1st ODI WI (269/6) beat ENG (254/6) by 15 runs

Michael Lumb scored a superb century on his one-day international debut but failed to prevent England from losing their opening match against West Indies by 15 runs.

After they were set 270 to win, openers Lumb and Moeen Ali, also on his debut, put on 96 for the first wicket.

But following Moeen's (44) and Lumb's (106) dismissals, England lost wickets cheaply and finished on 254-6.

The next game in the three-match series is on Sunday, again in Antigua.


In that second ODI, stand-in captain Stuart Broad and limited-overs coach Ashley Giles will be hoping their new-look side avoids another capitulation, especially Giles who, according to ECB chairman Giles Clarke, is a "strong candidate" to succeed Andy Flower as the man in charge of all formats.

His team selection will be closely monitored and whether he tinkers with the XI remains to be seen. On Friday, some of his picks underperformed, but there were others who took their chances.

One of those was 34-year-old Nottinghamshire left-hander Lumb, who produced a near-perfect performance as an ODI opener; steady, while keeping the scoring rate moving along during the early stages.

On a momentous day for the Johannesburg-born player, his innings of 106 from 116 balls was the highest by an England one-day debutant and the seventh highest of all time.

Both he and fellow debutant Moeen, 26, also produced the highest opening ODI partnership by debutants, surpassing the previous record of 71 held by Piet Rinke and Terry Duffin for Zimbabwe against Kenya in 2006.

The pair had never played together before but showed the understanding of a veteran partnership. They reached 53 in 10 overs with little trouble, bar one delivery that struck Lumb in the groin area.

Worcestershire's Moeen was languid but calculating in his stroke-making, although a miscalculation led to his dismissal in the 20th over when he found Sunil Narine at long-on.

ODI and T20 veteran Luke Wright was in next but never looked at ease during nine balls which brought just one run, before Yorkshire's Joe Root, who scored a century in the pre-series warm-up match, appeared to settle the tourists' nerves with a calm knock.

Lumb survived the nervous nineties to raise his bat for a brilliant, maiden ODI ton following a single off Darren Sammy. Eight balls later he was out, after trying to drive Narine over cover, and that precipitated England's collapse.

The score moved from 180-3 to 192-4 when Durham's Ben Stokes saw his leg stump clipped by Narine. Root (37) continued to offer a steadying influence until he too was out when he nicked off-spinner Narine to keeper Denesh Ramdin.

Even after Jos Buttler skied Bravo to Jason Holder at extra cover for 12, England still had a good chance to win the match with Ravi Bopara and Tim Bresnan at the crease. However, the pair failed to find much-needed boundaries as England's innings ended meekly - the visitors scoring just 30 runs in the final five overs.

This was all in sharp contrast to the West Indies innings. The home side were reduced to 45-4 after 16 overs, more as a result of poor judgement rather than spectacular bowling.

However, their innings was saved by 108-run partnership between the patient Lendl Simmons (65) and the more cavalier Dwayne Bravo, who was later joined by the explosive Darren Sammy (61 from 52 balls) as the West Indies finished strongly, a late burst which ultimately proved the difference between the two sides.


Eng 254/6 (50 overs)

FOW: 95/1 Ali c Narine b Smith 44 (Moeen Ali's luck's run out, not sure he can have too many complaints, but some encouraging shot-making on his debut. This is not a brilliant shot, he's tried to flip it over midwicket, not really got hold of it, and he's spooned it for a simple catch to deep midwicket. Dwayne Smith the man to take the wicket, an inspired bowling change from Bravo, I guess.)

106/2 Wright c Bravo b Sammy 1 (An innings so forgettable I am already having to look up what happened, as Luke Wright pulls a regulation ball from Sammy straight to midwicket for a simple catch. Probably not quite short enough for the catch, Bravo didn't have to move.)

180/3 Lumb c Dwayne Bravo b Rampaul 106 (Ravi Rampaul. Excellent slower ball, cutter, Lumb tries to work it to leg and gets the leading edge back over the bowler's head. England reall have had the rub of the green today. Ah, but Lumb cannot just count his blessings, he's had a go at another cutter, Lumb charges down the pitch and slaps it to cover. No real need for that. Still, good innings.)

192/4 Stokes b Narine 5 (Ah, England lining up something a bit special here, I fancy. Ben Stokes sweeps, misses, is bowled leg stump, and decides to wait for the umpires to look at it on the TV. Erm.... I guess in fairness he wondered if he had come off the keeper. It hadn't.)

205/5 Root c Ramdin b Narine 37 (Buttler improvises a clever reverse sweep to plunder a four against Narine, then helps one down the leg side, but now it's all over for Root as he sweeps and feathers an edge to the keeper. Is that the sound of the wheels coming off the New England juggernaut?)

211/6 Buttler c Holder b Dwayne Bravo 12 (An over of attempted yorkers, some of which become low full tosses, sees England knock it about and run well for a trio of twos. But now Bravo produces a nice slower ball, rolling the fingers across the seam, and Buttler has gone for it hook, line and sinker. Scoops it up in the air, and that is a sitter at mid off.)

WI 269/6 (50 overs)

FOW: 19/1 Powell c Jordan b Root 5 (That pressure's paid off. Powell had to try something, and what he tried to do was to try and force the issue by hitting on the up through the offside. Super catch by Chris Jordan at short extra. Brilliant, in fact, diving low down)

38/2 Smith c Buttler b Tredwell 24 (James into the attack, Smith pushes forward and the ball turns. Pops up in the air, well caught by Joss Buttler throwing himself forward to where a very silly short leg would be. Umpire Gregory Brathwaite, for reasons best known to himself, gives that not out. Huge edge, surely? England waste no time in asking for the review, and TV umpire Rod Tucker wastes no time in telling his colleague to sort his act out, because that is quite clearly out.)

40/3 Edwards b Bresnan 10 (Getting better and better for England! Bresnan with a good ball on off stump, maybe tails in a tiny bit, not even sure if it did that really. Edwards just misses it and is bowled off pole. Edwards was trying to work it to leg with the bottom hand, and to all intents and purposes he's played aroudn a straight one)

45/4 Darren Bravo lbw b Ali 2 (Hit on the pad playing forward. Given out. Bravo reviews. Has it straightened enough from that round the wicket angle? Going to be tight.... It hasn't turned massively. But of course, he's been given out on field so it only has to be clipping. Yep, that'll do 'er. Erasmus had it right first time, and Darren Bravo is on the bike, taking the Windies' review with him  Fantastic moment for Moeen Ali, well done son. Hope there are many more.)

153/5 Simmons c Ali b Bresnan 65 (94) Big wicket! Bresnan drags his fingers across the seam - a slower bouncer - and Simmons gets himself into all sorts of trouble, at first backing away to give himself room and then groping for the ball as it stops in the pitch. The top edge flies into the air and lands in the hands of Moeen Ali, running in from cover. That's a crucial time for England to make the breakthrough. Darren Sammy promoted up the order to No7.

269/6 Sammy c Broad b Bresnan 61 (Sammy chips the last ball to cover, where Broad takes the catch)

Eng won toss & will bowl 

West Indies 1 Dwayne Smith, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Kirk Edwards, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Lendl Simmons, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Dinesh Ramdin, 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Jason Holder, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Ravi Rampaul

England 1 Michael Lumb, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Luke Wright, 4 Joe Root, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Tredwell

Asia Cup Match 4 SL V IND

Sri Lanka 265 for 8 (Sangakkara 103, K Perera 64, Jadeja 3-30) beat India 264 for 9 (Dhawan 94, Mendis 4-60, Senanayake 3-41) by two wickets 

Kumar Sangakkara engineered an under-pressure 83-ball century, the quickest of his ODI career, to steer Sri Lanka to their second straight win and to the brink of a place in the Asia Cup finals. After India had posted what seemed an insufficient total, Ravindra Jadeja and the other spinners sparked an unlikely comeback midway through the Sri Lankan chase, but with Sangakkara making light of a tricky surface, India were never really favourites.

India's age-old problems with death bowling were exacerbated by the dew, and Sangakkara captialised on a series of full tosses and seemingly put India beyond the game, caning 32 off three overs to boil it down to 12 off the final two overs. When Shikhar Dhawan misfielded in the 49th over at deep square leg after another full toss, it brought up Sangakkara's 18th ODI century and victory seemed a formality. 

Sangakkara allowed himself a fist pump to mark the milestone. Yet another full toss spiced up the game, though, as Sangakkara miscued a waist-high delivery from Mohammed Shami to leave Thisara Perera and Ajantha Mendis needing seven off nine deliveries.

There was more low-quality cricket in the finale, as Ajantha Mendis levelled the scores with a thick outside edge past the keeper for four. With one needed in the final over, and two wickets in hand, Perera chipped the first ball to Dhawan at mid-off, and was delighted to see a straightforward chance put down. A scrambled single followed on the next delivery to finally confirm Sri Lanka's win. 

Such anxious moments weren't on the cards when Sri Lanka's openers began brightly and with starkly contrasting styles - Kusal Perera all brute force with an everything-must-go mindset and Lahiru Thirmanne more of an old-fashioned stylist, thriving on precision strokes. They put on 80 before R Ashwin, switching between his new-fangled Narine-style action and his conventional one, had Thirimanne lbw for 38.

That only brought together Kusal and Sangakkara, who coolly put together a half-century stand. The score was 138 for 2 when Dinesh Karthik failed to take off the bails on the first attempt after a leg-side take to reprieve Sangakkara. It was a miss, but with Sri Lanka coasting, and India looking listless, it didn't seem like it would matter much.

Instead, Mahela Jayawardene chipped a catch straight to extra cover, and Jadeja produced a ripping turner next ball to knock back Dinesh Chandimal's off stump and hand him a golden duck. With the spinners, including part-timer Rohit, finding some rhythm, the middle-order collapsed, but Sangakkara remained immoveable, placing the ball perfectly and rarely needing to slog as he orchestrated the chase.

India's middle-order had floundered against the spinners as well, its first serious test in the absence of vastly experienced trio of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. The stutter came after India's best phase of the innings, with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan putting on 97 for the second wicket on a surface where the ball was staying low and not coming easily onto the bat. Dhawan was uncharacteristically subdued, hitting only seven fours and a six in his 94 - far fewer boundaries than you would expect from a naturally aggressive batsman.

The stand was broken by Mendis, who continued his love affair with the Asia Cup by grabbing four wickets to take his tally to 21 at an average of 9.76 in six matches. It was his zipping carrom ball that sent back India's best batsman Kohli for 48, and later Dhawan for 94 in the 40th over, just as India were getting set for a final onslaught.

Ajinkya Rahane had plenty of time to get his eye in, but holed out for 22 attempting his favourite shot, the loft over extra cover. Dhawan's exit put the responsibility on Ambati Rayudu and Karthik, neither of whom are certainties in the XI, had to shepherd the team in the final ten. Both fluffed it: Karthik lasting only three balls as he miscued to mid-off, and Rayudu picking out the man at long-off as he chipped Chaturanga de Silva.

Sri Lanka backed up the bowlers with some top fielding, throwing themselves around in the deep to make several sliding stops and also hitting the stumps several times from close-in. Lasith Malinga fired in his yorkers towards the death, and though a couple of mighty hits from No. 11 Mohammed Shami took India to 264, it ultimately proved an insufficient total.

The result also added more pressure on India ahead of the marquee clash against Pakistan on Sunday. 

Asia Cup Match 3 PAK V AFG

Pakistan 248 for 8 (Akmal 102*, Shehzad 50, Mirwaiz 2-29, Shenwari 2-34) beat Afghanistan 176 (Noor Ali 44, Hafeez 3-29, Ajmal 2-25) by 72 runs

Playing only their third ODI against a Test-playing team, Afghanistan had Pakistan in serious danger of being bowled out for under 200. But Umar Akmal averted that fate with his second ODI hundred, his unbeaten 89-ball 102 steering Pakistan from a precarious 117 for 6 to a relatively safe total of 248 for 8, which proved enough to give them a 72-run win.

Afghanistan got their chase off to a steady start, and only lost one wicket in the first 15 overs. But they struggled to lift their scoring rate above four an over. After the dismissal of Noor Ali Zadran, who had made an attractive 44, the innings slowed down further, as Asghar Stanikzai and Nawroz Mangal were stifled by the Pakistan spinners on a slow, low pitch.

Stanikzai and Mangal stuck at it, though, and put on 74 in 18.1 overs, before they both fell in the space of three balls. That began a collapse which saw Afghanistan slide from 139 for 2 to 176 all out, with Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez running through the lower order.

Last man out was Samiullah Shenwari. He had taken two wickets during Pakistan's innings, and had spun his legbreaks a long way. He had also dropped Akmal a straightforward skier at point. Akmal was on 28 at that stage, and Pakistan 146 for 6. From that point, Afghanistan's bowlers lost their lengths, and went for 84 in the last 10 overs and 59 in the last five.

Afghanistan had been a revelation till then. Having elected to bowl on a slow pitch, Afghanistan showed they had an attack that didn't need too much assistance to keep the batsmen on a leash. Apart from one over in which their fastest bowler, Dawlat Zadran, went for three boundaries after drifting three times onto Ahmed Shehzad's pads, they bowled terrific lines. The first 10 overs only brought Pakistan 39 runs.

Pakistan could have been one down by then. Afghanistan's wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad had dived to his right to take a climbing ball that seemed to brush Sharjeel Khan's gloves as he tried to pull Dawlat. Umpire Johan Cloete, however, was unmoved.

But they didn't have to wait too long. In the 13th over, Sharjeel picked out the deep midwicket fielder with a slog-sweep off left-arm spinner Hamza Hotak. At the other end, medium-pacer Mirwais Ashraf gave nothing away to Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez. After Mirwaiz had given away eight runs in his first four overs, Hafeez tried going after him. Having just inside-edged an attempted slog for four, he attempted another, and sent a top-edge steepling into the hands of cover.

Three balls after reaching his fifty, Shehzad was out to another poor stroke, chopping on while trying to swat leg spinner Shenwari over the leg side. Pakistan were 89 for 3 after 23 overs.

That became 89 for 4 when they lost their captain Misbah-ul-Haq to a farcical run-out when he hadn't yet faced a ball. Sohaib Maqsood, who had set off for a single after pushing a ball from Mohammad Nabi to cover, slipped mid-pitch. Instead of completing the run after getting back on his feet, Maqsood turned around and beat Misbah in a comical race to the batting crease. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad, who had collected the throw, jogged over to the bowler's end and removed the bails.

Maqsood and Shahid Afridi perished to slogs and left Pakistan reeling on 119 for 6. In came Anwar Ali, who had replaced Bilawal Bhatti in the team's pace attack. On his ODI debut against South Africa, Anwar had scored an unbeaten 43 to help his team recover from 124 for 6 to what was an eventually match-winning total of 218 for 9.

Ali made another important contribution here, adding 60 with Akmal for the seventh wicket, before he fell to a sensational bit of fielding from Mangal, who ran back from mid-off to long-off to catch a ball dropping down over his shoulder.

Akmal, at the other end, had survived a much easier chance, after Ashraf's away movement had almost produced an identical dismissal to that of Hafeez. After that, Akmal opened up, walking down the pitch to the seamers and carting them to all parts. Batting on 85 at the start of the final over, Akmal took two off the first ball and crunched Dawlat successive boundaries to move to 95.

Akmal refused singles off the next two balls, after hitting to fielders on the boundary. With two balls to go and five runs to get for the century, Akmal hit Dawlat way over his head for six. 

He didn't need to run, but raced to the other end anyway, took his helmet off, and kissed the turf. In Pakistan's previous match, he had taken them to within sight of victory against Sri Lanka before triggering a collapse with a poor stroke. Now, he had saved his team from what could have been a very awkward evening. 

Asia Cup Match 2 IND V BAN

India 280 for 4 (Kohli 136, Rahane 73) beat Bangladesh 279 for 7 (Rahim 117, Anamul 77, Shami 4-50) by six wickets


The Fatullah crowd waited for Virat Kohli to reach his 19th ODI hundred, and started heading for the exit soon after he reached the landmark. India still needed 77 from 12.3 overs in a chase that, if statistics were anything to go by, still had some juice remaining. They had every right to leave, however, as the India captain made 136 and easily brought out a six-wicket win.

Bangladesh's bowling attack hardly put a dent in the record 213-run third-wicket partnership, barely creating a chance that could keep the spectators on their seats for the entire game. Instead, the ground had almost emptied by the time India completed the win in 49 overs. This, after Bangladesh had posted 279 for 7 with captain Mushfiqur Rahim making 117.

This was the just the second time in ODI history that both captains scored hundreds in the same game. While Mushfiqur's century was about redemption after a series of controversies, Kohli ensured he wasn't trumped by his opposite number, particularly in a situation which favours him.

But the crux of the chase was with Kohli's regular mastery of the situation. He neither panics, nor takes things too lightly. His batting has the assuredness that every international team craves for, particularly when they have to chase high totals.

 

Kohli has now equaled Brian Lara in the all-time list of hundreds in ODIs. Thirteen of the 19 have come while chasing. Only once has he failed, incidentally his last hundred earlier this year against New Zealand. This one ended on 122 balls, having struck 16 fours and two sixes.

Against a team that had thrice previously failed to defend scores in excess of 250 against India, this innings and the dominance under the lights was inevitable. Very much like most of Kohli's one-day centuries these days.

From 54 for 2 in the 13th over, Kohli took advantage of every loose ball that came his way, be it deliveries sliding down the leg side or those gone wide. When Bangladesh stopped giving him room or letting him curl his forearms, he unleashed the cover drive time and again. The rasping speed takes it past cover as soon as the fielder gets into position, and by the time the long-off fielder has taken a few steps to his left, the umpire signals four.

He reached his fifty off 48 balls in the 25th over, and his hundred off 95 balls in the 38th over. It was that easy. Ajinkya Rahane held it together at the other end, never giving away any advantage as he ensured Kohli was fed as much strike as possible. He made 73 off 83 balls, his fourth ODI fifty.

The first two wickets, through Abdur Razzak and Ziaur Rahman, were all Bangladesh could muster when the game was still in their grasp. Left-arm spinner Razzak is Bangladesh's most successful bowler in the second innings, but he went for 55 in his 10 overs, not beating Kohli and Rahane regularly enough.

Mashrafe was decent without any menace while Sohag Gazi continued his ordinary form, going wicketless in his first six overs, only picking up Rahane towards the end. His first delivery to Kohli was a rank long-hop, a nightmare which only Varun Aaron could relate to.

Mushfiqur's second ODI century, and his 133-run third wicket stand with Anamul Haque gave Bangladesh a competitive total. The pair came together in the 13th over after Shamsur Rahman could not handle Shami's extra bounce in the sixth over and Mominul Haque had clumsily got himself stumped off an inside edge off R Ashwin.

Anamul was more aggressive at the start of the partnership. He was particularly harsh on Aaron, picking up 34 runs off 19 deliveries from the pace bowler. Mushfiqur recovered his scoring rate at the latter end of the stand. Their partnership was the highest by a Bangladeshi pair against India, and the eighth century stand against today's winners.

 

Anamul struck two sixes with equal contempt off Aaron, both over long-on. He moved to his fifty with a straight six off Ashwin, who remained a quiet presence through the Bangladesh innings.

Anamul was dismissed by Aaron at the end of the 37th over but not before he had set up a platform with his 106-ball 77. Mushfiqur added 49 for the fourth wicket with Naeem Islam, after which he reached his century off 104 balls. With Ziaur, he added 29 off just 19 balls with the allrounder opening up his stance every once in a while to force the ball through the straight field. Ziaur struck two fours and a six, all through the mid-on arc.

Aaron struck Mushfiqur under his arm with a beamer in what turned out to be a nightmarish day for the fast bowler, who gave away 74 runs in 7.5 overs. He was clobbered around by Anamul and Mushfiqur mainly, and the ending, when he was taken off, was even more disappointing.

India's bowling was led by Shami's four-wicket haul, particularly his first two spells in which he hardly let any batsman get on top of him even on a flat wicket. His performance and the young batting line-up's successful chase would be aspects India would be rather pleased with going into bigger matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan later this week.

Asia Cup Match 1 PAK V SL

Sri Lanka 296 for 6 (Thirimanne 102, Sangakkara 67, Mathews 55*) beat Pakistan 284 (Umar Akmal 74, Misbah 73, Malinga 5-52) by 12 runs

Lasith Malinga reasserted his skill for rattling chases in a tight finish, after Lahiru Thirimanne had proclaimed his relevance to the ODI format, as Sri Lanka sputtered to a thrilling win in the Asia Cup opener in Fatullah. Pakistan lost their top order cheaply, surged, collapsed, then surged briefly again, in search of 297, but the total that had been set up by Thirimanne's 102 was 12 too many, despite half-centuries from Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal.

Malinga's 5 for 52 was his first in ODIs since January 2012, as he claimed the two last Pakistan scalps in an unflappable 49th over replete with tailing yorkers. Bilawal Bhatti and Saeed Ajmal had managed 17 runs from the previous over to whittle the requirement down to 17 from two overs, but Ajmal was caught in front by a yorker, and Bhatti had one clatter into his off stump. 

Bhatti's wicket was Malinga's 250th, and he achieved the milestone faster than any other Sri Lanka bowler, beating Muttiah Muralitharan by 11 matches.

Pakistan had earlier seemed in control, with 55 needed off 46 balls and six wickets in hand, thanks to the 121-run stand between Misbah and Akmal. But Malinga was vital to quelling that charge too. He struck twice in four balls in the 45th over, to swing the match strongly in Sri Lanka's favour, before dismissing Umar Gul in his next. All of his wickets came in his last 15 balls.

Thirimanne's 161-run stand, off 146 balls, with Kumar Sangakkara had been the centrepiece of Sri Lanka's innings. Joined after a mediocre start, the pair pushed the run rate close to six, promising a total well in excess of 300, but a stutter in the batting Powerplay and a focused Pakistan, led by Saeed Ajmal, in the late overs ensured they did not finish with force.

Thirimanne, backed by the selectors to open instead of Mahela Jayawardene, was fluent from the outset, and despite his strike rate of 92.72, was rarely ruled by aggression. A crisp cover drive off Gul brought him his first boundary in the second over, and that stroke - his favourite - would prove equally productive against spin. Casually authoritative on the off side to begin with, Thirimanne eventually added a leg side element to his play, even swinging Mohammad Hafeez over deep midwicket for six, in the 31st over.

In between the sweetly struck fours, Thirimanne was also adept at measuring singles. Aided by a surface that offered little seam movement and appreciable turn, and by Sangakkara's enterprise at the other end, he eased to his half-century in the 20th over, then launched an offensive alongside the senior man after the 25th.

Crucially, for a batsman who has spent much of the past two months sidelined with injury, Thirimanne was as stoic as he was confident. The nineties drew no fidgets or hair-brained strokes. He flitted through them, as he had done throughout his stay, to record his second triple-figure score in ODIs. The milestone, fittingly, came from a cover drive. The celebration, typically, was understated.

Though Thirimanne had modeled his strokes and approach on his senior partner, Sangakkara had not been quite so mellow. Often he strode forward against the quicks, seeking to make overpitched balls out of their length deliveries, and his initiative became Sri Lanka's impetus. He hit 67 from 64 balls, before thumping an Umar Gul bouncer to the only infielder on the leg side.

Angelo Mathews embellished his regained stature as a finisher with an unbeaten 55 off 50 balls, but he could not attack with as much abandon as he could have liked at the close, because he could not find a secure ally at the other end. Ajmal's varied final spell was Sri Lanka's biggest hindrance. He finished with 1 wicket for 50 from his full quota, while Umar Gul, who strangely only bowled eight overs, took 2 for 38.

Pakistan had fizzled to 121 for 4 in response, before measured Misbah and impetuous Akmal fanned the embers of the chase, and had got it roaring again, only to let it grow cold when triumph was in sight.

There was little to separate this Misbah half-century from the dozens he has scored in the past 14 months. A staccato of curt defensive prods and opportunistic nurdles broken by startling, occasional blasts: a whack over long on off Thisara Perera and a slog over midwicket off Sachithra Senanayake to go with three more slammed legside boundary. 

His innings could have ended at 44 when he gave a feather-edge off Suranga Lakmal, but as the only giveaway to Misbah's indiscretion was one muffled, woody note, the umpire was unmoved.

Akmal's progress was smoother, until he unleashed with ten overs remaining, carting Suranga Lakmal for 16 before slamming two fours off debutant left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva. Angelo Mathews bravely kept Lakmal in the attack, perhaps gambling that Akmal could not sustain his salvo, and he was rewarded with the top-edge to the keeper that sparked Pakistan's late stumble. When Misbah leathered Malinga to deep square leg, it appeared Pakistan were all but done.

Lakmal had delivered four overs of accurate away-seam with the new ball, claiming Sharjeel Khan's wicket as his reward, but though he dismissed Akmal, his figures in the final overs suggested he has not yet developed a head for death bowling. Senanayake and de Silva took one wicket apiece, and Mathews himself took the key scalp of Mohammad Hafeez, who had been Sri Lanka's primary tormentor during the bilateral series in December. 

2nd Test Day 4 South Africa v Australia

South Africa 423 (Duminy 123, de Villiers 116, Elgar 83, Lyon 5-130) and 270 for 5 dec (Amla 127*) beat Australia 246 (Warner 70, Morkel 3-63) and 216 (Rogers 107, Warner 66, Steyn 4-55) by 231 runs


We will never know how accurate the South Africa Metrological Department would have been.


Dale Steyn's spell-binding afternoon burst of reverse swing inspired the home side to a 231-run victory in the dying moments of the fourth day to level the series as South Africa ripped out nine wickets in the evening session.

With a poor forecast for the final day, Graeme Smith was desperate to wrap up the win and not leave anything resting on the vagaries of the climate.

He claimed the extra half an hour, which began with Australia seven down, and Steyn claimed his fourth wicket when he trapped Ryan Harris with an iffy lbw.

Chris Rogers, who had compiled a magnificent fourth Test hundred, was run out by the substitute fielder Alviro Petersen at mid-off then, when Smith was told the light was too poor for his quick bowlers, Dean Elgar trapped Nathan Lyon lbw although subsequent replays showed he had found a thin edge but Australia had no reviews left.

Given the way South Africa had been hammered in Centurion, the issues they faced over the balance of their side, the lack of a main spinner, the loss of one of their frontline bowlers and a pitch that did its best to defy fast bowling it will have to go down as one of their finest victories.

Australia had also started their pursuit of 448 with a rollicking partnership between Rogers and Warner that, if not quite making thoughts of a world-record chase realistic, left a South Africa victory push a distant prospect.

South Africa's opening began to be forged shortly before tea when JP Duminy ended the first-wicket stand by removing Warner. Duminy had earlier given Warner a life on 36 - the latest reprieve for him in this series - when he could not hold a return catch diving to his left as he collided with Rogers at the non-striker's end. However, he and Elgar, with his left-arm spin, were causing difficulties for both openers out of the footmarks and Duminy then beat Warner on the back foot with one that straightened just enough to clip leg stump.

 

Without Warner's impetus - which had included four boundaries in four balls off Morne Morkel in a stirring riposte to being peppered with short deliveries - South Africa were able to choke Australia's scoring. And then they started to get the ball to reverse. Steyn, after an indifferent spell with the new ball, had given a hint of what he may be able to produce with a period round the wicket to the openers; for new batsmen the ball reversing is a much tougher prospect.

Alex Doolan became stuck, uncertain against spin before tea and pace afterwards. He was worked over by Morkel and Vernon Philander, twice providing edges that fell short of the wicketkeeper (which went to the TV umpire) and first slip, before pushing hard enough that a nick carried to Smith. Shaun Marsh's first ball from Philander was full and straight, the batsman getting his front pad too far across, as he completed a pair to contrast sharply with his comeback hundred last week. Then came Steyn.

 

His team-mates helped, Morkel and Philander building the pressure on Michael Clarke with a series of dot balls, before Steyn returned to produce one of those spells that sends a tingle down the spine. Fourth ball he had Clarke pushing at a delivery outside off and the edge was brilliantly held, low down, by Faf du Plessis at second slip. Due to the low bounce, and edges not carrying, the slips stood very close which made the catch even more impressive.

With Steven Smith in his sights, Steyn then went straight, the ball ducked back into the pads this time, and middle stump would have been its destination. However, the best, at least in terms of the spectacle, was still to come when, for the second time in the match, Brad Haddin had his middle stump uprooted - perhaps the best evidence that even if a batsman knows what is coming, sometimes a bowler is just too good.

Steyn was given a brief rest after a mesmeric five-over spell that brought 3 for 11, but Australia's collapse continued when Mitchell Johnson was given lbw on review after Philander had swung one back into his pads.

Amid all this, Rogers was adding a fourth hundred to his Ashes centuries at Durham, Melbourne and Sydney. He had found himself under a modicum of scrutiny after three failures to start the series, but drove three crisp boundaries in Steyn's first two overs and was soon playing with the confidence that characterised his tons against England.

He could have been removed before tea. In the last over of the session he chased an extremely wide delivery from Steyn, but the appeal was turned down by Kumar Dharmasena and Smith declined to review only for Hot Spot to show a clear mark on the toe end of the bat. Much later, with what would have been the final ball of the day if the extra half hour had not been granted, he glanced Morkel down the leg side where de Villiers dived low to his right to claim the catch. Richard Illingworth initially gave him out, but then asked Aleem Dar, the third umpire, to check whether it had carried and the pictures showed it bounced short.

As the overs ebbed away and the sun began to disappear towards the horizon, it appeared Rogers would at least carry his team into the final day and keep alive the chances of a weather-aided escape. But the sun had not quite set on South Africa's chances and now they can open the curtains tomorrow morning after a night of celebration rather than worry.

3rd ODI Bangladesh v Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 246 for 4 (Kusal 106*, Chandimal 64) beat Bangladesh 240 for 8 (Mominul 60, Prasad 3-49) by six wickets


With Sri Lanka missing their three senior batsmen, the dead rubber was supposed to be a big test for the younger set. They came through, with Kusal Perera hitting his maiden international century and Dinesh Chandimal finding form to guide Sri Lanka home and complete the 3-0 whitewash.

There was disbelief at Kusal's strike-rate when he reached his third ODI fifty at the end of the 25th over. Sri Lanka still needed 138 runs at the halfway mark and Kusal was hitting at 62.50, when his career strike-rate is 86.15. But it didn't take long for him to pick up the pace. He found two bowlers, Sohag Gazi and Shafiul Islam, to attack whenever the required run-rate needed a lift and raced to his maiden century.

His strike-rate was at a healthy 84.74, having blasted his last 56 runs off 44 balls. His increased scoring rate coincided with Sri Lanka turning the corner in their 241-run chase. The 3-0 win was just reward for their ability to turn corners, even in the direst situations as they showed in the first two ODIs.

 

Kusal dictated the course of the chase, batting with circumspection when Sri Lanka needed. He saw Lahiru Thirimanne fall in the eleventh over to a soft dismissal, before Kithuruwan Vithanage, promoted to No 3 in place of Kumar Sangakkara, missed a slog-sweep in the 17th over.

 

Kusal's partnership for the fourth wicket was worth 138 and effectively decided the fate of the game. Chandimal worked his way through singles and twos to reach his fifty in the 36th over, and soon, Kusal moved from 93 to 99 with a six off Sohag Gazi, and immediately reached three figures with a single.

The change in momentum perhaps came in the 32nd over when the pair took 13 runs off Gazi, and followed it up with 14 off Shafiul. The required run-rate dropped well below five and by the time Rubel Hossain removed both batsmen in consecutive overs, it was far too late.

This has been the theme of the series for the home side, not taking wickets when most required and dropping catches. They dropped one today. With the bat too, there was hardly any extra pressure applied on the Sri Lankan bowlers.

Apart from Mominul Haque and Mahmudullah, the other five Bangladesh batsmen failed to get going after starting off well. Shamsur Rahman gave a simple catch to deep square leg, falling to Dhammika Prasad's short-ball trap after making 25 off 44.

 

Mominul Haque was run out after batting impressively to reach 60, his maiden ODI fifty. There was definite two in that tap from Mushfiqur Rahim towards the leg-side field but Kithuruwan Vithanage's direct hit caught him short after turning slowly for the second run.

Mushfiqur gave an easy catch to point, after which Naeem holed out to mid-off, Mahmudullah to long-on and Nasir Hossain at midwicket (off a full-toss). Sohag Gazi blasted three sixes, which helped the score to move to 240.

Prasad, playing his first ODI in nearly two years, and Suranga Lakmal were the pick of the bowlers, taking three and two wickets respectively. Prasad used his bounce well, accounting for Anamul behind the wicket and later Shamsur and Mushfiqur. Lakmal removed Mahmudullah and Nasir in the 45th over, after two tight spells, ending up conceding just 24 off 10 overs.

Bangladesh had to function without regular runs from both openers in the same match, while Mahmudullah continued his terrible run by getting out for five, after making a duck and one in the last two games. Nasir, Mushfiqur, Shamsur and Mominul also couldn't kick on, giving the team management a selection headache ahead of the Asia Cup.

Sri Lanka have a few things to worry about, and will be expected to be on top of conditions and pitches here in Bangladesh, having won five matches in a row since February 12.

2nd Test Day 3 South Africa v Australia

South Africa 423 and 192 for 4 (Amla 93*, de Kock 9*) lead Australia 246 (Warner 70, Smith 49, Morkel 3-63) by 369 runs


This was much more like the sort of cricket you come to expect from the No. 1 team in the world; aggressive, hostile bowling followed by forceful batting to set up a position of complete dominance with two days to go. With Hashim Amla stroking the ball beautifully to reach 93, South Africa's lead stands at 369 although Graeme Smith will not be without a quandary or two with a dodgy forecast for the final day and Wayne Parnell unlikely to bowl again in the match due to a groin strain.

However, given the state his side was in a week ago this position represents an overwhelming turnaround of fortunes. South Africa must now give themselves every chance to level the series - and set up a humdinger of a finale in Cape Town - and it will be a good test of Smith's instincts when he feels the balance of runs and time is where he wants. If they are still denied by weather, or a rearguard, then that is the game but he must not be cautious.

 

Amla, who earlier dislocated a finger when he missed a tough chance in the gully, ensured South Africa's innings was always moving at the sort of tempo needed after Australia had been removed for 246. By his standards he has endured a lean time of late - seven innings with a best of 36 including a first-innings duck here - but he made a mockery of any talk about his form as he unfurled a collected of exquisite boundaries, his off-side drives from front and back foot one of most pleasing sights the game currently produces.

 

Amla was given a life on 83, when he glanced Mitchell Johnson down the leg side and Brad Haddin could not hold on, and took a glancing blow on the helmet from a sharp bouncer but was barely troubled otherwise. It was only towards the close that he reigned himself in a touch, ensuring he was there for the charge in the morning. His partnership with AB de Villiers was, for the 67 deliveries it lasted, a masterclass of batting from the pair as they increasingly did what they pleased to push South Africa's lead forward at five-an-over.

 

The pair's quality was put into further context by the fact that other batsmen still had work hard for their runs. Graeme Smith's difficult series continued when he fell to Johnson, an inside edge cannoning into leg stump, after tensions had become frayed even before a ball was bowled when Smith was not ready to face the first ball. If smoke was not coming out of Johnson's ears then, it was when the ball was eventually clipped for four.

Peter Siddle removed Dean Elgar from round the wicket and his delivery to find Faf du Plessis' edge, lifting and nipping away off a length, will not have gone unnoticed by the South Africa pacemen. This is not the lifeless pitch that it appeared on the opening day

Still, with time perhaps being an issue later in the game, one thing South Africa will have to do in the second innings is take all their chances. Their catching has been unusually fallible so far in this series when Robin Peterson, on as sub for Amla, dropped a dolly at square to reprieve Steven Smith, but the bowlers continued to create enough opportunities that no single miss proved overwhelmingly costly, although the errors could yet add up to hurt.

David Warner had been among those given a life when he was dropped on the second evening by AB de Villiers, but his innings was ended early in the morning session when he was tempted to drive a full delivery from Vernon Philander.

Four balls later, Nathan Lyon was dismissed for the first time in nine innings spanning 160 deliveries when Morne Morkel's barrage from around the wicket succeeding in forcing Lyon into playing the ball into stumps from way outside leg. South Africa could have had another scalp in the next over when Amla dropped Haddin on 1 and Smith cashed in on his lifeline from Peterson.

Halfway through his ninth over, Parnell pulled out of his delivery stride and, on trying to start again, aborted all efforts. He walked to Smith, handed him the ball and trudged off with a slight limp. He was immediately taken to hospital for scans which confirmed a strain which makes him unlikely for the second innings, but not a more serious tear.

Dale Steyn continued to find movement with ball beginning to reverse and following an appeal for lbw when one tailed back into Haddin he then found a gap between bat and pad as the keeper went for drive, the ball snaking to take out middle stump. With a bowler down, Smith had little choice but to introduce spin and brief Australia counterattacked against JP Duminy but life was much tougher at the other end.

Morkel produced another fierce spell, battering the ribs and helmet of Johnson, and it was a wicket for Morkel whatever the scorebook might say when Johnson missed a straight delivery from Duminy. Shortly after lunch, Smith became Morkel's third when he was given caught behind via the DRS when the third umpire used a spike on Snicko to decide it was sufficient prove to over-turn the on-field not-out. The look on Darren Lehmann's face suggested he did not believe it was conclusive prove.

Siddle and Ryan Harris showed that the surface remained true for batting with a pesky last-wicket stand of 37, although Siddle could have been out for nought if South Africa had reviewed for a gloved short ball off Steyn. Instead, Harris cleared the follow-on target with a six over midwicket off Philander - although it was unlikely Smith was enforced - before giving Morkel a third which was the least he deserved.

2nd Test Day 2 South Africa v Australia

Australia 112 for 4 (Warner 65*, Lyon 12*) trail South Africa 423 (Duminy 123, de Villiers 116, Lyon 5-130)


After two days in the first Test South Africa were all but out of the contest. After two days at St George's Park, they have turned the tables to leave Australia under considerable pressure. Hundreds from AB de Villiers and JP Duminy lifted them to a strong total, but the most significant advances South Africa made came in the final session when they claimed four wickets including two in Wayne Parnell's first over in Test cricket for four years.

Australia's dominance of their recent Tests has been almost absolute and worthy of much admiration, but this was a situation they had not been in for some time: replying to a healthy first innings from the opposition. Australia had not conceded 400 in an innings since the Mohali last March - or spent as long in the field as the 150.4 overs here since Nottingham last July - and throughout their run of six consecutive, hefty victories their top order had remained vulnerable.

Once again they stumbled. Chris Rogers survived a review for lbw in Dale Steyn's first over, but could not save himself with the DRS when Vernon Philander straightened one into his pads. However, it was Parnell's introduction in the 10th over that really stung Australia.

His first ball angled across Alex Doolan and took a thin edge to de Villiers; the first nick off a seamer to have carried behind the wicket in the match on a slow pitch. Then, like London buses, there was another two balls later when Shaun Marsh lunged away from his body at a delivery shaping away from the left hander.

Australia were 42 for 3, but David Warner, who had already leapt out of the blocks, and Michael Clarke responded with a flurry of boundaries. Clarke, though, was cut off for 19 when he drove early at Philander and gave a catch to short over and, again, Australia were four down for under 100. They have regularly fought back from such positions, but the difference this time is that the opposition have runs on the board.

And it could have been ever better for South Africa. Morne Morkel produced a hostile spell, extracting more bounce from the pitch than any other quick, and produced a delivery which climbed at Warner when he was on 43.

It took the shoulder of the bat and flew through to de Villiers, but the keeper was stood closer to compensate for the low bounce and the ball burst through the gloves above his head. As so often, it was edge-of-the-seat batting from Warner as he moved to a 55-ball half-century. Then, to cap a dramatic session, Nathan Lyon survived an edge down the leg side when Graeme Smith was not convinced to review before being dropped by Duminy in the gully in the final over of the day.

When South Africa resumed on 214 for 5 the match was still in Australia's favour after a series of poor shots from the middle order yesterday. The hosts desperately needed their last pair of specialist batsmen to form a substantial stand. That is exactly what they delivered as de Villiers and Duminy added 149 for the sixth wicket.

De Villiers already had a world record to his name when he resumed on 51, having made it 12 consecutive Tests with at least a half-century and he converted that into his 19th Test hundred from 202 deliveries as he countered a slow pitch with elegant and, at times, powerful strokeplay.

While de Villiers stood out, his class and brilliance is in no doubt. But he needed some support, which was horribly lacking at Centurion Park. Duminy's innings was equally important from both a personal and team perspective. He is battling to cement a permanent spot in the side and came in for significant criticism for his first-innings shot at Centurion when he lofted Lyon to mid-off.

He dominated the strike in the early overs the day, when play began 20 minutes early due the bad light yesterday, and gave South Africa a punchy start with four boundaries in the first four overs.

Three of those came in one Mitchell Johnson over when he clipped two deliveries off his pads then pulled a third through midwicket. By Australia's recent high standards, their use of the new ball, which they took when play began, was disappointing. It was the confidence boost Duminy and South Africa needed.

For the first time in seven innings Duminy passed fifty and in the knowledge that the ball would not be rearing at his throat - even from Johnson - had a far more confident presence at the crease. He employed the sweep regularly against Lyon (as did de Villiers) and was quick onto any error in length as fatigue started to play a part in causing Lyon to offer up the occasional short delivery. It was a sweep, in front of square, that raised his hundred, which Duminy greeted with understated but satisfied acknowledgement.

The contest between de Villiers and Lyon had been fascinating. Back-to-back boundaries, the first a sweep and the second a back-foot drive, showed what makes him a great batsman with impeccable judgement of length and crisp footwork, and another crisp sweep brought up three figures. Clarke had taken innovation to a new level in his attempt to conjure a breakthrough. At one stage he had four catchers in the midwicket area, but de Villiers responded in the most brilliant and audacious fashion when he flicked Siddle over the leg side for six.

South Africa may have had designs of accelerating when de Villiers pushed a return catch back to Lyon, who took it well diving to his right. During the morning session, largely due to de Villiers, runs came at more than three an over which was significantly above what had been achieved before. However, his departure seven overs into the afternoon slowed South Africa's progress with Duminy working hard to for his own three-figure score and Clarke, while never abandoning his search for wickets, setting fields to dry up runs.

Philander pottered around for 37 deliveries over six runs before driving a low return catch to Clarke who put his back through a rare bowl among a host of afternoon bowling changes and the final four wickets fell for 45 either side of tea. That, though, ensured South Africa did not get drawn into wasting time for a few extra runs; the value of the damage they were then able to do to Australia was worth much more.

2nd Test Day 1 South Africa v Australia

South Africa 214 for 5 (de Villiers 51*, Duminy 2*) v Australia


The opening day at St George's Park was less traumatic for South Africa than the four in Centurion as Dean Elgar shone on his return to the side, but loose strokes in the evening session left them vulnerable. They avoided the sort of performance that could have handed the series to Australia on a plate - and which threatening to develop during a rough first half an hour - only to slip as the light faded on an overcast day to close on 214 for 5.

A third-wicket stand of 112 between Elgar and Faf du Plessis provided the cornerstone of the innings. However they will rue the strokes played by Elgar who, having fought for nearly five hours and 193 balls, tried to clear the in-field against Nathan Lyon and then debutant Quinton de Kock who became the latest batsman to fall to a Steven Smith full toss. AB de Villiers, the only batsman to counter Australia in the first Test, remained unbeaten 51 as he made it a world record of 12 consecutive Tests with at least a half century.

South Africa have lengthened their batting order for this Test - Elgar was in line for a recall and de Kock was called in when Alviro Petersen was ruled out ill - so they still have the chance to post something around 350 and challenge Australia with scoreboard pressure which has been rare in the last few months.

 

The opening exchanges did not bode well for South Africa. The lead-up to the toss was chaotic with uncertainty over Vernon Philander's fitness to go alongside the three team changes. Some hasty scribbling eventually put Philander on the team-sheet, but it was perhaps no surprise that Graeme Smith departed early when he played around a full, swinging delivery from the probing Ryan Harris on a muggy morning.

In the next over, from Mitchell Johnson, Hashim Amla was firstly beaten by a ball that swung in from outside off and then trapped lbw by another delivery that did the same but had been pitched straighter.

It gave Johnson his 50th Test wicket since the beginning of the Ashes and few would have bet against him quickly adding No. 51, but that is not how the day unfolded.

Smart Stats AB de Villiers completed 7000 Test runs during his innings. He is playing his 151st Test innings and is the second-fastest South Africa batsman after Graeme Smith to reach the landmark. Smith took 148 innings. Including De Villiers, only four South Africa batsmen have scored 7000 or more Test runs.  De Villiers has now scored fifty or more runs in 12 consecutive Tests for South Africa. This is the longest such consecutive sequence by a batsman in Tests. Viv Richards, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag held this record previously, having scored fifty-plus in 11 consecutive Tests. Dean Elgar's 83 was his second fifty-plus score in Tests and his first fifty against Australia. Elgar, who bagged a pair on debut against Australia at the WACA in 2012-13, is playing his second Test against them. Elgar scored his maiden Test century also at this venue, against New Zealand in 2012-13, and has now scored 186 runs from two innings at this venue. South Africa's batsmen were made to toil hard for their runs by Australia's bowlers. The partnership between Elgar and De Villiers scored at 2.20 an over. This is the fifth-slowest fifty-plus run stand at this venue and the slowest to come in the first innings of a Test here. This was also only the second time when South Africa's third and fourth wickets added fifty or more in the same innings at this venue. The last such instance came way back in 1948-49, against England.

Elgar was still on nought by the time Smith and Amla departed.

On his only previous appearance against Australia, on his debut in Perth, he bagged a pair and it took him 20 deliveries and 43 minutes for him to score his first run against this opposition.

 

However, during that wait to open his account he had not appeared ruffled.

His composure was further evident when he slog-swept Lyon for six to register his first boundary and he later deposited the offspinner straight down the ground.

Between those grand shots there was good judgement around off stump, the occasional punchy cover drive, plenty of nudges into the leg side and no little bravery as he was willing to take blows around the body from Johnson.

There was also the occasional edge - when he was 15 a combination of soft hands and the slow pitch meant a nick fell short of Brad Haddin - but, by and large, he was in control as he brought up a 112-ball half-century.

Du Plessis played equally impressively and it was he who eased the early shackles imposed by Australia's bowlers with a brace of cover drives off Peter Siddle.

He, too, used his feet against Lyon and shortly after lunch clipped him over deep midwicket for six.

 

Two boundaries in three balls against Johnson, the second a well-controlled pull, took him to his fifty from 117 balls but he fell moments later to the curse of the drinks break when he prodded forward against Lyon and popped a catch to short leg.

A soft dismissal which emphasised the absence of the ruthlessness with the bat that characterised South Africa's rise to No. 1

However, it had been a rare occasion of Australia having to work for a wicket: this was only the second century stand they have conceded since the beginning of the Ashes. The other belonged to Kevin Pietersen and Joe Root during the second innings in Adelaide.

Their bowling rarely wavered and Johnson remained a threat despite the slowness of the pitch.

Without Shane Watson's medium pace, the value of Lyon in keeping the scoring rate down and chipping key wickets was priceless for Michael Clarke.

He continued to use Harris and Johnson in short spells, and both were primed for late bursts before the light closed in. Moments earlier Smith had done his job when, in a first over the largely consisted of long hops and full tosses, de Kock came down the pitch to a one that did not land and heaved an ugly mow to mid-off.

 

De Villiers reached his half-century from 124 balls - an indication of how hard the batsmen were made to work - when he pulled another half-tracker from Smith. That was enough for Clarke who, when told he could not use his quicks, was content to leave the field. South Africa know what will hit them in the morning.

2nd ODI Sri Lanka v Bangladesh

Sri Lanka 289 for 6 (Sangakkara 128, Priyanjan 60, Mathews 56*) beat Bangladesh 228 (Anamul 42, Mushfiqur 79) by 61 runs


Kumar Sangakkara's 17th ODI hundred was everything Sri Lanka needed to win the ODI series with a game in hand. But since their opponents were always going to pose a threat to their 289-run total, they also needed Bangladesh's batsmen to come up with a string of needless dismissals to ensure the 2-0 win.
 

Having gone down by 61 runs in Mirpur, Bangladesh lost their first bilateral ODI series at home since December 2011. Since then, they have beaten West Indies 3-2 and New Zealand 3-0. Bangladesh's personnel hasn't changed much since those triumphs, but there was a marked difference in their approach, in this series, to the simplest tasks on the field.

 

Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Thisara Perera and Ajantha Mendis took two wickets each, but the Sri Lankan bowlers merely had to bowl a good length, sometimes fuller, and the fielders grab the catches. The real work was done by the home batsmen.

 

Shamsur Rahman dabbed at a wide one to be caught spectacularly at second slip in the first over, before Anamul Haque and Mominul Haque added 55 runs for the second wicket. That partnership ended when Mominul was brilliantly caught behind by Sangakkara, his most sublime work of the day, even surpassing his century. Anamul had attacked Malinga during his 46-ball 42, but his innings ended when he was lbw to an incoming delivery from Thisara Perera in the 14th over.

What should have been the most mature period of play actually turned out to be just the opposite. Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan swung at everything within their reach. Mushfiqur swung Perera off his hips to pick up a six and followed it up with two fours in the same over. Kithuruwan Vithanage then dropped Shakib, a difficult chance at midwicket.

 

Shakib continued hitting out, slogging Mathews for a six and two more boundaries down the ground off successive deliveries before holing out to Ashan Priyanjan's off-spin, caught at long-off. It was an ugly shot, completely unbecoming of a batsman who had just become the country's highest run-scorer in ODIs.

 

Mushfiqur then called for a single, but sent Mahmudullah back halfway through his run; he was easily run out at the bowler's end. Nasir Hossain hung around for a while before holing out at deep square-leg, ending Bangladesh's hopes at 153 for 5. Mushfiqur moved to 79 but there was no one left at the other end for a proper tilt at the chase.

Bangladesh had another bad day as a fielding unit too. Nasir Hossain put down a tough chance off Priyanjan at deep midwicket when the batsman was on 2. Sri Lanka were 67 for 3 at that point. Mahmudullah dropped a dolly off an Angelo Mathews scoop when he was on 39, at short fine-leg. Mominul Haque, safe as house at other times, dropped Vithanage twice, once at deep midwicket and once in the covers, the second chance a regulation one.

It was Priyanjan and Sangakkara who hauled the visitors out of trouble. Sangakkara in particular was brilliant in picking the right balls to find boundaries but got things ticking with well-timed ones and twos. They added 114 in 24 overs, both striking some sublime boundaries.

After Priyanjan's dismissal, Sangakkara and Mathews swelled the total with an 83-run stand in less than ten overs with the big hits coming from the captain's bat. Sangakkara upped the run-rate with some timely boundaries, and Kusal Perera and Dinesh Chandimal might have learned a lot from watching how he paced his innings.

Perera was the first to go, giving Shamsur Rahman an easy catch at backward point in Rubel Hossain's first over. Tillekaratne Dilshan continued to struggle, getting out to the same bowler after a top-edged hoick went into mid-off's hands rather than over midwicket as intended.

Dinesh Chandimal soon joined the openers in the dressing room, offering a simple catch to Shamsur at short midwicket. Sohag Gazi made the ball dip on him, but it wasn't an unplayable delivery. The visitors had slipped to an uncomfortable position by the end of the first hour.

It could have been worse for the visitors but for Hossain dropping Priyanjan, the ball slipping out as he dived after running from deep midwicket. It took Priyanjan a while to get going, and it fell to Sangakkara to get the scoreboard moving.

 

Priyanjan was out for 60 off 97 balls with seven fours. Mathews then came in and smashed six fours and a six in his unbeaten 39-ball 56, to help Sri Lanka get to what, on this pitch, was a large total.

Bangladesh's bowling was expensive, with Rubel picking up three for 76 and only Shakib exerting any control. But it was the batsmen who fell in a heap, bettering each other's mode of dismissal with shots that hardly looked in tune with the situation.

1st T20 West Indies v Ireland

Ireland 117 for 4 (Joyce 40*West Indies 116 for 8 (Cusack 2-17, O'Brien 2-17) by six wickets


Ireland reaffirmed their reputation for giant-killing acts on the ground where they first shook up the established order as Ed Joyce's unbeaten 40 led them to a first international victory over West Indies. Joyce and Andrew Poynter laid the main plank for victory during a 58-run stand, after their bowlers had done superbly to restrict a rusty West Indies, as Ireland issued another warning that they will not be in Bangladesh just to make up the numbers next month with a win over the World Twenty20 champions.

Sunil Narine, ranked the world's No. 1 T20 bowler, had to wait until his 23rd delivery to take a wicket - deceiving Poynter with a carrom ball - and he was one of several West Indies big guns to be successfully spiked. Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and the captain, Darren Sammy, have not played much cricket in recent weeks and their return from various injuries was painful on several levels.

Kevin O'Brien, one of two survivors from the team that beat Pakistan at Sabina Park during the 2007 World Cup, hit the winning runs but there was no exuberant celebration this time, just handshakes for the opposition and the knowledge of another job well done, another point made. Zimbabwe, the Full Member in Ireland's qualifying group at the World Twenty20, which begins in just over three weeks, will have been looking on nervously.

Ireland were quickly on the back foot in their chase, openers William Porterfield and Paul Stirling dismissed inside eight balls, but Joyce and Gary Wilson steadied things, adding 29 in 5.2 overs. The required rate rose above a run a ball after Wilson was bowled, coming down the pitch and aiming a heave at Samuel Badree, but Joyce played a cool hand, ably assisted by Poynter in only his fifth T20.

They put on the decisive stand, by far the highest of the match, with Poynter hitting six boundaries - including two in an over off both Sammy and Ravi Rampaul - on a pitch that most batsmen struggled to master. Poynter was bowled by Narine for 32, his highest T20 score, but the target was in sight and O'Brien, like seven years ago, was still there at the end.

Ireland's bowlers made a solid start after West Indies chose to bat, despite Dwayne Smith finding his range with a six in each of Paul Stirling's opening overs. Tim Murtagh removed Smith, caught in the deep hitting to leg, and Gayle then chipped Alex Cusack to long-on for a subdued 18 off 19 balls on his return from injury. That turned out to be the highest score of the innings, as Ireland kept a lid on the hosts for the duration.

At the halfway stage, West Indies were 58 for 2, going at less than a run a ball, and it got worse when George Dockrell had another big hitter, Marlon Samuels, stumped. West Indies were struggling against a battery of miserly medium pace and another partnership failed to achieve escape velocity when Dwayne Bravo sliced to third man trying to hit Max Sorensen on the up.

Lendl Simmons was caught in the deep and two overs later Tim Murtagh yorked Andre Russell for 15, making him the fifth batsman to reach double figures but not pass 20. Two more wickets fell but 27 runs from the last three overs took West Indies scrambling beyond three figures, though it looked a barely respectable score. Ireland have shown by know that respect is the least they deserve.