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It took an innings of raw courage, as much as instinctive class, from Brian Lara, and high-quality bowling by the constantly improving Pedro Collins for the West Indies to overcome Kenya’s spirited challenge in the ICC Champions Trophy yesterday.It ended with a distressed Lara in a Colombo hospital for the second time in nine months, awaiting tests on suspected hepatitis, a liver ailment.During the West Indies tour here last December, he fractured and dislocated his left elbow in an on-field accident that kept him out of the game for four months.Careless Kenyan fielding that missed the double world record-holder at 37, 45 and 61 on his way to 111 – and, less significantly, Shivnarine Chanderpaul at three and 36 in his laboured 40 off 76 balls – also aided the West Indies to get home by 29 runs.Had they not converted a clear chance of victory into a stunning, last-ball loss to South Africa in their opening match last Friday, the result would have booked their semifinal place.That possibility is now beyond their control, depending as it does on Kenya somehow upsetting South Africa on Friday.Summoning the willpower to survive the physical torment that he clearly endured throughout his two-and-a-half hours in the middle, Lara defied the sweltering 35-degree heat and high humidity to compile his 15th One-Day International hundred.His first, unconvincing, 50 took him 80 deliveries as he battled against the illness that began to take hold the previous day.Although needing the on-field attention of his non-playing teammates and lying flat on his back, panting uncomfortably, during the refreshment break, he plundered his next 61 runs off a mere 41.It was acceleration, complemented by Ramnaresh Sarwan’s busy, run-a-ball 20 and Wavell Hinds’ two breathtaking sixes in 20 from just seven balls, that gave the innings an emphatic conclusion.The last five overs yielded 56 runs, boosting the 50-overs total to 260 for six. Kenya were bowled out with five balls left, for 232.Collins, offering nothing to the batsmen with his controlled, accurate left-arm movement, immediately set Kenya back with a wicket in his second over, bowling Kennedy Obuya round his legs.Every time he was called back to check Kenya’s worrying advance, led by captain Steve Tikolo’s 93 off 91 balls with nine fours, the left-armer responded with a restraining spell.His figures when he appropriately formalised the result with the first ball of the last over by bowling Martin Suji were 9.1-4-18-3. They were his best in the shorter game. Not many have had better.On a pitch of slow pace offering encouraging turn, batting was never straightforward. Chanderpaul, as he did against South Africa, made it seem as difficult as wringing water from stone. Until he finally found his range, and rode his luck, it also mocked Lara’s timing.The off-spin of Maurice Odumbe, Man Of The Match in Kenya’s unforgettable win over the West Indies in the World Cup six years ago, and Tikolo, another survivor from that time, and the leg-spin of Collins Obuya presented the main problems.Odumbe gave up only 21 from his ten overs for the wicket of Chanderpaul, caught behind cutting for 40 in the 29th over.At the start, the faster bowlers kept Chris Gayle scoreless his first 15 balls but the tall left-hander then lashed two long sixes off successive balls from Thomas Obuya, one of three Kenyan brothers in the side – two named Obuya and the other Otieno. He had made 33 off 42 balls when he topedged a catch. For the next 17.4 overs, as they added 55, Chanderpaul and Lara could hardly get the ball off the square, so the West Indies were only 115 for two when Chanderpaul went.At Hooper’s dismissal in the 41st, caught at deep midwicket, they were 179 for three but Lara was then finding his range, finishing with two sixes and eight fours when bowled by Tikolo with 11 balls remaining in spite of his distress. Sarwan and Hinds simply added to the momentum.Collins apart, the early West Indies bowling was ragged, as Tikolo, long since proven a batsman of Test quality, made it look even more so.

PERTH, Oct 23 AAP – England’s gamble on injured players appears to be backfiring already with paceman Alex Tudor under consideration for a call-up to the Ashes tour squad.Less than a week – and just one limited overs match – into the tour, coach Duncan Fletcher admitted today the 25-year-old Surrey quick could be summoned by Monday.Seeking its first Ashes series win in 16 years, England’s pace bowling shortcomings were badly exposed as it conceded 301 runs to the Chairman’s XI in 50 overs in the embarrassing 58-run loss at Lilac Hill yesterday.Tudor, who has taken 26 wickets in nine Tests at 31.5 since his debut at the WACA ground four years ago, is training at the national cricket academy in Adelaide.The tourists had planned for him to be in Australia in case members of its injury-plagued fast bowling brigade were unable to regain fitness.”We had contingency plans that we have got a player in South Australia who we might be looking at,” Fletcher said.”We’ll make that decision over the next four or five days.”The Lilac Hill defeat heightened the tourists’ grave concerns over the fitness of spearhead Darren Gough (knee) and allrounder Andrew Flintoff (hernia) who sat out the match.Such is the concern over Flintoff that he will fly to Adelaide tomorrow because busy team physiotherapist Kirk Russell can’t provide the necessary one-on-one treatment for him.Fletcher said Flintoff was still in the running to be ready for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba on November 7 but he wasn’t positive about Gough’s prospects.Fletcher hoped Flintoff, who is returning from a hernia operation, could recover as well as captain Nasser Hussain did from a similar problem during the 1998-99 Ashes tour.Quicks Andrew Caddick and Matthew Hoggard currently appear the most likely opening combination for England in the first Test at the Gabba starting on November 7.Youngster Simon Jones (side strain) looks underdone while Stephen Harmison’s confidence would have been sapped after delivering 16 wides in Tuesday’s loss.Fletcher expected England’s form batsman Michael Vaughan, who had a minor knee operation last month, to play in the three-day match against Western Australia starting Monday despite having an injection yesterday.Fletcher testily brushed off a question on whether England should have brought so many injured players.”Should we have left them at home then?” he said.Meanwhile West Australian captain Michael Hussey said his side would look to ensure the tourists continued to suffer a difficult lead-up to the five-Test Ashes series.”If we play as well as we can, I think we will keep the pressure on England and we won’t give them an easy build-up into the first Test,” he said.”We won’t be doing them any favours put it that way.”England’s two-day tour match against Western Australia starts tomorrow at the WACA ground.Australian players Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn were expected to sit out next week’s three-day tour match while Justin Langer and Brad Williams should be available.The WA team is: Western Australia: Mike Hussey (c), Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Shaun Marsh, Scott Meuleman, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Luke Ronchi, Callum Thorp, Paul Wilson.

The ECB has cancelled next summer’s tour by Zimbabwe and suspended all bilateral arrangements with the Zimbabwe board.The news came minutes after Gordon Brown, the prime minister, told the House of Commons that he wanted the tour scrapped. “We want to ensure that Zimbabwe does not tour England next year and we will call for other countries to join us in banning Zimbabwe from the Twenty20 international tournament,” he said.In a short statement, Colin Gibson, the ECB’s head of corporate communications, said: “The ECB deplores the position in Zimbabwe and, like Cricket South Africa, finds this untenable. Therefore all bilateral arrangements are suspended with Zimbabwe Cricket with immediate effect.”The government has written to the ECB today and has made a clear instruction that Zimbabwe’s bilateral tour scheduled under the ICC Future Tours Programme for 2009 should be cancelled.”The ECB, which has been in constructive and extensive dialogue with the department for culture, media and sport for some time, welcome the government’s decision and share the government’s concerns about the deteriorating situation and lack of human rights in Zimbabwe.”Andy Burnham, the culture, media and sport secretary, told the ECB the government had “concluded that it would not be right to allow the proposed tour [to England] by Zimbabwe Cricket in 2009 to take place. The government has previously called on the ICC to reconsider its rules to allow teams to forfeit tours to countries, such as Zimbabwe, where serious human rights abuses are occurring. Unfortunately the ICC has declined to do so. Therefore, the government has decided to make it clear that it will take all necessary steps to prevent players from Zimbabwe from participating in that tour.”The ECB is now looking at identifying a replacement for the tour, which is scheduled to take place before the ICC World Twenty20 next June. “It’s a great relief in many ways,” said England’s one-day captain, Paul Collingwood. “It’s been going on since 2001, since I’ve been playing cricket [for England] and it’s good that it’s been taken out of our hands.”

Pitch punditry is best practiced with extreme caution. Few present at Chelmsford could have anticipated that Essex would roar to 262/9 in their Benson and Hedges Cup semi-final with Worcestershire. Ronnie Irani smashed 57, with Andy Flower hitting a mature 45 after Nasser Hussain’s rollicking 35 put Worcester on the back foot. It was only a late order collapse which prevented Essex turning a good total into an excellent one.Essex captain Irani glanced ruefully at the dressing-room as Graeme Hickinserted the home side on a green top. Torrential rain yesterday hamperedpreparations, and the pitch looked damp with tufts of live grass. Heavy cloud cover, and Allan Donald opening the bowling should have spelled trouble for Essex.In the event it was Kabir Ali, and poor running between the wickets, which prevented a massive score. Kabir, the leading bowler in England this year, bowls a skiddy away-swinger with admirable accuracy. He was more effective than Donald at the death, finishing with 4-34. David Leatherdale and Stuart Lampitt also helped to keep the brakes on.A mixture of poor bowling, excellent timing and agricultural heaving coupledwith what was, in essence, a fairly docile pitch helped Essex into a potentially winning position. The drizzle which delayed play by four hoursmeans that a result will probably not be attainable tonight. Play can continue until 8pm, by which time the direction of the game should be a little clearer.Putting all thoughts of the pitch aside, Nasser Hussain took advantage of anawful opening spell from Alamgir Sheriyar. The England skipper hit fourboundaries in a row, two cover-drives, one through point, and a hooked six.At the other end, Donald was accurate without being unplayable.Kabir Ali replaced Sheriyar, and the youngster immediately found his length.Bowling with a little nip, Kabir hit the seam, moving the ball away from theright-hander. Sure enough, Kabir claimed the first success, Hussain brilliantly caught above his head by Anurag Singh at mid-on.Graham Napier joined Darren Robinson, the pair initially unable to keep themomentum Hussain had set. Stuart Lampitt was his usual miserly self, thoughKabir looked the more threatening. After attempting several lusty blows, Napier was caught by Lampitt at long-on from the bowling of Sheriyar. Andy Flower announced his arrival with a classy straight drive and a lazy clip over the leg side to the fence. Robinson’s stoic 46 ended with a misjudged single, and fast work by David Leatherdale negated the need for the third umpire.While Flower’s runs came with an almost nonchalant ease, Irani was all hustle and bustle. Eager to go over the top, he hammered Donald over long-on as Flower turned the strike over regularly. Irani’s first six would have looked good on the baseball diamond, a mighty heave over mid-wicket from a Lampitt full toss. A mid-pitch mix-up ended Flower’s knock, Leatherdale claiming his second run-out with an easy run to the stumps. Not one to brood for long, Irani launched the hapless Sheriyar – who had already missed two catches – over the on-side for six.Irani celebrated his fifty with another huge six, Sheriyar dispatched overlong-on again. Next ball, thinking the ball had passed `keeper Steve Rhodes,Irani left his ground. Rhodes whipped off the bails to end an innings whichmust leave the Essex faithful wondering why Irani is not in England’s one-day set-up. A third run-out saw Aftab Habib floundering, bringing big-hitting Jon Dakin to the wicket. An impressive death spell from Kabir bought three more wickets, as Dakin and England player Paul Grayson failed to capitalise.Despite a disappointing end, Essex will be delighted with their final total.Worcestershire’s strong batting line-up are capable of anything, but thehome side should be confident of a trip to Lord’s.

A century from Virender Sehwag has given India backbone on the first day of the second Test against England at Trent Bridge. When bad light ended play early after 66 overs, India had reached 210 for four, with Sehwag out for 106 and Sourav Ganguly unbeaten on 29.Sustained hostility and accuracy from Matthew Hoggard gave England the initial honours this morning, as the Yorkshireman bowled an opening spell of ten overs for just 17 runs and two wickets. Wasim Jaffer was his first victim, bowled for a duck off the inside edge. Rahul Dravid (13) then got another perfect outswinger, which he edged to the England debutant, Robert Key, at first slip.Sachin Tendulkar stayed with Sehwag until lunch, and the two provided the most entertaining passage of the day soon after the interval, with 40 runs off five overs. A single off Flintoff took Tendulkar past Gary Sobers’s 8,032 Test runs, putting him alone in ninth place in the list of highest Test run scorers. Tendulkar had made 34, including six sweetly-struck boundaries, when he played on trying to pull an innocuous long hop from Dominic Cork for another.The dismissal ended a partnership of 74, and came shortly after Sehwag had completed his fifty, driving Hoggard through the covers for his ninth boundary. Ganguly joined Sehwag and the two made steady progress as England struggled for a breakthrough in conditions that favoured swing bowling. Cork was expensive, while Steve Harmison, who began his Test career with four consecutive maidens, and Andrew Flintoff were both steady.Sehwag had reached his highest score in Test cricket, 106 (183 balls, 18 fours) when a bowling change did the trick for England. Craig White, who had earlier bowled just two overs for 19, returned to dismiss India’s centurion, playing around a ball that was full and straight. Sehwag had put on 71 with his captain.Injuries forced the only two changes to India’s line-up this morning. Ajay Ratra, who damaged his foot in training yesterday, made way for Parthiv Patel to make his Test debut as India’s wicket-keeper. The 17-year-old from Gujarat has played in just seven first-class matches, and is the third-youngest debutant in Indian Test history. Harbhajan Singh has replaced Anil Kumble, who has a calf strain. Ashley Giles was the man eventually omitted from England’s final eleven.England survived an injury scare after Dominic Cork left the field in the afternoon session. A precautionary x-ray on his right knee revealed no serious damage after he hurt it while attempting a run out.

New Zealand have been to Pakistan many times before but there is an element of the unknown in travelling there at this time of year.Traditionally, tours have been in the late Northern Hemisphere summer, but this time around it is in late spring, early summer.And while that might normally affect travellers, to cricketers it can mean a lot, especially in terms of pitch conditions.According to the available information, the New Zealanders have been well served with their itinerary and conditions appear favourable.They won’t be without conditioning after nearly two weeks in Sharjah and then the one-day games preceding the two Test series.However, it won’t only be climatic heat the side faces, for it is clear from the Sharjah exercise that Pakistan is back to being a formidable unit with Shoaib Akhtar now back in harness with Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram also rounding out the fast bowling attack.Saqlain Mushtaq continues to send down his wily spin and gives the side a formidable look.Even without several members of the front-line attack, Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Dion Nash, Shayne O’Connor and the just-retired Chris Drum, New Zealand has been able to assemble an attack aware of what is needed to take on Pakistan, albeit developed as a result of injury problems over the last two summers.Daryl Tuffey capped his first two full years of international play with a six-wicket bag in the first innings of New Zealand’s third Test victory over England earlier this month. Chris Martin, his partner in crime when New Zealand inflicted a record defeat, and achieved a record win for itself, over Pakistan in 2001 has come back into the side while two newcomers, fast bowler Ian Butler and all-rounder Andre Adams bring new skills to the side.Butler is still raw but has shown a capacity to learn and Pakistan will provide him with a significant boost to his education.Adams is the sort of cricketer who is capable of keeping the turnstiles, or whatever counting method they use nowadays, clicking with his latent ability to do the unexpected whether it be with bat or ball.He is still fresh on the Test scene but that hasn’t stopped him playing the game in the best way he knows, by all-out attack. Deceptively fast when bowling, he is a hard-hitting batsman who is also lethal in the field.Once again, however, it is around the batsmen that New Zealand’s hopes will rest. They have to score the runs to allow the side to compete against the best Pakistan will fire at them.There were emerging signs, especially from Nathan Astle, Mark Richardson, Craig McMillan and Lou Vincent, this summer that consistency may be emerging in the batting and that will be welcomed. Captain Stephen Fleming had a lean series against England but batted well in Australia earlier in the summer and will be looking to get back into it against Pakistan.Matt Horne will also be looking to regain his best touches after a poor return in the first two Tests against England. He was dropped for the first Test.Chris Harris will be another interesting performer, especially if given a chance high in the middle-order, as was the case in New Zealand’s win over England at Auckland. He played the key hand in the first innings and dug the side out of a disastrous position.Interest on the wicket-keeping performance of Robbie Hart, who has taken the place of long-serving Adam Parore, will be unavoidable. He is the provincial captain of left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and will be well versed in ‘keeping to him. He is also a useful performer with the bat and will maintain the long batting order New Zealand has enjoyed in recent times.Events last September in the United States, and subsequently in Afghanistan, may have precluded New Zealand from touring in October, but there has been a willingness for New Zealand to meet their obligations for the tour and the players have known about it for some time.In an ironic way, it has ensured a continuity of match play through a part of the year when there is not normally a lot of cricket and in terms of the lead-up to the World Cup next year, and in the Test programme overall, it is well-placed to help in the overall development of New Zealand’s players through what has been a difficult time.The programme for the tour is:ODIs: Sunday, April 21 v Pakistan (Karachi, day/night); Wednesday, April 24 v Pakistan (Rawalpindi, day/night); Saturday v Pakistan (Lahore, day/night).Tests: May 1-5 v Pakistan (Lahore); May 8-12 v Pakistan (Karachi).

Cautious and conservative in their outlook, English cricketauthorities have taken to innovations like night cricket, whiteballs and coloured clothing rather late. In keeping with thisorthodox approach, a tri-series competition was introduced inEngland some 20 years after it first made its debut in Australiain the immediate post-Packer period and well after othercountries adopted it.

The first such tournament was held in 1998 involving Sri Lanka,South Africa and the hosts. Sri Lanka, then in the midst of theirgreat period following their World Cup triumph in 1996, duly wonthe event defeating England in the final.The competition was not held in 1999 with the World Cup inEngland holding centre-stage. In 2000, England won thetournament, defeating Zimbabwe in the final; the West Indies werethe third team in the fray. Last year, England did not even makethe final, contested between Australia and Pakistan. And yetEngland have been listed as favourites by the bookies for thisyear’s competition, involving Sri Lanka and India.Sri Lanka, despite the fact that are obviously weary at the endof their tour, are listed second favourites while the Indians,freshly arrived in England, have been adjudged as outsiders.A close look at the squads suggests that the bookies might havegot it all wrong. For, on paper, the Indians would seem to have alot of things going in their favour. A formidable batting lineup, an attack based on seam bowling – always favourable inEnglish conditions – and two fine spin bowlers to exploitwhatever turn they can from the pitch.Certainly, both England and Sri Lanka would be hard pressed tooffer a batting line-up as attractive as the one made up byGanguly, Tendulkar, Mongia, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman, Kaif andYuvraj Singh. This array of stroke-playing batsmen looks capableof running up totals that could be well beyond the reach of boththeir opponents. Even granting the fact that they may beweaknesses in bowling and fielding, it would appear that thebatting is so strong that it can cover up for any deficiency inother departments.But the bookies obviously have done their cricketing homework.They are convinced that the Indian team does not do well abroad,something admitted even by coach John Wright. This isparticularly so in England.The heady days of the World Cup triumph are now almost twodecades ago. The 2-0 victory in the Texaco Trophy series in 1990is a 12-year-old story. Since then, the Indians lost rather badlyin the one-day series to England in 1996 and three years laterjust about made it to the Super Six stage where their challengefizzled out.Of course, it could also be pointed out with some justificationthat neither England nor Sri Lanka even made the Super Six stagein the competition. But there is no denying that the overall formof both these teams is far more consistent in recent times.Evidence of this is seen in the various one-day ratings that haveSri Lanka ahead of both India and England, who are bunchedtogether in the middle. Few would argue against this, even aftertaking into account India’s triumph in the rain-affected limitedovers series in the West Indies.

Only some six months ago, England came back from a 1-3 deficit todraw a six-match series in India and that should stand them invery good stead for the competition that commences on Thursday.The hosts have retained most of their players, who did so well inIndia, and have added the experience of Alec Stewart, the flairof the in-form Ronnie Irani, the promise of James Kirtley aswell as the bubbling enthusiasm of Alex Tudor.Besides, their established stars have all been among the runs andthe wickets during the season and the emphatic Test seriesvictory over Sri Lanka should have boosted their confidence noend. Even though they will miss the injured Mark Butcher, abatting line-up that has Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight, Stewart,Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and AndrewFlintoff has to be respected.The bowling, however, may pose problems for Hussain. The injuredAndy Caddick is already out of the reckoning and there are doubtsabout Darren Gough’s availability. If the pace spearhead is notable to pass the fitness test, almost everything would depend onMatthew Hoggard, Ashley Giles, Tudor and Flintoff. In Englishconditions, the quartet could still prove to be a force to reckonwith. Hussain, it has to be remembered, has proved to be aplayer’s captain besides being a shrewd tactician.The withdrawal of Muthiah Muralitharan due to injury willundoubtedly affect Sri Lanka’s chances. But the prospects ofSanath Jayasuriya’s team cannot be written off. In Murali’sabsence, the bowling does look a bit handicapped but then theexperience of Chandana and Samaraweera is bound to come in handy.It is true that the seam bowlers did not exactly come off in theTest series but then the limited overs game is very differentfrom Test cricket and the NatWest series gives Chaminda Vaas andcompany the opportunity to show that they still have a trick ortwo up their sleeve.The batting, even if it fell from their lofty standards in theTest series, was seen in better light than the bowling and aline-up that has the always dangerous captain, Marvan Atapattu,Russel Arnold, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, AvishaGunawardene and Romesh Kaluwitharana cannot be dismissedlightly.

However, it must be admitted that the recent form displayed byall the contestants has been rather patchy, symbolised by Englandlosing to Wales on Monday. On the same day, the Indians went downto Kent while the Sri Lankans haven’t exactly been on a winningspree on the current tour.In my book, the strengths and weaknesses of the competing teamsare clearly marked. I normally love sticking my neck out butunlike the bookies, who don’t have an option anyway, I will notdo so this time. The competition is too close to call. About theonly prediction I will make is that it is going to be a scorcherof a NatWest series.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said that his team was prepared mentally and physically for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe and expressed confidence of reversing India’s dismal performance overseas.”The preparation has been good. We are mentally and physically prepared for the Zimbabwe tour and I am pretty confident that we have a good chance of winning the series”, Ganguly said in an interview to Doordarshan in Kolkata on Tuesday.He said that the Indians were mentally fitter after their series win against the formidable Australians and hoped that his teammates will display the same toughness on the tour. “Mental preparation has to be done by the players, it is the individual player’s concern. The coach and the physio can look after the physical aspects. I expect all the players to be mentally fit”, the elegant left hander said.Ganguly, however, warned against any complacency creeping in despite the preparations. “Although the preparations have been good, we have to do well in the match. That is very important.”Ganguly, who has been practicing with a bowling machine in Kolkata since returning from the Bangalore camp, said that bowling machines were not of much help though it could be useful for mastering a particular stroke. “Bowling machines are not of much help. I practised with a machine for a few days only because I wanted to master a certain stroke. But for regular practice, it is not handy,” Ganguly said.On the conditions the team expected in Zimbabwe, the Indian captain said that the wickets were likely to assist the seamers and the pace bowlers had a key role to play. “The conditions in Zimbabwe generally assist the seamers. The ball is likely to seam”, he observed.Asked whether he would use himself as a bowler during the tour, Ganguly said “batting will be the first preference. Depending on the situation of the game, I will utilise my bowling.”

The third Castle Lager/MTN Test match see-sawed through its second day at Kingsmead on Saturday at such a furious pace that at times it was difficult to keep up with it. When the dust had settled at stumps, though, Australia were 159 for eight in their second innings, 307 ahead of South Africa with three days still to play.On Saturday no fewer than 17 wickets fell as 278 runs were scored. These figures might suggest a substandard pitch, but the truth is that this has been a very good surface on which the batsmen of both teams have tended to throw bat at ball with an abandon that has often careered over into recklessness.As Australian wickets tumbled in the late afternoon some of their supporters might have wondered whether the infamous Kingsmead tide was coming in. It is part of Durban’s folklore that the tide has an effect on the behaviour of the pitch. Then again, South African wickets had fallen with equal regularity during the earlier part of the day and perhaps the most plausible explanation is simply that both teams have been caught up in the frenzy of it all.Some purists might be offended by this approach to Test match cricket. The other view, of course, is that it has been wonderful entertainment.South Africa had been one down for 48 overnight, Gary Kirsten having got out in dubious light on Friday evening. Nightwatchman Paul Adams didn’t last long in the morning and he was quickly followed by Graeme Smith.The wicket the Australians wanted, though, belonged to Herschelle Gibbs and after reaching a sumptuous 51, he was caught at the wicket, trying to force Jason Gillespie off the back foot.Then Shane Warne got into the act on both sides of lunch. Jacques Kallis and Neil McKenzie had taken 17 off his first two overs but then he induced a return catch from Kallis, had Ashwell Prince swat a rank full toss to mid on for a 32-minutes duck and took another return catch off a leading edge from Mark Boucher. At one point South Africa had been 48 for no wicket on Friday evening. Now they were 119 for seven.McKenzie and Andrew Hall put on 29 for the eighth wicket before McKenzie was sensationally caught by Damien Martyn at point, leaping and changing hands to take the ball in his left, or off, hand.Warne and Brett Lee finished off the innings with four wickets apiece and South Africa were all out for 167. Australia’s lead, you would have thought, was substantial enough to ensure that they would win in the end.And still they might, but their second innings followed a similar course to South Africa’s first with wickets tumbling at regular intervals. David Terbrugge snapped up both openers cheaply, Ricky Ponting again looked in magnificent form until he top-edged a hook high down to fine leg for 34 and suddenly Australia were wobbling at 77 for three.It got worse quickly. Kallis bowled Mark Waugh for 30 and had Damien Martyn caught at the wicket hooking for a duck four balls later, Adam Gilchrist became Kallis’s third victim, caught behind off a thin edge for 16, reducing his average for the series to a mere 157.66, and Warne was snapped up at silly point off Adams for 13.Steve Waugh, though, had dug in in what is almost certainly his last Test innings in South Africa. With Gillespie hanging around for a while Australia crept up to 150 for eight and then took their lead over 300 after Adams had had Gillespie quite brilliantly caught by Kallis at slip.Australia had kept Brett Lee back and, as the sun dipped behind the Berea again, he got one or two up the nose from Makhaya Ntini in similar conditions to those in which Lee had let rip at Kirsten on Friday evening.Unlike Friday, though, the umpires conferred only once before offering the light to the batsmen and Waugh (34 not out) and Lee (5 not out) will continue batting on Sunday morning. How long, of course, remains to be seen, but the lead is probably at least 50 short of giving Australia a sense of security.The pitch, of course, is only two days old at this stage, and still playing beautifully. This has been such an odd Test match, though, that you can’t really be sure of anything. Could South Africa chase anything around 400? You wouldn’t bet on it, but then again, after two days of a topsy turvy Test match, you probably bet against it either.

Jacques Faul, CSA’s acting CEO, has voiced his displeasure over the fallout of the Kevin Pietersen saga, with South African players being blamed for playing a role in the controversy. His comments come a day after the ECB chief executive David Collier suggested South African players had provoked Pietersen into the exchange of messages that led to him being dropped earlier this summer.”I am very disappointed that this has played out in the media,” Faul told ESPNcricinfo. “It is absolutely not true that our players provoked Pietersen.”CSA later issued a statement on the issue in which Faul added: “What is particularly disappointing is that I had a face-to-face meeting with Mr Collier when I was in London for the Lord’s Test match. He did not raise this allegation with me then and I would have thought as a matter of courtesy and decency he would have spoken to me about it before going public in the media.”It is not the way CSA goes about its business and it is not the way the ECB have done business with us in the past either. It is very disappointing because in the past our relationships with the ECB have always been cordial and constructive.”This is an internal ECB matter in which we do not wish to be involved. It served as a distraction to our players that we did not need during the Test series.”Media reports had also suggested that the South African board was pondering legal action over Collier’s claims, but a senior CSA official denied any such move.Collier had said on Sunday that he believed the messages were a South African strategy to unsettle England. “I think there was a tactic which was used,” Collier said. “I think that is sadly some of the ways of modern sport.”Last week, the ECB announced a process of “reintegration” for Pietersen following his exile from the team during the summer after it was revealed he had sent provocative messages to the South Africans. Initially it was claimed these included tactical advice on how to dismiss Andrew Strauss although this has since been denied.