South Africa allrounder Jacques Kallis was named international cricket’s Test Player of the Year at the ICC Awards in Sydney. Kallis was the runaway winner of the award, polling almost three times as many votes as the runner-up, Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath.Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, said: “On behalf of the ICC, I would like to congratulate Jacques on winning this award, which recognises his prolific year. It was a year in which Jacques Kallis was one of the most sought-after wickets in Test cricket, a fact reflected by his outstanding statistics. The fact this award was voted for by Jacques’ peers and colleagues shows the high regard in which he is held by them and he is a worthy winner.”During the voting period of August 1, 2004 to July 31, 2005, Kallis played 15 Tests. He was comfortably the most prolific batsman in the world during that time, with 1497 runs at 71.28, including six hundreds, the most by any player, and a total of 14 scores of 50 or more. With the ball, he took 20 Test wickets and, usually to be found in the slip cordon, he pouched 16 catches during the voting period.The award formed part of an excellent night for Kallis as he was also joint winner of the Player of the Year (sharing the award with Andrew Flintoff) and was selected as 12th man for the ODI Team of the Year.Kallis is the second recipient of the Test Player of the Year award following on from India’s Rahul Dravid in 2004.Voting for the Test Player of the Year was completed by the 50-member ICC Awards voting Academy who cast a 3-2-1 vote (three votes being the greater value) from the list of nominees, with the votes tallied to produce a winner. The voting Academy included the 10 ICC Full Member captains, the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Referees, the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and 25 legends of the game and respected members of the media.The top three players in the poll were:1. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 115 votes
2. Glenn McGrath (Australia) – 41 votes
3. Shane Warne (Australia) – 29 votes
Kallis received the trophy from Rahul Dravid.The other original nominees for the award were Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara of the West Indies, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Danish Kaneria of Pakistan, Australia’s Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh of India and Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka.

The build-up to the 2007 World Cup moved up a gear for 23 players from six Associate countries as the ICC launched its first Winter Training Camp (WTC) in Pretoria.Players from Bermuda, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya and Scotland are all set to feel the benefit of the residential camp which will offer the attendees technical, tactical, physical and mental trainingThe camp, part of the ICC’s High Performance Program (HPP) for the six Associate countries heading to the World Cup, runs until December 21 at the University of Pretoria’s high performance centre.The WTC was officially launched on Monday by Percy Sonn, the ICC’s vice-president, who said it offered the players attending the chance of a lifetime. “Every player here has the dream of playing for his country in the World Cup and the Winter Training Camp can help them fulfil that dream,” Sonn said. “This camp will allow them to develop their skills thanks to the expert coaching and world-class facilities available and if those attending can take advantage of being here then they could be competing against the likes of Ricky Ponting, Shaun Pollock and other great players in less than 18 months’ time.”Explaining the idea behind the WTC, Richard Done , the ICC’s high performance manager, said: “As each of these six countries have similar needs in preparing for the World Cup it makes perfect sense to share coaching and training resources in this way. The WTC will be staffed by coaches with a wide experience of working with Associate member countries so they will be well aware of what is required to achieve success with these players.”Those coaches are led by Scotland coach Andy Moles and include Done, former England fast bowler and bowling coach Bob Cottam and Mark Lane, who previously coached with Moles in Kenya. In addition to cricket-specific training, the WTC includes work on physical fitness, nutrition, vision, psychology and recovery as well as specialist sessions from current and former South Africa players. Each of the other national coaches not already present will also be invited to attend for two weeks.The camp is being attended by eight players from Scotland, four each from Bermuda and Canada, three each from Ireland and Kenya and by one player from the Netherlands. Scotland’s additional numbers are based on the fact they had already planned to send players to South Africa before the WTC arrangements were confirmed, as well as Moles’ presence to head up the program, a presence that is funded by Cricket Scotland.

The facilities available for use during the WTC include the accommodation, turf grounds and nets, a modern gymnasium, swimming pool and recovery, sports science and sports medicine areas. Players will also get the chance to complete their Level Two coaching awards.Two current players, Canada’s John Davison and Clay Smith of Bermuda, will also be involved as coaches and are being encouraged to develop their coaching skills as there may be opportunities to become more involved in their countries’ respective coaching programs in the future.The WTC has been financed by a combination of the ICC High Performance Program budget, the $500,000 preparation grant afforded to each Associate country after they qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup and contributions from the countries.Players attending the WT:-BermudaJekon Edness – 22 years of age, right-hand middle- and lower-order batsman and wicketkeeper, played for Bermuda at every level from U15 onwards. Reserve for the ICC Intercontinental Cup finals squadJim West – 23, right-hand lower-order batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler, represented Bermuda at U-19 level and has played county cricket in Bermuda. Reserve for the ICC Intercontinental Cup finals squadStephen Outerbridge – 22, left-hand opening batsman, part-time right-arm off-spin/medium-pace bowler, played for Bermuda from U-15 levelAzeem Pitcher – 25, left-hand top-order batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler, played for Bermuda at U-19 level. Reserve for the ICC Intercontinental Cup finals squadCanadaQaiser Ali – 28, right-hand middle-order batsman and right-arm off-spin bowler, played for Pakistan U-19s v England A in 1995-96. Made his Canada debut in 2005 and played in both ICC Intercontinental Cup matches (v Bermuda and the Cayman Islands) and against the MCC in September 2005Umar Bhatti – 21, left-hand lower-order batsman and left-arm fast-medium bowler, played for Canada and U-19 and senior levels, part of the squad that played in the ICC Trophy 2005 in IrelandKenneth Carto – 19, right-hand top-order batsman and wicketkeeper, played for Canada in ICC U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004Henry Osinde – 27, right-hand lower-order batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler, originally from Uganda but moved to Canada five years ago. Took 7 for 53 against the Cayman Islands in the ICC Intercontinental Cup match earlier this year.IrelandTrevor Britton – 23, right-hand middle-order batsman and right-arm offspin bowler, played for Ireland U-23s and in the Inter-Provincial tournament for the North West for the past three yearsKenneth Carroll – 23, right-hand batsman and left-arm wrist-spin bowler. Played for Ireland U-17 and U-19 and last season played at U-23 level; replaced Johnny Thompson from original squad for WTC after Thompson suffered back and hamstring injuriesEoin Morgan – 19, left-hand batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler. Played county cricket in England for Middlesex in 2005, a member of Ireland’s ICC Trophy squad this year and is a member of Ireland’s squad for the ICC Intercontinental Cup finals. Played for Ireland at every level from U-13 and for Middlesex from U-17 onwards.KenyaNehemiah Odhiambo Ngoche – 22, right-hand lower-order batsman, right-arm medium-fast bowler, played for Kenya at U-17 & U-19 levelsAlfred Luseno – 23, right-hand lower-order batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler, played for Kenya at U-17 and U-19 levels and part of the ICC Intercontinental Cup squad of 2004. Made his ODI debut for against Sri Lanka in the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup in April 2003 but is yet to appear againKalpesh Patel – 20, right-hand batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, currently with Kenya on their tour of Zimbabwe and part of the squad for the 2005 ICC Intercontinental Cup finals. Occasional wicketkeeperNetherlandsTom de Grooth – 26, right-hand top-order batsman, part-time off-spin bowler, played for the Netherlands from U-12 onwards and has captained the Dutch U-23 and A sides. Part of the squad that played in this year’s ICC Trophy in IrelandScotlandRichard Berrington – 18, right-hand top-order batsman and right-arm seam bowler, played for Scotland at every level from U-13 onwards and represented the European Cricket Council Development teamKasim Farid – 19, right-hand top-order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, played for Scotland at every level from U-13 and has also been part of the European Cricket Council Development teamGordon Goudie – 18, right-hand lower-order batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler, played for Scotland at every level from U-13s onwards as well as the MCC Young Cricketers and Middlesex second XI. Made two appearances for Scottish Saltires in UK National League in 2005Ross Lyons – 20, left-hand lower-order batsman and left-arm spin bowler, played for Scotland at every level from U13 onwards. Played in U-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004. Made six appearances for Scottish Saltires in UK National League in 2005Dewald Nel – 25, right-hand batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler, played for Scotland at U23 and senior levels. Born in South Africa, part of the ICC trophy squad in Ireland this year, playing in one match. Made 11 appearances for Scottish Saltires in UK National League in 2005Qasim Sheikh – 20, left-hand top-order batsman and left-arm medium-pace bowler, played for Scotland at every level from U-13. Also played for the MCC Young Cricketers. Made four appearances for Scottish Saltires in UK National League in 2005Fraser Watts – 26, right-hand batsman, right-arm off-spin bowler, played for Loughborough University Cricketing Centre of Excellence in the UK as well as Scotland at all levels. Played in ICC Trophy in 2001 and 2005 and made 17 appearances for Scotland in the National League in 2005 (most by any Scotland player)Sean Weeraratna – 19, right-hand lower-order batsman and right-arm seam bowler, played for Scotland at every level from U-13 onwards. Made four appearances for Scotland in the National League in 2005

Shane Watson, the Australian allrounder, has said that he hopes to be fit and available for selection for the tour of South Africa beginning in February 2006.Watson had to undergo arthroscopic surgery after dislocating his shoulder in the first Test against West Indies at Brisbane and was subsequently ruled out of the remaining Tests against West Indies and the home series against South Africa in December.He also said that he wanted to play for Queensland before the tour of South Africa. “Hopefully I can get back and play a few games before that tour gets picked, that’s my goal at the moment,” Watson told ABC Sport. “It’s hard to really set a big goal because you never really know how it’s going to progress. It could come back earlier or it might take a little bit longer, so you’ve just got to keep doing absolutely everything you can and hopefully South Africa is my goal.”Watson felt that Michael Clarke would soon reclaim his place in the Test team. “He’s obviously been feeling a bit and hasn’t been his fearless self, like he was when he first came onto the scene, so he’ll definitely come back a bigger and better player. Everyone knows that and I’m sure once the dust settles with him, he’ll definitely realise that it’s a blessing in disguise.”Clarke, who was dropped from the squad for the third Test against West Indies because of a bad run of form, was replaced by Justin Langer, who has recovered from a broken rib he sustained in a domestic game. Mike Hussey and Brad Hodge have retained their places in the squad for the third Test at Adelaide after impressive performances in the second Test.

ScorecardDheeraj Jadhav, tipped by many to be a potential India opener, sparkled on the second day’s play against Tamil Nadu at Nasik with a battling hundred, but the tourists held their own to grab nine wickets before stumps with Maharashtra just 32 runs ahead. Tamil Nadu did well to trigger a manic middle-order collapse following Jadhav’s dismissal, but Sairaj Bahutule stroked his way to a vital 77. Maharashtra’s day began well thanks to a fiery three-wicket burst from Munaf Patel, the opening bowler, as Tamil Nadu, 254 for 7 overnight, were bowled out for 275. Sreedharan Sharath, Tamil Nadu’s veteran, was the highest scorer with 75.Murali Kartik, the left-arm spinner currently on domestic duty, did his chances for a national recall no harm with a five-wicket haul to dismiss Mumbai for 367 on the second day’s play at the Wankhede Stadium, but Railways faced an uphill task after losing the vital wicket of Sanjay Bangar, their captain, before stumps. Ramesh Powar, Mumbai’s allrounder, proved a thorn in Railways side with a 221-ball 74 after Amol Muzumdar fell in the morning session with his 20th first-class hundred. Greg Chappell, India’s coach, had stated yesterday that there was little point in keeping Kartik in the squad for the second Test against Sri Lanka when he was not in the final XI, and his decision to give the spinner a chance to ply his trade in the Ranji Trophy was spot-on.A solid 79-run opening partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Aakash Chopra made way for a critical period of collapse at the hands of Siddarth Trivedi and Hitesh Majmudar, Gujarat’s pace duo, as the hosts slipped to 186 for 5 on day two at the Feroze Shah Kotla. Trivedi, Gujarat’s opening bowler, continued from where he heroically left off on the first day with the wickets of Dhawan and Mayank Tehlan, whose previous stay at the wicket yielded a debut hundred, as Delhi proceeded to lose its way. In the morning session, Amit Bhandari, Delhi’s captain, added a sixth wicket to his tally to dismiss Gujarat for 143 and break a fine 60-run last wicket stand after Asraf Makda’s explosive innings spared them a major blemish. Despite the late hiccups, it was a marked improvement from Delhi’s batsmen after their first-innings 69, and set them up for what should be an engrossing third day’s play.
ScorecardFive strikes against Haryana before stumps at Hyderabad and a solid wag from the tail in the first two sessions of play made it Hyderabad’s day at Uppal. The star of the day was Narinderpal Singh, as he became the first medium-pacer from South Zone to claim 300 wickets in the Ranji Trophy when he trapped Bagheshwar Bist lbw in the third over. Earlier, Joginder Sharma’s third five-wicket haul of the season – he now sits atop the wickets tally with 24 – had earlier helped dismiss Hyderabad for 328, but given that they were 250 for 5 overnight, that total was significantly larger than the tourists would have liked. Haryana, still 222 runs behind Hyderabad, will need to put in a good day at the shop tomorrow, and much of that rests on the shoulders of Joginder and Mahesh Rawat, whose last innings was an unbeaten 90, in good time, against Baroda.An unbeaten 98-run stand between Bharat Chipli – who raced to a maiden first-class fifty – and Barrington Rowland led Karnataka’s reply after Rohan Gavaskar’s 96 took Bengal to 331 on the second day’s play at Mysore. Shib Paul, Bengal’s opening bowler, dismissed Robin Uthappa for just 5 in the fourth over of Karnataka’s reply, but Chipli and Rowland displayed terrific application towards their task by forging an aggressive partnership. In just his third innings for Karnataka, the 22-year old Chipli has already launched two sixes. Bengal’s first-innings total could have been substantially larger if not for the fine efforts of Udit Patel, the offspinner, who picked up four wickets to run through the tail.
ScorecardUttar Pradesh’s lower order stepped up to the plate to propel their side to 433 against Punjab on the second day of the Elite Group B match at Lucknow before Ashish Zaidi, the veteran fast bowler, capped a good day for the home side by dismissing both Punjab openers in a telling spell before stumps. Piyush Chawla, P Kumar and Avinash Yadav all produced career-best scores as 185 runs were added by the last four players. Hardevinder Sandhu, the opening bowler, was the most successful for Punjab with 3 for 101.
ScorecardMSK Prasad, Andhra’s wicketkeeper-batsman, finally struck form while patiently batting himself to a half-century at stumps on day two at Palam as the tourists finished on 112 for 2, 184 runs behind. Earlier, Jasvir Singh fell eight runs short of a hundred but Sarabjit Singh, Services’ wicketkeeping captain, pushed on to a gritty fifty as they added a further 83 to their overnight 203 for 4. This was the first score of note this season for Prasad, a former India wicketkeeper, and Andhra will look to him and Venugopal Rao, the captain, to further their fortunes as play resumes tomorrow.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) batsmen put their team in a strong position and gave them the possibility of victory, on the third day of the four-day, Group A, third-round Patron’s Trophy match against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), here at the National Stadium on Saturday.After KRL had attained a big 120-run first innings lead over PIA, the Airliners ran up a solid score of 429 for 6 in their second innings yesterday. Faisal Iqbal, the captain, then applied closure, setting KRL a target of 310 and his own team a realistic chance of a win.Peshawar’s talented Yasir Hameed, who scored 57 runs in the final one-day international for Pakistan against England at Rawalpindi on Wednesday, had made his intentions known with an unbeaten 61 on Friday as the PIA second-wicket stand in the second innings was worth exactly 100 by the day’s close. Yasir lost his overnight partner Kamran Sajid (60) with only 16 runs added, but he continued piling up the runs with great credit. His knock of 139 was the 11th hundred of his first-class career, having come in five hours and 43 minutes’ batting off 231 deliveries with 20 fours.With Bazid Khan (20), his third-wicket stand was worth 64 runs. Another 81 runs were added for the fourth wicket with his youthful captain Faisal. The latter, who turns 24 on December 30, also reached his career’s 11th century. Faisal scored 114 runs off just 160 balls in three hours 19 minutes with 15 hits to the ropes and three above them. After Yasir’s departure, he was helped by all-rounder Jannisar Khan (26) in an invaluable partnership of 73 runs for the fifth wicket.With Asif Mujtaba, the veteran left-hander and the top-scorer of the first innings with 44 not out, unable to bat due to a fractured finger while fielding, Faisal decided to declare the PIA innings closed. KRL had made no runs in the only over bowled till the close of play.PIA, who shared the Patron’s Trophy title last season with Habib Bank as the final was rained off, drew their previous match in the ongoing competition against the same opponents, which turned out to be a tall-scoring affair. PIA have never won the Patron’s Trophy outright since it was introduced back in 1972-73. Habib Bank have been the winners a record seven times. KRL are currently lying at rock bottom in the five-team Group A points table. They started the tournament by being beaten in both their matches in the first two rounds. If they go on to win on Sunday, PIA will collect only six points though.
Set to chase a target of 325 runs to win the match, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited(SNGPL) had lost three second innings wickets in reaching 118, by the close of play on the third day of their four-day, Group A, third-round Patron’s Trophy match against Habib Bank, here at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1 on Saturday.Habib Bank, after having gained a big first innings lead of 125 runs, crashed to a second innings total of 199 all out yesterday. SNGPL though are still 207 runs short of a victory with seven wickets in hand. Imran Khalid, a 21-year-old slow left-arm bowler from Kasur who also plays for Faisalabad, again got among the wickets as he captured 4 for 63 for SNGPL to follow his first innings 5 for 72. He was ably assisted by another young man, Asad Ali, who took three wickets for 56 runs in 12 overs.Mahmood Malik, the fast bowler, also bowled well with figures of 2-19 in nine overs. Most Habib Bank batsmen just threw away their wickets but Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, and Humayun Farhat, the wicketkeeper, both got half-centuries. Their sixth-wicket stand was worth 79 runs after five wickets had fallen with just 89 on the board. Younis, after making 44 in the first innings, followed it up with a knock of 54 runs, off 108 balls with seven boundaries. Humayun’s 52 were made in his characteristic, bludgeoning manner. He faced only 48 deliveries and sent the ball to the ropes seven times.After the early loss of Mohammad Hafeez, the opener, SNGPL prospered through an innings of 34 off 52 balls with four fours by his partner Sohail Idrees. Youngster Sufyan Munir is still at the crease with an unbeaten 58, made off 90 deliveries with seven fours. As long as he and Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain, are at the crease, their team are in with a chance. Otherwise, Habib Bank should be able to win today (Sunday). Abdul Rehman, their left-arm spinner, with figures of 8-53 on Friday, has already completed 10 wickets in the match with two more yesterday.Habib Bank have been a record seven-time winners of the Patron’s Trophy Championship title, in addition to sharing the trophy with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) last season after the final was rained off. SNGPL started this season’s tournament with a creditable draw against Pakistan Customs in the second round.
Riaz Afridi, Peshawar’s 20-year-old right-arm fast-medium bowler, returned first-class career-best figures of 7 for 78, as National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were bowled out for a poor total of 161 runs, on the third day of their four-day, Group B, third-round Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), at the Sheikhupura Stadium on Saturday.After the opening day’s play on Thursday was cancelled due to foggy conditions and poor light, NBP reached a modest score of 123 for six in the 34 overs possible on the second day. Four of their six wickets had already fallen to the young, talented Riaz Afridi. His partner Tahir Mughal picked up the three wickets at a personal cost of 67 runs in 22 overs. Riaz bowled 24.2 overs for his seven-wicket haul. The only player to bat with some conviction yesterday was Mansoor Amjad, the the teenaged allrounder,whose 44 runs at number seven came with five boundaries off 96 balls.In the 12 overs bowled by the NBP bowlers by the day’s close, PTCL had lost one wicket in making 26 runs. Their main intention on the final day today (Sunday) would surely be to take first innings lead and the three points on offer.PTCL are currently perched on top of the points table with a tally of 15 in Group B. National Bank, five-time winners of the competition, are at the second spot.
Adil Nisar, the captain, hit the highest score of his first-class career as the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) compileda total of 446 for 5 declared, on the third day of their four-day, Group B, third-round Patron’s Trophy match against Service Industries, at the Iqbal Stadium on Saturday.Adil, the 27-year-old, left-hand batsman from Lahore, who began yesterday at his overnight 145 not out in WAPDA’s first innings 268 for 2, took his tally to an eventual 232, off 343 balls in eight minutes short of eight hours while hitting as many as 33 fours in addition to a six. By the close of play, Kashif Raza, the fast bowler from Sheikhupura, had captured all four Service Industries wickets to fall, at a personal cost of 45 runs in 14 overs.At 137 for four, with only one more day to go in the match, Service are still 160 runs short of averting the follow-on. In case they manage to hold on for a draw, WAPDA are sure to gain the three first innings lead points from this encounter. Adil, who now has three double-hundreds in his nine career centuries in 92 first-class matches, took his third-wicket stand with Aamer Sajjad from 142 to 194. Aamer hit seven fours and a six in his 81 runs, that came off 146 balls in a little over three hours. Bilal Khilji then hit a quick 39 runs off 38 deliveries with six boundaries, with Mohammad Irshad, Service’s opening bowler, finishing with three wickets for 127 runs.In the Service reply, Shahjahan Mirza, the opener and a newcomer on the scene, was still holding the fort with an unbeaten 42 with four fours at the draw of stumps. Faisal Khan meanwhile hit a worthy 61 with three fours and two sixes in two hours’ batting.WAPDA were the runners-up of the 2003-04 competition while Service Industries are currently placed at the bottom of the five-team Group B table.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, who missed the series-clinching win at Karachi, has said that he will pick and choose his matches from now on to protect his back.Inzamam, 35, stood down from the Test and also missed much of the previous match at Faisalabad with back trouble.”It is not a career threatening problem but it does become a nuisance if not taken proper care of,” Inzamam said. “In future, I will try to sit out on matches where possible.”I plan to sit out Test and one-day matches where nothing much is at stake. Then I can take a rest in order to preserve myself for the more important games. If we have won a series, I can rest in the final games and it gives us a chance to blood young players.”Doctors have already advised him not to take long flights.

ScorecardVictoria made South Australia pay for a poor batting performance as they passed their total for the loss of only one wicket at Adelaide Oval. The Bushrangers joined Queensland and Western Australia in sealing first-innings points on the first day in this round of matches as Lloyd Mash and Brad Hodge raised half-centuries. At stumps the pair had compiled 97 and the visitors were running comfortably at 1 for 137.South Australia began badly by losing Shane Deitz in the first over and their situation didn’t really improve apart from brief rallies from Greg Blewett 23 and Callum Ferguson 42. They were 6 for 80 at lunch and allout before tea for 134. Shane Warne was refreshed after three weeks holidaying in Thailand and Fiji and he picked up 3 for 35, including the caught and bowled of Ferguson, while Shane Harwood also created trouble with 3 for 44.The pitch offered early encouragement for the seamers and Mick Lewis and Gerard Denton took advantage with two wickets each. Denton’s first-ball removal of Darren Lehmann, who drove straight to Mash at point, was the most important and he returned to add Blewett. Victoria are now level with New South Wales and South Australia on 20 points at the top of the table.

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

If not for early-morning rain and dimming light, today would have been the last day of this topsy-turvy Test, but there could well be a final twist to what promises to be a tantalising finish. West Indies’ cruise, made possible by a 148-run opening stand, was abruptly halted by an inspirational spell from Shane Bond, who blasted out four wickets and put New Zealand on the verge of a memorable victory. West Indies needed 45 more, New Zealand required two wickets, and the smattering of spectators at Eden Park will need another set of nails to chew on the fifth day.Bond’s was a scintillating display of fast bowling. Bowling extended spells with accurate pace, Bond broke the back of the West Indian chase with a four-wicket burst after Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga had laid the perfect platfrom with dominant half-centuries. However, with 70 runs to get and three wickets in hand, Denesh Ramdin and Ian Bradshaw defied New Zealand, after Bond had been taken off, during a 25-run partnership. Three balls before the light was offered, Ramdin played one of the most reckless sweeps to deep square leg to give New Zealand their eighth wicket and a sniff at victory.None of this appeared possible in the first two hours of play, when Gayle and Ganga confidently motored towards the target, causing Stephen Fleming to despair. With none of his strike bowlers providing the breakthrough, Fleming brought on Nathan Astle, a move that eventually proved to be a masterstroke. Astle induced Gayle to edge to slip with his second ball, and in the 15 minutes that followed, the game turned.Bond forced Ramnaresh Sarwan to retire hurt after cracking him on the back of the helmet and, for the second time in the match, dismissed Brian Lara with his first ball. That was just the appetiser, though, as he, rejuvenated after the break, blew away the middle order. He prised out Dwayne Smith, Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo in successive overs, with the first two caught at slip and the third trapped in front with one that seared into his pads.He was well supported after tea by Daniel Vettori, who bowled over the wicket and strangled the run-flow by bowling into the rough outside leg stump. His frugality induced Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had earlier slogged a four over midwicket, to hole out to short midwicket while trying to ease the mounting pressure. While Bond and Vettori kept up the pressure, Astle returned to complete his pair of openers’ scalps by dismissing Ganga with the second ball after drinks.

New Zealand might have wrapped it up if not for large chunks of sloppiness on the field. Gayle was dropped on 59 at silly point by Fleming, and Ganga was caught at gully when Martin overstepped. Both openers made New Zealand pay dearly. Gayle forced Franklin out of the attack and after starting cautiously against Vettori, used brute force to cut and drive him on the off side. He even lost the ball when he carted the first of his two sixes over wide long-on. Only Bond managed to trouble him, hurrying him for pace but Gayle still belted the wide ball through covers.Ganga’s was a more composed innings. He left anything too close to cut but pounced when offered width. He had a stroke of luck at the start when an inside edge missed his stumps but thereafter was fluent as he milked the off side for 80% of his runs. Even during Bond’s fierce spell after tea, Ganga wasn’t flustered and waited patiently to put the lose ball away.In spite of their hard work, the middle order threw it all away. And Ramdin will rue his mindless swipe all the more because, a few overs earlier, he had skied a pull to Martin who had dropped a dolly at midwicket. Bradshaw is no bunny with the bat, as his heroics in the 2004 Champions Trophy final testified, but he will need a lot of help from his tail-end partners if West Indies are to engineer another twist.

Chris Gayle c Fleming b Astle 82 (148 for 1)
Brian Lara b Bond 0 (157 for 2)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul c Fulton b Vettori 15 (182 for 3)
Dwayne Smith c Fleming b Bond 5 (216 for 5)Ramnaresh Sarwan c Styris b Bond 4 (218 for 6)Dwayne Bravo lbw Bond (221 for 7)

Guyana 211 and 22 for 0 trail Barbados 246 (Bradshaw 81, Hinds 52) by 13 runs
Scorecard

Ian Bradshaw, the Mr Level-Headed of Barbados’ cricket, saved his country from a near embarrassment yesterday. Showing the value of a sound, calm approach, and more significantly, choosing the right ball to despatch, the reliable allrounder put up his hand to bail Barbados out of troubled waters on the second day of their Carib Beer Challenge semi-final against Guyana.When he strode onto the Carlton Club immediately after lunch, Barbados, responding to Guyana’s 211, were in tatters on 101 for 6 and seemingly intent on duplicating the horrors of the embarrassing collapses they went through at the same venue two months ago.When he returned to the dressing room just after 4 pm to a deserving ovation from a fair-sized Saturday evening crowd in which the support for either team was about the same, his skilful innings of 81 had carried Barbados to an insignificant, but handy first-innings advantage of 35.The fact that Barbados were able to make 246 was largely a measure of Bradshaw’s ability to counter the spin of Mahenadra Nagamotoo and Neil McGarrell that posed such a big threat in the pre-lunch session. It was also due to a wonderful support effort from Ryan Austin. He might have made only 14, but it was very important that he was able to solidly defend for an hour-and-three-quarters in a face-saving eighth-wicket partnership of 66 with Bradshaw that was finally broken when Barbados were one run shy of Guyana’s total.While most of those before Bradshaw were unable to cope with the experienced spin twins, the slimly-built left-hander made Nagamootoo and McGarell pay dearly for the leg-stump line on which they opted to concentrate. Bradshaw carted them for four sixes, two against each, with three landing on the roof of the club pavilion and the other just to the left of the Guyana dressing-room.It was only the lack of partners that induced Bradshaw into attempting anything rash. Left with No. 11 Pedro Collins, he chased at a wide ball from pacer Reon King and was well caught low by the diving wicketkeeper Derwin Christian. By then, Tino Best’s breezy 21 had assisted Barbados’ cause, and a few of those who went before him should take a leaf out of his book when it comes to batting responsibly.While wickets were falling, captain Ryan Hinds batted impressively for 52 off 98 balls, stroking eight attractive boundaries before King trapped him lbw.For the first two hours, Barbados were thoroughly outplayed, mainly against fast-medium Esaun Crandon and leggie Nagamootoo, but some of it was caused by their own undoing. While the runs flowed, the rate of wickets and the mode of some dismissals were alarming.Spectators were still filing into the ground when an uncertain Wayne Blackman padded up to his fourth ball and was lbw to Crandon. The noise that reverberated 15 minutes later seemed to suggest there were ten times more people than were present at the time. The uproar was over a horrific, cross-batted non-descript stroke Dwayne Smith attempted to a ball that didn’t have the length for such a stroke. As he missed and the ball uprooted his stumps, Smith walked off the ground to a host of uncomplimentary remarks from those in the pavilion.Things returned to a sense of normalcy as captain Ryan Hinds and Dale Richards batted with all the assurance in the world. Richards stroked five fours in his 29 before he paid the price for moving back to Neil McGarrell’s left-arm spin, and was lbw. Floyd Reifer arrived to replace Richards, hit a confident boundary before gifting his hand with a casual return catch to Nagamootoo. It was the first of three wickets for regional first-class cricket’s highest wicket-taker who dealt Barbados a cruel blow with a double-strike on the stroke of lunch.Alcindo Holder, short of runs since the first three matches, made 16 before falling to a bat/pad catch at forward short-leg, and next ball, Patrick Browne edged a tentative defensive prod. It made way for Bradshaw, and the rest was history.His heroics has set the stage for a second innings contest in which the winner will earn a place in the next weekend’s final, to which it appears that Cup champions Trinidad and Tobago are certain to advance.

Herschelle Gibbs, the South Africa batsman and Garnett Kruger have been dropped for the remaining two Tests against New Zealand. South Africa won the first Test at Centurion by 128 runs last week, but Gibbs put in another disappointing performance with a match aggregate of eight runs.In his last ten Tests, he has made just 437 runs at an average of 25.70. His last hundred was made against England over a year ago.”Herschelle and I had a meeting yesterday (Friday), and we agreed that a break and a fresh start next season will do him a world of good”, Haroon Lorgat, South Africa’s convenor of selectors, said. “Garnett is most unfortunate to have picked up a shoulder strain when he was set to play in the first Test at Centurion.”With the outstanding performances of Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn in this match, and with Andre Nel in reserve, we have decided to release him.”Lorgan confirmed that South Africa will not be replacing Gibbs or Kruger.”At the start of the series we had carried an unusually large squad of 16 players. This was designed to take into account the fact that there was no domestic cricket being played,” he said. “With one Test completed, we are now able to reduce the squad to 14 players and will reduce it further to 13 for the last Test at Liberty Life Wanderers.”South Africa team (from):Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Andrew Hall, Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla