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Justin Langer will announce today whether he is to join Shane Warne, Damien Martyn and Glenn McGrath in retiring from Test cricket. He will reveal his plans in a press conference at Sydney at noon local time amid growing speculation he’s going to quit.”I can’t say categorically that I won’t make an announcement before the start of the Test,” Langer told newspaper, “but at the same time, I can’t say categorically that I will. I haven’t spoken about it with anyone. I haven’t even spoken about it with Sue.”If Langer does bring the curtain down on his playing days it will end Australia’s most prolific opening partnership in Test history with Matthew Hayden.His father, Colin, told his son wasn’t going to outstay his welcome. “He’s been privileged to play for his country for 104 Test matches,” he said. “The way he’s gone about his career has been a thrill for his family.”It’s likely that if Langer does go after the final Test at Sydney which starts on Tuesday, then he will carry on playing at state level, as captain of Western Australia.

Tawanda Mupariwa, Zimbabwe’s fast-medium bowler, will miss the fourth ODI against Pakistan in Faisalabad on Wednesday (January 30) after spraining his left ankle during a training session.Mupariwa bagged a career-best 4 for 46 in the third ODI in Multan, his first outing of the series, including the wicket of Younis Khan off his first delivery. He fell over after stepping on the boundary rope while attempting a catch during practice today. Mupariwa was immediately put under the supervision of Amato Machikicho, the team’s physio, with further checks scheduled for tomorrow.Christopher Mpofu, dropped from the side after giving away 72 runs in his ten overs in the series opener, will replace Mupariwa. Zimbabwe have decided against making any other changes to the side that lost by 37 runs in Multan.The tourists are already without Prosper Utseya, their captain, who failed to recover from the ankle injury he aggravated while batting in Hyderabad. Hamilton Masakadza will lead the side tomorrow with Utseya set to undergo an assessment just before the final ODI in Sheikhupura onSaturday.

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

Incisive new-ball spells in helpful conditions by Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth ensured several trends continued – Kings XI Punjab maintained their momentum with a fourth successive win while the Kolkata Knight Riders slumped to their fourth straight defeat. Both innings were characterised by late bursts. Punjab hit 21 off their final over which put the match just beyond the reach of Kolkata, who scored 75 off overs 15 to 19, but still fell nine short after a sluggish start.After Sreesanth removed Sourav Ganguly, slashing to Pathan at third man, Pathan struck twice in one over to leave Kolkata reeling. Pathan has always been a dangerous bowler when he gets the ball swinging back into the right-hand batsman and Mohammad Hafeez and Brad Hodge fell in the space of five balls. Sreesanth added Debradata Das to make it 29 for 4 after five overs, the most wickets to fall in that space of time in the tournament, and when VRV Singh bowled Laxmi Ratan Shukla at 50 for 5, Kolkata seemed to be heading for a massive defeat. David Hussey and young Wriddhiman Saha, however, had other ideas.The pair started slowly, playing out a couple of overs before Hussey took Gagandeep Singh, who had bowled two very tidy overs, for 17 runs, including a massive six over long-on. There was another quiet over before the pair really turned it on. The big hits were complemented by agile running between the wickets and they brought the equation down to 55 off 18 deliveries. James Hopes, back after missing three games, served up several full tosses which were promptly deposited into the crowd and when Gagandeep was taken for 18 in the penultimate over, the equation had come down to 19 off the last six balls, after Hussey was dismissed for a 46-ball 71.Pathan kept his nerve and sent down a mix of yorkers and low full tosses and despite some big swings only four runs came off the first three balls. There was no fairytale ending for Kolkata.After Punjab chose to bat, several of their batsmen failed to capitalise on their starts – three of their top five got into double digits but didn’t make it to 20. Hopes, coming in for Ramnaresh Sarwan, carved a few powerful boundaries square on the offside before top-edging Ashok Dinda to mid-on. Yuvraj Singh looked imperious, as in the previous game, plundering 14 off an Hafeez over before over-balancing to be stumped and Mahela Jayawardene lofted a huge six over midwicket before miscuing a bouncer from Umar Gul to mid-on.Shaun Marsh, fresh from his match-winning IPL debut against Deccan Chargers, kept his composure at the other end to make a pleasing 40. There were some crisp drives in his knock, with one through the covers off Dinda early on standing out. He was stumped, missing a flighted delivery from Hussey, as Kolkata started to gain the upper hand. When Karan Goel was run out a couple of overs later, Punjab had slid to 106 for 5 from 82 to 1.Kumar Sangakkara, who retired on 10 with a side strain, returned to lead the fightback with Pathan. He again demonstrated the importance of timing and placement in Twenty20 before departing for 28, bowled by Gul, who at US$150,000 is providing competition to Shane Watson for being the bargain buy of the IPL. Pathan remained unbeaten on 24, but the acceleration at the end was provided by Piyush Chawla, who hit three fours and a six off Ishant Sharma’s final over.It has been a stunning resurgence from Punjab, who after being bottom of the table after two games are now tied for top spot. Kolkata, though, have gone in the opposite direction, dropping from table-toppers to four points behind the teams in the semi-final places.

It might have escaped your attention, but several thousand miles away from the controversies in Australia, another Test match is about to get underway: the deciding third match between South Africa and West Indies in Durban.Prior to this series, few gave West Indies much hope of upsetting South Africa at home, and yet they approach the third Test level-pegging at 1-1. They caught South Africa snoozing in the first at Port Elizabeth, with an allround batting performance (inevitably dominated by Shivnarine Chanderpaul), and in spite of a number of injuries, they clawed at South Africa’s coat-tails doggedly for much of the second in Cape Town.The injuries have taken their toll, though, and West Indies’ chances of claiming their first series win over South Africa since 1992 are looking desperate. Chris Gayle, whose laid back leadership style clearly suits this young side, broke his left thumb in Cape Town and will miss out, exposing an already shaky batting lineup. And there is enough doubt over Fidel Edwards (hamstring) to suggest that even if he does make the final XI, he won’t be firing on all cylinders.Neither, it seems, will Dale Steyn whose hamstring injury has limited his preparations for Thursday. “He’ll probably only bowl (in the nets) at about 70 percent,” Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach said yesterday. “He is making some nice improvement, but we’ll probably only have final clarity on the morning of [the Test]. (sic)”Should Steyn miss out, the decision South Africa take on his replacement could have a bearing on the future of their bowling attack. Shaun Pollock is tipped to return, but hot on his heels is Monde Zondeki, almost a decade his junior, who has been in blistering form this season.The most encouraging aspect of South Africa’s seven-wicket win in Cape Town was the return to form of Graeme Smith, who elbowed his way into rhythm with a pugnacious 85. The question of who opens with Smith continues to divide opinion though, and with Neil McKenzie ruled out with a calf muscle tear, Herschelle Gibbs (who was dropped in place of McKenzie in Cape Town) gets a recall.On the eve of the match, all eyes are on the Kingsmead pitch. With heavy rain over the past few days, the groundsmen are behind schedule and it could be another slow, low surface – which is not ideal for a series which deserves a competitive finale.TeamsSouth Africa (probable) Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Paul Harris, Shaun Pollock, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini,West Indies (probable) Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy, Rawl Lewis, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell

The Cape Cobras made a successful start in their defence of the MTN Domestic Championship (previously the Standard Bank Cup), with two wins in their first two matches of South Africa’s premier domestic one-day competition.The Cobras beat the Warriors at Newlands, Cape Town on Friday. Batting first, the captain Justin Kemp made 68 to boost the Cobras to 221 before a four-wicket haul from Charl Langeveldt, ably supported by 3 for 51 from Tyron Henderson, sent the Warriors crashing to a 90-run defeat. Andrew Puttick, the Cobras’ wicketkeeper, had a field day behind the stumps, pouching five catches.In Bloemfontein two days later, the Cobras picked up their second victory against the Eagles, in a match reduced from 45-overs a side to 20. Langeveldt was again among the wickets as the Eagles were restricted to 125 for 5. The chase was anchored by Puttick, who opened the batting and finished unbeaten on 64 as his side completed a seven-wicket win.In the opening game of the tournament on Wednesday in Bloemfontein, the Eagles, fresh from claiming the SuperSport Series, triumphed over the Warriors. Dillon du Preez, the leading wicket-taker in the SuperSport Series, grabbed four wickets while his new-ball partner Victor Mpitsang chipped in with three. Left-hander Arno Jacobs made an even 50 as the Warriors were rolled over for 148, a score that was hunted down by the Eagles with five wickets and 11 overs to spare.The Titans sailed to a six-wicket win over the Dolphins in Durban on Friday. A disciplined bowling performance from the Titans restricted the Dolphins to 164. Ahmed Amla scored an unbeaten 60 off 98 balls, while Paul Harris was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 25 from his nine overs. Titans’ keeper-batsman Heino Kuhn top scored with 51, and useful contributions from Gulam Bodi (34) and Francois du Plessis (44) sealed the win.The Dolphins bounced back from that loss with a win against the Lions on Sunday in Durban. The Dolphins opted to field and did well to bowl out the Lions for 166 in 41.4 overs. The Dolphins didn’t cruise during the chase, but eventually scampered home with three wickets in hand, having been 69 for 4 and subsequently 138 for 6.The Lions‘ campaign had got off to a winning start on Friday in Johannesburg. A high-scoring encounter against the Eagles was won with only an over remaining. Morne Van Wyk’s 128, and useful 40s from Boeta Dippenaar and Dean Elgar guided the Eagles to a challenging 271 for 6 off 45 overs. However, a wonderfully-paced run-a-ball chase, powered by the Lions’ top three, left the Eagles on the losing side.Stephen Cook and Alviro Petersen set the platform with a 128-run opening stand. Both openers were run out – Petersen for 95 – but Neil McKenzie all but stayed till the winning runs were hit. McKenzie, who made it to the Test team for Bangladesh ahead of Herschelle Gibbs, made a 70-ball 87, before falling on the brink of victory in the 44th over. Roger Telemachus struck twice in the penultimate over, but Justin Ontong’s six off the last ball won it with an over to spare.Zimbabwe, featuring in this year’s competition, failed in their match against the Warriors in Bulawayo on Sunday. Tatenda Taibu made 52 as the hosts posted 213 for 9, which was not to be enough as the Warriors chased it down to earn their first points in the tournament from their third game. Juan Theron took four wickets while Jacobs top-scored with 68 as the Warriors coasted to a six-wicket win.

It was not, Stephen Fleming conceded, quite as heartbreaking as losing a series off the last ball of a match, but it still wasn’t that great a way to go down. Lance Klusener has made something of a habit of wrenching games away from New Zealand and he did it again on Saturday, crashing Shayne O’Connor through midwicket for four to give South Africa victory by three wickets in the sixth and final Standard Bank one-day international at Newlands.On Wednesday Klusener hammered 41 off 21 balls to beat New Zealand at Kingsmead. On Saturday he was positively sluggish by contrast, taking 41 balls for his 59. But then again, his timing could not have been more perfect as New Zealand were again left to curse the sight of him.Fleming said afterwards that plans had been mooted to contain Klusener in such circumstances, but, he acknowledged, they simply hadn’t worked. And New Zealand, he added, weren’t the only team still to come up with a foolproof method of stifling the left-hander.The victory gave South Africa a 5-0 victory in the series, but, as South Africa’s Shaun Pollock conceded, the gap between the two sides wasn’t quite that wide, particularly in the last three matches. As Fleming noted: “You could point out in most games the moments when one player has taken the game away from us and that was the difference at the end of the day.”At Newlands New Zealand probably produced their best cricket of the series, built around a 150-run partnership between Chris Cairns and Roger Twose. Cairns hit the ball every bit as well, if not better, than Klusener for his 84 off 72 balls and Twose finally nailed down the one-day century that had eluded him in 74 previous matches.Cairns’ straight hitting was awesome in its timing and on most days it was an innings good enough to have won a match. Twose’s century, too, was well crafted and welcomed by its fashioner, but as he noted ruefully: “It just doesn’t mean as much if you don’t win the game.”The pair lifted New Zealand out of a mire at 39 for three, but after both had gone the tourists did not kick on well enough, particularly in the last five overs as they added only 19 and lost four wickets.Still, 256 for nine looked a decent enough score and seemed even better when Shayne O’Connor ripped out the first three South African wickets for just 30, the mini-collapse starting when Daryll Cullinan again failed clearly out of position as an opener.When Gary Kirsten was deceived and caught and bowled by Chris Harris at 65, South Africa were wobbling badly, but Jonty Rhodes and Mark Boucher put the innings back together again with a partnership of 106 for the fifth wicket.Even so, New Zealand still had a grip on the match with South Africa needing 71 off the last 10 overs and, more pertinently, 49 off the last five.That, however, was the signal for Klusener to bring the big gun out of his holster. He needed someone to stay with him, however, and the support came from Shafiek Abrahams playing in his first ODI.Abrahams made only 16, but he passed the strike back to Klusener at every opportunity and with the short straight boundaries at Newlands beckoning, Klusener went over them four times. It was studied hitting, but all of it still left South Africa needing seven off the last two balls. No problem. He hit the first two fours of his innings and South Africa were home and dry, if a little sweaty.The tour now turns itself towards the three-Test series, with South Africa able to take a few days off to celebrate while New Zealand bid farewell to their one-day specialists and welcome the Test match reinforcements.Fleming says that it will be easier now for the tourists to make the switch from the one-day game to the serious stuff, given that they will all welcome a change of pace. They have two warmup matches before the first Test in Bloemfontein. How well Fleming can regroup his warriors remains to be seen.

ScorecardIt was not the six- and four-hitting that Twenty20 cricket isnormally associated with. In fact there were only 15 fours in the firstinnings, and no sixes at all, as Karnataka scrambled to 142 for 7 at the Wankhede Stadium. Andthat proved to be too few as Punjab’s batsmen used all the freedomthey were given and won with one ball to spare. Ravneet Ricky, one of the fewbatsmen to approach this match without panic, cracked a superb unbeaten76, and ensured that his team made it just in time.After choosing to bat the going was tough for Karnataka. Much depended on the bighitting of Robin Uthappa, and when that proved a non-starter as he dragged Gagandeep Singh back onto his stumps, Karnataka had to battle hard for each run. Devraj Patil, the young wicketkeeper opening the batting, was fluent and effective, and he managed to keep one end running smoothly with 31. There was a lot of frantic running, mostly of the unnecessary andslightly panicked kind, and only one steady hand from C Raghu (32) andsome enthusiastic hitting from B Akhil (33) pushed Karnataka towardsrespectability.It was clear that the batsmen were not accustomed to playing Twenty20cricket, and perhaps attempting to do too much in the 120 balls affordedto them. The attitude of trying to pinch runs off every possibleopportunity was admirable, but some fairly adventurous attempts atimprovisation meant that Karnataka lost too many wickets too quickly. Hadthe fielding been of a higher standard – if the stumps were hit more often- Karnataka would not even have made it to 142.When the chase began it was a touch less frenetic than the first half.Punjab’s batsmen, knowing what they needed to achieve, did not try and hitevery ball out of the park. Ricky, opening the batting, dug in andclearly made up his mind to bat as normally as possible, while thosearound him went on an all-out attack.Karan Goyal steered one outside off to gully and Yuvraj Singh was atthe crease early. He seemed quite content blocking what he had to, in theknowledge that he could take on the bowler if and when needed, and clearthe field. A lazy clip off the legs for a boundary, followed by a checkeddrive that was no more than a punch which easily cleared mid-off were capped by a huge six off Sunil Joshi over midwicket. When Yuvraj, on 25, speared a catch up in the air off Raghu, and was well caught by Manish Pandey at long-off, Karnataka knew they had a big wicket.Dinesh Mongia, probably the most experienced Twenty20 cricketer of thislot, thanks to his experiences in county cricket, then took charge of the proceedings. He, like Yuvraj, was not overly stressed at playing out a fewdot balls, and instead concentrated on making it count when he went for thebig hit. And two such hits easily cleared the fence – one off Joshi andanother an audacious walk down the pitch to Akhil that ended up in the standsover midwicket. Just when it appeared that Mongia had done the job, he losthis wicket, for a crucial 35, ballooning a catch to short fine-leg tryingto play a cute scoop off Akhil.Fortunately for Punjab they had one batsman, in Ricky, who batted longenough. For the best part he just played normalcricket shots, only once trying something unusual, when the pressure wasreally on at the end, chipping a ball over the keeper’s head for a four.In the end, Ricky was the difference between the two sides, and he crashedone from Akhil through midwicket to rattle up the winning runs. Ricky wasunbeaten on 76 off only 50 balls, with 8 fours and 2 sixes.

Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, has said he would like to bowl faster than he did on his last tour to Australia. “I have more pace now than last time we played here. I think maybe I can get around 140kph now,” Malinga told AFP. “I want more pace.”All fast bowlers like to do the bouncer and everything. I am the same. We are going to be very attacking.”Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, said Malinga had improved in the three years since Sri Lanka’s previous tour of Australia. Malinga made his Test debut in that tour and took 10 wickets at 26.40 in the two Tests.”He [Malinga] has learned to adjust to different conditions and batsmen,” Jayawardene said. “Now he’s got the ability to control his aggression, which is a good thing. He is one of our attacking options [but] we don’t want to put a lot of pressure on the young guys.”Asked about the recent rise in on-field verbal attacks, Jayawardene said it was important not to lose one’s cool. “You need to be aggressive but you should not go overboard. When you lose your composure, that’s when they [Australia] come back at you very strongly. It’s the seniors’ responsibility to guide the guys through periods in difficult situations.”

Dolphins 115 for 5 beat Eagles 114 by five wickets
ScorecardDean Elgar’s career-best bowling performance failed to stop the Dolphins from dawdling into the Standard Bank Pro20 final with a five-wicket win over the Eagles in Durban.Left-arm spinner Dean Elgar took 3 for 10, but the Dolphins were able to scrape together 115 for 5 in 18.3 overs to surpass the Eagles’ skinflint total of 114. The Eagles, whose top score was Boeta Dippenaar’s 30, succumbed to three run-outs and lost five wickets for 14 runs before being dismissed with the last ball of their innings.The Dolphins began their reply steadily in the shape of an opening stand of 49 between Imraan Khan (9) and Grant Rowley (48). Elgar, who separated the openers by running out Khan, struck again to trap Rowley in front and remove Morne van Vuuren (0) with consecutive deliveries as the Dolphins slipped to 87 for 3 in the 13th over.Then Elgar bowled Hashim Amla (34) to reduce them to 97 for 5 in the 15th over. But there were no further jitters as Jon Kent (8 not out) and Pierre de Bruyn (10 not out) put the Dolphins through to the final where they will play the winners of the other semi-final, between the Cobras and the Titans in Cape Town on Sunday, next Friday.

Kyle Mills and Ross Taylor joined the burgeoning ranks of New Zealand cricketers headed for the IPL last night, when they were snapped up by Mohali and Bangalore for US$150,000 and US$100,000 respectively in the second round of auctioning in Mumbai. With Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram and Brendon McCullum already signed up, the competition is increasingly likely to conflict with New Zealand’s preparations for their tour of England in May.New Zealand’s first scheduled fixture of the England tour is on April 27, against MCC at Arundel, followed by a pair of three-day games against Kent (April 28-30) and Essex (May 2-5). The IPL, however, will be in full swing during those matches, and New Zealand Cricket are in discussions with their players’ representatives to allow dispensation for the five affected men to arrive in time for the final warm-up fixture against England Lions, which starts on May 8, a week before the Lord’s Test.”It’s a New Zealand Cricket decision and we have to abide by that, no matter which way it goes,” said Vettori. “They have asked us our views, and they have asked the team’s views. Obviously with five of us involved, it’ll set a different precedent than it would have with three, but we will work through it with Justin [Vaughan, the CEO] and whatever decision he comes to, we will abide by it.”There’s little doubt, however, where Vettori’s preferences lie. Having been signed up by the Delhi Daredevils franchise for a hefty US$625,000, he is understandably eager to play as many of the matches as possible. Realistically he and his team-mates could play in the first five or six rounds of the IPL, which begins on April 18, before joining the New Zealand squad in England in early May.Vettori’s argument is that New Zealand very rarely play warm-up matches on Test tours these days, and so it will make little difference to their preparations for England. What is more, if the senior players do sit out the early fixtures, it will provide an opportunity for younger players to be given invaluable experience of English conditions.”I’m not really worried about how it looks. I’m worried about how it affects the team and the dynamic,” said Vettori. “I know it’ll be a huge opportunity for some young guys to be assimilated into a New Zealand side. Like I’ve said a couple of times, we go away on most tours and don’t have any warm-up games. I don’t think we can say that we all need to turn up all on the same day because that’s the way it’s supposed to be, because we don’t do it on any other tour.”The junior guys are comfortable either way,” he added. “They’re comfortable if we turn up late and they’re equally happy if the whole team turns up together. I don’t think the preparation side is an aspect, it’s whether it fits for the team and the guys can handle it. If they can’t, then we have to sit back and say maybe it’s not the right thing. But if they can, then that’s the way cricket is probably moving.”Mills, who learned of his IPL acquisition from his wife, Diana, who had been tracking the auction online, believed that the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the best cricketers in the world was more than adequate compensation for missing the early part of the England tour.Mills’ Mohali franchise is coached by Tom Moody, who has huge experience of county cricket with Worcestershire, and also includes regular England foes, such as Brett Lee and Kumar Sangakkara.” This will be a massive opportunity to pick Brett Lee’s brains for three or four weeks on how to bowl in England,” said Mills. “He was very effective against the Poms in England and in the Ashes last year, so I’ll be picking up a few tips on how to get the Poms out. In terms of a cricketing education, the players I’ll be playing with and against will be of huge benefit to me.”As to their possible late arrival, Mills was sure the players would adapt quickly. “That’s the nature of international cricket over these past five years,” he said. “You’re playing 11 months of the year, always chopping and changing from Twenty20s to one-dayers to Test cricket. I played a domestic one-dayer three days out from the last Test in Hamilton. So that’s the nature of professional cricket these days, we’ve all got to adapt quickly. We’ve all got experience of England before, so the transition shouldn’t be too hard.”