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Ajit Agarkar, who walked out on Mumbai midway through the Ranji season, is among the probables for the domestic one-dayers

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Feb-2012Ajit Agarkar, who had pulled out of the Mumbai squad midway through the Ranji Trophy season after he was dropped for the group match against Orissa, has been included among the 25 probables for the West Zone one-dayers of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.Agarkar met with Milind Rege, Mumbai’s chairman of selectors, Ratnakar Shetty, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) vice-president, and Nitin Dalal, the MCA secretary on Monday afternoon to sort out the issues after Rege had messaged Agarkar last week, requesting for a meeting. It is understood that at the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, both Agarkar and the MCA management regretted what had happened.”I am always happy to play for Mumbai and am looking forward to the return,” Agarkar told ESPNcricinfo. “I obviously can’t change what has happened. I now look forward to the one-dayers if selected.”On November 29, Mumbai were to start their Elite group match against Orissa in Cuttack. But the previous evening Agarkar was informed by the pair of Sulakshan Kulkarni and Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai coach and captain respectively) that he was not part of the playing XI. It was also Zaheer Khan’s first game of the Ranji season, as part of his recovery process from the injury he picked up during last year’s England tour.Annoyed at being dropped, Agarkar flew back to Mumbai on the morning of the match. The issue snowballed into a controversy after Zaheer supported Agarkar’s decision and blamed the pair of Rege and Kulkarni for “pulling down” Mumbai cricket. Thereafter Agarkar, who had played only one match in the season (against Karnataka and went wicketless) made himself unavailable for selection despite calls from Dalal and Shetty, who asked him to reconsider. In his absence, Mumbai’s fast bowling department lacked a leader.After Mumbai’s lukewarm performance during the Ranji Trophy campaign where they bowed out of the semi-finals against Tamil Nadu, the pressure increased on the selectors and the team management. Consequently, Wasim Jaffer, Mumbai’s captain for the last four years, stepped down, unhappy at the remarks expressed by Kulkarni to the media.Probably as a damage-control measure, Rege tried to convince Agarkar to return, to avoid any further rumblings in the dressing room.At Monday’s meeting, Agarkar once again made it clear to the MCA officials that if he was not picked in the playing XI, he would rather sit at home than “carry water.” “It is not that I have not been twelfth man in my life but there is a merit to it,” Agarkar said.Agarkar asked for a day to think over it before arriving at a decision. But later that evening, he called up Dalal to confirm his availability. Agarkar, who plays for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL, said he also needed some match practice before the tournament begins in April, and the one-day tournament would be a good platform to get back to fitness.Probables: Ajinkya Rahane, Wasim Jaffer, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Aavishkar Salvi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Anup Revandkar, Praful Waghela, Siddharth Chitnis, Iqbal Abdullah, Ankit Chavan, Suryakumar Yadav, Parag Khanapurkar, Aditya Tare, Sushant Marathe, Kumar Subramanian, Balwinder Singh Sandhu Jnr, Kshemal Waingankar, Akhil Herwadkar, Kaustubh Pawar, Usman Malvi, Santosh Shinde, Murtuza Hussain, Shoaib Shaikh

The Basin Reserve Test sparked into life on a third day filled with twists, turns and decisive shifts in momentum, with both sides inadvertently pushing the opponent to swap game-plans several times

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar18-Jan-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMartin Guptill adopted different approaches in each of the first two sessions to work his way to 73•Getty Images

The Basin Reserve Test sparked into life on a fourth day filled with twists, turns and momentum shifts, as one side inadvertently pushed the other to swap game-plans several times. Pakistan began with unimaginative bowling at unacceptable over-rates, spread-out fields, and sloppy fielding. New Zealand cashed in, with their openers adding 120 enterprising runs, before Pakistan’s spinners rallied to reduce them to 208 for 5. For the second time in the match, though, Ross Taylor responded with a composed innings to help his side recover despite an inspired sortie from Umar Gul before stumps.With 273 to defend, New Zealand will begin as favourites on the last day, but Pakistan can take heart from the fact that seven years ago, they successfully chased the same target at this very ground. If they fall short, they will have their lacklustre start to the day to blame, a period when Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill were allowed to dictate terms.Pakistan’s fast bowlers came out without intent, spraying the ball around and gifting easy boundaries as McCullum and Guptill settled in before Abdur Rehman came on. Rehman attacked the rough with a slip, silly point and short leg, with Adnan Akmal imploring him to bowl the ‘magic ball’. One forceful shot from Guptill, a crunched back-foot cover drive, was enough for silly point to be removed. An over later, the magic ball came, stopping and turning sharply from leg stump to take Guptill’s edge before landing in the now vacant silly-point region. Pakistan had paid for their lack of proactivity.McCullum’s eagerness to dominate was counterbalanced by the state of the match and New Zealand’s recent batting woes. Rehman tossed them up, inviting the drive over mid-off, with men waiting close in for the edge. McCullum resisted, lunging forward to the flight, and working the odd arm-ball off the back foot to the leg side. Rehman almost broke through, getting McCullum to prod with hard hands, but Asad Shafiq dropped the chance, again at silly point. McCullum ran down the track to the next ball and clattered a flat six over long-off, before pulling a short ball for four more. Pakistan’s best bowler had been negated, with some luck, but he was not done for the day.Worried by the opening session, Pakistan came out with a plan in the second. Gul harried Guptill with bounce and movement, clunking his helmet with a bouncer in the first over after the break, and getting him to edge a legcutter in his second, but Adnan spilled the opportunity. Guptill altered his approach, hanging back in the crease, but resisting the impulse to pull.Rehman eventually found a way past McCullum, luring him to miscue to long-off after beating him in the flight. The run-rate dropped and Pakistan finally found their voice as Guptill got into a tangle against some well-directed bouncers from Wahab Riaz, the biggest culprit in the day’s no-ball stakes. Guptill barely survived the spell and then attacked Rehman, slicing an off-drive past a diving Tanvir Ahmed at mid-off, and teeing off down the ground for six. Rehman was not to be denied, though, and he eventually pinned Guptill in front with a skidder, an over after Kane Williamson had perished to an ungainly drive against Tanvir.Jesse Ryder avoided a third successive first-ball duck but was bowled by Mohammad Hafeez off the first ball following a brief rain interruption. New Zealand suddenly were in strife, at what was effectively 172 for 4. For a brief while, Hafeez transformed into Muttiah Muralitharan, producing a few unplayable deliveries that had New Zealand befuddled and Pakistan worried. Taylor survived one that turned in a mile, and James Franklin wasn’t good enough to edge another than turned across him and jumped over his stumps. He didn’t last long, nicking Hafeez to Younis Khan at slip before Shafiq dropped another crucial chance, lunging late from short leg as Reece Young poked nervously.Having taken a close look at Hafeez’s fare, Taylor dug deep to reverse the momentum once again. He negated the spinners with assured feet, late shots and soft hands, frustrating them into drifting onto his legs. When they did, he moved his front pad decisively across to flick and sweep into his favourite scoring areas. His first boundary came after 45 balls of caution, by which time his discipline had tired Rehman into errors. Hafeez also lost his sting, and Taylor asserted himself with a trademark slog-sweep over midwicket. Young held his own with a straight bat and a steady head for the second time in the game, and the 60-run stand turned the tide once again in New Zealand’s favour, but the day had some more surprise in store.Azhar Ali took a blinder close in to end Young’s effort before Gul charged in with an 86-overs-old ball and resorted to his most loyal weapon – reverse swing. He struck Taylor in front with an inswinger before rearranging Daniel Vettori’s stumps with a yorker. Brent Arnel came and went first ball, barely seeing a laser beam that pinged his toes. Chris Martin got the wildest applause of the day when he kept out the hat-trick ball, and Tim Southee connected with a couple of swings before Martin became Gul’s fourth scalp and New Zealand were bowled out.

Afghanistan’s maiden first-class game on their now official home ground – Sharjah – got off to a poor start with Canada’s top order piling on the runs on the opening day of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match

Cricinfo staff20-Feb-2010
Scorecard’Afghanistan’s maiden first-class game on their now official home ground – Sharjah – got off to a poor start with Canada’s top order piling on the runs on the opening day of their ICC Intercontinental Cup match. Ashish Bagai top-scored, but missed out on a century, and there were half-centuries from Trevin Bastiampillai and Nitish Kumar as Canada reached 350 for 6 by stumps.Canada’s openers, Sandeep Jyoti and Bastiampillai, added 61 before Jyoti was dismissed by Mohammad Nabi for 32. Kumar then joined Bastiampillai for another protective stand for the second wicket, worth 50, but the innings’ best alliance was between Kumar and his captain Bagai. They added 155 but Canada were jolted when both fell in consecutive overs, leaving the innings on 271 for 4. Bagai had made 93 before he was caught by Samiullah Shenwari off Mirwais Ashraf.Ramesh David and Sunil Dhaniram were building another useful stand when Shenwari struck two blows late in the day, bowling David and trapping Jimmy Hansra lbw, to raise Afghanistan’s spirits. Canada, who were on 266 for 2 at one stage, finished on 350 for 6.

Pakistan were in trouble in their chase of 107 but Babar Azam remained unbeaten to take them home

Danyal Rasool16-Jun-20241:23

Mumtaz: ‘Phenomenal display of left-arm swing bowling’ from Shaheen

Pakistan made it more complicated than it needed to be, but Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi led them to a nervy three-wicket win to sign off their T20 World Cup campaign. Shaheen led the way with the ball with three early wickets and finished the contest off with two sixes, while Babar shepherded a chase that he watched fall apart with an unbeaten 32.Mohammad Amir and Haris Rauf joined Shaheen among the wickets as Ireland were reduced to 32 for 6. At that stage, an early-afternoon finish appeared likely, but Gareth Delany and Mark Adair gritted their way through a 44-run partnership off 30 balls. Imad Wasim took care of the lower order with figures of 3 for 8 in four overs, in what is likely his last game for Pakistan, but a cameo of 22 from Josh Little took Ireland to 106.Pakistan were cruising through the chase after eight overs with Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar doing their bit to take any sting out of Ireland’s bowling attack. But a frenetic phase in the middle overs, when Curtis Campher and Barry McCarthy took four wickets for 10 runs, left Babar alone with a relatively long tail.But Abbas Afridi swung his way through a happy-go-lucky 17 to bring the target down to 12, while a calf injury for Little meant Ireland had to bowl spin at Shaheen. He finished with two heaved sixes to seal a win that gave Pakistan relief rather than satisfaction.

Shaheen back in love with first overs

After going eight successive T20Is without a first-over wicket – his longest dry spell in his T20I career – Shaheen finally snapped the streak today, his third ball a perfect illustration of why he has historically been so effective up front. The new ball swung and seamed back in to pierce Andrew Balbirnie’s defences and crash into the stumps. Two balls later, Shaheen got one to shape the other way, kissing Lorcan Tucker’s outside edge on the way to Rizwan. There was nearly a third when Pakistan reviewed one that clipped Harry Tector’s pad, and though that wasn’t given, Shaheen trapped Tector in front in his next over.Pakistan fans with a message for their team in Lauderhill•ICC/Getty Images

Ireland’s recovery

When Pakistan had Ireland at 32 for 6, any prospect of recovery was distant. But Ireland understood that continuing to attack was the most direct route to runs. In the tenth over, Gareth Delany hit Shadab’s first ball for six and Mark Adair pulled the last one for four. They attacked Abbas Afridi, who had not played a competitive game since his inclusion in Pakistan’s World Cup squad, for 16 runs in the 11th.It kept Ireland on track three figures, and when another slump came – from 76 for 6 to 80 for 9 – Little and Ben White batted the remaining six overs, adding an unbeaten 26 for the last wicket. An hour later, they were almost rewarded for it.

Pakistan’s jitters

Pakistan securing a straightforward win would have been an inauthentic end to the campaign they have had, and duly, the collapse came. If Pakistan felt they were sitting pretty halfway through the chase against India, it was nothing compared to the impregnability of their position against Ireland. Pakistan needed 55 in 12 overs with eight wickets in hand, with Babar and Fakhar Zaman batting, when Zaman drilled one to mid-off. It was the catalyst for flutters through the whole of the Pakistan camp as Usman Khan was deceived by McCarthy’s extra bounce in the tenth over.The memories of the chase that fell apart last Sunday were fresh as Shadab, to whom cricket is offering no hiding place at the moment, flicked his second ball to the wicketkeeper. Imad finally connected with the cut shot he’s been trying since Ravindra Jadeja bowled against him, but straight to the man at point. An unassertive top order and a non-existent middle order won’t get you out of the first round at many World Cups, and this game was the perfect illustration of the point.

Barishal eliminated despite Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s 69

Mohammad Isam12-Feb-2023Rangpur Riders 172 for 6 (Shamim 71, Talukdar 29, Khaled 2-23) beat Fortune Barishal 170 for 3 (Mehidy 69, Mahmudullah 34, Shanaka 2-23) by four wicketsRangpur Riders kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the BPL final after beating Fortune Barishal in Eliminator by four wickets. They will now face the losing side from Qualifier 1, starting later this evening.The match went down to the wire with Riders needing eight runs in the last over. Mahedi Hasan, though, settled the matter with two fours – the first a scoop and the second a thick outside edge – off Kamrul Islam, with three balls to spare. But it was Shamim Hossain, batting at No. 3 for the first time this season, who kept Rangpur’s chase intact. He struck four fours and as many sixes in his 51-ball 71, his highest T20 score, before holing out to long-on off Khaled Ahmed.Rangpur had lost Mohammad Naim for a duck in the first over of their 171-run chase when the left-hander skied Shakib Al Hasan. Rony Talukdar and Shamim shook off the early wicket with a 61-run stand. Talukdar struck two fours and two sixes in his 17-ball 29, before holing out to deep cover.Rangpur captain Nurul Hasan and Nicholas Pooran, who returned to the BPL after four years, fell in quick succession. Shakib trapped his opposite number with a classic arm-ball, before taking Pooran’s catch in the covers off a Khaled full-toss.Batting first, Barishal posted 170 for 3, an underwhelming total given how well they were batting in the middle overs. Andre Fletcher, who arrived for Barishal last night, added 46 for the first wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, before Mahmudullah took the side to 115 for 1 in the 14th over. It seemed like the perfect base but Mehidy and Mahmudullah fell in the space of 11 balls, leaving the rest of the Barishal batters to go big. But Karim Janat and Bhanuka Rajapaksa could add only 44 runs in the last 4.5 overs.Dasun Shanaka was the pick of the bowlers for Riders with figures of 2 for 23 from his three overs but it was Dwayne Bravo who dried up the scoring with his variations even if he didn’t pick up a wicket.

Australian to play primarily as a batter, and is expected to be with the club for the full season

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2021Matthew Wade has signed an all-format deal with Worcestershire for the 2022 season, with the club saying that the Australian would be used primarily as a top-five batter.Wade, whose experience in the English county circuit so far has been limited to an appearance with Birmingham Bears in the T20 Blast, said in a club statement that he was excited at the opportunity to “experience the challenge of a full season” of county cricket. And from the point of view of the county, signing Wade should be seen as a “sign of our intent”, cricket steering group chairman Paul Pridgeon said.Related

• Australia's WC conundrum: the search for a T20 finisher

• Wade taking latest selection audition in his stride

• Wade returns to middle order for Bangladesh T20Is

Wade, the 33-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, is currently in Bangladesh, leading Australia in a five-T20I series as they look to finetune their personnel ahead of the T20 World Cup later in the year. “I’m really looking forward to joining up with what’s an exciting group of players at Worcestershire for next season,” he said. “I have always wanted to experience the challenge of a full season of county cricket, and I jumped at the opportunity to join Worcestershire as soon as it came about.”New Road is one of the world’s most recognisable cricket grounds, and I loved playing there as part of the Ashes tour in 2019. I can’t wait to get going.”Tasmanian Wade has so far played 36 Tests (1613 runs and 85 dismissals) as well as 97 ODIs (1867 runs and 117 dismissals) and 43 T20Is (613 runs and 25 dismissals), and is vastly experienced, having turned out in 156 first-class matches, 180 List A games and 144 T20s since starting his professional career in 2007.”We have signed him as a batter. He is a real hard-nosed batter in red-ball cricket and a dangerous striker in white-ball cricket,” Pridgeon said. “We think he will add a lot to our group and will be particularly helpful for the young players.”He is a real winner, he knows how to win, and we feel that will rub off on some of the young lads and be good for their development. Matthew has also got a lot of captaincy experience, which will undoubtedly come in helpful to the likes of Joe Leach, Ben Cox and Jake Libby and people like that.”Calling it “an old-fashioned overseas signing”, to mean that Wade wouldn’t just be slotting in for a few games and, instead, stay for the whole six months, Pridgeon said, “We have been conscious that we needed something at the top of the order to spark us. He gives us a lot in all three competitions, and it is a sign of our intent to try and to continue to improve.”He can bat anywhere in the top five. I want to stress that he is here as a batsman and to help to develop the younger players. It is something we felt we needed. It is great to get it done and dusted so early for next season.”Under the current schedule, Australia are due to tour Sri Lanka in the middle of next year but Wade lost his Test place after the series against India earlier this year.

Selected bowlers will begin individualised training next Wednesday

George Dobell14-May-2020Ashley Giles believes resuming training will be “safer than it is to go to the supermarket” for England’s players and support staff. Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, has unveiled plans for around 30 players to return to training in the coming days and weeks, with a view to staging international fixtures from July.While Giles accepts “we are all nervous” of the threat posed by Covid-19, he said the measures put in place to ensure the safety of all involved could create “conditions where we can play some Test cricket”. He hoped the steps taken would assuage the understandable concerns of not just prospective England players and support staff, but those of the opposition, and West Indies in particular, who are scheduled to be the first tourists of the summer.ALSO READ: Players given opt-out as government issues return-to-training guidelines“These are the very first tentative steps back to playing cricket,” Giles said. “This is individual-based training, so in many ways we should be able to get control of the environment so it’s safer to go back to practice than it is to go to the supermarket. It should be that controlled an environment. In this first phase, this should be a safer environment than going about daily life as it is: shopping, etc.”I went shopping last week and it’s a really weird feeling when you go out. You are almost threatened by anyone who comes near you. It can be quite scary but we are doing everything we possibly can to answer all of West Indies’ questions. We will be speaking to Pakistan as well and mitigate as much risk as we possibly can. We can’t mitigate all risk but as much as possible to get guys comfortable.”We are also outside where we know the risks are far less. We will certainly carry out the right risk assessments at the venues. We will make sure all the staff are trained and that we have the right equipment, including PPE [personal protective equipment]. We will make sure everything is there for the guys to go about their business as safely as possible.”Would I be confident if I were a West Indies player? I would be nervous, certainly, but we are all nervous aren’t we? I’m not making light of this but there are risks every time you go outside the house. We need to mitigate as many of the risks as we possibly can.”While much of the ECB’s efforts are centred on creating something as close to a bio-secure environment as possible, Giles revealed that players will occasionally be allowed to leave the “bubble” in order to visit their families. This may be especially relevant to England’s Test captain, Joe Root, who is expecting his second child in July.”We are trying to create an enlarged household,” Giles said. “I’m currently living with four in my household, but there may be a household of 35 players and staff in and around that Test squad. Once they are in that environment and tested and clear, we hope they can lead pretty normal existences.”But it isn’t realistic to expect them to be in a bubble for 10 weeks. While these guys are used to touring for perhaps three or four months, these aren’t normal conditions and people will want to see families. They are going to want to get home and see their kids. So we have to look at ways we can make that happen.”We are going to have to find ways where we can get players out of the environment. We are either going to have to be smart with how we can get guys in and out of that environment or we are going to have to be smart with selection.”Joe Root watches on during England training•Getty Images

The players involved (approximately 30) and venues to be used – seven initially and then 11 as more players return to training – will be announced early next week. The first training sessions, involving only bowlers, will start next Wednesday. The seven venues have not been confirmed but are believed to be Chester-le-Street, Edgbaston, Emirates Old Trafford, Hove, Kia Oval, Taunton and Trent Bridge. While there may be some surprising names among the 30, some may be seen primarily as net bowlers.”We will need to take a bigger group of players in with us whether that be to cover injury, net bowlers or practice matches,” Giles said. “We will have a red-ball focus at first, with the white-ball players [coming] later. Initially, it will be guys with a red-ball focus who may or may not have been involved in our system this winter and before who we’d like to go back to training.”ALSO READ: Closed doors open opportunities for England fringe playersGiles also revealed that, at this stage, none of the players or support staff likely to be involved has either been infected or opted out of the resumption of training. He confirmed, however, that should anyone decide to do so, there would be no negative consequences. He also indicated that coaches from outside the current England system will be utilised.”It may happen and that’s fine,” he said. “These are different circumstances and there will be no prejudice. But I hope we can put an environment in place that’s safe enough for guys to trust us that they can go back and take those first tentative steps to cricket.”We’re definitely going to have to mobilise the help of some of our network coaches. So, at one venue, four or five bowlers may train individually but with the same coach. But with social distancing they shouldn’t be close enough to pass anything on. It’s essential we stick to these guidelines and do it properly otherwise it will cost us.”A big part of my job is trying to get cricket on. There are performance aspects of what we do which is about winning and being the best. But I also have responsibility to try and get cricket going. It has to be safe and it has to be right. We would never compromise the safety of our players and our people. We have to remain confident and, right now, I am confident.”I think we have all got to understand there is a huge economic cost to the whole game. Helping to keep the lights on everywhere is really important. We can play a big role in that. We are a business like everyone else. Businesses across the world are suffering right now and we have got to try and do our bit to protect the business.”

Bancroft’s century put his name back in front of the selectors but New South Wales ended the second day in a strong position

Alex Malcolm24-Feb-2019Cameron Bancroft produced a marathon performance to put his name back in front of Australia’s national selectors, carrying his bat with an unbeaten century against New South Wales at Bankstown Oval.Bancroft made 138 not out from 358 balls to underpin the Warriors first innings total of 279, but New South Wales were only 91 runs behind with seven first innings wickets in hand at stumps on day two thanks to a composed unbeaten half-century from Test batsman Kurtis Patterson.It was the third time in Bancroft’s career he has carried his bat in a first-class innings and the second time against New South Wales in Sydney in two seasons.ALSO READ: Ball-tampering trio ‘stuck by each other’ – Bancroft
With the exception of Sam Whiteman’s 66 on the opening day, no other WA batsman scored more than 10. Bancroft lost his last recognised partner in debutant Brad Hope with the score at 6 for 183 early on day two, but mustered 96 with the tail. He struck two huge sixes off Steve O’Keefe late in the innings with nearly every fielder on the rope.O’Keefe and Trent Copeland both finished with four wickets.The Warriors attack lacked penetration as the Blues cruised towards a first innings lead. Daniel Hughes and Nick Larkin put on 62 for the first wicket before debutant legspinner Liam O’Connor made the breakthrough with Hughes top edging a sweep shot from the rough.Patterson had a huge slice of luck early nicking a ball between the keeper and first slip off Matt Kelly. Josh Inglis and Sam Whiteman stood motionless as the chance flew between them.He settled thereafter and took control against an inexperienced WA attack easing to 57 from 104 balls with six fours and a six. Joel Paris removed Larkin lbw with a skilful late inswinger and O’Connor produced a gem of a wrong ‘un to clean bowl Moises Henriques late in the day.

Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja ripped through Sri Lanka’s top order after India set them 410 to win the Delhi Test or survive the best part of four sessions to save it

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy05-Dec-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBCCI

Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja ripped through Sri Lanka’s top order after India set them 410 to win the Delhi Test or survive the best part of four sessions to save it. Bad light brought the fourth day to an end with a theoretical 13 overs remaining, with Sri Lanka struggling at 31 for 3.Sri Lanka came within six balls of going to stumps just one down. Nigel Llong had a long look at his light meter before motioning Jadeja to bowl, and he duly picked up two wickets in what turned out to be the last over of the day. First, Dimuth Karunaratne stretched forward to defend a topspinner that dipped on him, and nicked to the keeper, playing for non-existent turn. Three balls later, the nightwatchman Suranga Lakmal made a mess of his attempt to block a stump-to-stump delivery, cue-ending the ball into the ground and back onto his stumps.Shami had given India their first breakthrough with an exhibition of searing pace and accuracy. He sent down two bouncers that reared dangerously towards Sadeera Samarawickrama’s head. The batsman evaded the first one, falling onto the floor while swaying out of line, but couldn’t avoid the second, ball kissing his glove and bouncing off his right shoulder to gully.The effort of those back-to-back bouncers in the Delhi smog quickly told on Shami; he vomited and went off the field thereafter. Lakmal had shown similar symptoms while bowling in the morning session, when Sri Lanka again came out with a number of their fielders wearing face masks.There was no such discomfort for India’s batsmen in their second innings; three of them scored half-centuries, with the declaration arriving as soon as Rohit Sharma brought up his in the 10th over after tea.There were two major partnerships in India’s innings. Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara added 77 for the third wicket at just under four-and-a-half an over, and Virat Kohli and Rohit added 90 for the fifth at just under a run-a-ball. Kohli and Rohit only hit eight fours between them, but picked up a steady stream of singles and twos against spread-out fields as Sri Lanka waited for a declaration. Kohli holed out in a bid for quick runs, soon after reaching his fifty and passing 600 runs for the series.Having secured a 163-run first-innings lead in the sixth over of the morning, India came out with clear intent to score quickly. M Vijay, normally so watchful outside off stump, repeatedly looked to drive the new ball on the up, and, having hit two fours in this manner, nicked Lakmal behind on 9.Instead of Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane walked in at No. 3, having scored 4, 0, 2 and 1 in his four previous innings in the series. Rahane likes the ball coming on to the bat, so perhaps this was an effort to have him face a harder, newer ball than normal. The experiment didn’t come off. He struggled to middle the ball in his 37-ball innings, as a control percentage of 64 would suggest, and survived two close lbw shouts before holing out while looking to hit Dilruwan Perera over long-on.Pujara was the freer-scoring batsman in his third-wicket partnership of 77 with Dhawan. He came out full of urgent intent and was typically twinkle-toed against the spinners, stepping out frequently, working the ball into gaps, often calling “two” loudly as soon as he had hit the ball.He hit successive fours off Dilruwan early in his innings, an off-drive and a square-cut, and went to lunch batting on 17 off 15 balls. He found the boundary three more times after lunch before he was caught at slip off Dhananjaya de Silva, playing for turn when the ball went on with the around-the-wicket angle.As in the second innings in Kolkata, Dhawan took his time initially and switched gears effortlessly to reduce the gap between runs and balls. It took him 63 balls to hit his first four, a late-cut off Dilruwan, but the boundaries flowed thereafter, as he stepped out against the quicks, went over the top against the spinners and, as always, scored heavily square of the wicket on the off side. As in Kolkata, he seemed set for a century when he was dismissed, beaten by Sandakan’s turn when he danced down the pitch and went for a big hit.In the morning, Dinesh Chandimal HAD extended his score from an overnight 147 to a career-best 164 before becoming the last man out in Sri Lanka’s first innings. He added 30 for the last wicket with Lakshan Sandakan, who ended up unbeaten on 0 off 20 balls. The No. 11 was beaten multiple times by Ishant Sharma and Shami, but defended stoutly when the line was on the stumps.Chandimal went for his shots, and picked up three fours in the morning, two of them with cuts and uppercuts. That shot, in the end, cost him his wicket, as he sliced Ishant straight to Dhawan at third man.

Sri Lanka will host the Under-19 Asia Cup between December 8 and 22, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2016Sri Lanka will host the Under-19 Asia Cup between December 8 and 22, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced.After a meeting of the SLC’s executive committee on September 24, the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, the Galle International Cricket Stadium and Matara Uyanwatte Stadium were approved as venues for the tournament. The tournament itinerary and other details will be decided in due course.The committee further approved the appointment of Thusith Perera, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) general manager, as the event director, while Sultan Rana, the ACC’s events manager, will serve in the same role for the U-19 tournament.