Brian Basson, the United Cricket Board’s operations director, has said that South Africa are unhappy with the way Steve Bucknor and Billy Doctrove, the umpires, applied the bad-light laws on the fifth day of the second Test at Durban.”I wasn’t in Durban myself, but I watched the Test on TV and I wasn’t happy with the state of affairs,” Basoon told supercricket.co.za. “I don’t think the umpires were consistent over the course of the five days.” He has conveyed his disappointment to the ICC.Basoon said that there was no definite rule regarding poor light when the stadium’s artificial lights are in operation. “When the ICC and the umpires met to discuss the rules, they decided that as soon as the flood lights took over from natural light, it would be unfair to continue batting.”Shane Warne trapped last-man Makhaya Ntini leg before with 43 balls remaining in the day to give Australia an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series with one Test to play.

West Indies look to close out their limited-overs international series with Zimbabwe when the two sides meet for back-to-back contests on Saturday and Sunday in Guyana. West Indies lead the seven-match series 2-0, after back-to-back victories by five wickets and 98 runs last weekend at the Antigua Recreation Ground.Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, has already indicated his intention not to play all the matches in the series, and this would be a big motivating factor for him to get his troops primed for battle. “We weren’t as convincing as we should have been in the first two ODIs, but don’t take anything away from our guys, to complete a victory is important,” Lara said. “We’ve got to go back in the classroom and work on it. The Zimbabweans, I think they’ve got hope, it’s a situation where it’s unfortunate with the exodus of players, but they have to work with what they have and I’m seeing one or two bright lights.”Lara is, however, worried about his side’s batting which has failed to dominate so far. “The batting is not as solid as we would have hoped,” he said. “I am just a little bit worried about the batting, but I sense that the guys are just getting themselves back in, and that we can expect better as we go on. We know for a fact that if we are going to play against better teams that we’ve got to score a lot more freely and make a lot more runs.”West Indies have fortified their side with an additional three players: Tino Best, the fast bowler, Dave Mohammed, the left-arm chinaman bowler, and Sewnarine Chattergoon, the uncapped left-handed opener, now have raised the squad strength to 14.This follows a policy of rotation that the Caribbean side hopes to adopt over the rest of the year, as they seek to overcome the spate of injuries that have set back the side from time to time and prepare themselves for the 2007 World Cup in their backyard.Zimbabwe did not have the ideal mental preparation for this weekend’s match in a midweek scrimmage with the University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor’s XI in Antigua. Though the visitors’ batting did well to mount a serious target of 325 to the home team, the manner in which the university side approached the target, not to mention achieving it, would further deflate Terrence Duffin’s young and inexperienced side.The Zimbabweans, however, showed great fight in the first two ODIs, with Justice Chibhabha distinguishing himself as a batsman with some promise, Edward Rainsford, the medium-fast bowler, bowling with control, and Prosper Utseya offering plenty of guile with his off-spin.They would need for the others around them – particularly Duffin, Piet Rinke, fellow opener, Brendon Taylor, the wicketkeeper-batsman, and Blessing Mahwire, the fast bowler – to show similar or greater levels of effectiveness if the visitors are to burst Lara’s bubble. Squads: West Indies (from): Brian Lara (capt), Tino Best, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Dave Mohammed, Runako Morton, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor. Zimbabwe (from): Terrence Duffin (capt), Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Charles Coventry, Keith Dabengwa, Ryan Higgins, Anthony Ireland, Blessing Mahwire, Keegan Meth, Tawanda Mupariwa, Edward Rainsford, Piet Rinke, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Gregory Strydom, Brendan Taylor, Prosper Utseya. Umpires: Billy Doctrove, Billy Bowden

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

Careless shots and a flurry of wickets aside, South Africa raced to a victory inside three days after successfully chasing down 217 to beat New Zealand in the third and final Test at Johannesburg. In a frenetic final two sessions, South Africa lost six wickets en route to their target and were deeply indebted to their captain’s second fifty in the game to see them home by four wickets.The tone was set just before lunch when, faced with an uncomfortable nine overs and chasing a middling target of 217, Smith and his opening partner Boeta Dippenaar set off like a rocket. Dippenaar was the aggressor, crunching four boundaries to settle South Africa’s nerves who went to lunch on 49 without loss; before this game, only three times had South Africa successfully chased down more than 200 runs in the fourth innings. They were let off by New Zealand’s bowlers, though, who wasted the new ball and handed the momentum – at a key stage of the match – to the batsmen.Smith and Dippenaar continued their confident start after lunch, too. And much as South Africa’s bowlers had suffered with their lengths in the morning, so did New Zealand in the afternoon session. Too often, Martin bowled short allowing the batsmen to rock back and power him through the covers. When he did pitch it up, batting was trickier, as Dippenaar found out when a fuller delivery caught his outside edge and flew to Brendon McCullum to end a 69-run opening partnership.Undaunted, Smith continued to hit boundaries to take the initiative away from New Zealand, powering Scott Styris for a vicious four over midwicket before clobbering James Franklin for two further fours. His fifty – his second of the match – came up with a crunching back-foot drive which rather signalled that the end was nigh for New Zealand.With South Africa settled on 114 for 1, Stephen Fleming turned to Daniel Vettori for a breakthrough who was immediately sent packing; coming down the pitch, Smith lofted him over his head for four, narrowly avoiding long-on, before smashing him for six off the next delivery. Vettori didn’t bowl again in the innings.Smith got carried away, though. After glancing Franklin fine for another four, he got cramped for room attempting the same shot. Hashim Amla, too, paid the price for over-eagerness – anyone would think they had a train to catch. After playing reasonably well for his 28, with the game seemingly in the bag, a lazy flick through midwicket off Kyle Mills saw the ball cannon into his stumps. It was a poor, careless dismissal from a batsman who too frequently flits between the excellent and the dreadful.Mills, bowling with surprising pace and lift, accounted for Jacques Kallis too. And when Franklin bowled AB de Villiers for 8, South Africa’s bullish counterattacking started to look a little foolish, especially considering the amount of time still left in the game. However Ashwell Prince – who is fast becoming South Africa’s second middle-order rock – remained solid, calmly picking up singles to take South Africa home safely with an unbeaten 43.Given the nervy run-chase – this is only the fourth time South Africa have successfully chased over 200 runs in the fourth innings – New Zealand were perhaps only fifty runs short of setting South Africa a truly testing total. With Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori both playing sensibly, seemingly unflustered in the morning session, a target in excess of 250 was within their grasp. Oram misjudged the length from Dale Steyn, though, ballooning a difficult but well-held chance to de Villiers at mid-off to end their 49-run stand.Vettori and Franklin were similarly untroubled for much of the morning; as South Africa’s shoulders dropped, so did the bowler’s lengths. Time and again Vettori was allowed to rock back and hammer fours through the off-side, or glance a fortunate edge down to his favoured third-man region. Curiously, Shaun Pollock was held back from the attack until the 15th over and it was he who broke through Franklin’s thoroughly impressive defence. Andrew Hall then mopped up the rest as New Zealand stumbled, failing to add to their score having sat comfortably on 283 for 7.That South Africa were so keen on finishing the job in double-quick time said much about a side that has, on occasions this season, struggled to take the initiative and close the door on their opponents. Their aggression paid dividends, however, and Smith – who received the Man-of-the-Match award for his two fifties – has ended the season on a winning note and, at last, with runs to his name.

How they were out

South AfricaBoeta Dippenaar c McCullum b Martin 37 (69 for 1)
Graeme Smith b McCullum b Franklin 68 (130 for 2)
Hashim Amla b Mills 28 (156 for 3)
Jacques Kallis c How b Mills 13 (167 for 4)
AB de Villiers b Franklin 5 (180 for 5)
Mark Boucher b Franklin 6 (202 for 6)
New ZealandJacob Oram c Dippenaar b Steyn 27 (239 for 7)
James Franklin b Pollock 19 (283 for 8)
Daniel Vettori c de Villiers b Hall 60 (283 for 9)
Chris Martin c Amla b Hall 0 (283 all out)

England returned to winning ways at Edgbaston this week and now fully expect to seal the series when the final Test gets underway at Trent Bridge tomorrow morning. But not for the first time this summer, attention has been drawn from the immediate action by events elsewhere. As if this morning’s stampede for Ashes tickets was not enough of a reminder of the challenges that lie ahead for England, then the imminent return to action of their captain, Michael Vaughan, has certainly done the trick.Vaughan’s returns for Yorkshire this week have been mixed – 67 in a one-day outing; 1 from 13 balls in the Championship. But the mere fact that he has been seen on a cricket pitch at all is the big news, after an anxious six-month recuperation from his knee injury. “Hopefully he’ll be back sooner rather than later,” said Andrew Flintoff, who has stood in admirably as captain since the tour to India in March. “I’m enjoying doing the job, but for how much longer I’m not sure.”Under Flintoff’s stewardship, England have broadened their base without necessarily carrying their cricket to another level. New players such as Alastair Cook, Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett have stated their case for long-term retention, but with Steve Harmison cranking up the pace in the nets, and even Ashley Giles joining the squad for his first jog round the pitch since his hernia operation, the prospect of England’s first-choice XI reuniting before the summer is out is growing all the time.And so, with a six-week gap to follow between this match and England’s next Test encounter, against Pakistan in July, the Trent Bridge match is sizing up as a high-profile audition. Of all the protagonists on show, the middle-order pair of Cook and Paul Collingwood are the men most in need of runs as Vaughan prepares for his return. It’s the sort of healthy competition that all teams long for, and it should ensure that England’s batsmen are sufficiently motivated to prevent an embarrassing series-levelling upset.Cook, for one, is unfazed by the challenge that awaits him, and seeing as he has been averaging over 60 since scoring a century on debut in Nagpur, he is understandably confident about his career prospects. “”Everyone knows runs are what England selection has been based on,” he said. “If you are in the shirt, and scoring, it just makes selection [of others] very tough. If I keep scoring runs, and big runs at that, I should hopefully keep my place.”

Collingwood, so often the bridesmaid of England’s line-up, seems the more likely to be squeezed out by Vaughan’s return, not least because he is currently being squeezed between England’s two biggest drawcards; Flintoff at No. 6 and Kevin Pietersen at No. 4, who has hit upon the richest vein of form of his already stellar career. With big hundreds in each of the first two Tests, not to mention that 158 against the Aussies last summer, he is demonstrating just how at home he feels in his adopted country.His performances, in fact, have drawn praise from one of the alltime greats, Sir Viv Richards, who admires the fact that Pietersen doesn’t “muck about”. “Batsmanship is all about scoring runs and going past fielders,” enthused the Master Blaster. “The idea of playing the ball in a correct way is rubbish – and I don’t believe it works.”The sight of Pietersen reverse-sweeping Muttiah Muralitharan for six will stick in the minds of everyone who witnessed it – not least the Sri Lankan fielders, who must feel the same sense of shock and awe that Richards instilled each time he walked to the crease in the 1980s. If England win the toss on a dry pitch that is expected once again to be good for batting, Pietersen is in the sort of form to put the series out of reach by the end of the first day.And yet, the dryness of the wicket could still play into Sri Lanka’s hands. Had Muralitharan had a decent total to defend in the fourth innings at Edgbaston, he could have made life extremely tricky for England. Instead, he made do with his 15th ten-wicket haul in 105 Tests, and given that this could prove to be his final Test in England, his incentive could hardly be greater for another command performance.Any ideas of playing the specialist legspinner, Malinga Bandara, were scotched when he limped out of training yesterday, but that misfortune could yet pave the way for a return of Sanath Jayasuriya. Since he emerged from retirement, he has been steadfastly overlooked by the tour management, but now – with a series to salvage and last-ditchism taking hold – they seem set to thrust him back into the fray for the 103rd time.”There is a very good chance he will play,” confirmed Sri Lanka’s captain, Mahela Jayawardene. “It won’t be easy for him coming back after having so little recent cricket, but he is an experienced guy, and that is where experience counts. If we have Sanath it gives us a little bit more depth in our batting, a bit more experience, as well as a different variation to our attack.”Jayasuriya’s under-rated left-arm spin has earned him 92 wickets at 33.18 in his career to date, and if he is included in the middle-order at the expense of Thilan Samaraweera, it will be for this facet of the game as much as any other. “We feel there might be some spin in the latter part of the Test match,” explained Jayawardene, “so he gives us a different option.”Whether it is sufficient to derail England’s progress depends largely on the stickability of Sri Lanka’s top-order which, but for that freakish rearguard at Lord’s, has been all too susceptible to the extra pace, bounce and movement of England’s seam attack, not least Matthew Hoggard, who has 208 Test wickets and climbing, and could be closing in on his former senior partners, Darren Gough (229) and Andrew Caddick (234), before the summer is out.Even so, caution is England’s watchword at moments like this. “We are not going to take it lightly,” confirmed Flintoff. “The one thing we can’t be is complacent. We’ve got to look after our game and be professional.” As the extras flitting around the England camp would confirm, there are plenty of candidates queuing up to take over, should the current incumbents get too far ahead of themselves.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Alastair Cook, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Andrew Flintoff (capt), 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Sajid Mahmood, 11 Monty Panesar.Sri Lanka (from) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Michael Vandort, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Farvez Maharoof, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Nuwan Zoysa, 12 Sanath Jayasuriya.

Bangladesh have named Saqibul Hasan and Forhad Reza, two young allrounders, in their 15-man squad for the tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya following outstanding performances with the youth teams over the past year.Hasan is a left-arm spinner and a middle-order batsman who had an outstanding season with the Bangladesh under-19 squad and is currently with the A squad in Zimbabwe. Reza, a middle-order batsman and a seam bowler, was the top-scorer in last year’s domestic league.Faruq Ahmed, the chief selector said: “They are very good cricketers in all departments of the game. We have high hopes from them and it’s time for them to perform at the international level.”Tushar Imran, the middle order batsman with 35 ODIs under his belt and the left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak were dropped from the side that also sees the return of Mushfiqur Rahim, the U-19 captain. Bangladesh, who beat Kenya 4-0 in a one-day series at home earlier this year, will leave for Nairobi on July 16.They will play three one-day matches against Kenya on July 19, 22 and 23. Habibul Bashar’s team will also play five one-dayers against Zimbabwe starting on July 29.Squad Habibul Bashar (capt), Mohammad Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees, Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar, Aftab Ahmed, Mushfiqur Rahim, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain, Farhad Reza, Saqibul Hasan, Alok Kapali

The return of Shaun Pollock will boost South Africa as they look to bounce back after defeat in the opening Test.Pollock missed that match after deciding to remain at home for the birth of his second daughter.”We should not be thinking too much about what happened,” Pollock told reporters. “Instead we must draw a line under it and look ahead. From the reports we’ve heard, the pitch for the second Test is going to be even lower and slower than the first, but there’s no point dwelling on the negatives.”We just have to get on with it and prepare ourselves for a hard, patient fight going right down to the final session on day five.”Pollock is expected to replace Andre Nel who took 1 for 114.

The contrast could not be more stark, the coincidence more ironic.In the same week that its auditors reported to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that its accumulated debt had reached US$34.9 million, rendering it effectively bankrupt, the richest tournament the game has ever known, anywhere, and involving all the territories under its jurisdiction, was in full triumphant swing, not five miles away from where it has its headquarters.While the WICB has remained solvent only through money borrowed against the expected, but not guaranteed, windfall from its hosting of next year’s World Cup, Allen Stanford, the Texan tycoon who has based part of his global financial operations in Antigua for more than two decades, has been delighting daily in the success of the 20/20 Tournament he conceived and financed with an amount that would instantly erase the WICB’s liabilities.There has been widespread scepticism since Stanford launched his project last October, promising US$28 million in prize money and infrastructural investment in West Indies cricket and proclaiming that his “vision for the Stanford 20/20 Tournament is that it will be a catalyst for a resurgence of the love for the game, that it will signal a return to the glory days”.The initial response was typical. The most frequent misgivings surrounded the motives of an American billionaire with a controversial background in Antigua – and white to boot – pouring so much cash into a game that has been a West Indian passion even longer than baseball has been America’s.Even if he really was convinced his money was the magic wand to reverse the prolonged decline in the fortunes of West Indies cricket, surely his choice of a glorified form of tip-and-run betrayed his naivety. Although he employed 14 of the greatest West Indies players as his board of directors and dubbed them “legends”, Stanford himself realised the attitude was inevitable.”They’ll be asking who’s this rich Texan coming to take over our sport?” he mused at the time. He won’t, of course, but against the almost daily evidence of the WICB’s continuing mismanagement and the squandermania that has contributed to its parlous financial position, the idea is not so preposterous.Had the WICB done its job, a Stanford 20/20 would have been redundant. Had it properly utilised its sizeable sponsorships from Sky TV, Cable & Wireless and now Digicel, it would not have had to close its academy, slash its first-class tournament in half and ponder its future.Apart from the financial, Stanford is providing a model in organisation, player and public relations, and not least, accountability for the WICB and its regional affiliates to follow. He has assigned each of his directors to the 19 territories involved in the tournament and charged them with ensuring that an operating expenditure summary is submitted for the US$100 000 given to upgrade facilities, training and coaching. Each must also account for the further US$15 000 a month to be used for maintenance and salaries.These are significant sums – and not simply for the smaller islands. They have been widely welcomed, and with a few exceptions (Barbados reportedly among them), already put to use.Yet, as was revealed in the Enoch Lewis report on WICB spending a few months back, such allocations have tended to be consumed by “administrative costs” such as first-class air travel, five-star hotels, international telephone calls, and “third party fees and meetings”.

Wherever else Stanford’s money is bound, the showpiece is the 20/20 Tournament itself. It is the first of its kind in the West Indies, so he was drifting into virgin waters. The unprecedented prize money (US$1 million to the champions, US$500 000 to the runners-up, the multiple thousands for Man of the Match and Play of the Match) were enticing enough to create interest, but it was impossible to know how the new format would be accepted by a public weaned primarily in the traditional game.As in England and South Africa, where such tournaments have been going for three seasons, the concentrated action, the matches under lights, the colourful outfits, the music, the razzmatazz have all attracted a new clientele.The crowds at the cricket ground Stanford has purpose-built in the midst of his complex of offices, restaurants and gym-club, adjacent to the VC Bird International Airport, have grown every night to beyond the 4 000 capacity. On Wednesday and Friday, the gates had to be closed. The majority have been women, teenagers and children, and they have reflected Antigua’s strong mix of Caribbean people.On Friday night, in their team’s first matches, Guyanese and Jamaicans, waving their flags, wearing the colours and shouting their support, clearly outnumbered locals. The noise will be heard in Kingston and Georgetown when the teams meet in the quarter-final on Friday night. The cricket in the first two weeks of the tournament, mostly involving the smaller, least experienced teams, has been predictably sub-standard, especially the batting. But this was a rare occasion for firemen, taxi drivers, postmen, customs officers and the like, whose cricket is confined to weekend club matches, to show off their talents in televised matches before bigger attendances than they have ever known. Whether they were in their 40s, as many were, or in their teens, as five from Anguilla were, whether they were 300 pounds or 100, their enthusiasm and energy was boundless and the feature of the contests.And a few youngsters have attracted attention. No talent was more instantly recognisable than that of Keiron Powell, a tall, slim 16-year-old left-hander from Nevis, who pulled the first ball he faced effortlessly for six and then reeled off two exquisite cover drives that had the legends making quick mental notes.If there is a brash American touch to Stanford’s omnipresent involvement – shaking hands with every player, hugging the winners, joining in each team photo-shoot, presenting every cheque, mingling in the stand with admirers – everyone knows who he is, and who is behind the tournament.There is hardly a West Indian cricketer who could pick out WICB president Ken Gordon or vice-president Val Banks in an identity parade. It may upset some but, as any politician knows, it makes a world of difference.

The Indian board (BCCI) has decided to invest US $347million to improve domestic facilities over the next year. Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president, confirmed that the amount will be channelled to every state association and that infrastructure would be upgraded in all stadiums in the country.”In the next one year you would see a majority of BCCI stadiums having (flood) lights to play day-night cricket,” Modi told reporters. “I don’t think a single stadium would be left which would not have facilities or infrastructure of international quality. Until now, domestic associations depended on revenue from matches played in their jurisdictions to fund development programmes. But because there are so many venues in the country of over 1 billion people, matches at one place were few and far between, resulting in low revenues. Now that BCCI is earning large amounts of money, the next big step would be to put money in our own stadiums.”The BCCI, one of the richest sporting associations in the world, has funded the ongoing Malaysia tri-series, as part of their ‘offshore investments’, and spent close to $1 million on a temporary floodlight system at the Kinrara Oval.Modi was impressed by the job done in Malaysia and said the game should be spread in countries and venues outside the traditional ones. “The objective of the BCCI, and of all members of the ICC, is to promote cricket all over the world and to enhance the level of facilities that are available for international-caliber cricket,” he said. “We have to spread the game across the world. It is important for us not only to play in India but to take it to fan bases around the world.”India will host Champions Trophy next month and co-host the 2011 World Cup with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Australia are using the latest fitness techniques to get an edge over England in next month’s Ashes series. Most of Australia’s cricketers are over 30 and face a tough season, including five Tests against England in seven weeks, and the side have implemented GPS satellite tracking systems and accelerometers to measure their physical activity.Justin Cordy, Australia’s strength and conditioning coach, has devised fitness programs for each player and they have returned in excellent shape from a four-month winter break. “Skinfolds is what we are focused on … overall as a team there’s been a 15 percent change in all players,” Cordy told Brisbane’s . “Over the last four or five months, I’ve really seen these guys knuckle down with the Ashes and World Cup on the table. It’s about making them more athletic and getting excess weight off, so we can really focus on power and speed of movement. From my perspective, it was a matter of building on their [fitness] base and taking them to another level.”GPS devices are regularly fitted to players – Nathan Bracken agreed to wear one on his wrist during a one-day international final in Brisbane last season – as Australia seeks an advantage over England.”The GPS satellite tracking devices give you an idea of what distance the players cover and at what speeds,” Cordy said. “For instance, it showed that Bracken covered 15 kilometres [nine miles] out in the field in Brisbane. One of the things that came out of the technology was that there was a significant difference in training heart-rates versus playing heart-rates. It has highlighted the need at training to work harder because of the intensity of matches.”

Pakistan 485 and 13 for 1 beat West Indies 206 and 291(Lara 122, Chanderpaul 81, Gul 4-99) by 9 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
West Indies how they were out

Brian Lara’s brilliance shone brightly at the Gaddafi Stadium, but as hashappened so often in his career, the final outcome was yet another Testdefeat for West Indies, as Pakistan eased to a nine-wicket win to take a1-0 lead in the three-match series. Lara stroked a classy 122 and, withShivnarine Chanderpaul (81), threatened a West Indian revival, but hisdismissal sparked a familiar collapse, as Umar Gul finished with a matchhaul of nine wickets to leave Pakistan with the formality of scoring just13 to seal the victory.When play started this morning, West Indies’ fortunes were always likelyto hinge on Lara’s performance, and that’s exactly how it transpired.While Lara was going strong, with Chanderpaul offering him solid support,the pitch seemed to be a batting paradise and runs were scored at acanter. The moment Lara left, though, regular service resumed, thoughChanderpaul offered dogged resistance despite being unwell. Had it notbeen for some sloppy work by the close-in fielders and Kamran Akmal, the wicketkeeper, the match would have finished even earlier than it eventually did.Lara’s first-innings effort, by his own admission, wasn’t a fluent one,but here he was in charge from the first ball he faced. He had started offwith fours off the first two balls he faced yesterday, and wassimilarly in control from the start today. Driving exquisitely through theoff side, he repeatedly drilled boundaries with typical flourish – thefront foot going out in a huge stride, the bat coming down in a lovely arcand finishing up in a huge follow-through. He uncannily found the gapsalmost every time as well, ensured that the score kept moving and deniedPakistan the opportunity to attack with too many fielders around the bat.Lara’s was the key innings, but given West Indies’ plight at the start ofthe day, they needed more than a one-man act to make this a contest, andChanderpaul filled the support role perfectly. He was solid in defence,and yet didn’t miss out on scoring opportunities, easing the ball into thegaps on both sides of the wicket. He struggled to combat dehydration afterlunch and regularly needed medical attention on the field, but he hung on,not bothered by the number of times Gul passed the outside edge of hisbat, or by the reprieve handed to him by Akmal, who missed a regulationstumping when Chanderpaul was on 56. Till he finally miscued a pull offShahid Nazir, West Indies were in contention to at least stretch thecontest into the final day.Pakistan’s bowlers had a mixed day – Gul was outstanding, getting plentyof seam movement and some reverse swing later in the afternoon to troubleChanderpaul. Nazir was steady, Danish Kaneria quite disappointing, whileAbdul Razzaq was pedestrian. Nazir gave them the early breakthrough bygetting rid of the nightwatchman Fidel Edwards, but thereafter there waslittle for them to celebrate for the next three hours as Lara andChanderpaul took charge.Lara began proceedings by clipping and steering the fast bowlers forfours, and that set the trend for the morning. Each of his landmarks camein style too: a glorious straight-drive off Gul brought Lara his fifty,and he crashed the same bowler off the back foot through point to get tohis 33rd Test century, and his first in Pakistan. Though he was the bestbowler on view, Gul clearly came off second-best against Lara, going for47 runs from 56 balls.As the partnership grew, so too did Pakistan’s frustration: there wereregular appeals against Lara, and while most of them didn’t have muchmerit, one – an lbw shout off Shoaib Malik, when Lara was on 80 – shouldclearly have been given. The deficit was getting whittled in quick timewhen Hafeez – who had earlier dropped a tough chance from Lara – got oneto pitch, straighten and beat his attempted sweep. Simon Taufel agreedthat the ball would have hit the stumps, and Pakistan finally had theirman.With the biggest barrier out of the way, Pakistan moved in for the kill.Gul took care of Dwayne Bravo while Denesh Ramdin became Kaneria’s onlyvictim of the innings. The second new ball then took care of the lastthree wickets, with Chanderpaul finally miscuing a pull after a gutsy178-ball effort. Gul was denied his second five-for of the match, butfinished off the West Indian innings.Pakistan were made to work harder than they would have thought to get tothe target of 13 – Hafeez fell for 1, and more than five overs were bowled- but those were small crumbs as Pakistan pocketed the big prize.