Eagles 312 and 156 for 6 (Henderson 54) lead Dolphins 300 (Klusener 108*, Benkenstein 70, Mpitsang 4-39, Kruis 3-71) by 168 runs
ScorecardAt Kingsmead, an undefeated 108 from Lance Klusener and 70 from Dale Benkenstein allowed Dolphins to come within 12 runs of Eagles’ first-innings total of 312. After scoring 300, Dolphins fought back in the field as well, reducing the eagles to 156 for 6 at close of play on the second day, a lead of only 168. James Henderson (54) worked hard at keeping the innings together while Loots Bosman scored a determined 39. Nicky Boje was still at the crease and a lot would depend on him for Free State to post a reasonable target.Titans 204 and 336 for 5 (Petersen 139, de Villiers 56, Cullinan 51, Coetsee 3-102) lead Lions 190 by 350 runs
ScorecardAt Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom, Titans extended their slender overnight lead over Lions to 350, thanks to Alviro Petersen’s five-and-a-half hour 139. Peterson and AB de Villiers put on 130 before de Villiers was caught for 51. Maurice Aronstam ran himself out for 45 after he had put on 101 with Peterson. Daryl Cullinan scored his second fifty of the match as Titans continued piling on the runs. Petersen was finally dismissed just short of his career-best first-class score of 150. Geoffrey Toyana gave Werner Coetsee his third wicket of the innings, with Justin Kemp not out on 26 when bad light once again intervened.Western Province-Boland 206 and 355 for 7 dec (Puttick 80, Strydom 78, Gibbs 52, Johnson 57*, Henderson 3-84) lead Warriors 189 and 54 for 1 by 318 runs
ScorecardAt Newlands, the Warriors had an uphill battle as they worked towards the target of 373 after Western Province-Boland declared at 355 for 7. Andrew Puttick, who scored 80, formed the anchor around which the others piled on the runs for Western Province. Gerhard Strydom made 78, while Herschelle Gibbs showed why he would be missed in India, making an entertaining 52. Neil Johnson, gaining confidence from the others, batted with authority as he regained some form and scored 57 not out. At stumps the Warriors had moved to 54 for 1, requiring 318 more to win.

Inzamam-ul-Haq has refused to represent the World XI in next month’s Super Test against Australia, after an apparent mix-up in communication with the Pakistan board.”The Pakistan Cricket Board had given me an understanding that I would be in both the World XIs (ODI and Test),” the Pakistan captain told the Press Trust of India on Monday from Lahore, “but till today, they have not conveyed to me about my selection. I have already read about my selection in the newspapers.”The Pakistan board announced that Inzamam would be in both teams on Wednesday, but two days later the ICC said that he would feature in the six-day Super Test squad only, and as a replacement for Sachin Tendulkar at that. He was omitted from the one-dayers, with the ICC instead naming Chris Gayle and Rahul Dravid as replacements for Sachin Tendulkar and Herschelle Gibbs.”At this stage of my career, I deserve respect and nothing else,” said Inzamam. “I am not pleased at all with whatever has happened. Having played cricket with respect and distinction, I don’t deserve this at the fag end of my career.”He added that if he was not representing the World XI in the Test match, there was no question of his participating in the Captains Conference and 2nd ICC Annual Awards. “I will not go to Australia for just one match. I have not conveyed my decision to the cricket board and there is no need for this because they have not yet communicated to me about my selection.”

Given the tough opposition and their recent divisive problems, the West Indies will suffer for the lack of “a father figure” to lead them on their forthcoming tour of Australia, Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain, cautioned on Thursday.”They really need someone like Clive Lloyd at this time, a father figure who can hold the team together and get the best out of them,” Chappell said. Based on what he saw of the West Indies team on the tour of Sri Lanka in July and August, Chappell did not believe Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the West Indies captain, could provide that kind of leadership. “Chanderpaul was predictable and reactive in Sri Lanka,” he said. “The only time you felt there would be a wicket was if there was a good ball or the pitch did something, not from anything creative from the captain.”Chappell noted the difference when Sylvester Joseph took over in Chanderpaul’s absence in the one-day series. “Things started to happen because Joseph was proactive,” he said. “The players aren’t stupid. They know when the captain has ideas and is confident enough to put them into practice. It’s a pity he isn’t a good enough batsman to be in the team because he was always looking to make something happen.”Chanderpaul, who was played 88 Tests, took over as captain when Brian Lara opted out of the team before the first Test of the home series against South Africa last April in solidarity with six players who were omitted because they held personal endorsement contracts with former sponsors Cable & Wireless, direct competitors of the new sponsors, Digicel.He led a team of mainly replacement players when ten of the originally chosen 13 refused to tour Sri Lanka because of the ongoing row over tour contracts between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA). The return of most of those players, Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan, the reappointed vice-captain, among them, is a potential flashpoint that would test Chanderpaul’s leadership qualities.Chappell acknowledged that the reunification of the West Indies team after the split caused by Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (WICB) almost 30 years ago was different to the present case in many respects. But he maintained that Lloyd’s captaincy was a major factor in ensuring that there were no residual problems and that the team developed into one of the strongest the game has known.”The West Indies at present don’t have that kind of experience and class and they’re coming up against an Australian team that has regained its confidence after the defeat in the Ashes series and haven’t lost a series at home in ages,” Chappell said. “They need strong leadership more than ever.”

Tom Moody, Sri Lanka’s Australian-born coach, has said that the tour of India will be the start of a series of challenges that lies ahead. Since Moody took over as coach four months ago, Sri Lanka have had an easy run at home beating West Indies and Bangladesh in Tests and one-day internationals and winning the tri-series final against India.”It is an important tour for us. We’ve got some challenging cricket going ahead and this is the first stage of it,” said Moody. “It is important that we continue the positive momentum we had at home.”The IndianOil Cup final was a good test for us where we played well. In Test cricket, we played a depleted West Indies side and Bangladesh who are an emerging side. This tour is going to be a tough one, like any country touring India finds it difficult. Sri Lanka’s hasn’t had Test success there before but only one-day success. I am looking forward to it.”There’s a lot of cricket coming up which obviously involves a lot of travel. Those two things combined can be tiring. We might have to be mindful of maybe rotating a couple of players at certain stages. Overall, it’s got a lot of disadvantages when you are playing challenging cricket.”Moody said that the conditions in India were similar to Sri Lanka. “Batting is a little bit freer over there. We stuck to the same squad because it is important that we keep some continuity. The selectors have felt that we’ve got the right balance at the moment. Hopefully at the end of the seven matches everyone agrees with that.”He added that Sri Lanka was fortunate to have a team with a lot of experience playing in India and that he hoped to draw on that experience. “We hope to tap their knowledge on the grounds at the various venues. We have done a little bit of research and seen what’s happened there in the past in previous ODI games,” he said. “What average totals there are at each ground and what percentage of pace and spin had been used throughout the games in the past. We are going there with a fair amount of knowledge with what we are going to be facing.”Moody said that if Sri Lanka concentrate on what they do best and they play to their strengths and achieve all the things that they aim to do, whether training or in a match, they could overcome the obstacles. “There is no question about that.” He rated Upul Tharanga as ‘a fine young player and a bright prospect’. “He has been given the opportunity to establish himself as an international player. He is a natural striker of the ball and a free-flowing batsman.”On the role Thilan Samaraweera will play, Moody said: “His role is to add to the depth of the middle order. We felt that we needed another middle-order player. Given that we have four players who can open the batting Marvan, Sangakkara, Jayasuriya and Tharanga, we felt that we needed to get an extra batsman in the middle. Sammy is a player who is in form and given that he is playing in the Test series straight after the one-dayers, it seems to make logical sense.”Moody said that Dilhara Lokuhettige was learning about the game as a young player. “He had a poor series against Bangladesh. I am sure he is looking forward to try and bounce back. It is going to be tough work for him because conditions in India are quite harsh on bowlers. He has got to draw much on the experience of others and learn from his experience and continue to develop as an all-round cricketer. He is one of the allrounders who plays the role in all three aspects of the game, batting, bowling and fielding.”

On the team’s batting
To get just 196 on this wicket was unacceptable. We had three good games with the bat before this but today wasn’t a day for us. It’s just a matter of being consistent. All our batsmen have the experience to get big scores but we let ourselves down today.On Murali’s absence
Murali had a hamstring strain when he was fielding in the Ahmedabad game and we decided to leave him out in the last minute. With the amount the pitch was turning in the morning, Murali’s presence could have been crucial with a total of 230 or 240. But 196 was just not enough.On the pitch
The new ball was coming on a bit but slowly a bit of dust began to come up and it got slower. I wouldn’t say it was the best pitch for batting, compared to the rest of the pitches in this series. But I’m not making any excuses for our poor display.On what has gone wrong
It’s all about getting some momentum early in the series. When you are down in a long series, and when things are not going your way it becomes very difficult to come back. We should approach it game by game and try and perform.On the positives from this series
I think throughout the series Dilhara Fernando has done well. The way he has come back from injury, and the amount of work he has put is in great. Dilshan has also done well. He gets a bit overconfident and takes some unnecessary risks but we need to send messages to him sometimes.On the reaction back home
The CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket [Duleep Mendis] met the team in Pune and given us his full support. We have their backing despite the defeats.On trying to experiment with a few youngsters
Sooner rather than later we may have to try out a few youngsters.On plans for the next few weeks
We’d like to end the tour on a winning note and then take our minds off the results. We hope to refresh ourselves back home, think about the positives from this series and then come back prepared for the Tests.

Haroon Lorgat, the South Africa selection convenor, plans to “look beyond colour” when picking the team for the crucial second Test against Australia at Melbourne on Monday. South Africa chose four black or coloured players for the opening match at Perth, but the places of Ashwell Prince and Charl Langeveldt appear in doubt with the expected returns of Jaques Kallis and Nicky Boje.The United Cricket Board’s constitution says South Africa must be a “team of colour”, with an unofficial component of at least two non-white representatives in each side. However, Lorgat said in Sydney’s the second Test squad would be “a pure cricket selection”.”We have to look beyond colour with this,” Lorgat said. “That won’t be an issue in our deliberations. Of course one of our duties and responsibilities is to provide opportunities for black players but cricket is doing enough at all levels.”Makhaya Ntini and Herschelle Gibbs would cover the “target” system’s requirements, but halving the team’s non-white representation could attract large amounts of political criticism from South Africa. Boje, the left-arm spinner, appears to be a certain selection while a top-order batsman will make way for Kallis if he recovers from an elbow injury. Prince has said the quota or target systems are wrong because they “mess with the minds of both white and black players”.

Trouble is brewing after some fans reacted angrily to tough regulations on alcohol introduced by New Zealand Cricket during the ODI at Christchurch on Tuesday.Bars inside the ground stopped serving wine and beer midway through the game, even though there was no unruly behaviour. But what appears to have really angered some people was the level of security on entering the ground. There were intensive bag searches at the gate, and no liquid at all – even water and thermos flasks of coffee – was allowed to be brought in. NZC countered by arguing that things were thrown onto the outfield during the second ODI at Eden Park and any container is potentially dangerous.Peter Dwan , NZC’s marketing manager, defended the measures. “For every person who says that security was a bit intense in terms of the bag searches … there are another 15 or 20 people saying, ‘It’s great we can go to the game of cricket and have a safe and enjoyable day’.”The bag checks have been thorough and a lot of people have come for the full day out, other than just to get legless,” he continued. “There’s been a slight attitude change, it’s the time of year when people are more relaxed and the crowd have been pretty laid-back.”But Warren Lees, the former New Zealand international and coach, was less than impressed, warning that large numbers of spectators could be put off by the over-zealous security.”We’re basically breeding aggressive crowd behaviour through our approach to crowd control,” Lees told the New Zealand Herald. “People are turning up at the cricket ready to be treated as criminals. It’s not a good scene.”He added that the confrontational style of the security teams would drive many away for good and that it was an overreaction to isolated incidents. “Security are continually misjudging the type of crowd they are dealing with. They are actually riling law-abiding folk with their heavy-handed and antagonistic attitude. There’s no need.”

Shane Warne delayed his return to Victoria as the Bushrangers named an unchanged side to face South Australia in the ING Cup match at Adelaide on Sunday. Warne is recovering from a hectic Test series and is expected to delay his comeback until the Pura Cup match against the Redbacks starting next Thursday.South Australia, who easily beat Western Australia on Wednesday, have also received a blow with Matthew Elliott ruled out after aggravating a knee injury. His place has been taken by Greg Blewett, who has recovered from a thigh problem.A Victorian win would seal them a place in the final, but South Australia sit only three points behind the Bushrangers in third. Cameron White shared in a domestic record fourth-wicket stand of 205 with David Hussey against Queensland on Wednesday, and he said he was desperate to reach the decider. “I’m happy with my one-day form and am keen to keep the runs flowing,” White, who hit 85 from 87 balls, said.In Tasmania, Brett Geeves will play his first game of the season for the Tigers after recovering from stress fractures in his left leg. Tasmania travel to Devonport for the match against Western Australia and Geeves, who picked up 6 for 48 in a 2nd XI game, replaces Brendan Drew.Dane Anderson, who missed Wednesday’s loss to New South Wales due to a shoulder injury, has been named, but he and George Bailey (neck) will undergo fitness tests. Rhett Lockyear stepped in for Anderson and is on standby for both players.Victoria Michael Klinger, Jonathan Moss, Lloyd Mash, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Liam Buchanan, Grant Lindsay, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Andrew McDonald, Shane Harwood, Gerard Denton, Mick Lewis.South Australia Shane Deitz, Mark Cosgrove, Greg Blewett, Cameron Borgas, Darren Lehmann (capt), Callum Ferguson, Ken Skewes, Graham Manou (wk), Ryan Harris, Mark Cleary, Jason Gillespie, Cullen Bailey, Shaun Tait.Tasmania Tim Paine (wk), Travis Birt, Dane Anderson, Michael Bevan, Michael Di Venuto (capt), George Bailey, Adam Polkinghorne, Luke Butterworth, Xavier Doherty, Adam Griffith, Brett Geeves, Ben Hilfenhaus.Western Australia Justin Langer (capt), Marcus North, Luke Ronchi (wk), Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh, Chris Rogers, Peter Worthington, Beau Casson, Steve Magoffin, Matthew Petrie, Ben Edmondson, David Bandy.

Alec Coxon, the Yorkshire fast bowler who played once for England, has died four days after his 90th birthday.The Second World War delayed Coxon’s first-class debut until 1946 by which time he was 29, but he made an immediate impact with 69 wickets at 19.71 as Yorkshire won the Championship.In 1948 good county performances led to him being called up for the second Test against Australia at Lord’s where he took 3 for 172 but he wasn’t retained. This, and the fact that he was not given another chance in subsequent seasons, led to speculation that there was more to his omission than pure cricketing reasons, and stories circulated that he had had a blazing row during the game with Denis Compton. Brian Close, a former team-mate, said that Coxon had a “harsh and grating manner”.In 1949 and 1950 Coxon passed 100 wickets, with his best being 131 at 18.60 in 1950 which was to be his last for the county. At the end of the season he retired to play league cricket, and he turned out as Durham’s professional between 1951 and 1954. Coxon also played league football for Bradford.His death leaves Alec Bedser, Ken Cranston, Allan Watkins and John Dewes as the last survivors of the England side which played Don Bradman’s invincibles in 1948. Coxon was the third-oldest surviving England Test cricketer, with only Mandy Mitchell-Innes and Dennis Brookes being older, and the tenth oldest in all.

Australia have confirmed that Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds will miss the second one-day international against South Africa at Cape Town on Friday. Ponting is still struggling with the stomach muscle injury he picked up before the first match, and there is some doubt as to whether he will take any part in the series. Symonds’s hip-flexor problem is improving but he won’t be rushed back into action.Both players took part in a net session during the afternoon training at Newlands and Errol Alcott, Australia’s physiotherapist, said they needed extra time to make sure they are fully fit. “Although Ricky was unhampered by his injury in batting and fielding today, we consider it more prudent to rest him tomorrow considering the length of time since the injury,” he said. “We will continue further treatment and cricket activity, and will review his availability for Sunday’s game.”Symonds had a batting session and Alcott was pleased with his progress. He will continue to receive treatment and be monitored ahead of the third match at Port Elizabeth.South Africa, who lead the series 1-0 following their six-wicket win in the opening match at Centurion Park, will pick from the same squad after Shaun Pollock was passed fit for the rest of the contest. “It’s big for us,” Ponting told . “It’s only a five-match series so if you can manage to get 2-0 up it puts a lot of pressure on a touring team especially if there are injuries.” Their pace attack is returning to full strength and they may consider bolstering it further by replacing Robin Peterson, who was ineffective at Centurion, with Johan van der Wath.South Africa (probable) Graeme Smith (capt), Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Justin Kemp, Shaun Pollock, Johan van der Wath, Andrew Hall, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel.Australia (probable) Adam Gilchrist (capt, wk), Simon Katich, Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mick Lewis.