Mathews lauds Sri Lanka's spirit

Angelo Mathews said his team's two-wicket win over Pakistan in Dubai was borne of spirit, after Sri Lanka chased down 286 with two balls and two wickets to spare. Sri Lanka's chase was the highest second-innings score at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, and the second-highest overall.

Mathews, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal all crossed 40 in the chase, and Nuwan Kulasekara also contributed 32 from 26 balls at a key period.

"We had to fight really hard for that win," Mathews said. "Everyone contributed in bits and pieces It was a team effort. With these Powerplays if you have wickets in hand at the end, it helps. Against Pakistan, the game is never over - you have to fight till the last ball is bowled, and we did that. With the bowling attack that Pakistan have, we have to fight all the time and we have to stay positive. We can't give the chance, because they will knock us down."

"I thought the first couple of wickets were unfortunate incidents because they were run outs while Kusal Janith and Dilshan were batting well. They got us through to a good start, and the way Sangakkara and Chandimal got us back into the game. They set it up and we had to do the needful."

Mathews also lauded Sangakkara, whose top score of 58 had provided heft to the chase. Mathews revealed though, that Lahiru Thirimanne had been slated to come in at No.3 before he injured his right ankle in the pre-match warm-ups.

"We don't have Mahela Jayawardene in the team, so the experience of someone like Kumar Sangakkara becomes invaluable when you are dealing with high-quality spinners like Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi, and you want to control the middle overs. We didn't want to make big changes, but we thought it would have been good to play Kumar Sangakkara at No. 4.

"Thirimanne got injured a few minutes before the match, but we had been planning for him to bat at No. 3. We thought we needed a solid batsman at three, and Kumar would move down to four, and then we've got Dinesh Chandimal. The more you keep wickets in hand, the easier it is to chase later in the match."

Mathews also shed light on why Kulasekara had been left out for the first ODI in Sharjah, despite his enduring consistency. Kulasekara has taken his wickets at 25.33 with an economy rate of 4.64 in 2013, making him Sri Lanka's best seam bowler since January.

"Kulasekara is a very good player, but in Sharjah we thought an extra fast bowler would be good. Kulasekara, Thisara Perera and myself bowl roughly in the same style. The Sharjah field is very small and the pitch is also very good for batting. We thought there would be some reverse swing, so that's why we called up Suranga Lakmal."

Mathews predicted a tightly contest series, after the opening two were shared had featured tense finishes. The next three matches will be played in the space of seven days.

"It'll be a very exciting series. The first game was an exciting one, and so was the second. Hopefully it will stay the same and it will be an exciting one for all of us. When we walked into the game, we were very confident and our heads were high because even though we lost the last match, we almost chased the target."

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Pujara and Kohli defy expectations

The skill and acumen exhibited by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in the Johannesburg Test befit batsmen who have had much longer stints in Test cricket

Match Point: 'Pujara, Kohli showed more patience than some veterans'

Cheteshwar Pujara is playing his third Test in South Africa, and his third outside Asia. Virat Kohli is in his first in South Africa, and his eighth outside Asia. The difference in conditions in Asia and elsewhere is huge: the ball bounces more, swings more, and moves more after pitching outside Asia. Despite the extra bounce, the key is to come forward at every possible opportunity. These two batsmen have not played a single first-class match on this tour. If you had taken a sabbatical from cricket, though, and had been doing whatever people do on sabbaticals from cricket, and had been sent to the Wanderers, you would have thought these were two veterans who have been playing Test cricket for 10 years. You might have even thought they were playing at home.

The reality, though, is that nobody had big expectations from them on this tour. People would have lived with failures too, as long as they didn't get out limply. However, to put India in a position to give back what they have been at the receiving end of is absolutely stunning. Think Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval. Think SCG, WACA and Adelaide Oval. India have been dished out a lot on their previous two away trips. Wonder if MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher quietly smiled at each other when Pujara and Kohli were going on the third day, never looking like getting out - that drop by Imran Tahir was against the run of play - building a big lead, grinding the opposition into the dust. The job is not done yet, but this is the kind of day India were dying to experience away from home.

Kohli had announced his arrival in the first innings, but Pujara was unfortunately run out. His turn came two days later. A 36-run first-innings lead was big on this pitch. Many a team would have tried to hit out at the top, and would have been happy had it snuck a defendable lead. Virender Sehwag tried to do that when India won in Durban the last time India were in South Africa. Here, though, India trusted themselves enough, and batted as if they were batting in the first innings. No anxiety, no nerves, just backing their games.

M Vijay's role cannot be overstated. He spent 155 of the most difficult minutes at the wicket, scoring just 39, but he blunted the new ball, and tired the weakened bowling unit in the absence of the injured Morne Morkel. Pujara, he was nearly perfect. He left the short ones well, moved forward whenever it was demanded, and defended solidly. Moving forward is one thing, but still managing to play late is quite another. Pujara did that.

Pujara let Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander blow their steam off, showing great acumen in knowing that the weaker bowlers will arrive at some stage. He knew this was going to be a long day for South Africa, and he wanted to be there to make it even longer. He was 9 off 64 at one stage, but you couldn't say he was struggling. Because he was not. He was waiting. He has done that many times in domestic cricket. His press forward began with a half-volley from Philander, the 65th ball he faced, which he put away for four. He hit two more fours relatively close to each other, but that brought the tea break, at which point he was 39 off 107.

After the break, it was time for a new start. He was restrained again. "We have got all the time, boys." This was proper Test-match batting. Off the next 17 balls he took only six, never mind that JP Duminy and Tahir had begun to bowl. He reached his fifty, and then saw Tahir drop him. About then, Pujara decided it was time to push the advantage. Once Pujara tires down the bowlers and fielders, he punishes every loose ball. Those who have seen him go from 150 to 200 in 17 balls when pushing for a declaration in a Ranji Trophy match, or those who witnessed the march - along with the tail - from 229 to 300 in 55 balls, will hardly be surprised that he went from 50 to 100 in 41 balls.

By the time Pujara does that, he has sussed out the conditions and the bowlers. And he does so with cricketing shots, without feeling the need to go in the air. There are few risks involved. It comes from solid trust in your game and technique. Pujara always had that trust, but it was pleasant to learn that he had the same confidence even in South Africa. This maturity - and that of Kohli - is hard to find in batsmen even on their third or fourth tours. On that count, these two have surpassed many an expectation.

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Misbah frustrated by bowling effort

Misbah-ul-Haq laid the blame for Pakistan's two-wicket loss in Dubai at the feet of his bowlers, although he admitted his team could perhaps have scored 15 more runs. Pakistan's 284 for 4 was the second-highest total at the stadium, but they conceded defeat with two balls to spare.

"Looking at the pitch, it was a good total and they were still needing around 50 runs, seven wickets down. We should have won that if we bowled according to the field. We lost the game in a few bad overs.

"The way the ball was coming on the pitch, it wasn't like Sharjah - it was a bit slow. And their bowlers were good at the death, bowling yorkers. That maybe prevented 10-15 runs from us at the end."

Otherwise Misbah chose to focus on the positives in Pakistan's performance. He had called for the top order to convert their starts ahead of the series, and in both matches so far, one of the top three has provided a hundred, while others in the top five have contributed significant scores. Ahmed Shehzad hit 124 in the second match.

"The biggest positive is that the batting is going well. Ahmed, again, it was a really good knock. He played a good one in South Africa and today, it was a mature one. It was good to see our top order getting big scores - that has been much needed for our team. It's normally the biggest problem for us, but I'm really happy with the way it's been going."

While conceding Pakistan's bowling and fielding was flawed, Misbah praised the efforts of Junaid Khan, whose three middle order wickets had brought Pakistan back into the match, and also said he was impressed with the run outs at the top of Sri Lanka's innings.

"Junaid is our outstanding bowler. In the last year and a half he's really improving and today he was good. But we really need to improve our death bowling. It was a problem for us.

"Our fielding was better. It brought us back into the game with the first two run outs. There were a few overthrows towards the end, but there were no lapses. Overall I think it was good."

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Taylor takes NZ to 349, Narine gets six

Tea New Zealand 349 (Taylor 131, Williamson 58, Narine 6-91) trail West Indies 367 by 18 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ross Taylor made it three hundreds in three Tests but Sunil Narine cleaned up the tail to finish with six wickets and earn a slender lead for West Indies. The four remaining proper batsmen for New Zealand all went trying big strokes, the first two against spin and the last two against the second new ball. Taylor was the last of the specialist batsmen to depart, but not before he'd piloted New Zealand past 300.

Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson gave it away in the morning. The West Indies spinners bowled 25 of the 34 overs in the session, and New Zealand fared reasonably well against them. It was their own aggression that led to the downfall of McCullum and Anderson, while Taylor ticked along calmly, moving along solidly at his own pace, never in doubt.

West Indies weren't able to exert pressure to the extent they had on the second evening, when their specialist spinners Sunil Narine and Veerasammy Permaul bowled in tandem. Instead, Darren Sammy gave himself a spell of nine overs at the start of the day, bowling along side Narine. Permaul was introduced only some time after the first drinks break as West Indies worked with the old ball throughout the session.

While Sammy was steady and generated some reverse towards the end of his spell, the New Zealand batsmen were much more comfortable against his medium pace, and whatever pressure Narine exerted at the other end wasn't maintained for long enough.

McCullum himself handed West Indies the breakthrough in the eighth over of the day. The New Zealand captain backed way to cut a sharply turning and bouncing offbreak, found himself cramped for room, and edged for Sammy to take his third sharp catch of the innings, at slip.

Anderson had an extremely nervy start against Narine as he played tentatively, expecting the carrom ball almost every delivery. It took him 13 balls to get off the mark, but he soon gained enough confidence to play his powerful strokes.

He cut and pulled Narine for three boundaries in the 88th over as the bowler, into his 34th successive over and 12th of the morning, dropped it short. Anderson had scored 39 in a 50-run stand with Taylor when he swung Permaul straight to deep square leg in the next over.

New Zealand were still way behind at 224 for 5, and looked to the calming presence of Taylor again. The former captain carried on from the second evening, unruffled by the odd delivery misbehaving or by what was happening at the other end.

Even as Narine jagged the odd straighter one past the bat, Taylor handled the offbreaks superbly, playing late and softly. Just before lunch, Narine was finally given a break after a marathon spell of 36-14-81-3, including 14 overs in the session.

West Indies took the second new ball in the 99th over, immediately after lunch, and the change earned them the wicket of BJ Watling. The wicketkeeper went hard at a Sammy outswinger to nick behind for 20.

Taylor had reached his hundred in the previous over, cover-driving Tino Best for a couple of boundaries. He now responded by taking 20 runs off Sammy in the 105th over, cutting and lofting him for two fours and two sixes. He departed soon after, upper-cutting Best to third man on 131.

Neil Wagner and Tim Southee cut the deficit further but the tail could not survive too long against Narine, and he spun out the last three to end with figures of 42.3-17-91-6. He now has 18 from three Tests against New Zealand, with the second-innings shootout still left.

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Tenacious India seamers rewrite script

The team has slipped from promising positions in overseas Tests in the past, but the Zaheer Khan-led bowling attack helped India maintain a firm grip on the second day

Dravid: India recognised and won critical moment

The first session of the second day had a bad old feeling for India. A movie seen before. A movie fresh in the mind.

In the first Test of their tour of Australia in 2011-12, India were 214 for 2 just before stumps on day two. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid got two beauties either side of stumps, and India collapsed. India still came back in the match - they had Australia effectively at 78 for 4 in the second innings - but bowled poorly to Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting. Never to come back in the series.

In the first Test of their tour of England, India troubled the hosts on day one but lost Zaheer Khan to injury. On the second day they had England at 62 for 5, but when they came back from lunch with a win still a remote possibility, India bowled Suresh Raina instead of an on-fire Ishant Sharma, and another big moment was lost. Two more big moments were lost in the next Test - the Stuart Broad-Graeme Swann partnership, and then a collapse with a big first-innings lead in sight. It all spiralled out of control after that.

On both tours, with those big moments lost, India didn't have the intensity, at times the fitness, and at others the skill, to come back. Days in the field became longer, batting innings passed in a blink of the eye, and India just kept running on the treadmill of defeat. After giving a good account of themselves on the first day - better than was expected but only good enough to keep the match in balance - India collapsed to a mix of good bowling and meek batting, in Zaheer's case. Zaheer came back well with the ball, almost had who is believed to be his bunny, Graeme Smith, but the catch was dropped. When they went into tea, India had only 162 runs in the bank, and were looking at a long South Africa batting line-up.

It was natural to be put in mind of the previous two tours. The two big moments were lost. Except that this time the 118 for 1 at tea did disservice to how well India had bowled. They had learned the lesson from the South Africa quicks, who bowled too short on day one and got all the wickets with fuller lengths on day two. Just that they had been unlucky at times. It would be a test of character, and also skill, to come back in the final session and keep the game alive.

The big difference here was that India still had a fit and intense three-man pace attack - the spinner not required so far might play a part in the final innings - and a lively pitch to work with. The last time Zaheer bowled more than 20 overs in a day's play was at MCG in 2010, when India lost those big moments. Even then his fitness and intensity were not quite in the clear. Today, after India had batted for more than an hour at the start of the day, Zaheer sent down 22 overs, the last as intense as the first, despite all the plays and misses and the drop catch. He was finally rewarded with Smith's wicket, 49 runs later than he should have been.

The rudder this attack badly needed had been provided by this new and fit Zaheer. He was not that great in the field, but the man has to pace himself. Zaheer has earned the right to such small allowances in an imperfect attack. Ishant and Mohammed Shami were no less intense. They kept bowling up, and not just floating it. There was a lot of emphasis on "right areas" in press conferences from India, but South African pitches need more. The more came from them. It took tenacity to keep at it despite being denied the results in the middle sessions. As it happens with Ishant, albeit not frequently enough, once he gets on a roll, things keep falling in place. Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis in two balls is as good as it gets in Test cricket. Shami delivered JP Duminy and AB de Villiers in the same over. India had come back from having lost the big moment. Those horrible memories were now being put back in the filing drawer.

It was not just the intensity. There was skill involved. On an outfield that had taken a lot of rain - fielders were slipping at its edge - India did something South Africa couldn't: reverse the ball. That added to the doubt for the batsmen. The ball was maintained superbly. The series was alive. This was reassurance that Virat Kohli's hundred on day one was not just a flicker. Even when Vernon Philander and Faf du Plessis got into a partnership, the field didn't spread out as was the case on those two previous two tours. The bowlers' intensity and fitness played a big part in it as did the fact that the pitch was offering some movement even with a 60-over-old ball.

That catch dropped by Rohit Sharma might still prove to be a big moment lost. Through that 67-run partnership between Philander and du Plessis, India will know beating South Africa - a 13-man team through the all-round roles of Kallis and de Villiers - in a Test is an incredibly difficult task. An extra batsman or an extra bowler pop out of nowhere to make you fight that extra fight. However, India have already not only exceeded expectations, they have done more than their bit to make this a classical Test.

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Hurting Philander eases South Africa's pain

Vernon Philander was suffering from a toothache last night but he was incisive with the ball, before shoring up a South Africa collapse with a defiant innings

'Philander ran in with purpose today'

Close to midnight after the first day of the Test, something was bothering Vernon Philander. "Toothache … you are starting to annoy the shit out of me now," he tweeted as the hour approached. "24 hour dentist, where are you? Sandton."

By the morning, Philander was ready to take his irritation out on someone. It showed in the first ball he delivered: short, outside off, seaming in a touch and drawing a careful push from Ajinkya Rahane. It showed even more the next delivery, which reared up and jagged away, forcing Rahane to play. It set the tone - as Allan Donald had asked his quicks to do - for the morning.

With a covering of cloud, moisture heavy in the air and a pain in his tooth, Philander beat MS Dhoni's bat, squared him up, and attacked the stumps more than any of the South African bowlers had on the first day. Although he was not the man who claimed the Indian captain's wicket, his rewards rolled in after that.

Rahane was dismissed in typical Philander fashion - poking at one outside off stump that nipped away at the last second. Zaheer Khan was comically caught on the back foot as he tried to do something that resembled playing at one that wobbled in the densely damp air. Ishant Sharma's defences were breached by a ball that was perfectly directed at the top of off stump.

All three dismissals paid homage to the consistency of Philander's bowling, the subtlety of movement he produces and the uncertainty he creates in batsmen's minds. After dismissing Ishant, Philander stood one wicket away from collecting his 100th Test scalp. But for a Morne Morkel no-ball in the over that followed, he would have had a chance to reach the landmark, but the extra delivery Morkel bowled accounted for India's last batsman.

Philander still has the second innings and the smart money will be on him to claim his 100th. If he gets there, he will become the fastest South African to the landmark, reaching it in 19 Tests, one fewer than Dale Steyn.

Philander is already the joint second-fastest to 50 Test wickets. The rate at which he has racked up those numbers could easily conjure up an image of a snarling speedster who juggles the ball as he delivers it. Philander is not that. He succeeds through consistency. The first day of this Test aside, he rarely offers width or bowls what batsmen may call a 'hit-me' delivery. He is tireless in his ability to maintain a line on or just outside off and a good length. He may sometimes have a few things to say but nothing as hostile as his opening partner Steyn.

His success has literally been achieved through hard work and the 100th wicket will be another illustration of that. Before he gets there, Philander will concentrate on batting South Africa towards safety, which he has already set about doing. He regards himself as a genuine allrounder, and with two first-class hundreds and two Test fifties to his name, few will argue with that. This is another opportunity to show it.

Philander has batted with the maturity of a senior batsman, despite not being the specialist at the crease. He walked out with his team on 146 for 6 and needing consolidation. Faf du Plessis, who has not scored a half-century in seven Test innings, was with him.

Philander was greeted with an outswinger, one that came back in and a short ball, and negotiated all three with ease. While du Plessis spent time trying to get in, Philander kept the score moving to avoid a build up of pressure. He took risks - an expansive drive off Ishant that he inside-edged for four - and he showed off his prowess when he pulled Mohammad Shami, punched Ishant through point and flicked Zaheer Khan.

Because of Philander, du Plessis had the time to gain his confidence and South Africa remained alive in the match. Philander got the balance between caution and aggression right, treated the bowling with respect but punished it when he had the chance. "Having Faf and Vernon there has been a major help for us," Hashim Amla said. "If you think back to Lord's, Vernon batted really well and he did so here again on a wicket that has done a bit."

Against England last August, Philander had joined JP Duminy at the crease with South Africa on 163 for 6. Both batsmen scored 61 and their partnership gave South Africa a decent total. Philander's last day five-for also played a major part in South Africa winning the Test, the series and the coveted mace. "He has proven his worth as a bowler and batsman for us," Amla said.

His team-mates seemed to know little about the discomfort Philander was in today, with Amla saying he wasn't aware of the toothache. "I didn't know but he did pretty well. I don't think it's affected him too badly," he said. Philander was only due to see the dentist at the end of play today. Given the way he performed with the pain so far, Amla hinted his team-mates may not be too unhappy if he wasn't cured completely by the morning.

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Watling keeps Ronchi on his toes

BJ Watling will be able to put pressure on Luke Ronchi for New Zealand's one-day wicketkeeping slot if he can increase his strike-rate. That was the strong indication given by Bruce Edgar, the national selection, after he named the one-day squad to face West Indies where Ronchi will be given a chance to cement the keeper's role in the middle order but faces competition.

Watling is secure in the Test position having enjoyed a productive 2013 where he has scored, as of the start of the Hamilton Test, 576 runs at 41.14 and performed tidily with the gloves. However, now that Brendon McCullum's career behind the stumps is over there is potentially more fluidity in the one-day position and although Ronchi has the frontrunner's position there are others in the frame.

Ronchi's and Watling's one-day statistics make for an interesting comparison. In List A cricket, Watling averages 39.03 but his strike-rate is a steady 69.24 whereas Ronchi's lower average of 28 comes with the eye-catching strike-rate of 105.12. At the moment it's the scoring rate which is swaying the selectors.

"He gives us firepower and naturally scores quickly," Edgar said. "He's got a strike-rate of around 120. BJ is also pushing the door, he's close but he doesn't quite give us that firepower. We know he's working hard on it and he wants to challenge that spot."

Ronchi is already on his second chance having initially been dropped after a tough return to international cricket, following his previous stint for Australia, on the England tour and subsequent Champions Trophy earlier this year.

He made 47 runs in six innings and was not in the squad to tour Bangladesh and Sri Lanka until Kane Williamson broke his thumb and McCullum was forced out with his back injury. He produced some solid displays in Sri Lanka and will now be the man with the gloves, and at No. 7, for the series against West Indies.

New Zealand's one-day squad was a statement of wanting to play aggressive cricket. Alongside the recall for Jesse Ryder, Edgar has also told Adam Milne, the Central Districts quick bowler, to let the handbrake go against West Indies. Milne, who went wicketless during the series in Sri Lanka, has the most to gain from Tim Southee missing the opening two matches due to needing minor toe surgery.

"Adam did the hard yards on some pretty slow wickets and we want to give him the opportunity in the West Indies ODIs and give him a chance on our tracks which are hopefully quicker and bit bouncier and he can demonstrate how quick he is."

He also gave support to Mitchell McClenaghan to continue in his role as strike-bowler after he found life tougher in the subcontinent. Overall, McCleanghan has an impressive return of 35 wickets in 14 matches at 20.08.

"His economy rate…was a factor of learning to bowl the right lengths on those pitches which is quite difficult. Prior to that his strike rate was very good and economy rate very good. He's a hustler and tries to get wickets. By all accounts in the most recent Plunket Shield match he was giving guys a good hurry up. He wants to get wickets and knock the top off."

Fellow left-arm Trent Boult, who took 10 for 80 in the Wellington Test against West Indies, has been given hope of feature at the 2015 World Cup despite being overlooked for this squad. Boult has not played an ODI since February, against England in Napier, and is viewed as a red-ball specialist at the moment.

"Trent has aspirations to play one-day cricket, we've had that discussion with him," Edgar said. "He's very keen to develop his white ball game and perhaps is less confident with the white ball over the red. He wants to do more work and become more confident and comfortable in that space.

"We see him as part of our 2015 planning and it's just a case of how he's moving along. There may be an opportunity for him to come and play but we just want to see where he sits and how he's going."

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WI remove Rutherford and Fulton

Tea New Zealand 76 for 2 (Williamson 34*, Taylor 15*) trail West Indies 367 (Chanderpaul 122*, Ramdin 107, Southee 4-79) by 291 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

West Indies threw New Zealand their stiffest challenge of the series. First, their last two wickets added 60 to stretch the innings to 367. And then, their bowlers tied down the New Zealand top order in batting-friendly conditions. Hamish Rutherford fell to his own premature exuberance and Peter Fulton went in Sunil Narine's first over after failing to rotate the strike for an hour and a half.

Playing two specialist spinners, West Indies had to open the bowling with Darren Sammy's medium pace from one end, but the captain stuck to what he does usually, holding one end up and taking the odd wicket. He also caught brilliantly, both wickets owing more to his own brilliance in the field than the quality of the deliveries.

He first bent low in his followthrough to pluck a low catch as Rutherford drove hard in the sixth over. In the 22nd over, he snapped up an extremely sharp reflex chance at backward short leg as Fulton flicked Narine. Fulton batted 71 deliveries to make just 11. While he left well, he hit deliveries hard and straight to the fielders.

Williamson wasn't free-flowing as well in the company of Fulton, but opened up as Ross Taylor came in. Both batsmen looked to take singles, and their stand had grown to 33 by the tea break in just under ten overs. It was not without alarms against the spinners, though. Taylor survived a review for leg-before by West Indies off Narine, and Williamson escaped a few times, uppishly driving Veerasammy Permaul.

In the morning, Shivnarine Chanderpaul equalled Don Bradman's 29 Test centuries, went past Allan Border's tally of 11174 runs and remained unbeaten for the 45th time in 260 innings. Tino Best and Permaul contributed twenties to push West Indies past 350, a mark that had seemed unimaginable at 86 for 5 on the first afternoon.

New Zealand could have ended the innings on 339, but Fulton dropped Best in the slips off Corey Anderson, another blot on the hosts' catching in this game. Best was on 4 then, and went on to make 25, his innings a mix of typical slogs and unusually sensible batting, before edging a heave to the wicketkeeper off legspinner Ish Sodhi in the 117th over.

Permaul clubbed a run-a-ball 20, lofting and pulling Tim Southee for a six and a four off consecutive deliveries. Even as Brendon McCullum spread the field, Southee held his nerve to pitch another one up and Permaul, trying to hit a third successive boundary, edged a sharp catch to Fulton.

The efforts of Nos 10 and 11, along with the indefatigable Chanderpaul, turned around a poor morning start for West Indies. Southee began with his outswingers on target, getting Sammy to nick behind in the sixth over of the day. Sammy blocked his way to 3 off 28, following from his pair in a day in Wellington. But in the second session, he made some amends.

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Can Kallis make a U-turn?

He may have hit one of the roughest patches in his career, but Jacques Kallis, in the past, has shown he can recover spectacularly

Cullinan: Kallis should assess where his career is

At Mark Boucher's tribute dinner recently, he wished his best friend Jacques Kallis "best of luck for the next 20 years of your international cricket career". Amid laughter Kallis responded he would either stop enjoying it or stop contributing if he keeps playing to offer some reassurance to the audience. Those people may revisit that evening and wonder what Kallis thinks about that quip now.

A golden duck at the Wanderers - only the second of his career - is not a reason to condemn the man widely acknowledged as the best cricketer South Africa has ever produced to retirement. But because it's part of a streak in which he has only gone into double figures only once in the last six Test innings, it is an indication of something worrying.

Kallis has had the leanest Test year in 2013, for years in which he has played more than one match. In seven Tests, he's managed only 160 runs at an average of 16.00. He has not scored a century for the first time in a calendar year since 1997. In the three years preceding this one, he has averaged over 50.00.

More alarming than the sudden dip will be the manner in which he has been dismissed. In the five of his last six Test innings, including today Kallis has been out lbw to deliveries that have come into him, even if only slightly. On every occasion, he has played across the line and been late on the shot.

No example of that was clearer than today. Ishant, having bowled Hashim Amla the ball before, follow-up perfectly. He kept it full and directed it straight. Kallis looked a little slow on the shot, played across and knew he was out as soon as the ball struck the pad.

The method of dismissal could be a reflection of Kallis battling to judge the line quickly enough or simply a sign that he is short on confidence early on in his innings. As one of the most technically correct batsman around, it's likelier it is the second. That would not be too surprising considering the year Kallis has had.

He has been betwixt and between in terms of how he wants to manage what he admits are the twilight years of his career. Having said he wants to play one-day cricket, with the eventual aim of turning in the 2015 World Cup, Kallis initially made himself available for the Champions Trophy. He withdrew on the eve of the squad announcement citing a need for a break.

Since then, he has recommitted to the ODI team but his comeback has not been as successful as he would have liked. After being absent from the fifty-over squad for 19 months from March 2012, he scored a half-century on his comeback against Pakistan, but managed just 26 runs in the three innings after that.

South Africa rested him as soon as the series against both Pakistan and India were decided. While missing out on the Pakistan game with the series lost appeared a genuine attempt in managing Kallis workload, leaving him out of the India game could have been the selectors way of kindly nudging him to the exit sign in that format.

But if Kallis' career needs clipping, that should be the extent for now because Kallis still has plenty to offer in the longest format. He has had lean patches in Tests before - most recently at the end of 2011 when he scored just one half-century in seven innings - and recovered spectacularly. So there is reason to believe he will do it again.

Then, there were also concerns about his reaction times as well, particularly because he was being peppered with short balls by a young, quick Australian pack. Matters came to a head when Kallis recorded his first pair against Sri Lanka in Durban, some said his shelf life was over. Kallis responded with a double hundred in Cape Town and centuries on all three of the tours that followed.

The fourth visit - to the UAE a year later - did not bring the same success. With three single-figure scores and no wickets, statistically Kallis had the worst outing of his career. When Graeme Smith was asked if it was cause for concern, he brushed it off, adamant that the desire to continue playing at the highest level was still high for Kallis. No-one can doubt the hunger remains and the second innings may be the perfect opportunity to begin satiating the appetite.

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SSC, NCC, Colts and Ragama in semis

Sinhalese Sports Club, Colts Cricket Club, Nondescripts Cricket Club and Ragama Cricket Club will contest the semi-finals of the Premier Limited Overs competition, after finishing in the top two of their groups at the end of the round-robin phase. Both semi-finals will be played at the Premadasa Stadium with Colts taking on NCC on December 21, before SSC face Ragama on December 23.

Group B

Opening the batting in his first match of the tournament, Mahela Jayawardene hit 90 from 83 for SSC, who moved to the top of their group with a 38-run Duckworth-Lewis win over Moors Sports Club. His 133-run opening stand with Danushka Gunathilaka, who scored an unbeaten 75, effectively set up the victory. SSC had been chasing 277, but their innings was cut short by bad weather at 38 overs. Having lost only two wickets at that stage, their 215 runs comfortably secured the match.

Allrounder Chaturanga de Silva's 71 from 67 balls and Isham Ghouse's 57 had provided the substance in Moors' innings, as they amassed what was a commanding score of 276 for 8 by this season's standards. Seam bowlers Dhammika Prasad and Charith Jayampathi struck at various stages of the innings to take five wickets between them. In the end, SSC's bowlers had done enough to ensure a top order strengthened by Jayawardene's arrival would secure their place atop the table.

Ports Authority Cricket Club finished just outside the reckoning for the semi-finals in their group, despite a low-scoring three-wicket win over Bloomfield Cricket Club, at Bloomfield's ground. Seam-bowler Isuru Udana did not open the bowling, but it was he who sparked a Bloomfield collapse that would see them sink to 58 for 5, before finishing at 127 all out in the 34th over. Udana took 3 for 33 and left-arm spinner Anuk de Alwis also claimed three wickets, for 37 runs.

Ports Authority wobbled early in their chase, losing both openers in the fourth over to Suraj Randiv's offspin. However they regrouped through Sachithra Serasingha's 45 lower down the order. Ports Authority lost two wickets when tied with Bloomfield, making the result seem closer than it was, but they completed the chase in the 32nd over.

Tamil Union Cricket Club ended a disappointing tournament with a 196-run victory over the group's bottom team, Chilaw Marians, at the P Sara Oval. The victory was Tamil Union's second in the competition, and was set up by a opener Pabasara Waduge's 120 from 122 balls - an innings that featured 17 fours. Several other Tamil Union batsmen got starts but none crossed 40, as they strode to 300 for 9 from 50 overs. Seam bowler Saliya Saman took 3 for 54 for Chilaw.

Legspinner Jeevan Mendis collected five wickets for 12 as Chilaw unraveled quickly during their reply. The visitors had been 50 for 2 in the 15th over before Mendis began to strike, and he wrapped up Chilaw innings for 104 in the 34th over with some help for Ramith Rambukwella, who claimed two scalps.

Group A

Air Force Sports Club recorded a 40-run victory over Badureliya Sports Club, in a match in which neither team could hope to qualify for the semi-finals. Left-arm seam bowler Ruvinda Shamen took 5 for 32 for Badureliya after they had asked the opposition to bat first, but Sajith Kalumpriya struck 68 to help propel Air Force to 194 all out in the 47th over.

Badureliya lost both openers for ducks, inside the first two overs of their reply, and continued to stumble against seam bowler Lasanda Rukmal, who took 4 wickets for 58. Andy Solomons walloped 90 from 60 bakks and put on a 78-run stand with Leven Helambage for the fifth wicket, but it was not enough to save Badureliya, who finished bottom of the group.

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