Windies in India

Tour match, Bangalore, day two of three: Indian Board President's XI 275-8 dec; West Indies 341-2 West Indies opener Wavell Hinds made a punishing century to put the tourists in good heart ahead of next week's first Test. The left-hander hit three sixes and 17 fours in his 147 and there were half centuries as well for Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle. Hinds shared an opening stand of 128 with fellow Jamaican Gayle, who was the only batsman dismissed in the first two sessions. Gayle's innings was cut short on 62 when, having lofted off-spinner Sarandeep Singh for a straight six, he tried to repeat the shot and was caught at mid-on by Sanjay Bangar. But it failed to slow the scoring rate with new batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan settling quickly into his supporting role. Veteran seam bowler Javagal Srinath has, as expected, been recalled to India's Test squad after changing his mind about retirement from the five-day game. Srinath was included in a 14-man squad for the first two games in a three-Test series against West Indies, which starts in Bombay next week. The 33-year-old has taken 232 wickets in 64 Tests, but announced in June that he wanted to concentrate on one-day cricket.

Australia-Pakistan Test series

First Test, Colombo, day three: Australia 467 & 127 (at close); Pakistan 279 Shoaib Akhtar produced a destructive spell of fast bowling to revive Pakistan's hopes of victory in Sri Lanka. They need 316 to win after bowling out Australia in just 39.5 overs in their second innings, but were unable to make a start as rain washed out the final session of play. Shoaib took five for 21, including the wickets of Ricky Ponting and Steve and Mark Waugh, in the same over, the brothers lasting a combined total of three balls. Their dual failure increases the pressure on the twins, who need to find form in the three-Test series to make certain of their places for the forthcoming Ashes encounter with England. It was a tremendous fightback by Pakistan, who lost their last five wickets for 60 earlier in the day as leg-spinner Shane Warne returned figures of seven for 94 to take his career total to 455. Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar was understandably elated after his five-wicket haul sparked an Australian collapse in Colombo. "I want to be the greatest and this performance has proved yet again that I am the best fast bowler on this planet," he said. Mark and Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist were among Shoaib's victims, all of them beaten by sheer pace and reverse swing. But he was denied a hat-trick for the second time in the game when his first ball to Steve Waugh hit the inside edge and just missed the leg-stump. Shoaib now has 77 wickets from 22 Tests, but 31 of them have been taken this year in only six matches.

Miscellaneous

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has begun attempts to revive a £9.67m shirt sponsorship deal for the national team. Board president Jagmohan Dalmiya has approached the Sahara India group in the hope that they will agree to re-instate an agreement which was originally due to last until July 2004. Sahara withdrew from the deal after the International Cricket Council ruled that the Indian team could not wear their branding during the recent Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. The ICC's decision followed an objection from South African Airlines (SAA), one of the main sponsors of the tournament. Cricket's anti-corruption chief has written to West Indies manager Ricky Skerritt to voice his regret over police behaviour during the recent ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka. Lord Condon, head of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit, acknowledged that Skerritt has suffered a "bad and unfair experience". Skerritt complained following newspaper reports about women visiting team officials in their rooms. Police claimed three of the women had forged identity papers, but Skerritt said the report contained "falsehoods and innuendoes" and was intended to embarrass the team. Lord Condon interviewed police officers in Colombo, hotel staff and West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chairman Wes Hall about the matter. Power Cricket, Millennium Stadium: Rest of the World (142-7 & 141) beat Britain (143-9 & 138-8) by two runs. The Rest of the World survived a tense final over to win the second Power Cricket match and the series at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Britain's batting pair Nasser Hussain and Robert Key were left needing 18 off the final over as they chased a victory target of 141. And, despite conceding a six off Hussain, Wasim Akram held his nerve to steer Rest of the World home by just two runs. Britain had come into the game needing to win to stand a chance of taking the series after losing Friday's opening match by seven wickets. But classy bowling from Muttiah Muralitharan and Akram at the death denied them on both counts as they ended on 138-8. Aravinda de Silva gave the Rest of the World a flying start with 61 as they reached 142-7 from their first 15 overs. Britain took a first-innings lead of just one run after Ali Brown hit 54 in a total of 143-9. Kent's Martin Saggers produced an impressive spell of 5-18 in his five overs as the Rest of the World were bowled out for 141 in their second innings.

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