England 157 for 8 beat West Indies 156 for 5 (Chanderpaul 84) by 2 wickets
Scorecard

Chris Read helped England to snatch an unlikely and exciting two-wicket victory in the opening one-dayer against West Indies at Bourda. After Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided his side to 156 for 5 from their 30 overs, Read smashed England to victory with 17 runs off the penultimate over when they seemed dead and buried.The start was delayed by four hours while the groundstaff, with the help of an army helicopter, mopped up the soggy outfield. As a result, the game was reduced to 30 overs a side on a slow, sluggish pitch difficult for batsmen, and the drama which unfolded was well worth the wait.After a middle-order collapse, England still required 21 from the final two overs, with only three wickets left. Read and Darren Gough were at the crease and you could have bet your house on a Windies win – the packed crowd at Georgetown certainly thought so anyway. However, they were stunned into silence as the batsmen stole victory in the fading light. Corey Collymore was the man entrusted with that penultimate over, and unlike his younger, less experienced team-mates, he couldn’t keep things tight when it mattered.Read smashed the third ball over mid-off for six, sliced the next delivery for four over point, and then completed the set with a towering blow over midwicket. England then needed three from the final over. In keeping with the drama, Read was bowled by Chris Gayle, but Gough held his nerve to hit the winning runs in his comeback game. It was a cruel ending for West Indies, especially after the local hero, Chanderpaul, had got the joint jumping early on.The only batsmen to master the conditions, Chanderpaul’s innings was a tale of two parts. The first half was boring, the second breathtaking. He isn’t the most prolific runscorer at the best of times, and at his worst he’s a stonewaller supreme – as he was for 17 overs today. Out of synch in the Test series, he laboured to 9 from 50 balls – all in singles – with little feet movement and no timing. However, he hit Stephen Harmison over midwicket for his first four, and then smacked the next ball over mid-on and into the Rohan Kanhai stand. That shot was the kiss of life he and his side desperately needed after their rocky start.The boundaries started to flow like champagne. He thrilled the crowd with a remarkable flick-sweep for six, the first of three successive boundaries off the expensive Paul Collingwood. He passed his half-century off 72 balls, and the momentum had suddenly swung West Indies’ way as Chanderpaul improvised in his own impish way. In all, Michael Vaughan used seven bowlers, and it was his most experienced, Gough, who finally got Chanderpaul, who chipped him to Rikki Clarke at extra cover in the penultimate over (151 for 5).It was an amazing turnaround and that innings gave West Indies a sporting chance of winning the game – especially after their nightmare start in which they slumped to 64 for 4. The top order – bar Chanderpaul – all fell cheaply, and at that stage, West Indies were drowning fast. However, Sylvester Joseph steadied the ship with a sensible 23 not out and gave Chanderpaul vital support.

England’s reply got off to shaky start, when Vaughan fell in the first over nibbling at a pearler from Merv Dillon. The ball landed on a perfect length, held its line, and Vaughan nicked it through high to Ridley Jacobs for a duck (1 for 1).Andrew Strauss, in only his second one-dayer, impressed from the start. He scored five stylish boundaries until he spoilt all his hard work when, instead of playing straight, he tried to whip the debutant Dwayne Bravo through the onside and was clean bowled for 29 (60 for 2).Trescothick was less assured, and just when England needed him to see them home after Flintoff’s departure, he was bowled by Bravo. The ball kept a little low, but Trescothick played a horrible swipe across the line (75 for 4). Flintoff started with a bang, clipping Ravi Rampaul over square-leg for six. However, he again gave his wicket away when he tried to pull a quicker ball from Gayle and bottom-edged to Jacobs (75 for 3).Collingwood and Ian Blackwell were immediately thrown in at the deep end with England requiring over eight an over. Collingwood was dunked under the surface by a sparkling catch by Dwayne Smith, running from deep midwicket to take a sliding catch (108 for 5). Blackwell struck two meaty blows off Dillon and Rampaul, the second of which hit someone in the stands, before he was bowled by Rampaul trying to launch another bruising boundary (119 for 6). Clarke was then run out by a mile after a gormless mix-up with Read (120 for 7), and just when England seemed down and out, Read, likely to be the forgotten man of the Test side, took centre stage to see England home.

There is every likelihood that Australia will push for Zimbabwe to be stripped of Test status when the International Cricket Council meets next month. Addressing a news conference on Saturday, James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said, “It’s over a month away right now and that gives the Zimbabwe Cricket Union a chance to resolve some of their differences with their players. I think that [the Test status of Zimbabwe] is a question that has probably come on to the table and is higher on the agenda now than it has ever been before.”Sutherland said that a decision would be taken in June, but he admitted that Australia, and several other Test-playing nations, were concerned about the current impasse between players and administrators in Zimbabwe.The two-Test series between Zimbabwe and Australia was cancelled on Friday, just 24 hours before the first match was due to start. And given Australia’s crowded itinerary, it’s unlikely to be played for at least another four years. The two teams will now play three one-day internationals in Harare, though once again, the rebel players have not been considered for selection.”One can’t predict but one would assume that a Zimbabwe 2nd or 3rd XI playing against the best team in the world would not have been a pretty contest,” said Sutherland. “It’s well known that the ICC have commenced a review of the structure of international cricket. There are certainly concerns about the standard of their team at the moment and that’s something the ICC will address at their June meeting.”

John Howard and Mahinda Rajapakse, the respective prime ministers of Australia and Sri Lanka, have been asked to exercise restraint when making statements about controversial issues in cricket. Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, feels that the controversy over Muttiah Muralitharan’s doosra was blown out of proportion by their remarks.Speaking to reporters in London, Mani said, “it’s not helpful when high-profile people make these sort of comments. I wish they’d talk to us first rather than making statements in the public arena.”Murali had threatened to boycott Sri Lanka’s forthcoming tour of Australia after the Howard, told a radio station that he believed Murali chucked. However, Howard immediately went on the defensive and asserted that his own comments were blown out of proportion.The Advertiser quoted Howards as saying, “I was simply reflecting on the scientific research in Perth in relation to one of his deliveries. Muralitharan is very welcome to come to Australia when Sri Lanka tours later this year.”Howard was referring to the recent tests conducted at the University of Western Australia, which found that the straightening of Murali’s his arm while bowling the doosra were more than the permissible limit for a spinner.Kevin Maher, who is the president of Cricket Far-North, the body responsible for Tests in Darwin and Cairns, said that he wished Howard hadn’t made the statements in public. “Is Johnny qualified to speak on this matter?” Maher asked, “He might be a cricket lover but I don’t know that it’s his place to call him [Murali] a chucker. It’s disappointing. The whole city of Cairns was looking forward to him coming. The clash between Muralitharan and Warne was a big thing for us.”

Mornantau Hayward and Lance Klusener were recalled as South Africa announced the Test and one-day squads to tour Sri Lanka in August. But there were no seats on the plane for Neil McKenzie, Paul Adams or Andrew Hall, who recently denied rumours he was about to quit international cricket. There was, however, a spot in the one-day squad for the uncapped Jean-Paul Duminy.Hayward, who is 27, has been playing for Middlesex alongside Klusener and has represented his country in 14 Tests, the last of which was against Pakistan in January 2003. He recently went back on his decision to quit international cricket, and was included in the Test squad, but will return home when the one-dayers start.Klusener, 32, is another who has had his differences with the South African board in the past, and has had to wait almost three years since he played the last of his 48 Tests against Australia at Melbourne in December 2001. He was named in both the Test and one-day squads.Duminy, a 20-year-old left-handed batsman, was a member of the Under-19 team which toured England last year, and has played only 10 first-class matches for Western Province. He and Alan Dawson, the fast bowler, will join up with the one-day squad at the expense of Hayward and Boeta Dippenaar.Omar Henry, South Africa’s chief selector, said that he was pleased with both squads, and delighted to have Hayward and Klusener back. “It’s great to haveNantie back and hopefully he can pick up where he left off when he last playedfor South Africa,” said Henry. “His experience in the UK will be an asset as the lengths he will need to bowl in Sri Lanka are pretty similar to those in England. He brings real pace and aggression to the attack.”On Klusener, Henry said: “His experience and previous success in the subcontinent will be invaluable, he also brings great variety with the ball which will be critical on the pitches in Sri Lanka.”The first of the two Test starts on August 4 at Galle, and the first of the five one-day internationals will be played on August 20 at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.Test squad Graeme Smith (capt), Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Nantie Hayward, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Rudolph, Martin van Jaarsveld.ODI squad Graeme Smith (capt), Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Alan Dawson, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Rudolph, Martin van Jaarsveld.

Scotland bounced back from their disappointing defeat to Holland with a comprehensive 85-run victory over Denmark, sealed by a hat-trick from Craig Wright, in a rain-reduced match at Rotterdam yesterday.Ryan Watson and Fraser Watts set up an imposing total for Scotland, adding 90 in just 13 overs despite the slow outfield. Watson smashed 66 from 62 balls while Watts crashed an equally aggressive 55 not out, the first half-centuries of the tournament, to take the score to 192 for 6 after 32 overs. Scotland had made a stuttering start to their innings, as Bruce Patterson was trapped in front of his stumps by Thomas Nielsen for 1, and Gregor Maiden and Steve Knox were both dismissed by Henrick Hansen (50 for 3).Watson and Watts joined eachother at the crease in the 16th over when Colin Smith was out for 11 (76 for 4), and increased the tempo with some excellent running between the wickets, as well as a selection of attacking shots. After Watson fell to Nielsen, Dougie Lockhart was run out for a duck (167 for 6), but Greig Williamson’s aggressive cameo kept up the momentum.In reply, Frederik Klokker played a lone hand with 49 not out, but Denmark were in trouble from the very beginning, when Wright bowled Baljit Singh for a duck. Jesper Hansen and Klokker temporarily steadied the ship, but after Watson removed Hansen the middle order collapsed. Watson and Gregor Maiden picked up three wickets each before Wright mopped up the tail, taking the wickets of Bobby Chawda, Henrick Hansen and Nielsen in successive balls with the score on 107.Scotland are now on equal points with both Ireland and Holland after the Irish beat Holland in close-fought encounter at Utrecht. The ECB XI leads the table with four points after winning their first two matches.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named four match referees and ten umpires to officiate the group matches during the ICC Champions Trophy in England. They will also be part of technology trials aimed at improving decision-making.Chris Broad, Clive Lloyd, Ranjan Madugalle and Mike Procter are those chosen from the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees, while Billy Doctrove and Jeremy Lloyds from the Emirates International Panel join their elite panel counterparts – Simon Taufel, Steve Bucknor, Daryl Harper, Rudy Koertzen, David Shepher, Aleem Dar, Billy Bowden and Darrell Hair – on the umpiring list for the 12 preliminary games.The technological experiments will include umpires being wired to stump microphones – useful to detect faint nicks, and also coarse sledging? – and adjudication of no-balls by the third umpire.

John Buchanan, the Australian coach, described the pitch at Chinnaswamy Stadium as “terrible” as groundsmen scrubbed away the last remnants of grass with steel brushes and the head curator declared: “Spin.”The bone-dry wicket for the first Test at Bangalore could have passed for a 22-yard stretch of desert less than 48 hours before the first ball was due to be bowled on Wednesday, with a network of cracks running from one end of the barren surface to the other.Sourav Ganguly claimed Australia was fretting about playing his side and said they would miss Ricky Ponting more than India would miss Sachin Tendulkar, but the craggy pitch overshadowed any attempts from Ganguly to begin a verbal stoush.The track was obviously being groomed for Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble and possibly a third Indian slow bowler in Murali Kartik, but the kickback for Australia was that Shane Warne would also derive great benefit as he chases Muttiah Muralitharan’s world wicket-taking record.”By all reports it should hold together, but it looks terrible,” Buchanan said. “It looks like it’s going to break up. You’re just not sure what’s underneath, how much preparation.”We suspect it will gradually dust up a little bit. Who knows what it will be doing on the fourth and fifth day. I wouldn’t expect it to be breaking up on the third day. That sounds like a commentator’s comment, doesn’t it? There’s probably a key lost down there.”The upside is because it’s abrasive one would expect the ball to reverse swing [for the fast bowlers]. And it should be a little bit up and down. It might skid, so the ball could shoot along a little bit. That’s a positive for Warney.”Rahul Dravid smiled wryly but declined to share his thoughts on the state of the pitch before the Australian fast bowler, Michael Kasprowicz, said he could already feel a sore back coming on.Australia’s chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, said the curator’s masterpiece was not a surprise and claimed it was unlikely to alter the makeup of the side, with Australia still expected to field three fast bowlers and Warne while giving young batsman Michael Clarke a Test debut. “It seems it’s going to be hard work everywhere,” said Hohns.Tendulkar is yet to be formally ruled out of the Test with his elbow injury but seems certain to be unavailable alongside Ponting, whose broken thumb will keep him out of the series until the third Test at Nagpur.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Australia’s mighty batting line-up capitulated for just 93 in the face of some magnificent bowling from Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik, as India pulled off a scarcely credible 13-run victory in the final Test at the Wankhede Stadium. Australia might have already won the series, but for an Indian team under the cosh since the third Test at Nagpur, it was a triumph to savour. Though the bowlers will get most of the plaudits, many of the hard yards had been done earlier in the day, with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman scripting superb half-centuries before Michael Clarke uncurled his golden arm.But no-one could steal the limelight from Harbhajan. When Dravid recalled him into the attack, after Australia had crept to within 14 of the modest 107 they needed, he had Michael Kasprowicz caught at leg slip, and Glenn McGrath taken at slip to leave India victorious, and Jason Gillespie unconquered on an obdurate 9 that had spanned 51 balls.Zaheer Khan, destined for nothing more than a supporting role on this dustbowl, had given India the perfect fillip when Australia started their pursuit, with Justin Langer edging one to Dravid at first slip. And after a quick flurry of fours from Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden, Dravid opted for spin at both ends, with Kartik taking over from Zaheer.The impact was immediate. Ponting was caught by Laxman at second slip after the edge had initially gone on to Dinesh Karthik’s thigh-pad, and Damien Martyn, Australia’s most assured batsman in this series, lasted just five balls, trapped in front on the back foot by the last ball of the over (24 for 3).

That was the wobble. The quake started in earnest when Simon Katich aimed a drive at Harbhajan to give Dravid another scalp at slip. Hayden (24) was still a menace though, cutting Harbhajan for four and then miscuing one down to the fence at long-off. But when he attempted a sweep to one pitched outside leg, the ball trickled onto the stumps via glove and pad. Harbhajan celebrated, and Australia’s hopes nosedived.Kartik then bowled Clarke, and the collective delirium intensified when Tendulkar took a simple catch on the square-leg boundary after Adam Gilchrist had essayed a senseless sweep. But though India were in the box seat, the drama was far from over. Nathan Hauritz chiselled out 15 from 18 balls, and with Gillespie in thou-shall-not-pass mode, the target was whittled down by 20.Anil Kumble, on for Harbhajan, provided the crucial breakthrough, with Aleem Dar giving India the benefit of the doubt after Hauritz was struck on the pad in front of leg stump. But Gillespie and Kasprowicz then weathered the assault for over half an hour while eking out 15, before the voluble Harbhajan had the final word.Such a gripping contest had appeared very unlikely when Clarke, who had already given India plenty of heartache with the bat in this series, turned in a stunning spell with the ball either side of tea. Dravid, who had compiled a patient 27, was his first victim, caught off the glove by Gilchrist, and Karthik’s prod was expertly grabbed by Ponting at silly point (188 for 6). With tea only moments away, Kaif – who was sprightly and fluent on his way to 25 – padded up to one that pitched in line and straightened.

The procession continued after the interval, as Harbhajan, Kartik and Zaheer managed just two runs between them to leave Clarke with the astonishing figures of 6 for 9 from 6.2 overs. For a while in the morning, it had seemed that the likes of Clarke wouldn’t be needed, with McGrath sorting out both openers. Gautam Gambhir edged one to slip, and Virender Sehwag inexplicably shouldered arms to one that nipped back as India slumped to 14 for 2.That brought McGrath and Tendulkar face to face in a Test for the final time. Laxman was already in the middle, promoted to the No. 3 slot from which he had scripted his Kolkata magnum opus, and after the first 11 overs of the innings produced just 15, the next three went for 30 with both men uncorking some champagne strokes.Ponting then called on Hauritz, but there was to be no repeat of yesterday’s dream spell. Tendulkar stroked one through cover and then slammed one into the stand bearing his name as he raced to a 62-ball half-century. For the first time in a fair while, there was a real urgency to Tendulkar’s method. When he not stroking boundaries with a flourish, he worked the ball into the gaps and scampered singles and twos that often had the leaden-footed Laxman struggling. He batted with the panache and fluency of old for his 55, before an attempt to fetch the ball to leg only resulted in a top-edged skyer that was beautifully caught on the run by Clarke.Dravid was never fluent, save for a brief phase after lunch when he drove Hauritz with a flourish through midwicket and cover, but his presence allowed Laxman freedom to go for his shots. But the attacking intent, especially against Hauritz, was to be his undoing. After bisecting the leg-side field with a pull and piercing the off side with a fabulous cover-drive, he smashed the next ball in the direction of long-off, only to watch in amazement as Hauritz dived to his left to snaffle the chance (153 for 4).By then, Laxman had sauntered to 69, and in the final analysis, it – and Tendulkar’s gorgeous cameo – made all the difference, as Australia’s dream of a 3-0 series win went up in huge puffs of Mumbai dust.

The International Cricket Council and the Irish Cricket Union today announced the venues for the ICC Trophy Ireland 2005, the tournament which will determine the final five qualifying places for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.The eighth ICC Trophy will bring together 12 teams to contest 42 matches at 25 venues – a record for an ICC event – in the first half of July. The venues, which are still subject to final ICC inspection, are spread out across the north and south of Ireland with the group phase scheduled to take place in the north and the finals in the south. Clontarf, the ground at which Ireland defeated Surrey by five wickets in this year’s Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, will host the final.Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, said the tournament was fortunate to have so many highly rated grounds available throughout Ireland. “The ICC is delighted that the games will be played at such a variety of venues as it means that no ground will be played on too frequently and that will augur well for the state of the pitches,” said Mani. “It is obviously a hugely important aspect of the tournament, not least because five of the 12 countries will qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup in the West Indies in 2007.”John Wright, secretary of the Irish Cricket Union who will also be the tournament director, said: “We are very grateful for the enthusiastic manner in which clubs throughout the country responded to the invitation to host games. In fact we received more acceptances than were required so, inevitably, some clubs will be disappointed. However, such is the enthusiasm for the tournament that some of these clubs have offered their facilities for `warm-up’ games.”Ireland will play their five first phase matches at Bangor, North Down, Waringstown and Civil Service which will stage two matches.The full list of venues is as follows:Armagh, Bangor, Carrick, Civil Service, Cliftonville, Clontarf, Cooke Collegians, Downpatrick, Drummond, Eglinton, Instonians, Leinster, Limavady, Lisburn, Lurgan, Malahide, Merrion, Muckamore, Newforge, North County, North Down, RBAI (Osborne Park, Belfast), The Hills, Waringstown, Woodvale.Details on ticketing and hospitality arrangements will be made available in early 2005.Eleven of the participating nations in the ICC Trophy 2005 are now known and the groups have been drawn. The final team will be the winner of ICC World Cup Qualifying Series (WCQS) event in Malaysia in February.Group A
Bermuda, Denmark, Ireland, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States.Group B
Canada, Holland, Namibia, Oman, Scotland, WCQS winner.Previous winners
1979 – Sri Lanka
1982 – Zimbabwe
1986 – Zimbabwe
1990 – Zimbabwe
1994 – UAE
1997 – Bangladesh
2001 – Holland

An Australian businessman based in Sri Lanka has called on Australians to help rebuild Galle International Stadium which was devastated by last week’s tsunami.Eight days after the disaster, the ground is almost entirely wrecked, with many of the stands gone and the playing area strewn with debris.”Basically, the cricket ground has largely been destroyed. That was one of the places where the major water hit,” Karl Steinberg, the owner of the Galle Fort Hotel, told AAP. “With the cricket ground, the water came in from both sides. It came around the port and met in the middle of the cricket ground and the bus stand. That’s why there was so much devastation in that area.”So the ground itself is destroyed, the fence is destroyed, parts of the grandstand are destroyed.”While all efforts concentrate on the human disaster – Between 5,000 and 10,000 people are thought to have perished in the gigantic waves which hit Galle – Steinberg said that rejuvenation of the ground could be a vital symbol of hope for the people of the city and Sri Lanka.”If people could actually re-grass that, repaint and restructure the cricket ground, and put the fence up again, that would be a great symbol to Galle that things can be done,” he explained. “What we need is some people who understand cricket pitches and cricket grass.”The really inspiring thing about Australians helping will be that Australians have always played here and the Australians are seen as great contestants and great heroes here, especially the battle between and Warney and Murali, the great international battle. The other thing is that it would be something that would have enormous impact very quickly. It would be a fantastic symbol to the town that people cared and that the cricket community cared as well.”Steinberg added that it would be fitting if the ground could be used for an international fundraiser, along the same lines as the game scheduled for Melbourne on January 10. “If people rebuilt the ground and then had a match, that would be a true symbol to the international community that Sri Lanka was on its way back,” he explained. “It’s exactly what it needs right now.”