2nd ODI v New Zealand at Wellington – Mar 6, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 14:00 local time (01:00 GMT).

Team news

If McCullum plays, Neil Broom is most likely to miss out. Allrounder Grant Elliott, who replaced Nathan McCullum at No 7, and Kyle Mills, who returned from injury, didn’t have a great first game but are expected to bounce back strongly. Mills had a good tour of Australia, picking nine wickets at 20.

New Zealand: 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Brendon McCullum (wk), 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Jacob Oram, 6 Neil Broom, 7 Grant Elliott, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Ian Bulter/Tim Southee, 11 Iain O’Brien, 12 Peter McGlashan

India are not expected to take any risks with Ishant Sharma. Praveen Kumar, the man who replaced Ishant, had a stellar first game but Munaf Patel will have to step up.

India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Munaf Patel, 11 Zaheer Khan.

Pitch & conditions

The teams haven’t managed to get used to the conditions yet since they practised at the Basin Reserve. The wicket is supposed to be similar to the Twenty20 game – slow and not much seam movement on offer. Rain is expected; watch out for Messrs Duckworth and Lewis to get into the equation at some point.

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4th ODI New Zealand v Australia at Adelaide – Feb 10, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 13:45 local time (03:15 GMT)

Team news
After a few more misses than hits in his short international career, David Warner has been left out of the squad and will return to New South Wales, where he has still not made his first-class debut. The success of Haddin and Clarke as an opening pair has hardened the top order and the main batting question is how long David Hussey and Cameron White will be given to justify their positions while Adam Voges remains in the squad. Peter Siddle has joined the group and after taking a one-day career-best of 4 for 27 for Victoria on Saturday he is a strong chance to make his ODI debut.

Australia (possible) 1 Michael Clarke, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 David Hussey, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Callum Ferguson, 8 James Hopes, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus/Peter Siddle.

Brendon McCullum was scheduled to have scans on Monday on his right shoulder after being struck by a rearing Kyle Mills delivery while standing up to the stumps. McCullum had pain-killing injections and dropped down to No. 9 but he was still able to strike a quick 36, giving the New Zealanders hope that he might be fit for Tuesday. The back-up wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins has been flown in as cover and McCullum said that while he was desperate to play, he would leave the decision until his injury had been assessed. “I always want to play and take the aggressive attitude and take the field,” McCullum told NZPA on Monday. “But you’ve also got to do the sensible thing, and until such time as we get the actual information about what is going on, it’s hard to make any sort of judgment.”

New Zealand (possible) 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Peter Fulton, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Neil Broom, 7 Kyle Mills, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Tim Southee, 10 Jeetan Patel, 11 Iain O’Brien.

Watch out for …
Michael Hussey has not had his most productive summer but the runs are starting to flow and in his past four innings he has made 78, 49, 75 and 51. He has been especially valuable in a middle order that has struggled and, perhaps more importantly, Australia will be pleased he is finding form ahead of the tour of South Africa. For the time being, Hussey is a key figure in Australia’s bid to level the one-day series.

If New Zealand were asked prior to the series to nominate the batsman likely to cause Australia the most trouble, Grant Elliott would not have been at the head of the list. He entered the tour with his only experience against Australia being a miserable contribution in the Gabba Test this season. A calm, unbeaten 61 at the MCG secured New Zealand’s 2-0 lead and his 115 in Sydney kept their hopes of a 3-0 victory alive.

Pitch & conditions
Less than a month ago, Adelaide was the venue of what Ricky Ponting described as his team’s worst performance of the summer. They were bundled out for 222 and then could do little as South Africa chased down the target in the 39th over. Most frustrating for Ponting was that it happened on a good batting pitch, as is nearly always provided at the Adelaide Oval. There should be plenty of runs available this time and the conditions will be comfortable, with 23C the top temperature expected.

Stats and trivia

* Brad Haddin is in form after making his first ODI century on Sunday and New Zealand will be concerned about him at Adelaide Oval, where he destroyed them in November’s Test match when he made 169
* Grant Elliott’s 115 in the SCG match was the second-highest ever by a New Zealand player in an ODI in Australia
* Nathan Bracken will be playing his 100th one-day international
* The teams have played each other eight times in ODIs at the Adelaide Oval for four wins each

Source- cricinfo.com

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Only T20 India vs Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS) – Feb 10, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 19:00 local time (13:30 GMT)

Tue 10 Floodlit Match
19:00 local, 13:30 GMT Only T20I – Sri Lanka v India
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Sachin Tendulkar has returned early from India’s tour of Sri Lanka, and will miss the Twenty20 international on Tuesday. Tendulkar left on Sunday night since he was not part of the Twenty20 squad, team manager Prakash Dixit confirmed.

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3rd ODI v Australia at Sydney – Feb 8, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 14:15 local time (03:15 GMT).

Australia (possible) 1 Michael Clarke, 2 Brad Haddin (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 David Hussey, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Callum Ferguson, 8 James Hopes, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.

New Zealand have no reason to change unless Brendon McCullum’s hip injury, which he sustained in the first week of the tour, continues to nag, but they will be reluctant to lose one of their most senior men. Gareth Hopkins, the standby wicketkeeper, played in Auckland’s Twenty20 win on Friday and will wait for a call. Jeetan Patel and Vettori have worked well during the opening two matches and will look forward to assistance from the Sydney surface.

New Zealand (possible) 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Peter Fulton, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Neil Broom, 7 Kyle Mills, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Tim Southee, 10 Jeetan Patel, 11 Iain O’Brien.

Pitch & conditions
In the west of Sydney the temperatures are expected to reach 44C, but fortunately for the players and spectators the SCG is much closer to the water, and it should be ten degrees cooler. However, Stuart Karppinen, Australia’s strength and conditioning coach, will feed the players slurpies from his frozen drink machine before the game, cooling them from the inside out. It was something the country’s Olympic athletes did to counter the heat in Beijing.

Stats and trivia

* Australia will drop to fourth in the ODI rankings with two more losses in this series
* New Zealand have outscored Australia in the batting Powerplay, taking 71 runs over the first two games to Australia’s 56. Australia are slightly ahead during the bowling Powerplay with 28 to the tourists’ 22
* In 20 ODIs between the teams at the SCG, Australia have won 12 and New Zealand six

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5th ODI v Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS) – Feb 8, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 10:00 local time (04:30 GMT).

Hours of play: 10.00 start, First Session 10.00-13.30 Interval 13.30-14.15, Second Session 14.15-17.45
Current time: 00:47 local, 19:17 GMT

India: (likely) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 L Balaji, 11 Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka gave no indication of making any changes to their squad the day before the final match. Chamara Kapugedera failed again, so his spot is under pressure. If he does indeed make way it would be for Jehan Mubarak, unless Sri Lanka bring in Upul Tharanga, who has not got a match all series, and move a patchy Tillakaratne Dilshan back to the middle order.

Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Thilina Kandamby, 7, Angelo Mathews, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Ajantha Mendis.

Pitch and conditions
The pitch is expected to be more like the last two, unlike the second game, even though this is a day game. As Ishant Sharma put it, “it would be better to bowl first as conditions will be helpful. The track becomes flat as the match progresses, to even 300 becomes an easy target’.

Stats & Trivia

* Yuvraj and Dhoni have been the most successful batsmen against Murali. Yuvraj has scored 47 from 58 balls and been dismissed once, while Dhoni has done better, scoring 45 off 42 without getting out to him. Murali has proved expensive this series, going for 203 runs in 40 overs at 5.07-an-over.

* Sri Lanka have struggled in the middle overs in the three matches they’ve lost chasing. They have lost an average of five wickets between overs 16 and 40, and have averaged 29.86 at a rate of 4.48. India’s figures tell a different tale. They’ve lost 11 wickets at an average of 52.54, and have scored at a healthy rate of 5.78.

1st Test v West Indies at Kingston – Feb 4-8, 2009

England won the toss and elected to bat first

* Day 1
* England 1st innings
* Drinks: England – 40/2 in 12.0 overs (IR Bell 19, KP Pietersen 9)
* England: 50 runs in 14.3 overs (88 balls), Extras 1
* Lunch: England – 73/3 in 27.0 overs (KP Pietersen 30, PD Collingwood 2)
* Rain: England – 96/4 in 44.1 overs (KP Pietersen 38, A Flintoff 1)
* England: 100 runs in 46.3 overs (281 balls), Extras 2
* KP Pietersen: 50 off 115 balls (6 x 4)
* Tea: England – 132/4 in 57.0 overs (KP Pietersen 60, A Flintoff 9)
* 5th Wicket: 50 runs in 101 balls (KP Pietersen 32, A Flintoff 10, Ex
* England: 150 runs in 59.4 overs (362 balls), Extras 10
* England: 200 runs in 73.5 overs (449 balls), Extras 12
* Drinks: England – 202/5 in 74.0 overs (A Flintoff 28, MJ Prior 10)

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3rd ODI India v Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS) – Feb 3, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT)

Sri Lanka Squad

Mahela Jayawardene (c)
Tillakaratne Dilshan
Dilhara Fernando
Sanath Jayasuriya
Thilina Kandamby
Chamara Kapugedera
Nuwan Kulasekara
Farveez Maharoof
Angelo Mathews
Ajantha Mendis
Jehan Mubarak
Muttiah Muralitharan
Kumar Sangakkara (wk)
Upul Tharanga
Thilan Thushara
Malinga Bandara
Chamara Silva
Mahela Udawatte
Chanaka Welegedara

India Squad:

MS Dhoni
Lakshmipathy Balaji
Gautam Gambhir
Ravindra Jadeja
Zaheer Khan
Praveen Kumar
Pragyan Ojha
Irfan Pathan
Yusuf Pathan
Suresh Raina
Virender Sehwag
Ishant Sharma
Rohit Sharma
Sachin Tendulkar
Yuvraj Singh
Munaf Patel

Pitch & conditions

The pitch at the Premadasa Stadium is a dry one and is expected to favour batting. However, Mahela Jayawardene said the bowlers stood to benefit in the first ten overs under lights. Going by the recent trend, the side winning the toss may well opt to bat first.

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2nd ODI vs Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS) – Jan 31, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT)

Team news

The only change for India is the return of Sehwag, in place of Rohit Sharma. Rohit made a calm, unbeaten 25 in Dambulla and supported Mahendra Singh Dhoni well during the run-chase, but on what is expected to be a good batting track, India are almost certain to retain the services of an extra bowler to contain the hosts.

India (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Munaf Patel.

Despite the loss in Dambulla, Sri Lanka are likely to go in with an unchanged side. Their middle order came good in the final two ODIs against Pakistan, and with their fast bowlers in good form, they’ll probably resist the temptation to make a change after one defeat.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Thilina Kandamby, 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Thilan Thushara, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Ajantha Mendis.

Pitch & conditions

The pitch at the Premadasa Stadium is a dry one and is expected to favour batting. However, Mahela Jayawardene said the bowlers stood to benefit in the first ten overs under lights. Going by the recent trend, the side winning the toss may well opt to bat first.

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1st ODI India v Sri Lanka at Dambulla – Jan 28, 2009
Match scheduled to begin at 10:00 local time (04:30 GMT)

Sri Lanka’s selectors have retained the 15-man squad that beat Pakistan 2-1 for the first three ODIs of the five-match series against India. Sri Lanka, who recovered from losing the first game in Karachi to clinch the recent contest, have now won three ODI series since their 3-2 defeat to India at home in July-August 2008.

Sri Lanka ODI squad

Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilina Kandamby, Muthiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Angelo Mathews.

Australia v South Africa, CB Series, 4th ODI, Adelaide

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Match scheduled to begin at 13:45 local time (03:15 GMT)

Australia squad
captainRT Ponting, wicketkeeperBJ Haddin, RJ Harris, NM Hauritz, BW Hilfenhaus, JR Hopes, DJ Hussey, MEK Hussey, MG Johnson, SE Marsh, SW Tait, DA Warner, CL White

South Africa squad
captainJ Botha, HM Amla, wicketkeeperMV Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, HH Gibbs, JH Kallis, ND McKenzie, JA Morkel, M Morkel, M Ntini, WD Parnell, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe, VB van Jaarsveld