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Christmas is in the air in Durban. If you haven’t been to a Boxing Day Test – and this correspondent hadn’t – you might find it almost surreal. Test cricket brings its own vibe with it; an anticipation and intensity that appears to be missing, at least on the surface. There is Christmas, there are “The Holidays”, and then there is the New Year. It is a time to relax, a time to enjoy, a time to take stock, and a time to look forward.Make no mistake about it, though: in less than 24 hours India’s biggest Test of the year will start, and perhaps this particular unit’s biggest too. It has been a year of success where they have held on to their No.1 ranking for 360 days, but they will know how seriously that tag will be taken if they find themselves 2-0 down on seaming tracks in a country that has forever been their nemesis.It was only yesterday, on a hot, humid, sapping day that MS Dhoni said – while walking out of the nets – that he was reminded of Chennai. However, just one look at the pitch is enough to tell you that the difference in playing conditions in Chennai and Durban is as wide as the Indian Ocean that separates the two cities. The pitch here is lush green – Gary Kirsten said that from the change room it looked the same colour as the outfield, and the overhead conditions – forecast to be cloudy for the duration of this Test – are sure to help swing and seam. For a city full of people of Indian origin, Kingsmead is a foreign island. Forget the six sixes that Yuvraj Singh hit here in an over in the World Twenty20. In Test cricket, India don’t even average half as much per wicket as Yuvraj managed in one T20 over. In five all-out innings here, they have managed 862 runs.Even in isolation, the conditions are going to present a supreme challenge to the batsmen who lasted 38.4 overs on a damp pitch in Centurion; in the context of the series, the challenge becomes huge. That said, there is nothing to suggest they can’t pass this test. Everyone knows these are better batsmen than a score of 136 all out on a testing pitch suggests. Coach Kirsten has said they needed, and still need, to apply themselves better on these kinds of surfaces. Preparation might have suffered for the first Test because of the absence of a warm-up game, but they have worked hard for this one.Out has gone the policy of having light training sessions on the eve of the game. On Christmas day, the Indian team was the group of hardest-working people in Durban. Zaheer Khan, a huge addition to the side, was the only man to opt out of the session, and this team has – with good results – let Zaheer prepare on his own for big matches. However, as if a reminder was needed that they are up against it, Gautam Gambhir’s injured left hand has worsened and M Vijay might well have to pad up on short notice once again.On the surface, though, keeping in with the festive spirit, India are not making this sound like it is their time of reckoning. It is understandable, too, for they don’t want to put any undue pressure on themselves. “Every game is big for us,” Dhoni said on the eve of the game. “As I always say, being No.1 or when you are on course to becoming No.1, every game is important. Irrespective of where you are playing in a particular series. Whether you are playing in the subcontinent or outside. We don’t consider one Test match more important than the others. By doing that, you can put additional pressure on yourself. We believe in taking care of small things, so we respect every Test.”When Dhoni was asked to look back at the last year, he again chose to focus on the details – the tailenders contributing more runs than they used to; the part-time bowlers chipping in with wickets. It all points to an admirable fighting spirit that this team prides itself on. Saving matches after a poor first innings, coming back from behind to win Tests, coming back from behind to level series, managing without a few key players.It is that spirit that they will collectively be dialling for, but the rest of the world will also be questioning their skills to do well in all conditions. Not that they have proven otherwise in the past, but this – before the series started – seemed their best chance to do so. If they can’t summon up the spirit and the skills over the next five days, the last three weeks of the year will have more to say about the team than the first 49.

The PCB has barred its contracted players from using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter during series in the aftermath of the Zulqarnain Haider controversy. The Pakistan wicketkeeper fled the UAE, where his team was involved in a series against South Africa, to seek asylum in the UK last month and, though largely untraceable, kept the public informed of his news through updates on his Facebook page.”The measure is for the players’ safety. They are prone to danger if the wrong person gets access to their information, whereabouts and so on,” team manager Intikhab Alam was quoted as saying by Pakistan’s . “Therefore, the PCB has finalised the policy and banned the use of all social networking websites during ongoing series, while also advising them to keep their activity minimum when they are not playing.”The PCB said the measure had been incorporated in its revised code of conduct for players. “There is a clause in their contracts which states clearly that they can’t use these social network sites or discuss cricket issues while under contract. It is for their own good, so that they don’t get entangled into controversies.”The board also threatened legal action against those putting up fake accounts of players on social networking websites. “There are many accounts that are not operated by the players,” the PCB’s legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said. “Fake ones operated by other people are a hazard. These people are liable to face charges of cyber crime and fraud. So my advice to them is to be careful, otherwise they can be prosecuted.”Concern over the use of such websites by players has not been confined to the PCB. Kevin Pietersen’s outburst on Twitter over his exclusion from the limited-overs side in August resulted in the ECB introducing specific regulations for micro-blogging. And Allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas was banned by the ECB for two weeks following his foul-mouthed messages against national selector Geoff Miller.

Ricky Ponting is about to embark on his eighth Ashes campaign, and in that time he’s seen the Anglo-Australian rivalry regenerate from its mid-nineties nadir to become arguably a bigger box-office event than at any time in its 133-year history. The rankings may state that this is a mid-table clash between Nos. 4 and 5 in the world, but thanks to the drama of England’s 2005 triumph and the subsequent tug-of-war for the urn, the interest – in the opinion of both captains – has never been greater.”Losing in 2005 [caused] a regeneration of Test cricket all around the world,” Ponting said. “Test cricket was on everyone’s lips again, it was an amazing series and a great one to be part of, although we lost. From that moment on, every series that we played has just grown and grown to the point where God knows how long we’ve been talking about this series in Australia. With sold-out crowds, it’s a great time for cricket. We can’t wait for it to finally be underway. The build-up has been immense.””It’s hard to get too excited by a series when one side is winning all the time,” said Andrew Strauss. “The last few series have been closely fought contests, and that’s a great thing for the game of cricket. I think everyone’s looking to Test cricket to show its potential and show why we love it so much, and the last few Ashes series have been good examples of that, and if there’s interest there that can only be good things as players going out to represent their countries. There are a lot of TV cameras here, a lot of people have spent a lot of money coming over here, and we thrive on the idea that we can pull off something special.”Strauss agreed with the notion that, given the relative states of the two teams, this series represents England’s best opportunity to win in Australia for a generation. However, if they are to overcome their recent record of nine defeats in ten Tests in Australia, they may well have to do so over the dead body of the Aussie skipper himself. Faced with the unpalatable prospect of a third Ashes defeat as captain, Ponting has drawn his personal inspiration not from the events of 2005, but the more raw and recent setback in England last summer.As far as Ponting is concerned, the forthcoming series is a redemption mission that was launched from the foot of the dais at The Oval on August 23 last year, when Strauss was presented with the trophy and set in motion the celebrations for England’s second series win in the past three campaigns.”Redemption is a big part of how we’re playing this series,” he said. “There’s been a bit written this week about what I made the players do at The Oval last year. I made sure they all got down on the ground and they all took in our own disappointment, more the English excitement.”I made sure that it hurt them as much as possible when the Ashes was being handed over to Andrew Strauss at The Oval. There’s no doubt that’s what’s been driving certainly me after all the work that I’ve done, but every one of the players as well. It’s about that empty feeling we had in our stomachs after walking off The Oval again after two successive Ashes tours. We want to make sure we don’t have that feeling again.”While Doug Bollinger’s omission from the final XI is officially due to a lack of match practice, the inclusion of Peter Siddle means that 10 of the 11 players who took the field for that Oval Test will be out there at the Gabba on Thursday morning, with the only absentee being Stuart Clark. Given Ponting’s personal record in the opening Test of a series, in which he’s scored 13 of his 39 centuries including four in Brisbane, England can expect to face a tide of pent-up desire over the coming five days, with the captain leading the charge.That, of course, is nothing new in Ashes cricket, given how intense the focus has been on every microscopic moment of the past few series, most especially on this ground four years ago, when Steve Harmison’s infamous freeze resulted in a first-ball wide to second slip and an instant surge of momentum for Australia.”I don’t think it’s especially helpful to mention that first ball from four years ago,” said Strauss. “We know pretty much who’s going to be bowling that first ball – and we know pretty much he’s got great control over the ball. But the first ball doesn’t win or lose you the Ashes. The important thing is that people are clear in their minds about what they are going to achieve.”You don’t want to get too emotional on that first morning. It is important to commit to the plans that you have discussed, but the guys are in a good place psychologically and that is a good place to start any series. The time for Churchillian speeches has passed – the guys need calming not rousing.”Even a man as experienced as Ponting agreed with that sentiment. The final stages of his personal preparation involved a rare trip back to Sheffield Shield cricket with Tasmania, for whom he had not appeared since 2007. And while his personal returns were meagre, the opportunity for a change of scene was invaluable.”It’s been terrific,” said Ponting. “It has given me the chance to focus on that and not wholly and solely think about the first ball of tomorrow’s play. That can sometimes be the worst thing you can do as well, because if you start over-thinking things too much, that can often sidetrack you. [It] has freshened me right up and actually stop me thinking about tomorrow morning.”Nevertheless, if any psychological scars still remain from that Harmison delivery, and indeed Nasser Hussain’s infamous decision to bowl first in 2002-03, Ponting was all too keen to pick at them. “Test cricket’s about five long days over five different games,” he said, “but there’s no doubt the last series out here, the first hour set up our whole campaign.”The way that we were able to capitalise on some very nervous English players that day definitely gave us a bit of a kick-start to the series and gave us all the confidence that we needed,” he added. “Hopefully the same thing will happen tomorrow.”

Left-arm seamer Rizwan Haider ran through Karachi Whites as State Bank of Pakistan completed a 10-wicket victory inside three days at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi. Resuming on their overnight score of 33 for 2, the Karachi Whites batsmen kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Haider, who had accounted for the openers on day two, picked up five more wickets to end with match figures of 10 for 93, his first ten-wicket haul. Khalid Latif, the Karachi Whites captain, top-scored with 21, as they were bowled out for 97, leaving SBP 77 runs to get for victory. The SBP openers Gulraiz Sadaf and Mohtashim Ali made easy work of their target, racing to victory in just under 19 overs. With 9 points from the win, SBP are currently at the top of the table with 30 points.Another collapse, this time at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi precipitated by Peshawar seamer Riaz Afridi, who picked up 8 wickets for 83 runs, pushed Abbottabad from their overnight score of 204 for 5 to 278 all out, 12 adrift of Peshawar’s first-innings total of 290. Abbottabad opener Waqar Orakzai, who was unbeaten on 87 overnight, went on to make 123. But none of the remaining Abbottabad batsmen were able to support him as they lost their last four wickets for just 17 runs. Peshawar started poorly, losing opener Gauhar Ali cheaply, but Mohammad Fayyaz and Naved Khan steadied things with a second-wicket partnership of 47. At close of play, Peshawar were at 147 for 4, with Sajjad Ahmad on 55 and Akbar Badshah on 21.Pakistan Television had their noses ahead at the Niaz Stadium as Hyderabad ended the third day needing 153 runs for victory with just 5 wickets in hand. Pakistan Television started the day on 145 for 1; a lead of 59. Captain Raheel Majeed’s 103 and Ammar Mahmood’s 71, along with tidy contributions from Fayyaz Ahmed and Naeem Anjum, carried them to 308, which set Hyderabad a target of 223. Kashif Bhatti was the most successful bowler for Hyderabad with 6 for 55. Hyderabad got off to a terrible start, losing their first three wickets for just 22 runs and at close of play were 70 for 5 with Rizwan Ahmed on 20 and Bhatti on 9 at the crease. Saad Altaf and Mohammad Ali picked up two wickets each for Pakistan Television.Lahore Ravi recovered from a poor start in their second innings to take the advantage over Quetta at the end day three at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. The hosts began the day on a shaky 14 for 2 with a lead of 82. But Mohammad Saad, who made 93, and Fahad-ul-Haq with 66, ensured there was no collapse. There were handy contributions from Sheraz Butt and Tanzeel Altaf down the order as Lahore Ravi declared on 276 for 8, setting Quetta a target of 345. Quetta’s chase began poorly as opener Sardar Wali was dismissed with the score on 15. Quetta ended the day on 17 for 1 and still need 328 runs for victory on the final day with nine wickets in hand.Another recovery was staged at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore where Lahore Shalimar, overcame a poor start to their first innings to end day three on 372 for 7, 74 runs behind Khan Research Laboratories. Lahore Shalimar looked in trouble at 45 for 2 before an unbeaten 60-run stand between Asif Khan and Ali Haider took them to 105 for 2 at stumps on the second day. Asif and Haider carried on their good work on the third day putting on 108 for the third wicket with Khan reaching his century. Usman Salahuddin was unbeaten on 127 at close of play with Saad Nasim on 22. Left-arm spinner Saeed Anwar was the best bowler for KRL with figures of 3 for 46.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Wasim Jaffer was the only Mumbai batsman to offer some resistance•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rest of India continued to dominate against Mumbai, dismissing them for 274, but chose not to enforce the follow-on and extended their lead to 439 at stumps on the third day in Jaipur. Jaidev Unadkat and Piyush Chawla picked up seven wickets between them, as only Wasim Jaffer resisted for Mumbai with a half-century. There were only two partnerships of any substance for the Ranji Trophy champions – one between Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane for the second wicket, and another one for the ninth wicket between Iqbal Abdulla and Dhawal Kulkarni.Yuvraj Singh came in ahead of S Badrinath at the fall of Shikhar Dhawan’s wicket in the second innings, and survived a few close calls to remain unbeaten on 10.The difference between the two seam attacks was obvious in the morning when Unadkat, Abhimanyu Mithun and a largely erratic Umesh Yadav – all of whom were much quicker than Kulkarni and Usman Malvi – made the Mumbai batsmen hurry their shots.One pacy short delivery from Unadkat made Sushant Marathe top-edge a pull to mid wicket in the fourth over of the day, to provide the initial breakthrough. That brought Rahane – who had made an unbeaten century against the Australians in the tour game in Chandigarh a week ago – to the middle. He dominated the 75-run stand with Jaffer, driving and punching through the off side for boundaries at will. At 103 for 1, and both batsmen going strong, Mumbai looked like they, too, would prosper in good batting conditions. But Rahane, on 41, hit R Ashwin straight to midwicket where Badrinath pulled of a brilliant diving catch.Three overs later, Chawla foxed Abhishek Nayar – who came in ahead of Rohit Sharma – with a googly to claim a simple caught-and-bowled off the leading edge. Four overs later, he bowled Rohit with a delivery that pitched on leg, turned across the face of the bat, and took the off bail. From 103 for 1, Mumbai had slumped to 124 for 4.Jaffer was left to wage a lone battle, getting behind the line and playing late, but driving and lofting when the opportunity presented itself. He scored most of his runs through midwicket and mid-on, but also drove elegantly through extra cover. However, once he was caught at first slip off Chawla after lunch for 71, trying to guide a full delivery to third man, Mumbai were staring at a follow-on situation.Though Abdulla and Kulkarni resisted briefly with a 70-run partnership after Mumbai had collapsed to 200 for 8, Unadkat returned to run through the tail, finishing with 4 for 41. He used the quick short delivery to good effect, getting three of his four wickets through catches off top-edged pulls. Chawla had earlier displayed his entire repertoire, flighting the ball, getting it to turn and bounce, and making judicious use of the googly.Despite the 394-run cushion, Yuvraj chose to bat again and Rest of India raced to 45 off 10.1 overs for the loss of Dhawan, who was out early to a short ball from Kulkarni.

It was fitting that after 15 years in the game James Kirtley should bow out on the ground that has been his home since boyhood.Born in Eastbourne, Kirtley is very much a son of Sussex and after making his first-class debut for the county against Glamorgan in 1995 he has taken 614 first-class wickets and 395 one-day scalps – the last being Kevin Pietersen in the Clydesdale Bank 40 game against Surrey on Saturday. Still good enough to hold a place in Sussex’s limited-overs teams, Kirtley has decided to call time on a memorable career.”It is a bit emotional and a bit nerve-wracking, but there have been lots of well-wishers and people saying kind things,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “There were a combination of factors that led to me making the decision but ultimately my body is probably telling me it’s time. I’d far rather people saying ‘can’t you stay another year’ than going ‘he probably bowled a year too long’.”It’s a body that has been put through some of the stiffest possible tests as Kirtley had to overcome murmurs over the legality of his action. Despite being cleared by an ECB panel ahead of his ODI debut in 2001 in Harare, doubts were raised by the ICC match referee for that series, Colonel Naushad Ali, and he was twice reported mid-match in 2005. It was a bitter episode and Kirtley thinks it could have been handled far better.”I felt a lot anger and a lot of resentment with the way things were done. I don’t think the protocols were particularly observed – there was secret filming that went about, there was a lot of guesswork without much detail, it felt like a bit of a witch-hunt at times. I’ve probably been the most scrutinised and analysed bowler in England but what else can you do but try and get through it.”It’s because of that intense pressure that Kirtley rates his Man-of-the-Match winning performance in the 2006 C&G final at Lord’s, when his 5 for 27 secured a tense 15-run win over Lancashire, as the highlight of his career, above even his matchwinning Test debut against South Africa three years before.”That C&G final in 2006 was my career highlight,” he said. “What I went through with rebuilding my action over the winter and then going out on the biggest domestic stage and winning a game we were being written off in, was the most satisfying moment in my career.”After bursting on to the Test scene with 6 for 34 in the second innings at Trent Bridge to skittle South Africa for 131 and record Michael Vaughan’s first Test win as captain, Kirtley only went on to play three times more at Test level. If the crumbling pitch at Trent Bridge was perhaps too friendly a start to judge his potential his final two Tests were equally misleading – played on two of the world’s most unforgiving pitches for fast bowlers – Colombo and Kandy. Though hardly disgracing himself, Kirtley was quietly nudged off the team-sheet for the next series against West Indies as England landed upon the ‘fab-four’ that went on to deliver the 2005 Ashes.”I don’t know if you can judge a bowler on four Test matches. That would be my main question. But I came at time between Gough and Caddick and the group of bowlers that won the Ashes – I was a stopgap for want of a better expression. I’m just thankful I had my opportunity and took it in the first couple of games before the flat ones in Colombo and Kandy but I’ll never begrudge playing for England on anything.”The swing-bowling, fourth-seamer role was reclaimed by Matthew Hoggard – who himself revealed in his autobiography that Kirtley could easily have had the role ahead of him – but Kirtley is clear that England went with the right option. “I think Hoggy was probably a better bowler, certainly in English conditions. While I can see the comparison I think our skills are probably a bit different.”One area that Kirtley undoubtedly edged over Hoggard was in limited-overs cricket. While Hoggard confessed to being ‘allergic’ to the white ball, Kirtley revelled in the shorter formats, excelling enough to end his career as a one-day specialist for Sussex. Despite the well-founded concerns over the bloated one-day fixture list in domestic cricket, Kirtley believes that they have helped push the standards up to a level higher than at any point in his career.”One-day cricket has really improved the skills in the English game. The number of different deliveries bowlers have is huge and batsmen have also adapted to them as well. Cricket has bigger profile too nowadays. The Twenty20 Cup here, the IPL and the also Ashes success at home recently has meant cricket is in a bigger and better state than it has probably ever been.”It’s fitting for a man that has devoted his life to the county game that he should end his career with it stronger and more competitive than when he first set out.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has moved closer to resuming bilateral ties with Zimbabwe after a break of five years by naming an A team to tour the country in October. New Zealand A’s tour, however, will be finalised only after an inspection of the safety and security conditions in Zimbabwe. The news is a boost to Zimbabwe after Scotland and MCC cancelled their visits to the country because of UK government advice.”New Zealand Cricket, in liaison with the New Zealand government, has monitored the situation and we are comfortable with the improved conditions and stability in Zimbabwe,” NZC chief, Justin Vaughan, said. “A rejuvenated Zimbabwe have their sights set on Test cricket and the tour will help provide experience and incentive for them to reach their goal, as well as strong competition for the New Zealand A team. The tour will, of course, be subject to our standard full safety and security check before the team departs.”The pre-tour inspection of Zimbabwe will be conducted by Geoff Allott, NZC’s general manager, and Heath Mills, the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association’s executive manager. The A team’s tour will be New Zealand’s first contact with Zimbabwe since 2005, when relations were suspended because of health and safety issues within the country. New Zealand A will play a two-day warm-up before three four-day match-ups against a Zimbabwe XI.Allrounder James Franklin was named captain of the squad, which also includes three spinners – Jeetan Patel, Bhupinder Singh and Nick Beard – and batsman Martin Guptill.”We are keen for Martin Guptill to regain the form that made him such a force for New Zealand last year and think that the four-day matches in Zimbabwe will give him the best opportunity to do that,” Mark Greatbatch, a New Zealand selector, said. “Three spinners have been included in the NZ A team. Young Nick Beard and Bhupinder Singh will benefit from playing along side Jeetan Patel. They deserve their opportunity having both impressed on recent training camps.”New Zealand A: James Franklin (capt), Graeme Aldridge, Brent Arnel, Nick Beard, Dean Brownlie, Daniel Flynn, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Jamie How, Peter Ingram, Tim McIntosh, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel, Bhupinder Singh, Reece Young.

The Jamaica Cricket Association has backed its decision to nominate Tamar Lambert as captain for the forthcoming Caribbean T20 instead of Chris Gayle, who leads West Indies. They have also denied suggestions that Gayle was discarded as captain and said that Lambert was a logical choice as he has played regularly for Jamaica over the last few seasons, as opposed to Gayle, who has been busy with international commitments.”Chris has not played a lot of games for Jamaica over the last couple of years and with Tamar being around the players for an extended period, it stands to reason they (selectors) may have wanted to keep Tamar for continuity. Tamar is more familiar with the guys,” Jamaica’s cricket operations manager, Courtney Francis, told . “[It’s best to] have Chris just come in and do what he does best, hit away the ball and win matches for us.”Lambert had the credentials to back his case, having led Jamaica to a hat-trick of titles in the four-day competitions in the last few seasons.”I cannot speak with any great authority on why the selectors found favour with Tamar,” Francis said. “I don’t know if it has to do with his record or with continuity as it speaks to the Jamaica line-up. Though Chris is here, [it may be a situation of] giving Chris a little rest from the stress of just captaining in a West Indies series.”Maybe this would just allow Chris to concentrate on his batting only and give us some mammoth performances which we know he’s capable of.”Gayle is coming off a difficult home series against South Africa, in which West Indies lost all but one match, the drawn second Test at St Kitts.

Scorecard
Worcestershire’s losing streak in the Twenty20 Cup continued with a fifth straight defeat as Derbyshire won by six wickets to move into the top three of the North Group. Moeen Ali did his best to halt the slide with 67 off 52 balls out of the Royals 127 for 7 and then took 2 for 14 from his four overs to make the Falcons sweat under the County Ground floodlights.But Garry Park hit an unbeaten 41 from 40 balls and shared a stand of 64 in 10 overs with Robin Peterson to see the Falcons to 128 for 4 with four balls left. The result means Worcestershire have now lost 35 games in the competition, more than any other team in the eight-year history of domestic Twenty20 cricket.The signs were ominous for the Royals after they were put in and Phil Jaques chopped the first ball of the match from Charl Langeveldt onto his stumps. Sanath Jayasuriya also failed, scooping Tim Groenewald to mid on for nine in the fourth over and a great reaction return catch by Wes Durston cut short a blossoming innings from Alexei Kervezee.After 10 overs, the Royals were struggling at 59 for 3 and only Moeen came to terms with another slow Derby pitch to at least give his bowlers something to defend. Daryl Mitchell was lbw playing across the line at Peterson and when James Cameron sliced Durston to backward point in the 15th over, the visitors were still well short of a challenging total on 83 for 5.But Jack Manuel drove Greg Smith for the only six of the innings – which also included only eight fours – in the next over and helped Moeen add 40 before Steffan Jones speared one in to trap Moeen lbw in the 19th over. Gareth Andrew came in but failed to give the innings a final flourish and was bowled for a duck swinging wildly at Langeveldt, who conceded only four from the last over.The Falcons appeared to be coasting to victory when Loots Bosman launched the chase by hitting seven fours, three of them in one over from Andrew, but the spin of Moeen and Jayasuriya put the Royals back in the game. Bosman skied Moeen to long on and Smith played around one to be lbw before Durston was caught and bowled in the next over when he drove too soon at the Sri Lankan.The flow of runs had now dried to a trickle and the pressure on the home side would have increased if Peterson had not been badly missed before he had scored by Cameron at deep midwicket, who fell over and allowed the ball to cross the ropes. The result was still in doubt when the Falcons needed 25 off 18 balls but they had wickets in hand and Park settled any nerves by twice hitting Alan Richardson for four in the 18th over.He then swung Mitchell for six over midwicket and although Peterson was bowled for 24 off 22 balls trying to seal victory in style, Park pulled Andrew for the winning run off the second ball of the final over.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDwayne Bravo top-scored for West Indies with 40 but lost his wicket at a crucial stage of the chase•AFP

South Africa fought back from a difficult start to seal a two-nil victory in the Twenty20 series against West Indies on another scrappy pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.After the wretched encounter in the first game, this tense finish was a welcome change. The pitch wasn’t conducive to the boundary-soaked Twenty20 cricket crowds routinely expect but it provided a low-scoring last-ball finish as South Africa edged home.Once again there were only a smattering of spectators, with the powers that be opting to appease TV schedules around the world and stage the match in the early afternoon, rather than under lights in the evening. Those that did turn up would have been disappointed that the home-side’s batsmen couldn’t follow up a disciplined bowling effort that restricted South Africa to 120, a modest total despite the pitch.With West Indies needing 15 from a dramatic last over, Darren Sammy managed to top-edge the second ball for four and then, extraordinarily, took advantage of loose fielding to collect an all-run four when a single looked sketchy. It left five needed from three deliveries but Ryan McLaren held his nerve to leave West Indies a run short.It should never have reached that stage but West Indies are so reliant on Chris Gayle that his dismissal to a fired-up Dale Seyn in the first over set a negative tone from which they could never quite emerge. Andre Fletcher fell soon after for his ninth single-digit score in 14 matches and Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul started very cautiously. Bravo, so often a picture of exuberance, was rendered shotless by some disciplined bowling early on from Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who came in for Charl Langeveldt and Roelof van der Merwe.Time and again Bravo picked the infielders and had eight from his first 20 balls. By the half-way stage of the innings Chanderpaul and Bravo had put on 24 from 43 painstaking deliveries and West Indies had a solitary boundary in the innings.McLaren, whose 5 for 19 earned him man of the match in the last game, had to wait until the seventh over for his first ball. Like all the quicks he was encouraged by the pitch immediately as a half-tracker trampolined past Bravo’s face to a leaping de Villiers. By that stage the game looked to be drifting away but Chanderpaul began to pick up the singles and Bravo the odd boundary. Though they were choked by Johan Botha’s impressive offspin, 15 was taken from Tsotsobe in the 14th over to ease the equation to 52 off the last six overs.It proved too much as South Africa fought back immediately. Chanderpaul followed up a well-timed pull for six with a series of failed reverse-sweeps and ended up top-edging a catch behind still looking for the shot. When Bravo then fell two overs later the target looked out of reach.West Indies could have been chasing an even easier total had 20-year-old debutant David Miller not helped his side recover from 59 for 5 in a bright 57-run partnership with Botha. He batted with power and a conviction missing from all the other batsmen on this surface to lift the score to a match-winning total. Miller was only included because of a slight groin injury to Jacques Kallis, but South Africa will be cheered by what they saw of the youngster as they try to rebuild their side after the World Twenty20 disappointment.