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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
SA how they were out
India how they were out

For the third match in a row India’s batsmen caved in under the floodlights against a relentless pace attack, surrendering to a 80-run defeat in the fourth ODI at Port Elizabeth. Herschelle Gibbs’s controlled 93 set up South Africa’s thumping win before the pace attack sealed the deal, giving them an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series with one match to play.India’s was a much-improved performance on the field – a fine start with the new ball was complemented by disciplined spin bowling in the middle, their fielding was sharper, and their bowlers finally got it right at the death. But, just when they appeared to be turning a corner, a rash of poor shot selection ended their chances. Irfan Pathan’s battling 47 was the only bright spot as India slumped to their 11th defeat in their last 15 games (two games didn’t have results).Having sustained their intensity for the entire first half, unlike at Cape Town when they allowed South Africa to break away, India had a chance to pull one back. But a combination of Makhaya Ntini’s blistering pace and Shaun Pollock’s nagging accuracy left India with nowhere to hide. Some reckless shot-making didn’t help matters and none of the top-order batsmen showed the gumption to hang in there and bide his time.The slide began in the sixth over of the innings when Jaffer flashed away from his body – not a stroke he would even imagine attempting in the Test matches. Sachin Tendulkar, batting at No.3 for only the eighth time in his career, was unsure about whether to play or leave and fell to Pollock for the ninth time (Chaminda Vaas is the only other bowler to have managed it so many times). The two dismissals seemed to rattle Sehwag, who soon scooped a full ball to midwicket and watching Loots Bosman pull off a superb diving catch. Mohammad Kaif and Dinesh Karthik found runs difficult to come by and succumbed to a silly run-out. Karthik set off but stopped after a few steps and there was little Kaif could do but carry on running back to the pavilion.The support cast refused to let up on the aggression that Ntini and Pollock had displayed. Andre Nel, who missed the previous game, generated lift and hit the splice hard while Jacques Kallis troubled the batsmen with movement off the pitch. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s brief blast, including four spanked fours and a pulled six off Kallis, ended in an over-ambitious swing while Dinesh Karthik and Ajit Agarkar gave it away after they were set. Pathan, however, stood out. He managed to score at close to a run a ball and showed that he could attack as well as defend with his solid technique. He even managed to blitz the fiery Nel for two huge sixes – one drilled over long-off, the other lofted over cover.

India will do well to pick up a few lessons from Gibbs, who shelved his attacking instincts in the face of disciplined bowling. His innings could have been terminated on 2, when he pulled a short one straight to Sehwag at midwicket, but Sreesanth overstepping the mark allowed him to fight on. He waited for the loose deliveries, while effectively collecting singles against the spinners, and acted as a glue to ensure that the innings didn’t fall apart.He shared three vital partnerships – 69 with Kallis, whose aesthetically-conceived 49 was gorgeous in its execution, 61 with Mark Boucher, who nudged his way to 29, and 61 with Shaun Pollock, who’s promising 37 was cut short by a needless run-out. Kallis’s knock was the most aggressive of the lot, leading a superb counterattack from a precarious 7 for 2, after Zaheer Khan had removed Smith for the third successive game in a row.Things South Africa couldn’t manage a boundary between the 29th and 39th overs – a phase during which Tendulkar and Sehwag applied the brakes. Pollock’s busy approach, including two crisply-struck sixes, allowed him to motor to a 43-ball 37 but a reckless bit of running from Gibbs – when he was concentrating on the ball driven to mid-on rather than Pollock running three quarters of the distance – cost him his wicket. Zaheer and Sreesanth cashed in on that moment. Managing full-length deliveries on a consistent basis, the duo conceded just 28 in the final four overs, providing a suitable denouement to the good work from the rest. India’s batsmen, though, undid it all.

Murali Kartik has signed with Middlesex as their overseas player for 2008. In nine Championship matches this summer he has taken 37 wickets at 25.48.”We are delighted to have signed Kartik for a further season,” John Emburey, the county’s director of cricket, said. “He is a world-class bowler who has fitted in well with the team. With the regulations reducing the number of overseas players to one per county next year, it is crucial to sign a proven match-winner and we have done that with Kartik. It is sad to lose Chaminda Vaas who has performed so well for us, but we need a world-class spinner to compete for honours next year. We are committed to winning trophies and Kartik will be an integral part of an improved squad next year.””It’s a brilliant feeling to come back to a place like Middlesex with all its history,” Kartik said. “All the players, staff and supporters have been very gracious in their support towards me and made me and my family feel very wanted. It will be good to have that feeling once again next year.”

Mashonaland’s disaffiliated clubs met last week to map the way forward for a new breakaway national league that will lead to a cricket association opposed to Zimbabwe Cricket. Five clubs attended the meeting, with a sixth, Takashinga, whose position on the league was not clear earlier this week, reported to have come out in support of the independent league.The club members who attended the meeting said the league was aiming to introduce three or four-day first-class competition, backed with a Twenty-20 competition. “The league will not be about officials, it will be about players,” he said. “The league will do everything to sustain the standards of Zimbabwean cricket. Basically we need to improve cricket from a players’ point view.”This leaves ZC in a difficult position as it now has little support among the country’s major clubs, who provide the bulk of players in the domestic leagues. The hemorrhaging of cricketers in recent years has led to a major reduction in standards in the first-class competitions, and it seems unlikely that without the support of these clubs ZC could run either the Logan Cup or the Faithwear Cup.Local sources claim that Zimbabwe Cricket’s interim board called for a meeting to try to persuade the clubs to rejoin the Mashonaland Cricket Association, but the talks stumbled when they were asked to reapply in writing and confirm their recognition of the MCA. Only two clubs – Takashinga and Old Hararians – are believed to have attended the meeting. One club official described the request as “desperation by the ZC interim board to seek legitimacy.”One member of the technical committee was subsequently reported to have asked a Takashinga official to accept the “olive branch” without the other clubs. One observer claimed that such a move by Takashinga would have enabled the authorities to claim that this was a racially-motivated split by the other five.Cricinfo asked Zimbabwe Cricket to comment but no response has been received.

Scorecard

Aftab Ahmed warmed up for Bangladesh’s one-day series against Sri Lanka with a match-winning 92 in a three-wicket win against a Sri Lankan XI in Colombo. Ahmed led a recovery from 96 for 5 as the Bangladeshis chased down 242 with four balls remaining.After the Test series where the top order struggled a similar pattern was forming in coloured clothes. Shahriar Nafees, who was added to the one-day squad at the last minute, was caught behind first ball then Tushar Imran and captain Mohammad Ashraful failed to reach double figures.Tamim Iqbal held the early stages of the chase together with 45, but when he was stumped off Lasith Fernando the Bangladeshis were staring down the barrel. However, Ahmed began the fightback in a sixth-wicket stand of 81 with Mushfiqur Rahim (25) before adding 56 with Farhad Reza to bring the target within sight. Reza clubbed two sixes in a 25-ball 26 while Ahmed paced his innings perfectly as the winning runs came two balls into the final over.As usual it was the Bangladeshi spinners who played a key role with the ball in restricting the home side. Ian Daniel (57) laid a solid platform, but Shakib-al-Hasan and Abdur Razzaq kept the run-rate down with their left-arm spin. The middle order couldn’t accelerate, although Tharanga Paranavitana’s unbeaten 63 lifted the total towards something competitive.

Mohammad Ibrahim, the right-hand batsman from Rawalpindi, will lead the Pakistan Under-19 team in two-four day matches against the touring India U-19 squad, as the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) junior selection committee announced the 16-member squad on Friday.Ibrahim is one among two members of the squad which won the U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka earlier this year, the other being Imad Wasim, the left-arm spinner. The squad for the one-day matches will be announced later, on the basis of the Inter-Regional Under-19 Tournament from September 5.India will arrive on September 4 and are scheduled to play their four-day matches in Rawalpindi and Peshawar respectively, followed by a four-match one day series.However, it has been reported that the second four-day match might be shifted to Abbottabad, due to ongoing work at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. While the levelling work has been completed, it is uncertain whether the work on the outfield will be completed in time.Anwar Zeb Jan, regional development manager of the PCB in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), said that Abbottabad would be ready to host the match.Pakistan Under-19: Mohammad Ibrahim (capt), Ahmed Shahzad, Syed Fawad, Shan Masood, Saadullah Ghori, Zeeshan Jameel, Ali Waqas, Behram Khan, Abdul Rauf, Raza Rehman, Rahatullah, Adil Raza, Mohammad Naveed, Immad Wasim, Nayeer Abbas, Shahzeb Khan

Tim Coyle has beaten Trevor Barsby, the former Queensland opening batsman, for the position of Tasmania coach after the departure of Brian McFadyen. Coyle, a wicketkeeper who played seven first-class games and a domestic one-dayer, was unveiled today after an extensive selection process that included overseas applicants.Brent Palfreyman, the Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA) chairman, said Coyle’s knowledge of the state system was a huge bonus. “We wanted to appoint the person most capable of capitalising on the work that has already produced the talented young players in the Tigers’ squad,” Palfreyman said. Tasmania won the ING Cup last summer and Palfreyman said developing the team into a consistently high-performing unit was a priority.Coyle, 44, is a level three coach and was appointed the TCA’s game development manager in 2000 after ten years as a regional coach in Launceston. Barsby, the Queensland Academy of Sport coach, reached the final stage of the interview process.McFadyen is now the head coach of the Australia under-19 side and received a new assistant today with the appointment of Matthew Mott. Mott, a former Queensland and Victoria batsman who played 66 first-class games, has been on the coaching staff at New South Wales but will prepare the youth squad for the 2006 World Cup.

Jacques Rudolph and Andrew Hall were both confident that South Africa would be able to save the first Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo. The pair gave their team the ideal start towards drawing the match with a record opening partnership of 165 in 206 minutes that saw South Africa end the fourth day on 311 for 4. They still require a further 276 runs to make Sri Lanka bat again with six wickets in hand going into the final day tomorrow.”We are playing well the way we expected. The guys are positive and the way we are playing suggests it can be done,” said Hall who scored 64. “It is still a very good pitch to bat. If you compare the first innings, we had many soft dismissals whilst in the second we’ve worked hard with determination. We had better shot selection.”Rudolph who missed out on a hundred by ten runs was of the opinion that the first hour of the final day was crucial. “It was a big day for us and I feel tomorrow is important”, he said. “If we can get there and survive the first hour we will have a good chance of saving the game.”If we are to save this test we need a big partnership. Hally [Hall] and I have given our team the platform. To get out in the 90s was disappointing. Dilhara [Fernando] was bowling a good spell at that stage. This is my fourth score of 90 in Test cricket. I don’t want to make it a habit. I must admit I enjoy Sri Lanka very much.”Tom Moody, the Sri Lanka coach, said that he was very confident of getting the remaining six South African wickets tomorrow.”We knew it was always going to be difficult”, he said. “It would have been nice to have snapped one more wicket at the end of the day. But four wickets we are reasonably happy with. We have our work cut out tomorrow. But you’ve got to give credit where it’s due. They dug in which we knew they were going to do and played well.”Hopefully the wicket will deteriorate a little bit more. It hasn’t certainly deteriorated as much as what we would have liked. If anything, it’s probably got a little bit more placid. It’s turning, but turning very slowly. It nullifies the greatest spinner [Muttiah Muralitharan] the game has seen”Moody said that given the conditions of the pitch, they had to try something new to take wickets and that is why Muralitharan was given the second new ball, with which he took AB de Villiers’s wicket. “We have to give him every advantage as possible when the wicket is not doing a hell of a lot,” said Moody. “I think you need a little bit of an imagination and experimentation when you get into situations like this. Try something out of the ordinary.”Moody added that Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, did the best he could in the field to apply the pressure. He was also confident that the players would be rejuvenated on the last day and take every chance that comes their way.”It makes all those wonderful achievements even sweeter when there is success. The boys know that. They’ll rest up well tonight and look forward to the challenge tomorrow. They will come out fighting for that victory.”

The ICC has confirmed that funding to the USA Cricket Association remains suspended, despite the short-term truce between the USACA and the Council of League Presidents.The two parties have been battling for control inside the USA, and this has ended up in the courts. Earlier this month, an interim deal was announced to enable the USACA to administer the game pending the next court appearance on November 7. Critics of the USACA were quick to point out that this compromise gave all effective power to the current board controlled by Gladstone Dainty.There had been talk that the deal might persuade the ICC to release funding which has been suspended since June when it tired of the endless infighting. But the ICC has made it clear that money will only become available when a clear and undisputed body which can run cricket emerges.The interim executive is set to meet on October 29 – nine days before the court sits – and Cricinfo understands that a number of potentially contentious issues have been tabled. These include: –

Justin Langer and Ben Hutton put Middlesex back in the running for a National League Second Division promotion place with competition-best perfomances at Edgbaston.Skipper Langer’s patient 93 laid the foundations for a commanding 201 for nine and Hutton’s four for 32 undermined Warwickshire as they floundered under the Edgbaston floodlights.Hutton needed to take the wickets to get back in favour with Langer after he was involved in the run out that cost his captain a certain century.Langer had taken no risks and appeared in no trouble in a sensible 122-ball innings until Hutton changed his mind about a quick single in the penultimate over and Langer was unable to beat Dominic Ostler;s throw from midwicket.Langer gave Hutton a backward glance as he trudged back to the pavilion but the youngster, the grandson of Sir Leonard, was quickly forgiven as he applied the brakes to Warwickshire’s innings.Hutton, bowling gentle seamers, concentrated on line and length and struck in his first over when he had Ashley Giels stumped.The wickets of Dominic Ostler and Trevor Penney, both LBW, and Michael Powell, who was bowled through the gate followed, as Warwckshire slipped to 186 all out and their fourth straight home defeat in the competition.Langer said when he won the toss and opted to bat first that he did not fancy the chances of the side batting last under the temporary floodlights and so it proved.His innings ensured that Middlesex had just enough runs to force victory but his stands of 68 for the third wicket with Mark Ramprakash and 73 for the fourth with Irishman Ed Joyce enabled Middlesex to survive a late clatter of wickets of their own.

Pakistan’s cricketers have reportedly demanded a pay rise ahead of their tour of England, expressing unhappiness with the current level of retainer fees on offer and the restrictions imposed by the contracts they have signed.A report indicated that the players will ask the Pakistan board to double their retainer fees or release them from their existing contracts, and it is thought that this request has already been verbally passed to the chairman of the board, Shaharyar Khan.”With the World Cup just nine months away, we are receiving several lucrative offers but we cannot sign them because we are tied up with the cricket board,” an unnamed player in the Pakistan team told PTI. “We are not trying to blackmail the PCB, but simply want that we get a pay-rise when the contracts are offered next month.”However, according to Abbas Zaidi, PCB director, nothing is likely to happen until the current central contracts expire in June, when they will be reviewed. Speaking to Cricinfo, Zaidi refused to confirm whether such a request had been made by the players but reiterated that nothing can be done till June.”Nothing can happen until June when the contracts expire. Once they have done, then we will – as every year – review the entire system. Maybe we need to drop some players, include others. But even the review doesn’t necessarily mean a revision of pay scales. If we feel it is due, we will give it to them, if not we won’t,” he explained, before adding, “I am not aware of any such requests, they might have been made in person but the reports are neither here nor there because nothing can happen until June.”Under the existing central contracts, cricketers contracted under Category-A get a monthly retainer fees of Rs200,000 ($3,333) while those in Category-B are paid Rs125,000 ($2,083) and players belonging to Category-C get Rs75,000 ($1,250).The players, according to PTI, point out that the PCB’s deal with Pepsi Cola, long-standing team sponsor currently due to remain until 2009, means that each player receives Rs1.4 million a year ($23,300) for displaying the company’s logo, while the board earns more than a million dollars.