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

As birthday bashes go, this was pretty special, with Sanath Jayasuriya bludgeoning Bangladesh into submission as Sri Lanka sauntered into the Asia Cup final. Kumar Sangakkara’s elegant 121, just 24 hours after a century against Pakistan, was the supporting act, and with MuttiahMuralitharan at his supple-wristed best with the ball, Bangladesh werebrushed aside by a massive 158 runs. Nazimuddin and Raqibul Hasan showedsome defiance, but even against an attack missing Lasith Malinga andFarveez Maharoof, 333 was never on.Some of the Bangladesh players were still in diapers when Jayasuriya madehis debut, and they must have felt as helpless as babies when hecelebrated his 39th birthday with the fluent shot-making and power-hittingthat typified his halcyon years. He raced to a century off only 55 balls,and though it turned out to be a two-man show, Sri Lanka still had enough to pull off their fourth successive win of the tournament.Having added 201 with Sangakkara in only 27.5 overs, Jayasuriya finallyran out of puff in the Karachi heat. A poor delivery from Alok Kapali waslofted to deep cover where Tamim Iqbal took the catch. There was scarcelyany joy from the fielders, because by then Jayasuriya had pounded130 off only 88 balls, with a heady rhythm of cuts, pulls and drives.Sangakkara carried on though, having been reprieved by Kapali off his ownbowling on 51. He drove beautifully down the ground and made good use ofboth the orthodox sweep and the slogged version. Occasionally, he wouldalso come down the track and loft the ball over the infield, and Bangladeshappeared bereft of options.When Jayasuriya lashed Mashrafe Mortaza’s opening delivery past point forfour, it appeared to be a sign of things to come, but with ShahadatHossain bowling a maiden first-up, Bangladesh conceded only 20 in thefirst five overs. The trouble started after that, with Jayasuriya dustingoff his pull stroke and driving over the infield with immense power.Sangakkara wasn’t to be left behind, piercing the packed off-side fieldcleverly occasionally, but after a while he gave up trying to keep pace.Jayasuriya was unstoppable. When the bowlers dropped short, he would pullover midwicket. If they were too full, the disdainful flick was unveiled.Too much width and the hoardings behind the point boundary were batteredwith short-arm cuts. And if all that wasn’t punishment enough, he wouldalso jump down the pitch before lashing the ball over the covers.The half-century took only 31 balls, and when Abdur Razzak came on, he wastaken for 19 runs in his second over. Two crisp fours off Farhad Reza anda single to long leg later, he had a century, the 26th of an illustriouscareer. Sangakkara, who had caressed some lovely drives himself, was theperfect foil, and Bangladesh’s cause wasn’t helped when Mushfiqur Rahimfluffed a catch behind the stumps off Razzak right after Jayasuriya hadgot his hundred.

His eventual departure, after slamming 16 fours and a mere six sixes, didstem the tide though, with the other batsmen unable to support Sangakkara.Mahela Jayawardene eased to 20 before pulling a long hop from Kapali tomidwicket and neither Chamara, Kapugedera or Silva, could get going.Tillakaratne Dilshan was run out by a direct hit from Raqibul, and whenRazzak finally sneaked one under Sangakkara’s defence, Bangladesh hadmanaged a comeback of sorts. But thanks to their openers becoming only the18th pair to score centuries in the same game, Sri Lanka were nearly outof sight by then.Bangladesh were notionally in the contest till the halfway stage of theirinnings, with Nazimuddin and Raqibul playing some fine strokes in the faceof an imposing asking-rate. Nazimuddin took his time to settle, but thenlaunched into some delightful cuts and drives. AjanthaMendis, who had bamboozled the Pakistanis, was thumped for a four and asix, and only a miscommunication with Raqibul saw him runout when in sight of a half-century.By then, he had already seen Tamim and Mohammad Ashraful, the side’sleading lights, depart. With Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara givingnothing away early on, Tamim quickly became restless, and a tame nibble ata Vaas delivery was easily taken by Dilshan, deputising for Sangakkara behind the stumps.Ashraful came in and took three fours off a Vaas over, but then had one ofthose brain-fades that he’s become prone to. He was in no sort of positionto try and pull Thilan Thushara, and the top-edge came down into Dilshan’shands.But with Raqibul starting in strokeful fashion and Nazimuddin determinedto tilt at windmills, the run-rate quickly soared, with Thushara coming infor harsh treatment. Nazimuddin’s dismissal, halted the charge though, andafter that it was all about Murali.Mushfiqur edged one to slip and Kapali was trapped in front by a doosra.Raqibul’s brave innings was curtailed by another that went the wrong way,and Razzaq cleaned up going for the sweep. When Mortaza top-edged a sweep,he had five wickets for the ninth time in ODIs. It may sometimes be ayoung man’s game, but it was the old hands that blew the candles out onBangladesh.

South Africa could be without their captain Graeme Smith for the first Test against England due to a hamstring injury he sustained in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Smith sat out of the IPL final on Sunday after picking up the problem while playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the semi-final on Friday.The Test series begins at Lord’s on July 10, giving Smith nearly six weeks to get himself right. However, the seriousness of his injury means he is no certainty to be ready for the Test or the warm-up match against Middlesex that begins six days earlier.”I’ve got a grade two tear in my hamstring and it looks as through I will be out for four weeks,” Smith told . “I’m at a push to make it in time for the first Test at Lord’s.”Smith is due to join up with his South Africa team-mates in Johannesburg for a training camp before they leave for England. Despite Smith’s absence, Rajasthan won the IPL decider.

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

A high-scoring thriller which produced 412 runs finally went the way of Rajasthan Royals, as they edged Chennai Super Kings to record their tenth win of the IPL and further consolidate their position at the top of the table. After Graeme Smith had powered Rajasthan to 211, Chennai put up a spirited run-chase, thanks largely to Albie Morkel’s 40-ball 71. In the end, though, his effort wasn’t enough, which means Chennai still have work to do to make it to the last four.Smith’s 51-ball 91, and his stunning 127-run opening-wicket stand with Swapnil Asnodkar, put Rajasthan firmly in control at the halfway stage, but Chennai mounted a remarkable reply, with three of their top four making significant contributions. Morkel, Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina ensured they kept up with the asking rate throughout – 30 were needed off the last 15 balls, when Rajasthan tightened up their act with accurate bowling and spirited fielding, with Mohammad Kaif putting in an outstanding performance around the long-on and long-off boundaries.Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who came in at the fall of Parthiv’s wicket, chipped to long-off from Sohail Tanvir in the 18th, and after S Badrinath fell in the next over, Chennai were left with 15 from the last over. With Morkel still around, Chennai had a chance, but Tanvir was superb, pitching it full, on the stumps, and giving away just four runs. Eleven were needed off the last two, and when Morkel flicked one straight to short fine leg, Chennai had fallen short again. Unlike their previous run-chase, though, when they made a hash of a target of 127, there was no shame in losing this one.A target of 212 was a stiff one, but Chennai’s start suggested they were hardly intimidated. After Stephen Fleming’s early run-out, Raina and Parthiv carted the bowlers all around the MA Chidambaram Stadium in a 70-run stand that came off just 6.5 overs. Raina has struggled over the last few matches, but here he was unstoppable, driving and cutting fluently through the off side, and pulling Munaf Patel when he dropped it fractionally short.When Raina fell, miscuing Warne to midwicket, it didn’t hamper the run-chase at all, for out walked Morkel. While most batsmen preferred to move to leg and make room, Morkel’s chosen method was to stay still at the crease, and then hit straight through the line over long-on and long-off. To anything drifting on leg stump, he used the short-arm pull or the slog-sweep to excellent effect. A couple of huge sixes off Yusuf Pathan and Munaf got him on his way, and Warne wasn’t spared either, as a slog-sweep easily cleared midwicket.Parthiv wasn’t as explosive, but he played his part well, interspersing well-timed hits to the boundary – including a superb straight six off Warne – with clever nudges on both sides of the stumps to give the strike back to the more powerful strikers. He was clearly running out of steam, though, and his dismissal brought out Dhoni, who could have been the ideal man for the situation. As it turned out, though, Rajasthan had enough runs to the board to edge this one.The match produced 39 fours and 18 sixes, and that was largely due to a perfect batting strip: the pace was even, allowing batsmen to hit through the line, while there was no seam or swing movement for the bowlers. Add a super-quick outfield and sweltering heat to the equation, and there was little to cheer for the fielding team.With their team already in the semi-finals, Warne experimented with team strategy, choosing to bat first, and the move paid off immediately: the third ball, from Makhaya Ntini, was a no-ball, the free hit was promptly deposited over long-on by Asnodkar for six, and that signalled the start of the deluge. Both batsmen hit cleanly through the line of the ball, freeing their arms to crash boundaries through the off side or pull over midwicket. Manpreet Gony suffered early, as Asnodkar drove and pulled him for boundaries, and Smith soon joined in the fun, cutting and flicking Albie Morkel for fours. To make matters worse for Chennai, the hard pitch favoured the batsmen in more ways than one: when Smith played one off Ntini hard into the turf, it bounced so high over the fielder at point that Ntini could only smile in resignation.The first six overs produced nine fours and two sixes, and with the total reading 67, Rajasthan were on their way. Muttiah Muralitharan was brought into the attack in the seventh, but he couldn’t stop the bleeding either, as Smith lofted him over wide mid-on, and then slog-swept a mighty six. L Balaji was even more profligate, with Smith and Asnodkar creaming 20 in his second over.Of the first 12 overs, ten produced ten or more runs, as Rajasthan put together their third century stand for the first wicket. Asnodkar and Smith fell in quick succession, but the two wickets didn’t slow the run-fest, as Akmal quickly got into his stride, coming down the pitch and carting the third ball he faced into the long-on stands. His 26-ball half-century lifted Rajasthan to 211, and on a flat pitch, they needed all those runs to come out on top.

THE Western Australian Cricket Association is pleased to announce that bowler Matthew Nicholson has been cleared to resume training.Nicholson suffered a rare arm injury when bowling during last Friday night’s ING Cup win over Tasmania.In a freak injury the former Test paceman ruptured a tendon in his right forearm when bowling the fourth ball of his first over.He had an MRI scan on Monday and was examined by a surgeon on Monday night.Nicholson is receiving constant treatment from WACA physiotherapist, Ross Clifford."The issue now is to ease the pain in Matthew’s arm and get him playing as soon as we possibly can," Clifford said."We want him to be completely pain free by the weekend with a view to him resuming playing."Nicholson will endeavour to be fully recovered in time to play club cricket in the SunSmart League with Scarborough on Saturday.If he bowls without pain, Nicholson will be available for selection in the Pura Cup match against the Southern Redbacks in Adelaide starting on Thursday-week, December 19.

Durham County Cricket Club have agreed terms with ex-Leicestershire andEngland all rounder Vincent Wells. The 37-year-old has agreed to a 2 yearcontract.Durham Coach, Martyn Moxon, is delighted to have an experienced playerjoining the squad. “Vince has played cricket at the highest level and I amsure he will have a positive influence on our younger players. Thetechniques they can learn from him will be invaluable to their development.”Wells arrives at the Riverside after ten years with Leicestershire, duringwhich he represented England in the 1999 World Cup and was appointed countycaptain in 1999. Vince was awarded a Benefit Year in 2001. He scored morethan 6,000 runs for Leicestershire, captured 200 wickets and played a keyrole in the County’s two Championship successes of 1996 and 1998.Vince is looking forward to joining Durham. He said: “I have been veryimpressed with the cricket management at Durham and I’m really excited to bejoining such a progressive Club. Durham have some very talented youngstersand hopefully I’ll be able to pass on some of the things I have learnt overthe years.”

MELBOURNE, Oct 31 AAP – Victoria lost four wickets before lunch in its first innings on day two of the Pura Cup cricket match against Tasmania at the MCG today.Opener Jason Arnberger continued to anchor the innings with an unbeaten 159 as the Bushrangers reached 9-336, while Mathew Inness was yet to score.Australian all-rounder Shane Watson took two of the three wickets this morning and had 3-56 for the innings, while left-arm spinner Shannon Tubb also snared two scalps today for figures of 2-35.Overnight batsman Cameron White brought up his half century, but on 56 he drove Watson to Shannon Tubb for a good low catch at cover.Arnberger and White put on 142 for the sixth wicket.Michael Di Venuto leapt off the ground and grabbed Darren Berry’s scorching cover drive to dismiss him for five, giving Tubb his first wicket of the innings.

NAIROBI – If Jason Gillespie is true to his word he shouldn’t bowlanother no-ball until some time next year.Gillespie, who took career-best figures of 5-22 as Australia routedPakistan in the opening match of the triangular cricket series here,says bowling no-balls is one of his pet hates.He proudly calculated he bowled only one no-ball last season.”I hate bowling no balls, I don’t bowl many – in fact last season Ithink I bowled just one,” he said ahead of today’s match against Kenya.”I did bowl one on Friday so that’ll do me for another season.”At Australian training here, Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Andy Bichel andBrett Lee can be seen helping each other out with their run-ups.Gillespie pays minute attention to detail and compares his run-up tothat of a long jumper trying to hit the take-off board at full speed.”That’s exactly how I approached my run-up a couple of years ago – it’slike a long jumper because really you just have to hit the same spotevery time. You don’t want to be over (the crease) too many timesbecause that costs the team runs.”Where Gillespie seems to have perfected the skill, Lee has struggled inrecent seasons but Gillespie was hopeful the speedster’s problems werebehind him.”Brett’s been tinkering with his run-up a little – just trying a coupleof things to find a little bit of rhythm and smoothness in his run-up,”he said.”He bowled fantastic today [at training] – his rhythm was excellent.”Gillespie played down his five-wicket haul in Australia’s 224-run winbut did admit it made up for the times he should have been moresuccessful but for bad luck.”I feel I’ve bowled pretty well without luck a couple of times in thepast but the other day was one of those days when the ball didn’t alwaysgo exactly where I wanted it but wickets came my way.”Gillespie has played surprisingly few one-dayers since his introductionto the side in 1996, racking up just 38 games as injury and specialistone-day bowlers kept him on the sidelines.But in the past two seasons, the rangy South Australian has been a moreregular part of the team.He hopes the back and leg injuries which have troubled in the past -most recently keeping him out of the second and third Tests againstSouth Africa in Melbourne and Sydney last year – are finally a thing ofthe past.He’s getting on top of injuries by bowling less at practice and bycutting out road running from his training to remove the stress it putson knees and back. Yoga and pilates sessions have also helped.

Neil Fairbrother has announced his retirement from first-class cricket at the end of this season. Fairbrother, 38 has been playing his county cricket with Lancashire since 1982 and has a career that included 4 B&H Cup wins, 3 NatWest Trophies and 3 National/Sunday League triumphs, in addition to this, he captained the side in 1992 and 1993.Fairbrother commented, "I have always said that I wanted to continue playing while I was enjoying my cricket and maintaining a standard which I found acceptable. Unfortunately, performances this season have fallen short of the standards I set myself, this obviously lessens the enjoyment of playing the game at this level."He continued, "However, I have had a long and successful career and I am proud of what I have achieved. I have played in some great teams, with some great players and perhaps most important of all, I have made some great friends."Club Chairman, Jack Simmons paid tribute, " He has had a wonderful career going back to 1982. I remember batting with him when he made 96 not out in his first game for Lancashire as a pro and he has provided lots of terrific memories since. He will be badly missed and I’m sure there will be a few tears when he goes."Cricket Manager Mike Watkinson added, Harvey and I made our Lancashire debuts in the same match and it is a tribute to his commitment, as well as his ability, that he is still playing at this level 20 years later. He has been a devoted club-man."Fairbrother’s new career will be with ISM, the sports management firm which is run by Andrew Chandler, his final home match is anticipated to be the Lancashire Lightning fixture against Northants Steelbacks on Sunday at Old Trafford, start is at 12pm.

Sediqullah Atal, Shahidullah Kamal, Abdul Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, who are all uncapped in ODI cricket, have found places in Afghanistan’s 17-member squad for their first bilateral ODI series against Pakistan. The three-match series is scheduled to be played in the UAE* in September.In addition to facing Pakistan in two Asia Cups and the 2019 World Cup, Afghanistan had come up against their neighbours in a one-off ODI in the UAE in 2012, when Pakistan won by seven wickets.Hashmatullah Shahidi is set to make his captaincy debut, having been appointed to the job in ODI cricket in May earlier this year. Rahmat Shah will be his deputy while former captain Asghar Afghan has been left out of the side altogether. Afghan had led the team in their most recent ODI series against Ireland in the UAE, which they won 3-0. Javed Ahmadi, Gulbadin Naib, Sayed Shirzad and Yamim Ahmadzai were among the others from the Ireland series who were omitted from this squad.Rashid Khan who was the first pick, by the Trent Rockets, in the ongoing Hundred, will be back to lead the spin attack along with Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Sixteen-year-old left-arm wristspinner Noor, who has already had stints in the BBL and PSL, is also part of the spin attack although he is yet to make his international debut.Left-arm seamer Farooqi, who made his T20I earlier this year and was subsequently picked by the Chennai Super Kings as an IPL net bowler, could be in line for his ODI debut on this tour.Kabul Eagles’ Atal has made the ODI squad despite having not played a List A game in his career. The top-order batter has played only seven T20s so far, scoring 114 runs at an average of 16.28 and strike rate of 107.54. His domestic captain Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the frontline keeper in the squad, with the returning Ikram Alikhil being his back-up. Alikhil has last played ODI cricket in 2019.Allrounder Karim Janat who has played only a solitary ODI for Afghanistan, back in 2017, also returned to the side.Afghanistan currently have 30 points in the World Cup Super league, having swept Ireland 3-0.Afghanistan squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediq Atal, Rahmat Shah (vice-capt), Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Alikhil , Shahid Kamal, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad
Out: Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Javed Ahmadi, Sayed Shirzad, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Usman Ghani, Yamin Ahmadzai
In: Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Ikram Alikhil, Shahidullah Kamal, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad
Reserves: Yousuf Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Saleem Safi, Qais Ahmad

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has guaranteed the places of just four members of the Hobart Test XI.On a day South Africa completed a dominant series victory, the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and high performance chief Pat Howard joined former players for introspective talks on the state of the team in the Bellerive Oval dressing room.Lehmann, who has been told to “reinvent himself” by Howard, stated that only the captain Steven Smith, his deputy David Warner and the pacemen Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are safe from the axe ahead of next week’s day-night Test in Adelaide. All members of the team apart from Starc, Hazlewood and the seamer Joe Mennie are to play in the Sheffield Shield round starting on Thursday, in a departure from previous plans.”We’ve got to stop the rot, we’ve got to work out what the best XI is,” Lehmann said. “Guys playing this Test match, some were disappointed in their performances and they get the chance to play the Shield game to put their hand up. I thought Hazlewood was great, Starc’s getting back to his best and then you’ve got Smith and Warner.”Outside of that everyone’s got to make some runs and take some wickets. It’s a really important four days of Shield cricket. The lads are really keen to get out of here and get ready to play that game and prepare the best they can. Spots, performances are going to count, but you’ve got to have an eye to the future as well, it’s that juggling act.”These words mean that numerous medium-term members of the team are under enormous pressure to keep their places, including the spin bowler Nathan Lyon, the most experienced player in the side and the custodian of the team victory song – not sung since February in New Zealand. Adam Voges, who is averaging less than 15 over his past 10 Test innings, and wicketkeeper Peter Nevill also seem to be in the firing line.”Like everyone else, down,” Lehmann said when asked about Voges’ mood. “Adam’s been a very good player for us for 20-odd Test matches, end of the day he’s got to go back and make runs like everyone else. We’d love someone to stand up and bat big, I think we’ve had two hundreds in the last five Test matches and they were both in one innings. So we haven’t had big runs from anyone.”Sutherland and Howard flew into Hobart on Tuesday in time to address the team after their innings defeat, the first at home since the summer of 2010-11. Former players Mark Taylor, Ian Healy, Shane Warne, Michael Slater and Tom Moody also spent time with the team. “We’ve had James and Pat talk to us, and that’s about going forward and sticking together,” Lehmann said.Coach Darren Lehmann has admitted Steven Smith and David Warner are the only batsmen safe from the axe for the day-night Test•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

“I know there’s a lot of criticism out there and that’s deserved because we haven’t been winning. We have to cop that and live with that. For us it’s about stopping that, turning it around. They’re all great kids, great staff members, they work hard. We just haven’t had results go our way.”Young batsmen expected to be considered for selection include the elegant NSW left-hander Kurtis Patterson, the South Australia captain Travis Head, and another Redback in Jake Lehmann – the coach’s son. Darren Lehmann indicated he would sit out of any selection discussion involving Jake Lehmann.”I don’t sit in on anything when they [the selectors] talk about Jake, and I don’t know what they’re saying about Jake,” Lehmann said. “Not involved, and I’d be that nervous anyway I probably wouldn’t be coach. I’d probably just go to the bar.”The Test squad will be named on Sunday after the Shield round is complete, meaning the team will assemble in Adelaide on Monday, a day later than previously scheduled.Possible Test squad for Adelaide: Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Kurtis Patterson, Callum Ferguson, Matthew Wade, Steve O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers