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This was a day so tense and full of unexpected twists and turns that it would have been no surprise had Al Gore turned up to demand a recount. It finished with Auckland 74-2 in their second innings, a lead of 42.The highlight was a gutsy tenth wicket partnership of 80 by Bruce Martin and Graeme Aldridge for ND. This swung the game ND’s way, but Blair Pocock and Richard King did much to move it back again in the final session.With thirteen wickets having fallen on the first day the batsmen had as much trust in the pitch as in a Florida election official. Their lack of faith appeared justified as the heart of ND’s middle order was removed in the first hour.Auckland’s left-arm seamer Richard Morgan was the main destroyer, removing Bradburn caught behind from a bouncer, Bailey caught at short leg and Hood, off stump removed for a debut duck. Morgan demonstrated the twin dangers of the pitch. There was bounce and there was movement. It was difficult to deal with one while remaining alert for the other.Morgan finished with career best figures of 5-44.At 49-7 ND faced a substantial first innings deficit. Simon Doull began the recovery. Doull has a good record with the bat against Auckland, mostly by adopting the no-nonsense aggression he showed here. His 27 included a six over mid-wicket.When Doull’s departure was followed shortly afterwards by that of Robbie Hart, clearly annoyed to have been given out caught behind, it seemed that Auckland would have a lead of forty or so.Martin and Aldridge were soon to prove that to be a false assumption.Their partnership contained strong elements of good fortune, particularly in the early stages. But it contained a good deal of skill too, as well as a large slice of bloody-minded determination. There were few memorable shots, though Martin’s effortless lift over square leg to level the scores was one. The way in which both men resolutely stood up to short-pitched deliveries will be recalled as will their discipline in leaving as much as possible alone.The innings ended when Barnes found the shoulder of Martin’s bat to have him caught in the gully by Canning with the score on 178.Both batsmen left the field with personal highest scores (Martin 51, Aldridge 21 not out). They were only two short of breaking ND’s tenth wicket record against Auckland, set up by Martin in partnership with Simon Doull in the Shell Trophy final last April. Most importantly, they handed ND an unexpected lead of 32.Auckland’s second innings got off to the worst start when McIntosh was caught at second slip by Bailey off a Doull delivery that moved from leg to off. No runs were on the board.A quiet, but important phase of the game followed. Pocock and King put on 70 for the second wicket. It was slow at first, but gradually the shots came more freely. A slow outfield helped to keep the scoring rate down.Almost imperceptably, the balance of the game shifted towards Auckland. Joseph Yovich was the most dangerous bowler, twice having appeals for legside catches to the wicketkeeper, one for each batsman. However, Yovich was limited to one four over spell and may be injured.Doull returned to remove Pocock lbw to one that kept low shortly before the close of play.Today was first class cricket of a high order, not in terms of shot making, but as a contest in which concentration and determination are allied with skill to overcome the opposition and the conditions.These are the factors that will decide the outcome of the game, but in whose favour? To use the phrase with which we have become so familiar in recent weeks, it is too close to call.

New Zealand 256 for 5 (Astle 90*) beat Sri Lanka 255 for 7 (Tharanga 103, Atapattu 52) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

New Zealand – held back by an elegant century from Upul Tharanga and the Christchurch rain – scrambled to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Jade Stadium, and took a 3-0 lead in the five-ODI series (one match was played in late 2004 but following the Indian Ocean tsunami the series was temporarily abandoned). Sri Lanka, put in to bat, managed 255, and New Zealand, powered by Nathan Astle, overhauled the target after a being given a serious scare towards the end of their chase.At this venue, with its distinct lack of movement in the air or off the wicket, and short boundaries, a score of 255 should not have caused serious concern. Yet New Zealand managed to make heavy weather of the target. If it were not for a couple of expensive no-balls – Dilhara Fernando and Chaminda Vaas both had Astle dismissed off no-balls when New Zealand needed to score at more than a run-a-ball, things might well have been different.Defending 256 was a tough ask of the men handling the white ball – Chaminda Vaas began admirably, applying the pressure at one end. But Farveez Maharoof, without the benefit of the same experience and skill as his senior partner, struggled to keep Lou Vincent quiet. Vincent opened the face of the bat and drove confidently through the line, forcing the ball through the square field on the off side with power.The fifty of the opening partnership came up in just the eighth over, and even the fall of both openers soon after, with 71 on the board, was little cause for worry. Astle, brought into the game as SuperSub, stabilised the innings with Peter Fulton, who chipped in with a promising 32, and the rain that came down provided a twist.While the required run rate never really ran away from New Zealand, the fall of Hamish Marshall, lbw to Muttiah Muralitharan, and Scott Styris, brilliantly caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan diving football goalkeeper style, caused a flutter or two and raised the hopes of the Lankans. In the end, though, a well set Astle – once caught off a no-ball and once bowled off a no-ball – settled the issue, scoring 90 not out and New Zealand won with 12 balls to spare. Astle was given a timely boost by Chris Cairns, who cracked a huge six off the last ball of Murali’s spell, and gave the innings the momentum they needed to go over the finish line.When Daniel Vettori, standing in for Stephen Fleming, won the toss, he had little hesitation in choosing to put Sri Lanka in. That Sanath Jayasuriya had slipped in the shower reaching for his shampoo, dislocated his shoulder and ruled himself out of the game did not help Sri Lanka.Shane Bond bowled with genuine pace early on and hurried both Tharanga and Avishka Gunawardene through their strokes. While surviving the Bond barrage was on the top of Tharanga’s mind, Gunawardene still appeared keen to score. He closed the face of his bat a touch too early on one delivery and sent an edge towards point where Hamish Marshall kept his eyes on the ball and took a sharp catch. At 24 for 1 Sri Lanka were in danger of slipping, but Kumar Sangakkara ensured this did not happen.Sangakkara was hesitant at first, but understood the need to keep wickets in hand even if the runs were not flowing too freely. He let Tharanga take charge of the run-getting, and this worked well. When Cairns and Jacob Oram came on to bowl first change, Tharanga gave full freedom to his pleasing off-side strokeplay. The zone between backward point and wide mid off took a peppering as fielders scrambled to save the ball. Tharanga was comfortable off front and back foot, and easily found the gaps. On occasion he was even audacious enough to come down the pitch to Oram and drive inside out.Vettori pulled things back somewhat, even as Sri Lanka’s batsmen aimed to be positive against him. The Tharanga-Sangakkara partnership had burgeoned to 109 when Bond struck. Sangakkara dropped one to the leg side and set off for a quick single, but was sent back by his partner. Bond, well into his followthrough, fielded well and nailed the stumps at the keeper’s end with a strong throw before Sangakkara (36) could recover his ground.Then New Zealand pulled things back, picking up wickets at regular intervals. Marvan Atapattu was forced to seal one end up and he did so with some panache. Tharanga reached his second ODI century – a crucial one given how much of the team’s score he had singlehandedly accounted for – but was dismissed soon after. He pulled Oram straight down Fulton’s throat on the square-leg fence, and was dismissed for 103.Mahela Jayawardene, Dilshan and Maharoof all failed, with Dilshan’s wicket taking Cairns to 200 scalps. Had it not been for Atapattu’s controlled innings at the death – he made a better than run-a-ball half-century without ever seeming to break into a sweat – Sri Lanka would have struggled even to get to their eventual 255.How they were outNew ZealandJamie How c Mubarak b Vaas 12 (59 for 1)
Lou Vincent c Sangakkara b Maharoof 46 (71 for 2)
Peter Fulton c Jayawardene b Dilshan 32 (143 for 3)
Hamish Marshall lbw b Muralitharan 12 (170 for 4)
Scott Styris c Dilshan b Maharoof 28 (219 for 5)
Sri LankaAvishka Gunawardene c Marshall b Bond 3 (24 for 1)
Kumar Sangakkara run out (Bond) 36 (133 for 2)
Mahela Jayawardene C McCullum b Mills 6 (150 for 3)
Upul Tharanga c Fulton b Oram 103 (169 for 4)
Tillakaratne Dilshan c Oram b Cairns 11 (198 for 5)
Farveez Maharoof b Mills 7 (217 for 7)
Marvan Atapattu run out (Astle) 52 (254 for 7)

Lancashire 335 and 24 for 0 beat Sussex 195 and 163 (Cork 5-58) by 10 wickets
Scorecard

This mouthwatering game between last year’s champions and this year’s favourites ended in a booming win for the new pretenders. In 2003, Lancashire did not manage a single three-day win; but for Wednesday afternoon’s deluge, they might have won here inside two. On this evidence, nothing but the weather can hold them back: after Stuart Law’s breathtaking innings yesterday, their seamers took centre stage today – and barely fluffed a line.Sussex began the day – another bathed in sumptuous spring sunshine – 89 behind, but with all ten second-innings wickets intact. The weather was so glorious that optimism among the home crowd took fanciful flight. Murmurs were heard about a last-day declaration. Those whispers, emanating from the members’ enclosure, were slightly louder than over the first two days, partly because of Sussex’s improved performance on Thursday, and partly because the members were getting to grips with the new ID-card scheme. For the first time, passport-sized photos are required to avoid the cards being shared around to gain free entry. Such is the price of Sussex’s success.Those wearers of rose-tinted spectacles were still hoping for a day echoing with the sound of rattling boundary boards when Sussex suffered their first setback. Ian Ward and Richard Montgomerie had taken the score to 64, and the deficit to 76, when Peter Martin surprised Ward with bounce and movement, and Warren Hegg took a straightforward catch.Still, Montgomerie and Murray Goodwin moved the score along to 90 for 1, and the optimists’ position looked just about tenable. The Lancashire seamers, though, were hitting their stride, hitting the deck and now hitting the stumps. Sajid Mahmood bowled three successive awayswingers then, ten minutes after midday, followed them up with one that came in. Montgomerie shouldered arms and saw his off stump disappear. It spoke volumes about Mahmood’s maturity: Martin Bicknell memorably did the same to South Africa’s Jacques Rudolph at The Oval last summer.Montgomerie, who carried his bat on Wednesday, had hung around for 115 balls for his 27, but his departure punctured the Sussex innings. Goodwin was trapped lbw by Dominic Cork, who cast off yesterday’s golden duck to spearhead the Lancashire attack. Chris Adams later said he thought “Cork had really added something to this Lancashire side.” Not that Adams had any chance to look closely at him today: he too got a first-baller, spooning a leading edge from Mahmood to backward point.With Robin Martin-Jenkins – another leg-before victim for Cork – lasting just three deliveries, Sussex, now 96 for 5, had lost four wickets for six runs in ten balls. Against other attacks, there might have been a way back, but Lancashire were magnificent: “For Gary Keedy [who took ten Sussex wickets last September] not to take part in the game was testament to how their seamers bowled,” conceded Adams. Cork ripped through the tail to grab his first Lancashire five-for. In just 88 minutes either side of lunch, the Sussex ship had sunk from 90 for 1 to 163 all out.That may have been fast, but it was nothing to what followed. In order to remedy their parlous over rate on the second day, Sussex zipped through the overs like demented greyhounds. In little more than 15 minutes, they bowled almost nine overs – the time Lancashire needed to make 24 and win by ten wickets – but at least Sussex avoided the hefty two-point penalty levied on Lancashire. “I’ll take a couple of points lost,” reflected Warren Hegg afterwards, “to win a match against a team that’s going to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.” Will they?Hugh Chevallier is deputy editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

The Indian Premier League’s player auction on Wednesday saw the eight franchises battle with bids, but the process of building a team has only begun ahead of the tournament in April.The IPL’s Bangalore franchise, Royal Challengers, are on the verge of signing Martin Crowe as part of their strategic management team, Cricinfo has learned, with only the paperwork left to be completed. Hyderabad have snapped up Robin Singh, India’s fielding coach. Vijay Mohanraj, the team’s chief executive, confirmed Singh’s appointment as the team’s coach.Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, is expected to be a backroom player for Bangalore, handling key responsibilities in cricket and marketing, while Venkatesh Prasad, India’s bowling coach, is likely to play a more visible, hands-on role.Crowe, Prasad and Singh join a high-profile list of names of IPL support staff, which includes John Buchanan, the former Australia coach, for Kolkata, and Tom Moody, the former Sri Lanka coach, for Mohali.Among the other franchises, Delhi had already designated Victoria’s Greg Shipperd as their coach. Mumbai, Chennai and Jaipur are yet to reveal their cards.Bangalore believe Crowe is the kind of innovator and out-of-the-box thinker the team, led by Rahul Dravid, needs for the Twenty20 format. Apparently, Crowe’s record of having invented the Cricket Max format as far back as 1996 has gone in his favour. Besides, some of the innovations in Cricket Max have found a place in the Twenty20 format.Crowe as New Zealand captain was also the prime mover behind launching the burly left-hander Mark Greatbatch as an aggressive opener during the 1992 World Cup, and even got offspinner Dipak Patel to open the bowling in that tournament.Bangalore will hope that Crowe lends just the right kind of drive to a team that’s currently leaning on the traditional batting foundation of Dravid and the two signings from the auction: South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and India’s Wasim Jaffer.Hyderabad, who bought Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds for US$1.35 million, said Singh was their “logical choice” for coach.”Former Hyderabad offspinner and domestic veteran Kanwaljit Singh will assist Robin,” Mohanraj, a former Ranji opener for Hyderabad, said. “Robin is a logical choice as he understands the Indian conditions. The tournament is just over a month away, and he wouldn’t need any time to adjust to the situation here, unlike maybe some of the foreign coaches. He has also worked with our Indian players [VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma and RP Singh], which makes it easier.”The Bangalore franchise, meanwhile, will unveil their team logo on Friday evening at their home ground, Chinnaswamy Stadium, which will also host the IPL’s opening ceremony on April 18.

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

Malinga Bandara proved he really was a super sub with a stunning performance against South Africa that spun Sri Lanka into the VB Series finals. South Africa were travelling in relative comfort at 3 for 87 when Bandara was called from the dressing room in the 20th over, but he responded with 4 for 31 to floor his opponents and secure a 76-run win.A regular Supersub during the preliminary rounds, Bandara has cemented the role for the best-of-three finals against Australia starting at Adelaide on Friday, and he will enter the match backed by 13 tournament wickets. South Africa started the match with a three-point lead, but the pressure of a winner-takes-all game showed throughout the contest on a cool day in Hobart, which began with snow melting on the nearby Mt Wellington.There were a number of hot performances but none could match Bandara’s legspin. He warmed up with the important dismissal of Graeme Smith, whose first half-century of the tour ended in a disappointing early exit from the competition. Smith has had an awful run in Australia, but he looked to have benefited from a dropped chance on 42 by Tillakaratne Dilshan until he aimed a wild sweep in Bandara’s second over.After 25 overs South Africa needed to score at a run a ball to reach the target of 258 that grew in difficulty as the match progressed. Smith displayed some refreshing touches, although he would have preferred more boundaries in his 67 from 76 balls. His mood worsened when he and Justin Kemp departed in the same Bandara over, Kemp pushing gently forward to be trapped lbw, and he then lost the double threats of Ashwell Prince and Shaun Pollock. Prince was forced into a limp return catch to Bandara, who was also the bowler when Pollock received an unlucky caught-behind decision, departing at 7 for 146.”It’s very difficult to be in for the second half of the session in the field,” Bandara said as he walked off, “but I’m enjoying myself.” Tom Moody, the coach, also praised Bandara’s nine-over effort. “He’s bowled very well all series, but particularly today on a pretty good batting pitch.”After Bandara’s spree Johan van der Wath was outclassed by Muttiah Muralitharan, who spun the ball wickedly, and the final two wickets went to catches in the deep. It was a fine display set up by Chaminda Vaas’s double strike in the seventh over and strong batting performances from Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara.

At first look Sri Lanka seemed to have wasted a fine 123-run stand between Atapattu and Sangakkara as they stuttered to 9 for 257. They were on track for a 300-plus total and a collapse of 8 for 79 in the final 15 overs could have been terminal. In the end it didn’t matter and as the pitch slowed and the spinners closed in the goal was a hopeless one for South Africa.Atapattu, who left the field in the second innings with a back injury, returned to the top of the order after winning the toss and played a solid hand with 80 from 122 balls while Sangakkara was more fluent with his 62 from 77. They guided Sri Lanka to the strength of 1 for 175 before van der Wath (2 for 41) and Andrew Hall (3 for 50) combined to up-end the innings. Wickets continued to fall to mis-hits and it took a scrambling 30 from 24 balls by Dilshan, including two fours in the final over, to push Sri Lanka past 250.The innings also began in a flurry as Sanath Jayasuriya blazed into Dale Steyn’s nervous offerings and crashed him for 32 from three overs. Steyn was subbed for Johan Botha in the 18th over, but the danger of Jayasuriya had already disappeared after he played-on to Pollock. South Africa deserved to feel pleased, but after seven preliminary matches they still under-estimated the impact of Bandara.The first two finals venues at Adelaide and Sydney offer surfaces to suit Sri Lanka’s bowlers and Moody was confident of a strong showing. “There’s no question Australia are world leaders in one-day cricket, but we’re very excited,” he said. “We’ve beaten them once and we’re confident of giving them a shake.”

South Africa
Boeta Dippenaar lbw Vaas 9 (1 for 19)
Herschelle Gibbs c&b Vaas (2 for 19)
Mark Boucher b Fernando 24 (3 for 77)
Graeme Smith c Muralitharan b Bandara 67 (4 for 113)
Justin Kemp lbw Bandara 0 (5 for 114)
Ashwell Prince c&b Bandara 22 (6 for 137)
Shaun Pollock c Sangakkara b Bandara 15 (7 for 146)
Johan van der Wath b Muralitharan 0 (8 for 147)
Johan Botha c Kapugedera b Jayasuriya 17 (9 for 178)
Charl Langeveldt c Mubarak b Dilshan 1 (181)
Sri Lanka
Sanath Jayasuriya b Pollock 25 (1 for 52)
Kumar Sangakkara c Dippenaar b van der Wath 62 (2 for 175)
Marvan Atapattu c Hall b van der Wath 80 (3 for 190)
Mahela Jayawardene lbw Hall 11 (4 for 207)
Jehan Mubarak c Prince b Hall 14 (5 for 212)
Chamara Kapugedara b Botha 3 (6 for 220)
Chaminda Vaas c Botha b Langeveldt 5 (7 for 229)
Muttiah Muralitharan c Botha b Langeveldt 1 (8 for 241)
Tillakaratne Dilshan b Hall 30 (9 for 254)

ScorecardJason Bennett produced another superb spell of pace bowling as Barbados kept themselves in the hunt despite conceding a first-innings lead of 41 to Jamaica.Bennett, who finished the day with figures of 5 for 34, combined with Corey Collymore to reduce Jamaica to a dismal 26 for 7 in their second innings, before Darren Powell (47) and Nikita Miller launched a spirited recovery, adding 69 before stumps. Barbados’s first innings had been a limp affair, with Martin Nurse’s stoild 42 being the only contribution of note. Powell had shone with the ball as well, taking 4 for 47, but the Bennett-induced wobble later in the day left the match intriguingly poised heading into day three.ScorecardGuyana seized control of this match on another day affected by inclement weather, with only 59.4 overs of play possible. Having stretched their first innings to 176 from the overnight total of 103 for 6, Guyana had reduced Windward Islands to 58 for 4 before the weather intervened as Gros Islet. Vishal Nagamootoo made an unbeaten 32 as Guyana struggled against the pace of Kenroy Peters and the offspin of Shane Shillingford. But when Windwards began their reply, Trevor Garraway struck twice in a hurry to leave slim hopes of a first-innings lead resting in the hands of Junior Murray (36 not out), the 37-year-old veteran who played the last of his 33 Tests almost three years ago.No play

The ICC board of directors meeting in Dubai decided, as expected, to end the unloved trial of the Supersub with immediate effect. It also announced a new pitch-monitoring process, endorsed an anti-doping policy and received a report from Peter Chingoka on the state of play in Zimbabwe.Among other items were an agreement on the minimum number of matches required for a team to be ranked in the official ICC One-Day Championship, and an agreement to revert to full recognition of the administration of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA) subject to certain conditions.The briefest discussion surrounded the agreement not to continue with the Supersub experiment, introduced in haste last June and widely lambasted ever since. Indeed, it would not be right to describe it as a discussion so much as a rubber-stamping exercise.The board endorsed the adoption of an ICC anti-doping policy for all major ICC-run events. The proposed policy complies with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code and will be introduced in time for the Champions Trophy in India in October.The board also proposed the first formal pitch-monitoring process for international cricket. This process, which has been adopted with immediate effect, includes potential sanctions ranging from a formal warning to a fine, or even suspension of international status for venues that produce substandard pitches.The continuing problems in Zimbabwe were discussed, with a presentation by Chingoka, the chairman of the interim board. An ICC statement said that the board were told that an independent auditor had been appointed to conduct a forensic audit and that a new constitution would be in place by the middle of the year. Chingoka was told that Zimbabwe Cricket would be required to provide a report to the ICC board at its October 2006 and March 2007 meetings reviewing the on-field performances of its teams ahead of any decision regarding its resumption of Test cricket.With regard to the ICC One-Day Championship, the board decided that the minimum number of matches needed to be played by a side to qualify for a ranking should be eight matches. That meant that Kenya have now played sufficient matches in the qualifying period. The two matches it played in the ICC Champions Trophy 2004 have a 50% weighting, while their recent four matches against Zimbabwe and the opening two matches of its series against Bangladesh take it to the eight-match threshold. Kenya is ranked 11th on the table with a rating of 18 points. It needs to win both remaining matches of its four-match series against Bangladesh to climb to tenth and claim the last qualifying spot for the ICC Champions Trophy.Another board that had been a thorn in the ICC’s side, the USA Cricket Association, has again been recognised subject to certain conditions. The only one specified in the media release is that it must conduct independently-monitored elections before November 30, 2006. The USACA has been at odds with the ICC since a split last year challenged the existing board’s right to run the game.

Tropical Cyclone Favio has hit the eastern highlands town of Mutare, Zimbabwe and has made it virtually impossible to hold cricket matches. Cyclone Favio killed at least 10 people, injured 70 and left tens of thousands homeless in central and southern Mozambique in the past week.Manicaland provincial manager Samuel Mutsutsururu said: “The cyclone is wrecking havoc on our match schedule and on the pitches. Every time we take to the field it starts pouring, so for the time being our cricket league is on hold, as soon as the weather clears we hope to get back on track.”Matches have continued smoothly in Bulawayo. In the latest round of the Metropolitan League, Zimbabwean allrounder Gregory Strydom clubbed a massive 177 as Queens Sports Club 259 all out (36.4 overs) beat Bulawayo Athletic Club 240 (40 overs) by 19 runs on Saturday. Gavin Ewing top scored for BAC with a well-crafted 53 and Charles Coventry made 39.

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

Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne stayed in the shadows as Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken produced an exhilarating display of sheer pace and controlled swing that routed West Indies on the fourth day at the Gabba. Set 509 to win after Ricky Ponting had declared on the overnight total of 2 for 283, West Indies were bundled out for 129, losing their last seven wickets in the space of nine overs for just 30 runs. Lee finished with 5 for 30, his first five-wicket haul in four years, and Bracken had career-best figures of 4 for 48 as the Australians wrapped things up before the clouds burst.Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brian Lara all got starts, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unfortunate to be given out padding up, but not one individual played with the conviction that suggested a two-day salvage operation was even within the realms of possibility. Lara squirted a catch to gully, Sarwan surprised by a fearsome bouncer from Lee, and the rest were blown aside about as easily as straws in the wind. Even by West Indians standards – this was a 30th defeat in their last 37 overseas Tests – this was a terrible performance.Lee was clocked as fast as 153.7 kmph, and his ferocity was perfectly complemented by Bracken’s swing bowling in cloudy conditions. The only dark spot in a near-perfect picture for the Australians was the shoulder injury Shane Watson sustained while diving to stop an on-drive. That aside, all the wounds were sustained by a West Indian side outmanoeuvered and outthought from the moment Ricky Ponting dug Australia out of a first-innings hole.Despite losing Devon Smith, top-scorer in the first innings with 88, early on, West Indies’ pursuit of a 509-run chimera had been given impetus by Chris Gayle’s cameo. Glenn McGrath was off-driven with immense power for two sixes in an over that also included a fluffed caught-and-bowled chance and some pleasantries that Gayle laughed off.The breakthrough came from an unlikely source, Watson, who had only one other Test wicket to his name. Brought on as first change, he was ecstatic when he induced an outside edge that Warne at first slip took in a fashion resembling an overhead Australian rules mark.Lara couldn’t make anything of a reprieve granted when he had made just 5 – Katich dropped a chance high to his right at midwicket off Bracken – and his departure to the sort of catch that Australia dropped routinely in a woeful Ashes campaign said much about the restoration of Matthew Hayden’s confidence after three consecutive Test centuries.Marlon Samuels, who viewed the carnage from his vantage point at the non-striker’s end, struck two gorgeous boundaries off Bracken in a late late show of defiance, but it had all the lasting impact of a gob of spit in the rain. And unless West Indies perk up dramatically before Hobart, they will surely be swept away by this unrelenting Australian deluge.

West Indies 2nd inningsDevon Smith c Warne b Lee 3 (1 for 11)
Edged to first slipChris Gayle c Warne b Watson 33 (2 for 51)
Outside edge pouched high in Aussie-rules fashionBrian Lara c Hayden b Bracken 14 (3 for 85)
Flayed one low to the right of gullyShivnarine Chanderpaul lbw Bracken 7 (4 for 99)
Offered no shot to one that shaped back and struck him just above the pad. Would have gone over the stumpsRamnaresh Sarwan c Gilchrist b Lee 31 (5 for 99)
Tangled up by a brutish bouncer, gloved behindDenesh Ramdin c Gilchrist b Lee 6 (6 for 105)
Beaten by subtle away movement, edged behind Daren Powell lbw Bracken 0 (7 for 106)
Struck on the right toe by a swinging yorker, plumb in frontFidel Edwards b Bracken 0 (8 for 106)
Clueless about an inswinging yorker that rattled leg stumpCorey Collymore lbw Lee 4 (9 for 114)
Beaten for pace and rapped in front of middle stumpJermaine Lawson b Lee 1 (129 all out)
Fast and straight delivery clips off stump

Mark Shields, the chief investigator, says it may take another eight weeks to get the final results of Bob Woolmer’s toxicology tests. The reports are crucial to proving whether Woolmer was poisoned or drugged and the delay means a quick end to the investigation is unlikely.”It’s in everyone’s interest to know exactly when he died and how,” Shields said in the Sunday Times. “But frustrating as it may be, science goes at a certain pace.”Shields denied reports Woolmer was alive when he was found in his hotel room on March 18 by staff at the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica. “There were two doctors and a nurse,” he said. “Having spoken to them, they said there were no visible signs of life.”Gill Woolmer, Bob’s widow, had given permission for the publication of the book which will be published in September. “I want to keep Woolmer’s name going for the next 100 years and we shall ask one of his successors to update it in the years to come,” Tim Noakes, a Professor of Sports Science at Cape Town University, told .The proceeds will go to the Bob Woolmer Trust, on which Noakes, Barry Richards and Jonty Rhodes, the former South Africa batsmen, are trustees.