The phony war in St Kitts is ever so nearly at an end. One lastmismatch presents itself tomorrow, when the high-flying South Africanstake on the undaunting Scots, and then it will be time to focus on thereal business end of this group – next Saturday’s seismic clashbetween South Africa and Australia.For Graeme Smith, however, tomorrow’s fixture contains an unexpectedblast from the past. The leader of the world’s No.1-ranked side isabout to go head-to-head with his former club captain. Ryan Watson,Scotland’s stand-in skipper, was a contemporary of Smith’s during hisschool-days at King Edward’s in Johannesburg, and Smith admitted itwould be a surreal feeling when the pair walk out together for thetoss.”When we were at school together Ryan was a few years ahead of me,”said Smith. “It will be weird to walk out on the pitch and spin a coinwith a South African. We’ve been teasing him quite a bit since MontegoBay, because there are quite a few guys who do know him. He’s a reallygood man, so I guess part of you wants him to do well – but then thereis a big part that doesn’t.””Believe it or not, [Smith] used to fetch drinks for me and carry mybags,” said Watson. “I don’t know if he’ll do that tomorrow, but I’ll ask him. At school, hewas limited in terms of his strokeplay, he’s progressed a long waywith that. Mentally he was far better than anyone I saw as a youngkid.”He used to enjoy making big hundreds as a schoolboy, which is unusualwhen other guys are making 50 or 60. He got hundreds as a 15-year-oldagainst Premier League attacks, so everyone knew he was going to be aspecial player and he’s proved that.”Watson was under no illusions about the task his side facestomorrow – a task made all the more onerous by the shock victories ofthe past week. “They’re a quality side and they’re not going to becomplacent against the minor sides,” he said. “We were poor at thedeath against Australia, by our own standards, and that’s somethingwe’ve worked on. That’s a crucial part of the game and they’ve gotsome really clean strikers, so we’ll have to make sure we get it rightat the end.””The upsets earlier in the week in the other groups have kept everyoneon their toes,” added Smith. “It just shows that if you’re not up forit and don’t perform to your levels you can put yourself underpressure. We certainly will be on our toes – and the way we performedagainst Holland is the way we want to perform tomorrow.”Inevitably though, Smith had more than half an eye on next week’sbattle. “On everyone’s minds is the Australia game,” he admitted.”That is the big one everyone is looking forward to. I think bothteams have their fair share of strong hitters, but I think our lengthand power in our batting line-up is one of our strengths. We have agood variety in our bowling attack, which has been brilliant over thelast few years.”South Africa are expected to welcome Makhaya Ntini back into the foldfor tomorrow’s game, after he missed the opening fixture to attend thebirth of his first daughter. “He is huge variation for us,” saidSmith, “and Andrew Hall over the last two years has been the best’death’ bowler in world cricket. We have options; we’re very strong inthe bowling department. I’m pretty comfortable with our attack.”Scotland, for their part, are expected to introduce the SouthAfrican-born seamer Dewald Nel to replace their captain, Craig Wright,who has flown home to attend the funeral of his aunt. There may alsobe a recall for the middle-order batsman, Neil McCallum, who hasbecome something of a cult figure among the vocal Scottish fans inBasseterre.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 AB deVilliers, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Herschelle Gibbs, 5 Mark Boucher (wk), 6Ashwell Prince, 7 Justin Kemp, 8 Shaun Pollock, 9 Andrew Hall, 10Makhaya Ntini, 11 Andre NelScotland (probable) 1 Fraser Watts, 2 Majid Haq, 3 Ryan Watson(capt), 4 Neil McCallum, 5 Gavin Hamilton, 6 Dougie Brown, 7 ColinSmith (wk), 8 Glenn Rogers, 9 Dewald Nel, 10 Paul Hoffman, 11 JohnBlain

Kangadaran Mathivanan, Sri Lanka Cricket’s secretary, has said that Sri Lanka believe Adam Gilchrist’s use of a squash ball in his left glove during the World Cup final was “unethical” and may take up the matter at the ICC annual general meeting in June.”We are of the opinion that it was unethical for Gilchrist to use a squash ball to give unfair advantage,” Mathivanan told AFP. He said Sri Lanka could call on the ICC’s cricket committee for stringent application of Law 42 on fair and unfair play to ensure only the approved protection equipment was used. He said that SLC would discuss the issue before deciding whether to raise it in London.The MCC who are the guardians of the Laws, said that Gilchrist had not done anything wrong. “Gilchrist’s use of a squash ball was designed to alter his grip on the bat whilst at the crease,” a spokesman said, “something which he was perfectly entitled to do under Law 3.6(c), which specifies only what external protective equipment is permitted for certain players.”The Laws sub-committee said: “The incident could not be classed either as contravening the Law or as breaching the Spirit of the Game.”Gilchrist scored a match-winning 149 against Sri Lanka in the final and later revealed his batting aid. “I had a squash ball in my bottom-hand to help with my grip in training and I decided in this World Cup to use it in a match.”

The uncertainity over who will take over leadership of the Indian team if Rahul Dravid leaves the field has been answered for the moment with Sachin Tendulkar being appointed vice-captain for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.”Tendulkar has been made the vice-captain,” said Surendra Bhave, India’s administrative manager.India did not appoint a vice-captain for the one-day series against Bangladesh but Virender Sehwag took over when Dravid left the field for a brief while during the second ODI. The one-day squad did not include Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly or VVS Laxman and, with Sehwag dropped from the Test squad, the question cropped up once again.Laxman had been appointed vice-captain for the Test series in South Africa in December 2006, after which Sachin Tendulkar took over the role for the home one-day series against West Indies and the World Cup in the Caribbean.

Essex have announced a mid-season reshuffle. Mark Pettini, as expected, becomes first-team captain – an enforced move following Ronnie Irani’s retirement through injury. But the first team get a new coach, too, in Paul Grayson.Grayson, a former player, shifts from the second team to the first team, while the club clarified that Graham Gooch would continue as batting coach. Essex had not had a first team coach per se for a couple of years since Gooch changed from head coach to batting coach, so this will be the first season since 2004 that they have had a main coach.Grayson clarified: “When Ronnie Irani was in charge he didn’t really need a regular coach all the time – we always shared it between myself and Graham Gooch – but now that Mark’s got the job he feels that he wants someone with him all the time and I’m delighted to take that role.”John Childs will retain his role as academy director, but also replaces Grayson as second team coach.The vice-captain vacancy will be filled by James Foster. A final decision is that Irani will continue as club captain until the end of the year, but in 2008, Pettini will also take on that mantle.The cricket committee recommended Pettini as captain, and this was endorsed by the general committee, who made the final decision at a meeting on Wednesday.Pettini was the stand-out candidate for the captaincy, a position he has filled since Irani limped out of cricket in June. “It’s been quite nice over the last month or so to have had some time to ease my way into the job,” said Pettini. “Now that it’s official I have the second half of the season to really get stuck into the job and hopefully set myself up for next year.”Captaincy is not something I’ve thought about much over the last few years,” Pettini told the Essex CCC website. “I’ve just been trying to cement my place in the side – but now that chance has been given to me there are certainly some great names that I’ll be following.”I’m confident that I will be up to the task. Everyone has doubts when they start doing something new – particularly something as big as the captaincy – but we’ve achieved some really great results over the last few weeks. There was a period where we won five games in a row with me in charge recently so that gave me a lot of confidence in terms of thinking that I was able to do the captaincy.”David East, the club’s chief executive, said: “He was certainly the choice of the senior players because he is a very popular member of the dressing room. Everyone has been very impressed in terms of the support he has given to the side when he’s been available to do so.”

The Rubies, captained by Gill Richards, claimed the Super 4s title after completing an unprecedented clean-sweep throughout the competition, their second title since the inaugural victory in 2002.In the final round of matches, which were held at Loughborough University on July 7 and 8, the Rubies finished unbeaten, claiming their sixth victory in a row as they brushed aside the Emeralds and Sapphires.”It’s an awesome achievement to win the Super 4s trophy. We worked hard as a team throughout and it has paid off,” said Richards. “Players like Lydia Greenway and Holly Colvin have played particularly well. Lydia finished as top run scorer and Holly took three marvellous five-wicket hauls. But it is a team game and all of us showed great team spirit all the way through””To remain unbeaten for the whole competition is a tremendous achievement. The players can be really proud of themselves and I am sure many of them will be back next year for another season at Super 4s. I am so happy for all the team.”On Saturday they took on the Emeralds, their then closest rivals for the title. Colvin took another five wicket haul as they bowled out the Emerald’s for a paltry 69. In reply, the Rubies knocked the runs off with the loss of three wickets. The victory ensured the title for the Rubies who then completed a clean sweep by beating the Sapphires by 15 runs.In the other matches, England captain Charlotte Edwards returned to action with an unbeaten 69 as the Diamonds beat the Sapphires by eight wickets, then followed this with 94 not out as they beat the Emeralds by nine wickets.

Justin Ontong was a late addition to the South Africa Emerging Players squad but he immediately displayed his class as he steered them to a 19th-over victory against the Australian Academy in the opening match of the two-week tournament in Queensland. Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s decision to stay in England as a Kolpak player opened the space for Ontong, the former Test and ODI player, and he took control after they slipped to 3 for 21 with an unbeaten 63 off 44 balls.No other batsman reached 20 in the innings as Ontong planted three sixes and his seventh four ended the match with six balls remaining. The South Africa coach Kepler Wessels called Ontong’s display “superb” and was pleased with his team’s first hit-out of the Emerging Players Tournament.”It was important to start well and we did that, but we should get better,” he said. “The pitch was sporty, which was good for us as our bowling attack is strong, and we bowled well early, but I thought they got about 15 too many.”Morne Morkel stunned Australia when he dropped them to 3 for 8, including zeroes for the fancied top-order batsmen Mark Cosgrove, Ed Cowan and Luke Pomersbach. Aaron Finch (26) and Michael Hill (34) led the recovery and Luke Ronchi added some punishing touches with 35 off 23 balls to drag the side to 131.
The Australian Academy hit back quickly from their early disappointment by defeating the Karnataka State Cricket Association XI with seven balls to spare. The home side made regular inroads after bowling first and was led by Aaron Heal, the left-arm spinner, who picked up three wickets as Karnataka were restricted to 129.Deepak Chougle, the No. 4, led the resistance with 36 and Bharat Chipli and Amit Verma also made starts when a half-century would have pushed them to a highly competitive total. S Aravind struck twice when Australia were 18 before Luke Ronchi (31) and Luke Pomersbach (26) settled the situation. Craig Philipson and Ed Cowan, who had captained a game each during the day, were left to steer the chase and Cowan was 27 not out when the win was sealed shortly before dusk.
New Zealand A began their tournament on a high with a tight three-wicket win over South Africa Emerging Players under lights. Chasing 166, New Zealand reached a day-high score of 7 for 168 thanks to some heavy hitting from Gareth Hopkins, who smashed 51 from 34 balls before becoming the first of Johan Botha’s three victims.Hopkins departed at 4 for 114 with the side in good shape and Nathan McCullum provided a push with 29 off 14 deliveries. Botha, who went for 32 from his three overs, was supported by Vernon Philander as he picked up 3 for 34.The opener Alviro Petersen gave South Africa a good start with 59 as they set the challenge for New Zealand. Francois du Plessis picked up 42 and Jean-Paul Duminy made a handy contribution with 37.

Deep Dasgupta, the former India wicketkeeper, feels that Bengal’s cricketers do not get their recognition and that was a main reason why seven from the state, himself included, signed on with the Indian Cricket League (ICL).”Our Bengal team has talent but are the players getting justice? Take the India A team that is currently in Kenya; it has no players from Bengal, despite the fact that Bengal have been in the Ranji Trophy final two years running,” Dasgupta wrote in his column for , a Kolkata-based daily. “Nor does the squad for the Twenty20 World Championship. So what do the likes of Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Subhojit Paul hold on to, how do they remain hopeful? I came to Mumbai and saw Under-19 players had also signed up with the ICL. Money can’t be the only factor for them; the opportunity to play and compete in different environments also plays a part.”Dasgupta, Jhunjhunwala, Paul, Subhomoy Das, and Shibsagar Singh were among the players who signed up with the ICL, leaving the Bengal side depleted. It is widely believed that the Indian board (BCCI) will slap bans on players who have joined.”The Bengal team may find replacements for us; cricket doesn’t stop for individuals,” said Dasgupta. “But some questions need to be asked. Do we give cricketers their due respect? Once he retires he’s thrown on the rubbish-heap, so what’s the harm if he settles his dues before that?”Dasgupta, who said he joined the recently-floated league because he has “always liked a challenge” and also for financial reasons, did not feel the ICL was in conflict with domestic cricket. “Even after coming to Mumbai and signing up with the ICL, I still consider myself a Bengal player. Whatever I’ve got in cricket I’ve got because I played for Bengal.”But once we took this huge decision, it seems a huge gap has opened up. A gap that could have been had both sides wanted it. A problem can be solved only if there is dialogue. There should be charges, counter-charges, the feelings should come out in the open. Where there is no discussion how can there be any chance of a solution?”

Awesome Afridi
Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds were running away with it, scoring atnearly ten an over after eight, when Shahid Afridi, after going for13 in his first, did the incredible, bowling a wicket maiden and having achance missed. The first three balls were all outside off, and Pontingmissed two cuts and a sweep. Next ball, Ponting charged madly, missed, andso did Kamran Akmal. A bye was taken, which turned out to be a bad movefor Symonds, as next ball he charged, didn’t connect, and was bowled. Andwhen Mike Hussey played a dot ball next, Afridi achieved the rare feat oftaking a wicket in an over without conceding a bat run.A drought of sixes
Usually, an Australian hitting a six in a Twenty20 game would hardly meritmention, simply because you’d expect so many in an innings. MichaelHussey’s straight hit off Afridi which hit the sightscreen deserves towritten about, if only because it was the only six of the innings. It wasa superb hit, straight and clean, but you’d have expected many more ofthem from Australia.On the ball, in the field
Pakistan’s fielding has never been their strongest suit, but in this gamethere were two moments of sheer inspiration. Only one produced a wicket,but both were worthy of celebration. First, Imran Nazir scored in frommidwicket as Brad Hodge and Hussey attempted a risky second run.Pakistan rejoiced as if they had nailed a wicket, and even though replaysshowed otherwise, the celebrations were justified just for the quality ofthe throw. Afridi then went one better, knocking down the stumps frompoint to send Michael Clarke on his way for a duck. Inspirational, andvery unlike the usual Pakistan outfit.The battle of the metronomes
Mohammad Asif and Stuart Clark have both, at various times in theircareers, been touted as the new McGrath. This game pitted them against oneanother, and there was no question about who won the battle: with cleverchange of pace and control, Clark winkled out three batsmen and gave verylittle away; Asif, on the other hand, was subdued and largely listless andwent at 8.50 runs per over.Captain, my captain
With Pakistan falling slightly behind the eight-ball, Shoaib Malik decidedthat the way to go was to lead from the front. In the 12th over, fromClarke, Malik stepped it up, clouting two fours over the bowlershead and a stunning inside-out blow over extra-cover. The captain had madehis move, and Pakistan were on their way.Deft touches, meaty blows
The captain made the first move, but his partner stepped it up to an evenhigher plane. Misbah-ul-Haq virtually decided the game in Pakistan’sfavour in the 15th over. A reverse-sweep, a cut and a pull off AndrewSymonds all beat the fielders and found the boundary. Add a couple oftwos, and it enough to plummet the asking rate from eight to 6.20. Fromthere the winner was never in doubt.

Kanbis took another step towards retaining their NPCA crown for the fourth year in succession with a six-wicket win over Parkland Rhinos. Second-placed Stray Lions slipped up with a three-wicket loss at home to Aga Khan. Kanbis now top the table with 167 points while Stray Lions are 15 points adrift.The match between Swamibapa and Sir Ali Muslim Club did not take place as Swamibapa boycotted the match as part of their ongoing dispute with the NPCA.Ruaraka A lead the first division on 192 points for 12 matches with Kanbis B second on 153 points with a game in hand. Swamibapa B are third on 145 from 11 with Kongonis fourth on 144 from 12.The second division is headed by Telca with 188 points from 12 games, with Nairobi Nookers second on 161 and Nairobi Institute third on 155.Nairobi Jaffery have already secured the third-division title with wins in all ten matches. They are on 186 points with Simba Union B and Ruaraka B tied in second back on 125 points.NPCA Super Division

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

India had the best of Pakistan in a lacklustre contest on a slightly demanding pitch, restricting them to 239 and then knocking off the runs through a string of contributions from the top order. It was not the most spectacular cricket, but it was sensible from India and perhaps a touch too circumspect from Pakistan, whose batsmen did not do enough, and whose bowlers were committed and disciplined but rarely penetrative.When Shoaib Malik won the toss and chose to bat it appeared to be a sound decision, given that the pitch was dry, on the slower side, and threatened to break up in the second half. And when Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal got off to a breezy start, it appeared that India would have their work cut out. Akmal square drove crisply for boundaries when he was offered width and Butt used his wrists to guide the ball into gaps with excellent timing.The fall of Akmal’s wicket, however, when he was declared lbw to an Irfan Pathan ball that pitched outside leg, changed the complexion of the innings. Younis Khan was uncomfortable batting on this pitch – with the ball not coming on truly – and grew increasingly disturbed as India’s spinners checked the flow of runs.Soon after reaching a well-paced half-century, Butt did himself no favours when he charged down the pitch after the ball speared off the leading edge towards cover, only to be sent back by his partner and run out. At least while Butt was at the crease runs came from one end, but with Mohammad Yousuf joining Younis the runs just dried up.The singles came easily enough, with Yousuf knocking the ball away into the leg side with soft hands, but Younis’ frustration reached such proportions, especially after sweeps and reverse-sweeps failed, that he holed out to long-on for a 58-ball 25. For a painful 21.2 overs Pakistan could not manufacture a single boundary, and this might have prompted Malik to promote Shahid Afridi up the order.Even Afridi could not plunder as he would’ve liked and though he managed a front-foot pull over long-on, his 31 off 32 balls before being smartly stumped as he charged down the pitch to Sachin Tendulkar was a bit short of what Pakistan needed. Malik then added to the pressure, heaving a leg-stump full-toss straight down midwicket’s throat.

Fortunately for Pakistan, while wickets fell at one end, Yousuf had crept to his half-century and with about five overs to go took it upon himself to increase the tempo. He paddle swept Pathan fine and then drove RP Singh inside-out over cover. The late charge took Yousuf to an unbeaten 83, off an acceptable 88 balls, and Pakistan to 239 for 7 from 50 overs.With probing bowling and tight fielding Pakistan might well have given India a serious run for their money chasing 240, but instead they bowled without much purpose and out-did India in the poor fielding standings to let the game slip out of their hands. At no point in the course of the chase were India under serious pressure, and Pakistan were waiting for an India collapse that never came.Shoaib Akhtar gave Pakistan some hope early on when he trapped Tendulkar in front with a slower ball, with only 14 on the board. But Sourav Ganguly and Gautam Gambhir then added 82 for the third wicket to take India towards safety. Neither Ganguly nor Gambhir was in total control at the crease, with some streaky strokes eluding the fielders, but when the opportunity was there to score both batsmen backed their instincts and it paid off.Ganguly was quick to go after anything that was a bit wide, slanting and angling his bat to get the ball through cover point and third man. Gambhir opened the face of his bat so much that he edged between keeper and slip twice consecutively, but was undeterred. Once the ball lost its hardness and Shoaib gave way to less pacy bowlers, Gambhir knuckled down and cover drove with confidence. His timing and placement were excellent, and the ball went along the ground more often than not.It was against the run of play that India lost their next two wickets. Ganguly played one down to fine leg and headed for a single that Gambhir did not want, and could not turn around and regain his crease in time. Ganguly had made 39 but looked good for more. Gambhir too should have got more than the 44 he managed, but failed to pick an offbreak from Shahid Afridi and was bowled round his legs.Then came another partnership, of 105, between India’s captain and vice-captain and this all but sealed the deal. Mahendra Singh Dhoni had come out in the mood to give the ball a thrash, sluggish pitch notwithstanding, and he succeeded. There were some streaky boundaries, but for the best part the ball boomed off the middle of the bat and there was not much Pakistan’s bowlers could do. He found an excellent ally in Yuvraj Singh, who hit the ball as hard as anyone, and looked to be positive against the spinners and the quick men.Both Yuvraj and Dhoni reached the half-century mark, and with only 22 needed for victory Pakistan broke the partnership. Yuvraj (58) slog-swept Abdur Rahman, the left-arm spinner, but did not quite get hold of the ball and failed to clear Afridi in the deep. Soon after, Dhoni (63) flashed at Shoaib, who returned to the attack in the 45th over, and India wobbled at the doorstep of victory. Only 15 were needed for victory at that stage, and you wondered why Malik had not re-introduced Shoaib earlier. Robin Uthappa and Pathan knocked off the remaining runs and the five-wicket win gave India a 1-0 lead in this five-match series.