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Argentina slipped to their third straight defeat, going down by 29 runs to Guernsey in a rain-affected match at Padang, which was eventually reduced to 29 overs a side. The start was delayed by rain and the Argentina opening bowlers, led by Pablo Ryan, made early inroads, taking two top-order wickets to reduce Guernsey to 53 for 4. The complexion of the innings changed when Ross Kneller came out and blasted 86 off 54 balls, with six sixes. He took the score to 213 for 7 after rain reduced the game to 42 overs a side. It was reduced further to 29, following another rain interruption when Argentina were struggling at 54 for 3. Grant Dugmore top scored with 42 but lacked support as Guernsey, led by David Hooper, chipped away at the wickets.At the Indian Association Ground, Cayman Islands coasted to an eight-wicket win over Bahrain in another rain-affected encounter. Bahrain were put in to bat, and like Guernsey, were struggling at the start before they were revived by the middle order. Adil Hanif made a patient 56 off 86 balls to steady the innings, before Tahir Dar made an unbeaten 60 off 50 balls to take the score past 200. He hit six sixes in his knock. Rain intervened 17 overs into the chase, when Cayman Islands proceeded steadily to 50 for 1. However, Duckworth Lewis reduced the game to 21 overs, leaving Cayman Islands needing 30 off the last four. Ramon Sealy and Omar Willis ensured they reached the target with three balls to spare.Malaysia recorded their third-straight win, beating hosts and neighbours Singapore by 27 runs at the Kallang Ground. Malaysia’s opening duo, R Madhavan and Shafiq Sharif, made half-centuries but the rest of the batsmen failed to measure up, stumbling to a combined bowling effort. Sharif fell for 48, but Madhavan remained unbeaten on 77, off 141 balls. The next highest score was 13. Chasing 185, Singapore were in trouble at 117 for 5 in 30 overs when rain interrupted play. Their target was reduced to 161 from 39, and they eventually folded up for 133.

The opening batsman Phil Jaques, who played 11 Tests for Australia before a serious back injury ended his international career, will retire from first-class cricket in Australia at the end of this summer. Jaques, 32, will continue his career with Yorkshire, where he will be classified as a local player due to his British passport.His decision will mean the end of a career spanning 12 seasons with New South Wales, for whom he scored 5659 first-class runs at an average of 41.30. He was even more successful in Test cricket, where he made 902 runs at 47.47. Jaques scored three Test centuries, including one in his last innings for Australia, in Barbados in 2008.Jaques had been given the opening role after the retirement of Justin Langer, and he looked set for a long career in the baggy green. However, he was ruled out of the 2008 tour of India due to a long-standing back injury that required surgery, and he never quite returned to his peak form – or to the Australia side. In the past three seasons in Australia, he has averaged 35.17 in first-class cricket.”I have made this decision with my family in mind and I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my career,” Jaques said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time playing cricket for New South Wales and Australia and have always considered it a privilege. I have also made plenty of great friends along the way.”I hope to remain involved with Cricket NSW in some capacity in the future. My years playing for NSW have helped me to grow as a player and person and I appreciate all of their support I have received over the years. I walk away with no regrets knowing that I have given 100% every time I have walked onto the ground and I will continue to do this until the end of the season.”Jaques played in two successful Pura Cup finals for New South Wales, in 2004-05 and 2007-08, as well as the state’s 2005-06 one-day triumph. He scored 2340 one-day runs for the Blues at 39.66, and at one stage held the state record for the highest one-day score, with his unbeaten 171 against Queensland in February 2010.A regular in the county competition, he has spent time with Yorkshire, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire, but this will be his first season playing as a local player. Jaques was born in Wollongong in New South Wales to English parents, which allowed him to acquire a British passport.

ScorecardZimbabwe Under-19’s losing streak continued in the tri-series as they succumbed to a three-wicket defeat to the hosts in a low-scoring match at Somerset West. It wasn’t smooth sailing for South Africa, who at one stage were 87 for 5, before an unbeaten 50 by Chad Bowes took them past the finish line.The Zimbabweans, who chose to bat, had collapsed to 111 for 8. Campbell Light, at No.8, hit an unbeaten 59 off 61 balls with four fours and three sixes to give his side something to shout about, but the total of 171 was far from competitive. Lesiba Ngoepe, the left-arm spinner, took 3 for 38.The South African top order didn’t fare too well either, as they lost half their side with 85 still needed. Bowes and Shaylin Pillay added 56 for the sixth wicket to set them on course for the win. Bowes’ unbeaten 50 came off 71 balls with five fours.

Vernon Philander has suffered a mild strain to his left knee and will be monitored before being cleared to play in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durban that starts on December 26. Philander picked up the injury while bowling in the nets on Saturday and was treated immediately.”He came off and received the necessary treatment from the physiotherapist, including icing and strapping,” Mohammed Moosajee, South African team manager said. “He will be treated overnight and he will come and bowl tomorrow, once some of the swelling and inflammation settles and if anything untoward happens, we will decide. Right now, we are still confident he will be ready for the Test.”Philander has made an explosive start to his Test career, starting against Australia last month. He is only the fifth player to claim four five-wicket hauls in his first three Tests and the first South African to achieve the feat. After being dropped from the national team three years ago, it was a comeback that drew praises even from his former critics. Philander credited the last two-seasons of first-class cricket, in which he took 80 wickets in the SuperSport Series, with grooming him for success at a higher level.The only other seamer in South Africa’s squad is Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who was recalled after missing the Australia series with a side strain. He was assessed by CSA’s medical team on Friday and although he has recovered from the injury, he is in the final stages of his rehabilitation and is not fully ready to play a Test just yet. “He is bowling at 90-95% now,” Moosajee said.Marchant de Lange, who was part of the squad for the first Test, has been released to his franchise, the Titans. He is scheduled to play in their first-class match against the Lions that starts on Tuesday, but may be recalled to the national side if necessary.

Johan Botha, the South Africa allrounder, has been signed by Adelaide Strikers as their last international player for the Big Bash League. The Strikers have also added James Muirhead, an 18-year old legspinner from Victoria, to their spin roster, which includes 39-year old legspinner Bryce McGain.”We already have two T20 superstars with Kieron Pollard and Alfonso Thomas on the list. Now we have Johan signed up as a very exciting addition to the roster,” Chuck Berry, the Strikers coach, said “Boats is a very aggressive and successful T20 player and will add a lot of voice and animation to the group, and that is a very big part of T20 cricket – that’s what the fans want to see.”Berry also said Muirhead, who has played for Australia Under-19, was an exciting prospect. “If he is anything like the other blond leggie from St Kilda, we will be very pleased. But I like what I see with him – he’s travelled with the Under-19 national team, and continued to impress with the Futures League, so I’m sure he can perform for the Strikers.”Bryce McGain is also a valuable pick-up for us. He’s a very calm head and in the rush of the T20 format that will come in very handy with some of the younger players we have going around this year. He’s got a good T20 strike-rate, which is right up there with some other spin bowlers.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrendan Taylor scored a sparkling ton, but it ended in heartbreak for him•AFP

The currently unranked Zimbabwe went at the world No. 8 New Zealand mercilessly on a fifth day dripping with Test-match brilliance, but they ran out of steam dramatically after tea to lose by 34 runs. It was a crushing result for the hosts who went for a win in a situation that would have forced many of the Test elite sides to play safe.Their spark was lit by Brendan Taylor, who hustled to his third century in seven innings. Taylor’s brilliance put Zimbabwe on pole position at tea, but the game turned on its head once he exited after the break. Doug Bracewell and Daniel Vettori barged through, as Zimbabwe capsized from 265 for 3 to 331 all out, with less than six overs left in the match.The force was with Zimbabwe at tea, with the target down to 101 off a possible 29 overs. New Zealand’s shoulders had visibly slumped a little earlier, when the lack of sufficient video evidence meant a huge moment went against them. Taylor had scythed Chris Martin uppishly to deep cover where BJ Watling dived forward to scoop it inches from the ground, but it was impossible to say from the camera angles on offer whether it was a clean catch. Incredibly, Taylor holed out to the same fielder in the first over after the break, and this time Watling pouched it clearly.Suddenly, New Zealand found the extra gear they had lacked all day. Vettori, who has an unspectacular record in the fourth innings, probed away with intent, employing two slips and short leg against the debutant Malcolm Waller. Taibu, already past 50, was the bigger menace, and Vettori adopted a negative line against him. After resisting the urge to sweep all day, Taibu eventually top-edged from outside leg stump to midwicket.Zimbabwe looked for singles, New Zealand looked for wickets, and the pressure got to Bracewell, who over-stepped while delivering an effort ball that would have got him a wicket. Vettori then made a strong case for the Spirit of Cricket award, by refraining from appealing for a potentially match-turning run-out after unknowingly obstructing a single. With every run scored, the game was swinging in a manner Twenty20 cricket just cannot replicate. Bracewell then cleaned up the tail, while Man of the Match Vettori trapped Waller and Chris Mpofu to seal what was, arguably, the best Test match of the year.The grand finish would have never materialised but for Taylor’s brilliance, or the grit shown by his top-order colleagues. Mawoyo blunted the sharp end of New Zealand’s intent, and after his dismissal Taibu was assiduous in thwarting them until tea. But Taylor’s daredevilry provided the fuel to propel Zimbabwe’s ambition.

Smart stats

• Brendan Taylor’s 117 is only the second century by a Zimbabwe batsman in the fourth innings in Tests. The only other hundred was scored by Kevin Arnott against New Zealand in 1992.

• The 108-run stand between Taylor and Tatenda Taibu is the second-highest fourth-wicket stand for Zimbabwe against New Zealand. The highest is 130 between Andy Flower and Gavin Rennie in Wellington in 2000.

• Doug Bracewell became the seventh New Zealand bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul on Test debut. It is also the fifth five-wicket haul by a bowler making his debut against Zimbabwe.

• Zimbabwe’s 331 is their second 300-plus total in the fourth innings after the 310 against Pakistan in 2002. On both occasions, Zimbabwe ended up on the losing side.

• The 34-run win is the third-lowest margin of victory for New Zealand in terms of runs. The only two lower victory margins came against West Indies (27 runs) and Pakistan (32 runs).

The rain clouds dotting the horizon gave the seamers absolutely no assistance in the morning, and Taylor checked in with a series of audacious shots. In one Martin over, he whipped the first ball furiously over square leg, before chipping out and punching a straight six, and upper-cutting a short ball over third man for four. He took two more fours in Martin’s next over to announce Zimbabwe’s intentions.Mawoyo built on the tremendous powers of denial he had displayed in his marathon 163* against Pakistan in September. He was initially roughed up by Bracewell’s well-directed bouncers, but that spell ended when Martin changed ends. He countered Vettori off the front foot as often as possible – a significant departure from his handling of Saeed Ajmal’s bigger bag of tricks in the Pakistan Test. With Mawoyo stone-walling Vettori, Taylor got stuck into Jeetan Patel. He scampered out of his crease four times in the day to swipe the hapless offspinner into the recesses beyond the leg-side boundary.As is often the case in these circumstances, a part-timer intervened with a freakish breakthrough. Martin Guptill’s second ball bounced extra as it turned down the leg side, and Mawoyo somehow contrived to drag it onto off stump. His untimely exit stalled the scoring-rate after lunch, as Taibu subdued his normally breezy approach.The defensiveness allowed New Zealand to employ several men close-in, with Brendon McCullum crouching at the batsmen’s face at silly point, and tumbling forward in anticipation almost every ball. Taylor scrambled across for a quick single in the 59th over, but the cover fielder missed the stumps. Taibu was trapped in front by a sharp inswinger, and – not for the first time in the match – umpire Marais Erasmus wrongly ruled in the batsman’s favour.Bracewell positioned two short legs about five yards from each other and bent in a series of reverse swingers. Taylor clipped one of them uppishly, but found the miniscule gap, before bringing up his ton with an edge through the cordon. Taibu too broke free after pottering around to 9 off 67 balls, cutting and steering Martin for fours, before hitting a four and a six off Guptill.With the game heading Zimbabwe’s way, New Zealand turned to the second new ball in desperation. Taylor chose to chance his arm over the covers. He got away with it once but it cost him his wicket the second time. Over the next couple of hours, it went on to cost his side a special piece of history.

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif highlighted the involvement of his former skipper Salman Butt while in the witness stand during day 13 of the alleged spot-fixing trial by telling a London court “the captain knows”.Asif, 28, was under cross-examination from chief prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC when he raised the role of Butt. It was in reference to the questionable no-ball that Asif bowled in the Lord’s Test last year, which was delivered on the sixth ball of the 10th over that had been previously predicted by agent Mazhar Majeed when secretly recorded by an undercover journalist.Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments following the Lord’s Test when they allegedly conspired with agent Majeed, teenager Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif, who left the witness stand at 3.30 pm, deny the charges.The inference from Asif, wearing a grey-coloured suit with a shirt and tie, was that a fix involving the 10th over could not be made if the captain was not party to it. Asif denied any knowledge of the alleged fix, inferring that the captain had to be involved to keep him bowling.Asif, speaking in reference to the secretly-filmed handover of £140,000 by undercover journalist Mazhar Mahmood to Majeed before Majeed listed the no-ball detail, said: “The captain knows. What I have told you the last two days…the captain knows. He is the one who brings them (bowlers) on. So what is he (Majeed) saying?”Jafferjee took stock of what Asif had said, removed his glasses, paused and returned to Asif by saying that he felt they had both reached the same conclusion – which was that Butt was central to the fix. “You’re telling me it’s down to Butt aren’t you?” Asif, though, stopped short of actually agreeing by saying, “You can see the CD what he (Majeed) is saying.”Asif was much more argumentative and passionate in his exchanges with Jafferjee than on his first day in the witness stand. At one stage, when discussing the telephone traffic evidence in a printed transcript that has colour-coded all involved parties, Asif asked Jafferjee: “Who’s the yellow number?” To which Jafferjee replied, “I wish we knew, Mr Asif.” Asif came back: “You’re trying to ruin my life and you can’t tell me who yellow is?””If anyone is trying to destroy your life, Mr Asif, it’s you,” Jaffejee said.The prosecutor also asked Asif why, if he was not involved in the fix, Majeed called him 59 seconds after leaving the Copthorne Tara Hotel at 23.18, with a briefcase with £140,000 in cash on the night before the Lord’s Test.”Was he calling you about a sponsorship deal or to arrange dinner, Mr Asif?” Jafferjee said sarcastically.”You think he’s calling me to do the fix?” Asif replied. “He’s already done the fix,” Jafferjee said. “Now he wants you to know about it.”Jafferjee added: “Why is this man, who you say is not your agent, whom you have only met three times in person since May 2010, why is he calling you now?”Asif responded by saying that if they were talking about fixing why was the call only 16 seconds long. “If we were talking about something as big as this do you think we would only need 16 seconds,” Asif said. Shortly after that, Butt rang Asif, a call spanning 14 seconds.Asif repeatedly denied being part of the fix and suggested that Majeed had two phones, one of them secret and that he never called him on that secret phone like he did other people who are implicated. Asif also questioned why the undercover journalist never managed to have Asif on record like he did Butt and Amir “with all his equipment and money”.In closing his defence Asif’s lawyer Alexander Milne QC clarified that Asif would have accrued approximately £6,000 in daily expense allowances – paid in cash – by the time of Lord’s Test and that he brought £2,700 with him from Pakistan to justify why he had just over £8,000 found in his London hotel room during a police search.Asif reasoned that he didn’t spend much of his allowance because he dined with friends mostly and that he was planning to do some shopping at the end of the tour towards his wedding on September 30.No marked money was found on Asif but Jafferjee said that was only through luck. “You did not receive cash because you were out at a restaurant. That’s why only two received the cash and you didn’t,” he said.”Well, why could Majeed not have left it with Amir or the Butt,” came Asif’s response.On Monday morning, Jafferjee will give a closing speech for the prosecution, before the lawyers for the defendants present theirs to the jury, prior to Justice Cooke’s summing up.The case continues.

Tim Nielsen will switch his focus to developing young cricketers in his home state of South Australia after quitting as coach of the national team. Nielsen will head up the newly-created Emerging Redbacks Program, which will allow him to return home to Adelaide nearly a decade after he left to become an assistant to John Buchanan with the Australia side.Nielsen, 43, spent four years as Australia’s head coach before he stepped down this week, following the successful Test tour of Sri Lanka. The South Australia coach Darren Berry said Nielsen would provide invaluable experience in his new role, in which he will lead a high-level academy-style program aimed at preparing players for state cricket.”Tim has clearly travelled the world and coached at the highest level, so to have him involved is going to be another string to our coaching bow,” Berry said. “With Jeff Vaughan, Joe Dawes, myself and now Tim Nielsen we believe we have got the best coaching panel in first-class cricket in the country. I can’t emphasise enough, how delighted I am that Tim has decided that this is the role that he’d like to take up.”The new program is the brain-child of Jamie Cox, the South Australian Cricket Association director of cricket, who as a national selector has worked closely with Nielsen over the past four years. Cox said he was thrilled that Nielsen had decided to rejoin the SACA.”I have had a close association with Tim during his time in charge of the Australian team and I have always greatly admired his energy and passion for coaching,” Cox said. “We are clearly delighted that the timing of our search for a head coach for the Emerging Redbacks Program has enabled such a high quality candidate to be attracted to the role.”A former wicketkeeper-batsman who played for South Australia for ten years, Nielsen moved into coaching after retirement and began as an assistant with the Redbacks. He was head coach at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane from 2005 to 2007, when he replaced Buchanan at the helm of Australia’s side.

Glenn Turner, the former New Zealand captain, isn’t surprised by the snub during the appointment process for a new National Selection Manager (NSM). Turner, who was part of the national selection panel for the last six years, said the job description “automatically cancelled out most people with what I believe are the necessary qualifications for an international selector”.Hours before an elated nation brought in the rugby World Cup back where it all began in 1987, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) slipped in the announcement of arguably the biggest experiment with the way professional international cricket teams are selected. It appointed an Australian lawn bowls official, Kim Littlejohn, as the NSM, overlooking two former captains, Turner and Ken Rutherford, and the incumbent Mark Greatbatch.Turner said he applied for the job after conveying that he would only be interested “in a position which was inclusive when it came to making decisions, where egos and self-interest were set aside.”I needed to find out whether my skills would be used,” Turner told ESPNcricinfo. “They have been rejected, so we are probably better off without each other.”Turner’s application for the job seemed more of an argument against the new process for selecting teams. According to the NZC, Littlejohn will be “responsible for establishing a comprehensive profiling system as players progress along the pathway of representing New Zealand, and in doing so use a network of cricket coaches and key stakeholders”. He will be joined by the national coach John Wright on the two-man selection panel.Turner did not agree with the idea. “When I read the job description I felt that it did not cover what I believe is necessary to take full part in selecting and developing the Blackcaps [New Zealand],” he said. “The position appeared to be experimental and more about an assistant collecting data and coming up with some performance measures, along with office administration skills. The job description preferred the applicant to have ‘Post Graduate qualifications in Sports Management or Business Management’, which if followed automatically cancelled out most people with what I believe are the necessary qualifications for an international selector.”Nevertheless, I took up the opportunity to express what I believed was important when selecting cricket teams. In particular, trained independent eyes – free from conflicts of interest, ones that have experience and the art of talent-identifying.”Regarding the possible outcomes of the experiment, Turner said: “I’ve seen a lot of theories come and go over the years, and they mostly fail due to a lack of process. For theories to be applied they need to be supported by reasoning from known facts.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLasith Malinga celebrates his hat-trick•Associated Press

Lasith Malinga became the first man to take three one-day international hat-tricks as Sri Lanka secured a consolation victory in the final ODI in Colombo. Australia might have won the series 3-2 but with the first Test just over a week away, it was important for Sri Lanka to finish on a high, and they did that through Malinga with the ball, and then Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Silva with the bat.Chasing 212, the hosts lost three early wickets but from then on were in cruise control either side of a rain delay. Jayawardene all but saw them home with a patient 71, before departing with 17 runs still to get when he skied a catch off Xavier Doherty. Silva batted superbly in his 63, but the victory was all down to Sri Lanka’s bowling performance, and specifically Malinga’s hat-trick and the tail-end collapse that he instigated.It could be argued that Malinga has taken four ODI hat-tricks, after his double hat-trick – four wickets in four balls – against South Africa at the 2007 World Cup. He picked up three in three deliveries against Kenya at this year’s World Cup, and it would have been a brave person to tip against him adding to his tally when Doherty walked out to face the hat-trick ball this time.Malinga began the sequence with a fast yorker that got through Mitchell Johnson’s defences and bowled him for 1, and followed up with a low full toss that rapped John Hastings on the pad. Doherty took guard, and must have anticipated another accurate yorker, which was indeed delivered, but he still couldn’t get bat on ball.Doherty’s middle stump was rattled, and so were Australia, who in the previous over – the 45th of the innings – had been cruising towards a competitive total, at 210 for 5. Eleven balls later, they had lost their remaining five wickets for the addition of only one more run. It was a remarkable collapse, with Ajantha Mendis taking a wicket either side of Malinga’s hat-trick.The rot started when David Hussey (46), who had just launched Mendis over the long-on fence for six, played back to the next delivery and was bowled for 46. The innings ended with Brad Haddin, on 8, driving a catch to mid-off, and neither the Australians nor the fans in the crowd could quite believe the rapid turnaround.