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ScorecardSouth Africa pulled off an exciting three-run win – and ended India’s unbeaten record in the competition – in their floodlit Super League match at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. Chasing South Africa’s 226, their highest score in the tournament so far, India looked dead for all money at 188 for 9 – but a stirring last-wicket stand between Abhishek Sharma and Rudra Pratap Singh took them agonisingly close to victory.India started well, but on a slow pitch they struggled after the shine went off the ball. The opener Shikhar Dhawan contributed a measured 66, and Rakesh Solanki’s 29 included one big straight six, but the South Africans kept the pressure on with regular wickets. Vernon Philander and Waylain September took two wickets apiece, but the South African bowling hero was Boland’s fastish left-armer Vince Pennazza. He dismissed Sunny Singh for a duck and Gaurav Dhiman for 12, and was on at the death when the last-wicket stand seemed set to bring India an unlikely victory. But Pennazza swung a well-judged yorker into the base of Sharma’s off stump, and the fun was all over.Earlier India’s spinners had whizzed through 40 of South Africa’s 50 overs – and bowled them so quickly that there was time for India’s openers to come out to face eight overs before lunch, in which time they piled on 56 of an evenhtual opening stand of 86.All the South African batsmen got starts, but the only one to pass fifty was Roelof van der Merwe, who biffed four fours in reaching 54 from 68 balls, before an attempted reverse-sweep looped gently to Dhawan on the fielding circle at backward point. But van der Merwe already suspected he had done enough: “It’s a slow wicket, and it’s difficult to play spin on it,” he said.The early impetus was provided by Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who hit 26 from 25 balls before lofting Dhiman to Sunny Singh in the sixth over. Fellow opener Clint Bowyer made 33 before Suresh Raina slipped an offbreak through his defence. Divan van Wyk, South Africa’s captain, laboured to 23 from 47 balls before he lobbed his opposite number, Ambati Rayudu, tamely to Raina at midwicket. And Jaco Booyen’s 33 ended equally tamely, when he wasn’t even in the frame as Raina’s sidearm flick from backward point zeroed in to the keeper Dinesh Karthik.After van der Merwe’s departure Philander (34*) and the patriotically named Keagan Africa (19*) conjured 29 runs from the last 5.4 overs, to set the Indians a stiff target. It proved to be enough … just.After the match Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, said that the match had gone much as planned. "Before the match I thought that a score of around 230 would be enough and I was pleased with the way our boys batted," he said. "I was a bit concerned when India’s batsmen got off to such a good start but our bowlers fought back well and I think we deserved the victory. I still think our players have more to show but after today’s result I feel that we are capable of beating anybody."But Robin Singh, India’s coach, was predictably less impressed. "It was a very disappointing performance," he said. "I don’t think we bowled particularly well, we fielded poorly and batted appallingly."

What is it?
A mirror image of a right-armer’s legbreak, a chinaman is a ball from a left-armer that is bowled over the wrist and turns the opposite way to orthodox left-arm spin. In other words, it spins in to the right-hand batsman and away from the left-hander – from left to right on a TV screen.What is the term’s origin?
Charlie “Buck” Llewellyn, a South African allrounder who played circa the end of the 19th century, laid claim to inventing the delivery. But the term is more traditionally believed to have originated with the former West Indian spinner Ellis “Puss” Achong. In the 1933 Old Trafford Test, Achong, a left-arm orthodox spinner and the first Test cricketer of Chinese ancestry, bowled an unexpected wrist-spin delivery that turned from off to leg, and had the English batsman Walter Robins stumped. Legend has it that Robins, as he walked back to the pavilion, remarked, “Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman.”Who are the famous practitioners of the art?
Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, Garry Sobers, and more recently, Paul Adams, Michael Bevan, Brad Hogg, and Dave Mohammed are among the better known ones.What variations does a chinaman bowler have?
A googly, just like a legspinner. Only in this case the googly leaves the right-hander and comes into a left-hander.Why are Chinaman bowlers so rare?
It is difficult to control left-arm wrist spin (as also traditional legspin). And by and large the ball coming in to a right-hander is considered less dangerous than the one leaving him.

Ricky Ponting has challenged the rest of the world to adopt a more attacking attitude in a bid to get more people interested in Tests. Television audiences for the first game in Brisbane were down and barely 1200 people watched the final day of Australia’s success, but Ponting believes his players are making the game entertaining.”That is one thing we’ve done particularly well over a long period of time,” he said before Friday’s second game in Hobart. “If you look at the way we score our runs, the way we have been able to bowl in Test cricket, we have made the overall game a lot more attractive than other countries have.”The emergence of Twenty20 has shifted the focus from the longer forms of the game, but Ponting, who considers Tests the pinnacle, did not believe the problem was Australia’s domination. In Hobart, Australia will aim for their 14th win in a row and they have not lost a Test since 2005.”Maybe it’s not so much us,” he said. “Maybe the other countries have to start looking at maybe not playing as many drawn games, maybe challenging themselves a bit more to start winning and having results in Test matches. If you do that I think you will see people come back to the game.”The Australian team meetings have not contained talk of their assault on the 16-match winning streak achieved by Steve Waugh’s side in 2001, but it is on the players’ minds. However, they are not motivated by trying to achieve rule changes as a mark of their reign, which was a goal raised by Waugh and John Buchanan when they working together.”That sort of stuff is a fair way off yet,” Ponting said. “Let’s not forget that it was one win up in Brisbane and this game can change really quickly. It’s up to us to keep a reasonable-sized step ahead of the pack, but you only do that with hard work and performances when it matters. We’ve got that ahead of us yet.”

The third day at the SSC couldn’t have gone much better for Mahela Jayawardene. His unbeaten 167 led Sri Lanka to a 28-run lead over England with six wickets remaining and in the process he became his country’s leading run scorer and set a new milestone for a single batsman at a Test venue, pushing Graham Gooch’s Lord’s record into second place.However, in typical Jayawardene manner it was the team position that was more satisfying to him than the personal success. “It was important for us that we batted through the first session. England had put us under pressure by scoring 351 so we needed to make sure we bat through the day today without too many hiccups,” he said. “Now we’ve got an advantage we need to push ourselves and go for a win if we really work hard tomorrow.”On a wicket like this the second, third and fourth days are the best to bat on. Batting England out of the Test would be our first target which we’ve gone three quarter of the way to doing. We just need to make sure we push that advantage in a couple of more sessions by scoring a couple of hundred more runs. Then England cannot put us back under pressure. They need to make sure they save this Test match. It will be interesting to see what Murali can do on a fifth day wicket.”During the course of the day Jayawardene set up many records, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya’s tally of 6973 runs to become Sri Lanka’s most prolific batsman and becoming the first Sri Lanka batsman to cross the 7000-run mark in Tests. He also equalled Aravinda de Silva’s highest number of Test hundreds when he completed his 20th ton.”I am very honoured to have passed Sanath’s record. He’s been a brilliant ambassador for us. He pushed the limits for a lot of youngsters in Sri Lanka cricket and challenged everybody,” said Jayawardene. “I just need to work hard at my game. Everyday you learn something out there when you play international cricket. You bring that into your game and make sure you improve. As a team we try and work harder challenging ourselves individually to be better players. That’s what it’s all about.”With Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu recently retired, Jayawardene admitted there was more pressure on him and Kumar Sangakkara in the batting ranks to help the younger players settle in. “A lot of senior players have retired and there is a lot of responsibility on Kumar’s and my shoulder. We work really hard to make sure we carry the team through this period so that the youngsters can come through. We’ve got some exciting talent behind us. We need to guide them in the right direction.”Jayawardene’s innings took him past Gooch as the leading run scorer on an individual ground as the SSC remained a happy hunting ground. “I have played ten years of club cricket here. I know this wicket pretty well and enjoy batting here,” he said. “It’s value for your runs, a good outfield and brilliant atmosphere. If you stick to your basics and work around your stroke play and be patient, you can get a lot of runs here.”Jayawardene was the second Sri Lankan to reach three figures in the innings after Michael Vandort’s 138 set up the strong platform. Vandort needed to steady the innings after two early wickets and paid tribute to the role of Jayawardene in their 227-run stand for the third wicket.”Every Test innings is important but from the team’s point of view we were 22 for 2 when Mahela joined me. He helped me a lot throughout the innings,” he said. “We get along well in the middle because this is about the third or fourth century partnership we have put together. I have been playing a few rash shots during my innings and every time I did that he came and game me advice.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

India, led by Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir, put on a show of batting might at Chittagong, ending the first day on 334 for 2. Dravid ended his dry run with an unbeaten 145 that made him the first cricketer to score Test hundreds in all ten Test-playing nations, while Gambhir scored his first, an attractive 139. They came together when Virender Sehwag fell early on, and went about decimating a modest attack on a heartbreakingly flat pitch. There was no respite for Bangladesh even when they were parted, for Sachin Tendulkar took control and ended the day with a flurry of boundaries.After his 270 against Pakistan in April, Dravid endured a run of low scores and batting seemed to have become a struggle. In the last Test he had the mortification of being bowled for duck while offering no stroke. But today, the confident strokeplay returned as he marched to his 18th Test hundred, which he brought up with a cover-driven four off the back foot in the first over after tea. It took him 196 balls to reach the mark.A feature of the 259-run stand between Dravid and Gambhir, India’s highest second-wicket partnership abroad, was the beauty of their strokes. Gambhir was fed a stream of hittable deliveries outside off, which he eagerly cut and drove to the boundary. In one over by Nazmul Hossain, Gambhir effortlessly split the field on four occasions. He brought up his 50 in 60 balls, and scored his next 50 in 71. By then he had hit 16 fours, many of which had enviable placement and timing, and allowed Dravid to bat himself in.

Dravid began circumspectly, but quickened the pace after lunch. He scored a number of his runs down the ground as the bowlers strayed in both line and length. There were cover-drives and on-drives as well. One push off Talha Jubair, timed well, threaded through a narrow gap between two fielders in the covers and raced to the ropes.Barring Mashrafe Mortaza, none of the bowlers threatened the batsmen. Hossain found swing but no pace, while Jubair – who swung the ball at 130kph – was wayward and expensive. However, Hossain, making his first-class debut as well as his Test one, claimed his first wicket when Gambhir attempted a pull and dragged the ball onto his stumps instead (273 for 2). His 139 came off 196 balls.Then Tendulkar asserted his dominance over the bowlers, playing a series of cover-drives and flicks to the leg side to end the day on 36. He ran hard, hit hard, and displayed form that would worry most teams. Bangladesh struggled, and had a hard time on the field, while India had it easy. A little too easy, perhaps, for this game to be an accurate barometer of their form.

A gallant unbeaten 91 by Ahmed Quadri helped Hyderabad to salvage threepoints from their South Zone Cooch Behar Trophy match against TamilNadu at the Gymkhana ground in Hyderabad on Monday.In arrears by 168 runs on the first innings, Hyderabad were in dangerof losing when they were five down for 77, despite a second wicketpartnership of 69 runs between Shashang Nag (37) and Abhinav Kumar(28). It was at this critical juncture that Qadri entered. First withAT Rayudu (13) he added 39 runs for the sixth wicket. This wasfollowed by a seventh wicket stand of 41 runs with Varun (11). Finallyafter eight wickets had gone for 167 runs, Qadri and Nadeemuddin (9)shared an unbroken ninth wicket association of 43 runs off just 6.2overs to steer Hyderabad to safety. P Satish, who had caused themiddle order collapse, was the most successful bowler with four for73. Qadri faced 114 balls and hit 14 fours in his match saving knockas Hyderabad ended at 210 for eight.Earlier, Tamil Nadu resuming at 313 for six, declared at 384 foreight. Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan (36) and G Vignesh (59) added 88 runsfor the seventh wicket off 24.4 overs. Vignesh faced 84 balls and hitten fours and a six. Tamil Nadu got five points from the match. TamilNadu finished their engagements with 18 points and Hyderabad with 25points.

First-class cricket will arrive in Bermuda and Holland on Wednesday, as the two countries play host to the latest matches in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. The visitors will be USA, who have already played one match against Canada in the Americas qualifying group, and Ireland, who have been keeping themselves busy with some notable one-day successes this season.”The Irish team is looking forward to our first match in the ICC Intercontinental Cup,” said Kyle McCallan, Ireland’s allrounder, who has already played a starring role in a successful season to date, which has included improbable victories over Surrey and West Indies. “Those wins have put the team in high spirit and ready for the next few days. It will be a test for us as we have not played a lot of three-day cricket over the past few seasons, but the chance to compete against High Performance countries like Holland and Scotland will ensure that we rise to the challenge.”Bermuda, meanwhile, were disappointed to miss out as a venue for the 2007 World Cup, but they are concentrating their efforts on the arrival of USA, who lost out to Canada in their opening fixture last month, but will be playing in the ICC Champions Trophy in September. Bermuda’s captain, Clay Smith, said his team had prepared well for the match.”We are very excited to be a part of the ICC Intercontinental Cup,” said Smith. “This competition will give our players experience in a first-class match for the first time in their careers, and we are looking forward to giving a good account of ourselves.”The awarding of first-class status to the Intercontinental Cup was frowned upon in some quarters, and even Canada’s John Davison admitted he was grateful to the rulemakers after taking 17 wickets against USA. But, with an innovative points system designed to maximise the learning experience for the participating teams, the tournament can only help the game to develop.To encourage teams to play for a result, the first innings of each side is restricted to 90 overs, and a minimum of 105 overs must be bowled on the opening two days of the match. The top-ranked team from the matches played in the four regions – Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas – will progress to the semi-finals and finals in the United Arab Emirates in November. Nepal (42 points), Uganda (32), Scotland (17.5) and Canada (30.5) currently lead their respective regions.

Auckland have decided they don’t want wicket-keeper Adam Parore for their next State Championship match starting in Palmerston North against Central Districts on Monday.Parore, who told the national selectors he was taking an indefinite break from cricket 10 days ago, was available for selection.But Auckland Cricket chief executive Lindsay Crocker said: “Adam has demonstrated an unwillingness to play for us.”The selectors prefer to stick with someone who makes a full contribution to the team both on and off the field,” he said.That effectively turns the onus back on the national selectors about whether to pick Parore for the Test series against England without him having played any cricket since the CLEAR Black Caps returned from Australia.Consistently they have asked players returning from injury to play domestic cricket to prove their fitness and it will be a test of their policy as they consider their options before naming the Test side.The Auckland team is: Brooke Walker (captain), Andre Adams, Chris Drum, Matt Horne, Llorne Howell, Tim McIntosh, Rob Nicol, Mark Richardson, Reece Young, Gareth Shaw, Lou Vincent, Sam Whiteman.

Sri Lanka’s selectors have included Dinusha and Dilhara Fernando in a 15-man squad for the opening Test against England, which starts next week.The two pace bowlers will be competing for one place as Sri Lanka are set to play only two quicks on a surface that is expected to offer bountiful assistance to the slow bowlers.Sri Lanka included three specialist spinners – Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana and Kumar Dharmasena – in the squad, as well as offspinning allrounder Thilan Samaraweera.Chandana is tipped to edge out Dharmasena and play his first Test for 16 months, although Sri Lanka also have the option of playing all three spinners and batting Romesh Kaluwitharana at number six.That appears unlikely though considering Sri Lanka’s recent vulnerability in the middle order so Tillakaratne Dilshan, Michael Vandort and Thilan Samaraweera are effectively competing for the final batting slot.Russel Arnold, who captains a Board President’s XI against England on Wednesday, misses out on a recall, as does Nuwan Zoysa, who was pushing for a return to the squad.Sri Lanka, now captained by Hashan Tillakaratne, have not won their last three series but have fond memories of Galle, where they trounced England by an innings when the two sides last met in 2001. They have won six out of the eight Tests played at the south coast venue, losing only to Pakistan in 2000.Squad: Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Dharmasena, Upul Chandan, Chaminda Vaas, Dinusha Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Michael Vandort

One of Australia’s many enviable attributes is the strength in depth they have developed in their squad. They have just won a series in India – where they hadn’t won for 35 years – without their captain and leading batsman. Brett Lee can’t find a place in the starting XI, and if Darren Lehmann, one of the bestplayers of spin bowling, steps aside once Ricky Ponting returns, the audaciously nimble-footed Michael Clarke awaits. Meanwhile for Pakistan and Sri Lanka, two of the teams vying to jump onto Australia’s lengthy coat-tails, this Test should provide them both with a clearer idea of the talent on their respective benches.The Sri Lankan camp has recently shown, admirably, an ability to adapt to a post-Murali world. Their series in Australia might have been lost, but progress was made – and in Lasith Malinga, the speedster with the freakish, slingy action, a unique, albeit raw, diamond was unearthed. Sri Lanka took further heart from their victories over South Africa at home, and particularly against Pakistan at Faisalabad, where the left-arm wiles of Ranjan Herath and the pace and swing of Dilhara Fernando proved the strength their attack can muster. But there is considerable progress still to be made, especially over five days. Today, in the windy dustbowl of Karachi, they got a taste of just how difficult the process of adjustment will be after Murali finally mooches off into the sunset.The pitch, despite some early-morning movement, wasn’t exactly as seam-friendly as Sri Lanka’s batsmen made it look yesterday, but the cause wasn’t helped by some indifferent performances from key bowlers. If Fernando was hot for a session at Faisalabad, he was very cold for all of today, and this contrast has marked much of his career. When he arrived on the scene in 1999, he was a refreshing break from past Sri Lankan pacemen: he was tall, rustically well-built and quicker than most, hovering menacingly on the speedometer in the mid 80s and low 90s. He developed a superb slower ball – with a unique spread-finger grip – and the priceless ability to reverse-swing the ball. But injuries to his back, and continuing problems with his run-up, have resulted not only in a drastic loss of pace – he nestled in the early 80s today – but also effectiveness. At Karachi, where he should have been trying to build on his Faisalabad burst, Fernando sent down 13 harmless overs, struggling both with his line and length.With Chaminda Vaas having an off day and Herath unable to extract significant spin, Sri Lanka’s attack had a bare look about it, and only Farveez Maharoof occasionally threatened. The reliance on Murali has been so great in the past – he has taken 257 wickets in 32 Sri Lankan wins, and 35 of their 37 Test wins have come since his debut – that it is only natural that they will experience difficulties without him. In all probability, there will be a few more days like this before the likes of Maharoof, Fernando and Malinga can start winning Test matches.Their ineffectiveness shouldn’t take too much away from a determined Pakistan batting line-up. If Abdul Razzaq has rekindled hopes that he is more than just a stock bowler behind Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, then Younis Khan will also be hoping to look on this match as a rebirth. Like Razzaq, Younis’s career has had question-marks attached. Today’s century was his sixth in Tests, his third against Sri Lanka and only his second at home, but it was only his second score above 50 in his last seven matches. His innings showcased the strokes that had him rated so highly early in his career. There was the expansive flourish of his one-kneed cover-drives, the punch of his shots square of the wicket, and the ungainly but highly effective sweep. In addition, there was one magnificent pull off Fernando, to reach his fifty, which added a calypso flourish to what had been, with Imran Farhat at the other end, a distinctly Caribbean display of batting in the morning.There were signs, too, in his 124 of the intelligence – particularly in his change of pace as Inzamam settled down – that once prompted Rashid Latif to identify him as a potential leader. Younis’s two fighting fifties against Australia in Colombo in 2002 – more valuable than some of his centuries on flat tracks against the weakened attacks of West Indies and Bangladesh – seemed to back up that idea. But after a disastrous slump in form since, amid increasing doubts about his ability to perform at the crunch, he had lost his way. This was his first Test in over a year, and his 15th at the problematic one-down position. His record at No. 3 was ordinary, although he said after this innings that it was the position in which he feels most comfortable.Younis may or may not be the long-term solution to the problem, but at least there are now some options. Yasir Hameed was touted as the one to watch last year, and he and Asim Kamal – brusquely dropped after his failures last week – both deserve a look-in. Shoaib Malik might be worth a try there too. And if Taufeeq Umar returns to open, then the competition is likely to heat up even more. But today, at least, Younis Khan grabbed his chance to be Pakistan’s second unlikely hero in two days. And as an indicator of the depth of your squad, that can’t be a bad thing.Osman Samiuddin is a freelance journalist based in Karachi.