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Close India 329 for 4 (Sehwag 195) v Australia
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Virender Sehwag on the way to a scintillating century © Getty Images

A scintillating 195 from Virender Sehwag propelled India to a position of strength on a riveting first day’s play at the MCG. India posted 329 for 4, though once again without any contribution from Sachin Tendulkar, whose horror run with the bat continued. Sehwag dominated the first two sessions and much of the third, putting on 141 for the first wicket with Akash Chopra and 137 for the second with Rahul Dravid, but Australia fought back strongly in the last session, taking three wickets for 33 to check India’s progress.Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman weathered a hostile spell from Brett Lee at the end of the day’s play with the second new ball, and Australia could have actually had a fifth wicket when Ganguly spooned a catch back at Lee, only for the bowler to put it down. India would be satisfied with their position at stumps, and delighted with Sehwag’s majestic effort, a contribution that went beyond anybody’s expectations.Sehwag’s innings was one utterly characteristic of him, but on a scale much larger than anything seen from him in international cricket thus far. It included, on the credit side, 25 fours and five bludgeoned sixes, and on the debit side, two hits on the helmet, a reprieve off a run-out chance in the fifth over of the day, and further escapes just before lunch when the third umpire gave him not out off a close line decision, and just after the break when Simon Katich at point put down a chance off Nathan Bracken.Sehwag made the best of his good fortune, and batted with greater patience and discipline than he had previously in the series. His batting early in the morning was watchful, and marked by a number of excellent leaves against Bracken, his tormentor of the last few months. He played the quick bowlers almost exclusively off the back foot, cutting past point or over the heads of the slips, and driving down the ground when the ball was pitched up to him. The pick of his shots was a soaring six off Stuart MacGill’s second ball of the day, played inside-out over extra cover with a free and easy swing of the bat.His fifty came right on the stroke of lunch, with a flashing cut off Lee, and by the time he brought up his hundred, powering Brad Williams through midwicket, he had hit 16 fours and a six. After getting to the landmark, he upped the tempo without doing anything excessive – by his standards – hitting another six off MacGill and clubbing Steve Waugh into the stands in the last over before tea.The Indian batsmen followed the basic rule of giving the first hour of the day to the bowlers and then imposing themselves on the opposition. They made less than 30 runs in a testing first hour after Ganguly had won the toss and elected to bat, but they were 89 for no loss by lunch, and added another 130 runs in the post-lunch session, as Sehwag ran amok against some increasingly ragged bowling. Even though they lost three wickets in the last session, they added another 110 to the score. Sehwag made more than half the runs scored in each of these sessions.The only wicket to fall in the first two sessions was that of Chopra, popping a catch off bat and pad to Katich off MacGill when just three short of a well-deserved fifty. A sentry at the gates of a city under siege could not have been more watchful than Chopra, who took the sting out of the Australian attack with his three-hour long vigil, mixing patient defence with nudges and deflections.The Australians wasted a number of chances and half-chances through the day, most notably in the fifth over of the morning with Sehwag on just 4, when Lee missed the easiest of chances to run him out at the striker’s end, with both batsmen stranded on the other half of the pitch.If Australia were still in the game at the end of the day, it was partly due to luck, but also to a crucial breakthrough made by Waugh, playing his penultimate Test on the ground where he made his debut against India in the Boxing Day Test in 1985.Waugh gave himself an extended spell after tea, but India progressed to 278 for 1, with Sehwag the cynosure of all attention as he rattled along merrily and Dravid, coming off his two splendid knocks at Adelaide, having worked his way unfussily to 49. Then, against the run of play, Dravid was suckered by Waugh into aiming a shot at a ball well outside leg stump, and chipped a catch to a fielder precisely positioned for that stroke just in front of square leg (278 for 2). Since Waugh had spent a good part of his spell bowling short balls at the two batsmen with a fielder on the square-leg boundary, Dravid possibly failed to note, and adjust his play for, the fielder coming up.Waugh wasted no time in taking himself off and bringing on Lee to attack Tendulkar. Lee’s first ball to Tendulkar was a loosener down the leg side. Trying instinctively to work it to fine leg, Tendulkar appeared to get the faintest of touches with the bat as the ball brushed his pad, and was caught down the leg side by a diving Gilchrist (286 for 3). The only Tendulkar-like stroke seen during hisbrief stay at the crease came from Sehwag, who whipped a Williams delivery to the square-leg boundary with the distinctive flourish common to him and Tendulkar.Sehwag’s response to the loss of two quick wickets was to swing the first ball of a new spell from MacGill over midwicket for six. Waugh was now prompted into bringing on the left-arm spin of Katich, bowling with several fielders on the boundary. Sehwag, on 189, lashed a full toss beyond the boundary for his fifth six, and moved to within one stroke of his double-hundred. The next ball was another full toss, and in trying to repeat the stroke, Sehwag holed out toBracken at the long-on boundary (311 for 4). It was an utterly captivating innings, the highest score ever by an Indian batsman at the MCG.Wisden Asia Cricket

MarcusTrescothick Photo CricInfo

England are struggling to avoid a serious batting crisis going into the first Test of their three-match National Bank series with New Zealand.Two collapses suffered against State Championship minnows Otago, their late arrivals from England all struggling for form and time in the middle, their leading batsman on the last day of their game against Otago, Marcus Trescothick, complaining of concentration problems and the prospect of no respite against a stronger Canterbury team in their next game starting on Thursday at Hagley Oval.The only point in England’s favour going into the Test has to be that New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond is still on the injured list.Trescothick admitted after today’s drawn game with Otago that he was tired after having played all of England’s one-dayers against India and New Zealand and in most of the other games on the Test section of the Indian tour.He was hopeful that he might be spared duty when Nasser Hussain returns to lead the side against Canterbury.”I find I’m not mentally switched on when I’m going out to bat.”I found that in the last two or three one-day games,” he said.It was a problem that needed to be assessed as soon as it happened to find out what was going wrong and try hard to put it right.”I’ve found it very tough to concentrate. I’ve been going out and working really hard in the nets, almost twice as hard as I normally do, trying to get it right but the mental side of it has been the problem and being able to concentrate properly,” he said.Trescothick said he had a similar problem last summer when scoring five centuries in six innings just before the first Test against Australia. He took a week off before the second Test and scored a century in the second innings so on that occasion the break had worked.It was a fact with the amount of cricket being played that this sort of thing happened.”If anything I need a bit more of a break than the constant cricket,” he said.However, his innings of 68 today in England’s second innings had been of some comfort to him as he found his batting rhythm returning and he was pleased with his shot selection.His newly-arrived team-mates from England did struggle to make an impact however and it would be tough for them to be ready in time for the Test.”Two games to warm up is all right for those who were here for the one-day games, the rest of the guys, I don’t know. Having come from England where there was no outdoor practice, it will be tough for them,” he said.While not dominating Otago, England had managed to “cover” them, he said and there had been some good opportunities for the bowlers to have a good, long bowl.”We should have batted a lot better than we did, we still came out of it OK,” he said.Leading bowler Andy Caddick did pick up seven wickets during the game and he had a good work out.”He’s still got a little bit of work to do – his rhythms were coming back the more and more he bowled. He came back right at the end bowling five overs, sometimes I’ve seen him and that’s the best time he bowls, when he is quite tired. Sort of running him into the ground almost, as he tends to get a bit more rhythm,” Trescothick said.

After winning the toss in the First Test and deciding to bat, we needed to bat well as it was a very good wicket, and a poor start would put us on the back foot straight away. In fact, we put up a very feeble batting display and 173 on a good pitch put us right behind the 8 ball. The bowlers responded well and at one stage it looked as though they might only get 50 or so ahead of us but Harbhajan Singh with bat in hand this time made a very important 66 to give India a lead of 145.We batted a little better second time around – Andrew Flower aided by brother Grant to the fore again. India needed 184 at the conclusion of our second innings, but injuries to Heath Streak (knee problem) and Henry Olanga (hamstring ) put paid to any realistic chance of us winning the game. In the end a comprehensive eight-wicket win for India was just reward.However, as the saying goes, it’s no use crying over spilt milk; we cannot dwell on the poor performance of our batsmen in the First Test, but make sure we get it right for the second one which starts on Friday. As happens very often when an innings goes wrong, there is over-analysis of technique and opposition. In this case there was none of that as we realised that we were dismissed by innocuous deliveries playing very poor shots, commonly referred to as soft dismissals.The Indians must feel very confident at this stage. They played some good cricket in patches and one thing I have noticed is that their fielding and intensity in the field has improved dramatically.It is common knowledge worldwide that when the Indians get on a roll it is very hard to stop them. It is getting to that stage now and we have to do something to combat this – watch this space.On a serious note, though this is a very important Test Match for us and probably more important for the Indians to collect their first away series win in something like 15 years. They are not going to get it without a fight and we are ready for battle!

Liverpool pair James Milner and Kostas Tsimikas have been out of the Reds’ crucial Premier League clash with Arsenal because of illness.

The Lowdown: Reds face huge game v Arsenal

Jurgen Klopp’s men face one of their biggest matches of the season on Wednesday night, making the trip to face a Gunners side who have taken control of the battle to finish fourth.

Manchester City’s 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace on Monday means that Liverpool can get to within one point of their title rivals with a win at the Emirates Stadium, although it will be no easy task.

Mohamed Salah looks set to be available for the game despite suffering a knock away to Brighton last weekend but two other players are missing for the trip to north London.

The Latest: Milner and Tsimikas ruled out

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, journalist Carl Markham confirmed that Milner and Tsimikas have been ruled out of tonight’s clash in north London.

He tweeted: “Klopp says Konate is back fit. Milner and Tsimikas are out with illness.”

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The Verdict: Milner’s experience will be a miss

While neither Milner nor Tsimikas are regular figures in this magnificent Liverpool team, they have been important squad members this season, starting seven league matches apiece.

In terms of who will be the biggest miss, the English veteran’s vast experience could have been so important in a match of such magnitude, coming on in the second half to help manage the game, especially if the Reds are winning at that point.

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The hope is that Liverpool still have enough midfield depth to alleviate that issue, both in terms of quality and nous, while Andy Robertson is clearly first-choice over Tsimikas at left-back, so the Greek might not be a devastating miss for one game.

In other news, Liverpool have been linked with a hugely exciting move for one midfielder. Read more here.

I don’t want to wait in vain: Chris Gayle is hoping his hamstring injury heals in time © Getty Images

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, is optimistic that his hamstring injury will heal in time ahead of the first Test against South Africa starting December 26.”It’s improved a lot the last couple of days,” Gayle said. “The physio has been doing a terrific job and hopefully it improve over the next couple of days. I’ve been feeling pretty good, batting in the nets, but there’s still uncertainty. We’ll assess it finally on match day. It’s coming on pretty good.”Gayle, who was named captain in Ramnaresh Sarwan’s absence, will be replaced by Dwayne Bravo if he misses out. Bravo, who, like Gayle, has never captained West Indies in a Test match, has an unbeaten record in ODIs – leading them to victory in his first three ODIs in charge against Zimbabwe.West Indies’ main area of concern is their batting, after they lost a warm-up game against South Africa A in East London inside three days. “We have to put that behind us and try and get into the right frame of mind ahead of a very important game,” Gayle said.”We know where went wrong and we know there’s a lot of work to do. We know what we’re capable of. We just have to play basic cricket and get the job done, and if we get a start, we have to capitalise on it. You can’t allow the South Africans in, because once they get an opportunity then definitely we’re going to be up against it.”John Dyson, the West Indies coach, also remained positive. “I’ve been very impressed with the professionalism and enthusiasm the players have shown in the nets,” he said. “If we can take that forward to the middle we’ll be very competitive.”Meanwhile, Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, said that he had fully recovered from a virus that ruled him out of the recent ODI series against New Zealand. “I started training about a week ago and I am feeling energised again.”South Africa go into the match at St George’s Park as strong favourites on the back of consistent performances in their recent matches. They have won three out of their four Tests this season – one against Pakistan and a brace against New Zealand, and have the likes of Dale Steyn, the right-arm fast bowler who took 20 wickets in the series against New Zealand, as well as Jacques Kallis, one of only two batsmen to score 1000 runs this calendar year, in their ranks.

A report in Jamaica’s Gleaner newspaper has suggested that visitors to the island for the World Cup face having to pay massively inflated prices for hotel rooms, with many being almost double the standard rate.A survey by the newspaper’s business section revealed variations in price of between 63 and 133% above the normal rate, something that hoteliers put down to supply and demand at an already busy time of the year.Horace Peterkin, the president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, explained that the higher costs were justified by additional expenditure needed to cope with the extra tourists expected on the island.He added said that during the initial planning for World Cup, hotels were told the matches would occur in April and May, the to the tourism sector’s summer season and the point at which its rates are generally lowest.The Jamaica Pegasus, which will be the base of match officials and other cricket personnel, has rates of US$300 per room/night, compared to the US$167 it currently charges.”The bookings were made way in advance. There are going to be four teams officials and the press,” general manager Eldon Bremmer told the Gleaner. “We are fully booked and because of who are staying here it will work out cheaper. We have not had a change in rate since last year.”

Zimbabwe’s players are preparing to go to court in a bid to extract their unpaid salaries and match fees from their cricket board, having set a deadline of January 31for the dispute to be resolved.The players, who last week ended their strike action in the hope that a softening of their stance would ease the way for a resumption of negotiations, are owed about US$200,000 in total, including vehicle and fuel allowances, and most have not been paid since last August.Now they have enlisted the services of a leading lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, and intend to take the case to the Harare High Court and pursue Zimbabwe Cricket for an index-linked sum of more than US$700,000.”I have been engaged by the players to act for them in their claims,” said Mtetwe,”but I am naturally waiting to see what happens in the next six days.”Even if the board was willing to resolve the situation, which seems unlikely, it appears that they have no funds available to do so. One of the major stumbling blocks is the exchange rate. The money owed was calculated at a rate of Zim$25,000 to the dollar, but that rate has since spiralled to Zim$85,000.Zimbabwe Cricket’s original contract offer made no allowance for index linking, but in a country with runaway inflation, that was never likely to be acceptable.The renewed militancy will be a problem for ZC as it is considering ICC-driven proposals to play in a tri-series in Bangladesh which would feature Kenya as the third side. On Tuesday, Cricket Kenya also announced that it was in talks to host three ODIs against Zimbabwe, possibly as early as next month.

Graeme Smith will be rested for the final one-day international against Zimbabwe, and Nicky Boje will be his replacement as captain. He was rested due to a persistent ankle problem. South Africa also announced a full-strength Test squad, including Jacques Kallis, who was rested from the one-day side after a busy – and prolific – season.Smith was replaced by AB de Villiers, whose 47 in four one-dayers stand in stark contrast to his burgeoning Test career, in which he has accumulated 362 runs in 10 innings. Andrew Hall was replaced by Monde Zondeki, and Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel were also left out to recuperate before the first Test, which begins on March 4. Ashwell Price was also brought into the side for the final one-dayer.Squad for third ODI Adam Bacher, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Justin Kemp, Mark Boucher (wk), Nicky Boje (capt), Albie Morkel, Charl Langeveldt, Monde Zondeki.Squad for first Test Graeme Smith (capt) Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel, Charl Langeveldt.

Close Australia 400 for 5 (Ponting 176*, Katich 75, Langer 58) v India
Scorecard

Ponting was Australia’s hero on the first day at Adelaide © Getty Images

A scintillating unbeaten 176 by Ricky Ponting was the outstanding performance of the day as Australia made full use of winning the toss at the Adelaide Oval. At close of play on the opening day, they had raced to 400 for 5 – the highest total in a day at this venue, beating Australia’s 387 on the second day against West Indies in 1968-69 – with useful contributions from Justin Langer (58) and Simon Katich (75).Apart from Matthew Hayden, all the Australian batsmen got starts, but Ponting capitalised on it, racing to his hundred off just 117 balls. He slowed down noticeably after reaching 150, despite which Australia finished the day with a run-rate of nearly four-and-a-half an over. All the Indian bowlers toiled – rather unsuccessfully – to beat the daunting combination of a flat pitch, a fast outfield with short square boundaries, and an awesome opposition batting line-up.Coming in at the fall of an early wicket, Ponting started off with an all-run four down the ground, before peppering the square boundaries on the off side with some sumptuous drives off either foot. He had a couple of reprieves early in his innings: on 12, a close lbw shout off Ajit Agarkar was turned down, while Virender Sehwag dropped a head-high chance at third slip off Irfan Pathan when Ponting had added just six. Once past those early jitters, though, Ponting didn’t give the Indians much respite.The tone for the day was set early when both the Australian openers drove through the line of the ball, trusting the even bounce and the lack of movement off the pitch. Sourav Ganguly packed the off side, and his bowlers largely stuck to an off-stump line, but the batsmen still threaded the gaps – in fact, every single one of the 16 fours Ponting struck in his first 100 runs were on the off side. Ganguly didn’t help the Indian cause by keeping the third-man region vacant for most of the day.These were ideal conditions for Hayden’s plonk-the-front-foot-and-drive-through-the-line style of batting, but Pathan – making his debut after Zaheer Khan missed out due to a strained hamstring – nailed him with one in the corridor which shaped away and kissed the edge of the bat (22 for 1).The dream start for Pathan and India soon went sour as Ponting and Langer went about their merry ways, cashing in on all the bad balls and sometimes putting away the good ones as well. Anil Kumble was soon pressed into service, but that only inspired Langer to go into overdrive – in one over he smote Kumble for two sixes and two fours. Kumble struck back in his next over, though, when Langer miscued a sweep to Sehwag at midwicket (135 for 2).That dismissal, which came at the stroke of lunch, was some respite for the Indians, but it only meant that one effective run-scorer was replaced by another, more graceful one. Martyn was in fantastic touch from ball one, stroking some gorgeous drives through the covers off Agarkar and Pathan, who, after an impressive first spell, fell away, struggling to find the movement he had obtained with the new ball. A big score was there for the taking, when Martyn (30) threw it away, steering a wide one from Nehra – the first ball of a new spell – to VVS Laxman at second slip (200 for 3).Steve Waugh smote a few through the off side in his 30, but was sorted out by a clever piece of bowling by Nehra. Bowling from round the wicket, he dug a few in short, then slipped in a full-length ball on middle. Waugh, weight on the back foot and probably expecting another short one, played all over the ball as it crashed into his stumps (252 for 4).A feature of this innings was the partnerships that the Australians put together for every wicket, and Simon Katich now joined Ponting to add the biggest one for the day. Katich first dug in, then showed that he could play a few strokes too, the most emphatic of them being a pulled six off Nehra, who came in armed with the second new ball. Galvanised by that shot, Katich raced along, even as Ponting quietened down and seemed to set his sights on his double-century.The 138-run partnership was finally broken off the penultimate over of the day, when Katich top-edged a pull and was caught spectacularly by Sehwag, diving full length and coming up with the ball in both hands (390 for 5). In walked Adam Gilchrist, and promptly dispatched the second ball he faced to the cover fence, and then pulled Kumble for another boundary before bringing up the 400 with the last ball of the day. In four Tests at the Adelaide Oval, Gilchrist has scored a mere 145 runs at 24.16. Time to set the record straight?

ADELAIDE, Dec 18 AAP – South Australia plans to play three spinners to cope with an expected heat wave and a very flat Adelaide Oval pitch in the Pura Cup cricket match against Western Australia starting here tomorrow.SA skipper Greg Blewett said all three slow bowlers in the Redbacks 12 – John Davison, Mark Higgs and Brad Young – were likely to be included in the final 11 tomorrow morning.”That’s a real possibility, we’ll make the final decision tomorrow when we have another look at the wicket,” Blewett said.”But with the weather that’s forecast, and as I can bowl a bit as well … that’s the way we’re probably leaning at this stage.”SA has also included debutant Shaun Tait, a 20-year-old fast bowler who is the leading wicket-taker in the Adelaide club competition, and whom Blewett said had the ability to bowl dangerously quick.”He’s given me a couple sore toes in the nets, especially last season I got a couple on the feet,” he said.”He’s sharp and he adds a new dimension to our bowling attack.”This year we’ve been quite steady and just tried to keep it at two or three runs per over, but certainly with him coming in he is just raw pace and really lets them go.”We’re aiming to bowl him in fairly short bursts and just tell him to bowl as quick as he can.”Fellow SA paceman Paul Rofe said he was looking forward to bowling with Tait.”He does bowl fast and he tries to scare a few blokes, so that should be exciting, I think,” Rofe said.But he said the pitch and weather conditions could make things difficult for pacemen.With Test opener Justin Langer in the WA side, Rofe said dismissing him quickly would be crucial to SA’s chances, as he has shown a strong liking for the Adelaide Oval pitch in the past.”Hopefully we can get him out so he doesn’t bat all day, because he can quite easily do that,” Rofe said.WA today lost Brad Hogg and Ryan Campbell, who were called up to the Australian one-day side, from its squad.All-rounder Kade Harvey is a late replacement for Hoggwhile youngster Luke Ronchi, who impressed in his Pura Cup debut last week by scoring 90 and 33 against Tasmania, will replace Campbell in the Warriors team.Teams:SA: Greg Blewett (captain), Chris Davies, John Davison, Shane Deitz, David Fitzgerald, Ben Higgins, Mark Higgs, Paul Rofe, Mike Smith, Shaun Tait, Jeff Vaughan, Brad Young (12th man to be named).WA: Justin Langer (c), Mike Hussey (VC), Jo Angel, Beau Casson, Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Kade Harvey, Chris Rogers, Luke Ronchi, Adam Voges, Brad Williams, Paul Wilson.