Mohali, March 18 : India won the third Test against Australia by six wickets to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the four-match series here Monday.

India took 33.3 overs to overcome the 133-run target. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18) and Ravindra Jadeja (8) took India home.

Earlier Monday, Australia were bowled out for 223 in their second innings. They had made 408 in the first innings and India made 499 in response.(IANS)

London, March 18 : Six Chinese national team cricketers will train in London this summer for 20 weeks, an official from the Capital Kids Cricket (CKC) said Monday.

Shahidul Alam Ratan, CKC's development head coach, said that the Chinese cricketers will play games, get coaching and get involved in school cricket programmess with CKC coaches.

It was the second time that the Chinese players will train here. Six players spent 10 weeks last summer with the support of CKC and Kids Cricket World (KCW), Xinhua reports.

Sydney, March 18 : Australia's vice-captain Shane Watson left for India Monday to join the cricket team for the fourth cricket Test in Delhi starting Friday.

"I've had several constructive discussions with team management back in Mohali over the past few days. We've spoken about how we are going to work together to move forward, as Australia attempts to climb back to the top of the ICC rankings," said Watson.

"I've a burning ambition to be an Australian Test player for as long as I can be and help Australia win those big Test series' as well as the big ICC Tournaments," he said.

Sydney, March 18 : Australia's vice-captain Shane Watson is heading back to join the cricket team in India for the fourth cricket Test in Delhi starting Friday.

Cricket Australia (CA) announced that Watson will leave for India, Monday evening.

Watson, who was dropped from the third Test along with three others over a breach of discipline, returned home last week to be with his wife Lee for the birth of their first child. Lee delivered a baby boy, Will, last Thursday.

Mohali, March 16 : Shikhar Dhawan stole the show with the fastest century on debut as India raced to 156 for no loss in their first innings at tea on the third day of the third cricket Test against Australia at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Saturday.

Dhawan was batting on 106 and Murali Vijay 42 as India reduced the deficit to 252 by the team break. Dhawan, 27, got his runs rapidly and struck 21 fours during his 91-ball unbeaten stand. Vijay played the role of second fiddle and gave good support to Dhawan.

Mohali, March 16 : Shikhar Dhawan cracked an unbeaten century on his debut to help India reach 156 for no loss at tea on the day three of the third cricket Test against Australia at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Saturday.

Dhawan (batting 106) and Murali Vijay (batting 42) shared an unbeaten 156-run stand for the first wicket against a lacklustre Aussie bowling lineup.(IANS)

Sydney, March 15 : Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has lent his support to under-fire vice-captain Shane Watson, saying he backs Shane's decision to return home at the time of the birth of his first child.

Watson was barred by team management from taking part in the third Test against India in Mohali along with three other cricketers for disciplinary reasons.

The all-rounder flew back home to be by the side of his wife Lee Furlong. The couple announced Thursday the birth of their son Will.

Mohali, March 15 : Australia ended day two of the third cricket Test against India at 273 for seven at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Friday.

Opener Ed Cowan (86) top scored for the visitors and received ample support from his opening partner David Warner, who scored 71.

Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 3 for 56. Ishant Sharma took two wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha chipped in with a wicket each.(IANS)

Mohali, March 15 : Australia's Test great Alan Border feels that introduction of young players like Steve Smith in the team will energise the Michael Clarke-led side against a confident India.

Border, who is here as a TV commentator for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, said he had a good chat with Clarke Thursday afternoon on the state of affairs in the Australian cricket. Australia are trailing 0-2 in the four-Test series after suffering heavy loses in Chennai and Hyderabad.

Mohali, March 15 - Australia reached 109 for no loss in the first innings at lunch on the second day of their third cricket Test against India at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium here Friday.

Opening batsmen David Warner was batting on 54 and Ed Cowan on 43 after skipper Michael Clarke opted to bat.

The first day of the Test was washed out due to rain without a ball being bowled.

India made a change by dropping local hero Harbhajan Singh, who made way for Pragyan Ojha. Debutant Shikhar Dhawan got his Test cap from Sachin Tendulkar.

Mohali, March 14 : Australia's young batsman Steve Smith Thursday said he has vastly improved as a player since he was dropped from the team after the Ashes defeat at home 26 months ago.

"I've probably always been more of a batsman than I was a bowler. I think I've improved a lot in the last 12 to 18 months," Smith said here.

The 23-year-old was set to make his sixth Test appearance at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here Thursday, but rain played spoil sport as the first day's play was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Smith said he made a couple of changes to his technique that made him more stable.

Mohali, March 14 : Australia skipper Michael Clarke will bat at No. 3 while Brad Haddin will be keeping wickets against India in the third cricket Test that will resume Friday after the first day's play was washed out without a ball being bowled due to heavy rains here Thursday.

Haddin, who was flown in as replacement for the injured Matthew Wade, will be playing his first Test in more than a year. Haddin was part of the series in the West Indies in January last year but left the tour mid-way due to personal reasons.

Guwahati, March 13 : Led by Ambati Rayudu, West Zone beat North Zone by five wickets with 10 balls to spare in a thrilling final of the Deodhar Trophy at the Nehru Stadium here Wednesday.

Rayudu's unbeaten 78 helped West Zone to clinch their 11th Deodhar Trophy.

Chasing 290, set up by Delhi's Unmukt Chand (88) and Yuvraj Singh (67), West Zone was aided by an all round batting performance by Manprit Juneja (56), captain Parthiv Patel (58) and Kedhar Jadhav (57) which saw them finish
293/5.

Chand and Yuvraj finished as the leading run-scorers in this edition's Deodhar Trophy, with 144 runs.(IANS)

Sydney, March 13 : Australia vice-captain Shane Watson insists that he has no problems with his captain Michael Clarke and rejected Cricket Australia (CA) general manager Pat Howard's claims that he was only "sometimes" a team player.

Watson, who returned home here early Wednesday morning after an 18-hour journey, hoped that his Test career was not over and said everything was fine between him and Clarke.

Mohali, March 13 : Australia skipper Michael Clarke said Wednesday that Shane Watson can again take up the role of vice-captain and was free to return to the side for the fourth Test against India starting March 22 in New Delhi.

Watson rushed back home to Sydney to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. But Watson has also made his displeasure public after he and three others were given a one-match suspension for disciplinary reasons.

Watson termed the suspension as 'harsh' and said he was shattered. He is also contemplating retirement from Test cricket.

Sydney, March 13 : Former England captain Nasser Hussain feels structure of the Australian team management is flawed and suspended vice-captain Shane Watson should have been involved in the decision making process of the team.

Australian cricket finds itself in the middle of controversy following the one-match suspension of Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson for failing to do their "homework" assigned by the chief coach ahead of the third Test against India beginning in Mohali Thursday.

Kingston (Jamaica), March 12 : Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding says there is no logic in Clive Lloyd's decision to run for the president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Holding was reacting to decisions by at least two regional boards not to support the former West Indies cricket captain's nomination for the position.

The former Jamaica fast bowler says Lloyd's chances were hampered by his recent run-ins with the WICB over the decision by the Guyana government to setup up an Interim Management Committee (IMC) to run the sport here.

Melbourne, March 12 : Cricket Australia's (CA) board Tuesday held a teleconference with its management to take a briefing following Monday's events in Mohali.

The Australian team management Monday dropped vice-captain Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson for the third Test against India for breach of discipline.

CA chairman Wally Edwards said: "We had a discussion so we could be fully updated on the issues surrounding this event and allow board members to ask questions of the management. The board is completely supportive of the actions taken by team management."

Dubai, March 11 : Cricket Scotland and Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (KNCB) have been awarded $1.5 million over the next three years by the International Cricket Council (ICC) under its Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP) agreement.

The $1.5 million award will be provided through to 2015, and will be used to help Cricket Scotland with a number of initiatives aimed at continuing the substantial development work being carried out throughout Scotland, which has seen both the profile of the sport grow significantly.

Chandigarh, March 11 : Australia Monday dumped four cricketers, including vice-captain Shane Watson, for a breach of team discipline thus leaving them out of reckoning for the third Test against India starting March 14.

The decision was announced here by coach Mickey Arthur and team manager Gavin Dovey as Australia continued their preparations for the third Test starting here March 14. Australia trail the four-match series 0-2.

All the four cricketers -- vice-captain Shane Watson, James Pattinson, Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson-- had a strong chance of featuring among the eleven in the third Test.