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Sri Lanka 713 for 3 dec beat Zimbabwe 228 and 231 by an innings and 254 runs
ScorecardPreview – Zimbabwe face another uphill struggleDay 1
Bulletin – Ebrahim’s 70 lifts Zimbabwe to 228Day 2
Bulletin – Atapattu and Sangakkara pile on a record standDay 3
Bulletin – Sri Lanka show no mercy
Verdict – Whatever this was, it wasn’t Test cricket
Quotes – Disappointed I didn’t get more, says Sangakkara
News – Ebrahim banned for one match
Day 4
Bulletin – Sri Lanka complete victory by a massive margin

New Zealand 595 and 53 for 1 beat South Africa 296 and 349 (Rudolph 154*, Martin 5-104) by 9 wickets
Scorecard

Everything fell into place for New Zealand on the final day of the second Test at Auckland. They registered their first victory over South Africa at home, and will now travel to Wellington with an excellent chance to win a series against them for the first time.Chris Martin picked up his second five-wicket haul of the match, Chris Cairns got to 200 Test wickets, and South Africa were bowled out for 349. Jacques Rudolph delighted with a few flowing drives on his way to an unbeaten 154, but New Zealand were left to chase a meagre 51. Stephen Fleming ensured a quick finish, blasting 31 off just 11 balls.The day began with South Africa still 22 behind, and Shaun Pollock did exactly what Mark Boucher had done last evening: needlessly poked at one that angled away, and edged to Fleming at first slip (290 for 7). Nicky Boje hung around for 56 minutes, while Rudolph unfurled a few silken drives at the other end. Boje has been a thorn in the flesh for New Zealand in the past, with two one-day hundreds, but Cairns forced him onto the back foot and managed to find the outside edge (327 for 8). With this, Cairns became the second New Zealander after Richard Hadlee to complete the double of 3000 runs and 200 wickets.Cairns then undid Nos. 10 and 11 with two well-disguised slower balls: Makhaya Ntini spanked one down square leg’s throat, while David Terbrugge patted another straight to short cover.

The New Zealand openers began their chase with a few streaky shots, as the South African bowlers attacked with a barrage of short balls. Mark Richardson was hit on a few occasions and was dismissed after making 10. He ducked a short one from Ntini, but the ricochet off the back of the bat went to Boje at gully (20 for 1). However, Fleming uncorked the champagne with six fours and it was fitting that he sealed the victory with a straight six.After all, it was Fleming who had inserted South Africa on the first morning, and watched Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs put together a first-wicket stand of 177. But New Zealand dominated every session after that, and Cairns and Jacob Oram were brutal in the final session on the third day. Martin’s two crucial spells, when he ripped through the South African middle order, turned the tide, and he will be expected to play a major role in seamer-friendly conditions at the Basin Reserve.For South Africa, Rudolph showed tremendous composure in the second innings while Jacques Kallis, Gibbs and Smith were all in good touch. But it was their bowling that let them down, and the game was surrendered on the run-filled third day.One moment in the final stages encapsulated South Africa’s helplessness in the match. Richardson defended one back back to the bowler and Pollock picked it up and threw it back instinctively. When Richardson got his pads in the way, Pollock let out a huge appeal for lbw. At least, he saw some humour at the end of it all.

The conditions were stifling at Kochi, but Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag handled the heat and the Pakistani bowlers superbly, and their 201-run stand was the cornerstone of India’s comprehensive win. If conditions like those, you’d expect batsmen to hit plenty of boundaries and save themselves the bother of running between the wickets, but Dravid, especially, batted exactly as he would normally, running hard and striking only the occasional hits to the fence. His innings contained 58 singles and 11 twos – that’s 77% of his runs which came the hard way. Add the singles and two he ran for his partners, and the numbers burgeon to 121 singles, 15 twos and a three. No wonder he was quite exhausted by the end of it all. Sehwag, on the other hand, hit 50% of his runs in boundaries.India’s trump card in the field was Sachin Tendulkar, who renewed his love affair with the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. His overall figures were impressive enough – 10-1-50-5 – but they were even better when he bowled from round the wicket, cramping the batsmen for room. He bowled 53 such deliveries, and conceded just 32 runs, a rate of 3.6 per over, and took all wickets. And when he pitched it outside leg, Pakistan’s batsmen were floundering, managing just three per over.

Scotland have named a 15-man squad for their match against Australia at Edinburgh on August 18.The one-day friendly international will be the first Scottish cricket match outside the World Cup to be televised live throughout. It will be shown on BBC 2 Scotland from 11am, with an hour of highlights in the evening, both on BBC 2 and on Sky Sports.The selectors have included all available players from the squad which won the ICC Trophy last month. However, none of the four English County players involved in Ireland is available. The two overseas professionals contracted for 2005 season are also included.”This game is officially classed as a friendly,” said Andy Moles, Scotland’s coach. “But you can be sure the Australians will be playing it seriously – particularly those players who have yet to be selected for their Test side. With the match being televised, it is important that Scotland fields its fittest and strongest available team, and we will be reviewing all options right up to the day of the match itself.”All 4500 tickets for the game were sold more than two months ago.Scotland squad Craig Wright (capt), Yasir Arafat, Jonathan Beukes, Cedric English, Gordon Goudie, Paul Hoffmann, Douglas Lockhart, Gregor Maiden, Dewald Nel, Colin Smith, Ian Stanger, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Sean Weeraratna, Greig Williamson.

Bangladesh have named their 20-member squad for the upcoming home Test series against Sri Lanka starting next month. The selectors recalled Alok Kapali, the allrounder and dropped pacers Anwar Hossain Munir and Talha Jubair, according to a statement released by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.Sri Lanka’s tour begins on February 19 and are scheduled to play two tests and three ODIs. The training camp for the selected players will be conducted by Dav Whatmore, the Bangladesh coach, from next Sunday at Mirpur, outside Dhaka, the statement said.Bangladesh squad Habibul Bashar (capt), Khaled Mashud (wk), Shahriar Nafees, Javed Omar, Nafees Iqbal, Rajin Saleh, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Tushar Imran, Mohammad Rafique, Manjarul Islam Rana, Alok Kapali, Enamul Haque, Khaled Mahmud, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tapash Baishya, Syed Rasel, Nazmul Hossain and Shahadat Hossain.

Hardships, misery, struggle: Thami Tsolekile has seen all that. Actually “seen” isn’t quite the right word: he has lived through all that. He has come a long way from those dark days. On Saturday Tsolekile made his Test debut against India, as South Africa’s wicketkeeper. He lists “life” as his alltime favourite movie. And in his 24 years to date he has lived some life.Born in Langa in Cape Town, the oldest of South Africa’s townships, Tsolekile started life in a stuffy atmosphere surrounded by 14 people in a two-room brick-and-mortar house. Brought up by a single parent – his mother, Bandile – Tsolekile started growing up in an environment where everything was informal. There were eyes looking at you from everywhere; in a place where there was no sense of privacy.However, one major advantage of growing up in a township is the sense of bonding one derives from it. “The community is very strong there. Life was tough in the township, a bit similar to the life here in India on the streets,” says Tsolekile. “There a lot of people, with different backgrounds, speaking different languages.”I was struck by his humility: he was embarrassed that he’d arrived for our chat a bit later than arranged. “Did I keep you waiting?” he asked – and it wasn’t his fault, as he’d been busy giving interviews at the team’s press conferences.Clad in the South African team colours, with his earstuds glistening, he chose his words carefully. “As I started growing up my mother was still starting with her professional career as a teacher. Life was uncertain and a struggle in a township, but the lucky part was that I grew up near the Langa cricket ground. Every day after school I used to go straight to the stadium and play with the other kids.” That’s where the seeds for his future were sown.Through the hardships came the resolve to battle – a willingness to do something. And the breaks came at the right time. When he was 18 the government offered him a bursary to go into a different environment. He went to a white school, the Pinelands High School, a place “where I learnt many things”.Tsolekile is a very strong character. He looks you in the eye while speaking. But that trait landed him in trouble many times, especially when he was the skipper of the Langa hockey team. He attended six disciplinary hearings as the referee punished his team for misbehaviour, or not turning up on time, or not wearing proper clothing for the match. This was probably something to do with snobbery against the lower classes, but Tsolekile was not to be bowed. He stood up for his team-mates no matter what. “Maybe from the struggle I have experienced I have become a strong character. I don’t feel disappointed easily – it takes a lot to get me down.”That’s a good starting point if you aspire to be a leader one day. Tsolekile has been a leader for many years now, even though he’s still young. He was the captain of the South African schools team in 1998-99. He’s also a handy soccer player – he led the Western Province team at Under-16 level – and represented his country in hockey in 2000 and scored with his first shot.

South Africa’s cricket selectors were quick to notice his leadership qualities. He says the turning point of his life was when he realised he had a good chance of representing his country in Test cricket. “I started thinking seriously about playing for South Africa when I captained the Under-19s to Pakistan in 1998-99. After that I was leader of the team for the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, where Graeme Smith played under me along with the Amla brothers [Ahmed and Hashim], Justin Ontong and Jacques Rudolph, who was my deputy.”It’s ironic that Smith now leads the South African national team, and it was he who presented Tsolekile with his first Test cap. Of Smith, Tsolekile says: “He has got a very good personality, and respect for people, two qualities of an able leader.”Tsolekile himself has the discipline, self-belief and affability of a natural leader. “I always saw myself as a leader, and was one right through my school and age-group levels in all the sports I played. The leadership qualities come from people respecting you as a person more than anything else, and then doing the right thing at the right time is also important.”He has captained people from diverse backgrounds, and says he learnt that to be a good leader you need to spend more time with people to know them better. He likes to socialise: “I hardly sit at home by myself,” he says. And he doesn’t just live and breathe sport. He’s a fan of Tupac Shakur, R Kelly and Bob Marley. “I like clubbing – Arabic and rap are my favourites.”The other important advantage for Tsolekile is that he is the perfect team man. Gerald de Kock, SA’s media manager, expands: “He was one of the best tourists on the England tour for the 2003 series.”Tsolekile did well with the South African A team, and found himself the understudy to Mark Boucher, the man he eventually replaced. Boucher had been the vice-captain, but his tough and somewhat high-handed approach won him few friends in the team. Some people suspected a racial motive for Tsolekile’s inclusion ahead of Boucher, but Neil Manthorp, a senior South African cricket writer, disagrees. “You can’t compare the two as Boucher has had more experience, and though the selectors favoured a few more coloured players Tsolekile can’t be blamed for his dropping.”Tsolekile has no qualms about people calling him black or coloured. “I don’t mind people calling [us] African or black people. I have always been happy for who I am. I have never really experienced any kind of racism, be it in the dressing-room or on the road, apart from the stupid remarks one hears once in a while.” And he adds: “There are things that I can’t control and some I can. I have always seen myself in the side as equal and selected on merit, and that really tells you the story.”Tsolekile is no loner. He picked up the gloves because “I don’t like to be bored when I am playing. I like to be involved in the game, and that’s why I chose to keep, as the keeper is always in the game.”He practised for Indian pitches by throwing the ball on rubble to get used to the bounce. He’s used to the bouncy and hard pitches back home, where the ball comes through at a comfortable height, and was wary of the unpredictable bounce in India. “The first ball bowled by Shaun Pollock in the tour game at Jaipur bounced twice before it got to me. It was the worst wicket I’d kept on.”Known as “Mara” to his team-mates because one of his idols is Diego Maradona, Tsolekile knows the pressure to which he will be subjected if he doesn’t perform on this tour, but he is confident of his abilities, and hopes to improve and make it harder for his competitors to take his place. “There is pressure from outside, but speaking for myself I don’t see any pressure. I am not expecting much or dreaming about a big game. I am just here to stay on this tour, and to stay in the side.”Thami Tsolekile is in for the long haul in international cricket. His motto in life is “Never forget your roots.” He hasn’t forgotten his: he still stays in Langa along with his mother, for whom he plans to buy a leather jacket, as he’s heard you can get them cheap in India. He’s a player to watch.

Michael Vaughan is making a slow recovery from the knee injury, which forced him out of the current tour of India, according to the Yorkshire physiotherapist Scott McAllister.Vaughan has been undergoing an intensive programme of rehabilitation since returning from India to undergo further treatment on a right knee problem which was operated on last December. But hopes that he would be able to play in Yorkshire’s opening County Championship match, against Nottinghamshire on April 19, are now fading.”The only time schedule is how Michael’s knee responds, not the playing schedule,” McAllister told the . “We’re not going to push him and neither are England. It’s vital that he gets the knee right to ensure that when he does come back, he does so with confidence.”The encouraging thing is that Michael is progressing, step by step, slowly but surely. The signs are good, but at the same time we’re not getting over-excited about the situation.”There is also positive news on Simon Jones, who is hopeful of starting the season with Glamorgan, after he also returned from India after injuring his knee ahead of the first Test.”The knee is coming on well,” he said, “I have started bowling off a couple of yards and I’m sprinting up to full pace. I want to play for Glamorgan in the first couple of games and prove my fitness, and see where it takes me.”However, the fitness of Ashley Giles is still causing major concern as he has yet to start bowling since hip surgery in December. Giles flew home from Pakistan, missing the third Test at Lahore, and withdrew from the tour of India.His target had been to start the season with Warwickshire, but his recovery has been slow and Giles has admitted that the injury could be career threatening. Last week he told : “If the rehab doesn’t succeed, the alternatives are obvious. The specialist thought the hip would have done most of its healing after three months but that hasn’t happened.”

Xavier Marshall, the Jamaica opener, and team-mates Leon Garrick and Damion Hardware are expected to face the St Ann Cricket Association’s disciplinary committee today after failing to turn up for a match. The trio failed to appear on the second day of their rain-hit game against Kingston & St Andrew in the Red Stripe Cricket Championship and were consequently not selected for the following match last weekend.Ivan Anderson, president of the St Ann Cricket Association, told the that their breach carried a light fine. “It [disciplinary hearing] will be done on Wednesday, but more or less what he [Marshall] did, would only warrant a one-match ban, or we might have a serious talk with him and let him know the implications,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t think before they do certain things… and don’t realise that they are role models. We have to make sure we nip the bud as soon as we see certain things happening… we have to really step at it; we can’t really try cover up on anything for them.”Anderson, the man credited for spotting Marshall’s talent at the age of 10, maintained that Marshall “should have still turned up” even though he was informed by a team-mate that it had been raining on day two of the fixture.Marshall scored a hundred to propel West Indies to the final of the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004. He played two Test matches and ten one-day internationals for the senior side but has yet to fulfill his evident talent. In early 2005, Marshall was suspended for off-field indiscretion while on tour with the senior team. Garrick, 29, played a solitary Test for the West Indies but has also had many run-ins with cricket authorities at all levels.

If there had been a pre-tournament poll of matches to whet the appetite, it’s a safe bet that New Zealand against Sri Lanka – two nations overshadowed to the point of parody by brasher neighbours – would not have set many pulses racing. Suddenly, however, their clash in Grenada on Thursday is being viewed in a very different light. It’s not inconceivable that this match could be a dress rehearsal for the semi-finals or even beyond. Such is the skill and variety on display in both squads that either team would make a worthy, and popular, World Cup winner.Sri Lanka, for their part, are determined to approach this contest with the same joie de vivre that they have shown throughout the tournament. Four months ago, they travelled to the greentops of New Zealand and drew 1-1 and 2-2 in the Test and ODI series respectively, carrying the fight to the Kiwis in a manner that few subcontinental sides have managed in such alien conditions. Nothing fazed them then, and it’s not about to now.”We’re going to compete every step of the way and play our Sri Lankan brand of cricket,” said Kumar Sangakkara, who was unafraid to hark back to his country’s legendary 1996 World Cup-winning squad for inspiration. “We have an attitude where we’ve managed to balance our aggression with a professional approach. Even leaving the ball with positive intent is a show of aggression to the opposition.”Most of the times we’ve gone wrong, we’ve tried to change our game, but we’ve realised that’s a bit foolish. When we won the World Cup we played a unique brand of cricket and that’s how we play now against any side – but particularly a side like New Zealand who, if we can put pressure on their bowlers at the start, then a formidable total can be built up.”So far it is New Zealand who have enjoyed the smoother of the two campaigns. They have never been less than in control of their six matches to date, although having seen off both Ireland and Bangladesh, as well as the below-par England and West Indies, they are acutely aware that the challenge is about to get rather more intense.”Our toughest test is these three games coming up,” said Daniel Vettori, whose team still has two other semi-final candidates, South Africa and Australia, waiting in the pipeline. “We can control our own destiny if we win tomorrow. If we want to go on and win [the World Cup] we know that we’re going to have to beat one of these three teams, either in a final or a semi-final, so it’s a good wake-up call and a realisation that we’ve got to play well.”New Zealand’s task, however, has been made all the less arduous by the news that Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s sling-shotting spearhead, will not be playing. He has sustained a grade two tear of his ankle ligament, and could well be forced to miss the remainder of the Super Eights campaign. “He is very keen to play, but we have told him ‘No’,” Michael Tissera, the team manager, said. “He suffered the injury the day before yesterday, and we sent him to Jamaica for a scan. We hope he will be fit for the games against Australia and Ireland [next week].”

Vettori’s grin spoke volumes when asked how much of a relief his absence would be to New Zealand, although Sangakkara was keen to impress the depth and variety of the bowling attack Sri Lanka still has at its disposal. “I think we are going in with a very balanced attack. In the past we’ve been very spin-heavy, but we have a squad of five fast bowlers, each ready to step up when opportunities present themselves,” he said. “Malinga is important but each has equal importance in our side. If he’s fit or not fit, whoever comes in must do the job and that’s how we approach it.”All the same, Malinga’s absence means that there is only one genuine paceman left in the contest. “He’s been far and away the best fast bowler in the past six or seven months,” Sangakkara said of Shane Bond, the bowler of the tournament to date. “He is one person that you have to respect. You can talk the whole day about Bondy and his outswingers, but the real important thing for us is to be mentally prepared to face that on the day, and overcome the challenge.”Form and fortune favours New Zealand, who are expected to welcome back Ross Taylor in the middle order. However – like their fellow pacemakers, Australia – they have yet to be challenged in their unbeaten run to date. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have already been involved in two of the tightest contests in World Cup history – their one-wicket loss against South Africa, and their two-run win over England.”We didn’t want England to get that close,” Sangakkara said of their thriller in Antigua last week, “but the positive thing from that was that we showed character as a team and individually to step up in that final over. Maybe we have a more rounded perspective for the coming games. But one-day cricket is all about being on the money every single minute. We just have to be as professional as we can.”New Zealand (probable) 1 Peter Fulton, 2 Stephen Fleming (capt), 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Craig McMillan, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Brendon McCullum (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Shane Bond, 10 James Franklin, 11 Mark Gillespie.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Chamara Silva, 7 Russel Arnold, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Speculation is rife that Aziz Al Kaiser Titoo, the vice-president of Bangladesh Cricket Board, has resigned as the row over a secret deal regarding television rights grows. The rumours come in the wake of the resignation of Reazuddin Al Mamun , the board joint-secretary and media committee chairman, in protest at the deal.Speaking to the Dhaka-based daily, , Titoo denied submitting any resignation letter, but did not rule out its possibility in the near future. “Honestly speaking, I am looking forward to the next board meeting to clarify my position. I will definitely raise some burning issues like the TV and sponsorship deal and the resignation of our joint-secretary in the meeting and if there is no satisfactory outcome then I will definitely think about my resignation.”Titoo also expressed his dissatisfaction at the way Ali Asghar, the board’s president, has handled the TV deal. “There is an elected committee in the board and I think nothing should be passed or accepted bypassing the executive committee. I don’t know whether president has accepted one of our top members’ resignation or not, but I think it should be discussed in the board meeting before taking a final decision.”He also expressed his ignorance about the alleged secret deal that Asghar struck with Aston Moore Sports and Entertainment in July, and demanded an inquiry into the affair.. “I’m not aware of such deal. If such deal was struck then it is certainly a big issue. I know Aston Moore but to be honest the company is not experienced enough to handle such a big matter. We should form an inquiry committee to bring out the truth.”