Kallis, Petersen pound feeble Sri Lanka

Stumps South Africa 347 for 3 (Kallis 159*, Petersen 109, de Villiers 45*) v Sri Lanka

cricket, and Jacques Kallis enjoyed his new-found batting freedom as South Africa made a merry mockery of Sri Lanka's decision to bowl at Newlands. Kallis had a sense of occasion, converting his 114-ball century into a 150-plus score in his 150th Test. His first ton against Sri Lanka, and his first in a year, was all the more significant since it silenced murmurs of failing form following the first pair of his glittering career, in Durban.

Kallis' century reaffirmed his love affair with Cape Town, a venue where he now has nine Test hundreds and over 2000 runs. But one man who might be happier with his day's work is Petersen, whose fluency during his second Test ton glossed over the fact that he was returning to the side after a year. The pair's dominance yielded 205 runs in under 50 overs, and negated any advantage Sri Lanka had gained from Dhammika Prasad's early breaches.

Regardless of the ease with which South Africa progressed, there was merit in Sri Lanka's call to bowl; their historic win in Durban did not mask their problems against pace and bounce, and was founded upon South Africa's own abject batting display. Dilshan's decision shielded his weaker suit, and gave his seamers the mandate to attack South Africa in marginally helpful weather. He was, however, let down by a sketchy plan of action, and conditions that quickly played into the batsmen's hands. Sri Lanka were too full in the first hour, too short in the second, and all over the place in the afternoon, before tightening their act after tea.

In between-times, though, Prasad managed to hit the in-between lengths. His ability to ramp the pace up to 140 kph - a rare feat in an attack missing Dilhara Fernando - earned him success against Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla. Both batsmen began well, but perished to familiar failings - Smith chopped on while attempting a reckless cut, and Amla was trapped in front as he walked across the stumps. Amla consulted with Petersen, and rightly chose not to review the decision. That wasn't the only instance of Petersen's solid judgement in his comeback innings.

A couple of early drives down the ground and a nudge through square leg signalled that Petersen had carried his domestic form into the big league. Thereafter, he built steadily, before summoning the spirit to thrash Prasad over square leg for a six. He brought up his fifty with a brace of boundaries against Thisara Perera, before receding into the background.

Kallis came out throwing punches in all directions, reminiscent of his half-century against Australia in the recent Johannesburg Test. He nearly pulled his fourth ball straight to fine-leg, where Chanaka Welegedara inexplicably didn't go for the catch. Another pull off Angelo Mathews spiralled towards midwicket and landed safe. Encouraged, Mathews persisted with the short stuff, and Kallis pounded him into pulp with a raft of murderous pulls in front of square. Sri Lanka had missed their chance to nip him out early, and Kallis proceeded to enjoy himself.

Sri Lanka's discipline faltered dramatically after lunch. The early-morning moisture had evaporated, and with it all traces of sideways movement. Kallis rushed to his fifty off just 42 balls, and went on to expose their lack of pace, and Rangana Herath's lack of spin on the first-day surface. A 21-over phase without a single maiden suggested Sri Lanka's afternoon could not get any worse, but it did when they wasted both their reviews in desperation.

Petersen's signature shot was easily the straight drive, a shot he executed with an assured forward step and exemplary timing. Kallis, on the other hand, went on to produce shots of immense beauty in every direction. The punchy pulls gave way to picture-perfect cover drives and sublime straight hits, but the stroke that stood out was an astonishing whipped on-drive from the line of off stump when Thisara Perara was looking to angle one across defensively.

That shot came after Petersen's fall, sucked into an uppish drive by a Welegedara slower ball. The run-rate dropped below four for the first time in the 66th over, with de Villiers struggling to deal with Welegedara's offcutters. Having batted out of his comfort zone all day, Kallis seamlessly shifted into accumulation mode and chugged past 150. The stand was worth 86 by stumps, leaving Sri Lanka wondering if they had lost the Test even before it had started.

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney available to face Newcastle

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Wayne Rooney will be available forManchester United's trip to Newcastle on Wednesday but warned that the striker needs to make sure he is looking after his fitness.

Rooney was fined a week's wages and dropped from the United team for Saturday's defeat by Blackburn Rovers because of his performance in training last Tuesday.

United's coaching staff considered him "lethargic" and worse for wear and Ferguson decided disciplinary action was necessary after discovering the England striker had been on a Boxing Day night out with his team-mates Darron Gibson and Jonny Evans. "You've got to be fit to play in the Premier League," Ferguson explained in an interview with Sirius XM. "You can't miss training sessions."

Ferguson has also made Rooney train on a scheduled day off and, behind the scenes, he has made it clear in no uncertain terms what he makes of the player's attitude. He went on to raise the possibility that Rooney might not be in good physical condition – "We had a few training sessions [over the Christmas period] he missed" – but was unwilling to elaborate other than to say the forward would "of course" be included for Newcastle.

The United manager said Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs would both have late fitness tests to see if they could play but the champions are still badly affected by injury and illness problems.

"We're trying hard to get Rio Ferdinand for [Wednesday] and Ryan Giggs which would make a good difference to us," said Ferguson. "Anderson should be better, he had 45 minutes on Saturday [since injury in November]. There are no other ones to come back immediately. And Wayne Rooney will be available of course.

"We're getting a lot of impact injuries, contact injuries. Maybe the way we play creates that because we're always wanting to have the ball and we're always wanting to play."

Last-gasp Fulham stun Arsenal

Zamora and Sidwell score in closing stages to earn Cottagers remarkable win

Fulham 2-1 Arsenal

Fulham stunned Arsenal with a late fightback to earn a last-gasp victory over the Gunners at Craven Cottage.

Striker Bobby Zamora volleyed home the winner deep into injury time after Arsenal failed to clear a cross into their own box, a victory that left Arsene Wenger's side outside the top four in the Barclays Premier League.

Arsenal had taken the lead in the first half when Laurent Koscielny nodded in, only for Johan Djourou to be sent off for the visitors near the end and, after Steve Sidwell equalised, Zamora won it.

Barclays Premier League Monday round-up

Lampard leaves it late for Chelsea and Swansea win first away match of the season

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Chelsea

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard left it until the 89th minute to earn his side a crucial three points in a superb encounter at Wolves.

Lampard converted an Ashley Cole cross from the left to break Wolves' hearts, just moments after Stephen Ward had smashed in a left-footed leveller for Wolves, who thought they had done enough to earn a draw.

Chelsea had gone ahead when Juan Mata's corner was flicked on by John Terry and hammered into the net by Ramires, before the late drama.

Aston Villa 0-2 Swansea City

Swansea produced a fabulous display to take all three points back to South Wales as they won their first away match in the Barclays Premier League at Villa Park.

They went ahead in the fourth minute when Nathan Dyer capitalised on an Aston Villa mistake at the back to fire in, and Wayne Routledge doubled the lead just after half-time with a classy left-foot finish.

Villa tried hard to find a way back into the match, but Swansea looked the likelier to grab a third on the break as the contest wore on.

Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Stoke City

Peter Crouch continued his fine scoring record against Blackburn as his brace earned Stoke an impressive victory at Ewood Park.

The giant striker superbly controlled a cross into the box to slam in an opener, and he made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time with another expert penalty box finish.

Blackburn pulled one back in the second half with a close-range David Goodwillie finish, but Steve Kean's strugglers could not find an equalizer.

Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Norwich City

QPR captain Joey Barton had a mixed afternoon at Loftus Road as he scored the opener and was then sent off against Norwich City, who came from behind to win it.

Barton slammed into the Canaries net after 11 minutes but was then shown a straight red card after an altercation off the ball with Norwich's Bradley Johnson.

Anthony Pilkington's searing drive levelled matters for the visitors before half-time and Steve Morison won it in the closing stages after Pilkington's cross had been knocked towards him by Elliott Bennett.

Afghan boxing girls aim for 2012 Olympic gold

Women in Afghanistan have been fighting for more rights at home and in society since the Taliban was toppled a decade ago. Shabnam, 19, and her sister Sadaf Rahimi, 18, are taking the fight more literally than most of their peers, throwing punches in a ring as members of their country s first team of female boxers. They practice inside a spartan gym with broken mirrors, flaking paint, four punching bags, and a concrete floor padded with faded pink and green mats. Some girls even wear face masks to keep away the dust coming up from the floor. But they seem oblivious to their modest surroundings as they follow the whistle changes of a rigorous training routine. "I hope to promote my boxing career and approach the highest level. I wish to be able to win the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics," said Sadaf, slightly out of breath from punching the bag. Female boxing is still relatively unusual in most countries, but especially in Afghanistan, where many girls and women still face a struggle to secure an education or work, and activists say violence and abuse at home is common. Three times a week, the girls come to practise at the Ghazi stadium, once used for public punishment by the Taliban, the hardline Islamists who ruled the country from 1996 to 2001. Women were stoned for adultery there and despite an expensive revamp, its gory past sometimes spooks the athletes. Under the Taliban, all sports for women were banned. They still have far fewer opportunities for exercise than men. Many in this conservative society still consider fighting taboo for women, and the girls deal with serious threats. "My family has been threatened several times because we three sisters are in the boxing club, they asked my family why the three girls from one family are boxing. Boxing is a hard and difficult sport even for men that is why people are surprised and our family was threatened because of our choice," said Sadaf.

Fulham 2 Arsenal 1: Bobby's on the beat to stun 10-man Gunners in stoppage time

 Bobby Zamora scored a dramatic late winner as Arsenal missed the chance to haul themselves back into the Barclays Premier League title race with a 2-1 defeat at Fulham.

The Gunners looked on course to take a gritty victory after Laurent Koscienly gave the away side the lead in the first half.

But Johan Djourou's second-half dismissal changed the game with Steve Sidwell equalising for the hosts with just five minutes remaining before Zamora struck in the 93rd minute to stun the Gunners.

Wolves 1 Chelsea 2: Lampard rescues Chelsea as Blues bounce back at Molineux

Frank Lampard scored in the dying minutes as Chelsea made a winning start to 2012.

Andre Villas-Boas's side were humbled by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and were frustrated for long periods by Mick McCarthy's Wolves.

But 10 minutes into the second half, Brazilian midfielder Ramires fired home after the home defence failed to clear Juan Mata's cross and Chelsea's players rushed over to their manager to celebrate.

Wolves looked to have snatched a point when Stephen Ward crashed the ball home from Steven Fletcher's knockdown.

But Lampard had the final say when he turned in Ashley Cole's cross from the left.

Aaqib Javed awaits 'clash of qualities'

Aaqib Javed, Pakistan's bowling coach, has said the upcoming series against England will be a "clash of qualities", and the side with more depth and variation in its bowling, and with more confident batsmen, will stand the best chance. Pakistan, who've lost just one Test in 2011, play three Tests, four ODIs and three Twenty20 matches against England, starting January next year.

"It's not only about a match between a No. 1 team and a No. 5 team but it's a clash of qualities," Aaqib told ESPNcricinfo. "The team that has more options in the bowling unit, the variations and the batsmen with more confidence in the conditions will have the upper hand."

England will be playing their first Test series since climbing to the No. 1 spot in the Test rankings during their 4-0 whitewash of India. They arrive in the UAE a week before Pakistan.

"England have maintained a good combination with both bat and ball but pressure is obviously on them and that is the difference," Aaqib said. "I have learnt that they are working extra hard - their batsmen are in India, bowlers are training in South Africa and they are coming to the UAE four days before so I am impressed how hard they are training. You get the feeling they know it's not an easy series for them as well."

Aaqib has been involved in coaching in Pakistan for almost a decade now. He was with the national team on an on-and-off basis since 2009, first as bowling coach and then assistant coach, before he was removed from that position ahead of the tour of Zimbabwe this year. Now, back as bowling coach, he is working with Junaid Khan, the left-arm seamer, at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

"We have picked some outstanding bowlers against England. We've got two left-arm seamers, Wahab [Riaz and Junaid, two right armers, Umar [Gul] and Aizaz [Cheema] and three quality spinners - [Saeed] Ajmal, [Abdur] Rehman and [Mohammad] Hafeez. I think we have a dream combination and it's the world's best bowling attack.

"Though the pitches in the UAE are slower, we have bowlers who can last the time, like they did against Sri Lanka. We have bowlers who can bowl at 150-plus kph and can reverse-swing. That is another plus point for us."

England and Pakistan will be facing each other for the first time in a Test series since the spot-fixing controversy in July 2010. Aaqib said the team had moved on from that difficult phase. "Despite all the controversies, we coped well. We are confident and in a perfect winning flow," Aaqib said. "We don't talk even talk about it and are not bothered about it. Every individual is focussed on his responsibility."