South Africa Vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test at Cape Town Day4 Cricinfo,Live Score

South Africa 580 for 4 decl. (Kallis 224, de Villiers 160*, Petersen 109) and 2 for 0 beat Sri Lanka 239 (Dilshan 78, Philander 3-46, Steyn 3-56) and 342 (Samaraweera 115*, Kallis 3-35) by 10 wickets 

South Africa won their first home series since 2008, a period in which they had been denied on five occasions, prevailing over Sri Lanka by 10 wickets to take the rubber 2-1. An innings defeat seemed the most likely result at the start of the day, but a wicketless pre-lunch session and another century from the resurgent Thilan Samaraweera helped Sri Lanka barely avoid that ignominy.

Needing two runs to win in the fourth innings, South Africa got home without facing a legal delivery, with Dhammika Prasad over-stepping and Alviro Petersen punching down the ground to trigger relief and smiles in the home camp. Graeme Smith has now captained his side to 41 Test wins - joint second with Steve Waugh in the all-time list. Only Ricky Ponting, with 48, lies ahead.

Smart stats Sri Lanka have now lost all the four series they have played in South Africa. However, this is the first tour in which they have won a match. South Africa regained form by winning their first home series since 2008. Their last home series win came against West Indies in 2008 (excluding Bangladesh matches). Since then, they lost to Australia and drew series against England, India and Australia. South Africa improved on their Cape Town record with another victory. They have now won 16 matches and lost just three at the venue since their readmission. Their only losses have come against Australia. The win is South Africa's sixth by a margin of ten wickets (excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe matches). It is also their second ten-wicket win in Tests in Cape Town after the victory against England in 1995-96. Thilan Samaraweera, who scored his second century of the series, becomes the first Sri Lankan batsman and the 11th visiting player to score two or more centuries in a series in South Africa since 1990.. Samaraweera became the seventh Sri Lankan player to score 5000 runs in Tests. His average of 53.42 is the second-highest among Sri Lankan players who have 5000-plus runs. Jacques Kallis became the second South African player to take six catches in a Test. Only five players have taken more catches (7) in a Test. Kallis also became only the fourth player to score a century and take six of more catches in the same Test. Matthew Hayden, Garry Sobers and Frank Woolley are the others to achieve this. Dale Steyn went wicketless in a completed innings for the second time in the series. While in Durban, he bowled 23 fruitless overs, on this occasion, he went 20 overs without success.

Once again, Vernon Philander made the breakthroughs for South Africa in a passage when they were beginning to look listless. Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews had extended their overnight association to 142 runs, and were looking at ease against the second new ball, when Philander ended the fun with a double-strike. The tail slogged along merrily, while Samaraweera chiselled his way to three-figures. Jacques Kallis and Imran Tahir side-stepped his defiance, and ended the innings at the stroke of tea.

Samaraweera's effort took his series tally to 339 runs, and put to rest all doubts over his ability to handle conditions outside the subcontinent. His century was only the fourth by a Sri Lankan in this country, with three of them coming on this tour, but it wasn't enough to extend the match to the fifth day.

As on the third evening, South Africa were persistent with their lines of attack at the start of play, but the rewards were not so readily available. The closest they came to getting a wicket before lunch was when Samaraweera was stranded mid-pitch following a misunderstanding with Mathews. Petersen picked up rapidly in the covers and had a good sight of the stumps as he threw, but missed. A little later, Mathews came close to being run out, but this time Hashim Amla's throw went wide.

Barring those two scares, Sri Lanka had few concerns in the morning. Samaraweera got going with a neat flick through square leg off the day's second ball, and a couple of controlled edges through the off side. Thereafter, he settled down to wait and pick off the leg-stump offerings that came his way. He got to his fifty by steering Tahir to third man as the first hour drew to a close. Mathews' first boundary of the morning came off a thick edge that flew past the cordon, but he gradually buckled down to seal his end. Progress came through dabs and tucks, until Tahir slipped a full toss on the pads that Mathews whipped expertly to the boundary.

With the pitch slowing down and seam movement absent, Smith moved the cordon from behind the wicket to front. Armed with the old ball, Kallis sent down an energetic spell of fast bumpers, with slip, short leg, short cover, silly mid-on, and later leg slip, in place, but Samaraweera stayed firm. The gambit had failed, and it was over to Philander with the second new ball.

Sensing the pivotal moment of the day, Samaraweera took Philander on. He cracked one square, plastered another down the ground, and pulled emphatically to take three boundaries in an over. Philander persevered, though, and dispatched Mathews in his next over, with an indipper that kept low to hit the pads. Two overs later, Dinesh Chandimal perished to a lazy waft away from the body, giving Kallis his fifth sharp catch in the match, all of them in the slips. He would later come on to hold a sixth off his own bowling, to go with three wickets and a double-century. The Man-of-the-Match adjudicators had an open-and-shut case in front of them.

India Va Australia 2nd Test at Sydney Day4 Cricinfo,Live Score

Australia 4 for 659 dec beat India 191 and 400 (Gambhir 83, Tendulkar 80, Laxman 66, Ashwin 62, Hilfenhaus 5-106) by an innings and 68 runs

This was supposed to be India's best chance to win a Test series in Australia. It has taken only eight days of cricket for Michael Clarke's men to deny them that goal. On the fourth afternoon in Sydney, an attack led by Ben Hilfenhaus deconstructed India's formidable batting line-up, bit by bit, to secure an unbeatable 2-0 series lead with victory by an innings and 68 runs, Australia's first innings win over India in 12 years.

The last such result also came at the SCG, in 2000. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were all part of that side, as they were members of the outfit that lost this time around. It is unlikely they will have another chance to beat Australia at home. For now, India still hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and should they win in Perth and Adelaide they will retain it. But their grip on it is as weak as Chris Martin's forward defence.

This was an Australian victory that will be remembered for Clarke's unbeaten 329. But on the fourth day, it was a second consecutive five-wicket haul from Hilfenhaus that was the highlight. Hilfenhaus completed the success with the final wicket when R Ashwin, who had made a fighting 62, skied a pull and was caught by Nathan Lyon running around from mid-on.

The Australians were overjoyed. Clarke especially was thrilled. His declaration on the third day, when he could have chased personal milestones like Brian Lara's world-record Test innings of 400, was designed to ensure Australia would win the match. They did so with three and a half sessions remaining. Clarke is not the kind of man to harbour any regrets. The win was everything.

He knew better than anyone that batting on the SCG surface was not particularly difficult, and as Tendulkar and Laxman put on a 103-run stand his mind might have flicked back eight years, to a 353-run partnership between the same men at the same ground. Fittingly, it was Clarke with his left-arm spin that ended the partnership, and India's hopes of saving the Test.

Tendulkar had reached 80 and seemed to be on track to register his long-awaited hundredth international hundred in the SCG's hundredth Test when Clarke changed the course of the day. He produced a delivery that was accurate enough to draw Tendulkar into a stroke and turned just enough to catch the edge, which ricocheted off Brad Haddin's gloves and was snaffled by Michael Hussey at slip.

When the new ball arrived, the other architect of that one threatening partnership, Laxman, on 66, fell to a near-perfect delivery from Hilfenhaus, who finished with 5 for 106. The ball angled in and then nipped away to beat the outside edge of Laxman's bat, clipping the edge of the top of off stump, and the batsman could scarcely believe his fate, confident as he appeared that he had covered his wicket.

From there, the wickets fell steadily. MS Dhoni (2) chipped a return catch to Hilfenhaus, who seemed to think it was a bump ball. But the umpire's decision to have the third official check on the shot revealed it had lobbed cleanly back to Hilfenhaus without touching the ground, surprising some of the Australians.

Virat Kohli was lbw to James Pattinson for 9, a fraction unlucky as the ball kept low, but there was no question over the decision. Peter Siddle joined in by removing Zaheer Khan, who had made an entertaining 35 when he slashed hard at a delivery outside off and was taken by Shaun Marsh running back from extra cover.

Briefly, Ishant Sharma and Ashwin staved off the Australians with a 42-run stand, but Ishant (11) was lbw to the offspin of Nathan Lyon. That was the only breakthrough of the match for Lyon, who also collected just one in Melbourne and has not removed a top-six batsman since the first Test of the summer, against New Zealand at the Gabba. Though usually loath to change a winning side, Australia might consider replacing him with Ryan Harris at the WACA.

There are far more questions for India. For a while it looked like they might take the match into the fifth day as they worked through the first session for the loss of only one wicket, that of Gautam Gambhir. He missed the chance for his first Test century in nearly two years when, on 83, he stood on the crease and reached his bat a long way forward to the bowling of Siddle, who found a leading edge that was snapped up by David Warner at point.

Tendulkar and Laxman continued to fight. Laxman played some of his trademark wristy flicks through the leg side, against the fast men and also the offspin of Lyon, and Tendulkar showed off some wonderful cover-drives early in the morning. Shortly before the lunch break, Tendulkar upper-cut a frustrated Pattinson over the sole slip for another boundary.

But it was all a big tease for the Indian fans. In a match where three Australians made tons, including one triple-hundred, India needed more than a handful of pretty half-centuries. There are questions over their batting and their bowling as the Perth Test approaches. They have a week to sort out their problems.

South Africa Vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test at Cape Town Day3 Cricinfo,Live Score

Sri Lanka 138 for 4 (Mathews 28*, Samaraweera 19*) and 239 (Dilshan 78, Steyn 3-56, Philander 3-46) trail South Africa 580 for 4 dec by 203 runs

South Africa produced an exhibition of blistering seam and swing in the first innings, followed by nagging persistence in the second, to nip out 12 of the 18 wickets they needed for victory at the start of the third day. Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander delivered spells of unmitigated menace to demolish Sri Lanka's last eight first-innings wickets for 90 runs, allowing South Africa to enforce the follow-on around 30 minutes after lunch.

The pair's combined first-innings effort on the third morning yielded 6 for 28 in 17 overs, and provided a cruel twist to Sri Lanka's plans of batting through the day. Wickets weren't that easy to come by in the second innings, following Tillakaratne Dilshan's customary brainfade, but South Africa chipped away to skim the top order by stumps.

The wicket-fest left Sri Lanka staring at defeat with two days of good weather expected in Cape Town. Their euphoria after winning the Boxing Day Test has steadily dissipated since the toss at Newlands, and the tone for another day of disappointment was set early in the piece.

Kumar Sangakkara leaned out to the third ball of the morning to square-drive Steyn uppishly to point, where Hashim Amla gleefully pouched the chance. Sangakkara's exit meant Thilan Samaraweera was in the middle much earlier than he'd have bargained for. Philander proceeded to systematically work him over with an exhibition of high quality seam bowling, easily the highlight of the day's action.

Philander hit his default lengths in his very first over, and got a couple to curl away devilishly as Samaraweera groped inside the line. In his next over, he repeated the dose to Mahela Jayawardene, befuddling him with another one that leapt away. Samaraweera nearly covered the line the next time, nudging it off the outer half of the blade towards gully.

Philander gradually moved the lure closer to off stump. Samaraweera spotted another one that straightened and let it whistle by, uneasily close to off stump. As if to get Samaraweera thinking, Philander nipped the final ball of that over - the last before drinks - back in, to produce an inside edge. The variation may have been on Samawaraweera's mind as he sipped on his drinks, and the uncertainty could have only increased when Philander's first ball after the break also jagged in. Samaraweera was gone next ball, clearly unsure which way the ball was going, and offering a limp bat in response. The ball snapped away to take the outside edge and land in the slips, putting a smile in Philander's face. Not once did he touch 140 kph in that spell. He didn't have to.

Steyn then took over, getting fast outswingers to buzz away in his second spell. His full length first drew Jayawardene into a fatal poke, and in his next over, Angelo Mathews feathered one that kept swerving from the time it left Steyn's hand. Imran Tahir ended the first session with a ball that confirmed there would be no respite against spin. It landed a couple of feet outside Thisara Perera's off stump, on the bowlers' foot marks, and spun back in viciously to have him bowled. Within the space of a session, Sri Lanka's outlook had turned just as drastically. Dinesh Chandimal kept fighting, but the tail had no chance against Philander after the break.

There might be a defence for Dilshan's strange decision at the toss, but there can be none for the shot he played in the second innings. He seemed to be walking to the dressing room even as he wafted loosely and edged Philander, who was snaking the shiny new ball even more viciously than in the morning. Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne stonewalled for 26.1 overs to produce Sri Lanka's longest partnership of the match thus far, but it was only a matter of time before South Africa made further incisions.

Thirimanne feathered Jacques Kallis onto his pad en route to short leg, to bring Sangakkara and Jayawardene together for the second time in the day. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, their two best batsmen were about to fail them again. By now, Tahir was getting the ball to do magic out of the rough, and Sangakkara inevitably nudged one to Kallis at slip. A little later, Kallis bent low and plucked Jayawardene's second outside edge of the day, this time against Morne Morkel. Samaraweera survived to stumps along with Mathews, but even a machine-gun celebration from him tomorrow might not suffice to rescue Sri Lanka.

South Africa walked back smiling and chirpy, but one man in the home team must be apprehensive. Mark Boucher clanged two regulation chances, that are not expected to affect the course of the game, unlike his drop of Sangakkara in Durban. Still, the South African selectors will be tempted to look at a young replacement sooner than later.

India Va Australia 2nd Test at Sydney Day4 Cricinfo,Live Score

Lunch India 191 and 3 for 243 (Gambhir 83, Tendulkar 70*, Laxman 44*) trail Australia 4 for 659 dec by 225 runs

Gautam Gambhir missed the chance for a drought-ending century but Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman continued to fight for India on the fourth day in Sydney. Gambhir was the only batsman to fall during the day's opening session as India added 129 runs to their overnight total and reduced the deficit to 225, but at 3 for 243 plenty of work still remained for them to make Australia bat again.

Tendulkar was on 70 and Laxman had reached 44, and the Australians were keen to ensure there was no repeat of their 353-run partnership at the same ground eight years ago. Laxman had survived a scare before he had scored when he gloved the ball down the leg side off Peter Siddle, but the ball appeared to drop fractionally short of the gloves of Brad Haddin.

It was a difficult morning for Haddin, who let several byes go past, the ball often swinging after it passed the batsmen. Later in the session, fewer balls were getting past the bat as Laxman started to play some of his trademark wristy flicks through the leg side, against the fast men and also the offspin of Nathan Lyon.

Tendulkar played some wonderful cover-drives early in the morning and shortly before the lunch break upper-cut a frustrated James Pattinson over the sole slip for another boundary. It wasn't quite as controlled a stroke as the upper-cuts he had played in Melbourne, but all the same he made it to lunch safely and the prospect of a hundredth international hundred was certainly on the cards.

There were several impressive cuts and clips through the leg side from Tendulkar, who had lost only one partner during the session. On 83, Gambhir stood on the crease and reached his bat a long way forward to the bowling of Siddle, who found a leading edge that was snapped up by David Warner at point. It was a disappointing end for Gambhir, who has not scored a Test ton since January 2010

South Africa Vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test at Centurian Day2 Cricinfo,Live Score,Highlights

Lunch South Africa 453 for 4 (de Villiers 84*) v Sri Lanka

There was a sense of déjà vu as the action unfolded on the second morning at Newlands. Sri Lanka were systematically deflated in the pre-lunch session, raising visions of a nightmarish day, such as the one India had endured a few hours earlier in a different part of the world. Like Michael Clarke in Sydney, Jacques Kallis strolled inevitably to a double-century in front of his home crowd. Like in Centurion, where he had scored his only previous double-ton in December 2010, Kallis had AB de Villiers for company when he reached the landmark. Back then, de Villiers had smashed the fastest century by a South African. This time he was on the verge of a more sedate but equally assured ton, though Kallis succumbed to boredom at the stroke of lunch.

Sri Lanka began the day against two world-class batsmen, under bright sunshine, with the pitch at the flattest it is likely to be over the course of the Test. As if to reiterate their woeful position, five of the first 12 balls sped to the boundary. Two of those were outside edges from de Villiers that ran through a sparsely populated slip cordon, but Sri Lanka couldn't have been blamed for not having too many catchers. The three other boundaries were vintage Kallis strokes, unfurled seemingly for the benefit of those who may have missed the first day's action - the sumptuous cover drive, the violent pull in front of square, and the coaxed on-drive that gained speed as it bounded down the ground.

Sri Lanka had their rare moments, but weren't alert enough to make them count. Dhammika Prasad got one to take Kallis' edge as it moved away off the seam, but Mahela Jayawardene couldn't hold on to a regulation take at second slip. That was in the third over of the day, and by the time the second chance came, Sri Lanka were down to just one fly slip. Angelo Mathews produced a nifty legcutter that reared up alarmingly and jumped away, though it was delivered at a speed of just 121 kph. Kallis fended and got another edge, but Jayawardene couldn't reach it as he dived desperately to the left.

The fields were spread out, but the runs flowed generously all the same. Sri Lanka managed only two maidens in the session, and the first one left Welegedara pleasantly surprised as Kallis shouldered arms six times. Their plight was epitomised by a breath-taking stroke from de Villiers off Mathews. The ball landed short of a length, well outside off stump, with the field set on the off side. Only mid-on, deep backward square leg and deep midwicket patrolled the leg side, and de Villiers tagetted the gap at wide mid-on by skipping across audaciously and whipping against the angle.

A robust cut and another punched drive through mid-on took Kallis through the 190s, and he brought up the double by chopping Perera through point. Just as murmurs of a first 300 by a South African batsman began to do the rounds, Kallis lost his concentration and gifted Rangana Herath his wicket with a feeble lofted drive. That breach gave Sri Lanka some heart after Herath had got a few to spin and bounce sharply. de Villiers and the lower order, though, will be keen on keeping them on the field for the bulk of the day.

India Vs Australia 2nd Test at Sydney Day2 Cricinfo,Live Score

Ponting's 134, Clarke's 251* demoralise India

Australia 4 for 482 (Clarke 251*, Ponting 134, Hussey 55*) lead India 191 by 291 runs

Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting have prior form in shattering Indian spirits at the SCG. Four years ago, they conspired to steal victory during a mad quarter hour late on the fifth day, when Clarke was handed the ball by the captain Ponting and took three wickets in an over. This year, they tortured India more slowly, with a partnership that lasted the best part of six hours and all but ensured Australia could not lose the Test.

Of course, since Kolkata in 2001, nothing has ever been truly certain in Tests between these two countries. But the drought-breaking century from Ponting - his first in nearly two years - and Clarke's maiden Test double-hundred steered Australia into the kind of position from which it would take a Kolkata-like comeback to rescue India. They would need something very, very special.

The Sydney crowd had already witnessed the exceptional, from Clarke and Ponting. By stumps, Clarke was unbeaten on 251, having batted through the day, and it was not out of the question that he could become the first man to score a Test triple-century at the SCG. Michael Hussey had chipped in with 55 not out and Australia's lead had ballooned to 291, with six wickets in hand.

Clarke's innings was mature and mesmerising, but it was Ponting's hundred that had really brought the crowd to life. Ponting had been starved of a Test century in his past 33 innings, and for the first time since the early days of his career had faced pressure to justify his place in the side. At no stage during his slump did he give up. It was somehow appropriate for a man who had fought so hard over the past few months that he was dirty and dishevelled when his hundred arrived.

The milestone came via a quick single, a poorly-judged one too, for a direct hit from Zaheer Khan at mid-on would have had Ponting run out for 99. He dived to make the crease and climbed up off the ground - the most fitting metaphor imaginable - with helmet askew and dirt all down his shirt and trousers. It was a sight that brought smiles from Clarke and even the umpire Ian Gould, and importantly from Ponting himself.

Amid all the debate over his form and his position in the side in recent months, Ponting had maintained that he was batting well. In this innings, he was. There were several classic Ponting pulls and his flicks through the leg side were a feature of his game. To some degree, he eschewed the typical Ponting back-foot drives through the off side, though that in part came down to the lines India bowled.

It was not until the second new ball arrived that Ponting departed, caught at point for 134 when he drove Ishant Sharma. Ponting walked off to a standing ovation, having joined his catcher, Sachin Tendulkar, and Jacques Kallis as the only men to have scored 40 Test centuries. His 288-run stand with Clarke, the highest fourth-wicket partnership ever compiled against India in Test cricket, had demoralised the visitors.

More was to come from Clarke, who had brought up his 18th Test century, and his fourth in his past 11 innings, with a perfectly placed cover-drive for four in the last over before lunch. His double-century arrived from his 284th delivery with a flick through square leg off Zaheer, and it brought a kiss of the helmet and a tear to the eye of Clarke, who is in his first home summer as Australia's full-time captain.

Clarke scored his runs all around the ground, with cover-drives, off-drives, clips off the pads, pulls, cuts, lofts over the infield against spin - perhaps the only thing he didn't attempt was a reverse-sweep. He was seeing the ball so well that he was able to walk across his stumps and down the pitch to turn good balls from the fast men into opportunities to score through the leg side. By stumps, he had the best score by an Australia batsman in an SCG Test, and needed 37 more to beat Tip Foster's record for all-comers.

To cap it all off for Australia, Hussey joined in late in the day with some quick runs, including two consecutive fours followed by a six off R Ashwin. It was an immensely disheartening day for India, who could manage only one wicket throughout the day after 13 had fallen on the opening day. There were no-balls from the part-time offspinner Virender Sehwag, strange field placements from MS Dhoni and a general lack of spark, which was to be expected by the end of a long, hot day in the field.

In the first couple of overs of the morning, Dhoni had a man back at deep square leg when he needed to be on the attack, and later he removed all of his slips while Umesh Yadav was bowling, seemingly a concession that all he could do was try to slow the run scoring of Ponting and Clarke rather than try to get them out.

He can be rest assured that Clarke won't be as defensive in the field when he gets his chance. Unfortunately for Dhoni, that might be a while off yet.

South Africa Vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test at Newlands,Day1,Cricinfo,Live Score Card

Lunch South Africa 135 for 2 (Petersen 54*, Kallis 47*, Prasad 2-30) v Sri Lanka

Alviro Petersen made a confident return to Test cricket, while Jacques Kallis enjoyed his new-found batting freedom as South Africa merrily progressed at five runs per over in the first session at Newlands. The lunch-time tally of 135 suggested the move to bowl first had backfired on Sri Lanka, despite a couple of breaches by their replacement seamer Dhammika Prasad, who came in for the injured Dilhara Fernando.

There was merit to Sri Lanka's decision; their historic win in Durban did not mask their problems against pace and bounce, and was founded upon South Africa's own abject form with the bat. Dilshan's call to bowl shielded his weaker suit, and gave his seamers the mandate to attack South Africa in marginally helpful conditions. The call was, however, let down by a sketchy plan of action.

Sri Lanka erred on the fuller side in the first hour of play, before swinging to the other extreme after drinks. Chanaka Welegedara produced prodigious swing from full lengths but without the pace to make it menacing. Thisara Perera, too, went full in search of the dream away seamer, allowing the batsmen to press forward and drive. In the latter stages of the session, Angelo Mathews and Prasad dropped short repeatedly, inviting South Africa to duck out of danger, or pull with power. The indiscreet lengths meant 21 boundaries were hit in the 27-over session.

In between-times, though, Prasad managed to hit the in-between lengths. His ability to ramp the pace up to 140 kph - a shade more than the average speeds hit by his colleagues - earned him success. Graeme Smith began with a couple of robust straight drives against Welegedara, but succumbed to a familiar failing against Prasad's first ball. It angled across Smith without offering room for the cut, or the length for the drive, but Smith sparred at it without getting across, and inside-edged onto the stumps.

Hashim Amla, too, checked in with a bunch of ominous boundaries, which must have left Tillakaratne Dilshan a touch worried. Prasad, however, nipped him out for 16 with another length ball that shaped in and rapped the pad as Amla walked across the stumps. Amla consulted with Petersen, and rightly chose not to review the decision. That wasn't the only instance of Petersen's exemplary judgement on his return to Test colours.

Exactly a year after playing his last Test, at the same venue against India, Petersen would have felt the nerves when he took guard. Sri Lanka eased him into early touch, though, failing to test him often enough outside off stump. A couple of early drives down the ground and a nudge through square leg signalled that he had carried his domestic form into the big league. Thereafter, Petersen built steadily, before summoning the spirit to thrash Prasad over square leg for a six. He brought up his fifty with a brace of boundaries against Perera, and looked good for a lot more.

Kallis came out throwing punches in all directions, reminiscent of his half-century against Australia in the recent Johannesburg Test. He nearly pulled Prasad straight to fine-leg, where Welegedara inexplicably backed out of going for the catch. Another pull off Mathews spiralled towards midwicket and landed safe. Encouraged, Mathews persisted with the short stuff, but Kallis pounded him with a series of pull shots. Perera tested him on the front foot with lunch in sight, and Kallis unfurled a series of gorgeous cover drives that left South Africa in charge.

India Vs Australia 2nd Test at Sidney,Day1 Cricinfo Live Score

Australia 3 for 116 (Clarke 47*, Ponting 44*, Zaheer 3-26) trail India 191 (Dhoni 57*, Pattinson 4-43, Hilfenhaus 3-51, Siddle 3-55) by 75 runs

In the 129 years since the SCG hosted its first Test, batsmen's lives have been made infinitely easier. Pitches are now covered. Boundaries have been shortened by ropes. Helmets have allowed batsmen to hook with impunity, and they do so with heavier bats. It is to the credit of the bowlers that the contest between bat and ball remains gripping. So it was on the first day of this match, as James Pattinson and his Australian colleagues, and then Zaheer Khan for India, dominated proceedings.

By stumps on the opening day of the SCG's hundredth Test, 13 wickets had tumbled - more than the 11 that fell on the first day of Test cricket at the ground back in 1882. India's captain MS Dhoni chose to bat on a pitch that featured some grass, but his batsmen didn't back him up. Dhoni was the only man to score a half-century in India's innings of 191, which ended soon after tea, and it was the wrong way for India to start a Test in which they needed victory to retain a chance of winning the series.

Briefly, and surprisingly, their total appeared competitive, for Australia's inexperienced top order wobbled to 3 for 37 against the swing of Zaheer. But through Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting, Australia wrested back the advantage. At stumps, their partnership had grown to 79, Australia's score was 3 for 116, and Ponting (44 not out) and Clarke (47 not out) both looked in ominous form.

Things could easily have gone badly wrong for Australia after Zaheer's early strikes. David Warner edged in the first over of the innings, the catch snapped up by Sachin Tendulkar at first slip after it bounced out of the hands of VVS Laxman at second. In Zaheer's next over, his first ball caught the edge of Shaun Marsh's bat and was taken by Laxman, placing Zaheer on a hat-trick.

It continued a disappointing return to Test cricket for Marsh, whose golden duck followed 0 and 3 in the Melbourne Test. This time he played limply at a ball he should have left alone, returning the favour from earlier the day, when Laxman fell to a similarly poor stroke that was edged to Marsh in the cordon. Both men would be happy with their catches, neither with their choice of shot.

Zaheer's hat-trick ball was negotiated by Ponting, but a few overs later the opener Ed Cowan became Zaheer's third wicket, trapped lbw for 16 to a ball that struck him just in line with off stump. It was a fine spell of bowling from Zaheer, but the partnership of Clarke and Ponting, both of whom played some fine pulls late in the day, gave Australia a strong chance of a first-innings lead.

But as India showed in their first innings, good starts from two men don't necessarily mean anything. Dhoni finished unbeaten on 57 and Tendulkar, searching for his hundredth international hundred in the SCG's hundredth Test, made a confident 41 but a distinct lack of support from the rest of the batting order cost India dearly.

Again, they were beaten by an excellent bowling performance from Australia's three fast men, Pattinson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle, who between them collected all ten wickets. Watching the strongly-built Pattinson bound in and attack some of the world's best batsmen, it is easy to forget how inexperienced he is - this was the first time he had played a first-class match at the SCG.

Smart stats This is India's 16th sub-300 total in their last 12 Tests in Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies. They've lost six of the previous 11, and won two. India's average in the first innings of overseas Tests in the last year is 27.29 runs per wicket, which is the lowest among all teams. Of the 24 wickets that James Pattinson has taken in four Tests so far, 17 have been of batsmen in the top five, and four of those 17 have been dismissed for ducks. India's total is the foth-lowest ur in the first innings of a Sydney Test since 1990. However, on two of those three earlier instances, the team which was bundled out went on to win the match. Since the beginning of 2009, Zaheer Khan has taken 46 wickets of left-hand batsmen at an average of 17.52; against right-handers he has taken 40 wickets at 31.27. This is the first time in the last five years that Sachin Tendulkar hasn't scored a hundred in his first Test innings of the year.

He betrayed no nerves and struck in the first over of the Test: his third ball pitched on leg and nipped away from Gautam Gambhir, who edged to first slip for a duck that continued his slump. It was tough going early on for India's batsmen and Rahul Dravid departed for 5 off 33 deliveries when he inside-edged onto his leg off Siddle and was taken by Cowan at short leg.

That brought Tendulkar to the crease to a standing ovation, as is the case in every innings he plays these days, and he played some wonderful cover-drives as Siddle bowled full, seeking an edge. But while Tendulkar was calm and classy, his partner Virender Sehwag never looked completely settled.

There were a few typical Sehwag flashes and he was lucky not to be caught at second slip on 23 when he edged Hilfenhaus and Ponting put down a simple chance, and a Siddle offcutter beat the bat and sailed over the stumps. Sehwag's luck ran out on 30 when he got a regulation edge behind off the outswing of Pattinson, who had returned for another spell and bowled full and fast to test the batsmen.

It was precisely that sort of delivery that Pattinson used to get rid of Laxman (2), a man who has tormented Australia over the years, especially at the SCG, where his Test average before today was 96.20. Laxman didn't move his feet and wafted at a drive before he was well set - but it was Pattinson's outswing that ensured the edge behind.

That left India at 4 for 72 at lunch, and although Tendulkar and Virat Kohli steadied and batted solidly in the half hour after the break, the wickets again started to fall. Kohli was done in by Siddle's aggression - two bouncers were followed by a fuller outswinger and the batsman didn't move his feet well enough, edging behind for 23.

Soon afterwards, Pattinson picked up the huge wicket of Tendulkar, who had looked good in his 41 but played on when he tried to drive a fullish ball wide of off stump. A ton of tons would have to wait. R Ashwin and Dhoni steadied the innings with a 54-run stand but in the last over before tea, Ashwin (20) edged to slip and off the next ball Zaheer fended a catch to short leg to put Hilfenhaus on a hat-trick.

After tea, Ishant Sharma survived the hat-trick ball but few more - he also gloved a well-directed Hilfenhaus bouncer to short leg. Siddle finished the innings by having Umesh Yadav caught behind for a duck off a full outswinger - India's last three batsmen all made ducks. Australia's lower order showed in Melbourne how important late runs can be; India may rue their tail's inability to stick around and support Dhoni, who ran out of partners.

His decision to bat was sound, but much of India's batting was not. Their chances might now rest with the bowlers.

South Africa Vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test at Durban Day3 Cricinfo,Live Score,Highlights

Lunch Sri Lanka 338 and 65 for 3 (Sangakkara 28*, Samaraweera 9*) lead South Africa 168 by 235 runs 

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South Africa's quicks made two breakthroughs as they strained to keep Sri Lanka's lead within manageable proportions on the third morning in Durban. After an hour's play was lost due to a wet outfield, Kumar Sangakkara battled to be undefeated on 28 at lunch, his first contribution this series following three innings that have yielded three runs.

There are plenty of theories over what helps fast bowlers at Kingsmead. The Green Mamba is a usual suspect, but today the talk was about the change in wind direction that would help the ball jag around. It was overcast in Durban as well, but there was still no dramatic swing or seam for the South Africa fast bowlers.

That didn't stop them from probing away all session. Morne Morkel got his customary extra bounce to hassle the batsmen, Dale Steyn got a hint of away swing, and Marchant de Lange continued to impress on debut. The batsmen got a taste of what was to come in the first over of the day - Morkel got the first ball to fizz past the outside edge, and three deliveries later he got Sangakkara's outside edge only to see Mark Boucher's late dive distract Graeme Smith from pouching a catch at slip.

The batsmen were beaten on innumerable occasions in the first hour, and a majority of the runs came through the gully region. Paranavitana had a particularly torrid time - fidgety around the offstump, and was struck on the back as he ducked too late to a Morkel short ball. Eight of his nine runs came through not entirely assured glides past gully, before his innings ended with an edge to fourth slip.

Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara then eased the lead past 200 with a series of boundaries against more testing fast bowling. The stand ended when Jayawardene unwisely decided to pad up to a de Lange incutter which would have gone on to hit off stump.

Sangakkara, however, survived till lunch and grew in confidence over the course of the innings. Towards the end of the session, he whipped a gift from Jacques Kallis on the leg stump for four before upper cutting de Lange for another boundary. He still has first-innings hero Thilan Samaraweera for company, and the talented youngsters Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal to follow. With the lead already 235, South Africa need something special to end their Durban jinx.

Australia Vs India 1st Test at Melbourne Day2 Cricinfo,Live Score,Highlights

India 3 for 214 (Tendulkar 73, Dravid 68*, Sehwag 67) trail Australia 333 (Cowan 68, Ponting 62, Zaheer 4-77) by 119 runs

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Sachin Tendulkar was foiled yet again in his pursuit of a 100th international century, as Peter Siddle atoned in the final over for an earlier no-ball that reprieved Rahul Dravid, on another absorbing day of the first Test between Australia and India at the MCG.

Driven largely by Tendulkar's stand of 117 with Dravid, India reached a threatening 3 for 214 in reply to Australia's 333, but cursed the loss of Tendulkar for 73 on the stroke of stumps. Only a handful of overs had passed since Dravid had been bowled by Siddle and handed another start after Marais Erasmus' check revealed a front-foot transgression.

Australia's fielders gnashed their teeth over the incident and had struggled in the field, as catches went down and the captain Michael Clarke's resources were stretched by the absence of a fifth bowler. But Tendulkar's exit gave them cause for some hope for the third morning.

Tendulkar's serene innings in Dravid's company had wrestled the day India's way, following a second session speckled with incident. That period of play was capped when James Pattinson splayed the stumps of Virender Sehwag, whose streaky but entertaining 67 took him past 8000 Test runs. Sehwag gave two clear chances and another near enough to it, making merry until Pattinson was rewarded for a sustained and hostile spell in the lead-up to the tea interval. The bowler had earlier crossed swords with Sehwag in an ill-tempered confrontation over the matter of right of way while running between the wickets.

Pattinson stood clearly above the rest as the most demanding member of Australia's attack, showing a fiery countenance as well as speed and movement, but the limitations of the rest were exposed on a pitch now friendly to batsmen. Siddle was punished early before his late rally, and Ben Hilfenhaus used the new ball with intelligence, disposing of Gautam Gambhir, but later faded.

He, Hilfenhaus and Pattinson had all hung around in the morning to build the hosts' total. Zaheer Khan claimed Brad Haddin and Siddle to return deserved figures of 4 for 77, while R Ashwin accounted for Hilfenhaus and the last man Nathan Lyon. Umesh Yadav did not add to his three wickets on the first day, while Ishant Sharma will bowl far worse for better returns than his 0 for 48 in 24 exacting overs.

Siddle and Haddin resumed against a refreshed India on a brilliantly warm and sunny day, and were not long in facing difficulty. Zaheer gained swing one way and seam the other in the day's second over with the still-new ball, and Haddin was bereft. He edged one delivery to the third man fence, either side of failing to cover, then snicked another low to gully where Virender Sehwag held it.

Haddin asked Sehwag if the catch had carried, and there was a further delay as the umpires checked for a possible no-ball, but eventually Australia's wicketkeeper was marching off, before many at the MCG had even settled into their seats. Siddle and Pattinson resisted momentarily, before Zaheer found another precise delivery to catch Siddle's edge as he pushed from the crease.

Hilfenhaus announced himself with a slap to the cover fence. He added a hairy edge over the slip cordon and an improbably commanding lofted drive down the ground, both off Zaheer, to push the total past 300. The impressively upright and correct Pattinson followed up by punching Ishant Sharma splendidly down the ground, helping his confidence but also indicating that the surface was becoming rather more pleasant for batting than at any stage of day one.

Smart stats Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have put together 20 century stands in Tests, which is the most, four more than the next best. Dravid has been involved in 88 century stands in Tests, and Tendulkar in 84. Those are the two highest in Tests; Ricky Ponting is next with 82. Virender Sehwag became the 23rd batsman, and the fifth Indian, to go past 8000 Test runs. This was Sehwag's 53rd fifty-plus score, of which only eight have come at a strike rate of less than 70. Tendulkar has gone 18 innings without a century in international cricket, but he has seven fifties during this period. Australia's total of 333 is only the eighth time a team has posted a triple Nelson score in the first innings of a Test. The last time a team won a Test with this total was way back in 1906.

The duo reached drinks together, adding a pesky 27 in all before the introduction of Ashwin brought a Hilfenhaus heave to long on. Pattinson connected with a handful of further decent blows before Lyon was bowled around his pads. Sehwag and Gambhir negotiated a brief spell before lunch. Ed Cowan, Australia's debutant and top scorer on day one, was unable to field for a time due to back soreness, his place taken by Daniel Christian.

When the players returned, Sehwag and Gambhir struggled initially against the seam and swing of Hilfenhaus and Pattinson. A Sehwag edge off Pattinson burst through the hands of Michael Hussey in the gully - a chance that should have been held. Tempers were raised when Pattinson and Sehwag passed closely beside one another as the batsman took a run, resulting in a heated exchange that also drew in Siddle and had Sehwag pointing the senior bowler back to his fielding post.

The confrontation deflected momentary attention from Gambhir, whose best touch has been missing for most of 2011. Here he scratched around for three runs in 23 balls, the last of which was a shortish, seaming delivery from Hilfenhaus that Gambhir edged forlornly behind with an open face. Dravid arrived with the ball still new and Sehwag not yet into stride.

Quietly, the pair established themselves, offering due deference to some wholehearted bowling and accumulating runs in ones and twos before any great flurry of boundaries could be sought. The 15th over was reached before Sehwag opened up, twice stroking Siddle to the offside boundary, then repeating the trick by crashing Lyon to the sightscreen off successive balls to pass 50 from a sedate - by his standards - 59 balls. The next delivery brought a miscue and a quarter-chance to long on, where David Warner may or may not have reached the ball before it touched the turf.

Pattinson drew another chance from Sehwag's flailing bat when an edge behind was turfed unattractively by Brad Haddin, and it appeared India would reach the interval without further loss. But Pattinson's fire and persistence were justly rewarded in the moments before tea, with another freewheeling driving resulting in an inside edge that tilted middle stump.

Tendulkar made it to the middle accompanied by his requisite ovation, and caused Australian hearts to leap when an inside edge to his second ball slipped centimetres from the grasp of short leg. Tea came and went with Pattinson's electricity still in the air, but on their return Tendulkar and Dravid set out with intent to control the innings.

The first ball of the evening was flashed high over the slips and the rope for six by Tendulkar, not permitting Siddle a moment to gather himself. The next flowed through midwicket for three, and Tendulkar's course was set. He maintained a rollicking pace for most of the next two hours, taking particular toll on Siddle, and defusing Lyon.

At the other end Dravid fought himself as much as the bowlers, not locating the fluency of his England efforts, but nonetheless providing the foil Tendulkar required to blunt Australia's bowlers. Michael Clarke shuffled his quartet as best he could, but the pacemen's spells became briefer and briefer, forcing the use of Hussey and even David Warner's under-ripe legspin.

The century partnership was the 20th between Tendulkar and Dravid in Tests, a milestone befitting Test cricket's most prolific batting partnership. It appeared to have ended shortly after when Siddle brought one back between the latter's bat and pad. The roar of a crowd of 52,858 was redoubled, however, when replays showed that Siddle had overstepped.

Siddle's next delivery went close to perforating Dravid's defence again, and the bowler's pace did not flag as he pushed himself to make amends. For perhaps the first time in his innings Tendulkar became a little tentative, mindful of the close, and he was not decisive enough in his push down the track to prevent an in-ducker from bursting through to disturb the stumps. The nightwatchman Ishant Sharma survived the final three balls, but his presence has provided Australia a path into India's batting when the Test resumes.