Warne injured and hammered as Australians win warm-up

A finger injury to Shane Warne dominated the news from Centurion where the Australians beat Northerns by five wickets. Warne left the field after being hit while fielding and received treatment on the fourth finger of his bowling hand. He returned to the attack but 21-year-old Jacques Rudolph smashed 150, including six sixes and 14 fours, to help the hosts make 277. There were four wickets for Brett Lee, but Warne could only manage one for 70 in eight overs.

The Australian reply was led by Jimmy Maher with 78 not out. Maher was keeping wicket in this match while usual `keeper Adam Gilchrist, who was skippering the team, contributed a characteristically rapid 70.

The South Africans enjoyed a revenge win against Western Province after suffering a defeat in their first warm-up match. Gary Kirsten and Andrew Hall reached a hundred and then retired as the national team reached 327 for seven in their 50 overs. Andrew Puttick top-scored for Western Province with 78, but once he was out the innings went into decline and the South Africans won by 92 runs.

There was no such joy for the Indians in Durban. KwaZulu-Natal won this match by 32 runs, despite only reaching 190 for nine in their 50 overs. Doug Watson reached a fifty for the home side who were not helped by three run outs in their innings. Despite a run a ball 40 from Virender Sehwag, the Indian batting failed miserably and they were bowled out for 158 with nearly 12 overs unused.

It was much the same story in Benoni where the Pakistanis lost to Easterns by 26 runs. Easterns only managed 215 for nine in their innings, but with Pierre De Bruyn taking four wickets, the Pakistanis could not match that. There were scores of 40 from Shahid Afridi, Abdur Razzaq and Younis Khan, but they were still bowled out for 189 inside 37 overs.

The New Zealanders enjoyed a 116-run victory over Gauteng in Soweto. With 122 from captain Stephen Fleming and 70 from Chris Cairns, the visitors rattled up 306 for five before restricting Gauteng to 190 for eight.

There were few problems for the Sri Lankans as they overcame the Free State total of 182 for seven. Jonathan Beukes made a fifty for Free State, but that was matched by Mahela Jayawardene as the Sri Lankans eased home by five wickets. The Kenyans did well to beat Eastern Province by four wickets in Port Elizabeth. Collins Obuya took four for 27 as the home side were bowled out for 130 in their full 50 overs and despite losing six wickets, the Kenyans reached their target with nearly ten overs to spare.

There was no luck for the other minnows. The Dutch lost by 85 runs to Boland at Paarl. Boland reached 272 for seven, with a hundred from Benjamin Hector and 73 from Henry Davids. Several Dutch batsmen got a start with no fewer than six getting to 20, but they could only muster 187 between them.

The Canadians reached 215 for seven against North West at Klerksdorp. The Canadians recovered well from 53 for five, led by 51 from Nicholas de Groot. However, seventies from both James Henderson and Arno Jacobs took the home side past their target for the loss of only three wickets.

England were the first side to record a result in this round of matches. They breezed past Border in East London, winning by 8 wickets. Despite an innings of 90 from Steven Pope - a nephew of former South African batsman Kenny McEwan - Border could only manage 202 before they were bowled out.

England took only 37 and a half overs to knock off the runs. Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick put on exactly 100 for the opening partnership before Trescothick was out for 58. Knight was on 81 not out at the end.