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Matthew Hayden showered praise on Ricky Ponting, who hit his 30th Test century during the second Test against South Africa. Hayden scored 102 and Ponting made 116 in a second-wicket stand of 201 that took the game away from South Africa.Praising his captain, Hayden said: “He’s head and shoulders No.1 in the world, there’s no question about that. On all surfaces, in all conditions he’s been the dominant player of the last two years. He’s definitely going to be Australia’s finest for a long time. At such a young age, he’s really mastered all of the conditions as well. He’s just one of those players who is going to be a generational player in years to come. [It’s] awesome.Commenting on his big stand with Ponting, Hayden said: “It’s a great partnership as well. We’ve always enjoyed batting together. He’s just keeping it very simple at the moment. He’s got all shots right the way around the wicket.”Ponting, who scored 103 in the first innings, has now overtaken Don Bradman in the list of all-time century-makers and is now close on the heels of Sachin Tendulkar, who leads the way with 35 centuries.Monday’s hundred saw Ponting equal another record – he became the second player, after Sunil Gavaskar, to score centuries in each innings of a Test three times. While Gavaskar took eight years to achieve the feat, from 1970-1971 to 1978-1979, Ponting needed just eight matches.

The residence of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, in a posh south Delhi locality, was raided by police on Tuesday and one of the two vehicles – a blue Maruti Gypsy – employed in the alleged poaching of an endangered black buck last week was seized.A First Information Report was registered against Pataudi and seven others on Monday, and the authorities had asked them to report to Jhajjar police for investigation. The deadline has been extended to 5pm on June 10, failing which they could be arrested.Pataudi, the former Indian cricket captain, finds himself facing arrest after the carcass of the endangered species of antelope was found in the boot of his car. Pataudi, who captained India in 40 of his 46 Tests, was one of eight people held by police in the north Indian state of Haryana.According to the Press Trust of India, he had been charged under sections 9, 39 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, after a rare black buck, and two rabbits, were found during a routine police check in Jhajjar on Friday night.Police sources added that two guns, 50 cartridges and two search lights had also been recovered. If found guilty of the offence, Pataudi, 64, could face up to seven years in prison.Nicknamed “Tiger”, Pataudi was born into a Muslim royal family in Madhya Pradesh in 1941, and was appointed as India’s captain at the age of 21. He scored 2793 runs in a 13-year Test career, although that tally might have been significantly greater had he not suffered near-blindness in his right eye, after a car accident while at Oxford University.

Sri Lanka 245 (Jayasuriya 55, Atapattu 47, Clarke 5-35) beat Australia 244 for 5 (Hayden 93, Ponting 69, Vaas 3-48) by one run
Scorecard

Chaminda Vaas grabbed three wickets, and kept his cool during anerve-jangling final over, as Sri Lanka snatched a thrilling one-run victoryagainst Australia at Dambulla. Needing just eight to win from the last six balls with five wickets in hand, Australia looked set for victory, but Vaas conceded only six runs to level the series at 1-1.For most of the afternoon, it had seemed as if Sri Lanka would pay for aspectacular late batting collapse. Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden added148 for the second wicket, and Australia were cruising – but the dismissal ofPonting precipitated a slump from 148 for 1 to 192 for 5.Andrew Symonds – the beneficiary of a bizarre and sportingrecall, after being adjudged lbw by Peter Manuel on 10 – and Michael Bevan carried Australia to the brink of victory, adding 52 in 58balls, but could not finish the job because of Vaas’s heroics.Sri Lanka’s top order had batted their team into a commanding positionin the morning with partnerships of 121 for the first wicket – between Sanath Jayasuriya (55) and Marvan Atapattu (47) – and 70 for the third between Mahela Jaywardene (38) and Kumar Sangakkara (39). But some reckless batting by the middle and lower order against Michael Clarke’s innocuous-looking left-arm spin squandered the initiative as the last sevenwickets fell for just 29. Sri Lanka, gliding along at 192 for 2 at one stage, were bowled out with one ball remaining.Nevertheless, the target was competitive on a dry, worn surface – the same pitch that was used on Friday – that offered plenty of assistance for Sri Lanka’s six spinners. Ironically, though, it was Vaas who grabbed the first wicket as Clarke, promoted from the middle order to counter the spinners, shelled the third ball of the innings straight to Upul Chandana at backward point (0 for 1).Ponting and Hayden took a couple of overs to settle. However, in the fifthover, Ponting cut loose, pulling a short one from Vaas over square leg for six, and then cracking a square cut to the point fence. Thereafter, Australia started to tick along smoothly with both batsmen mixing sharp singles and twos with calculated aggression.Atapattu rotated his bowlers with increasing desperation. Seven had been used by the 22nd over, and not one of them looked remotely threatening. Even Muttiah Muralitharan, who might have expected to be a major handful on this pitch, was unable to conjure up a breakthrough.But Sri Lanka finally broke through in the 32nd over as Ponting top-edged asweep to be caught at deep square leg. Vaas was recalled for a second spell, and he deceived Damien Martyn with a slower ball to put Sri Lanka right back inthe match (170 for 3).Australia started the final ten overs needing a modest 56 to win, but suffered amassive blow when Hayden miscued a lofted drive to be caught at wide long-off.In the same over, Dharmasena won an lbw decision against Symonds that was later overruled following discussions between Gilchrist, the non-striker, the umpires and Atapattu – after it became clear that Symonds had edged the ball on to his pads.Although Vaas clung on to a tumbling caught-and-bowled chance off Gilchristin the next over to leave Australia 192 for 5, Atapattu’s sportsmanship looked to have cost Sri Lanka victory as Symonds and Bevan steadily chipped away at the target. When Bevan smashed Muralitharan for six over midwicketin the 49th over, it looked all over.

But Vaas conceded just two singles off his first two balls, and then followedup with consecutive dot-balls to leave Australia needing six off two. Symonds could only scamper a single and Bevan was unable to hit a six off the last ball.Atapattu had started the day well, winning what appeared a crucial tossand then leading from the front with the bat. While Jayasuriya was unusuallynervy at the start, labouring for 32 balls before hitting his firstboundary, Atapattu played fluently, puncturing the infield with high-elboweddrives and clips.Both Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee struggled to find rhythm early on, though Gillespie was unlucky to not claim an early lbw against Jayasuriya, when he had made just 10. The arrival of Symonds into the attack finally shook Jayasuriya out of his slumber. His second ball, a medium-pacer, was clubbed over cover and his fourth delivery, an offbreak, was smashed over midwicket. Jayasuriya sprinted to his fifty, the 55th of his one-day career, as Atapattu settled back into a supporting role.It was Ponting who came to his side’s aid. Athletically flinging himself to his left at midwicket, he then broke the stumps at the non-striker’s end with a diving underarm flick. Atapattu had scored 47 from 68 balls. Next over, Symonds trapped Jayasuriya lbw with an offbreak that crept along the floor.The run rate slowed as Jayawardene and Sangakkara, who had added 121together in the first game, played themselves in. The spinners, Symonds and BradHogg, troubled both batsmen, and strokeplay was never easy on apitch that grew increasingly slow. But Jayawardene, who survived a run-out chance on 4 when Symonds’s throwmissed the stumps, settled – and runs started to flow. Sangakkara, who managed just a single boundary in his 58-ball 39, allowed his partner to take theinitiative as 70 were added in 98 balls.Ponting’s decision to replace Lee with Clarke paid dividends as Jayawardene wascaught at cover trying to loft over the infield (192 for 3). Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan then added 24 in 29 balls before the innings lurched into freefall – the last seven wickets fell for 29 courtesy of a rash of ambitiousstrokes. Luckily for Sri Lanka, Australia fluffed their final lines as well in the late-afternoon sunshine.

The Tasmanian Cricket Association would like to advise that prior to the commencement of the Pura Cup match at Bellerive against the Southern Redbacks, two late changes were forced upon the team.Adam Griffith and Xavier Doherty were both withdrawn from the playing eleven.Griffith has a calf strain and was ruled out following a fitness test on the morning of the match. Cascade Tasmanian Tigers Coach, Brian McFadyen said, "Adam has been experiencing calf soreness in the lead up to this match and unfortunately had to withdraw when he was still experiencing considerable discomfort in his calf."Doherty was ruled out after lacerating his left knee joint on the medial side, requiring 12 sutures, in an accident during a regulation warm-up exercise on the morning of the match.Scott Kremerskothen has been recalled after being omitted earlier in the week.

* Pakistan plans tight security for Indian cricket team’s visitTight security will be in place when the Indian cricket team travel toPakistan for an ice breaking Test match in September, Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB) chief Lieutenant General Tauqir Zia said in Karachi onSunday.”We have planned special tight security during the Lahore Test inSeptember this year,” Zia told reporters, adding that he hoped theBoard of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would be given the allclear by the Indian government for the visit. India is scheduled toplay their first Test in Pakistan for 12 years when they feature in anAsian Test Championship match from September 12-16.When India played their last Test series in Pakistan in 1989-90, areligious party activist attacked then-Indian captain KrishnamachariSrikanth during the Karachi Test. Srikkanth though was unscathed assecurity personnel arrested the attacker.* Baroda, Mumbai to play triangular series in KenyaRanji Trophy champions Baroda and former champions Mumbai will play atriangular limited overs cricket tournament in Kenya, with the hostteam being the third team, from September 10 to 24.The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) joint secretary Mayank Khandwalatold PTI in Mumbai on Monday that the Mumbai team will play Baroda andKenya three times each in the league phase. The final is slated forSeptember 24. Mumbai will also play a three-day match against Kenya.Kenya had invited Mumbai last year as well but the tour was cancelleddue to non-availability of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was busywith the Indian team’s conditioning camp for the International CricketCouncil’s (ICC) Mini WorldCup.* Manoj Prabhakar’s remand extendedA court in Bhawali has extended judicial remand of the former Indiancricketer Manoj Prabhakar till August 3 in the chit fund case, policesaid in Dehra Dun on Sunday. The judicial magistrate Devraj Prasadissued orders to this effect after visiting the private nursing homein Haldwani, where Prabhakar has been admitted to enquire about hiscondition on Saturday evening, the assistant director general ofpolice Anil Raturi told PTI in Dehra Dun.Prabhakar was admitted to the hospital on July 3 following suspectedbrain stroke and doctors attending on him have stated his condition tobe stable.

On a pitch tailor made for their quartet of spin bowlers, Tamil Union look set to spring a surprise in the first semi final of the Premier Limited Overs tournament at Premadasa International Stadium tonight. They have bowled out the tournament favorites, Colts Cricket Club, for a meager 174 in 48.4 overs.Tamil Union have one of the strongest spin attacks in the land. Led by the irrepressible Mutiah Muralitharan, who picked up five wickets for 15 runs in 9.4 overs, the spin bowlers took nine of the wickets to fall. The Colts batsmen struggled to play them on a slow paced pitch that spun extravagantly.Colts CC had won the toss and begun confidently, despite the loss of Romesh Kaluwitharan for just six runs in the sixth over of the innings. Chaminda Mendis and Kulatunga compiled 67 runs for the second wicket and Colts CC looked set for another impressive total.However, Upul Chandana turned to Mutiah Muralitharan in the 16th over of the innings and in partnership with left arm spinner, Niroshan Bandaratilake, he turned the course the course of the match. Colts CC lost four wickets for just six runs and slumped to 92 for five.Kulatunga had played some sparkling shots including a brace of boundaries in Ranga Dias’s first and last over. However, he was less assured against the spinners, and started the slide when he charged down the wicket to Muralitharan and was caught at cover. He had scored 35 from 52 deliveries.Sajith Fernando walked to the crease in confident fashion but was caught in the very next over as he top edged a sweep. Then, Chaminda Mendis, who had scored a solid 35 from 69 balls, was clean bowled by Muralitharan four balls later. In the same over Sujith Janaka looked unlucky to have been adjudged caught behind.Were it not for Chaminda Vaas (18) and Eric Upashantha (34), who added 45 runs for the seventh wicket, Colts would not have even surpassed 150. The pair batted patiently and sensibly. Aware of the responsibility that now lay on their shoulders, they eschewed risks and concentrated on picking up singles.Just when they looked like they were on the verge of grasping the initiative back, Chaminda Vaas tried to pull sweep Upul Chandana and was brilliantly caught by a tumbling Brijesh Jeganathanan on the mid wicket boundary.The skipper wasted no time in recalling his premier bowler and Muralitharan just proved too good for the Colts lower order. They lunged and prodded as best they could but were eventually bowled out for a total that looks too small.

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

VRV Singh got his second five-for of the match as West Zone batsmen played one injudicious shot after the other, and despite a middle-order resistance they were bowled out in two sessions to set North Zone an easy 166 to get, with two days and a session to go. North Zone ended the third day with 92 more to get and seven wickets in hand.The first over of the day set the tone, when Sahil Kukreja played a loose drive to the first delivery that was not pitched on legs, and edged it through to Uday Kaul, the wicketkeeper. North did not look to capitalise on the early breakthrough as VRV continued to spray the ball around, and Vikramjeet Malik – although getting the inswing going – had problems with no-balls.Wasim Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane got a partnership going, and scored at a fairly good pace. But after overs of innocuous bowling, Ashok Thakur got one to land on a length and dip in towards Jaffer, who looked to play without any feet movement, and presented a gap between bat and pad. Parthiv Patel soon got his second awkward lifter of the match, which he jabbed to first slip. Cheteshwar Pujara completed his pair by going for an expansive drive to an inswinger, leaving his stumps vulnerable. In 5.4 overs, 56 for 1 became 70 for 4, with a lead of just fours runs.A brief partnership between Rahane, who was impressive once again in his innings of 43, and Yusuf Pathan was ended by a harsh call from AV Jayaprakash. Rahane was hit on the thigh pad by one from VRV that cut in but was going over the top of the stumps. With half the side out for a lead of just 42, two Baroda players – Rakesh Solanki and Pathan – counterattacked, exposing the North bowlers. Pathan, who had already got off to a quick start by the time Rahane got out (21 off 17 balls), took the attack to the next level and turned the attention away from Solanki. Soon the field spread out, Amit Mishra was brought on, and defensive bowling became the call of the hour.Pathan still managed to find gaps, whipping through mid-on, thrashing through covers, edging over slips, late-cutting through third man, sweeping through square leg, and lofting over the infield. Mishra, who had been swept for two fours by Pathan, finally got the breakthrough: bowling from round the stumps, he tossed one up, and Pathan backed his sweep, only to top-edge to short fine leg. Pathan ended up scoring 61 out of the 97 runs scored by West since his arrival at the crease. His 59-run partnership with Solanki in 10.4 overs made sure the game would not end on the third day itself.The North bowlers became lackadaisical once again and Solanki and Rakesh Dhurv took advantage. For more than 19 overs, they could only create one half-chance – a caught-and-bowled for Mishra – and a regulation chance for Kaul in Rajat Bhatia’s first over, which he duly dropped. Dhurv had scored 31 by then, but North got a breakthrough when Solanki uppercut VRV straight to third man. The tail folded easily, the last four wickets falling for nine runs. Three cheap dismissals gave VRV his second first-class ten-wicket haul. He now has 18 wickets from two Duleep Trophy matches.Chasing 166, North got off to a solid start just like in the first innings, and it seemed they would come close to rattling off the required runs today itself. But as had happened in the first innings, the fall of Aakash Chopra led to more wickets. Chopra got a dodgy lbw verdict, and Karan Goel followed after, ending what has been a horrible match for him, with a poke to an away-going delivery, just like he had in the first innings. He managed to get a run this time, though. When Mithun Manhas edged Trivedi to second slip, North had lost three wickets for 12 runs, and at that moment West Zone had a chance to sneak back.Shikhar Dhawan, meanwhile, had got off to a brisk start, having scored 25 off 27 balls out of the team score of 40. With his captain back in the pavilion, Dhawan adjusted to the situation, taking on the responsibility even as Yashpal Singh looked extremely edgy. Dhawan cut down on his shots without slowing down much, but there was a clear change in his attitude, suggesting he wanted to be there till the end. His scoring before the collapse had been attractive and imperious, but following it, he became more solid. He was also offered a reprieve when Sandeep Jobanputra, who bowled a testing spell of inswing bowling, dropped Dhawan off his own bowling: Dhawan was 27 then, and North had only got to 47.By the end of the day, Dhawan had added 17 more, ensured there were no more setbacks, and North were about one session of sensible batting short of a second successive Duleep Trophy triumph.

Brad Haddin was named New South Wales’ Player of the Year at the state’s awards night on Friday, winning the Steve Waugh Medal. Haddin was also the Blues’ limited-overs Player of the Year, while Simon Katich took the honours in the Pura Cup.Haddin was the star of New South Wales’ Ford Ranger Cup campaign, slamming 406 runs at 67.66 with an impressive strike-rate of 104.10. His efforts earned him a national call-up for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in New Zealand and a place in Australia’s 15-man World Cup squad.He also had a solid Pura Cup season, making 669 runs at 55.75, and the Blues missed his middle-order scoring and leadership in the final against Tasmania. Haddin, who is in Antigua at the World Cup, said winning the Steve Waugh Medal was a great honour.”I’ve been working extremely hard over a number of seasons, striving to be consistent behind the stumps and with the bat,” he said. “To be recognised in this way is something special.”Katich, the Blues’ Pura Cup Player of the Year, topped their first-class averages with 711 runs at 64.63 from his seven games. He missed the first few matches while on national duty but made the best of his return to state ranks with two centuries – including an unbeaten 205 – and three fifties.David Warner, who made his one-day debut during the season, was named as the Blues’ Rising Star. Lisa Sthalekar, who captained the New South Wales Breakers to the Women’s National Cricket League title, was the Breakers’ Player of the Year.

Scorecard
Gallery

Queensland’s two-year Pura Cup revenge is almost complete as they batted and battered Victoria into submission, boredom and a certain second place at the Gabba. With their 6 for 900 declared , the Bulls reached the state’s highest score and the 11th biggest in first-class history.Shane Watson’s 201 and Clinton Perren’s 173 continued the gorging and the pair shared a state-record partnership of 329 for the fourth wicket, which ended only when Watson retired hurt with cramp. Jimmy Maher, who started the demolition with 223 and needs only a draw to gain the trophy, promised to “bat and bat and bat” and the declaration was ignored as the Bulls charged through scores rarely reached.Victoria hammered 710 over three days at the MCG on the way to winning the 2003-04 final, but Maher’s side made that total look like a small one as they tortured their opponents for 242 overs. Queensland’s previous best score was 687 against New South Wales at Brisbane’s Exhibition Ground in 1930-31.Watson stayed long enough to pick up his second first-class double-century – and his maiden one for Queensland – in an innings of 342 balls with 23 fours and a six. Perren was more attacking towards the end of his display, blasting five sixes and ten fours, as they took the score from 3 for 531 to 860 before Andy Bichel replaced Watson.Bichel was promoted in the hope of getting a season double of 50 wickets and 500 runs, but he made only 3 and was followed by James Hopes and Perren as Dirk Nannes doubled Victoria’s wicket tally and finished with 3 for 150. The declaration eventually came when Chris Hartley and Daniel Doran pushed to 900.”It was almost surreal,” Maher told . “Guys were looking today and seeing it tick over to 750, 800, 850. It’s amazing, 900. We could have easily have gone on to get a thousand, really. It was tempting but we wanted to have a bit of a crack at them tonight. It’s a phenomenal day. One I think we’ll remember for a long, long time.”The moods of the visitors were already Lake-Eyre low as they started their second innings 556 behind, but they were drained further by the loss of the openers Jason Arnberger and Lloyd Mash. Mitchell Johnson, one of two Queensland players who didn’t bat, picked up both wickets as Victoria went to stumps at 2 for 38.

The USA Cricket Association has named a 30-man squad for the forthcoming ICC Trophy but, as with most things connected with US cricket at the moment, the announcement immediately started a battle over who exactly had the right to pick the side.The old USACA board, led by the president Gladstone Dainty, chose the squad – and at the same time named the same management team which had overseen the USA’s participation in the Champions Trophy in England last September – but the alternative new board, backed by the Council of League Presidents, is believed to be about to tell the ICC that the side is not representative of the best players in the country. It is expected that a request will be made that the ICC does not recognise the selections until the ongoing disputes over who actually runs US cricket are resolved.Critics were quick to point out that the side contains many of the players who were condemned for their performances in the Champions Trophy. That team was also labelled as a virtual Dad’s Army, given the average age of the players. Another surprise is the inclusion of Imran Awan, the player who returned home early from the tournament in circumstances which have never been fully explained.