Poor form and player injuries have prompted Sri Lanka's selectors to make sweeping changes to the squad for the tri-nation tournament in Bangladesh next month, also featuring India. Those dropped include batsmen Sanath Jayasuriya and Chamara Kapugedera, fast bowler Lasith Malinga and spinner Ajantha Mendis, all of whom had disappointing performances on the recent tour of India.
Sri Lanka lost the three-Test series 0-2, split the two Twenty20s and lost the five-match ODI series 1-3. Injuries to key players through the tour made the assignment in India all the more tough.
In fact, batsman Mahela Jayawardene, allrounder Angelo Mathews and bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando were not considered for the 15-man squad to Bangladesh, having picked up injuries in India.
Middle-order batsman Thilan Samaraweera was spared the axe, due more to Jayawardene's injury, and selection committee sources said the 33-year-old right-hander would add experience to the batting line-up and help ease the pressure on captain Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga.
Among the new inclusions are Chamara Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, legspinner Malinga Bandara and fast bowler Thilan Thushara.
Silva, 30, finished as the top run-scorer in the domestic Premier League Tier A tournament, with 900 runs from 11 matches at 56.25 for Bloomfield, scoring three hundreds and four fifties during the campaign. Most impressive was his strike rate of 99.77. Having last played an ODI in August last year, and his last appearance for Sri Lanka being in the 2009 World Twenty20 final against Pakistan, he will keen to make the most of the opportunity.
"We think that Silva has a role to play in the World Cup. He is a fast accumulator of runs and he is a brilliant fielder," selection sources told Cricinfo.
Thirimanne, 20, finished as Ragama Cricket Club's leading run-getter this season, with 709 runs in eight matches at 59.08, including two centuries and five fifties. Selection panel sources said Thirimanne was an exciting prospect and his ability to finsh a game would be extremely handy.
His Ragama team-mate Bandara was also rewarded for his perseverence and was handed another opportunity to seal his place in the national side as a spinner. In fact, the uncertainty surrounding Muralitharan's availability for the 2011 World Cup has prompted the selectors to look elsewhere for spinning options.
Left-arm fast bowler Thushara also made a return to the side after a freak shoulder injury which forced him to return from India. Allrounder Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Suranga Lakmal and Suraj Randiv, who were replacements to India, have been retained.
The tournament will be played from January 4-13 with Sri Lanka taking on the hosts in the first match in Mirpur.
Sri Lanka squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan (vice-captain), Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Thilina Kandamby, Chamara Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thissara Perera, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Malinga Bandara, Suraj Randiv, Thilan Thushara, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Kulasekara and Chanaka Welagedera
South Africa 343 (Kallis 75, Smith 75) and 76 for 6 (Boucher 20*, Morkel 7*) trail England 575 for 9 dec (Bell 141, Cook 118) by 156 runs
A sensational collapse of six wickets for 23 in 71 balls left South Africa clinging to the wreckage of their second innings at Kingsmead, as Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann capitalised on an aggressive finale to England's innings to tear the heart out of their opponents' batting line-up, and propel their team towards victory on an extraordinary fourth day's play.
By the close, South Africa were reeling at 76 for 6, and even that grim scoreline had to be salvaged by a dour seventh-wicket stand of 26 between Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel. Together they endured for 10.5 overs before bad light brought salvation, but with just four wickets still standing and a deficit of 156 runs still remaining to be wiped off, England were circling for the kill after one of their most dominant days of recent times.
The day had begun with England well placed on 386 for 5, a lead of 43, and thanks to the efforts of Ian Bell, who converted his overnight 55 into an excellent 141, Andrew Strauss was able to declare on 575 for 9 in the first half-hour after lunch, with a handy 232-run lead in the bag, and the best part of five sessions in which to turn the screw. For the first nine overs of South Africa's innings, however, there was barely a flicker of alarm as Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince negotiated the new ball. But then, with tea looming, Swann entered the attack to devastating effect.
Swann's habit of taking wickets early in his spells is rapidly turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy. He memorably claimed two scalps in the first over of his Test career, against India in Chennai last December, and in last week's first Test at Centurion he dislodged Prince with his second delivery of the series. Sure enough, his introduction paid instant dividends, as Prince once again propped forward uneasily, for Bell at silly point to cling on superbly as the ball rebounded off an inside-edge and into his outstretched right hand.
Twelve Swann deliveries later, and 27 for 0 had become 37 for 2, as the obdurate Hashim Amla was undone by a wonderful double-whammy on the stroke of tea. The first ball of his third over was tossed up outside off, and took a fat inside-edge as Amla leaned into a cover-drive. The second ball was a fraction fuller and equally well flighted, and Amla was comprehensively gated as the ball burst out of rough and into his stumps.
Far from taking solace in the tea break that followed, South Africa's anxieties were heightened by the 20-minute interlude. Jacques Kallis can generally be relied upon to bat throughout any given crisis, but Broad's second ball of the session was simply too good. Pitching outside off and seaming wickedly back off a perfect length, it crashed into Kallis's off stump as he shouldered arms for 3, and at 40 for 3, England were rampant.
Ian Bell reflects on his best day for England
AB de Villiers had a massive let-off before he had scored, when Swann believed he'd found his outside edge, but the referred decision proved inconclusive in the absence of the snickometer. His reprieve lasted all of eight balls, however. In Broad's very next over, he produced a carbon-copy of the delivery that had done for Kallis, and this time the review could not save de Villiers, as he shouldered arms in front of off stump, and was sent on his way for 2.
Broad by now was in the same full-length rhythm that had routed Australia at The Oval in August, and no-one it seemed could resist him. One ball later, JP Duminy also succumbed to a misjudged leave, as he hoisted his bat high above his head, and deflected the ball into the base of his off stump, and though Boucher averted the hat-trick, he couldn't prevent a further meltdown. At the start of that Broad over, Smith could have run himself out for 16 had the substitute, Luke Wright, hit the stumps with a shy from short cover. Instead, it was Swann who ended his stay, as he straightened an offspinner from round the wicket, and an overbalanced Smith was pinned lbw for 22.
The breathlessness of the final session was at complete odds with the serenity of England's own progress earlier in the day. Bell's 141 was the backbone of their fourth-day performance, as he compiled an innings of grace and determination that ensured that his team did not squander their overnight advantage. Few players in the world game look so compact and composed when given licence to play their natural game, and that is exactly what he produced as he closed in on an a 172-ball century.
His morning was launched in confident style when Dale Steyn served up a leg-stump loosener that was clipped emphatically through square leg for four, and suitably emboldened, he set about putting bat to ball on his own terms, opening and closing the face at will to work singles into the numerous gaps at midwicket and backward point. He added just one more boundary as he moved towards the nineties - a steer through third man as Makhaya Ntini offered too much width - but having milked Paul Harris's defensive leg-stump line with a series of deft sweeps, he moved to his hundred in style with an open-shouldered loft over long-on.
Dale Steyn was crestfallen as South Africa hurtled towards defeat
Bell's celebrations were a clear release of emotion, as he punched the air with his bat, and kissed the England badge on his shirt. His critics have grown in number since the last time he reached three figures, again against South Africa at Lord's in July 2008, and they will still be able to point to the peculiar fact that he has never yet produced a hundred without one of his fellow batsmen doing likewise. But for now, all he was doing was laying a platform for an England victory push, and by the close, there was no quibbling with the importance or the timing of his performance.
At the other end, Matt Prior injected some welcome urgency to the innings with a well-paced 60 from 81 balls, and though he eventually under-edged a drive from Duminy into his off stump, England's lead by that stage was already 134, and with a naturally aggressive tail to follow, the stage was set for some fireworks. At first, however, the response was disappointing, as Bell and Broad bedded in for the final hour of the session, mustering 36 runs from 91 balls. Immediately after lunch, however, England kicked into overdrive.
Broad, who had taken 51 deliveries over his first 10 runs, signalled the onslaught by smashing Harris for six over cow corner in an over that went for 15 runs. He was subsequently caught at slip for 20 to give Duminy his third of the innings, but Swann emerged with his mindset plain to see. He laid into the toiling Ntini, claiming a six and a four from the final two balls of an over that had already leaked five overthrows, before chipping a leading edge to Prince, as Steyn found some lively swing with the third new ball.
Steyn's swing also accounted for Bell in his very next over, as he toe-ended a cut to the keeper, and Strauss's decision to declare was hastened by the sight of an Ntini bouncer crashing off the badge of Graham Onions' helmet and away for four leg-byes. Though England found little assistance with the new ball, Swann's staggering self-confidence made the difference on a bland track, and by the close, they were within touching distance of a remarkable victory.
South Africa 343 (Kallis 75, Smith 75) and 76 for 6 (Boucher 20*, Morkel 7*) trail England 575 for 9 dec (Bell 141, Cook 118) by 156 runs
A sensational collapse of six wickets for 23 in 71 balls left South Africa clinging to the wreckage of their second innings at Kingsmead, as Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann capitalised on an aggressive finale to England's innings to tear the heart out of their opponents' batting line-up, and propel their team towards victory on an extraordinary fourth day's play.
By the close, South Africa were reeling at 76 for 6, and even that grim scoreline had to be salvaged by a dour seventh-wicket stand of 26 between Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel. Together they endured for 10.5 overs before bad light brought salvation, but with just four wickets still standing and a deficit of 156 runs still remaining to be wiped off, England were circling for the kill after one of their most dominant days of recent times.
The day had begun with England well placed on 386 for 5, a lead of 43, and thanks to the efforts of Ian Bell, who converted his overnight 55 into an excellent 141, Andrew Strauss was able to declare on 575 for 9 in the first half-hour after lunch, with a handy 232-run lead in the bag, and the best part of five sessions in which to turn the screw. For the first nine overs of South Africa's innings, however, there was barely a flicker of alarm as Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince negotiated the new ball. But then, with tea looming, Swann entered the attack to devastating effect.
Swann's habit of taking wickets early in his spells is rapidly turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy. He memorably claimed two scalps in the first over of his Test career, against India in Chennai last December, and in last week's first Test at Centurion he dislodged Prince with his second delivery of the series. Sure enough, his introduction paid instant dividends, as Prince once again propped forward uneasily, for Bell at silly point to cling on superbly as the ball rebounded off an inside-edge and into his outstretched right hand.
Twelve Swann deliveries later, and 27 for 0 had become 37 for 2, as the obdurate Hashim Amla was undone by a wonderful double-whammy on the stroke of tea. The first ball of his third over was tossed up outside off, and took a fat inside-edge as Amla leaned into a cover-drive. The second ball was a fraction fuller and equally well flighted, and Amla was comprehensively gated as the ball burst out of rough and into his stumps.
Far from taking solace in the tea break that followed, South Africa's anxieties were heightened by the 20-minute interlude. Jacques Kallis can generally be relied upon to bat throughout any given crisis, but Broad's second ball of the session was simply too good. Pitching outside off and seaming wickedly back off a perfect length, it crashed into Kallis's off stump as he shouldered arms for 3, and at 40 for 3, England were rampant.
Ian Bell reflects on his best day for England
AB de Villiers had a massive let-off before he had scored, when Swann believed he'd found his outside edge, but the referred decision proved inconclusive in the absence of the snickometer. His reprieve lasted all of eight balls, however. In Broad's very next over, he produced a carbon-copy of the delivery that had done for Kallis, and this time the review could not save de Villiers, as he shouldered arms in front of off stump, and was sent on his way for 2.
Broad by now was in the same full-length rhythm that had routed Australia at The Oval in August, and no-one it seemed could resist him. One ball later, JP Duminy also succumbed to a misjudged leave, as he hoisted his bat high above his head, and deflected the ball into the base of his off stump, and though Boucher averted the hat-trick, he couldn't prevent a further meltdown. At the start of that Broad over, Smith could have run himself out for 16 had the substitute, Luke Wright, hit the stumps with a shy from short cover. Instead, it was Swann who ended his stay, as he straightened an offspinner from round the wicket, and an overbalanced Smith was pinned lbw for 22.
The breathlessness of the final session was at complete odds with the serenity of England's own progress earlier in the day. Bell's 141 was the backbone of their fourth-day performance, as he compiled an innings of grace and determination that ensured that his team did not squander their overnight advantage. Few players in the world game look so compact and composed when given licence to play their natural game, and that is exactly what he produced as he closed in on an a 172-ball century.
His morning was launched in confident style when Dale Steyn served up a leg-stump loosener that was clipped emphatically through square leg for four, and suitably emboldened, he set about putting bat to ball on his own terms, opening and closing the face at will to work singles into the numerous gaps at midwicket and backward point. He added just one more boundary as he moved towards the nineties - a steer through third man as Makhaya Ntini offered too much width - but having milked Paul Harris's defensive leg-stump line with a series of deft sweeps, he moved to his hundred in style with an open-shouldered loft over long-on.
Dale Steyn was crestfallen as South Africa hurtled towards defeat
Bell's celebrations were a clear release of emotion, as he punched the air with his bat, and kissed the England badge on his shirt. His critics have grown in number since the last time he reached three figures, again against South Africa at Lord's in July 2008, and they will still be able to point to the peculiar fact that he has never yet produced a hundred without one of his fellow batsmen doing likewise. But for now, all he was doing was laying a platform for an England victory push, and by the close, there was no quibbling with the importance or the timing of his performance.
At the other end, Matt Prior injected some welcome urgency to the innings with a well-paced 60 from 81 balls, and though he eventually under-edged a drive from Duminy into his off stump, England's lead by that stage was already 134, and with a naturally aggressive tail to follow, the stage was set for some fireworks. At first, however, the response was disappointing, as Bell and Broad bedded in for the final hour of the session, mustering 36 runs from 91 balls. Immediately after lunch, however, England kicked into overdrive.
Broad, who had taken 51 deliveries over his first 10 runs, signalled the onslaught by smashing Harris for six over cow corner in an over that went for 15 runs. He was subsequently caught at slip for 20 to give Duminy his third of the innings, but Swann emerged with his mindset plain to see. He laid into the toiling Ntini, claiming a six and a four from the final two balls of an over that had already leaked five overthrows, before chipping a leading edge to Prince, as Steyn found some lively swing with the third new ball.
Steyn's swing also accounted for Bell in his very next over, as he toe-ended a cut to the keeper, and Strauss's decision to declare was hastened by the sight of an Ntini bouncer crashing off the badge of Graham Onions' helmet and away for four leg-byes. Though England found little assistance with the new ball, Swann's staggering self-confidence made the difference on a bland track, and by the close, they were within touching distance of a remarkable victory.
Australia 5 for 454 dec (Katich 98, Watson 93, Hussey 82, Ponting 57) and 8 for 225 dec (Watson 120*, Aamer 5-79) beat Pakistan 258 (Mishah 65*) and 251 (Yousuf 61, Hauritz 5-101) by 170 runs
The Australians rounded out 2009 with their most clinical final day bowling performance of the year to seal a 170 run victory over Pakistan. Nathan Hauritz, placed on notice by Australia's selectors prior to the series, claimed his first career five-wicket haul as Pakistan crumbled from 3 for 170 overnight to be all out for 251 shortly after lunch on the final day.
Hauritz's ability to exploit wearing pitches had been called into question of late, not least by Andrew Hilditch, and he proved himself worthy of the challenge on Wednesday. Unable to replicate the biting turn that accounted for Faisal Iqbal the previous day, Hauritz instead utilised flight and bounce to challenge Pakistan's lower and middle orders and was rewarded with four final-day scalps.
Australia began the day in emphatic fashion with Mitchell Johnson removing Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq with consecutive deliveries in his first over. Hauritz then repeated the dose with the back-to-back dismissals of Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Aamer shortly after the first drinks break to extinguish any hope of an improbable Pakistan fightback.
Mohammad Yousuf showed admirable determination to post 61, but support for the Pakistan captain was thin on the ground. With wickets falling in clusters, the Australians required only four overs after lunch to seal victory and claim a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-three series. The result took their Test record in 2009 to an encouraging seven wins, three defeats and three draws; a substantial improvement on their 5-5-4 record from the previous year.
The younger Akmal was the first victim of the final day, pushing at a fast, swinging delivery from Johnson that was claimed millimetres above the MCG turf by a tumbling Brad Haddin. Misbah fell to an identical mode of dismissal, albeit to a straighter ball, leaving the tourists' hopes of a fightback in tatters less than an over into the day. Kamran Akmal denied Johnson his hat-trick, but almost triggered one for Hauritz when, after an hour of stern resistance, he was stumped attempting a reckless charge to a slower, bouncing delivery. Hauritz then beat Aamer for bounce with his next ball, resulting in a gloved catch to Simon Katich at short leg.
Abdur Rauf survived Hauritz's hat-trick delivery - which featured the rare sight of nine fielders around the bat - but fell soon after to Doug Bollinger. Rounding out a forgettable match, Rauf played onto his stumps to expose the Pakistan tail shortly before lunch. Hauritz completed the rout after the break by removing Yousuf to another bat-pad catch, and Saeed Ajmal to a wild swipe that was accepted by Shane Watson, who was later named Man of the Match.
The breakthroughs ensured Johnson and Hauritz a positive end to a 2009 campaign that has proved testing in the extreme. Both bowlers have been subjected to criticism - Johnson for his erratic ways during the Ashes series, Hauritz for his lack of penetration on deteriorating tracks - but have emerged better for the experience. Though not quite back to his wrecking ball ways of South Africa, Johnson is nonetheless a bowler far improved from that which struggled for much of the Ashes series. Hauritz, meanwhile, has continued his steady evolution as an international spinner, as demonstrated by his subtle changes of flight and angle on Wednesday.
For Pakistan, there is much to ponder before the Sydney Test. The selection of Rauf over the experienced and versatile Umar Gul was flawed, and the catching at the MCG largely lamentable. The likely return of Danish Kaneria and the possible reintroduction of Younis Khan could prove a significant boost for the tourists, but on the evidence of the past five days, there remains much work to do.
If nothing else, Pakistan have at least closed the chapter on the annus horribilus that was 2009. In a year that witnessed the Lahore terrorist attack, and the subsequent stripping of host venue status, the Pakistanis can look ahead to the New Years' Test with hope for healing and renewal. 
Jayasuriya on his immediate goals, the captains and coaches he's played under, his favourite opposition and his best innings
Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi
You made your international debut in the same ODI as Mark Taylor and Taylor retired 10 years ago. How have you kept going?
I retired from Test cricket recently to play ODIs a little bit longer. I have always enjoyed my cricket. I'm still enjoying it and I've worked hard on it. And I still want to perform. The sad thing is, I don't know whether the Sri Lankan cricket board is even aware that I'm completing 20 years today!
Where do you get your hunger to perform?
That has come naturally. I know how hard it was for me to come into the Sri Lankan side. I was just a normal person, coming from a poor background. We did not have anything. I know how hard that life was. So once I started to play for the country, I understood I had to work harder and play longer. I never had anything to play with when I started cricket in school. I never thought I would play for Sri Lanka. I had never heard about any cricketer who had come from a village like mine, Matara.
My mother was very strict when I was starting seriously with cricket because we couldn't afford anything. My father was the only breadwinner then - he worked as a health supervisor in the town's urban council. So it was a very tough life for me and my elder brother Chandana. But our school principal, GL Galappathi, was very supportive and he encouraged and pushed me to play cricket and even convinced my parents to allow me to chase my dreams.
I started at Under-11 and moved up the ladder. Luckily I was selected for the U-19 World Cup in Australia and that's when I was noticed.
Exactly how difficult was it?
I had to travel to Colombo and back, which took at least four hours by bus one way. I would get back only at midnight. But that is where I cultivated that hunger to play hard, to perform, to stay fit. I cannot relax even now. Since I was coming from outside the Colombo circle, the only way to break through into the Sri Lanka set-up was to be an outstanding performer.
When I was going to the U-19 World Cup, all the boys at the school collected funds and gave it to me as pocket money. I can never forget that gesture.
My mother, Breeda, was the main pillar of the household. She pushed all the men in the family and instilled in us the belief that if we worked hard, we could achieve anything. That helped me a lot.
When I came back from the U-19 World Cup, my school - and later U-11 - coach Lionel Wagasinghe helped me get a small job at the company he was working in. It was a company manufacturing corrugated cartons and I worked there for two years.
In the early part of your career which do you think was the innings that announced your arrival?
It came during the Sri Lanka B tour of Pakistan in 1989, where I started off with a century followed by consecutive double-hundreds in the second half of the series.
Who were the people that influenced your life and career?
One of the two people I can never forget was Mr Dafter, who was a neighbour in Matara. From 1989 to 1997 he allowed me to stay in a spare room in his house [in Colombo]. He and his wife were like my foster parents.
The other was his friend Lalit Wanagasinghe. Those guys always pushed me and believed I would one day play for Sri Lanka. Coming from a small town to a big city like Colombo, one could easily lose one's way, but these two took good care of me and always gave me good advice. They would come and watch me play, and discuss cricket at the house later in the night. For the last 20 years, both of them have always picked me up from the house and escorted me to the Sri Lankan cricket board office each time I've gone there before every tour.
I learned a lot from Roshan Mahanama. He was a very neat guy whose house was always in order. That helped me a lot when I started my international cricket. I guess it taught me a thing or two about discipline.
Then there were the Ranatunga brothers, Arjuna and Sanjeeva. They took good care of me by offering me a place to stay in their house before I moved in with Mr Dafter. The Ranatunga family always took good care of outstation players and many have been thankful for their generosity.
Do you remember the moment when you got your first call-up into the Sri Lankan team?
I was in the house with Mr Dafter. The selectors were picking the squad for the 1989-90 series in Australia. I knew they were meeting at eight in the morning, and I was restless. Finally, at one in the afternoon, Mr KM Nelson, then the secretary of the board, called to say I had been picked. I could not believe it. Since it was going to be a long tour, the general thought was two wicketkeepers would be picked, but they had decided to go with one specialist, with Hashan [Tillkaratne] as the makeshift keeper in case there was need, opening up a slot for me.
You were a lower-order batsman when you came into the team. But then you started opening in the mid-90s. How did that come about?
The decision was taken by the team management: our coach Dav Whatmore, Arjuna, Aravinda de Silva, and Duleep Mendis, the team's manager.
The idea was to play the first 15 overs as the last 15. Till then I was batting at No. 6 or 7, where I couldn't do much, especially as I went in to bat around the 40-45 overs mark. I felt I was being wasted. So Arjuna said that I should open as Roshan [Mahanama] was injured during the first three ODIs of the 1994 home series against Pakistan. It was a successful move. I got three fifties in a row in those three matches.
A year later I started opening with Kalu [Romesh Kaluwitharana] in Australia. He, too, had by then got promoted and both of us gelled instantly.
How big a role did Kaluwitharana play in your success as an opener?
He played a big role. When he got going, he made things easier for me at the other end. He could hit the ball very hard, played all the shots. He was really talented and made batting look easy. He was as confident as me. I remember he failed for 20 innings once, but Arjuna gave him the chance, knowing he was a match-winner.
That Australia series in 1995-96 proved to be a turning point for you.
Yes. I got runs as an opener and also started to open in Tests. I also scored my first Test hundred [in Adelaide]. I was really happy to get a century against such a good bowling attack, which included Shane Warne. It was scored under pressure against one of the best Test teams in the world. When you do that you get a nice feeling in your system.
That tour also changed Sri Lankan cricket, didn't it?
It was a turning point. There was that whole chucking controversy about Murali, which we fought through the tour; but at the same time we did well. By the time we had finished that tour we were a real strong unit - and this was on the eve of the 1996 World Cup. We supported each other, we wanted everybody to do well. And then we won the World Cup. After that we started getting more opportunities to play international cricket. I remember we played something like 11 Test matches that year [1997] and I scored more than 1000 runs. It was a unique moment in our cricketing history.
All that Arjuna said was: We'll have to do well, we'll have to work hard, whatever happens. He backed Murali wholeheartedly, to the brink. He even risked suspension at one point. When we saw that, it gave us confidence. And we never looked back.
Did you need to change your technique to play as an opener?
I don't have the best technique as an opener, but I have worked really hard for 11-12 years. In those years the regular openers, like Marvan [Atapattu], were technically correct. But I understood clearly that I was an attacking batsman, so my role was different even as an opener.
It must have been helpful to have the support of Arjuna and Whatmore?
Sri Lanka became a professional unit only after Whatmore came. Alex Kontouris, the physio, was another man who brought in a big and immediate change, because he put in place a system for training and physical fitness.
Dav would pay individual attention, talk to the player and give him confidence. Naturally we fell into the professional way of thinking steadily. He always encouraged us to play our own game. "If you see the first ball for four, just hit it. Don't worry about anything, we'll back you."
Arjuna would tell me not to worry even if I got out on the first ball, or be afraid of getting dropped. That is the most important thing for a captain to do, to encourage a player. If he doesn't give the player the confidence, he will be in two minds.
To cite an example: I am going through a lean patch right now. If Arjuna was the captain he would have given me confidence. He understood I am an attacking player and so there is always a chance of failing. If the player doesn't find support, he will find it difficult to perform. It is important for the management to give the player that confidence.
Give us an example of a time when you were failing and Arjuna backed you.
On the 1998 tour of England I was miserable and was consistently failing. But even before the only Test, at The Oval, Arjuna still had faith in me. I scored a double-hundred, which was a match-winning performance. He knew I could perform on the big occasion.
You are 40 now. What keeps you going?
I don't want to prove anything. The only thing that I want to prove is: if I can win a match for Sri Lanka, that is what I enjoy the most. Every time I play a match I want to give my 110%. I might get dropped tomorrow, I might not play the next tournament, but I will work hard, train hard, and I'll show them with the bat and ball. There is no point talking, no point criticising anyone.
Tea Pakistan 258 and 1 for 37 need another 385 runs to beat Australia 8 or 225 dec (Watson 120*, Aamer 5-70) and 5 for 454 dec
Two themes from this young series - Shane Watson's nerves in the nineties and Pakistan's woes in the field - were brought to bear on Tuesday as Australia inched ever closer to victory in the first Test. Watson, whose issues converting half-centuries to three figures this summer have been well documented, was dropped by Abdur Rauf at gully off the bowling of Mohammad Aamer on 99, scampering through for a single on the misfield to seal his maiden Test ton.
Watson finished the innings with an unbeaten 120, providing Ricky Ponting with enough breathing room to declare Australia's second innings closed at 8 for 255 after the lunch break. That left Pakistan facing a would-be ground record fourth innings chase of 422 - a target that looked all the more improbable when Doug Bollinger dismissed Imran Farhat in the lead-up to tea.
For the third time this summer, Watson endured a nervous journey through the nineties. He headed to lunch unbeaten on 98, having cautiously seen off a maiden from Saeed Ajmal to close out the session. More anxious moments were to follow after the break, as Watson chased a succession of wide offerings outside off stump. Pakistan's tactic appeared to have worked when the right-hander slashed a full, wide Aamer delivery to Rauf in the gully, only for the embattled fielder to turf the chance and hand Watson his century - 66 minutes after he had entered the 90s.
Pakistan's fifth dropped catch of the match ensured Watson became the first Australian batsman since Michael Hussey at The Oval to reach triple figures in a Test, breaking a team sequence of 20 unconverted half-centuries. In 12 innings as Australia's Test opener, he has now scored 716 runs at the eye-catching average of 65.09. Phillip Hughes will have a while to wait yet.
Earlier, Pakistan reprised memories of Australia's second-innings collapses during the Ashes and, more recently, the Perth Test on a spritely opening to Tuesday. Aamer emerged as the perfect weapon - relentlessly attacking a top order in pursuit of quick runs and an early declaration - to become the second youngest bowler in Test history to claim a five-wicket haul. Only Nasim-ul-Ghani, a left-arm spinner-cum-medium pacer, achieved the feat at a younger age, doing so against the West Indians more than half a century ago.
Michael Clarke was Aamer's first victim, caught behind chasing a delivery that tailed away ever so slightly. Marcus North and Brad Haddin then fell in the space of two balls as part of a double-wicket maiden in his 18th over, ensuring the 17-year-old entry into a most exclusive club.
Favouring a predominantly around-the-wicket approach to Australia's right-handers, Aamer proved destructive in the extreme with a combination of express pace, probing lengths and subtle reverse swing. His efforts put the brakes on Australia's brisk early scoring rate, but given the discrepancy between the teams' first innings totals, they always seemed likely to be in vain.
That notion was enforced when Bollinger rapped Farhat on the pads in the seventh over of Pakistan's second innings. The appeal was orginally turned down by Rudi Koertzen, the on-field umpire, but overturned after replays showed the ball to have struck the batsman in line and going on to strike the top of middle stump.
Close England 386 for 5 (Cook 118, Collingwood 91) lead South Africa 343 (Kallis 75, Smith 75) by 43 runs
Alastair Cook produced a performance of immense concentration to post his tenth Test century in his 50th appearance, while Paul Collingwood built on his matchsaving heroics at Centurion with a five-hour 91, as England's batsmen hauled their side into a position of authority on the third day of the Boxing Day Test at Kingsmead. By the close, Ian Bell had cashed in on the platform laid by his team-mates with an important 84-ball 55, an innings that may have lacked the pressure of the performances that preceded it, but nevertheless was invaluable in securing a healthy 43-run lead with two days of the Test to come.
The mainstay of England's performance, however, was Cook, who turned 25 on Christmas Day and celebrated with a timely performance in more ways than one. He resumed on 31 not out overnight, knowing that his performance was in the spotlight after a tally of two hundreds in the past two calendar years, but he gritted his teeth and bedded in for the long haul, grafting 11 fours in all from 263 balls, in a six-and-a-half-hour 118. He made light of the second-over dismissal of his overnight partner, Jonathan Trott, and ground out a solitary run from his first 37 deliveries of the day, a statistic that set the tone for an innings that was never pretty, but was never intended to be either.
Only once did Cook come close to being dislodged, when - on 64 - he successfully overturned an appeal for a catch at short leg off the part-time spin of JP Duminy. Replays suggested, not entirely conclusively, that the deflection had come straight off the pad, but the speed and conviction with which Cook called for the second opinion suggested that justice had been served. Either side of that alarm he was discipline personified - not least against Makhaya Ntini, another player with a point to prove, with whom he played a day-long game of cat-and-mouse, leaving the ball religiously on line as Ntini's natural angle carried all but a handful of deliveries straight across the off stump.
In the final half-hour before lunch, Cook began to open his shoulders and go for his shots, cracking Paul Harris out of the attack with a brace of fours through the off-side, before rocking back in his stance to pull Morne Morkel through square leg. And later, on 88, he latched gleefully onto a wide long-hop from the increasingly lacklustre Harris to surge into the nineties for the first time since the Lord's Test in July. Those moments aside, he dealt exclusively in pushes and deflections - including the nudge through midwicket that brought him three figures from 218 balls - as he relied on his mental strength to carry him and his team into a position from which England can still pile on the pressure in South Africa's second innings.
Cook's partner for 45 overs, including the entire second session, was Collingwood, who came to the middle at 155 for 3 following the departure of Kevin Pietersen for 31, at a stage when England were still nearly 200 runs adrift of South Africa's 343. But his calm accumulation staved off any immediate threat of a meltdown. Though neither batsman was especially easy on the eye, the rate at which they scored, at a shade over three an over, was perfectly respectable given that the halfway-mark of the match had only just been reached. Collingwood's half-century came up with a trademark nurdle off the pads in the final over before the second new ball was due, but having negotiated that with minimum fuss, he nevertheless fell short of a well-deserved century. With half-an-hour of the day still remaining, he under-edged a cut off Duminy, and was caught behind for 91.
Cook by this stage had finally been persuaded to have a rare dart outside off, as the hugely impressive Morkel came round the wicket to the left-hander, and cramped him for room as a low edge zipped through to Jacques Kallis at second slip. It was Morkel's third scalp of the innings, having already dispatched Trott to a third-ball lifter in the second over of the day, as he located a Harmison-esque combination of height, pace and bounce, and allied that to an impeccable line and length. And while Cook departed to a well-deserved ovation, he knew deep down that he had once again failed to pay heed to the mantra of his mentor Graham Gooch. "Make it a daddy," was Gooch's advice to any young batsman who gets set, but of Cook's 10 Test hundreds, only once has he exceeded 140.
Kevin Pietersen has rarely had the same problem upon reaching three figures, but today he was guilty of an even worse crime, of getting out in the thirties. He had arrived at the crease to an unexpectedly polite reception from his former home crowd, and was his usual bristling self as he sought to dominate from the word go. But, having pummelled Kallis for a pair of cover-drives, he was once again unsettled by the humble spin of Harris. On 20, he received a massive let-off when Harris slid his third ball through at a sharper pace, only for Kallis at slip to drop a sitter as the ball skewed off a hasty defensive edge. But 11 runs later, he was nailed lbw while sizing up a sweep, and the wicket-to-wicket line and the lack of appreciable spin on the delivery meant that even he realised a referral would be futile.
The final session of the day belonged to Bell, who shed the introspection that had wrecked his performance at Centurion, and responded to England's requirements with a vital injection of urgency as they closed in on that first-innings lead. It could be argued that Bell was destined to be condemned either way - he has never yet made a Test century without another batsman doing likewise, and the ease of Cook and Collingwood's performance showed that the pitch was true and that runs were there to be snaffled.
Nevertheless, they still needed to be scored, and by racing along to 65-ball half-century, he showcased the full range of strokes that have made the purists purr since he was a 16-year-old prodigy. He deposited Harris over long-on for England's only six of the day, and cashed in with five further fours, including a sweet cover-drive off Kallis. Only once was he properly troubled, right at the start of his innings, when Morkel worked up a frightening head of steam to push him back into the crease with a whistling bouncer, before rapping his pads with a full-length follow-up that was just sneaking over the stumps.
But, in perhaps the most curious captaincy decision of the day, Smith instantly hauled Morkel out of the attack after that over, and instead threw the ball to the struggling Ntini, perhaps in the belief that Bell was already ripe for the plucking. It proved to be a bad move. Bell crashed Ntini's first delivery through midwicket for four, and by the end of a chastising day, his figures were a troubling 0 for 79 off 20 overs. Come what may for the rest of this match, South Africa's selectors already know they have a dilemma awaiting come the New Year Test at Newlands.
The possibility of the Feroz Shah Kotla being disqualified from hosting the 2011 World Cup remains high after ICC match referee Alan Hurst classified the pitch as "unfit" in his official report to the ICC, which was forwarded to the BCCI. The report was submitted in the aftermath of the abandonment of the fixture between India and Sri Lanka due to a dangerous pitch.
The classification is the harshest among the six stated categories - very good, good, above average, below average, poor and unfit. The venue could have got away with a fine had Hurst classified the surface as "poor" but given his most critical assessment, the consequences could be much worse.
"This pitch did not meet the requirements for an ODI match," Hurst is quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying in his report. "This meant the players were unsure of what the ball would do. Playing shots was risky because of the unpredictable bounce. However, of more concern was the dangerous bounce that occurred randomly and accounted for batsmen being struck on a number of occasions.
"At the other extreme, bounce was often very low. This pitch did not allow players to play with any confidence and was totally unsuitable for international cricket."
The ICC's latest code of conduct regarding poor pitches states that a first such breach should be met with "a suspension of the venue's international status for a period of between 12 and 24 months together with a directive for appropriate remedial action and the need for prior ICC re-accreditation as an international venue".
The BCCI has been given 14 days to respond to Hurst's report. Its reply, in addition to the report, video footage of the abandoned game and other significant documents, will be studied by the ICC's chief referee Ranjan Madugalle and its cricket operations manager Dave Richardson, who will determine the penalty.
In his report, Hurst also enumerated 14 points to chronicle the lead-up to the abandonment. "Early on Saturday morning the fourth umpire Subrat Das went to the ground to check that a number of things were in place. He reported to me that the wicket was quite green in patches, but the Curator had told him that extra rolling during the day would mean that 'the green would turn to brown'. It was still quite green tinged when the umpires and I did our ground inspection later that afternoon," he wrote.
Hurst recorded that the Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss and manager Brendon Kuruppu approached him at two stages during the game - in the tenth and the 24th over -expressing concern over the behaviour of the pitch. The report noted that play had to be stopped on three occasions -- at 9.54am, 10.05am and 10.46am -- for Sri Lanka's batsmen to receive medical treatment after being struck by the ball.
Of all the deliveries that bounced excessively or kept low over 23 overs, the umpires estimated that six were outright dangerous. Following complaints by players, the field umpires Shavir Tarapore and Marais Erasmus consulted Hurst, who walked out onto the field and spoke to the two captains, who agreed the pitch was unfit for play.
"At the edge of the ground I spoke with President DDCA (Delhi & Districts Cricket Association) Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr Narinder Batra DDCA Treasurer, BCCI Hon Secretary Mr Srinavasan, DDCA Vice-President Mr Chetan Chauhan and other local officials. I was asked whether another prepared pitch on the square could be substituted," Hurst said. "I went to the square with Mr Chauhan to look at the option, which had been partially prepared as back-up prior to the game. Although reasonably hard, it was quite heavily, but unevenly grassed. In keeping with the Playing Conditions, I then spoke with the Captains about this option. Both gave emphatic negatives."
Following the embarrassment, and facing the prospect of a dire penalty, the BCCI, in an act of damage control, moved quickly to dissolve its grounds and pitches committee. The DDCA pitch panel members resigned soon after, but any moves to rectify the situation may have come too late.
The ICC had warned the DDCA in November about the condition of the pitch and said it required "considerable improvement" before hosting its next fixture. "There is an ODI at this venue on 27th December 2009 and considerable improvement of the pitch block will be required by then to make the pitch provided more acceptable" said the report, a copy of which is with Cricinfo. The inspection was carried out on November 4, three days after third ODI of the India-Australia series.
n what could be the ultimate embarrassment for the DDCA, the fifth and the final ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here was abandoned due to dangerous playing conditions.
Right from the start, occasional deliveries alarmingly reared up and one such hit Tillakaratne Dilshan on his forearm, leaving him in pain and needing on-field treatment. The Lankan opener has now been rushed to hospital for the doctors to take a further look at it.
The issue with the pitch was first raised by Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Kandamby, who first had a word with Dhoni before he approached the umpires. Umpires Marais Erasmus and Shavir Tarapore soon conferred and Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara was seen gesturing to his teammates from the dressing room.
Subsequently, Match Referee Alan Hurst also walked in and they were joined by Kotla curator Vijay Bahadur Mishra and BCCI Pitch and Grounds Committee chairman Daljit Singh.
Sangakkara also joined them, along with India coach Gary Kirsten and his Sri Lanka counterpart Trevor Bayliss also walked out.
Delhi and District Cricket Association officials, including vice president Chetan Chauhan, offered another pitch to Hurst but a final decision was yet to be taken.
The Sri Lankan innings now hangs at 83/5 as trouble and more trouble sought their way earlier. Losing early wickets doomed their procession of setting a powerful target.
Zaheer Khan, Sudeep Tyagi and Harbhajan Singh contributed completely to blow apart the top-order of the visitors. India’s campaign started early as after winning the toss, skipper MS Dhoni elected to field first.
The decision hit the bull’s eye as Zaheer grabbed two important wickets very early in the day. First, he dismissed Upul Tharanga for a duck on the very first ball of the match itself, thus giving a perfect start to India. Then later, he send Tillakaratne Dilshan packing for 20 runs, leaving the visitors’ scorecard looking a bit rickety at 39/2.
Then came debutant Sudeep Tyagi into action, who couldn’t have asked for a beter start to his international ODI career as as he dismissed Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara, to leave the opponents three down for 58 runs.
Sri Lanka surely looked in trouble as the skipper added just one run to the team’s score. However, it was indeed a moment to cherish as Tyagi grabbed his maiden ODI wicket and Suresh Raina, after repeated errors on the fielding ground, finally managed to take Sangakkara’s catch.
Raina’s prompt and intelligent fielding also led to the dismissal of Thilan Samaraweera (2). More credit should be given to terrible running between the wickets by the Lankan batsmen, Samaraweera and Thilina Kandamby.
Prior to that, Bhajji dismised Sanath Jayasuriya for 31 runs. Harbhajan cleverly fired in the quicker delivery and caught Jayasuriya plumb in front of the wickets. This was Bhajji 100th ODI wicket in India.
As the national capital woke up to a foggy morning earlier today, the final ODI at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium got delayed by fifteen minutes on Sunday due to wet out-field.
Having already sealed the series 3-1, Team India got the most of the Lankan tour as they first won the Test series comprehensively, and now, have also clinched the ODI series with a game to spare.
India went into the match without Sachin Tendulkar as Dhoni returns to the team after serving a two-match ban. Sri Lanka made two changes. Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga were replaced by M Pushpakumara and Chanaka Welegedara.
With both the team’s playing their last matches of the year, the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch curator promised a sporting wicket.
Shane Watson moved within sight of his maiden Test century and, in doing so, threatened to become the first Australian batsman since the Ashes finale in August to reach triple-figures. His unbroken opening stand of 177 with Simon Katich (77) served as the ultimate punishment for the Pakistanis, who squandered opportunities to dismiss both batsmen in the opening session.
Watson flirted unsuccessfully with centuries in Adelaide and Perth this summer, but showed few overt signs of nerves as he took his total to 90 at the tea break - the sixth time he has posted a half-century in 11 innings as opener. He began his innings with a series of imperious straight- and cover-drives off the bowling of Mohammad Aamer, then switched to square-of-the-wicket scoring channels in the afternoon session.
Watson was seldom troubled against Pakistan's faster bowlers, but encountered more difficulty reading and repelling the doosra of Saeed Ajmal. One such delivery 20 minutes before lunch brushed his outside edge, only for Misbah-ul-Haq to turf the chance at first slip. It was, to that point, Pakistan's third missed chance of a morning in which they all but handed Australia the ascendancy.
The other reprieves went the way of Katich, whose battles with timing and fluency in the first session gave way to more assured strokeplay after lunch. Katich's first life came when Mohammad Yousuf missed a run-out chance; an error compounded when Umar Akmal dropped him shortly after to a chest-high gully chance off the bowling of Aamer.
Katich found his groove in the second session and, along with Watson, commenced the task of setting a massive total for the Pakistanis to chase. Watson raised the duo's third century stand of the summer with a powerful cut to the boundary, and Katich continued the attack with a succession of drives to the boundary off Mohammad Asif. They plundered a combined 104 runs in the second session.
Asif's speeds hovered around the 130kph mark, and with little lateral movement to be found in the air or from the surface, he threatened the Australian batsmen infrequently. The same description applied for Abdur Rauf, making all the more mystifying the decision to omit the more seasoned and versatile Umar Gul on form grounds. Ajmal, Aamer and Imran Farhat, the occasional legspinner, proved the most penetrative of Pakistan's bowlers on a batting-friendly MCG surface.
A jubilant Indian stand-in captain Virender Sehwag Thursday night praised Virat Kohli and other youngsters in the team and said he was happy to finish the series in Kolkata.
“This team has lot of bench-strength. We did not have Yuvraj Singh and M.S. Dhoni in the team. It’s a good sign for India that the youngsters are playing well. Virat Kohli proved his worth,” he said after India successfully chased an imposing Sri Lankan total of 315/6 to win with seven wickets and 11 balls in hand at the Eden Gardens.
“We wanted to finish the game in Kolkata because here we had a good wicket to bat on. We don’t know what kind of wicket we will get in Delhi,” Sehwag said after clinching the five match series against Sri Lanka.
Sehwag, who led the team at Cuttack and Kolkata following the two match ban slapped on regular captain M.S. Dhoni for slow over rate, said now the team will not be under any pressure in the fifth and last match in Delhi.
He added that faced with such a huge total, the Indian did not want to lose wickets.
“Our thinking was we should not lose wickets in the first ten overs. We had beaten Pakistan earlier at the Eden after putting up a big total. We knew the dew factor becomes important as the evening progresses. Them bowlers cannot spin or swing the ball. They have problems in gripping also”.
“So we thought if we do not lose early wickets, we can finish off the game. We lost two, but then Kohli and Gambhir finished it off”.
Kohli and Gambhir added 224 runs for the thrid wicket, a record at the Eden, to lead India to victory after the side got an initial jolt with the cheap dismissals of Sehwag and Gambhir.
Lavishing praise on Kohli, he said: “He is a very talented player. Now he is performing well”.
Sehwag said the flowering of players like Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jdeja augured well for India ahead of the 2011 World Cup in India. “if we play at full strength we can win also in 2011”.
Sehwag did not think his side had a problem bowling at the death. “Sri Lanka batted very well. But our bowlers also put up a good performance”.
On the Delhi batsmen like him, Gambhir and Kohli doing well for India, Sehwag said that the players of his state were earlier doing well in domestic competitions, but have now carried their good show to the international stage. “Delhi players are very hungry for runs. When hey get the chance they try to perform. Earlier Gambhir did, now Virat is also doing that”.
In one swift act of acceleration, and solid consolidation thereafter, Upul Tharanga undid India's much-improved new-ball bowling and ground fielding. Both Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra came out with an effective plan for the Sri Lanka openers, implemented it to near perfection, and were assisted by Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, who didn't let much go through the off-side circle. With just 48 coming off the first 11 overs, and Tillakaratne Dilshan back in the pavilion, Tharanga welcomed Ishant Sharma with five boundaries in his first over, and from there on India no longer controlled the match. With both not-out batsmen having been let off early on in their innings, it was a big matter of concern for India, even though they had taken sent back Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya.
Having witnessed the carnage in this series so far, it was almost surreal to see the bowlers tying down the batsmen so effectively. India got many things right, first of which was to give Nehra the new ball. Both left-arm bowlers kept two men on the leg-side boundary for Dilshan. The third man was left vacant but no room was given to him, neither was he offered anything to drive. Tharanga too had to struggle for room.
Both Nehra and Zaheer generated some movement to go with the tight lines and lengths, and as a result India managed their first maiden of the series - bowled by Nehra - and not one boundary was conceded in the first five overs.
In the first three matches, Sri Lanka reached their 50 in 3.4 overs, 6.3 overs, and 7.2 overs. At those various stages, Sri Lanka had scored 6 for 0, 23 for 0 and 24 for 0 today. It could have been worse for them had Nehra held on to a tough return catch from Tharanga, who was 7 then. The spell of containment was too much to take for Dilshan, who finally pulled Nehra to fine leg, where Kohli took a smart low catch.
The dropped catch apart, Tharanga kept the bowlers at bay. He manufactured a couple of shots, backing away and pulling over mid-on, and made sure Sri Lanka were always one special over away from getting back on even terms. The moment came when Ishant was introduced in the 12th over, with the score on 48 for 1. Ishant provided him driving length, and also width. The first ball was slapped square, the second driven to cover where Raina saved four, the third lofted over point, the fourth and fifth gorgeously threaded through the gap between mid-off and extra cover, and a thick edge off the last ball ran fine of third man. All of a sudden, Tharanga was 45 off 43 balls.
In the next over, though, Zaheer got rid of Jayasuriya, with a near-perfect legcutter taking the edge through to first slip. But India slipped in the field again. Kumar Sangakkara looked to pull Ishant, got a massive leading edge, but Harbhajan Singh at third man was late in picking it and ended dropping him when on 0. To rub it in, Tharanga crashed the next ball through the covers, bringing up his 10th boundary and his fifty in 45 balls.
A period of consolidation followed, and the pair added 38 to the 91 for 2 in 15 overs. Tharanga continued to torment Ishant, though, hitting taking back-to-back boundaries in his fifth over. The dangerous-looking partnership had added 57 in 12.1 overs by the end of the first quarter of the match.
Virender Sehwag replicated Tillakaratne Dilshan's dash at the top of the order, before Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir consolidated to put India on course for the victory that would take them 2-1 ahead in this five-match series. Gambhir's dismissal, caught and bowled off the leading edge by Suraj Randiv, was a minor setback, but with wickets in hand and an asking-rate of just four an over, the game was India's to lose.
Chanaka Welegedara started the innings with a maiden, and Sehwag watched Tendulkar clip and cover-drive Nuwan Kulasekara for fours. When his turn came, he took Kulasekara for three fours in an over, a feat he repeated when Lasith Malinga came on without his radar in place. Welegedara was also then smashed for three fours before Dilshan held, at the third time of asking, an attempt to belt the ball over point.
Sehwag's 44 spanned 28 balls, and the run-flow eased temporarily after his exit. Tendulkar was fortunate when an inside edge off Kulasekara missed leg stump on its way for four, but with some lovely strokes being played through the covers and midwicket, the innings was soon back on track.
Tendulkar welcomed Ajantha Mendis with a paddle and a cover-drive for fours. When he then upper-cut Kulasekara for four more, Kumar Sangakkara brought on Randiv in a bid to emulate what the Indian spinners had done earlier in the day. He duly got Gambhir, but with Tendulkar well set and Yuvraj Singh finding his off-side rhythm, it looked likely to be no more than a blip.
Things were not hunky-dory for India at the start of the match. Tillakaratne Dilshan blazed his way to 41 from just 18 balls, and with Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara building on that, Sri Lanka were on course for another massive total after deciding to bat first in Cuttack.
But from 165 for 1 after 22.2 overs, they collapsed in terrible fashion, undone by a combination of Indian spin (led by Ravindra Jadeja) , poor shot selection and two wickets in two balls from Ishant Sharma, who had gone for a whopping 46 in his first three overs. They had lost the remaining nine wickets for 74 runs and slumped to 239 all out.
The spinners had restored a measure of sanity to the proceedings after the pace bowlers, Ashish Nehra apart, were treated with utter disdain. It was left to Virender Sehwag, captaining in place of the banned MS Dhoni, to give the team some respite, having Sangakkara stumped for 46, despite Dinesh Karthik initially fumbling the take. And that success was built on soon after, with Tharanga losing his off bail in Jadeja's opening over after an attractive 73.
Sri Lanka never recovered from those twin blows. Mahela Jayawardene's poor series continued when he slugged a long hop from Harbhajan Singh to short midwicket, where Suresh Raina timed the leap perfectly to take the catch. Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera stopped the rot for a few overs, but then Jadeja and Ishant combined to end all hopes of a large total.
First, Kapugedera played on off Jadeja, and then Kandamby too found the inner edge off Ishant. When Suraj Randiv got a thin edge to one that moved away, it was 210 for 7. Jadeja then trapped Nuwan Kulasekara plumb in front as Sri Lanka unravelled completely. When Jadeja slid one through the defence of Ajantha Mendis, he had 4 for 32 from his 10 overs.
It had been so different at the start of play, with Zaheer Khan bowling three wides in an opening over where Dilshan added two fours for good measure. Ishant, in the side in place of Praveen Kumar, was greeted with a crisp shot to long-on and two meaty flails through cover. With Tharanga then whacking one down the ground for six, and Dilshan slapping another ball through cover, the 50 took just 3.4 overs, the fastest-ever against India.
Nehra came on to stem the tide, and Dilshan could have gone on 36, only for Karthik to make a mess of a flick on to the stumps that would have run him out. It wasn't a costly miss though, with a top-edged heave at Nehra ending up in Karthik's hands soon after. By then, the run-rate was 10 though, and with Tharanga steering and cutting the ball neatly, the runs continued to mount.
Sangakkara drove Ishant straight down the ground to bring up the hundred, and when Tharanga edged Harbhajan down to third man, he had his half-century from 51 balls. Sangakkara then lofted Sehwag for a straight six, and things were looking exceedingly grim for India until the spinners and Ishant had their say. They were helped too by Sri Lanka succumbing to the Christmas spirit of giving.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was handed a 2-match ban by match referee JJ Crowe of New Zealand for slow over-rate during India’s 3-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka at Nagpur on Friday.
The Indian captain, who also struck a fine century in the losing cause yesterday, would now be available for only the fifth match of the forthcoming series.
The decision to ban Dhoni was taken, considering the quantum of extra time the Indians took to complete their alloted overs.
Formal announcement from the ICC is expected soon.
It was still not known whether the two-match ban would come into effect immediately.
In case the ban comes into effect immediately, it will be a huge set-back for the Indians in the ongoing series with three matches still remaining to be played.The five-match series is currently tied 1-1 after India won the first match in Rajkot by three runs, while the Sri Lankans snatched a thrilling three wicket victory in the second game here yesterday.
In the charismatic Dhoni`s absence, opener Gautam Gambhir is likely to be named the captain for the two matches to be held in Cuttack on Dec 21 and in Kolkata on Dec 24.
The BCCI, however, has not made any official announcement yet on who will take over the captaincy in case Dhoni`s ban comes into effect immediately.
Reacting on Dhoni`s ban, Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI`s Chief Administrative Officer said, "We have received information that match referee has put a two ODI ban on Dhoni for slow over rate. We are waiting for a formal communication on this. We will look into details and then make further comments."
Rajiv Shukla, BCCI spokesperson said, "They have communicated verbally and we will see what we can do. The decision has been made according to the rules of the game. When BCCI will get an official word, we will make a call."
A fine attacking century from Tillakaratne Dilshan overshadowed an equally impressive effort from Mahendra Singh Dhoni as Sri Lanka defeated India by three wickets in the second one-dayer in Nagpur.
Dhoni's 107, along with half-centuries from Virat Kohli (54) and Suresh Raina (68), had propelled India to a challenging 301 for seven but Sri Lanka snuck over the line with five balls to go to level the series 1-1 after the run-fest in Rajkot.
Dilshan had kept the visitors on course with a scorching 123 at the top lf the order but Sri Lanka again lost wickets quickly after his departure, making for a close finish.
Angelo Mathews (37 not out), hampered by a thigh injury and having to use a runner, held firm with a dashing knock as Sri Lanka overhauled the target in the last over.
Dhoni's decision to bat first looked to have backfired when Sehwag went cheaply, caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara in the first over from left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara.
Gautam Gambhir was then run out in unfortunate circumstances, colliding with Welegedara while attempting a single off the bowler and being caught short at the non-striker's end.
At 19 for two, India were in a spot of bother, but the home side recovered nicely through Sachin Tendulkar (43) and Kohli.
Tendulkar's stay was circumspect as he focused on rebuilding and he put on 62 for the third wicket with Kohli when he was removed by Ajantha Mendis.
Kohli, who initially dealt primarily in boundaries, played a steady knock thereafter, adding 51 with Dhoni in the process.
But just when India were beginning to break the shackles, debutant off-spinner Suraj Randhiv trapped Kohli in front, claiming him for his first wicket in international cricket.
Left-hander Raina joined his captain at the crease and, after a cautious start, put Sri Lanka's attack to the sword.
He hammered four boundaries and three sixes, reaching his 13th ODI half-century off just 44 deliveries before eventually holing out in the deep.
Dhoni, off the mark with an edged boundary, was fortunate to reach his half-century.
He was dropped by Sangakkara on 49, the Sri Lanka captain already having missed an opportunity when the batsman was on 25, and was grassed again by Mendis on 94.
By then, Dhoni had thrown caution to the wind and he reached his sixth ODI century with two runs off Mathews. His second 50 came off just 36 deliveries.
Dilshan and Tharanga got Sri Lanka's chase off to a flyer, the opening batsmen adding 102 for the first wicket in a mere 14 overs.
Dhoni had shuffled his bowlers around and had delayed the bowling powerplay. The hosts eventually secured the breakthrough when Harbhajan Singh snared Tharanga - caught at slip as he attempted to drive.
Sangakkara was then run out and Dilshan, who had raised his half-century off just 31 deliveries, moved to his fifth ODI century more slowly as India's bowlers dominated play.
Dilshan reached the three-figure mark - off 91 deliveries - and then smashed Ashish Nehra for two consecutive boundaries to leave Sri Lanka needing only 117 from the last 20 overs.
The visitors had cantered along nicely when Nehra ended Dilshan's stay with a yorker, Sri Lanka still needing 89 from 85 deliveries at that stage.
Mahela Jayawardene (39) was accounted for by Zaheer but Sri Lanka, with a batting powerplay in hand, still held the edge.
Thilina Kandamby (27) and Mathews battled on, the two raising 32 for the fifth wicket when Kandamy was snared by Zaheer in the first over of the batting powerplay.
Zaheer then bowled Chamara Kapugedera in the same over to leave Mathews battling with the tail.
Sri Lanka had needed 19 from the last three overs, but the target was steadily whittled down until Mendis brought up victory with a single off the first ball of the final over.
Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik was today included in the Indian team for next two cricket one-dayers against Sri Lanka as a replacement for captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been forced to sit out because of a two-match ODI ban.
Lanky Pacamen Ishant Sharma has also been recalled into the squad in place of fellow pacer S Sreesanth who has been out of action since testing positive for swine flu.
These were the only two changes made in the squad announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a selection committee meeting here.
Yuvraj Singh, who has not played a single match because of a finger injury and flu, has been retained in the squad which is an indication that the elegant left hander was expected to be fit for the remaining three matches of the five-match series.
Karthik will keep wickets for the third and fourth matches after Dhoni was banned for two ODIs with immediate effect for the team`s slow over-rate during the second one-dayer in Nagpur.
The third one-dayer is scheduled to be played in Cuttack on December 21 while the historic Eden Gardens will be the venue for the fourth match on December 24. The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Match winning allrounder Angelo Mathews will return home due to the strain he suffered to his right quadricep muscle during the match winning innings last night. Sri Lankan team physio Tommy Simsek is predicting a grade 2 tear where the healing time is expected take up to 4 weeks.
The team management has requested cover for the injured Mathews from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). When contacted by srilankacricket.lk, SLC’s Head of Cricket Operations Ashley De Silva confirmed Mathew’s return and stated that Wayamba allrounder Thissara Perera will join the squad in India as his replacement.
20 year old Perera, known in the Sri Lankan domestic circuit for his devastating batting is also a good right arm Seam Bowler who can produce bowling speeds upto 135Kmph. His batting style is reflected by the staggering 1st class strike rate of 91.1%. He is expected to leave the island tonight.
Sri Lankan squad is already hampered by injuries to its bowlers Thilan Thushara, Dammika Prasad, Muthiah Muralidharan and Dilhara Fernando.
Sri Lanka 302 for 7 (Dilshan 123, Mathews 37*, Zaheer 3-63) beat India 301 for 7 (Dhoni 107, Raina 68, Kohli 54) by three wickets
The second humdinger between these two teams this week ran the gamut from wonderful to what-the-heck as runs and wickets flowed in equal measure in good batting conditions. Sri Lanka leveled the series with a three-wicket win in a match defined by two individual innings, contrasting in style and strength, at either end of a collapse that threatened to give India the advantage and a 2-0 lead.
With another evening of thrilling batting, Tillakaratne Dilshan proved right every single reason behind Sri Lanka's decision in January to open the innings with him permanently. Dilshan's fifth one-day century, and second in a row, was the dominant force in Sri Lanka clinching this win but it so nearly ended up in another lost cause, if not for Angelo Mathews.
Dilshan contributed 63 to a 102-run opening stand, playing with the freedom and control fans have grown accustomed to; then, in the period where India followed up a double-strike with 12 boundary-less overs, he collected his century while ensuring the asking rate stayed in control. There was a massive scare as Sri Lanka lost three wickets, and a limping Mathews was called on to douse the flames. That he did, standing one on leg and coolly striking out the threat of a revved-up India. With eight needed from nine balls the match was on a knife's edge, but Nehra bowled a full toss, Mathews bunted it to mid-on, and Zaheer let it right through his legs for four.
While India's attack had been spread through the line-up, with Virat Kohli, centurion MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina playing dominant roles, Sri Lanka rode on Dilshan's shoulders. Needing to score at over a run a ball, he got the chase off to a brisk start. And as often happens, India failed to apply pressure from both ends. If Zaheer allowed just a run off his second over, Praveen Kumar leaked three consecutive fours in his, veering between too wide and too full. Ashish Nehra wasn't allowed to settle, with both openers punching aerial down the ground, and Zaheer's length was offset by a manipulative Dilshan. Sri Lanka's fifty came up in 6.3 overs, most of the runs coming down the ground.
It was enthralling batting from Dilshan. Zaheer and Nehra tried to push him back but he rode the bounce, and at times his luck - such as when he danced out to Nehra and edged for four. Whenever the ball was pitched up, Dilshan, at times batting out of his crease, plonked his front foot further forward and clunked powerful drives over mid-off and mid-on.
After Virender Sehwag Dilshan comes closest in today's era to being able to make the bowler bowl where he wants them to. Dhoni turned to Harbhajan Singh for the eighth over, slip and leg gully in place. Having come out and gone back to pick the gaps in Harbhajan's first over, Dilshan had the bowler in two minds. At one point, he twice hurried out to thump the ball down the ground, as he'd spotted the extra flight. Then Harbhajan bowled it quicker and wider, hoping Dilshan would come out to that one as well. Instead Dilshan read it perfectly, stayed in position, and cut it past point for four. The batsman had set the bowler up.
When Harbhajan purchased some turn, Dilshan used his crease to get over the ball, nudging it off his pads. A streaky but deliberate edge off Harbhajan for four raised a 31-ball fifty. Harbhajan had some success against Upul Tharanga, who was lured out and then edged a breaking ball to slip where Sehwag snapped a good catch to his left (102 for 1). Dilshan was then responsible for running his captain out, and for the next 55 deliveries India, through Nehra, Praveen and Ravindra Jadeja, pulled Sri Lanka back.
Dilshan spent 16 deliveries in the nineties, reached his century, raised his arms, and promptly clubbed Nehra for two dingers that snapped a 12-over barren run of no boundaries. He featured in a 66-run third-wicket stand with Mahela Jayawardene, which ended when Nehra bowled Dilshan with a fine yorker.
MS Dhoni acknowledges his third century as captain, India v Sri Lanka, 2nd ODI, Nagpur, December 18, 2009
MS Dhoni ensured that the momentum didn't fall away after Virat Kohli departed © Associated Press
Zaheer delivered a further twist in the tale when, with 70 needed from 66, he got Jayawardene to nick for 39. With the rate within grasp thanks to Dilshan, Thilina Kandamby cut out the risks until his first aerial shot, in the first over of the batting Powerplay, was excellently held by a leaping Kohli at mid-on. Two legal deliveries later, a perfect yorker cleaned up Chamara Kapudegera, and the game was India's to win. But Mathews controlled his eagerness to flat-bat marvelously, nudging and pushing the ball around with the occasional aggressive drive to remain unbeaten on 37. He was outstanding under pressure, and aided by a runner (Kapugedera) picked out the deliveries to put away. Zaheer's gross error sealed Sri Lanka's fate.
At the halfway mark, the visitors would have considered the target within their reach as the wicket was still good for batting. After deciding to make first use of a pitch virtually devoid of grass, a century stand between Dhoni and Raina, after a shaky start, picked up the tempo for India. Coming together at the fall of Kohli (54), Dhoni and Raina gave India their best phase.
Dhoni ensured that the momentum didn't fall away, working the ball around superbly from the outset, and immediately showing the rich vein of form he is in this year. It wasn't a pure innings though. Dhoni had edged his first ball for four, was nearly taken at third man when on 11, edged wide of Kumar Sangakkara on 24, and got two more lives in three balls from his counterpart off Ajantha Mendis. Dhoni raised his half-century off 70 balls and thumped a six to celebrate.
Dhoni picked the batting Powerplay after 40 overs, just after Raina dumped Chanaka Welegedara for six over long-on. Two more sixes, again hit down the ground with power, pushed Sri Lanka onto the back foot as the pair took on Mendis and Suraj Randiv on in a three-over burst that bled 35 runs. Raina's fifty came up off 44 balls and that five-over block yielded 50. Looking for his fourth six, Raina picked out deep midwicket, and soon after, Mendis dropped a clanger at cover when Dhoni was on 94. In the same over, Dhoni raised his century, his second in consecutive innings in Nagpur, to a rousing reception.
Those cheers were nowhere near as boisterous when Dilshan raised his, but the resonance of the game's second century was definitely louder.
Mendis gets Tendulkar after recovery
Toss India chose to bat v Sri Lanka
After two days of speculation over player injuries and the possibility of another run fest, the cricket got underway with India winning the first battle: the toss. MS Dhoni chose to bat under clear skies and humid conditions in Nagpur.
The presence of rain leading into this match carried no weight in Dhoni's mind when he made his decision at the toss. The pitch, fairly dry and virtually grassless, was expected to once again aid the batsmen all through the match with the seam bowlers likely to be in for a tough time. But both teams, who played on the same strip in the first Twenty20 recently, believe it will be more spin-friendly as the day progresses.
Sri Lanka, seeking to level the series and improve their poor record against India at home - they have won only ten of 38 matches - made a slew of changes. They selected two spinners, Ajantha Mendis and the debutant Suraj Randiv, and dropped Nuwan Kulasekara and Sanath Jayasuriya. Thilan Samaraweera also made way for Chamara Kapugedera in the middle order after impressing in the Twenty20s. Lasith Malinga, who missed the Rajkot game, was not restored to the side and rookie fast bowler Suranga Lakmal was also handed a debut.
India were unchanged.
India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 4 Gautam Gambhir, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.
Sri Lanka: 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt/wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Kapugedara, 6 Thilina Kandamby, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9, Chanaka Welegedara, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Suranga Lakmal.
The second ODI of Sri Lanka's India tour, on December 18, has been shifted to Nagpur from the original venue, Visakhapatnam, following concerns over security arrangements. Visakhapatnam has been in the eye of a storm due to protests by students and activists at the federal government's decision to create a new state in the northern region of the state of Andhra Pradesh.
"The prevailing situation is such that all the city police are deployed in the maintenance of regular law and order, and to conduct the match in ordinary circumstances we need to deploy 80% of the city force," said Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Sambhasiva Rao. "We have mentioned it to organising locals here that it not possible for us to commit any amount of force for the conduct of the match at this stage."
The match in Nagpur will be a day-night affair, said the Indian board.
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