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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Dwayne Bravo made little work of Kings XI Punjab’s 119, scoring an unbeaten 70 to take Mumbai Indians to an eight-wicket win•Associated Press

For the second time in two meetings between these teams, Kings XI Punjab batted first and scored 119, but unlike the game in Durban, there was no redemption in the field this time as Mumbai Indians swept to an eight-wicket win to move up to 11 points and fourth in the points table. The win was set up by Mumbai’s offspinners – Harbhajan Singh, JP Duminy and Ajinkya Rahane returned combined figures of 4 for 29 in nine overs to launch a stunning comeback. Dwayne Bravo ensured a hiccup-free run-chase with a magnificent unbeaten 70 in an innings full of expansive drives and pulls.Mahela Jayawardene’s absence due to a leg injury sustained during the previous game hit Punjab badly: not only did they miss his calm presence in the middle order, it also meant there were six left-handers in the top eight, since his replacement was Luke Pommersbach. That suited Sachin Tendulkar’s offspin theory perfectly, and Punjab didn’t help their cause with some reckless shot-making and brainless running between the wickets.After the first five overs, though, it seemed this match would be a run-fest just like the previous one of the day, when Ross Taylor’s heroics had lit up Centurion. Punjab rattled along to 50 off a mere 32 balls, with Sunny Sohal (43 off 23) plundering boundaries at will, either shuffling across his stumps to flick to leg, or giving himself room to carve sixes over point. Soon, though, Harbhajan came into the attack, beat Kumar Sangakkara with his first three deliveries, and from there Punjab had little to cheer as Tendulkar quickly latched on to the offspin theory.Coming in to bowl in the eighth over, Harbhajan immediately settled into a magnificent rhythm. Bowling from round the stumps to the left-handers, he flighted the ball, got it to drift in, and the spin away sharply. Sangakkara was clueless off the first three deliveries, and then lost that contest comprehensively when he played all over one from Harbhajan’s next over.Duminy was soon pressed into the attack, and he responded with two strikes in his second over, first getting Wilkin Mota to hoick one to Harbhajan, who juggled repeatedly before holding on, and Yuvraj Singh, who paid the price for hitting against the turn. The twin offspin success prompted Tendulkar to try Ajinkya Rahane, and that move paid off too, as Pommersbach played a rash head-in-the-air shot that typified Punjab’s approach.In between all the spin trouble, Punjab contributed to their own downfall with some extremely sloppy running between the wickets. Mota gave it away with one such effort, making no effort to get back into his crease when Tendulkar misfielded at midwicket.The bowlers had done much more than had been expected of them, and Bravo and Tendulkar ensured the run-chase would be a canter. Punjab nailed a couple of wickets – including that of Sanath Jayasuriya – to give them some initial hope, but Bravo, who survived a tough caught-and-bowled chance off Irfan Pathan early in his innings, ended the momentary high with a fearsome assault on Sreesanth which turned the momentum completely Mumbai’s way.Only 14 had come off the first four overs when Sreesanth came into the attack, and Bravo duly seized the opportunity, pulling him for four, straight-driving and flicking him over long-on for two glorious sixes, and then flicking through midwicket for another four as the over leaked 21.Tendulkar soon joined in the fun, dropping down to No.4 and playing himself back into form after a run of low scores. The spinners caused a few problems, but Bravo trusted his footwork, going down the pitch and striking Yuvraj for a straight six. Piyush Chawla spun a few past the bat, Brett Lee bowled a fiery spell and tested the batsmen with pace and bounce – Bravo copped one on the helmet late in his innings – but with such a paltry target before them, the batsmen were never under any pressure. Tendulkar carved a few slog-sweeps through and over midwicket, Bravo finished it off with a spanking pull shot, and Mumbai ended the evening feeling much better about their semi-final chances than they had when they began the match.

Group B

A four-wicket haul from Waqas Ahmed and twin fifties from the openers, Raza Ali and Sohail Ahmed, helped Lahore Lions coast to a seven-wicket win against Islamabad Leopards at the Gaddafi Stadium. Put in by the hosts, the Islamabad openers made a solid start, putting on 65. But once both fell identically, caught by Raza off Waqas, the remaining batsmen struggled as they were reduced to 119 for 6. Ashar Zaidi, with his run-a-ball 48 along with Imad Wasim (29) fought bravely with a 45-run partnership as the visitors were bowled out for a disappointing 179 in the 31st over. Raza and Sohail looked completely in charge during the chase, racing away to 104. Both were aggressive as they decimated the bowling. Raza stroked seven boundaries and a six before he finally fell on 54. Sohail remained unbeaten on 87 off 77 balls, hitting ten boundaries en route, as Lahore reached the target in the 29th over. With the win, Lahore displaced Islamabad at the top, with the top three teams all locked on eight points.Peshawar Panthers and Sialkot Stallions had to be content with split points with the the weather playing havoc at the Jinnah Stadium. Sialkot chose to field in the 28-overs-a-side match and were given the perfect start by left-arm paceman Naved Arif who accounted for Peshawar’s top three batsmen. Offspinner Suleman Ali picked up 3 for 26 as the visitors ended on 128. Kamran Younus then turned on the heat during the reply hitting five boundaries and a six during his 17-ball 32. Even Haris Sohail’s 26 off 16 balls was to no avail as only 10 overs could be bowled with Sialkot remaining stuck on 87 for 2.

Group C

Both matches – between Pakistan Customs and Sui Southern Gas Corporation at the Diamond Club Ground and Khan Research Laboratories’ fixture against Zarai Tarqiati Bank Limited at the Khan Research Laboratory Ground – were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Phillip Hughes has taken over from his fellow left-hander MatthewHayden as Australia’s Test opener but that’s about where thesimilarity ends. The pair couldn’t be less physically alike andHughes’ first substantial innings at international level has alsoshown that, apart from having the confidence to go for his shots, hisbatting style bears little resemblance to that of his predecessor.Hayden was big in every sense of the word and so imposing that when hewalked at the bowler it was easy to imagine his thunderous presenceopening up new cracks in the pitch. Hughes, at 170 centimetres, is soslight that on a particularly bad surface he could almost slip throughone of those fissures. It shouldn’t be any great surprise, then, thatthe men handle fast bowling rather differently.It’s hard to remember Hayden ever backing away from a bouncer; hepreferred to hook or duck. Hughes, who edged behind when he flashed ata high, wide bouncer from Dale Steyn in the first innings, was heavilytested by short stuff in his second innings. The South Africans weresurprised by his strange technique. As Steyn delivered a threateningbarrage, Hughes shuffled backwards in a manner that brought to mindStuart MacGill more than Matthew Hayden.But while he backed away he wasn’t backing down. Hughes was preparedto use the pace and cut over the cordon, which is a method he hasemployed since he played A-grade cricket at the age of 12 in the NewSouth Wales town of Macksville. When the older fast bowlers would tryto rattle the precocious kid with bouncers, Hughes refused to bebullied and regularly rocked back to slash them over the slips.Fast-forward eight years and not much has changed.”I thought that was the outstanding part of it, that he did stand upfor himself,” Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen said. “He took thechallenge on, head on. They’re good quality fast bowlers and theybowled fast and they bowled aggressively at him. There was obviouslysome bi-play going on out there and they were trying to get under hisskin but he really hung in there and he was willing to take them onwith some aggressive cricket.”That Hughes went on to post 75 in his second Test innings was a creditto his determination. His runs didn’t come easily, nor prettily, butit was impossible to look away during his 159-minute innings. He isparticularly strong square of the wicket and when he was given widthhe cut with reckless abandon, sometimes through point if not over thecordon. Balls were driven uppishly wide of fielders and there wasbarely a dull moment during his charmed existence.Twice Hughes was caught behind off his gloves from Morne Morkelbouncers but both times he was reprieved by the umpire Billy Bowdenand the South African captain Graeme Smith, who wasn’t certain enoughto ask for referrals. At 20, Hughes is a year younger than Smith waswhen he made his Test debut. While the two men were in the middlelocked in battle, Nielsen felt as though he was watching a raw versionof the South African captain.”I wouldn’t be surprised in the future if you see Phillip Hughesplaying similar roles to what Graeme Smith does for South Africa as anopening batsman,” Nielsen said. “He’s going to be a pugnacious, strongbackfoot player that’s willing to take on any contest and he’s shownthat in his first Test today.”

When Hughes brought up his half-century with one of his mostconventional shots, a terrific off-drive to the boundary off Morkel,he was congratulated by his partner and captain Ricky Ponting. AfterHughes acknowledged the crowd’s applause, Ponting made a special pointof walking up to his new colleague and handing out some advice.Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to include a smile.But there must have been plenty of happy faces in Macksville, whereHughes was raised in a banana-farming family. It’s a small townbetween Sydney and Brisbane that prompted the travel writer BillBryson to write: “It is possible, I suppose, to construct hypotheticalcircumstances in which you would be pleased to find yourself, at theend of a long day, in Macksville.” Bryson went on to clarify that itwouldn’t be his feeling in the normal course of events.At the end of a long day on Thursday, the locals weren’t too happyeither. They had been promised free beer at one of the town’s pubs foras long as Hughes’ first innings lasted. Four balls gave them barelylong enough to get to the front of the queue at the bar. At least whenhe scored his half-century in the second innings it was duringprime-time in Australia, even if the beer wasn’t free.When he slammed Paul Harris over midwicket for six it looked like hemight have enough luck on his side to join Marcus North in scoring acentury on debut. But his fortune soon ran out. Hughes glanced a catchto leg slip later in the same over and walked off having shown histremendous talent but also some potential weaknesses.He’ll never play just like Hayden, who before the tour advised Hughesto “be himself”. Nor will he ever look like the mountainous Smith, butif he increases the batting resemblance to South Africa’s captain thatso impressed his coach, Hughes will be a supremely valuable man foryears to come.

Mark Vermeulen’s rehabilitation is almost complete. A little over a year ago he was in court facing up to 25 years in prison after an arson attack which destroyed Zimbabwe’s cricket academy. But he was acquitted of that charge on the grounds of mental illness, and today he was named in the Zimbabwe A squad to tour Namibia next month.Vermeulen, who turns 30 on March 2, played the last of his eight Tests and 32 ODIs in December 2004, but could yet add to that tally if this comeback proves a success. He has been named alongside other players who have had a taste of senior cricket such as Charles Coventry, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Shingi Masakadza, and Regis Chakabva for the tour that runs from March 10-16 in Windhoek.After their first training session at the CFX Academy on Monday, Zimbabwe A coach Steven Mangongo told the ZC website that he is happy with the enthusiasm displayed by the players during the work-out and hopes to pick the right players for the tour of Namibia.”We had our first proper session with the squad in the morning and tomorrow [Tuesday] we are playing the national team and that should give us some points as to where we stand. It is during such practice matches that we hope to be finalizing on the 14 players and three reserves for the tour,” said Mangongo.Aside from his highly publicised misadventure, Vermeulen has a reputation as a difficult character, a trait that stems in part from a sickening head injury he sustained while batting against Irfan Pathan during Zimbabwe’s VB Series campaign in Australia in January 2004. But Magongo said that he was impressed so far by his attitude in training, and hoped that he would sustain the same commitment and hard work.”Mark is a good player whom I am working with to give the side what we believe he can offer,” said Magongo. “His fitness is fine and we are working with getting him the right technique so that he starts scoring runs for the side, something we believe he can do. If that happens, then our reconstruction on his career would be on the right path.”The team leaves on March 10 and will play three ODIs and one Twenty20 during the tour. Mangongo reckons that the level of the national league is low and that eats into the quality of the players produced, so playing associate nations gives them the opportunity to grow.”The best way of judging our strength is, as a Test nation, our A sides should be able to beat the national teams of associate nations such as Namibia. I believe there is no reason our A side should lose to Namibia as it is the only yardstick we can measure our progress with. We are going to Namibia to win and if that does not happen it means we are not doing enough with our A squads,” said Mangongo, who expects to settle on the final 14 players and reserves by Thursday.Zimbabwe A E Chauluka, M Vermuelen, R Chakabva, B Mlambo, T Ngulube, M Mabuza, P Moore, B Chapungu, T Chimbambo, M Waller, C Coventry, R Chinyengetere, S Masakadza, T Garwe, A Manyumwa, P Charumbira, T Maruma, T Kamungozi, N Mushangwe, T Chisoro. Reserves – C Zhuwawo, M Chinouya, J Nyumbu, B Bala.

David Warner will play his first one-day international on Sunday after being picked to replace Michael Clarke, who was ruled out of the South Africa series with a thumb injury. Warner starred with a breathtaking 89 in the opening Twenty20 and was kept as cover for Clarke before being sent home to Sydney on Thursday when the vice-captain appeared to recover from a problem sustained during the Perth Test.Clarke played in the three-wicket loss to South Africa at the MCG, but the injury got worse and was told to rest for two weeks. Alex Kountouris, the team physio, said Clarke experienced pain while making 19 and it was the first time since hurting his right thumb that he had performed without an injection.”While Michael could continue to play with pain-relieving injections, this will ultimately slow his recovery,” Kountouris said. Clarke will now look towards the five-game series against New Zealand starting next month.While Warner’s promotion for the second match in Hobart is a personal highlight, it means he will not be able to help New South Wales, who are in contention for a spot at the lucrative Champions League Twenty20, in their match against Victoria in Sydney on Saturday night. “It presents an exciting opportunity for David to follow his spectacular Twenty20 debut in the 50-over format for Australia,” Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said.Warner will provide a quick solution to Australia’s opening situation after Michael Hussey was promoted to partner Shaun Marsh in Melbourne. Marsh compiled a cautious 79 off 97 balls while Hussey, who has become used to life in the middle order, was out for 6 in the third over.

The ICC has decided not to stage the postponed 2009 Champions Trophy in Pakistan after several members expressed reservations about touring the troubled country on the second day of its board meeting in Perth. The location of the event, however, is yet to be finalised, but a decision is expected before the board’s next scheduled meeting in April.”It is unfortunate the ICC Champions Trophy will not take place in Pakistan due to circumstances completely beyond the control of the PCB,” Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said. “However, the board has accepted the need for certainty in planning for and delivering a world-class event and will now assess where the event should be held.”The tournament, originally scheduled for September 2008, had been postponed by a year after a number of participating countries raised concerns over touring Pakistan due to security concerns. Although Pakistan will not host the event, they will retain the revenue due for hosting the tournament, the ICC board decided.The ICC also offered to form a task team to visit Pakistan and work with the PCB “to find ways to ensure that, wherever possible, international cricket is played in the country in the future”. Pakistan has struggled to attract touring teams for a number of years owing to their concerns over its security. Two home series, against Australia and West Indies, were relocated in the aftermath of the 9/11 bombings in America in 2001, and Australia also postponed their full tour of Pakistan last year. India then pulled out of a tour starting in January this year in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist strikes, following which Sri Lanka agreed to a split tour.Former Pakistan captain and commentator Ramiz Raja, however, was disappointed with the decision to shift the tournament. “I think Pakistan has done enough to tell the world that cricket is not targeted in the country,” he told AFP. “While the PCB wanted to host the Champions Trophy, they insisted to host Australia on a neutral venue in April. That must have confused the decision-makers.”Managing security and terrorism intelligence has been high on the agenda for the ICC, and it was believed the attacks on Mumbai and the troubled security situation in Pakistan which led to the postponement of the Champions Trophy may have also prompted the ICC to consider extending the purview of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).The Champions Trophy is expected to rake in around US$40 million, most of which will be redeployed for the development of the game.

The out-going Matthew Hayden has refused to anoint his successor as the queue to partner Simon Katich in the Test team grows. Phil Jaques will return to grade cricket in Sydney on Saturday after recovering from back surgery and will compete with Chris Rogers and Phillip Hughes for positions in the touring squad to South Africa, which will be chosen early next month.”With regards to who will replace me, it’s a difficult challenge and I can’t win one way or the other,” Hayden said after announcing his retirement in Brisbane. He encouraged the applicants to “leap in with absolute vigour and joy”. “It’s an enormous privilege to play and I’m sure those guys, who will potentially be playing for Australia, will be in the nets now trying to work out their game so they can play.”Jaques scored a century in his previous Test in the West Indies before succumbing to injury in India, where Katich confirmed his place. Katich finished the Test summer as the No. 1 opener, having earned 1129 runs at 56.45 in 2008, and will soon be in the position as the senior man in the opening partnership.Katich and Jaques combined in three Tests in the West Indies last year when Hayden was missing with a heel injury. Hughes, 20, is having a second strong year with New South Wales, scoring 730 runs in seven games, while Rogers has 661 at 82.62 after switching from Western Australia to Victoria in the off-season.”It’s hard to know exactly where I am, hopefully the selectors see me as an option,” Rogers said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “Scoring runs is the only thing that’s going to persuade selectors. I am trying not to worry about it, it is a pretty exciting time and it’s easy to get carried away. All the players in contention are very good players and have things to offer.”Hayden laughed when asked whether David Warner’s performance in the Twenty20 match, when he slammed 89 from 43 balls against South Africa on Sunday, had any impact on his decision. “It gave me an enormous smile,” Hayden said. “I love watching entertaining cricket …”What Warner showed the other night, and what a lot of the great players who have played for Australia have shown, is it’s about batting intent. That’s what stimulates the individual who is playing the game and that’s what stimulates the audience, the team, and makes the game entertaining.”

Trinidad and Tobago captain Daren Ganga and coach Kelvin Williams are looking at building on a successful year of limited-overs cricket with success in the four-day format.T&T have won three of the five tournaments they competed in this year – the Stanford 20/20 Series, the Champions Cup in the Stanford Super Series, and the WICB Cup. The ones that got away were the four-day regional Carib Beer Series and the Carib Beer Challenge Final, which is the climax of the West Indies first-class season. T&T were the defending champions in the Carib Beer Challenge Final but lost the five-day match to Jamaica in three days.The challenge of winning the regional series next year will be greater, since the competition will be extended, with each territory playing ten games spread over 13 weeks. So what will it take for T&T to master this format again?”It will take stamina, it will take endurance and consistency,” Ganga said. “Those are the sort of things we fall down in, in terms of being cricketers. I think it’s going to test the strength … it’s going to test the endurance of our team. We’re in for a very long season.” However, he is optimistic his side will have a headstart over the rest of the competition, including defending champions Jamaica.”I think we definitely have the momentum from this tournament, going into the 2009 season,” he said. “Preparations will begin from now, till we start on January 9. It’s going to be a lot of hard work behind the scenes. We’ve got a lot of young players on the fringes who are knocking for spaces and competition is always healthy. I think we are in good stead as a regional cricket team.”Ganga’s confidence stems from not only the results on the field but also the harmonious team atmosphere, inclusive of the new technical-management team of Williams, manager Colin Borde and trainer Ronald Rogers. When the team returned to Trinidad from Guyana with the WICB Cup, Ganga made special mention of the trio, especially Williams – who, he said, “has done a tremendous job”.The loss in the Carib Beer Challenge Final is the only blemish on Williams’ record so far but he said the task of getting his players to rise to the demands of the longer game did not worry him.”I’m not concerned. These players could adjust and adapt,” he said. “They did it in the past and there is no reason why they can’t do it again. It’s all a mind game. We need to prepare them mentally for that challenge.”Williams also stressed the importance of physical fitness. “Our preparation has to be increased, a lot of high intensity [work],” he said. “We need to be in top shape for that competition. I have no doubt that we are going to finish somewhere at the top”.

The toss has been so important in this series that in the lead-up to the deciding fourth Test the Australians practised their calling. It was a short, light-hearted exercise, like a game of two-up on Anzac Day, and at the end it was revealed that the coin was two-headed. After three guesses Ricky Ponting was one of two guys with a perfect record. He always calls heads, and is desperate for a change in luck on Thursday morning at the Vidarbha Cricket Association’s new stadium.Ponting has lost the past two tosses and quickly watched his team fall behind, and he does not need the bat-first-and-dominate theory to occur as they push to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. “I went down and had a look at the wicket yesterday, it’s rock hard like concrete and there’s no grass on it,” Ponting said.”With no history to the wicket, we don’t know if it’s going to bounce, or stay low, or what it’s going to do. One thing I know is that it is going to spin, it’s so bare. Hopefully we win the toss.”While Ponting has no control over the fall of the coin, he is also uncertain as to what will happen in the morning when he walks out to the toss. Gautam Gambhir’s appeal against a one-match suspension for elbowing Shane Watson in the third Test in Delhi was turned down by the ICC on Tuesday, but the Indian board has “rejected” the ruling.”It’s going to be an awkward situation for me to be put in tomorrow if I get out there for the toss and the guy that’s been rubbed out has his name on the team sheet,” Ponting said. “I need to be clear, and Cricket Australia needs to be clear, on that.”India, who lead the series 1-0, also have a new captain in Mahendra Singh Dhoni after the exit of the legspinner Anil Kumble on Sunday, while VVS Laxman is playing his 100th Test and Sourav Ganguly will join Kumble in retirement after the game. Ponting hoped all the off-field issues of his opponents would help his side.”One thing it [the Gambhir decision] does do is create a bit of confusion around their team,” Ponting said. “They’ll obviously have a lot of distractions going on. For us, it’s pretty plain sailing, we’ve just got to work out the best way to play in these conditions.”The decision over the final XI will be difficult, but it appears the offspinner Jason Krejza will make his debut. Australia have taken 14, 13 and 12 wickets over the first three games and it is the main reason they are in such an unfamiliar position.”We’ve got to look at our overall balance,” Ponting said. “If we’re going to get Krejza into the side does he come in for White or one of our quicks? It’s the big decision we’ve got to make.

“Mitchell Johnson is our leading wicket-taker and Brett Lee got better and better in the last game. Stuart Clark did an excellent job for us, bowling his 30 overs for 50 or 60 in the first innings, and that is a pretty important role to play in a team over here if you’ve got guys that are striking at the other end.”Lee, Michael Clarke and Doug Bollinger were struggling with upset stomachs on Tuesday but are expected to be available for selection. Ponting has been impressed with Krejza, who he said had got better after going wicket-less and giving up 199 runs in a warm-up game before the first Test.Whatever Australia decide, it will be a risk. If Krejza and White are used in tandem, or if Peter Siddle comes in for his second game, it will steal experience from the fast bowling unit, which has regularly faltered. It is an unenviable choice for such an important contest.To add to Australia’s problems, they know very little about the ground, which is being used for the first time. The squad went to the stadium outside of Nagpur on Wednesday afternoon for a short look at the conditions that will help determine whether they leave India with a prize.”This is probably as big a Test match as a lot of us have played,” Ponting said. “Being 1-0 down with a match to play is a position that a lot of us haven’t been in before. We pride ourselves on playing well in big games and this is certainly a big game for us. There is a great opportunity for us to stand up and play better cricket than we’ve played in the first three Test matches.”

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