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Zimbabwe XI 89 and 246 (Taibu 100, Burger 5-59) beat South Africa Composite XI 186 (Madsen 70, Utseya 5-40) and 98 (Chigumbura 3-55) by 51 runs
Scorecard

Zimbabwe received a boost with a 51-run win over a South Africa Composite XI with more than a day and a half to spare at Paarl.An allround performance from Elton Chigumbura – he made a vital second-innings 49 and then took 5 for 33 in the home side’s second innings – and a classy hundred from Tatenda Taibu underpinned the success. In contrast, only two of the South Africans passed 20 in the match. The pitch, which was poor, also played more than a passing role in proceedings.For almost all the first two days Zimbabwe were on the back foot. Stuck in, they lasted into the mid afternoon in making 89, and 20 minutes from the close the Composite XI were 153 for 5. Zimbabwe struck twice before the close and then polished things off quickly the next morning, only Wayne Madsen with an unbeaten 70 coming to terms with the consitions.With a deficit of 97, Zimbabwe appeared down and out when they slid to 84 for 5, three wickets tumbling in eight balls at one stage, but then Taibu found support from Keith Dabegwa and, most importantly, Chigumbura in a seventh-wicket stand of 86. taibu was particularly severe on Paul Adams who bowled a negative line outside leg stump in a bid to contain him. He brought up a deserved hundred before edging the next ball to slip. Even so, the Composite XI were left chasing a modest target of 150.On a surface getting harder by the hour, Chigumbura and Chris Mpofu put the ball on the spot and some poor batting aidED their cause. They became becalmed, and by the close had crawled to 42 for 4 in 22 overs.The game was decided in the first half hour of the third morning as Chigumbura and Mpofu again took quick wickets as five wickets fell for 28 inside ten overs. Adams and Jandre Coetzee causes a few flutters in a last-wicket stand of 28 before Mpofu returned to mop up Adams.Zimbabwe did all that was asked of them, but the conditions were disappointing and the South African side was relatively weak. Nevertheless, a win is a win and Zimbabwe will head home for Christmas buoyed by their success.

Kent are to replace the famous lime tree within the playing area at their ground in Canterbury, after the original blew down in strong winds last week. The short ceremony will take place at 11am on Tuesday, March 8.Carl Openshaw, Kent’s chairman, said: “There has been a lime tree on the boundary’s edge for as long as cricket has been played on the St Lawrence Ground. In 1999, when the future of the original tree was first in doubt, it was decided to plant a replacement tree so that this tradition could be preserved. We have received overwhelming support and interest from within Kent and from far afield, and we propose to stage a formal planting ceremony in March.”Kent are also hoping to make a range of mementos from the wood of the original tree, which was over 200 years old.

The Rose Bowl will host the final of the ECB 2nd XI Trophy on Monday 8th September (reserve day 9th September) where Hampshire 2nd XI will play Warwickshire 2nd XI starting at 11:00 am.The match is a 50 overs a side contest, played under similar rules to the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy.Admission is free and the club hope that as many spectators as possible will be there to support the future of the club.Hampshire qualified by winning all their eight qualifying group matches then defeating Sussex in the semi-final at The Rose Bowl.Warwickshire reached the semi-final after winning 5 out of 6 matches, with two rain abandoned. They then defeated Derbyshire in the knock-out stage.

If ever there was a good time to be a first-class cricketer in India, itis now. In a mood to do the right things for the game, the Indian board summoned up 36 probables to train together at Bangalore. Almost everyone who was anyone rubbed shoulders with the big names, and trained under John Wright. From the training camp on to the real show. The four-match Challenger Series kicks off at Bangalore tomorrow, amid expectations that several promising cricketers will get a chance to showcase their talent.Sourav Ganguly, leading the India Seniors team, has a talented lot athis disposal, retaining VVS Laxman, Sanjay Bangar, Parthiv Patel andZaheer Khan from the national side. Ambati Rayudu has made waves with his batting over the last year and he will be watched closely. In addition, Ganguly also has the best spin attack in the tournament – Murali Kartik, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan was earlier being rested so as to give him time to recover from his finger injury, but he was so keen to play that the selectors had to induct him. Sarandeep Singh was shifted to India B to accomodate him.For India A, Anil Kumble will bank on Sachin Tendulkar to do the bulk of thescoring. Mohammad Kaif is the other member from the Indian team to makethe side. Mithun Manhas, a dangerous striker of the ball, and RameshPowar, who played a big role in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy success, will aimto catch the eye of the national selectors.Without doubt, India B are the weakest of the three teams. Rahul Dravidleads a side short on stars – Yuvraj Singh is the only other big name in the squad. In Shiv Sunder Das and Satyajit Parab the batting has solidity if notstyle. The bowling looks sharp with Aavishkar Salvi and Irfan Pathancompeting to make an impact, and Sarandeep yearning to prove a point or two.It’s going to be hard for the players to make a big impression over justfour days. Yet, the Challenger series has always evoked plenty ofexcitement. After all, it’s not every day that the cream of the talentin the country is on display. Under lights, competing for the few slotsvacant in the Indian team, there just might be a few standoutperformances.India Seniors
Sourav Ganguly (capt), VVS Laxman, Hemang Badani, Ambati Rayudu, SanjayBangar, Parthiv Patel (wk), Amit Mishra, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh,Zaheer Khan, L Balaji, Reetinder Sodhi, Akash Chopra.India A
Anil Kumble (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohan Gavaskar,Mohammad Kaif, Wasim Jaffer, Sridharan Sriram, Ajay Ratra (wk), IrfanPathan, Ajit Agarkar, Mithun Manhas, Ramesh Powar.India B
Rahul Dravid (capt), Shiv Sunder Das, Satyajit Parab, Vijay Bharadwaj,Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Thilak Naidu (wk), Jai P Yadav, AavishkarSalvi, Siddharth Trivedi, Sairaj Bahutule, Amit Bhandari, Sarandeep Singh.Schedule
September 10 India Sr v India A
September 11 India Sr v India B
September 13 India A v India B
September 14 Final

Scorecard

An uncharacteristically dour hundred from Chris Gayle prevented another day of embarrassment for West Indies, but Bangladesh wasted a golden opportunity to press home the advantage built on the first two days as they spilt no fewer than nine catches. By the close of another damp day in St Lucia, West Indies were 262 for 5, with Gayle unbeaten on 110.The day began with Pedro Collins wrapping up Bangladesh’s innings early when Mohammad Rafique played on driving outside off for 111. Bangladesh’s total was their highest ever.Gayle, usually the flamboyant strokemaker, played a subdued innings with only rare sightings of his trademark drives and cuts. He was helped by Bangladesh’s generosity – he was dropped on 24, 28 and 47 – and his decision to adopt the anchor role was partially caused by his involvement in a farcical run-out at the top of the innings.In the second over, Gayle pushed Tareq Aziz to point and Smith called for a sharp, but feasible, single. But he was sent back by a late call from Gayle, and Faisal Hussain’s throw was well gathered by Aziz and Smith was left well short of safety (2 for 1).Ramnaresh Sarwan took up the challenge, and with Gayle took the score to 89 before he fell for a sucker punch. He hooked a bouncer from Tapash Baisya for six, and Habibul Bashar ostentatiously moved Rafique to deep square leg. Baisya sent down another bouncer, Sarwan top-edged the hook, and the ball went straight down Rafique’s throat. It showed a lack of intelligence bordering on the reckless and was the eighth time that Sarwan, who made 40, has perished hooking.Brian Lara gave every sign that he was going to entertain the small crowd, unleashing some crisp drives and cuts before he tried to run Mushfiqur Rahman to third man and edged behind to Khaled Mashud for 53 (162 for 3); when Shivnarine Chanderpaul fell to Rafique for 7, also caught by Mashud, West Indies were wobbling (183 for 4).But the catches kept being put down, and Dwayne Smith made a breezy 42 before undoing much of the good work by clubbing Rafique to Aziz in the deep as the gloom descended. The timing of his dismissal would not have pleased the coach even if his innings did.But Gayle remained, reaching his hundred near the end of the day, and in so doing ensuring that today wasn’t as wretched as it might have been.

After edging out Pakistan in the final of the Videocon Cup in Amstelveen, Ricky Ponting reckoned that Australia were in fine shape to go on to England and annex the ICC Champions Trophy, the one bauble missing from a glittering trophy cabinet. “We have never won the Champions Trophy,” he said. “We want to win it this time.”In the aftermath of the victory, Ponting doffed his cap to the bowlers who engineered a collapse after Pakistan had appeared to be cruising at 148 for 4. He also suggested that Australia’s total of 192 for 5 had been more than adequate on a pitch where strokemaking was never easy. “Our bowlers bowled well,” he said. “We successfully defended the total. We had hoped to make somewhere around 200. It was very difficult to play the new ball on this surface.”Ponting was impressed however with the manner in which Pakistan – a seemingly reformed outfit under the guidance of Bob Woolmer – acquitted themselves. “They are a very good team,” he said. “We took some good catches. They had a couple of run outs in the middle. But still they batted and fought right up to the end.”A disappointed Inzamam-ul-Haq rued the middle-order collapse that cost his team victory. “Our bowlers bowled really well. 193 was not a big total,” he said. “But we could not reach our target as the middle-order batsmen did not play well. The two run outs took the game away from us.”He also defended the slow start – Pakistan made only 47 in the first 21 overs – saying, “It was difficult to play the new ball. So, we wanted see off the new ball and go for the shots.” He was optimistic though about the challenges that lay ahead. “My boys worked hard here. The batsmen did well in the first game. The bowlers performed well in the final. I hope to continue to play well in the Champions Trophy.”

Shane Warne lost the plot while trying to break the world record at Bangalore and will “jump off the nearest bridge” if he falls short in the second Test.After three weeks of claiming he was not overly bothered by being on the verge of history, Warne has finally admitted that the milestone was messing with his mind. He needs only two wickets in the match starting tomorrow at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium to overtake Muttiah Muralitharan’s tally of 532.Warne seemed certain to take the record on the final day of the first Test but, with four wickets up for grabs, lost his concentration after eight unsuccessful overs and was smashed by India’s tail. “Human nature takes over,” Warne, who bowled 60 overs at Bangalore, said. “You tell yourself you’ll be relaxed and patient, and I was for 55 overs. But as soon as the game was there to be won – we all knew we’d win on the last day – my own expectation and everybody else’s, the team’s, the spectators’, was that I’d get the last two wickets and get the record.”Warne will push for the mark at a ground where he had a “terrible game” and finished with the self-estimated figures of “0 for 2000” in 2001. He claimed 2 for 181 in India’s two-wicket victory that sealed the series. “You try and tell yourself there’s no pressure,” he said. “You just go out and play but the other day, I just thought, ‘There are four tail-end wickets to get, I only need two of them’. I just thought I’d toil away and toil away but after about eight overs for about 10 runs, nothing really was happening.”It’s a team game but when you get an individual record like that it’s a pretty major one so hopefully I can get it this game. Otherwise I’d be pretty frustrated by the end of the five days. I’ll be jumping off the nearest bridge.”Warne, 35, repeated his belief that Muralitharan, 32, was going to end up with close to 1000 Test wickets. “If I only hold the record for a week, at least I’ve got the opportunity to say I was the world-record holder,” Warne said. “If I get the record and play a part in winning the series, that’d be great. If I only hold it for a couple of months, so be it.”Asked how long he would keep playing, Warne replied: “If I hadn’t had that suspension I’d probably be finishing pretty soon. But having that year off and doing all my fitness stuff, and realising how much I missed the game, I’d like to think I’ve got a couple of years left.”

In 1922 Hampshire defeated Warwickshire in the county Championship at Edgbaston after having been bowled out for 15, and asked to follow on. In fact the two captains had organised a game of golf the 3rd day. Although todays victory over Glamorgan did not emulate those heights, it was the first time since that 1922 fixture that Hampshire asked to follow their innings went on to an amazing victory.The seeds of doubt were sown in the Glamorgan camp the evening before, at 33-3 John Derrick their coach decided that the evening planned for a team dinner had to be cancelled.Two young men stepped up for Hampshire. Chris Tremlett already tried and trusted although prone to injury, playing his comeback match after split shins shone the brightest. Although there was cloud about to assist the seamers, Tremlett’s extra strength and bounce made the batsmen struggle, but it was James Bruce the other trojan of the day that made the early breakthrough when a quicker ball decieved the dangerous Michael Powell and he was well caught by substitute wicket-keeper Iain Brunnschweiler.Matthew Maynard who many of the Welsh supporters looked to to bring this game back managed to survive for 22 balls, before he was trapped by Tremlett for just 3. Dean Cosker the night-watchman then became Bruce’s third victim with a palpable lbw. Harrison, Croft and Dale all went to Tremlett giving the tall bowler a career best haul, before Dimitri Mascarenhas finished the match when he had Kasprowicz caught superbly in the slips by Simon Katich.Dale who was diagnosed with a broken rib bravely came out.History was made, but perhaps for the season remaining it could be a turning point.One down point of the match was that Nic Pothas has become the third player to sustain a hamstring injury, and is likely to be out for up to three weeks.

Sir Paul Getty, the owner of Wisden and its associated companies, died earlier today in the London Clinic. He was 70, and had been ill for some time. He was admitted to hospital on Monday for treatment to a recurrent chest infection, but died on Thursday morning, according to Dr John Goldstone, his consultant.In a short statement issued on behalf of the Getty family and the London Clinic, Dr Goldstone said: “Sadly Sir Paul passed away at 10.40am today. His family would like to extend their thanks to all those who have expressed their sympathy, which is greatly appreciated.”Despite his American roots Sir Paul Getty had been happily settled in England for many years, during which time his passions – which included films, the theatre and books – expanded to include cricket. He established a beautiful ground of his own at Wormsley, his country estate in Buckinghamshire. In 1993 he acquired John Wisden, the company that produces Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack each year, and he also retained a controlling interest in Wisden Cricket Monthly magazine and the Wisden CricInfo website.All at Wisden are extremely saddened to hear the news, and have passed their condolences to the Getty family.