The WACA crowd may have been denied the chance to see departing hero Ricky Ponting bat, but they will have gone home satisfied after Australia edged the opening day of the deciding Test against South Africa.

Having dismissed the tourists for 225 midway through the evening session, Australia soon lost Ed Cowan and Shane Watson in reply, creating the opportunity for Ponting to stride to the wicket on his final international appearance.
But with time running out in the day's play, and the crowd on their feet preparing to welcome their hero, the hosts instead sent in nightwatchman Nathan Lyon and he and David Warner somehow survived a series of near misses as Australia closed on 33 for two.
Ponting's announcement yesterday that this would be his final Australia appearance rightly captured the headlines, with news of Australia's decision to make major changes to their bowling hardly registering.
Yet it was Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc who impressed on a bowler-friendly Perth wicket as the hosts claimed the early initiative.
The two left-armers, making their first appearances in the three-match series, claimed two wickets each as the Proteas struggled with only only Faf du Plessis' composed 78 not out challenging Australia's supremacy.
With just three days of rest since the gruelling drawn Test in Adelaide, both sides showed changes.
Johnson and Starc came in alongside debutant John Hastings with Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and James Pattinson all dropping out.
Key all-rounder Watson also returned from calf trouble, taking the place of Rob Quiney.
South Africa, meanwhile, offered a debut of their own - Dean Elgar in for Jacques Rudolph - as well as recalling Robin Peterson and Vernon Philander for Imran Tahir and Rory Kleinveldt.
The hosts' changes had the greater effect, although South Africa's batsmen were guilty of contributing to their own downfalls with a number of rash shots in an undisciplined innings.
Captain Graeme Smith can at least claim to have been dismissed by a good ball, edging a full-length delivery from Watson to Michael Clarke at first slip for 16.
Alviro Petersen and Hashim Amla moved the score on from 38 to 61 but the former's dismissal prompted a collapse which saw South Africa lose five wickets for 14 runs either side of lunch.
Starc bowled Petersen and then Jacques Kallis before a smart piece of fielding from Warner saw the hosts also claim the prize wicket of Hashim Amla with a run out.
Hastings' first wicket in Test cricket was that of AB De Villiers and Johnson returned to remove Elgar for a duck.
Du Plessis did his best to engineer a lower-order fightback and received decent support from Philander and Morne Morkel.
Philander had already clubbed off-spinner Lyon for one huge six when, on 30, he holed out to Mike Hussey in attempting a repeat, while Morkel smashed three successive fours off Johnson before he too played a loose shot off Lyon.
In between those dismissals, Steyn dragged a short, wide delivery from Johnson onto his stumps but the Proteas paceman did better when he got the ball in his hand towards the end of the day.
The 'Steyn Remover' found his line and length immediately, Cowan edging the third ball of the innings to Kallis in the slips.
Philander then snared Watson lbw on appeal to leave the match in the balance and Australia, who will replace their opponents at the top of the Test rankings with a win, needing a final, big innings from Ponting.

Bangladesh thrashed West Indies by seven wickets to win the first one-day international in Khulna on Friday.

After dismissing the visitors for just 199, Bangladesh cruised to their victory target with 58 balls to spare.
Openers Tamim Iqbal (58) and Anamul Haque (41) set the tone with a stand of 88 for the first wicket, with Naeem Islam then making exactly 50 not out as the hosts cantered to an easy win.
The victory target would have been even smaller but for a fightback from Sunil Narine (36) and Ravi Rampaul (25) after the West Indies slumped to 133 for eight.
Windies skipper Darren Sammy won the toss and opted to bat first, but there were no immediate fireworks from flamboyant opener Chris Gayle, with just three runs in the first three overs.
Lendl Simmons scored the first boundary of the day off the 23rd ball and that seemed to inspire Gayle, who plundered 14 off the fifth over, with two fours and a six off Mashrafe Mortaza.
Abul Hasan had Simmons dropped on 12 before Gayle took another maximum and two more fours off the over.
Mortaza removed Simmons for 13 in the first over after the powerplay and Sohag Gazi followed with the prize scalp of Gayle (35 from 40 balls) with only his second ball in ODIs.
Gazi sent Marlon Samuels packing for a duck, but Darren Bravo set about rebuilding the innings as he took 16 off Naeem's only over.
Kieron Pollard (15), Devon Thomas (16), Sammy (10) and Andre Russell (nought) all failed to make significant scores, while Bravo's entertaining knock ended on 35.
That left the score at 133 for eight but Narine, with 36 in 45 deliveries, and Rampaul made a major contribution at the back end of the innings.
Gazi (four for 29) eventually wrapped things up when he made Narine his final victim.
Bangladesh's reply got off to the ideal start when Tamim smashed four fours and two sixes in making 58 from 51 balls before being caught off the bowling of Narine.
And Anamul struck seven boundaries in his 41 before being caught and bowled by Sammy.
That briefly gave West Indies hope but Naeem made a composed half-century and, after Nasir Hossain made a quickfire 28, Mushfiqur Rahim (16 not out) finished the match in style with a boundary in a final total of 201 for three.

Spinners set up big Bangladesh win

Bangladesh v West Indies, 1st ODI, Khulna

Darren Sammy wanted West Indies to win the ODI series 5-0, but his team's batting revealed a self-destructive ability in the opening game in Khulna that shut out any hopes of a clean sweep. Instead, it was Bangladesh who were the winners, having beaten West Indies comprehensively despite the absence of their best player, Shakib Al Hasan, to injury. On a safely negotiable pitch, West Indies imploded against spin and lacked intensity in their defence of 199 after Tamim Iqbal delivered an attacking start to the chase. Offspinner Sohag Gazi shone again, picking up four wickets on ODI debut to follow up an impressive start to his Test career, and he was well supported by left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who chipped in with three.

There was some early assistance for seamers on the Khulna track but the spinners, who wreaked the most havoc, didn't find much turn or bounce. West Indies were not victims of the conditions, but their own lack of restraint when the situation demanded more caution than they exercised. Three of their batsmen holed out in the deep, including Chris Gayle in the 11th over shortly after he had smashed two sixes and four fours off seamers Mashrafe Mortaza and Abul Hasan. Gayle had welcomed Gazi into Test cricket with a six off his first ball; he tried to repeat the dose off Gazi's second ball in ODIs, but found Tamim at long-on who back-pedalled and took a difficult catch over his head just inside the ropes.

Marlon Samuels drove at one that didn't spin from Gazi, and edged a catch to slip; it meant West Indies had lost two of their most dangerous limited-overs batsmen in a space of less than three overs. West Indies scored 48 in their first 10 overs, and 22 in the 11 that followed.

Darren Bravo searched for opportunities, cutting and sweeping the spinners and taking Naeem Islam for 17 in one over. But West Indies were to slip again, as Kieron Pollard struck a long hop straight to midwicket in the 23rd over and Bravo followed in the next, sent back by his partner Devon Thomas when it was too late to refuse an attempt at a single.

The wickets, though, didn't stagnate the innings. Sammy and Thomas picked up boundaries amid a steady flow of singles but their attacking instincts got the better of them. Sammy was caught by Naeem just in front of the ropes after he'd moved to 10. Andre Russell failed to pick an arm ball from Razzak before Gazi picked up his third, thanks to another needless shot - played this time by Thomas - to long-on to make it three wickets in four overs.

Sunil Narine and Ravi Rampaul pulled out West Indies from the depths of 133 for 8, waiting for the batting Powerplay at the end of the 35th over to push the scoring. Deliveries bowled on the pads were flicked past fine leg; Narine pierced, and even cleared, the in-field on the off side for boundaries while Rampaul imparted more power into his shots, swatting Abul over long-on and smacking Mortaza over midwicket. The 52-run stand ended when Rampaul gloved Razzak to the keeper, but it still left his team defending a seemingly testing target.

Bangladesh, however, made it look easy, with a strong foundation for a chase set by an 88-run opening stand between Tamim Iqbal and debutant Anamul Haque. Tamim's intent was evident as early as the first over during which he charged out to Samuels to dispatch him past mid-off. His partner Anamul chose to drop anchor, while Tamim was free-flowing in his shot-making. He drove Rampaul on either side of the wicket, smashed Samuels for a six over extra cover and tore into Kemar Roach. He didn't hesitate to step out to the seamers either, and Roach, whom he took for 16 in one over, was slammed over extra cover for a flat six that took Tamim to his half-century.

1st ODI: Bangladesh stun West Indies to take 1-0 lead

Bangladesh have blown away West Indies captain Darren Sammy's hopes for a series whitewash by easily winning the first one-day international by seven wickets with nearly 10 overs to spare on Friday. Bangladesh dismissed West Indies for 199 in the 47th over, then reached 201 for 3 in 40.2 overs at Sheikh Abu Naser Divisional Stadium.
Sammy wanted West Indies to sweep all five one-dayers to improve their ranking of seventh, on the back of winning both Tests. But ninth-ranked Bangladesh ruined that plan after Sammy won the toss, elected to bat, and watched his side fail to post a meaningful score. Bangladesh have won five of the last eight ODIs against West Indies since 2009.Offspinner Sohag Gazi, who made his debut in the Tests this month and played in his first one-dayer, took 4 for 29, including the key wicket of Chris Gayle, who made 35 off 40 balls. Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who did not play in the Tests, added 3 for 39. Gazi was one of four making their debut for Bangladesh, along with opener Anamul Haq, who scored 41, Mominul Haq, and Abul Hasan.
Anamul Haq and Tamim Iqbal gave Bangladesh a brilliant start with a stand of 88 in 15 overs before Tamim Iqbal was out for 58 off 51 balls, spun out by Sunil Narine. Tamim Iqbal's 24th ODI half century included hit eight boundaries and two sixes. Anamul Haq was caught and bowled by Sammy for 41, including seven fours, at 112 for 2.
Naeem Islam guided Bangladesh to the win with partnerships of 45 with Nasir Hossain (28) and an unbeaten 46 with Mushfiqur Rahim (16 not out). Naeem Islam was unbeaten on 50, his third half century coming from 79 balls.
Earlier, Gayle and Darren Bravo (35) made good starts but couldn't push on in the face of good bowling. West Indies slumped to 133 for 8 and was saved from a worse score only by a 57-run stand for the ninth wicket between Ravi Rampaul (26) and Narine (36), who was last out.

2nd Test: New Zealand beat Sri Lanka to level two-match series

New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 167 runs on the last day Thursday of the second Test at the P. Sara Oval to end a nine-Test winless run since January.
The drought included five straight Test defeats, including the first Test in Galle last week, a humiliating 10-wicket loss in three days. New Zealand bowled out Sri Lanka for 195 in their second innings, with the second new ball doing the trick within five overs after tea. Angelo Mathews was last out, for a dogged 84 off 228 balls over five hours. He was the only batsman to score more than 30.Sri Lanka started the day at 47 for 4, 316 runs away from an unlikely victory, and toiled in seeking a draw to win the series 1-0. But the equally desperate New Zealanders kept chipping away with wickets; one in the morning, two after lunch, and the last three in a sudden rush at the end to win a Test in Sri Lanka for the first time since 1998. By coincidence, that win in Colombo was also by 167 runs.
Seamers Tim Southee and Trent Boult shared three wickets apiece, but it was Doug Bracewell, who picked up the key wickets of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene on day four, who set up the end for New Zealand. Mathews fought a lone battle, running out of partners. His second half century of the series included 11 fours and a six.
The overnight pair of Mathews and Thilan Samaraweera had to bat long if Sri Lanka were to have any chance of winning the series, but Samaraweera was run out for 7, a victim of his own risky error. That left Mathews with a massive task.
Mathews added 56 runs for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, in a stand that lasted for over two hours, but Jayawardene was dismissed for 29 after lunch giving New Zealand the much needed breakthrough. Legspinner Todd Astle picked up his first Test wicket, beating Jayawardene for turn.
New Zealand also dismissed Suraj Randiv for an 11-ball duck in the afternoon session and patiently waited for the new ball to arrive. There was not much of a resistance by the Sri Lanka tail after the new ball was received in the over before tea, which was taken at 168 for 7.
Three balls into the last session, Nuwan Kulasekara was brilliantly caught one-handed in gully by Kane Williamson off Boult for 18. Shaminda Eranga came in and lasted only four balls, out for a duck to Southee off another fine one-handed catch by Williamson.
Mathews hit five more boundaries, four in an over off Southee, before he edged Boult to Martin Guptill at second slip to end the match. New Zealand captain Ross Taylor was named Man of the Match, while Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath, who finished with 20 wickets in the series, was named Man of the Series.

3rd Test: Australia 33/2 after bowling out South Africa for 225 on day one

Faf du Plessis defied Australia's attack for the second time this week before running out of batting partners when South Africa was dismissed for 225 late on the first day of the third Test. Du Plessis finished unbeaten on 78 and guided crucial partnerships of 57 with Robin Peterson (31) and 64 with Vernon Philander (28) to lift South Africa out of serious trouble at 75 for 6 after winning the toss.
Australia reached 33 for 2 in the 11 overs before stumps, with David Warner unbeaten on 12 and night watchman Nathan Lyon 5 not out. Ricky Ponting, playing his 168th and last Test match, waited in the pavilion for 22 minutes after Lyon went in at the fall of Watson's wicket.The Australian reply started badly when Dale Steyn removed Ed Cowan (0) on the third ball of the innings and Philander picked up his first wicket in the series when he got an lbw decision against Shane Watson (10) on a referral — overturning umpire Asad Rauf's initial not out call — as the hosts slumped to 18 for 2.
A dozen wickets fell in two clusters on a fast, bouncy WACA pitch when conditions were overcast in the morning and evening sessions. Lyon was the unexpected contributor for Australia, with his offspin delivering 3 for 41 for a new-look bowling attack missing all three pacemen who played in the first two drawn Tests.
Mitchell Starc, who was 12th man in Brisbane and Adelaide, took two big wickets immediately before lunch and another left-armer, Mitchell Johnson, returned 2 for 54 in his first Test in a year.
The pacemen were on top early and South Africa were in a desperate position after losing five wickets for 14 runs before allrounder Peterson and then Philander helped du Plessis resurrect the innings. Philander batted aggressively, hitting a big six off Lyon and two boundaries before he skied the Australia offspinner to Mike Hussey, who took a well-judged catch at deep mid-on. Steyn (2) chopped a delivery from Johnson onto his stumps to make it 206 for 9.
Morne Morkel (17) stroked four boundaries off Johnson before he miscued Lyon to John Hastings at mid-on to end the innings. Du Plessis was again the big obstacle for the Australian bowlers four days after he batted through the final day and finished unbeaten on 110 to save the second Test on debut at Adelaide on Monday. He has 266 runs in three innings — and 188 since his last dismissal — after earning his call up when JP Duminy was injured in a training accident after the opening day of the first Test at Brisbane.
He batted for seven hours in his second innings in Adelaide and was unbeaten again in 3 hours and 15 minutes on Friday, facing 142 balls and hitting 12 boundaries after going to the crease with his team reeling at 67 for 5 in the 28th over.
The South Africans started the Test positively after winning the toss and had only lost skipper Graeme Smith (16) as they progressed to 61 for 1 before Starc struck twice to make it 63 for 3 at lunch when he bowled opener Alviro Peterson (30) and Jacques Kallis (2) with swinging deliveries.
Hashim Amla (11) had a reprieve five balls after lunch when Cowan put down a regulation chance off Hastings' bowling. But he was out next over, without adding to his score, when he was run out at the striker's end by David Warner's direct hit.
Hastings got a ball to swing out and late in his next over and picked up his first Test wicket when AB de Villiers (4) edged to Clarke at slip and South Africa slumped to 67 for 5.
Dean Elgar faced 12 balls on debut before attempting to pull a sharply rising ball from Johnson and top-edging down leg side to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, and Lyon ended the seventh-wicket stand when he had Peterson caught behind while attempting a cut shot.
South Africa need only to draw the Perth Test to retain the No. 1 Test ranking. Australia need a win to replace the tourists at No. 1 and have extra motivation for winning after Ponting announced this match would be his last in international cricket.

WV Raman explains India's shortcomings

Former India opener WV Raman on Friday said Indian spinners buckled under pressure of expectations in the second Test against England which the hosts lost by 10 wickets to allow the visitors draw level the four-match series 1-1. "A lot of pressure was on them as a reverse in India is not expected, especially on a turner. All put together, the pressure did them in a bit," said the Bengal Ranji Trophy team coach at the Brabourne Stadium here.
"What adds to pressure is the lack of runs on the board. I think that is a big difference. If you actually dissect the performance of the spinners, once they got the breakthrough [England captain Alastair Cook's wicket] when [Kevin] Pietersen and Cook were playing, they rolled them out quickly after that," Raman pointed out. "The big difference was that [Cook-Pietersen] partnership. We did not put enough runs on the board.England, going strong when the two batsmen put on a record double century stand at Wankhede Stadium, folded up quickly once Cook was dismissed but not before they grabbed a vital 86-run lead over India and then shot out the latter for a meagre score in the second innings to set up the big win.
Raman also referred to India's pathetic top-order display in the first innings when the hosts were 119 for 5 and then 169 for 6 before Cheteshwar Pujara, who notched his second successive three-figure knock of the series, and R Ashwin put on a century stand to help the hosts notch up 327. The former Test opener maintained that in the third Test at Kolkata, starting December 5, there would be more pressure on the Indian batsmen to put up enough runs on the board for the bowlers to tighten the screws on England.