India v England: 3rd ODI in Mohali

MS Dhoni was India's matchwinner once again, as he marshalled an asking-rate approaching ten an over to seal an unassailable 3-0 series lead in the third ODI at Mohali. With Ravindra Jadeja alongside him, he clubbed Tim Bresnan for consecutive boundaries in the final over of the match to finish unbeaten on 35 from 31 balls, as England's best total of the series - 298 for 4 - proved insufficient to keep the series alive.

It was a sloppy fielding display from England in a match they could and should have won. Their own total had been built on another sheet-anchor performance from Jonathan Trott, who finished unbeaten on 98 from 116 balls, but the point-of-difference innings had been played by Samit Patel, whose career-best 70 from 43 balls enabled England to add 91 runs in their final ten overs. Given the history of chasing at Mohali - only five teams had previously managed it in 19 matches at the venue - their route back into the series was awaiting them.

Instead, they produced a listless defence, with Ajinkya Rahane cruising along to 91 from 104 balls in a second-wicket stand of 111 with Gautam Gambhir. They managed just one wicket in the first 34 overs - a marginal lbw against Parthiv Patel, which broke an opening partnership of 79 - and though they rallied well to claim four wickets in an eight-over spell of dominance, their failure to take their chances cost them dear in the closing stages...

Zimbabwe v New Zealand : 2nd Twenty20 in Harare

New Zealand favourites for series win:

The heady heights of a Test win must be a distant memory for Zimbabwe, even though it was only two months ago that they beat Bangladesh in their comeback Test. They have now lost nine international games on the trot and are coming to terms with what looks like it will be a long, hard slog to prove they are worthy of Test status.

Though they are inexperienced at Twenty20 cricket, this may be the format most likely to provide Zimbabwe rare wins against Test-playing nations. The brevity of the game means there is not much time for a better side to make the difference in quality count, and an individual performance or a single phase of play can often be enough for an underdog to cause an upset.

Zimbabwe's problem in Twenty20 cricket seems to be the inability to get off to quick starts with the bat. They had an opportunity to beat Pakistan after they kept them to 141 in Harare during the recent home series, but the top order floundered and left the middle order too much to do.

Australia in South Africa 2011-12

Cummins into Test squad:

Australia is not gambling with the future of the young New South Wales fast bowler Pat Cummins by rushing him into the Australia Test squad for the tour of South Africa, the outgoing chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch has said.

Still only 18, Cummins has enjoyed a meteoric rise, and will now stay on in South Africa for the whole tour after impressing all who have viewed him in the two Twenty20 matches between the visitors and South Africa. He has played only three first-class matches, the last of which was the Sheffield Shield final between NSW and Tasmania.

Cummins' 48 overs to return 3 for 118 in the first innings of the final was the probable source of a back complaint that kept him out of two winter tours - Hilditch revealed Cummins would have been a likely visitor to Sri Lanka if he had been fit. But it also demonstrated his ability to sustain his pace and discipline over long periods.

South Africa v Australia : 1st Twenty20 in Cape Town

Australia 147 for 5 (Watson 52) beat South Africa 146 for 7 (Duminy 67, Cummins 3-25) by 5 wickets

 

A powerful half-century from Shane Watson helped Australia make an encouraging start to their tour of South Africa as they won the opening Twenty20 in Cape Town by five wickets. The teenage debutant Patrick Cummins collected three wickets as South Africa reached 146 for 7, led by a solid innings from JP Duminy, and the target wasn't enough to prevent Australia from turning around their recent poor T20 form.

Although Australia's chase was on track for most of the innings, a couple of good late overs from Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe gave South Africa a sniff in the dying stages. Australia needed six from the final over, bowler by Rusty Theron, and a single from Matthew Wade was followed by a square-driven boundary and a single from Steven Smith to get Australia home with three balls to spare, their second win from their past nine T20s.

Simmons century leads West Indies to 298

50 overs West Indies 298 for 4 (Simmons 122, Samuels 71) v Bangladesh

 

Lendl Simmons finally made his first international hundred, five years after his debut, to power West Indies to a big score in the first ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur. He was supported by another West Indies batsman who has resurrected his international career this year, Marlon Samuels. The pair put on 150 runs to demoralise a Bangladesh team that was on a high after their dramatic win in the Twenty20 two days ago.

Simmons had made half-centuries in six of his previous nine ODI innings, but failed to reach triple-digits each time. On Thursday, he made a fidgety start before settling in on a surface that didn't have much in it for either the medium-pacers or the spinners.

In the sixth over, he was hurried into a pull which was top-edged just wide of the bowler, then he mistimed a straight drive with which he still managed to find the boundary, before jumping outside leg as he looked to crash a short ball through off without managing to connect. He punched the air in frustration after missing out on a cut in the next over, but then showed how good he could be with fours through cover off the back and front foot.

'Watching Merchant was a part of our training.

About 200 people turned up at the CK Nayudu Hall of the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai to listen to former India batsman Vijay Merchant's few surviving team-mates speak on the occasion of his birth centenary on October 12. Former players Madhav Mantri, Madhav Apte, Vasant Raiji and Merchant's fellow commentator Anand Setalvad related stories of their interactions with a cricketer who was widely acknowledged as the best Indian batsman of his generation, and who later became a respected administrator, commentator and writer.

Mantri said that after his nephew Sunil Gavaskar's early success as a Test opener, he was asked who he felt was the better opening batsman. "I said then that a great of one generation will be a great in another generation as well. But it is the way an opening batsman leaves the ball that is more important, and in that aspect Merchant was a master. Sunil later wrote to Merchant saying: 'and they say blood is thicker than water.'"