India 'A' in South Africa

India 'A' had no answer to the spin of Robin Peterson as they slumped to an innings and 109 run defeat in their match against the SA President's XI at the Chatsworth Oval on Sunday. It was the Indians first match in a six match tour that continues in Kimberley on Friday against South Africa 'A'.

The Indians, trailing by 199 runs on the first innings after Gerald Dros led his team to a formidable 411 for eight declared in reply to the India 'A' total of 212, never recovered from a bad start of 32 for three at lunch.

Worse was to follow hen their last four wickets tumbled on 90 with only Jacob Martin (25) and Rohan Gavaskar (13) reaching double figures after having both survived by way of missed catches in the slips.

Then Peterson and offspinner Rodney Ontong wrapped up the match as the last four wickets fell in 16 balls without an entry into the scorebook.

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HD Ackerman returns as captain of the South Africa 'A' team to play India 'A' in a four-day match starting 30 March in Kimberley.

Australia in South Africa

Second one-day international, Centurion Park,
Australia 226-8 (50 overs) beat South Africa 181 all out (46.2 overs) by 45 runs.

Australia took a 2-0 series lead after another dismal batting performance from South Africa cost the home side the match.

Although they again restricted the Australians to an eminently manageable total, South Africa ruined everything by misfiring completely at the start of their run chase.

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Jimmy Maher thanked his fellow batsmen for "keeping him cool under pressure" after collecting a man-of-the-match award in Australia's 45-run win over South Africa at Centurion.

"I had a bit of luck go my way, but hopefully things can only get better," said Maher, who had played two one-day internationals for his country more than four years ago.

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Despite two consecutive batting collapses that have seen South Africa fail to chase down modest Australian targets, skipper Shaun Pollock is confident that his side can still win the seven match series.

On Sunday South Africa were shot out for 181 in pursuit of Australia's 226 for eight at Centurion Park. Only Lance Klusener with 59 batted with any conviction as South Africa slumped to the 45-run loss.

"Can we win the next four of five games? Yes. We've done it before and there's no reason why we shouldn't do it again. I firmly believe that," said Pollock.

Pollock admitted that the batting performances of his top order was not of an international standard and, as a result, placing far too much responsibility on the lower order.

"There's no hiding from the fact that it was a very gettable target but when you're 45 for four, that's a lot of pressure on the batsmen still to come in.

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Speaking on 60 minutes on Channel 9, Steve Waugh said he would prefer to bring the curtain down on his international career when he thinks the time is right rather than when chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns and his colleagues do.

"I don't want to go out when we're losing or I get the tap on the shoulder to say enough is enough," Waugh said. "I'd like to have learned from the experience of the last couple of weeks and retire on my terms.

England in New Zealand

Second Test, Wellington, day five:
New Zealand (218 & 158-4) drew with England (280 & 293-4 dec).

Set 356 to win on the final day in Wellington, New Zealand were content to bat out a draw to go into next weekend's final Test 1-0 down in the series.

Andrew Flintoff's 44-ball 75 helped England add 109 in 17 overs of the morning before captain Nasser Hussain declared.

But the home side's batting was a complete contrast as they survived 84 overs, amassing 158 for four before a stalemate was agreed.

An unbroken fifth wicket stand between Nathan Astle (11) and Craig McMillan (17) steered the Kiwis home.
Scorecard | Match report

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Andy Caddick may have taken six wickets in New Zealand's first innings in Wellington to add to his similar haul in Christchurch, but the death of Ben Hollioake put the match into perspective.

"That minute's silence (before the start of play) rocked the boys a little bit," Caddick said, "but unfortunately cricket doesn't stop, the game continues and once we started concentrating on the cricket the game went forward."

Hollioake's funeral

A funeral service will be held on Wednesday for Australian-born English Test cricketer Ben Hollioake who died in a car crash in Perth on Saturday.

The announcement of the funeral arrangements for the 24-year-old came as his girlfriend Janaya Scholten, 22, remained critically ill following the early-morning crash.

Ms Scholten suffered severe head and chest injuries when Hollioake's Porsche hit a brick retaining wall after exiting Perth's Kwinana freeway about 12.20am (WST) on Saturday.

The couple were returning from a family celebration in the city when Hollioake lost control of the car on a tight bend at the exit to the upmarket riverside suburb of South Perth.

The car crashed though a cyclone fence, went about five metres over a footpath then ploughed into a brick wall behind a block of units, extensively damaging the car.

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