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Raza Hasan completed a five-wicket haul to dismiss Sind for 331 in their second innings, setting Punjab a small target, which they chased with seven wickets in hand at the Gaddafi Stadium.Sind began the fourth day on 227 for 5, leading by only 26 runs. Saeed Bin Nasir, who was unbeaten on 55, was dismissed for 82, and Sarfraz Ahmed made 64. The tail did not contribute much and Raza Hasan took the two wickets he needed to finish with 5 for 73. Punjab were left facing a target of 131 with the better part of the day remaining.They got off to a rocky start, losing both openers early, and were reduced to 17 for 2. Mohammad Yasin, however, scored an unbeaten 70 and held the chase together. His partnership of 64 for the third wicket with Mohammad Saad, who made 30, ensured victory for Punjab.

Jodie Fields will lead Australia Women in the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand, while Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Julie Hunter return to the squad. The Australia’s Women’s National Selection Panel (WNSP) announced a 14-player squad that will take on the visiting New Zealand side in three ODIs and five Twenty20s, starting January 20.Alex Blackwell will be Fields’ deputy for the series. Perry was out of the squad last season due to football commitments, while Hunter had an injured shoulder and Healy was out because of indifferent form.”Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Julie Hunter all return to the squad, while Shelley Nitschke, Sharon Millanta and Annie-Rose Maloney are the players out of the team,” WNSP head Julie Savage said. “Shelley has retired from cricket while Annie-Rose and Sharon make way for the experienced combination of Ellyse and Julie.”The WNSP that selected the squad was recently shuffled. Chaired by Julie Savage, it also includes women’s coach Richard McInnes, captain Fields and former Australia bowler Julie Hayes.Squad: Jodie Fields (capt), Alex Blackwell (vice-capt), Jess Cameron, Sarah Coyte, Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy, Julie Hunter, Jessica Jonassen, Meg Lanning, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Leah Poulton, Clea Smith, Lisa Sthalekar

Allan Donald, South Africa’s bowling coach, believes Sri Lanka will struggle to make a contest out of the remaining two Test matches in the series. The visitors were blown away by an innings and 81-runs in Centurion, being bowled out for under 200 in both innings, and Donald said that although they have a quality line-up, things will not get any easier for them.”What they have in the tank and what they bring to the party on a different surface will be different but if we’re going to bowl like we are at the moment, and the wickets have helped, it’s going to be tough for them to come back into this series,” he said. “We’ll make sure of that.”South Africa’s attack benefitted from a green top in Centurion and Donald expects another “bouncy” track in Durban, without “too much lateral movement.” Conditions have been so tailor-made to suit the attack that Graeme Smith said the batsmen may be “hoping for a flatter wicket” in the near future.While the pitches have aided South Africa’s bowlers, Donald said they have to be wary of complacence, which can creep in if too much is in your favour. “Sometimes when you get on a responsive wicket, you hesitantly get into your work,” Donald said. “Instead of just bowling into an area, you feel you need to get into the hot-zone more often.” The hot-zone refers to a length a little fuller than usual, something Morne Morkel has struggled to find.Morkel attracted criticism rather than praise after the first Test, as he looked out of sorts at first change. Donald said all he needs is more game time and that a return to form is inevitable. “I put myself in his shoes a lot of the time. I was a rhythm bowler and a confidence bowler and I needed to bowl a lot to have that confidence and to bowl in certain areas with good pace. Morne is exactly the same. We tinkered with a few things yesterday after the day’s play and I think he is now confident to take it further. We know what Morne is capable of and it’s not far away that he will be knocking the door down again.”Morkel faces pressure from Marchant de Lange, who was included in the squad as part of a learning process. De Lange has only played 14 first-class matches but has been identified as a future prospect and is being personally groomed by Donald. “The good thing about Marchant is that he is asking a lot of questions,” Donald said. “It’s wonderful to have him in our group because it keeps everyone on their toes and challenging for places.”There have also been calls to replace Morkel with left-armer Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who was dropped from the Test side before last month’s Australia series. Tsotsobe has since suffered a side strain and should be ready to make his comeback soon.The other concern is the minimal impact that legspinner Imran Tahir has made. Seamer-friendly surfaces have made it difficult for him, but he also struggled with running on the danger area of the pitch. Tahir spend the build up to the Test working with High Performance coach Vincent Barnes and former international Paul Adams, and Donald believes he is ready to create his own big splash. “He [Tahir] is happy now,” Donald said. “The one thing that worried us a little bit is that he gets too concerned about what he is doing in that zone and doesn’t concentrate on his bowling.”Far from a disciplinarian, Donald sees his role as facilitating getting the best out of a talented back. “At this level, you’re not going to teach people how to bowl. We are trying to remind those guys how good they are and getting them to be better. Sometimes, we are still getting too loose or maybe a little too arrogant, but we manage to pull it back. Sometimes, we do not get off to a good start and at the end of the day we play catch up cricket but we pull it back somehow.”That’s the kind of class we have at the moment, even if we aren’t doing well, we manage to pull it back.”

Doug Bracewell’s snubbing as Man of the Match in Hobart has forced Cricket Australia to back down on its controversial viewer-voting system. The decision on who should be the Man of the Match will revert to an expert panel after David Warner was given the award for his century at Bellerive Oval, despite Bracewell’s match-winning fourth-day spell.Cricket Australia used the New Zealand series to trial a system in which the public could vote for the official Man of the Match using a mobile phone application. James Pattinson’s win in Brisbane was not contentious, but the overwhelming support for Warner – he polled 58% in Hobart to Bracewell’s 27% – left the New Zealanders rightly affronted.”We were always running a bit of a trial for these two Tests with those Man of the Match awards but we will definitely revert back to an expert’s choice for that decision about man of the match,” Sutherland said on the Melbourne radio station 3AW. However, he was keen to see the continuation of the viewer’s choice application, which he called “ahead of its time”, in other waysBracewell finished with match figures of 9 for 60 and clearly altered the course of the match on the fourth day, when he collected three wickets in nine balls to demolish Australia’s middle order and set New Zealand on the path to their first Test win in Australia in 26 years. The New Zealand assistant coach, Trent Woodhill, said the decision was obviously wrong.”It’s embarrassing. David Warner had a fantastic innings. He batted all the way through the innings,” Woodhill told . “Doug Bracewell was the player of that match. He took nine wickets for 60, if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have won the match. To me that’s who the player of the match should be.”It was not surprising that the public-voting system was controversial – there was always the risk that Australian fans would vote overwhelmingly for Australian players regardless of the result of the game. The traditional method of selecting the Man of the Match, via expert opinion, will resume for the upcoming Test series against India.

Simon Katich’s disciplinary hearing before Cricket Australia over his comments about Michael Clarke has been delayed until December, allowing further time for the air to cool and increasing the likelihood of a guilty plea.The disciplinary hearing, originally slated for November 21, is now expected to be held on Monday, December 5. The delay has been caused by scheduling conflicts and Katich, his legal representation and management requiring more time to organise ahead an answer to the charge of “detrimental public comment”.Since Katich’s comments on October 28, which re-opened the question of whether or not personal enmity between himself and Clarke had led to the opener’s removal from the list of CA contracted players, time is believed to have cooled the anger that flowed from Katich’s mouth at the SCG.When asked by reporters whether John Inverarity’s appointment as the new National Selector had enhanced his chances of an international recall, Katich had spoken pointedly.”It’s pleasing to hear but I think you don’t have to be Einstein to figure out that it’s not just the selectors that had a part in sending me on my way,” Katich said following a Sheffield Shield century against Victoria. “I mean to be brutally honest obviously what happened in the dressing room here a few years ago didn’t help my cause. And obviously the captain and coach are selectors.”Just because he [Inverarity] is going to be chairman of selectors or whatever role it is I wouldn’t have thought that’d make too much difference.”Queried on whether or not he could ever expect to play for Australia while Clarke was captain, Katich replied: “I wouldn’t have thought so. That’s probably why I’m in this position in the first place.”James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, was swift in his repudiation of Katich’s words, and the batsman himself is thought to now want the matter to be concluded as quickly as possible, minimising the damage from a divisive episode.

Rawalpindi’s left-arm fast bowler Sadaf Hussain claimed an astonishing 9 for 37 in 15.4 overs to demolish Habib Bank Limited (HBL) for 114 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Hussain, 21, made best use of the conditions after Rawalpindi won the toss and seven of his wickets were either bowled or lbw. The only batsman to get away was Fahad Masood, who was dismissed by Nasir Malik. The captain Hasan Raza was HBL’s top-scorer with 29. Rawalpindi, however, also struggled when they came out to bat, ending the day on 140 for 7, leading by only 26. HBL’s new-ball attack of Masood and Sarmad Anwar took three wickets apiece. Seven Rawalpindi batsmen got into double figures but no one made more than Babar Naeem’s 32.State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) bowlers chipped away steadily to reduce Islamabad to 227 for 7 at the end of day one at the Diamond Club Ground. SBP struck two early blows after they chose to field before Islamabad had a steadying 79-run stand for the third wicket between Afaq Raheem and Zeeshan Mushtaq. After that, however, wickets fell at regular intervals and Zeeshan was the first of three successive batsmen to be dismissed on 29. Raheem remained steadfast through the day, ending on 89 not out off 228 balls. Fast bowler Saad Altaf finished with 3 for 48 for SBP.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) were struggling at 72 for 4 against Faisalabad before Shoaib Khan snr rescued them with a century at the Iqbal Stadium. Fahad Iqbal, who scored a run-a-ball 62, sparked the revival and Shoaib joined him, making an unbeaten 116 off 99 balls with 11 fours and a six. Shoaib added 175 for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper-captain Sarfraz Ahmed, who made 87, and led PIA to 352 for 6 at stumps. Abdur Rauf and Waqas Maqsood took two wickets each and had given Faisalabad a bright start before the tables were turned.Seventeen wickets fell on the first day between Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and Sialkot at the Jinnah Stadium and at the end of it ZTBL were best placed to earn a slender first-innings lead. Sialkot’s bowlers ran riot after their captain Mansoor Amjad chose to field and Mohammad Abbas dismissed five of the top six batsmen. ZTBL were floundering at 63 for 7 before Zohaib Khan made 44 and Mohammad Khalil 24 to nearly double the score. ZTBL were eventually shot out for 121 in 46 overs. Prince Abbas and Mohammad Imran shared the other five wickets between them. Sialkot’s batsmen, however, fared as badly when they came out to try and consolidate the advantage created by their bowlers. ZTBL’s new-ball attack of Sohail Tanvir and Khalil took seven wickets between them as Sialkot ended the day on 71 for 7. Mohammad Ayub was their top-scorer with 30 and they will need a lower-order resistance like ZTBL’s to avoid conceding a lead.National Bank of Pakistan’s (NBP) bowlers dismissed Abbottabad for 222 to give their team the edge on the first day at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. The new-ball pair of Mohammad Talha and Umaid Asif took three wickets apiece, while Uzair-ul-Haq and Umar Amin took two each. Though five out of the top six Abbottabad batsman got into double figures, no one made more than Hammad Ali’s 28. They would have been worse off had Khalid Usman not made an unbeaten 82 off 91 balls at No. 7. Usman eventually ran out of partners. NBP lost opener Nasir Jamshed in their reply and ended on 37 for 1 at stumps.Azhar Attari and Imran Khan claimed four Karachi Blues wickets each to help Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) dismiss the home side for 144 at the National Stadium. Karachi Blues were tottering at 70 for 6 before Tanvir Ahmed scored 44 off 54 balls to help steer them past 100. WAPDA also struggled in their innings, losing three wickets for 14 runs to be reduced to 48 for 3. They ended the day on 75 for 3 and will hope their middle-order batsmen can take a substantial lead on the second day.

Dinesh Chandimal has been recalled to Sri Lanka’s Test squad for the series against Pakistan in the UAE and is one of four wicketkeeper-batsmen in the 16-man party. Middle-order batsman Thilan Samaraweera, 34, and spinner Ajantha Mendis are the major omissions from the squad that lost 1-0 to Australia at home, while legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna was also left out.”Thilan will not come into the reckoning in our long term plans,” Duleep Mendis, the chairman of selectors, said. “We intend giving youngsters an opportunity while the seniors are around. He might be considered on a short-term basis.”Apart from Chandimal, who was part of the Test squad in England this summer but did not debut, fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep and another wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva were the two other uncapped players called into the side. Chandimal has played 12 ODIs and seven Twenty20s, though, and is presently representing Ruhuna in the Champions League Twenty20 in India. Neither Pradeep nor Silva has any international caps.Samaraweera scored only 86 runs at an average of 21.50 in the first two home Tests against Australia and was dropped for the third match at the SSC. Sri Lanka adjusted to his absence by batting the captain Tillakaratne Dilshan in the middle order while Lahiru Thirimanne opened with Tharanga Paranavitana. Dilshan is likely to continue batting in the middle order.Mendis did not play any of the Tests against Australia because of a back injury he sustained during the preceding ODI series and he remained unavailable for selection. Prasanna made his debut in the second Test in Pallekele and took 0 for 80 in the match.The squad contained five fast bowlers in Chanaka Welegedara, Suranga Lakmal, Dammika Prasad, Shaminda Eranga and Pradeep and only two specialist spinners – Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv. Angelo Mathews was selected as a batsman because he was not yet fit to bowl.”Angelo has gone to Australia for treatment for his left knee and we will not risk bowling him in the series,” Mendis said.Sri Lanka play three Tests against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah starting on October 18.Squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vc), Tharanga Paranavitana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Rangana Herath, Suraj Randiv, Chanaka Welegedara, Suranga Lakmal, Shaminda Eranga, Dammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep, Kaushal Silva (wk).

New Zealand will play two Twenty20s, three ODIs and one Test when they tour Zimbabwe in October, Zimbabwe Cricket has said. The tour begins on October 15 in Harare, where the T20s and the first two ODIs will be played. The visitors will then play a two-day warm-up game in Bulawayo before the one-off Test begins there on November 1.New Zealand last toured Zimbabwe in 2005, when they played two Tests and an ODI tri-series with India as the third team. New Zealand will be the third Test-playing nation to tour Zimbabwe since their return to Test cricket. Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe earlier in August and Pakistan are presently in the country for a full series.After their return from Zimbabwe, New Zealand head to Australia for a two-Test series that begins on December 1 in Brisbane. Prior to the Tests, New Zealand play two three-day warm-up games in Sydney and Brisbane.

South Africa Emerging Players chased down a target of 183 to win a close game against Australian Institute of Sports by five wickets at the WEP Harris Oval in Brisbane, on day one of the Emerging Players Tournament. AIS, who chose to bat, were propelled almost single-handedly by a blitz from Glenn Maxwell. Batting at No. 5, Maxwell hammered 110 off 52 balls with nine fours and eight sixes, to pull his side out of trouble – their top four had managed just 15 runs among them. None of the other batsmen who followed got past 18 either, as AIS finished with 182 for 7. South Africa were steady in reply, with each of their batsmen contributing cameos. The final flourish to push them past the line was provided by Obus Pienaar, who struck 55 off 23 to seal the game with a ball to spare.India Emerging Players began with an 18-run win against New Zealand A, at the same venue. Choosing to bat, India put on 169 for 4, as captain Shikhar Dhawan, S Anirudha and Saurabh Tiwary contributed 30s, while Manoj Tiwary top-scored with an unbeaten 45 that included four sixes. The New Zealand chase was mainly driven by a big partnership between Dean Brownlie and Doug Bracewell. Umesh Yadav got Bracewell for 47, and though Brownlie hung on to finish with 55 not out, the lack of support from the other batsmen handed India a relatively comfortable win.

ScorecardJacques Rudolph’s 90 was not enough for South Africa A•Zimbabwe Cricket

In a nailbiting finish in Harare, Australia A’s Nos. 10 and 11 – Trent Copeland and Nathan Lyon – held their nerve in a 28-run partnership, and took their team past South Africa A’s 298 off the penultimate ball. Lyon had been dropped by Justin Ontong at backward point off the first ball of Rory Kleinveldt’s last over, and made South Africa A pay by smashing the fifth ball of the over for a six to stretch Australia’s winning streak in the tournament to four matches. South Africa A will now have to make sure Zimbabwe XI don’t beat them comfortably on July 6 to reach the final.The match had already seen several twists before Copeland and Lyon’s last-wicket stand. South Africa’s top order had left Australia stunned and it looked like they would get well in excess of 300. But a couple of wickets from Mitchell Marsh helped Australia peg South Africa back and keep the total to 298. Marsh then scored 72 to put Australia in a strong position but after a couple more turns South Africa A seemed to have wrapped the game up when Vernon Philander dismissed Callum Ferguson and Mitchell Starc in the space of three balls to leave Australia 275 for 9. South Africa did not have their star death bowler Rusty Theron though, and Copeland and Lyon provided a final twist.South Africa would have been satisfied with their total – easily the highest of the tournament till then – but were roused out of complacency as Australia’s openers attacked the new ball. David Warner, who has had a poor tournament so far, fell for 22, but Aaron Finch and Marsh made sure Australia’s run-rate did not dip. After the two were gone, Ferguson, who already had two half-centuries in the tournament, kept things going for Australia and at 213 for 3 in the 35th over it was theirs to lose.Philander, though, struck back for South Africa, removing Tim Paine, and from then on wickets fell regularly. Ferguson, though, reached another half-century, and it looked like he would take Australia home. It was only when he was bowled for Philander for 66 that South Africa became favourites. But Lyon and Copeland hung on to get the remaining runs.An Australia win was almost unimaginable for the first 33 overs of the game. Jacques Rudolph and Jonathan Vandiar pummelled Australia in a 123-run opening partnership, and when Vandiar fell for 60 off 57, Rilee Rossouw picked up from where he left off. Rossouw got 52 off 55 balls, and Rudolph went to the top of the tournament’s run chart with his 90. At 187 for 1 in 33 overs, South Africa were in charge. But they lost four wickets in the next six overs giving Australia a window back into the game. Roelof van der Merwe gave the innings one final push with his 40 off 30 balls and the final target was nearly good enough.