Scorecard

A `Cullen’ special on the final day at the Adelaide Oval saw South Australia authoritatively dismiss Western Australia for 271, giving them a 129-run win. Bowling in tandem, the finger-wrist spin combo of Dan Cullen (5 for 93) and Cullen Bailey (1 for 46) in the morning session never let WA get into a groove, despite fighting fifties from Adam Voges (76) and Ryan Campbell (64).Cullen’s dismissals were a combination of suffocating bowling and impetuosity from the batsmen. After resuming play at two for 26, Chris Rogers and Voges, the overnight batsmen, survived the first hour, Voges striking a series of authoritative strokes. Rogers, however, was not as comfortable and soon after drinks he miscued a hit off a fizzing Cullen off-break, where Jason Gillespie at mid-on juggled the catch. Darren Lehman, the SA captain, returned to the field on the final day after recuperating from his marathon 488-minute innings of 301 and positioned himself at a very short mid-on after conferring with Cullen. Whatever was said between bowler and captain worked, for Voges soon flicked Cullen straight to a delighted Lehmann. Voges’s was an untimely dismissal, as a hundred looked there for the taking.Bailey, though only scalping a solitary wicket, provided the perfect foil to Cullen’s offbreaks. Impressive from the get-go, he was able to gain sharp bounce and turn from a fourth day Adelaide Oval wicket, and beat the bat on numerous occasions. His dismissal of David Bandy (1) at the stroke of lunch was classical legspinner’s craft: after beating Bandy with a series of enticing, flighted leg breaks, Bailey forced the batsman to play back to a flatter, straighter ball and had him plumb in front of the stumps.From a position of five for 118, Shaun Marsh (49) and Ryan Campbell, the wicketkeeper, put on 104 runs, but both fell in relative succession to Cullen (4 for 83) and WA were back in the drums. Marsh was caught at slip after an attempted sweep resulted in a tangle of pad, arm and possibly glove, while Campbell provided a catch to Lehmann in identical fashion to Voges. This was Campbell’s second rescue attempt of the match, his counterattacking 122 off just 129 balls taking WA to 281 in its first innings. In the end, it was not enough to sustain a successful chase, with Cullen and Gillespie (3 for 32) running through the tail.

8 Andrew FlintoffNobody poured more effort into England’s campaign than Flintoff, and forthat reason his desperate display at Lahore deserves some mitigation.Utter exhaustion is forgivable in the circumstances, especially when it iscoupled with the sort of dejection he must have felt at finishing on thelosing side at Multan. In that match he produced a career-best haul of 8for 156 and looked the most complete fast bowler in the world. His battingsuffered as a side-effect, and he produced more than his fair share ofdumb dismissals. But he also produced a match-saving 56 at Faisalabad, notto mention more overs – 140.1 – than any other player on display.8 Ian BellEngland’s solitary success story in the batting ranks. A traumatic Ashesseries looked like extending into a tough winter of drinks-waitering whenhe was initially overlooked for Multan, but Vaughan’s knee offered areprieve that he gratefully accepted. Capped his series with a century atFaisalabad, and made big runs in each of the three matches. Still shows atendency to go missing when the stakes are at their highest, but has anappetite for accumulation that no England batsman has matched sinceMichael Atherton.7.5 Steve HarmisonWidely tipped to go missing mentally, given his previous problems withhomesickness in Pakistan, but instead hit a subcontinental length from hisfirst spell at Multan and stuck to it rigidly to the tune of 12 wickets -nine more than the great Dennis Lillee managed on these same pitches.Mohammad Yousuf described his spell on the third evening at Lahore as oneof the finest he had ever faced, and as if that was not inspirationalenough, Harmison, at No. 11, was one of the few English players to executethe sweep shot properly.7 Marcus TrescothickFaultless display as England’s stand-in captain at Multan, where his 193should have set up a memorable victory, and made important first-inningscontributions in the final two Tests as well. His second-innings statswere another thing entirely, however. He managed just five runs in threeinnings, including ducks at Faisalabad and Lahore as Shoaib Akhtar torechunks out of England’s resolve. Deserved better support from histeam-mates, but his struggles confirmed that the defeat was no fluke.7 Paul CollingwoodStuck at his task, but not even scores of 96 and 80 at Lahore could fullyconvince the doubters, who question whether Collingwood has the techniqueor temperament to thrive as a Test-class No. 4. As a team-man, hisattitude is unrivalled, and his disappointment at Lahore was keenly feltby all who have appreciated his uncomplaining approach, even whenopportunities have been hard to come by. His bowling was heralded as atrump card on these wickets, but it was his rival Bell who bagged the mostscalps – all one of them, and even that was dubious.7 Geraint JonesOne of the few players to make genuine strides on this tour. His battingwas solid without ever blooming into something spectacular, but it was hiswicketkeeping that caught the eye – or rather, didn’t, because he hardlyhad a blemish in all three matches. Crouching lower than in the summer,and with a wider cordon to allow him fuller expression with those divingchances in front of slip, he took 11 catches on the slow low strips andensured that Matt Prior remained nothing more than an eager understudy.7 Matthew HoggardLearned the ropes as a rookie on this tour in 2000-01, and proved that thelessons had sunk in with a disciplined and penetrative performance in allthree Tests. Consistently found swing with the new ball – if only ever fora couple of overs – and seemed set to rescue his batsmen’s blushes when hegrabbed two early wickets at Lahore. Did as much as could have been askedof him.6 Kevin PietersenA stylish hundred at Faisalabad, but it was the manner of his parting -caught slogging across the line one ball after raising his century with asix – that said the most about KP’s contribution to this series. Initiallyearmarked as England’s No. 4, Pietersen remained one place lowerthroughout, which was perhaps a hint that his application was noteverything that Duncan Fletcher had hoped. His talent is so intense thathe will always leave the fans wanting more. But in the second innings atboth Multan and Lahore, they deserved more as well.6 Liam PlunkettEngland’s youngest Test debutant since Ben Hollioake in 1997, Plunkettpassed his test with flying colours and confirmed that he has a brightfuture in the game. Batted with nerve and plucked an effortless catchbefore he was even called upon to perform his strongest suit, but hedidn’t disappoint with the ball either, generating pace and accuracy, andproviding England with two breakthroughs that, with a bit more of a totalto defend, might have given Pakistan greater cause for concern.

5 Michael VaughanA tough tour for England’s semi-fit skipper. His trip appeared to be overwhen his knee locked up at Bagh-e-Jinnah, and though he returned for thefinal two matches, his rehabilitation appeared rushed at best andfoolhardy at worst, especially when he mustered 11 runs at Faisalabad. Areturn to the top of the order heralded a late blossoming at Lahore, butit was all too brief. Fifty-eight sparkling runs in the first innings wererendered inconsequential by a rash sweep-shot, and his captaincy lackedthe imagination he had shown in the summer4 Andrew StraussUntil this series, Strauss hadn’t failed to score a century in a seriesagainst major opponents, but with fatherhood impending, he never lookedlike extending that proud record. His mind was back in England long beforethe rest of his body followed suit, as he proved by droppingInzamam-ul-Haq on the midwicket boundary in the closing stages atFaisalabad. Though he’s guaranteed an immediate return to the top of theorder for the India trip, there is some question as to whether he shouldhave come on this leg at all.4 Ashley GilesArrived in the country with a reputation to maintain, but was hampered bya hip injury that forced him to miss the final match, and remained ashadow of the man who took 17 wickets in the same series five years ago.Sent down too many full-tosses that destroyed his rhythm, and was unableto extract anything but the most negligible turn. But his full value wasonly recognised in his absence, as England toiled for three days at Lahorewith barely a sniff of salvation.4 Shaun UdalPromising beginnings at the end of a long, long wait, when he took hismaiden Test wicket at the age of 36. But Udal’s penetration receded as thetour progressed, as his economy-rate ballooned all the while. By the timehe was selected as the solitary spinner at Lahore, Pakistan had hisnumber, and cashed in with alacrity in their single mighty innings. ThatUdal bowled 18 overs in that innings, to Harmison’s 43 and Flintoff’s 36,was ample proof that he had failed his biggest test. His batting was abonus, mind you. Almost Gilesesque, in fact.

Scorecard
Pura Cup points tableThe legspinner Cullen Bailey propelled South Australia to equal first on the Pura Cup table with a five-wicket haul as they beat Tasmania, who were led by George Bailey’s 130, at Adelaide Oval. The Tigers made a brave bid to force a draw through Michael Bevan, who reached 83 from 181 balls, and Bailey, the last man out as they were beaten by 194 runs.South Australia joined New South Wales on 20 points in a dramatic improvement after they sat at the bottom for most of last season. Darren Lehmann, the captain, grabbed three second-innings wickets to add to his run double of 182 and 58, but Bailey was the most penetrative bowler on a worn surface with 5 for 146 from 37.5 overs.He teased Bevan out of his crease shortly after lunch to give Graham Manou a juggling stumping, and tricked Sean Clingeleffer and Shannon Tubb into hitting close-in catches to ease any South Australian worries over the victory. Lehmann then chipped in with two wickets and Shaun Tait added one before Bailey ended the match with the scalp of his namesake. Bailey’s century, his third in a season of 610 runs at 50.83, came from 118 balls and his aggressive innings included 15 fours and three sixes.Tasmania also named their team today for the ING Cup match against New South Wales at Bellerive Oval on Wednesday. Dane Anderson, Luke Butterworth, Tim Paine and Adam Polkinghorne were players picked in the squad who were not involved in the Pura Cup match.Tasmania ING Cup squad Michael Di Venuto (capt), Travis Birt, Michael Bevan, George Bailey, Luke Butterworth, Dane Anderson, Tim Paine (wk), Adam Griffith, Xavier Doherty, Adam Polkinghorne, Brendan Drew, Ben Hilfenhaus.

Continuing with their controversial rotation policy, Australia are resting Brett Lee from the match against South Africa at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne on Friday.Ricky Ponting said that Lee’s break was well earned and that the timing was right with the finals beginning on February 10. “He’s been up for a long time and doing what he does he probably has more stress and physical burn-out than anybody else in the side, so we felt now was an ideal time to give him a rest,” Ponting said.”You’d like to have Brett in your side all the time, but we’ve got to try to manage the side as well as we can and manage him as well as we can. He’s been a great weapon for us in both forms of the game over the last 12 months and we’ve just got to be a little bit careful with him.”Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, said that Lee’s rest was good news for South Africa. “I suppose it does release the shackles,” he said. “I think there might be one or two happier batters out there when I tell them the news.”Brad Hodge has made way for Ponting, who has returned to lead the team after a two-match rest. Brett Dorey, who was thrashed by Sanath Jayasuriya at the SCG, has replaced Lee and will play his third one-day international while Stuart Clark retains his spot after taking two wickets against Sri Lanka in Perth. However, there is no place for Nathan Bracken, the left-arm bowler who missed the Perth match for personal reasons. James Hopes has stepped in as Supersub.The practice of resting players during the one-day touranment has been criticised by several former Australian players. Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Ponting have already taken mid-series breaks this summer.”There is no doubt the rest helped me immensely, as it has done in the previous four years,” Gilchrist said after the Perth game on Sunday. “People are questioning a couple of guys having a rest. We have been doing this for a long time now.”Australia 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Michael Hussey, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Dorey, 10 Stuart Clark, 11 Glenn McGrath, Supersub James Hopes.

Rahul Dravid has been fined 20% of his match fee for a slow over-rate during the first ODI against Pakistan at Peshawar. The rest of the team have been fined 10%.India were behind by two overs. The rule stipulates that 5% of a player’s match fee will be docked for every extra over and the captain is fined double the amount. The final drinks break was unusually long and that could have cost India the fine. Pakistan won the first ODI by seven runs according to the Duckworth-Lewis system after bad light stopped play.

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

Australia withstood a fine partnership between AB de Villiers and Shaun Pollock to keep the series alive with a 24-run win at Port Elizabeth. Ricky Ponting returned to the side, compiled an assured half-century, and marshalled Australia’s most complete performance of the tour. Brett Lee roused himself with four wickets after a couple of quiet matches, while Australia’s fielding responded in superb style under pressure.It was only a matter of time before the real Australia showed up in South Africa and the side was far steadier under the guidance of Ponting. He kept his cool as de Villiers and Pollock engineered a brilliant stand of 119 in 22 overs, keeping the asking rate in single figures. Ponting entrusted a vital period of play to Shane Watson and Michael Clarke – given the major spinning responsibility ahead of Brad Hogg – and they responded to their captain’s call.Pollock inside-edged Watson to fine leg, suggesting the luck that had deserted South Africa with the dismissals of Herschelle Gibbs and Boeta Dippenaar had swung back the way of the home side. But next ball Pollock chanced his arm once too often and the old adage of “you miss, I hit” worked for Watson. de Villiers knew there was no point laying down and continued to try for boundaries – it looked like his powerful swing off Clarke had found the rope. Hogg, though, had other ideas and flung himself backwards at full stretch, holding on to an amazing catch at long on.In the bigger picture for South Africa it was a vital innings by de Villiers. This was his 17th ODI and he was struggling to settle into the short form of the game. He’d shown his hitting ability at Centurion with a 30-ball 43, but the ugly heave at Cape Town suggested he was still unsure of his role. Today he had no option but to try and rebuild the innings after South Africa slumped to 69 for 5, and he took his time, reaching fifty from 72 balls. Although he wasn’t able to turn the match around this knock will have done wonders for his belief.Lee is a man never short of belief, but he hadn’t been at the top of his game in the first two matches. Today the opening spell was more like his usual self as he removed Graeme Smith in characteristic fashion to give Australia the early boost they needed.

Gibbs quickly stamped his authority on proceedings, but Australia then enjoyed two huge strokes of luck. Firstly, Dippenaar crunched a straight drive, which Stuart Clark managed to clip with his finger: Gibbs flung himself towards the crease, but his bat was fractionally in the air as the bails were removed. South Africa will have felt further aggrieved 17 runs later when Dippenaar was sent lbw despite the ball from Watson heading over the stumps.The next two wickets were down to some superb planning and knocked the stuffing out of South Africa. With Ponting sensing a crucial moment he returned to Lee, and his main striker was on-song as Boucher chased a good-length delivery through to the keeper. When Justin Kemp hooked tamely to long leg, the beefy middle-order was crumbling. Pollock and de Villiers produced a fine recovery effort but despite some impressive late blows from Roger Telemachus, the top order’s mixture of ill-fortune and poor shots had left too much to do.Australia’s innings, while being far from spectacular, was based around solid contributions from the leading batsmen and a late flurry from Clarke and Michael Hussey. Simon Katich played soundly before being brilliantly run out when he pushed the ball wide of de Villiers and was left well short when the fielder dived and, off balance, threw down the wicket.Ponting brought a sense of permanency to the No. 3 slot, which had been missing with his temporary replacements. He wasn’t at his fluent best, struggling like most of the batsmen to force the pace on a slow pitch, but ensured Australia had a platform for some late acceleration.Damien Martyn struck a 68-ball fifty after four single-figure innings in ODIs, and wickets in-hand allowed the later batsmen to club 40 off the final four overs. That late dash proved crucial and gave Australia the breathing space they needed. It has taken them time to find their feet, but with Ponting back and Lee firing the series may go down to the wire.

Adam Gilchrist c Boucher b Pollock 25 (36 for 1)
Nicked attempted back-foot slashSimon Katich run out (de Villiers) 49 (99 for 2)
Brilliant direct hit after diving pick-upRicky Ponting c Peterson b Pollock 62 (173 for 3)
Excellent catch tumbling backwards at deep midwicketDamien Martyn c Telemachus b Ntini 51 (214 for 4)
Chipped full toss off bottom of bat to wide mid-onMike Hussey c Gibbs b Hall 22 (243 for 5)
Lofted drive to wide long-offMichael Clarke run out (Boucher) 25 (244 for 6)
Run out trying to steal the strike off a wide

Graeme Smith c Gilchrist b Lee 10 (15 for 1)
Herschlle Gibbs run out (Clark) 16 (43 for 2)
Boeta Dippenaar lbw b Watson 16 (60 for 3)
Mark Boucher c Gilchrist b Lee 5 (68 for 4)
Justin Kemp c Bracken b Clark 0 (69 for 5)
Shaun Pollock b Watson 69 (188 for 6)
AB de Villiers c Hogg b Clarke (192 for 7)
Andrew Hall c Gilchrist b Lee (197 for 8)
Robin Peterson c Gilchrist b Lee (199 for 9)
Roger Telemachus lbw b Bracken 29 (230 all out)

James Hopes will fly to Bangladesh to replace the injured Shane Watson in Australia’s one-day side. Watson is still recovering from a calf injury picked up when playing for Queensland in the recent Pura Cup final.Hopes and Watson have been jostling for position as Australia experiment with their squad ahead of next year’s World Cup, with Watson preferred for the recent tour of South Africa and then getting the nod for Bangladesh.But now Hopes will have the chance to stake his claims in the three-match ODI series which starts in Chittagong on April 23. He has taken three wickets in the eight one-dayers he has played since making his debut against New Zealand in 2004. Seven of those were earlier this year in the triangular VB series at home.

Michael Bevan has ended months of uncertainty over his cricketing future by agreeing to play another season for Tasmania. David Johnston, the Tasmanian Cricket Association chief executive, said a verbal agreement had been reached and the paperwork was being completed.However, Bevan’s role as Tasmania’s assistant coach has been reduced to three days a week. “[It will] give him more time to concentrate on his cricket and more time to spend with his family – two very important things both for Tasmanian cricket and Michael Bevan,” Tim Coyle, Tasmania’s coach, told . “I’d say [it is] just a slightly reduced role, that’s all it is, but he’ll still work with our batters.”Bevan appeared in 18 Tests and 232 ODIs for Australia and his time with the side finished when he was not offered a national contract at the end of the 2003-04 season. A long-term New South Wales player, he signed a two-year deal with Tasmania before the 2004-05 season and immediately made his mark with a domestic-record haul of 1464 Pura Cup runs.

Ravi Shastri, the former Indian allrounder and current commentator, has expressed his faith in India’s experimentation tactics as they attempt to win in the Caribbean for the first time since 1970-71. Shastri has also applauded the Indian management’s decision to breakaway from a mindset of old, opt for youth and not allow any player to take his place for granted.”The Indian team has made giant strides in the one-day game because they have identified roles for every player,” Shastri told the website, gulfnews.com. “The coach, the captain and the selectors need to be complimented for thinking along the same wavelength. Their selection of a bunch of youngsters has made the team one of the best fielding sides in the world. India will be playing one of the weakest West Indies team in recent years. The challenge before India lies on how well they perform in Test cricket during the next two years.”Shastri, 43, firmly approved of India’s recent experimentation. “Whether it is [Sachin] Tendulkar or [Rahul] Dravid, make it clear that no one owns a batting position…one has to play according to the situation of the game, even if it demands that [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni bat at No.3 or open the innings,” he said. “Irfan Pathan and Dhoni have shown tremendous maturity. Yuvraj Singh is now batting like a bomb. He should have been batting in the present slot nearly one year ago. Unfortunately, the Indian team was not prepared to be flexible earlier.”As for the experience of senior players, Shastri said it came down to the overall composure of the team. “You need to go back to experienced players only if there is a vacuum and there is no talent. If your strategy is to look into the future, then you need to give the youth a chance,” he clarified. “They need to be ruthless in selection and no player should be considered indispensable. It is the player’s current form that should be the criteria for selection. We are a country obsessed by records. For us, hundreds, ten thousand runs, and large haul of wickets are more important than the performance of the Indian team.”In Australia, the emphasis is not on how many centuries Ricky Ponting makes, but on Australia’s winning streak for the last ten years. India has given too much emphasis on players’ records than on the actual performance of the team,” he said. “Its not worth scoring thousands of runs if your team keeps on losing. Fortunately the trend has started to change now. India has always been a good one-day team, but in Test cricket we need to go a long way. Twice recently, when it got a little hot in the kitchen, India crumbled. Both in Karachi and Mumbai, it all happened within a span of three hours. [Greg] Chappell’s biggest challenge will be to get India do well in Test cricket.”

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