Symonds promises to come back better

Troubled Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds apologised for the 'gone-fishing' episode on Tuesday and promised to return to the side a better person. "I apologise for some of the things I've done over the last little bit. Hopefully I'll come out of it a better person and not make those mistakes in the future," Symonds said in his first interaction with the media since his sacking from the side for lacking commitment. Symonds preferred a fishing trip to a compulsory team meeting, inviting the wrath of the leadership group comprising stand-in skipper Michael Clarke, coach Tim Nielson and manager Steve Bernard. The 33-year-old was subsequently sent home from Darwin where Australia played a three-match ODI series against Bangladesh. Symonds, who was also omitted from the squad for the upcoming Test series against India for his indiscretion, said he has realised his mistakes and promised to change his attitude. "I think I probably do need to put a little bit of thought into some of the things I am doing," Symonds said. "I'm in a position of responsibility and I can't live so irresponsibly and I've realised that. It's probably taken longer than it should have," he added. Symonds asserted he would bounce back from the latest setback by focussing on his cricket even as he learns to deal with life as a public figure. "You go from being something and you get something cast over you which you have no control of. Being recognised and that sort of thing is something that sometimes I deal with well and other times I don't deal with as well," he said. "I like my time by myself and I like my privacy, but I do love the challenge of cricket. I'm going through the process of trying to improve and become not only a better cricketer but a better person," he added. Symonds' apology comes after he was lambasted by former greats like Steve Waugh and Shane Warne for his attitude. The big-hitting all-rounder's commitment to the team was also questioned with his one-time close pal Clarke being among his most vocal critics during the entire episode. Cricket Australia had even asked him to take a counsellor's help to get his career back on track.

Sri Lanka v India, 1st Test

Sri Lanka 600 for 6 dec (Jayawardene 136, Dilshan 125*, Warnapura 115, Samaraweera 127) beat India 223 (Laxman 56, Murali 5-84, Mendis 4-72) and 138 (Gambhir 43, Murali 6-26, Mendis 4-60) by an innings and 239 runs

n a match dominated by not one but two spin wizards, Sri Lanka completely destroyed the Indian batting line-up twice over to script their best win at home. India started the fourth day needing 242 runs to avoid the follow-on but, with 77 minutes to go to stumps, they had slumped to their third-worst Test defeat ever with an abject collapse against Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.
Murali and Mendis, assisted by the ever-alert close-in cordon, did not loosen the vice-like grip they had had over the batsmen from the moment the ball was thrown to Mendis in the 10th over of India's first innings. With Mendis keeping the batsmen on a leash - his only two bad deliveries were the full tosses in his first two overs - and leaving the batsmen mesmerised, it was Murali who smiled his way to two five-fors and his 21st ten-wicket haul, which was also his fourth at the SSC.
There was no respite for the batsmen from either end as 19 wickets fell to the spin pair, who bowled 87.5 overs out of the 117.5 that India faced in the match. Murali was always likely to be a threat, but Mendis showed that his six-wicket haul against India in the Asia Cup final was not a one-off. His bowling action is almost as intriguing as the kind of deliveries he bowls: in his final stride, the index finger of his left hand points upwards, as if giving the batsman out. On the basis of this performance, that action is completely justified as one of the most anticipated debuts of recent times turned out to be the best for a Sri Lankan.
The Indian batsmen had struggled in the first innings, but the second was a greater embarrassment as Murali and Mendis nailed the batsmen with similar deliveries to the ones that had done them in in the first innings. With India trailing by 377 in the first innings, the follow-on decision was a no-brainer. The new-ball bowlers were fresh: they bowled only 16 overs in the innings, with Murali and Mendis bowling 49 successive overs in tandem. In the second innings, the fast bowlers had even less work to do: Jayawardene summoned his spinners after five overs and the move worked immediately. Murali accounted for Sehwag in a controversial manner, with what was the last ball before lunch. Sehwag shouldered arms to one that pitched barely on leg stump and straightened. Umpire Mark Benson turned down the appeal, but changed his mind after what seemed like errors from the Virtual Eye and third umpire Rudi Koertzen.
The next session sealed the game for Sri Lanka, as India lost five wickets. Perhaps hoping for a repeat of Kolkata 2001, India sent Laxman, the first-innings half-centurion, at No. 3. He hit three beautiful boundaries off the medium-pacers, before Mendis had his number. This time it was the quicker googly which baffled him. Laxman didn't have a clue about which way it would spin, and was trapped plumb in front.
Sachin Tendulkar was a tad unfortunate when he missed a sweep outside the leg stump, the ball catching the back of the bat and lobbing to leg slip. Tendulkar stood his ground, and it needed a review to send him on his way. Gambhir was drawn forward for the second time in two innings and beaten in flight before Prasanna Jayawardene completed an exceptional stumping.
Just before tea, Murali and Mendis worked their magic again in successive overs. Sourav Ganguly hadn't looked comfortable against Murali and edged to second slip. Mendis then made Rahul Dravid revisit the first-innings horror when a quick carrom-ball legbreak just missed off stump. The next ball, a googly, had Dravid playing in front of his pad. The inside edge lobbed to short leg and, though the appeal was turned down, the review came into play again, making Dravid the third Indian batsman to perish in that manner. The rest was just a formality, which Murali and Mendis finished in style, Mendis taking the last two in the same over.
The first half of the day was slightly better only than what transpired later. Muralitharan completed his 64th five-for with Harbhajan Singh's wicket, but it was Mendis who inflicted major damage. Even Laxman had trouble picking him, the carrom ball being his main tormentor. Laxman was let off in the second over of the day, as an outside edge off Mendis bisected the keeper and Mahela Jayawardene at slip. The other batsmen were even more clueless. Anil Kumble and Zaheer were trapped by Mendis' top spinners. Harbhajan played for a Murali doosra, but got an offspinner, which resulted in an easy bat-pad catch.

Despite having only the tailenders for company, Laxman didn't farm the strike, twice allowing his partners to take a single off the last ball of the over. Harbhajan fell in the over that followed, while Zaheer survived. When Ishant Sharma joined him, Laxman finally took more of the strike and continued to do so until he was fairly confident in Ishant's ability. Laxman had himself grown in confidence, reading Mendis better and employing the wristy flick. Despite the odd leading edge, he continued to attack. But Mendis, having bowled an unbroken 27-over spell, returned from Murali's end to get his man. He first beat him with a 95kph legbreak, angling in and then breaking it away, before squaring him up with a googly, ending his 158-minute stay at the crease. Dravid and Laxman foxed in each innings of his first Test - as dream debuts go, there can't be many better than this.
Through the first two-and-a-half days of the match, the pitch seemed a shirtfront and a draw seemed the most likely result, especially given the inclement weather at the start. The magic of two outstanding spinners meant the game didn't go into the fifth day. Sri Lanka last lost a Test at home in April 2006, against Pakistan in Kandy. With Murali and Mendis so frighteningly effective in tandem, it's hard to imagine an overseas team defeating this double threat any time soon.


Sri Lanka 1st
MG Vandort 3
BSM Warnapura 115
KC Sangakkara 12
DPMD Jayawardene 136
TT Samaraweera 127
TM Dilshan 125*
HAPW Jayawardene 30
WPUJC Vaas 22*
Z Khan 2/156I Sharma 2/124SC Ganguly 0/24Harbhajan Singh 2/149A Kumble 0/121V Sehwag 0/17

India 1st iNNINGS
G Gambhir 39
V Sehwag 25
R Dravid 14
SR Tendulkar 27
SC Ganguly 23
VVS Laxman 56
KD Karthik 9
A Kumble 1
Harbhajan Singh 9
Z Khan 5
I Sharma 13*
WPUJC Vaas 0/23KMDN Kulasekara 1/42BAW Mendis 4/72M Muralitharan 5/84

India 2nd
G Gambhir 43
V Sehwag 13
VVS Laxman 21
SR Tendulkar 12
R Dravid 10
SC Ganguly 4
KD Karthik 0
A Kumble 12
Harbhajan Singh 15
Z Khan 3
I Sharma 5*
WPUJC Vaas 0/27KMDN Kulasekara 0/25BAW Mendis 4/60M Muralitharan 6/26

3rd Test: West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown

Australia 1st innings

SM Katich 36
RT Ponting 18
MEK Hussey 12
MJ Clarke 0
A Symonds 52
BJ Haddin 32
B Casson 10
B Lee 23*
MG Johnson 0
SR Clark 1

DBL Powell 0/43
FH Edwards 3/55
JE Taylor 3/46
CH Gayle 0/6
DJ Bravo 3/61
SJ Benn 1/33

West Indies 1st innings

S Chattergoon 6
RR Sarwan 20
XM Marshall 39
S Chanderpaul 79*
DJ Bravo 29
D Ramdin 1
JE Taylor 0
SJ Benn 3
DBL Powell 9
FH Edwards 1

B Lee 3/64
SR Clark 1/41
MG Johnson 4/41
A Symonds 1/17
B Casson 0/43
MJ Clarke 1/3

Australia 2nd innings

SM Katich 157
RT Ponting 39
MEK Hussey 18
MJ Clarke 48*
A Symonds 2
BJ Haddin 45*

DBL Powell 1/40
FH Edwards 1/52
JE Taylor 0/64
CH Gayle 0/45
SJ Benn 3/154
DJ Bravo 0/63
XM Marshall 0/0
RR Sarwan 0/9

West Indies 2nd innings

XM Marshall 85
RR Sarwan 43
S Chanderpaul 50
DJ Bravo 69
D Ramdin 8
JE Taylor 31
S Chattergoon 13
SJ Benn 13
DBL Powell 6
FH Edwards 5*

B Lee 2/109
SR Clark 3/58
MG Johnson 1/72
B Casson 3/86
MJ Clarke 1/38
A Symonds 0/6

Beau Casson fought off some harsh treatment from Dwayne Bravo to help Australia grind their way to an 87-run win in Barbados to secure a 2-0 series victory. The visitors' success was not without some tense moments after Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul threatened a record fourth-innings chase, but important breakthroughs to Casson and Stuart Clark exposed West Indies' tail and Australia wrapped up the triumph 20 minutes before tea when Daren Powell flashed a catch behind off Brett Lee.

Much like the first Test in Jamaica, Ricky Ponting's blood pressure was rising as West Indies happily pursued a challenging but vaguely gettable target. They started the day needing 240 more runs to make the highest successful Test chase in history, 475, and the explosive 122-run stand between Bravo and Chanderpaul gave them hope. Bravo hammered Casson with the sort of contempt that could have irreparably dented the confidence of the debutant spinner but, to his credit, Casson stayed on task and made the most vital strike of the match.

Bravo had reached his first half-century of the series and sent the Kensington Oval crowd into raptures with three powerful sixes over extra cover when Casson tossed up half-volleys outside off. Phil Jaques might well have laughed when Ponting asked him to move in to silly mid-off following the aggressive display, but Jaques did as asked and Bravo obliged by nudging a nothing shot that Jaques clasped low down to give Casson his second Test wicket.

The momentum was suddenly with Australia, who quickly took the new ball, and from the third delivery with the fresh one, Clark trapped Chanderpaul (50) in front with a ball that pitched in line and straightened, and West Indies were in big trouble. Some flashy resistance from Jerome Taylor and a gutsy comeback from Sewnarine Chattergoon, who batted with a severe ankle injury, nudged the target under triple-figures but Australia's four main bowlers made sure of the success.

Clark trapped Denesh Ramdin plumb lbw with a straight one, Mitchell Johnson found some bounce to entice Taylor to edge to Brad Haddin, and Lee had Chattergoon caught behind driving at a wide one. Lee finished the job by removing Powell after Casson picked up his third victim when Sulieman Benn skied a catch towards point. It was a solid debut from Casson, whose first-class bowling average of 40.36 may not have inspired complete confidence that he would step comfortably up to Test level. But he refused to back down after being beaten into near submission by Bravo, who had earlier handled the fast men with confident defensive strokes.

Bravo proved the perfect partner for Chanderpaul, who continued to be the rock for West Indies. He tucked and glanced in his usual fashion and brought up his 8000th Test run, becoming the fourth West Indies batsman to the milestone, and by the time he finally departed he had 442 runs for the series, a tally that was more than a hundred greater than any other player from either team and enough to earn him the title as Player of the Series.

The partnership between Bravo and Chanderpaul caused major headaches for Ponting, who was already without Andrew Symonds due to a back strain, and he must have been starting to wonder what on earth had happened to Test cricket if 475 was no longer a safe lead. Such was the confidence of the two batsmen that, until they were split with 172 more required, West Indies' record chase of 418 against Australia at St John's in 2003 was looking vulnerable.

But Ponting's men stuck to their tactics and through Casson and Clark, then Johnson and Lee, the plan started to come together. The most likely result was reached and Australia have now failed to win only one of their past 16 Test series, the mis-step coming in the 2005 Ashes.

Australia head for the limited-overs series with a Test victory, the Frank Worrell Trophy, and a few positive signs, including the form of Simon Katich and a reasonable start to Casson's international career. Still, the win was not nearly as comfortable as they might have expected. Despite the loss, West Indies should be proud of their efforts against the No. 1, and they have proved to the world that Australia's dominance is not as absolute.

India v Pakistan, final Kitply Cup, Mirpu

Pakistan 315 for 3 (Butt 129, Younis 108) beat India 290 (Dhoni 64, Yuvraj 56, Gul 4-57) by 25 runs A familiar nemesis and a battle-scarred warhorse inspired a downcast bunch to brave the odds and hand Pakistan their first multi-nation title in more than five years. In front of their board chairman, who had lashed out after their previous loss, and their coach, who was criticised for his overly optimistic statements, Pakistan turned in an intense, yet controlled, performance to clinch the Kitply Cup and head home upbeat for the Asia Cup. In an era of slam-bang cricket, Pakistan reverted to a strategy straight out of the early 1990s: win the toss, bat, see off the new ball, keep wickets, accelerate and launch a big score. From 75 for 1 in the 20th over, on a pitch where the ball appeared to be stopping on the batsmen, they soared to 315. Salman Butt cracked his fifth hundred against India, and seventh overall, but it was Younis Khan's pumped-up century that charmed - under the cosh after his two successive ducks, he chose the big stage for the comeback. India started well but came apart in the face of the middle-over onslaught. Eight bowlers were tried but Pakistan made the most of the lack of a fifth specialist, going after the part-time spinners even though the field was spread. Piyush Chawla came into this game on the back of a morale-boosting four-wicket haul against Pakistan but ended up having a harrowing time, finishing with the most expensive spell by an Indian spinner in an ODI. All wasn't lost yet - India had chased down a similar total against Pakistan in Dhaka ten years ago - but there was no batsman, or partnership, to hold the innings together. A constantly mounting run-rate forced some poor shot selection and Yuvraj Singh's wicket, just when he was settled enough to guide the chase, all but shut the door. And just when Mahendra Singh Dhoni raised visions of a robbery, Umar Gul produced a masterclass in death-over bowling to seal the deal. His two early wickets, earned with bouncers, were probably more important but it was the final two, nailed with yorker-length balls, that will stick in the mind. The yorker that crashed into the base of Chawla's leg stump came with the effect of a hammer knocking in the final nail in the coffin. Vital contributions ensured India stayed in the fight but what India could have done with was a couple of batsmen with the innings-building capabilities of Butt and Younis. The pitch wasn't conducive to strokeplay early and both bided their time through the Powerplays. Once set, there was little the bowlers could do and the blistering 240 Pakistan crashed in 30 overs made up for the lost time. This didn't come about through wild bashing; rather it was because of a pair who understood the nuances of the one-day game and illustrated the value of pacing an innings. One needs to go back more than 25 years when a Pakistani second-wicket pair added more than 200 against India. The present duo couldn't match the rate set by Mohsin Khan and Zaheer Abbas, who belted 205 in just 27 overs, but did enough to set a rock-solid platform. Younis raised his bat to the crowd twice: the first when he had a laugh at himself for getting off the mark, on the back of two successive ducks, and the second, a more emphatic celebration, when he brought up his century. It was truly a Younis special, the sort you expect from a batsmen who's used to the backs-to-the-wall feeling. At no point was there a shortage of intent, whether he was drilling through the covers or pulling over midwicket or hustling between the stumps or even paddling fine. If Younis nudged and glided, Butt punched and slapped. He didn't work on subtle glances and focused instead on forcing the ball through the gaps. He pulled out some of his signature strokes, like the slap through point and flick towards square leg, but the shot that defined this knock was the slog-sweep, whistling balls over midwicket. India, bizarrely, never plugged the gap - even after both batsmen peppered the midwicket boundary - and conceded 84 runs to the duo in that region. Yuvraj chose to play in a different sort of V - between midwicket and fine leg. He was intent on sweeping the spinners and the packed off-side field prompted him to try out the slog-sweep, the flick, the conventional sweep and the vertical back-drive. He survived a close lbw appeal and a Fawad Alam caught-and-bowled chance but couldn't gauge the low bounce from Shahid Afridi, snicking to the wicketkeeper. Dhoni held the lower order together and, typically, he chose to rotate the strike as the tailenders went for their shots. Irfan Pathan struggled to get his timing right and both Praveen Kumar and Chawla had no clue against Gul. Dhoni's two late sixes kept the flame flickering but, with nine wickets down and needing to go for broke, he holed out to deep point. He might have left it too late but the real damage was probably done much earlier in the evening.

IPL 25th match: Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab

Result Kings XI Punjab won by 6 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)

Kings XI Punjab 127 for 4 (Marsh 39, Sarwan 31) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 126 (Dravid 66, Kohli 34, Chawla 3-25) by six wickets

Match notes

• Bangalore Royal Challengers innings
• Bangalore Royal Challengers: 50 runs in 9.6 overs (64 balls), Extras 4
• 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 50 balls (V Kohli 22, R Dravid 26, Ex 2)
• Bangalore Royal Challengers: 100 runs in 15.6 overs (101 balls), Extras 10
• R Dravid: 50 off 44 balls (7 x 4)
• Innings Break: Bangalore Royal Challengers - 126/10 in 19.2 overs (DW Steyn 1)

• Kings XI Punjab innings
• Kings XI Punjab: 50 runs in 5.3 overs (37 balls), Extras 9
• 2nd Wicket: 50 runs in 40 balls (SE Marsh 13, RR Sarwan 29, Ex 8)
• Kings XI Punjab: 100 runs in 13.1 overs (85 balls), Extras 15

Bangalore Royal Challengers innings


V Kohli 34
CL White 0
JH Kallis 0
R Dravid 66
Misbah-ul-Haq 8
P Kumar 0
DT Patil 4
Z Khan 0
A Kumble 3
DW Steyn 1*

S Sreesanth 2/16
IK Pathan 1/13
Gagandeep Singh 0/28
VRV Singh 1/33
PP Chawla 3/25
JR Hopes 0/10


Kings XI Punjab innings

JR Hopes 5
RR Sarwan 31
Yuvraj Singh 1
DPMD Jayawardene 17*
IK Pathan 17*

DW Steyn 0/16
Z Khan 2/29
P Kumar 2/22
JH Kallis 0/14
A Kumble 0/36

The Kings XI Punjab proved why they are one of the tournament's best all-round sides by extending their winning spree to five, beating the Bangalore Royal Challengers comfortably by six wickets in a low-scoring encounter. After their bowlers used a seaming pitch to send Bangalore crashing to 126, their batsmen chased it down easily to push Punjab up into second place, behind the Rajasthan Royals on net run-rate.

One of the reasons for Bangalore's woeful struggle in the tournament has been the batting, and today was no exception. Rahul Dravid, with a battling 66, stood out in a sorry scorecard that had five ducks, three run-outs and just two batsmen crossing double figures. The constant reshuffling of the batting order reflected their weakness, none more so than at the top of the order today as their fifth opening combination in seven matches walked out to bat.

It was a good toss to win for Yuvraj Singh, who gave his bowlers first shot on a seaming track. Sreesanth was lethal in the first over, sending back a wobbly Wasim Jaffer with his stock delivery, the away swinger, before getting his next delivery to nip back in sharply to slice Cameron White in half and take the middle stump.

The situation was tailor-made for Jacques Kallis to script Bangalore's recovery act but a reckless call by Virat Kohli led to his dismissal. At 19 for 3, Bangalore had the dubious distinction of scoring the least at the end of five overs.

If Sreesanth was making life difficult at one end, breaking free at the other end wasn't easy either. Irfan Pathan's inswingers cramped the right-handers for room, while VRV Singh kept them guessing by hitting the deck outside the offstump and getting a few to rear up. Dravid and Kohli eased the nerves with a stand of 54 as the innings slowly picked up in pace.

The one glaring glitch for Punjab was the fielding and the biggest culprit was VRV, who wasn't agile enough on a quick outfield. It rubbed off on his bowling as he conceded three fours in an over. Dravid pulled the first to deep square leg, creamed the next through the covers to bring up his fifty, before flicking the third past midwicket to go past the highest score by a Bangalore batsman. He then scooped the same bowler over extra cover for a flat six before mistiming the following delivery to third man. Piyush Chawla was the most penetrative among the lot, trapping Misbah-ul-Haq and running through the lower order to finish with 3 for 25.

Though Bangalore had a paltry total to defend, on a seaming pitch, one would have given them a slender chance. Despite possessing lethal new-ball bowlers like Dale Steyn and Zaheer Khan, the early breakthroughs didn't come and the seamers were guilty of spraying it too wide, allowing the batsmen to drive through the line and beat the gaps with ease.

Bangalore had early success, sending back the out-of-sorts James Hopes in the second over, courtesy a brilliant reflex catch by White at cover. Ramnaresh Sarwan feasted on some wayward fare by Zaheer, crunching boundaries through the offside. Two quick breakthroughs by Praveen - sending back Sarwan off a bouncer and Yuvraj Singh with an away swinger - made things interesting. However, the in-form Shaun Marsh played a steadying hand and ensured there were no further hiccups. By the time he was dismissed - bowled through the gate by Zaheer - Punjab were only 21 away from victory and they coasted home with ten balls to spare.