Pattinson puts pace spearhead Lee's place in doubt for tri-series finals

Brisbane, Mar. 3 (ANI): Victorian fast bowler James Pattinson has performed well enough in his comeback match to put a question mark on veteran Brett Lee's inclusion in the Australian squad for the best-of-three Commonwealth Bank series finals against Sri Lanka.

On Friday, Pattinson took four wickets for 51 in the 12th one-day international match of the series to bundle out Sri Lanka for 238. But he could not prevent the islanders from sneaking a nine-run win off the Kangaroos to ensure a place in the finals.

Lee, 35, had to miss the match with a foot injury, and now, Pattinson (21), has clearly emerged as the former's fast bowling heir apparent, reports Fox Sports.

Pattinson also has 25 Test scalps in four matches against India at an average of only 18. He has overcome a foot injury and is fired up to resume his international career.

South Africa sweep New Zealand ODI series

Reuters: Paceman Marchant de Lange picked up four wickets on his one-day international debut as South Africa completed a 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand with a five-wicket victory in the third and final ODI in Auckland on Saturday.

South Africa's bowlers bundled out New Zealand for 206 in 47 overs after the visitors had won the toss and opted to bowl in wet and windy conditions at Eden Park.

Hashim Amla, who made 92 in the last ODI in Napier on Wednesday, continued his impressive form by scoring 76 as South Africa reached their target with 40 deliveries to spare.

The stylish right-hander, who was dropped on 30 by Nathan McCullum off Kyle Mills, added 80 runs for the first wicket with makeshift opener Wayne Parnell (27) and 58 runs with Albie Morkel (41) for the second to anchor the chase.

Amla hit seven sublime boundaries in his knock before he mistimed a pull shot to be caught by New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, giving seamer Kyle Mills his 200th wicket in ODIs.

The visitors, who had also won the preceding three-match Twenty20 series 2-1, lost some wickets after Amla's dismissal but it was not enough for New Zealand to post an unlikely win.

South Africa pacemen Dale Steyn and Lonwabo Tsotsobe pegged New Zealand back with some hostile fast bowling at the start and the hosts struggled for momentum from there on.

The 21-year-old de Lange, who made his test debut last December against Sri Lanka, also extracted good pace and bounce from the track as New Zealand lost wickets at regular intervals to be bundled out with three overs left in their innings.

The 55-run stand between James Franklin (36) and debutant Colin de Grandhomme (36) for the fifth wicket was the only half-century partnership in the New Zealand innings.

De Grandhomme, who hit three sixes and a four in his 36-ball knock, and Kane Williamson were run after some athletic fielding by South Africa while left-arm spinner Robin Peterson lopped off the tail with two wickets at the end.

The three-test series between the two sides begin in Dunedin on Wednesday.

India's disastrous tour of Australia is finally over

Indian team members attend the presentations after Australia won the fourth Test match at Adelaide. (AFP/Getty …

Sydney, March  3: India leave for home on Saturday after a disastrous tour of Australia to face likely recriminations after Sri Lanka ended their hopes of reaching the finals of the tri-nations one-day series.

Sri Lanka held their nerve to end India's late bid for a spot in the best-of-three finals with a gripping nine-run win over Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

That result means the deserving Sri Lankans will do battle with Australia in the finals, starting in Brisbane on Sunday.

India, who arrived Down Under in December as the second-ranked Test nation and reigning World Cup champions, return home to face questions over their poor tour, which included a 4-0 drubbing in the Test series against Australia.

As Cricinfo's Sidharth Monga observed: "In their own cocoon of denial, living in the past, out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded, out-captained both on and off the field, out-coached, out-jibed by the hosts, India didn't really turn up."

Symptomatic of India's miserable time was the failure of batting star Sachin Tendulkar to claim his 100th international century.

Test and one-day cricket's revered leading runscorer missed out on scoring a century for the first time in five tours to Australia, where he was given standing ovations to and from the wicket each time by respectful crowds.

In eight Test and seven ODI innnings Tendulkar could not deliver the ton that has been eluding him since his 111 against South Africa at last year's World Cup.

It was difficult to gauge Tendulkar's feelings on the subject as he was cocooned away from the media and did not appear at press conferences while all his teammates daily trotted out their reasons for each successive failure.

India's tour record does not make for pretty reading.

Their 4-0 Test humiliation included defeat by 122 runs in Melbourne, innings losses in Sydney and Perth and a 298-run thrashing in Adelaide.

M.S. Dhoni's men set out to prove their doubters wrong in the triangular one-day series against Australia and Sri Lanka. After all, they were the reigning World Cup champions.

Yet India again failed to measure up and despite an astonishing Hobart run-chase where they reeled in Sri Lanka's 320 with 80 balls to spare to give them late hope of squeezing into the finals, they ultimately missed out.

There have been calls back home for India's ageing stars - Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, even Tendulkar - to move on and questions over the strategy and approach of skipper Dhoni and thebatting lethargy of Virender Sehwag.

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar even questioned whether the Indian team was hurting enough from the crushing losses they endured.

Touring journalist Amol Karhadkar of the Hindustan Times observed on the final night in Brisbane that while cricket fans back home hoped and prayed for an Australian victory over Sri Lanka, a number of players appeared little bothered.

"While most of the players watched the first half of the match together in the team hotel, they ventured out for dinner later on," the reporter said.

One unnamed Indian player told The Times of India newspaper: "A team (Sri Lanka) which knocks down Australia three times on the trot has to be in the final."

"On the positive side, we will get to spend a few days at home before going to Bangladesh for the Asia Cup. We have been away for almost three months and were feeling a bit homesick."

Presumably not as sick as Indian cricket fans feel about the past few months.