Perth, Jan. 30 : Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has played down workload issues regarding the IPL, and said that it will not affect the team's preparations for the Ashes this year.

Heading into his fifth month of international cricket without a break, Ponting denied there was too much cricket, but questioned the tightly packed scheduling of Test series with New Zealand and South Africa this summer.

Hamburg  - TSG Hoffenheim will continue to shine while SV Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen could also pose a threat to Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title ambitions, Germany coach Joachim Loew said.

Speaking ahead of the Friday night Bundesliga restart with the duel between Hamburg and Munich which he will attend, Loew told the Bild daily that he doesn't necessarily expect Bayern to romp to another title.

"Everyone is speaking of Hoffenheim and Bayern, but I rate Hamburg a title contender as well because the team is quite robust. I also consider Leverkusen strong. They will play at the top," Loew said.

Hoffenheim top the league on goal difference over Munich, with Hamburg and Hertha Berlin just two points behind and Leverkusen three.

Perth, Jan. 30 : South Africa will unleash one of their youngest pace attacks against Australia''s batsmen at the WACA Ground this evening in a bid to wrest the top spot in world rankings.

The Proteas pace trio on Friday will consist of two debutants, 24-year-old Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell, 19, who will be led by 24-year-old Morne Morkel.

Tsotsobe will share the new ball with Morkel. It will be the first time South Africa will field two left-arm seamers in a one-day international.

Los Angeles  - The Orlando Magic turned a good day into a better one.

Dwight Howard powered for 22 points with 18 rebounds, Turkish sharpshooter Hedo Turkoglu had 19 points with 11 rebounds, and the Magic dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second half for a 99- 88 victory on Thursday night, in a showdown between Eastern Conference powerhouses.

"Tonight, we played our game," Howard said, "We shot with confidence. We played inside and out and everybody locked in. We made sure we played good defence and made them make tough shots. That's what we have to do."

Melbourne, Australia - Serena Williams set the stage on Friday for what she hopes is a multiple-title performance at the Australian Open as she and sister Venus won the women's doubles crown.

The Americans defeated Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-3, 6-3 for their eight major trophy together. It took just over an hour and a quarter.

It was their first at Melbourne Park since winning the team event in 2001 and 2003.

Karachi, Jan 30 : Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt will defend the team's case over the infamous Oval Test during the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Perth, with the support of legal experts opinion.

A top PCB official said on Thursday that Butt has gone to the Western Australian city with two written legal opinions in his briefcase that should help him shoot down the proposal of once again reversing The Oval Test result.

"Our stance on The Oval Test result is clear," said Saleem Altaf, PCB's Chief Operating Officer.