Pakistan trio braced for 'fixing' tribunal

Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif will go before a full hearing of an Independent Anti-Corruption Tribunal starting in Doha today as cricket's spot-fixing scandal nears a resolution.

The three Pakistan players have been charged with various offences under Article 2 of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code, relating to alleged activity in Pakistan's Test match against England at Lord's in August.

The three have all denied any wrongdoing, but have been provisionally suspended since the allegations came to light in the days following the Test.

Butt, Amir and Asif will appear before a three-man committee made up of chairman Michael Beloff QC, South African Justice Albie Sachs and Sharad Rao, a Kenyan member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

At the hearing, the players will face cross-examination as they seek to defend themselves. The tribunal is scheduled to sit until 11 January, and could deliver a verdict and, if necessary, announce any sanctions against the players in that time.

That would bring to a close a scandal that has rocked Pakistani and world cricket since the News of the World published a story claiming businessman Mazhar Majeed accepted 150,000 to arrange for Butt, Asif and Amir to deliberately bowl no-balls.

l Jacques Kallis continued his rich vein of form by collecting his 40th Test century and second in the third Test against India to put South Africa on top after day four in Cape Town. The veteran all-rounder was unbeaten on 109 when the hosts were all out for 341 to set a target of 339.

Harbhajan Singh took seven wickets, but his efforts were overshadowed by Kallis ahead of what now promises to be an enthralling final day on a fast deteriorating Newlands pitch.

The 35-year-old, who shared in a vital partnership of 103 with Mark Boucher (55) and also put on 54 with Dale Steyn (32) and 46 with Morne Morkel (28), achieved several landmarks along the way. He became the first player from his country to score hundreds in each innings of the same match on home soil, while his third century of the series also saw him surpass the highest aggregate of runs by a South African for a three-match contest - Daryll Cullinan's 427 against New Zealand in 1999 was the previous best with Kallis moving to 498.

He also surpassed Ricky Ponting to move alone into second place for the most Test centuries. Sachin Tendulkar leads the way with 51.