CRIC and ENTERTAINMENT

Tendulkar not thinking 100th hundred

2011-07-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Sachin Tendulkar is one century away from reaching 100 international tons and has an opportunity to achieve that on a historic occasion at Lord's, where India and England will play the 2000th Test later this month. Tendulkar, who has 51 centuries in Tests and 48 in ODIs, however, said the landmark wasn't preoccupying his build-up to the game.

"I am not thinking of records," Tendulkar told theDaily Telegraph. "I am just thinking of enjoying this tour. The secret to any performance is not in chasing records. I think about, 'What is the best way to enjoy the game, and how can I enhance that enjoyment factor?'

"If I enhance the enjoyment then, naturally, the standard of play becomes higher. To me, that is more important. If I am playing well, things can happen. I don't need to go around chasing them. It is a process. You construct a solid foundation and build on it."

Tendulkar opted out of India's tour of the West Indies, where they won the ODI series 3-2 and the Tests 1-0. It was India's first international assignment after their World Cup win, of which Tendulkar was an integral part. "I was extremely delighted. It was something I had always dreamt about," Tendulkar said of India's triumph in his sixth World Cup. "You start playing cricket, and one day you walk away as part of a world champion team.

"I took up playing serious cricket because in 1983, we won the World Cup, and that was a big turning point in terms of considering cricket a full-time profession. That moment was a decisive one. I felt, 'I want to play for India one day'. It was a huge boost. From then I started working hard."

When asked of his plans for the future, Tendulkar said it was important he left behind a good legacy whenever he chose to leave the game. "For me, it's not about breaking records or creating new ones. It's about adding value to my team. Records will be set by me, they might be broken by someone else.

"They're not going to stay permanently. But the impression that I leave on people will last forever, I feel. The impression that I leave behind - to me that is important. If I can motivate the next young cricketers, that will be a big contribution."

2011-07-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

In the end both teams said they are happy. From the outside it appeared West Indies should be a happier unit than India who never quite stamped their authority. They won the series but was that ever in doubt against this West Indies batting line-up? This series was about testing out the youth for India but barring Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma, not many stood up.

And their decision to pull out of the chase on the final evening without really having a go at it was puzzling. And revealing. West Indies lost the ODI and the Test series but they slowly reached a point where they were fighting as a unit. The victory lap with thousands cheering them on at Dominica signalled that. The crowd recognised that the team had fought.

Sometimes the way the opposition views you at the end can give a fair idea about how the battle went. Here is Duncan Fletcher on West Indies: "I think they have improved all the time. I think Ottis Gibson is doing a great job. I have come here before with England and watched them in England and watching the way they just have put it together, they are definitely moving up. I wouldn't like to be another touring side and come out here and face them if this improvement continues. The bowlers did very well. The batters slowly got better and better as the series went. I was also impressed with how they put it together off the field. How they did the warm-ups. They acted as a team and they looked like a professional unit which is good to see."

Here is what Sammy said about India: "With 15 overs to go and 86 runs required, and considering the calibre of players they have like Dhoni and guys who could hit the ball, I thought they would give it a go being one up … I was surprised they shut the shop." India left you with that kind of strange taste in the mouth.

West Indies would have gained a lot from this tour. The bowlers impressed and the middle order is slowly beginning to take a solid shape. Marlon Samuels played an innings of substance in the second Test, Shivnarine Chanderpaul showed he has plenty to offer as a batsman, Darren Bravo showed glimpses of his talent, and Kirk Edwards came to the fore. The main worry will be the openers. Adrian Barath showed he has problems against the seaming delivery and he still hasn't found a stable partner. Sammy led the team with passion, bowled his heart out but as long as he doesn't contribute with the bat, the questions will continue. Ian Bishop, the former West Indies fast bowler, reckons he has done enough to continue in this team as a captain for another year till West Indies unearth another leader.

India's strengths are obvious. Ishant Sharma impressed and the bowlers were pretty good though by the end they were down and out physically. The batting was mixed. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina did what the other was supposed to do. Many felt Raina would show weakness against the short ball and that Kohli would grab his opportunity. The reverse happened. M Vijay failed, S Badrinath never got a chance in the Tests after his poor performance in the ODIs, Abhinav Mukund showed grit and seized the opportunity.

The series started and ended with two vital dropped catches. If Sammy had caught Rahul Dravid in the first Test who knows what might have happened there? If Dravid had caught Chanderpaul in the final Test what could have been the result? Those turning points indicate how well-fought the games were. India usually always dominated because West Indies' batting was weaker but it wasn't a cakewalk by any means.

India were lifted out of the hole in the first Test by Raina and Harbhajan Singh; Dravid played the rescue act in the second innings; VVS Laxman was the saviour in the second Test. It was never easy. It was that kind of series. The pitches were tilted towards the bowlers and the groundsmen should be thanked for providing us with an enjoyable series.

India won but with this West Indies batting line-up, they would see the 1-0 margin as an opportunity lost.

India favourites in Dominica's Test debut

2011-07-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

Big Picture

India are 1-0 up with one to play, and with better weather might have sealed the series in Barbados, but the scoreline obscures some worrying realities. In four innings they have not once reached 300, that despite inordinate contributions from the old firm of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid. India's IPL generation, with the notable exception of Suresh Raina, has stumbled in what is arguably the easiest overseas assignment a Test side can currently hope for. It is a cause for some concern, considering the inevitable change of guard the middle-order will go through in the next couple of years.

The story is inverted in the bowling department: the youngsters have pulled their weight, while the spearhead hasn't. Praveen Kumar has impressively transferred his seam mastery to the red ball; Ishant Sharma has banished the pain of two seasons of under-achievement, with a series of sparkling spells from which there should be no turning back. Harbhajan Singh, however, has slipped into a comfort zone - both for himself and the batsmen facing him. There is a chance he will not reach the 400-wicket milestone in the Caribbean, despite having needed only seven wickets to get there at the start of the series.

After the crushing disappointment in Jamaica, West Indies have plenty of positives to take out of Barbados. Fidel Edwards, on a comeback trail, is a work in progress, but there was enough evidence to suggest he is close to the finished product. Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo have stuck to the task, rarely allowing India's line-up to dictate terms. The problem for the hosts, though, lies in the batting and there were signs of improvement in Barbados. Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo - two players who exemplify the flamboyance of Caribbean batsmanship - showed they have the ability to grind out innings. It is a crucial step forward, given Ramnaresh Sarwan's alarming decline, Chris Gayle's continued absence and the drop in Shivnarine Chanderpaul's once-immense powers. Can Lendl Simmons and Adrian Barath follow the example set by Bravo and Samuels? If the openers continue to wobble against the new ball, expect India to make it 2-0 without much strife.

Sangakkara slams 'corrupt' administration

2011-07-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

Kumar Sangakkara has made an extraordinary, scathing attack on the "partisan cronies" at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) who have blighted the sport in his country and who led him to resign the captaincy after only two years in charge, following the World Cup final in April. Sangakkara was delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture at Lord's on Monday.

In an hour-long speech that earned him a standing ovation, Sangakkara charted the unique history of cricket in his country, and called on SLC to root out its corrupt practices and recognise the huge role the sport now needs to play in promoting reconciliation at the end of a 30-year civil war.
Sangakkara pinpointed the country's most powerful moment of national unity - the World Cup final victory over Australia in 1996 - as the moment the sport's administration changed "from a volunteer-led organisation run by well-meaning men of integrity into a multimillion-dollar organisation that has been in turmoil ever since".
His speech could fetch him serious repercussions but the board's only response so far has been to state that it is unable to comment given that the team is currently on tour in England.
Sri Lanka's ongoing tour of England has been dogged by controversy ever since Sanath Jayasuriya, now an MP with the ruling UPFA party, was recalled at the age of 41 to play in the one-off Twenty20 and the first ODI at The Oval, despite having been out of the side for nearly two years. Without mentioning names, Sangakkara voiced his concern at the direction the sport in his country is now heading.
"Players from within the team itself became involved in power games within the board," he said. "Officials elected to power in this way in turn manipulated player loyalty to achieve their own ends. At times board politics would spill over into the team causing rift, ill feeling and distrust.
"Accountability and transparency in administration and credibility of conduct were lost in a mad power struggle that would leave Sri Lankan cricket with no consistent and clear administration. Presidents and elected executive committees would come and go; government-picked interim committees would be appointed and dissolved."

Last week, Sri Lanka's sports ministry dissolved SLC's interim committee, following allegations of financial mismanagement that left the co-hosts of the recent World Cup with a US$ 69 million bill. That announcement followed the ICC meeting in Hong Kong, at which a directive was issued, stating that cricket boards had to be free of political interference by June 2013, or face the prospect of sanctions.
"After 1996 the cricket board has been controlled and administered by a handful of well-meaning individuals either personally or by proxy, rotated in and out, depending on appointment or election," Sangakkara said. "Unfortunately to consolidate and perpetuate their power, they opened the door of the administration to partisan cronies that would lead to corruption and wanton waste of cricket board finances and resources.
"It was and still is confusing. Accusations of vote buying and rigging, player interference due to lobbying from each side and even violence at the AGMs, including the brandishing of weapons and ugly fist fights, have characterised cricket board elections for as long as I can remember.
"We have to aspire to better administration. The administration needs to adopt the same values enshrined by the team over the years: integrity, transparency, commitment and discipline.
"Unless the administration is capable of becoming more professional, forward-thinking and transparent then we risk alienating the common man. Indeed, this is already happening. Loyal fans are becoming increasingly disillusioned. This is very dangerous because it is not the administrators or players that sustain the game - it is the cricket-loving public. It is their passion that powers cricket and if they turn their backs on cricket then the whole system will come crashing down."
Crucially for the future of Sri Lanka, that public consists of supporters from both sides of the bloody civil war that was finally concluded last year. However, as has been seen by the numerous Tamil protestors who have made their presence known during the current Test and ODI series, there is a danger that the current state of the sport will breed disenchantment rather than foster unity.
"Cricket played a crucial role during the dark days of Sri Lanka's civil war, a period of enormous suffering for all communities," Sangakkara said. "But the conduct and performance of the team will have even greater importance as we enter a crucial period of reconciliation and recovery, an exciting period where all Sri Lankans aspire to peace and unity.
"It is also an exciting period for cricket where the reintegration of isolated communities in the north and east opens up new talent pools. The Spirit of Cricket can and should remain a guiding force for good within society, providing entertain and fun, but also a shining example to all of how we all should approach our lives."

Government to intervene in Gayle-WICB standoff

2011-07-05T00:04:00.000-07:00

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government have decided to intervene in the West Indies Players Association's (WIPA) ongoing dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over the future of former captain Chris Gayle. The move comes on the heels of Gayle's public and emotionalstatement against the board over his continued exclusion from the team, including a request for government intervention.

CARICOM chairman Dr. Denzil Douglas said the heads of government had agreed to resurrect the prime-ministerial sub-committee on cricket to try to work out a solution. "Today we had to take certain decisions with regards to the impasse that seems to be ongoing between the regional players association and the WICB," Douglas told the CMC Sports Wire. "We believe that West Indies cricket has not been one of the vehicles of which the Caribbean man today can be proud of moving himself upwards."

CARICOM's announcement came after Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo's scathing criticism of the board in reaction to Gayle's statement. "It comes back to who owns West Indian cricket," Jagdeo said. "The board thinks it owns West Indian cricket, my belief is that it belongs to all of us, the people of this region.

"[In] many countries, when you have failures consistently, the board goes because sometimes it is the problem. Here it does not seem as if this is going to happen.

"Gayle is being treated unfairly by the WICB. You can't not tell him anything; he needs to earn too, and then you have a tour coming and when he goes off, he gets another contract then you're concerned that he has left the region."

Jagdeo also claimed the board was following its own agenda against some of the players, and was highly critical of coach Gibson's interference with senior cricketers.

"This can't be right. Something is wrong," Jagdeo said. "It is all about pettiness and the culture of going with people who are compliant and I think we need to change a lot of these people. We need to have term limits there too. We need to have serious term limits on these boards."

The Gayle-WICB standoff was sparked off when coach Ottis Gibson criticised the senior batsmen following the team's quarter-final exit at the World Cup. Gayle was subsequently ignored for the Pakistan series, along with fellow seniors Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Gayle travelled to India to participate in the Indian Premier League - where he was the player of the tournament - leaving the WICB disappointed since they were under the impression he was undergoing rehabilitation.

Gayle reacted by slamming the board in a radio interview with KLAS Sports, saying he had been left with no option but to sign an IPL contract since the WICB had disrespected and mistreated him by not checking with him over his fitness before announcing the squad. He was consequently left out of the squad for the India games as well, and a heated meeting with the board - also attended by WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine - did little to improve matters, prompting Gayle's impassioned release that stated he was going to seek options outside the West Indies to further his cricketing career.

Some of the toughest pitches I've faced' - Dravid

2011-07-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

Rahul Dravid has described India's Test series against West Indies as a tough learning experience for the younger batsmen and he hopes it will hold them in good stead for the future. India have not posted 300-plus in any of the four innings so far, but they lead the three-Test series 1-0 heading in to the final match.

"It's been tough for the batsmen," Dravid said. "It's not been easy for young batsmen to come in and face the new ball on these tracks. I have played four tours here and this has been some of the toughest tracks I have faced. Guys will learn a lot from this experience. It will hold them in good stead. As I was telling some of them they probably might not play on these kinds of tracks."

The likes of Virat Kohli and M Vijay haven't really come to the terms with the pitches and neither man has made 50 runs for the whole series. Vijay battled hard for nearly two hours in the first innings of the Test and Kohli fought hard in the second innings but neither converted their starts. Abhinav Mukund made 48 in the second innings but couldn't carry on. Dravid felt that the within the context of the series, India's batting had held up well.

"It's been a tough, hard series from the batsmen's perspective," he said. "The tracks have been slightly tilted towards bowlers, which is good. The West Indies'

bowling has been good. From that perspective we have been challenged in this series and that has been good. People might say the batting hasn't fired but in the context of the series we have not done too badly. The tracks have had pace and bounce compared to the tracks they played in ODIs and tracks we played last time. If not for rain in Barbados we would have had two results."

Dravid counted Ishant Sharma as one of the big positives to emerge from this series. "Ishant has been sensational. Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Abhimanyu Mithun and Amit Mishra all have done their job. The slip catching has been good. Touch wood, I hope I don't jinx it but slip catching has been top class. These are all the positives."
Ishant suffered a light cut under his eye while playing football in the training session today but Dravid said the injury wasn't serious. "Ishant has just a small bruise. A little bit of cut. He should be fine."
Dravid said India would go in to the final Test in Dominica with a winning mindset, rather than opting for safety first and trying to keep their 1-0 lead. "The Test match is an important one," Dravid said. "We are not worrying about the series. We've got the team to win this Test match. We would have liked to win the series in Barbados but to lose 130 overs due to rain was disappointing. We were in control of that Test match, especially from the second innings onwards. This is a good chance to win a series here again. We have to put up five days of big performance here."
Dravid said he hadn't seen the pitch yet but that he believed it would have some pace and bounce. "There will be some good atmosphere - this is the first Test match here and I believe when one-day match was played here there was good crowd," he said. "Hopefully they will come in for the Test."

Sangakkara slams corrupt administration By ESPN New's Feed

2011-07-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

In an extraordinary address at the MCC Spirit of Cricket Lecture at Lord's, Kumar Sangakkara has launched a scathing attack on the "partisan cronies" at Sri Lanka Cricket who blight the sport in his country, and who led him to resign the captaincy after only two years in charge, in the wake of the World Cup final in April.

In an hour-long speech that earned him a standing ovation, Sangakkara charted the unique history of cricket in his country, and called on Sri Lanka Cricket to root out its corrupt practices, and recognise the huge role that the sport now needs to play in promoting reconciliation at the end of a 30-year civil war.

Sangakkara pinpointed the country's most powerful moment of national unity - the World Cup final victory over Australia in 1996 - as the moment that the sport's administration changed "from a volunteer-led organisation run by well-meaning men of integrity into a multimillion-dollar organisation that has been in turmoil ever since."

The current tour of England has been dogged by controversy ever since Sanath Jayasuriya, now an MP with the ruling UPFA party, was recalled at the age of 41 to play in the one-off Twenty20 and the first ODI at The Oval, despite having been out of the side for nearly two years. Without naming names, Sangakkara voiced his concern at the direction the sport in his country is now heading.

"Players from within the team itself became involved in power games within the

board," he said. "Officials elected to power in this way in turn manipulated player loyalty to achieve their own ends. At times board politics would spill over into the team causing rift, ill feeling and distrust."

"Accountability and transparency in administration and credibility of conduct were lost in a mad power struggle that would leave Sri Lankan cricket with no consistent and clear administration. Presidents and elected executive committees would come and go; government-picked interim committees would be appointed and dissolved."
Last week, Sri Lanka's sports minister announced that the entire national cricket board committee would be forced to step down, following allegations of financial mismanagement that left the co-hosts of the recent World Cup with a $69 million bill. That announcement followed the ICC meeting in Hong Kong, at which a directive was issued, stating that cricket boards had to be free of political interference by June 2013, or face the prospect of sanctions.
"After 1996 the cricket board has been controlled and administered by a handful of well-meaning individuals either personally or by proxy rotated in and out depending on appointment or election," said Sangakkara. "Unfortunately to consolidate and perpetuate their power they opened the door of the administration to partisan cronies that would lead to corruption and wanton waste of cricket board finances and resources.
"It was and still is confusing. Accusations of vote buying and rigging, player interference due to lobbying from each side and even violence at the AGMs, including the brandishing of weapons and ugly fist fights, have characterised cricket board elections for as long as I can remember.
"We have to aspire to better administration. The administration needs to adopt the same values enshrined by the team over the years: integrity, transparency, commitment and discipline.
"Unless the administration is capable of becoming more professional, forward-thinking and transparent then we risk alienating the common man. Indeed, this is already happening. Loyal fans are becoming increasingly disillusioned. This is very dangerous because it is not the administrators or players that sustain the game - it is the cricket-loving public. It is their passion that powers cricket and if they turn their backs on cricket then the whole system will come crashing down."
Crucially for the future of Sri Lanka, that public consists of supporters from both sides of the bloody civil war that was finally concluded last year. However, as has been seen by the numerous Tamil protestors who have made their presence known during the current Test and ODI series, there is a danger that the current state of the sport will breed disenchantment rather than foster unity.
"Cricket played a crucial role during the dark days of Sri Lanka's civil war, a period of enormous suffering for all communities," said Sangakkara. "But the conduct and performance of the team will have even greater importance as we enter a crucial period of reconciliation and recovery, an exciting period where all Sri Lankans aspire to peace and unity.
"It is also an exciting period for cricket where the reintegration of isolated communities in the north and east opens up new talent pools. The Spirit of Cricket can and should remain a guiding force for good within society, providing entertain and fun, but also a shining example to all of how we all should approach our lives."

Sarwan dropped for final Test

2011-07-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies batsman, has been dropped for the third and final Test against India in Dominica. Kieran Powell, a 21-year-old batsman from Leeward Islands, has been named as his replacement.

Sarwan, 31, has struggled since his return to the Test squad after nearly one-and-a-half years for the series against Pakistan in May. He managed only 54 runs in four innings against Pakistan, and his form nosedived further in the series against India, in which he scored only 29 runs over the first two Tests. Sarwan seemed to have been informed of his axing soon after the second Test in Barbados ended in a draw. An hour after bad light ensured a draw, Sarwan tweeted: "Wishing the guys all the best in Dominica! Miami here I come."

Clyde Butts, chairman of the selection committee, expected Sarwan to make a strong comeback. "Ramnaresh is having a difficult time and it is best for him to make way and allow a player in better form to contribute to the team totals," he said. "We have no doubt about Ramnaresh's class as a batsman, he has proven himself countless times in the past and we are certain that he will return stronger in the near future."

Sarwan's replacement, Powell, played two one-dayers for West Indies in 2009, when the entire first-choice team pulled out of a home series against Bangladesh and the Champions Trophy in South Africa due to a contract dispute. He was among the first batch of players to train at the Sagicor High Performance Centre after it was established in 2010. He has played 23 first-class matches since his debut in 2008 and averages 38.91.

"Kieran is young but has been on the first-class circuit for some time and is a former Windies Under -19 World Cup player," Butts said. "He did well for the West Indies A and scored an impressive hundred against England Lions in the WICB Regional 4 Day Tournament but got injured subsequently. We believe he has bright future and this is an excellent opportunity for him to show his worth on the international stage."

West Indies are trailing 0-1 in the series against India and need to win in Dominica, which will host its first ever Test from July 6.

Squad Adrian Barath, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Devendra Bishoo, Kirk Edwards, Kemar Roach, Kieron Powell

Chandimal century seals crushing victory By ESPN New's Feed

2011-07-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka 249 for 4 (Chandimal 105*, Jayawardene 79) beat England 246 for 7 (Cook 119, Pietersen 41) by six wickets

As South Africa's former coach, Mickey Arthur, once put it: "Mother cricket has a funny habit of biting you in the bum if you mess with it". Sri Lanka's 21-year-old matchwinner, Dinesh Chandimal, was clearly oblivious to those words of wisdom, as he and his fifth-wicket partner, Angelo Mathews, gave England a brief glimmer of an unexpected reprieve, before completing a crushing victory in the third ODI at Lord's.

In the end, victory was sealed with six wickets and ten balls to spare, but Chandimal's quest for a maiden Lord's century - which he sealed with a cathartic six over long-on in the 48th over, after Mathews had played out a maiden at the other end - left more than a few anxious faces up on the dressing-room balcony.

Mathews and Chandimal seemed oblivious to all the gesticulations from on high, and perhaps they had a point - despite the artificial drama, this was one-day cricket at its most one-sided. After choosing to bat first, England's 246 for 7 always seemed at least 40 runs below par, despite a determined 119 from 143 balls from England's captain, Alastair Cook, a player whose one-day credentials remain under severe scrutiny - not least from his No. 1 critic, Mike Atherton, whose post-match interview for Sky was noticeably terse after his recent denunciation of Cook as a "plodder".

Being a realist, Cook will himself know he still has plenty to prove. His guts and determination were not in question in this performance, but aside from another broken promise of an innings from Kevin Pietersen, no-one in the

England team batted at anything like the tempo expected in modern-day one-day cricket. It is a moot point whether Cook was a factor in that failure or the only saving grace, but as Jayawardene and Chandimal later demonstrated, there's an art to unobtrusive run-making, and it's one that England's captain still has to master.

Jayawardene's preferred method is to caress rather than bludgeon, and that trait was on display once again as he took the lead in the first Powerplay, hoisting Sri Lanka to 61 for 1 in ten overs, compared to England's sluggish mark of 32 for 2 at the same stage. At the other end, Chandimal played the supporting role to perfection, before growing into his responsibility to see the game to its conclusion after each of the four current and former captains in Sri Lanka's line-up had departed the scene before him.

Despite an apparent susceptibility to the short ball, which England set about exploiting at regular opportunities, Chandimal announced his presence with two flashing boundaries in his first eight deliveries, then followed up by driving Bresnan on the up through extra cover for another four. He brought up his fifty from a steady 73 balls, then raised his aggression levels as the victory drew nigh, and that tantalising prospect of a century closed in.

With seven overs of the innings remaining, Chandimal had 87 to his name, and Sri Lanka needed only 17 for victory. Mathews' response was to block his way to one run from 21 balls, to give his colleague as much of a chance as possible. A Dernbach maiden in the 47th over briefly ended up with both batsmen at the same end, but two balls later - and after several gloves and replacement bats from an increasingly irate dressing-room - Chandimal cleared his front leg to Bresnan, and smacked him high over mid-on for the most joyful hit of his young life.

England's only other moment of real pressure had been of a less contrived variety - between overs 24 and 34, when James Anderson and Dernbach located some handy swing to keep Sri Lanka's ambitions in check. By that stage, however, they were already some 40 runs ahead of the required rate, thanks to Jaywardene's effortless rush of runs in the Powerplay. As soon as the mandatory ball-change had taken place, the lateral movement vanished, and with it the threat.

After the failure of their pursuit of 310 at Leeds, England had resisted the temptation to tinker with their line-up, but the early overs of their innings set an unfortunate precedent. Cook had one major let-off when Jayawardene dropped him at slip on 15, but he did his best to prevent the run-rate from stalling with five boundaries in the first Powerplay, all square of the wicket. However, his first two partners, Craig Kieswetter and Jonathan Trott, managed five singles from 26 balls between them to reduce the tempo to a crawl.

It needed the arrival of Pietersen to transform England's intent. In one over from Lakmal he pounded three fours in a row, but the introduction of Sri Lanka's spinners stemmed the boundary flow and induced the error, as Pietersen climbed into a slog-sweep but top-edged his stroke to deep midwicket. It was the third time in three innings that he had fallen to Mendis, and two overs later, the legspinner had doubled his tally, when Morgan missed a quicker, straighter delivery, and was rapped on the pad in front of middle and leg.

At 88 for 4 after 22 overs, England had neither runs on the board nor wickets in hand, and though Cook did keep the home fires burning with a 127-ball century, his subsequent attempts to clear the boundary betrayed the shortcomings in his one-day game. He was badly dropped at point by Thilina Kandamby off Malinga on 103, and regularly lost his shape while winding up for the big shot, even though he finally connected with two fours through midwicket in the 49th over to give the run-rate a belated jolt.

Graeme Swann swiped ten runs from the last two balls of the innings, including England's only six, over midwicket, but even at that stage, Sri Lanka were confident of victory. Just how confident became clear when Chandimal and Mathews started toying with the game in the closing stages. When your opponents start taking the mickey mid-match, you know your strategies are in troubl

England eye quick recovery By ESPN New's Feed

2011-07-03T02:38:00.000-07:00

It has taken just two matches for Alastair Cook to experience the full spectrum of emotions England one-day captains are routinely subjected to. A near-perfect performance at The Oval was followed by a shoddy one at Headingley, where Sri Lanka outgunned the home side in every department. It seems difficult to remember - especially after their World Cup showing - that England were actually making significant progress as an ODI side last year. After their Champions Trophy eureka-moment in autumn 2009, when they decided to shelve the caution that left them out of step with the modern game, they won five series in a row.

Though Cook is looking for a similar consistency, the brazen approach that underpinned England's success then won't always deliver. At The Oval, once rain

reduced the game to 32-overs a side, England happily blazed away to good effect. Set 310 at Headingley they again had little choice but to attack, but the approach was much less successful as the heart of the top order - Craig Kieswetter, Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan - was dismissed looking for boundaries. Yet keeping the faith in the 'fearless cricket' that all the players promise is England's best hope of building on last year's progress.

Sri Lanka have no such worries. As a limited-overs side they are completely clear on how to approach both setting and chasing totals. They possess two of the classiest batsmen in the world in Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara as well as two fine strokemakers in Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews. Conditions at Headingley suited them perfectly (as those at The Oval did England) and their batsmen left England's bowlers looking toothless before their spin attack left England's batsmen looking clueless.

The two one-sided matches have meant that, in keeping with the stuttering international summer, the series is yet to kick into life. Lord's is the ideal setting to change that. The weather is set fair, the pitch will be flat and a sellout crowd will lend an atmosphere that the series has lacked so far. Sri Lanka have little reason to deviate from the team that brought the 69-run Headingley win but England will be tempted to make changes. Graeme Swann was their best bowler in the last game and Cook may want a second slow-bowling option in Samit Patel. Jonathan Trott came in for familiar criticism for clogging up the middle overs with dot balls but, despite his 39 from 54, his record - averaging 53.68 from 27 games - is outstanding.

West Indies hang on for a grim draw By ESPN New's Feed

2011-07-03T02:35:00.000-07:00

India 201 (Laxman 85, Raina 53, Rampaul 3-38, Bishoo 3-46, Edwards 3-56) and 269 for 6 decl. (Laxman 87, Dravid 55, Edwards 5-76) drew with West Indies 190 (Samuels 78*, Ishant 6-55) and 202 for 7 (Bravo 73, Baugh 46*, Ishant 4-53)

Close to 128 overs of play lost to the elements, Barbados still managed to produce a dramatic draw. On the final day, India made a bold declaration to bring the Test to life, and Darren Bravo sucked the life right out of it with an innings of application and resolve. India set West Indies 281 to get in 83 overs, Ishant Sharma helped them take early wickets, but Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carlton Baugh thwarted India for 322 deliveries between them.

There were two twists in the final session. An ordinary lbw call against Chanderpaul, followed by Marlon Samuels' wicket, would surely have sparked controversy had West Indies lost the match. With a maximum of 36 overs remaining, Bravo and Baugh put up further resistance. Baugh attacked too. At one point the target came down to 102 off 19.3 overs, and he kept India honest with the odd blow after that.
Rain intervened, India came back with two quick wickets to turn the equation to three wickets required in 10.4 overs, but quite fittingly bad light brought the match to a premature end.

There was a rain break just before the start of the mandatory overs, prior to which Baugh had hit Abhimanyu Mithun for three back-to-back boundaries. The rain break was a bit instructive as to where the teams stood with regards to the result. Even as the Indian players hung about, hoping that it would just be a passing shower, Bravo and Baugh wasted little time in getting back to the dressing room.

It was huge credit to the quality of the pitch that we came this close to a result. Some of the credit has to go to MS Dhoni, too, for making the declaration 67 minutes into the day. It was a huge departure from the usual for Dhoni. His previous third-innings declarations have left sides chasing 516, 403 and 617 respectively.

Credit also has to go Ishant, who became only the seventh Indian pace bowler to claim a Test 10-wicket haul. He backed up Dhoni's declaration with aggressive bowling at the start, in the middle, and also in the end. The quality of the pitch and the opposition would have played a big role in the declaration, but West Indies showed character in saving the game. Especially pleasing would be that following Marlon Samuels in the first innings, another flamboyant batsman, Bravo, played with restraint for the larger cause.

Bravo came in to bat in the seventh over, after both Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan had fallen chasing wide deliveries. Adrian Barath hung around for 64 deliveries, but he was worked over by Ishant. An inswinger was followed by one that left him, after which Ishant produced one that got big on Barath and took the shoulder of the bat.

At that point 65 overs still remained. Ishant and Praveen Kumar worked hard for the next seven overs, but Chanderpaul and Bravo looked solid for the most part. If this situation was right up Chanderpaul's alley, it was a less familiar experience for Bravo. That showed in how he felt the need to score every now and then. To play the release shot every once in a while. Defending for long durations can get pretty tense, with close-in fielders ready to pounce on any edge. Bravo released that tension at the first sighting of Mithun, driving and glancing him for two boundaries in his first over.

Chanderpaul at the other end batted like he was born to do just this: save Test matches for West Indies, batting aggressors into submission. He kept leaving balls even marginally outside off. When he did play he did so with soft hands. He spent 16 balls on 5, and 23 on 9, but India couldn't draw a false stroke out of him. Bravo, who stayed impressive when defending, kept playing the odd shot in between, including a slog sweep off Harbhajan Singh through midwicket.

Soon after tea, though, Chanderpaul was given lbw off an offbreak hitting him outside off, and heading further away. Ishant followed that up with Samuels' wicket off an inswinger. While Bravo remained solid as ever, India sensed an opportunity with Baugh, who despite a superb series behind the wicket is considered under pressure for the want of runs.

Harbhajan Singh, who had got Baugh three times previously in the series, attacked him with men all around the bat. An edge appeared off the fifth ball, but Dhoni dropped it. Baugh had by then realised he might not have the defensive technique suitable for the task, and began to attack in order to get the fielders out of his face. It worked. After slog-sweeping Harbhajan for a six, Baugh went after Mithun, and with the target not impossible, India took a step back.

Towards the end, though, Bravo finally lost concentration, following a wide delivery from Mithun, ending what has to be best Test innings so far. Ishant swooped in again, making Sammy his 10th victim, with a yorker, but in fading light that's all we had time for.

Harper withdraws from Dominica Test By ESPN New's Feed

2011-07-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Umpire Daryl Harper has withdrawn from the third Test between the West Indies and India in Dominica that begins from July 6. Harper will be replaced in what was to be his final outing as a member of the elite panel by Richard Kettleborough .

He decided to step down "in the wake of some unfair criticism," according to ICC general manager Dave Richardson. Harper had been removed from the elite panel in May along with Asoka de Silva. His decisions in the recent Kingston Test had also attracted some criticism with MS Dhoni saying that "if the correct decisions were made, the game would have finished much earlier and I would have been in the hotel by now."

Richardson, though, defended Harper's decision-making record. "The reality of the situation is that Daryl's statistics show his correct decision percentage in Tests involving India is 96 per cent, which is considerably higher than the international average for top-level umpires.

"We have every faith in Daryl to finish the series and while we regret his decision we do respect it. The real shame is it deprives him of the opportunity to sign off as a Test match umpire in a manner befitting someone who has served the game so well since making his international debut back in 1994."

Harper stood in 95 Tests, 174 ODIs and 10 T20Is, making his international ODI debut in 1994 at Perth and his Test debut in November 1998.

Solid India rule out defeat, set for victory push By ESPN New's Feed

2011-07-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

India 201 and 229 for 3 (Laxman 72*, Dravid 55) lead West Indies 190 by 240 runs

India batted West Indies out of the game through a cautious second-innings effort on the fourth day. Only 90 minutes were lost to rain, a vast improvement on the previous two days, but scoring remained difficult on a difficult track with ample bounce and seam movement. West Indies were thwarted by two rookies - Abhinav Mukund and Virat Kohli - and two veterans - Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. At some time during the Dravid-Laxman association, the hosts resigned themselves to waiting for a declaration.

The declaration wasn't quite on India's mind on the fourth day; they needed to make sure they got into a position of safety first. Looking at just the scorecard, it might be easy to criticise India's pace - 206 runs added in 83.2 overs - but on the lively pitch that must have also retained moisture, under overcast skies, with low bounce creeping in, and on a heavy outfield, they couldn't quite afford to be casual.

That batting wouldn't be easy was clear from the first 10 minutes or so, when Ravi Rampaul removed M Vijay with a late outswinger. Another low score wasn't a great result for Vijay a day before selection for the England tour.

Dravid had similar problems with away swing and extra bounce, but he managed to keep the ball down with soft hands and an angled bat, getting eight runs off two deliveries that could have easily taken his wicket early on. The bottom hand kept coming off the bat as Rampaul got the ball to rear up from a length. Dravid was 9 off 32 when he flicked uppishly towards square leg, but the replays couldn't conclusively prove that Adrian Barath completed a clean catch. Nor did the replays prove otherwise.

While Dravid remained solid after that shot, Abhinav gave a better account of himself than he did in Jamaica. As Sunil Gavaskar observed, he made an adjustment to his technique, preferring moving back and across to the forward press that was a feature of his batting in Jamaica. He wasn't completely comfortable, but he didn't back away from the menacing bounce. He copped one on the helmet, but otherwise picked runs off deflections. Once in, he played a good-looking cover-drive off the comparatively slower Darren Sammy, and was good square on off side against the quicker bowlers too.

Fidel Edwards, though, softened him up with bouncers after lunch. After he managed to get out of the line of two accurate bouncers, both kicking off a length, Abhinav got one with his name on it. This time he dropped the bottom hand, but the ball had the top hand on its mind, denying him what would have been a maiden international fifty.

That brought together the old firm of Dravid and Laxman, who denied the bowlers until they started bowling well outside off. Laxman, who scored 85 in the first innings, looked hardly in any trouble. He was welcomed with a searing bouncer, but the next one he pulled away for four.

The ball still misbehaved, the bat handles still kept getting jammed, the bats still kept getting beaten, but the outside edges were not to be found. Inch by inch, the partnership aggregate went to 3,682 runs, No. 11 on the all-time list. Unsurprisingly a ridiculously misjudged single provided West Indies the only chance during their 65-run partnership, but the throw from cover missed the stumps. Dravid was 32 then, India 111. By the time the next chance arrived, through a fastish offcutter from Edwards, Dravid had reached 55, and India 154.

Then came a spell of play Kohli will look back at with much satisfaction. Edwards to Kohli so far in the series has featured bouncers, fuller ones, blown kisses, patted backs. Edwards resumed much of the same. Two slips, a gully, a forward short leg and a backward short leg awaited as Edwards bowled bouncers in the vicinity of 90mph. The first few weren't quite accurate, and Kohli avoided them. At the other end, incredibly Kohli was allowed to bat with a long-off in place. He still was in no hurry, and was still on a pair when Edwards started afresh. This bouncer was accurate, jumped towards Kohli's throat, hit the handle, and fell just wide of the diving forward short leg. Eighteen balls on a pair. A near catch. Laxman walked up, said something, patted Kohli's back. Next ball bouncer. Back in the crease. Pull. Six.

This series is the first time in Kohli's career that he has been made to look a bit out of place, but he fought with discipline to come back unbeaten on 25 off 97. After testing him at the start of the innings, West Indies were too quick to spread the fields, and didn't even take the new ball in the evening, an acceptance that only one team could now force a result.

Walking back with Kohli was Laxman, whom West Indies failed to ruffle. The pair had helped give India an opportunity to score quick runs on the fifth morning and allow their bowlers to have a crack at West Indies in the chase.

Ishant takes two on half-day By ESPN New's Feed

2011-06-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

West Indies 98 for 5 (Ishant 3-31) trail India 201 by 103 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Regular showers and fading light allowed only 25.3 overs on the second day in Bridgetown, but there was enough time for Ishant Sharma to extend his domination of Ramnaresh Sarwan, and for Marlon Samuels and Shivnarine Chanderpaul to show discipline and prevent an impressive Praveen Kumar from inflicting even more telling blows. Ishant also removed the nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo before taking Sarwan out for a third time in 24 deliveries in this series.

Early-morning showers meant there was moisture in the pitch; the ball was only 12-overs old, and the bowlers fresh. It was always going to be a tough first session - shortened by 45 minutes - and it showed in how Ishant had both Sarwan and Bishoo edging through, and just over, a catching cordon that could have been more alert.

Sarwan's nick flew not too far over Suresh Raina's head at third slip, Bishoo's went not too far to the left of M Vijay at third slip, but neither man went for the catch. MS Dhoni provided for the second contingency by crowding the cordon so much there was no gap left between him and the gully. The bounce that Ishant extracted was too much for Bishoo, and soon enough he steered one straight to gully, ending the 23-run fourth-wicket partnership. Sarwan, not at all at ease with the bounce and the movement, found himself caught at the crease to a full inswinger two balls later, the second time he has been trapped by Ishant's inward movement.

With his accuracy and swing either way, Praveen was in the middle of an even better spell, beating both edges of the bat, making batsmen play regularly. That West Indies could still think of a first-innings lead was down to good defensive batting from Samuels and Chanderpaul, who batted 19.3 overs for just 41 runs. They both played as late as possible - if they had to - and even when Samuels edged Praveen once he did so with soft hands, just teasing the cordon.

Runs mainly come in nudges, deflections and no-balls (five of them), but Samuels was also alert to loose deliveries. There weren't too many of them on offer, but the two times he got short and wide deliveries, he cut them away from fours. One of them was the last ball before lunch, after which only 8.3 overs of play was possible.

nderson stars 110 V/S Sri lanka

2011-06-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

England 229 for 8 (Kieswetter 61, Morgan 45) beat Sri Lanka 121 (Anderson 4-18, Swann 3-18) by 110 runs

Alastair Cook's personal contribution may have been modest in the extreme, but he will not care a jot about that, after England's new era of ODI cricket was launched with a crushing 110-run victory over Sri Lanka at The Oval. James Anderson was the hero with a spell of three wickets in his first 17 balls, and 4 for 18 all told, as the same opponents who brought England's World Cup campaign to a humiliating conclusion in Colombo three months ago were themselves rolled aside for 121 in a rain-affected encounter.

As grudge matches go, this was not exactly a high-octane encounter. Long before a three-hour delay for a thunderstorm had reduced the contest to 32 overs a side, the peculiar comings and goings of Sanath Jayasuriya had reduced the contest to something of a circus. Nevertheless, for Anderson, there was personal atonement at stake. He had not even been selected for that ten-wicket trouncing at the World Cup, after succumbing to exhaustion towards the end of England's winter odyssey. But under the Oval floodlights he demonstrated his qualities in an irresistible performance, which also included a brilliant leap at midwicket to give Jade Dernbach his maiden ODI wicket.

All throughout the winter, one-day wickets proved hard for Anderson to come by - he managed 11 in 83 overs all told. So it was richly ironic that his first breakthrough of the evening came with one of the worst balls he's bowled all year. Tillakaratne Dilshan, whose century in Colombo had helped condemn England to defeat, marked his return from a broken thumb with a flicked pull off a leg-side long-hop, and Tim Bresnan at fine leg hardly had to move to complete a simple dismissal.

Bresnan, who was himself back in the team after recovering from a calf strain, had earlier helped England post a competitive target of 232 with four fours in consecutive legitimate deliveries. He then reduced Sri Lanka to 6 for 2 after ten balls, as Jayasuriya's 445th and final ODI appearance ended with a rifled cut to Eoin Morgan in the gully. Anderson then trapped Mahela Jayawardene plumb lbw with a nipbacker, and three balls later, Sri Lanka had passed the point of no return at 15 for 4, as Kumar Sangakkara chipped a return catch to the same bowler.

The remainder of the innings was a tactical saunter for Cook, who made his first bowling change in the ninth over as his fellow England captain Stuart Broad came into the attack (for another less-than-convincing spell, it has to be said). Dernbach then used the familiarity of his Surrey home ground and the placid match situation to help himself to impressive debut figures of 2 for 25, before Suraj Randiv and Lasith Malinga biffed a ninth-wicket stand of 52 to massage the final margin. At no stage, however, could Sri Lanka threaten a comeback, and Graeme Swann sealed the deal with three cheap wickets in five overs.

All in all, it was a richly satisfying day for Captain Cook - his fourth victory in as many ODIs at the helm, after a 3-0 series win in Bangladesh last year. His intention of leading from the front had fallen a touch flat after Malinga strangled him down the leg-side for a three-ball 5, but at least he could say he had improved his career ODI strike-rate of 71.

After being asked to bat first, England's momentum was further thwarted when the heavens opened after seven overs, with their innings uninspiringly placed at 35 for 1. However, when they resumed with 18 overs shaved off their allocation, Craig Kieswetter produced his best England performance since the World Twenty20 final in May 2010. He raised his tempo from a cautious 13 from 23 balls at the break to an ambitious 61 from 56, before he took on the slog-sweep against Randiv and top-edged a simple chance to Suranga Lakmal at short third man.

Jonathan Trott, England's unsung hero from an erratic World Cup campaign, continued in his unflappable vein, picking off five fours with scarcely a shot in anger to reach 23 from 24 balls, while Kevin Pietersen looked in prime touch before slapping a first-ball long-hop from Jeevan Mendis to midwicket. But England's other key contributor was Morgan, whose inventive repertoire was once again on show as he picked off a total of six fours in his 35-ball 45, before one lofted drive too many resulted in a simple catch for Thilina Kandamby at long-off.

From 142 for 3 after 20 overs, England stuttered to 194 for 6 after 29, before a late volley of boundaries from Bresnan allowed them to finish with a flourish. In the end, however, it was not even close. That's generally been the rule for limited-overs encounters between these two teams, but on this occasion, the tables were turned emphatically.

Honours even after 13 wickets on first day By ESPN New's Feed

2011-06-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

West Indies 30 for 3 (Ishant 1-8, Praveen 1-15, Mithun 1-7) trail India 201 (Laxman 85, Raina 53, Rampaul 3-38, Bishoo 3-46, Edwards 3-56) by 171 runs

The first day of the first Test nearly replayed itself on the first day of the second Test, albeit on a much truer and bouncier pitch. Ravi Rampaul ran through the top order again, with figures of 8-5-4-3 at lunch. Suresh Raina was again involved in a middle-session comeback, only this time the dominating partner in that partnership was the soothing VVS Laxman. It would have been too much to keep him from runs on difficult tracks for the third time in a row. Once again West Indies roared back in the final session through Devendra Bishoo's big wickets and Fidel Edward's sharp pace. To add more to an eventful day, Indian bowlers got rid of the openers for next to nothing in the last hour.

There was a lot of pace, a lot of bounce, bouncers, yorkers, some turn, there were lovely wristy flicks and whips, there were cover-drives. It went 38 for 4 to 155 for 4 to 201 all out, and then 30 for 3. You'll have trouble fitting in more twists and action in one day of cricket.

This was without doubt the closest pitch to what West Indies would have desired. True and high bounce, some moisture, and they won the toss and asked India to face the music. Rampaul's tune wasn't quite music for India, though. For the fourth time out of seven this season, he began an innings with a wicket in his first over. Abhinav Mukund was the unlucky one this one, falling to one that jumped off a length and took the shoulder of his bat. It could be argued that he could have left it alone on line.

Edwards was almost like a kid in a toy store, bowling bouncer after bouncer, getting carried away, making the batsmen play only 10 times in his first four overs. Captain Darren Sammy brought himself on early, and with his seventh delivery removed the man he had famously dropped in Jamaica. This was also perhaps the ball of the session: pitching on off, kicking at Rahul Dravid, leaving him, taking the glove.

M Vijay showed a mix of restraint and indiscipline in his 75-ball stay for 11, and with Edwards being ineffective even in his second spell India seemed on their way to recovery. Around 15 minutes before lunch, though, Rampaul came back with telling impact. With the first ball he got Vijay caught down the leg side, with the third he made Kohli look worse than he has in his young and promising international career. The ball angled in to him, left him after pitching, bounced high, and even as Kohli was preparing to play it, the ball hit the glove and lobbed off. As Jeff Dujon said, "The ball played him."

Laxman, no stranger to scores such as 38 for 4, showed up after having gone AWOL in Jamaica. It was business as usual for him. With others around him in shackles, Laxman scored fluently and yet non-violently. First he pulled the bouncers for boundaries to put an end to the short-pitched stuff. In the last over before his lunch, he smacked Bishoo through midwicket.

He feasted on Rampaul when back from lunch. He whipped the first ball he faced in the second session past mid-on for two. The next he punched past point for four, and then glanced another for four more. If West Indies were not worried yet, Raina pulled out a couple of unorthodox shots, and we now had a sweeper-cover to allow them the singles.

When Edwards worked up some pace in the afternoon, Laxman was good at dropping his wrists under a 92mph bouncer. The sucker ball he flicked away fine of fine leg to reach his fifty out of a score for 93 for 4. There were signs that West Indies backed off too soon, as displayed by the presence of the sweeper-cover early on in the partnerships. Singles came, Raina's fifty came, the partnership's 100 came, tea came, but West Indies search for inspiration bore no result.

And then Bishoo found extra bounce, into Raina's thigh pad, getting him caught bat-pad. Raina's reaction suggested he hadn't hit it. Front-on replays backed Raina's claims, but one of the angles didn't entirely rule out a touch of the glove. Had the DRS been employed in this series without the Hot Spot, it would have proved useless.

Be that as it may, nothing should take away from an entertaining Edwards spell. There were two sets of five wides over the head, there were no-balls, and there was serious pace and bounce. MS Dhoni fell to one that stopped, Harbhajan Singh found out he would need to fend at a bouncer to protect his face, Abhimanyu Mithun lost his leg stump while trying to save his legs.

At the other end, Laxman became the fourth Indian to 8000 Test runs overall and 1000 in the West Indies, but with wickets falling at the other end, runs dried up. Having scored just 12 off the previous 32 deliveries, Laxman went for the cut, the Bishoo legbreak got big on him, and was caught at cover-point.

With the ball swinging and bouncing, India added the final touches of evenness to the day's proceedings by taking three wickets before stumps. Adrian Barath played a strange shot, guiding a rising Ishant Sharma delivery to gully, right off the middle of the bat. Lendl Simmons fell to Praveen Kumar's late away swing. In the last over of the day, Abhimany Mithun produced a caught-behind verdict against Darren Bravo, who wasn't impressed, but again he would have struggled to prove the umpire wrong, so inconclusive were the replays.

Another four-day finish was on the cards.

A victory for both ICC and BCCI - BY ESPN news Feed

2011-06-27T23:41:00.000-07:00

The decision to make a modified DRS mandatory across Tests and ODIs is being considered a victory by both sides. The BCCI was quick to emphasise that they had not changed their stance on the DRS and the ICC was confident it had won over the last and strongest opponent of the review system in its previous form.

At the end of a day that contained several meetings at the annual conference in Hong Kong, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat had only one comment to make. "This is only the end of day two of what is a Test match," he told ESPNcricinfo as he left a cocktail party held for all the delegates.

The DRS decision had not been brought to a vote during the morning session of the chief executives' committee meeting. Later in the afternoon, the word "unanimous" was quickly and repeatedly used to explain how smoothly all the differences had been resolved.

The discussions over the DRS and the FTP were expected to begin on the first day of the ICC's conference, along with the cricket committee's other recommendations concerning playing conditions. ESPNcricinfo learned that they were deferred to the second day because there were said to be fairly frosty exchanges during the meeting. Members were given the impression by the BCCI's statements that there was a possibility that the FTP's final design could be linked to their opinions on how the DRS recommendation was handled at the meeting. Some officials strongly implied this was the case, though others like Gerald Majola, the Cricket South Africa chief executive, dismissed it outright.

The FTP agreement, which has been sent up to the ICC's executive board for approval, is vital for all Members as television rights are sold based on the itineraries drawn up in advance. The presence of India in the schedule brings the largest chunk of member boards' earnings. It is important to note that seven of the ten Full Member nations (excluding Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India) will draft new television deals in the next 12 months. Any freeze in relations with India reflecting in the FTP would have a direct bearing on the value of those broadcasting agreements.

When the meetings resumed on Monday the common opinion was that, while everyone agreed on the necessity of the DRS, it would be advisable to opt only for the technologies that everyone agreed with. This led to the ball-tracking technology being removed and the infra-red camera being included in the list of mandatory requirements for the DRS.

The BCCI's acceptance of the DRS is particularly ironic. The suggestion of a review system for umpiring decisions was first brought to the ICC's attention, an official said, "about six to eight years ago," by Duncan Fletcher - then coaching England but now working with the Indian team. In his first press conference as India coach, Fletcher's comment on the DRS was cut short by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan with the statement, "Mr. Fletcher doesn't know BCCI's stance on DRS". It has now changed. Or perhaps it has been allowed to stay the same.

Australia appoint Rixon as fielding coach By ESPN News Feed

2011-06-27T23:38:00.000-07:00

Australia's off-season coaching appointments have been completed with Steve Rixon, the former wicketkeeper, named as the new fielding coach. Rixon joins the new bowling coach Craig McDermott and the assistant Justin Langer as the panel that will help the head coach Tim Nielsen as Australia aim to climb their way back up the Test rankings.

Rixon, 57, has replaced Mike Young, the former baseballer who spent the best part of a decade working with the Australia team. A gloveman who played 13 Tests and six one-day internationals for Australia, Rixon has also had a lengthy coaching career, in charge of New South Wales and New Zealand during the 1990s before a second stint with New South Wales; in total he steered the Blues to four Sheffield Shield titles.

It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Rixon, though, and a two-year appointment with Surrey ended unsuccessfully. He also joined the now-defunct Indian Cricket League, before finding a job as an assistant to Stephen Fleming with the two-time champions the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, and he helped them win the Champions League in 2010.

Wade Seccombe, the former Queensland wicketkeeper, appeared to have the front-running to become Australia's new fielding coach after he joined the squad on the tour of Bangladesh in April. However, Cricket Australia's acting CEO Michael Brown said Rixon would be a valuable addition to the coaching staff.

"We are very excited Steve is joining our staff as a fielding coach," Brown said. "His experience as a player and successful coach at both domestic and international level will be invaluable for our group as we prepare for tough tours to Sri Lanka and South Africa in the next six months. The group of coaches we now have in place has a great blend of coaching expertise and cricket experience to benefit this developing Australian side and Steve has an important role to play as we move forward."

Rixon said he was thrilled to be working with the team during the coming tours. "Fielding skills play such an important role in the modern game and often proves the difference between winning and losing," Rixon said. "I feel my experience firstly as a player and more importantly a successful coach across the world can help many of these young Australian players, together with the outstanding group of assistants Tim Nielsen has at his disposal.

"The Australian team has long been known as one of the best fielding sides in world cricket and my job will not only be to maintain the good work done before but about setting the benchmark for opposition sides."

Badrinath's last chance at redemption

2011-06-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

It's easy to like Yusuf Pathan. It's easy to grow to like Badrinath. Yusuf can thrill you with his big hits; he appeals with his primal spirit and gives you instant gratification. Badrinath, with his years of hard toil in domestic cricket, can make you sympathetic to his cause. However, both are guilty of throwing away the great opportunity presented to them in the ongoing ODI series in the West Indies. Especially Badrinath, who is yet to prove that he belongs on the international stage.

It wasn't that long ago when Dale Steyn made Badrinath look out of his depth in a Test in India. Here, in the West Indies, Andre Russell, nowhere close to Steyn in class or pace, made Badrinath hop and jump awkwardly on a docile pitch. Badrinath is not a very wristy player; his strokeplay is all arms. Under pressure, those hands start gripping the bat tighter, the arms start stabbing, and the ball doesn't seem to move off the turf. It looks like a struggle, it feels like a struggle and perhaps, it is a struggle.

He arrived here on the back of a very good domestic season and an impressive showing in the IPL. This series was supposed to be his carpe diem opportunity. Instead, it's turning into a nightmare. He was given a chance to bat at No. 4, ahead of both Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma - except in the rain-shortened second ODI - but has averaged just 13.33 in four games so far with a high score of 17. His critics are having a field day: 'oh he is just a domestic batsman and is a misfit. He can't rotate the strike if the bowling is accurate and he will eventually be eaten up by the pressure,' is their line of thought.

It's not that Badrinath is not mentally tough: if he wasn't, he wouldn't have survived the years of rejection and continued reaping runs in domestic cricket to the extent that the selectors were almost forced to pick him. The real question though, and one he has so failed to answer is whether he is international-class? This is the same Badrinath who handled the short balls well in South Africa during the second season of the IPL; constantly side stepping to upper cut them. Those deliveries had more pace and bounce than the ones he faced in Antigua. But the pressure of playing international cricket is vastly different from the IPL and it does strange things. Badrinath is a very intense man and by his own admission feels he has to learn to go easy on himself. He has one more game before the Test series to get it right. Will he be able to produce a knock of real substance?

Yusuf, too, is mentally a tough nut. Everyone knows his weakness against pacy bouncers. Batsmen with this problem tend to start expecting it off every ball. They are likely to hang on the back foot or hop and get caught out by the full deliveries. Yusuf isn't one of them; even as he would deal awkwardly with the short deliveries, he has rarely let a full delivery in his arc go unpunished. However, his career is threatening to spin out of control after his showing in this series so far. He has lasted only 17 deliveries in his three knocks. He gave a tame return catch in the first, lapped to short midwicket in the second and was brilliantly pouched by Lendl Simmons, and threw his wicket in the third, slugging to long-off. Each time, he stood there almost in disbelief at what he had done.

Again, like Badrinath, each game had presented Yusuf with a great opportunity. There were lots of overs left, there was no pressure from the run rate, and he could have played himself in. He didn't. Was it adrenalin kicking in to counterattack and impose himself or were they shots played under pressure? Was it overconfidence or nerves? The former can be easier to correct; the latter indicates vulnerability and is difficult to overcome. Only Yusuf knows the truth.

When the biggies return, both Yusuf and Badrinath will rarely get chances like this. Five ODIs on featherbeds against a team struggling to paper its cracks and compete. Five chances to resuscitate your career and cement your spot. Now both have just one final shot at redemption. They will have to take it. Else, there might not be a second chance. Especially for Badrinath. Yusuf, with his brutal knocks against South Africa in South Africa not long ago coupled with his bowling, is likely to get more chances in the future. If Badrinath fails tomorrow, this could be the last time he plays in coloured clothes. Even his Test chances might be in jeopardy. The stakes are that high.

Rohit Sharma outdoes Andre Russell's heroics

2011-06-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

India 228 for 7 (Rohit 86*, Harbhajan 41) beat West Indies 225 for 8 (Russell 92*, Simmons 45, Mishra 3-28, Munaf 3-60) by three wickets

Rohit Sharma produced his best international innings since his big-stage arrival in Australia three years ago to help India chase down 226 from 92 for 6. Harbhajan Singh supported him with a seventh-wicket partnership full of sensible cricket and worth 88 runs. Rohit stayed unbeaten on 86 to outdo a similar effort from Andre Russell who blasted 92 off 64 to give West Indies a defendable target after they had been 96 for 7. With the result, India took an unassailable 3-0 lead. West Indies last won an ODI series against a Test-playing nation in April 2008.

Without doubt this was the best of India's tour so far. A day when West Indies showed remarkable fight after getting off to the worst start of the series. A day when Amit Mishra mesmerised them with old-fashioned legspin full of turn, drift, bounce, straighter ones and googlies. A day when two tails wagged to provide uncertainty and drama. A day when a young talent announced himself well and proper on the international stage. A day when a young talent who has fumbled with mediocrity played a comeback innings well and proper.

There were also collapses that didn't make for pretty viewing. At 65 for 1 West Indies lost six wickets for 31, India four for 32 from 60 for 2. There were similarities in the collapses. Both began with avoidable run-outs, West Indies' with Ramnaresh Sarwan's and India's with S Badrinath's. Both lost their bats as they tried to make their crease.

West Indies could claim the rest of their collapse was down to some special legspin bowling. During that period, Mishra took three wickets for one run. He set up Marlon Samuels with four legbreaks bowled with a scrambled seam. None of those turned big, and were defended well by Samuels. The change-up was the orthodox legbreak, which drifted, dipped, and then ripped past Samuels who had been lured out of the crease. Debutant Danza Hyatt was done in by a googly, and Lendl Simmons fell to another big legbreak that he was forced to play at.

Simmons fell short of what would have been a sixth fifty in the last seven innings. India, too, lost opener Parthiv Patel in the 40s again. The batsmen who followed played too many shots even with the asking rate under 4.5 an over, and lost their wickets. In between Virat Kohli got a bad lbw decision. Yusuf Pathan's dismissal seemed just as unfair; Simmons had no business back-pedalling from short midwicket - after having instinctively moved in to save the single - to complete an overhead catch well behind his body.

West Indies' comeback in the first half of the day was unexpected because of the way they have been squandering positions of strength. Here Russell and Carlton Baugh did the opposite. The two added 78 for the eighth wicket, but that alone would have been strictly consolation.

To make a fight out of it, West Indies would need something special. And special Russell was in the last three overs, scoring 42 off the last 14 balls he faced. The last two overs of the innings, bowled by Raina and Praveen Kumar, went for 37. Russell just kept clearing the front leg, kept hitting off the middle of the bat, and the ball kept clearing the ground. Russell walked back to an applause from his team-mates who had found a new belief.

While Russell's innings could be seen as one played from a position where he and West Indies didn't have much to lose, Rohit is one man who has it all to lose on this trip. Today he only gained. He tends to be a touch edgy at the start of all his innings, but today his start was the most fluent part of his innings. Coming in at 60 for 3, he went after Darren Sammy who had earlier been on a hat-trick, lofting him for a beautiful six and four off back-to-back deliveries.

Rohit was in a mood to boss the game, but when he saw wickets fall at the other end he went into accumulation mode. Harbhajan proved to be an ideal partner. With the asking-rate still within reach, neither man tried to hit boundaries. There were two boundary-less spells of 10 overs each in the middle of the innings. The first one was during the collapse, and was broken only when Rohit got a low full toss on the pads, moving to 38 in the 28th over.

Ten overs later, he played another beautiful punch, caressing the ball past point for four. The next three overs featured a couple of half chances, a couple of uppish shots that didn't make it to the deep fielder. That's when the game broke towards India. Harbhajan went with the flow and hit a four and a six in the 41st over. Russell, though, hadn't had his last say. Off the last ball of the over, he got Harbhajan with a slower ball.

In a deliberate ploy, Rohit then took the back seat, asking Praveen Kumar to go for the big hits in the batting Powerplay. Praveen's twirls paid off, and Rohit stayed solid at the other end. After hitting the match-winning runs, Rohit pulled out one of the stumps. It could signify a turning point in a career that many believe should have taken off long ago.

Pakistan mull Zimbabwe as host for SL series

2011-06-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

Pakistan are considering Zimbabwe as a potential 'host' for the home series against Sri Lanka later this year.

The two sides are due to play a full Test and limited-overs series in October, scheduled in the FTP officially as a 'home' series for Pakistan. The PCB intensified efforts to find a venue for the series over the last few months and Sri Lanka itself is an option that has been considered, one Sri Lanka is probably happiest with. In 2009-10, Pakistan played a 'home' series against New Zealand in New Zealand, though financially the trip wasn't a success.

The PCB also asked Sri Lanka Cricket in May, "for their views" on the prospect of playing the series in Pakistan - at the insistence of the Pakistan government. However, that offer was swiftly rebuffed. Soon after the PCB had made their request, a major terrorist attack occurred in Karachi at a naval base, which was eventually held under siege overnight, near the National Stadium.

The UAE is another option, having hosted a succession of Pakistan's limited-overs commitments over the last three years and last October, a full series, including Tests, against South Africa. Authorities in the UAE are keen for Pakistan to sign a long-term agreement with them to host their 'home' matches, something the PCB is unwilling to do currently because they believe it pushes the prospect of a return of international cricket to Pakistan further back.

The financial aspects of a 'host' venue have increasingly become a concern for the board; sponsorship opportunities may be greater in the UAE but the costs of hosting the series itself are likely to be much higher than Sri Lanka, for example, where marketing potential is relatively limited.

"We are looking at the costs right now of hosting a series in Zimbabwe," a senior board official told ESPNcricinfo. Peter Chingoka, ZC chairman, is also a member of the ICC's Pakistan Task Team (PTT), a role which is likely to facilitate any such proposal. Sri Lanka have not yet been formally contacted about this possibility.

Sri Lanka's previous tour of Pakistan in March 2009 was cut short after terrorists attacked their team bus as it was on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the second Test. That attack, on the back of growing security concerns over the previous two years, brought an end to international cricket in the country, taking away the 2011 World Cup in the process. Since then, Pakistan have played home series in England, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Afghanistan were the first international team to tour Pakistan since the March 2009 attack, when they played Pakistan 'A' in three 50-over games in May 2011.

Sri Lanka show fight to secure draw

2011-06-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

England 486 (Prior 126, Cook 96, Morgan 79) and 335 for 7 dec (Cook 106, Pietersen 72, Trott 58, Bell 57*) drew with Sri Lanka 479 (Dilshan 193, Finn 4-108) and 127 for 3 (Paranavitana 44)

This time there was no post-tea demolition job as Sri Lanka kept themselves alive in the series by surviving the final afternoon at Lord's fairly comfortably by reaching 127 for 3. Andrew Strauss's declaration left a notional target of 343 in 58 overs after Alastair Cook hit his 18th Test hundred, but England could have been more aggressive and they never really looked like hustling through Sri Lanka again.

The visitors have shown twice in this series - the second innings in Cardiff and the first innings here - that the batting is prone to collapse. Adding to that on the final day Tillakaratne Dilshan was only prepared to bat in an emergency, having sustained a hairline fracture to his thumb, which meant they had four fit frontline batsman, but Strauss opted to bat Sri Lanka out of the contest and hope for another last-session demise.

However, to Sri Lanka's credit they kept their composure although wickets went down with enough frequency to keep a semblance of interest. Thilan Samaraweera, who was given lbw to Graeme Swann on 4 but successfully used the DRS, secured safety alongside Prasanna Jayawardene when Strauss called the game off with a handshake at the start of the final hour despite Sri Lanka's weak batting to follow.

When Kumar Sangakkara, opening in place of Dilshan, drove loosely to point in Chris Tremlett's third over England sensed a chance. They could have had a second major scalp before tea when when Mahela Jayawardene went for a single to cover and would have been out with a direct hit from Eoin Morgan. Instead, Jayawardene and Tharanga Paranavitana put together an 18-over stand which took the sting out of England.

Stuart Broad provided a lift when Jayawardene edged to fourth slip where Kevin Pietersen held a fine catch, but England didn't strike in clusters. Jonathan Trott proved a surprise with the ball when he hooped one back into Paranavitana which struck pad first and at 96 for 3 with 25 overs left there was time for a final push.

Steven Finn produced a lively spell - and Samaraweera edged between third slip and gully as Strauss didn't pack the cordon - but when Swann and Pietersen began racing through a few overs it was clear the end would come as early as possible.

Throughout the day England seemed to lack a little intensity. Their second innings included plenty of positive signs, not least Pietersen's 72 and Ian Bell's brisk 57, yet it wasn't quite a performance with the verve of a team that aspires to be the best in the world. The first hour was fine as Pietersen led the way but scoring slowed towards the interval and Cook added 26 in the two hours. Overall they made 111 runs from 26 overs in the morning, but it didn't quite feel ruthless enough.

Pietersen dominated the scoring during the morning by reaching his fifty from 85 balls. Although he was still battling his technique at times, far more shots were coming off the middle particularly when he drove two boundaries in an over off both Chanaka Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal.

Smart Stats
The nine fifty-plus scores in the match is a record for England in Tests. It equals the record in the Test between England and Australia in Manchester in 1934
England's 335 is their ninth score 300-plus score in the team second innings in Tests since 1990. None of them have come in the fourth innings
Alastair Cook's century made it the sixth instance of him scoring a century and a half-century in the same match. The previous occasion came in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane in 2010
Ian Bell's strike rate of 132.55 is the sixth-highest for a fifty-plus score by an England batsman in Tests. Andrew Flintoff's strike rate of 170.45 in his innings of 75 off 44 balls against New Zealand in 2002 is the highest
The 127-run stand between Cook and Kevin Pietersen is the fourth-highest for the third wicket for England against Sri Lanka in Tests
Surprisingly, it was half an hour into the day before Rangana Herath was introduced by which time Pietersen had bedded in. However, his scoring rate had slowed when Herath went over the wicket and, after padding one delivery away, watched a ball spin past his outside edge and hit off stump. This time, though, it was just a cracking delivery.

Cook didn't do anything to move out of his comfort zone and towards the latter part of the session England's run-rate actually dropped when logic suggested it should have been going the other way. Dilhara Fernando bowled a decent spell from the Pavilion End, beating Cook a few times from round the wicket, but both he and Herath - who sent down a 10-over spell for 21 runs - were allowed to bowl without any undue pressure being applied.

In that respect Pietersen's departure wasn't a bad thing for England. Bell played the perfect innings for the situation although should have been run out on 27 when Billy Doctrove didn't ask the third umpire. He already had three boundaries in one Fernando over before lunch and barely played a defensive shot after the break. Neither, though, did he resort to slogging but instead relied on timing and placement.

Cook, meanwhile, went to his 18th Test century from 223 balls having missed out by four runs in the first innings and then started, uncharacteristically, to manufacture some shots. His dismissal was the first time he'd been stumped in first-class cricket and led to some rather fruitless slogging down the order.

However, there was one unfortunate by-product when Matt Prior, after being run out in the search for quick runs, smashed a dressing-room window with a piece of equipment and had to apologise to the MCC members who were showered in glass. Unlike the window, Sri Lanka didn't crack.

Room for improvement for both teams

2011-06-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

The first ODI epitomised everything that is going wrong with West Indies cricket. It began with the openers: in Chris Gayle's absence, the uncalled-for timidity from Lendl Simmons and Kirk Edwards ended up giving credence to Sunil Gavaskar's comparison of Munaf Patel to Glenn McGrath. Once the spinners came on, the middle order shut shop. Nothing captured West Indies' woes more succinctly than the number 169 - their dot-ball count on Monday.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has collared better Indian attacks in tougher circumstances in the past, was restricted to poking and jabbing in hope. Marlon Samuels also was a pale shadow of the batsman who thumped a fierce century against India eight years ago. The result was a score as underwhelming as the bowling attack that tried to defend it, and an easy win for India, despite their own skittish approach to the chase. West Indies will need a huge lift in all departments - including their lethargic out-cricket - if they are to match the Indians.

Twice in two games on tour, India's top order has faltered. The depth in their line-up opened up escape routes on both occasions, but Duncan Fletcher will want more application at the top. Parthiv Patel has a wide range of shots, but will be expected to put a bigger price on his wicket, after perishing to a needless run-out in the first ODI. Shikhar Dhawan looked ill at ease against seam and spin, but to his credit he managed to scrap his way to a half-century. S Badrinath knows how long it has taken him to get a second chance in the India side, and will try to make the opportunity count. And despite finishing in sublime fashion, Rohit Sharma will want to revisit his alarming shot-selection early on. In short, there is plenty of room for improvement from both sides.

Form guide (most recent first)
West Indies: LWWLL
India: WWWWW
The spotlight
Amit Mishra goes about his work with such quiet efficiency that he rarely gets noticed. On Monday, he easily out-bowled Harbhajan Singh without getting the reward he deserved. There was loop, flight, drift and variety, and at times the West Indies batsmen were just not good enough to edge him. R Ashwin breathes down Mishra's neck for the spot of second spinner, but his rhythm on Monday should give him another chance. Mishra now needs wickets to back his case for the rest of the series.

Over the past year or so, Dwayne Bravo has struggled to live up to his own standards, especially with the bat. In the first one-dayer, he was beginning to get into his groove when he walked past a Harbhajan drifter. When Bravo is in good form, he is a fine player of spin, and the dominance is founded upon his sure footwork. Will he be able to reprise that fluency in front of his home crowd?

Team news
India are unlikely to fiddle with the two-seamer, two-spinner combination given the lifeless nature of the pitch at Queen's Park Oval. Manoj Tiwary might come up in team discussions, but S Badrinath has earned at least a couple of opportunities to fail in the middle order. Ishant Sharma, too, is likely to be eased into action later in the series.

India (possible): 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 S Badrinath, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina (capt), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Munaf Patel.

West Indies will seriously consider bringing in Kieron Pollard to inject some urgency in the middle order. While Anthony Martin gave a good account of himself with the ball, it is tough to imagine West Indies succeeding against India with two specialist legspinners in their XI.

West Indies (possible): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Kirk Edwards, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Kieron Pollard/Andre Russell, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Carlton Baugh (wk), 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Devendra Bishoo/Anthony Martin.

India Brizzling Win

2011-06-06T20:56:00.000-07:00

Rohit helps India prevail in battle of attrition

Rohit and Raina (80 runs patnership)

India 217 for 6 (Rohit 68*, Dhawan 51) beat West Indies 214 for 9 (Sarwan 56, Samuels 55, Harbhajan 3-32) by four wickets

In a contest of ordinary batting line-ups, India had the extra bit of quality to successfully chase an under-par West Indies total. West Indies seemed to lack enterprise and skill to handle India's bowling, but their bowlers and fielders were spirited in the defence, dragging India down. The top order faltered after a quick start, but Rohit Sharma and captain Suresh Raina steadied India from 104 for 4.

It was a slow and low track all right, fast becoming the norm in the West Indies now, but wasn't treacherous enough to justify either West Indies' total or the struggle India went through before getting there. The only batsmen that seemed at ease were Marlon Samuels, Raina and eventually Rohit. Samuels' half-century injected some life in West Indies' limp innings after early wickets and an extra-cautious Ramnaresh Sarwan had left them crawling to 74 for 3 in 25 overs.

Raina did much the same for India with a busy effort, but it was Rohit who was the most interesting study. There were two Rohits on display. The first came out, saw Devendra Bishoo spin one across him, and started slogging at everything. That Rohit refused to work hard, and looked to slog his way out. That Rohit batted alongside Shikhar Dhawan, who scored his maiden half-century in unconvincing manner and looked liked he could get out any moment.

West Indies' brightest phase came when legspinners Bishoo and Anthony Martin kept a tight leash on the scoring, with Darren Sammy and the alert fielders providing the support cast. For 13.2 overs India didn't get a single boundary. The edginess was apparent. S Badrinath played 11 straight dots before edging Bishoo to make it 61 for 3. Rohit's ways rubbed off on Dhawan, who started trying to hit every ball for four, finding either an edge or a fielder. His wicket, through a slog sweep that gave Martin his maiden wicket, was a freight train coming.

Rohit, though, was over the self-destructive period by then. And also a critical moment in the 24th over when a close lbw shout was ruled in his favour. He played Bishoo for the turn, and the straighter one kissed his back pad before hitting the bat. And it was right in front. The umpire couldn't really be faulted for not being completely sure it had hit the pad first, but West Indies could claim that the DRS would have got them their man.

Those early hiccups negotiated, the other Rohit was the one batting in a sweat-drenched shirt, running hard, looking to convert ones into twos, scoring his first 30 runs without a boundary. Raina came in and nudged a couple of boundaries to calm things further. Rohit's first boundary was a treat: an inside-out chip for six off Sammy. He added 80 in 14.3 overs with Raina without looking hurried at all. Raina perished looking to finish the game in the batting Powerplay, and a physically struggling Rohit would have had to dig much deeper had Martin held on to a simple return catch from Yusuf Pathan at 189 for 5.

Another half-centurion in the match, Sarwan, got off to a much better start than Rohit did, but played himself into a shell, during the other critical passage of play in the game. West Indies had got off to a start similar to India's, losing two wickets after a quickish opening, but Sarwan's 63-ball stand with Kirk Edwards featured 38 dots. Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra and Harbhajan Singh - who went for 108 in their 30 overs for five wickets - bowled well, but not least because the batsmen allowed them to. Neither of the two batsmen looked to drop and run a quick single, nor was a single fielder put under pressure. Harbhajan reaped the rewards as Edwards top-edged a straighter one.

Samuels, though, brought in the urgency, attacking Yusuf, becoming the first batsman to have a strike-rate of over 50. After a spell of 12 overs for 56, at 130 for 3, they asked for the Batting Powerplay. Forty-three came off the five-over block, but West Indies also lost Sarwan to a tickle down the leg side. The real blows came after the Powerplay as Raina snuck a short delivery through Samuels' legs, and Harbhajan did Bravo in with a doosra that dipped and kicked. The rest could add only 23 to the 191 for 6 in the 45th over, providing India with a seemingly easy chase. As it turned out, it took a dehydrated, cramping-up, and a slightly fortunate Rohit to pull it off.

England build solid advantage after bowlers improve

2011-06-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

England 486 and 149 for 2 (Cook 61*, Pietersen 15*) lead Sri Lanka 479 (Dilshan 193, Paranavitana 65, Finn 4-108) by 156 runs/

Once again the fourth day of a Test ended with the likeliest result being a draw, but after events in Cardiff last week that can't be taken for granted as England closed with a lead of 156 at Lord's. They gained a narrow first-innings advantage by bowling Sri Lanka out for 479, in a steadily improving display, then recovered from the early loss of Andrew Strauss for a duck with Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott added 117 for the second wicket.

After half of the third day was lost to the weather more overs disappeared on a damp morning, but the Test progressed at a decent pace with the bowlers finally having a say for the first time since the opening exchanges. Sri Lanka lost their last seven wickets for 85 and their game plan had to change from putting pressure on England with a big lead to trying to give themselves a chance of a final-day run chase. However, while Strauss watched his bowlers rip out the visitors in 24 overs in Cardiff he won't be putting too much on the line here by dangling the carrot.

For a moment, though, Sri Lanka were buoyant when they removed Strauss second ball. In overcast conditions Chanaka Welegedara, the left-arm seamer who claimed Strauss lbw in the first innings, swung the first ball past the outside edge before the second was a touch fuller and squared up the batsman to take the back pad. Strauss opted to review the decision, but he was stone dead, completing a poor match with the bat, and it was the 22nd time he'd fallen to a left-arm paceman.

Yet nothing knocked Cook and Trott out of their comfort zone as they set about compiling another century partnership. This time Trott was the aggressor, picking off plenty of runs through the leg side and also driving sweetly, during a fifty that took 66 balls. The only time he looked slightly uncomfortable was when Dilhara Fernando went for a short-pitched approach and struck him on the glove. However, it came as almost a shock to see him play over a full delivery from Rangana Herath that took leg stump.

That brought in Kevin Pietersen to face the left-arm spinner and his first two defensive shots were cheered by a small crowd. He wasn't entirely convincing, although a thumping straight drive provided a moment of release, as he survived until the close on 15 off 44 deliveries. Even for a player of Pietersen's calibre, the small steps are important. Cook, meanwhile, has far fewer concerns and ticked over to fifty from 86 balls and will have his sights set on atoning for his missed ton in the first innings.

In the field it was an improved performance from England's bowlers, but they were still not at their best with plenty of leg-side deliveries giving Matt Prior a huge amount of work and many of the 25 byes weren't the keeper's fault. When Sri Lanka were 407 for 6 the home side will have a sensed a more significant lead, but a counter-attacking stand of 57 between Herath and Prasanna Jayawardene ensured the visitors got close before the last four wickets fell for 13.

The start was delayed until 1.10pm after morning rain and Sri Lanka resumed with the intention of batting for most of the day, but that became unlikely when Mahela Jayawardene edged to third slip off Steven Finn for 49. Then, like the London buses that fill the roads around Lord's, England had another wicket almost straight away. Thilan Samaraweera played a horrid flat-footed drive at Chris Tremlett to give Prior a low catch with the bowlers benefiting from finding a fuller length.

Farveez Maharoof didn't last long when he was beaten for pace by Stuart Broad to give him his only wicket of the innings. Sri Lanka, though, played the right way by taking the attack back to England and kept the game moving forward. Prasanna swept Graeme Swann over midwicket for six and Herath swung himself off his feet repeating the dose.

Herath finally went for one big hit too many, charging down at Swann and being stumped, and when Prasanna edged a good one from Finn to slip there wasn't much left in Sri Lanka's batting. For Finn it was a landmark wicket, his 50th in Tests, overtaking Ian Botham as the youngest Englishman to reach the milestone. Despite problems with consistency, no one can argue his wicket-taking abilities.

Finn bombarded Sri Lanka's tailenders with a series of bouncers - striking Suranga Lakmal flush on the helmet - but it was Swann who wrapped up the innings and Strauss held a superb reflex catch at slip to remove Fernando. The final day will give us an idea of how attacking England are willing to be in the quest for world No. 1 unless Sri Lanka's bowlers can pull off a surprise.