New Zealand v West Indies, 2nd Test, Napier, 1st day

A century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul and 74 from Brendan Nash sparked a West Indies fight back on the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand before the hosts struck back with two quick wickets shortly before stumps. Having been reduced to 74 for four just prior to lunch the pair constructed a patient 163-run stand before Nash was dismissed when he drove a James Franklin delivery straight to Daniel Flynn. Denesh Ramdin was then clean bowled by Daniel Vettori in the penultimate over of the day to leave the West Indies on 258 for six at stumps at McLean Park in Napier.

The International Cricket Council's player of the year, Chanderpaul had taken 147 balls to bring up his half-century but cut loose late in the day to bring up the second 50 in just 67 balls as he reached the close 100 not out with Jerome Taylor on one. For New Zealand, Patel had a fine day with ball finishing with one for 41 off 25 overs that included 11 maidens, while Mills bowled tightly for his figures of none for 29 off 12. Of the other wicket takers, O'Brien ended the day with two for 59 off 18, Vettori two for 58 off 17 and Franklin one for 57 off 16 overs.

Australia v South Africa, 1st Test, Perth, 3rd day

Australia finished the 3rd day of the 1st test match against the South African at WACA with a 2nd innings score of 228 for 7. This puts them 322 runs up on the Proteas. However, at one stage it looked unlikely as Australia was struggling with 88 for 4. After an initial recovery work from Michael Clark & Andrew Symonds another quick succession of wickets reduced the Aussies to 162 for 7. At that time Haddin & Krejza step up and their unbeaten 66 run patnership put Australia in the current strong position.

Earlier, Mitchell Johnson narrowly missed recording the best bowling figures by an Australian in Test history, finishing with 8-61. Peter Siddle took the final wicket to fall as the Proteas were bowled out for 281, robbing Johnson of the chance to better the figures of Australian leg-spinner Arthur Mailey who took 9-121 in the fourth Test against England at the MCG in 1921. Johnson's eight-wicket haul was the best figures by a left-arm bowler in Test history. Johnson got his eighth wicket when Steyn could not keep his gloves out of the way of a short ball, but Siddle claimed the final wicket to fall, that of Mark Boucher, when he got caught slashing to point.

India v England, 2nd Test, Mohali, 1st day

As England's new-look attack failed to build on a promising start, Gautam Gambhir's fourth century guided India into a commanding position after the 1st days play in the final Test. The 27-year-old left-hander completed his century shortly before bad light ended play midway through the final session of the opening day. Gambhir played the lead role in an unbroken 173-run partnership with Rahul Dravid which guided India to a powerful 179 for 1 after India won the toss and decided to bat. Gambhir hit 11 fours and a six off Swann in his unbeaten innings of 106 runs while Rahul Dravid who claimed his first half-century in nine Test innings is unbeaten at 65.

Earlier in the day, England made a flying start after play began 20 minutes late for bad light with Stuart Broad marking his recall by dismissing dangerous opener Virender Sehwag with his sixth ball of the match. But despite an impressive new-ball spell from Broad, England struggled to build on that success as Gambhir and Dravid exploited a flat batting wicket and undermined the tourists' hopes of leveling the series.

1st Test: Australia v South Africa at Perth, Dec 17-21, 2008

A career-best bowling performance by Mitchell Johnson has put Australia in prime position in this fluctuating match. At the end of day two, South Africa were left struggling at 243 for 8, in reply for an Australian first innings total of 375. At the close of day-2 Australia are in a great position to dictate terms in this match. The two not out batsman for South Africa are Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn who will resume play from tomorrow. However, at one stage of the day South Africa was dominating the match with a score of 233 for 3 wickets. But due to Mitchell Johnson's wonderfull spell they were reduced to 241 for 8 with in matter of moments. For South Africa Jack Kallis and Ab devilliers both top scored with 63 runs each. For the Aussies Mitchell Johnson pick up 7 for 42 runs while Krejza pick up the solitary wicket.