India's tour of West Indies

Sourav Ganguly has decided to bat at one drop position in the five-Test series against the West Indies commencing in Georgetown on Thursday.

The Indian captain said that he felt that waiting for his turn at his usual position as the number five batsman made him 'tired' and that was the reason for deciding to come higher up in the order and bat in the spot that is usually reserved for his deputy Rahul Dravid.

Ganguly said that he had already spoken on this matter to Dravid and he had agreed. "He (Dravid) was very nice and accommodating," he added.

Australia in South Africa

Seventh one-day international, Cape Town:
South Africa 249-5 (39 overs) beat Australia 186 all out (32.3 overs) by 65 runs.

Nicky Boje produced a fine all-round performance to lead South Africa to a 65-run victory over Australia in a rain-shortened one-day international at Newlands on Tuesday.

Boje, who will play for Nottinghamshire this summer, contributed 49 with the bat and then took 5-21 with his left-arm spin as the South Africans won the final match to lose the series 5-1, with one match tied.

Graeme Smith weighed in with a hard-hitting 73 for the South Africans and skipper Shaun Pollock produced a three-wicket opening burst to leave Australia reeling at the start of their innings.

Under the Duckworth-Lewis method Australia had to chase 250 and they were soon in trouble as Pollock dismissed Jimmy Maher and Adam Gilchrist with successive balls in the third over.

Scorecard

Sharjah Cup

Sharjah Cup: Match Two:
New Zealand 218-9 (50 overs) beat Sri Lanka 207 all out (49.1 overs).

New Zealand pulled off a surprise win over Sri Lanka in the second match of the Sharjah Cup. Sri Lanka, who beat Pakistan in the tournament opener on Monday, had been well placed on 125 for two, but stumbled dramatically in the final overs.

Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene rebuilt the Sri Lankan innings after early losses but their departures saw their side grind to a halt.

New Zealand had responded to the challenge of defending a low total by taking the early wickets of Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakarra.

________________

Manager Yawar Saeed blamed reckless batting as the primary cause of Pakistan's 14-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the Sharjah Cup opener on Monday.

"The reason is very simple and straight - our batting collapsed and we lost the match," Saeed told BBC Sport Online.

"No one wants to lose a match but if you bat in this way, its also very difficult to win a game."

Batting first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka scored 242 for nine in 50 overs but Pakistan collapsed to 201 all out in reply.

"The bowlers actually did a good job and restricted Sri Lanka to a total that was not a very difficult target on that particular pitch," Saeed said.

"We cannot win every single match, but impatient batting will not win us games. That is certain."

Miscellaneous

The United Cricket Board of South Africa has called a meeting of top players and administrators, past and present, to discuss the decline of the national team in recent months.

They lost five of the six Tests against Australia and have been comprehensively outplayed by Ricky Ponting's side in the home one-day series.

The only respite came when they beat New Zealand in the VB Series final in Australia. More than 30 people are likely to attend the cricket 'think-tank' in Johannesburg on 23 April.

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