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

Few gave West Indies any chance of breaking their downhill slide when they started the three-Test series in South Africa, but it has taken them just four days to turn things around in a quite spectacular manner. Thirty-one months after they last won a Test match, West Indies demolished South Africa by 128 runs, and inside four days, to take a 1-0 lead in the series. It provided a glorious finish to their year, and a glorious start to Chris Gayle’s tenure as captain.West Indies dominated large parts of the Test, but it seemed they had given South Africa a sniff when they collapsed on the third evening. They managed just 175 in their second innings, but their fast bowlers turned in another awesome display to ensure that 389 was more than enough runs to defend.For South Africa, it was a shock defeat, their first at home to West Indies. For the second time in the match, the top order collapsed without a trace – the first four wickets went down with just 45 on the board. Jacques Kallis revived the run-chase with a flawless 85 and added 112 with AB de Villiers to give them a chance, but once he was at the receiving end of an unfortunate decision, the result was never in doubt.The blows that made the difference were delivered within the first ten overs of the run-chase. The last time West Indies won an overseas Test against meaningful opposition – against England, in June 2000 – Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh were the new-ball operators, but Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell turned in the sort of display that even those legends would have been proud of.Powell and Edwards began in superb fashion. They raced in, consistently clocking around 140 kph, and tested the batsmen with pace, swing and bounce. Powell kept it mostly on a good length around off, and attempted to beat the batsmen by swing and seam, while Edwards varied his length cleverly, either bowling it full, or attacking the body with well-directed short balls. One such delivery accounted for Graeme Smith, who tried to fend off a snorter, and could only glove it for Daren Ganga to take a diving catch at short leg.By then South Africa had already lost two wickets: if Smith had a poor game with the bat, his opening partner had a nightmare. For the second time, Herschelle Gibbs was done in by Powell without scoring – this time, he shouldered arms to one which came in with the angle and was crashing towards off stump. It was his second pair in Test cricket – both of which have come in his last ten Tests – and his extended poor run suggests South Africa will have serious questions to answer before the next match. Hashim Amla, coming off successive hundreds in his previous two Tests, failed to negotiate Edwards’ pace and swing, and when Smith fell soon after, South Africa were reeling at 20 for 3. It got even worse immediately after lunch, when Ashwell Prince failed to come up with the answers to Jerome Taylor’s probing off-stump line.South Africa’s best batsman, though, was still around, and he batted like one. The footwork was precise, the defensive technique was immaculate, and the strokeplay was fabulous. Three glorious fours just before lunch – a cover drive, an on-drive, and a square cut, all off Taylor – were ominous signs for West Indies, and the break only made Kallis’ concentration stronger. The on-drives were a feature of his innings, but he also cut and pulled powerfully. Powell tested him midway through the afternoon session with a fiery spell peppered with plenty of short stuff, but Kallis negotiated it all with scarcely a hiccup.de Villiers, meanwhile, continued from where he had left off in the first innings, driving strongly square on the off side. Not only did the pair get plenty, they also did so quickly, scoring at more than three-and-a-half an over. Gayle even tried a few overs of spin, but nothing worked till Edwards banged in a short ball that Kallis tried to hook. The ball missed bat and glove, took his shoulder, looped to Denesh Ramdin who dived, held on to the catch, and then threw the ball in the air in sheer delight. Umpire Russel Tiffin agreed with the appeal, but replays indicated Kallis was hard done by.Once Kallis fell, the rest was easy. Mark Boucher fell to the pull shot for the second time in the match, Paul Harris chopped one on to his stumps, and de Villiers holed out to mid-on. Dale Steyn and Andre Nel prolonged the innings with an entertaining 67-run partnership, but that was only delaying the inevitable. The end finally came when Makhaya Ntini spooned a top-edge to Powell. The celebrations were fairly low-key, which perhaps suggests West Indies are looking for much bigger rewards from this tour. The three-match Test series is, after all, only one game old.

Jason Gillespie will become the latest of Australia’s thirty-somethings to call time when he announces his retirement during South Australia’s Pura Cup tie against Queensland which starts on Friday.Gillespie, who will turn 33 in April, is widely reported to have signed with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League, and that means he has delayed any announcement to allow him to bow out in the match. Gillespie would have been barred from playing were he to confirm a deal with the ICL .A source close to the player told The Australian newspaper that there would be a press conference at the close of the first day of the match. “He’s not allowed to announce it prior because it is not a sanctioned league.”Gillespie was one of Australia’s leading quick bowlers during their outstanding period of dominance. In 71 Tests he took 259 wickets at 26.13 with a best of 7 for 37 at Headingley in 1997. His last major act for Australia came in his final Test when he was recalled in 2006 after a dismal Ashes campaign the previous year and hit 201 against Bangladesh.Although Gillespie enjoyed a good season in 2006-07, taking 30 wickets at 28.43 for South Australia, this summer he managed 24 wickets at 35.87 and there was speculation that his contract would not be renewed.The news also caught Glamorgan, who Gillespie had signed to play for in 2008, on the hop. Only yesterday they issued the details of their squad to the media, but if he does sign with the ICL then he will be unable to honour that commitment.

ScorecardPreview – A time to riseDay 1
Bulletin – Bashar leads the way for BangladeshDay 2
Bulletin – Rafique century frustrates West IndiesDay 3
Bulletin – Bangladesh rue missed chancesDay 4
Bulletin – Bangladesh secure first-innings leadDay 5
Bulletin – Khaled Mashud defies West Indies
News – Best fined 75% of match fee

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

In a match dominated by South African stars, the batting efforts of Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis edged the all-round contribution of Shaun Pollock, as Bangalore Royal Challengers recovered from Friday’s mauling to register their first win of the tournament. Set a challenging 166 by the Mumbai Indians, Bangalore rode on an unbeaten 39 from Boucher, and his 55-run stand with Kallis sealed a five-wicket win with two balls to spare.The absence of Sachin Tendulkar would have been a huge downer for the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, but none of them could complain about the quality of action. The bounce on the pitch kept the bowlers interested, and the batsmen on their toes – one of them, Mumbai’s Dominic Thornely, was so surprised by a Zaheer Khan bouncer that he copped a blow above the eye which required 15 stitches. Robin Uthappa and Pollock were the two major contributors for Mumbai, with Sanath Jayasuriya chipping in with a cameo at the start.A target of 166 suggested a close finish, and that’s exactly how it panned out. Bangalore had contributions from all their batsmen, though none of the top five stayed through the chase. Shivnarine Chanderpaul biffed a few before getting a painful blow on the knee, while Rahul Dravid alternated between the sublime – with glorious straight- and extra-cover drives – and the tentative – five runs from 14 balls off Pollock. Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli both made 23 in identical fashion, but when Kohli fell, the match hung in the balance, with 60 needed from 39 balls.While Kallis played a typically patient hand, Boucher put in the decisive knock which turned the match Bangalore’s way. Striking the ball freely and cleanly, he ensured the asking-rate never climbed beyond ten, and got the boundaries so regularly that the pressure slowly moved to the home team. Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai captain, was creamed through point in the 15th over, while Jayasuriya was clubbed for a straight six. When Nehra was pulled for four and blasted out of the ground for the biggest six of the game in successive balls, the requirement had suddenly come down to 11 from 12 balls, after which the result was never in doubt.Mumbai’s innings was built largely around Uthappa’s 48, which held the innings together, and a whirlwind 12-ball 28 from Pollock which turned an average total into a substantial one. The absence of Tendulkar was felt at the top of the order, as Luke Ronchi, his replacement as opener, lasted just ten balls before falling to an outstanding catch by Kohli. Jayasuriya gave every indication of making up for Tendulkar’s absence, creaming the hapless Kallis for three fours – two bludgeoned down the ground, one flicked fine – and a huge six over long-on. When he fell against the run of play, run out by a direct hit from Zaheer, Mumbai needed a steady hand to guide the innings, and Uthappa played that part well.

His familiarity with the opposition bowlers – Vinay Kumar, Sunil Joshi and B Akhil are all state-mates in first-class cricket – helped him along too, as Vinay was late-cut delightfully and then hooked for six off successive balls. Uthappa improvised cleverly, moving to leg to clip the ball fine, or walking down the pitch to upset the bowlers, but he also reined in his attacking instincts, knocking the ball in the gaps during the middle overs.When he fell just two short of his half-century, though, Mumbai only had 125 on the board with just 19 deliveries to go. Enter Pollock, who immediately turned it up a few gears. After Abhishek Nayar had creamed a straight six off Vinay, Pollock dismissed the same bowler for a four and a six off consecutive balls. Praveen and Zaheer were taken for boundaries as well, as 40 came off the last five overs. The opposition team, though, had two other South African heavyweights to seal the deal.

Scorecard
A century from Brian Lara and three wickets from Ravi Rampaul helped West Indies to a 96-run win over Ireland in the first of their one-day warm-up matches at Stormont. Despite some lacklustre batting, and some dogged Irish bowling, in their innings of 242 all out with four overs remaining, West Indies still managed to record an all important victory.Rampaul ran through Ireland’s top order to finish with 3 for 25 from 6 overs, picking up the wickets of openers Jason Molins and Jeremy Bray, as well as Niall O’Brien, to leave Ireland stuttering at 47 for 3. Ian Bradshaw then bowled Andre Botha for 21 (71 for 4), and almost immediately afterwards, Darren Sammy had Peter Gillespie caught by Chris Gayle for 3 as West Indies took control.Bradshaw had Andrew White caught by Carlton Baugh, the stand-in wicketkeeper (91 for 6), then caught Trent Johnston off Chris Gayle’s offspin for 17 (129 for 7). Gayle also bowled Eoin Morgan for 9 (145 for 8) before Jermaine Lawson wrapped up the innings with the wicket of Kyle McCallan for 32 with the score on 146, and Gordon Cooke unable to bat due to injury.Earlier, Lara saved West Indies’ blushes with a typically flamboyant century after they had stumbled to 40 for 3. He came to the crease with the fall of Gayle, bowled by Adrian McCoubrey for 16. Lara smashed 106 off 99 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes, in an otherwise dire batting performance. Apart from Dwayne Bravo (45), no batsman scored more than 16 and West Windies were bowled out in the 46th over.After the run out of Shivnarine Chanderpaul for 11 (29 for 1), the impressive McCoubrey had Devon Smith caught behind second ball for 4, after he had hit his first to the boundary (33 for 2), before bowling Gayle. Lara and Bravo steadied the ship with a 139-run partnership for the fourth wicket. They were particularly severe on the offspin of Andrew White, but he came back well to take the key wicket of Lara, caught by Kyle McCallan (205 for 5). He then removed Darren Sammy, on his first-class debut, for a duck.McCallan and Botha then combined to run through West Indies’ lower order as the last four wickets fell for only 18 runs, with Ricardo Powell bowled by McCallan for 15 (224 for 7), and Bradshaw caught behind off Botha for 7 (233 for 8). Baugh gave McCallan his second wicket, caught by the substitute fielder for 15 (239 for 9), and Botha wrapped up the innings, with 22 balls still remaining, by bowling Jermaine Lawson for 1.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

England stormed to victory in the second Test at Edgbaston, winning by 256 runs after tea on the fourth day to go 2-0 up in the series and thus retain the Wisden Trophy. Ashley Giles was again the hero of the victory charge, picking up 5 for 57 as West Indies were bowled out for 222 in pursuit of an academic 478.Even though England were bowled out quite quickly for 248, with Chris Gayle taking Test-best figures of 5 for 34, it was again their day as the bowlers took control in the final session. Giles picked up three of the six wickets to fall after tea, including Gayle for 82, to take his tally for the match to nine, and become the first English spinner since Tony Lock against New Zealand in 1958 to do so in consecutive Tests.West Indies always faced a daunting task in needing to bat out five sessions for survival, but they didn’t make the best of starts. All the batsmen found Matthew Hoggard’s bounce and Giles’s spin disconcerting, and it was Devon Smith who fell first, edging Hoggard straight to Marcus Trescothick at first slip (15 for 1).Gayle’s torrid time against Hoggard continued when he was struck twice on the body, but he continued to be aggressive against anything loose. Michael Vaughan brought Giles into the attack early on, and in his first over, Andrew Strauss took a stunning catch at silly mid-off to dismiss Ramnaresh Sarwan for 14 (58 for 2).Brian Lara, who came to the crease just 20 short of 10,000 Test runs, played an extravagant drive first up, which he missed, and he was sent packing in the next over. Lara tried to flick a full delivery through the leg side, but the ball took the inside edge and looped to Andrew Flintoff at slip, and Lara was out for 13 (101 for 3). At least that’s what Simon Taufel thought, and replays suggested that there had been two noises as the ball passed the bat and hit the pad.Gayle, meanwhile, reached his half-century from 62 balls by slapping a full-toss from the off-colour Stephen Harmison through mid-off for four, and Gayle was soon back into his stride after tea, smashing a Hoggard slower ball back past the bowler. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, on the other hand, was content to play Giles with the front pad rather than his bat, but attacked when the ball was there to be hit, sweeping Giles for two fours to fine leg, the first of which brought up the fifty partnership.But just as Gayle and Chanderpaul were forming some resistance, Hoggard and Giles switched ends, and with his first ball from the Pavilion End, Hoggard almost had Chanderpaul caught at cover. But it was Giles who made the breakthrough, as Chanderpaul finally paid the price for hiding his bat behind his pad, and was given out lbw by Darrell Hair for 43 (172 for 4).Dwayne Bravo lasted just two balls against Giles before he fell in an identical fashion to the first innings – bowled by one that gripped the surface and turned past the bat to hit off stump (172 for 5). Ridley Jacobs, on a pair, almost became Giles’s third victim of the over, edging the ball onto his pad and into the air back to the bowler, but the caught-and-bowled chance fell just short.The West Indies collapse continued as Giles picked up his fifth wicket, that of Gayle, who had looked set for a century. Another excellent delivery from Giles hit the pad and brushed the bat as Gayle played forward defensively, and Andrew Strauss snapped up the catch at silly mid-off (177 for 6). Jacobs then completed his pair, lofting one from Hoggard that stopped on the pitch to mid-off, where James Anderson leapt into the air to take a well-judged one-handed catch (177 for 7). Pedro Collins didn’t last long, collecting the third duck of West Indies’ innings when he was palpably leg-before to Hoggard (182 for 8).Anderson came back on after a poor spell earlier in the day, and with his second ball bowled Corey Collymore for 10 to take England to the brink of victory (210 for 9). He then completed the rout two overs later by bowling Jermaine Lawson with a fast yorker to start the celebrations.

It was another sorry ending for West Indies, who crashed to their fifth defeat in six Tests against England. They did, though, salvage some pride by nipping out the remaining seven English wickets in the morning session. However, there was still time for Trescothick to reach his second century of the match – the first man to do so at Edgbaston – and for Graham Thorpe to score a half-century on his 35th birthday. However, both were dismissed shortly after reaching their milestones, and wickets fell regularly thereafter.Trescothick was run out by a direct hit from Sarwan from the boundary for 107 (184 for 4), and Thorpe then charged down the pitch at Gayle and was stumped for 54 (195 for 5). After playing out a few overs, Flintoff unleashed some powerful strokes on Lawson to keep the momentum going, but he top-edged an attempted heave to midwicket off Gayle, and Bravo took a well-judged catch (226 for 7).Before that, Lawson bowled Geraint Jones through the gate with one that swung in through the air and moved off the pitch for his fourth wicket, and Gayle then wrapped things up, bowling Giles for 15 (234 for 8), trapping Harmison lbw and having Hoggard scoop a catch straight to Smith at mid-on. However, it was all academic in the end as England proved they had plenty of runs to spare.

Sri Lanka A and West Indies A fought out a tie in the opening match of their five game series, at the Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo. West Indies A were set a revised target of 201, from 41 overs, they managed a share of the honours despite falling to 99 for 6.They were indebted to the young Test wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh made an aggressive 65 not out from 67 deliveries to revive West Indies A’s hopes of victory, before falling one run short. Baugh recieved strong support from Dave Mohammed, who stroked 33 of 37 balls, and they both coped well with despite the asking rate being more than a run-a-ball. Loku Dilhara removed the top-order with 3 for 21 from six overs.Mohammed’s innings completed an impressive match for the allrounder after Sri Lanka A won the toss and chose to bat first. Saman Jayantha top-scoring with 73 but Mohammed who has played two Tests for West Indies, took 4 for 44 with his left-arm chinamen.

Cricket Australia today announced that the Glenelg District Cricket Club has won the national Spirit of Cricket award for the month of December.In an A-grade match against West Torrens, Glenelg’s playing coach Ben Hook, took what appeared to be a catch at first slip.The umpire officiating at the bowlers’ end commented in his report that he thought the ball had carried to the slips fieldsman. Before a decision was required, however, Hook indicated that the ball had indeed bounced beforehand.Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland encouraged cricketers throughout Australia to follow Ben’s lead.”It can be tempting for a fieldsman to claim a catch of this nature, particularly in grade and local cricket, as the view is sometimes obscured to the umpire,” Mr Sutherland said.”I congratulate Ben on his honesty and hope cricketers around Australia continue to play the game in the spirit in which it was intended.”Glenelg is the third club to receive a national Spirit of Cricket award nomination. The two previous awards have gone to local Queensland Under-14 side the Everton Comets, and country Victorian club Barkers Creek.Winners of the monthly award receive an autographed bat signed by the Australian team.A separate Spirit of Cricket award for the Pura Cup and ING Cup competitions will be awarded at the end of the year and the next points update will be published on Wednesday 11 February. The West End Redbacks, Cascade Tasmanian Tigers, and the Victorian Bushrangers currently head the table on 42 points from 12 matches this season.

Sourav Ganguly and Irfan Pathan have been picked in India’s 14-mansquad to play South Africa in the first Test at Kanpur on November 20. Bothplayers missed the last two Tests against Australia, but regainedtheir fitness in time to play the BCCI Platinum Jubilee one-dayeragainst Pakistan at Kolkata today.Dheeraj Jadhav and SS Paul are the two men omitted. Jadhav and Paul were among four newcomers in the Mumbai Test squad: they sat out that game, butwill no doubt take satisfaction from knowing that they are next inline, and this queue does not stay still.The big question now is, who will Ganguly replace in the Test side?Mohammad Kaif is the obvious candidate, but his battling performancesagainst Australia might be enough for him to retain his place. GautamGambhir will, in that case, miss out, with either Kaif or DineshKarthik being promoted as a makeshift opener.Squad Sourav Ganguly (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag,Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Kaif, DineshKarthik (wk), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, ZaheerKhan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra.

Kevin Pietersen was adamant that he would be fit to resume his innings on the second day of the third Test between England and Pakistan at Headingley, after retiring hurt with cramp shortly after recording his fifth Test century.”I’m facing the first ball tomorrow unless something drastic happens to me this evening,” Pietersen confirmed, after the late dismissal of Matthew Hoggard left England handily placed on 347 for 6 at stumps. “I was [scheduled to go] in before Hoggard and after [Chris] Read,” he added, “but then we used the nightwatchman for the last five overs.”Pietersen enjoyed a charmed life in his innings, surviving a clear-cut appeal for caught-behind on 2 followed by a dismissal off a no-ball, and then, on the stroke of his eventual retirement, he was dropped at midwicket by Salman Butt.”It did inconvenience me because that’s why I came off the field,” explained Pietersen, who had called for treatment on his forearm three times in a single over as he raced through the 90s with a series of typically bombastic shots. “Instinct and adrenalin took over,” he added, “but after each shot, [my forearm] would freeze into a certain position. It wasn’t fun and it’s certainly never happened before.””I couldn’t grip the bat as well as I should have done,” he continued. “I had some treatment but I had to come off. I’ve had it needled and massaged and hopefully with some rest and more treatment, I’ll be able to face the first ball tomorrow.”Pietersen was satisfied with his performance in typically tough, overcast conditions at Headingley. “I was happy to get out there and play,” he said. “Other batsmen have been fantastic this series, so it’s nice to get another hundred. I’m really satisfied with this one, especially after getting 20,30, 40 in my last innings. Hopefully, if Ian [Bell] and I can bat for an hour or more in the first session, we can get a score in excess of 400.””That’s the first time I’ve ever suffered with cramps in my life,” claimed Pietersen. “I think the problem today was that I didn’t have lunch, I don’t generally eat when I’m batting, and I had breakfast at 8am. It’s probably just my salt levels, because my fluids were perfect and my urine was crystal clear.”