Bresnan and Anderson swing through Windies

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Chester-le-Street, 5th day

The Bulletin by Shwe Wai

England 569 for 6 dec (Cook 160, Bopara 108) beat West Indies 310 (Sarwan 100, Anderson 5-87) and 176 (Chanderpaul 47, Anderson 4-38) by an innings and 83 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

	Tim Bresnan ends his long wait for a Test wicket, as England closed in on victory

James Anderson completed the superb match figures of 9 for 125, and Tim Bresnan finally picked up his maiden Test wickets, as West Indies were hustled to defeat by an innings and 83 runs shortly after lunch on the final day at Chester-le-Street. After resuming on 115 for 3 in the follow-on, West Indies found no way to deal with perfect swinging conditions on a showery day, and the only man who showed any real resistance was Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who endured in typical fashion for 47 from 82 balls.

In the end, however, Chanderpaul's efforts were emphatically trumped by Anderson and Bresnan, who bowled clean through the day's play, booming the ball both ways at will, as the Wisden Trophy was reclaimed after just a two-month hiatus. Bresnan, who had begun to believe he would never claim that memorable first scalp, eventually returned the creditable figures of 3 for 45 in 14 overs, while Anderson once again showed how he has matured as a cricketer in recent months, as he located a full length, zipped the ball off the seam and through the air, and ripped West Indies to shreds in a final-day spell of 11-3-18-4.

England began the day with high expectations, but at first they were thwarted by a combination of Chanderpaul, Lendl Simmons and the skittish Durham weather, which forced two brief breaks in play inside the first hour. They took the field as they had left it the previous evening, without the services of Matt Prior who had injured his ring finger and was rested on medical advice, and Paul Collingwood deputised ably as wicketkeeper, as England strove for the breakthrough.

Understandably enough, Strauss opened with his main man, Anderson, but at the other end he sprung a surprise by calling upon the hitherto anonymous Bresnan, who had been overshadowed by his fellow newcomer, Graham Onions, both here and at Lord's, and must have wondered if his chance to impress had been and gone.

Bresnan began with a tidy but unthreatening line outside off stump, but it was in the second hour of the session, after the second of two 15-minute showers had freshened up the pitch that he and Anderson really began to make the ball talk. Anderson was the first to strike, when Simmons once again gave his innings away when well set, as he hung his bat out to a wide long-hop, and patted a tame chance to the substitute fielder, Scott Borthwick at point.

Match Report: Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Chennai Super Kings

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

CENTURION: At long last, a win and in a fairytale chase at that. After having wondered how long the roll of the dice would go against them, stunning knocks by skipper Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge let Kolkata Knight Riders pinch a seven-wicket victory off the last ball of their DLF Indian Premier League match against Chennai Super Kings here on Monday.

Chasing a tall 189-run target - the second highest score in IPL 2009 - Knight Riders set off in relentless pursuit with McCullum and Hodge believing that they could end the string of defeats. McCullum spared no bowler as he took upon himself the task of spurring the team along on the road to victory. Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni searched in vain for ways to stop him.

Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was a veritable picture of mastery of his craft as he bowled four overs for 16 runs but paceman Albie Morkel, Sudeep Tyagi and L Balaji were prodigal on Monday night.

McCcullum smashed 81 off 48 balls (11 fours, three sixes) while Sourav Ganguly fell cheaply and Hodge played himself in during their 90-run second-wicket stand. He was particularly severe on Sudeep Tyagi, one of Chennai Super Kings’ most efficient bowlers, striking him for four successive fours and a six in one over to power Kolkata Knight Riders' chase.

Hodge (71 not out, 44 balls, four fours, four sixes) took charge after McCullum was bowled by Shadab Jakati and waded into L Balaji, Chennai Super Kings' death over specialist. Hodge added 56 runs off 28 balls with Wriddhiman Saha (25 13 balls, two fours and a six), to see the side home in a nerve-wracking finish when Suresh Raina very nearly bowled a magical final over.

Gayle backtracks on captaincy comments

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Chester-le-Street, 5th day

Bulletin by Shwe Wai

	Chris Gayle made runs in the end, but his team didn't really turn up

This series hasn't been Chris Gayle's finest hour. He turned up 48 hours before the first Test, spent a lot of time complaining about the cold and, to cap it all, said he wouldn't mind if Test cricket didn't exist. So, in many respects, he got what he deserved as the Wisden Trophy was surrendered back to England after little more than two months.

Ever since his now infamous newspaper interview, Gayle has tried to tone down his comments without ever sounding convincing. His latest attempt came with a smile, but that was probably because he can now play one-day cricket for six weeks.

"I'm definitely enjoying the captaincy," he said. "It has done a lot for me as an individual and I can't be ungrateful and say it hasn't. I appreciate it and am happy to lead the West Indies whenever and wherever. We have a good bunch of guys here and it's a learning process for them. For me I'm still enjoying the cricket and if I'm not it wouldn't make sense to carry on."

What made Gayle's comments about Test cricket even more disappointing was that he'd put so much effort into securing the series in the Caribbean. He scored two impressive hundreds, bowled and batted with an injured hamstring, and instilled a determination not seen from a West Indies side for a long time. However, like the economy, it is dangerous to talk about green shoots of recovery when it comes to West Indies cricket.

"It's a disappointing result," he said. "We have ourselves to blame to be honest, it all started from that first Test where we dropped too many catches when we had England on the run. To play catch-up cricket in these conditions was always going to be difficult. But we were here to do a job and we didn't do it properly.

"I'm disappointed to hand back the trophy after a short period of time. This tour wasn't in place then it came on board so it was something we had to deal with and it we didn't go about it properly. We struggled in the conditions and it would have been nice to have bat and ball clicking at the same time which didn't happen."

An away series during the English early season was always going to present a huge challenge for West Indies but, showing that he had one captaincy skill well honed, Gayle tried to look for the positives and hoped his young players would benefit.

McCullum and Hodge gun down Chennai

Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL, Centurion

The Bulletin by Shwe Wai

Kolkata Knight Riders 189 for 3 (McCullum 81, Hodge 71*) beat Chennai Super Kings 188 for 3 (Raina 52, Dhoni 40) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	McCullum displayed the same destructive facet that was on display in first game of the IPL's inaugural version

Kolkata Knight Riders, powered by fifties from Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge, staged one of most thrilling chases in the tournament and showed why the bottom-placed team may still prove to be the king-makers in this crucial last phase of the league games. Chennai Super Kings, who looked set to seal a semi-final spot with their mammoth total batting first, will now have to put the celebrations on hold.

The run-chase owed its success to three partnerships; the opening stand totally dominated by McCullum, his association with Hodge, where he took charge initially before letting his partner step up, and Hodge's match-winning knock with Wriddhiman Saha, whose calm presence combined well with the timely acceleration to stun Chennai.

The return of the seamers at the death heralded a decisive turn in the game as Hodge found an unlikely foil in Saha, who smote a six and a four in the 17th over from L Balaji that went for 14. The next over from Albie Morkel bled 13, with Hodge collecting two fours, one slapped back past the bowler and the other swung behind square leg.

With Chennai short of options, Balaji's reputation to hit the blockhole was again banked on, but he was guilty of the same slip-up that cost Kolkata their previous two games. He gifted Hodge with length balls, two of which were struck clean and straight over long-off, and a generous full toss to Saha off the final ball, who duly obliged to smack it over midwicket to bring it down to six off the last over. Suresh Raina tried his best, but despite an attacking field and a dot ball first up, the wave was against him. Hodge and Saha stole singles off the second and third deliveries, a tight run to cover on the fourth, before a swat to long-on with a deep enough Jacob Oram allowed them to scamper back for the second and level the scores. With the field brought up, an incredibly calm Saha chipped Raina over cover to seal a comeback win.

McCullum threatened to wrest the game with his blistering innings, displaying the same destructive facet to his batting that was on display in first match of the IPL's inaugural version. His dominant innings today was undoubtedly a reflection of his brilliance but the disproportionate influence his contribution had to Kolkata's score in the early part of the innings mirrored the serious lack of support from the other end.

McCullum immediately announced his intent from the first over, slashing one past slip, and clipping Morkel past square leg. Keeping him off strike became Chennai's immediate objective, and Sourav Ganguly made their job far simpler, struggling to get bat on ball, a stark contrast to McCullum's free flow. McCullum feasted on Albie, smashing him for 16 in the third over, while Ganguly was made to look like an irritable fly-swatter by Sudeep Tyagi. He was eventually put out of his misery, chopping one on by Muttiah Muralitharan, though Chennai, in hindsight, would have wished he had continued.