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

Undone by some ordinary batting on a grassy pitch ideally suited to South Africa’s seamers, India succumbed to 188 – a score that looked unlikely till Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif bailed the team out – and then found it impossible to defend such a low total under lights, in dewy conditions. Their batsmen failed to apply themselves in helpful conditions early on. When it was their chance to bowl, there weren’t enough runs on the board, and Graeme Smith led from the front with a superb 134 not out, as South Africa won by 10 wickets.When Smith won the toss and instantly chose to field, it was clear that the going would be anything but easy. Even with Makhaya Ntini unavailable through illness, South Africa, led by the redoubtable Shaun Pollock, had the bowling to exploit the conditions handed to them. India responded with unorthodoxy, sending Irfan Pathan out to bat with Gautam Gambhir. But Pathan lasted only three balls, dragging Pollock back onto his stumps. Soon after, Sachin Tendulkar got one that lifted and moved away and tickled fine to the keeper. Gambhir laced two excellent boundaries, giving hope that resistance was possible, before dabbing one straight to Smith in the slip cordon, and India were in deep trouble at 23 for 3.Virender Sehwag, not overtly concerned with the mess that the Indian scoreboard was in, started well, punching powerfully through the off, both sides of the cover fielder. His footwork was Sehwag-minimalist, his balance perfect, and strokeplay exhilarating. But with the ball moving about quite a bit both in the air and off the pitch, it was only a matter of time before something gave. Andrew Hall, who had been treated with some disdain by Sehwag, picked up the wicket when one moved enough to kiss the outside edge on the way to the keeper. Rahul Dravid, who had been everything Sehwag was not, lasted 31 balls in a careful vigil at the crease before a peach from Charl Langeveldt sent him packing. A ball slanted in from wide of the crease swung away late, and Dravid, who was enticed into driving towards on, lost his off stump. India were 71 for 5 and looking straight down the barrel of Smith’s loaded gun.

Yuvraj and Kaif then showed remarkable resilience. Kaif survived a couple of close calls early on, edging outside off and falling over and being hit on the pad, but soon tightened up and looked confident and competent. Yuvraj was always confident, whether leaving the ball alone or punishing the loose ones, and his footwork was decisive. All of a sudden two young batsmen were running hard between the stumps, the scoreboard was ticking over, and India had their first strong partnership of the innings – 81 for the sixth wicket.Then South Africa struck back, through Johan Botha, the offspinner, removing Yuvraj lbw as he flicked and missed. When Kaif (46) clipped Nel straight to midwicket soon after India were again brought to their knees at 167 for 7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, batting down the order, was well contained by bowlers who kept the ball short of a driving length, and when he failed, holing out to long-on, India were well short of a competitive total, bowled out for 188 in under 46 overs.Smith and Hall came out to bat knowing fully well that they had to make all the mistakes if South Africa were to fail to chase the modest target. Smith, in particular, was impressive, going after anything that was just a touch short or wide. His bat did not quite describe a flamboyant arc but it certainly came down hard on the ball in short, sharp bursts, and sent point and cover scattering. Hall was the opposite, playing with a very straight bat, and repeatedly failed to beat the infield. But overall South Africa were more than healthy – the 50 came up without the loss of a wicket in under 12 overs.The introduction of spinners, Harbhajan Singh in particular, caused a momentary deceleration, but soon enough Smith broke the shackles, jumping down the track and lofting the ball back over the bowler’s head. Then, as the runs required narrowed in on the overs remaining, and South Africa reached a position from which they could not lose, Hall came to the party, taking Murali Kartik on and repeatedly heaving over the infield. Hall ended on 48 not out, and Smith on 134 not out when South Africa won. But you could not help wondering if the crowd roared in appreciation of an innings well played, or because India minus their darling, Sourav Ganguly, were getting thumped. Either way, it’s 2-1 with one to play in Mumbai.

India
Irfan Pathan b Pollock 0 (2 for 1)
Sachin Tendulkar c Boucher b Pollock 2 (14 for 2)
Gautam Gambhir c Smith b Pollock 11 (23 for 3)
Virender Sehwag c Boucher b Hall 30 (29 for 4)
Rahul Dravid b Langeveldt 6 (71 for 5)
Yuvraj Singh lbw b Botha 53 (152 for 6)
Mohammad Kaif c Smith b Nel 46 (167 for 7)
Ajit Agarkar b Kallis 11 (187 for 8)
Mahendra Dhoni c Botha b Hall 14 (187 for 9)
Harbhajan Singh lbw b Hall 0 (188 all out)

8:30am
Scorecard
Wet conditions on the morning of the third day meant that play was off at 8:30am local time. Bouts of heavy overnight showers left the MA Chidambaram Stadium in a damp state and covers enveloped most parts of the ground.The outfield had a lush, marshy look about it and the umpires decided to call off play without even waiting for an inspection later in the day. Like the first two days, grey skies loomed and despite the super sopper, and the ground staff, working overtime nothing could stop them from abandoning play right at the outset.

Despite trouncing England with some awe-inspiring batting in the recently concluded Test series in Pakistan, Inzamam-ul-Haq wants to play county cricket in the country of cricket’s birth.”I would like to play once in county cricket; that is something I have not done as yet,” Inzamam, the Man of the Series in Pakistan’s 2-0 Test series win, told ABC Sport. “Last year there was an offer from a county but I was not in a position to accept it.”Inzamam, 35, has been in prolific form this year, hitting 1,000 runs in his last eight matches at the superb average of 83.33. Against England, he scored fifties at Multan, two hundreds in Faisalabad – breaking Javed Miandad’s record of 23 Test centuries for Pakistan – and a crucial 97 in Lahore to see Pakistan clinch a thriller.”I have always said that I don’t plan ahead, I go step by step and series by series,” Inzamam added. “But playing in the World Cup is an ambition and so is playing for some county.” It is probable that he is eyeing a rest period in May of next year, following Pakistan’s tour of England in which they will play four Tests and five one-day internationals.A number of Pakistan cricketers have played county cricket in 2005 – Younis Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Azhar Mahmood and Danish Kaneria. In the past, former greats such as Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Zaheer Abbas, Mushtaq Mohammad and Asif Iqbal enjoyed long stints playing county cricket in England.

The Bermuda coach Gus Logie believes his team won’t disgrace themselves when they make their World Cup debut in the Caribbean. Logie said he is pleased with the way the rank outsiders are approaching the tournament.Bermuda are about to visit the United Arab Emirates for a nine-day trip as they start their build-up to the event. Apart from captain Clay Smith, whose troublesome knee needs surgery, and new-boy David Hemp who is in the middle of the 100-day residency qualification process, all of the national squad have made themselves available for the trip to the Middle East which begins on January 28.”Morale is good and I’ve been very happy with the guys commitment and attendance at training,” Logie told the . “We are obviously coming up to what is going to be a very busy year and although the guys have enjoyed the success they’ve had and crickets new-found status, I think they have a sense of the responsibility they are under to achieve and to perform.”Mental toughness is crucial at the higher level at which they are going to be playing and there is no room for complacency. It is important that we look at every option we have. We need to get in a position where we have looked at everybody and given them a chance to impress. We haven’t got a Michael Holding or a Joel Garner so we need to maximise resources.”

ScorecardSouth Africa took a step towards winning the Plate Championship of the Under-19 World Cup when they made short work of Scotland, beating them by the compelling margin of 185 runs on Tuesday.Put into bat, South Africa – still smarting under the failure to qualify for the Super League – made mincemeat of the hapless Scotland bowlers to pile up 337 for 8, the highest total of the tournament. Scotland were dismissed for 152 off 40.4 overs.South Africa’s match-winner was the left-hander Jean Symes who deservedly bagged the Man-of-the-Match award; after his knock of 63 off 90 balls, he grabbed 3 for 38 in a superb allround display.Symes was not alone, however: there were contrasting half-centuries from Pieter Daneel (59) with whom Symes put on an opening partnership of 134; Richard Levi, who blasted 51 and the captain, Dean Elgar, who exhausted himself in his innings of 86.In reply, Scotland crumbled to a feeble 152, despite 59 from Gordon Goudie at the top of the order. Symes’ three wickets were vital blows to Scotland’s attempt at chasing down the total, and despite South Africa gifting a whopping 16 wides to the Scots, they fell with nearly 10 overs to spare.In the latter stages of the innings, Elgar was handicapped by heat and exhaustion and was barely able to make it to the pavilion at the end of the innings. Such was his fatigue that he failed to take the field for Scotland’s reply, instead recuperating in the dressing room with the help of a cold towel and three pedestal fans.Ray Jennings, the South Africa coach, put it down to lack of preparation for the event. “Coming from where we are, we are learning to drink correctly and getting the right substance in our body. It is definitely a learning curve for a lot of the guys,” he said. “Many of the players haven’t toured the subcontinent. That to me is lack of preparation which South Africa has gone through with regard to coming to the World Cup in the subcontinent. It’s one of those things that we’ve got to drive quickly and learn.”Jennings said that he was happy the way his team played but added: “We had a slow start to the tournament. Unfortunately the preparation was very late this year and that showed. We fine-tuned it along the way and the guys are starting to put it together. Unfortunately it is a little bit late.”

Asif Hussain’s century powered Faisalabad Wolves to 352 for 7 as they trounced Karachi Zebras by 110 runs at the National Stadium in Karachi. Hussain scored 104 and put on 125 runs for the second wicket with Mohammad Hafeez who struck ten fours and a six for his 97. Karachi’s chase began with a 52-run partnership before they lost three wickets for four runs. Saeed Ajmal picked up 4 for 32 as Karachi were dismissed for 242 in 47 overs.Rashid Riaz’s maiden hundred took Lahore Lions to the top of the Silver league table with a six-wicket win over Quetta Bears at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Chasing 255, Lahore were struggling at 54 for 3 when Riaz (91) and Adnan Raza began their 191-run partnership that shut Quetta out of the game. Riaz’s 108 came off 111 balls but included just seven fours. In the first innings, Quetta Bears rode on half-centuries from Tariq Aziz and Adil Nisar, who scored 74 off 71 balls with 7 fours and a six, to reach 253. Mohammad Hussain was Lahore’s best bowler, taking 3 for 31, as Quetta were dismissed in the 50th over.Peshawar Panthers coasted to a 75-run victory against Lahore Eagles in their third-round Gold League match at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi. Rafatullah Mohmand and Wajahatullah Wasti struck half-centuries, after Peshawar were asked to bat, and took the score to 259 for 6. In the second innings, three run-outs and Mohammad Aslam’s 3 for 24 helped skittle Lahore for just 184 in 40.4 overs. Sohail Ahmed was Lahore’s top-scorer with 41.Rawalpindi Rams won a low-scoring contest against Multan Tigers by six wickets at Karachi to move up to second place in the Gold league. Chasing 215, Mohammad Ibrahim, Usman Saeed and Naved Ashraf scored fifties as Rawalpindi finished the game in the 48th over. Their bowlers took advantage of winning the toss and didn’t allow Multan to get a partnership going by taking wickets at regular intervals. Azhar Shafiq top-scored with 49 as Multan were restricted to 214 for 9 in 50 overs.Rain washed out the Silver league matches between Islamabad Leopards and Hyderabad Hawks at the the Diamond Cricket Club in Islamabad, and Abbottabad Rhinos and Karachi Dolphins at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Each team was awarded two points.

Security and health care are the two major items driving government spending ahead of the 2007 World Cup (CWC). That’s according to Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Owen Arthur, who has committed government to spending around $90 million to play its part in the Caribbean’s hosting of the world’s third largest sporting event next March.Arthur was speaking with the Nation in an exclusive interview shortly after laying the 2006-2007 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in the House of Assembly yesterday.”These Estimates are occasioned by one major consideration,” Arthur said, “that over the course of the next financial year, we have to fully honour all of our Bid Book World Cup major obligations insofar as they have financial implications.” Barbados, he added, did not now have a choice as to whether it had to meet those obligations – it had to be done by the end of March 2007.”So these estimates are driven by the obligation to honour World Cup related activities,” the Prime Minister said, “and the one big change is that there is a 27 per cent increase proposed in capital expenditure.”Capital spending moves from just over $220 million to $300 million, he disclosed, but most of the increase would drop out after next year because it would be a “one-off” expenditure. “Notwithstanding, we are still trying to bring the Estimates in line with the fiscal target of 2.5% of GDP. So even though we are bringing World Cup expenditures to account, we are still honouring the obligation to try to be as fiscally prudent as possible.”Arthur noted there were other expenditures that would have been triggered by commitments given in the January 2006 economic statement, such as $3.6 million to 2,417 people with certified severe disabilities who began drawing $63 weekly from last month.He stressed, however, that World Cup expenditure had not been done at the expense of social services, although he was concerned that there were areas in the public sector delivery of services where costs had been spiralling out of control “a bit”.Explaining the “drastic growth” in spending on security and health care, Arthur pointed to the expansion at the air and seaports; a new telecommunications facility for the police; international conventions that required spending; and a mass casualty facility at Jemmotts Lane.He added that there was an expanded programme for construction and government was also trying to fix the roads and highways as well as the island’s premier attractions.

Mark Benson of England, Billy Doctrove of West Indies and Asad Rauf of Pakistan are the latest additions to the Elite Panel of ICC umpires, increasing the panel’s strength from seven to ten. This follows the annual review of umpire performance at the end of March 2006.The composition of the panel was determined by Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive and Sunil Gavaskar, the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. The criteria for selection was the percentage of correct decisions given as well as reports from captains and match referees.Speed congratulated the new members on their achievement and explained that the panel was expanded with the purpose of reducing the workload of the existing panel, given the current volume of international cricket.”Umpiring international cricket matches is one of the toughest jobs in world sport and we felt a seven-man panel was probably a little light. We were determined, however, not to expand the panel for the sake of it. So over the last year we have given extra appointments to umpires from the second-tier International Panel who had a good track record in home ODI matches,” Speed said in an ICC media release.Benson made his international umpiring debut in 2004 and has umpired in matches involving all the Test playing countries and is well respected by the players. He was singled out for his creditable performance in the VB Series in Australia earlier this year.”It is a great honour to be named as one of the Elite Panel,” Benson said. “It is important to do the job as well as you can so that you earn the respect of the players.”Rauf recently officiated in the first Test between India and England at Nagpur and has stood in 17 ODIs since 2000. “It’s the biggest news of my long cricket career as a player and umpire,” he said. “It’s a dream come true but I believe the biggest thing is not getting onto the panel but staying there and that will be my focus.”Doctrove has been a familiar figure in ODIs, officiating in as many as 45 games and holds the rare distinction of reaching the top level in both cricket and football. Like Steve Bucknor, a senior panel member, Doctrove is a qualified FIFA referee.He said, “I feel very proud because it means that I have made good progress in my umpiring levels and I know that my country, Dominica, though a very small one of only 70,000 people will be extremely proud of my achievement as they have always supported and encouraged me throughout my career.”David Richardson, the ICC General Manager – Cricket, and former Test cricketer, congratulated the new members and justified the reasons for their elevation.He said, “It is important to remember that just as umpires only make it onto the Elite Panel by proving they are excellent officials, they only retain their place if they can maintain these high standards on a consistent basis from year to year. The ICC will be doing everything it can to support them along the way.”

Back in the national team after a one-year absence, Hashim Amla, the 23-year-old South African batsman, insists that he is better equipped to make the most of his opportunity this time.”The time out of the national team gave me the opportunity to work on my skills as a batsman,” Amla, who has been included in the squad for the second Test against New Zealand, told journalists. “I’ve changed a couple of things, and I have been making lots of runs in the Supersport Series.”Amla made his Test debut against India in November 2004, but was dropped after his first six innings fetched just 62 runs, with a highest of 25. His tendency to shuffle across his stumps made him an lbw candicate, while question marks were also raised about his ability to handle the short deliveries. Amla, however, said that several coaches had advised him not to bother about the perceived kinks in his technique.”They said I should just concentrate on making runs. I’ve worked on basic things, and I think I am a lot more mature and more experienced than when I last played for South Africa. No cricketer can ever claim to be perfect, and there are always things you can work on to improve your game. Every cricketer improves every year as he goes on, and gains more experience.”Amla is likely to take the No.3 slot in the batting line-up after Herschelle Gibbs was left out, and even though the New Zealand attack will be without Shane Bond, Amla reckoned it would be a big challenge for him. “Their attack is not like the Australian attack,” he said, “but there is strength in their attack and they are ranked above us in the international Test ratings, so you can take nothing for granted.”

Rarely does a competition come along that’s deemed an allround success. The Super Fours, which has brought together the top 48 players in England for the past five years, is one such rare gem – but apparently it’s just not glitzy enough. Like Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago, the ECB appear to have been seduced by the wily lawyer Billy Hart’s crass exhortation to “Give’em the old razzle dazzle.”In a bid to razzle dazzle ’em – and in this case that’s the would-be crowds at the Super Fours – the ECB has completely rebranded the teams, stripping away their all-action epithets and replacing them with, erm, jewels.So, out with Super Strikers, the Braves, the V Team and Knight Riders – all of which convey a sense of combat and capability – and in with the rather namby-pamby Sapphires, Diamonds, Rubies and Emeralds. The marketing exercise clearly aims to dazzle, but instead just provides a rude glare.The kit has undergone a revamp, too – although the ECB at least stopped short of ordering in sequins and reverting to the skirts which were only abolished a decade ago. “The playing kit is more stylish and flattering,” says the chief executive Gill McConway by way of explanation.Fortunately, and most importantly, the structure of the competition hasn’t been touched. It’s no coincidence that the England women’s side has been improving for the last five years since the Super Fours were introduced in 2001. The competition successfully bridges the gap between county and international standard – and it is from these games that the England squads are chosen. Holly Colvin, who was just 15 when she won the Ashes last year, is one such product of the system. She will play for the Rubies this year, the only team not to be captained by a current England player.Gill Richards, a spinner and MCC player, leads the Rubies, whose team includes Kent ‘s Lydia Greenway and Colvin’s Sussex and Brighton College team-mate Sarah Taylor. Shining stars all. The other captains are Laura Newton, who leads the Sapphires; Arran Brindle, who heads the Emeralds, and England’s captain Charlotte Edwards will skipper the Diamonds. Clare Connor, who recently retired as England captain, will not play in the competition.