Shikhar Dhawan’s career-best 190 and a chanceless, unbeaten 144 led India to a commanding position on day one of the Galle Test

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy26-Jul-20174:35

Agarkar: Dhawan flawless against spin

Seldom have Indian Test teams gone on tour and enjoyed a first day this dominant. Batting first at one of the most bat-first grounds in the world, they cruised along at more than four an over while losing only three wickets, one in each session, going to stumps one short of 400.Shikhar Dhawan, back at the top of the order after missing India’s last 11 Tests, scored a century in a session for the second time in his career, rekindling memories of his blazing 187 on debut. Having surpassed that score, he fell three minutes from tea, failing to clear mid-off when he was ten short of a maiden double-hundred.Cheteshwar Pujara, who walked in in the eighth over of the morning, was still batting at stumps, on a serene 144 that was not only chanceless but almost without blemish. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball scorers, he was “not in control” only once while facing 247 deliveries. That statistic reflected how good a grassier-than-normal Galle pitch was to bat on, and how good Sri Lanka’s attack was to bat against, but also how impervious Pujara was to distraction of any kind.Also unbeaten at stumps was Ajinkya Rahane, who added an unbroken 113 with Pujara to shut the door on Sri Lanka after two wickets either side of tea had given them the most fleeting glimmer of hope.One of those wickets was of Dhawan. The other was of Virat Kohli, India’s captain, who was out to the short ball – as he was a couple of times in the ODIs in the West Indies that preceded this tour – tickling an attempted hook to the keeper.Nuwan Pradeep, who returned from the hamstring injury that had kept him out of the Test against Zimbabwe earlier this month, was Sri Lanka’s only wicket-taker. He was no less patchy with his lines and lengths than the rest of Sri Lanka’s attack, but he produced two genuinely wicket-taking deliveries, the bouncer to Kohli and, in the eighth over of the morning, a good-length ball from around the wicket that straightened in the corridor outside off stump. Abhinav Mukund’s front foot hardly come out of his crease, and had just landed on its heel when he jabbed uncertainly in defence and edged behind.Six overs later, Sri Lanka let Dhawan off when he was on 31. Pitching one up outside off, Lahiru Kumara induced Dhawan’s only loose drive of the morning session. Diving to his left from second slip, Asela Gunaratne got both hands to the ball but failed to hold on. Then he went off the field, holding on gingerly to an already heavily strapped left hand. It later emerged that the ball had fractured Gunaratne’s left thumb, and that he was unlikely to play any further part in the match.Insult followed injury. Dhawan made no other mistakes, moving to 64 by lunch. He had only hit eight fours in the first session, while still cruising at a strike rate in the 70s thanks to a proactive pursuit of quick singles, but exploded thereafter, hitting 23 fours, all around the dial, in the second session.Between lunch and his dismissal, Dhawan scored 126 off 90 balls, breaking Polly Umrigar’s India record of 110 in the post-lunch session, made during his innings of 172* in Port-of-Spain in April 1962. Virender Sehwag, who scored 133 in the post-tea session against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium in 2009, is the only Indian batsman to score more runs in a session.Rangana Herath set defensive fields throughout this onslaught, but Dhawan kept breaching the boundary no matter how many fielders he sent out to protect it. Kumara, who endured the kind of nightmare day that occasionally afflicts young, erratic quicks early in their careers, had a fielder stationed at deep point, and Dhawan beat him twice in one over, slapping the ball once to his right and once to his left.Dilruwan Perera tried bowling over the wicket with a short fine leg and a deep backward square leg in place. Twice in one over, Dhawan swept him between those two fielders. Then, having shown off the flat, square-ish sweep, he went across to a nicely flighted, good-length ball from Herath and lap-swept him fine, before jumping out to his next ball and drilling him fiercely down the ground.The forays down the pitch were frequent, and hugely productive. On India’s last tour of this country, their batsmen had made a conscious decision to step out to the spinners after their initial crease-bound approach had contributed to a first-Test defeat. The emphasis on using their feet had coincided with Herath becoming less of a force in the second and third Tests, which India won.Dhawan and Pujara kept the flame of 2015 burning. Dhawan stepped out 29 times, scoring 36 runs including seven fours, and Pujara danced down 50 times, scoring 39 runs including three fours.Sri Lanka enforced a brief lull in India’s scoring following the wickets of Dhawan and Kohli, with Rahane taking 40 balls to get into double figures. Pujara, though, eased whatever pressure it may have created on his partner, skipping down the track twice in one over to drive Herath to the extra-cover and straight boundaries, and in the next over lashing Kumara through the covers, one ball after he had brought up his 12th Test hundred.

Vernon Philander will work on his conditioning ahead of a packed home summer scheduled to feature 10 Tests, including two four-match series against India and Australia

Firdose Moonda at Old Trafford07-Aug-20171:54

Du Plessis challenges Philander to prove fitness

Vernon Philander will work on his conditioning ahead of a packed home summer scheduled to feature 10 Tests, including two four-match series against India and Australia, for which South Africa want him to be fully available.Philander struggled with a comeback from an ankle injury and a viral ailment in the first and third Tests in England respectively and then sat out the fourth with a back concern. He came under severe criticism from his former captain Graeme Smith and his current skipper Faf du Plessis has also weighed in, urging Philander to focus on his fitness.”It’s fair that you need to play a lot of cricket for your country and be available for selection and Vern accepts that,” he said. “If you’re only playing one or two Test matches and then off for one or two… there have just been too many times when we as a team go, gulp, ‘Vern might be injured again’. So he’s taken it on board from a fitness point of view.”We have important series coming up, not that we play series that are not important, but India and Australia at home, it’s eight Test matches and he needs to be fit to get through all of them.”Philander’s value to South Africa was underlined in the second Test when he turned in a Man of the Match performance at Trent Bridge. South Africa were depending on him as they sought the series lead at The Oval and though he bowled well on an opening day interrupted by toilet breaks, the rest of his participation was limited. He spent a second night in hospital and though he returned to bat, could not bowl as much as needed in the second innings in conditions that would have been perfect for him.Then, just as South Africa thought they would have Philander back for their must-win game at Old Trafford, he pulled up with back spasms, which left Smith fuming and du Plessis frustrated.”The last I spoke to you, I said he’s just got to do a small fitness test but he’ll be fine. So when he woke up with a stiff back the next morning it was frustrating,” du Plessis said. “For us to have competed and to win Test matches we needed Vern, you need your best players. Duanne bowled well this game but Vern is one of the best in these conditions, probably the best in seaming, swinging conditions which has been the case in all four Test matches, so not having him here was very frustrating and disappointing.”Philander played in all 11 Tests – two against New Zealand at home, three against Australia away, three against Sri Lanka at home and three against New Zealand away – prior to this series, but he struggled with injury in the early part of his career. He had injuries in three of his first four series – a knee, back and hamstring problem – before tearing ankle ligaments in India in November 2015 that kept him out of action for nine months. Philander has admitted it took time for him to fully trust the ankle again and it would not have helped that he injured the other one in the lead-up to this series.Given that he only plays one format at international level, Smith pointed out that Philander does not always have the benefit of a team trainer to put him through his paces. He has had to take that responsibility for himself and du Plessis said Philander has committed to doing more. “It is a challenge for Vern because it’s happened too often that he doesn’t play a full series. I’ve spoken to him about that and he’s accepted the challenge and that he needs to improve that.”

Career-best centuries from Michael Burgess and Chris Jordan left Nottinghamshire’s promotion hopes looking flimsy, an astonishing turnaround from a few weeks ago

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Hove26-Sep-2017
Sometimes, you want to shake county cricket out of its slumber as it saps the energy of those around it with lethargy and tedium. And, like today, there are times when you sidle up next to it, gaze into its eyes and have what it’s having. No one could have envisaged that Nottinghamshire, league-leaders in all but position, would be at the mercy of a Sussex side who came into the final match of the season without a settled captain, let alone a settled side.Who knows if this match will offer Sussex any clarity. But at the very least it offered players like Michael Burgess and Stuart Whittingham the chance to stake their claim for opportunities beyond the coming winter. The overarching theme is of promotion out of Division Two, which Nottinghamshire look like stuffing up. But the sub-plot on day two was of career-bests.Burgess’s maiden century of 146 and Chris Jordan’s 147 now stand as their highest first-class scores. Even Whittingham’s 22 was a feather in his cap, before he devastated Nottinghamshire’s top order with a burst of 3 for 37 from seven overs.For the visitors, Billy Root’s maiden first-class wickets did little to ail the bruises from a severe pounding to the ego and soul. The more severe aspects of the 433 runs and the 10 wickets witnessed today hurt Notts the most.In among the carnage, a checkpoint. After 110 overs, only seven Sussex wickets had been taken, for 457 runs. It meant that not only had Notts not taken full bowling points for the first time this season, but to guarantee promotion they would need to take maximum batting points and avoid defeat. At 108 for 5 at the end of day two, neither looks likely.What a time for Sussex to produce their best day of the summer. Only Northamptonshire’s own errors in going from 168 for 2 against Leicestershire to 199 for 8 has Notts resting a little easier.Just two runs were added to the overnight score when Delray Rawlins was caught behind off the bowling of Harry Gurney. A misty approach to Hove spoke of movement through the air and maybe even a supernatural hound on the loose, but Notts were unable to summon any demons.With back-to-back fours through a vacant gully, Burgess moved on to 98. He’d been there before: a career-best score coming into this match, brought up against the touring Sri Lankans for Leicestershire at the start of last summer. Then, he tried to find two runs into the leg side against the left arm spin of Milinda Siriwardana, but only managed to pop a catch back to the bowler. This time, he did as he had done, making it three fours on the bounce with a cover drive off his 146th ball – to take him to three figures for the first time.Burgess is a lesson in perseverance: a player who came through the ranks at Surrey but was unable to break into the first team. He went off to Loughborough, playing for the MCCU, while also turning out predominantly for Leicestershire’s 2nd XI. Despite strong performances, an end of season meeting brought an unexpected “thanks, but no thanks”. It left him cold and exploring other options, such as a city job in London or work at Royal Hospital School in Ipswich.With one last roll of the dice, he called in a couple of favours with Whittingham – his room-mate at university, who was on Sussex’s books – and bowling coach Jon Lewis, who Burgess had played with at the end of his stint with Surrey. A trial day in March went well and a concussion to Ben Brown not long after saw Burgess play a predominant part in pre-season.A broken finger sustained by Brown afforded him further opportunities in the Royal London Cup and the Championship, before a sore back ruled Brown out for the remainder of the season. Burgess has not only taken his chance so well – he signed a year-long deal last week – that he can begin to plan for a Sussex career without checking on Brown’s health first.With the weight of a hundred off his back, he began to tee-off and drive Notts further into the dust. Both he and Jordan seemed involved in a Longest Drive competition, which Jordan shaded. The England quick – on the evidence, “allrounder”, too – can claim a lot of the credit for the ease with which Burgess and, later, Jofra Archer were able to pick off a weary attack. His wave of drives and cuts – his half-century took just 59 balls – saw Sussex reach 389 for 6 at lunch as he and Burgess equalled the highest seventh-wicket stand against Notts, with 157 off 30 overs.Burgess’ dismissal – bowled by Gurney – took nothing out of Jordan’s sailed, who blitzed his way to a second first-class hundred, with 14 fours and two sixes inside 114 balls. Jordan’s previous best was surpassed and so was 500. Archer picked off the remains to finish on 72, Root picked up some freebies and then Whittingham got to work.The 23-year-old quick has been something of a bit-part player for Sussex, with only 12 appearances in three first-class summers. Without a doubt, this has been his best. He picked up his first five-wicket haul – 5 for 80 against Derbyshire – and made his senior-debut for Scotland (he qualifies through his mother).Both club and county have made no secret that Whittingham is a prominent part of their plans: Sussex signed him to a two-year deal in 2016 and Scotland believe, with his raw pace, they can make a dart for qualification to the 10-team 2019 World Cup. The quality and calibre of the wickets he took in the final session, to leave Nottinghamshire reeling at 65 for 5 at one point, tells you all you need to know.Charging in down the hill, he found some late movement into the right-handers to force a man of Cheteshwar Pujara’s class to pad up to a ball that was hitting all three, removed Steven Mullaney’s off-stump and then trapped Samit Patel in front.It was a burst that left Notts on their knees. And while Root was able to recover from a blow to the helmet from Archer, who took out Jake Libby and Riki Wessels in tandem with Whittingham from the Sea End, to reach 31 at stumps, along with Chris Read, fire-fighting for one last time, the visitors may need to start looking for favours and snookers to reach Division One next year. No one saw this coming. Least of all Sussex.

Former captain Sana Mir retains her place in the side, despite a highly publicised spat with the team management

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2017Bismah Maroof will begin her tenure as captain of the Pakistan ODI team on October 31, when she leads a 14-member squad against New Zealand. She takes over from Sana Mir, who was sacked in the aftermath of a highly publicised spat with the team management but was nevertheless included to play the three-match series.

Pakistan squad

Ayesha Zafar, Nahida Khan, Javeria Khan (vice-captain), Bismah Maroof (capt), Sidra Ameen, Iram Javed, Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Sana Mir, Diana Baig, Natalia Pervaiz, Aiman Anwer, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Yousuf

This will be Pakistan’s first assignment since a winless World Cup campaign in June and July. It was upon returning from England that Mir said she did not wish to “continue with the current setup” and followed that threat by skipping the training camp organised for the players ahead of the series against New Zealand.The PCB then removed Mir from captaincy – while the women’s wing general manager Ayesha Ashar – believed to be the person Mir wanted out – was also sacked. With the selection committee also shown the door, this squad was picked by the junior selection committee, led by Basit Ali.The squad has been heavily revamped from the one that went to the UK, with five of those players not making the cut. Iram Javed, who replaced Maroof when she was injured at the World Cup, retains her place and allrounder Javeria Khan has been nominated vice-captain.The series against New Zealand, which also comprises 4 T20Is, will be played in Sharjah. It is also the first – and potentially only – one with New Zealander Mark Coles as head coach of Pakistan. He was appointed on an interim basis specifically for this series, although the possibility of his getting a long-term deal remains.

Given he is also keeping wickets, it is possible Bancroft could be included in any one of three ways in the Australian side: as an opener, No. 6 batsman or gloveman

Daniel Brettig13-Nov-2017Getty Images

Cameron Bancroft built a near undeniable case for Ashes selection by adding another innings of real substance to his Sheffield Shield ledger against South Australia at the WACA Ground.Pushed as a candidate by his state coach Justin Langer, Bancroft batted throughout day one to finish on an unbeaten 161, aided by a freewheeling 95 from the Western Australia captain Mitchell Marsh.Given he is also keeping wickets, it is possible Bancroft could be included in any one of three ways in the Australian side: as an opener, No. 6 batsman or gloveman. Either way, he is fitting the definition of “banging the door down” the selectors have been looking for.There were less glad tidings for Shaun Marsh, Hilton Cartwright and the returning Marcus Stoinis. All made starts before being dismissed, Marsh dragging on, Cartwright bowled between bat and pad, and Stoinis caught behind.SA’s bowlers were largely unable to stem the scoring rate, though the wicketkeeper Alex Carey claimed a pair of catches and the recalled Kane Richardson was economical.

Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Arafat Sunny took combined figures of 2 for 50 from 10 overs to choke Chittagong to 139, a total they chased down with 11 balls to spare

The Report by Mohammad Isam14-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRaton Gomes/BCB

Comilla Victorians beat Chittagong Kings by six wickets, in almost the same fashion as their other two wins in the tournament. After restricting their opponent to 139 for 4, Imrul Kayes and Jos Buttler almost walked them to the target.The pair added 74 runs for the third wicket before both were dismissed with not left to chase. Imrul top-scored with 45 while Buttler got out for 44 off 31 balls, which included three fours and two sixes.Chittagong, who have now lost three out of four games, lost just four wickets in their innings, but struggled for fluency right through. The Comilla spin trio – Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Arafat Sunny – put the brakes on with combined figures of 2 for 50 from 10 overs.Brisk start, slow finish, againLuke Ronchi provided Chittagong with another brisk start, with 31 off 19 balls. No other batsman score more despite consuming more deliveries. Sarkar used 32 balls for 30 runs, with two fours and a six over midwicket, before he was stumped off Nabi. Dilshan Munaweera made 19 off 25 balls, which had one six, before he was bowled by a beautiful Rashid Khan googly.Sikandar Raza found just one boundary in his 24-ball 20 which ended with a scoop to Al-Amin Hossain at short fine leg. Ronchi’s 19-ball 31 included five fours and a six that was hit over long-on off Nabi. He fell lbw to Mohammad Saifuddin.Imrul steadies another chaseMunaweera removed the returning Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das in seven overs but Imrul Kayes and Jos Buttler took control quickly. Imrul struck Subashis Roy for first six pulled over midwicket before lifting Sikandar over square leg for his second in the tenth over.His third six was his best, swatting Chris Jordan over midwicket off one knee as he struggled with cramps. He made 45 off 36 balls, having also struck two fours. It was his third successive match-winning innings, having remained unbeaten on the two previous occasions.

George Dockrell’s first four-for in nearly three years was followed by a century from Paul Stirling, who struck 101 off 97 balls, to chase down 178 with 12 overs to spare

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Sharjah10-Dec-2017Paul Stirling celebrates after notching his fifth ODI ton•Peter Della Penna

In a coaching tenure pockmarked by a lack of victories over Full Members, John Bracewell signed off on his time as Ireland coach with two straight wins in Sharjah as Ireland took the series decider by five wickets on Sunday night. George Dockrell’s first four-for in nearly three years was followed by a disdainful century from Paul Stirling, who finished as the leading run-scorer in the series.Afghanistan’s innings started in assured fashion with Dockrell being hit for six by Javed Ahmadi in the second over. In the sixth over, he carved Boyd Rankin through the off side for a series of boundaries. But the slightest pressure applied by Tim Murtagh resulted in the first mistake, Ahmadi forcing a pull in the seventh over to mid-off for 27. Rankin had Noor Ali Zadran dragging on in the next over and from there Ireland grew taller in the field.Whereas most of the Irish damage came from pace in the first two games, Dockrell and Stirling stepped up to take half the wickets. Stirling struck first, getting Asghar Stanikzai to skew a drive to backward point for 5 in the 18th over. Rahmat Shah then got out in arrogant fashion to give Dockrell his first, attempting to bring up a fifty with a six and instead picked out the tallest man on the field, Rankin at long-off.But it was the wicket of Mohammad Nabi that demonstrated Afghanistan’s lack of respect for Irish fingerspin, falling in identical circumstances to Stanikzai as a sliced drive found its way to Kevin O’Brien at short third man. Nasir Jamal picked out square leg with a sweep he middled, to give Dockrell his third and put Afghanistan on 109 for 6 with nearly 20 overs left.Rashid Khan fought gamely to keep Afghanistan in the match. He wound up finishing with a joint-top score of 44 and ended the series as Afghanistan’s second-highest scorer, a major indictment of the recognised batsmen. While he played orthodox strokes, his frustration grew as his remaining partners showed little willingness to apply themselves as Barry McCarthy ran off three straight wickets, two of those in the 41st over. Rashid began turning singles down in the 42nd over and stretched the innings into the 49th, giving the crowd a rise with a huge six off McCarthy into Second Industrial Street, before he was caught in the deep off the same bowler to end the innings.With Dawlat Zadran out nursing a niggling shoulder injury, Afghanistan made the curious call to bring in Shapoor Zadran, who had only played three ODIs since taking the new ball in the 2015 World Cup. Based on his performance on Sunday, he may have wrecked his chances of being in the touring party to Zimbabwe for the World Cup Qualifiers after he was dismantled single-handedly by Stirling. The bruising opener drove Shapoor through extra cover for the first of his 11 fours in the third over, and then nearly took Shapoor’s head off with a searing straight drive in the fifth to knock him out of the attack.Afghanistan’s spinners made inroads in the interim with Mujeeb Zadran bowling William Porterfield for 4 in the next over to land a hopeful blow. Nabi was curiously held out of the attack until after drinks but struck in his second over, drawing Andy Balbirnie into a dance down the pitch for a stumping. Rashid had Niall O’Brien lbw to a legbreak that held its line to make it 96 for 3.But Gary Wilson and Stirling teamed for a half-century stand to straighten Ireland’s chase once more as Afghanistan went crooked with the return of Shapoor to the attack. Stirling hooked the first ball of the 29th over a statuesque Rahmat at long leg for a six that could have been a wicket. But Stirling showed his disdain for Shapoor’s medium-pace two balls later, getting on a knee to slog sweep him over the square-leg rope for six more.Stirling’s hammering of Shapoor culminated in the 36th over. In the space of four balls, he moved from 81 to a century with hooks for four and six over long leg, then a tennis swat over cover for six more. A front-foot pull over midwicket finished the sequence to bring up his sixth ODI century, off 93 balls.Stirling fell to a Rashid googly to end the next over and several of Afghanistan’s players graciously shook his hand before he exited the field to more applause from the Afghanistan fans who remained. Two fours by Kevin O’Brien off Mujeeb in the following over sealed the win with 12 overs to spare.For Ireland, the back-to-back wins after a humiliating loss in the series opener were a major confidence boost in their final scheduled series before the World Cup Qualifier. The series loss for Afghanistan, only their second in nine ODI series since the 2015 World Cup and first since a 2-1 defeat in Bangladesh in October 2016, may dent their standing as one of the pre-tournament favourites heading into Zimbabwe.

Dushmantha Chameera blasted out the top order, Akila Dananjaya squeezed through the middle overs, and debutant Shehan Madushanka closed out the tournament with a hat-trick as Sri Lanka defended 221 to win by 79 runs

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Jan-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAssociated Press

Dushmantha Chameera blasted out the top order, Akila Dananjaya squeezed through the middle overs, and debutant Shehan Madushanka – playing only his seventh senior cricket match – closed out the tournament with a hat-trick. That the Sri Lanka attack had seemed incapable of menace in the first two matches of the series is a distant memory now. Defending 222, the bowlers constricted the Bangladesh chase, dismissed the opposition for 142, and propelled Sri Lanka to their third victory on the trot and the tri-series title.The Bangladesh batting effort was hamstrung by the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, who landed heavily on his bowling hand while fielding in the 42nd over, and sustained an injury that will keep him out of the first Test. The remainder of their batsmen though, did not have the measure of this slowing Mirpur surface. Mahmudullah alone prospered, scoring a valiant 76 while wickets fell around him. His was the last act of the tournament, chipping Madushanka into the hands of extra-cover with Bangladesh needing 80 runs to win.The victory also highlights a potential blind spot in international cricket’s regulations. Chandika Hathurusingha was Bangladesh’s coach only three months ago, and is now with the Sri Lanka side. His knowledge of Bangladesh conditions, and of the opposition, were clearly instrumental to this victory. Perhaps the question ought to be raised whether there must be a cooling-off period before coaches can switch sides.Hathurusingha’s acumen aside, Sri Lanka were animated and energetic during the defence of this score. The fielding was dynamic, with two run-outs – including one from a Thisara Perera direct hit – pulled off. It was Chameera’s bowling, though, that set the tone for Bangladesh’s innings. With the pitch responding to his natural short length, Chameera had Tamim Iqbal top-edge a pull to midwicket before Sabbir Rahman fell in similar fashion a few overs later. In between the wicket-taking balls, there were few loose deliveries. Chameera bowled six overs in his new-ball spell, and conceded only 13.Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim – the two remaining senior batsmen – attempted a recovery from 22 for 3, but the partnership was laboured, and soon the pressure to hit out had built. This was when Dananjaya struck. Having already raised a close lbw shout, he had Mushfiqur top-edge a sweep to short fine leg. Soon after, Mehidy Hasan offered Dananjaya a return catch, when the ball stopped a little on the pitch. With Bangladesh having slipped to 90 for 5 in the 29th over and no batsman but Mahmudullah appearing comfortable on this surface, the hosts were in an increasingly difficult spot.Mahmudullah battled on for a while, hitting two calculated sixes off Dananjaya and one off Suranga Lakmal, but the required rate was now touching seven, and the pressure was too much. Madushanka, who bowled accurately enough and with sharp pace, was the beneficiary of poor lower-order strokes. Mashrafe Mortaza sent a thigh-high full toss into the palms of midwicket, then Rubel Hossain attempted a huge heave first ball only to be bowled. Mahmudullah’s wicket – off the first ball of the next Madushanka over – completed the hat-trick.That Madushanka was played at all was a Hathurusingha move. The bowler, who is of little repute, was handpicked by Hathurusingha ahead of the tour, and deployed in the final, probably as a surprise.Bangladesh will rue their scrambled batting, after their bowlers had been intense through the back end of Sri Lanka’s innings. Rubel Hossain delivered a spate of searing yorkers as he collected figures of 4 for 46. Mustafizur Rahman used his cutters intelligently through the middle overs and collected 2 for 29. They had been outstanding during Sri Lanka’s last 15 overs, in which seven wickets fell for only 64 runs. It was clear at that stage that run-scoring had become tough, but in dismissing Sri Lanka for 221 – the last wicket coming off the final ball of the innings – Bangladesh will have felt they had given their batsmen a good chance.Sri Lanka’s batting was largely laboured, though there was one flash of belligerence near the start of the innings. Perhaps attempting to attack himself into form, Kusal Mendis struck three sixes and a four off successive Mehidy Hasan deliveries, on his way to a nine-ball 28. Sri Lanka’s two senior batsmen – Upul Tharanga and Dinesh Chandimal – spent the most time at the crease, scratching away for a combined 173 deliveries to return scores of 56 and 45 respectively. Niroshan Dickwella was the other serious contributor, making 42 off 57 balls, but largely failing to score with the cute behind-the-wicket shots he favours because the ball came so slowly off the pitch.This trophy is Sri Lanka’s first in ODI cricket since November 2016, when they had won a tri-nation series in Zimbabwe. Bangladesh will be bitterly disappointed to miss out on the title, after securing rollicking wins in their first three games.

Wade brought up his 10th first-class century and struck up two crucial partnerships to propel Tasmania to 5 for 327 on the first day

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2018ScorecardAn outstanding rearguard century from Matthew Wade has wrestled the momentum in Tasmania’s favour on day one against Western Australian in Hobart.The Warriors threatened to run through the Tigers’ lower order having reduced them to 5 for 159 after winning the toss. Andrew Holder had done the early damage removing Beau Webster and Alex Doolan with swing and seam movement. When George Bailey fell lbw to Simon Mackin, the Tigers were 3 for 51.But Wade started the rebuild. First, he combined with Jake Doran in an 82-run stand to steady the ship. Later, he was joined by Simon Milenko and the pair feasted on an inexperienced Warriors attack.Wade marched to his 10th first-class hundred. Milenko scored an unbeaten 66 in the 168-run partnership that can grow even further on day two.

The two-time champions sealed a berth in the 2019 World Cup when rain arrived with Scotland five runs short of the DLS par score

The Report by Liam Brickhill in Harare21-Mar-2018It usually rains on around 191 days a year in Edinburgh, where Scotland play much of their international cricket. Harare Sports Club sees, by comparison, around 73 rainy days a year, and one of those days brought a soggy end to what was shaping up to be a thrilling match between West Indies and Scotland. Chasing 199, Scotland were 125 for 5, five runs behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score, when the rain came down. The result means West Indies have booked their place in Sunday’s final, and thus the World Cup in England next year.Storm clouds could be seen in the distance even as Scotland started their chase, and drizzle started to drift across the ground around the 30th over. Shortly afterwards, Scotland, who were already behind the par score, lost Richie Berrington to a controversial umpiring decision, lbw to an Ashley Nurse delivery that appeared to be heading down the leg side. Clearly aware of the need to get a move on, Michael Leask cracked two fours in his 14, but when the rain arrived in force, Scotland were still behind.While their day ended in heartbreak, Scotland could scarcely have asked for a better start to the match. Opening the bowling from the City End, Safyaan Sharif pitched his first ball on middle and swung it away to find the outside edge of Gayle’s bat. A colossus had fallen, and Scotland were boosted by the belief that, with the Gayle threat safely taken care of, this really could be their day.Things got even better for them when, with the first ball of his next over, Sharif had Shai Hope caught behind for a duck. West Indies were 2 for 2, and Scotland well and truly had their tails up. On a pitch offering bounce, carry and early swing Marlon Samuels shut up shop while Evin Lewis attempted to play something approaching his natural game. Lewis collected his first boundary with a crunching drive through the covers and, once the shine had been seen off the ball, reasserted himself with a pair of sixes off Alasdair Evans.Timing wasn’t a problem for Samuels, but he couldn’t hit the gaps nearly as often as he would have liked. One of his straight drives floored Lewis at the non-striker’s end, and Scotland’s cover fielders were kept busy, but Samuels struggled to rotate the strike with any fluency. At the other end, Lewis found his groove and moved through the 40s with a series of sweeps at the spinners. A flowing drive to the cover boundary took him to a 65-ball fifty in the 23rd over, and a dab to third man brought up the 100 partnership soon afterwards. Despite their shaky start, West Indies had laid a platform and all was set for a charge at the death.Getty Images

Except, it never came. Having extended the partnership to 121, Lewis attempted a huge heave to leg, but missed the ball entirely to be trapped lbw by Brad Wheal for 66. Samuels eventually reached a fifty of his own, but consumed 98 balls for his eventual 51, with 62 of those being dot balls that allowed Scotland’s bowlers to settle into a rhythm. Attempting to make amends for his go-slow, Samuels charged out and carved Leask over the off side, only for Tom Sole to take sharp, sliding catch sprinting around the long-off boundary. With his very next ball, Leask had Shimron Hetmyer caught behind, and the match turned once more.After that dismissal in the 34th over, West Indies hit just two more boundaries and lost a further five wickets to be all out for 198 in the 49th over. Sharif capped his important early wickets with the dismissal of Rovman Powell before he could do any damage, while Brad Wheal’s double-strike ended the innings. Scotland had bowled out every side they had played in this competition, bar Ireland, who managed to get through their fifty overs nine down. After this performance, it was easy to see why.Scotland needed to score at a shade under four in their chase, but more importantly they needed a steady start and cool heads. For the first 10 overs, however, neither was forthcoming. In the third over, Kyle Coetzer threw his hands into a fierce cut, but found Lewis at point. In the fourth, a hopping Matthew Cross deflected a brutal lifter from Jason Holder onto his own stumps, and in the seventh Michael Jones fell into a leg trap, hooking Kemar Roach straight to Powell at long leg. In quick time, Scotland were 25 for 3 and suddenly 199 seemed a long way off.Calum MacLeod and Berrington dug them out of the hole with a steady 42-run stand, foregoing any exuberance for risk-free accumulation. But both men were removed by Nurse, with Berrington’s dismissal proving particularly crucial as Scotland were just beginning to up the tempo as the rain approached. Michael Leask and George Munsey set themselves for a counterpunch, but it was not to be, and the rain arrived to spoil Scotland’s fairytale ending. For West Indies, though, it brought sweet relief.