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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Yusuf Pathan smashed eight sixes in his 105•AFP

Yusuf Pathan launched the sort of assault that has made him a rich man to ensure it wasn’t all one-way traffic in Centurion but it wasn’t enough to prevent South Africa from snatching the series with a 33-run victory. After a tough tour over the past month-and-a-half, the last day of the series seemed set to be an anti-climactic non-scrap courtesy yet another Hashim Amla century and a slew of reckless strokes from the Indians.Yusuf, though, blasted a century of utter violence when all looked lost at 119 for 8, and after an hour of Yusuf, the South African bowling was looking clueless and India were 49 short, dreaming of a miraculous win. Yusuf clubbed a 68-ball century but holed out soon after, much to the relief of the Sunday crowd at Supersport Park.The tour had begun with South Africa’s crushing Test victory in Centurion and ends with another defeat for the visitors at the same venue. One reason India’s bowlers will be thrilled to be heading back home will be that there will be less sparring with Amla, who has plundered more than 1100 runs in the past 11 months against India in Tests and one-dayers. He collected another 116 on Sunday to push South Africa to a tall total in a rain-hit match.MS Dhoni had chosen to bowl on winning the toss, perhaps swayed by Supersport Park’s reputation of being a ground where it is easy to chase in day games. No matter what the past record, it is unlikely any team can win when its top order combusts so spectacularly and heedlessly as India’s did. Barring Virat Kohli, the rest of the top six were dismissed not by unplayable deliveries but by attempts at extravagant strokes.Rohit Sharma’s horror series ended as he was bowled by Lonwabo Tsotsobe going for a loose drive through the line; Dhoni’s imperious cut ended as an edge to first slip; Yuvraj Singh edged two boundaries to third man before giving catching practice to JP Duminy at point; Suresh Raina smashed a couple of fours before an upper cut sailed to third man; Parthiv Patel was the only one in the top order to inspire confidence, middling nearly every ball for the second innings in a row before falling to a debatable diving catch by Faf du Plessis at cover. India were 74 for 6 in the 14th over, and their only hope of saving the series seemed to be if the ominous clouds circling the stadium brought a massive downpour which washed away the match before the 20th over.Enter Yusuf. He fell over reverse-sweeping Robin Peterson for a six early in his innings, but the wickets kept tumbling at the other end. With Zaheer Khan adopting a blithe step-away-and-swing approach, the end seemed minutes away, but he knuckled down after some initial scares and kept turning the strike over to Yusuf.Indian fans would have nursed little hopes even when intermittent bursts of hitting took Yusuf to 66 off 58, and India climbed to 175 for 8 in the 33rd over. All that changed as Yusuf pounded four sixes and three fours in the next three overs to reach his century – so quickly that few realised he had reached the milestone till he raised his bat. That frenzy, through which Yusuf remained completely calm, ended with a 21-run over from Tsotsobe that brought the required-rate below five. Yusuf skied another attempted blast down the ground soon after, which du Plessis clasped to settle South African nerves.Yusuf’s ton was in absolute contrast to Amla’s in the morning, when the South African chose patience over pyrotechnics to coolly compile his runs – he reached his half-century on the back of 30 consecutive singles. After Graeme Smith’s troubles against Zaheer Khan continued, Amla let No. 3 Morne van Wyk be the aggressor. van Wyk grew in confidence as his innings progressed, unleashing a series of powerful cuts whenever he was given width, and even pulled off an audacious lap-shot off Munaf Patel for four.India went in with only two quick bowlers, and their armada of spinners didn’t pose too many questions to the South African batsmen. South Africa glided to 113 for 1 before Yuvraj plucked a spectacular caught-and-bowled to send back van Wyk, and had AB de Villiers stumped with a sharply turning delivery.Amla and Duminy, the home side’s two form batsmen this series, both had lives – Duminy surviving a close lbw shout and Amla dropped at square leg – and revived South Africa with a 102-run stand. The standout shot in Amla’s innings was the dab to third man, perfectly timing the ball as he opened the face to pick up several boundaries, one of which brought up his century.In the four overs that remained after an 80-minute stoppage, South Africa lost their heads and plenty of wickets as panicky running, smart bowling and attempted slogging combined to result in a collapse of 6 for 24. Amla played only two deliveries in those last four overs. India went in to lunch on a high, but there was little joy for them after the break barring Yusuf’s heroics, and their dreams of a maiden series win in South Africa were shattered.

The IPL governing council has all but cleared the participation of ten teams in the fourth edition of the league, which starts a week after the World Cup. There is only one precautionary measure the IPL will take before the player auction: to check if the players, who represented Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab in the past editions, have received their dues from their respective franchises.”It was decided that before the auction takes off it is necessary to check if the payments to the players [from the two franchises] have indeed been made because that was one of the three conditions set by the court,” an IPL official told ESPNcricinfo. The reasoning behind that move was that the board did not want to find itself at the receiving end later, in case both Rajasthan and Punjab failed on their word given to the court.On their part, the two franchises have confirmed they cleared all dues well before the deadline date, which is before the auction day on January 8. The two-day auction will be held in Bangalore over this weekend where 350 players will go under the hammer.The clearance means the BCCI has decided to suspend its legal battles with both Rajasthan and Punjab, the two franchises it had terminated last year for alleged violations. It also rules out any move by the board to approach the Supreme Court to overturn the Bombay High Court’s stay on the termination.

The Kochi franchise’s new ownership pattern has passed scrutiny and the team will feature in the fourth edition of the IPL, which begins on April 8. After receiving the new ownership pattern from the Kochi consortium last Sunday, the IPL had deferred the final decision by a week. Today, after a two-hour long meeting that was attended by some of the Kochi owners, the IPL said it was satisfied with the submissions and assurances from the consortium.”The IPL governing council confirmed that the Kochi franchisee had satisfactorily responded to the notice issued to them by the BCCI, and decided that the franchisee Kochi Cricket Pvt Ltd, would play in the IPL from 2011 onwards,” the BCCI said in a release after the meeting.The decision means that the IPL in 2011 will have at least eight teams, while uncertainty continues over the fate of the two franchises that were terminated – Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. An arbitrator has since passed a stay order on Rajasthan’s termination while the hearing of Punjab’s appeal was stalled because the same arbitrator stepped down citing a conflict of interest.”For the moment the IPL will have eight teams, until the courts decide on Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab, which have entered into legal battles with the BCCI after they were terminated,” an IPL official told ESPNcricinfo.It was the fourth time the governing council was meeting to discuss whether to retain the faction-ridden Kochi franchise, which suffered from disputes right from its inception because of a tussle for ownership between the promoters and the investors. Annoyed and dissatisfied by the franchise’s inability to sort out the internal problems, the IPL served a termination notice to Kochi on October 27, giving it a 30-day deadline to respond and explain why it should not be scrapped. The franchise was given two extensions before it finally submitted its restructured ownership pattern on November 28.The investors in the Kochi consortium include corporate firms Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Anand Shyam Estates and Film Wave – which held 74% of the equity according to the original shareholding structure when they won the bid. The remaining 26% had been given to the family of Gaikwads – Shailendra, his brother Ravi and their parents plus a few others, all part of Rendezvous Sports – as free equity for services rendered in successfully bidding for the franchise.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outOnce again, Virender Sehwag provided the impetus at the top•AFP

Virender Sehwag continued toying with the bowling, Gautam Gambhir continued his return to form, after which Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar took India to a dominant position in the series decider. As Dravid and Tendulkar accumulated risk-free runs after the openers’ aggressive start, the faces of the New Zealand players wore a resigned look for the first time on the tour.On the same flat pitch, New Zealand had been bowled out for 193, and were now looking at the prospect of having to bat out two days to save the match. They lost their last three wickets for 45 today, thanks to Ishant Sharma’s impressive spell. He got good bounce from lengths that weren’t quite short, and wasted little time in getting Brendon McCullum, who moved a bit more freely today. One thick edge flew past gully, but the delivery immediately after was closer to the body and took the edge through to the keeper. He had New Zealand down to 165 for 9, but some lusty hitting from Southee kept India in the field a little longer. After three sixes in three overs, one Southee mis-hit ended up with Sehwag, who then rushed to pad up.Sehwag was in the same rush with the bat, but he was helped by the opposition too. New Zealand bowled to Sehwag the reputation, not Sehwag the batsman, and paid the price. Chris Martin hit him on the finger with a short ball first up, but overdid the short bit on a sluggish surface. Sehwag pulled and upper-cut with ease, scoring 39 off the 23 short deliveries bowled to him. Martin did manage to get him to fend uppishly on one occasion, but there was neither short leg nor leg gully to take advantage.

Smart Stats

• Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar’s partnership was their 19th century stand in Tests, giving them three more than the next best pair.

• India have 42 century stands in home Tests since November 21, 2007, the most by any team at home over the same period.

• Ishant Sharma’s four-wicket haul was his first after 13 innings. His last four-wicket haul came against Bangladesh at Dhaka in January 2010. His bowling performance since November 2009 has been very ordinary though; he has 26 wickets in nine Tests at an average of 39.50.

• Harbhajan Singh has just 43 wickets in 12 Tests since November 2009, at an average of over 41 with one five wicket haul. In three away Tests, he has just four wickets at an average of over 100.

• Sachin Tendulkar made his 11th score of over 50 in Tests in 2010. He has six centuries and five fifties in the same period.

Martin had taken a quick five-for in Ahmedabad with traditional swing bowling, but barely pitched anything up to Sehwag here. That hit on the fingers only encouraged him to keep bowling short. In Martin’s second over, Sehwag pulled him for boundaries twice in front of long leg. It didn’t help that when Martin pitched up later, he was driven square for four.The pitch was so slow that Sehwag once swayed out of the line of a short delivery, and then nonchalantly, as an afterthought, sliced it over gully. He was waiting to tuck into the full ones, whipping the next length ball off the pads.At the other end Gambhir, who did the dirty work in Hyderabad by scratching through for his first half-century in 10 months, looked confident. His clips off the pads went where he wanted them to, the walk down the pitch to counter swing was back, and so was the steer to third man. However, the steer, when attempted a touch carelessly, would eventually cost him a century.Gambhir was getting the singles to give Sehwag the strike. It wouldn’t have been a good idea to keep Sehwag away from the strike. He welcomed Daniel Vettori with a six over long-on – a mere flick that went the distance – and then late-cut him for four delightfully. After lunch, he looked to keep feasting on the bowling, taking 17 off the first two overs after the interval.By the time the slowness of a Vettori delivery cost Sehwag his century, he had added 100 or more with Gambhir for the ninth time. Still, India needed to guard against the tendency to lose momentum once Sehwag gets out.Gambhir, although not trying to score at Sehwag’s pace, made sure nothing of the sort happened, allowing Dravid time to get going. He brought up his fifty with a loft over mid-on, and followed it up by going back and cutting the same bowler, Vettori, in his next over. Best of all, he charged at Williamson, then merely caressed him between mid-off and extra cover.With India one short of New Zealand’s score, Gambhir chased a wide delivery from Southee, and to his horror looked up and saw a fourth slip and a gully placed for that shot. It was an angry Gambhir that made the walk back, but a serene Dravid had quietly moved to 28 by then, without a shot that would draw attention.Dravid soon drew attention to himself with a lovely straight-drive just before tea. Post the interval, though, with Sehwag and Gambhir gone, New Zealand could bowl to a plan. The run-rate fell from 4.9 when Sehwag got out to around 3.5, but the two senior batsmen knew they had enough time on their hands.Without incident the two moved to a world-record 19th century partnership – except for a couple of blows Tendulkar took on the forearm, and an edge from Dravid that fell short of the keeper. Both men made half-centuries, making it 198 scores of 50 or more between them.

South Africa allrounder Herbert Roy Lance, commonly known as Tiger, died on Wednesday from complications resulting from a car accident four weeks ago. He was 70 years old.Lance was involved in a head on collision in Johannesburg on October 15. The subsequent injuries included a dislocated right hip and internal bleeding of the lung. At the time, police said the woman who drove into Lance was driving on the wrong side of the road. Lance died in hospital.”He was both a powerful cricketer and a powerful personality and was a legend in his own lifetime,” Gerald Majola, chief executive officer of Cricket South Africa (CSA) said in a statement. CSA flew their flag at half mast on Wednesday to mourn Lance’s death.Lance played 13 Test matches for South Africa between 1962 and 1970, scoring 591 runs at an average of 28.14 and taking 12 wickets at 39.91. He made his debut against New Zealand in Johannesburg and took three for 30 in his first test innings. Lance was also part of a team that whitewashed Australia 4-nil in 1970. He played in a side that included Barry Richards, Graham and Peter Pollock, Mike Proctor and Eddie Barlow, and was captained by Ali Bacher.”He batted with distinction at the No. 5 position, was an outstanding slip catcher and a very good medium fast seam bowler,” Bacher told the . Bacher, a former cricket administrator, also played with Lance domestically, where both represented Transvaal. Lance was prolific on the domestic scene and played 103 first- class games for North Eastern Transvaal, Northern Transvaal and Transvaal. He scored 5336 first class runs at an average of 34.87 and claimed 167 wickets at average of 25.65Lance also played football for Mayfair Rangers and dabbled in hockey.

A back stress fracture has ended Josh Hazlewood’s chances of a debut Test in India next month, but it has handed an unexpected opening to Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson. The 20-year-olds will join Australia’s squad as standby players at least until the end of next week’s tour match in Chandigarh.Starc, a left-arm fast bowler from New South Wales, will travel with the team from Sydney on Sunday while Pattinson, a right-armer, will stay with Victoria at the Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa until their finals prospects are determined. Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said the injury was disappointing for Hazlewood.”He is one of the young fast bowlers we have identified as having an important role to play in Australia’s future,” he said. “At the same time it does create an opportunity for another two young fast bowlers who we are equally sure will make the most of the opportunities.”Hazlewood, 19, earned his one-day debut in June and was only an outside chance to play during the two-Test series, which starts in Mohali on October 1. Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus form part of the first-choice attack while Peter George was also ahead of Hazlewood in the team hierarchy.The injury comes after a busy off-season for Hazlewood, who also spent time at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane. When he arrived at the Academy the coaches were intent on improving his fitness, but the extra load has taken its toll.”During the past week Josh developed low back pain while bowling in preparation for the upcoming tour,” the physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. “Scans have confirmed the early stages of a low back stress fracture.”Hilditch said both Starc and Pattinson had made a significant impression at the Centre of Excellence during the winter. “The need for these standby players to return to Australia will be determined at the end of the tour match,” he said.

The hastily-arranged match between the Australians and an England XI captained by Lord Harris, now deemed to be the first Test staged in England, was won by the home side but produced a thrilling contest which ebbed and flowed to the end.The Australians came into the match without their trump card, the fast bowler Fred Spofforth who had injured a hand in a meaningless game a week earlier. His absence almost certainly proved the difference between the sides. Harris had failed to persuade two or three top names to play for him, but despite that the England team was strong.Despite the authorities dismissive approach to the whole tour, the appeal of a match between strong England and Australia sides proved a massive attraction. On the first day 20,814 spectators paid admission, with another 19,863 on the second. Thousands more found vantage points on trees outside the ground and on the gasometers.In glorious late-summer sun, Lord Harris won the toss and batted, reaching 404 for 8 by the close of the first day of three. WG Grace made 152 in three hours 55 minutes out of 281 scored while he was at the wicket, while Bunny Lucas and Lord Harris added fifties. Only three late wickets gave the Australians any hope.England’s tail was soon polished off on day two – the last six wickets fell for 16 runs – and then bowled out the Australians for 149. Fred Morley, the Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer, took 5 for 56 and the follow-on was enforced. When they reached the close on 170 for 6, still 101 from making England bat again, few doubted the game would extend to lunch on the final day.A small crowd of 3751 gathered for the last rites, and two quick wickets seemed to signal the end. But Billy Murdoch, Australia’s captain and a top-order batsman, remained and set about the bowling, and he found good support from the Nos 10 and 11, George Alexander and William Moule, who both chipped in with thirties. Built around Murdoch’s 153, they did enough to give their side a lead, but it was only 57.WG Grace, weary from bowling, chose to bat down the order but the decision backfired as England crashed to 31 for 5, both EM and FR Grace making ducks, FR bagging a pair in his only Test. WG Grace strode out at No. 7, steadied the innings, and England won by five wickets, sparking wild celebrations. The significance of Spofforth’s absence was underlined two years later at The Oval when England were set 85 and lost, Spofforth taking 14 wickets in the match.The was a sad footnote as Fred Grace, the youngest of the three brothers playing in the game, was dead within a fortnight. From The Oval he traveled to a match in the rain at Stroud, got soaked and then slept the night on a damp mattress. He contracted a chill and died days later from pneumonia. Despite failing with the bat at The Oval, his catch to dismiss George Bonner went into cricket folklore. The mighty Bonner skied one towards the gasometer side of the ground, the ball going so igh that the batsmen had completed two runs and were on they for a third when Grace held the catch. Where Grace took it was measured the same day as being 115 yards from the bat.

Ashish Bagai returns as the captain for the Intercontinental Cup fixture and two ODIs against Ireland after recovering from a knee injury. Rizwan Cheema, who led the team in the Intercontinental Cup match against Zimbabwe XI, has been named vice-captain. Khurram Chohan has also been named after recovering from a groin injury.Three changes have been made to the XI that played against Zimbabwe with Trevin Bastiampalli, Sandeep Jyoti and Usman Limbada being left out.Six players from the 16-member squad for the recent ICC World Cricket League Division One tournament have been left out and the 14-member squad for the ODIs includes Hemanarine Chattergoon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Balaji Rao and Hamza Tariq.Squads
Intercontinental Cup
Ashish Bagai (Captain), Rizwan Cheema (Vice Captain), Umar Bhatti, Hemnarine Chattergoon, Khurram Chohan, Abzal Dean, Parth Desai, Ruvindu Gunasekara, Jimmy Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Zubin Surkari, Hamza TariqODIs
Ashish Bagai (Captain), Rizwan Cheema (Vice Captain), Harvir Baidwan, Umar Bhatti, Hemanarine Chattergoon, Khurram Chohan, Parth Desai,Ruvindu Gunasekera, Jimmy Hansra, Nitish Kumar, Hiral Patel, Balaji Rao, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq

ScorecardSouth Africa A’s top three batsmen launched a solid reply to Sri Lanka Board XI’s first-innings effort of 352, before offspinner Janaka Gunaratne ran through the visitors’ middle order as the two-day game in Kandy ended in a draw.Gihan de Silva and Chaminda Vidanapathirana succeeded in their efforts to stretch the home side’s first-innings score past 350. Quinton Friend added a wicket to his overnight tally of three as the innings closed at 352.South Africa A openers Stephen Cook and Dean Elgar faced no problems as they ran up a partnership of 106 in 23.4 overs. Elgar was the more attacking of the two, picking eight fours and a six in a 63-ball 53 before falling to Vidanapathirana. Stiaan van Zyl continued the dominance, adding 59 runs with Cook in quick time, before Gunaratne got into the act, dismissing the latter for a 127-ball 70.Jehan Mubarak made the next breakthrough, having Jonathan Vandiar caught behind. Thereafter, the visitors’ middle order had no answers to Gunaratne, losing four wickets to his wiles for the addition of 46 runs. Thandi Tshabalala edged behind just before the end of the game, giving Gunaratne figures of 5-56, while van Zyl remained unbeaten on 75.

Kepler Wessels, the former South Africa captain, has been named the Highveld Lions’ strategic cricket consultant for the Champions League in September. He was expected to join the Lions next month.”I am very to happy to work with the team and have worked well with the coaching staff and senior players in the past. I look forward to using my experience to help the team perform to the best of their abilities,” Wessels said on Monday afternoon. “In Twenty20 cricket, anything can happen and if the team plays good and performs well especially under home conditions, they can do very well.”Wessels coached the Chennai Super Kings to the final of the IPL in its inaugural season two years ago and has recently worked with the South African team as a batting consultant and national selector. He also coached Northamptonshire for three and a half seasons before parting ways in 2006.Lions coach Dave Nosworthy welcomed the inclusion of the experienced Wessels to the support staff. “Kepler brings vast experience and knowledge which is what I think may just give our players the edge short term, and more importantly proper understanding of true professionalism in the long term,” Nosworthy said. “I have no doubt that his expertise will greatly assist us all in our quest to surprise a few (in the Champions League).”