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New Zealand 264 for 4 (Marshall 74, Styris 69, Fleming 51) beat South Africa 259 for 7 (Rudolph 70*, Boje 50, Oram 3-51) by 6 wickets
Scorecard

Hamish Marshall gets it on © AFP

New Zealand put in a fine performance, held their nerve, beat South Africa by six wickets, and took an unassailable 3-1 lead in this six-match series. On a rain-interrupted day in Dunedin they used their superior knowledge of the Carisbrook conditions well. But it was not smooth sailing all the way.When Stephen Fleming won the toss there was no doubt that he would field first.The skies were overcast, an icy wind buffeted the ground, and rain seemed just apassing cloud away. Michael Mason, in the team in place of the injured DarylTuffey, showed why he is rated so highly. He assessed the situation well and bowled within himself. He kept the ball up in the batsman’s half and gave away no width.Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs waited out an initial spell of controlled seambowling. Neither took the attack to the opposition, and South Africa were quickly on the back foot – only figuratively, of course. With the square boundaries being just over 50 yards away, bowling short was the surest way to commit cricket suicide. In this, New Zealand showed a better reading of the situation.Gibbs (16) and Jacques Kallis (14) fell cheaply. Gibbs was lbw trying to manufacture a shot, and Kallis holed out as he tried to carve the ball to the short boundary (53 for 2). Smith (37) had done the bulk of the scoring at the top of the order, and when he was caught behind off Jacob Oram, courtesy of a thick inside-edge via his thigh-pad, South Africa were in trouble (78 for 3). Then Boeta Dippenaar (18) was clean bowled by Chris Cairns – and 100 for 4 from nearly 30 overs was not such a good score.Nicky Boje, promoted to No. 5, underlined his utility, clipping, nudging, tucking and driving the ball around. For the first time in the innings a batsman was scoring freely. Seemingly without taking risks, Boje helped add 84 for the fifth wicket. His fifty came off just 47 balls, and included five fours. Even Boje’s dismissal came as he was trying to accelerate. He inside-edged Scott Styris while playing a premeditated sweep (184 for 5).Jacques Rudolph then took over. Fresh legs, and a mind undisturbed by two breaks due to rain, combined to prove that the pitch still had more in it for the batsmen. Rudolph took on the bowlers without attempting anything over the top. He knew the best areas to score were square of the wicket, and exploited this with childish joy. He walked down the pitch as though he was toying with a kid in the back yard, used the pace of the quicker men well, and deflected the ball into gaps. Even as wickets fell at the other end – Mark Boucher came and went for a breezy 35 – Rudolph held his nerve. He was unbeaten on 70, and helped South Africa reach 259 for 7.When New Zealand began their chase, they had the advantage of knowing exactly what they needed to do. Unlike South Africa, shooting in the dark for the right total on this pitch, Fleming and his men knew exactly what they needed to do to come out on top. It was a situation tailormade for New Zealand: no heroics were called for, just an honest, professional plod to the finish line.Few people can plod with as much grace as Fleming. Aside from playing and missing early on – only to be expected in overcast conditions – the New Zealand batsmen were in total control. Shaun Pollock was his usual miserly self, but the good work was undone by Andre Nel who distributed presents as if he were Santa Claus on speed.Fleming and Michael Papps were a study in contrast. Papps, stocky and thick-set, lunged onto the front foot, but favoured the cut and the pull. Fleming, tall and lithe, drove with the full face of the bat. It was finally a short ball that gave South Africa respite: Papps (29) pulled Makhaya Ntini to Boje in the deep (71 for 1).Just as Papps gave way to Hamish Marshall, pace gave way to slower stuff. Thissuited Marshall just fine. Lance Klusener’s offcutters were coming on at an ideal pace to work around, and Boje is no Derek Underwood. Despite that, Boje struck almost immediately, as Fleming (51) chipped a ball straight to Pollock at square leg (102 for 2). Fleming walked back slowly, leaden-footed feet with disappointment, after throwing away a start. Yet he had done the most important thing: show exactly how the task was to be approached.Marshall (74) and Styris (69) batted with a maturity that made the task seem a formality. Both players shelved the big shots, playing them only to rank bad balls when it was safe. They put on 126 for the third wicket, and took New Zealand to the verge of victory. From there, Cairns, with a couple of big sixes, and Craig McMillan took New Zealand home.

NEW DELHI, Feb 14 AFP – Australian legend Greg Chappell today had a dig at out-of-form Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, calling him “mentally lazy”.”Sourav Ganguly has always looked prone to mental laziness and continues to squander a wonderful talent,” Chappell wrote in his column for the news agency.Ganguly has been passing through a lean patch recently despite being the ninth-highest run-getter in the world with 8,263 in 219 one-dayers.The Indian captain has scored just 66 in his last eight matches. His latest attempt to regain form failed when he contributed just eight against minnows the Netherlands in his team’s opening World Cup match at Paarl on Wednesday.”He has always looked … as if it is below him to work on developing his talents. A great shame!” Chappell said.The former Australian captain also slammed India’s total of 204 against a mediocre Dutch side.”Indian batting in that game was at best patchy,” said Chappell. “Holland boast a modest attack but the Indian batsmen played without conviction on a good wicket.”The Indian (batting) line-up needs to be more convincing than this if they want to get to the final. Australia’s attack in the next match will test them more sternly than did Holland’s.”They (Australia) still appear to hold most of the trump cards despite the loss of Shane Warne.”Australia’s master leg-spinner was forced home from the World Cup on Wednesday after he tested positive for a banned diuretic.Chappell, however, had a word of advice for both Indian captain and coach John Wright before the match against Australia at Centurion, South Africa on Saturday.”John Wright and Ganguly must not put too much pressure on the team to perform. It is more important for everyone to be as relaxed as possible to the point of having fun.”Good players don’t lose their talent overnight. They can lose their way mentally though, and it is this mental balance which the Indian squad needs to rediscover.”Australia have already won their opening match against Pakistan by 82 runs.

Mudassar Nazar Photo © CricInfo

A more than satisfying performance by Pakistan was marred this evening by disorderly supporters and caused Alec Stewart to concede defeat, the 10th in a row. Oh golly, what’s cricket coming to in England!I had said before, Waqar would lead from the front and he has not let me down. It was definitely his day at Headingley. With this fantastic burst of 7 wickets, I do hope he has silenced his detractors, who’d been claiming this excellent pacer’s days were over. Not for me though, I think he has at least two or three years of top level cricket still left in him.

Waqar Younis celebrates the wicket of Alec Stewart Photo © AFP

The responsibility of leading as volatile an outfit as Pakistan seems to have added loads to his confidence and he looks fit too. For some, like Tendulkar, Ganguly, our own Inzamam and Saeed, to name a few, captaincy is a definite burden and loads them from performing at their best but for Waqar, it’s an inspiration to perform immaculately.A comprehensive win though it was, for me it still left a lot to be desired. Despite the inclusion of Fazl-e-Akbar, the team definitely missed another genuine fast bowler. Imagine Wasim Akram or Shoaib Akhtar bowling in tandem with Waqar at this very Headingley pitch, the England innings would not gone into the 46th over. I hope Wasim is fit soon, Australia lurk in the final.I think Fazl-e-Akbar bowled well and to his capacity. I cannot expect anything more from someone who’s been out of active cricket for a long time. At the same time, I believe Waqar should’ve opened the bowling with Abdur Razzaq. He is more experienced than Fazl and did prove very effective after opening the bowling along with Waqar at Lord’s.But as it was, England cruised along after Waqar’s quota had expired and he left the field for a shower and change. I think stand-in captain Inzamam’s introduction of Saqlain so early was not the greatest of moves. He should have persisted with Azhar, although he conceded runs in his first over.

Waqar Younis sends down a thunderbolt as Hollioake look on Photo © AFP

This easing of pressure on a pacer friendly track, enabled Hollioake to settle in and with Gough playing the sheet anchor, led England out of a complete disaster. I am sure Pakistan missed an opportunity to bowl England out for one of their lowest totals in this form of the game.With the pitch still playing some tricks, added with Pakistan’s innate frailty in chasing runs, I had fears when Caddick and Gough, came out to defend 156. Believe me, I had shivers running down my spine at the thought of Afridi and Saeed swishing about on this wicket while facing up to this fearful duo.Afridi did not allay my fears any, for he had no clue against the swing and seam. The inevitable was delayed for 9 overs until Gough produced an out-swinger and Afridi, deciding he’d had enough of these defensive shots, poked at it to be caught behind.Saeed, on the other hand, looked in good nick until he got tempted and wafted a fine nick to Alec again. Some would argue umpire Kitchen had undone him but as far as I could see, he should have been out to a shot like that anyway. Saeed had to depart after playing some entertaining shots.

Abdur Razzaq drives bowler Ben Hollioake through mid off Photo © CricInfo

Razzaq played beautifully and Youhana accomplished another sensible knock. With Razzaq playing shots and getting runs at one end, he had absolutely no need to hurry things up and that’s exactly what he did, stuck in.In the end, it was the crowd who stole the show by invading the pitch, injuring a steward and taking most of the charm out of the win. The sad part of it all is that the outrage in the media at the lack of proper security measures will take off the gloss of Waqar’s performance.This has happened for the second time, after that disruption at Edgbaston that held up the match for about 30 minutes, and should be a fair warning for the authorities to stop taking the crowds lightly. Beware, today there was only one ‘known’ injury, tomorrow there could be more and these are certainly not the kind of cricket fans I played in front of in England.

Ed:Mudassar Nazar is a veteran of 76 tests and 122 ODIs. He is currently the chief coach of Pakistan’s National and Regional Cricket Academies. In view of the overwhelming interest of users in CricInfo’s articles, we have invited him to write for us.

Not content with trying to hijack Arsenal’s proposed move for Spanish starlet Juan Mata, Tottenham are now attempting to muscle in on another Gunners target, Christopher Samba.

Arsenal were said to be keen admirers of the giant defender, with the feeling seemingly reciprocated by the player, who was reported to have issued several ‘come and get me’ pleas to the Gunners – something Samba now strongly denies: ‘The declarations about me are totally false – never said that. I’m a Rovers player and will never mention other clubs – it’s disrespectful. Not happy right now’, he posted on his Twitter account.

Blackburn want £12 million at the very least for Samba, which is said to have put off Arsene Wenger who believes the player is overpriced. Which has left Tottenham to jump into pole-position, as The Daily Mail reports his agent will open talks with the club this week. In a proposed deal Spurs may offer cash, plus defender Sebastien Bassong – something which Blackburn may consider, having already lost another of their starting centre-backs, Phil Jones, earlier this summer.

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It was widely reported last week that Arsenal had clinched the loan signing of Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin, but bearing in mind the options already available to manager Arsene Wenger, should he really be top of the agenda?

Wenger has shown a preference for a 4-3-3 formation the past couple of years or so, which helps the side dominate possession against lesser opponents in the middle of the park, and Sahin would appear to fit in with that style having played in a similar system during his hugely successful six-year spell at Bundesliga champions, Borussia Dortmund.

The 23 year-old Turkish international was instrumental in the club’s title triumph in 2010-11, dictating the tempo from deep, controlling the ball and instigating attacks and he helped create alongside Sebastian Kehl the perfect counterbalance to the more attacking stylings of Mario Gotze and Shinji Kagawa further forward.

It was thought that the midfielder was going to be used as a makeweight in any deal that saw Luka Modric go to Real Madrid this summer and he’s undoubtedly a very good player of continental class. However, is he really needed to the same extent at the Emirates as he would be at White Hart Lane?

If Modric were to leave Tottenham, there’s no ready-made replacement within their ranks and they’ll certainly need to shop around, with Joao Moutinho at the top of the list alongside Sahin, but at Arsenal, they already have a pretty well-stocked central midfield department and they need a capable holding man as opposed to another deep-lying playmaker.

Alex Song had an excellent campaign last term, with the Cameroon international growing more and more into a creative role, breaking free of the positional shackles that a disciplined defensive midfielder often finds himself in, finishing the season with 14 assists across all competitions. He’s far better on the ball than most give him credit for and deserves to be pushed further forward, with someone to do with dirty stuff coming in behind him, which not only frees him up to do what he does best, but also adds a degree of steel to the team’s engine room.

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Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta settled superbly into the side in his first full season at the club, going on to become a hugely important and integral member of the side, and the team’s form noticeably fell away slightly in his absence as they lost that degree of control in midfield. Arteta recorded a 90% pass completion rate over the whole of last season, one of the best records in the entire league.

Any move for Sahin could potentially disrupt both of these players’ rhythm going into the new season. You could certainly argue in favour of the purchase of Santi Cazorla, as Arsenal could still do with more threat out wide and through the middle at the tip of the trio, and you definitely could say the same over the issue of acquiring a midfield anchor, but signing Sahin while you’ve already got Arteta seems a bit of a needless indulgence.

Considering the nature of the player’s reputation and the club that he came from, there will of course be some hefty wages to consider and a loan fee, which when you don’t have infinite resources, seems a strange approach to take, reinforcing areas which are already your strongest.

Any move has obviously been predicated on the news that Jack Wilshere has suffered yet another setback and will be out until October, but when you factor in the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin, and the fact that Sahin struggled with injury for most of last season, any proposed deal starts to look like a gamble. It’s welcoming that Arsenal are being linked with the players of Sahin’s calibre again, but despite Wenger’s cryptic response which hinted at a move, you have to analyse where the player will fit in and if there is even a need for him.

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The side coped very well without Wilshere for all of last season, and even though his return will have to be tempered without the sort of expectation that followed him around prior to his long-term injury lay-off, he could still play a part in the second half of the season. Dominating the ball and creating chances wasn’t the problem for Arsenal last term, it was putting pressure on the opposition when they didn’t have it, and even though a loan move is less of a gamble than signing him, Sahin, for all of his strengths, is far from the energetic player that the side currently need to disrupt other teams’ style of play.

Every fan wants good players to arrive in the summer and Sahin certainly falls into that category, but unless there’s another departure or long-term injury concern, they may be better turning their attentions to more pressing areas of the squad as opposed to a position where they are seemingly well set in already, as they head into the new campaign with a potentially exciting side.

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

Tottenham are believed to be ready to bid for Bolton defender Gary Cahill, with the London club eager to solidify their rearguard.

Harry Redknapp’s men have conceded eight goals in their first two Premier League games, and may look to the 25-year-old to bring organisation and quality to their backline.

Local rivals Arsenal have had a £10million bid rejected by The Trotters, who are holding out for at least £12 million for their England international.

The Daily Mail reports that Spurs are ready to offer £8 million plus either David Bentley or Sebastien Bassong for the former Aston Villa centre half.

The side from the Reebok Stadium will not let their prize asset go lightly however, and boss Owen Coyle has remaining ardent that his asking price must be met.

“I can tell you I won’t buckle. I have had a chat with Gary. He knows my opinion. We don’t have to be taking poor offers. If someone makes the right offer, then we can do business,” the Scot stated.

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The Sheffield born man has been included in Fabio Capello’s England squad to face Bulgaria and Wales in the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers.

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Liverpool fans have not enjoyed a successful 2010 by any standards. Completely flunking a title race many fancied them to win, and losing manager Rafael Benitez to Inter Milan, memories of glorious Champions League nights seem a long time ago.  After an embarrassingly impotent home defeat against struggling Wolves this week, the heat on incumbent manager Roy Hodgson has multiplied several times over.

The biggest problem for Liverpool is that they do not look remotely threatening. At no point on Wednesday could you point to a period of concerted pressure from the Reds- a cardinal sin considering Wolves’ standing in the division. The moments of quality displayed by Fernando Torres during his first two seasons at Anfield have dried up, and the support coming from midfield is, to put it mildly, poor.

Bolton, on the other hand, continue to impress. Unlucky not to take anything from Stamford Bridge during the week, Owen Coyle’s men have a genuine chance to establish themselves as front runners for a European place. Sadly for Liverpool, even a Europa league place is looking far from likely.

Roy Hodgson is now under severe pressure to deliver some points, particularly with the new owners examining their options with regards strengthening their squad in the transfer window. Hodgson needs to show he is the man to take the club forward- the fans may not be convinced, but don’t expect this to be the straw to break the camel’s back.

Prediction: 2-2

Click to see match odds at Paddy Power below

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Chelsea are ready to up their bid for Germany international Andre Schurrle, according to The Telegraph.

The Stamford Bridge outfit are in the market for a new forward after seeing Didier Drogba leave the club on a free transfer this summer, with a raft of different marksmen being linked with a move to west London.

However, Roberto Di Matteo’s men are keen on Bayer Leverkusen’s Schurrle, and have already had an offer in the region of £17 million turned down by the Bundesliga club.

The BayArena outfit have stated that they will not sell their skilful forward, however it is believed that negotiations between the clubs are ongoing.

The Blues are readying a new bid, thought to be in excess of £20 million, which will test the German team’s resolve, and could well see Schurrle as the latest new face at the Champions League-winning side.

Meanwhile, should a deal for Schurrle be completed, it is expected that Daniel Sturridge will be deemed as surplus to requirements at Chelsea, and will be allowed to leave the club.

The sprightly striker, who has been selected in the Team GB squad for the Olympics, has seen opportunities dwindle since Di Matteo took over from Andres Villas Boas, and could well be looking for a new team.

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By Gareth McKnight

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So, the long wait is over, the Premier League season has got underway, well for everyone apart from Tottenham and Everton who will have to wait a little bit longer. There’s nothing like a bit of football on TV to get you eager to start playing the beautiful game. After all, the same happens for two weeks of the year when Wimbledon is on – just try booking a tennis court at your local part at the beginning of July. Anyway, back to football; if seeing Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, Chelsea’s Fernando Torres and co. in action made you want to lace up your football boots, then get set and go!

While watching the Premier League’s best footballers on the box is all well and good, there’s nothing quite like playing. Nothing can match the feeling when you curl in a free-kick akin to that by David Beckham for England against Greece in 2004 or performing an overhead kick like Rooney did in the Manchester derby last season (although you might only ever score goals like these in your dreams!) A tap in from six yards might be closer to the mark, but whatever your level, make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to show off your skills.

Also, if last weekend saw you shouting ‘I could have done better than that’ at your teams’ players, then the football pitch is the only place that you can do that. It’s all well and good talking the talk, but can you walk the walk? Would you have been able to slot away that penalty that Liverpool’s Luis Suarez skied over the bar and into the crowd at Anfield? Would you have stayed on your feet when Arsenal’s Gervinho took a tumble and instead shot for goal?

If you want to get playing football, or any other sport for that matter, then it’s time to start eating your breakfast cereal. I’m not going to tell you it’s the most important meal of the day (even though it is), but eating your breakfast could make you more active. Simply collect points from promotional packs of your favourite Nestlé products and choose from over 25 FREE activities. With activities ranging from swimming to horse riding and of course footy, there’s something for everyone!

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What are you going to try? Click here to get started.

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You gotta love Manchester City’s latest signing, the best young striker since the last one they bought, Edin Dzeko. Barely one day into his job and the former Wolfsburg hit-man, does what everyone associated with Manchester City does- he talks about Man United.

Dzeko said: “I hear a lot about the fans — that most of the people from Manchester are Manchester City fans.”

While the validity of Dzeko’s statement is somewhat questionable to say the least, after all did all the one million fans on the streets of Manchester in 1999 travel from outside the City, the bigger question is ‘does it really matter?’

At first I was as annoyed as most Reds when I heard yet more nonsense about our club being spouted by yet another City affiliate. To be fair to City they were probably relieved that Dzeko knew which club he signed for – unlike Robinho- and didn’t mention the words “massive club” -which seemed to be compulsory for any player signing for them.

Once my anger had subsided slightly and turned to bemusement before finally settling into pity, I was left with the question “who really gives a toss?”

At Old Trafford there are undeniably a lot of fans from places nowhere near Manchester, there’s the Cockney Reds who make up a significant number of those attending matches, not to mention the Irish United fans of which there are many-usually giving interviews to Sky Sports or MUTV outside the ground. United aren’t alone though in attracting fans from other areas. During my time in London while at Uni’ I came across countless Liverpool fans who sounded about as scouse as Michael Caine and there seemed to be a running joke about Arsenal fans coming from Surrey.

There’s no doubt that any successful team is going to attract fans from outside its home city. Some of it may be due to the time you start watching football. If you haven’t got a dad who drags you along to games from an early age- as was the case with me and I always thank my lucky stars he didn’t support City- then you may like a team you see on the TV and start an affiliation with them. A case in point was around seven years ago when I spent a summer ’working’ abroad in Crete. There were several  lads around my age- early twenties- working out there who all supported Spurs.

These lads were from a lot of different areas- Slough, Chingford, Bromley, wherever, yet for some reason on that island when I was there, Spurs seemed to be the most popular team amongst my fellow ’workers.’ One day, I asked one of them why he felt this was the case, as to be honest I didn’t feel Spurs would have been that popular as Arsenal had always been more successful and many of the fans were not from anywhere near Tottenham. He told me the reason he started following them, when he was around 8 or 9 Spurs had Paul Gascoigne, Chris Waddle and Gary Lineker playing for them, so he’d seen these players on the TV and found an instant appreciation of them. That’s what had made him follow Spurs and there’s every reason that other people his age may have had a similar experience.

That made perfect sense to me, after all one of my friends who lives in Twickenham recently told me her two young boys argue over football, the older one -he’s ten- follows Chelsea while the eight year old follows United.

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For United there does seem to be a big number of ‘out-of-towners‘, arguably because of the success the team has had, or maybe going back further to the days of Busby and the legacy he built. For whatever reason United do have a lot of fans from outside Manchester of that there can be no denial. Personally I used to find myself getting a little annoyed when I was younger and I’d hear cockneys- or anyone from south of Birmingham really -at Old Trafford. I’d create nonsensical ideas in my head that they were ‘glory hunters’ that were stopping real fans getting tickets. My attitude has changed a lot over the years as I’ve come to realise that not only is it irrelevant when it comes to supporting the team, whereabouts you’ve travelled in from but also that the main attribute most of us want from our teams fans is to get behind the players on the pitch what accent you’re doing that in has no importance whatsoever.

Another factor which made me respect fans that travel from further afield to come to Old Trafford, was a story a bloke from Essex told me once when I was working in a pub there  last year. George- that was his name, and probably still is- was born in the Manchester but moved to Essex as a baby with his family. His dad was a United fan- like mine- and had encouraged George to do the same. Despite living in Essex for forty years, he’d always remained loyal to United. He told me of his last trip to Old Trafford, a mid-week game against Wigan, he’d got the train up there but missed his train back as it took him longer getting out of the ground than expected.

The next train wasn’t until the morning so he’d had to get a coach, it was raining heavily- as it always does in sunny Manchester- so him and his mate had sat on a coach that took about 8 hours to get back to London- where they had to get a train to Essex- in soaking clothes. The point is, he’d gone through a lot of bother, and expense- travelling alone had ended up costing him about £50 just to watch a pretty run-of-the-mill game at Old Trafford. Was he a true fan? Of course. Did he have every right to be there as anyone else? Certainly. Had he spent more than a lot of people to get there? Absolutely.

It was a similar experience when I attended the West Ham game at Upton Park in the Carling Cup with a lad I know from Southend called Nathan. He told me how when he visits Old Trafford- which is quite often I hasten to add- he has to plan his work around it and often stay in a hotel, not the 10 minute car journey and back in my local for the post-match analysis, I’m used to.

Many fans who travel from afar have to spend a lot more money than local ones, Now I’ve finished Uni’ and am back  in Manchester it’s a lot easier to get to the games-obviously, while a trip to a match commuting from London often took planning of a military nature.

There are those that would argue you should support your local team- tell that to people from Chester- that anything else is just glory hunting, however after some years of thinking this may be true, I’ve realised that this idea is as outdated and egregious as Gerry Francis’s hair. As the Green and Gold campaign has shown at United- and I saw  many of these scarves when I lived  in London- it’s not where you come from that matters it‘s who you support- and how you support them.

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Read more of Justin’s work at the excellent NEW Manchester United blog ‘Red Flag Flying High’

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