Scorecard

Five wickets from Jason Gillespie and an unbeaten hundred by Michael Clarke helped Australia to a comfortable eight-wicket win against Zimbabwe in the third one-dayer at Harare. In an outstanding performance, they romped home with over 19 overs to spare, and thus completed a clean sweep of the three-match series.Apart from a gutsy hundred stand between Elton Chigumbura and Mluleki Nkala, which helped Zimbabwe recover from 61 for 6 to a more respectable 196, everything went to plan for Australia. Ricky Ponting won the toss for the first time in the series and put Zimbabwe in on a good pitch, and Gillespie made a rollicking start. He bowled the first over in place of Glenn McGrath, who only came on as first change, and took the wicket of Brendan Taylor with his sixth delivery, moving the ball in to trap him lbw (4 for 1).Gillespie moved the ball sharply with a touch of lift, and all the batsmen found him a handful. Stuart Matsikenyeri, on 4 at the time, was dropped at second slip by Ponting, but Matsikenyeri did not make the most of his luck. He skyed the very next ball over the slips and straight down the throat of Shane Watson at third man (9 for 2).Gillespie gave Tatenda Taibu a torrid time, beating the bat time and again, before Taibu finally scampered a single to reach the other end. However, this exposed Vusi Sibanda, who then slashed half-heartedly at a lifting ball and edged through to Adam Gilchrist for 2 (10 for 3). A promising partnership developed between Taibu and Mark Vermeulen, but Vermeulen then tapped a simple return catch to Gillespie for 17 (42 for 4). Worse was to follow, as Gillespie fired in a yorker to Alester Maregwede and uprooted his leg stump (50 for 5).Taibu had by now fought his way out of his shaky period and was batting with superb judgment, wasting no chance to score off the rare loose balls and keeping the score moving along steadily. Ponting allowed both his new-ball bowlers to complete their quotas, and Kasprowicz, who played an invaluable supporting role, finally got his reward with his very last delivery, moving it in to beat Taibu and trap him lbw for 27. Zimbabwe were then 61 for 6, and appeared as good as finished.But then came the superb partnership between Chigumbura and Nkala that transformed a match that looked set to finish at lunchtime. Chigumbura, the promising Under-19 player who had struggled so far at international level, took a while to find the middle of the bat, but hit some handsome drives to reach his maiden half-century at this level.Nkala just missed his fifty, bowled by Brad Hogg’s faster ball for 47 (175 for 7), and then Chigumbura, in the penultimate over, swung across the line to be bowled by Hogg for 77 (195 for 5). The last three wickets fell for only two runs, and Zimbabwe were dismissed with an over to spare, Hogg taking 3 for 37. But at least they had made something of a match of it.Zimbabwe were handicapped by the absence of both their regular new-ball bowlers, Douglas Hondo and Tinashe Panyangara, through injury. Clarke and Gilchrist took two overs to assess the bowling of Mluleki Nkala and Waddington Mwayenga before opening loose with a flurry of boundaries. Clarke began with two handsome fours through extra cover, and after conceding 39 runs in the first six overs, the opening bowlers gave way to Tawanda Mupariwa and the debutant Ed Rainsford.

Gilchrist immediately took to Mupariwa, driving him for three successive boundaries before he dragged the fourth ball on to his middle stump from outside off. He made 44, including seven fours and a six, off only 27 balls, and Australia had raced to 68 for 1 in the ninth over.As usual when Gilchrist departs, a degree of anticlimax followed, with Clarke and Andrew Symonds scoring briskly, but not spectacularly. Symonds can at times rival Gilchrist, but not today. He had scored 20 off 22 balls when he drove Mupariwa uppishly to Mwayenga at mid-on (115 for 2).Clarke was determined to make good use of his opportunity at the top of the order, and he batted impressively to reach his half-century from 68 balls, playing some memorable strokes, especially on the off side. It was a race to reach his century before Australia won the match. A six and two fours in succession off Chigumbura took him to 99, and next ball he scored the single needed to reach his ton before Australia completed victory in the next over. Watson, with 17 not out, was the sleeping partner in the winning stand of 84.

Bob Woolmer has begun his tenure as Pakistan’s eleventh coach in eight years by asking for “the support of the current players, former players, and fans.””The current Pakistan cricket officials are determined to move their cricket forward,” said Woolmer, “so I joined the bus as they are willing to give me all out support, technical or otherwise. I can control what I can control, I am going to do my job to the best of my abilities and have no fears of the past.”Woolmer, 56, who was born in Kanpur, India, made his name as Warwickshire’s coach, before taking on the South Africa job from 1994 to 1998. He became the ICC’s high performance manager in 2001.He has said before that he would welcome input from Javed Miandad, the man he replaced as coach, and today reiterated that point. “Javed has a lot to do with this particular team and therefore I would like to ask him and talk to him about it. That’s part of how I coach. I am not scared to bring other people on board. It’s important that the coach is open.”Woolmer also urged Shoaib Akhtar to put his differences with the PCB behind him. “There is no secret that Shoaib has a difference of opinion with the Pakistan Cricket Board,” he said. “But if he wants to play the bottom line is he has to be here. Shoaib must get on board our bus and the bus is going forward.””The past is history and hopefully it’s going to put a positive effect on Pakistan cricket. We have Australia as the benchmark as they are top of the tree at the moment. I am here as the conduit to pass as much knowledge as I can and it’s the players who have to make up their mind what is good for them.”When asked whether his task as Pakistan’s coach was the biggest challenge of his life, Woolmer concluded: “I don’t know about the challenge of my life, but it’s the nicest challenge of my life which I have accepted.”

How many players has Pakistan wasted over the years? How long is a piece of string? So many have come as quickly as they have gone, so many we have been bewitched by, and so many we have despaired of that we have become numb to the lost talent. For every Yasir Hameed, there is an Imran Nazir, a Mohammad Wasim or an Ali Naqvi, for every Mohammad Sami, a Mohammad Zahid or a Mohammad Akram. It doesn’t seem to matter any more, for someone will always emerge and perhaps that is the way of things. But sometimes, every now and again, you stop and wonder how we have become so blasé about them. And instead of trying to understand why they failed, you try to appreciate what they can bring to the game, no matter how sparingly.Shahid Afridi’s ebullient contribution to Pakistan’s win over India on Saturday was the latest in a series of one-offs. Not many players who have exasperated as much as him garner as much attention – even in disappointment there is eminence – but then Afridi has always had something about him, a sense of cricketing decadence in the gloriously neglected manner in which he has frittered his unique gifts. That he has done it so extravagantly, perversely, has enamoured him to some of us. The chances that he will suddenly discover the discipline and the judgment he has lacked for so long are slim. But should that overlook the allure – intermittent, as it is – that he possesses?There isn’t much that is tangible about it, certainly not his career figures; but at its essence his game is an unbridled, almost raw, joy. Much of the charm of Afridi is of a rustic sort, he provides the romance in the game, and all good ones are doomed to failure anyway. There is such a foolish abandon in the way he bats that you wonder whether he has progressed from batting on a potholed street, protecting not stumps but mango crates. He is, in local parlance, a lapaytoo – a street-slogger, but with less technique and discretion. In the gallis their job is to swing at almost every ball, and that Afridi does it still at international level is absurd. He has had so many comebacks that he qualifies as a fully paid-up resident of the last-chance saloon, living fastidiously by its fatalistic ground rules.He reacquainted himself with us on Saturday with a buoyant second-ball six, out of the ground for good measure. It could have been on any street in Karachi, and it could just as easily have been mishit to mid-on. There followed a couple of audacious boundaries and a diabolical dismissal – one that confirmed for most Pakistanis that he might never learn. But he came back, and picked up four wickets, taunting us and daring us to doubt him. Along with Shoaib Malik he turned the match, as if to the manner born. In the field, he was Pakistan’s chirpiest outfield presence since the days of Javed Miandad.But it isn’t even the bits ‘n’ pieces of his batting or bowling, it is instead the whole. He is blessed with a presence; he can make things happen, and around him, things happen. The problem is that he doesn’t know when and how it happens and neither do we. In that way, a comparison with Virender Sehwag – as there was in Pakistan earlier this year – while not obvious, is not entirely untenable. And watching Andrew Flintoff perform this summer can’t help but invoke a tinge of regret at what Afridi has squandered.Of course, his appeal lies partly in his failure to emulate these standards. Maybe there isn’t a permanent space for him in the modern game, reliant as it is not only on extravagant natural gifts, but on self-discipline and the ability to harness that talent as well. He seems out of place and out of touch with the work ethic of today’s players, as well as lacking their willingness to learn and improve. He will argue, as he has done, that the team has never used him properly, and he does it with some justification. Even before this tri-nation series, the team management was unsure as to how to utilise him most effectively. His critics will argue that he has simply refused to learn in over seven years with the national team.But surely there is room for an ephemeral rogue, if only because occasionally, and unexpectedly, he adds another dimension to any game. As he did against India at Peshawar earlier this year, he may very well embark on another disastrous run of failures after this latest encounter. But maybe that is OK; we know what we get with him, and if he deigns to provide it to us when he feels fit to – or is allowed to – then why not admire it for what it is? Why live in the hope that he will come round and start doing it all the time? It is only sporadic moments of beauty he provides, but it is beauty nonetheless and for that alone it should be treasured.

Anil Kumble
On taking a five-wicket haul in Kanpur in three matches
I would have been lot more happier if I would have bowled fewer than those 54 overs.On feeling disappointed with the pitch
We just need to play with whatever surface we are provided with, and go on doing our job. We always knew the Kanpur wicket was on the slower side, and we had to show that we can play good and that’s what we did today when we batted. We were able to restrict South Africa and have so far batted well, so we are in a good position at the end of day three.On the strategy for tomorrow
Just keep batting – and get as soon as possible past the 310-mark which is not far away. Keep batting tomorrow and see what holds us from there. The wicket is still good for the batting and, with a capacity crowd, we should be able to do that.On Gautam Gambhir’s batting
He’s done pretty well and is going for the target. And chasing a 500-plus target its not easy for a youngster in only his second Test. Hopefully he goes on to score his first hundred tomorrow and bats long.Ray Jennings
On the day’s proceedings
It was interesting day. We started off positive, though the fog was different in the morning as we haven’t experienced anything like that. Then I saw really superb batting display by the Indian openers which I haven’t seen for a long time, so all credit to them.On whether the Indian fightback was expected
From a top side you can expect anything. Obviously the 50-50 stumping chance [Thami Tsolekile missed stumping of Virender Sehwag off Robin Petersen] didn’t go our way. We could have stopped their acceleration and that put pressure on us. Both the Indian openers batted very correctly and exploited our weaknesses.On the South African bowling
We didn’t bowl in the right areas today and will be addressing that later in the evening and you will see them different tomorrow.On the timing of their declaration
We are an inexperienced side and the declaration timing for us was just a sort of guarantee. We could have always attacked and sped the game up – but the fog in the morning changed our way of thinking. We were going to be a lot more cautious than normal, but we could have accelerated our game at least in one session in the last two days but I am happy to gain that experience and put the 11 players through the experience they had never had before.

The voice of Australian cricket will be heard for at least three more seasons after Richie Benaud accepted a deal to stay in the commentary box. Speculation of Benaud’s retirement had grown to the extent that an apparent successor had been agreed in Mark Nicholas, the former England A captain.But Nine today ended the rumours that Benaud, 74, was hanging up the microphone and beige jackets. “Richie is an icon of Australian cricket and he has signed a contract to stay on for another three years,” the spokesman Jamie Campbell said. “He loves the game. Cricket is his passion and his life and he has no intention of stopping as a commentator any time soon.” Campbell said there was no point discussing potential replacements for Benaud, who started with the network in 1977.Campbell also said Ian Chappell was being rested from the Adelaide Test as part of the commentary team’s rotational policy, a method under consideration for Australia’s bowlers. “There are three different teams coming to Australia this summer and overseas commentators will be used,” Campbell said. “As a result we have Tests where the commentators have the chance to take a break.” Chappell was reportedly angry at the move.

Bob Woolmer has suggested that Ricky Ponting’s unfavourable remarks against Shoaib Akhtar might just backfire on Australia in the third Test, which starts at Sydney on January 2.Responding to Ponting’s comments that Akhtar should have shown more aggression in the Australian second innings, Woolmer told : “He [Akhtar] is the one bowler that the Australian batsmen know can decimate them by his pace. We have to remember that, and I’m happy that Ricky is stirring him up. I think it’s good.”Shoaib showed a lot of guts during the game and at a particular stage he was just shattered, basically. He bowled more than he normally does because there were so few bowlers available. He gave it his all for a little bit, and then I think he was probably just tired. To criticise Shoaib is a little bit unfair, but Ponting is entitled to his opinion.”Woolmer reckoned that Akhtar was suffering from a lack of support at the other end. “Most fast bowlers hunt in pairs and when one part of the pair is gone it’s very difficult to expect one person to shoulder everything," Woolmer said, referring to Sami’s heel injury which severely hampered him during the second innings. "That’s why I think Shoaib should develop a short run-up and generate the same sort of pace. Running in so far, you are not going to be able to come back easily unless you’re a triathlete and you have that sort of fitness. Shoaib has been working very hard on this trip, and he needs a partner.”Akhtar bowled at only around 137 kmph as Australia easily chased the 126 they needed for victory, and Ponting later questioned his half-hearted attitude, saying: "I would have been very disappointed if I was the captain and that was my bowler running in and bowling like that."Justin Langer then joined in the debate, hinting that Akhtar didn’t go full pelt in that innings: “I don’t know whether he had niggles or was still tired from the first innings or they would save him up for Sydney. But Sydney comes and the series is over.”If we had got into a similar situation we would have had a red-hot dip to make it as hard as possible for them to score 125,” Langer stated, adding, “I am not saying they did not do that, but just by looking at Shoaib’s body language, it was different to every time I had played against him. From that point of view I am really surprised.”

Duncan Brede, a cricketer who represents the Australian Capital Territory, has been banned for two months under Cricket Australia’s Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for prohibited substances. The positive test came from a sample taken from Brede after the game between ACT and the Queensland Academy of Sport at Allan Border Field on November 15, 2004.The prohibited substances that were present in Brede’s sample were the stimulants: amphetamine and methamphetamine. Brede also acknowledged committing a doping offence and waived his right to a hearing while the Australian board offered him help with counselling. The two month ban is effective from January 21.

India are seeking tax exemption from the government in a bid to host the 2011 World Cup. “We are planning to host the World Cup in 2011, but we can go ahead only if we get the nod on tax exemption,” Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former BCCI and ICC president, was quoted as saying in , a Pakistan-based daily.India has been unable to host major ICC events in the recent past because of a government policy that refuses to waive tax on events held there. The ICC insists on a tax waiver, and it is this that stood in the way of India being allotted the Champions Trophy.Dalmiya made his comments after meetings with Sunil Dutt, India’s sports minister, and the ICC president Ehsan Mani in Delhi recently. He added: “The minister gave us a patient hearing and has promised to take up the matter with the concerned authorities.”The ICC is hoping for a positive response from the Indian government before March 17, when their executive board meets.

Brad Hodge’s prolific domestic form for Victoria looks likely to earn him a place in the Australian squad for the Test leg of their New Zealand tour. With Darren Lehmann’s shoulder injury ruling him out there is a vacancy for a middle-order batsman and Hodge has done his case no harm in recent weeks by piling up the runs for his state.Last week he scored 141 and 88 against Tasmania in front of the national selector Andrew Hilditch, following on from his unbeaten 204 against South Australia in the previous round of Pura Cup matches. He has now made 735 runs at an average of 61.25 from seven matches despite a relatively slow start to season.Hodge, 30, was overlooked for the one-day series with Michael Hussey preferred as Lehmann’s replacement because of his ability to bowl some medium pace but the Australian selection panel are known for rewarding strong domestic performances. Hodge was a member of the Australian squad that toured India in October but missed out on a first Test cap as Simon Katich was given an opportunity. Katich is likely to get the first chance against New Zealand but he is still not a certainty and if he fails to take his opportunity Hodge could get his Test debut.He has been a regular member of Australia A squads but has just failed to break into the senior side in an era when there is no shortage of good batsman challenging for a place in the middle-order. But Australian batsmen have a history of being late developers, with the likes of Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann and Matthew Hayden having success in the second half of their careers. If Hodge does get the call it would increase the chances of him being named in the Ashes squad, which would impact on his county contract with Lancashire.The rest of the Test squad should pick itself, with the fitness of allrounder Shane Watson the only issue still to be resolved. The battle between Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz is set to resume after Kasprowicz held the role of the third fast bowler for the Australian summer. But now Lee may get his chance in the Test arena after his recent success in the VB Series and one-day internationals in New Zealand.

Ricky Ponting wants Brett Lee, who missed Australia’s starting XI again, to play in the Pura Cup final, but he will not release him until the second Test starts at Wellington tomorrow. Australia named an unchanged side after the nine-wicket win at Christchurch with Michael Kasprowicz holding off Lee’s challenge.Ponting said he was keen for Lee to bowl at the Gabba, but he had to stay in Wellington until the first ball in case of a late injury. Rain is forecast to delay the start of the Test and would further hamper Lee’s cause.Brad Haddin, the New South Wales captain, said Lee would be chosen for the final against Queensland, which starts tomorrow, only if he was available for the opening delivery. “If he’s not here at the start of the game then I don’t think we’ll take him,” Haddin told AAP. “It’s not fair on the other guys. We’ve had three quicks that have done a great job all season.” Poor weather is also expected in Brisbane tomorrow.Australia 1 Justin Langer, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Simon Katich, 7 Adam Gilchrist, 8 Shane Warne, 9 Jason Gillespie, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11 Glenn McGrath.