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Graeme Swann believes this is the first time an England side has looked genuine contenders for a global one-day trophy after they put themselves on the brink of the World Twenty20 semi-finals with an outstanding 39-run victory against South Africa.The success was set up by Kevin Pietersen’s crunching 53 from 33 balls, but the twin spin attack of Swann and Michael Yardy helped suffocate South Africa’s reply. After struggling to come up with a balanced side for this format England now have all their bases cover with a long, hard-hitting batting line, a solid and varied bowling attack and a slick fielding unit.They could cement a semi-final berth before playing their final match against New Zealand if Pakistan beat South Africa, but even if that doesn’t happen only a significant defeat will damage their net run-rate enough to end their hopes.”I genuinely think, for the first time looking at a team, we can actually win this,” Swann said. “It’s not all hot air and bluster. I think we’ve played some very good cricket so far in this tournament. We are playing the exact brand of cricket we set out to, as aggressive as possible with the bat and then to create as much pressure as possible with the spinners. Two out of two at Barbados, it’s worked perfectly. Let’s just hope it continues.”Swann’s 3 for 24 against South Africa was one of many key contributions he has made for England over the last 18 months, but Yardy’s success has been the surprise package. He impressed during the warm-up matches in Barbados and continued that form in the victories over Pakistan and South Africa.”I’ve always been an advocate of at least two spinners in Twenty20 cricket,” Swann said. “We’ve struggled to nail that over the last 18 months, but I think Yards has come in and done a fantastic job – just what we need, and more than useful batting. He’s been a great addition to the team.”Yardy has been described in various ways from an ‘unfashionable’ cricketer to even ‘ugly’ but Paul Collingwood has often said that it is about substance over style and that’s a sentiment echoed by Swann.”We can’t all be as gorgeous as me, when we play the game,” he said, unable to resist his usual humour. “He’s been brilliant. It doesn’t matter how you do it; if you’re running up and bowling and taking wickets and keeping the runs down as well that’s great from him – coming back into a squad – because there’s a lot of pressure on you.”He’s done the hard yards in the county game, like I had. He knows his game back to front now, and I think that shows when he’s bowling. If he does go for a couple of boundaries, he’s more than happy to run up and do it again.”The fact we’ve got eight overs to bowl in the middle and the ball is turning one way from one end and the opposite from the other, it makes it tricky for batsmen to get set. That’s why it works so well.”The match-winning partnership of 94 between Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter on Saturday included two huge slices of luck as Kieswetter was caught off a no-ball and Pietersen edged between keeper and slip. But Swann said it was no less than they deserved after England felt hard done by in their opening match of the tournament against West Indies when the hosts won on the Duckworth-Lewis method.”Luck evens itself out. It certainly didn’t do us any favours against the West Indies – because, in my opinion, we’d have won that game fairly easily had we not been denied the chance to bowl 20 overs. The Ireland game was a hiccup, and the rain probably did save us. It would have been a tense affair all round, but I would still have backed our bowlers to keep them down.”Coming into the Super Eights, we knew we needed to make a statement in our first couple of games. I think against Pakistan we did that, but more so today. I believe we were exceptional.”

Suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has been served a third notice by the Indian board, this time for underselling the theatrical rights of the tournament last November and for awarding the contract for mid-over advertising slots during IPL matches last season without BCCI consent. An IPL official confirmed the notice had been served on Modi on the day he is due to reply to the second notice served on him.Modi has already been sent two notices, one soon after the conclusion of the IPL this year and another after receiving an email from the ECB alleging activities by Modi that are “detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and world cricket at large.” Modi, on Monday, filed his reply to the second show cause notice. According to the notice, Modi allegedly talked about setting up a parallel Twenty20 league in England and Wales in which eight existing IPL franchises would bid for nine counties in the United Kingdom.The latest source of trouble, however, surrounds the Rs 330-crore ($71.2 million) deal last November with Entertainment & Sports Direct (ESD), promoted by a Dubai-based private equity firm, for the global theatrical rights to ten seasons of league matches starting with the 2010 season. ESD had won the bid beating out competition from Triplecom Media. The main cause for concern for the Indian board, according to a BCCI source, is that the deal was completely “underpriced”.The board also wants an explanation over the contract for the mid-over advertising during the matches this year. According to the original IPL broadcast deal, Multi-Screen Media (MSM) was offered 2600 seconds to commercially exploit in each of the IPL matches. But, reportedly, Modi suggested the organisers could exploit a further 150 seconds by showing an ad when the ball was not in play between the deliveries in an over.The contract with MSM was revised and Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, reportedly asked Modi to float a tender at the IPL governing council meeting on March 7 for the additional 150 seconds per match. Instead, it is alleged, Modi awarded the contract on his own to a firm owned by Kunal Dasgupta, who was instrumental in Sony bagging the IPL broadcast rights before the tournament’s inaugural season. “The board is unhappy that he did not even inform the governing council and worse it is the board that owns this [150-second] slot and the money has not come in,” a governing council official informed Cricinfo.On Monday evening, Modi also served a defamation notice on Clarke, giving the ECB chairman seven days to provide a “full and unconditional apology and retraction in a form, manner and terms to be agreed”. Modi said in the notice that Clarke’s claims were “utterly untrue” and that he was never involved in “planning an unauthorised cricket league or tournament anywhere in the world which is not approved either by the ICC or ICC’s member associations”.

The Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe Mortaza believes his success on the domestic circuit has primed him for a strong return to international cricket. Mortaza was the Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded National Cricket League, taking ten wickets and scoring 93 runs, and he said he was raring to go at the ICC World Twenty20 starting April 30.”It was a good tournament for me because I got back my confidence by playing this Twenty20 tournament. I played one one-day game against England after recovering from injury but in this tournament I played six games without any trouble,” Mortaza told the .”It takes time to get back full rhythm in my bowling but still I am happy with the way I bowled in the tournament and I also enjoyed my batting there. My action has changed a little bit after the injury but the most satisfying fact is that I was getting back my in-swingers.”After eight months on the sidelines, Mortaza made his first appearance in national colours since a knee injury during the tour of West Indies in July, in an ODI against England in February. However, he went wicketless in that game, and was not played further as Bangladesh’s captain Shakib Al Hasan fuelled rumours of a rift between the two players when he called into question Mortaza’s enduring worth at international level.Mortaza chose not to dwell on the past and instead looked forward to regain his aggressive ways with the ball. “I am now fully concentrating on my fitness and how I can regain my aggression in my bowling because without that it’s impossible to prove myself again as a wicket-taking bowler,” he said. “I believe in performance and hope I can prove myself again as a performer.”In total, Mortaza has undergone six knee reconstructions in the space of eight years, but his latest return to fitness followed arguably the most demoralising setback yet. In July 2009, he was handed the captaincy for Bangladesh’s tour of the Caribbean to allow Mohammad Ashraful to concentrate on his batting. But he was able to bowl just 6.3 overs in their famous Test victory in Kingstown, his first match in charge, before collapsing in his follow through on the second day of the game.Mortaza was aware that he would have to ease himself back into limited-overs cricket but had his sights trained on the biggest challenge of all. “Definitely now I’m seriously thinking about Test cricket and I am confident that I can revive my Test career also but I want to take time. I requested captain Shakib and the selectors not to consider me for the Test series in England. Right at the moment I want to play only one-day and Twenty20 matches,” said Mortaza.”I am fit enough to bowl at least 15 overs if I want to play Test cricket and that’s why I need to see how things go in the shorter version of the game, after which I will decide about my Test comeback. But everything will depend on whether the team needs my service.”

Match facts

Tuesday April 6, 2010
Start time 20.00 local time (1430 GMT)No surprises as to who the star attraction is•Indian Premier League

Big picture

Sachin Tendulkar is in town and not surprisingly, there’s a mad scramble for tickets to see him in action, despite the game being ‘sold out’ even before Chennai Super Kings’ previous game two days ago. Two victories on the trot have boosted Chennai’s chances in the tournament as they finally make their way up. Anticipation is bigger than ever because the team has just picked up some steam after four consecutive defeats. They were at No. 4 briefly before Rajasthan’s thrilling win in Nagpur pushed them one slot below.Chennai have five more games to play, and need to win at least three more to stand a chance of making the semi-finals. M Vijay’s two brutal knocks have given the team much-needed momentum but if the team has to progress in the same vein, the bowling has to complement the efforts of the batsmen. Save for Doug Bollinger’s brilliance on a batting pitch against Rajasthan, the rest made heavy weather in defence of 246. Rajasthan’s effort was commendable in getting close, but it should never have got so close. When your most experienced bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, gets hammered for 52 off four overs, you know you have a problem.No such worries for Mumbai Indians who stormed to their fifth successive win. They look the most settled unit in the competition and it’s no surprise really that they’re still the table leaders. For a tournament of this length, the challenge for any winning team is to not lose steam. Mumbai suffered on that count last year after a good start and Tendulkar would have learnt from that experience.

Form guide (most recent first)

Chennai Super Kings WWLLL
Mumbai Indians WWWWW

Team talk

Mumbai coach Robin Singh ruled out resting key Indian players who will be taking part in the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies. He said Mumbai considered this to be a very important game, so the indications are they will stick to their winning combination.Chennai didn’t reveal any team changes either. “We will play the best team for tomorrow’s match,” Muralitharan said. “We do not want to lose the momentum since we have still not qualified for the semi-final. We will take this match with all seriousness. May be, after we are assured of semi-final slot, we might rest a few players.”

Previously…

Mumbai 3 Chennai 2The last time these teams met, at the Brabourne Stadium, even a total of 180 wasn’t enough for Chennai to defend. Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan hit half-centuries to cut the target to size.

In the spotlight

Bollinger v Tendulkar: The Australian left-arm quick was a revelation in his IPL debut, acclimatising in record time after leaving New Zealand. With figures of 2 for 15 in four overs, it seemed like he was bowling on a different pitch to the rest. He had the pace, bounce and subtle variations to succeed on that comatose track, hurrying the Indian players with his extra yards of pace. Can he do the same to Tendulkar?Morkel the bowler: An economy rate of 8.84 after nine games isn’t what you’d expect from your main allrounder. Albie Morkel may have done well enough to hold his place as a batsman alone, but as an opening bowler – not his main trade – he has fallen short on more than one occasion. Batsmen have feasted on his length deliveries and he can’t even rely on movement or pace to assist him. He leaked 56 off four overs against Rajasthan, which happen to be the worst bowling figures so far in IPL 3. It rains runs when Morkel’s in action, irrespective of whether he has bat or ball in hand.

Prime numbers

• Chennai have hit the most sixes (67) but have also conceded the most sixes (55) among all IPL teams this season.
• Spinners have conceded 7.60 per over at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in this IPL but the seamers have been more expensive, leaking 9.48.
• Only four men in the current Mumbai squad – Sanath Jayasuriya, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh and Abhishek Nayar – featured the last time these teams met in Chennai.

The chatter

“The fact that they won by a thin margin even after notching up close to 250 runs tells its own story. The bowlers have to get their act right if the CSK has to go the entire distance”
“In this tournament, any side can beat any other and we are quite confident at the moment. We put up the highest total, our batsmen are in good form and we are looking forward to maintain the momentum.”
Muttiah Muralitharan

Abdul Razzaq has refused to represent Lahore Lions in the upcoming RBS Twenty20 Cup, choosing instead to join an already powerful Sialkot Stallions side, after he was overlooked for the captaincy of his hometown team.Razzaq had been selected by Lahore for this season’s tournament, which begins from February 28 in Karachi. But unlike the last two seasons he turned out for the Lions, in 2006 and 2009, he was overlooked for the captaincy, the Lahore association opting for Salman Butt instead. The move irked Razzaq, more so given that he took the side to the final last year with a string of explosive performances that led to his own comeback into the national side.”I spoke with the Lahore Association to ask why I had been dropped as the captain of the Lions,” Razzaq told . “I wanted to play for my native Lahore so I asked them to give me a merit-based reason for replacing me as the captain. I told them that I had no problem with being replaced as captain if they could give me a good reason for doing it.”I reminded them that I’d taken the Lions to the semi-finals and the final of the last two T20 cups I had played. The association refused to give me any merit-based reasons and they told me that they didn’t have to justify themselves to anyone. They said their decision was final and that I had to accept it.”There are other surprising big-name moves in the 13 city sides due to take part in what is the PCB’s most successful and popular domestic event. Mohammad Yousuf, another Lions fixture, will be turning out for Islamabad Leopards instead, under the leadership of Shoaib Akhtar. Yousuf has long sought to prove that he can be a successful Twenty20 player and though he captained the Lions side in 2008, he was left out of their squad this year.The Peshawar Panthers will also be without a number of regulars, such as Younis Khan, Yasir Hameed and Riffatullah Mohmand. The trio has switched to Abbottabad Rhinos instead. Younis’s participation is still not certain, however. The Panthers will be led by former Test bowler Riaz Afridi and still have Umar Gul in their squad.

Squads

Karachi Dolphins: Mohammad Sami (capt), Shahid Afridi, Shaharyar Ghani, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan, Fawad Alam, Afsar Nawaz, Sohail Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Tanvir Ahmed, Ramiz Aziz, Azam Hussain, Fahadullah, Infanuddin, Tariq Haroon, Adnan Baig, Tahir Khan, Fahad Iqbal, Agha Sabir, Rumman RaeesKarachi Zebras: Danish Kaneria (capt), Asad Shafiq, Khurram Manzoor, Faisal Iqbal, Akbar Rehman, Hassan Raza, Nomanullah, Babar Rehman, Tabish Khan, Anwar Ali, Farhan Iqbal, Mohammad Waqas, Ali Asad, Haris Ayaz, Adnan Malik, Daniyal Ahsan, Javed Mansoor, Misbah Khan, Shan MasoodQuetta Region: Shoaib Khan, Mujeed Khan, Taimour Ali (capt), Manzoor Badini, Sabir Khosa, Bismillah Khan, Arun Lal, Nasrullah Khan, Jalat Khan, Nazar Hussain, Arshad Khan, Taimour Khan, Khalil Ahmed, Naushad Irshad, Taimour Mengal, Munir Ahmed, Talib Hussain, Abdul Jabbar, Mohammad Asif, Abdul RehmanIslamabad Leopards: Rao Iftikhar, Shoaib Akhtar (capt), Raheel Majeed, Umair Khan, Naeem Anjum, Sarmad Bhatti, Azhar Mahmood, Zohaib Ahmed, Fayyaz Ahmed, Rana Shahzad Azam, Kamran Hussain, Fakhar Hussain, Mohammad Yousuf, Umair Mir, Faizan Riaz, Ameer Khan, Junaid Nadir, Ali Sarfraz, Irfan TalibRawalpindi Rams: Babar Naeem, Naveed Malik, Hammad Azam, Usman Saeed, Naveed Qureshi (capt), Zahid Mansoor, Adnan Mufti, Umer Amin, Jamal Anwar, Yasim Murtaza, Asif Mumtaz, Muhammad Ramiz, Sohail Tanvir, Muhammad Amir, Yasir Arafat, Sadaf Hussain, Fawad Hussain, Rizwan Akbar, Muhammad Ayaz, Muzamal NizamMultan Tigers: Abdul Rauf (capt), Waqas Sharif, Saeed Anwar jnr, Rameez Alam, Muhammad Irfan, Zulfiqar Babar, Kashif Naveed, Gulraiz Sadaf, Ansar Javaid, Ahmed Raza, Shahid Abbasi, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Ali, Ali Niazi, Shahid Akram, Junaid Iqbal, Rizwan Haider, Taimoor Dogar, Shahid Iqbal, Ali MoazzamAbbottabad Rhinos: Younas Khan (capt), Yasir Hameed, Riffatullah Mommand, Adnan Raees, Wajid Ali, Ghulam Muhammad, Fawad Khan, Riaz Kail, Junaid Khan, Khalid Usman, Mir Azam Khan, Zeeshan Khan Jadoon, Umair Khan, Farooq Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Muhammad Naeem, Asif Afridi, Mohammad Sami, Sajjad AliHyderabad Hawks: Shahid Qambrani (capt), Mir Ali Talpur, Zeeshan Gul, Ghulam Shabbir Solangi, Muhammad Awais, Lal Kumar, Adnan Brohi, Sharjeel Khan, Rizwan Ahmad, Ghulam Yasin, Zahid Mahmood, Kashif Bhatti, Azeem Ghumman, Muhammad Urs, Ayaz Brohi, Mashooq Bhutto, Aqeel Anjum, Rehan Nizamuddin, Ayaz Jamal, Nasarullah MemonLahore Lions: Salman Butt (capt), Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, Adnan Raza, Sohail Ahmad, Kashif Siddique, Waqas Ahmad, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Aizaz Bin Ilyas Cheema, Usman Malik, Salman Qadir, Aamir Hayat, Azhar Ali, Tanzeel Altaf, Hamza Mubeen, Fahad Masood, Hamza Paracha, Shoaib AkramLahore Eagles: Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Aamir Sajjad, Khaqan Arsalan, Jahangir Mirza, Kamran Sajjid, Humayun Farhat (capt), Abil Ali, Muhammad Irshad, Muhammad Khalil, Muhammad Naveed, Hafiz Saad Nasim, Ali Azmat, Imad Ali, Arslan Mir, Shahnawaz Malik, Wasim Khan, Muhammad Zuhaib, Asif Raza, Jamshaid AhmadPeshawar Panthers: Riaz Afridi (capt), Umar Gul, Jan Nissar, Zohaib Khan, Aftab Khan, Shakeel ur Rehman, Zulfaqar Jan, Fawad Ali, Adil Amin, Sajjad Ahmed Jan, Hammad ul Hasan, Israrullah, Azam Jan, Idrees Khan, Imran Khan, M. Asif Khan, Azam Khan, Kashif Hayat, Jamal ud Din, Mehfooz SabriFaisalabad Wolves: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Shahid Nazir, Muhammad Hafeez, Naveed Latif, Zeeshan Asif, Usman Arshad, Khurram Shahzad, Ijaz Ahmad jnr, Ali Waqas, Muhammad Salman, Muhammad Asif Hussain, Muhammad Asif, Ali Raza, Muhammad Talha, Samiullah khan Niazi, Asad Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Khalid, Ahmad Hayat, Muhammad ShahidSialkot Stallions: Shoaib Malik (capt), Imran Nazir, Muhammad Asif, Rana Naved, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Kamran Younis, Shakeel Ansar, Abdul Rehman, Shahid Yousaf, Mansoor Amjad, Qaisar Abbas, Adeel Malik, Hafiz Majid, Abdul Razzaq, Muhammad Saeed, Faisal Naveed, M. Ayub Doggar, Naeemuddin, Shehzad Malik, Sheikh Haris Sohail

Scorecard
Yannic Cariah ensured that he was there at the end when the winning runs were struck, with nine balls to spare•Getty Images

A responsible, unbeaten century from middle-order batsman Yannic Cariah and a strong support act from No 3 John Campbell steered West Indies to a four-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in Christchurch and secured for them the third place in the Under-19 World Cup standings.The day did not start off so well for West Indies – their decision to bowl first came unstuck in the face of a confident opening stand between Denuwan Rajakaruna and Udara Jayasundera, who added 174 in 35.1 overs. The attack seemed to have run out of ideas but the breakthrough came courtesy a run out. Cariah, who was also the pick of the West Indies attack, conceding 34 in his nine overs when his team-mates leaked runs, struck soon after to remove Dhanushka Gunathilleke.Rajakaruna fell six short of a well-deserved hundred and West Indies smelt an opportunity to stifle the momentum, but their hopes were dented by the in-form Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who struck an unbeaten 43. With Rumesh Buddika and, to a lesser extent Chatura Peiris, going for the big hits, Sri Lanka motored along in the last ten overs, with the final 91 runs coming in 53 balls.The target of 292 became more difficult when Peiris removed West Indies’ best batsman in the tournament, Kraigg Braithwaite, first ball, and in his second over took out Trevon Griffith. At that stage, Sri Lanka looked set to win the game, but Campbell and Cariah had other ideas. Campbell kept up the run-rate, hitting four sixes and six fours in his attractive 77 off 70 balls. When he fell in the 21st over, having added 120 runs in 111 balls with Cariah, West Indies were right back in it.Shane Dowrich ensured that the momentum stayed with them, adding 49 in 45 balls with Cariah, who had set his sights on batting through. Nadeera Rajaguru got the better of Dowrich and accounted for Yannick Oatley’s wicket soon after to stifle the West Indian charge.The match was on a knife-edge when Jermaine Blackwood joined Cariah and their partnership tilted the game decisively in West Indies’s favour. Blackwood hammered two fours and two sixes in his 45-ball 41 while Cariah eased to his century. Sri Lanka used eight bowlers with little success till Peiris came back to scalp Blackwood, in the process moving to joint-second in the bowling honours board for the tournament. It was too little too late, though, and Sri Lanka had to settle for the fourth spot.

Afghanistan’s battle against adversity during their rise up the cricket ranks has all the makings of a Hollywood script. Now, after their victory over USA which confirmed progression to the Super Fours of the World Twenty20 Qualifiers, Hamid Hassan, their star performer, has compared his country’s success against the odds to the iconic boxing movie , with Hassan himself delivering the knockout blow.Hassan took 3 for 14 as USA were restricted to 106 for 7 in their pursuit of 136 on Thursday, and it gives him a tournament haul of eight wickets at 8.12. Hassan, who spent time as an MCC Young Cricketer along with team-mate Mohammad Nabi, has been a regular contributor to Afghanistan’s growing list of international victories with his pace bowling.”I am a big fan of American television and movies and my favourite film is – I vividly remember watching it when I was growing up – and one of my heroes is Sylvester Stallone,” Hassan wrote in his Cricinfo blog.”I think that there is a similarity in the story of Rocky and the Afghanistan cricket team – we both started at the bottom and gradually made our way up the rankings. It is easy to forget how far we have come in the last two years since we played at the World Cricket League Division 5 in Jersey.”Afghanistan are now one step closer to reaching the World Twenty20 in West Indies having just missed out on qualification for the 2011 World Cup and Hassan couldn’t help but think ahead to the possibility of facing the leading teams in the world.”We all want to win the tournament,” he said. “Having the chance to play against India or South Africa at the ICC World Twenty20 really would be like Rocky having the chance to fight the champion and we are determined to make our dreams come true.”Rocky overcame all his obstacles to become the champion, and don’t rule out Afghanistan scripting their own, real life, glorious ending.

Habib Bank Limited’s middle order complemented the efforts of Mohammad Aslam on day one to put their side well on top against Karachi Blues at the end of the second day at the National Stadium. Resuming at 95 for 2, Habib Bank were jolted early, losing Khaqan Arsal’s wicket for the addition of only two runs. Hasan Raza settled the nerves with a steadying hand, and added 53 with the resolute Khan Masood to put his side in sight of the first-innings lead. Farhan Iqbal and Humayun Farhat then ensured that it would be a substantial advantage, adding 86 for the sixth wicket. Raza made an even 50, while Iqbal fell for a strokeful 70. Facing a 150-run deficit, Karachi Blues’ second dig got off to a dismal start as four wickets fell for the addition of 79 runs.Saeed Anwar jnr’s 81 led a strong riposte from The Rest before they lost two late wickets to leave their match against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited on the balance at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex. SNGPL’s hopes of extending their score hinged on overnight centurion Naeemuddin, but he could only add 20 more runs, as the innings folded for 321. Tabish Khan picked two wickets, while Zulfiqar Babar picked one, as both finished with three-fors. The Rest’s innings was jolted by opening bowler Samiullah Khan who picked a wicket with the first ball and went on to reduce them to 38 for 3. Saeed Anwar then began the recovery with Saeed Bin Nasir and the duo added 69 for the fourth wicket, before Nasir was stumped off Yasir Shah’s legspin. Sharjeel Khan seamlessly took over the reins and continued to support Saeed Anwar, who stroked ten fours and a six in his measured innings. They seemed set to take their side to stumps before medium-pacer Imran Ali intervened, dismissing both batsmen. Naeem Anjum and Arun Lal will resume The Rest’s quest to erase the deficit which is a further 126 runs. Their performance tomorrow could well decide the final line-up, as Habib Bank look set for full points in Karachi.

Australia and West Indies have both been hit by a series of injuries the day before the third Test in Perth, with Peter Siddle ruled out, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Adrian Barath unlikely, and Nathan Hauritz also in doubt.The problems have left Australia with one confirmed debutant, the Victoria fast bowler Clint McKay, who will replace his state team-mate Siddle. And Steven Smith, the 20-year-old batsman-legspinner, has been put on standby for Hauritz and will fly from Sydney to Perth on Tuesday night.Hauritz took a blow to his spinning finger while fielding at training on Tuesday and although he did bowl afterwards, he suffered some soreness and will not know his fate until the morning of the match. Smith has starred with the bat for New South Wales this week, scoring a century against Queensland, but not with the ball.Ricky Ponting said the replacement spinner would not necessarily step straight into the starting line-up if Hauritz missed out. The Tasmania fast bowler Brett Geeves joined the squad on Monday night and will be considered along with Smith if Hauritz wakes up with a swollen finger.”There’ll be a chance of that,” Ponting said of a four-man pace attack. “Geeves flew in last night and trained with us this morning. There’ll be that possibility but I’ve said for a while it’s always my preference to go into a Test match with a specialist spin bowler but we’ll wait and see what happens.”West Indies are likely to have two changes with the key batsmen Chanderpaul and Barath both in serious doubt. Chanderpaul is still struggling with a finger problem after being struck on the hand in Adelaide, while Barath hurt his hamstring during the second Test.”It’s not looking too good but we’ll see what happens tomorrow,” the captain Chris Gayle said. “Those two guys are the worry for us right now. It’s a big blow going into the final Test match but having said that whoever gets that opportunity, hopefully they will make the best use of it.”Travis Dowlin is expected to come in and open with Gayle in place of Barath, while Chanderpaul’s spot is likely to be taken by Narsingh Deonarine. Ponting said the injuries to Chanderpaul, who Australia found almost impossible to dismiss last year in the Caribbean, and Barath, who made a hundred on debut in Brisbane, would be a major blow for West Indies.”That’s not ideal for them,” Ponting said. “Barath’s looked pretty good most times he’s come to the crease and we all know how much of a run scorer Chanderpaul is for them, so that’s two of the better players out of their batting so that’ll leave a couple of big holes. It’ll be nice for Clint to be bowling to some of their younger guys, in a way.”The opportunity for McKay opened up because Siddle, who was under a cloud during the week after suffering a strain to his left hamstring in Adelaide, woke up on Tuesday with some soreness following a lengthy spell in the WACA nets the previous day. It was enough for the Australians to err on the side of caution and Siddle, who will fly home to Melbourne, will aim to be available for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.”The deal was that for him to come up here and play this game it would have to be a seamless period and have no pain, no stiffness, no feeling at all of anything wrong,” Australia’s physio Alex Kountouris said. “He bowled yesterday and this morning he woke up and it’s a little bit stiff.”He was almost ready to play this one and he has done no harm, it’s just a bit of stiffness. So we’re going to go back to Melbourne now and just try a couple of little things, it’s probably more coming with his back we believe, so we’ll try to deal with that component of it. I’m fairly hopeful he will be okay [for Boxing Day].”Australia are already without Ben Hilfenhaus (knee), Stuart Clark (back) and Brett Lee (elbow) from the Ashes squad, leaving Mitchell Johnson as the only fast man from that tour who is still fully fit. The loss of Hilfenhaus, who was the Man of the Match in the Gabba victory, has been the biggest blow for Australia and Kountouris said the outlook for Hilfenhaus was still uncertain.”He has commenced bowling today so it will depend on how he is going over the next two or three times he bowls,” Kountouris said. “Knee tendonitis, or tendonitis anywhere, is a bit of a grey area. Most people play with pain, it’s just whether the level of the pain is severe enough to stop them doing what they have to do.”In his case he had it throughout England and he was fine, he got through, he just got to the point where it became very painful during the Brisbane Test match. Until he has another bowl and sees how he goes we really don’t know how long his prognosis is. We’re hopeful he will be up but we just don’t know at the moment.”

Australia 5 for 322 (Katich 92, Hussey 66, Ponting 55) v West Indies
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSimon Katich built a solid platform for Australia with 92•Getty Images

West Indies refused to let Australia run away with the first Test, but the hosts have the stronger position after a bright opening to the contest. The local batsmen, the ones whose first-innings lapses cost the side in England, failed to convert a series of promising starts, with four of them departing between 41 and 92 as they went to stumps at 5 for 322.Those lapses may not prove costly but the pattern exposed the Test rust of a group that has been heavily focussed on limited-overs engagements recently. Simon Katich, who was able to warm up with a couple of games in the Sheffield Shield, was the most composed as he almost reached three figures, but Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey fell when set and Michael Clarke’s international comeback from a lengthy back injury ended in a one-day style slash that was snapped up by a lunging Chris Gayle at first slip.While West Indies appeared to be out of touch on a couple of occasions, they kept fighting back with energetic bowling and some local generosity on an excellent surface at the Gabba. Dwayne Bravo removed Clarke (41) and also picked up Katich in his 2 for 66 while Jerome Taylor, who gained a sore hip, and Kemar Roach were also tricky at times. The tourists must remember this ground has staged many first days like this, where the hosts seem in range before racing away on the second morning.Marcus North and Brad Haddin (9) have the task of driving their side forward after surviving through the afternoon shadows. Like Katich, North has spent a lot of time with his first-class side already this season and he did not allow any openings as he finished with 42.Katich and Ponting made sure the loss of Shane Watson – he starred with the one-day team in India – before the team had scored was forgotten quickly during a settling stand of 126. Everything was happening so easily that the field was spreading and the shoulders of the tourists were beginning to sag. The exits of Ponting and Katich in the middle session kept the mind of Chris Gayle, the jet-lagged captain, busy as he plotted against the Australians.As the pitch offered the bowlers some help in the first half of the day, Katich was able to switch between defence and attack as easily as the wind changes and the increase in tempo was always a shock. He started cautiously before breaking free with a hook and a handful of firm cuts and then wound down again. The next time he changed pace he launched into action against the debutant Ravi Rampaul, driving through cover for four and pulling him for six in consecutive balls. Another lull followed.He was accelerating again, hitting strongly through cover, shortly before his dismissal and had a reprieve on 81 when Sulieman Benn missed a take above his head. Bravo was the unlucky bowler but didn’t have to wait for long for his reward, with Katich frustrated to glance to Denesh Ramdin just before tea. There were 13 fours and a six in Katich’s 92 and he left the field with his side in reasonable shape at 3 for 200.Ponting was troubled a couple of times by deliveries coming back into him but was able to ease to a half-century, which came with a hooked six over fine-leg in the over before lunch. After the break Ponting was again worried by a ball darting in and Roach was unlucky to miss out on a leg-before decision. Two runs later Ponting tried to defend and edged behind for 55.Hussey entered and was immediately uncomfortable, playing, missing and squirting thick edges between the slips and gully for a couple of boundaries. His mood changed when Gayle stirred and came on for an over to allow boundaries to point and cover. Hussey joined the list of those to falter when in control and gave Benn a wicket with a caught-and-bowled on 66. Another strong start had been given up.The persistence of the visitors was admirable as they moulded the experience of Taylor and Bravo with the youth of Roach and Rampaul. Taylor and Roach caused batches of trouble while Rampaul was off the pace as he gave up more than five an over during a nervy entry.West Indies’ day started badly when Ramnaresh Sarwan, the No. 3, was ruled out with a back injury, but they were lifted in the third over as Watson was lbw not offering a shot to Taylor. By stumps their position was bearable and their future in the game depends on how their fast men back up in the morning.