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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

A couple of Sri Lanka batting collapses turned a potentially cracking contest into a one-sided affair, as Australia wrapped up a comprehensive seven-wicket win. The move to rest Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan weakened Sri Lanka’s bowling but it was the unchanged batting line up that faltered on a true surface in Grenada.Australia were clinical, seizing the openings without fail and stamping their authority when it counted. They lost the toss but made full use of the early swing before witnessing a well-crafted 140-run stand between Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Silva for the fourth wicket. Nathan Bracken gave little away, ending with 4 for 19 from 9.4 overs, and received good support from Glenn McGrath and Brad Hogg. With the stage set, Australia’s batsmen thrived as Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds sealed the contest with emphatic half-centuries.Sri Lanka’s batting has followed a familiar pattern in this tournament: top-order fumble followed by revival followed by late-order stumble. At least two batsmen have managed to pass 50 in every match, yet rarely has there been a powerful all-round effort. Against South Africa, they slid from 195 for 5 to 209 all out and it cost them. Against England they slipped from 175 for 3 to 235 all out and it so nearly cost them. Today, the decline was from 167 for 3 in the 38th over to 226, a collapse that effectively ended the contest.The fine partnership between Jayawardene and Silva was lost in a rash of poor strokes by the rest. On a good batting track, with the Australian spinners unable to extract much purchase, they stabilised the innings. They had little trouble in rotating the strike and kept the rate close to four an over at the 30-over mark.But with their dismissals, both to Hogg’s wrist spin within two overs, Sri Lanka lost their way. Between the 40th and 45th overs they could muster just 13 runs for the loss of three more wickets. The slump that followed was never really arrested and it was only thanks to a 34-run stand between Farveez Maharoof and Malinga Bandara, in the side for Murali, that lifted them past 200.

Bracken led the bowling effort with an outstanding spell. He removed both the left-handed openers early, one with an away-swinger and another with a ball that jagged back in, before returning towards the end to stifle the lower order. Sanath Jayasuriya couldn’t counter a Bracken in-dipper. Replays suggested the ball might have been a tad high but Bracken must be complimented for keeping a tight line. He delivered a peach of a delivery soon after, inducing an edge off Upul Tharanga that flew straight to first slip. Ponting started to go for the catch but stopped just in time for Matthew Hayden, at first slip, to pouch a controlled take.Hayden set the tone for the chase, using his feet against the medium-pacers and biffing them over cover and midwicket. A pace attack comprising Dilhara Fernando, Maharoof and Nuwan Kulasekara made an honest attempt to keep things tight, and even forced an airy waft from Adam Gilchrist early on, which was dropped by Russel Arnold at short extra cover. However, they couldn’t sustain the pressure and Hayden’s 41 contained five fours and two big sixes while Gilchrist was a bit more circumspect during his 49-ball 30.Arnold made amends with the ball, snaffling both openers in quick succession, forcing Hayden to under-edge before trapping Gilchrist lbw. Ponting, though, controlled the rest of the innings and didn’t have much to worry about once Symonds began imposing himself. Ponting’s was a finely constructed innings, angling the spinners behind the wicket and nudging the singles.His sensible partnership with Michael Clarke, with both using their feet confidently, allowed them to shrug off the loss of the openers. Symonds arrived with 101 needed and crashed five fours and two sixes in his power-packed 63. None of the Sri Lankan bowlers was allowed to settle and even the half-chances (close run-outs and stumpings) didn’t go their way. Ponting eased to his fourth 50-plus score of the tournament and finished it off with a lofted straight six, a record 29th in World Cups. The stamp of authority that the shot carried told the story of the day.

Sri Lanka don’t have a mystery spinner. That should be enough to stop the press, but that is not the end of the story. The cricketing shrewdness of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara has not come close to being replaced. Even Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga are not there and Tillakaratne Dilshan will miss the opening game of this three-T20I series. Their coach has only just taken charge. India are thus the favourites going into this World T20-preparation series, but MS Dhoni knows all too well the vagaries of the format. He knows a player can change the game in 10 balls. Win it or even lose it.”What really happens in this format is, the difference between the sides is very narrow,” Dhoni said. “What it boils down to is how good your match winners are playing. You can have only one big hitter in the side but if it’s his day, he can take the game away from you. And it can happen in just 10 or 12 balls.”India have to find a mix between doing what is best for this series and what is best for the World T20. In Virat Kohli’s absence, batting Suresh Raina at his beloved No. 3 is best for this series, but Dhoni is also looking at what is best for World T20.”I think it will be slightly better if Raina bats at the position that he will most likely bat in the World Cup,” Dhoni said. “It will give him that exposure. Also we are not a team that plays a lot of T20Is. Usually we play one game in a bilateral series. So this gives him an opportunity to expose him to No. 4 for a consistent period of time. The opportunity is there to make him bat at three and use some other batter [at four] but I think it will be more appropriate if he bats at No. 4 and gets adjusted.”One of the targets is to watch out against the fatigue and not peak too early, although some might say their 3-0 win in Australia was their peak. “We have quite a few targets in mind,” Dhoni said. “Winning games is important. But at the same time what will be more crucial is, we have to keep everyone fit. It’s almost the same 15 that will play till the World T20. It’s important to keep everyone fit so that the best XI is always available for selection. That will be the key factor.”Dhoni is also aware perhaps that India’s recent record in limited-overs cricket on the slower pitches of Asia hasn’t been great. The batsmen haven’t been as dominant as before and added to that is the slightly unusual sand-based outfield in Pune. It is slower than usual and high balls just sit in the ground. It is just as well that the straight boundaries are short, because during the practice sessions out in the middle, balls hit in the air lost all sting upon hitting the turf.Pandurang Salgaocar, the chief groundsman, said this was a normal outfield and that the well-timed shots will travel. If he is wrong, it may well provide the much-needed balance between bat and ball if only for just one game.Practically in the middle of nowhere, seemingly halfway to Mumbai, in conditions they have not played much IPL cricket in, India will begin their home stretch to the World T20. Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, Yuvraj Singh at No. 6 and Hardik Pandya as the allrounder will be the unknowns they will want to know more about.For Dhoni, though, the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium will now be his IPL home and he has already found comfort factors. Even before he went to the nets, he made his way to the much talked-about dog kennel. Twenty-four dogs here are part of the security team. Dhoni even wanted to adopt a golden retriever back in the day. As he waited on, the dog, Prince, settled down and made this ground his home, Dhoni might not get to take the dog away. Pune, though, has certainly taken to Dhoni.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has moved within one step of professionalising the national selection panel with its finance committee clearing a proposal to pay the selectors, so far honorary, a match fee beginning from Pakistan’s tour of India in November.Under the proposal, which is expected to be ratified by the BCCI’s working committee, each of the five selectors will receive a match fee of Rs 50,000 (US$ 1262) per Test in addition to a daily allowance of Rs 15,000, taking their total earning from a Test to Rs 125,000 (US$ 3156). For one-day matches, the fee will be Rs 65,000 (US$ 1641). Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, told Cricinfo that the new system was likely to be implemented as early as next month.Currently, the selectors, who attend Tests and one-dayers at home, are paid only a daily allowance. Only one selector accompanies the team on tours.Reforming the selection committee, which is chosen on a zonal basis, has been a long-pending issue before the BCCI. John Wright, India’s first professional coach, had singled out the selection process as one of the weakest aspects of Indian cricket.While the zonal system is expected to stay, making the selectors professional is seen as the first step towards accountability. It remains to be seen, though, if the board will abandon its policy of nominating selectors and invite applications from suitable candidates when the terms of some of the members of the existing committee, headed by Dilip Vengsarkar, expires.

Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan gets underway on Monday with a four-daymatch against a strong Patron’s XI captained by Shahid Afridi. Stripped ofTest status, the Zimbabwe officials had wanted to play the longer version against strong teams to get their playersback in the mindset of Test cricket. However, with small boundaries onoffer at the DHA Cricket Stadium – a venue where Zimbabwe played a Test inNovember 1993 – it is difficult to expect much defensive play, especiallywith the likes of Afridi and Brendan Taylor being involved.Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwe’s captain, and Robin Brown, their coach, said that the team was on the recovery path and the confidence levels were high after a couple of high-profile victories in the recent past: Zimbabwe beat Australia in the World Twenty20, and won an ODI against West Indies at home recently.”We are young in age, not experience,” Brown had said. “We played four-daygames in South Africa with good results and the more cricket we play, themore experience we will gain. We’re not too far away from getting back towhere we were.”With wins against Australia and West Indies preceding the 100% record in South Africa, it is difficult to tag them as pushovers. A flat track with lots of cracks awaits them inthe four-day match, one that will test their all-round abilities,something Brown is eager to prove to the sceptics.However, even though Patron’s XI contains only a handful ofinternationals, most of them have had terrific starts to the domesticseason. While Afridi, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed and SamiullahKhan have been in touring parties before, the likes of Sohail Khan, KamranHussain and Naumanullah will be hoping to impress the selectors further.While Naumanullah was adjudged best batsman in the recently concludedQuaid-e-Azam Trophy, Sohail has grabbed 65 wickets in nine matches duringhis maiden domestic season and Kamran, the 30-year-old left-armfast-bowler, has not only managed 568 runs but also 35 wickets in theTrophy.Zimbabwe’s practice session was delayed in the morning as their luggagehad not arrived yet, while some of the Patron’s XI players were busy at the National Stadium, where they are participating in a high-performers camp. The action will shift to the DHA Cricket Stadium from tomorrow, and the pitch and the conditions suggest plenty of fireworks – with maybe a few broken windows of the surrounding houses – over the next four days.Squads
Patron’s XI – Shahid Afridi (capt), Khalid Latif, Nasir Jamshed, AfaqRahim, Naumanllah, Fawad Alam, Kamran Hussain, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), YasirShah, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Samiullah Khan Niazi, Rizwan Ahmed, RaufAkbar, Khurram ManzoorZimbabweans – Prosper Utseya (capt), Gary Brent, Chamu Chibhabha,Elton Chigumbura, Keith Dabengwa, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza,Stuart Matsikenyeri, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Ray Price, VusiSibanda, Tatenda Taibu (wk), Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Given how Bangladesh were terrorised by the short ball in this Test, it was entirely appropriate that South Africa wrapped up the match and series with one. And unlike the five-wicket defeat in Mirpur, there was nothing remotely heroic about the innings-and-205-run capitulation in Chittagong, with a world record partnership between Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzieillustrating the huge chasm that still separates Bangladesh from the best practitioners of cricket’s most demanding form.When Mashrafe Mortaza couldn’t avoid fending one to the left of McKenzie at gully, it was the final act of a match that once again didn’t go into the fourth afternoon. With Aftab Ahmed unable to bat after a sickening injury on Sunday, South Africa needed only four more wickets to set theseal on a very satisfactory outing.An eighth-wicket partnership of 56 between Abdur Razzak, who remained defiant on 33, and Shahadat Hossain briefly halted the victory charge, but with Robin Peterson scalping an unexpected five-for, the result was never in doubt. Bangladesh managed a few half-century partnerships during the course of the Test, but the fact remained that their tally over twoinnings didn’t even come close to matching Smith and McKenzie.The batting frailty was all too evident at the start of the fourth day. Razzak’s periscope approach to batting resulted in a comical four over the wicketkeeper off Dale Steyn, and South Africa didn’t have very long to wait for the breakthrough. Peterson was aiming at the cracks from the outset, and Mushfiqur Rahim edged his first ball of the morning to Jacques Kallis at slip.Enter Mohammad Rafique to tremendous applause in his final Test innings. Two balls later, exit Rafique – a biff back to the bowler that Peterson was never going to drop. Shahadat, with a few sorties down the ground, and Razzak with his patented carves over slips added runs in a hurry, but the South Africans were amused rather than annoyed, and when Shahadat holed out to long-off to give Peterson number five, the Last Post could begin.South Africa now look to India, and a series that will really be a test of their mettle in subcontinent conditions. As for Bangladesh, they have three one-dayers to look forward to. The format suits their hit-and-miss batsmen, and they did hammer South Africa at the World Cup last year.Jamie Siddons just won’t be expecting any miracles in Tests, especially not with an FTP that barely gives them matches to iron out the many kinks that continue to bedevil their play at their highest level.

ScorecardLuke Wells battled more than two-and-a-half hours for 54•Getty Images

Somerset wrested back the initiative in dramatic style at the close of a rain-affected first day against Sussex. Resuming on 105 for 2 after the third of the day’s interruptions for rain, Sussex lost four more wickets as Somerset’s seam attack fully exploited the conditions, getting plenty of swing and finding movement off a wicket with grass left on it.Somerset had bowled tightly throughout the morning and afternoon but, despite two wickets in two balls from Lewis Gregory, saw countless deliveries beat the bat or drop just short of the slip cordon.The breakthrough came as Sussex were starting to edge in front after Luke Wells and Chris Nash had brought up a gritty 50 partnership in 23 overs. Craig Overton got a ball to cut back off the surface and trim Nash’s bails as the batsman was left in two minds whether to cut or leave.

New contracts for Gregory, Overtons and Bates

Somerset have acted to secure the services of three of their brightest talents on new three-year contracts. Lewis Gregory and twins Craig and Jamie Overton, who have all received England call-ups this year, have signed with the club until the end of 2018. Jamie has been invited to help England with their preparations ahead of this summer’s Ashes series and will meet up with the squad on Monday, where he will bowl in the nets ahead of the first Test in Cardiff.
Somerset have also extended the contract of wicketkeeper Michael Bates, who was released by Hampshire at the end of last season. Bates was originally signed by Somerset on a one-month deal and has already made an impact with the gloves. Matthew Maynard said that the challenge for Bates now was to score runs and the contract extension would give him the opportunity to do that.

Four overs later, Peter Trego struck in his opening over to end a two-and-a-half hour vigil from Wells, who hit an elegant 54 off 122 balls, frustrating the Somerset bowlers in between the showers.Wells lived dangerously early on. Almost run out without facing in the first over, he edged a number of boundaries through the slip cordon during the morning session before starting to score runs on both sides of the wicket as the afternoon went on. He admitted after close that it was a pitch he never felt comfortable on, with the rain delays meaning he had to play himself in each time.Trego struck again in his third over as Craig Cachopa played forward and got an edge through to Jim Allenby at first slip. Trego’s figures by this stage were 3-2-4-2. The momentum firmly shifted Somerset’s way as they claimed a fourth wicket towards the close of play when Ben Brown edged Alfonso Thomas to Trescothick at slip for 9.Somerset had won the toss and put Sussex in. After surviving a tight, but never penetrating, opening spell, Wells and opening partner Ed Joyce started to look increasingly comfortable and score runs on both sides of the wicket before the first of the day’s interruptions for rain at 47 for 0 from 15 overs.One over after the resumption, Gregory struck with consecutive deliveries. First, Joyce got an edge through to Michael Bates behind the stumps, attempting to pull, for 28. Matt Machan then prodded at a good-length ball and edged to Allenby.It was a much tighter spell from Somerset, which saw them concede 25 runs from 8.2 overs before the rain returned with some force to bring an early lunch and leave pools of water on the covers and puddles on the outfield.Somerset’s director of cricket, Matthew Maynard, was impressed with the way his charges had gone about their business. “The way that we bowled today was very reminiscent of the way we bowled against Hampshire,” he said. “We were very disciplined with good skills and the ball was swinging but they didn’t try to get too greedy and try too many things, we just kept on trying to hit our lines.”I don’t think that we got our rewards in the first session but just said to keep on hitting good areas and going past the bat and hopefully find the edge which is what happened and we are in a good position after day one.”Wells pointed to the quality of batting still to come in the Sussex line-up and said that if they could scrap out a total between 200 and 250, it would be very competitive on this surface.

David Parsons has been confirmed as the ECB’s new performance director after holding the position in an acting role since Peter Moores became England coach. The ECB has also announced Richard Halsall as the national fielding coach.Parsons, whose appointment takes effect immediately, has been the ECB’s main spin bowling coach and was the favourite to get the job for the role. In the last 12 months he has initiated and developed the ECB spin programme and worked closely with players such as Monty Panesar and Adil Rashid.His appointment was welcomed by Hugh Morris, the board’s managing director. “David has been acting performance director for the last six months since Peter Moores took over as England coach,” Morris said.”During that time David has ensured the smooth running of the National Performance Centre at Loughborough University, and has worked closely with Peter Moores to ensure the best possible support and preparation programmes for the England team.”He has played a central role in developing and delivering the England Performance Camp in India, in which he has embraced the expertise of coaches such as Martyn Moxon and Ashley Giles.”His ability to attract such names demonstrates that he will be ideally suited to the role of performance director because one of his main challenges will be to provide the current England Performance Programme, and future England players, with the best possible coaching advice and support to ensure they can maximise their potential.”Moores was also pleased that Parsons, a level four ECB coach, had been chosen to take his old position: “David has done an outstanding job as acting performance director and I am delighted he has secured the position on a permanent basis. He will have a very important role to play in developing our future England players.”Meanwhile, the team of specialist coaches on hand to assist the England squad has been increased with Halsall’s appointment as fielding coach. He is currently the head of sport science and PE at Wellington College in Berkshire and has been involved in coaching England junior squads as well as being fielding coach at Sussex for the last five years.”It is an exciting challenge for Richard who will aim to raise the standards of fielding throughout England and Wales to ‘world class’ levels,” said Morris. “His innovative approach and willingness to learn from some of the world’s top fielders as well as considering implementing skills and techniques from other sports will be important in taking the art of fielding to a new level when he joins the ECB in March.”Moores added that Halsall is an important addition to the coaching team: “The appointment of a national fielding coach demonstrates the importance of this aspect of the game to all our international teams,” he said. “Richard has an excellent track record, is open to new ideas and I am really looking forward to working with him again in the near future.”

In what appears to be a climbdown of sorts, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering introducing a central contracts system once again linked to the seniority of players.A senior board official told Cricinfo that a number of different models were being examined and would be presented at the next ad-hoc committee meeting on June 17. The options include giving weight to seniority and using a similar grade system to the one that was in use under the previous administration, where greater experience equalled greater reward.This seems to be a contradiction of the board’s earlier plans, outlined in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan’s World Cup exit, when chairman Nasim Ashraf said that all existing central contracts stood suspended and new ones would be performance-based only.Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer, told Cricinfo, “We are looking at various models and options and considering an ABC graded system. One model is where the player’s pay will be based on a 20% weightage to seniority, 40% to last year’s performances based on a ranking system, 20% to discipline and 20% to fitness. But as far as discipline and fitness go, it might be unfair to include it this year as a proper system has to be put in place first to measure discipline and fitness.”Naghmi confirmed that basic match fees for all players, regardless of experience, will remain the same (though an increase on previous years according to Ashraf) and only the actual monthly retainer is likely to vary. Other options include doing away with gradations of players based on seniority altogether but it appears unlikely that the model will be approved.A group of senior players met the board yesterday to discuss the options available, Naghmi revealing that they were keen for the old system to be put in place again. “Any new model can potentially be more lucrative for players. We are going to introduce for example, fielding-based incentives, where players will be rewarded for fielding achievements like run-outs.”Once a system has been approved by the ad-hoc committee, the contracts will be handed out to 20 players from July 1.

Ramnaresh Sarwan has praised Chris Gayle for the way he handled the leadership of the West Indies team in the recent series of limited-overs matches in England and Ireland. Gayle was appointed to lead the West Indies side after Sarwan injured his shoulder in a fall during the second Test against England and had to return home.”I think he was really outstanding, and you have to commend Chris for the way he handled the team during the ODI series,” Sarwan said at the launch of the Digicel youth coaching clinics at the Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies. “Obviously, he was under a little bit of pressure from the West Indies Cricket Board, and the way he came out showed his maturity, and I thought everyone supported him well which is really good to see.”Though the selection committee had picked Gayle to captain the limited-overs side, the executive committee of the WICB ignored his nomination, and instead chose Daren Ganga, who had led the Test side in the absence of Sarwan. An emergency meeting of all the directors of the WICB then overturned the decision of the executive committee, and Gayle responded by leading the side to a 2-1 series win over England and to the top of the table in a quadrangular series in Ireland.Sarwan noted that Gayle’s “super cool” demeanour more often than not belied the ability and qualities that his team-mate possesses. “When you look at Chris the individual, lots of people have a lot to say about him and his body language on and off the field,” Sarwan said. “But it just goes to show that you should never judge a book by its cover. I think he has shown his commitment to West Indies cricket and the public should not really judge an individual who has wholeheartedly supported West Indies cricket.”Sarwan joins Gayle and Denesh Ramdin in Barbados for the first in the series of Digicel coaching clinics that will take place throughout the region over the next three-and-a-half weeks.

Mitchell Johnson will use a trip to India’s pace foundation to prepare for Australia’s seven-match one-day series in the country starting in September. Dennis Lillee, a part-time coach at the facility in Chennai, and Troy Cooley, the Australian bowling mentor, will monitor Johnson’s progress as he plans a return to the starting XI after not being called on during the World Cup or Ashes.A bowling vacancy has been created by Glenn McGrath’s retirement, but with Brett Lee recovering from an ankle problem Johnson must move ahead of Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark or Nathan Bracken to play. “Learning to bowl in those conditions is pretty timely with the matches coming up in India, which hopefully I will be involved in,” Johnson, who left on Tuesday, told AAP.”I did a lot of bowling at the World Cup in the nets and I am keen to develop the knowledge that I got there a bit further. It’s obviously great to be working with ‘DK’ again and to have Troy there as well. The knowledge that will be at my fingertips will be exceptional.”Johnson will spend a week in Chennai and will be joined by the Queensland bowler Grant Sullivan and local fast men. “I have only just started gym work,” he said. “I’ve had a fair break so this will be the first time I will be really getting into bowling again since the World Cup.”