Centuries to Matthew Elliott and Brad Hodge guided Victoria to an eight wicket victory over Queensland in the ING Cup match tonight at the Gabba.The Bushrangers were set 236 runs by Queensland, thanks to some late big hitting by Bulls wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz.The Victorian innings, which started 45 minutes late because of rain, began badly when Jonathan Moss was out for a duck when he was caught by Shane Jurgenson at short mid on off the bowling of Joe Dawes.But Elliott smashed 117 while Hodge hit 107 to put on 221 and shatter Victoria’s previous all wicket limited over record of 194 which Elliott set with Graeme Vimpani against NSW in the 1999-2000 seasonElliott’s century was his sixth domestic one-day hundred and he hit 13 fours and a six which went under the ING sign, narrowly missing out on $50,000 in prize money, during his 116 ball stay.Hodge made his fifth domestic one day century, belting 15 fours during his 123 ball tenure at the crease.The win erases memories of the Bushrangers loss to NSW last week while Queensland will lick its wounds and ready itself to play Victoria in the Pura Cup match at the Gabba from Sunday.Queensland were fortunate to make 235 after being 6-164 with 12 overs remaining.Hauritz joined Seccombe at the crease for a face-saving unbeaten 71-run stand, which included 44 runs off the last 3.2 overs.In an action-pack final ten overs Seccombe hit an unbeaten 50, which included four dropped catches off debutante Allan Wise, while Hauritz pulled his hamstring while taking off for a quick run.But it did not hamper the 22-year-old off spinner who hit 39 off 34 balls with the aid of a runner, in an innings which included two sixes.Hauritz, who was part of the victorious Australian 2003 World Cup squad, will be out for at least the next couple of weeks.Wise ended with 2-34 but had to watch Seccombe survive at five when Elliott dropped him at at short mid-off and later Victorian captain Cameron White spilled a chance at short cover when he was on 25.In Wise’s final over, White again dropped Seccombe at 27 in the same position and a few balls later Shane Harwood fumbled on the boundary.With rain threatening Queensland captain Martin Love won the toss and the Bulls opened with 25-year-old Daniel Payne and veteran Stuart Law.They set a cracking pace and their 50 partnership came off 69 balls with Law passing his 2,000 run in one-day domestic matches in the fourth over.But it was part-time Victorian bowler Moss, who took 3-52 for the match, which prevented the deluge of runs.In a three-over period Moss took 3-11 with Payne (22), Law (55) and Clinton Perren (5) falling victim to his gentle medium pacers.

England’s cricketers will be glad that for once the rugby players are hogging all the limelight ahead of their World Cup final against Australia on Saturday. While they are in touching distance of being crowned world champions, the cricketers can only dream of such scenarios after their catastrophic start to the one-day international series in Sri Lanka yesterday.As expected, the English newpapers didn’t spare the rod on Michael Vaughan and his bedraggled lot, or his “Load of Lankers”, as called them. “Michael Vaughan and his England players were shockingly transformed from playground bullies to quivering wimps,” John Etheridge fumed. “They did not so much get a reality check here yesterday as a full-scale assault on their pride and credibility. England suddenly discovered opponents with the skill and courage to stand up to them.”Marcus Trescothick was on the end of most of the rants after he gave away his wicket and started the landslide. Etheridge continued: “Several batsmen self-destructed with rash shots – Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff were probably the most culpable – and the rest simply could not knuckle down against the deviating ball.” were a touch more subtle. “England go down in flames” roared their headline, but David Hopps was just as scathing, pointing out that English collapses are becoming a regular feature in one-dayers. “Occasional batting disasters are a fact of one-day life, but for England they are becoming a habit. Their three lowest scores have all come in the past two years, during Duncan Fletcher’s time as coach. Seven of their worst ten totals have occurred in the past five years.”Hopps added: “So now we can confirm the true value of five weeks in Bangladesh: precisely zero. England did not overstress the importance of their clean sweep in Tests and one-day internationals, but in Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle their preparations here were exposed as inadequate.””The kings of Bangladesh were quickly exposed as the paupers of Sri Lanka,” pronounced Simon Briggs in the . “England’s seamers, though they faced an impossible task, were arguably too ready to stick to the same intimidatory lengths they have been using for the last month in Bangladesh. Against batsmen of this quality, the ball simply sat up to be hit.” But Briggs was able to salvage one bright spot from a dark day: “If nothing else, this match should serve as a useful reality check for the remainder of the tour.”Reality check? Richard Hobson in , said it was more like an awakening “as rude as a seaside postcard”, and added that “Sri Lanka inflicted a beating that was more severe than anything England dealt to Bangladesh during the first leg of the tour.”Lawrence Booth, in , agreed. “It was a massacre to rank with any England have suffered over the years. In the steamy jungle of Dambulla, the two one-day trophies of the English summer feel a long way away. Suddenly, Vaughan is seeing a side of the job so familiar to many of his predecessors – the overseas post-mortem. This time county cricket was definitely not to blame.”Angus Fraser was on the same wavelength in The Independent: Following England’s horrendous batting performance here against Sri Lanka … it could be described as a day-evening encounter, but calling it a match may be pushing things a bit far.” He did however, point out that nothing at all went England’s way: “At the end, and in the privacy of their dressing-room after the game, the England captain will have attempted to convince his side that this was one of those days when nothing went right for them. This to some extent was true.” Then came the but, though: “But England’s downfall had as much to do with their own shortcomings as the excellent form of their opponents.”As Booth said: “Things can surely only get better.”

James Anderson will defintely miss the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle – but he will remain on the tour after the management team decided to take a chance on his fitness, even though he is only rated 50/50 to be fit for the second Test at Kandy. Anderson sprained his ankle last week while playing squash.Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, is confident that Anderson will definitely be fit for the third Test in Colombo. He said: “Jimmy has made good progress over the last day or so. We felt it was right to retain him as he has acclimatised, rather than bring someone else in.”James Kirtley, who ironically was Anderson’s opponent in that fateful squash match, will stay on with the squad. He was originally retained after the one-day series as cover for Anderson.

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, is expected to recover from an injured hamstring to face West Indies in the third Test at Cape Town on Friday.Smith did not take the field on fourth day of the second Test at Durban in what was described as a “precautionary measure” by Shane Jabaar, the team physio, who is hopeful that Smith will be fit by Friday.If Smith is unable to play, Mark Boucher would take over the captaincy and Gary Kirsten would be the obvious choice to replace Smith at the top of the order. Meanwhile, Paul Adams is expected to be recalled at the expense of Andrew Hall.West Indies, on the other hand, have even more injury problems of their own. Chris Gayle is still suffering from a torn hamstring, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Corey Collymore are now also doubts.But Brian Lara has other things on his mind, namely the inconsistent West Indies bowling attack. “Your backs are against the wall when the team batting against you is scoring at four runs an over,” Lara said. “We’ve got to be able to pull things back and be more consistent in line and length.”South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Gary Kirsten, 6 Neil McKenzie, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Paul Adams, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre Nel.West Indies (from) Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Daren Ganga, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Carlton Baugh, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Adam Sanford, Dave Mohammed, Corey Collymore.

40.1 overs
Scorecard

Australia outclassed India with the ball and bat, and in the field, to register a thumping seven-wicket win in the first of the three finals of the VB Series. To their credit India fought hard, engineering a mini-recovery. At the end of the day, though, there was little to cheer about for Indian fans. The team will have to shrug off this loss in a hurry if they are to stretch Australia to a third final.The day began well for India, when Sourav Ganguly won the toss and chose to bat on a light-coloured dry pitch. From there on little went right. Australia’s fast bowlers, rejuvenated after a couple of games on the bouncy tracks of Perth, hit a perfect length. The batsmen had nothing to drive at and slowly but surely were pushed onto the back foot. From then on, the bowlers merely had to persist. Every now and then a ball did a bit extra, a batsman committed a mistake and the wickets fell.Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar both departed inside six overs. Sehwag fended Jason Gillespie awkwardly to Adam Gilchrist while Tendulkar played a half-cocked drive to a full one from Brett Lee and was bowled through the gate (2 for 14). Soon after, VVS Laxman (24) and Rahul Dravid were gone with the score on 48 and India were in deep strife. Each of the four Australian bowlers used – Gillespie, Lee, Williams and Harvey – had struck.Ganguly walked out to the wicket amidst a rain of short balls, no doubt ruing the way things turned out after he had decided to bat. He played and missed more than once, attempting pull shots that would have been more in place on a beach in the Caribbean than an international tournament final. In the event, he was put out of his misery soon enough, by the bowler least likely to get him, when he cut and edged Ian Harvey to the keeper. Yuvraj Singh had a breezy yet pleasant stay out in the middle, clipping two effortless boundaries. Then, he became the latest casualty, edging a full one from Lee to the keeper. At 6 for 76 India were dead and buried.Ajit Agarkar then wafted out like a refreshing breeze and hit the bowlers all around the park. The pressure of being so many down for so few seemed to act in reverse. After all, Agarkar had little to lose. His driving down the ground was crisp, his whips off the hip well-placed and his pull shot phenomenal. Hemang Badani, the last recognised batsman, watched in disbelief as a lesser batsman made light of the task at hand. Fortunately for India, Badani did not attempt to match Agarkar stroke for stroke. Instead he buckled down, brushed off the times he played and missed, and held up one end.Agarkar’s dramatic pull shot off Harvey, when he swiveled with the twirl of a ballerina and deposited a perfectly good ball over the stands at midwicket, was the highlight of a 102-run seventh wicket partnership that breathed life into the game. But even then, Agarkar’s breezy 53 (62 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) and Badani’s determined 60 not out (81 balls, 4 fours) could only take India to 222.When India came out to attempt a defense of 222, it was almost an impossible task. Yet, Agarkar and Lakshmipathy Balaji began well enough, sending down two tight overs. And then all hell broke loose. Gilchrist opened his shoulders and launched the kind of assault you need when you’re chasing 323 rather than 223. His bat came down fast and furiously with metronomic efficiency. Anything that was full, or wide, and preferably both, was dispatched with an arrogant air.Gilchrist (38, 20 balls, 7 fours) was particularly savage on Balaji early on. He crashed him for three boundaries in four balls, and had scored 18 runs from the first five balls of the over before he finally slipped up. Balaji came around the wicket, dug the ball in short and Gilchrist’s pull sailed high and handsome into Tendulkar’s hands at deep backward square leg (1 for 48).If India were happy to see the back of Gilchrist, the smiles were wiped off their faces by a rampant Ponting. He attacked the bowling from the moment he walked out to the middle, getting his eye in well against the medium-pacers before expanding his victims list to accommodate the spinners. His quicksilver footwork formed the basis for his clean hitting. He was not always to the pitch of the ball, but that hardly mattered as he drove on the up and through the line with sure hands. Small wonder that he was happy to walk when he edged one on 88 (80 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes) with the score on 193.Balaji picked up three consolation wickets, including that of Hayden in unusual circumstances. Hayden drove uppishly at a slower ball and only managed a gentle scoop back towards the bowler. An apologetic appeal from Balaji was upheld by the third umpire. Hayden’s unusually restrained 50 (91 balls, 4 fours) formed the backbone of the 139-run partnership with Ponting for the third wicket. Suffice it to say it was more than enough to see Australia home.

South Australia 0 for 13 trail Western Australia 335 (North 130*) by 322 runs
ScorecardMarcus North scored a unbeaten 130 to carry Western Australia to a handy first-innings total on a scorching opening day of their Pura Cup match against South Australia at Adelaide. After winning the toss, WA racked up 335 in its first innings, with SA closing on 0 for 13 in reply.It was an important toss to win as Mike Hussey sent South Australia out to bat in near-40 degree heat, with strong winds, dust storms and a cruelly flat batting track to contend with. But WA failed to capitalise early on, with Scott Meuleman suicidally run out for 5, before Mark Cleary picked up the wickets of Hussey (28) and Chris Rogers (17). At 3 for 75, SA had taken the early honours.But that brought North to the crease, and with Murray Goodwin continuing his superb form, the pair added 81 for the fourth wicket, before Goodwin was caught behind, slashing at a short wide ball off Shaun Tait, for 55. It prompted a mid-innings slump from WA that was only halted by a defiant 76-run stand for the ninth wicket with Aaron Heal (33).”Up until tea we were a little bit disappointed with the way we’ve played,” admitted North. “We obviously won the toss and batted first on a pretty good batting wicket, so it was important that we got a score over 300. From the position we were in we’ll be happy to take 330 and we’ve just got to bowl well tomorrow.”North brought up his century with an edge past the slips off Paul Rofe, as SA took the new ball to bring about a swift end to the innings. But the move backfired as North embarked on a scoring spree. His last 30 runs came off 24 balls, including four fours, as well as a six over midwicket off the allrounder Mick Miller.The pick of SA’s bowlers was Cleary who took 3 for 43, and afterwards he was content with his side’s efforts. “We could have closed them down 70 or 80 runs short of what they got,” he admitted, “but then again 335 wasn’t too bad a day for us, it was a good batting wicket, so we’ll take that.”

For the third time in as many attempts, India pulled off a stunning one-day win against Pakistan at Lahore. This time, though, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and co. could only watch from their moving bus as the pot-bellies in blue went about the business of dropping catches and bowling wides. Fortunately, the visiting Indian Journalists XI also did a few things right, and the Sports Journalists Association of Lahore (SJAL) team were left well behind, losing by 62 runs.The match, organised by the SJAL, was just one more small component in the long list of interactions between the two countries that has been organised on this tour. You can’t go for a walk in the park without having someone tell you how every event, however random or unplanned, was designed to bring the two governments together. Most journalists have enough to worry about banging out copy in time to meet deadlines and please editors, and if you believed everything you heard, they were all diplomatic pawns in a grander design. The especially naughty local children go as far as saying that Pakistan merely let India win the one-dayers and the first Test, since this is a friendship series.Vikrant Gupta, of the television channel Aajtak, did what Sourav Ganguly failed to do in five one-dayers. He won the toss and justified his appointment as captain by carting the bowling around for 91 off only 70 balls. Several bowlers ran in quickly and bowled slowly, but none could dismiss him. At the other end, batsmen gently prodded the bowling away and fed Gupta the strike. G Rajaraman (10) broke trend with some agricultural slogging.Qaiser Chouhan was the one bowler to trouble the Indians. This could very well be because he realised that there was no Bradman-in-waiting in the opposition, and adopted the cunning strategy of bowling straight. Just when he thought he had done something clever, he realised that the fall of each wicket brought fresh legs to the crease. Indranil Basu of newspaper took over the assault from Gupta, banging 30 off 18 balls to take his team to 198 for 5 from 25 overs.The break also afforded the chance to discuss the finer points of the performance with the experts at the ground. Some former Pakistan Test cricketers turned up to watch, of whom at least one missed the original India-Pakistan match at Lahore, because he was not sent tickets by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Imtiaz Ahmed, the first Pakistani wicketkeeper to score a Test double-century, Saeed Ahmed and Younis Ahmed were among those who spent a lazy Saturday watching an ungainly, overweight lot with limited talent murder the game they themselves had once played so well.The quick break sorted, Team India lurched into its first huddle. It shouldn’t be said that journalists don’t learn anything from watching hours of cricket. Loud noises were made, meaningless slogans chanted, and they assumed fielding positions they were more accustomed to writing about. Iqbal Harper (19) and Aqeel Ahmed (21) began as though they needed to make 199 in 10 overs. And it was not until this not-so-humble reporter splayed Harper’s stumps with his first ball of the match that team India got into their second huddle.From then on there were more get-togethers than decent partnerships, as an assortment of bowlers ran through the batting. Rajaraman (3 for 14) put paid to any ideas of a middle-order revival, and Ajay Naidu, of newspaper (4 for 21) wisely stuck to his gentle left-arm spin and ran through the late-order. Rahul Banerji also proved that it is possible to keep batsmen quiet by lobbing balls so high that there was a risk of one of the many security guards shooting it out of the air thinking it was a clay pigeon. One batsman laughed so hard as the ball came down he managed to get himself out caught.In the end, SJAL XI were bowled out for 136 in 24.2 overs and it was time for everyone to rush from the Lahore City Cricket Association to the Gadaffi Stadium to get to work. The Indian team were in shock as they saw a group of people clad in uniforms strikingly similar to theirs. When they were told that India’s journalists were continuing the good work they had begun on the field, one cricketer said, “Good job, that’s another nail in the coffin.” Another one was generous enough to chirp, “Now you guys can write whatever you want about us and we can’t complain.” If only it were that simple. When they wake up the next day, however, each sore muscle and aching bone will remind them that it’s back to business as usual.

Dave Orchard is among six umpires named by Cricket Australia in their national panel for the 2004-05 season. The 55-year-old Orchard represented South Africa in the ICC’s elite panel and has officiated in 44 Tests – including two matches in the recently concluded series between Sri Lanka and Australia – and 107 one-day internationals. However, he has been an Australian resident for the past seven years and is expected to be granted Australian citizenship soon. His contract with the ICC ended earlier this year.The appointment makes Orchard eligible to officiate in Pura Cup, ING Cup, and national second XI competitions, and also in some international fixtures like Australia A games and tour matches.A left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Orchard scored 1634 runs and took 47 wickets in a first-class career which lasted 11 years, before he took to umpiring. Over the years, he gained a reputation for being among the less conservative umpires, often giving batsmen out lbw when they stretched forward to spinners without offering a stroke.Orchard’s exit means that Rudi Koertzen is the only South African currently in the elite panel. Meanwhile, Australia have three of them – Darrell Hair, Daryl Harper and Simon Taufel – while three more, Steve Davis, Peter Parker and Bob Parry, are in the international panel. The international panel umpires are allowed to officiate in one-day internationals, and can also, if required, provide back-up to the elite panel by officiating in Tests during the peak season.

Someone in the Zimbabwe Cricket Union must have broken quite a few mirrors in recent months, so wretched is its luck. First there was the dispute which robbed the side of 15 players, then Blessing Mahwire’s action was reported to the ICC, and now Dion Ebrahim, their vice-captain, has been banned for one Test for making disparaging comments about Muttiah Muralitharan’s bowling action.Ebrahim’s offending remark came on the first day of the second Test, when he was reported for saying in a telephone interview that Muralitharan’s legbreak was “the first legal delivery he bowled – that’s my personal opinion”.Sri Lankan officials wrote to Mike Procter, the match referee, saying they took “very serious offence” at the remark. A hearing was held at the end of play today and Ebrahim pleaded guilty. He explained that he had not realised the seriousness of his statement, and that he had said it more in jest.Procter said that while he was not going to fine Ebrahim, he took his statement in serious light and so decided on the one-match ban.

Canada 224 for 9 (Bagai 68) beat USA 137 for 9 by 76 runs (D-L method)
ScorecardCanada pulled off a resounding victory against North American rivals United States at the picturesque St. David’s Cricket Club with a 76-run win. Although the result was officially determined by the Duckworth-Lewis method, by the end Canada were clear winners.Canada started the day badly, as they slumped to 47 for 4, after electing to bat. But Haninder Dhillon (33) and Ashish Bagai dug in to take the score to 106 before Dhillon was dismissed, but Don Maxwell (27) and Austin Codrington (25) both shared in crucial partnerships with Bagai, first 45 for the 7th wicket and then 41 for the 8th wicket, to take Canada to a respectable total of 224 for 9 in their 50 overs.All the while Bagai, later named Man of the Match, stood firm, and was undefeated on 68 from 90 balls. Charles Reid impressed with 2 for 18 from 10 overs, while Islam (3-39), Javed (2-47), and Howard Johnson (2-52) were also among the wickets.USA got off to a sound start. Rahul Kukreti (13) and Mark Johnson (33) batted with assurance to post 54. But in one devastating over, Ashish Patel struck, claiming three key wickets. USA were reduced to 55 for 3 and could not recover.From then on wickets fell at regular intervals, with only Richard Staple, the captain, offering any real resistance with a knock of 21, as the Canadian spin attack of John Davison, (2-15), Sunil Dhaniram, (2-20) and Zahid Hussain, (1-20), combined impressively to tear the rest of the USA batting line-up apart .Four wickets fell with the score on 99 as USA crashed from 99 for 5 to 99 for 9.A brief shower forced the players off the field, and with 9 overs lost, USA were left with a target of 214, but with the last pair at the wicket and only 4 overs remaining, the game was effectively over. Nasir Javed (26 not out) and Howard Johnson (10 not out) added a further 38 runs between them as USA finished on 137 for 9 in 41 overs.Bermuda 267 for 5 (White 78, Marshall 64) beat Bahamas 96 (Leverock 5-18) by 171 runs
ScorecardBermuda inflicted another crushing defeat on the luckless Bahamas, with an emphatic 171-run victory at the National Sports Centre. Sent in to bat, Bermuda got off to a hesitant start, and stuttered to 90 for 3. However, Wendell White and Charlie Marshall shared in a scintillating fourth wicket partnership of 131 runs, and Bermuda’s innings eventually closed on 267 for 5 from 50 overs.White (78 not out) batted impressively while Charlie Marshall (64) put together a fine 64. Along with 33 from Cann and 26 from Smith, Bermuda’s total was always going to be out of reach of the inexperienced Bahamians. Narendra Ekanayake (2-46) was the pick of the Bahamas bowling attack.In reply, the Bahamas got off to a bright enough start, with Whitcliff Atkinson and Dwight Weakley, both making 23, taking the score to 51 for 2. The introduction of Leverock rocked the Bahamas into submission, eventually all out for 96 in 35 overs. Leverock, later named Man of the Match, finished with 5 for 18 from his ten overs.Argentina 99 (Paterlini 49) lost to Cayman Islands 102 for 2 by 8 wickets
ScorecardThe Cayman Islands turned in an impressive performance at the Southampton Rangers ground to register an easy eight-wicket win over Argentina. Cayman Islands bowled out Argentina for only 99 in 40 overs, and then eased comfortably to the target for the loss of only two wickets, from 28 overs.For the Argentines, only opening bat Lucas Paterlini put up any real resistance, with a fine innings of 49 (4 fours). Alejandro Ferguson contributed an unbeaten 19 but the rest of the Argentina batting line-up failed dismally.When it was their turn to bat Cayman Islands faced no hurdles. After Chris Wight’s 21, Best (29 not out) and Lawrence Cunningham (23 not out) shared in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 45 to take the Caymans to a resounding win.This win keeps the Cayman Islands in the hunt for a top-three finish, and an automatic qualifying spot for Ireland.