Justin Langer’s quick-fire century led Australia to a six-wicket win in thefinal test of the National Bank series in New Zealand, the virtuallyunchallenged march to the 210 needed for victory hardly in keeping with theebb and flow of the previous three days.Australia started the fourth day of the third test on another beautifulHamilton needing 73 runs with seven wickets in hand to complete a 3-0whitewash of New Zealand and extend their winning streak to 10.Justin Langer resumed on 71 and Steve Waugh on 1. Chris Cairns opened upfrom the grandstand end and steady accumulation rather than shots in angersaw 10 come off the first over. A Langer drive through extra-cover offShayne O’Connor brought the 150 up in the fourth over of the morning,taking just 135 minutes.Cairns continued to suffer, Waugh taking consecutive fours past point andthrough extra cover. Cairns, not surprisingly, was replaced after threeovers but Daryl Tuffey fared no better, Waugh back cutting for his thirdboundary of the morning. However, Tuffey did get one to rise sharply onWaugh, catching him on the forearm and requiring running repairs.Langer continued on towards his century, an edge along the ground past theslips taking him into the nineties. The 50 partnership came up in eighthover of the morning, taking just 44 minutes and coming off 59 balls. ButWaugh was clearly in some discomfort and at the end of the eighth over heleft the field, retiring hurt for 18 with the score at 175, just 35 neededto win.Damien Martyn joined Langer, another edge from O’Connor taking the lefthander to 96 and a cover drive to his seventh century in tests, completed in147 minutes and taking just 102 balls. However, Martyn did not last long,surviving a missed opportunity by Adam Parore behind the stumps off O’Connorbefore going next ball for 4, a thoughtful Umpire Dunn giving him lbw in the10th over of the morning with the score at 190.Adam Gilchrist joined the century-maker with 20 runs required for victory.The 200 came up in 173 minutes courtesy of a Langer drive through extracover in the 13th over of the morning and the end was not long in comingalthough Tuffey just missed his first test wicket, a Langer edge falling outof reach of a diving Parore and just short of Fleming at first slip.Langer, finishing on 122, appropriately ended it with a cover drive offMcMillan, taking the total to 212 for 4 in the 42nd over, the 14th of themorning.Wiseman ended with two for 42 off nine overs, O’Connor two for 53 off 11.Cairns 10 overs had cost 60 runs, Tuffey’s 11 52.In the end, the win to Australia was comprehensive, by six wickets with aday and two-and-a-half sessions to spare.

Having lost the toss, Sourav Ganguly was forced to take the field onthe first day of the first Test in New Delhi. Although the toss wasnot a bad one to lose, if India had batted first, they might havemanaged to secure more of a psychological edge than was achieved at the endof one day’s bowling. However, it must be said that the healthy crowdpresent at the Ferozeshah Kotla had enough to cheer about as Indiarestricted Zimbabwe to 232/5 at stumps.Earlier, an energetic spell of fast bowling from Javagal Srinathreduced the visitors to 15/2. Scalping openers Grant Flower (0) andGavin Rennie (13) in quick succession, Srinath got the momentum goingin India’s favour. A quick delivery, slanting in to Grant Flower sawhim shoulder arms and lose the bails. Rennie edged the ball soon afterto Vijay Dahiya and the visitors were in trouble. Alistair Campbell,who has already made a century in this tour, was forced to consolidateZimbabwe’s position. For company he had Stuart Carlisle.The pair took Zimbabwe safely through to lunch at 62/2. After puttingon a 120-run partnership that defied the Indian spinners and seamersalike Carlisle succumbed. Driving hard at a Sachin Tendulkar deliverythat stopped on him, Carlisle found the hands of Sunil Joshi at cover.Carlisle’s patient knock saw Zimbabwe out of the woods, but by nomeans gave them the kind of start they would have been looking for.Occupying the crease for over three hours, Carlisle struck tenboundaries in his innings of 58.Alistair Campbell had to then shoulder most of the responsibility andhe had for company Andy Flower. Easily the top two batsmen in theZimbabwe line up, the Campbell-Andy Flower duo teamed up again.Unfortunately for the visitors, their association did not last long.After making a crucial contribution with his 70, Campbell chased aSrinath delivery and only managed to nick the ball. VVS Laxman, safeas ever in the slip cordon held a good catch and Zimbabwe were onceagain in trouble at 154/4. If they looked to Guy Whittall to help stemthe rot, they had cause to be disappointed. Attempting to sweep Joshiagainst the spin, Whittall misjudged the length of the delivery. Theball ricocheted off something, perhaps the glove, perhaps the forearmand Rahul Dravid appealed after taking a smart catch. UmpireVenkataraghavan’s lethal forefinger, once used to deliver quality offspinners, went up and Whittall was on his way. He picked up the secondduck of the Zimbabwe innings.At 155/5 the Zimbabweans were in a very difficult position. A coupleof quick wickets and things would be all but over for them. SkipperHeath Streak, who has been enjoying his batting so much more afterbeing handed the captaincy, walked out to the middle with a lotdepending on him. Batting with confidence, Streak proved the idealfoil for the stoic Andy Flower. While Streak used the full face of thebat to play the bowlers back in the ‘V’ Andy Flower swept his way to agood half century. Not afraid to improvise even in a Test match, AndyFlower unveiled the reverse sweep and kept the spinners at bay. Whenstumps was called, Zimbabwe were on a healthy score. Flower had 55 tohis name while Streak was on a useful 25.India’s decision to go into the match with only four bowlers wastelling. Although India made inroads into the Zimbabwe batting, theywere not able to capitalise. Murali Kartik was once again underused.This meant that India were playing with three and half bowlers. Havinggot Zimbabwe in trouble first at 15/2 and then at 155/5, India let thevisitors off the hook. When the Zimbabweans resume their resistancetomorrow they will do so with the confidence that their position couldhave been much, much worse.

A slogged six that cleared the head of Warren Wisneski at mid-on from man ofthe match Tama Canning gave Auckland victory with two balls to spare in adramatic second round Shell Cup encounter.Canning’s 25 not out from 15 balls proved decisive after a superbhalf-century from Lou Vincent had put Auckland in a winning position.In a match that was in the balance until the final ball Canning’s cavalierinnings, together with his career best four-wicket haul in the Canterburyinnings, proved to be the difference between the two sides.Auckland won the toss and asked Canterbury to bat, but in doing so the Acesgifted Canterbury the best batting conditions of the match on a pitch thatslowed in pace as the match wore on.At 84/0 after 15 overs Canterbury would have been looking for one of itsopeners, Brad Doody or Mark Hastings, to bat through and guide the defendingchampions to a score in excess of 280.But as the pitch appeared to slow up the Aces, bowling depth came to thefore, with Canning, Andre Adams, Mark Haslam and Chris Drum combining todeny Canterbury a boundary between the 18th and 37th overs. Chris Harrisfinally broke the drought with a pull shot for six of Andre Adams.Umpire Brent Bowden’s reluctance to give decisions again came to the forewith the dismissal of Harris. A Chris Drum delivery appeared to take asubstantial deflection as Harris played away from his body and a nick wasclearly audible from the grandstand. The Auckland players gathered mid-pitchto congratulate Drum but to their amazement Bowden declined to send Harrispacking. Both Harris and the fielders stood their ground, prompting Bowdento confer with South African umpire Brian Jerling at square leg. Jerlingimmediately indicated he thought it was a dismissal and Bowden finally gaveHarris a nod.Debate about Bowden tends to centre on whether his clownish antics are goodfor the image of the game, but scrutiny of his umpiring would reveal a manhesitant to make a decision on even the most obvious of dismissals.Canning’s first spell of seven overs, 2/19 had been crucial in Aucklandchoking back the Canterbury run-rate and he struck again with the first ballof his second spell, having Gary Stead caught by cover sweeper RichardMorgan for 21, in the 41st over.At lunch Canterbury coach Gary MacDonald said the failure of either Harrisor Stead to bat on after getting starts, had resulted in score 20-30 runsless than he would have liked. However, he believed his side’s score of 228was defendable.Auckland began its chase in positive fashion, debutant Tim McIntosh, freshfrom his maiden first-class century, combined with a more circumspect AaronBarnes for a century opening stand. Both batsmen were dismissed soon aftermaking their half-centuries, McIntosh unfortunately run out when he lookedto have another hundred at his mercy.Auckland continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and the run-rateclimbed above seven. Carl Anderson bowled a tight spell, as did Shane Bond,but Harris bowled too many bad balls to be able to maintain the pressurefrom his end.Lou Vincent steadied the Auckland innings with an intelligent run a ballhalf-century. But when Bond bowled Vincent with the last ball of thepenultimate over Auckland still required six for victory.Three good balls from Geoff Allot conceded only two runs, leaving the matchin the balance. However the final act of the game was left to its starperformer, Tama Canning, who just got under an Allot attempted Yorker enoughto clear the desperately leaping Wisneski.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union today announced the team to take on Indiain the second and final Test at Harare beginning on 15 June 2001. Asexpected, the selection committee made just one change, bringing inyoung mediumpacer Travis Friend for the injured Henry Olonga.Ironically, Friend was replaced by Olonga at the last, moment in thefirst Test as the former was injured. Olonga suffered a hamstringstrain while playing the first Test, bowled 8 overs in the firstinnings, came to bat with a runner and did not take bowl in theZimbabwe second innings.The announcement puts to rest all speculation about skipper HeathStreak’s fitness. Streak was rapped on the knee while batting and hetoo could not bowl as India successfully chased 184 to take anunassailable 1-0 lead in the 2 Test series. Streak has recovered wellin time for the second Test and will lead Zimbabwe.The rest of the side remains unchanged, with Gavin Rennie doingtwelfth man duties once more.Zimbabwe team: Heath Streak (Captain), Guy Whittall (Vice-captain),Andy Blignaut, Alistair Campbell, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim,Andrew Flower, Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Brian Murphy, BrightonWatambwa and (Gavin Rennie 12th Man)

After the loss of the second day, the warm-up match between Zimbabwe A and the Indians petered out into the expected draw, although India did turn down a chance of an outright win when they decided against enforcing the follow-on. In reply to their first innings of 336 for nine declared, they dismissed Zimbabwe A for 175 and then, batting again, scored 150 for seven.In contrast to the aborted second day of the match, Day Three began warm and sunny. With the notable exception of Craig Wishart, the Zimbabwe A Test hopefuls failed to make anything of their opportunity. Hamilton Masakadza (8) soon fell, caught at slip off Ashish Nehra, and Zimbabwe A were 37 for two.Then followed the only notable partnership of the innings, between opener Dion Ebrahim and Wishart. Debashish Mohanty initially erred in length and was punished by both batsmen. Wishart pulled short deliveries with particular relish, and also produced the odd powerful straight drive to the overpitched ball. He looked every inch a batsman with a point to prove – as he is. Had those responsible sought to boost his fragile confidence instead of condemning him to live in constant insecurity, he could be a successful Test regular, or more.By way of contrast, current Test player Ebrahim found it difficult to time the ball, but hung in there with determination. When Harbhajan Singh made a belated arrival at the bowling crease, Wishart immediately hit him for six over long on, but then skied a ball safely between two fielders. Just before lunch, Zahir Khan began a serious collapse by having Ebrahim (47) caught at slip and then yorking Craig Evans first ball. Viljoen (5) was lbw to Harbhajan and Zimbabwe A were suddenly reeling at 139 for five.Then Wishart, his concentration apparently disturbed by the comings and goings at the far end, hung a limp bat out feebly to Khan and was caught at the wicket. He had hit 68 off 85 balls. Finally Tatenda Taibu (1) was caught at short leg off Harbhajan on the stroke of lunch, and Zimbabwe A were 143 for seven, having lost five wickets for just ten runs. India had struck back with a vengeance.The disasters continued for Zimbabwe A after the interval, as Travis Friend (4) had his middle stump uprooted by a quicker yorker from Harbhajan Singh, and Bryan Strang (0) was caught at first slip off Nehra. Brian Murphy (9 not out) hung on while David Mutendera (13) enjoyed some thick edges and one powerfully driven boundary before being caught by Sachin Tendulkar at first slip. Zimbabwe A were all out for 175, 161 runs behind, but India declined to enforce the follow-on, preferring batting practice.Shiv Sunder Das and Sadgopan Ramesh looked in need of it, as they both had some uncomfortable moments early on against Strang and Friend. Das was finally adjudged lbw playing forward to Strang for 12, and shortly afterwards Ramesh (6) was caught in the slips off Friend, reducing the tourists to 22 for two.VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar batted quietly until tea, playing occasional attacking strokes but seeming content to wait for the loose ball rather than plunder the bowling. Friend tried two short balls to Tendulkar, only to have them both pulled effortlessly for four. Immediately after tea Mutendera had the same humiliating experience, and it was difficult to fathom the mentality of these bowlers.However, Mutendera was to take the wicket of Tendulkar for the second time in the match, as the little maestro hit too early and was caught at extra cover for 33. The same bowler had Laxman caught in the slips, also for 33. Saurav Ganguly (17) disputed his lbw dismissal in a way that would have had serious consequences in a Test match, and two more quick wickets followed. Rahul Dravid did not bat again, and as the match meandered to a close Harbhajan Singh (25*) entertained the crowd of several hundred, mainly schoolchildren, with a few big hits.

Graham Thorpe may be back for the Second Test at Lord’s after his injury was finally diagnosed.Thorpe, England’s only batsman with an international average of over 40, has been out for a month with what was originally believed to be a bad calf strain. However, it has since been discovered that there is some bleeding in the muscles, which causes regular cramps. He is currently resting his leg completely and taking anti-inflammatory drugs, though should his calf not respond to this treatment then a minor operation may be necessary.The Surrey batsman, however, is hoping that surgery will be avoided. “I don’t want to even entertain that idea at the moment,” he said in his column on the Channel 4 website. “It’s just one of those injuries that is very difficult to treat. The medics are saying I will be okay by the middle of the month but they are guessing a little bit.””As things stand now I’m aiming to be back playing in two weeks’ time which will make me available for the Lord’s Test,” he goes on. However, he realises that “time is short and I could well go into that Test match not having faced a ball in competitive cricket for six weeks. That would not be ideal preparation to face Glenn McGrath and co”.Nevertheless, he is desperate to come back to take his place in England’s middle order, which creaked horribly on the first day of the First Test yesterday; “The Ashes is the pinnacle of every player’s career and to be sat on the sidelines is almost as painful as the injury.” Hussain’s “carefully laid plans for this match have been ruined by a clutch of injuries”; now it is “down to the guys to rally around and get through it”.England players and supporters alike will be hoping that Thorpe is around to help the home side “get through it” for the Second Test in a fortnight, and Thorpe himself is confident of being there to boost England; “I’m prepared to play cold if the team needs me back in the middle order – see you at Lord’s”.

Usman Afzaal, omitted from the England side earlier in the day, suffered further misfortune when he was marooned on 40 not out as Nottinghamshire’s National League game against Warwickshire at Edgbaston was washed out by persistent showers.A two-hour delay in the start meant that the game had already been reduced to 30-overs a side when Notts opted to bat after winning the toss and it was Warwickshire whose hopes of closing on the First Division leaders perked up when seamer Charlie Dagnall got rid of both openers, Darren Bicknell and Jason Gallian, in his first two overs.Darren Bicknell was undone by some extra bounce and Gallian, making his first appearance of a season blighted by a knee injury, was beaten by one that moved away sharply to prompt a diving catch from wicketkeeper Keith Piper.Both sides needed victory to maintain their outside chance of challenging for the title and Notts’ claim improved sharply when Afzaal and Greg Blewett got going in a stand which added 82 in 14 overs.Blewett was badly missed at mid-wicket off Neil Smith before falling for 44 from 55 balls, including six fours, as Dougie Brown held a superb tumbling catch on the long-on boundary, but Afzaal continued to shore up the innings.Notts were 105-3 when rain made its terminal intervention.

Michael Slater has been dropped from Australia’s team to play England in the Fifth Test, which begins at The Oval on Thursday.Or so it seems, after the opening batsman broke ranks today to tell a Sydney radio station that he has been replaced by Justin Langer for the final match of the current series between the teams.”The powers that be have looked for a change and I’ve been replaced by Justin Langer,” Slater informed listeners of radio station 2WS.”It’s great for him. He’s had a disappointing tour and he gets a breath of fresh air at the end of it. But it’s hard to take when you’ve been dropped.”Slater has experienced a mediocre series, amassing 170 runs from seven innings at an average of 24.28. In the last six of those innings, he has produced scores of 25, 4, 15, 12, 21 and 16 and looked uncomfortable against the new ball pairing of Darren Gough and Andy Caddick. After Slater’s up-and-down series against West Indies at home last season, and his failure to reach the half-century mark in any of six innings against India on the subcontinent in March, he has now recorded only one century from his last 36 visits to the crease at Test level.Langer would, nonetheless, be a surprise choice to open the Australians’ batting. The Western Australian left hander has scored a total of just 183 runs on the tour, and has not batted since the Australians played a rain-aborted match against Ireland in Belfast early this month. His entire experience of opening at Test level has been confined to scores of 10 and 1 against West Indies in Perth more than eight years ago.Langer has been a consistent scorer of Test runs in the number three position over recent years, but lost his place in the eleven to fellow Western Australian Damien Martyn as this series commenced. This followed comparatively lean series for him against West Indies (203 runs at an average of 25.37) and India (161 runs at 32.20).The tour selectors, for their part, are understood to be waiting on the fitness of captain Steve Waugh before finalising the changes to their batting line-up. If the skipper, who now rates himself a 50-50 chance of playing in the match, passes a fitness test, then it seems likely that he will be Slater’s replacement and that either Martyn or Simon Katich – neither of whom has significant experience as an opener at first-class level – will partner Matthew Hayden at the top of the order. In that situation, Langer would remain on the sidelines.When Australia’s touring party was named in April, there had been widespread criticism of the selectors’ decision to take just two specialist openers to England. With Michael Hussey, Jamie Cox, Jimmy Maher and Greg Blewett all appearing to offer potential as replacements, it was believed that the Australians would call up a player from county ranks if an alternative opening batsman was needed.

A high-quality innings from Neil Fairbrother dominated the day’s proceedings at Colchester. The left-hander underpinned his side’s recovery after an indifferent start against Essex that saw opener John Crawley bowled for a duck in the second over of the day by Justin Bishop after he had won the toss.Then Andrew Flintoff fell for 18 before Fairbrother arrived to mastermind the rebuilding operation and ease his side into a more healthy position with a chanceless century. He faced 189 deliveries and hit two sixes and 14 other boundaries and rarely offered any display of a false stroke.The visitors, who are still threatened with relegation, were indebted to Fairbrother’s third wicket partnership worth 215 with Mark Chilton to provide the substance of their innings.Whilst Fairbrother completed the 46th first-class century of his career, his more watchful partner was dismissed for 98 having survived three chances.Chilton’s first life came with his score on 14 when Ashley Cowan spilled a chance off Ronnie Irani and he then remained at the crease when offering two catches with his score on 97.He was dropped by Stuart Law at slip off the bowling of Peter Such and in the off-spinner’s next over, he drove a ball to Stephen Peters at short leg where the ball rebounding off the fielder before ‘keeper James Foster just failed to complete the catch.However the batsman’s luck finally ran out one run later when Such gained deserved reward with Cowan completing a catch at short mid-wicket to end a patient innings.Irani, having earlier accounted for Flintoff, bowled Joe Scuderi off his pads for 14 and then ended Fairbrother’s vigil when the batsman glanced the bowler down the leg side to give Foster a diving catch.That left Lancashire on 296-5 and two runs later, Such produced a superb low catch off his own bowling to remove Graham Lloyd for nine and give the bottom of the table side their second bowling point.Jamie Haynes and Chris Schofield avoided any further problems easing their side to their third batting point late in the day as they closed on 316-6 wickets.