Australia 'concerned' about Watson

SYDNEY — Cricket Australia is considering calling allrounder Shane Watson home early from the Champions League Twenty20 tournament so he can rest and be ready for the three-test series against South Africa starting Nov. 9.

Responding to questions about burnout and a lack of longer-form cricket for Watson, CA chief executive James Sutherland on Monday said "We are reviewing his load and circumstance very closely . . . I think it's reasonably well known that it's likely he won't see the tournament out."

Sutherland said CA was "concerned" about Watson, adding "his injury record is unfortunate."

The 31-year-old Watson scored 46 for the Sydney Sixers in the win over the Chennai Super Kings at Johannesburg on Sunday.

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Windies beat Australia to reach Twenty20 final

COLOMBO — An imperious Chris Gayle hit six sixes and five boundaries in an unbeaten 75 as the West Indies crushed Australia by 74 runs on Friday to secure a place in the World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka.

Settle down: The West Indies' Kieron Pollard celebrates after dismissing Australia's Pat Cummins on Sunday. AFP-JIJI

Gayle's performance helped the West Indies to a formidable 205-4 in their 20 overs. Australia was then bowled out for 131 with 20 balls to spare in the second semifinal at R. Premadasa Stadium, which will also host Sunday's final.

Player of the match Gayle faced 41 deliveries and shared 83 runs with Dwayne Bravo (37) for the third wicket and put on 65 off 25 balls with Kieron Pollard. Pollard's 38 off 15 balls helped West Indies become the first team of this tournament to pass the 200-run mark. The previous best score was 196-5 by England against low-ranked Afghanistan.

Along with driving up the West Indies total, Gayle also eased the pressure on his fellow batsmen.

"It was actually a slow track so to be there till the end was helpful for the rest of the guys to come and play around me," said Gayle, who acknowledged his cautious opening to his innings.

"It was a slow start. I didn't get that sort of strike which I needed in the first six overs," Gayle said. But he added: "It was important I didn't panic and lose focus in that particular area."

Australia captain George Bailey was straightforward in his verdict.

"We were absolutely outplayed," he said. "Gayle was subdued for a while but while he's at the crease he's always in your mind. But we set ourselves to get to the semifinals and I don't think there's one area specifically where we can improve on. But from tonight you can probably say all three."

To chase down such a daunting target, Australian openers Shane Watson and David Warner needed to put on another fiery performance at this tournament.

However, they were dealt an early blow when leg spin bowler Samuel Badree removed Warner with just two runs on the board. The ball missed Warner's outside edge and clipped the off stump on its way to the wicketkeeper. He was adjudged out by English television umpire Richard Kettleborough after viewing replays.

Watson and Mike Hussey showed some promise, sharing 22 runs off 13 balls, but off spinner Marlon Samuels had Hussey caught and bowled for 18.

Watson was then bowled by Badree for seven, leaving Australia three down for 29. Three more wickets fell for just 14 runs, from where Australia had little real chance of recovering despite a spirited 63 off 29 deliveries by captain Bailey who shared 68 runs with No. 8 batsman Pat Cummins (13).

Bailey hit four sixes and six boundaries for his maiden Twenty20 international half-century.

However, seam bowler Pollard dismissed both men in consecutive deliveries to end any chance of an Australian win.

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Late tries lift Australia past Argentina

GOLD COAST, Australia — Facing defeat by Argentina for the first time in nearly 30 years in Australia, the Wallabies came from 13 points down with 20 minutes left to score two tries and beat the Pumas 23-19 in their Rugby Championship match on Saturday.

Man-of-the-match Digby Ioane crossed for Australia's second try and Berrick Barnes kicked the conversion 10 meters in from the touch line to give the Wallabies the lead for the first time in the game.

Argentina's only win against the Wallabies in Australia came in 1983 at Brisbane's Ballymore ground. The teams have not played each other since 2003, and Argentina's last win against the Wallabies came in 1997 in Buenos Aires.

The win moved Australia into second place ahead of South Africa in the four-nation competition behind first-place New Zealand, which beat South Africa 21-11 earlier Saturday. The All Blacks are undefeated in four matches and lead Australia by eight points.

All four teams have next weekend off before South Africa hosts Australia in Pretoria on Sept. 29 and New Zealand travels to La Plata, Argentina in the penultimate round of the inaugural competition.

Wallabies center Pat McCabe started the comeback by crashing over after a pass from flyhalf Quade Cooper. Then stand-in halfback Nick Phipps darted to the blind side and burst past two defenders.

A cramping Barnes, who missed two easy first-half penalties, hit the wide conversion and Australia was in the lead with 10 minutes left.

Trailing 6-3 at halftime, Barnes pulled the Wallabies level in the 49th minute before Argentina took charge of the match.

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Australia wraps up victory in second test

SYDNEY — Michael Clarke capped a landmark match with the bat by taking the vital wicket of Sachin Tendulkar as Australia sealed an emphatic innings and 68-run win over India with a day to spare in the second test.

Man-of-the-match Clarke, who scored an unbeaten triple century on day three, dismissed Tendulkar for 80 shortly after lunch Friday to spark the Indian batting collapse that propelled Australia toward a 2-0 series lead.

"It's a very nice wicket to have that's for sure," Clarke said. "To be able to get such a great player out is a very handy wicket so I was stoked with that."

Australia eventually bowled India out for 400 in its second innings shortly after tea to take an iron grip on the four-match series against the world's No. 2-ranked team.

"I think our execution was very good," Clarke said. "I'd like to give a lot of credit to our bowlers throughout this test match as well. I thought the way we bowled in the first innings set the test match up for us.

"To be able to take 10 wickets on a really flat wicket out there, they deserve a lot of credit. They continue to perform in any conditions which is very pleasing for us."

Tendulkar fell tantalizingly close to being the first player to post 100 international centuries.

The "Little Master" was caught by Mike Hussey after part-time spinner Clarke (1-22) found the outside edge which deflected off wicketkeeper Brad Haddin's shoulder to first slip.

Tendulkar had been in fine touch throughout the first session and reached his 50 off 89 balls midway through the morning. He appeared to be on target to score the milestone century that has eluded him for 21 innings since the cricket World Cup in March last year.

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Australia bowlers come up big against India on fourth day

MELBOURNE, Australia — After two years of experimentation, disappointment and unfulfilled promise, Australia may finally have found a bowling lineup it can stick with.

Pace bowlers James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus stamped their authority over one of cricket's most experienced batting lineups when Australia beat India by 122 runs on the fourth day of the first test Thursday.

Hilfenhaus, discarded after a dismal Ashes series, returned figures of 5-75 and 2-39 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

James Pattinson, in just his third test, had 2-55 and 4-53, along with some handy batting in a man of the match performance, while Peter Siddle showed new found consistency to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar in each innings and return 3-63 and 3-42.

"I've got to give full credit to our bowlers," Australia captain Michael Clarke said. "We all know how dangerous India's batting lineup is and for our bowlers to be able to restrict them in both innings, full credit to them."

With test regular's Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson injured, along with new sensation Pat Cummins, many viewed the bowling selection for Melbourne as a stop gap measure.

But the Australia pacemen showed little respect for veteran Indian batsmen like Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid, dismissing India for 282 and just 169.

"We have to be at our best to beat India," Clarke said. "It has a lot of class players and it's batting order is as strong as any batting order in the world, so for our bowlers to have success, I think they deserve a lot of credit."

Australia was never going to find a ready replacement for spin great Shane Warne, but after almost three years Nathan Lyon has at least the economy to press for continued selection after figures of 0-66 and 1-25.

"I'm confident in Lyono. He's a wonderful talent," Clarke said. "He can hold up an end even if he's not taking wickets."

With Ryan nearing match fitness, Clarke and the selectors will have some serious deliberations ahead of the second test starting next week in Sydney.

"I've seen Ryano bowl in the nets the last few days and he looks pretty good," Clarke said. "I guess that's probably one of our bonuses at the moment. Our attack's bowling really well, and when you have guys like Ryano not too far away from being fully fit, I think it's a good problem to have."

And if the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch has something to offer spin bowlers, matters could be further complicated.

"We need to see the conditions and have the options if it is going to spin, we can talk about two spinners, we can talk about an allrounder, but if it has got grass on it like it did last year, we could play four fast bowlers.

DURBAN, South Africa — Sri Lanka removed South Africa skipper Graeme Smith to have the hosts 86-1 in their second innings at lunch on day four of the second test and still trailing by a hefty 363 runs.

Dilhara Fernando had Smith caught by Mahela Jayawardene in the slips for 26 Thursday to give the Sri Lankans an important breakthrough in their push for a series-leveling victory and first win in 16 tests.

Smith has a strong record in fourth-innings run chases for South Africa but survived less than 10 overs before Fernando (1-12) struck for his first wicket of the match.

Hashim Amla was not out on 37 with five fours and Jacques Rudolph unbeaten on 20 as the Proteas faced a world-record chase at a ground where they have lost their last three tests.

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Australia sags in middle after impressive Cowan debut

MELBOURNE, Australia — India and Australia shared an undulating first day of the first test Monday after an impressive debut by Australia opener Ed Cowan was marred by a middle-order collapse made worse by dubious umpiring decisions.

Cowan and former captain Ricky Ponting shared a century stand to put the hosts on top at the Melbourne Cricket Ground early, but India struck back with three wickets for just nine runs after tea to seize the initiative.

Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle then shared an unbeaten innings-steadying 63-run partnership to steer Australia to 277-6 at stumps.

The post-tea middle-order stumble was precipitated by India paceman Zaheer Khan (2-49), who bowled Australia captain Michael Clarke for 31 and had Mike Hussey controversially caught behind for a duck with the next ball.

Cowan, who top-scored with a watchful 68 from 177 balls, became the third wicket to fall in just 19 deliveries when caught behind off Ravichandran Ashwin as Australia slid from 205-3 to 214-6.

"It was a great day's cricket," Cowan said. "The bat had its moments, the ball had its moments, it was a good cricket wicket.

"They bowled really well in patches and we batted really well in patches, and we've got our noses ahead."

When Cowan fell, India carried all the momentum and it looked like Australia was in the midst of another of the giant batting collapses that had plagued the team in recent series.

However Haddin (21 not out) and Siddle (34 not out) put on a disciplined performance to put the game back on an even keel, having seen off the second new ball.

Hussey, struggling for runs of late and with his place in the team under threat, walked disgustedly from the field after being given out by umpire Marias Erasmus. Television replays indicated the ball hit Hussey's shoulder, but Australia could not challenge the decision under the Umpire Decision Reviews System because it is not being used in this series after the Indian cricket board raised concerns over its accuracy.

There was also a degree of doubt at Cowan's dismissal, while India suffered itself for its dogmatism over DRS, as Haddin was given not out in an lbw decision that was tough on the tourists.

"I've been a consumer of test cricket for so long and this is day one on the job for me, but as someone who loves their cricket and watches a lot of cricket, I just don't understand why it can't be handed down by the ICC for (the review system) to be uniform in all games," Cowan said.

Cowan combined for a 113-run stand with Ponting (62) after lunch, putting Australia temporarily in control after the loss of David Warner and Shaun Marsh to Umesh Yadav (3-96) in the morning session.

The 37-year-old Ponting, a veteran of 158 tests, has weathered persistent calls for his retirement this year and was selected for the Boxing Day test despite managing scores of just 5 and 16 in his previous match against New Zealand.

He answered the doubters with his 58th test half-century, prompting a standing ovation from 70,000-plus fans.

Ponting became Yadav's third victim when he was caught in slips by V.V.S. Laxman for 62 shortly before tea.

Yadav, playing in just his third test, said it was a great moment for him to be bowling to Ponting, but said every wicket was special.

"I just wanted to do the best for my country," he said.

Yadav took the first three wickets, having removed Warner and Marsh before the Cowan-Ponting partnership.

Warner, who carried his bat for an unbeaten 123 in just his second test earlier this month against New Zealand, smashed 37 off 49 deliveries before being caught by wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni off the first ball after a brief rain delay when attempting to hook Yadav.

Marsh faced just six balls before being caught for a duck by Virat Kohli at gully, celebrated by a sizable and vocal crowd of Indian supporters.

Cowan started his first test in cautious fashion, in contrast to Warner's dashing approach after Clarke won the toss and elected to bat on a green MCG wicket.

"As an opening batsman it's my job to try and set the game up," Cowan said. "I should have been a lot more nervous, but at the end of the day being relaxed really helped me through it."

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