New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan on Saturday confirmed a “strategic partnership” had been formed with USA Cricket.

It is likely the New Zealand team will play three games against Sri Lanka in Lauderhill, Florida in late May following the Twenty20 World Cup hosted by the West Indies.

Vaughan stressed the games — the type of matches were not specified — were not yet confirmed but was “optimistic” they would take place.

Cricket India

A desperate India will look to hit back at South Africa in the decisive second and final Test starting on Sunday after suffering a humiliating defeat in the opening tie.

India’s reputation as the number one Test side in the world took a massive blow after they lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs to the second-ranked Proteas.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men need a series-levelling win at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata to stop South Africa from snatching the coveted ranking.

India’s hopes received a timely boost when key middle-order batsman Venkatsai Laxman was cleared to play after having recovered from a finger injury.

With star batsmen Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh ruled out at the start of the series with injuries, Laxman was sorely missed in Nagpur as India crashed for 233 and 319 in reply to South Africa’s 558-6 declared.

Laxman, 35, has scored 6,993 runs in 109 Tests at an average of 45.70 with 14 centuries.

India were forced to play rookie wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha as a specialist batsman in Nagpur after Rohit Sharma, the first-choice replacement for Laxman, got injured just before the toss.

“We definitely missed some important players due to injuries,” said Dhoni after suffering his first Test defeat since taking over as captain in 2008.

“That pushed us to the back foot. Injuries can cause a bit of panic in the dressing room.

“It was a test of our bench strength. So I won’t complain, I’ll only say that we were completely outplayed by South Africa.”

India’s bowling attack also lacked firepower, with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and frontline off-spinner Harbhajan Singh paling in comparison to their South African rivals, Dale Steyn and Paul Harris.

Steyn, with a match haul of 10-108, underlined his reputation as the leading fast bowler in the world, while left-arm spinner Harris proved effective with three vital wickets in the second innings.

During their last series in India in 2008, South Africa won the second Test in Ahmedabad by an innings and 90 runs to take the lead in the three-match series after the first match was drawn.

India drew the series on an under-prepared wicket in Kanpur, raising fears that a similar ploy may be used at the Eden Gardens.

South Africa’s coach Corrie van Zyl, however, said his team will not be intimidated, whatever the nature of the wicket.

“Mentally, the South African team is better prepared than they were in 2008,” said van Zyl, who took over as interim coach from Mickey Arthur just before the start of the India tour.

“I won’t say it will be a minefield, but I do expect something that will help the Indian team. We know that if the first Test was a challenge, then the second Test is going to be a bigger challenge.”

The Kolkata Test will be followed by three one-day internationals in Jaipur (February 21), Gwalior (February 24) and Ahmedabad (February 27).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), meeting in Vancouver, also said it would recognise the federations of sport climbing and power boating.

“They are recognised federations by us, which now means that they can take part in IOC events,” said IOC director of communications Mark Adams, adding it could be seen as a first step towards becoming Olympic sports.

Cricket was granted the status of a “recognised” Olympic sport in 2007, for sports not in the Olympic programme but which confirm to certain criteria such as universality, for a two-year period, pending a decision on making the move permanent.

But despite calls from the likes of former Australia star Adam Gilchrist for Twenty20 to be included, the ICC currently has no imminent plans to bid for the format to included.

Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since, but it is set to feature at this year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and has been in the Commonwealth Games as recently as 1998.

Recent additions to the Olympic sports roster include golf and rugby sevens.

Welegedara, 28, made his debut against England in 2007 but lost his place after suffering problems with his run-up.

Uncapped wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva and middle-order batsman Thilina Kandamby were also named in the test squad.

All-rounder Muthumudalige Pushpakumara is a new face in the Twenty20 squad while fast bowler Dilhara Fernando has been recalled to the one-day party after returning from injury, taking the place of Dammika Prasad.

Sri Lanka are scheduled to play three tests against India, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals.

Test squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Thilina Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene, Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dammika Prasad, Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis

Twenty20 squad: Sangakkara (captain), Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedara, Mathews, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Kaushal Weeraratne, Mendis, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Welegedara, Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Kulasekera

One-day squad: Sangakkara (captain), Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, Dilshan, Kapugedara, Kandamby, Upul Tharanga, Mathews, Samaraweera, Jayasuriya, Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Thushara, Kulasekera, Mendis.

Apart from India’s valiant lower-order fightback, courtesy Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar, Australia did everything right and were the deserving winners in the first ODI in Vadodara.

While there is still a lot of cricket left in the seven-match series, the injuries to their frontline players have become a headache for the Australians.

Brett Lee and James Hopes will miss Wednesday’s game with elbow and hamstring problems, respectively, while Mitchell Johnson, who twisted his ankle in Vadodara, is also doubtful. As a result, New South Wales Blues’ all-rounder Moises Hendriques has been asked to fly to India as a cover for the pacers.

Australia coach Tim Nielsen is hoping that Johnson would be able to make it for the match. ‘Johnson has woken up a lot better today morning than we thought. We hope that he could be drafted in for the game,’ said Nielsen.

Left-arm medium pacer Doug Bollinger, who was impressive in the Champions League Twenty20 playing for New South Wales and right arm medium pacer Ben Hilfenhaus are expected to fill the vacant slots. In that case, Peter Siddle will have to share the workload of leading the Australian attack.

India’s top-order batsmen faltered while chasing 293 in the Vadodara One-dayer. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar looked in good touch but could not continue for long. Gautam Gambhir was the only Indian batsmen to get a half-century.

Yuvraj Singh is expected to make his international comeback after being on the sidelines with a finger injury. His presence should bolster the batting line-up.

The bowling, too, was lacklustre in the first match. Praveen Kumar was not penetrative and pressure will be on him to retain his place with Munaf Patel around.

Harbhajan might have done his bit with the bat, but he lacked the sting in his bowling. This will be the first One-Day International in Nagpur since the new stadium was built on the city’s outskirts in Jamtha.

The city last hosted the deciding Test of the India-Australia series in 2008.

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While it’s a good talking point to see which team is at the top of the charts, and a badge of honour to be called the No. 1 team in the world, what this group is really after is being considered the best team in the world by their peers.

For a while now it was considered difficult to be consistent in ODIs. But the introduction of Twenty20 cricket has made the 50-over game feel like a long-drawn out affair and made people realise that 300 balls is actually a long time for an innings.

On the day before the final at the R Premadasa Stadium, three teams who will play each other in the Champions Trophy shortly were in completely different spaces in world cricket.

Sri Lanka have grown in stature, boast a varied bowling attack, and even the up and down nature of their batting has been papered over in home conditions.

India, after two days of hard practice and two days of back-to-back matches, were in fine tuning mode.

New Zealand, well, they were in coffee shops and swimming pools, shopping malls and restaurants, having failed abjectly to lift their game enough to challenge either of the other teams in this tri-series.

Of India’s players who took part in the matches on Friday and Saturday, only Yuvraj Singh joined the reserves at a net session.

Having fallen to Daniel Vettori’s spin in the first game and failing to come to terms with Lasith Malinga’s pace and swing in the second game, Yuvraj worked on his batting basics. Gary Kirsten, himself a left-handed batsman, fired in hard tennis balls with a tennis racquet, imparting spin and swerve on the ball, getting it to kick awkwardly at times.

As much as Yuvraj worked on blunting dangerous deliveries, he concentrated on leaving alone anything that didn’t threaten his stumps.

Virat Kohli, who batted and bowled in the nets, was the subject of much discussion as it became known that he had been named replacement for Gautam Gambhir despite having been advised eight weeks’ rest by fitness experts at the National Cricket Academy.

Since then Kohli has played for ONGC in the Corporate Trophy, and is demonstrably able to play, even if he is still bothered by a niggle.

It’s not something Mahendra Singh Dhoni will worry about at all, as India looked likely to make no changes to the team that has played the first two matches of the series. If anything they might consider bringing Praveen Kumar into the mix, but neither RP Singh nor Ashish Nehra have bowled themselves out of contention for the final.

Like Anil Kumble before him, Dhoni is one captain who does not care much for talk about rankings or the toss or the weather. Even he was forced to sound a warning: “Once you win the toss you have the game 60 % in your favour. If you score around 270 then you are 80 % sure of winning the game.”

The most crucial aspect of Monday’s final could take place half an hour before a ball is bowled.

Squad

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Rudra Pratap Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Dammika Prasad, Thilan Samaraweera, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Thushara

The six-wicket win over New Zealand was the perfect start for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men as it not only booked them a place in the final but also made them the number one ODI side in the world.

Barely 24 hours at the top and the joy had just started to sink in when Sri Lanka inflicted on them a moral-shattering 139-run defeat in their league encounter.

What would worry the Indian think-tank is that on all counts Sri Lanka proved much superior.

After drab low-score matches, the hosts piled up a massive 307 for six wickets, suggesting the Indian attack was far from intimidating.

And then the canny Angello Mathews, with his six-wicket haul, proved that there are enough chinks in the Indian batting armour as the visitors folded for 168 inside 38 overs.

It has been more than evident that despite best of efforts from both Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik, India is missing its regular opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

The rollicking start that the team is used to has not been witnessed so far even though Tendulkar looked in good nick in both the matches.

The top order clearly has a brittle look about it and the return of someone as experienced as Rahul Dravid has not been able to gloss over the harsh reality.

Yuvraj Singh came here as a possible candidate to snatch the number one batsman’s tag from his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni but the left-hander has looked more impressive with the ball than with the bat.

Dhoni and Suresh Raina played sensibly against New Zealand to guide the side home but they could not repeat it when the chips were down against Sri Lanka.

Yusuf Pathan got just one chance so far in the series and could not make the most of it.

The bowling department that looked so impressive against New Zealand lost all its sting and fire overnight and looked pedestrian against the hosts.

Apart from Harbhajan Singh, other bowlers simply bled run and Ishant Sharma has looked a pale shadow of himself in the series so far.

In contrast, Sri Lanka have hauled themselves up after losing both the Twenty20 matches against New Zealand before coming into the tri-series.

They beat New Zealand in the first match and then outplayed India to swagger into the final at the R Premadasa Stadium where they have lost little.

Much to India’s horror, Sanath Jayasuriya seems to have found his form just in time and his 79-ball 98 was an age-defying act by the 40-year-old ‘Matara Marauder’.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has not converted the starts yet but the right-hander made every ball he faced count by scoring at a brisk rate.

Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera proved they have matured head over their shoulder and if Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene join the party, India may have to return empty-handed again.

Squads:

India: MS Dhoni (c), Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (c), Muttiah Muralitharan, Malinga Bandara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Dammika Prasad, Thilan Samaraweera, Upul Tharanga and Thilan Thushara.

India were displaced from the top spot within 24 hours of gaining it after their morale-shattering 139-run defeat against the hosts Sri Lanka.

After India’s defeat, Australia defeated England by seven wickets to take a 4-0 lead in the seven-match series, which pushed India to third.

Both India and Australia have 125 points each but the latter are ahead when points were calculated upto decimals, according to the ICC website.

South Africa occupy the top slot. India will take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation series on Monday in Colombo.

Although India were already assured of a place in Monday’s final of the tri-nation series after their big win over New Zealand yesterday, Dhoni and his men needed an unbeaten run in the tournament to maintain their number one ODI team status.

However, Sanath Jayasuriya and Thilina Kandambi combined with the bat and then Angelo Mathews ignited fire with the ball to take the hosts to the convincing victory.

Chasing a formidable 308 for victory India were bowled out for a paltry 168 in 37.2 overs as only six batsmen could manage to reach double figures.

Earlier, opting to bat Sri Lanka rode on Jayasuriya’s blistering 98 off 79 balls and Kandambi’s unbeaten 91 down the order to score 307 for six in their alloted 50 overs.

Needing 308 for win, India’s makeshift opening duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik (16 off 23) started the innings on a positive note adding 32 runs in the first six overs before Sri Lanka pulled back with the wicket of Karthik.

Trying to glide a leg side delivery to the fine-leg boundary, the Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper gloved a simple catch to Kumar Sangakkara off left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara’s bowling in the sixth over.

From there on both Tendulkar and new man in Rahul Dravid found going tough although the the master blaster managed to find the fence in between.

Tendulkar hit some elegant flicks and glances to score his boundaries before Nuwan Kulasekara got the vital wicket in the 14th over with India scoreboard reading 67. He struck five fours in his short but classy 33-ball 27-run innings.

Vice captain Yuvraj Singh made his arrival in style, clobbering Kulasekara for four over mid-on in the very second ball he faced but thereafter went to a shell as he played and missed Lasith Malinga on several occasions.

Boundaries were far and few as Dravid and Yuvraj kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos before the right-hander cut loose in the 19th over, hitting a four and a six of Dilshan’s consecutive deliveries to pick 13 runs off the over.

But Malinga broke the dangerously-looking 38-run fourth wicket stand as Yuvraj edged one to Sangakkara.

After that the famed Indian batting line up crumbled like a pack of card as they lost five wickets for mere 25 runs as Angelo Mathews wreaked havoc, picking three six wickets for mere 20 runs in his six overs.

Suresh Raina’s misery with the bat continued as he made a duck. He gave a catching practice to Sangakkara in the very first ball he faced off Mathews.

Dravid was the next to follow, bowled by Mathews as the right-hander went for an extravagant drive.

In his next over and innings 28th, Mathews struck twice, first castling skipper Dhoni’s stumps and then Yusuf Pathan handed a regulation catch to Sangakkara, thereby dashing India’s hopes with the scoreboard reading 130 for seven.

Mathews’ rampage continued unabated as he disturbed both Harbhajan Singh and Asish Nehra’s timbers.

The duo of RP Singh (19 not out)and Ishant Sharma (13) did make a last ditch effort to take India’s score to some respectability by adding 29 runs before Ajantha Mendis wrapped up the proceedings.

Earlier, Jayasuriya returned to form with a blistering fashion. The 40-year-old left-hander, who had failed to score a half-century in his last eight previous outings, smashed 13 boundaries in his innings.

However, after the good start Sri Lanka were struggling at 176 for five at one stage but Kandambi and Chamara Kapugedara (36) rattled up 83 runs for the sixth wicket to pour water on India’s hopes.

The duo batted sensibly dealing mostly on singles with occasional fours and saved their last for the final power-play.

A direct hit by RP Singh separated the pair at the fag end but Kandambi batted with vigour and punished all the Indian bowlers with utter disdain.

His 91 came off just 73 balls which included 11 shots to the fence as the last four overs yielded 46 runs.

Sri Lanka got off to a flying start with Dilshan (23) and Jayasuriya relishing batting on a good track.

Dilshan hit a flashy square cut to fence off Nehra in the first ball of the match and then sent an exquisite straight drive to boundary ropes, to start the proceedings in a brilliant fashion.

With Both Nehra and RP Singh not making any impact, Dhoni brought gangling pacer Ishant into the attack as early as in the fifth over of the innings.

The lanky bowler soon produced result, dismissing Dilshan, who played a casual drive to give an easy catch to Dhoni behind the wicket.

Jayasuriya was unperturbed and severely punished RP Singh, fetching 15 runs from his over, en route to his half-century, which came off just 45 balls.

The hosts were cruising comfortably but some exceptional glove work by Dhoni resulted in the fall of Mahela Jayawardene (17) off Yousuf Pathan and then Harbhajan Singh trapped Kumar Sangakkara (5) to make it 102 for three.

Jayasuriya continued with his aggressive batting as he hit Yuvraj Singh for successive boundaries. He survived a run out chance and together with Angelo Mathews (19) put up 70 runs for the fourth wicket before his heartbreaking dismissal.

Mathews too joined him soon when he gave charge to Raina, got foxed by the spin and Dhoni stumped him.

Lee claimed five for 49 from nine overs to restrict England to just 220 all out from 46.3 overs after they had won the toss in good batting conditions on a sunny morning. It was the ninth time Lee had taken five wickets in a one-day international.

Captain Andrew Strauss continued his good form over the English summer with a top score of 63 in 75 deliveries but he was the only England player to craft any substantial innings.

Australia reached 221-3 in reply with 6.2 overs remaining.

“Our batting hasn’t fired for four games,” Strauss told a news conference. “A few of the guys are low on confidence and one-day cricket is not a game where you can scratch around for too long. You have to play in a positive fashion.

“We have had some partnerships but no telling partnerships and no telling scores. The batting group has got to be better, it is as simple as that.”

Michael Clarke, who stood in as captain in the first three matches when Ricky Ponting took a break in Australia, finished the match with an unbeaten 62, while opener Tim Paine made 51 and Ponting stroked 48.

While Australia will be seeking a 7-0 whitewash after losing the Ashes series 2-1, England need to regain credibility and confidence before the ICC Champions Trophy begins in South Africa later this month.

Lee, who missed the entire Ashes series through injury, made the initial breakthrough when he had Joe Denly caught at first slip for 11. He later bowled Matt Prior (29), Luke Wright (12), Adil Rashid (4) and Stuart Broad (2) with dipping, swinging yorkers in excess of 145 kms an hour.

England lost their last five wickets for just 20 runs in 22 balls. Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz claimed two for 23 from 10 accurate overs that strangled the England run rate.

Strauss was out top-edging a slog-sweep off Hauritz, while Owais Shah was caught for 39 from a Shane Watson full toss that he felt should have been called a no-ball.

“That meant a lot, to take a five-for and to get it at the home of cricket at Lord’s is a very special moment,” Lee said.

“You always treasure the fact you get to play at Lord’s. It is something that is very special in my career.”

“Now being 4-0 up and after winning the series this next game is very important. The chance to win the next three is something that we will be eyeing up but we don’t want to look too far ahead and become complacent.

“It would be easy to think with the series won that we have done the hard work, but the hard work starts now.”