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The star attraction of the tournament, Chris Gayle, ransacked an unbeaten 109 but ironically ended up on the losing side as Mid West Rhinos beat Matabeleland Tuskers by seven wickets. Brendan Taylor’s unbeaten 75 turned out to be the matchwinning knock as the Rhinos registered their first win.The Tuskers lost Tom Smith early and that brought Gayle and Paul Horton together for an unbroken stand of 166. Gayle smashed eight fours and seven sixes in his 59-ball knock. Horton remained unbeaten on 47, off 58 balls.The target of 172 was achieved with three balls to spare. Taylor shared stands of 56 with the New Zealander Lou Vincent and 105 for the third wicket with Gary Ballance. Ballance made a quickfire 67 off 34 balls, including four sixes.Ironically for Gayle again, he leaked 47 off 3.3 overs, the most expensive figures of the day.

Michael Clarke believes Australia will have done well if they can scrape to 250 on the second day in Cape Town. When bad light and rain forced an early end to a day that had also started late, the Australians were 214 for 8, with Clarke still at the crease on 107 and Peter Siddle yet to score.Australia had been sent in by Graeme Smith, who expected moisture in the pitch to give his fast men some assistance and despite Clarke’s hundred, the South Africans finished the opening day on top. However, Clarke said he would have batted had he won the toss, so keen was he to stay positive.”I would have batted,” Clarke said. “I think it is good attitude wise. I am a batsman and it would have shown good intent from the team. We knew it would be hard for the first couple of hours to lunch but if the sun came out it would have got easier but unfortunately it didn’t come out for as long as we liked. I thought 300 would have been a good day.”After being sent in I would have liked 300, but the wicket changed. When the sun was out the wicket was better to bat on, when it was overcast there was a little bit of swing and seam all day. It was pretty similar to English conditions today. If we can scratch 250 plus we have done a pretty good job.”Clarke and Shaun Marsh were the only two of Australia’s batsmen who seemed comfortable in the difficult conditions after the top order stumbled to 38 for 3. Marsh was calm and assured until he missed a Dale Steyn inswinger and was lbw for 44 and Clarke played a chanceless innings after some early heat from Steyn, who attacked him with bouncers.But despite Australia’s slightly under-par score, batting is unlikely to get significantly easier as the Test wears on. Clarke said he was confident that Australia were still in the match if his bowlers could extract similar sting from the pitch as the South Africans did.”You can see cracks already on day one,” he said. “I think if the sun comes out you will see more balls shoot along the ground as the game goes on, but if it stays over cast I think it is going to swing and seam for five days.”It is going to be tough to start your batting on while it is overcast. We have got to hit the right areas with the ball and hang on to our catches and I am not too disappointed with how we’ve gone.”

Matthew Wade is looking forward to making the most of his big break, he just wishes it hadn’t arrived because of the wrong kind of break for his good mate Tim Paine. When Paine was ruled out of Australia’s upcoming Twenty20s in South Africa due to a fractured finger, Wade, 23, was the logical choice to take the gloves.As Victoria’s wicketkeeper over the past four seasons, Wade has made impressive progress in both his glovework and his batting, and was second on the Ryobi Cup run tally last summer. He had moved to Melbourne from Hobart when he realised that sneaking past Paine into the Tasmania side would be a very difficult task.Wade knew from personal experience just how good Paine was. The pair had known each other from their childhood days, when they competed in games of backyard cricket that became so serious that the loser had to go and buy fish and chips for everyone.”Tim and I grew up together, so I’m disappointed for him to have to go and get another operation on his finger,” Wade told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s devastating for him. But I’m really happy to take the opportunity. I know that he’s happy for me – I got a text from him and I know that he’s happy I got the opportunity.”By winning an international call-up, Wade has already beaten the odds. It has been notoriously difficult for glovemen to force their way into Australia’s team over the past couple of decades, with Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin each monopolising the position during their respective eras.In the past 20 years, only nine specialist wicketkeepers have taken the gloves for Australia in any format, plus a few non-specialists like David Boon, Justin Langer and Jimmy Maher. During the same period, more than 50 fast bowlers, 40 batsmen and 20 spinners have played for Australia.”I’m really happy to get the chance to play for Australia,” Wade said. “It’s everyone’s dream. A lot of hard work goes into getting there. I’m just stoked that I’ve got my opportunity. Hopefully I can take it and things can go further from here.”A muscular left-hand batsman and a good keeper whose glovework has improved dramatically over the past four years, Wade is likely to slot in down the order for Australia. However, the highest score in his 27-match Twenty20 career – which included some IPL games for Delhi Daredevils this year – was 80 opening for Australia A.”I haven’t played a lot of Twenty20, it’s the least amount of games I’ve played out of the three forms,” Wade said. “But I feel like I’m getting better. I know my game very well now. I’m happy to get an opportunity in whatever form it is, and T20 I feel comfortable playing it and hopefully I can do the job.”There will be plenty of familiar Victorian faces in the Twenty20 side with Wade, including the captain – and selector – Cameron White, the batsmen Aaron Finch and David Hussey, and the fast bowler James Pattinson. The two Twenty20s in Cape Town and Johannesburg on October 13 and 16 will be followed by three ODIs and two Tests.

Australia’s captain Michael Clarke believes Peter Siddle can overturn his habit of bowling short, built up during his four years in international cricket, and revert to the fuller length he needs to be a dangerous fast bowler against Sri Lanka in the third Test in Colombo.Admired as a hard-working, hostile paceman, Siddle has not always been an example of subtlety, and was often used by former captain Ricky Ponting as an enforcer in the vein of Merv Hughes. In Sri Lanka such methods could lead to long, draining stints in the field against the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, in his 100th Test, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan.To that end, Australia’s pacemen have employed a disciplined line and a fuller length against the hosts, looking for edges, lbws and to have them bowled, with conspicuous success. However the absence of Ryan Harris means it will be Siddle who now has to look for swing and seam, rather than the bounce and intimidation with which he has generally preferred to take wickets.”All of our bowlers have been working on their length since they’ve been here,” Clarke said. “That’s something that Craig McDermott [Australia’s bowling coach] has certainly made very clear – with the new ball we needed to be bowling fuller, we needed to be giving ourselves a chance, and Sidds [Siddle] has done that.”I’ve watched him bowl at every net session he’s had and he’s definitely improved his length. I think there were a few reasons why he didn’t perform how he would have liked in the practice game [Siddle went wicketless]. He’s had two weeks since then to train with Stuart Karppinen [the fitness coach], who has made it very clear he wanted him fitter and stronger, and to bowl a lot more in the nets to work on his length.”Rhino [Harris] has got the ball to come back in and he’s bowled blokes through the gate, got lbws. Sidds can swing the new ball away, but one of his greatest strengths and what he does naturally is bring the ball back in off the pitch to the right-handers or take it away from the left-handers.”Clarke, however, did not rule out a shorter-pitched attack from Siddle and Mitchell Johnson, given the right circumstances.”The other thing Sidds has is, he can bowl 150kph and can crank it up. If there’s not much in the wicket he’s got a very good bouncer so he can push the batters back,” Clarke said. “It brings in other ways to take wickets as well. Not only can Mitch bowl at good pace, but Sidds can as well, and if there’s not much in the wicket there might be a few more bouncers than we’ve seen [so far].”Johnson, too, has something to prove, having struggled for wickets and rhythm in the series. Unable to produce the inswing of his pomp, Johnson has concentrated on angling the ball across the right-handers. But he is yet to bowl the sort of hair-raising spell that has kept him in the Australia team, as an occasional matchwinner, since his debut against Sri Lanka in 2007.”I think Mitch’s role has been similar throughout the on- dayers and the Tests,” Clarke said. “There hasn’t been much swing around, but he’s got extra pace and being left-handed brings in variation [to the attack]. If there’s swing around he can swing the ball in, but he’s also got a beautiful angle to take it across the right-handers whether it is reversing or not.”It also gives us the option for somebody to reverse the ball into the left-handers. Mitch has just got to keep doing what he is doing. I thought he bowled really well in the last Test without much luck – a few balls bounced short of me at second slip, there were a few play and misses. I think everybody needs to continue to do what they’re doing. We spoke about discipline and execution, and it is going to take every single one of us doing that at the highest level to have success in this Test match.”

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, has praised fast bowler Aizaz Cheema’s performance in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe and said it justified the selection committee’s decision to use the tour as an opportunity to blood uncapped but promising players. Cheema finished with match figures of 8 for 103, the second best by a Pakistan debutant.”This tour was the best opportunity for youngsters and they justified our decision, especially Cheema,” Mohsin told the . “I watched each of his deliveries and he impressed me with his fitness and commitment.”I won’t rate the win as a huge achievement. The win wasn’t against a top-class team but we have achieved our target of finding a fast bowler who can support the other pacers.”Pakistan rested their first-choice fast bowlers Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz for the Zimbabwe tour and opted for a new-look pace attack that included Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan, Cheema and Junaid Khan. Cheema, Khan and Junaid played the Test and picked up ten Zimbabwe wickets among them.”According to our plan, we are giving chances to new players and Cheema with his performance has proved he will be a useful prospect for Pakistan in future,” Mohsin told the . “He bowled with a great heart on a dead pitch. Sohail still has time to prove himself.”The selectors were criticised for the experimental nature of the squad but Mohsin said he was “not afraid of taking these chances for the betterment of Pakistan cricket” and that he had the “full support from the PCB.””I am here to prepare a strong team with a strong back-up for which you have to take calculative risky steps,” he said.Four Pakistan batsmen got past fifty in the Test, though only Mohammad Hafeez went on to get a hundred. Mohsin said Pakistan needed to guard against complacency in the upcoming limited-overs series. “Zimbabwe will be tough in that format and the team should not take the hosts lightly.”Pakistan and Zimbabwe next play three one-day games and two Twenty20s. The first ODI will be played in Bulawayo on September 8.

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Two bowlers who have been injured for most of the last two seasons helped Hampshire to their first County Championship win of the season and inflicted a serious blow to Durham’s title hopes.With two innings forfeited in the rain-ruined match at Chester-le-Street, Durham were set what looked a generous target of 276 in 82 overs. However, the title hopefuls were all out for 225 with Dimitri Mascarenhas taking six wickets for 62 runs and Kabir Ali 3 for 69.Although he was playing only his third championship game in two years following his Achilles injury, Hampshire must have sensed conditions were tailor-made for Mascarenhas when they declared on 275 for 7. The former England one-day allrounder’s medium pace always proves very effective in the north-east whenever there is any moisture around and in his first eight overs he took 3 for 11.Although Michael Di Venuto had less than his share of the strike, he had faced 23 balls when he tried to cut a ball which was moving into him and edged to second slip to depart for 1. In the last over before lunch Mark Stoneman padded up to a swinging delivery from Mascarenhas and was leg before wicket.Then, straight after the break, Gordon Muchall played back to a ball which skidded on to him and lost his off stump. Will Smith made 31 before edging Ali to first slip and Durham were rocking on79 for 5 before Dale Benkenstein and Phil Mustard revived them with a stand of 45.Both batsmen were on 28 when Benkenstein drove at left-arm seamer Chris Wood and Hampshire’s acting captain Jimmy Adams took a fine catch high to his left at wide mid-off.With Callum Thorp coming to the crease there were still 45 overs left and survival was not really an option. He took 10 off Wood’s next over, prompting the introduction of legspinner Imran Tahir.Thorp hit him for two fours in each of his second and third overs to move to 29 off 22 balls at tea and with Mustard on 36 Durham were 163 for 6, still needing 113 off 37 overs.The target was down to 88 when Thorp departed for 43, replicating Ian Blackwell’s dismissal by trying to pull a short ball wide of leg stump from Ali, only to glove it to wicketkeeper Michael Bates.In the next over Mitch Claydon drove at Mascarenhas and also edged to Bates, who completed his maiden first-class half-century in the morning.It was as good as over for Durham when Mustard fell for 56, cutting low to Michael Carberry at backward point. Finally Rushworth hooked Mascarenhas to long leg and Durham had taken only two points from the match. They lead by eight points from Lancashire, but their three title rivals can all overtake them next week, when Durham are not in action.Hampshire took 18 points but are still 32 adrift of safety and faced an unwelcome coach trip to Aberdeen after the match for a Clydesdale Bank 40 League match against Scotland, knowing the ground had been far too wet to stage today’s game against Leicestershire.

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Leicestershire Foxes remain on course for a quarter-final place in the Friends Life t20 thanks to a comfortable six-wicket win over struggling Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Grace Road.Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald once again played a starring role for the Foxes, taking three wickets and then following it up with an unbeaten 38 to steer his side to their 131-run victory target with 13 balls to spare.It was the Foxes’ seventh win in the competition this season and their third home victory in a row. With three matches left, they stay second in the North Group table, two points behind Nottinghamshire Outlaws.McDonald, acting captain in the absence of the injured Matthew Hoggard, lost the toss but was then delighted to see the Foxes’ attack restrict the Steelbacks to a below-par total of 130 for nine.The visitors made a sluggish start, with only eight runs coming off the first three overs, but accelerated to score 36 off the next three before losing opener Rob White in the seventh over with the total on 46.White was bowled off an inside edge by McDonald, and from that point on it was all downhill for the Steelbacks. The impressive McDonald also removed Bilal Shafayat for 28 and Niall O’Brien for 23 as the Northamptonshire innings ground to a halt.Left-arm spinner Claude Henderson conceded only 22 runs in his four overs, taking the wicket of Alex Wakely, while left-arm seamer Harry Gurney continued his impressive form in the competition. He ensured there would be no late-order revival from the Steelbacks with the wickets of Johan Botha, James Middlebrook and Jack Brooks in his final two overs to finish with three for 25 and take his total wickets so far to 21 in the competition.McDonald claimed 3 for 26 before the Foxes were able to cruise through to their target. Despite losing Josh Cobb in the first over and Jacques Du Toit in the second with only 10 on the board, McDonald and Will Jefferson pulled things round with a stand of 63 in six overs.Jefferson was in blistering form, smashing two fours and five sixes in a sparkling knock of 41 off 21 balls before being caught at short fine leg off Botha. But McDonald, with 38 off as many balls, and James Taylor, with an unbeaten 21, saw the Foxes to victory.

ScorecardScott Newman top scored with 61 from 57 balls on his return to his old ground, but still finished on the losing side as Surrey beat Middlesex by 21 runs in the Friends Life t20 London derby at The Oval.Having single-handedly kept the Panthers’ run-chase afloat, Newman was eventually dismissed in the final over as Surrey clinched their third win and inflicted a seventh defeat in eight starts on Middlesex.Middlesex made a solid if unspectacular start chasing the Surrey total of 163 for 5 through skipper Neil Dexter and Irish opener Paul Stirling, who added 29 before Dexter edged a Stuart Meaker leg-cutter to the wicketkeeper.Having conceded only a single from his opening over from the Vauxhall End, offspinner Gareth Batty switched to the Pavilion End to snare Stirling lbw for 34 after he missed a reverse sweep.Needing 95 from the last nine overs, Newman moved up a gear against his former side to flay 12 off Meaker’s next over, but Batty restricted Dawid Malan and Newman to six from the 13th over and Rory Hamilton-Brown did even better to keep them down to two from his next over of offspin.The asking rate had escalated to 12.4 with five overs remaining, but the Panthers’ pairing clubbed 17 off Yasir Arafat’s next over with Newman reaching a 46-ball 50. Hamilton-Brown conceded only two from the 18th over and Dirk Nannes leaked only five in the penultimate over to leave Middlesex with too much to do. Newman fell to a Yasir Arafat yorker with two balls remaining.After electing to bat first, Surrey lost opener Steve Davis after 13 balls when he was caught behind to a top-edged pull off Steven Crook, but otherwise it was a roaring start for the Lions.Captain Hamilton-Brown clattered six boundaries in his cameo 20-ball knock for 30, while Jason Roy clubbed the first six of the night off Crook on his way to 32 as Surrey raced to 50 for 1 after five overs.The introduction of Dexter’s military medium pacers and the left-arm spin of Tom Smith sparked the loss of four wickets in a shade more than eight overs. Hamilton-Brown chopped onto his stumps against Dexter, Jason Roy missed a slog sweep to have his stumps rearranged by the same bowler, and Zander de Bruyn nicked to the wicketkeeper to give Dexter 3 for 18.After a tenacious four-over spell that cost only 20, Smith gave way to Tim Murtagh who bowled Gary Wilson to bring together Tom Maynard and Yasir Arafat for an unbroken sixth-wicket stand worth 55 in 4.3 overs.Maynard cantered to a half-century from 37 balls and Arafat added 28 from 17 deliveries, plundering 20 from the last over of the innings from Crook.

It has been six years since Slovenia last hosted a European tournament, but former captain Mark Oman believes the ICC European Division 3 Championship will allow the country to show how far its cricket structures have developed, and also provide a chance to atone for their winless run at the Division Four tournament in Cyprus two years ago.”It’s great coverage to bring the tournament to Slovenia, it helps spread the word across the country about the game,” said Oman. “We have eleven Slovenia born players in our squad which just shows the good work that is being done and the more people that are getting involved.”We have a good standard and it is a good reflection, the Valburga [Cricket Ground] venue is one we have used in cricket coaching courses for the past eight years and shows the versatility we have here.”Slovenia have been an Affiliate member of the ICC since 2005, but a winning finish in this tournament would take them to the Division Two Championship in Belgium in June and one step further towards the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in 2012. That dream is a long way off, but Oman stressed that even the faint possibility gave the players a goal to work towards.”I think this pathway is a fantastic opportunity for any Affiliate and Associate members within the ICC to make their way into a global qualifier and even more so an ICC World Twenty20. It gives a great incentive to know the opportunities that are there and personally to have the chance to achieve an ambition to be involved at the top level of this game is great for all players.”Oman, who has handed the leadership reins over to batsman Tom Furness, has been training in his native Australia but there rest of the team have been in camp in Slovenia to prepare for the important competition. “The teams have been training here in Slovenia, with a training programme focused on doing well in this tournament. They have been training twice a week, had a set of Twenty20 friendly games and worked really hard on their fitness, with Tom Furness really pushing the squad.”For me personally, I have spent my training time away from the team, playing cricket back in Australia. This has given me great preparation to be able to play outdoor cricket for some time and arrive back in Slovenia to join up with guys a couple of weeks ago.”We are definitely aiming to improve on our performance from 2009. We had a very young squad back then. We are far more experienced and are a lot stronger, and also playing at home should have a slight benefit, so hopefully we can perform the way we know we can.”

ScorecardSpinner Dean Cosker claimed four wickets and opener Gareth Rees struck his third-consecutive half-century as Glamorgan Dragons beat Gloucestershire Gladiators by four wickets in their Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C clash at the Swalec Stadium.Glamorgan restricted the Gladiators to 154 for 8 in their 40 overs on a slow wicket and the home side knocked off the runs required with 10 balls to spare to record their second win in the competition.Rees was the mainstay of the innings, striking his 50 from 84 balls with just three fours. He lost partners at regular intervals including skipper Alviro Petersen, who had his off stump pegged back by David Payne, and Jim Allenby, who was adjudged leg before reverse sweeping off spinner Jack Taylor.Glamorgan then lost Stewart Walters (4) and Ben Wright (9) as they were both caught at midwicket. But an attacking innings from Graham Wagg, who scored 22 from 23 balls, helped Glamorgan towards their target before being the victim of a brilliant catch by Kevin O’Brien. Rees, meanwhile, ended unbeaten on 59 from 100 balls.Despite winning the toss and opting to bat the Gladiators found themselves on the back foot as they were reduced to 20 for two earlier in the day.They got off to a poor start when opener Ian Cockbain was run out from the final ball of the first over at the bowler’s end by a brilliant throw from Rees with the total still on nought.Rees was in the action again when he caught Ed Young, who miscued an attempted drive off James Harris to mid-on, and Will Owen then trapped Alex Gidman leg before with a well-disguised slower ball.From 44 for 3 the Gladiators slipped to 63 for 4 when Cosker claimed his first victim in the 20th over by bowling Kane Williamson. Much then depended on new signing O’Brien, who scored the fastest-ever World Cup century against England in March, but the Irishman lasted only four balls before he too was bowled by Cosker.Cosker’s purple patch continued when Chris Taylor holed out to Walters to leave the Gladiators on 84 for 6.Gloucestershire were finding runs hard to come by and they only reached the 100-mark at the end of the 33rd over, and the first boundary for 26 overs came when Jon Batty swept Cosker for four.But the spinner had his revenge in his next over by trapping Batty lbw leg to finish with four for 30 from his eight overs. Harris then got rid of Richard Dawson late on in the Gloucestershire innings and their total never looked like being enough.