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Enough is enough
Jacques Kallis and L Balaji shared a few duels in a one-sided game. The Chennai Super Kings fast bowler had made a mess of a catch offered to him at third man by Kallis, allowing it to bounce over him for a boundary. Kallis then dispatched his first ball for four, was met with a beamer the next delivery and was gifted four more when Muttiah Muralitharan mis-fielded at mid-on. Balaji, though, had enough and off his fourth ball, struck middle stump to end Kallis’ unbeaten run in this year’s IPL.Parthiv’s redemption
Like Balaji, Chennai’s wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel endured the how-costly-did-that-prove moment before making amends. Murali was in action again, and was deprived a third wicket when Virat Kohli stepped out of his crease, was beaten in the flight but earned a reprieve as Parthiv missed a stumping. The next ball, hammered for six, would have stung the wicketkeeper hard but he kept his cool when offered an opportunity again the same over, snapping a doosra and clipping the bails to find Kohli short.Luck in reverse
Robin Uthappa warmed up for his blistering half-century with some delicate touches and much fortune. Murali, after having nipped out two top-order wickets, may have sensed another chance when Uthappa tried to reverse-sweep him first up and missed. He perfected the shot the next ball, connecting well to beat short third man to the ropes but backed himself too far when, in Murali’s next over, he tried to reverse-slog him over extra cover. The audacity, however, was rewarded with a drop catch by R Ashwin, after which Uthappa made Chennai pay for their butter fingers.Awaiting the Mongoose
The word has spread, and the crowd proved it. Each signal made by Matthew Hayden to the dressing room generated cheers from the Chennai fans. Hayden opted for a regular one when he first changed bats, but a few overs later, came the call for the long handle. As the 12th man ran in with an assortment of Hayden’s preferred blades, including the Mongoose, the crowd roared and their wish was granted when the batsman picked the smallest of them all.Mix-ups galore
Hayden was in the thick of things again as he survived a run-out attempt when Kohli missed an under-arm throw. But that was not all. Sensing an overthrow, Parthiv, Hayden’s opening partner, ran halfway down the pitch, calling for a run that wasn’t there. Hayden sent him back, the fielder at extra cover picked the ball up, took aim and missed. Both openers had been let off.Delayed joy
Hayden had begun to open up with his favoured bat but Bangalore struck a timely blow, though they weren’t convinced they had. When Hayden had backed up too far and Rahul Dravid flicked a throw accurately at the non-striker’s end, the customary appeal followed and was referred. But the Bangalore players set about returning to their field positions and the crowd’s momentary high was silenced, only momentarily. Gestures from the dressing room upon watching the replay sparked off a celebration among the fielders, and the crowd joined in. The confirmation on the big screen a few seconds later marked a crucial moment in the chase.The parting shot
Chennai’s hapless chase in the wake of a clinical bowling performance had prompted spectators to make a dash for the gates well before the game ended. But Albie Morkel, bogged down until then, had one parting shot. He bludgeoned Vinay Kumar in the last over for a thunderous straight six that crashed into the face of the top-tier and rolled back onto the field. Many would have wished that had come much earlier.

Cameron White, the Victoria captain, has a difficult financial decision over the next two weeks as he decides between leading his state in the Sheffield Shield final or playing in the lucrative IPL. The Bushrangers hold a three-point lead at the top of the table and are on track to reach the decider despite a one-point deduction for a slow over rate, leaving White to weigh up a state versus franchise dilemma.If White, who is signed by Bangalore on US$500,000 a season, delays his entry until after the March 17-21 domestic final he would miss five IPL games, which would cost him up to US$180,000 in lost match payments. ”I can play in the Shield final and then go to the IPL if that’s what I choose to do,” White said in the Age. ”But I don’t have to do anything for another month yet. I’m not interested in making a decision either way just at the moment. I’ll just take all the [security] information in and see what happens.”White, who is currently with the one-day team in New Zealand, led Victoria to the Shield last season, but his side lost the one-day final to Tasmania on Sunday without their internationals. Brad Hodge and Dirk Nannes, who were part of the 2008-09 win, have both retired from first-class cricket and plan to take part in the entire IPL campaign.The security fears of the Australians appear to have eased following a threat from a group associated with al-Qa’ida. Damien Martyn, the former Australia batsman, has a contract with Rajasthan Royals, and has left for India.”I have a child and a family to consider,” he told the Herald Sun. “Do you think I’d be going or for that matter, Warne, Gilchrist, and Hayden, if we thought it was high risk? The reports we’ve received suggest nothing has changed.”I have the utmost faith in officials to ensure our safety and welfare is top priority. There are no guarantees. Bombs can go off anywhere and we’ve been on Ashes tours when bombs have exploded.”The paper reported Matthew Hayden would travel with his own security officer while Darren Lehmann, the Australian Cricketers’ Association chairman, is expected to coach Deccan Chargers. This is despite the union having reservations about the security arrangements for the tournament beginning on March 12.

Saeed Anwar, the former Pakistan opener, has turned down an offer to become the chairman of selectors of the national team.The Pakistan Cricket Board offered Anwar the role after Iqbal Qasim’s resignation earlier this month, in the aftermath of the team’s recent tour of Australia where they were whitewashed in all formats of the game. “I was offered the post of chairman of selectors, but I told the PCB chairman that I could not take up the job as I don’t think I would be able to do justice to the position,” Anwar said.Anwar, however, was keen on taking up the role of batting consultant. “But I have told him that I do want to help the Pakistan team and I can do this as a batting consultant. I am due to meet the PCB chairman [Ijaz Butt] next month and he will tell me in what way I can play a positive role with the Pakistan team.”This is not the first time Anwar’s name has been linked with a coaching role for Pakistan. In December, he had reportedly spoken of discussions with Butt, over conducting a coaching camp for the team’s batsmen. However, the report was denied by Butt in January.Anwar also expressed his support for Waqar Younis to coach the team. “I think it would be a great move because Waqar is well respected and has impressive cricketing background and knowledge of modern day requirements,” he said.Waqar has emerged as the front-runner to take over the coaching responsibilities, but the PCB is yet to make a final decision.

Nathan Reardon has replaced James Hopes, the Australia one-day player, as Queensland chase some points from their final away Sheffield Shield game of the season in Hobart from Monday. Reardon, a batting allrounder, scored 40 in the Bulls’ one-day loss to New South Wales on Wednesday and will be asked to provide more runs against Tasmania.Queensland are second, two points behind Victoria, and will finish the regular rounds with three home matches. The fixture is another chance for Ben Cutting, the right-arm fast man, to impress after he became the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 25 in the outright win over New South Wales on Monday.Tasmania have been forced into a series of changes due to injuries to Brett Geeves (back) and Luke Butterworth (hamstring), while Jason Krejza and Jon Wells have been dropped. Xavier Doherty, the left-arm spinner, comes in for Krejza and Adam Griffith, Adam Maher and John Rogers join the squad.In South Australia, Mark Cosgrove is back from a wrist injury and Kane Richardson, the Under-19 World Cup representative, has been called up for the FR Cup match against Western Australia in Perth on Saturday. Cosgrove, who missed a couple of Twenty20 fixtures, is also joined by Peter George, who comes in for Shaun Tait while he is with Australia’s Twenty20 side. Western Australia have made four changes with Ben Edmondson, Steve Magoffin, Mitchell Marsh and Adam Voges selected in the 12-man squad.Queensland Sheffield Shield squad Ryan Broad, Nick Kruger, Wade Townsend, Lee Carseldine, Glen Batticciotto, Nathan Reardon, Chris Hartley (wk), Chris Simpson (capt), Ben Cutting, Luke Feldman, Cameron Boyce, Chris Swan.Tasmania Sheffield Shield squad Ed Cowan, Rhett Lockyear, George Bailey (capt), Alex Doolan, Dan Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Adam Maher, John Rogers, Brendan Drew, Xavier Doherty, Adam Griffith, Tim Macdonald.South Australia FR Cup squad Daniel Harris (capt), Michael Klinger, Cameron Borgas, Mark Cosgrove, Tom Cooper, Aaron O’Brien, Daniel Christian, Tim Ludeman (wk), Gary Putland, Kane Richardson, Peter George.Western Australia FR Cup squad Wes Robinson, Luke Ronchi (wk), Marcus North (capt), Mitchell Marsh, Luke Pomersbach, Adam Voges, Liam Davis, Aaron Heal, Michael Hogan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Zaheer Khan was India’s best bowler, picking up three wickets, to help bowl out Sri Lanka for 213 and set up a thumping win•Associated Press

India’s best fielding performance in ODIs since the Champions Trophy in September last year set up their march to the final by way of a thumping win. It wasn’t anything spectacular: half chances were taken and easy ones not missed, marking a big improvement on their recent fielding form. That, coupled with impressive bowling from Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra, pulled Sri Lanka from an explosive start and restricted them to a paltry 213, which was chased down with 17.2 overs to spare.Zaheer was the pick of the bowlers, creating one half chance, and two fairly easy ones. At one stage his figures read 6-2-11-2. Sri Lanka had chosen to bat to allow their bowlers experience first-hand the wet conditions before the final, but it took resilient half-centuries from Kumar Sangakkara and Suraj Randiv to take the match far enough for the dew to set in.If Sangakkara and Randiv had to work hard, India’s runs came withpredictable ease: Gautam Gambhir scored his 19th half-century, DineshKarthik narrowly missed a fourth, and Virat Kohli made it to his fourth 50-plus score in his last five innings.But it was the first 11 overs of the match that staged the decisive action: two wicket-maidens, a wicket in the first over of new spells on three occasions and, between that, scintillating batting from Tillakaratne Dilshan. Coming back from a groin injury, Dilshan decided to do away with the running. He just drove, cut, pulled and late-cut eight boundaries in 17 deliveries to deflate any confidence India and Sudeep Tyagi would have gained from getting Upul Tharanga out in the first over.When Zaheer was brought on, in the sixth over, Dilshan had hit sevenboundaries in his 29, and Sri Lanka nine in their 38. He was pulled for a four second ball. The next ball took a thick edge, and was dying on Gambhir at fine gully before he snared it. Zaheer was pumped, and proceeded to bowl to a plan that worked just fine for him. Nothing to drive, a short cover in place, playing on the batsmen’s patience with the nagging accuracy. Mahela Jayawardene gave in, driving a ball that should not have been driven, and Kohli hung on to a sharp catch at short cover.Back came Sreesanth, whose first two overs had gone for 16, and ThilanSamaraweera walked across to a straight delivery and missed. Forty-two for 1 in 5.2 overs became 61 for 4 in 10.2. Soon Thilina Kandamby was run out, his fifth such dismissal out of 23. This time, though, he was sold a dummy by his captain, and was done in a by a smart throw from Karthik and quick backing-up by Zaheer.Thissara Perera, bounced and verbalised by Zaheer, tried to target Mishra, but Yuvraj Singh pulled out a diving catch at wide long-on, not his last contribution to Sri Lanka’s woes. Sangakkara, who had reached 32 off 42 by then, responded to Perera’s wicket by stepping out and hitting Sreesanth for four. He dominated a seventh-wicket partnership that took Sri Lanka closer to 150, but that’s when Yuvraj struck.Sangakkara had tried to make full use of every loose delivery that came his way, and also took calculated risks to keep the scoreboard from stagnating. But when he pulled a Yuvraj delivery which was too full, he had completed 43 innings without a century. Randiv and Thilan Thushara added 59 for the eighth wicket, a stand that saw Randiv through to his first List A fifty. But when the time came to press on, when they opted for the Powerplay in the 44th over, the tail came up short, and Sri Lanka were bundled out by Zaheer and Mishra, with four overs still to go.If there was any doubt to which way the match was going, Karthik and Gambhir removed it by taking 86 off the first 10 overs. Sri Lanka’s last chance of preventing India from getting the bonus point vanished when Dilshan and Tharanga dropped Gambhir on 41 and 44 respectively.Karthik did no harm to his chances of pushing for a place in further matches by following up a catch and a smart run-out with a dominating role in the opening partnership. He started off with a streaky boundary past the slip but soon got into the groove, punishing errors in both line and length. Anything straying on the pads was flicked through midwicket, and the ones short were cut through point and covers. Gambhir smartly assumed the second fiddle, capitalising on width when not milking singles.Once with Kohli, and with fields spread, the two got down to exploiting the gaps, running almost on intuition, scoring 60 off their 72-run partnership on foot. Upon Gambhir’s dismissal, Kohli asked for the Powerplay and quickly finished Sri Lanka off, accelerating from 33 off 48 to 71 off 68.

Scorecard
Shaun Marsh top scored for Western Australia with 82•Getty Images

The Marsh brothers combined for half-centuries but Western Australia had to rely on a late contribution from Ashley Noffke to take them to 7 for 309 on the first day against South Australia. While Shaun Marsh started with 82 and Mitchell Marsh, the 18-year-old captain of Australia’s Under-19 team, chipped in with 55, the side was wobbling at 6 for 238 when the younger sibling was lbw to Cullen Bailey.Noffke made sure the total was expanded with 59 not out while Aaron Heal (19) was also unbeaten. After Shaun Marsh set Western Australia’s platform, Dan Christian changed the tempo for the Redbacks with two wickets in four deliveries. Shaun Marsh went to an edge to slip while the dangerous Luke Ronchi was bowled, leaving the Warriors at an uncomfortable 5 for 175.Shaun Marsh and Wes Robinson put on 98 following the early loss of Luke Towers, who was bowled by Peter George on 2 in the third over. Robinson moved to an aggressive 54 before he was caught at short cover off Bailey. Shaun Marsh took over, hitting 15 fours in his useful display, and then left his brother in charge. The legspinner Bailey was impressive with 2 for 55 off 25 overs while Christian and Jake Haberfield also gained two wickets.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSachin Tendulkar’s well-paced knock guided India to an easy victory•AFP

After Virender Sehwag had bludgeoned 44 from just 28 balls, an unhurried and unbeaten 96 from Sachin Tendulkar took India to a facile victory that gave them a 2-1 lead in this five-match series. Sri Lanka had dominated the early stages of the match, galloping to 165 for 1 from 22.2 overs but they then subsided in bizarre fashion, undone by a combination of Ravindra Jadeja’s spin, poor shot selection and two wickets in two balls from Ishant Sharma, who had gone for 46 in his first three overs. They lost the remaining nine wickets for 74 runs and slumped to 239 all out, which India eased past with 44 balls to spare.The game changed once Sehwag, captaining in placed of the banned MS Dhoni, brought the slow bowlers on, and it was he himself who dealt the vital blow, having Kumar Sangakkara stumped for 46 despite Dinesh Karthik initially fumbling the take. India built on that success soon after, with Upul Tharanga losing his off bail in Jadeja’s opening over after an attractive 73. Sri Lanka never recovered from those twin strikes.Mahela Jayawardene’s poor series continued when he slugged a long hop from Harbhajan Singh to short midwicket, where Suresh Raina timed his leap perfectly to take the catch. Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera stopped the rot for a few overs, but then Jadeja and Ishant combined to end all hopes of a large total.First, Kapugedera played on off Jadeja, and then Kandamby too found the inner edge off Ishant. When Suraj Randiv got a thin edge to one that moved away, it was 210 for 7. Jadeja then trapped Nuwan Kulasekara plumb in front as Sri Lanka unravelled completely. When Jadeja slid one through the defence of Ajantha Mendis, he had 4 for 32 from his 10 overs.It had been so different at the start of play, with Zaheer Khan bowling three wides in an opening over where Dilshan added two fours for good measure. Ishant, playing in place of Praveen Kumar, was greeted with a crisp shot to long-on and two meaty flails through cover. With Tharanga then whacking one down the ground for six, and Dilshan slapping another ball through cover, the 50 took just 3.4 overs, the fastest-ever against India.Ashish Nehra came on to stem the tide, and Dilshan could have gone on 36 had Karthik not made a mess of a flick on to the stumps that would have run him out. It wasn’t a costly miss, however, with a top-edged heave at Nehra ending up in Karthik’s hands soon after. By then, though, the run-rate was 10 and, with Tharanga steering and cutting the ball neatly, the runs continued to mount.Sangakkara drove Ishant straight down the ground to bring up the hundred, and when Tharanga edged Harbhajan down to third man, he had his half-century from 51 balls. Sangakkara then lofted Sehwag for a straight six, and things were looking exceedingly grim for India until the spinners and Ishant had their say.Chanaka Welegedara started the Indian innings with a maiden, and Sehwag then watched Tendulkar clip and cover-drive Kulasekara for fours. When his turn came, he took Kulasekara for three fours in an over, a feat he repeated when Lasith Malinga came on without his radar in place. Welegadara was also then smashed for three fours before Dilshan held, at the third time of asking, an attempt to belt the ball over point.After Sehwag’s exit, the run-flow eased temporarily. Tendulkar was fortunate when an inside edge off Kulasekara missed leg stump on its way for four, but with some lovely strokes being played through the covers and midwicket, the innings was soon back on track.Tendulkar greeted Mendis with a paddle and a cover-drive for four, and when he then upper-cut Kulasekara for four more, Sangakkara brought on Randiv in a bid to emulate what the Indian spinners had done earlier in the day. He duly got Gambhir, a return catch off the leading edge, but with Tendulkar well set and Yuvraj Singh finding his off-side rhythm, it looked likely to be no more than a blip.It took Tendulkar 57 balls to reach yet another half-century, and when he then dabbed Mendis through vacant slip, the target was well below 100. Yuvraj went, playing a lazy drive at Welegedera, but with Karthik taking Mendis for two fours in an over and then chipping a Malinga yorker over mid-on, India hurtled towards the target.Tendulkar carried on in unhurried fashion, with deft dabs and clips off the pads, and glances so fine they just evaded the keeper. But with Karthik clouting Randiv over long-on for a six, the century that the crowd was looking for never arrived. Not that it mattered. With Sri Lanka succumbing to the Christmas spirit of giving, what might have been a challenging chase for India became instead as pleasant as a moment under the mistletoe.

The future of Misbah-ul-Haq as a Test batsman will be decided after the first Test in New Zealand as Pakistan’s selectors decided to observe the team’s performance.Mohammad Yousuf, the stand-in captain for the three-match series, had earlier called for Misbah to step up and fill Younis Khan’s absence. However, chief selector Iqbal Qasim this week said that Yousuf had not approached the PCB about a possible replacement for Younis. The PCB had been waiting for the return of chairman Ijaz Butt from London, and after a meeting on Friday it was decided that a call be taken only after inspecting Pakistan’s performance in Dunedin.”Seventeen players are [already] in New Zealand. We want to first watch their performance in the opening Test and then we’ll consider the option whether to send Misbah,” Qasim told the .Misbah, 35, was left out from the squads in all three formats for Pakistan’s series of ODIs, T20Is and Tests against New Zealand in the Middle East and New Zealand. His form has been poor in all three formats over the last year, in contrast to 2007, when he reignited his dormant international career in sensational fashion at the World Twenty20 in South Africa and then on a tour to India.The also reported that Qasim said an unusually large 18-man Test squad would be trimmed to 15 for the series in Australia after the New Zealand trip.

England may yet need to call on the services of Andrew Strauss for their opening Twenty20 international against South Africa after Alastair Cook became doubtful with a sore throat.Strauss has opted out of the Twenty20 set-up, but with Kevin Pietersen not due to return to action until next week England are short of reserve top-order batting. Strauss has been in fine form at the start of the tour, hitting 72 against the Eagles and an unbeaten 117 against the Warriors, before handing over the captaincy to Paul Collingwood for the Twenty20 leg.Collingwood began his stint in charge with a four-wicket defeat against South Africa A at Bloemfontein when the England batting subsided for 89. Cook top-scored with 22, but he took 30 balls during a laboured innings and isn’t a natural fit for the Twenty20 opening role.However, Collingwood is comfortable with Strauss’s decision not to play Twenty20 cricket. “He’s made the decision a while back,” he said. “He’s always said that he doesn’t enjoy Twenty20 cricket, probably because of the fact that he’s never done that well in Twenty20 cricket.”But his game is developing all the time. He was always good at Test cricket and has developed into a world-class one-day cricketer. I’m sure he’ll be able to make the next step but, at the moment, we have two important games coming up Friday and Sunday. He’s obviously not available for that and that’s the decision he has made.”If Cook is ruled out of the Wanderers clash England wouldn’t necessarily have to go down the route of recalling Strauss. They could opt to play all their allrounders and promote Jonathan Trott to open alongside Joe Denly.

England’s 2010-11 Ashes defence in Australia will follow a traditional path, with the five-Test series starting in Brisbane and ending in Sydney. Australia, who lost the urn in August, can start planning their way back after the schedule was released, but the visitors have made a change already by asking for three first-class games before the first Test in Brisbane from November 25-29 next year.The second Test will be in Adelaide (December 3-7) followed by another tour match before the third rubber in Perth (December 16-20). During England’s 5-0 defeat in 2006-07 there were only a couple of low-key warm-up games for the tourists and the schedule was blamed for their awful start. Melbourne’s Boxing Day Test is a fixture and the series will wrap up in Sydney, starting on January 3, 2011.”The recent Ashes series was the sporting highlight of the summer and has really whetted the appetite of all cricket supporters as England seek to retain the Ashes next winter,” the ECB chief executive David Collier said. “I am sure many thousands of England cricket fans will be eager to purchase tickets when they go on sale and get behind the team in Australia.” The release dates have not been announced.”Australian cricket fans always love an Ashes series and demand for tickets is going to be strong, so it is important to put the dates in diaries now,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said. “We also expect to have a lot of UK fans here again.” A full schedule, including one-day and Twenty20 matches, is unlikely to be announced until next year.2010-11 Ashes series
1st Test, November 25-29, Brisbane
2nd Test, December 3-7, Adelaide
3rd Test, December 16-20, Perth
4th Test, December 26-30, Melbourne
5th Test, January 3-7, Sydney