All posts by csb10.top

In the course of a year, a team usually has enough time to try out a new strategy, develop certain aspects of their game and consolidate others. But, when that team has only played three Tests in 11 months, it’s unlikely they have managed to work on any of that. Remarkably, South Africa, who play their fourth Test of 2011 against Sri Lanka in Centurion from Thursday, have already managed two of the three.Despite a shortage of Test cricket, they have introduced an attacking spinner in Imran Tahir, found a third seamer in Vernon Philander, and changed the make-up of their opening partnership to include Jacques Rudolph. In the next 12 months, South Africa will play ten Tests, including tours of New Zealand, England and Australia and so it is the third item, consolidation, that they will be looking for in upcoming contest with Sri Lanka.”Instead of stringing two out of three good sessions together, we should be able to manage three out out of three,” Graeme Smith, South Africa Test captain said. “That’s one reason why we probably haven’t gone on to beat teams recently. Hopefully, we can start stringing a whole day together.”South Africa have not won a home series since 2008, despite coming close against England, India and Australia. One of their most obvious problems has been the inability to polish off the opposition tail, leaving them without the results that are expected from a team of their calibre.”We’ve played some really good Test cricket, especially at home, but we just haven’t really had that killer blow,” Smith said. “We’ve been, in many ways, neither here nor there. We’ve been successful but we haven’t really had enough in terms of getting over the line, so this series is a combination of gaining confidence in our play and playing winning cricket.”Such an introspective approach to a series usually only occurs when the opposition have been written off but Smith was careful to say that South Africa will not treat Sri Lanka with any disrespect. “We’ve all played enough cricket to know that if we don’t give things the right amount of mental attitude and concentration, we can easily slip on that banana,” he said.After a wretched year in Test cricket, Sri Lanka are considered as weaker than have been in the recent past. They are a team in transition and South Africa are unfamiliar with most of their squad. But they still bring some of cricket’s biggest and most feared names, such as Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Ajantha Mendis and Smith said South Africa will target those players. “A lot of their players are unknown but they’ve still got some key players who’ve been around for a long time. How we perform against those players is going to be a key factor in the series,” he said.Two of the facets of South African performance that will come under scrutiny are the opening partnership and the wicket-keeping role. With Jacques Rudolph and Alviro Petersen both in the squad, the selectors have indicated that the duel for the spot is still on. Smith hinted that Rudolph will likely remain in the role but admitted that he is under some pressure to hold on it.”They’ve both got great records, they both understand their games well but Jacques is the man that has the opportunity now,” Smith said. “You want to give him the best chance to make use of that. The one thing that Alviro has done well is that he has kept knocking on the door and that’s what we want.”Mark Boucher also faces a litmus test as he approaches the end of his career. He failed to contribute with the bat against Australia and will have to use the Sri Lanka series to rectify that. Smith said Boucher has prepared well to meet his critics. “He has had a calm focus about him this week. At the Cobras, he has worked hard on his batting. He has looked good in the nets and I hope all the hard work he has put in over the last few weeks will pay off,” he said.Although Boucher is under the most pressure to produce, Smith said the same expectation exists in the rest of the squad. “It’s that stage of the season where everyone is looking for a performance and a bit of confidence.”South Africa’s international season began with a curtailed two-test series against Australia, after which most of the national squad were on a break. Most of them played only a match or two for their franchises in the one-day cup but they have not had any four-day or regular cricket in the lead up to the series. Essentially, their summer starts now.”It’s exciting to get your teeth into a proper Test series,” Smith said. “It’s been a very disjointed season so far for us. For us as a team, we now have the opportunity to get stuck in for a month and a bit and hopefully get some good momentum in the way that we play and get some confidence in our positions.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Darren Bravo and Kieran Powell added 160 for the fourth wicket•AFP

Smart stats

• The West Indies innings featured three century partnerships. This is the 12th time since 1990 and the seventh time since 2000 that West Indies have had three century stands in an innings. Two of those occasions have been in matches against India.

• R Ashwin’s tally of 4 for 154 off 51 overs meant that it is the sixth time that an India bowler has conceded more than 150 runs in an innings in Tests played in 2011. The highest is 170 conceded by Amit Mishra at The Oval.

• It is the first time for West Indies and the fifth time overall that the top six batsmen have made fifty-plus scores. The previous two occasions this happened were also against India, in Colombo (SSC) and Centurion.

• West Indies’ total of 575 is seventh on the list of their highest scores against India in matches played in India.

• The 160-run stand between Darren Bravo and Kieran Powell is the fourth-highest fifth-wicket stand for West Indies in Tests in India.

• Darren Bravo’s 166 is the fourth-highest score by a visiting batsman in Tests in Mumbai. Clive Lloyd, Alvin Kallicharran and Graeme Hick are above Bravo on the list.

• MS Dhoni, who equalled Kiran More’s record of five dismissals in an innings against West Indies, went past Syed Kirmani’s tally of 36 dismissals against West Indies.

The talk before the start of the Test had been about West Indies’ line-up having only seven centuries on their resume while India’s boasted 20 times as many, but two days into the match it was the less-decorated batting unit that had put on 575 for 9. Darren Bravo crafted his third hundred in four Tests to lead the way, while Kirk Edwards and Kieran Powell were left to rue missing centuries on a shirtfront at the Wankhede.Marlon Samuels partook in the run-fest after tea, to make it only the fifth time in Test history that each of the top six made half-centuries. Varun Aaron, the debutant fast bowler who was ordinary for much of the innings, showed plenty of tenacity to bowl a quick spell even as West Indies’ total swelled past 500, earning three wickets to spark a late collapse.The tone for the day was set by Bravo, who caressed the first two deliveries of the morning between the bowler, Aaron, and mid-off for four. West Indies plundered 111 runs before lunch, after which India went completely on the defensive, spreading the field, and giving the part-timers, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, extended spells. The strategy reduced the boundaries but there was no flagging of the run-rate, as an untroubled West Indies marched towards 500.Like on Tuesday, there was little to encourage India’s fast bowlers. Bravo showed how easy the track was to bat on as he pulled an Aaron bouncer wide of mid-on for four. His partner Edwards continued to showcase his driving skills, and a muscular style that favours the on-side. Edwards was more tentative than Bravo and he eventually fell short of a third Test century when he nicked a short-of-length ball to the keeper, giving Ishant Sharma reward for a long, tight spell.That brought in Powell, who started shakily – getting knocked on the back of his helmet by Ishant off the first delivery he faced. That didn’t faze the 21-year-old Powell, though, and he showed off his footwork against spin, dishing out a boundary an over. Powell initially dominated his partnership with the well-set Bravo, making his intentions clear early on by charging and lofting offspinner R Ashwin over his head, a stroke he repeated several times against the spinners.Bravo was briefly starved of the strike when Powell got going, but he didn’t lose his rhythm. He continued to favour the off side, using the graceful back-foot punch between cover and point heavily. His century came up with a slice past cover for four a few overs before lunch. There was no Lara-like leap in the air to celebrate the milestone this time, just a kiss of the bat and wave of the cap.There were a couple of close calls for the West Indies batsmen after lunch: two overs in, Powell was nearly run out by MS Dhoni, and in the next over Bravo nicked a delivery between the keeper and leg slip. That raised India’s hopes, but the breakthrough remained elusive. One of the few times the paltry crowd found its voice again was when their favourite, Tendulkar, was brought on to bowl.With minimal risk, Powell and Bravo collected the singles, hardly hassled by the spinners, who sent down an astonishing 22 overs in the hour after lunch. A maiden century for Powell seemed inevitable, but he was caught behind for 81 off a quicker delivery from Pragyan Ojha, ending a partnership of 160.Dhoni brought on the fast bowlers to attack the new batsman, Samuels, but though there were a couple of outside edges, Ishant slanted the ball too often into the pads to gift easy runs. Bravo was unflustered as ever, continuing past 150 to have a maiden double-century in his sights. He didn’t get there, though, as his innings ended on 166, giving Dhoni a catch while chasing a slightly wide delivery after tea.That strike sparked a rare period of Indian dominance, with five wickets going down for 48 runs. Aaron and R Ashwin did the damage for India in that spell, during which Samuels unleashed some eye-catching drives to reach his half-century. An awaited declaration didn’t come on the day, and neither could India bowl out West Indies, which meant Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir didn’t have to bat after spending almost two entire days in the field.

Greg Chappell, the former Australia captain, has said in his new book that the biggest regret of his controversial three-year stint as India coach was his failure to communicate properly with Sachin Tendulkar, with whom he had a strained relationship.Chappell coached India from 2005 to 2007 and pushed hard to bring fresh faces into the Indian side, and tried to initiate changes in the batting line-up. His desire for change did not sit well with many of India’s senior players though. He had a very public spat with then India captain, Sourav Ganguly, while the likes of Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh have all criticised his methods.But it was his disagreement with Tendulkar over his position in the batting order in one-day cricket that he wishes he had handled differently.”My biggest regret was falling out with Sachin over him batting at number four in the one-day team,” quotes Chappell as writing in his new autobiography, . “It was a shame because he and I had some intense and beneficial talks together prior to that. My impatience to see improvement across the board was my undoing in the end.”The mistakes I made were not particularly ‘western’ but the same kind of mistakes I had made as a captain in my playing days. I didn’t communicate my plans well enough to the senior players. I should have let guys like Tendulkar, (VVS) Laxman and (Virender) Sehwag know that although I was an agent of change, they were still part of our Test future.Chappell has also admitted that he was at times abrupt in his dealings with some of the players. “Once in South Africa, I called in Sachin and Sehwag to ask more of them, I could tell by the look on their faces that they were affronted. Later [Rahul] Dravid, who was in the room, said, ‘Greg, they’ve never been spoken to like that before’.”One thing his time as coach did help him understand was the huge amount of pressure Indian cricketers are under, especially Tendulkar. “A glimpse of them was a life-changing event… We were playing an unrelenting amount of cricket to satisfy the demand, at least 50% more than Australia were playing and the pressure was beyond belief.”Nobody was carrying that pressure more than Sachin. Not even Don Bradman carried expectations like this, and Sachin had been bearing it since 1989.”When the team travelled, he would snap on his headphones, not look sideways, and shut it all out. There was a constant frenzy trying to get in at him. The energy it would have taken for him to let that kind of excitement in would have drained him dry.”Chappell said he had encouraged Tendulkar to take a day off from training but Tendulkar said that was not a feasible option given the fans’ expectations of him. “If he didn’t train and then performed badly, he’d have been blamed. People would notice. And there was no relief for him going out onto the streets, either. He just couldn’t get any rest.”The book also reveals that prior to Sharad Pawar taking over as BCCI president in 2006, Chappell had a somewhat uncomfortable relationship with the board, whom he claims tried to make life difficult for him, his family and his staff by not paying their bills and wages for months.”Throughout our living arrangements at the Taj Westend in Bangalore had always seemed tenuous. The BCCI was usually late in paying our bills, and Judy (Chappell’s wife), alone in Bangalore for much of the time I was touring, often didn’t know whether my employer was looking after its commitments or not.”The wages for me, Ian Frazer and other support staff were sometimes paid months late. I saw it more as back channel attempts to make life uncomfortable and push towards throwing it in. Things improved markedly under the [Sharad] Pawar regime.”

The IPL is likely to comprise nine teams in 2012 and players from the terminated Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise could be made available to the other franchises through a player auction early next year, ESPNcricinfo has learnt. The 2012 IPL is also expected to return to the home-and-away format of the first three seasons.The newly formed IPL governing council, headed by chairman Rajiv Shukla, will meet for the first time in Hyderabad on October 14 and the fate of the Kochi players and the tournament’s format are the key issues up for discussion. The other issues are whether a new team will replace Kochi, the dates for a trading window and player auction, and the participation of Pakistan cricketers in the league. The IPL management met with franchises individually to solicit their views on these issues.The BCCI had voted to terminate the Kochi franchise at its annual general meeting last month. The Kochi players’ salaries were covered through the franchise’s bank guarantee worth Rs 156 crores (already encashed by the BCCI) yet the question remains how leading players, both international and domestic, such as Muthiah Muralitharan, Brendon McCullum, Mahela Jayawardene and Parthiv Patel, will be made available to the franchises.One option is to put the players in a fresh auction. Another is a trading window during which the players could sign with new teams. A franchise official told ESPNcricinfo an auction was the more probable outcome.The BCCI is likely to stick with nine teams for the time being, despite president N Srinivasan saying in the board’s annual meeting that the governing council would decide on whether to issue a tender for a 10th franchise in the October meeting. Nine teams will also make the schedule more manageable. In its attempt to keep a ten-team IPL in 2011 to 74 matches, the BCCI had moved away from a simple home-and-away format. The franchises and the BCCI are in favour of returning to the original format, since the number of games would increase marginally to 76. The franchises also feel the home-and-away system is the fairest option.The player auction is expected to take place early next year. In addition to Kochi’s players, it could feature cricketers from England as well as Chris Gayle, who starred for Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for Dirk Nannes in 2011. The Royal Challengers, however, have the first right to sign Gayle, provided both parties can agree on terms. If Gayle chooses not to sign with the team, only then will he enter the auction. All the teams will be allowed an additional amount to spend on new players, extending the salary cap.Shukla also said the participation of Pakistan players will be discussed at the meeting, though the final call on whether to buy them rests with the franchises.As in the past, there will be a trading window towards the end of 2011, with the auction to follow. The teams also have the option of buying out contracts to make space for new players.

The Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has been ignored by Karachi and Multan for the season-opening domestic Twenty20, after being overlooked by the two Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) teams, his home region, earlier this week.Zulqarnain played for the Lahore Eagles last year in the domestic tournament but this season, the Lahore teams – Eagles and Lions – have opted for the Akmal brothers, Kamran and Adnan, as their wicketkeepers.”It is disappointing to not be considered in either of the Lahore teams because this is my home region and if they don’t select me, who will,” Zulqarnain had said.”Haider was out of cricket for the last year and in Twenty20, we require cricketers who are performing so we went for better performers,” Lahore region president Khawaja Nadeem said.Zulqarnain last played for Pakistan in November 2010, in the ODI series against South Africa in UAE. He went missing from the team hotel in Dubai on the morning of the final ODI on November 8, having played a starring role in Pakistan’s win in the previous game. He later resurfaced in the UK and said he fled since he had received death threats from unidentified people seeking to draw him into match-fixing. He tried to seek protection in the UK and placed an application for asylum that hinged on the nature of the information he was able to divulge, as the extraordinary nature of his case appeared to fall outside the usual conditions required of a person seeking refugee status.In the aftermath of his flight, Zulqarnain announced his international retirement and his contract with the PCB was suspended. A fact-finding committee subsequently set-up by the PCB to look into the affair failed to find any clear motives behind his actions. However, in April this year, he decided to revoke his application for asylum and subsequently returned, having obtained security assurances from the government over his and his family’s personal safety. He announced his decision to end his international retirement in May and was fined 500,000 rupees ($5,800) by the Pakistan board in June after a PCB disciplinary committee found him guilty of violating their code of conduct when he flew to London without informing the team management.The Pakistan domestic T20 tournament will be played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, from September 25. It will feature 14 teams including a side from Afghanistan.

ScorecardSteve Davies hit his first century of the season to keep Surrey in control on the second day of the Division Two clash against bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire at Grace Road. The 25-year-old wicketkeeper scored 121 out of Surrey’s first-innings total of 343, which gave them a lead of 176 runs.Davies then took two catches as Leicestershire struggled to 66 for 2 by the close to trail by 110.It added up to another tough day for Leicestershire, whose only consolation was the performances of youngsters Shiv Thakor and Rob Taylor who took three wickets each to prevent Surrey building up an unassailable lead. Teenager Thakor took 3 for 57 while 21-year-old Taylor followed up his impressive knock of 70 in Leicestershire’s first innings by claiming 3 for 53 on his Championship debut.But it was the batting of Davies which enabled Surrey to keep a firm grip on the game. They began the day on 122 for 2 but lost an early wicket when Zander De Bruyn chopped the ball back into his stumps to give left-arm seamer Taylor his maiden Championship wicket.It did not take him long to add to that with Tom Maynard driving an easy catch to cover with the total at 182. Taylor’s lively seven-over spell brought him figures of two for 23. Jason Roy quickly showed his attacking intentions with a straight six off left-arm spinner Claude Henderson and gave Davies good support as the left-hander closed in on his century.He had a few nervy moments in the 90s but finally made it, having faced 196 balls and hit 15 boundaries. But he was out soon after lunch, caught at point off Henderson. His departure ended a fifth-wicket stand of 84 and when Roy holed out to long-on off Henderson six overs later for 46, Leicestershire looked to be back in the game.A brisk 40 from Gareth Batty however, ensured Surrey picked up a third batting point but with Thakor trapping Stuart Meaker and Tim Linley lbw with successive deliveries and Batty caught behind off Taylor, the visitors’ total of 343 was less than seemed likely at one stage.But despite two interruptions for bad light, Surrey made early inroads into Leicestershire’s second innings. Matt Boyce gloved a catch to Davies off Linley and Greg Smith provided the wicketkeeper with another catch with a thin edge off Batty shortly before the close. It could have been worse for Leicestershire when Jefferson was caught at second slip off Chris Jordan only for a no-ball to be called.

ScorecardSteven Finn made light of the 120-mile drive from Nottingham and his late inclusion for Middlesex by taking a wicket with his third ball of the game as County Championship rivals Derbyshire were dismissed for 252 on the opening day at Lord’s.In reply, Middlesex closed on 105 without loss, with Scott Newman unbeaten on 51 and Sam Robson with 48 not out – as Finn watched on, with feet up and resting on the players’ balcony.Having driven to Trent Bridge on Thursday evening to act as cover for the second Test between England and India – only to lose the selection head-to-head to Tim Bresnan – Finn hopped back in his Jaguar for the two-hour return trek to St John’s Wood and made an immediate impact.By the time the 6ft 8ins paceman ran onto the field at 1.45pm Derbyshire were already mounting a spirited recovery from a dreadful opening half-hour. The visitors had slipped to 14 for 3 in the face of an excellent new-ball burst from Tim Murtagh, this after Derbyshire had elected to bat first after winning the toss just before the delayed start at noon.With the first delivery of the match Murtagh, fresh from the second 10-wicket match haul of his career against Surrey last week, got one to lift, find the shoulder of Martin Guptill’s bat and fly to gully. In his third over, Murtagh ran one away from Wayne Madsen’s outside edge to have him caught at slip, also without scoring.Then, six deliveries later, an ill-judged back-foot force by Chesney Hughes sliced off a thick edge to Neil Dexter in the gully to give Murtagh his third victim in as many overs. Finn’s arrival was received with a round of applause from appreciative Middlesex members, which he soon repaid with the third-ball wicket of Wes Durston that broke a fourth-wicket stand with Greg Smith that added 114.Caught out by the full length and Finn’s extra pace, Durston was caught on the crease and plum leg before for 61, scored off 90 balls. Smith followed soon after lunch, leg before to an excellent off-cutter for 57 to give Murtagh figures of four for 45.When Finn rushed one through the back-foot defence of Luke Sutton to make it 166 for six there was a real danger Derbyshire would fail to post a single batting point.On what appears a tinder-dry pitch, Dexter introduced spin after only an hour, but it took until mid-afternoon for the move to pay dividends as Derbyshire lost three for four in 38 balls against the wiles of young left-arm spinner Tom Smith.The 22-year-old had Jonathan Clare caught at slip and Tim Groenewald snaffled behind, both off defensive pushes, then Tony Palladino prodded outside the line of an arm ball to proffer a bat-pad catch to short leg.The in-form Ross Whiteley refused to lie down, however, and his two-hour stay for 56 helped the visitors to a second batting bonus point before he holed out to mid-on to give Finn figures of three for 51.Newman and Robson batted circumspectly throughout the remaining 28 overs of the day to cut the deficit to 147 with all first-innings wickets intact going into day two.

The India bandwagon has rolled into town and it has brought with it a familiar face. Duncan Fletcher left the England coaching job after the 2007 World Cup, which began a turbulent time for the team, and now returns to try and plot their downfall and sustain India’s grip on the No. 1 ranking in Tests.The manner in which Fletcher departed the England role – following a 0-5 Ashes whitewash and a dire World Cup – left behind poor memories of a successful period in which the team regained the Ashes in 2005 and became a major Test, although not one-day, force. The Fletcher that returns in 2011 doesn’t appear to have changed much; he still wears the dark glasses, still doesn’t smile much and still doesn’t give much away.But his challenge is quite different. With England, his job involved coaching a team building towards an ultimate aim and, despite the 2005 Ashes success, they never quite fulfilled what their talent promised. Now, he is in charge of the World Cup holders and the top-ranked Test side. It is possible to suggest the only way from here is down, and failure is not tolerated easily in Indian cricket.However, Fletcher’s coaching juices have started flowing again, after a period when he believed his time in a full-time top job was finished. “To be honest I think I did [hang up the coaching boots],” he said. “It’s strange being back in this role. When I left England I didn’t think I’d be back, involved in this way. But after doing some consultancy for South Africa, New Zealand and Hampshire I got the bug again.”Then this opportunity came up, and it was one I couldn’t turn down. It does seem a bit strange to be back here, but I’ve enjoyed working with India. We had a good tour in West Indies and this will be an exciting series to be involved in.”Duncan Fletcher finds it exciting to work with MS Dhoni, whom he terms ‘a legend of the game’•Getty Images

Fletcher will clearly be well paid for his job (although it probably matches the expectations that come with it) but he still retains that hunger to help players, especially batsmen, make the most of potential that other coaches may find tougher to spot. Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan were the best examples from his England days, but so too is the current captain Andrew Strauss.”I’ve got huge regard for Duncan as a man and a coach,” Strauss said. “He was integral in me changing from a promising county player to a full-fledged Test player. It’s great to see him coach India. I’m sure he’s delighted with that opportunity.”The situation is slightly different for Fletcher this time around, since India’s batting line-up includes some of the finest players to grace the game. In many ways it could be an intimidating position for him to be in, as there will be a complete generational shift within the India team when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman eventually move on. They may outlast Fletcher, but if they don’t, his coaching legacy will be what he can do to replace them.However, Fletcher still believes the great players can be helped and wants to split his time between working with the senior figures while also nurturing members of the next generation such as Suresh Raina. “It happened in the West Indies where I did a bit of work with Rahul. Every batsman needs help at times – look at the top golfers who lose their game and someone has to be there to help identify the reason. I also work with the young players to pass on knowledge and make sure they get experience as quickly as possible.”I find it exciting just working with MS [Dhoni] and VVS Laxman who are two legends of the game,” he added. “Even talking to Harbhajan Singh over his bowling has been fantastic. When these individuals come in it just helps and inspires you. They can probably teach me more than I can teach them, it is a pleasant and enjoyable journey I hope.”Fletcher is building new friendships with the India team but one of the fascinating sub-plots to this series is his relationship with some current England players. Many began their international careers under Fletcher and his bond with Kevin Pietersen remains especially strong. He keeps in contact with a number of players but chats may be more limited over the next couple of months.”I have talked to them on the phone since taking the job on odd occasions – not always about cricket,” he said. “I’ll play it by ear and see how it goes. They are good friends.”Friendship also means knowledge of what they are like as players. Despite the pedigree of the players at India’s disposal, Fletcher’s inside tips could yet prove a vital factor although both sides are saying a lot has changed in four years.”I’ve always said the planning aspect to the Test series is important but not nearly as important as players going out and doing it under pressure,” Strauss said. “I don’t think he’s going to tell them anything they particularly don’t know about us. The key with all these plans is to administer them in the middle.”Fletcher, though, is too canny not to have a few ideas up his sleeve. “The team has changed quite a bit,” he said. “We’ll have to look at the tapes we’ve got over the next few days. It’s difficult to assess how teams are better and who is the best. If you look at statistics it says India are, but England have definitely improved under Straussy and Andy Flower. They’ve got the side back on track and have played some really good cricket. We are going to need to play very good cricket as well.”And if India play well enough to repeat their series victory from 2007 Fletcher might even manage a smile.

ScorecardShelley Nitschke starred with the ball to pick up three wickets for Australia in her last game at home•Getty Images

An all-round show from Australia helped them win the third and final ODI in Brisbane by 19 runs and seal the Rose Bowl series 4-2.Australia, who had already retained the trophy after they won the second ODI on Tuesday, were sent in to bat by New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins, who was playing her 100th ODI. They got off to a shaky start, losing openers Shelley Nitschke and Meg Lanning with just 29 runs on board. However Alex Blackwell and Leah Poulton added 71 runs for the third wicket to steady the innings. Poulton fell after a solid 38, but Blackwell went on to make a half-century and push Australia forward before she was dismissed with the score on 142.Australia lost Sarah Coyte and Erin Osborne in quick succession after that, as New Zealand’s bowlers hit back, before a brisk unbeaten 27 from No.10 Clea Smith helped propel her team past 200. Kelly Anderson was the most successful bowler for the visitors, picking up three wickets.New Zealand started steadily, with openers Frances Mackay and Lucy Doolan putting on 45 for the first wicket. Doolan fell to Nitschke in the ninth over and her dismissal triggered a collapse. Nitschke, Lisa Sthalekar and Coyte combined to pick up six wickets between them as New Zealand slumped from 45 for 1 to 97 for 6.Watkins and Nicola Browne showed some resistance with a fighting 41-run seventh-wicket partnership but once Watkins was lbw to Osborne in the 31st over, New Zealand lost momentum and their tail fell away. Browne was unbeaten on 54 as New Zealand were bowled out for 203 to hand Australia the series win. Nitschke, who was the most successful bowler for Australia with three wickets, was declared the Player of the Series.”We came into today’s match wanting to finish the series on a positive note and it’s great that we’ve been able to achieve that, especially in Shelley’s last game [at home],” Australia captain Jodie Fields said.”It’s been great to get out and play a couple of good games this week and we’ll take some confidence and momentum with us to England for the Quadrangular series. I know everyone is really looking forward to that opportunity and the challenge that lies ahead playing against three of the best sides in the world.”

Brendan Nash, the West Indies vice-captain, is hoping that a return to St Kitts will bring him another big score as his side aims to wrap up the series against Pakistan. The second Test begins on Friday at Warner Park, where Nash last year made his highest Test score, 114 against South Africa.West Indies are coming off a morale-boosting victory in the first Test in Guyana, their first Test win in more than two years. However, Nash didn’t have much impact in the match, scoring 5 in the first innings and 3 in the second, and he wants to play his part in St Kitts.”Last year when we played here we got a really good batting surface and I managed to get a good century, which was my second century for the West Indies,” Nash said. “We were outplayed by the South Africans in the first match in Trinidad, but we rebounded to get what you could say was a fighting draw here in St Kitts.”I felt I batted really well, adding some valuable runs with Shiv [Chanderpaul], who also got a good century. Shiv and I put on a very good partnership. There were quite a few runs scored in that match and it was good the way we responded. Coming back here again this year I will be looking for another big score for the team. I didn’t get many in Guyana so I know I will be looking to make a greater contribution in this match.”We did some really good things in Guyana and we will be looking to do well again here. The bowlers were exceptional. [Darren] Sammy led from the front and the others followed. Ravi [Rampaul] got some great wickets for us and [Devendra] Bishoo was also very good in his first match. I rate the performance of the team very high.”Fourteen players have travelled to St Kitts to prepare for the second Test; the XI from the Guyana victory plus Fidel Edwards, Marlon Samuels and Kraigg Brathwaite. The squad will be trimmed to 13 on Thursday.