Pakistan in Australia

Australia 177-3 (32.5 overs) beat Pakistan 176-8 (50 overs) by seven wickets.
Melbourne Colonial Stadium (indoor)

Australia raced to an emphatic win in the first match of the three-match series under the roof at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat on a drop-in pitch.

Neither paceman Brett Lee nor the world's fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar played, and the match lacked the edge it may have otherwise had.

And it was left to seamer Andy Bichel, with 3-30, and Adam Gilchrist, 56 off 47 balls, to grab the plaudits for the the home side.

Inzamam ul-Haq became the fourth-leading run-scorer in one-day cricket but Pakistan produced a seemingly sub-standard batting performance.

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Despite hitting a half-century in Australia's seven-wicket defeat of Pakistan, Adam Gilchrist said he would rather have been watching football on television.

The wicketkeeper was disappointed with skipper Ricky Ponting's decision to bowl first having won the toss at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium.

"I thought it was a terrible decision to bowl because England was playing and that's who I'm after in the World Cup," Gilchrist joked.

And the opener showed how keen he was to finish the match off in smashing 56 off 47 deliveries to set Australia up for victory with 17 overs remaining.

"It was great to see Gilly and Matty put on another good opening partnership and it really did set up the game for us," said Ponting.

New Zealand in West Indies

Fourth one-day international, Trinidad:
New Zealand 212-5 (44.2 overs) bt West Indies 202 (33 overs) by nine runs on D/L Method.

New Zealand gave themselves a chance of squaring the one-day series against West Indies thanks to an all-round show from Scott Styris.

Styris scored an unbeaten 62 in a 122-run partnership with opener Nathan Astle as New Zealand scored 212 for five, and then took six wickets besides pulling off a brilliant run-out as the tourists recorded a nine-run victory.

That cut the Windies' lead in the series to 2-1.

New Zealand had collapsed to 90 for five before Styris and Astle joined forces to resurrect the innings and the series.

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Carl Hooper has demanded changes to the method of calculating run targets in the aftermath of the West Indies' nine-run defeat to New Zealand.

The Duckworth-Lewis method was called in to decide what the Windies target should be once rain interrupted the fourth one-dayer.

New Zealand scored 212 for five in 44.1 overs before rain stopped play. Using complex calculations, the umpires then decided the West Indies had to score the same total, but in just 33 overs.

"It definitely needs fine-tuning but for now it is here to stay. It has cost us two games this summer," said Windies captain Hooper.

Set more than six runs an over to win, the West Indies performed admirably, coming to within nine runs of the revised total, but they were unable to win.

"We are not the first team to be hard done by, but it definitely needs looking at," said Hooper.

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West Indies batsman Brian Lara says he needs another six more months to return to his best form following an elbow injury.

"I still don't get full extension (with the left arm)," he said. "I still need six more months to heal properly."

The left-hander, who made 59 not out as the West Indies beat New Zealand in a one-day international in St Lucia, fractured his elbow when colliding with a Sri Lanka fielder last December.

Lara added: "At the moment, I would say I'm at 80 per cent and improving."

After a mediocre Test series against India, Lara was encouraged by his improving form.

"My contribution has been missing for a while so it was nice to get some runs, get some confidence and hopefully it will carry through for the rest of the one-dayers and into the Test series to come," he said.

Sri Lanka in England

England were given a major boost when Mark Butcher was passed fit on the eve of the final Test against Sri Lanka.

Butcher, England's most consistent performer with the bat over the last 12 months, occupies the critical number three spot.

After a strenuous session on Tuesday, he also had to pass a further fitness Test on Wednesday before being deemed ready for combat.

With a tenuous 1-0 series lead, coach Duncan Fletcher and captain Nasser Hussain were leaving nothing to chance whatsoever.

Their caution partly stems from the fact that twice in a shade over 12 months England have squandered a 1-0 lead in the final Test of a series.

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Muttiah Muralitharan wants to finish his Test career with 600 wickets - a target Sri Lanka hope their off-spinner will move significantly nearer to by capturing a match-winning haul in the third Test against England.

Sri Lanka face the final game of the series starting at Old Trafford on Thursday needing victory to salvage a 1-1 draw and they know even a half-fit Muralitharan offers the best chance of achieving that objective.

What gives the touring team genuine cause for optimism is the fact that Murali will be playing at the Manchester ground where he bowled so successfully for Lancashire during his two seasons with the county in 1999 and 2001.

Muralitharan captured 35 wickets in his four county championship matches at Old Trafford and is eagerly anticipating his first Test there.

Miscellaneous

Newly-appointed cricket coach Eric Simons says it will be back to basics for the South African team. Simons has been appointed coach until 2005.

Announcing Simons's appointment, the chief executive of the United Cricket Board of South Africa, Gerald Majola, said Shaun Pollock would stay on as captain until after the 2003 World Cup. Corrie van Zyl would remain assistant coach.

Simons said South Africa had the players to launch a successful World Cup bid, but they had to believe in themselves.

His first task would be to talk to the captain and the players about their vision ahead of the World Cup tournament. "My cricket vision is that the basics must be done right. You have to build solid foundations. If you do things right, the victories almost come by themselves," he said.

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