spell that wrecked New Zealand’s top order, McGrathadmitted that he was well on his way towards reaching peak form.”The criticism didn’t affect me at all,” he revealed matter-of-factly atthe end of a thoroughly satisfying day. “To me it is all about how I feelI’m going. If I feel I’m progressing then that is all that matters. I cameover here and also in Kuala Lumpur to improve each game I played. I havedone that and I will keep doing that. By playing in this series and atKuala Lumpur, I have put a piece of the puzzle together.”It’s feeling pretty good at this moment. I could improve still, but I was happy today. We have a few more games before the Ashes. We will hopefully have a good game on Sunday and when we then go to Australia, I shouldn’t be too far away from being 100%.”Both captains had no doubt that McGrath’s spell, one where he wentstraight through with 3 for 22 in 10 overs, made the difference. Headded that giving McGrath the new ball in the last two games haddefinitely brought a spring in his stride. “I think every one of the guyswill like to bowl with the new ball,” Ricky Ponting admitted. “If I was a bowler, Iwould also like to be bowling with the new ball. We experimented a bit andin the conditions we played the other couple of games we thought the ballmight swing more than do anything off the seam. He’s not one of thebiggest swingers of the ball but one of the best seamers around. Thosewere ideal conditions for him here. We have seen the form he is in at themoment. It’s probably going to be hard to get the new ball out ofhis hand.”Despite starting the tournament on a sluggish note, both McGrath andPonting had come good in the previous two knockout games. Ponting admittedthat having men with experience had been the clinching factor. “Thesenior players in big tournament are crucial. You don’t want to go into these sort of events with anyone in the team who hasn’t played a few games. Big games are generally won by people who have been there and done it all before. If you look back to our last couple of World Cup campaigns, we had a really good mix of experience and youth around the squad. That is crucial as you saw tonight; the oldest player on the park comes out and wins theMan-of-the-Match award. He knew exactly what he had to do. He has done itall before and that is crucial to the team.”Ponting also didn’t discount the efforts of Australia’s other herotonight, Andrew Symonds. He chipped in with a handy 58, just when NewZealand had fought back well into the game, and played a role with theball as well. “He will be in my world XI every time,” Ponting asserted.”He is a terrific one-day player and to walk out the way he did today andmake the fifty was outstanding. It was exactly what we needed at thatstage. He is the best fieldsman in the world as well.”Daniel Vettori’s fighting fifty helped New Zealand stage some sort ofrevival but Ponting revealed that he wasn’t overly worried at any stage.”I always felt comfortable we were going to win because the run-rate wascreeping up all the time. Those guys had to take some risks but fullcredit to New Zealand for fighting all the way through. I told my boysthis morning that to beat this side you have to knock them over becausethey bat down the order. Dan and Jacob [Oram] played beautifully and itgot them somewhere back into the contest again but it was always going tobe a miracle if they won. That is what you expect of New Zealand.”

Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies allrounder, has returned home to the Caribbean and will miss the entire five-match one-day series in Pakistan.A brief statement from the management said that Bravo had “sought and received the permission of the selectors to return home to be with persons close to him who are unwell” and flew back home on Friday night.Bravo has been replaced by Corey Collymore for the series. Collymore, 28, was part of the Test squad but was not originally included in the ODI squad. He travelled with the side from Karachi to Islamabad.Bravo’s departure follows that of Ramnaresh Sarwan, the vice-captain, who was forced out of the tour after sustaining a hairline fracture in his right foot while batting on the last day of the final Test at Karachi.Ian Bradshaw, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith have also joined the squad for the ODI series which begins on Tuesday at Rawalpindi.

Mohammad Kaif has retained his place in the Indian one-day squad for the tour of the West Indies, starting in the second week of May. The selectors announced an unchanged squad for the Caribbean tour, where India are scheduled to play five ODIs.Kaif, plagued by a prolonged form slump, found a berth in the 15-member line-up as the selectors felt that it was not necessary to change the winning combination. Virender Sehwag, another player whose form has been questionable, has been retained after his breezy knock of 73 in the second one-dayer against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi.”We all decided that we should back Kaif,” Kiran More, the chairman of selectors, said. “His past record is good and he’s an outstanding fielder too. Yes, his form is worrying. Even Virender Sehwag had a form slump but played a brilliant innings of 73 yesterday [against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi].”Robin Uthappa, the young opener, and Ramesh Powar, the offspinner, clinched their berths owing to performances against England and Pakistan. Sachin Tendulkar, currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme following a shoulder surgery last month, had opted out of the limited-overs segment of the tour. His availability for the four Tests that follow the one-dayers will be known on May 10 when he undergoes a fitness test.The team for the Tests will be announced after the third one-dayer at St. Kitt’s on May 23. The decision to retain the same squad means that Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman continue to remain out of India’s one-day scheme while Sourav Ganguly, the former captain, was ignored again.Indian squad
Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Venugopal Rao, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel.

Powered by centuries from Khurram Manzoor and Hasan Raza Karachi Zebras crushed Lahore Eagles by 152 runs . Put into bat, the Zebras rode on the back of the unbroken 200-run partnership between Manzoor and Raza to reach a huge 307 in their allotted overs. Rajesh Ramesh and Tanvir Ahmed rocked the top-order as Lahore Eagles slipped to a dismal 54 for 6, a position from which they never recovered.Rawalpindi Rams tasted their first win with a thrilling eight-run victory over Faisalabad Wolves. Rams were struggling at 115 for 5 when Usman Saeed took control and guided them to a competitive 225 with a 121-ball 95. Babar Naeem grabbed four top-order wickets to leave the Wolves tottering at 94 for 6 before a 102-run partnership between Mohammad Laeeq and Mohammad Salman steadied the chase. Laeeq’s run out opened the gates and Akhtar Ayub crashed through with a three-wicket haul as Wolves collapsed from 214 for 7 to be dismissed for 217.A disciplined batting and bowling performance saw Karachi Dolphins register a 36-run upset victory over the favourites Sialkot Stallions. Nearly all the batsman got a start – four crossed 40 as the Dolphins reached a healthy 266. Stallions got to a decent start, reaching 54 without any loss of wickets but Anwar Ali struck twice in quick succession to peg them back. Stallions rallied through a half-century from Shahid Yousuf and were placed at 203 for 5 before falling in a heap the end. Fawad Alam and Atif Maqbool did the damage with the ball as five wickets fell for the addition of only 27 runs.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has granted an appeal hearing to former Test batsman Saleem Malik, who was banned in 2001 for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing controversy. Last year the court sought an explanation from the Pakistan board of the law it had invoked to hand Malik a life ban from cricket.Malik had approached the Supreme Court in 2001 after the Lahore High Court rejected his appeal against the ban.With the latest developments, Malik hopes his ban will soon be overturned. “This means a lot to me because I have been fighting to clear my name for eight years and once I get this ban overturned I would like to associate myself to cricket once again,” Malik told AFP. He is already looking forward to a future associated with the game. “I can’t play cricket at my age now but there are hundreds of things linked to cricket which I can do and one is coaching.”Malik was banned by a PCB inquiry headed by Justice Qayyum, a high court judge, after Australian players Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh alleged that Malik offered them bribes to underperform on Australia’s tour of Pakistan in 1994. He was also barred from holding any office and from involvement in any cricket-related activity.Malik’s name also featured in an Indian match-fixing inquiry which led to life bans on former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Sharma, and he was mentioned by late South African captain Hansie Cronje in another probe.

ScorecardAshley Noffke produced a four-wicket haul as Queensland extended their lead at the top of the Ford Ranger Cup table with a comprehensive 32-run against Victoria at the Gabba. The platform was laid by a century opening stand between Jimmy Maher and Matthew Hayden before the Bulls’ attack, led by Noffke, restricted the Bushrangers despite Cameron White’s 77.At 2 for 108, Victoria were on track to make a decent fist of their chase. However, Noffke had Aiden Blizzard caught by Chris Simpson to end a third-wicket stand of 56 with White. When David Hussey was run out three overs later the momentum had swung in Queenland’s direction.The experience of Andy Bichel and Andy Symonds, who celebrated his Test recall with three wickets and a sharp catch, proved too much for the Bulls’ middle order. The result was sealed when Noffke claimed Adam Crosthwaite and White in the space of three balls in the 45th over.After a lean run in the opening two Ashes Tests, Hayden spent valuable time in the middle as he compiled a studious 84 off 110 balls alongside Maher’s 53. It was not just the Victoria bowlers that suffered from Hayden’s power. The square leg umpire Norm McNamara left the field with a broken hand after a Hayden pull shot cannoned into him in the 39th over, and was replaced by the third umpire Andrew Curran.The quick loss of James Hopes and Symonds to Shane Harwood stalled Queensland’s progress but Michael Buchanan and Chris Hartley added 48 off 38 balls for the seventh wicket, a stand that proved decisive.

AB de Villiers has dropped another hint that he is willing to stay on as South Africa’s long-term Test captain, after his new-look team completed an impressive 280-run victory in the fourth and final Test at Centurion.De Villiers, who himself made a pair in the match and has averaged just 9.00 in his two Tests since taking over from Hashim Amla as captain in the aftermath of the second Test at Cape Town, praised the character shown by his players s they secured their first Test victory in ten matches since January 2015.”The guys were very fired up for this Test match,” de Villiers said during the post-match presentations. “It’s been a while since we won a Test match so we are obviously very excited about that and we will enjoy the celebrations afterwards now.”South Africa’s side featured five changes from the seven-wicket defeat in Johannesburg, in which they conceded an insurmountable 2-0 series deficit, and de Villiers singled out one of the new faces, debutant opener Stephen Cook, for particular praise, following his maiden century in the first innings. However, the star of the show was unequivocally Kagiso Rabada, whose match figures of 13 for 144 were the second-best in South Africa’s Test history.”We are very excited about some of the guys coming through and taking their opportunities with both hands,” de Villiers said. “Obviously Kagiso had a fantastic Test match, it doesn’t come around every day that you take 13 wickets in a Test so we are very proud of him, and obviously Temba [Bavuma] and Cooky have played their roles in this Test match, and Temba obviously in the whole series.”It’s a great team performance, coming back from 2-0 against a very solid England team, and we showed a lot of character and hopefully we can build on this now and in the future.”Asked about his own future in Test cricket, amid series-long speculation about his workload, de Villiers implied that he was ready to commit to the leadership, with South Africa’s next Test engagement coming at home against New Zealand in August.”Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “I’m keen to move forward and the team is in a really good space, with a few guys coming through and enjoying their cricket. It’s a good place to be in, and it’s a bright future for us.”We’ve got a long way to go, it’s a bit of a rebuilding phase, we’ve lost quite a few players in the last few years, but the guys who’ve come through have shown a lot of character and shown us that they can take the team forward. I think there’s a bright future and we are looking forward to everything that’s going to come our way, and all the challenges.”Rabada followed up his first-innings figures of 7 for 112 with 6 for 32 second time around, including a destructive final-morning spell of 4 for 4 in 21 balls to bundle England out before the drinks break, and was deservedly named Man of the Match.”It was a bit up and down so the key was to hit the deck, bowl in a relatively good area and believe that you’d get your rewards,” he said. “It’s great to be in this environment, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do, and it’s great to play against a quality cricket team.””To take seven wickets this morning in the time that we did probably wasn’t part of my thinking in bed last night,” de Villiers admitted. “We were prepared to go to 5.30pm today and guts it out. They have a few match-winners in their team so we were wary of that, it wasn’t an impossible run-chase.”Alastair Cook, England’s captain, conceded his side had been second-best throughout the match.”It’s been a disappointing five days, we haven’t quite been on it, pretty much the whole five days,” he said. “We’ve hung in there without ever being able to get on top of South Africa. Credit to them, they played well, but we weren’t quite at the races.”Trevor [Bayliss, the coach] just described it as a limp batting performance, which probably sums it up perfectly.”

Six players missed out on the opening day of the Cricket Skills camp for the players selected for the ODI series in Ireland which started in Bangalore at the National Cricket Academy today. Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Yuvraj Singh, and Ramesh Powar couldn’t join the camp and all are expected to arrive in the city in the night.The players had a three-hour session of bowling, batting and fielding in the afternoon. In the absence of Chandu Borde, the newly appointed manager of the Indian team, Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach, and Robin Singh, the fielding coach, are overseeing the camp. Team trainer Gregory King and physio John Gloster were also present. Even during the Bangladesh tour where Ravi Shastri was the cricket manager, Prasad used to take complete charge of the nets. It is learnt that Borde will not attend the camp.The Indian board had conducted a bowlers’ camp at Mysore from June 4-8 and a batsman’s camp in Bangalore which concluded yesterday. Prasad had expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the two camps. “We wanted to keep the players going soon after the Bangladesh tour, which was tough because of the heat and humidity,” Prasad said on June 12th.”These camps were basically for improving fitness but me and Robin wanted to break the monotony and introduced batting and fielding sessions too, but briefly. In Mysore the players tried bowling at one spot and also some variations. In these eight days the players did core training, strengthening of body and built up endurance,’ he said.The players also took time off on Tuesday to interact with physically challenged children from ‘Mathru Foundation’, a charitable organisation, run by special Olympics medalist Malathi Holla.

Australia have called on Michael Hussey as a coaching consultant for the World Twenty20 next year and have also enlisted former India ODI player Sridharan Sriram to help them prepare for the conditions in India. The World T20 is the one major piece of silverware Australia are yet to win and given the spinning conditions in India, breaking through in the 2016 tournament would be a major challenge.Adding to their concerns ahead of the tournament the No.7-ranked T20 bowler in the world, Mitchell Starc, is almost certain to be unavailable due to his recovery from ankle surgery. Twenty20 has very much taken a back seat for Australia this year, with the World Cup having been their key 2015 focus. Remarkably, Australia have played only one T20 in 2015.That will change in the new year with Australia to host India for three T20s in late January, before they travel to South Africa for three more T20s in early March, ahead of the World T20. Hussey will join the squad in India for the first two weeks of the tournament; Australia’s first match is against New Zealand in Dharamsala on March 18.”Mike has been one of our most successful players at transitioning between the different formats and his advice and support in this area will be of great benefit to the players who have played a large amount of Test and ODI cricket in the last 12 months,” Pat Howard, the Cricket Australia executive general manager team performance, said.”He also has significant experience playing in India through the Indian Premier League and will assist in adapting to the unique conditions we will experience.”Hussey said he was excited about the opportunity to work with Australia, having retired as an international player in 2012-13. “As a proud Australian cricketer I am delighted to be involved in Australia’s campaign for the World T20 title,” Hussey said. “I’m really looking forward to working with the boys and assisting in any way possible with their preparation and match day plans.”Sriram, an allrounder who played eight ODIs for India from 2000 to 2004, will work with the Australians in South Africa to help them prepare for what they will face in the Indian conditions. Australia announced in September that Sriram would join them as a coaching consultant for their Test series in Bangladesh, but that tour was ultimately cancelled for security reasons.”We will play three T20 internationals against South Africa prior to arriving in India and Sriram’s focus will be on getting the players as prepared as possible for what they will face in India,” Howard said.”Sriram was a consultant coach with the Australia A side when they travelled to India earlier this year and was due to go to Bangladesh as a consultant prior to the tour being postponed. He has also been working with our National Performance Squad for the past few years.”

Times have changed. The first time India were crowned world champions, back in 1983, they had 77 days off between the World Cup final and their next international fixture. On Saturday, they begin a series against Australia just four days after their thrilling five-run win in the ICC World Twenty20 final. Those four days included a five-hour motorcade through the streets of Mumbai, a public reception at the Wankhede Stadium, a quick visit home (in some cases) and one practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.India have a new captain who must motivate his team for the first of the dozen ODIs they will play over the next six weeks. Mahendra Singh Dhoni also has to figure out just how much India need to switch gears from their successful Twenty20 approach.Gautam Gambhir, prolific in the Twenty20 games but uncertain when slotted at No. 3 in the 50-over version, might be better off adopting the same tactics as he did in South Africa. Though he opened there, he will probably bat at No. 3 tomorrow. The return of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid means India have to decide whether to retain Dinesh Karthik or local boy Robin Uthappa if they opt for seven batsmen. In this scenario Irfan Pathan, man of the match in the Twenty20 final, may not fit in as the fourth seam bowler, especially given how well Sreesanth bowled against Australia recently. Zaheer Khan will return, and the recalled Harbhajan Singh will be handed the opportunity to prove that he belongs.Australia’s pride was dented in South Africa and this is a chance to prove that was a blip. A hamstring injury has ruled out Ricky Ponting for the first few games but stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist has been successful here before, leading Australia to a rare Test series win in the subcontinent in 2004, when Ponting broke a thumb before the tour.Australia, through a combination of retirement, injuries and impending fatherhood, are set to make six changes for their first ODI since the World Cup final. There are spots up for grabs for Adam Voges, James Hopes and Ben Hilfenhaus, the three rookies. Each has tasted international cricket but has yet to be given major opportunities. Voges, with runs for Australia A in Pakistan recently, is likely to take Michael Hussey’s place and Brad Haddin could find a spot down the order.Australia’s reliance has been on pace recently but the sole spinner included could be a handful on Indian surfaces. Brad Hogg may be on the wrong side of 36 but he’s an underrated spin bowler and has featured in two World Cup-winning sides. He didn’t get a game in South Africa and was itching to have a go here. “We’ve been training for four months and we’re professionals. I don’t have any excuses, first game or last game. I’ve tried to prepare in every best way I can and hopefully I can do well,” he told . “Definitely I’m looking to get into the Test side. Hopefully I can do well and dish up those chances, get into the contest and have a tussle against a quality side. I’m ready to rock and roll.”The surface looks to be a batting track but there’s good bounce here for the pace bowlers, as evident during the Afro-Asia cup here in June. The last time Australia played India here in November 2003 frenetic hundreds from Gilchrist and Ponting carried them to 347 and a 61-run victory.Off the field, there’s an incredible buzz surrounding the match. Tickets for one-day matches are hard to come by at the best of times; India’s success has merely increased the anticipation. There was a good crowd to watch Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Zaheer and Ramesh Powar practice at the ground. As Ganguly batted and Tendulkar took catches from a young club cricketer, the big screen at the ground played a repeat telecast of the Twenty20 final. There was a neat juxtaposition of Ganguly being bowled, in real time, and behind him, larger than life, Gambhir driving Mohammad Asif imperiously through the covers.Back, one more time, to 1983: The next time they faced West Indies after that balmy June evening, India were walloped. They’ve just knocked Australia out of the Twenty20 tournament, and you can bet Australia will look for revenge. And India? Well they’ll just be keen to prove the times really have changed.Teams:India (likely): 1 Sourav Ganguly, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), 7 Dinesh Karthik, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Sreesanth, 11 RP Singh.Australia (likely): 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt/wk), 2 Mathew Hayden, 3 Brad Hodge, 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Brad Haddin, 7 Adam Voges, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Stuark Clark.