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Melbourne, Dec 30: Swing bowler Ryan Harris was today included in Australia’s 12-man squad for the second cricket Test against India starting on January 3 in Sydney, while the eleven who played in the opening match here retained their places. Pacer Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Daniel Christian were left out from the 13-man squad for the opening Test which Australia won by 122 runs at the MCG. The 32-year-old Harris from New South Wales has picked up 35 wickets from eight Tests at 21.37 average before a hip injury during the Cape Town Test against South Africa last month put him on a rehabilitation programme. “Harris has been included in the eleven that played the first Test in Melbourne. Ryan has had carefully monitored preparation, which has gone to plan,” said national selector John Inverarity. Apparently skipper Michael Clarke is a great admirer of Harris’ quality seam and swing bowling. The quick bowler was extremely successful in Sri Lanka and South Africa before he suffered a h...

Durban, Dec 29: Rangana Herath took 5-79 as Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 208 runs in the second test Thursday for a breakthrough win in the country. Spinner Herath wrapped up Sri Lanka's first ever test victory in South Africa late on day four as the Proteas slumped to 241 all out, well short of their victory target of 450. Herath broke a stubborn 99-run stand between A.B. de Villiers (69) and Dale Steyn (43) and then removed Steyn and Marchant de Lange in three balls to wrap up a series-leveling victory for the tourists with a day to spare. Herath had De Villiers lbw after his battling partnership with Steyn delayed Sri Lanka's march to victory and lifted South Africa from 133-6 in its second innings. Sri Lanka also ended a run of 15 tests without a win.

Melbourne, Australia, Dec 29: Peter Siddle claimed three wickets, including the prize scalp of Sachin Tendulkar for the second time, as Australia beat India by 122 runs before stumps on the fourth day of the first test. Set the imposing victory target of 292, India could manage just 169 as its top order offered little resistance in the face of a formidable Australian pace attack. Man of the match James Pattinson led the attack with 4-53, while Ben Hilfenhaus, who completed his first test five-wicket haul in the first innings, had 2-39. Tendulkar, who top scored for India with just 32, was denied yet another chance to claim cricket’s first ever 100th international century. Australia’s fast bowlers worked in harmony throughout most of the afternoon, applying constant pressure rewarded by regular wickets. “I’ve got to give full credit to our bowlers,” Australia captain Michael Clarke said. “We all know how dangerous India’s batting lineup is and for our bowlewrs to be able to restrict th...

Melbourne, Dec 15: As Australia gear up to take on India in a gruelling four-Test battle, South African batting great Barry Richards said fans Down Under should “lower their expectations” from the home team which is in transition. “Australia’s come right back to the pack. Fans are just going to have to lower their expectations of what their team is capable of. That’s taking a bit of time, isn’t it?” Richards was quoted as saying by ‘The Age’ India and Australia will play a four-Test series starting December 26 and given the home team’s struggles, the visitors have got a good chance of upstaging them. Asked to comment on the future of out-of-form senior batsmen Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, Richards said, “If someone is there to take their place, they should go. And therein lays the problem.” Speaking on the overall state of the game, Richards criticised the Twenty20 format, saying it is too commercial a format. “The size of the fields, the pitches and the power of the bats are so diff...

Melbourne, Dec 14: The remaining members of the Indian cricket team, led by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, today arrived in Australia for the gruelling Test series starting later this month. The players, including Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Zaheer Khan and coach Duncan Fletcher left Chennai for Australia yesterday. As soon as they landed in Melbourne, the team left for Canberra on a bus. India are scheduled to play two warm-up matches against Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI at Manuka Oval in Canberra— first on December 15-16 and the second a three-day game from December 19 to 21. “Different vibe in Australia. Lovin it though! Off to Canberra 3 hour drive. Not good after 13 hours of travelling,” tweeted Kohli. The batsman even posted a rather tired-looking picture of himself on his account. “ On the way to Canberra!!! Sleepy as you can see,” he wrote. Seven members of the Indian squad—Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Sa...

Melbourne, Dec 14: In yet another setback for an Australian test squad depleted by injuries, backup wicketkeeper Tim Paine is expected to be sidelined for a further four months after surgery on his finger. The 27-year-old Paine has not played any first-class cricket for Tasmania this season after re-injuring his right index finger during a warmup match. Cricket Australia doctor Trefor James on Wednesday said Paine's recovery had been slower than anticipated. "It is clear that the fracture has not healed as expected and the best course of action is for Tim to undergo further surgery," James said. Paine, who has played four tests, was to undergo surgery later Wednesday. Australia starts a four-test series against top-ranked India at Melbourne on Dec. 26 and is in upheaval after a seven-run loss to New Zealand on Monday cast doubt over the immediate international futures of opener Phillip Hughes, No. 3 Usman Khawaja and veterans Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin. Th...

New Delhi, Dec 13: The familiarity with each other following IPL stints will help Indian and Australian players understand one another better but it will not take any of the competitiveness away when the two sides clash in a Test series later this month, feels Aussie opener David Warner. “That some of us have played in DLF Indian Premier League over the last four years will surely help the players understand one another better but I don't think that this familiarity will take the edge away when we are on the field,” Warner, who represents Delhi Daredevils in IPL, said. “Lots of things were going on when India toured Australia the last time in 2007-08 but that is what makes cricket. Everyone likes to play very seriously and that alone should ensure that none changes the attitude on the field,” he added. The 25-year-old, who made his battling maiden Test century and was named man-of-the-match against New Zealand at Hobart yesterday, said he was disappointed that his knock could not h...

Sydney, Dec 13: Australia's cricketers were on Tuesday damned by the press as the "lowest of the low" after a disastrous loss to New Zealand and branded a team in crisis ahead of a Test series against world number two India. Michael Clarke's men handed the Black Caps their first victory on Australian soil in 26 years after a dramatic batting collapse in the second innings in Hobart, described as arguably their most embarrassing defeat in Test history. "Lowest of the Low," read the headline in Sydney's Daily Telegraph over a photo of a crestfallen Australian number 11 Nathan Lyon, while the Sydney Morning Herald remarked on the once dominant team's loss of form. "Once the kings of world cricket, Australia are no longer capable of putting away eighth-ranked New Zealand," the Herald said. Commentators rubbished Australia's batsmen, who gave away a solid lead going into the fourth day to succumb to New Zealand with Clarke and Michael Husse...

Hobart, Dec 12: Skipper Ross Taylor praised his New Zealand team's fighting spirit as the Kiwis pulled off a magnificent seven-run victory for their first win in Australia for 26 years at Bellerive Oval on Monday. Looking consigned to defeat with Australia closing in at 159/2, chasing down 241 runs, the Kiwis roared back capturing eight wickets for 74 to humble their better-resourced rivals for a famous victory. New Zealand have been constantly reminded that their last win in Australia was back in 1985 at Perth's WACA Ground when paceman Richard Hadlee was in his pomp. In fact, New Zealand's only two Test victories across the Tasman came in that 1985 series. New Zealand's previous Test triumph over the Australians was 23 Tests ago at Auckland's Eden Park in 1993. So it was with relish that the rejoicing Kiwis celebrated by popping champagne corks on the Bellerive pitch hours after their amazing Test win and one toasted by Taylor. "I've had over 50 text mes...

Hobart, Dec 12: David Warner defied his doubters and rewarded his backers by carrying his bat Monday for an unbeaten 123 in his second test, but it was the only highlight for Australia in its seven-run loss to New Zealand. The discipline and patience he showed should dismiss the impression that the hard-hitting opener lacked the concentration to play anything more than Twenty20 games. The 25-year old Warner has been a prolific run scorer in Australia’s Twenty20 team since 2009 when he was plucked from obscurity to become the first Australian in 132 years to be selected for the national team without having played a first-class match. In his debut T20 match against South Africa, Warner showed the kind of big hitting that has become his trademark by smashing 89 runs off 43 balls with seven boundaries and six sixes. He has been less successful in the 50-over format, scoring only 210 runs from his 10 international matches, providing fodder to the critics who claimed he was a mere T20 specia...