Hilfenhaus takes five in Australia's innings win

Australia 4 for 659 dec beat India 191 and 400 (Gambhir 83, Tendulkar 80, Laxman 66, Ashwin 62, Hilfenhaus 5-106) by an innings and 68 runs

This was supposed to be India's best chance to win a Test series in Australia. It has taken only eight days of cricket for Michael Clarke's men to deny them that goal. On the fourth afternoon in Sydney, an attack led by Ben Hilfenhaus deconstructed India's formidable batting line-up, bit by bit, to secure an unbeatable 2-0 series lead with victory by an innings and 68 runs, Australia's first innings win over India in 12 years.

The last such result also came at the SCG, in 2000. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were all part of that side, as they were members of the outfit that lost this time around. It is unlikely they will have another chance to beat Australia at home. For now, India still hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and should they win in Perth and Adelaide they will retain it. But their grip on it is as weak as Chris Martin's forward defence.

This was an Australian victory that will be remembered for Clarke's unbeaten 329. But on the fourth day, it was a second consecutive five-wicket haul from Hilfenhaus that was the highlight. Hilfenhaus completed the success with the final wicket when R Ashwin, who had made a fighting 62, skied a pull and was caught by Nathan Lyon running around from mid-on.

The Australians were overjoyed. Clarke especially was thrilled. His declaration on the third day, when he could have chased personal milestones like Brian Lara's world-record Test innings of 400, was designed to ensure Australia would win the match. They did so with three and a half sessions remaining. Clarke is not the kind of man to harbour any regrets. The win was everything.

He knew better than anyone that batting on the SCG surface was not particularly difficult, and as Tendulkar and Laxman put on a 103-run stand his mind might have flicked back eight years, to a 353-run partnership between the same men at the same ground. Fittingly, it was Clarke with his left-arm spin that ended the partnership, and India's hopes of saving the Test.

Tendulkar had reached 80 and seemed to be on track to register his long-awaited hundredth international hundred in the SCG's hundredth Test when Clarke changed the course of the day. He produced a delivery that was accurate enough to draw Tendulkar into a stroke and turned just enough to catch the edge, which ricocheted off Brad Haddin's gloves and was snaffled by Michael Hussey at slip.

When the new ball arrived, the other architect of that one threatening partnership, Laxman, on 66, fell to a near-perfect delivery from Hilfenhaus, who finished with 5 for 106. The ball angled in and then nipped away to beat the outside edge of Laxman's bat, clipping the edge of the top of off stump, and the batsman could scarcely believe his fate, confident as he appeared that he had covered his wicket.

From there, the wickets fell steadily. MS Dhoni (2) chipped a return catch to Hilfenhaus, who seemed to think it was a bump ball. But the umpire's decision to have the third official check on the shot revealed it had lobbed cleanly back to Hilfenhaus without touching the ground, surprising some of the Australians.

Virat Kohli was lbw to James Pattinson for 9, a fraction unlucky as the ball kept low, but there was no question over the decision. Peter Siddle joined in by removing Zaheer Khan, who had made an entertaining 35 when he slashed hard at a delivery outside off and was taken by Shaun Marsh running back from extra cover.

Briefly, Ishant Sharma and Ashwin staved off the Australians with a 42-run stand, but Ishant (11) was lbw to the offspin of Nathan Lyon. That was the only breakthrough of the match for Lyon, who also collected just one in Melbourne and has not removed a top-six batsman since the first Test of the summer, against New Zealand at the Gabba. Though usually loath to change a winning side, Australia might consider replacing him with Ryan Harris at the WACA.

There are far more questions for India. For a while it looked like they might take the match into the fifth day as they worked through the first session for the loss of only one wicket, that of Gautam Gambhir. He missed the chance for his first Test century in nearly two years when, on 83, he stood on the crease and reached his bat a long way forward to the bowling of Siddle, who found a leading edge that was snapped up by David Warner at point.

Tendulkar and Laxman continued to fight. Laxman played some of his trademark wristy flicks through the leg side, against the fast men and also the offspin of Lyon, and Tendulkar showed off some wonderful cover-drives early in the morning. Shortly before the lunch break, Tendulkar upper-cut a frustrated Pattinson over the sole slip for another boundary.

But it was all a big tease for the Indian fans. In a match where three Australians made tons, including one triple-hundred, India needed more than a handful of pretty half-centuries. There are questions over their batting and their bowling as the Perth Test approaches. They have a week to sort out their problems.

Rooney: We know how to win

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney confident ahead of FA Cup clash against Manchester City

Wayne Rooney insists Manchester United are still the team to beat in the Barclays Premier League, despite falling three points behind their arch-rivals in the title race.

The Red Devils failed to match Manchester City's victory over Liverpool on Tuesday night, losing 3-0 to Newcastle at the Sports Direct Arena just 24 hours later, thus handing the advantage to their close rivals.

However, England international striker Rooney is in no doubt that United are still in a great position to claim their 20th domestic title, with experience in the closing stages a potentially key factor in their favour.Rooney does admit though, that defeat to the Citizens in the FA Cup on Sunday could have serious psychological damage on their battle with the 'noisy neighbours'.

“For me, this game is not important for the Premier League, but maybe psychologically. After two defeats, maybe another defeat would be a problem for them, but United are very strong for this,” he told Nuts Magazine.

“People are entitled to their opinions, but I can honestly say I wouldn’t swap any other squad in the league for the one we’ve got. I think we deserve to be respected for what we’ve achieved over the years.

“We know how to win trophies – simple as.”

Rooney was happy to admit that City are now a legitimate force to be reckoned with in both English and European football, noting that their squad strength makes them a great team.

And, for Manchester as a City, Rooney can only see it as a positive as the two giants go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium in the third round.

“They’re a powerful side with loads of good players. I’m happy that Manchester has two great teams. I can’t see a downside to that.”

Toure brothers to miss FA Cup clash

Yaya and Kolo Toure are set to be unavailable for Manchester City's FA Cup clash against Manchester United after Ivory Coast coach Francois Zahoui rejected the club's request to allow them to join up with the Elephants squad late.City boss Roberto Mancini, who has claimed he may be unable to field a full squad for the clash against rivals United at East lands on Sunday, had asked Zahoui if he would allow the pair to play before joining the Ivory Coast camp.

Under FIFA rules, players can be called up to two weeks before the competition, which starts on January 21. Zahoui has refused to relax his stance, and has insisted the pair report for duty in Paris on Saturday before the squad flies to Abu Dhabi for a two-week training camp on Sunday.

"Clubs know the rules," Zahoui told the BBC. "I'm expecting them for the FIFA deadline."

Kolo Toure has re-established his place in City's starting XI following his six-month ban for failing a drugs test, while Yaya, who scored the winner in last season's FA Cup final, has scored six goals in his last 13 matches.

Relentless South Africa close in on series win

Sri Lanka 138 for 4 (Mathews 28*, Samaraweera 19*) and 239 (Dilshan 78, Steyn 3-56, Philander 3-46) trail South Africa 580 for 4 dec by 203 runs

South Africa produced an exhibition of blistering seam and swing in the first innings, followed by nagging persistence in the second, to nip out 12 of the 18 wickets they needed for victory at the start of the third day. Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander delivered spells of unmitigated menace to demolish Sri Lanka's last eight first-innings wickets for 90 runs, allowing South Africa to enforce the follow-on around 30 minutes after lunch.

The pair's combined first-innings effort on the third morning yielded 6 for 28 in 17 overs, and provided a cruel twist to Sri Lanka's plans of batting through the day. Wickets weren't that easy to come by in the second innings, following Tillakaratne Dilshan's customary brainfade, but South Africa chipped away to skim the top order by stumps.

The wicket-fest left Sri Lanka staring at defeat with two days of good weather expected in Cape Town. Their euphoria after winning the Boxing Day Test has steadily dissipated since the toss at Newlands, and the tone for another day of disappointment was set early in the piece.

Kumar Sangakkara leaned out to the third ball of the morning to square-drive Steyn uppishly to point, where Hashim Amla gleefully pouched the chance. Sangakkara's exit meant Thilan Samaraweera was in the middle much earlier than he'd have bargained for. Philander proceeded to systematically work him over with an exhibition of high quality seam bowling, easily the highlight of the day's action.

Philander hit his default lengths in his very first over, and got a couple to curl away devilishly as Samaraweera groped inside the line. In his next over, he repeated the dose to Mahela Jayawardene, befuddling him with another one that leapt away. Samaraweera nearly covered the line the next time, nudging it off the outer half of the blade towards gully.

Philander gradually moved the lure closer to off stump. Samaraweera spotted another one that straightened and let it whistle by, uneasily close to off stump. As if to get Samaraweera thinking, Philander nipped the final ball of that over - the last before drinks - back in, to produce an inside edge. The variation may have been on Samawaraweera's mind as he sipped on his drinks, and the uncertainty could have only increased when Philander's first ball after the break also jagged in. Samaraweera was gone next ball, clearly unsure which way the ball was going, and offering a limp bat in response. The ball snapped away to take the outside edge and land in the slips, putting a smile in Philander's face. Not once did he touch 140 kph in that spell. He didn't have to.

Steyn then took over, getting fast outswingers to buzz away in his second spell. His full length first drew Jayawardene into a fatal poke, and in his next over, Angelo Mathews feathered one that kept swerving from the time it left Steyn's hand. Imran Tahir ended the first session with a ball that confirmed there would be no respite against spin. It landed a couple of feet outside Thisara Perera's off stump, on the bowlers' foot marks, and spun back in viciously to have him bowled. Within the space of a session, Sri Lanka's outlook had turned just as drastically. Dinesh Chandimal kept fighting, but the tail had no chance against Philander after the break.

There might be a defence for Dilshan's strange decision at the toss, but there can be none for the shot he played in the second innings. He seemed to be walking to the dressing room even as he wafted loosely and edged Philander, who was snaking the shiny new ball even more viciously than in the morning. Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne stonewalled for 26.1 overs to produce Sri Lanka's longest partnership of the match thus far, but it was only a matter of time before South Africa made further incisions.

Thirimanne feathered Jacques Kallis onto his pad en route to short leg, to bring Sangakkara and Jayawardene together for the second time in the day. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, their two best batsmen were about to fail them again. By now, Tahir was getting the ball to do magic out of the rough, and Sangakkara inevitably nudged one to Kallis at slip. A little later, Kallis bent low and plucked Jayawardene's second outside edge of the day, this time against Morne Morkel. Samaraweera survived to stumps along with Mathews, but even a machine-gun celebration from him tomorrow might not suffice to rescue Sri Lanka.

South Africa walked back smiling and chirpy, but one man in the home team must be apprehensive. Mark Boucher clanged two regulation chances, that are not expected to affect the course of the game, unlike his drop of Sangakkara in Durban. Still, the South African selectors will be tempted to look at a young replacement sooner than later.

Chelsea Vs Wolves

Bresnan gives England injury concern

Tim Bresnan's troublesome shoulder could give Steven Finn a chance

Tim Bresnan is a doubt for England's first warm-up game in the UAE after suffering discomfort in his right elbow. Bresnan, who currently stands 12th in the ICC Test bowler rankings, underwent surgery on the elbow just over a month ago and reported soreness in the nets on Wednesday.

As a consequence, he sat out training on Thursday and is unlikely to be considered for the match against an ICC Affiliate and Associate XI starting on Saturday. "He is unlikely to play in the first tour match," an ECB spokesman commented, "but there is no great concern about it at this stage."

With just two warm-ups games scheduled before the Test series Bresnan's chances of proving his match fitness are receding. His absence will give either Chris Tremlett or Steven Finn an opportunity to challenge for a Test place.

Neither offer Bresnan's prowess with the bat, however. Bresnan is currently averaging 45.42 with the bat and 23.60 with the ball and has helped England to victory in all 10 of the Tests in which he has played.

Finn, at least, believes that a month playing in New Zealand just before Christmas should have provided excellent preparation for this tour. While conditions in UAE are unlikely to provide as much assistance as Finn enjoyed in New Zealand, he believes the slow pace of the pitches in both countries will be similar.

"It was a great experience for me, and I feel like I've learned a lot from it," Finn said. "The wickets were quite slow and low, so it was good to go and get some practice on those sorts of wickets.

"It was just a good chance for me to go and do a lot of bowling. I bowled 140 overs in the four games. It was something I really wanted to do personally, and the satisfaction I got from going over there was great."

Bell prepared for batting demotion

Such is England's current strength in depth that even a man with a double-century in his last Test innings cannot avoid the imminent prospect of demotion.

In the absence of Jonathan Trott with a shoulder injury, Ian Bell was promoted to the No. 3 position towards the end of the Test series against India last year and responded with two centuries in three innings. The last of them, a sublime contribution of 235 at The Oval, underlined his maturation into one of the finest - and most attractive - players in Test cricket.

Bell understands, however, that he is highly likely to drop back down the order to allow Trott to return to the No. 3 position which he has made in own over the last couple of years. With Trott, the current ICC Player of the Year averaging 54 (with 1,412 runs and four centuries from 30 Test innings) at No.3 and Bell averaging 40.97 (with 1,434 runs and two centuries from 36 Test innings) in the same position, it's an understandable decision from England. By contrast, Bell averages 65 when batting at No. 5.

Long-term Bell admits that he retains ambitions to bat at first wicket down. With an aspiration to be rated the No. 1 Test batsman, Bell feels he needs to prove himself higher up the order to silence the doubters who suggest - with ever decreasing justification - that many of his Test runs have come against tired attacks in low-pressure situations.

"My goal is to bat three," Bell said from the ICC's Global Academy in Dubai, where England are preparing for the Test series against Pakistan. "I think that's where you can test yourself, and certainly there is a part of me that wants to bat there. I've had success at five, I've had success at six and I'm very happy to bat there. I'll bat wherever the team want me to bat.

"My long-term goal is I want to bat in the top three. But for me now, it's just a matter of scoring runs in this series. I'm clear in what I need to do. At the end of the day, we're a batting unit and we have to score runs to give our bowlers a chance of winning a Test match.

"So whether it's three or five, I'll be prepared to bat there. But I'm pretty sure it will be number five."

Compared to Chris Tremlett, however, Bell might still consider himself fortunate. Since returning to the Test side just before Christmas 2011 during the third Test against at Perth, Tremlett has bowled superbly and claimed taken 36 wickets in seven Tests at an average of 24.

Due to a couple of untimely injuries Tremlett now finds himself behind Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan in the tussle for a fast bowling position in the Test side and fighting with Steven Finn for the position of first reserve.

UAE conditions similar to home, says Cheema

Aizaz Cheema, the Pakistan fast bowler, has said Pakistan will have the advantage of being more used to conditions similar to those in the UAE when they take on England there later this month. The pitches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are generally slow and batsman-friendly but Cheema said they were not too different from those in Pakistan and therefore he was confident of taking wickets on them.

"Through my life I have played on similar pitches and I earned my place in the national side with the wickets I took on them," Cheema said after the second day of Pakistan's training camp in Lahore. "The conditions won't make a difference to me. I have pace but the main thing is being disciplined in my bowling. If I hit the right line and length it will be a problem for any batsman.

"I will try not to give runs in any spell I bowl and will try to take wickets. Our experience of the conditions is more than theirs because there is not much difference in the tracks in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates."

Cheema only played in one of the Tests during the three-Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE last year, with Pakistan picking two spinners for the matches in Dubai and Sharjah. He will face further competition for his place this series with Wahab Riaz, the left-arm quick, returning to the squad. Cheema has impressed since earning his Test cap days before his 32nd birthday. He picked up eight wickets on debut in Zimbabwe and nine over the two Tests in Bangladesh in December last year, and has hit speeds up to 145kph. He recognised, however, that the England batting line-up was filled with quality players and that the series against the World No. 1 Test side would be a stiff challenge.

"I can't pick one name from the England line-up whom I am targeting because on the whole the England side is a quality side. I will try to dismiss whoever comes in."

Pakistan went through 2011 without losing a Test series, and go into this series after beating Zimbabwe away, Sri Lanka in the UAE and Bangladesh away. Cheema said they had not allowed themselves to become complacent, and he and some of the other players had started training just two days after returning from the tour of Bangladesh. "We are doing extensive hard work. Many of us started training just two days after we came back from Bangladesh. The camp in Lahore is helping us keep our rhythm and avoid becoming complacent."

Pakistan have recalled Umar Akmal for the three-Test series against England after leaving him out of the Tests against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Umar continued to do well in the limited-overs formats but after repeated failures in Tests, the selectors suggested he go back to domestic cricket and learn how to play long innings. Mohsin Khan, the chief selector and interim coach, said Umar needed to "stop being selfish", and convert starts into important knocks. Umar, who averaged 71.00 in the six innings he played in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division Two, said he would not stop playing his shots but would try to do a job for his team at the No. 6 position.

"I have played at No. 6 throughout my career, and I enjoy playing under pressure. When you take the team out of a pressure situation, only then can you be called a player for your country.

"Nobody is stopping me from playing my shots but I am trying to play according to the situation and I feel there's a lot of improvement in my batting."

Umar will find it hard to displace Asad Shafiq from the XI after Shafiq scored a century in Chittagong, but if given a chance said he would concentrate on contributing to the team's cause rather than looking for big scores.

"I will try to give 100%. At the number at which I am playing it's rare to score big totals. You usually get around 50, 60, 70; whatever I can contribute to the total is an achievement for me. When I get promoted up the order, only then can I try to score hundreds."

The first Test between Pakistan and England starts January 17 in Abu Dhabi.