Melbourne

Adam Gilchrist plundered the fastest limited-overs international 100 by an Australian to steer the world champions to a series-clinching 55-run win on Friday over the World XI. Gilchrist reached 100 off 73 balls, five balls fewer than the record he already owned. Australia have answered their critics, Australia captain Ricky Ponting said.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting won his second successive toss and decided to bat in the second Super Series cricket one-dayer against a World XI at Docklands stadium in Melbourne on Friday. The world team, which must win to keep the series alive after losing the opening game by 93 runs on Wednesday, was unchanged but made West Indian Chris Gayle its super sub replacing Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi.

Australia’s pace spearhead Glenn McGrath will be rested for Friday’s Super Series limited-overs international, giving the World XI additional hope of levelling the three-match contest. McGrath complained of tightness in the legs after his seven-over opening spell on Wednesday returned 2-13 and had the World XI reeling at 50-3 chasing 256 to win.

The world team must bat patiently and build more partnerships if they are to keep the one-day Super Series alive, New Zealander Daniel Vettori said in Melbourne on Thursday. Australia crushed the cream of world cricket to claim the opening match by 93 runs on Wednesday and can take the series with victory in Friday’s second game.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first on Wednesday in the opening Super Series limited-overs international against the World XI. Number-one-ranked Australia are playing combined world line-ups in three indoor one-day matches at Melbourne’s Docklands stadium this week.

English Ashes hero Kevin Pietersen is braced for a rollicking reception from Australian crowds when he strides out for the World XI in the Super Series commencing on Wednesday. After dropping six catches in the recent Ashes series, Pietersen said the crowd was ”going nuts” as he successfully took a catch from local hero Michael Klinger.

The Australian and World XI teams enter the world of the great unknown over the next fortnight as the ancient sport of cricket makes greater use of technology to get tricky decisions right. The Super Series of three one-dayers and next week’s six-day Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground will be played under the International Cricket Council’s experimental conditions.

The likes of Brian Lara, Andrew Flintoff, India pair Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and South Africans Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock are joining forces in a World XI combination that are aiming to beat the Australians at home. The Australians are ”most definitely” vulnerable, Lara said on Monday.

Australian officials were on Wednesday searching for those responsible for killing a dolphin which was found stabbed to death on a beach. The adult female dolphin sustained up to seven stab wounds, including a lethal wound to the heart, officials said.

Commonwealth Games organisers are treating recent terrorist threats against host city Melbourne as little more than rhetoric, despite outlining security plans that involve military aircraft, armed patrols and about 1 200 troops around venues. Victoria state Premier Steve Bracks said the security is appropriate and necessary.

Forget the sweet scent of roses — Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens was suffused with an unusual stench on Friday, as the gardens’ foul-smelling tongue orchid flowered for the second time in 30 years. The Papua New Guinea native orchid is one of a several plants with flowers that smell like rotting meat to attract flies, which help its pollination.

South Africans Graeme Smith and Shaun Pollock will lead the World Test and one-day teams in the Super Series in Australia in October, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced in Melbourne on Tuesday. Smith will lead the ICC World XI in the six-day Test against the Australians, while Pollock will skipper the international team for three one-dayers against Australia.

A teenager with a train "obsession" took a stolen tram for a joyride through Australia’s second-biggest city at the weekend, picking up several unsuspecting passengers along the way, police said on Monday. The unidentified 15-year-old allegedly stole two trams within the space of two days from a depot in Melbourne, they said.

Michael Schumacher confirmed on Thursday that he has had several approaches from formula-one rivals McLaren to quit world champions Ferrari. The dominant seven-times world champion — the past five of them with Ferrari — said McLaren boss Ron Dennis in 2000 tried to get him to join the British team, but the 36-year-old German ace said he was happy where he was.

Super 12 champions ACT Brumbies will have their playing resources fully stretched when they take on South Africa’s Northern Bulls in the second round of the southern hemisphere provincial rugby series in Canberra on Friday. The Brumbies were magnificent in adversity last weekend, repulsing last year’s final rivals Canterbury Crusaders 32-21.

Michael Schumacher believes his formula-one rivals must lay down their championship challenge in the opening three races of the season — starting with Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. Few in the sport are predicting anything other than another season triumph for Schumi, whose domination has raised criticism of the sport’s predictability.

One of Australia’s main airport terminals was shut down for eight hours on Monday as emergency crews hunted in vain for the cause of a mystery illness, which struck down nearly 60 staff and passengers in the building, officials said. Paramedics, firefighters and hazardous materials crews in full protective clothing rushed to Melbourne airport early on Monday.

Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart said on Monday he will take motor sport’s governing body to court if it prevents his team from racing at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne next month. Minardi plan to use an updated version of their 2004 model car for the first three races of the season.

Ernie Els says golf technology and a more competitive tour means Tiger Woods won’t be as dominant as he once was. ”Everybody has become better players; technology has brought everybody closer together,” Els said on Tuesday at the Heineken Classic, where he begins play on Thursday trying for his fourth win in a row at Royal Melbourne.

Lleyton Hewitt struggled to put a brave face on the end of his Australian Open dream on Sunday after his defeat in the final against Marat Safin. Hewitt, who had spent the past nine months carefully tailoring his schedule and training regime for an all-out assault on the title, said he had no regrets following his agonising 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 loss.

Serena Williams had lost the first four games and was in pain, wincing on almost every swing. Her shots lacked their usual zing. Her hopes for a seventh Grand Slam appeared to be doomed. Then, with a little help from the trainer, the woman who calls herself the toughest fighter in tennis started getting her power back.

Lleyton Hewitt, who seems to feed off controversy and adversity, endured 31 aces to beat second-seeded Andy Roddick 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Friday and advance to the Australian Open final. Third-ranked Hewitt, the ”Aussie battler”, was at his aggressive, fist-pumping best against Roddick.

Marat Safin gave himself the perfect birthday present by scoring a stunning upset over world number one Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final in Melbourne on Thursday. Swiss ace Federer, the overwhelming tournament favourite, saw his hopes of a third consecutive grand-slam title dashed.

Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport set up an Australian Open showdown in Melbourne on Thursday after fighting back from the brink of defeat in two epic semifinal duels. Former world number one Williams pulled off an extraordinary escape to defeat fourth-seeded Russian teenager Maria Sharapova.

Former world number one Serena Williams fought back from the brink of defeat to beat teenage prodigy Maria Sharapova and reach the final of the Australian Open on Thursday. The seventh-seeded six-time grand slam title winner now faces either top seed Lindsay Davenport or French 19th seed Nathalie Dechy in Saturday’s final.

World number one Lindsay Davenport shattered Alicia Molik’s dream of becoming the first home-grown Australian Open champion since 1978, winning an epic quarterfinal in three sets on Wednesday. Melbourne-based Molik refused to be downcast at the end of a campaign that has helped propel her into the top 10.

Andre Agassi has praised Roger Federer’s innate ability to make the court look smaller after his astonishing demolition of the four-times Australian Open winner on Tuesday. The world number one, bidding for his third straight grand slam triumph, crushed eighth-seeded Agassi 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in their quarterfinal match.

Roger Federer sent out a chilling warning to his title rivals with a straight-sets demolition of Andre Agassi to charge into the semifinals of the Australian Open on Tuesday. The world number one stretched his unbeaten match streak to 26 as he put the four-times winner and eighth seed to the sword, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 39 minutes.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova overcame furnace-like conditions to reach the Australian Open semifinals as sizzling temperatures forced play indoors to help men’s fourth seed Marat Safin into the last four on Tuesday. Williams revelled in blistering conditions to overwhelm French second seed Amelie Mauresmo.

Russian Marat Safin cashed in as the Australian Open went indoors on Tuesday, crushing Slovakian practice partner Dominik Hrbaty to power into the semifinals. He cantered to an easier-than-expected straight-sets victory, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in just one hour and 30 minutes, in a match played under a closed roof amid sweltering temperatures.

Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik gave home fans something to savour for the first time in 17 years on Monday after sweeping into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. World number three Hewitt reached the last eight after a thrilling five-set duel with unseeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal.