On the acceleration after lunch when 55 runs were scored in just seven oversWe discussed it at lunch. Decided to bat on for 10 overs after lunch, and look to be positive.On missing out on a possible centuryI’m not disappointed. I did what was needed for the team. We’re in a good position to win the game now, and I’m very happy.On the slow progress early in the morningWe started slowly, but there were also some good stops. It can get frustrating, but I wanted to carry on through to the end. That helped. It was important that Sourav [Ganguly] and I carry on.On how the pitch behavedIt’s not easy to bat on. The ball is staying low. It’s important to spend some time in the middle to be comfortable.On tackling MuraliHe’s a very experienced bowler. Our intention was to be as positive as we could against him, while also being aware that he has got the most wickets. I think I played him quite well.On whether he had made things difficult for the selectors, with Virender Sehwag due to come back for the next TestI have. Let’s see what happens. I’m not thinking of that now. I just went out there and did my best.On the turning point of the afternoonWhen Atapattu got out.On what his innings meant to himIt’s a very good feeling to perform in Tests, because that’s rated very high. If you can do that, then you’re there as a player. It’s given me a lot of confidence.

Jonathan Trott’s superb all-round show guided Otago to a thrilling one-run victory in their State Shield one-day match against Northern Districts at the Westpac Park in Hamilton. Trott scored 114 and ran though the middle-order claiming 4 wickets off his seven overs. Batting first, Otago were three wickets down for 72 runs when Neil Broom joined Trott at the wicket. The two put on a massive partnership of 190 runs, an Otago record for all wickets against all teams, for the fourth wicket until Broom was dismissed for 93 off as many balls. They struck 25 boundaries and two sixes between them. Otago finished with 276 for four off their 50 overs.In reply, Northern Districts got off to a disastrous start losing their first three wickets for 24 runs. James Marshall, the captain, and Daniel Flynn held the innings together with a partnership of 123 runs when Trott took 4 crucial wickets to set Northern Districts to 230 for eight. Despite some late order resistance, Northern Districts were bowled out for 275 when Graeme Aldridge was run-out off the last ball. James Marshall top-scored for his team with 93. For Otago, Warren Charles McSkimming and James McMillan finished with two wickets each. First-class cricket was suspended at the oval last season after a pitch debacle when New Zealand played a FICA world 11.Canterbury embarrassed the home team at Eden Park’s outer oval, skittling them for 100 after Richard Jones, the Auckland captain, won the toss and elected to bat. Leighton Burtt, the debutant, ripped through the brittle Auckland batting taking 5 for 26 from 7.1 overs. Rob Nicol battled hard for 36 but received no support. In reply Michael Papps (43) and Shannan Stewart (37) put on 83 for the first wicket as Canterbury cruised past the target in 21.4 overs. Craig McMillan was not out 11 at the end.High-flying Wellington posted an imposing 270 for 7 when they met neighbours Central Districts at the Basin Reserve. Central couldn’t match it, falling to 220 all out. Jesse Ryder (61), Michael Parlane (51), his brother Neal (41) and Chris Nevin all contributed as the home team piled up the runs. Chasing, Central were looking good while Mathew Sinclair (64) and Geoff Barnett (57) were at the crease, but once they both fell to Luke Woodcock, Central faltered. From 193 for 3 Central slumped to 209 for 9 and the game was as good as won. Iain O’Brien was the chief destroyer with 5 for 43, while Woodcock took 4 for 36 from his 10 overs.

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, said that he was determined to revive his faltering fortunes in Pakistan. “It was the worst year as far as my cricketing career is concerned. I’m really happy that 2005 has passed,” Ganguly told the Mumbai-based newspaper.Sacked as captain and dropped from the one-day side after a spat with Greg Chappell, the coach, his was a controversial selection for the upcoming tour of Pakistan. He said he was ready for the challenge despite being written off by former players both in India and Pakistan. “It is their opinion,” he said. “I’ve nothing to do with what they think or believe. I know that I’ve to score runs. If I can do so, that will be the best for me. And I don’t want to be distracted at this moment. I just want to avoid controversies. The bottomline is, I have to make runs, lots of runs.”Ganguly was brought back for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka before being dumped again for the third Test, a move that created a public outcry across India. When Ganguly was picked in the 16-man squad for the Pakistan tour, local media speculated that Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, had forced the selectors to include him in a bid to cool tempers.Ganguly, India’s most successful Test captain with 21 wins, led India to victory in both the Test and one-day series on the last tour of Pakistan in March-April 2004. Pakistan, which toured India earlier this year, drew the Test series 1-1 and won the one-dayers 4-2. The selectors said Ganguly, who has scored 5,150 runs in 86 Tests, was picked for the Pakistan tour because of his experience.He said India had a good chance to succeed again on Pakistani soil. “Why not? If we are to beat them, we have to bat well first. That’s the basic thing. And there’s no reason why we can’t do that,” he said. Ganguly, who made his Test debut in 1996, said his new year resolution was to ‘toil hard and come out successful’. “In 1996, it was tough to break into the team. Now it’s tougher. But I am ready to accept it. That’s the challenge of 2006,” he said.Ganguly and three other players, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble and Parthiv Patel, have delayed their departure for Pakistan after being asked by the selectors to play their respective Ranji Trophy games starting Tuesday. The rest of the squad, led by Rahul Dravid, is scheduled to leave on Thursday for Lahore where they will play a three-day practice match from Saturday.India will play three Tests and five one-day internationals in Pakistan.

Simon Jones and Marcus Trescothick have been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series against India, and are highly unlikely to return for the seven-match one-day series as well.Jones twisted his left knee while bowling in the nets at Nagpur on the day before the first Test and flew back to the UK the following day. He underwent an arthroscopy on Friday and will now begin his rehabilitation program with Dean Conway, England’s one-day squad physio.This is the latest injury setback for Jones, who missed the final Ashes Test at The Oval and the tour of Pakistan with a bone spur on his ankle. On the 2002-03 tour of Australia he picked up a horrendous injury in the Brisbane Test when he slid on the sandy outfield, damaging his right knee so severely he was out of action for nearly a year.Trescothick flew back home before the first Test due to personal reasons and Andrew Walpole, England’s team media manager, told PTI that he will not return for the Tests. “He has been ruled out for personal reasons which cannot be revealed at the moment.”

England opener Andrew Strauss said his side would concentrate on playing positive cricket to ensure they carry their winning form into the seven-match one-day series against India.”The one-day series is a big challenge for us. India is a great one-day side but we are looking forward to carry forward the momentum of the Test series,” Strauss said in a press conference ahead of the first match to be played in Delhi on Tuesday.”The warm-up match was a really useful workout. We have been practising especially for the one-dayers and we have done well in the Test series. We are going to play positive cricket,” he said.Strauss said India were a class one-day side and to underestimate them on the basis of the Test defeat in Mumbai or the absence of Sachin Tendulkar would be foolhardy. “We are keen to go out there and play. We know the potential of the Indian team and we are not underestimating them. They are a good one-day side. We lost the warm-up match and that shows the strength India has.”On Tendulkar’s recent run of bad form, he said, “Sachin is a great cricketer and every player goes through a lapse of form. He is going through the same phase.”Strauss also said that playing against a team of India’s calibre would give England a chance to know their strengths before the 2007 World Cup. “I am one of the oldest in the side which seems strange. But it also shows that there is so much talent with young players coming in and doing well. It is good for the English cricket,” he said.”Guys who came in the Test series have done well and now there are some new players in the one-day side. The one-dayers will provide opportunity to newcomers to stake their claim.”On Andrew Flintoff’s captaincy, he said, “He has done a fantastic job. He did not get enough time to prepare for the job but he was inspirational and led from the front and all the boys supported him.”

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have all but won the 2005-06 Pentangular Cup Cricket Championship after gaining a first-innings lead of 178 against Karachi Harbour with two wickets in hand on the second day at the Gaddafi Stadium.After bowling out Karachi for 249 on the opening day, National Bank piled on the agony for their opponents with a splendid reply of 427 for 8 with Naumanullah, the captain, scoring a hundred. NBP resumed at their overnight score of 10 for 1, having lost Salman Butt cheaply again, and had slipped to 67 for 3 before Naumanullah lifted his side out of the doldrums with his ninth first-class hundred. His 134 off 168 balls included 19 fours and five sixes.With Akhtar Sarfraz (21), he took the score from 67 to 123 and then joined hands with Qaiser Abbas for a 93-run stand for the fifth wicket. Qaiser’s 63 came off 34 deliveries with 10 fours and three sixes.The sixth-wicket stand between Naumanullah and Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal (35) produced 61 runs. But the NBP batting display was not over as Imran Javed was still at the crease with 46. His eighth-wicket partnership with Mohammad Sami was worth 87 as the total went past 400.Sami, who has continued to take wickets and score runs since being dropped by the national selectors, made another useful 43 off 71 balls with six hits to the ropes.With two days still to go, NBP will obviously aim for an outright win and claim the Pentangular Cup in an emphatic manner. Even if they end level on points (27 each) with table leaders Faisalabad, in case they draw here, the trophy will be theirs as they have a better net run-rate and haven’t lost a match.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) conceded a first-innings lead to Sialkot but set for themselves an opportunity to win by the close of the second day at the Multan Cricket Stadium.They surrendered a 69-run lead to Sialkot after getting bowled out for 209. But PIA ripped apart Sialkot’s batting and dismissed them for a pathetic 66 in their second innings. This left them a modest target of 136 and by close of play PIA appeared to be the team more likely to win as they need 119 runs with nine wickets in hand.This is an inconsequential match because neither team is in running for the eventual title. With a win here, PIA would get only six points though that will keep them at third place in the points table with a total of 15. Sialkot have collected six points.The second day belonged to PIA’s Jannisar Khan, who helped lift his team from a poor score of 112 for 6 with a 77-run stand for the seventh wicket with Imran Abbas. Imran’s 67 off 189 balls included seven fours. Jannisar took 122 deliveries to score 55 with six fours.PIA then demolished Sialkot for 66, with Jannisar using his medium-pace to full effect taking 4 for 11 in four overs. Sialkot’s new-ball bowler Asim Butt performed well again with figures of 5 for 65 in 30 overs.He was supported well by Kashif Daud, who captured 3 for 68. Only Inam-ul-Haq (26) reached double figures in Sialkot’s second innings. Najaf Shah picked up nine wickets in the match, following up with 4 for 26 after having taken 5 for 54 in the first innings.The experienced Fazl-e-Akbar, who has emerged as the top wicket-taker this season with 80 wickets in first-class cricket, took 2 for 23 to supplement his first-innings haul of 4 for 66 that also included a hat-trick.

Minute-by-minute scrutiny of Sachin Tendulkar’s injury continues as he batted for 25 minutes at the Mumbai Cricket Association ground, watched by Ian Fraser, the bio-mechanist and Gregory King, the Indian team’s trainer. Both Fraser and King were happy with his performance at practice. His fitness will be assessed on May 20 and Andrew Leipus, the team’s former therapist will assist him in his recovery.Tendulkar first batted for five minutes and then after a break batted for 20 more, with the ball thrown at him. This was his second time wielding the bat since the operation, opting for some light batting practice yesterday, with John Gloster, the team’s physiotherapist looking on.Tendulkar pulled out of the seven-match one-day series at home against England in March-April 2006 and had surgery on his shoulder on March 29 after he complained of pain while throwing the ball, though not while batting or bowling.He will not play the one-day series against West Indies beginning May 18 in Jamaica. The decision regarding his availability for the Test squad will be taken once Gloster, Dr. Andrew Wallace, his surgeon and Tendulkar himself are confident of his recovery, Niranjan Shah, the board’s secretary, explained. The Test team will be announced on May 24.In 2004, Sachin suffered a tennis elbow which kept him out of the Champion’s Trophy in England and the first two Tests at home against Australia in October the same year.

Dwayne Bravo simply exudes a sense of dynamism. His presence in the field is unmistakable. And it’s not only because of his superior fielding skills. He brings to the table the zip, drive and vigour. He is the pulse of the place. He is the livewire of the party. His knack for making things happen is well documented. But what is not well known is his emerging leadership qualities.Ever so often during the one-day international series, Bravo would go up to Brian Lara and offer a suggestion or an observation. It is something rarely seen by someone who is only 22 years of age, only in international cricket for two years, and only with the experience of 12 Tests and 43 one-day internationals.As premature as it sounds, there is evidence that Bravo could some day emerge as a West Indies captain. It is something he has thought about, but it is not on the list of what he wants to achieve in the immediate future.”Anyone playing cricket for West Indies would like one day to captain the team, but at this point in time, it is not one of my goals,” he said. “It is not something I’m looking forward to. All I’m concentrating on is trying to see how Dwayne Bravo can improve on his game, both batting and bowling. If I was to captain West Indies, so be it, but I’ve not set my mind on it.”Bravo’s inclination to offer advice tells you he is a thinking cricketer. “I’ve captained teams before. I’ve had an understanding about the game. Therefore, when I see certain things on the field, I think the captain is very open-minded and I look forward to giving him a few tips.”Lara said it was important that players come forward to show leadership material. “You’ve got guys who are growing in a team and you need all of them to be leaders. At this present time, we’ve got guys like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan who I consider leaders in the team. As a guy gets more comfortable and more experienced, you expect him to take up that role, even if it is indirectly.”At a time where there is the perception that there is a leadership crisis in West Indies cricket, these are encouraging signs. “The most important thing is the guys are showing they have the ingredients to lead,” Lara said. “They’re going to be given the opportunity, first of all at first-class level and then we’ll see how they do.”For this team to continue growing and to be successful, we need the guys showing that they want to grab the responsibility in front of them at the moment – which is being senior players.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out – England
How they were out – Sri Lanka

Mahela Jayawardene added another chapter to a memorable tour with a series-sealing century as Sri Lanka overpowered England by eight wickets at Chester-le-Street. Kumar Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga provided the necessary support and a competitive target of 261 was made to seem like a stroll. Ian Bell had been England’s main source of runs, grafting his way to 77, but the bowlers again produced a horrendously wayward display and once Sri Lanka were off to a flyer the result was never in doubt.Bell, along with jaunty knocks from Jamie Dalrymple and Geraint Jones, had lifted England after an innings that laboured for 40 overs before coming to life as the final 10 brought 89 runs. However, any chance England may have had of keeping the series alive disappeared with a new-ball spell that abandoned all notions of line and length.The confidence that is surging through the Sri Lankans was evident with the way they started the run chase. Sanath Jayasuriya lashed a series of wide long-hops to the cover and third-man boundary as Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett fluffed their lines in front of a home crowd. Sajid Mahmood’s first ball brought the breakthrough as he charged through after delivering and caught Jayasuriya short – but that was as good as it got for Mahmood.At The Oval he was caned for 80 in seven overs; here his first three overs were carted for 27 as the ball was sprayed on both sides of the wicket, allowing Tharanga and Jayawardene to help themselves. Andrew Strauss was left in a hopeless position because each time he tried to cover another gap in the field the bowler would be hit somewhere else. When one was pitched in the right place, producing a nick, there was no one in the slips to catch it. The bowlers only had themselves to blame.Jayawardene brought up a sparkling fifty off 40 balls and his stand with Tharanga – who again looked a million dollars through the covers – added 87 off 69 balls. Dalrymple gave England some relief when Tharanga top-edged a sweep to short fine-leg, but Sri Lanka were so far ahead of the rate they could just bide their time.

With Jayawardene in such rich touch, Sangakkara just kept the singles coming and ensured his captain had the strike. Jayawardene slowed up in the second half of his innings – but only marginally. He lofted Dalrymple over midwicket to move into the 90s and reached three figures, off 104 balls, with a spanking cover drive off Harmison, making it a century apiece for Sri Lanka’s top three in the series. Just one of the marked differences between the teams. Sangakkara completed the formalities with a flourish, taking four boundaries in six deliveries, to register his own half-century and carry the magnificent stand with Jayawardene to 140.The flamboyance of Sri Lanka’s batting was in stark contrast to a generally stodgy effort from England, only boosted by the late flurries of the middle order. Vaas removed Strauss and Marcus Trescothick during a tight opening burst and put the breaks on a solid start from England after an opening stand of 62. The most worrying sight for England came when Kevin Pietersen was struck on his injured left knee by Farveez Maharoof. He went down in obvious pain and Dean Conway, the England physio, spent a couple of minutes checking Pietersen’s knee. He resumed batting, but virtually on one leg, and not for long as he flashed a short, wide ball from Lasith Malinga which suggested his mind was elsewhere.Sri Lanka gave Bell a life when Russel Arnold spilled a low chance in the gully on 17 and he and Paul Collingwood started to form a useful partnership as Jayawardene brought his spinners into operation. Malinga Bandara, in his first appearance of the series in place of Muttiah Muralitharan, bowled fairly flat, but gave the ball a tweak. Dalrymple continued to make a positive impression, showing an aggressive intent from the outset, cracking Bandara for six down the ground. He went inside out through, and over, cover as he and Bell took 15 off Vaas’ ninth over after the first eight had cost 23.Bell reached fifty off 86 balls after it took him 69 to find the boundary. Dalrymple’s flourish rubbed off and he began to back away, planting the bowlers through the covers. Thoughts at the interval were that the score was about right to create an exciting game but Jayawardene turned the chase into one-way traffic. This was another black day for England but everything Sri Lanka have touched over the last three weeks has turned to gold.

A wet outfield ensured that the one-day international between Sri Lanka and India did not get underway on Wednesday. The outfield at the Premadasa Stadium received a battering after heavy overnight rain, and though the weather cleared in the morning, there were still several wet patches which made the umpires call off play after an inspection at 3pm local time (0930GMT).With a reserve day in place, the match is expected to be replayed tomorrow, weather permitting. The umpires will inspect the ground at 11.30 local time and take a decision.Off the field, the South African will-they-won’t they saga was winding to a conclusion. The independent security assessment was taking place and Cricket South Africa was due to announce a final decision by noon (3:30pm in Sri Lanka). With the heavens in angry mood, and one team just wanting to go home, it hasn’t been the sort of opening that the tournament organisers would have hoped for.