Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen have been cleared to rejoin England's One-day squad ahead of the final One-day international against West Indies.Both players stayed behind in Barbados Monday to have further scans on injuries sustained during Sunday's nine-wicket triumph at Kensington Oval, which set up Friday's series decider, The Guardian reports.But the tests, which were sent back to London for further examination, revealed no significant damage. They will now meet up with their teammates at their St Lucia base.Pietersen was only able to deliver five balls in Sunday's match before limping off the field with a back spasm which England feared could have ruled him out of the match.All-rounder Flintoff suffered a left thumb injury in the field and although an ultra-sound scan confirmed there was no fracture, he was sent for a further examination as a precaution.England and West Indies are locked 2-2 in the series.Meanwhile, Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas hopes victory in the fifth ODI will allow England to take some positives from their winter."It hasn't been the best of winters for the England cricket team as yet, but we've got a really huge chance Friday to turn that right around and come away with a series win in the West Indies which would be a great effort," he said.
Gautam Gambhir made a painstaking century in lengthy partnerships with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar as India, following on, batted themselves away from danger on Sunday on the fourth day of the second Test against New Zealand.Gambhir was 102 not out, Tendulkar was 58 not out and India was 252 for two at stumps, still 62 runs behind New Zealand after trailing by 314 on the first innings. India have eight wickets in hand with three sessions remaining.Dravid scored 62, his 56th half-century in Tests, after contributing 83 to India's first innings of 305 to mark the 10th occasion he has scored half-centuries in each innings of a Test match.Tendulkar made up for his dismissal for 49 in the first innings by reaching his 52nd Test half-century in a third-wicket partnership with Gambhir which had accrued 89 runs by stumps.India's progress through the fourth day was slow, even grueling at times, but as they negotiated the day with the loss of only Dravid's wicket it allayed the imminent threat of defeat and strengthened their position in the three-match series which they lead 1-0.After resuming at 47 for one, trailing New Zealand by 267 runs, India added 205 runs in 90 overs in the day, placing a higher premium on survival than accumulation.The tourists scored only 72 runs in 33 overs before lunch, 61 runs in 30 overs between lunch and tea and 72 runs in 27 overs in the final session.
