India's tour of West Indies

Third Test, Bridgetown, day two:
India 1st innings 102; West Indies 314-4.

West Indies batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carl Hooper turned the screw on India on the second day of the third Test at the Kensington Oval.

Having bowled India out for just 102 on the first day, the hosts built up a commanding lead and stood at 314-4 at stumps.

Chanderpaul, on 75, and Hooper, on 70, are both unbeaten. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brian Lara had earlier laid the foundation for a solid West Indies total.

Scorecard | Match report

New Zealand in Pakistan

First Test, Lahore, day three:
Pakistan 643 beat New Zealand 73 & 246 by an innings and 324 runs.

Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria shared the bowling honours as Pakistan recorded their biggest Test victory with two days to spare.

Shoaib took six for 11 as the tourists fell apart in their first innings and they were unable to extend the match in a fourth day even though he was unable to take any further part because of a sore ankle.

Skipper Stephen Fleming and Lou Vincent made half centuries, but leg-spinner Kaneria claimed five for 110 to seal a comprehensive victory for Pakistan.

Scorecard

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Pakistan cricket fans took to the streets on Thursday after Inzamam-ul Haq's triple hundred against New Zealand.

Fans in Inzamam's home town of Multan celebrated the batsman's monumental 329 against the Kiwis on the second day of the first Test by distributing sweets.

And the imposing batsman was promoted to the list of cricket's all-time greats by the Pakistan media after recording the 10th-highest individual Test score.

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Inzamam-ul-Haq's 329 against New Zealand is the 11th-greatest innings of all time, according to the Wisden 100, the ratings system from Wisden.com which assesses each individual batting and bowling performance in Test history.

Inzamam, whose innings set Pakistan on the way to a crushing innings-and-324-run victory at Lahore, missed out on a Top Ten berth by just 0.60 of a point. Nevertheless, his innings is the second-highest-rated triple-century in Tests. Only Brian Lara's world-record 375 against England in 1993-94 - at No.10 on the list -scores more.

Miscellaneous

Tainted former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin has sold off his house and expensive cars and moved into rented premises to raise funds for himself, according to a report published on Friday.

Azharuddin, fighting a legal battle over a life ban imposed on him by Indian cricket authorities for his alleged involvement in match-fixing, is facing a hard financial future, the report said.

"Azza, as his friends call him, may be running out of money," added a report from Azharuddin's home town of Hyderabad.

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Nine members of Australia's Under-19 World Cup-winning side have been awarded places at the country's highly successful cricket academy.

The 2002 intake features 24 players, 10 more than in previous years, and the Australian Cricket Board is confident the academy will continue its record of producing Test stars.

"Since 1988, this programme has produced 121 first-class cricketers and 31 of those have gone on to represent Australia at either Test of one-day international level," said ACB chief executive James Sutherland.

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Sports development in the predominantly Indian township of Chatsworth was dealt a killer blow on Thursday when it was learnt that the executive committee of the Metro Council had not approved a R2,4-million improvementto the cricket Oval in the area.

The Chatsworth Oval, venue for the internationals against the West Indies, Sri Lanka A, India and India A in recent seasons, has been earmarked for a lead-up game for the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

With India being based in Durban, Chatsworth was assured of a lead-up game with Sourav Ganguly's team opposing an Invitation XI prior to the World Cup proper, provided the Oval was upgraded to international standards.

Sri Lanka's tour of England

Paceman Dilhara Fernando has been cleared to join the Sri Lankan squad in England following treatment for a back injury.

The 22-year-old is arguably the quickest of the six seam bowlers in the tour party but has been dogged by injury problems since making his Test debut against Pakistan two years ago.

He has only taken 20 wickets in nine Test appearances at a cost of almost 40 runs each.

He now faces a race against time to stake a claim for a place in the side for the first Test at Lord's, starting on 16 May.

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