Martyn leads rout of Kiwis

Australia Beat New Zealand by seven wickets with nearly 16 overs to spare in their fourth one-day international in Wellington yesterday.

Australia Beat New Zealand by seven wickets with nearly 16 overs to spare in their fourth one-day international in Wellington yesterday.

The world champions were always in control and they cruised to victory in the 35th over after dismissing the Kiwis for 233 to take a 4-0 lead in their five-match series. Damien Martyn was the top scorer for Australia with 65 not out while innings from the stand-in captain, Adam Gilchrist (54), Andrew Symonds (48) and Simon Katich (43) also featured as the tourists cantered to 236 for 3.

A shoulder injury has forced Darren Lehmann out of the running for a place in the Australian Test team in New Zealand. Lehmann lost his place in the one-day side last summer but was hoping to remain in the Test squad, which will be announced later this week.

"The shoulder would not stand up to the rigours of three Test matches," Lehmann said. "I want to get the shoulder right so that I am fit and ready for selection for the Ashes later in the year."

The Kent president and former England Test player Brian Luckhurst died yesterday at the age of 66. He had been suffering from cancer of the oesophagus. Luckhurst's career included 389 first-class matches between 1958 and 1985. He played 21 Tests.

The Essex head coach, Graham Gooch, is to relinquish his role to spend more time working on the commercial side. The former England captain will continue as a batting coach but the captain Ronnie Irani, helped by Gooch and John Childs, will assume more responsibility for the team.

Durham are to install 1,000 extra seats for England's second Test against Bangladesh at the Riverside. The additional seats will take the ground's capacity for the match, which starts on 3 June, to 8,000.