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Day 2 Centuries from Reeza Hendricks and Johnathan Vandiar on the second day gave South Africa Under-19 the advantage in their three-day match against Bangladesh Under-19 in Potchefstroom. The two shared a 166-run stand for the fourth wicket and were not parted until the Bangladesh’s first-innings score of 294 was surpassed as South Africa finished the day on 393 for 4, a lead of 99 runs.Resuming on 35 for 1, South Africa lost Riley Rossouw in the day’s third over for the addition of just one run. Opener Jon-Jon Smuts was joined by Hendricks and the two added 93 at a brisk pace. Smuts was particularly aggressive, hitting three sixes and nine boundaries before falling to medium-pacer Rony Talukder.That brought to the crease Vandiar, who was in a similarly belligerent mood, chalking up 18 fours and a six during his stay. He scored the bulk of the runs during his partnership with Hendricks and was finally dismissed by Nasir Hossain on 103 off 151 balls.Hendricks held firm after Vandiar fell, and forged an unbroken 98-run stand with Yaseen Vallie. The 18-year-old Hendricks, who has played for Griqualand-West in the South African Airways Provincial Three-Day challenge since the previous season, finished the day unbeaten on a four-hour 145. South Africa maintained a breezy run-rate of four an over through their innings.The three-day match is followed by a triangular one-day tournament, scheduled to start on Tuesday, that also features India U-19.

Australia will host Bangladesh in three one-day internationals in Darwin in August and September, but the two Tests have been scrapped. The original series schedule clashed with the Beijing Olympics, which run from August 8 to 24, and the Test component has been postponed.The matches will be played at Darwin’s Marrara Stadium on August 31 and September 3 and 6. “Cricket Australia is committed to promoting Darwin on the international stage and also as an ideal training base for development squads in the off-season,” the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said.”Darwin has hosted Australian men’s and women’s teams in the past and has been an attractive training venue for international teams given the favourable climate. The location and [dry season] climate are ideal for matches during the Australian winter when playing cricket in the southern states is simply not considered.”

Kent, after winning the toss and electing to bat moved comfortably on to 100-2 at the lunch time interval scoring at 2.9 per over.Leicestershire felt that if there was to be anything in the wicket then itwould be early on and once again Jimmy Ormond duly obliged. Ormond, with an average of 24.40 and taking 42 wickets so far this season, picked up the first wicket of Hockley through a regulation catch to the wicket keeper Neil Burns. He then had Fulton caught at first slip when the score had reached 42.Since then Kent have never really looked in any difficulty especially withDravid at the crease. He looked to dominate the bowling from the start andquickly raced on to 41. Most of his boundaries were scored square of the wicket indicating that the Leicestershire bowlers were bowling too short at times.

Peter Fulton believes New Zealand’s final Super Eights match against Australia on Friday will be anything but a meaningless game even though both teams have already qualified for the last four. New Zealand have yet to reach a World Cup final, although they are now in their fifth semi-final.Ricky Ponting said New Zealand were playing “as well as anyone” in the Caribbean and represented a major danger to his side’s hopes of winning an unprecedented third straight World Cup title. “They set the benchmark, they’ve got a fantastic record in World Cups and they’ve been playing very well in this tournament,” Fulton said.”That’s going to be a big game for us. In some ways it will give us a pretty good indication of where we are.” Fulton said he didn’t care who New Zealand played in the semi-finals. “To be honest if you’re going to win the World Cup you’ll have to beat Australia at some stage,” he said. “I don’t think it really matters.”Fulton, who made his name as a middle-order batsman, was left on the sidelines at the start of the tournament but found himself drafted in to open alongside Stephen Fleming after a broken wrist ended Lou Vincent’s campaign. “Every time I go out there I’m feeling a little better adjusted to it,” said Fulton, who is averaging 31.50 in the World Cup.”I think if Stephen and I can get a big partnership going it’s going to increase our chances with our strong middle order. I haven’t done too much batting with him in the past but he’s a good guy to bat with, he’s pretty relaxed and keeps it pretty simple.”New Zealand bounced back from their six wicket-defeat by Sri Lanka on Thursday when they returned to Grenada’s National Stadium 48 hours later and beat South Africa by five wickets. That match saw New Zealand exploit early moisture in the pitch and helpful overcast conditions as they held South Africa to 193 for 7.”The first five to ten overs here are pretty crucial sometimes because the wickets are a little bit damp,” Fulton said. “So the onus is on the opening batsmen to get through that period to assess what’s going to be a good score and also maintain a strike rate.”As we saw South Africa got themselves in a little bit of trouble. The wicket was doing a bit but the fact they were so slow [after 10 overs they were 12 for 2] early on probably cost them in the end.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the Twenty20 victory over Australia would give his team momentum as they prepare to take on Pakistan in a one-day and Test series starting next month.”This victory, as well as the last ODI victory, will give us a lot of confidence. International cricket is more about confidence than technique,” Dhoni said after India beat Australia in the one-off Twenty20 International at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.”Gautam (Gambhir) and Robin (Uthappa) have matured and played aggressively,” he said while praising his side for coming out with a fearless outlook. “They are aggressive but at times they may fail trying for shots and they may be criticised for playing rash shots but that’s how it is.”The virgin pitch used for the game helped the spinners; Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik did not disappoint despite having to bowl in tough situations. “Kartik was preferred over Joginder because of conditions,” Dhoni said. “In India, we have to generally sacrifice the fourth seamer for second spinner. Today we batted well and bowled well but fielding was not good because of the bumpy ground. Everyone responded well to responsibilities given to them and that is why we won.”Dhoni’s counterpart, Ricky Ponting, felt his team did not get enough runs on the board. “We fell short by 15 runs. We gave away too many extras – 23 extras means four extra overs. We did it the other night also and we need to buck up,” he said. “Harabhan and Kartik bowled well. Gambhir batted well. We would like to play more matches against the new generation Indian players.”

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will face a disciplinary committee on April 1 and could be handed a life ban for breaching the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Code of Conduct. Legspinner Danish Kaneria will also face the committee after his criticism of the board’s central contracts policy.”I can confirm that the hearing will be conducted in Rawalpindi on April 1,” head of the five-man committee, retired lieutenant-general Muneer Hafeez told . Shoaib has also reportedly confirmed he would appear before the committee to present his case.Shoaib is on a two-year probation and if found guilty of violating the PCB code, could face a life ban. Last month he accused the PCB of double standards over the awarding of central contracts to players and criticised the facilities provided during a first-class match. He was not offered a central contract after a year plagued by injuries.In October last year, Shoaib was fined Rs 3.4 million (US$52,000 dollars) and banned for 13 matches for hitting his team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat, just days before the start of the ICC World Twenty20.He was also dropped from the 16-member squad to face Bangladesh in a five-ODI series at home, starting April 8.

Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson has said that Australia’s decision to avoid touring Pakistan may have a disastrous affect on the Champions Trophy, which is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September.”I’m fearful for the Champions Trophy,” Lawson said. “The Australians have set a bad example by opting out of the tour and I’m not sure whether they would come here for the Champions Trophy.”Australia were supposed to play three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20 international in March-April but they eventually pulled out of the commitment, citing security concerns in the wake of a series of suicide bombings in various parts of the country.Lawson said that there was a possibility that other leading teams might follow suit. There were fears that if one or more competing teams raised any security fears then the International Cricket Council (ICC) might decide to move the Champions Trophy out of Pakistan. With Sri Lanka, the back-up hosts for the Champions Trophy also battling an insurgency by Tamil rebels, there was a likelihood that the Champions Trophy might eventually fall in the lap of South Africa. Earlier this year, the ICC was forced to take away the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers from Pakistan after competing teams raised safety concerns. The tournament was later held in South Africa.”Hopefully, things will get better and the tournament will be held in Pakistan according to schedule,” Lawson said. On a positive note, Lawson said that he and his charges were setting their sights on the home series against Bangladesh next month. On the request of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Bangladesh agreed to play five ODIs and a Twenty20 game in April.”It’s great to know that Bangladesh have no security concerns,” Lawson said. “They can be a tough team to beat,” he added. Pakistan sole assignment in 2008 so far has been a five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe at home. The hosts made a 5-0 clean sweep in the series that failed to produce any exciting cricket.Critics are expecting a similar rout of Bangladesh but Lawson said that his team would not be taking anything for granted. “Bangladesh have proved time and again that they are capable of producing upsets and I’m sure they would be a much tougher side than Zimbabwe.”