South Africa 301 for 7 (Smith 50, Bacher 56, Rudolph 50, Gibbs 40, Boucher 49, Utseya 3-40) beat Zimbabwe 136 (Hall 3-29, Ntini 3-42) by 165 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

On a day which will be remembered for the surprise announcement of the impending return to international cricket of Heath Streak, there was nothing at all unexpected about this result: Zimbabwe were hammered by 165 runs in the first one-day international at the Wanderers. A solid team effort propelled South Africa to 301 for 7, and then Makhaya Ntini and Andrew Hall took three wickets apiece as Zimbabwe were washed away for 136.After they were put in by Tatenda Taibu, Graeme Smith, Adam Bacher and Jacques Rudolph all stroked fifties to set up a solid platform, before some swashbuckling stuff from Mark Boucher (49 off 29 balls) and Ashwell Prince (24 not out off 15) lifted South Africa to their expected 300-plus total.Smith and Bacher made a steady start to the innings against the youthful opening pair of Tinashe Panyangara and Christopher Mpofu, in front of a paltry crowd, which numbered fewer than 1000 at the start. Smith led from the front, crunching a series of exquisitely timed fours, but as soon as Taibu turned to his spinners he met with success, albeit somewhat unexpectedly: Smith completely missed Stuart Matsikenyeri’s first ball, a juicy full-toss, and was trapped lbw. His 16th one-day fifty came from 55 balls and contained nine spanking fours (87 for 1).Bacher, anxious to impress after his surprise recall, struggled occasionally and finally fell for 56 as he found Hamilton Masakadza at deep midwicket off Prosper Utseya, who was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers with 3 for 40.South Africa were still well set, at 128 for 2, and Rudolph and Herschelle Gibbs cemented their grip on the contest by adding 56 for the third wicket. Gibbs, continuing to relish his new-found freedom down at No. 4, looked to dominate from the off, but the spinners managed to contain him in the early stages. And Rudolph started innings in patient mode, but then boundaries started to come thick and fast for both batsmen.Utseya prospered again at a vital time as Rudolph (50) attempted one cheeky shot too many, top-edging to Matsikenyeri at short square leg (184 for 3). And Utseya then struck for a third time, as the dangerous Justin Kemp danced down the wicket and failed to connect – Taibu completed the stumping (197 for 4).Matsikenyeri and Barney Rogers also bowled well to peg South Africa back but, just as Zimbabwe were tightening the screw, Boucher launched his spectacular assault, crashing four fours and three sixes in his short innings. It took the return of the medium-pacer Elton Chigumbura to remove him, but by this time South Africa were on 276 for 6, and Albie Morkel (16 from six balls) and Prince lifted them beyond 300. Inevitably, it proved to be far too much for Zimbabwe.The tourists made a disastrous start to their mountainous run-chase, and their batsmen’s bid to keep up with the stiff run-rate precipitated a predictably grizzly end.Rogers was the first to fall, when his attempt to dispatch Hall resulted in Nicky Boje’s fine catch heading backwards (4 for 1). Masakadza slapped Ntini back over his head for four, but he was made to pay later in the same over when a leading edge found Rudolph at cover (36 for 2).Matsikenyeri showed signs of a fight: he cracked two successive fours off Hall – one through mid-on, one through backward point – and collected three more boundaries as he marched to 25. But his stand came to an end when he sent Ntini to Gibbs, and Zimbabwe slipped to 41 for 3. Hall picked up his second wicket soon after, as Brendan Taylor (3) edged to first slip, where Smith took a good low catch to his right (55 for 4).Zimbabwe were struggling and when Morkel picked up two wickets in one over – Alester Maregwede lbw for 16, and Chigumbura caught by Prince at cover without scoring – the match was all but over (85 for 6).From there it was just a case of crossing the Is and dotting the Ts. The indomitable Taibu, in fighting mood as ever, top-scored with a rugged 28 – but when he fell to Boje, however, it was all over, including the shouting.Jenny Thompson is assistant editor of Cricinfo.

The twilight twist
With gloom settling in and bad light almost certain tobe offered, enter India’s favourite umpire,celebrating his 100th test. Sachin Tendulkar and RahulDravid were in the midst of a rescue act, quicklytransforming into a match-turning one. Tendulkar hadjust completed his half-century, with a rasping square-drive off Abdul Razzaq.Razzaq, in the middle of a disciplined and variedspell, started testing Tendulkar with short balls. Inhis next over, the first ball was again short, it wentpast Tendulkar’s outside edge and swung away aftergoing past his bat. As replays confirmed, the ballmissed the outside edge by some distance. Kamran Akmaldived to take the catch and appealed meekly, as didRazzaq, protractedly. Nothing came from Steve Bucknor,Tendulkar moved away from the crease and as Razzaq’sappeal withered, Bucknor suddenly raised his finger.Tendulkar jumped as if facing another short ball,stunned, Pakistan went ecstatic and the match took, ona day of twists, one final controversial one. A caseperhaps for offering light to the umpire?The Golden Arm
Younis Khan drove a full one back past Lakshmipathy Balaji and haredoff down the pitch. Sourav Ganguly from mid-off and Sachin Tendulkarfrom mid-on gave chase, and Ganguly pulled the ball up just before theropes. Tendulkar received the flick, and threw the ball to thelongest distance on a ground that is acres big. The ball thudded intoDinesh Karthik’s gloves at the far end, and he had the bails offbefore Asim Kamal got back for the third run. Tendulkar’s throw wasjust another reminder of the man’s presence of mind and his sheernatural ability on a cricket field.

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

Chris Martin wreaked havoc on a juicy Basin Reserve pitch to leave NewZealand in firm control before Thilan Samaraweera’s half-century lent the Sri Lankan total some degree of respectability. Martin’s 6 for 54 was thebest ever figures for a New Zealander against Sri Lanka and restricted them to 211. New Zealand’s openers then strengthened their team’s hand with a solid start, closing on 52 without loss after bad light stopped play 11 overs before the scheduled close.Martin quickly justified Stephen Fleming’s decision to bowl first afterwinning what proved to be a crucial toss. Swinging the ball back sharplyinto the right-handers and extracting steep lift, especially with the newball, he ripped through Sri Lanka’s top order in the first hour, takingthree wickets in nine balls to leave them reeling at 41 for 4, aposition from which they were never able to full recover despite a fighting 73 from Samaraweera.Martin, an unlikely looking sportsman with his stiff, pumping run-up andscientist’s face, was a class act and head and shoulders above the mainsupport bowlers, including James Franklin, who lacked penetration. New Zealand relied heavily on Martin during the first two sessions, but as he ran out of steam after tea, Nathan Astle stepped up with his accurate dibbly-dobblers, taking 3 for 35 to polish off the tail.Chaminda Vaas bent the ball around like a banana in his first couple ofovers and might easily have accounted for Craig Cumming with one vociferouslbw appeal. But Cumming, who started to leave the ball with brave skill, andJames Marshall battled through the key threat of the new ball and thenstarted to capitalise on a few loose offerings from Lasith Malinga andFarveez Maharoof.Malinga, the first Test hero, beat the bat on a couple of occasions and bothopeners appeared uncomfortable with his low-arm trajectory, which hasstirred up controversy in New Zealand, not because of suspicions over itslegality but because umpire Darrell Hair’s point-blank refusal to take offhis trousers off to help New Zealand’s batsmen pick up the deliveries. Hair,somewhat farcically, has insisted that the colour of his trousers is an ICCissue.Sri Lanka will hope that Hair’s trousers provide a constant source ofirritation for New Zealand on the second day too because they were hanging on the brink. The morning spice in the pitch appeared to have mellowed and the pitch should now behave far more sensibly than it did the first couple of hours.The first session, though, may have a large bearing on the outcome of this game. Marvan Atapattu started the procession as he followed his sublime Testhundred in the first Test with his 22nd duck in Test cricket when he slicedto third slip in the first over. Kumar Sangakkara, after a couple of stylishshots, then cut short the brightest partnership of the morning, a brisk34-run stand with Sanath Jayasuriya, and precipated the innings’ freefall byflashing a catch into the gully off a short and wide delivery.

Sangakkara’s departure was quickly followed by the loss of two more wicketsas Sri Lanka slumped from 34 for 1 to 41 for 4. Mahela Jayawardene’s regalhundred in the first game was long forgotten as he lost his balance and wastrapped lbw by a curving full-length inswinger. Jayasuriya, who swished hisway to 22, was neatly pouched by Astle high to his right after a edging anexcellent outswinger.Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan attempted a rescue operation butprogress was painfully slow as Martin probed away menacingly. Kyle Mills,meanwhile, was less threatening but gun-barrel tight and difficult to scoreoff. Finally, after adding 19 runs in 11.5 overs, Dilshan, who was exposedagainst the short ball on several occasions, gloved a nasty Martin deliverythat cut-back and climbed too sharply for him to take evasive action. The breakthrough brought the uncapped Shantha Kalavitgoda to the crease. Included as an insurance policy in the morning instead of Rangana Herath, the second spinner, Kalavitgoda, 27, couldn’t cash in and as he edged to the slips.Franklin cleaned up Vaas a few minutes after and Sri Lanka were in dire straits on 86 for 7. That was when Samaraweera and Upul Chandana (41) mounted a rescue operation. Samaraweera had been tortuously slow in the morning, scoring 11 from 57 balls, but after lunch he was more fluent. He was helped by some butter-fingered catching throughout the day. Cumming missed a bat-padcatch on 7 and then Fleming spilled slip catches on 9 and 28, the second ofwhich cracked him on the inside of the knee and sent him back to thephysiotherapists’s couch for the rest of the day.With Samaraweera steadily growing in stature, playing one lordly extra cover-drive off Astle, Chandana also settled, successfully flicking awayboundaries to third man and fine leg. New Zealand grew increasinglyfrustrated at having let the Sri Lankans off the hook and the eighth-wicketpair added 89 priceless runs. In the end it took a marginal lbw call toseparate them as Chandana was hit on the front pad by an Astle inswinger. Sri Lanka had fought back from a perilous situation but the odds were still heavily stacked against them at the end of the day.How they were out
Fell to sharp catch at third slip.
Flashed at wide delivery and caught in slips.
Beaten by movement back into his pads.
Edged off-stump delivery low into slips.
Gloved while taking evasive action.Shantha Kalavitigoda c Vincent b Martin 7 (80 for 6)
Edged a good-length ball to second slip.
Squared up by a full-length outswinger.
Marginal lbw call on front foot
Sliced into gully where brilliantly pouched
Unluckily adjudged lbw after nicking straight outswinger

Scorecard
A bad day just kept getting worse for Nick Knight as Warwickshire saw a commanding position evaporate at Edgbaston. Knight missed the first 50 minutes of play after being stuck in a motorway traffic jam, and ended the day as one of two cheap wickets for Alan Richardson, a former Warwickshire player. While Dougie Brown, the vice-captain, was at the helm things went well as Middlesex rwere reduced to 56 for 4. The recovery was started by Scott Styris who played a very attacking innings – 52 of his 53 runs came in boundaries – and was continued by Ed Joyce, who showed more of his impressive form from last week’s century at Lord’s. Heath Streak, who had taken much of the punishment from Styris, returned to end a useful knock from Ben Scott (37), and most of the Warwickshire attack chipped in before one of their own gave them a shock in the closing overs.Scorecard
An injury-hit Surrey attack made the most of a pacey Cardiff pitch to gain the better of proceedings on the opening day. They got off to the best possible start when Matthew Elliott fell to the first ball, a delivery from Jimmy Ormond taking the shoulder of his bat to gully. After a rally from Iain Thomas and David Hemp, the early introduction of Nayan Doshi paid dividends as Thomas was caught at slip before Tim Murtagh struck twice. However, Surrey’s injury problems got worse as Murtagh limped off midway through his ninth over. Mohammad Akram took on the extra responsibility and ran through the tail before Surrey were held up by a last-wicket stand between Mark Wallace and Simon Jones. Wallace showed some of his great potential as a batsman, marshalling valuable runs from the tail. He was not afraid to play his shots, three times clearing the ropes.Scorecard
Sussex recovered from a shaky start to end a rain-marred opening day with a useful first-innings foundation. After choosing to bat first they lost Richard Montgomerie early, caught at slip by Stephen Fleming off Ryan Sidebottom. Ian Ward had battled away for over an hour when he was trapped lbw by Mark Ealham. But then Michael Yardy, the form man for Sussex after hitting two centuries in the first two Championship matches of the season, and Murray Goodwin combined in an unbroken stand of 78 for the third wicket, Yardy passing 2000 career runs in the process.Scorecard
Jon Lewis enhanced his England prospects with another penetrative opening spell when play finally started at Bristol a little after 4pm. Lewis induced David Fulton to edge to second slip in the first over and soon had Martin van Jaarsveld taken in similar fashion. van Jaarsveld’s wicket was particularly pleasing after the form he had shown last week, striking two centuries in his first Championship game for Kent and 69 not out in the National League. However, after those two early strikes Kent consolidated through Robert Key and Matthew Walker. They had to battle hard but successfully saw off the new ball, and will aim to build on their 48-run stand in the morning.

Several leading figures in the dispute which has thrust US cricket into turmoil have challenge comments made by Gladstone Dainty, the USA Cricket Association’s chairman, in an exclusive interview last week on Cricinfo.A number of Dainty’s responses were questioned, none more so than his claims that a number of winning candidates in the recent board election were disqualified because they had not submitted paperwork and payments on time. Opponents of Dainty claim that some candidates, who won their region polls, were subsequently illegally disqualified on what they insist was a bogus technicality of not submitting background checks and a $15 administration payment on time.Polam Reddy, the newly-elected chairman of the Council of League Presidents (CLP), told Cricinfo that he did submit his documentation and payment before the deadline. “I faxed, mailed and even left a telephone message to the treasurer that I had done so,” he said. “And on top of that they even cashed my check … once they cashed it, they endorsed my application.”That claim is supported by Laks Sampath, a director for the North West region, who added that all three individuals disqualified – Nafis Ahmad and Prosanta Guha were the others – had met the deadlines and had their checks banked by the USACA. Even Selwyn Caesar, the board’s treasurer, confirmed that the faxed applications had been received within the deadline. “Does the cashing of the check indicate acceptance of candidacy?” Sampath said. “We believe so, and would think an arbitrator would too.”There is also additional doubt over the closing date by which the applications and payments should have been made. Dainty claimed that the closing deadline was February 9 (all the above three disqualified candidates claim they sent their documentation by February 8 anyway). But the form was only published on the USACA website on February 3, and four days later Caesar admitted that the deadline should be extended to February 10. On February 9, Caesar himself confirmed that the faxes had been received, although the original documents had not. There were also claims that some candidates were not made aware of the need for the extra procedures until the very last minute.The state of the USACA’s finances – described by Dainty as “healthy” – is also queried, as is his claim that the board’s books have always been available for inspection but that “no member club has made a request” to examine them.”As the duly elected Director from the North West I have personally requested for itemised statements of each and every expense that was reported in the last financial statement,” countered Sampath. “To date I have not received even a courtesy response.”There is also confusion surrounding the CLP. At a meeting in April, 19 of the 26 league presidents who attended unanimously endorsed Reddy as its new chairman, replacing Michael Dupigny. That should entitle him to an ex offio position on the USACA executive board, but Dainty has refused to accept the decision on the grounds that Reddy should not have been allowed to stand as he had already been disqualified from office by the USACA.Reddy countered that he was democratically chosen and that who is elected chairman is not down to Dainty. But, as things stand, Dainty still regards Dupigny as the CLP’s representative on the UCACA executive. That one extra vote is crucial to him retaining a working majority.

The Sri Lankan selectors will pick a 15-man Under-19 squad for the tour of England next month. The initial list of 100 players has been pruned down to 30, from which 15 will finally be chosen.Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, said that the squad picked for the England tour will also be eligible to play in the under-19 World Cup which will be hosted by Sri Lanka next year. The under-19 side will play three Tests at Shenley, Scarborough and Headingley and three one-day matches at Worcester and Old Trafford. The one-day series starts on July 26, while the first Test begins on August 3.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s attitude towards the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) has changed in recent years, Dinanath Ramnarine claimed yesterday. And the WIPA president and chief executive implied that the present captain had been ungrateful for what the WIPA had achieved for him personally.”Fortunately or unfortunately, at this point in time, Shiv felt he would go and play under whatever conditions,” Ramnarine said in a telephone interview on BBC’s Test Match Special during the NatWest Trophy final between England and Australia.”It certainly wasn’t that way a few years ago,” Ramnarine added. “I remember Shiv was one of those people who benefited significantly when WIPA fought a battle with the board to get money for players who were injured between 1999 and 2003 and never got compensation.”He claimed Chanderpaul had “actually benefited the most”. Although he did not give a figure, it was reportedly US$27,000.Ramnarine also saw the repercussions of Chanderpaul’s decision to sign the WICB’s match/tour contract for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka while the majority of the other senior players did not, leading to the selection of a makeshift team.”It’s rather unfortunate to have the players making a principled stand and the captain of that side going in a different direction,” he told interviewer Jonathan Agnew. “It tells a story.”Chanderpaul’s strained relationship with the WIPA goes back to 2002 when Ramnarine was elected president, replacing then captain Carl Hooper in the post.It is known that Chanderpaul joined Hooper in writing to the WICB at the time, advising that they were no longer WIPA members.While others followed WIPA’s advice and initially declined to recognise match/tour contracts prior to the tour of Australia and now again for the tour of Sri Lanka, Chanderpaul signed each time.

Zimbabwe’s first black Test cricketer, Henry Olonga, is to join a campaign aimed at stopping New Zealand’s cricket tour of his homeland, according to Rod Donald, co-leader of the Greens Party. Olonga fled Zimbabwe in 2003 after wearing a black armband during a World Cup match to mourn what he called the death of democracy in his country.Donald said he would take Olonga on a speaking tour to “turn up the heat” on thegovernment. “We want Henry to give the government, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and the people, the message loud and clear that the Black Caps should not be touring Zimbabwe,” he said. “The Government should be doing everything in its power to get the Black Caps offthe hook, and needs to match its tough talk with decisive action.”The government’s position is that it does not want the team to tour, but will not stop it because that would need legislation authorising the removal of passports. Foreign Minister Phil Goff last week announced a diplomatic offensive against all sporting contacts with Zimbabwe, and is urging the International Cricket Council to waive financial penalties that would be imposed if the tour does not go ahead.Goff has said the government will refuse to issue visas to the Zimbabwe team for areturn tour to New Zealand scheduled in December. NZC’s chief executive Martin Snedden said his association has no alternative but to go on tour or face crippling fines believed to be at least US$2million.Donald drafted a bill that would allow the government to stop the tour, but it hasbeen vetoed on the grounds that it would cut across New Zealand’s human rightslaws. He said: “We hope Henry’s visit will lead to public pressure increasing on the Government to stop the tour.”The Greens are bringing Olonga to New Zealand, and he will speak at public meetingsin Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in the coming week. President Mugabe’s order to destroy thousands of homes and businesses triggered the Green’s protest.

Two of Matthew Hayden’s high-profile predecessors believe the opener should hold his position despite missing a century in the past 28 innings. Mark Taylor said Hayden needed to convert his starts into big scores while Geoff Marsh told him to “hang in there”.Taylor, who had an horrific struggle for runs in the lead-up to the ’97 series, said Hayden was being troubled by late movement that hindered his driving down the ground. But he told The Australian Hayden’s poor run was nothing on his. “I don’t think for a minute Matthew Hayden is going as badly as I was in that time,” Taylor told the paper. “He still seems to be making some useful contributions. He’s making a lot of 30s and 40s. He just needs to convert one of those starts into a score.”Marsh partnered Taylor at the end of his career and is a former Australia coach who closely monitored Hayden’s progress. “He’s scored runs but just hasn’t gone on and got a big one and I think that’s working mentally on him at the moment,” Marsh said. “He’s just got to hang in there. I certainly wouldn’t be thinking about making any changes on this tour because he’s been such a great player.”

Ray Jennings and the South African team he coaches may arrive in India with the motto “Love and care”, but they will leave few stones unturned as they bid to become the first side in modern times to win back-to-back Test series on Indian soil. “It’s funny what you can do when there’s love and care around,” said Jennings, quoted in . According to him, the players’ love for the game and care for their performances would dictate their fortunes in India.Graeme Smith, the captain, was also full of confidence after his squad spent five days at the High Performance Centre over the past week. “We know there are sceptics out there who don’t think this team are capable of performing well,” he said. “We know we have a young side and most of the squad have never been to India, but we’re looking forward to the challenge. There are guys here who want to become heroes.”Smith is one of 10 players in the squad who have never played in India, and he can expect a barrage of questions about the absence of Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje, both of whom were unavailable to tour after the Delhi Police failed to guarantee that they wouldn’t be subjected to questioning in connection with the match-fixing scandal that overshadowed South Africa’s last trip to India.”I don’t want to be protected from anything we have to face in India,” said Smith. “We want to go over there and experience the culture and embrace as much of the place as we can.”The inexperience in Indian conditions didn’t worry Jennings either. “The lack of experience in this side does not scare me. If the public and the media are writing us off that’s okay too, because it’s up to us to prove everyone wrong.South Africa’s News24 website had more fighting talk from Jennings. “Nothing and no-one will get in the way of my players and an opportunity to be successful in India,” he was quoted as saying. “If doors are closed, I will kick them open. Nothing must stop the process to bring about energy into South Africa’s cricket.”Jennings promised that he would have no time for those who shied away from what is perhaps the harshest experience in Test cricket. “We are ready for the challenge,” he said. “The hotter it becomes, the more pleased we will be.”We want to bring the message across to as many people as possible that we are going to fight fire with fire on the tour to India and we will not stand back one centimetre.”Smith echoed that fighting talk ahead of the team’s departure when he said, “I play to win – if it is beach cricket, a club match or anything else. To win is all. We are going to India with a well thought-out gameplan. Obviously I do not want to say too much about it, but our strategy has been carefully worked out and I think we have a plan to beat India.”He admitted that there would be leaves taken out of the Australian book, after the world champions succeeded in neutralising the considerable threat posed by India’s batting order. “They have a strong batting lineup and that is their strength,” said Smith. “They do not like to be curtailed in front of their own supporters and they like to score runs quickly. One of our plans is to stop them making runs and make it as difficult as possible for them to keep the scoreboard ticking over. We can force them to make mistakes by frustrating them.”And if he needs further tips on that, a phone call to his old pals, McGrath and Gillespie, might do the trick.