Dominant India set for big lead

India 292 for 2 (Gambhir 78, Sehwag 74, Dravid 69*, Tendulkar 57*) lead New Zealand 193 (McCullum 40, Southee 38, Ishant 4-43) by 99 runs Virender Sehwag continued toying with the bowling, Gautam Gambhir continued his return to form, after which Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar took India to a dominant position in the series decider. As Dravid and Tendulkar accumulated risk-free runs after the openers' aggressive start, the faces of the New Zealand players wore a resigned look for the first time on the tour. On the same flat pitch, New Zealand had been bowled out for 193, and are now looking at the prospect of having to bat out roughly two days to save the match. They lost their last three wickets for 45 today, thanks to Ishant Sharma's impressive spell. He got good bounce from lengths that weren't quite short and wasted little time in getting Brendon McCullum, who had moved a bit more freely today. One thick edge flew past gully, but the delivery immediately after was closer to the body and took the edge through to the keeper. He had New Zealand down to 165 for 9, but some lusty hitting from Southee kept India in the field a little longer. After three sixes in three overs, one Southee mis-hit ended up with Sehwag, who then rushed to pad up. Sehwag was in the same rush with the bat, but he was helped by the opposition too. New Zealand bowled to Sehwag the reputation, not Sehwag the batsman, and paid the price. Chris Martin hit him on the finger with a short ball first up, but overdid the short bit on a sluggish surface. Sehwag pulled and upper-cut with ease, scoring 39 off the 23 short deliveries bowled to him. Martin did manage to get him to fend uppishly on one occasion, but there was neither short leg nor leg gully to take advantage. Martin had taken a quick five-for in Ahmedabad with traditional swing bowling, but barely pitched anything up to Sehwag here. That hit on the fingers only encouraged him to keep bowling short. In Martin's second over, Sehwag pulled him for boundaries twice in front of long leg. It didn't help that when Martin pitched up later, he was driven square for four. The pitch was so slow that Sehwag once swayed out of the line of a short delivery, and then nonchalantly, as an afterthought, sliced it over gully. He was waiting to tuck into the full ones, whipping the next length ball off the pads. At the other end Gambhir, who did the dirty work in Hyderabad by scratching through for his first half-century in 10 months, looked confident. His clips off the pads went where he wanted them to, the walk down the pitch to counter swing was back, and so was the steer to third man. However, the steer, when attempted a touch carelessly, would eventually cost him a century. Gambhir was getting the singles to give Sehwag the strike. It wouldn't have been a good idea to keep Sehwag away from the strike. He welcomed Daniel Vettori with a six over long-on - a mere flick that went the distance - and then late-cut him for four delightfully. After lunch, he looked to keep feasting on the bowling, taking 17 off the first two overs after the interval. By the time the slowness of a Vettori delivery cost Sehwag his century, he had added 100 or more with Gambhir for the ninth time. Still, India needed to guard against the tendency to lose momentum once Sehwag gets out. Gambhir, although not trying to score at Sehwag's pace, made sure nothing of the sort happened, allowing Dravid time to get going. He brought up his fifty with a loft over mid-on, and followed it up by going back and cutting the same bowler, Vettori, in his next over. Best of all, he charged at Williamson, then merely caressed him between mid-off and extra cover. With India one short of New Zealand's score, Gambhir chased a wide delivery from Southee, and to his horror looked up and saw a fourth slip and a gully placed for that shot. It was an angry Gambhir that made the walk back. Dravid soon drew attention to himself with a lovely straight-drive just before tea. Post the interval, though, with Sehwag and Gambhir gone, New Zealand could bowl to a plan. The run-rate fell from 4.9 when Sehwag got out to around 3.5, but the two senior batsmen knew they had enough time on their hands. So it fairly sedate march to a 19th century partnership between them - except for a couple of blows Tendulkar took on the forearm, and an edge from Dravid that fell short of the keeper . Both men made half-centuries, making it 198 scores of 50 or more between them.

India news: Umesh Yadav and Wriddhiman Saha picked for South Africa Tests

India have picked wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha and seamers Umesh Yadav and Jaidev Unadkat for the three-Test series in South Africa, which begins on December 16 in Centurion. Zaheer Khan makes a return to the squad after being ruled out of the ongoing third Test against New Zealand because of a groin strain, but he, along with four other senior players, will miss the first two ODIs of the series against New Zealand. Gautam Gambhir will lead the ODI team in the absence of MS Dhoni, who had said he would request the BCCI for rest after playing non-stop since the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year. Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh were the other players rested for the ODIs against New Zealand due to "injury concerns, which require attention and rehabilitation". Unadkat, the left-arm seamer from Saurashtra, had been drafted in as Zaheer's replacement for the third Test while Yadav, who is currently playing for Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy, impressed during the IPL with Delhi Daredevils and made it to India's squads for the World Twenty20 and the tour of Zimbabwe. Saha, who plays for Bengal and has represented India in one Test, is fresh from a century against Assam in the Ranji Trophy Super League. Saha will also make his ODI debut, having been included in the squad for the first two games against New Zealand. Dinesh Karthik, who has been the usual replacement for Dhoni in the 50-over format, was not selected. Saha, whose glove work is highly regarded, will have at least two games to prove his batting skills before the selectors pick probables for the World Cup. Allrounder Yusuf Pathan, who last played for India in June, made his return to the team for the ODI series. Pathan is having a good domestic season with Baroda, smashing 89 off 42 balls against Gujarat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and scoring 195 off 138 balls against Haryana in the Ranji Trophy. He performed with the ball as well, pickng up ten wickets in a defeat against Uttar Pradesh. Dhoni, on the eve of the ongoing third Test against New Zealand in Nagpur, had asked for rest for players like himself and Suresh Raina ahead of the tour of South Africa. India coach Gary Kirsten had stressed the need for a few players to depart early, at least a week ahead of the Test series, not only to acclimatise but also understand the ground conditions better. The BCCI agreed to send some players early to South Africa to make up for the absence of practice games ahead of the Test series, even if at the expense of participation in the ODIs against New Zealand. Despite Saturday's announcement of senior players being rested, it is still unclear as to who would make the trip to South Africa before the others. India face New Zealand in the first of five ODIs on November 28 in Guwahati. Squad for first two ODIs v New Zealand: Gautam Gambhir (capt), M Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Saurabh Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja. Squad for South Africa Tests: MS Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Jaidev Unadkat, Pragyan Ojha.

ws Pakistan v South Africa: de Villiers double makes it South Africa's day

Pakistan 59 for for 1 (Ali 34*, Steyn 1-27) trail South Africa 584 for 9 declared (de Villiers 278*, Kallis 105, Ahmed 6-120) by 525 runs AB de Villiers broke records and Pakistani spirits as South Africa took control on the second day at the Sheikh Abu Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. de Villiers compiled a monumental unvanquished 278, the highest individual score by a South African to help his side declare on 584 for 9. Pakistani resistance was by turns futile and worthwhile; debutante Tanvir Ahmed bagged a six-for by the close and an important unbroken 57-run stand between Azhar Ali and Taufeeq Umar allowed them to return to fight another day. The story and direction of the Test so far was set by de Villiers. Initially his was a muted, inevitable progression; a continuation of the stealthy way in which he went along on the first day. At no point did he choose to cut loose and it was really a matter of choice, for at no point in the day did he look insecure. A verbal dance with a luckless Umar Gul on the virtues or otherwise of walking - Pakistan thought de Villiers was out twice yesterday - was his highlight of the morning's first hour. He did break out 80 minutes in to the morning in one over against a tiring Ahmed, a delicious drive sandwiched by a pull and punch through midwicket; the last brought up 150. The damage to Pakistan didn't seem apparent at first: 74 runs and two wickets in the morning, in fact, was even-stevens. But as the day wore on, de Villiers killed Pakistan gradually, orchestrating a succession of useful lower-order stands. He put on 73 with Mark Boucher, 42 with Johan Botha and, irritatingly for Pakistan, 59 with Dale Steyn. Through them all were regular reminders of the simplicity of de Villiers' strokeplay, such as an easy glide through gully of Mohammad Sami. To bring up the double as tea approached, he first pulled Gul in front of square before guiding him through gully for another boundary. Steyn's post-lunch cameo was where the fun really began. There were flick-pulls, drives hit as hard as concrete as well as a magnificent dance-down six over long-on. Paul Harris added a handy 35 but a grand humiliation was served up in an unbeaten 107-run partnership unbeaten with Morne Morkel. A flurry of boundaries as matters came to an end amply demonstrated his complete and total superiority, as well as that of his side's. In the second session he scored an even 100. Two overs after tea, as he deftly took a single to midwicket, Graeme Smith stood tallest and loudest in the dressing room applauding as de Villiers went past his captain as holder of the highest individual Test score for South Africa. They had actually begun well, with Gul and Ahmed particularly tight. The latter struck first, a sharp, late inswinger surprising Boucher. The Flintoff-esque celebration was impressive and understandable. Another wicket later ensured the second-best figures on debut for a Pakistani, though by then the fizz had gone. Even Sami bowled an outstanding spell pre-lunch, full of whizzing outswingers. One such caught the edge but two truths of Sami's career remained unchallenged: one, he has no luck and two, catching is not an Akmal family strength. All things considered they didn't end badly either. Mohammad Hafeez went in the very first over, but Taufeeq Umar and Azhar Ali were firm in a session in which they probably weren't tested as they should've been. The latter looked particularly good, defending and driving with equal assurance. The proper ascent up the mountain will begin tomorrow.

Dhoni requests rest ahead of South Africa tour

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said he will request the BCCI for some rest ahead of the tour of South Africa. India have had a busy schedule since the tour of Sri Lanka earlier in the year and Dhoni said players like himself and Suresh Raina haven't had a break. India play a five-match ODI series against New Zealand, their last international assignment ahead of the South Africa tour, and if Dhoni's request is accepted, he could likely be rested for that series. "If you look at the schedule players like myself and Suresh Raina have been playing non-stop cricket since the Sri Lanka tour," Dhoni told reporters in Nagpur on the eve of the third Test against New Zealand. "We went to play in the Champions League after that and came back and played the Australia and the New Zealand series. "So there has not been enough time to switch on and switch off. We will put in a request to the board but we have to see whether senior players are available or not." The BCCI, last month, had agreed to send some players early to South Africa to prepare for the Test series in December due to the absence of any practice games. Dhoni said the details still had to be "worked out". The first Test begins on December 16.

The Ashes 2010-11: Xavier Doherty in Test squad, Nathan Hauritz dropped

The offspinner Nathan Hauritz has been dropped for the first Ashes Test and been replaced by the spinners Xavier Doherty and Steven Smith, who have been included in the 13-man squad to face England on Thursday. Doherty, the left-arm orthodox from Tasmania, is a surprise inclusion after a bright start to the summer and the selectors hope he will be a threat for the right-handers in England's order. Doherty is now a certainty to play from Thursday while Smith, the legspinning allrounder, is likely to be considered more closely for the second game in Adelaide. Michael Hussey was selected after his century for Western Australia on Friday while Marcus North, the other under-pressure batsman, was also included. Four men were cut from the inflated 17-man unit chosen in Sydney on Monday. Callum Ferguson and Usman Khawaja failed to impress for Australia A in Hobart this week while Ryan Harris' knee makes him too much of a risk for such an important engagement. However, it is the omission of Hauritz, Australia's first-choice spinner since the 2009 Ashes, that is the biggest change. Hauritz struggled during the two Tests in India last month and has been under-bowled since returning home. He was given only six balls in New South Wales' Sheffield Shield game against Tasmania, in which Doherty collected two victims, including bowling Simon Katich around his legs. "Nathan Hauritz is one of these players omitted and he can consider himself unlucky as his Australian record has been very good over the past 12 months," Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said. "However the panel believes the left-arm orthodox variety Xavier Doherty provides against a predominantly right-handed English middle order is the better option in this game." Kevin Pietersen is not as comfortable against left-arm slow bowlers, with Steve O'Keefe adding to his problems by bowling him for 5 in the first innings in Hobart. England have two left-handed openers in Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook in their preferred XI, along with the bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Doherty's overall career average is 48.26 in 35 first-class games and he has only been a regular in the Tasmanian outfit since the start of the season. The past six Shield contests over two summers have earned him 23 wickets and he has impressed his state team-mate Ricky Ponting, whose captaincy career relies on what happens during the Ashes. Doug Bollinger returns to the squad after recovering from the stomach injury that ruled him out of the second Test in India last month. Bollinger was hit for six as Tasmania beat New South Wales yesterday, but he gained three wickets in the first innings and will battle with Peter Siddle for the final bowling place alongside Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus. The squad will arrive in Brisbane on Sunday. Australia squad Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wk), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger.

India v New Zealand: Sreesanth, Ishant run through NZ top order

TeaNew Zealand 72 for 5 (Ryder 26*, Hopkins 7*, Sreesanth 2-12, Ishant 2-24) v India

It was all going New Zealand's way. The pitch was flat, the wet outfield had done away with the morning session, the toss had been won, and India's best bowler was out, and yet it all went wrong for New Zealand. Once again, India's bowling unit put in an important performance just when people had stopped expecting one of them, giving India a big chance of finally putting one across New Zealand.

Sreesanth found swing and accuracy in his first spell to remove the openers, then Ishant Sharma, playing his first Test since his Mohali batting heroics, got a change of ends, extracted inswing and was rewarded with the wickets of Ross Taylor and Daniel Vettori.

New Zealand, though, will look at half an hour before the start when they start dissecting where it all went wrong. When Vettori was walking out for the toss, he saw Brendon McCullum land awkwardly during fielding practice, and then come down with a back strain. A quick decision had to be made, and New Zealand went with the man who scored a double-century to save the Hyderabad Test, prepared to have him bat in the middle order. Yet no one would have expected all the other specialist batsmen to join McCullum off the field by the 16th over. In fact McCullum wasn't ready to bat even when Vettori became the fifth man to fall, in the next over, and it was Jesse Ryder and Gareth Hopkins that took New Zealand through to tea with a nine-over partnership.

This is a decision that will be debated long and hard in New Zealand, for it could have upset the whole team's mindset, but it should not take away from Sreesanth's first spell, or Ishant's second.

Sreesanth took some time to get into rhythm. He failed to involve the batsman for the first seven balls he bowled, operating wide outside off. Perhaps it helped him that there was no McCullum eager to hurt him as he warmed himself up into a rhythm. By the time he started making the batsmen play, he also started getting swing. Martin Guptill, who scored 85 at No. 3 in Hyderabad, got the best of Sreesanth. It was a back-of-a-length delivery, pitching off, making Guptill play, then shaping away a bit to take the edge. It wasn't a no-ball either.

By now Sreesanth had started getting the ball to swing in towards the left-hand opener, Tim McIntosh. One of those squeezed through the gap, although the loose defence made it look more spectacular than it was.

Ross Taylor did something similar against Ishant. With his across movement on the crease, he was always going to be susceptible to anything moving in sharply. Ishant produced one of those, and Simon Taufel correctly judged that he was hit just in front of off.

Vettori, usually just the man for these situations, was bent on pulling everything short and paid the price for it. It is a shot that has got Vettori many runs, but today he could play it only twice. One of them got him an ungainly single, and the other he dragged onto the stumps from way outside off. Between those two Ishant strikes, Kane Williamson's dismissal summed up New Zealand's day so far. It was a full delivery from Ojha, innocuous, promising to land close enough to him, but somehow Williamson managed to scoop it to short cover.

The Ashes 2010-11: Troy Cooley backs 'awkward' Mitchell Johnson to lift

Troy Cooley is confident there will be no repeat of Mitchell Johnson's Ashes meltdown this summer, despite his disappointing recent Test form. Cooley is entering his last months as Australia's bowling coach, having been named the new head coach at the Centre of Excellence, and he is keen to finish on a high after the disappointment of 2009. One of his major challenges in the lead-up to next week's first Test at the Gabba is to help Johnson, who in Australia's past two Test series has taken only 11 wickets at 43.45. His form in the one-day series against Sri Lanka was poor, but in a major Test series, and in familiar conditions, Cooley expects Johnson to cause England's batsmen some problems with his pace and bounce. "Mitch brings a nice set of skills to our team and we accept that with his action, he's not going to get 100 balls in the right area at the right time," Cooley told ESPNcricinfo. "But the other strong components of his game come to the front and that's why he's taken wickets, that's why he's such an awkward bowler to face. "Our pitches definitely suit his style of bowling. He hits the deck hard, he's got a good quick bouncer and if it swings one day, it does; if it doesn't, well, he's found ways of getting wickets without having to be an out-and-out swing bowler. I think he's pretty comfortable with that." Johnson's miserable Test at Lord's last year, where he finished with match figures of 3 for 200 and completely lost his radar, was a key factor in Australia losing the Ashes. At least Johnson might take some confidence from his batting form; at the MCG on Thursday he struck his second first-class century against a Victorian attack that picked off Michael Hussey and Marcus North cheaply. While Johnson has been in Melbourne this week, Cooley has been in Hobart coaching Australia A against England, who have already sent their frontline bowlers to Brisbane to adjust to the conditions for the first Test. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Graeme Swann make up a settled attack, but Cooley is confident Australia's bowlers have the edge. "I believe we have," Cooley said. "We have a pretty good attack, a couple of different options. It's good to see Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Bollinger all getting into good form. I think we're going pretty well. "We've got a collection of bowlers that come together quite nicely. That's what you need here in this country, with the tracks being a little bit different from place to place. You grow up in those conditions, you learn to bowl in those conditions, and everywhere else you go in the world you've got to try and adjust. I think the home conditions will definitely suit us." Cooley was renowned as the man who helped England's bowlers master reverse-swing during their 2005 Ashes triumph, and the Australians hoped that by poaching him he would have the same effect. Old-ball swing didn't play as huge a role in England last year - the more capable reverser, Doug Bollinger, was not yet part of the attack - and Cooley was still pleased with the efforts of Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Johnson, who topped the Ashes wicket tally. "I think Dougie is a great exponent of that," he said of reverse swing. "Pete Siddle does reverse it pretty well when the opportunities arise. Mitchell Johnson, with his arm action, predominantly only goes one way, but when it's reversing he's as dangerous as anyone going around. They're learning all the time. "That young attack we had over there had never bowled in England before. Even so, the top three of them still took more wickets [than the England bowlers] and their record was pretty good over there if you stack them up against anyone else. I think they did pretty well for an attack that hadn't been to England before." It's a similar challenge faced by England; Anderson is the only man in their first-choice bowling unit who has played a Test in Australia. And the two pace attacks could be the difference between the teams when the first Test starts next Thursday at the Gabba, where there is expected to be plenty of assistance for the fast men.