Sidebottom in for Bresnan

Ryan Sidebottom was on Tuesday named in the England squad for the second npower Test against Bangladesh at Old Trafford, as a replacement for the injured Tim Bresnan.

Sidebottom, a key bowler in England's World Twenty20-winning campaign in the Caribbean last month, has not played Test cricket since the final match of four against South Africa at The Wanderers in January.

The 32-year-old had to leave England's subsequent tour of Bangladesh because of injury, but now gets his shot at a return against those same opponents thanks to his fellow Yorkshireman Bresnan's misfortune.

Bresnan suffered a stress fracture of his left foot during England's first-Test win over the Bangladeshis, completed at Lord's yesterday. His absence, and Sidebottom's inclusion, is the only change to the 12-man squad chosen for the first instalment of the two-match series.

National selector Geoff Miller, said: "We can be very pleased with a number of aspects from the first npower Test at Lord's, resulting in a comprehensive win against Bangladesh.

"It's very unfortunate that Tim Bresnan will miss the second Test through injury, because his bowling benefited from five days of Test cricket at Lord's - and he would have been looking forward to getting more overs under his belt at Old Trafford.

"It does, however, provide Ryan Sidebottom with an opportunity to push for Test selection following his outstanding performances in the World Twenty20.

"The entire bowling unit will be better for the overs bowled during the first Test and looking to further build on this in Manchester."

Bresnan will undergo further assessment this week before a recovery time frame is established.

SL register thumping win over Zimbabwe

Chasing a modest victory target of 119 runs against Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka put a splendid display and cruised home with 9 wickets in hand.

Captain Tillakaratne Dilshancracked an unbeaten 60 to lead Sri Lanka to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in a rain-curtailed one-dayer in the Tri-Series at Bulawayo.
 
Chasing 119 for a win from 26 overs, Dilshan took the inexperienced Zimbabwe bowlers to the cleaners with his 45-ball innings which contained seven fours and a six.

He was given able support by his opening partner Upul Tharanga (37-ball 40) as Sri Lanka romped home with 10.4 overs to spare at the Queens Sports Club here.

Earlier, off-spinner Suraj Randiv led a disciplined Sri Lankan bowling charge with three scalps to skittle Zimbabwe out for 118 in 24.5 overs after Dilshan won the toss and inserted the home side.

The match was reduced to a 26-over affair after the start was delayed by more than four hours due to rain.

Tharanga and Dilshan, who stitched an 86-run opening stand, almost clinched the issue for Sri Lanka, but the opening combo came to an end when wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor found Tharanga short of the crease in 11th over. Tharanga cracked six fours during his breezy 37-ball innings.

Dinesh Chandimal (10 not out) then paired up with Dilshan to complete the formalities as Sri Lanka reached 119 for one in 15.2 overs.

Sri Lanka had lost to India on Sunday. Zimbabwe had beaten India on Friday in the tournament opener.

Earlier, Randiv, who gave away 23 runs for the three wickets, received good support from Dilhara Fernando (2/26), Ajantha Mendis (2/21) and Jeevan Mendis (2/12).

Opener Hamilton Masakadza waged a lone battle for Zimbabwe as his 62 off 69 balls helped the hosts cross the 100-run mark before being all out in 24.5 overs.

Masakadza, who cracked four fours and a six, was the only batsman to negotiate the disciplined Sri Lankan bowling.

Zimbabwe were off to a rather slow start as the first five overs yielded only 18 runs.

The hosts suffered an early blow when opener Taylor (2) was removed by paceman Fernando in the second over.

Greg Lamb (10) then joined Masakadza but spinner Ajantha Mendis struck just when the duo were trying to stitch a partnership. Lamb edged a turning delivery to square leg, where Jeevan Mendis ran backwards to take the catch.

Masakadza then found the company of Craig Ervine and the duo added 36 runs for the third-wicket, although the latter's contribution was only seven.

Teams

Zimbabwe: Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor(w), Gregory Lamb, Craig Ervine, Charles Coventry, Elton Chigumbura(c), Andy Blignaut, Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Ray Price, Chris Mpofu

Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan(c), Dinesh Chandimal(w), Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Thissara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suraj Randiv, Dilhara Fernando, Ajantha Mendis

India sets ODI record

India surpassed Australia in playing the most number of One-day Internationals when they crushed Sri Lanka in the tri-series in their 742nd match.

The record-breaking match turned out to be a memorable one as India overhauled the target of 243 with 6.3 overs to spare at the Queens Sports Club on Sunday.

Australia have played 741 ODIs so far to hold the second position, while Pakistan are in third place with 715 ODIs.

Fourth in the list are the West Indies (636), followed by Sri Lanka (599) and New Zealand (584).

India played their first ODI on July 13, 1974 -- against England in Leeds. India had lost the match by four wickets.

England overcome resilient Tigers

England duly completed an eight-wicket win with a session to spare over Bangladesh, a one-sided outcome that masked a struggle to prove their superiority in the first Test.

England duly completed an eight-wicket victory with a session to spare over Bangladesh, a one-sided outcome that masked a struggle to prove their superiority in the first npower Test.

Steve Finn's nine wickets on his home debut and Jonathan Trott's first-innings double-century underpinned a success which came despite the rusty efforts of several others, apparently finding it tough to reattune themselves to the demands of five-day cricket.

In the end, all was right with the world for England supporters as returning captain Andrew Strauss (82) and Trott helped their team canter home with a second-wicket stand of 80 in front of a crowd approaching 10,000.

On a day when MCC broke with recent tradition by allowing spectators to roam the outfield during lunch for the first time in more than 35 years, brighter skies - absent while Bangladesh lost their last five wickets this morning - appeared on cue to help England hasten past the 160 they needed.

If there was a significant crowd caveat - hundreds missed much of the first session in queues reported to be half-a-mile long as turnstile arrangements failed to cope - there were a few more when it came to England's below-par performance.

Only four of the team were involved in this month's glorious ICC World Twenty campaign, yet it seemed they were not the only ones who failed to bring their A game to the Test arena.

James Anderson, by his own admission, and Tim Bresnan, by common consent, were short of their best in a four-man attack; England's cricketer-of-the-year Graeme Swann failed to take a wicket for the first time since Headingley in last year's Ashes - and as Trott dominated the first-innings 505, only Strauss also managed to post a half-century.

Bangladesh by contrast deserved honourable mention, not just for second-innings centurion Tamim Iqbal's breath-taking strokeplay and Shahadat Hossain's five-wicket haul first time round but for the support generally forthcoming through the ranks.

The cruel statistic remains nonetheless that they have still won just three of 67 Tests, and avoided defeat in only six others.

But either their progress is beginning to take hold, or England have been even more off-colour than was evident. Finn struck three quick blows on the final morning - but still England's victory push was held up by Bangladeshi determination.

Up the pecking order on his home ground and given his favourite pavilion end, the 6ft 7in seamer took three wickets in 15 balls to put his name on the honours board and earn match figures of nine for 187.

Yet Bangladesh - having followed on before lunch yesterday - still managed to turn a start-of-play 328 for five into a lunchtime 382 all out, leaving England 73 overs to knock off the arrears.

Sixth-wicket pair Junaid Siddique (74) and Shakib Al Hasan safely negotiated 40 minutes against a second new ball, in awkward conditions under heavy cloud cover.

Finn could claim no great credit either for the ball that made the first breakthrough, Shakib cutting a long-hop fiercely but straight to Eoin Morgan in the gully.

Junaid's departure came from a slightly more deserving delivery yet was probably again more of a reward for Finn's previous efforts, the left-hander checking a drive on the up for an easy catch at short extra-cover.

The end of his 162-ball stay opened the way for England to dispose of the tail and knock off the runs required with minimal pressure on time or wickets resources.

There was no argument with Finn's third success, Mushfiqur Rahim caught behind when he edged a very good ball which bounced and left him from a perfect line.

But England were still not quite through Bangladesh.

Mahmudullah remained as a near frontline batsman, and Rubel Hossain a well-organised number 10.

Finn needed a rest after a spell of eight overs, and it did not help when Bresnan failed to hold a stinging chance above his head at third slip when Mahmudullah flashed at Anderson.

Bresnan (three for 93) made up for that slip, though, by having Rubel edging low to first slip - trying to pull the bat away - and then finishing off the innings on the stroke of lunch when Mahmudullah aimed a slog but could only edge behind.

The sun broke through after lunch to greet what proved a near valedictory second innings for the hosts, Strauss set up for a rush of early boundaries by poor length and direction from Shahadat and debutant Robiul Islam.

Strauss edged through Junaid's fingers off Mahmudullah on 28, as the spinners came on to slow the inevitable.

But despite Alastair Cook's departure lbw pushing forward to Mahmudullah and Strauss then going caught behind cutting at his opposite number Shakib with victory already assured, Bangladesh had finally run out of resistance.

Butt set to become Pak vice-captain

Opener Salman Butt is all set to be named as Pakistan vice-captain for the forthcoming Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and the subsequent tour to England, according to PCB sources.

Sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that chairman Ejaz Butt and chief selector Mohsin Khan had suggested Salman's name for the post of vice-captain, a move which was also supported by newly-appointed Test skipper Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis.

"PCB chairman Ejaz Butt will make the announcement later this week when the team is announced for the Asia Cup," one source said.

The left-handed opener, who has been in prolific form in recent times, was made vice-captain for a short period of time in 2007 but was later unceremoniously removed without any explanation.

Sources said that with Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Younis Khan still uncertain for the both the series because of PCB bans and fines, the board had decided to opt for Salman.

Salman's elevation to the vice-captaincy is significant as many critics and experts still doubt whether Afridi would be able to justify his place in the Test side when Pakistan play two five-day games against Australia and four against England this year.

Afridi has been made captain for all three formats of the game recently but the hard-hitting all-rounder has not played a Test since mid 2006.

"Salman's promotion indicates that the board and selectors also want to have a proper back up to lead the team in the Tests in case Afridi's form does not justify his place in the side," one source said.

The source added that Afridi had backed Salman's appointment as his deputy as the opener had largely emerged as a non-controversial character during the probe into Pakistan's disastrous New Zealand and Australia tours.

Salman has so far played 27 Tests, 76 ODIs and 22 Twenty20 Internationals for Pakistan. He is one of the few players in the side who has a strong educational background.

Former Test opener and captain Aamir Sohail said that if Salman was made the vice-captain, he will have to be careful about his own form.

"He has to concentrate full time on his batting as he is improving day-by-day and his role will be important for Pakistan in the coming matches," Sohail said.

Finn taking nothing for granted

Steven Finn will already be pencilled in by many for next winter's Ashes, after his nine-wicket haul in England's Lord's victory over Bangladesh.

Steven Finn will already be pencilled in by many for next winter's Ashes, after his nine-wicket haul in England's Lord's victory over Bangladesh.

The 6ft 7in seamer looks a natural for Australia's bouncier pitches, where traditional English seam and swing is less effective.

But Finn will be taking no such thing for granted for some time yet, reasoning he needs to take plenty more wickets this summer - starting against Bangladesh again in this week's second and final npower Test at Old Trafford.

Asked whether he may take a punt on cramped bookies' odds of 1/6 that he will be on the plane down under in October, he pointed out: "No, I'm not allowed.

"There is a lot of hard work (ahead) for me, because there are guys to come back in who are ahead of me in the pecking order.

"I'm not going to kid myself; I've had fun in this Test match and I'm loving playing for my country at the moment.

"But fundamentally, it's up to me to make it difficult for the selectors to drop me - whether I do that playing for England or through consistent performances for Middlesex throughout the season.

"If I keep taking wickets, my name will be there or there abouts - but it'll be a lot of hard work."

Finn's match figures of nine for 187 made up for a largely off-colour performance from the remainder of a four-man England attack in their first Test of the summer.

Jonathan Trott's double-hundred and two half-centuries from returning captain Andrew Strauss also helped to do the trick - albeit in a match which was taken almost into the final session yesterday - to ensure England go to Manchester, against opponents who have lost all but nine of their 67 Tests, one up with one to play.

Twenty-one-year-old Finn has yet to sample the likely pacy conditions at Old Trafford - but is unsurprisingly looking forward to doing so.

"Yeah, of course Old Trafford appeals to me - after playing in Bangladesh and a relatively slow wicket out here," he confirmed.

Strauss could hardly disagree that Finn's style may be just what is required in Australia.

He said: "If you look at bowlers who take wickets in Australia, those kind of heavy hit-the-deck bowlers tend to do well - [Australia great] Glenn McGrath had a reasonable career there.

"But Finny's right - there is a lot of water under the bridge before then.

"I hope we'll have a full complement of bowlers to pick from - with the likes of Stuart Broad and Graham Onions to come back.

"Everyone will be jostling for position, which is a healthy thing for the side."

Strauss senses Bangladesh are inching ever closer to being truly competitive against the top Test nations - and his opposite number Shakib Al Hasan, predictably, agrees.

"We are not depending on one person," he said.

"[Second-innings centurion] Tamim (Iqbal) played a fantastic game at Lord's.

"But it was not only him - Junaid (Siddique) and Imrul (Kayes) faced a lot of short balls but showed their character."

Bangladesh began the final day with an almost even chance of closing out a draw, only five down and 105 runs ahead - but were unable to hang on.

"We had a good chance to draw if we could bat more than 50 overs - giving us 200 and them 40 overs to chase.

"It is always frustrating when you lose. We can take many positive and negative things from this - and we need to learn from them and improve."

Skipper Afridi bats for youngsters

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Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was of the view that three to four young players should be included in the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka from June 15.

"We should have three to four new players along with the seniors so that we can strike the right balance in the one-day side,"Afridi said on Monday.

"I think the time is right to start grooming and giving exposure to some of our young lot because we also have to keep the 2011 World Cup in mind," he said.

Reminded that the selectors have ignored young all-rounder Hammad Azam from the 35-member list of probables for the Asia Cup and the subsequent tour to England even though he was part of the Twenty20 World Cup squad in the West Indies, Afridi said neither he nor coach Waqar had any hand in the selection of the T20 squad.

"The selectors had picked that squad but as a matter of policy myself and the coach want to give exposure to young players so that they can provide stable support and back up to the seniors in future," he said.

Afridi, however, refused to comment on Shoaib Malik availability for the Asia Cup and England tour after the PCB appeals tribunal had lifted the one-year ban imposed on the former skipper.

"It is something that concerns the board. As far as I am concerned whoever is eligible for selection is an important player for me," he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's long-serving manager Yawar Saeed said that he did not foresee any problems in the team with the expected return of Malik.

Malik came in for sharp criticism from Afridi, former captain Mohammad Yousuf, former coach Intikhab Alam and manager Abdul Raquib for his behaviour and attitude on the troubled tours to New Zealand and Australia.

Malik was described as a intriguer and responsible for creating disharmony in the team. But Yawar, who was not part of the Pakistan contingent on twin tours of New Zealand and Australia, said he did not think there would be any disciplinary issues on the upcoming series.

"All these players have played before when I was manager and I faced no problems at all from them. They know each other well so I don't think it is a big thing if Malik or even Younis Khan is selected in the side," said Yawar, who was a member of the PCB inquiry committee.

"There is no personality clash involved anymore and the New Zealand and Australian tours are past. The code of conduct on tour is the same for any player. I am confident no player will give me or PCB any cause for complain," he said.

Speed backs Howard for ICC post

Malcolm Speed, the former CEO of the ICC, is confident that John Howard will have his nomination confirmed as the ICC’s president-designate by getting India’s support.

"It's outrageous," Speed said, referring to the protests made by South Africa and Zimbabwe.

"There is some irony in this," Speed told the 'Australian'. "Zimbabwe throughout has said 'you must come and play against us for the sake of our cricket. You can't have politics in cricket, you can't make political considerations', and the ICC has consistently endorsed that position.

"Their position now, as I understand it, is that Howard's not qualified because he's a politician and he's criticised Zimbabwe, so they bring politics back into it when it suits them. I think the behaviour of Zimbabwe, and South Africa supporting them, has been outrageous.

"They agreed to the process. They knew it was to be Australia and New Zealand's decision and they should have been prepared to accept that position and not second-guess those countries. The process should have been followed."

Sri Lanka justified its opposition by saying that Howard did not qualify for the post as he was not a member of Cricket Australia, but Speed drubbed it as "nonsense".

"[Ehsan] Mani wasn't a member of the Pakistan board," Speed said of the ICC president elected in 2003. "In fact he lived in England, but he was their nominee and he was a very good president."

Modi to reply to second notice today

Suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is set to reply to the BCCI's second showcause notice today.

Modi had responded to the first show cause notice over allegations of murky financial deals in the IPL and bid-rigging with a voluminous reply on May 15.

Abdi had on Friday said Modi was on course to meet the May 31 deadline for replying to the second show cause notice served on him for his alleged acts that are “detrimental to world cricket”.

“We intend to meet the deadline for replying to the second show cause notice as we did for the first,” Abdi told reporters.

“The volume of the reply depends on the issues raised. I don’t think the reply would be as voluminous (as the first). We will try to satisfy the Board (with the reply),” Abdi said.

Modi sought and obtained a 10-day breather for replying to the second show cause notice from the Board. He was issued the notice on May 6 on the basis of an e-mail received from England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke.

In his e-mail, Clarke levelled serious charges against Modi which the Board found “detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and World cricket at large”.

The notice referred to Modi’s March 31 meeting in Delhi with representatives of English counties Yorkshire, Lancashire and Warwickshire in which he allegedly talked about a parallel IPL in the England and Wales in which eight existing franchises would bid for nine counties in UK.

“You have allegedly discussed this as a commercial proposition...and also set out that IPL would guarantee each county a minimum of USD 3-5 million per annum plus a staging fee of USD 1.5 million if the counties supported this idea,” the BCCI notice said. 

“You have allegedly offered a structured deal, by which the returns would be shared 80:20 between the franchises and the counties, a player model based on the IPL model and offered inducement to gather the rest of the county members to support your ideas and goad them to overpower their own governing bodies,” it said.

“You have allegedly planted a seed of thought of players’ revolt if the governing bodies of respective cricket boards do not allow them to participate in this extended version of IPL,” it added.

“It challenges not just the authority of BCCI but also (that of) ECB and suggested that IPL would henceforth literally shift to the hands of the franchises and the respective national governing bodies would be forced to watch helplessly while the game and the power of administration are hijacked,” Srinivasan said in the notice.

Abdi said the Board was yet to reply to Modi’s recent 14-page letter to BCCI president Shashank Manohar asking both him (Manohar) and secretary Srinivasan to recuse themselves from any future proceedings against the suspended IPL Commissioner.

“But I’m quite optimistic they would respond,” Abdi said.

Asked about the future course of action, including legal ones, if the response was not favourable to Modi, Abdi said, “Let’s wait and see. Let’s not pre-empt the matter”.

Modi had launched a scathing attack on Srinivasan in his letter to Manohar, saying the BCCI Secretary should not be part of the panel adjudicating charges of financial irregularities against him.

In his letter, Modi said Manohar too should stay away from the proceedings, since it would “tantamount to being a judge, witness and a potential co-notice” in the case.

Modi alleged Srinivasan had grossly misused his power as BCCI secretary and said there was a clear case of “conflict of interests” since he was also owner of the Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL.

Amla century makes it 4-0 for South Africa

South Africa 304 for 3 (Amla 129, de Villiers 57*, Kallis 51) beat West Indies 303 for 6 (Chanderpaul 66, Richards 59, Darren Bravo 45*) by seven wickets

	Hashim Amla eased to his second century of the series

It really shouldn't have got so close. South Africa appeared to have the match in the bag while Hashim Amla was at the crease and for a while after too, but somehow found a way to press the pressure button and take the game to the final ball. Some inept West Indian fielding towards the end, and lack of intensity in pushing for an unlikely win, let them down and it was left to AB de Villiers to steer the more deserving team home.

The required run rate soared to 8.60 at the end of the 45th over, when South Africa had to take the mandatory batting Powerplay. Two missed chances in the outfield gave South Africa a breather and it came down to the final over, when the visitors needed a more manageable three. The scores were level after the first two balls, but Dwayne Bravo tightened the noose in the next three. de Villiers pushed the third to mid-on, shouldered arms outside off to the fourth expecting it to be a wide before failing to dig out a yorker. The infield was packed and the din around the ground increased with the expectation of a great escape. de Villiers squirted the last ball to Darren Sammy at short midwicket, who ought to have effected an easy run-out but failed to gather the ball and fluffed a throw at the stumps.

Though both teams made blunders under pressure towards the end, West Indies had more wounds to tend to, primarily because of an underwhelming display in the field. With both Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor out injured, they lacked a raw quick bowler to hurry the batsmen with bounce on a good batting pitch, and the support cast of medium pacers were ineffective with the new ball. South Africa exploited that weakness for the most part and it seemed that only complacency could cost them the game, which it almost did.

Their response to 303 was set up by Hashim Amla, who was at the centrefold spread again with an ice-cool century, his second in the series . His is not a commercially driven slam-bang approach which would make IPL scouts sit up and watch. He relies more on conventional strokes and a risk-free approach, accelerating according to the match situation and picking up singles whenever possible. He battled exhaustion, scored the bulk of his runs in singles - only 30 of his runs came off boundaries when he reached his century - and could have batted till the end if his body allowed him.

Using the crease, Amla drove through the covers, played short-arm pulls, cut past backward point and even scooped Sammy for six over long-off. West Indies set innovative fields for Graeme Smith - placing two short midwickets - but not for Amla. Having taken so many runs off them in the series so far, West Indies could have identified a weakness and forced him to do something different, but instead just went through the motions. The intensity dropped after Smith's dismissal as Amla calmly collected the singles and reached his fifty, off 45 balls.

He took charge of two stands of 59 and 119 with Smith and Jacques Kallis respectively, and continued grafting it out till he neared his century. A squirt to backward point got him there, but he was already running low on battery, squatting on the pitch whenever he had a breather. He tried hitting out to conserve energy, but eventually fell to a tired shot to long-off. As he trudged back, South Africa were still in control with 80 needed off nearly 12 overs with seven wickets in hand.

They were lucky to have an in-form de Villiers at the crease, but the man at the other end, JP Duminy, wasn't as fluent. West Indies plugged things back to such an extent that they didn't concede a boundary for close to nine overs. The required rate soared to nine before de Villiers eased the pressure with a paddled-four off Ravi Rampaul. Duminy was let off twice, first by Dwayne Bravo and then Darren Bravo. An 18-run over off Kieron Pollard tilted the game back in South Africa's favour before fortunes oscillated again till the final ball.

The drama overshadowed what was an impressive comeback by the West Indian batsmen after the third ODI. It was a lesson in crafting an ideal one-day innings - start off aggressively, consolidate in the middle overs and keep wickets in hand and then let loose in the slog overs. The three main players in each of those phases were Dale Richards, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo, who dictated terms in different styles to take West Indies to 303 and give the Sunday crowd at Windsor Park a match to watch.

Richards compensated for Chris Gayle's failure with an attacking knock, using the crease well to unfurl elegant shots down the ground. The South Africans were disciplined through the middle overs to peg West Indies back, but importantly, the duo of Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo were prepared to see off the period by grafting, instead of letting the frustration get to their heads.

West Indies took the Powerplay in the 45th over and the pair of Darren Bravo and Pollard inflicted maximum damage in a stand of 59. Darren Bravo, who has a style to match Brian Lara with his trademark high backlift and stylish foot movements, punctuated the passage of play with carved boundaries over extra cover and a one-handed six over long-off. Pollard, under pressure to deliver for West Indies, brought out a couple of monster hits off Charl Langeveldt to take West Indies towards 300.

Unfortunately, it was a day the hosts couldn't get their batting and bowling to click in cohesion and as the series rolls into the final dead rubber on Thursday, the same questions on skill and commitment will be asked.

Rohit ton seals comfortable win

India 243 for 3 (Rohit 101*, Kohli 82) beat Sri Lanka 242 (Mathews 75, Dilshan 61) by seven wickets 

	Virat Kohli played a mature knock, adding 154 with centurion Rohit Sharma

What stood out was the ease with which India overhauled Sri Lanka's 242, with nearly seven overs to spare. Virat Kohli played a matured hand and Rohit Sharma overcame moments of impetuousness to hit a delightful hundred, his second successive effort of the tournament, as the pair sparkled in a 154-run partnership to charge India to a facile win.

It has to be said, though, that it was a good toss to win. Overnight rain had left enough moisture on the pitch in the first half of the day to offer assistance to the seamers and also to the spinners. And Sri Lanka were forced to adopt a brand of cricket that smelt of 80s: Start slowly, build momentum in the middle overs, reach a run-rate of four by the 40th, and try to hit out in the end. They ended up on 242, which wasn't a bad effort, but the conditions eased up in the afternoon and the Indians played very sensibly to overhaul the target with ease.

Nearly all the Indian batsmen, barring Rohit, who had brief moments of rashness, eschewed flamboyance for a risk-free approach. Kohli in particular. There was just one shot in anger when Kohli put away a short googly from Ajantha Mendis to the midwicket boundary. For the most part, he dealt in nudged singles as he used his wrists to ping the vacant spaces. He used the width of the crease well, going either fully back or leaning forward, to tackle the different lengths. Later, he unfurled the big shots: an inside-out hit, a pulled boundary and whippy on-drive.

Unlike Kohli, Rohit took more risks. Some appeared almost needless, especially at the start. He rushed down the track for a slog against Thissara Perera, nearly hit Mendis for a catch to long-on and drove Suraj Randiv uppishly on a few occasions. However, he survived those iffy moments to settle down to play a few typically stylish hits. Two stood out for their skill and beauty: He sashayed down the track and lifted Randiv inside-out over covers. He then flicked Perera from just outside off stump wide of mid-on for a gorgeous boundary. He later pulled Dilhara Fernando and lofted Randiv for sixes and brought up his ton with a cut against Mendis. It was 47 for 2 when he had joined Kohli and he led India to a victory with plenty to spare.

If India had Rohit and Kohli, Sri Lanka's innings was all about Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews. Dilshan had laid the platform with an out-of-character 61 before Mathews showed characteristic maturity during his 75, which led Sri Lanka's charge.

It was yet another cool and collected innings from the rapidly-maturing Mathews. He was on 51 at the start of the batting Powerplay and had only hit two boundaries until then. Amit Mishra slipped in couple of long-hops and Mathews targeted the midwicket boundary for a six and a four. The pitch and the situation had demanded he play risk-free cricket and he duly obliged. For the main part, he drove, nudged and worked the angles to rotate strike. He used his height to get forward and smother the turn and his wrists to nudge spinning deliveries for singles. And it was only during the final assault that he brought out the big shots: the inside-out lofted drive over covers, the fierce pull and the slog-sweeps were unfurled as he led Sri Lanka towards 250.

The conditions demanded such an approach: The medium-pacers got movement and also exploited the two-paced nature of the wicket and the spinners found generous turn to keep the batsmen quiet. Not only Mathews but Dilshan also adopted a sensible approach, though perhaps it might have been dictated by his recent run of poor form.

It wasn't the Dilshan we have come to know. He hit his first boundary off his 35th ball and it wasn't until his 50th delivery that he chose to rush down the track to play a big shot. It was his abstinence against the new ball that really stood out, though. There weren't many flamboyant on-the-up hits, dashes down the track or attempts to force the pace. He did try to play couple of aggressive shots against the new ball but, when he found that he was mis-timing them, he quickly changed tack and started to work the angles.

It was looking good for Sri Lanka but Dilshan ran himself out in the 24th over to allow India to come back into the game. He turned Mishra to midwicket, hesitated before deciding to go for the single, and couldn't beat the throw from Rohit Sharma. It proved to be the turning point of the game; it meant the difference between Sri Lanka reaching 275 and ending up, as they did, with less than 250.

Jolted India seek revival against SL

Their pride dented by the loss to Zimbabwe in the opener, a jolted India will hope to revive their campaign against Sri Lanka in the second match of the tri-series.

It was hardly the start Suresh Raina would have hoped for in his debut as captain as India lost by six wickets to the hosts on Friday with 10 balls to spare.

Missing their regular stars, India were given a rude shock by the Zimbabweans who chased down a rather stiff target of 285 with consummate ease.

Indian bowlers let down the team but the batting was not too impressive either and had it not been for Rohit Sharma's breezy 114 and Ravindra Jadeja's 61 after a top-order collapse, getting to 285 would have also been a difficult task.

"We need to work on our bowling and fielding department to come back against Sri Lanka," Raina said after the match.

Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay were always going to find it difficult to replicate the flying starts that India are so used to with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the top.

The middle order looks alright with Raina, Rohit and Jadeja in good nick.

The bowling is, however, a worry as the team found out against Zimbabwe.

Umesh Yadav and Ashok Dinda failed to either take wickets or stem the run flow against lowly side while R Vinay Kumar proved expensive. Raina minced no words in expressing his disappointment after the match.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have also fielded a young team and have rested key players, prominent among them are regular skipper Kumar Sangakkara and the in-form Mahela Jayawardene.

Tillakaratne Dilshan is leading the side without having the services of senior players like Sanath Jayasuriya and Lasith Malinga. All-rounder Angelo Mathews is Dilshan's deputy on his maiden assignment as captain for an ODI series.

Muttiah Muralitharan, who was ruled out during the World Twenty20 due to a groin injury, is also not there in the side.

The new-look team features greenhorns like all-rounder Jeewan Mendis and left-handed batsman Lahiru Thirimanne.

The trio of opener Upul Tharanga, middle-order batsman Chamara Silva and fast bowler Dilhara Fernando, who were ignored for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, are the prominent names in the squad.

It seems an evenly-matched contests where two inexperienced sides face off but given the opening loss to Zimbabwe, India can hardly afford to relax.

After all, a tour meant to test India's bench strength could well become an embarrassment if the young side fails to rise to the occasion.

Teams:

India: Suresh Raina (capt), Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra, Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Silva, Thissira Perera.

Zimbabwe stun 'young' India

Half-centuries by Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine helped Zimbabwe clinch a shock six-wicket victory over India in the opening game of the Tri-Nations series in Bulawayo.

Rohit Sharma hit a measured 114 to form the backbone of India's total of 285 for five but Taylormade 81 and Ervine 67 not out as the hosts chased down their target with 10 balls to spare.

Zimbabwe's pursuit stuttered as they lost three quick wickets in the middle overs but debutant Ervine shared crucial partnerships with Charles Coventry (32), Greg Lamb (27) and captain Elton Chigumbura (24no) to take his side home.

Earlier, Sharma's brilliant century and Ravindra Jadeja's clean-hitting at the death helped the visitors put a challenging total on the board.

India captain Suresh Raina won the toss and decided to bat first, allowing opening duo Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik to put on a brisk 56 for the first wicket.

Chigumbura failed to lead by example, gifting India 36 runs in his only two overs.

The skipper replaced himself to bring Ray Price into the attack and the move immediately paid dividends as Vijay (11) ran himself out in the ninth over, thanks to a smart back-hand throw by wicketkeeper Taylor.

Virat Kohli did not trouble the scorers and went for a duck in the next over.

Karthik (22) went for a reverse sweep towards the short third man and ran for a risky single, but Chigumbura fired in an excellent direct hit leaving Kohli well short of his ground.

Former captain Prosper Utesya made further inroads into the Indian batting line-up when he dismissed Karthik in the 13th over.

The spate of wickets put the brakes on the visitors' scoring but they managed to put 85 on the board by the end of 20th over, with Sharma and Raina in the middle.

Zimbabwe's bowlers kept a tight leash on the Indian batsmen as the visitors managed to hit just one boundary between the 10th and the 20th over.

That mounting pressure broke Raina's concentration as he nicked a Chris Mpofu outswinger to Taylor in the 30th over with 128 runs on the board.

Sharma steadied the ship alongside Jadeja (61no) and completed his half-century in the 37th over with a four off Graeme Cremer.

Sharma then hit Mpofu for two fours and a towering six in the 44th over and gave the same treatment to Price in the 47th over to reach his century.

The Deccan Chargers batsman fell to Mpofu in the next when he tried an ambitious shot to clear the midwicket but top-edged it to Taylor behind the stumps.

In reply, Zimbabwe openers Hamilton Masakadza and Taylor took advantage of an inexperienced Indian attack and soon began finding - and clearing - the boundary after starting on a cautious note.

Taylor was the more aggressive, hitting Vinay Kumar for two fours and a six in the ninth over.

Masakadza (46) followed suit and blasted a boundary off Jadeja's bowling in the 12th over, repeating the dose in the next off Amit Mishra.

But the spinner had the last laugh when he cleaned bowled the right-handed batsman with the last delivery of the over.

Lamb joined Taylor in the middle and the duo took their side to the 100-run mark in the 17th over.

They continued to deal with ones and twos with occasional boundaries in the next 12 overs.

Lamb fell to Jadeja in the 30th over after a 64-run partnership for the second wicket.

Taylor eventually lost his wicket to Kumar after a well-paced innings of 81

That left Irvine and Coventry with a daunting task of scoring more than seven runs an over.

The pair responded well to the challenge, bringing up 200 in the 40th over and Ervine celebrated with a towering six off Yusuf Pathan in the next.

Coventry emulated his partner in the 42nd over to bring the asking rate down but fell to Kumar in the next.

Ervine held his nerves, though, to take his side home in partnership with Chigumbura.

Teams 

India: Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadega, Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan. Murli Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav

Zimbabwe: Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Greg Lamb, Craig Ervine, Charles Coventry, Elton Chigumbura, Andy Blignaut, Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Ray Price, Chrisopher Mpofu

SA clinch series win against WI

South Africa secured a series win and remained on course for a whitewash over West Indies with a 67-run victory in the third one-day international in Roseau.

The Proteas posted a modest total of 224 from 47.2 overs after winning the toss and opting to bat first. AB de Villiers led the way with 70, but the tourists lost their last five wickets for only 18 runs at Windsor Park.

However, it proved a more than sufficient total as the hosts crumbled to 157 all out to suffer a third straight loss in the five-match series. Opener Dale Richards was the Windies' top scorer with 28.

Chasing a distinctly gettable 225 for their first victory of the series, the hosts never looked like making a decent fist of it as they threw away wicket after wicket.

Morne Morkel finished with career-best ODI figures of four for 21 for South Africa while Charl Langeveldt, playing instead of Lonwabo Tsotsobe, claimed three for 30.

West Indies captain Chris Gayle was Langeveldt's first victim, caught at first slip by Jacques Kallis for 16.

Opening partner Richards soon followed suit, also finding Kallis off the bowling of Morne Morkel to leave the home team 59 for two.

The wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals as the Proteas asserted their superiority.

Darren Bravo, younger brother of all-rounder Dwayne, contributed just one before being trapped lbw by Morkel playing across the line and then Shivnarine Chanderpaul had put on 24 when he edged behind to De Villiers off the bowling of Kallis.

The Windies' capitulation showed no signs of letting up, Dwayne Bravo joining his brother back in the pavilion when he gloved to wicketkeeper De Villiers off Dale Steyn for 13.

Langeveldt then saw off Kieron Pollard (10) and Darren Sammy (14) in quick succession before Jerome Taylor was run out for a first-ball duck attempting a quick single.

Morkel cleaned up the tail, snaring Sulieman Benn for 17 and Ravi Rampaul for seven to finish off the West Indies within 38 overs.

Man of the match De Villiers was earlier the mainstay of the South Africa innings.

Proteas captain Graeme Smith shared a 53-run opening stand with Hashim Amla before the latter was bowled off an inside edge by Benn - back in the side in place of the injured Nikita Miller - for 34.

Smith was then trapped lbw moving across his wicket by Dwayne Bravo for 29, which brought De Villiers to join Jacques Kallis in the middle.

Kallis soon departed, the all-rounder becoming Benn's second victim when he was caught at point by Sammy for 31.

De Villiers remained solid, but wickets continued to fall at the other end.

Alviro Peterson was next to go, bowled off an inside edge by Pollard for 16, and David Miller gloved a Taylor delivery to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin to depart for five.

Despite the steady flow of wickets, the South Africans were well placed at 206 for five in the 43rd over.

But they managed to add only 18 runs for their final five wickets.

Pollard had Ryan McLaren caught at short mid-wicket by Richards for five and the dangerous De Villiers was run out attempting a second run on 70.

Steyn failed to trouble the scorers before being bowled between bat and pad by Rampaul and, although Morkel contributed 14 before holing out to Darren Bravo at deep mid-wicket off Pollard, Dwayne Bravo caught and bowled Johan Botha (18) to bring an early end to the South Africa innings.

Their late-innings collapse may have have been a disappointment to the tourists, but as it turned out they had done more than enough.

Pollard finished with figures of three for 27 from his six overs, while Benn and Dwayne Bravo picked up two wickets apiece for the hosts.

The teams will be back in Roseau for the fourth ODI on Sunday before concluding the series on Thursday in Trinidad.

Finn enjoys 'fantastic feeling'

Steven Finn has probably lost count of the number of wickets he has taken at Lord's, but he will never forget his first on his home ground in Test cricket.

The 21-year-old Middlesex seamer provided the only success for an England bowler on a tough second day of the npower series against Bangladesh, which closed with the tourists on 172 for two in reply to 505.

Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique both hit half-centuries as Bangladesh fought back following Jonathan Trott's 226.

But Finn found extra bounce in his second spell from his favoured pavilion end to see off opener Imrul Kayes.

"It was a fantastic feeling to get my first (Test) wicket at Lord's in front of that crowd and the atmosphere," he said.

"Initially, I wasn't sure whether he had gloved it or it came off his forearm or what, but I was excited to see it go through like that."

Finn accepts there is likely to be much hard work ahead on a slow pitch before England can celebrate the expected victory here and in the second Test at Old Trafford.

But he has seen enough already to believe they can cash in and even induce a Bangladesh collapse if they use the conditions well.

"At the moment it looks like a battle of attrition, us again trying to limit their boundary options and being clever with field-setting and able to attack at the right time," he added.

"But you can see one going up, one going down. We're still 300 odd runs ahead, so if we can get a couple of quick wickets that's going to be in the back of their minds that they could potentially be following on within a session."

Bangladesh's batting backbone did not surprise Finn, who had to settle for one wicket in each innings in his first two Tests during a hard-working 2-0 victory over the same opponents on the sub-Continent this winter.

"We saw them bat like that in Chittagong and Dhaka earlier in the year," Finn added. "They're a developing team who are getting better game by game.

"They have players who are dangerous and it's important we don't take them lightly, treat them with respect and have to be able to build dots against them.

"We're not just going to be able to blast them away, we have to build pressure, which will in turn get us wickets.

"The important thing is to use the new ball, because we know the Bangladeshis will struggle against the moving ball."

Tamim raced to his 50 at approaching a run-a-ball, a typical tempo for the young opener.

"Obviously, Tamim is going to come out and play his way," added Finn.

"But if we can 'dot him up' second innings, when he's faced two or three on the trot, he'll play a silly shot, try to slash one that's too straight through point.

"There's been a bit of variable bounce and that could be a big thing for us and work to our advantage tomorrow.

"Swanny's got a few to go down, I've got a few to go down and up and a few of the others have too."

Shahadat Hossain (five for 98) was the real success story for Bangladesh today, reaping late rewards for a much-improved performance with the ball.

He admitted that, after his first Test appearance at Lord's four years ago, he feared the worst for his career.

"On my debut here in 2005 I was very nervous," he said. "I had a nightmare debut. I never felt I would get a second chance to come to Lord's.

"I thought if I get another chance at Lord's I must make amends.

"It's the first time Bangladesh has got a name in the book [on the Lord's honours board]. That's very important."