Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Swann rocks South Africa with double strike

DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Graeme Swann rocked South Africa with two quick wickets as England continued to dominate the second test at tea on the fourth day on Tuesday.South Africa reached the interval on 37 for two in their second innings, still trailing by 195 runs after England declared on 575 for nine.The home side, number two in the world rankings, were under pressure to survive with 134 overs still remaining in the match.South Africa began their second innings just over an hour before tea and captain Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince survived the first nine overs in relative comfort.But off-spinner Swann's second delivery deceived left-hander Prince (16) by going straight on with the arm, catching the inside edge of the bat and rebounding off the pad to short-leg, where Ian Bell took a fine low reflex catch.The off-spinner then bowled Hashim Amla for six as the batsman drove loosely and the ball turned sharply through the gate.Smith was the not out batsman at the interval with 15.England declared nine overs after lunch, Bell finishing as top-scorer with a pugnacious 141 before falling to Dale Steyn with the third new ball.Morne Morkel, with three for 78, and JP Duminy, three for 89, were the pick of the South African bowlers.England resumed on 386 for five and South Africa claimed just one wicket in the morning session, Matt Prior falling for 60.Bell, whose place in the team has been under great scrutiny, continued to bat with immense focus and energy, stroking 10 fours and a six in his ninth test century.Bell and Prior extended their sixth-wicket partnership to 112 before Prior's stumps were rattled by an inside edge after he tried an ambitious cut at off-spinner Duminy.The day had started badly for the tourists with Paul Collingwood dislocating a finger during fielding practice.The all-rounder went for an x-ray, which showed no fracture, and Collingwood was given the all-clear to continue playing in the test.The first test was drawn.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni bats for Test matches


Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that every country should play a minimum number of Test matches every year.Talking to reporters here on Monday, Dhoni said: "If the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) want them to play more Tests, it would be welcome."I think it should be like in a year's span...these are the minimum number of Test matches we should play and there are the One-Days that we are supposed to play and after that the institutions like BCCI or ECB, if they want to play more matches, they are more than welcome, if they want to play less it can be an issue," he added.Dhoni was awarded the Test Championship mace by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after leading his team to the pinnacle of the ICC Test rankings on Sunday.India jumped from third in the rankings to displace South Africa at the top by clinching a 2-0 series victory over Sri Lanka.Australia and South Africa have dominated the number one spot since the inception of the rankings in 2001.The Indian team is scheduled to play only two Tests - against Bangladesh in January - over the next 11 months, and a proposal is now being considered to include two Tests during South Africa's tour of the country in February.