SA vs Aus: Australia beat South Africa by 8 wickets

COLOMBO: Shane Watson's unbelievable run in the ICC World Twenty20 continued as he virtually assured Australia a place in the semifinals of the event with a comfortable eight-wicket win over South Africa in the their second Super Eights match on Sunday. 

Chasing a modest target of 147, Watson once again showed his all-round prowess with a smashing 70 off 47 balls after taking two important wickets as Australia reached the target with 14 balls to spare.

His innings included eight boundaries and two sixes off left-arm spinner Robin Peterson and that fetched him his fourth consecutive man-of-the-match award.

Watson has so far scored 234 runs in four matches at an astonishing average of 78, not to forget the 10 wickets that he has taken.

Watson's 99-run second wicket partnership with the ever-dependable Mike Hussey (45 not out) laid the foundation of the Australian chase.

When Watson finally got out at the team score on 109, the victory was just round the corner.

After Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn had kept the Australians quiet for the first five overs, the counter-attack started in the sixth with Watson hitting Morkel for three boundaries. The first boundary was hit through point, the second through covers and the third one through the short fine leg.

With 15 runs coming from that over, the Australian innings finally got the momentum it required.

There was no stopping Watson after that as he played shots all round the wicket. When Peterson dropped it short, he rocked back to pull it over deep mid-wicket. When Parnel bowled it short, he pulled over square leg for a six which also brought up his third half century in the tournament.

Earlier, leg-spinner Xavier Doherty sparkled with figures of three for 20 to help Australia restrict South Africa to a modest 146 for five.

Australian skipper George Bailey's decision to play Doherty ahead of Dan Christian on a slowish track turned out to be a masterstroke.

Handed the new ball along with left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, Doherty responded to his captain's call and picked up the crucial wickets of Richard Levi, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy to put Australia in the driver's seat after Bailey won the toss and elected to field.

Doherty was ably supported by in-form Shane Watson, who finished with figures of two for 29, which included the important wickets of Hashim Amla (17) and South Africa skipper A B de Villiers (21).

Robin Peterson top-scored for South Africa with a quick-fire 32 off 19 balls, while Farhaan Behardien (31) and JP Dunimy (30) also made useful contributions for the Proteas.

Opting to bat, South Africa lost wickets at regular intervals to make life difficult for themselves.

South Africa witnessed a terrible start to their innings as Doherty cleaned up Levi in the third ball of the innings.

Australia picked up two more quick wickets in the form of Kallis and Amla as South Africa slumped to 33 for three in 5.5 overs.

While Kallis nicked a Doherty delivery to Mathew Wade behind the stumps, Amla was caught by Wade off the bowling of Watson.

Duminy and de Villiers then added 31 runs for the fourth wicket before the former was stumped by Wade off Doherty in the 11th over.

With pressure building on him to score quickly, De Villiers perished, caught by Bailey off Watson.

But thanks to a vital unbeaten 60-run sixth-wicket stand between Behardien and Peterson which came off just 35 balls, South Africa managed to inch closer to 150.

While Behardien hit two fours and a six during his 27-ball innings, Peterson's 32 came off just 19 balls with the help of six boundaries.

Johnson, Watson fire Australia to victory

Pallekele (Sri Lanka): Mitchell Johnson grabbed a career-best 6-31 and Shane Watson smashed a brisk 69 to guide Australia to a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first one-dayer.

Opener Watson cracked six sixes and five fours in his 51-ball knock as Australia achieved a 192-run target with more than 11 overs to spare for a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Left-arm fast bowler Johnson played a key role in restricting Sri Lanka to a modest total; marking his 100th one-day international with disciplined bowling to bag his third haul of five or more wickets.

Watson then kept pressure on Sri Lanka with an exciting strokeplay, reaching his 24th half-century in one-dayers with a six off unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis.

He dominated a 59-run stand for the opening wicket with Brad Haddin (12) before falling in the 12th over, but had put his team in a strong position at that stage. He also completed 4,000 runs in one-dayers during his knock.

Skipper Michael Clarke (53 not out) then added 101 for the third wicket with Ricky Ponting (53) to steer his team home.

"The wicket was fantastic. It was dry but held together better than I expected," said Clarke.

"It is important that I lead from the front and it is great having Ponting at number three with all that experience at the other end."

Australian paceman Brett Lee earlier became the seventh bowler to take 350 wickets in one-dayers when he dismissed Nuwan Kulasekara (34) for his lone victim of the innings.

Sri Lanka were struggling at 117-7 following Johnson`s four-wicket burst in his opening spell before lower-order batsmen Suraj Randiv, who hit one six and four fours in his 41, and Kulasekara put on 60 runs for the eighth wicket.

Man-of-the-match Johnson ended Sri Lanka`s resistance when he had Randiv -- the home side`s highest scorer – caught in the deep and then bowled Ajantha Mendis in his ninth over.

"This was not a 190 wicket. We did not bat well and our shot selection was not good. I think our spinners bowled well, but they did not have runs to defend," said Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Sri Lanka got off to a solid start after winning the toss when Upul Tharanga (34) and Dilshan (29) put on 54 for the opening wicket before Australia struck back.

Tharanga, returning to the side after serving a three-month drugs ban, looked in good touch as he fluently drove Lee for two successive fours in the opening over.

Sri Lanka`s slide began with the dismissal of Tharanga, who was bowled by left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty while attempting to cut after hitting seven fours in his 28-ball knock.

Johnson struck in his first over when he had Mahela Jayawardene caught behind and then had Kumar Sangakkara caught in the covers. He also accounted for Jeevan Mendis and Angelo Mathews in his opening seven-over spell.

PTI

Allround Aus take command after see-saw day

Day-two of the Mohali Test was a see-saw that eventually ended with Australia having an upper-hand, restricting India to 110 for 2 in reply to their first innings score of 428 all-out. Rahul Dravid (21), who got among runs with some fine cover-drives and on-drives is at the crease with watchman Ishant Sharma (0). Virender Sehwag (59) and Gautam Gambhir (25) went about their business as usual. Gambhir pushed and prodded to rotate the strike and Sehwag dominated the hapless bowlers. All Australian pacers found out, yet again, that there’s no place to hide after giving even a wee bit of width outside the off-stump to the nawab of Najafgarh.

Hilfenhaus did it and stood there motionless watching the ball whip past the cover. The pacer didn’t learn and Sehwag creamed him for three more boundaries in an over. Bollinger made the same mistake and was duly driven through mid-off and cut away to the fence through point. Off consecutive deliveries. Nathan Hauritz was introduced in the 13th over and Sehwag dealt his full-tosses with two smacking cover-drives. Result: Sehwag blasted his way for his half-century in 38 deliveries.

Together the Indian openers put on 81 runs before Gambhir was adjudged lbw to Mitchell Johnson. The wicket gave added confidence to the Aussies, who managed to keep Sehwag quiet for a long time before dismissing him in the dying moments of the day. Johnson was ecstatic when a mistimed uppish on-drive from Sehwag’s willow went straight to the hands of Michael Clarke at covers.

All this happened after Australia piled on a formidable 428, thanks to Shane Watson (126) and Tim Paine (92). For India, it was Zaheer Khan who delivered the goods with the old, reverse-swinging SG ball to pick up his 10th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He added the scalps of Mitchell Johnson (47) and Paine to his overnight numbers to end with the figures of 5 for 95.

Watson and Paine showed tremendous resilience against the disciplined Indian bowling and batted unruffled even as runs came in a trifle on the day-two morning. Both, known for their attacking style of batting, put their heads down and played the waiting game.

But when an odd ball was pitched on the leg, both men were quick to flick it to the fence. They also broke the shackles by playing a couple of attacking drives through the covers. Watson overtook his highest Test score of 120 en route to a very crucial 53-run stand with Paine.

Despite the breakthrough not coming, Dhoni reposed his faith on the spinners and refused to take the new ball until the 147th over of the Australian innings. The faith finally paid off when Harbhajan got rid of Watson with a generously flighted delivery. Watson was deceived by the bounce and poked at it as Gautam Gambhir took a fantastic diving catch at forward short-leg.

Then Mitchell Johnson joined hands with Paine to stitch an 88-run stand, which frustrated the Indians to no end.

Johnson showed his prowess with the bat by clobbering Zaheer Khan for two back to back boundaries. Zaheer tried to unsettle him with a short-ball but Johnson turned the plot on its head by pulling him away to the fence and inducing him to bowl a half-volley up next, which was thrashed through covers.

The left-hander then turned his concentration to Ojha and smashed him over the long-on for a six with the turn. A couple of overs later he repeated the stroke, this time for four runs. Ojha decided to come over the wicket but that didn’t deter Johnson from smacking him for a four through point and heaving him over mid-wicket for maximum.

After Johnson, it was Paine who took on Ojha by lofting him for two consecutive boundaries over mid-on. The Aussie wicketkeeper got rewarded for his hard work and determination with his maiden Test half-century.

The 82-run stand between Paine and Johnson for the seventh wicket caused the Indian shoulders to droop in the sweltering heat of Chandigarh. But the drinks break seemed to do the trick for Zaheer, who came back and struck right away as Johnson nicked a shortish delivery outside the off-stump to Dhoni. Johnson’s 66-ball entertaining knock ended on 47. Harbhajan then returned to dismiss Nathan Hauritz as Gautam Gambhir held on to a superb low, reflex catch at the forward short-leg.

Johnson’s wicket once again put the brakes on Australia’s scoring rate and Harbhajan, in particular, strangled them for runs. The off-spinner impressed with his control and variation. He tossed it up nicely and kept it straight.

Ojha had an off day. He often strayed on the leg bowling to a heavy off-side field and paid the price for it. Even luck continued to elude the left-arm spinner, who managed to find the edge of Watson’s bat only to see the ball bounce in front of Raina at slip. He finally got a wicket when Bollinger was held out in the deep to end the Australian innings.

Zaheer-Ponting spat adds spice to Test

Mohali: Tempers flared at Mohali on Friday when India locked horns with Australia in the first Test of the two-match series. Zaheer Khan allegedly poked Ricky Ponting with an off-the-cuff remark as the Australia skipper was going off the park after being run out for 71.

Ponting was walking past the Indian huddle when suddenly Zaheer chose to give him a send-off, after which Ponting turned around leading to a verbal duel between the two that needed umpire Billy Bowden's intervention.

The exact nature of the exchange is still not known but one thing is pretty clear that this series won't be short of high-octane on-field exchanges with none of the teams willing to hold back.

Australia, however, had an upper hand on the first day of Mohali Test as the visitors looked well placed at 179/3 at tea despite losing two wickets for 78 runs in the afternoon session.

Zaheer summoned after Ponting clash

Mohali: Sparks flew on the opening day of the first India-Australia cricket Test with Ricky Ponting and Zaheer Khan having a on-field showdown which prompted the match referee to summon the Indian pacer after the end of day's play.

The incident occurred in the 42nd over which was being bowled by Harbhajan Singh.

All-rounder Shane Watson pushed the fourth ball of that over towards mid-wicket and called Ponting who was batting on 71 for a quick single.

Before the Australian skipper could make his ground, Suresh Raina's direct throw hit the stumps.

After third umpire Sanjay Hazare adjudged him run-out, Ponting was walking back towards the pavilion when he turned back after hearing some comments from Zaheer.

With the Indian players standing in a pack, Ponting walked back towards them pointing the bat at them when he was intervened by Billy Bowden. Good sense prevailed after that and he walked back to the pavilion.

Match referee Chris Broad summoned Zaheer at the end of the day's play and had a word with him but according to team official Mayank Parikh, it was just a "friendly interaction" and there was no official caution or fine as such.

Australian opener Shane Watson, who came at the media conference after the day's play, was forthright in stating that it was Zaheer whose remarks escalated the tension.

"I didn't know what happened in the middle. Only later I saw the footage. It was Zaheer who came out of the huddle and his remarks escalated the incident. Ricky is not someone who will go out there to pick up a fight. He reacted only after something was said. We know what's the line we shouldn't cross," Watson.

India spinner Pragyan Ojha, however, sought to play down the issue.

"It often happens when you are competitive. There are times when words are exchanged," Ojha told the reporters.

Interestingly, on Thursday at the pre-match media conference, Ponting had said that he doesn't want any negativity or bad blood during the series as world cricket is still suffering in the wake of spot-fixing controversy involving the Pakistan trio of Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamir and Salman Butt.

Watson stands in way of fighting India

India turned a bad morning into a bright afternoon despite the committed effort of Shane Watson, who collected his third century in a week. Watson, who posted twin hundreds in the tour game, survived two chances in delivering the sort of performance expected of a specialist opener, not one Australia have manufactured over the past year.

Despite Watson's calm 101 on the opening day, the visitors are far from safe at 224 for 5 after a stinging late burst from Zaheer Khan, India's only fit paceman following a knee injury to Ishant Sharma. Zaheer, who was steaming in the second session during a confrontation with Ricky Ponting, gained his second lbw when he picked up Michael Hussey (17) with a reverse-swinging delivery and followed up by clipping Marcus North's off stump when he tried to leave on 0.

Zaheer finished with 3 for 45 off 16 overs to continue the fine recovery by a side that was struggling badly over the first half of the day. The locals would have been happier had MS Dhoni, who returned from the Champions League Twenty20 two days ago, caught a regulation chance off Tim Paine (1 not out).

On a pitch with low bounce and gaining in turn, Watson began in an aggressive mood but toned down once Ponting and Michael Clarke departed before tea, leaving the tourists at an uncomfortable 172 for 3. Until Ponting's departure for 71, Australia had been the ones in control but his run-out forced a change of pace, and Watson started grinding towards three-figures.

There was no rush from Watson as the Indian spinners delivered tight spells in the afternoon and were called on for more work following Ishant's departure after 7.4 overs. Only 45 runs were scored in the final session as the ball softened and the spinners closed in against the defensive Watson, Clarke and Hussey.

Watson has spent some gut-wrenching periods in the nineties during his 21 Tests, but he stayed calm and crept up on a rewarding second century. The milestone came with a legside clip for two off Harbhajan Singh and he stayed until the end, capturing eight fours from his 279 balls. It was a performance that bettered the 78 he made at the same ground two years ago, an innings that showed he could succeed when grit was required.

Watson and Ponting had survived some scares and overcame the early loss of Simon Katich (6) in their stabilising 141-run stand. The two-Test series began with Virender Sehwag's second-ball drop of Watson, who was also missed by Dhoni on 37, while Ponting benefitted from Ishant's over-stepping when glancing behind.

Ponting returned the charity after responding tardily to Watson's call for a single and was run out by Suresh Raina's smart direct hit from midwicket. The third umpire was required to decide Ponting's fate after his mostly composed innings, but as he walked past the fielders he was called out by Zaheer in the first flashpoint of the series. The taunts resulted in the captain changing direction and walking towards the huddle for a short exchange.

It was the fourth time Ponting, 35, had been caught short in Tests since going to England last year and the type of dismissal was particularly frustrating given the strong position of his team. Until that point it was India who had been unnecessarily generous with dropped catches, missed run-out chances and a flood of eight no-balls from Ishant.

India went in with four specialist bowlers, but only two were fast men, so Ishant's injured knee was another concerning development, especially as Harbhajan had to pass a fitness test in the morning. The lack of firepower could harm the hosts for the remainder of the game, but not if Zaheer continues weaving the ball late.

India's initial difficulty was eased by Raina's brilliant throw and the scoring-rate quickly dropped as Watson and Clarke added 18 at 1.5 an over against the spinners. Clarke then tried to cut a wider ball from Harbhajan and edged to Rahul Dravid at first slip.

Harbhajan was much more dangerous after lunch, slowing the runs and creating some half-chances in his 1 for 69 off 29 overs, and the pitch will help the slow men more as the game wears on. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm orthodox spinner, also played an important role, rarely allowing an attacking option, as he gave away 39 runs in 31 overs. After a strong start the signs are already worrying for Australia, even though their opponents are possibly a man short