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In a frank post-mortem after the 70-run loss, Pakistan’s batting coach Grant Flower has said the visitors “didn’t use [their] brains” towards the end of New Zealand’s innings, in which 71 runs were plundered off the final five overs. Those runs had largely come from New Zealand’s No. 9 and 10 batsmen, Mithcell McClenaghan and Matt Henry, who put on 73 together, before No. 11 Trent Boult edged the final ball of the innings through the vacant slip region.Pakistan had used the short ball well, to have New Zealand 99 for 6 by the 23rd over, but Flower said the death overs required a different approach.”We didn’t use our brains at all towards the end,” he said. “Bowling yorkers is skill execution, and we didn’t do that. They played well at the end. The short ball worked to a certain extent, but we overdid it, and we didn’t learn and we just didn’t bowl enough yorkers.”If we’re going to be honest we should have got them out for 200-odd, seeing the start we had.”

Santner’s positivity helped me drop anchor – Nicholls

Henry Nicholls has said Mitchell Santner’s positivity at the crease helped him bind the innings together with his 111-ball 82. The pair lifted New Zealand from 99 for 6 with a 79-run stand.
“It was great the way Mitchell came out and was positive, which allowed me to play more of an anchor role and keep wickets in hand from that position. Credit needs to go to Pakistan the way they got those early wickets, but we had to play positive. The wind and one short boundary made us realise 250 probably wasn’t going to be enough.”
Henry’s dismissal in the 45th over brought together ninth-wicket pair Mitchell McClenaghan and Matt Henry, who provided an explosive finish to the innings, hitting seven fours and six sixes between them.
“I was dirty on myself getting out when I did – didn’t want to miss out on some overs,” Nicholls said. “But it was probably a blessing the way they had that partnership. Matt got hit a couple of times but way he came back was massive to us, in being able to get a score on the board.”

Pakistan’s seamers were guilty of bowling lengths that allowed New Zealand’s tailenders get under the ball. Matt Henry and Mitchell McClenaghan struck six sixes and seven fours in what was a record 73-run ninth-wicket stand for New Zealand against Pakistan.”You can get as many messages as you want out to the players, but it’s got to come from within,” Flower said. “It’s also executing your skills. If there’s a yorker to be bowled, you have to bowl it as a yorker, not a half volley.”Flower didn’t confine his stern words to the bowling attack’s performance. Pakistan’s batsmen had made a slow start to the chase of 281, making just 33 runs from the first 10 overs, at the end of which the required rate had climbed to 6.2. Flower felt they could have been more aggressive.”Even though we should have got them out for a lot less, I still backed the guys to get the target. We lacked a bit of intent at the start and then we had quite a few soft wickets. We didn’t take advantage of a good batting track in the afternoon.”New Zealand have now won 9 out of 11 completed limited-overs matches in their home summer. Pakistan, meanwhile, have lost three consecutive matches on tour, having begun with a comfortable T20 victory in Auckland.”It doesn’t seem like we’re learning from our mistakes – that’s the disappointing part,” Flower said. “It’s one thing losing, but you’re paid to do a job and if you keep making the same mistakes, there are going to be questions asked.”Flower praised New Zealand’s “resilience” for defending 280 despite losing McClenaghan’s overs through injury, and described Henry Nicholls’ 82 as “mature”.

Holly Colvin could miss England’s tour of Australia and New Zealand for the sake of her education. Colvin, the slow left-armer, said she would be prepared to miss the trip Down Under in February and March if her chances of getting into Cambridge University would be compromised.”If it came to the crunch I would put my education first and stay at home,” Colvin told newspaper. “Women’s cricket is not yet professional and I have to think of my future career.”The tour runs at the same time as some of her final-year A Level studies, including a one-off Test for the Ashes. She said there could be room for compromise in that she may consider playing the Australian part of the trip.”It would be heart-breaking to miss the tour,” said Colvin, who earned her England call-up on the eve of the last Ashes, in 2005. “I love my cricket and would relish the opportunity to help defend the Ashes. I might try and play in the Australian leg, even though that could mean missing a couple of weeks of school.”

Meher Baba, the former Andhra and South Zone allrounder, died in Hyderabad on Wednesday after a prolonged battle against cancer. He was 58.Baba, a left-hand batsman and left-arm spinner, had a 16-year first-class career spanning from 1972 to 1987, mainly with Andhra. He made 2649 runs, with a highest of 134 not out against Goa, and took 173 wickets, including five five-wicket hauls.”It is a personal loss to me,” Shivlal Yadav, the former India offspinner and secretary of Hyderabad Cricket Association, told the . “He was such a lovely person – always willing to be there for anything related to the sport. It is a pity that someone who was one of the towering personalities in South Zone cricket had to meet this fate, battling the dreaded cancer.”Baba captained Andhra in two Ranji Trophy matches in the 1982-83 season and represented South Zone in the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy on eleven occasions. He was also part of the South Zone team which took on the visiting England side in 1981-82.

The Pakistan board has reiterated its faith in Shoaib Malik as captain and insist he will remain in the post as originally planned till December 2008.Malik’s position has come under intense scrutiny following Test and ODI series defeat to India, a second successive reverse in both formats following the loss to South Africa at home. His cause wasn’t helped by an ankle injury which kept him out of the final two Tests against India, both of which were drawn. A number of ex-players, including Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, have questioned the wisdom of Malik as Test captain when he has yet to establish himself fully as a Test batsman.”We will stick to our decision to name him as captain for the year (2008),” said Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman. “We will give him our full backing and we feel he can mature into a good captain in time. He is young and he will learn from his mistakes.”The backing for Malik came in the wake of a board meeting constituted specifically to review Pakistan’s poor performances in India. The board also decided to prevent players from writing articles during series and concentrate solely on the cricket while on tour. There was criticism of the surge in Pakistani players’ extra-curricular media activities: many were writing for newspapers and a number had separate TV commitments as well. One column by Younis Khan, in particular, seems to have caught the board’s attention. As stand-in captain for the second Test in Kolkata, Younis distanced himself from the team selection, hinting that he might not have been happy with the composition, in a column for .The role of Geoff Lawson, Pakistan’s coach, in his side’s performances will also come under the scanner. The board has asked Lawson to explain Pakistan’s generally unimpressive and insipid performances, which led to their first series loss in India for 27 years.Ashraf told that Lawson has been asked for a detailed report on how he plans to lift the team for future assignments including the home series against Australia in March.”We believe that our team didn’t show much mental toughness and professionalism during the tour of India,” Ashraf said. “It is the responsibility of the coach to lift his team and we are certainly going to talk to Lawson about it,” he added.Ashraf was quick, however, to add that the board still has complete faith in Lawson. “He will remain our coach and we are hopeful Pakistan will become a force under his wings.”Though the board has yet to read fully the tour reports handed in by the team management, immediate changes are not expected. The participation of national players in domestic tournaments was again stressed, and three camps, for bowlers, wicketkeepers and openers, have also been arranged for after the domestic Twenty20 tournament.

South Africa’s four-day domestic title, the SuperSport Series, is back in Bloemfontein after the Eagles drew their final match against the Cape Cobras, to top the table with a whopping 117.52 points.Dean Elgar, the Eagles’ 20-year-old former Under-19 captain, finished unbeaten on 54, following his fine 122 in the first innings as the match drifted to a draw. Rory Kleinveldt picked up five wickets, removing the top-order, as the Eagles struggled in reply to the Cobras’ first innings of 395. But Elgar, showing a solid technique, along with Ryan McLaren – who finished on 121 not out – defied the Cobras bowlers as the Eagles were bowled out for 353. Elgar and McLaren’s efforts limited the Cobras’ first innings lead to a manageable 42 before Henry Davids, Cobras’ leading run-scorer, scored his third century of the season to extend their lead in the second innings. However, the Cobras only declared after lunch on the final day as hopes of an exciting conclusion cooled. Stiaan Van Zyl added an unbeaten half-century to his epic first-innings score of 152.In Pietermaritzburg, the Dolphins were heading for a comprehensive defeat against the Warriors before brothers Ahmed (150*) and Hashim Amla (99) rescued them with a 219-run stand for the third wicket in their follow-on innings. The Dolphins, who trailed by 173 runs in the first innings, finished on 372 for 4 but a flat Oval pitch and sweltering heat made it immensely hard work for all the fast bowlers.Robin Peterson was the one bowler to prosper, finishing with eight wickets in the match. Arno Jacobs scored 218 not out in the Warriors’ first innings of 500 for 4. HD Ackerman added 112 in the pair’s 246-run fourth-wicket partnership as the Dolphins bowlers were made to toil. The Dolphins made a steely reply as openers Imraan Khan (69) and Doug Watson (78) put on 127, but the rest of their innings crumpled like tin as Peterson picked up 5 for 124. Dave Miller, the 18-year-old making his first-class debut, did provide a late fightback with a highly promising 63 not out.A wet outfield marred the match between the Lions and Titans in Potchefstroom, delaying play until the afternoon. The Titans built a solid first innings of 365 around half-centuries by Heino Kuhn, Rushdi Jappie, Farhaan Behardien and Brendon Reddy. The Lions were grateful for a top-class 90 from Stephen Cook, son of the former Somerset and South Africa star Jimmy, as they replied with 266.The Titans, leading by 99, rattled off 322 for 5 in their second innings thanks to an inspired an unbeaten 176 by Kuhn which meant they only occupied the crease for 79 overs, leaving them 91 overs in which to bowl out the Lions.But Cook, who has struggled with his form in the past couple of years, lifted the Lions to 283 for 3 with a fluent 108 not out. Neither the Titans nor the Lions, first and second respectively last season, had the wings to get off the bottom of the table, however.Player of the Week – Stiaan van Zyl
In amassing 210 runs without being dismissed by the Eagles, Cape Cobras batsman Stiaan van Zyl finished in the top five of the SuperSport batting averages for the season. The Cobras finished last and winless in last season’s competition and have been combing the winelands and peninsulas for answers to their batting woes.van Zyl, coming into the side with Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy on international duty, immediately impressed with his determination to battle it out at the crease. And, for a 20-year-old, he showed unusual daring in being willing to leave the ball. Cobras coach Shukri Conrad should take plenty of credit for the left-hander’s progress.”From the first time I saw him bat for Boland, I really liked him,” Conrad said. “Being able to let the fifty-fifty [deliveries] go was his biggest asset and he can bat for long periods. Some guys you feel strongly about and you want to back them even if they go through a barren patch. But Stiaan has fully justified the selectors’ choice and he is a quiet, unassuming lad.”

South Africa captain Graeme Smith hailed his side’s Test and one-day series victory over Pakistan as an “unbelievable achievement”. South Africa won the deciding one-dayer by 14 runs after Pakistan lost their last six wickets for 20 runs. They took the Test series 1-0 and the one-dayers 3-2.”I don’t think any South African team has won two trophies on the subcontinent,” Smith said. “Of course we can still improve but two series victories is fantastic.” The series result leaves South Africa in second place in the ODI rankings, five points behind Australia.When asked about Pakistan’s sensational collapse, Smith said, “We took huge catches and the ball swung in the end and that helped us to take those last wickets.”Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik was at a loss to explain his side’s defeat from a commanding position. “We were unable to maintain that form to the end,” Malik said. “It’s hard to explain. A win would have been good for the Indian tour.” Pakistan kick off their tour of India with a warm-up one-dayer in Delhi on Friday.Cricket South Africa (CSA) chief executive officer Gerald Majola also lauded the series wins. “To Graeme Smith, the team and management: CSA extends its heartiest congratulations on one of the great victories in SA cricket history,” a statement from Majola said.”To have won in this fashion against all the odds to win both the test and ODI series in Pakistan is an unprecedented achievement,” it said. “The commitment and will-to-win from everybody was extraordinary and the nation here salutes you all. You have carried on where the South Africa Rugby team finished off in Paris (winning the World Cup).”South Africa’s next challenge is a home series against New Zealand with the first Test starting on November 8.

Tim Nielsen, Australia’s coach, believes the injured opener Matthew Hayden has a reasonable chance of making the third Test against India. Hayden is battling a hamstring injury sustained during the contentious second Test in Sydney and is in a race against time to prove his fitness, with the third Test set to start on Wednesday.While Nielsen conceded that there were still major doubts over Hayden, he remained hopeful that his recuperative powers would enable him to be available. “Speaking to him this morning, he is feeling like he is just ahead of 50-50,” Nielsen said.”He really hasn’t done much over the last couple of days. He’s coming to the stage where there are four or five days to go, he needs to get up and start batting and catching over the next couple of days and if that doesn’t hold him back too much, he’ll be fine.”Hayden has been resilient throughout his career and has not missed a Test since Australia’s 2000 tour of New Zealand, playing 86 matches in succession. The Australian physio, Alex Kountouris, was to meet with Hayden on Saturday evening and Hayden was likely to face a fitness test at training on Sunday.Nielsen said a decision on whether a replacement would be needed would be made by Monday. “Until he runs around and plays some cricket for us and trains, it is hard to make a decision,” Nielsen said. “Over the next 24 to 48 hours, he’ll get a chance to have a training run and see how he pulls up – that will give us the real indication where he is at.”Nielsen wouldn’t be drawn on whether the uncapped Western Australian opener Chris Rogers, who made 60 and 17 against India in the tour match that finished on Saturday, or the experienced middle-order batsman Simon Katich was the most likely replacement. However, he did reveal the Australians were strongly considering breaking with recent tradition by using a four-pronged attack, with Shaun Tait in line to replace Brad Hogg, who also has to negotiate a code of conduct hearing on Monday before being available for the Test.The WACA pitch is expected to offer plenty of pace and bounce and Nielsen said Tait was right in contention to play his third Test, as the Australians chase an unprecedented 17th straight Test win. “He’s very much at the forefront,” he said of Tait. “We haven’t seen the wicket yet, we’ll get a good chance to look at the conditions tomorrow and make sure we pick the best side we can for the game coming up and the conditions the WACA presents for us.”My gut feeling is it is 50-50, it will really depend on the conditions. If we turn up and it looks green and fast and bouncy, Taity will probably have his nose in front. If it looks like a good batting wicket that may flatten out a bit over the five days – as we saw a couple of years ago against South Africa – we’ll need to make sure we have got a spinner in the line-up.”

A party of young cricketers from Somerset are busy preparing themselves for the trip of a lifetime.Somerset Under 13’s are gearing themselves up for their tour to South Africa in the spring of 2003 that will culminate with them watching the final match of the Cricket World Cup.Whilst they are out in South Africa the Somerset team will be playing in a specially organised tournament that is being organised in Johannesburg that will involve other Under 13 teams from England including Cornwall and Worcestershire.However in addition to honing their cricketing skills to the highest possible level before they leave in just a few months time, each of the fourteen youngsters is having to raise £900 towards the cost of the trip.Last season the Somerset team enjoyed considerable success, winning six of their twelve matches and only being beaten on two occasions, so the team will be going out to South Africa with the intention of winning their tournament as well as enjoying the World Cup final.Team manager John Davey, who will be accompanied on the trip by Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson and coach Ben Wellington told me: "This is a wonderful opportunity for the young players, and it will be a trip that they will never forget. There are some very talented cricketers in the team and they are all looking forward to it immensely."Whilst the young players are busy raising their own funds to pay for the tour John Davey is still anxiously looking for a sponsor for the Somerset Under 13’s team shirts.If anybody feels able to help Mr Davey with shirt sponsorship he can be contacted at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground in Taunton, telephone 01823 352266

For the second week in a row Army came from behind to snatch victory after conceding a first-innings lead and maintained their position atop the Premier Tier B standings.With the Tier A clubs enjoying a free weekend, the focus was on Tier B and whether Panadura, the nearest challenger to Army’s position, would be able to close the gap. By the end of the second day it looked likely that they would do so with Army struggling against Air Force. But Army were able to come back strongly and overcome a first-innings deficit and win, Panadura were denied victory by Police, who managed a draw at the Police Park Ground in Colombo.Panadura were in a strong position, having reduced Police to 104 for 9 in reply to their first-innings total of 272. A follow-on looked inevitable for Police but they managed to avoid it with a last-wicket stand of 36 which meant that Panadura had to bat again. In the process, they lost precious time while setting Police a target of 335 to chase in the fourth innings. When play ended on the final day, Police were 215 for 7.Army’s match-winner was once again right-arm spinner Ajantha Mendis, who helped dismiss Air Force out for 92 in the second innings, leaving Army only 146 to chase. The victory was Army’s sixth of the season and they maintained their unbeaten streak.Third-placed Saracens also lost ground when they conceded a narrow first-innings lead of 13 runs to Singha in a drawn match Nondescripts Cricket Club.Sebastianites were the only other club apart from Army to record a win Burgher Recreation Club Ground, beating Burgher by 170 runs, their first victory of the season in six matches.Player of the Week: Ajantha Mendis
Ajantha Mendis isn’t playing in one of Colombo’s most influential club sides and his team isn’t competing in the elite Tier A but the less glamorous Tier B of the Premier League. However, Mendis’ spin bowling is one of the main reasons why Army are on top of Tier B and could be promoted to Tier A next season if they keep up their current form and emerge champions.Although classified as a right-arm, slow-medium bowler, Mendis is a spinner who bowls a mixture of googlies, offbreaks, top-spinners, flippers and legbreaks. Batsmen have been confounded by the variety of deliveries he has up his sleeve and are at a loss to figure out what his stock delivery is.”I had only two variations when I started to play for the Army but within a period of one year I have managed to increase it to four. Now I can bowl in six different ways,” said Mendis, who bowls with an unorthodox action.Mendis is the season’s top wicket-taker with 46 wickets at an average of 10.56 and strike-rate of 31 from six matches with five five-fors and one ten-wicket haul.Sri Lanka’s spin-bowling coach Ruwan Kalpage predicted a bright future for him and said that Mendis should be nurtured carefully because he was going to be Sri Lanka’s next Muttiah Muralitharan”The most impressive aspect of Mendis’ bowling is that he maintains a consistent line and length while still bowling five different deliveries in an over. To be a good bowler at international level you need to have a lot of variations and Mendis has them,” said Kalpage, a former Sri Lanka off-spinner.”Mendis came under the watchful eyes of Mahela Jayawardene, when he played in the provincial one-day tournament, and the captain was quite impressed with his bowling,” he said. Mendis turns 23 on March 11. He has a whole new world waiting for him, if he can be guided on the right path.

Ian Bishop turned up in shorts and a rugby T-shirt and rolled his arm over at the Pakistan nets at the Eden Gardens. The rate at which Pakistan’s players are dropping, through injury, illness or both, they might just find it hard to put out a strong eleven when the second Test begins in Kolkata on Friday.Late on Wednesday evening, all that was known was that Shoaib Malik had a Grade 1 problem with his right ankle. “This type of injury takes a bit of time to heal,” Talat Ali, Pakistan’s manager, said towards the end of Pakistan’s practice session. If this left Malik, who still had his left ankle in strapping, a doubtful starter, the serious concern was over the other Shoaib.Shoaib Akhtar was confined to his room at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospital and there was no chance of his coming to the ground. However, the Pakistan team management was guardedly optimistic that his condition – a chest infection and the flu – would improve significantly by Thursday.”We are hopeful he will be well enough to make it to practice tomorrow,” said Ali. “The doctors will take another look at him later today [Wednesday] and he may be discharged.”Umar Gul, who did not make the eleven in the first Test, which India won by six wickets, bowled at full steam in the nets and has recovered fully from a back niggle; he should be able to step in should Shoaib not be fit in time. The Pakistan management, not taking any chances, gave Mohammad Sami the day off.Misbah-ul-Haq was suffering through flu off-and-on through the Delhi Test, and did not take the field, but his condition has improved significantly and he was still able to bat through the illness.The Indian team, in contrast, had no real fitness worries. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was struggling with an ankle injury, went through a full practice session, monitored closely by John Gloster, the physiotherapist, and Greg King, the trainer. Dhoni, who was initially involved in hitting slip catches, later took catches fired at him from short range by Robin Singh, the fielding coach, and King, who stood a few metres apart and hit balls alternatively to Dhoni, making him stretch from one side to the other in the course of taking his catches. Later Dhoni repeated the exercise while half lying on the field, ensuring that he had could not use his feet and had to lunge to his left and right.Murali Kartik suffered a minor yet painful blow when he collided with Venkatesh Prasad, India’s bowling coach, during one of the warm-up games that the team plays. This left him with a rather sore and cut lower lip, but was otherwise fine.