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India could take the rare step of playing four fast bowlers on a green WACA track. That was the only change the visitors were pondering to the combination that lost the first two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.VVS Laxman was never going to get dropped, but there were question marks over the persistence with Virat Kohli. However, in the lead-up to the third Test, Kolhi batted extensively in the nets, a clear sign that Rohit Sharma is unlikely to debut. On match eve, Rohit bowled for a long time before getting a few throw downs towards the end of the training session.When asked if the nature of the pitch, expected to be about 20% quicker and bouncier than when India last played a Test in Perth, would change the team combination the captain MS Dhoni said it was likelier to happen in the bowling attack.”We have to see how much grass is there [in the morning], and whether the spinner will get any kind of assistance,” Dhoni said. “Accordingly the bowling department will be structured depending on the wicket.”India have not played four quicks in a Test since the SCG Test of 1991-92, when debutant Subroto Banerjee joined Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar and Javagal Srinath in the bowling department. Allrounder Ravi Shasrti was the only spinner. If India go for all-pace in Perth, they are likely to do so with only the part-timer Virender Sehwag as a spin option. In his only Test here, Sehwag bowled Adam Gilchrist round his legs during a two-wicket cameo.This is the second time in two overseas tours that India are 2-0 down. The previous time they were whitewashed in England, and a similar result has been talked about ever since they were dismissed for 191 on the first day in Sydney. Dhoni said India were in a better space here than they were in England.”At times you lose a few series,” he said. “You lose a few games. As long as you are competing it is good. That’s what you are supposed to do. At the end of the day, the team that has played consistently good cricket over the period will win the series or the game. In England, to some extent, we didn’t compete to the extent we should have.”When asked if a whitewash in Australia would hurt more than the one in England, Dhoni joked that there was no better way of dying. He expected better, though. “We want to get back in this series,” he said. “[In] England we weren’t really there, so we didn’t really perform to our potential. We have learned a lot from that series. We have learned a lot from this series also. Just that we need to implement it in the next two Test matches.”The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is still at stake. India are the holders, and they will retain it if the series is drawn. However, it is a big ask to expect them to win the next two Tests. The various critics of the team don’t expect them to do so, but Dhoni said the external criticism – of his captaincy, of the team unity, of their “fragility” – didn’t affect them much.”It is easier to look from outside, and comment on particular decisions,” he said. “More often than not you have seen the result, and then comment on it. It’s not about taking the best decision because more often than not the best decision depends on what happens after the time the decision has been taken. It’s always about taking the good decision at the right time; honestly that’s what I try to do. At times I go wrong, at times I don’t go wrong. People feel I went wrong. It’s part and parcel of leading a side.”There have been barbs at how some players went go-karting soon after a loss, and Michael Slater said recently that he felt India weren’t hurting enough from the defeats. Dhoni said they were not going to weep for hours at the ground if that’s what hurting meant.”We are among the sides that practise a lot,” he said. “We have been trying to reduce the hours in practice. We have not been able to do that. We are one side that spends close to four hours every day during the net sessions. We try to give the guys rest as much as possible. So all these recreational activities really help doing that.”About Brad Haddin’s comments that the Indian players turn on each other easily, Dhoni said it was just his imagination. “As far as fights are concerned, I have never seen an Indian team fight,” he said. “It’s something that’s happening after a few beers with the opposition. They are just sitting and dreaming of it. It has not happened. That’s one thing we are really proud of. When we speak about the dressing-room atmosphere, and how we love each other’s success, that has been the real strength of the Indian cricket team. And I don’t see it moving in any other direction”

Big Picture

Barisal are not the most glamorous side in Bangladesh’s domestic circuit. Alif Group bought the team for $1.01 million, a fraction above the base price for a Bangladesh Premier League franchise. Though Barisal have under-achieved as a division, their BPL franchise could surprise because the coach Sarwar Imran and the team consultant, national selector Akram Khan, have put together a balanced team, which includes icon cricketer Shahriar Nafees.The 18-man squad costs a little over $1.4 million and it has seven batsmen. Brad Hodge is the most experienced of them and will have the responsibility of guiding the likes of Mominul Haque and Farhad Hossain. The expectations from Chris Gayle, who will be available for the first four matches, will be sky-high. The Burners also have two wicketkeeper batsmen: the in-form Mohammad Mithun and Phil Mustard.The pace attack has international firepower, with Pakistan’s Yasir Arafat and Australia’s Shane Harwood, but the spin attack comprises locals – Suhrawadi Shuvo, Sohag Gazi and Nazmul Islam.

Star Attraction

The fact that Chris Gayle was playing the BPL raised the profile of the tournament, and when his name came up for auction at the Radisson Blu Water Hotel, the bidding for him was intense. The Burners eventually bought him for $551,000 after they and Duronto Rajshahi had both bid the maximum price. Gayle will be leaving after four matches to play for Dolphins in the South African domestic T20s so his performances could be critical in helping the Burners stay afloat, when the league gets tight later on.

Top player

For a young team like Barisal Burners, Brad Hodge, who has 132 matches worth of Twenty20 experience, will be invaluable. His role will be to keep the innings steady after the initial burst from Gayle or Ahmed Shehzad, and to push for the 150-plus mark in the final five overs. Hodge’s IPL experience with Kolkata Knight Riders and Kochi Tuskers Kerala will give him an edge in the BPL because of the similar nature of pitches in both tournaments.

Under the radar

The Burners made some smart choices while signing up local players. Mohammad Mithun is in the form of his life in domestic cricket while batsman Mominul Haque, allrounder Alauddin Babu and fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain are developing into good cricketers. But the bowler who has impressed with a discipline that is rare in Bangladesh is offspinner Sohag Gazi. His rapid rise to the Bangladesh A side hasn’t had much effect on his bowling, which can be quite hard to score off in Twenty20 matches. Sohag is as Barisal as a Burner can get, so local pride will be running high.

Australia have finally broken their three-tournament long run of losing the first game of the three-match final series at home, but Michael Clarke wasn’t exactly thrilled. Having posted 321, Australia had Sri Lanka at 6 for 144, but in the face of an onslaught from the Sri Lanka lower order the bowling disintegrated, bringing back memories of the heist pulled off by Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga two years ago. Clarke said that his side would have to prove itself better than tonight if it is to stay No. 1 in ODIs and, in the short term, win in Adelaide, where conditions will suit Sri Lanka more.Clarke was pleased with the batting, especially with the way David Warner played through the innings, but the team’s bowling remains a worry. “A lot of work to do with our Powerplay bowling and death bowling, as we have spoken about as a team,” Clarke said. “Hasn’t been good enough throughout the series, and unfortunately it continues to let us down.”Clarke was in no mood to make allowances, even for a wet ball. “You might make an exception, but I won’t make an exception,” he said. “We have got to be better than that. We are the No. 1 one-day team in the world. We have got to execute our skills better than that.”He admitted that the pressure has been getting to his bowlers whenever they have been run close in a chase. “I just think we are not executing our skills to be honest,” Clarke said. “They practise all their different variations in the nets. But under pressure, at the moment, we are not executing. That’s been the difference, I think, between us playing some great cricket throughout this series and playing [only] good enough cricket to win the games. The other area [of concern], like I said, was [the need for] somebody in the top four going on to make a hundred, and fortunately Davey did that for us this afternoon.”Clarke did give Nuwan Kulasekara credit, but made it clear that he wanted more from his bowlers. “Again it’s [about] execution,” Clarke said. “It’s very hard when somebody is playing as well as he [Kulasekara] was, and is hitting the ball as cleanly. If you are just a bit off, you go for a boundary. Credit to him, he batted really well. But we have got to find a way to hit our areas better under pressure.”The tight schedule means Australia don’t get much time to work on what has been missing. They travel to Adelaide and then, within 24 hours, they begin the second final. “We are not going to have much time to train,” Clarke said. “The guys know it. Hopefully tonight will have helped us, hopefully not executing tonight now allows you [the players] to understand that as a team every single one of us needs to be better than that. Generally that’s the biggest part of it: getting your mind to a place where you know you need to be on top of your game the whole way through the 100 overs, against a very good one-day team.”Edited by Nikita Bastian

Bangladesh squad for Asia Cup

Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Mahmudullah (vice-capt), Imrul Kayes, Nazimuddin, Jahurul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Elias Sunny, Nazmul Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Anamul Haque
Reserves: Tamim Iqbal, Shuvagata Hom, Farhad Reza, Enamul Haque, Abul Hasan
In: Nazimuddin, Jahurul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Anamul Haque
Out: Alok Kapali, Naeem Islam, Rubel Hossain, Shahriar Nafees

Mushfiqur Rahim has been retained as Bangladesh captain for the Asia Cup, starting March 11 in Mirpur*. This comes a day after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced a 14-member squad for the tournament.The demotion of opening batsman Tamim Iqbal to the reserves and the inclusion of allrounder Mashrafe Mortaza are among a host of changes in the squad. Bangladesh’s selectors have dropped four of the 15 players who were part of the home ODI series against Pakistan in December 2011, demoted two to reserve status, and called up five. They also continued to not pick Mohammad Ashraful.The chief selector Akram Khan, however, said that dropping Tamim was not the panel’s decision but that of the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Mustafa Kamal. “Tamim Iqbal was dropped by Mustafa Kamal,” he told . “He was in the team that we submitted [for approval].”The selectors had received favourable fitness reports on both Mortaza and Tamim ahead of their meeting to pick the Asia Cup squad. Mortaza had led Dhaka Gladiators to victory in the inaugural season of the BPL, but Tamim played only two games for Chittagong Kings because of a groin injury.The five players called up to the squad were batsman Nazimuddin, wicketkeeper batsmen Jahurul Islam and Anamul Haque, Mortaza, and fast bowler Shahadat Hossain. Anamul, 19, is the only uncapped player in the squad.Alok Kapali and Shahriar Nafees, allrounder Naeem Islam and medium-pacer Rubel Hossain were dropped from the squad that played Pakistan. Tamim and medium-pace allrounder Farhad Reza, who were also part of the Pakistan series, were among the reserves for the Asia Cup.*March 6,14.30 GMT – This story was amended when the BCB announced that Mushfiqur had been named captain

Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, has said he would have come out to bat despite a broken arm to help save the third Test against South Africa in Wellington. Taylor had to retire hurt on the fourth day after he was hit by a short ball from Morne Morkel and had surgery on the fifth. He was not needed in the end, as New Zealand hung on for a draw at Basin Reserve six wickets down.”I was hoping not to [bat],” Taylor said a day after the Test. “I was back at the hotel with about 10 overs to go and then I got the phone call to ask whether I could bat. I thought you don’t often get to save a Test match, so I drove down. In the Wellington traffic it took me about five overs to get there, but the boys were looking pretty solid so I didn’t have to don the whites.”New Zealand, who needed to survive 81 overs, were in trouble when they lost half their side in 36 overs. However, Kane Williamson’s rearguard century and his partnerships with Kruger van Wyk and Doug Bracewell salvaged a draw for the hosts. South Africa won the three-Test series 1-0.”It was disappointing to get injured when I did. I would have liked to have helped the team get a draw but, at the end of the day, we got there in the end,” Taylor said. “I thought Kane Williamson, especially, batted outstandingly well. But I think Doug Bracewell has to take some credit there, too. Two 21-year-olds batting and were very mature for their age.”The injury means Taylor will not be available when his IPL team, Delhi Daredevils, start their campaign on April 5. However, his recovery is expected to take about four weeks, and Taylor did not rule out his participation in the later stages of the tournament.”We’ll just see what the medical staff say,” he said. “I’ve always listened to them and when they say I’m ready, I’m ready. I won’t be going against their word.”It has been reported that Delhi Daredevils, who bought Taylor from Rajasthan Royals in February, will not seek a replacement yet.

Middlesex have signed Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, as their second overseas player for this season’s Friends Life t20. The move, which was first reported by ESPNcricinfo, means one of the world’s premier Twenty20 bowlers will be performing in England’s domestic competition.Malinga, 28, currently has the second-highest wickets tally in the 2012 IPL, with 20 from nine appearances for Mumbai Indians. He is due to join up with Middlesex after playing for Sri Lanka in their one-day international and T20I series against Pakistan in June, meaning he will miss the opening three games of the FLt20.In 106 T20 matches, Malinga has taken 151 wickets at an average of 16.40, with an economy of 6.53 runs per over. He has previously played in England for Kent.Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said: “We are all naturally thrilled about the prospect of a player of Lasith’s talent coming to the club. In T20 cricket every county is looking for a bowler that provides their attack with variety, the ability to bowl during Powerplays and at the death, basically something different from the norm and in Lasith we will have the best in the world.”In 2011 we had a disappointing T20 campaign and we are looking for the players to react positively and improve on last season’s performances this summer. The addition of Lasith can only help us achieve this goal.”Edited by Alan Gardner

Match facts

Friday, May 25, 2012
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Mahela Jayawardene will be looking to raise his game for the big occasion•AFP

Big Picture

Virender Sehwag and Delhi Daredevils are in a familiar position. Like this year, they had utterly dominated the 2009 season, before their mighty batting line-up faltered in the semi-final, much like their flop against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday. This time though, with the changed format, they get a second opportunity.One of Daredevils’ puzzling decisions in the game against Knight Riders was to send in Ross Taylor as low as No. 7, below even teenager Pawan Negi, who is in the side primarily as a left-arm spinner and isn’t known for his batting exploits. TA Sekar, Daredevils’ team mentor, said the team had reassessed its batting order the game; so Taylor can expect to bat at a more customary position on Friday.Chennai Super Kings are also in a familiar position. Once again, they seem to be at their best in the final stages of the tournament. After several days of nervously watching other teams’ results go their way, Super Kings looked unstoppable when they took apart Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.They have always looked like the team with the greatest depth in their batting, and that was amply demonstrated against Mumbai Indians. Even after losing M Vijay and the IPL’s highest run-scorer Suresh Raina as early as the second over, their crisis men Michael Hussey and S Badrinath stabilised the innings, before the flamboyance of MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo switched the innings mode from build to blast. Even without using the heavy-hitting of Albie Morkel, even against the bowling of Lasith Malinga, Super Kings ran up 187 and coasted to victory.The trouble for Super Kings is that they need to bring their A game three times in five days, to beat each of other three playoff teams, if they are to make it a hat-trick of titles. They have done it once. Can they do it a second time on Friday?

Form guide

(most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings: WLWWW
Delhi Daredevils: LWLWL

Players to watch

In five years of the IPL, Mahela Jayawardene is yet to win a playoff match. He’s only had two chances: once in 2008, when Kings XI Punjab were thrashed by Super Kings, and then the defeat to Knight Riders earlier this week. In addition, his form this season hasn’t matched the high standard expected of him. In successive World Cups, Jayawardene has shown his ability to lift his game for the big occasion, something Daredevils would love him to do over the next three days.Ben Hilfenhaus has taken over from Doug Bollinger as Super Kings’ Australian fast bowler of choice. He’s played seven matches since his arrival from the West Indies, and hasn’t gone wicketless even once. After Dwayne Smith clubbed a succession of boundaries off Hilfenhaus to steal a last-ball victory, Hilfenhaus showed his temperament by bouncing back with consecutive Man-of-the-Match performances. Besides the outswinger which serves him well even in the longer formats, he has a quick bouncer, an accurate yorker and he likes to bowl full and wide to stifle batsmen. He accounted for both Sehwag and David Warner in the last game against Daredevils. Can he do it again?

Team combination

Super Kings don’t like to tinker with their team composition, re-securing their core players even during the re-shuffle before the 2011 season. They have used only 17 players this year, the least by a franchise, showing how much they like a settled side. After Shadab Jakati’s tight spell in the previous game with the new ball, expect him to retain his place. The only question for them is whether to retain M Vijay, or to pick S Anirudha if he is fit.Daredevils will have to ponder whether to play an extra spinner in Chennai, or stick to their preferred pace-heavy attack. Irfan Pathan had injured his hand while attempting a return catch in the game against Knight Riders, but team mentor Sekar said Irfan was fit to play on Friday.

Meetings this season

Both encounters this season have been one-sided: Daredevils won by eight wickets at the Kotla after four run-outs undermined Super Kings, and less than two weeks ago Hilfenhaus ran through the Daredevils top order to set up a straightforward nine-wicket* victory at Chepauk.

Stats and trivia

• Suresh Raina has scored only 341 runs this season, his lowest tally in any IPL
• Morne Morkel is three wickets away from equalling Malinga’s record of 28 wickets in an IPL season
• For stats on Super Kings’ spinners’ struggles at home, click here

Quotes

“We have a team that is better suited to the conditions in Chennai. We have seamers who are adequate but not startling.”

“Ross got a 21-ball fifty against Royal Challengers in Bangalore. He showed his class there and I think he is in a good space and I think he should fire tomorrow.”

*05.15 GMT May 25 The margin of victory has been corrected

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Asad Shafiq made a solid half-century•AFP

For a year and a half after Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement, every match Sri Lanka played was accompanied by questions about their ability to be a top Test nation in the absence of the game’s greatest wicket-taker. Those questions will be less frequent after Sri Lanka completed their third Test victory in five matches, and their largest win over Pakistan on the fourth day in Galle. The result also snapped Pakistan’s winning streak, which included a 3-0 blanking of world No. 1 England, at five Tests.It wasn’t one-way traffic on Monday, as it had been on the three previous days as Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan defied Sri Lanka for nearly two sessions. Younis gave another demonstration of his fourth-innings mastery, while Shafiq once again showed his appetite for a scrap, as he had in his two previous Tests, against England. Their resistance stretched the game to the final minutes of the fourth day, but Sri Lanka were never in any serious danger, remaining firmly in control all through.Pakistan’s only casualty in the morning was the nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal, run-out in the second over of the day after a direct hit by Suraj Randiv from cover. An early finish to the game looked on the cards when Younis started to walk off after seemingly holing out to mid-off, but there was some doubt over whether Tillakaratne Dilshan had got his fingers under the ball as he took a low catch. It was hard to tell from the replays, and Younis was given the benefit of the doubt.The only other clear-cut chance in the session for Pakistan was when Kumar Sangakkara put down a tough catch at midwicket off Shafiq ten minutes before lunch. There were a few mild lbw appeals, and Shafiq’s french-cut for four early in his innings, but for the most part, Younis and Shafiq were more comfortable than any other Pakistan pair has been this match.They didn’t go into a defensive shell, looking to score even though the target was well out of sight. Younis used the sweep, mostly the conventional version but on one occasion the reverse as well. Shafiq capitalised on the deliveries bowled on his pads, and also pulled out some hard-hit lofted shots as Sri Lanka’s bowlers were made to wait for a breakthrough longer than they have had all match.The pattern continued after lunch as well, as the pair negated the generally slow spin easily. Both batsmen confidently used their feet against spin, and were quick to put away the loose deliveries. Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers weren’t at their best, not testing the batsmen enough and being inconsistent with their lines, while the spinners patiently plugged away. The slow bowlers managed to find a few edges which didn’t carry to slip on several occasions.As the session progressed, it seemed Sri Lanka’s best hope of a wicket would be once the new ball was taken, but Herath got one to spin off the pitch with pace, and Shafiq nicked it through to slip, via the wicketkeeper’s gloves, to fall for 80.Younis went on to become the first Pakistan batsman to complete 1000 runs in the fourth innings, but he couldn’t become the first man to score five centuries in the fourth innings of a Test. Sri Lanka hadn’t needed to wait for the second new ball to break the Younis-Shafiq stand but when they did take it, they got the big wicket of Younis in the very first over. Nuwan Kulasekara, who has been a huge threat with the new ball, got one delivery to hold its line, and not dip in as his deliveries usually do, causing a faint Younis nick to the keeper.With those two strikes, Sri Lanka were in sniffing distance of a win. Debutant Mohammad Ayub, the last of the specialist batsmen, hung around for an hour and a half before becoming fast bowler’s Nuwan Pradeep first Test victim.In a disappointing match for Pakistan, one of the bright spots for them was the wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal. Not only was he competent behind the stumps, he showed promise with the bat as well, besides conveying a sense of enjoying the game. He battled for an unbeaten 40, shielding the tail from the strike as much as he could, but couldn’t take the game into a fifth day as Sri Lanka’s spinners completed the job a few minutes before stumps.

Michael Di Venuto, the Durham batsman, has retired from county cricket with immediate effect after six years with the club.Di Venuto, 37, scored 6488 first-class runs for Durham since joining in 2007 including a tally of 1654 in 2009 when the county won the second of their back-to-back Championship titles. However, this season he had averaged 29.10 from five matches and decided he could no longer reach the levels required for the first-class game.”My body won’t allow me to prepare and play the way I want,” he said. “I set high standards for myself and if I was to continue playing then it would be below these standards. While I know I still have some quality short form cricket in me, the day in day out nature of first-class cricket I physically can’t do anymore.”My time at Durham has been incredible. To play with a great bunch of blokes in some history making teams is something that I will cherish and look back on fondly. My family and I have loved our time in the North East and have some wonderful memories to take home with us. I’d like to thank everyone involved with the club for making our time here so enjoyable. We will miss Durham CCC.”Geoff Cook, the head coach said: “Michael has been a prolific run scorer for the club during his time here and is a much respected player, who will be greatly missed. He has proved to be a real inspiration on the field and the knowledge and guidance he has shared with our squad, especially the batsmen, has encouraged growth within the side.”Michael should be incredibly proud of his time here at Durham and we wish him all the very best with his future endeavours.”Prior to his lengthy stay at Durham, Di Venuto, who appeared in nine one-day internationals for Australia, also played for Derbyshire and Sussex

ScorecardDan Redfern shepherded the tail to secure Derbyshire victory•Getty Images

Derbyshire took another big stride towards promotion from Division Two when eighth-wicket pair Dan Redfern and Tim Groenewald steered them to a thrilling two-wicket victory over Kent at Derby.Redfern struck the winning boundary off Mark Davies in the fourth over after lunch to complete his fifty and take them past their target of 295 following a dramatic morning in which Charlie Shreck threatened to win the match for Kent.Derbyshire went into the fourth day as favourites needing another 127 with eight wickets standing but Shreck took four wickets to reduce them to 236 for 7. But Redfern, who survived a difficult chance to skipper Rob Key when he had scored only one, was well supported by first Tony Palladino and then Groenewald who made 20 out of a stand of 41 to settle a pulsating contest.There was no hint of the drama to come when Usman Khawaja and Wes Durston calmly batted through the first 10 overs of the morning to take their third wicket partnership to 102. But Shreck was rewarded for a tireless spell from the City End of the County Ground when he had Khawaja caught behind for 56 from 137 balls off the last delivery of the 70th over and then removed Durston with his first ball of the 72nd.Durston had scored 55 from 123 balls but Shreck moved one back into him to trap him lbw and then Richard Johnson went for a drive and edged to second slip in Shreck’s next over. Shreck had now taken three wickets in nine balls and the momentum was shifting towards Kent when Matt Coles got one to lift sharply at David Wainwright, who was caught low down at third slip for 2.Jon Clare pulled Coles through midwicket for four but then got a leading edge off Shreck and was caught at mid-off for 12. Derbyshire were now rocking but Palladino, who had bowled so well in the game, helped steady their nerves by adding 21 with Redfern who was striking the right balance between aggression and caution.He cover drove Shreck for successive fours from an over that cost 13 and Groenewald edged the fast bowler to the vacant third man boundary in his next over.Lunch was delayed by four overs to try and finish the game but Derbyshire finally sealed a 19 points victory that takes them 26 points clear at the top of Division Two when Redfern drove Davies for his fifth boundary.