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Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Jeff Wilson claimed 3 for 6 to complement Cairns’s haul© Getty Images

New Zealand had a taste of their own medicine as they were forced to struggle for their winning runs in the third one-day match against the FICA World XI at Hamilton’s Westpac Park.Having dismissed the World XI for 81, New Zealand were struggling at 65 for 6 after Ian Harvey emulated the bowling feats of Chris Cairns, who took 6 for 12, and Jeff Wilson, who took 3 for 6. They went on to win by four wickets, when the winning runs were scored in the 16th over. New Zealand won the three-match series 2-1.Harvey claimed 4 for 5, clean-bowling Mathew Sinclair (4), Nathan Astle (23) and Craig McMillan (0), while Scott Styris was trapped leg-before.Shane Warne then made a bowling change and called up Greg Blewett, who could scarcely believe his luck when Chris Cairns chased a wide ball and sent it out to deep cover where Sanatha Jayasuriya held the catch. That had New Zealand at 65 for 6.Shane Warne, the World XI captain, won the toss and decided to bat first, and with 37 runs on the board in good time from his openers, Nick Knight and Matthew Elliott, everything looked in good shape.Then Elliott was out, and Jayasuriya hit a ball from Cairns straight to Wilson in the covers and the rot well and truly set in.Wilson was introduced to the bowling crease and was given the benefit of a doubtful umpiring decision when Greg Blewett was given out caught behind when the ball clipped the top of his pads.An amazing sequence was played out in which nine wickets fell for 18 runs. The only batsman to make a sizeable score was Knight, with 43.Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming set about the chase by putting on 29 runs before Fleming was out. Styris (16), who had not been at his best, struck four fours but was then trapped by Harvey.It took the combination of Hamish Marshall and Brendon McCullum to restore order to the situation. Marshall lofted a rare boundary through the off side off Blewett, before glancing a ball from Harvey to fine leg for the winning shot.The teams decided to play a 10-overs-a-side match to compensate the large crowd for their lack of cricket.

Ryan Campbell is caught behind for 42 © Getty Images

Western Australia 293 for 5 (Hussey 67, Goodwin 58) beat South Australia 194 (Deitz 60, Flower 54) by 99 runs
ScorecardTwo old stagers and three new names added up to five points for Western Australia as they began their ING Cup campaign with a comprehensive 99-run win over South Australia at the WACA in Perth.After Murray Goodwin (58) and Michael Hussey (67) used all their experience to guide WA to their sizeable total of 293 for 5, the debutant Michael Thistle (3 for 32) and up-and-comers Beau Casson (4 for 31) and Peter Worthington (2 for 31) did the damage with the ball to secure the points.A run-a-ball 54 from Andy Flower gave Redbacks fans a hint of what they can expect from their Zimbabwean import this summer, but it was WA’s own Zimbabwean who made the real impact, this time with his bat not his mouth. Goodwin is facing a charge next week of making detrimental comments, after airing his views about the number of black players in the Zimbabwe side ahead of the recent Test series against Australia. Goodwin got his retaliation in first against the Redback bowlers, hitting eight fours in his 58 off 62 balls.After the early loss of WA’s new skipper Justin Langer for 11, Goodwin and Hussey put on 118 for the fourth wicket, giving WA’s unheralded bowlers a decent canvas on which to work. Thistle, only in the side because of his state’s bare bowling cupboard, will never forget his first over in WA’s colours: he was hit for four first ball but took and a wicket with his second.WA were without Paul Wilson, Darren Wates, Kade Harvey, Michael Clark, Brad Williams and Brad Hogg through injury and international call-ups, and Thistle – a towering 23-year-old – was welcomed to WA’s first team by John Davison, who pulled him contemptuously to the boundary. Thistle’s riposte was to have Davison, Canada’s World Cup hero, caught in the gully next ball by a juggling Marcus North.SA’s captain Greg Blewett was Thistle’s second victim, his tight line and length inducing a swipe which edged the ball to Langer at second slip. After Thistle’s opening spell of 2 for 22, Flower showed Zimbabwe exactly what they are missing with an abrasive knock.With Shane Deitz contributing a chancy 60 – he might have been run out three times if throws had hit the stumps direct – for a while SA looked as if they were going to make a fight of it. But after Worthington had Flower caught behind cutting too close to his body, caught Deitz off a top-edged sweep and then had rookie Callum Ferguson (4) also caught by the keeper, WA took control.Casson’s destruction of the tail with his left-arm spin gift-wrapped the bonus point for WA, last year’s ING Cup finalists, and consigned the Redbacks to their 10th loss in their last 11 games in the competition.

Manicaland secured three easy victories in Mutare last weekend. OnSaturday Manicaland Under-16s defeated Midlands Under-16s in a firstever encounter. Drawn from schools in Gweru, Masvingo and Chiredzi,the visitors tried hard but were well beaten by a local side selectedfrom Mutare Boys High and Hillcrest College. Tino Mawoyo hit a fluent49 as a warm-up for his trip to East London this week to captainZimbabwe Under-16s in the Nuffield week.On Sunday Manicaland (now called Mutare Sports Club) handed a 162-runhammering to the once mighty Old Hararians. Weakened without nationalteam absentees Gary Brent, Trevor Penny, Dirk Viljoen and Conan Brewer(Zimbabwe Under-19s), Old Hararians proved easy meat. UnlikeManicaland, who has good reserves, other sides in the national leagueare vulnerable to withdrawals.Batting first, Manicaland hit 237 for seven off 45 overs. 33-year-oldMark Burmester set the tone with a bruising 63-ball 52 (6 fours, onesix). Pulling the opening bowlers in front of square a la Jayasuriya,his combative personality kept Old Hararians out of the game all day.Richie Sims added 51 but the innings of the day came from Leon Soma whorevelled in an unexpected promotion in the batting order. Cracking 61off 53 balls (4 fours, 4 sixes), Soma launched into everything beforefalling to Paul Strang trying one heave too many.Recently back from an expensive 10-day (12-over) visit to Bangladesh,Strang (three for 47) tried hard but was unable to win the match on hisown. With four schoolboys (two 15-year-olds) and too many uncommittedfielders, the cheerful ex-Manica was left to smile ruefully as chancesbecame half-chances. Academy player Ryan Butterworth (three for 51)was the only other successful bowler. Strang top-scored with 18 butonce he had gone Old Hararians bombed to 75.Burmester took two for 4, Sims two for 6, and Justin Lewis with threefor 8 off seven overs simply wasted his time. No one was good enoughto touch anything. The Denyer brothers Terry and Noel – latereplacements for missing players – took three hot catches between them,exemplifying the gap between Old Hararians’ and Manicaland’s reserves.The Manicaland second team provides good back-up and despite theoccasional blip is far too good for the rest of the second league.This week they mauled Old Georgians II by seven wickets at HillcrestCollege.OGs managed just 101 in 26 overs (Chinoro 2/17, Sheth 2/38, Yatras3/20, Malvern 2/20) which Manicaland II picked off in 17.3 overs(Yatras 41 not out).Sadly it seems many first league clubs in Zimbabwe are teetering onbankruptcy; playing numbers are down and senior players de-motivated.League cricket is in crisis as traditional powerhouses find theirfeeder systems hijacked by academy transfer quotas. Morale is affectedwhen cricketers are unable to play with their mates. There is talkthat Eddo Brandes has approached Manicaland to return as a player.Following the premature retirements of Adam Huckle, Andy Whittall andBrett Robinson, it now seems out-of-contract Bryan Strang will also belost. He intends plying his trade in the Lancashire Leagues. Seniorplayers who once envisioned coaching careers in Zimbabwe findthemselves sidelined by fast-track.This Sunday Manicaland play Kwekwe at home whilst Manicaland II playBSC II at Alex (Harare).

The match today between Nepal and Pakistan in Kandy was abandonedwithout a ball being bowled. It rained heavily all morning. Later,when the rain had stopped and the covers removed, water had seeped onto the pitch. The result meant that both sides will collect just onepoint each. Thus all four sides in Group ‘C’ now have a chance ofqualifying to the Super League stages.

Newcastle correspondent Lee Ryder has stated that the club have agreed a deal with young forward Dylan Stephenson.

The Lowdown: ‘Big news’

Labelled as ‘hard-working’ by academy manager Neil Winskill, the teenager has impressed playing for the club’s youth teams over recent years.

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The 19-year-old has scored 32 times in total for Newcastle’s under-18s and under-23s, with 11 of those coming in 2021/22.

Reports emerged in the week that the centre-forward was set to pen a new deal at St James’ Park, something that Liam Kennedy described as ‘big news’.

The Latest: Ryder’s claim on Stephenson

Ryder shared a Newcastle notebook on The Chronicle on Saturday morning, addressing multiple Magpies updates.

One of those focused on discussions over new deals, with the journalist admitting that a deal for Stephenson has been agreed. The youngster looks set for a loan deal away from the club next season, with Hartlepool a destination already mentioned.

The Verdict: Exciting

Stephenson is clearly an exciting young talent, so knowing that he is going to commit his future to Newcastle is good news.

While the club now have the option to splash the cash in the summer transfer window following a change of ownership, it is positive that they still want to keep hold of their best young assets.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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Hopefully Stephenson will continue to score goals for fun next season, which could result in a first-team breakthrough at St James’ Park.

In other news, find out which three positions NUFC will now ‘target’ this summer

David Parsons chats with Monty Panesar during England’s tour of Sri Lanka, but will now be focussing on England’s next generation of talent © Getty Images

David Parsons has been confirmed as the ECB’s new performance director after holding the position in an acting role since Peter Moores became England coach. The ECB has also announced Richard Halsall as the national fielding coach.Parsons, whose appointment takes effect immediately, has been the ECB’s main spin bowling coach and was the favourite to get the job for the role. In the last 12 months he has initiated and developed the ECB spin programme and worked closely with players such as Monty Panesar and Adil Rashid.His appointment was welcomed by Hugh Morris, the board’s managing director. “David has been acting performance director for the last six months since Peter Moores took over as England coach,” Morris said.”During that time David has ensured the smooth running of the National Performance Centre at Loughborough University, and has worked closely with Peter Moores to ensure the best possible support and preparation programmes for the England team.”He has played a central role in developing and delivering the England Performance Camp in India, in which he has embraced the expertise of coaches such as Martyn Moxon and Ashley Giles.”His ability to attract such names demonstrates that he will be ideally suited to the role of performance director because one of his main challenges will be to provide the current England Performance Programme, and future England players, with the best possible coaching advice and support to ensure they can maximise their potential.”Moores was also pleased that Parsons, a level four ECB coach, had been chosen to take his old position: “David has done an outstanding job as acting performance director and I am delighted he has secured the position on a permanent basis. He will have a very important role to play in developing our future England players.”Meanwhile, the team of specialist coaches on hand to assist the England squad has been increased with Halsall’s appointment as fielding coach. He is currently the head of sport science and PE at Wellington College in Berkshire and has been involved in coaching England junior squads as well as being fielding coach at Sussex for the last five years.”It is an exciting challenge for Richard who will aim to raise the standards of fielding throughout England and Wales to ‘world class’ levels,” said Morris. “His innovative approach and willingness to learn from some of the world’s top fielders as well as considering implementing skills and techniques from other sports will be important in taking the art of fielding to a new level when he joins the ECB in March.”Moores added that Halsall is an important addition to the coaching team: “The appointment of a national fielding coach demonstrates the importance of this aspect of the game to all our international teams,” he said. “Richard has an excellent track record, is open to new ideas and I am really looking forward to working with him again in the near future.”

Munaf Patel was troubled by injury throughout the South African tour © Getty Images

Munaf Patel has been ruled out of the first two one-day internationals against West Indies later this month after being advised to rest for two weeks due to a sore ankle.Munaf picked up the injury during the early stages of the tour in South Africa and missed three ODIs and the first two Tests. He was selected for the final Test at Cape Town but was clearly not fit and struggled throughout the match, bowling just one over in the second innings.He was examined by Dr Anant Joshi from the BCCI when he returned to India and the rest period was advised. Therefore, Patel will miss the matches at Nagpur and Cuttack, which form part of a four-match series against West Indies as a warm-up to the World Cup.The injury is also set to rule Munaf out of the Ranji Trophy elite division Group B match against Mumbai at Nashik, starting on January 10.

Scorecard

Cheteshwar Pujara’s splendid 97 powered India through to the semi-finals © ICC

India’s opening batsmen blitzed the West Indies before their bowlers and fielders ripped the heart out of the West Indies’ attempt to reach India’s colossal 284. India now face England in the semi-finals on Wednesday.Gaurav Dhiman (74) and Cheteshwar Pujara (97) added 110 from just 14 overs as India set off at a breakneck pace.And although Leon Johnson’s men restored order in the second half of the innings – opening bowler Javon Searles captured 6 for 68 – the final total of 284 for 9 was always likely to be too many for the West Indies.Dhiman and Pujara came out with all guns blazing after Ravikant Shukla won the toss and, against bowlers and fielders that looked off the pace, they raced along. The tone was set by the first ball of the match, by Searles. It went for five wides down the leg-side – one of 15 he bowled and 28 the West Indies conceded out of 33 extras – and after just one over India had 12 runs on the board.West Indies may have been suffering from their exertions the previous day when they beat South Africa, in energy-sapping conditions, to book their Super League quarter-final place. Whatever the reason, Dhiman, in particular, took full advantage. Three fours came in Kemar Roach’s third over, which cost 15, to bring up India’s 50 in just six overs. Johnson, in a bid to regain control of the match, turned to spin in just the eighth over.The change in pace made little difference and, after 10 overs, India had raced to 83 without loss; Dhiman and Pujara had registered only the second century opening stand of the tournament. They had posted the other one too, a brilliant 147 against Namibia last Monday.They were eventually separated when Dhiman was stumped by William Perkins and Pujara was then joined by Rohit Sharma who continued the assault. Sharma made his second successive fifty, scoring exactly 50 from 57 balls with six fours, and at 209 for 1 with 15 overs left, India looked set for a score of around 320.But Sharma’s dismissal led to a minor batting slide, and only Ravindra Jadeja (10) made double figures. Pujara eventually fell just three runs short of his hundred to Searles.The West Indies’ run-chase never got going. Their opener, Andre Fletcher, top-scored with 44 but the only other players to pass 20 were Searles (22) and Narine (29*). Vijaykumar Yomahesh (4 for 25) and Dhiman (3 for 27) ripped the top order apart, helped by brilliant fielding. Abu Nechim Ahmed’s flying leap at mid-on to catch Gajanand Singh was just one of the highlights of their effort.”We won the game in the first hour of our fielding effort,” Venkatesh Prasad, the India coach, said afterwards. “We were aware of their strengths as a batting side as we watched footage of them the night before the game.”We bowled to our strengths and stuck to the basics and that catch at mid-on will be one of the catches of the tournament.”

Langer outscored Pakistan in Perth© Getty Images

Australia’s preparations for the Boxing Day Test at the MCG have been dealt a blow with the news that Justin Langer – who made more runs (288) than the entire Pakistan team over two innings in Perth – might miss the game with a back injury. Simon Katich, the New South Wales captain, has been drafted into the squad as cover, and could open if Langer doesn’t recover in time.Langer suffered a lower-back injury during fielding drills conducted on Thursday, and Katich, who was distinctly unlucky to be dropped after a couple of outstanding knocks in India, may have to square up to Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami in his absence.AAP quoted Trevor Hohns, Australia’s selection panel chairman, as saying: “It is expected that if Justin can’t play, then Simon will open the batting with Matthew Hayden. We’re confident that he is that right man for the job.”He is a versatile batsman and a quality player who can bat in a variety of positions. He has performed well for Australia in the past, and we feel he can continue to do so if given another opportunity.”Langer’s partnership with Matthew Hayden has been one of the focal points of Australian cricketing greatness over the past few years, and with centuries against New Zealand and Pakistan, he is in prime form. But AAP reported that Errol Alcott, Australia’s physio, had said that he was only a 50-50 chance to play.Katich, who was dropping off Christmas presents when the selectors’ call came, said that the news came as a surprise to him, but added: “I guess it remains to be seen whether I play in the Test, but either way, it’s nice to know that I’m still in the selectors’ minds when it comes to picking batsmen to represent Australia.”

Sachin Tendulkar: stopping the show at Chennai

Each match has its unique way of making you rise to the occasion, said Sachin Tendulkar at a press conference before the Irani Cup at Chennai. As it turned out, it was Sourav Ganguly who provided him with the necessary inspiration, by putting Mumbai in to bat when he had the strongest batting line up in the country – save for Tendulkar’s absence – at his disposal. What little green there was in the wicket, was matched only by the look in the eyes of Rest of India’s batsmen as Tendulkar and Sairaj Bahutule ground a tired attack into the damp Chepauk dirt.There’s no doubt that people pay to watch Tendulkar bat, and the best value for money is available at the MA Chidambaram stadium. In six Tests at the ground Tendulkar has failed to score a century only twice. He’s scored more Test runs here than at his home ground, the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, and his average at Chennai is a better-than-Bradman 102.No wonder then that the green seats of the pavilion terrace had enough bottoms on them to raise a steady din all day. Clattering away on bucket-seats with an old pair of drumsticks, an irritatingly energetic young supporter made it amply clear that he cared not a damn what happened to the game. He merely wanted to watch Tendulkar bat all day.That Tendulkar was nowhere near his best had no effect on the enthusiasm of supporters. Every defensive push to mid-off was cheered, every clip off his ample thigh was watched all the way to the fine-leg fielder and every boundary was roaringly acknowledged. Overwhelming support notwithstanding, all was not well with Tendulkar. He cursed himself for repeatedly failing to make contact with his favourite paddle sweep. Even as he sailed passed the milestone of 17,000 first-class runs, this was nowhere near vintage Tendulkar.The Chennai crowd didn’t care though. Sections of the stands were actually packed, waiting for the Tendulkar hundred. If he reached the landmark before stumps, another would follow the next day, they reckoned. When he survived two vociferous shouts for lbw off successive Zaheer Khan deliveries, the crowd booed Zaheer for appealing and one cynic suggested that the lbw rule did not apply to Tendulkar on this ground.For most of the day Tendulkar was pleased as punch with the crowd. But there was one period shortly after tea that tested his patience. Every little flutter of cloth, every old man walking around looking for coffee, every flag-waving lout, every tiny thing in the crowd caused him to stop play. When a nattily dressed woman in a bright pink top and the latest fashion in sunglasses walked across to the press box to have a word, Tendulkar backed off. Not because she was a pretty face, which she is, but because Meena Dalal, treasurer of the Women’s Cricket Association of India, was distracting him.”The women’s season is just about to kick off,” said Dalal. “But equally importantly, talks with the Board of Control for Cricket in India are going well and our association is likely to merge with them by 2005. That’s just what women’s cricket needs.” Not minutes after she’d said that, the Rest of India side got what they needed. A quick delivery from Zaheer reared off a length, surprised Tendulkar and kissed the outside edge of the bat on the way to Rahul Dravid behind the stumps.He had spent over four and half hours at the wicket for 94, but Tendulkar was finally gone. All at a sudden, Ganguly’s decision to field did not look so bad. As if someone had pulled the plug at the cinema, the stands emptied out. “The story’s over, what’s left now? You guys might as well pack up and leave,” said one man as he walked past the press box. Not the most appropriate thing to say, but then again, not too far from the truth either.