Cautious Sri Lanka dismissed with 301-run lead

When Prasanna Jayawardene began the fifth day by batting in high gear, it raised the hope of an early Sri Lankan declaration, a harder survival challenge for Pakistan, and an interesting finish to a Test that has cried out for more enterprise from its contestants. Sri Lanka, however, were extremely conservative in protecting their 1-0 lead in the series and batted until they were dismissed during an extended first session. With 59 overs left in the day, Pakistan's chances of drawing the series had disappeared, and Sri Lanka's prospects of taking it 2-0 had reduced.

The day had begun with a chant previously unheard during the course of this Test series. A contingent of school children were in attendance and they cheered, "Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka" at a volume that belied their numbers. Prasanna played to his audience, cutting, driving and slog-sweeping Saeed Ajmal out of the attack, while slashing and driving Mohammad Talha to the boundary at the other end. Misbah-ul-Haq replaced Ajmal with Abdur Rehman to exert control over the run-rate, but Prasanna cut and dabbed him too behind point.

Angelo Mathews, however, continued his stonewalling. He was lucky to survive an umpire's call lbw decision before he had added to his overnight 14, and blocked while Prasanna cut loose. When he finally decided to attack, his target was Talha. Mathews lofted the second new-ball over cover and then top-edged a hook over the keeper off successive deliveries. He tried to improve his execution of the hook the next ball, but holed out to deep square leg.

Sri Lanka's slowdown began soon after, as Rehman began to run through the lower order. He had Dilruwan Perera caught at short leg and Rangana Herath, who became the first Sri Lankan to bag a king pair in Tests, edging to slip off successive balls. Prasanna stopped trying to score and simply batted time, until his dismissal on 49 forced lunch to be delayed by half an hour, during which Ajmal brought an end to the innings.

Sri Lanka had scored 62 runs in the first 14 overs of the day, but then added only 19 in the next 16.4 overs. The children had long since stopped cheering.

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Tendulkar's perfect balance

In a wide-ranging, insightful speech at the Pataudi Memorial Lecture the day before the India v West Indies Mumbai Test, Anil Kumble said Sachin Tendulkar had been, "all things to all men".
To the cricketing world, Tendulkar was a batsman for the ages. In 2010, when he made the ESPNcricinfo all-time World XI, Tendulkar said, "It would have been great to walk out with Don Bradman" and to talk to Hobbs and Hutton "about what it was like to play on uncovered wickets".
They would no doubt have a few questions for him too; about the creative dexterity of his strokeplay, the weight of his bat, the data-analysis business, and how on earth he handled the attention. This modern wire-walker with over three generations of team-mates, straddling two millennia and two formats, would have tried to explain how classical fundamentals could always fashion a contemporary response to an ever-changing game.

De Villiers' ton powers South Africa to 268 for 7

AB de Villiers became the fastest South African to 6,000 ODI runs, in 147 innings, and in getting there, scored a century to form the backbone of South Africa's innings. His was a knock of two halves - the first circumspect, and the second aggressive on a surface that was difficult for batting. It was in the latter part of the innings that he took the game away from Pakistan.

In that portion of his knock, de Villiers shared an 83-run sixth-wicket stand with Ryan McLaren to transform the South Africa's effort from ordinary to outstanding. They were the only batsmen to manage fluency on the slow track against a Pakistan attack that were far more comfortable here than they were in Abu Dhabi.

Clarke century puts seal on Australia's day

What a difference a day's batting makes. Clueless, hopeless and helpless at Lord's, Australia summoned long-dormant reserves of application and patience to force England's bowlers to slave at a hot, humid Old Trafford. In doing so they breathed belated life into an Ashes series that now seems a fraction less inevitable in outcome than it did 24 hours ago.

It was no surprise to see the captain, Michael Clarke, at the centre of it all, marrying grit with glitz in one of his best and most satisfying innings, the first century by an Australia batsman since Clarke himself seven Test matches ago. But there were also critical contributions by the well-travelled Chris Rogers, a sparkling 84 that set exactly the right tone, and by the precocious Steve Smith, helped by a liberal supply of the luck that had previously deserted the tourists in the series.

Australia had felt much harder done by in the minutes before lunch, when Usman Khawaja was given caught behind and then had his referral rejected despite ample evidence that he had not touched Graeme Swann's offbreak. That verdict, reached by Tony Hill and upheld by Kumar Dharmasena, will serve mainly to batter the reputation of the serving umpires and the protocols of the DRS, which place a heavy weighting on the on-field umpire's initial call.

Khawaja's exit enhanced Australia's sense of injustice in a series where the wide margin so far has been hurried along by numerous questionable decisions but England were to join their opponents in feeling they had been wronged, as Smith was escaped three times in all, twice for lbw and once on a raucous appeal for a catch at the wicket. James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Swann were all showing signs of fatigue by the end, as Clarke and Smith capitalised on Rogers' bridgehead.

Anderson took the new ball at his home ground, though its reconfiguration in the middle and in the stands made it something of an unknown quantity for players on both sides. Watson collected a single and Rogers a boundary from the first over, a pattern that would be maintained throughout their partnership in conditions quickly revealed to be the most friendly for batsmen all series.

Rogers and Watson had trained together in London between Tests rather than travelling down to play against Sussex, and their new approaches reflected plenty of thought. Watson was largely conservative, battling to value his wicket and also to avoid the lbw fate that had befallen him three times in four innings. But Rogers showed far greater intent to score than simply survive and punished all but the most minute errors of line and length.

Sequences of boundaries pushed Rogers along in between the deliveries he gave their due respect, a brace off Tim Bresnan through gully and down the ground, then a trio to the fence in a single Anderson over took him to a second Test fifty. All these shots were played with assurance and no great sense of haste, but Rogers' intent had given Australia an ideal start.

At the other end, however, Watson was becalmed, and though he did not fall lbw it was less of a surprise to see Bresnan find a way through, coaxing an edge from a firm defensive blade that flew straight to Alastair Cook at first slip. Watson wandered off having again made only a start, his wicket drawing England back into the morning.

Khawaja was greeted by the introduction of Swann, and in his second over an optimistic lbw appeal was followed next ball by a more convincing shout for a catch at the wicket. Khawaja's bat brushed his pad well before swishing at the turning ball but Hill's finger was raised. After a brief pause to consult Rogers, Khawaja referred, shaking his head as he did so.

Despite replays that offered no evidence whatsoever of an edge, the third umpire Dharmasena upheld Hill's original call. Khawaja walked off with the air of a man found guilty of a crime he did not commit. Heated discussion of the incident, both at Old Trafford and around the world, extended well beyond the lunch interval. On resumption, Rogers lost some of his earlier fluency and Clarke dealt in edges as often as the middle of his bat. The combination of a looming century and inattentive stewards behind the bowler's arm did for Rogers, who lost concentration when facing Swann and swished across a straight ball to be lbw.

Smith came to the crease in halting form, despite a century at Hove, and gave England hope of another wicket. They thought they had it when Swann spun an offbreak sharply to strike Smith in front of the stumps, only for Hill to decline the appeal and then Hawk-Eye to deny the decision review by a millimetre. Happy to be reprieved, Smith gathered in confidence alongside Clarke, who had shed his earlier uncertainty to purr past 50.

As the tea break neared England had another moment of frustrated jubilation, when Smith drove at Anderson and a loud sound accompanied the sight of ball passing bat. Anderson and Matt Prior were utterly convinced, abandoning their usual tact to gesture for a review from Marais Erasmus even before the captain Cook had done so. But in the absence of a Hot Spot or a visible deflection Smith survived, leaving England to enter the final session without any reviews left to call on.

It would not be long before this came back to haunt the hosts, Hill declining an lbw appeal by Broad against Smith that struck the batsman in line and would have plucked out middle stump. English exasperation was to be heightened with every subsequent run, as Clarke and Smith established the most productive union between two Australia batsmen all series. Smith's effort was never quite fluent but showed plenty of gumption, while Clarke rediscovered the confident batting groove he had sat in throughout 2012.

At times Clarke could be seen to stretch his back, an ever-more-present handicap for Australia's captain, but his discomfort was no more evident than that of several Englishmen. Swann resorted to painkilling tablets on more than one occasion, while Broad spent a decent chunk of the final session off the field and receiving treatment for a tight calf. Given the toll taken on Australia's bowlers by earlier poor batting displays, it was a source of relief to Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and company to see their opposite numbers starting to struggle.

A handful of overs before the second new ball was due, Clarke tucked Swann away to the leg side for his 100th run, and minutes later Smith paddled the same bowler to fine leg for his 50. They were to negotiate the new ball ably, settling in for further occupation tomorrow with a stand unbroken at 174. While Cook's men remain in charge of the series, Rogers, Clarke and Smith have at least ensured they will have a steep task ahead to seal it in this match.

Source : http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013/content/current/story/657277.html

Hussey feels for stumbling Aussies

(AFP) – Former Australian batsman Mike Hussey said Tuesday he felt for the national team as it enters the third Ashes Test winless, acknowledging two losses would have left a “horrible feeling”.

Michael Clarke’s men go into the third Test at Old Trafford on Thursday having lost the first two games of the series.

The second loss at Lord’s — by a massive 347 runs — was Australia’s sixth successive Test defeat after a whitewash in a four-Test series in India earlier this year. It is their worst run of results since 1984.

Mahela, Malinga and Herath rested for 5th ODI

The Selection Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to rest Mahela Jayawardena, Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath for the 5th ODI match against South Africa.

Kusal Janith and Angelo Perera make a return to the team while several youngsters including Vimukthi Perera and Chathuranga de Silva have been selected to represent the National Team for the dead-rubber to be played on Wednesday (31st July) at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Dilshan, Sanga shine as Sri Lanka seal ODI series win

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara pulverised South Africa’s bowling as Sri Lanka took a decisive 3-1 lead in the one-day series with an eight-wicket victory in Pallekele on Sunday.

Dilshan returned unbeaten on 115 and Sangakkara made 91 during a record partnership of 184 runs to steer the hosts past South Africa’s 238 all out in the 44th over of the day-night match.