New Zealand 141 for 8 in 46 overs (Tiffen 35) beat England 129 in 41 overs (Brindle 34*, Milliken 3-29, Steele 3-14) by 18 runs (D/L method); England won series 3-2
Scorecard

New Zealand won the rain-affected final match of the NatWest Series at Old Trafford. It was a timely boost for the world champions, who had already lost this one-day series, ahead of the solitary Test of their tour, at Scarborough next weekend (August 21-24).It was a low-scoring match, with New Zealand managing only 141 for 8 from 46 overs before the heavens opened. Sara McGlashan made 22, and Haidee Tiffen 35 from 71 balls, as New Zealand struggled to get the bowling away. England’s new-ball pair of Lucy Pearson – tight throughout this series – and Jenny Gunn kept the runs down, going for only 29 and 23 runs respectively from their ten-over allocations.The rain brought a long interruption, and for a while it seemed as if the match would have to be abandoned. But eventually the skies relented, and England came out to bat, facing an adjusted target of 148 from 46 overs. They started slowly, then three run-outs derailed the innings. Arran Brindle (formerly Arran Thompson) applied herself for 34 in 79 balls, but no-one else exceeded Charlotte Edwards’s 23 from the top of the order. Louise Milliken and Rebecca Steele both took three wickets, with Steele’s costing her only 14 runs from 10 overs.England eventually fell 18 runs short of their revised target, being bowled out with five overs left, but had the consolation of taking the series 3-2.

As far as falls from grace go, Yuvraj Singh’s has been steep enough to warrant a parachute. After a magnificent century at Lahore, albeit in a losing cause, the Indian team management were impressed enough to consider him indispensable. When Sourav Ganguly returned for the Rawalpindi Test a week later, Aakash Chopra made way, despite having been part of four hundred-run partnerships with Virender Sehwag in the eight Tests where they opened together.At the time, Yuvraj was supposed to slot in as an opening batsman, but after India knocked Pakistan over after tea on the opening day, it was Parthiv Patel who strode out to face the wrath of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami. The logic then was that the in-form Yuvraj was too precious to be sacrificed at the top, and Ganguly went so far as to say that he deserved to play in his natural habitat – the middle order.Six months on, Yuvraj did poorly in the opening Test against Australia at Bangalore, but he was hardly alone in that regard. And after a solitary failure as opener in Chennai, he finds himself surplus to requirements, with Chopra -axed for Chennai – curiously back in the fold. If Yuvraj is confused, you could scarcely blame him. Considered a better bet at the top of the order than Chopra just ten days ago, he’s now not good enough for a middle-order slot, even with Ganguly missing.Mohammad Kaif’s gritty 64 in Chennai won him the vote, which doesn’t say much about the team’s philosophy of keeping faith in its players. After all, if Patel – whose keeping continues to be wretched – can be persisted with, why not Yuvraj, who has hardly had enough opportunities to be labelled a failure? Indian cricket can’t afford a profligate approach to young talent, what with Test-class performers so thin on the ground.

England XI 260 for 6 (Vaughan 89, Strauss 73, Collingwood 31*) beat Namibia 193 for 4 (Keulder 57, Karg 66, Giles 3-37) by 67 runs
Scorecard

Michael Vaughan led from the front as his England XI recorded a comfortable 67-run victory in the first match of their southern African tour, against Namibia at the Wanderers ground in Windhoek. In a match reduced to 42 overs a side after a two-hour mopping-up delay, Vaughan’s 89 lifted England to 260 for 6. Namibia made a spirited reply, but could manage only 193.Much of the pre-match hype had been about the possibility of Sussex’s Matt Prior opening for England, but in the end it was Ian Bell who strode out with Vikram Solanki. And he was soon striding back, bowled by Gerrie Snyman for a duck (3 for 1). Solanki made 28 before he fell to Sarel Burger (6 for 2), then Vaughan and Andrew Strauss put the world to rights with a stand of 150, Vaughan making 89 from 92 balls before his dismissal at 215 triggered a mini-collapse in which three wickets went down for two runs. Strauss followed for a solid 73 from only 65 balls, then Geraint Jones was caught behind off Snyman for a single.Kevin Pietersen’s long-awaited first innings in England colours didn’t last long: he made only 5 before being trapped in front by Louis Burger. That made it 226 for 6, but a sensible partnership between Paul Collingwood and Ashley Giles swelled the total to 260.

Last year at Port Elizabeth Namibia briefly threatened to embarrass England in the World Cup – for a while they were ahead on run rate as rain threatened – but on another changeable day (a helicopter was used to help dry the ground before the start) England’s batsmen had done enough to ensure a winning start to their tour.England’s bowling, though, will worry the management a little more. Only Ashley Giles, who took three of the first four wickets, will be entirely satusfied with his figures, which were 3 for 37 from nine overs. Simon Jones removed Namibia’s former captain, Danie Keulder, for an accomplished 57, but the main strike force of Darren Gough, James Anderson and Alex Wharf went wicketless.Morne Karg, usually a wicketkeeper but playing as a batsman today, top-scored with a breezy 66 before becoming Giles’s third victim. England’s eventual victory was easy enough, but they will be looking for an improved bowling performance in their second warm-up match against Namibia on Tuesday, before the five-match one-day series against Zimbabwe starts on Friday (Nov 26).

Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s embattled coach, has pleaded with Shoaib Akhtar to cut down on his run-up. Shoaib currently runs in excess of 40 yards to get to the bowling crease, affecting his ability to bowl long spells.Pakistan have also had problems completing their overs in time. Though a succession of coaches have appealed to Shoaib to consider a more moderate run-up, he has so far not agreed to any sort of compromise.Shoaib was Pakistan’s best player in a deplorable performance at the WACA, picking up six wickets – including five in the first innings. But his inability to bowl spells longer than five overs meant that Pakistan couldn’t maintain the pressure after Australia had slumped to 5 for 78 in their first innings.

Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Zoysa is a serious injury concern ahead of Sunday’s opening one-day match against New Zealand after dislocating his finger during a warm-up match with Central Districts.The team management is hopeful that he will be able to participate in the tour but there is still uncertainty over the probablt healing time. No decision has so far been made about calling up a replacement from Colombo.Zoysa had started his tour brightly, whipping out both Central Districts openers, Craig Spearman and Jamie How, but later suffered a deep cut in a finger and a dislocation while attempting a return catch.Zoysa’s finger was put back in place by Sri Lanka’s physiotherapist, CJ Clarke, and was then taken to hospital for check-ups and stitches. Fortunately, x-rays showed no signs of a fracture.Sri Lanka have taken just 14 players to New Zealand to allow room for Muttiah Muralitharan to return once he has proved his fitness. Murali is now bowling up to seven overs per day and very close to being declared fully fit.Zoysa would have been a certainty for Sunday’s game after a successful return to one-day cricket this year but his place will now be taken by Dilhara Fernando or Nuwan Kulasekera.Sri Lanka are to move to Hamilton for a second practice game against Northern Districts on Thursday.

Michael Clarke has been cleared of foot stress fractures after severe pain prevented him from fielding in Pakistan’s second innings at the SCG. Clarke, who made 35 in Australia’s 568, reported the injury during the match and his condition will be reviewed over the weekend.”He was in a lot of pain over the past few days and that’s why we had the scans done,” Ricky Ponting said. “All the scans were very clear and we’re keeping ourfingers crossed that he’s right for the start of the one-dayers.” The VB Series, which also includes Pakistan, begins with Australia playing West Indies at the MCG on January 14.

Mark Waugh will be pushed as a possible national selector as New South Wales attempt to end 12 years without representation on the panel. The Sydney Morning Herald reported Allan Border was expected to stand down in April and David Gilbert, the New South Wales chief executive, would ask Waugh to nominate for the vacancy.”Mark is a very good judge of a cricketer, and his ability to read cricket very well is well known,” Gilbert said. “Australian cricket can’t let blokes like him disappear from the game.”Australia’s current panel has no representation from New South Wales or Victoria, and includes Trevor Hohns and Border from Queensland, David Boon, the former Tasmania batsman, and Andrew Hilditch, the hook-happy South Australia player. The positions of Border and Boon will be reviewed in April and the newspaper said Border was considering standing down to focus on media and other interests.”I wouldn’t completely rule out nominating if a spot became available,” Waugh said. “There could be good sides to it, like identifying talent, but it would be a big commitment, with a lot of time away. I can’t say watching cricket all day appeals to me.”While Border and Hilditch played for the Blues before moving interstate, John Benaud, who retired in 1993, was their last selector. “People are going to say we’re after someone who will push our players but that’s not the case," Gilbert said. "No selector is ever going to compromise himself by being biased towards his own state. New South Wales are a formidable influence on Australian cricket. It stands to reason we should be represented.” Ray Bright, the former Victoria spinner and current state selector, said he would be interested in applying if there was a vacancy.

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

An authoritative 62 from Belinda Clark eased Australia into the finals of the Women’s World Cup, as they completed a straightforward five-wicket victory against their arch-rivals England at Sedgar’s Park. At Centurion on Sunday they will either face India, in a repeat of the last men’s final, or New Zealand, in a repeat of the last women’s final.Either way, you would not bet against them retaining their title after this assured victory, inspired by the indomitable Clark, who won the toss and chose to bowl first, then wrapped up the match with the day’s highest score. The early damage was done by Cathryn Fitzpatrick’s triple strike, which left England’s top order in tatters at 21 for 3 and put paid to any hopes of a decent total. They went on to make 158, which a dominant Australia – who are still undefeated – had no difficulty knocking off.Arran Brindle and Clare Connor lifted England from their early nadir, but Connor’s dismissal precipitated another mini-collapse and England were in serious trouble at 106 for 8. Clare Taylor weaved some magic in the closing overs, hitting 29 – her highest one-day total – but Australia were not too stretched chasing three an over.The fearsome Fitzpatrick was immediately on the button, knocking over Laura Newton’s stumps with one which jagged back, and she added the in-form ClaireTaylor soon after, for a duck, inducing the edge through to a diving Julia Price, who threw herself to the right to pluck a fantastic catch.Charlotte Edwards was next to go. She had rattled up 13 from 23 balls and was looking settled until she, too, edged one which nipped back and held its line. England had much work to do: Connor (35) and Brindle (32) answered the call, rebuilding the innings, Connor hitting her highest total against Australia in 18 matches.But when they were both shot out, followed by Jenny Gunn and Nicki Shaw, England were back on the slide: they had lost four wickets for 14 runs (106 for 8). Taylor and Isa Guha (13) stabilised the innings later on butAustralia bowled with penetration and deserved their wickets.And their batsmen stood firm, Clark sharing two stands of 45 for the second and third wicket to set up the victory: Karen Rolton (14) and Mel Jones (15) proved more than worthy sidekicks as they strode to an inevitable victory. England’s attack lacked pace, venom and the injured Lucy Pearson. Theirfielding, as always, was something to behold, and Brindle pulled off two fine run-outs, but that alone was never going to be enough to derail the Australian juggernaut.How they were outEngland
Chopped inswinger on to her off-stumps.
Keeper dived wide to right for stunning one-handed catch.
Held its line to find finest of edges.
Aiming through midwicket, trapped plumb in front.
Came down the track and missed the ball completely for an easy stumping.
Ball turned slightly to hit leg-stump.
Edged through to keeper who took another impressive catch.
Missed the ball completely.
Attempted to hoick a straight bowl over midwicket.
Gave herself plenty of room, missed, and the ball went on to hit leg stump.Australia
Push to cover-point, caught two feet short by direct hit
Direct hit from point – out by a mile
Swung and missed at a straight one
Stopped on shot and spooned back
Direct hit from fine-leg boundary

Suspended cricket officials have warned that Cricket-Aid, a tsunami charity set-up up by the board to provide emergency relief and rebuild housing, is in danger of collapsing after the sports minister’s decision to appoint an interim committee to manage the cricket board.According to the officials, one welfare centre for 200 tsunami refugees in Matara is now struggling to cope because it cannot be properly managed in the current impasse. A foster parenting scheme to care for 1000 children is also apparently under threat”We are obviously concerned as we have done some wonderful things and achieved something,” Chandrishan Perera, the public relations coordinator of Cricket-Aid told the Daily Mirror. “We are now desperate to sort things out. We’ve got to stick to our promises and commitment especially for the children.”Perera also voiced concerns that donors who have already pledged or who were considering a pledge will not adopt a ‘wait-and-see’ approach and freeze payments while the administration crisis continues. “It is difficult to gauge their [international donors] reaction”, he said.The charity’s chairman, Thilanga Sumathipala, has hit-out at what he calls “detractors parachuting in to run cricket”. “We have given hope to these people [tsunami victims] and we don’t want to hurt them. We are in the process of talking to donors and reaching a working arrangement in the best interest of the people”, said Sumathipala.Cricket-Aid’s future is also uncertain because questions have been raised over the legality of program’s NGO status. The government is believed to be in the process of launching an investigation into the charity’s registration.Meanwhile, the suspended executive committee has been partially successful in the first round of a legal fight with the government, successfully arguing in the Court of Appeal for a temporary restraining order preventing the sports minister from making any further orders over Sri Lanka Cricket during the next two weeks.Sumathipala’s committee has also complained in a media release of a politically motivated mud-slinging campaign, warning publishers to be wary of a “spurious and scurrilous set of concocted minutes purporting to be the minutes of the ICC Executive meeting in Delhi” that is being “maliciously circulated” in Sri Lanka.The media release claimed that the ICC’s president Ehsan Mani had confirmed to Sumathipala on Friday that the draft minutes of the Delhi meeting had not been completed. During the course of the two-day meeting, board members were briefed on the ongoing ICC Code of Ethics inquiry into Sumathipala’s links with the gambling industry.

ScorecardOn a stunning second day at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates thumped Hong Kong after a rude wake-up in the morning, ending the day only 41 runs short of victory in their Intercontinental Cup tie. Hong Kong, with ten debutants, dismissed three batsmen for a run to end UAE’s innings at 127, the same score Hong Kong had made in their first innings. Ilyas Gul took two of the three to end with 5 for 16 in 11 overs.Then came Hong Kong’s turn to struggle. Tabarak Dar, an opener, was removed early before Tim Smart and Gunthorpe added 50 runs. Gunthorpe scored 46 – top-scoring for the second time in the game – but his fall marked the end of the Hong Kong resistance. There was another 30 from Gul, but the rest fell away in a cluster of single digits. Hong Kong managed 184, of which UAE managed to erase 144, with four batsmen scoring 30s, two of which were unbeaten.