Sri Lanka ask Pakistan to bat in final Test

Sri Lanka's captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat in the third and final Test at the Sinhalese sports club here on Monday.

Sri Lanka, having already taken a decisive 2-0 lead in the series, recalled veteran seamer Chaminda Vaas for his last Test match in place of spinner Ajantha Mendis.

Vaas, 35, had on Sunday announced his retirement from the five-day game after the series, but said he will continue to play limited-overs cricket.

Pakistan also made one change, bringing in seasoned leg-spinner Danish Kaneria in place of seamer Abdur Rauf.

Pakistan: Younus Khan (capt), Fawad Alam, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer, Danish Kaneria.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Malinda Warnapura, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath, Chaminda Vaas, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekera.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG)

TV umpire: Gamini Silva (SRI)

Match referee: Alan Hurst (AUS)

Rain sets Bangladesh back against Windies

Rain took a sizeable chunk out of the day, but Bangladesh still held all the aces with West Indies wobbly on 192 for eight in their second innings in the second and final Test on Sunday.

The Bangladesh spinners continued to torment the West Indies' batsmen, and the home team could only extend their lead to 197 in the time available on the third day at the Queen's Park Stadium Complex.

The entire evening session was lost to the weather, after rain had earlier stopped play about half-hour before lunch, and the afternoon session started about an hour and 10 minutes later than scheduled after the interval. The Tigers' spinners applied the pressure throughout the truncated day and the West Indies' batsmen - except for birthday boy Dave Bernard Jr - cracked.

Shakib Al Hasan has been Bangladesh's most successful bowler with four wickets for 61 runs from 22 overs, and fellow left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr has taken two for 42 from 15 overs.

But the Bangladeshis found Bernard hard to dislodge, and he reached 50 for the third time in the series, when he swung his 56th ball from Enamul over mid-wicket for his sixth four.

The Tigers spinners were never able to dominate him, and the lanky all-rounder struck six fours and one six in an unbeaten 61 from 71 balls in a little over two hours.

The weather intervened before lunch to set Bangladesh's effort back, after their spinners, led by Shakib, bowled them back into contention, when they reduced West Indies to 124 for five at the interval.

Shakib made the breakthrough in the eighth over of the morning, after West Indies continued from their overnight total of 56 for one.

The acting Bangladesh captain removed Omar Phillips, when the left-handed opener was caught at deep square leg for 29.

Four overs later, Shakib had Ryan Hinds caught at leg-slip for two, when the left-handed batsman gloved a sweep shot.

Off-spinner Mahmudullah, who has been the most successful bowler for Bangladesh in the series, then removed West Indies captain Floyd Reifer for three to a questionable lbw decision from New Zealand umpire Tony Hill.

Video replays suggested that Reifer was struck just outside the off-stump and the ball would have spun away from lanky left-hander.

Enamul Haque Jr then added to West Indies' pain, when he scalped Travis Dowlin for 49 to an incredulous lbw verdict from Hill to leave West Indies 110 for five.

The TV replays again suggested that the batsman was struck just outside the off-stump and the ball would have spun away past the stumps.

When play resumed after lunch, the Bangladesh spinners wheeled away, and Bernard and Darren Sammy spent the first 40 minutes putting up their best defence.

But things became undone, when Enamul had Sammy caught at mid-wicket for 22 to trigger a decline which saw West Indies lose three wickets for 21 runs in the space of 43 balls.

Shakib, leading Bangladesh in the absence of the injured Mashrafe Mortaza, had Chadwick Walton caught at slip for one edging a loose drive at a wide ball before Shahadat Hossain returned for a second spell and had Ryan Austin caught in the mid-wicket region for three.

Rain sent the players scampering for a slightly early tea break, and they never returned to the field, despite several attempts.

Bangladesh lead the two-Test series 1-0, after they won the opening Test which ended last Monday in St. Vincent by 95 runs.

The Tigers need only to draw the match to clinch their first-ever Test series victory overseas.
Scoreboard
West Indies 1st Innings 237 T. Dowlin 95, Mahmadullah 3-44
Bangladesh 1st Innings 232 Mushfiqur Rahim 48, K. Roach 6-48
West Indies 2nd Innings
D. Richards lbw b Shakib Al Hasan 12
O. Phillips c Ashraful b Shakib Al Hasan 29
T. Dowlin lbw b Enamul Haque 49
R. Hinds c Mahmudullah b Shakib Al Hasan 2
F. Reifer lbw b Mahmudullah 3
D. Bernard not out 61
D. Sammy c Raqibul b Enamul Haque 22
C. Walton c Mahmudullah b Shakib Al Hasan 1
R. Austin c Tamim b Shahadat Hossain 3
T. Best not out 4
Extras lb2, nb4 6
Total for 8 wkts 192
Fall of wkts 1-20, 2-72, 3-84, 4-95, 5-110, 6-166, 7-167, 8-187
Bowling
Rubel Hossain 8.2-1-32-0 (nb3), Shahadat Hossain 4-0-18-1, Enamul Haque Jr 15-2-42-2 (nb1), Shakib Al Hasan 22-3-61-4, Mahmudullah 15-1-37-1, Mohammad Ashraful 1-1-0-0

Rain fails to slow Bangladesh spinners down

Bangladesh's spinners continued to torment the West Indies' batsman in an afternoon session truncated by the weather and left the home team scrambling on 192 for eight at tea in the second and final Test on Sunday.

At the break, Dave Bernard Jr was unbeaten on 61 and Tino Best was not out on four, after the Tigers' spinners continued to apply the pressure on the West Indies batsmen and restricted the home team's lead to 197 on the third day at the Queen's Park Stadium Complex.

Shakib Al Hasan has been Bangladesh most successful bowler with four wickets for 61 runs from 22 overs, and fellow left-arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr has taken two for 42 from 15 overs.

But the Bangladeshis have found Bernard hard to dislodge, and the West Indies all-rounder reached 50 for the third time in the series, when he swung his 56th ball from Enamul over mid-wicket for his sixth four.

Play started after lunch an hour and 10 minutes later than scheduled because of rain before and during the interval.

When play resumed, the Bangladesh spinners wheeled away, and Bernard and Darren Sammy spent the first 40 minutes putting up their best defence.

But things became undone, when Enamul had Sammy caught at mid-wicket for 22 to trigger a decline which saw West Indies lose three wickets for 21 runs in the space of 43 balls.

Shakib, leading Bangladesh in the absence of the injured Mashrafe Mortaza, had Chadwick Walton caught at slip for one edging a loose drive at a wide ball before Shahadat Hossain returned for a second spell and had Ryan Austin caught in the mid-wicket region for three.

Rain had also prompted an early lunch and stalled Bangladesh's progress, after their spinners, led by Shakib, bowled them back into contention, when they reduced West Indies to 124 for five at the interval.

The weather intervened about half-hour before the interval to set Bangladesh back in their efforts, after West Indies continued from their overnight total of 56 for one.

Shakib made the breakthrough in the eighth over of the morning, when left-handed opener Omar Phillips swung at a shortish delivery, and was caught at deep square leg for 29.

Four overs later, Shakib had Ryan Hinds caught at leg-slip for two, when the left-handed batsman gloved a sweep shot.

Off-spinner Mahmudullah, who has been the most successful bowler for Bangladesh in the series, then removed West Indies captain Floyd Reifer for three to a questionable lbw decision from New Zealand umpire Tony Hill.

Video replays suggested that Reifer was struck just outside the off-stump and the ball would have spun away from lanky left-hander.

Enamul Haque Jr then added to West Indies' pain, when he scalped Travis Dowlin for 49 to an incredulous lbw verdict from Hill to leave West Indies 110 for five.

The TV replays again suggested that the batsman was struck just outside the off-stump and the ball would have spun away past the stumps. Bangladesh lead the two-Test series 1-0, after they won the opening Test which ended last Monday in St. Vincent by 95 runs.

The Tigers need only to draw the match to clinch their first-ever Test series victory overseas.

Clarke century revives Australia in second Test

Michael Clarke survived some fiery new-ball bowling to keep England at bay with an unbeaten century that gave Australia hope when all seemed lost in the second Ashes Test at Lord's here on Sunday.

Australia were 313 for five when bad light forced an early close on the fourth day with 12 overs left.

They needed a further 209 runs to achieve what would be a new Test record fourth innings victory total of 522 on Monday's final day.

England, by contrast required five more wickets if they were to beat Australia in a Test at Lord's for the first time in 75 years and so go 1-0 up in the five-match series following last week's drawn opener in Cardiff.

But first they needed to separate Clarke and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, 80 not out, who'd so far shared an unbroken stand of 185 for the sixth wicket.

If Australia reached their target they would surpass the current fourth innings record victory total of 418 for seven made by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2002/03.

After tea, Haddin - who made a hundred in Cardiff - completed a 95-ball fifty with a single against off-spinner Graeme Swann.

And next ball Clarke went to his 11th Test hundred and first at Lord's when he pushed Swann for two.

He reached the landmark in 159 balls, his first fifty coming in 58 but his second in 101 as Clarke concentrated hard.

It had looked Sunday as if England might wrap up victory with more than a day to spare as they reduced Australia to 128 for five.

But they encountered more than three hours of stylish resistance from the sixth-wicket pair, especially Clarke, who made 83 in Cardiff and 91 in the Lord's Ashes Test four years ago.

England took the new ball as soon as it became available after 80 overs with Australia 287 for five on a still-good batting pitch.

James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff both went close but the Lancashire duo were denied a breakthrough.

England, after captain Andrew Strauss declared on their overnight score of 311 for six, had the rub of the green with umpiring decisions.

Flintoff, who before this match said he would retire from Tests at the end of the Ashes, struck twice to reduce Australia to 34 for two before lunch.

But controversy surrounded both wickets, with veteran umpire Rudi Koertzen, standing in his 100th Test, missing a no-ball in the lead-up to Simon Katich's exit and then giving Phillip Hughes out to a disputed slip catch by Strauss.

Replays showed the fast bowler had overstepped the crease, an action which should have seen South Africa's Koertzen call no-ball and so cancel out the wicket.

Ashes-holders Australia then saw Hughes, their other left-handed opener, on 17 edge Flintoff to first slip Strauss.

The 20-year-old started to walk off but was told to stay by Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who on Saturday had seen England's Ravi Bopara reprieved after the umpires referred a low catch to TV umpire Nigel Llong.

But this time around Koertzen, after asking West Indies' Billy Doctrove if the ball had carried, gave the decision without calling for Llong's assistance.

There was no debate when Ponting played on to paceman Stuart Broad for 38.

It was all a far cry from Cardiff where Ponting made a majestic 150 and Australia were only denied victory by a last-wicket stand between tailenders Anderson and the now dropped Monty Panesar.

Swann then got in on the act with two wickets for two runs in 19 balls.

He removed left-hander Michael Hussey with the aid of Paul Collingwood's sharp slip catch.

Hussey was given out by Doctrove although replays suggested the ball may have missed the outside edge, although Swann's dismissal of Marcus North, bowled between bat and pad, was far more conclusive.

One concern for England, which could have consequences for the rest of the series, was that star batsman Pietersen, who has been troubled by an Achilles injury, spent much of Sunday off the field.

Ponting departs as England eye Test victory

England saw the back of Australia captain Ricky Ponting as they moved closer to winning their first Ashes Test at Lord's in 75 years here on Sunday.

Australia were 178 for five at tea on the fourth day of the second Test of this five-match series - still needing a further 344 runs to reach their world record victory target of 522.

But England were now just five wickets away from wrapping up this match with more than a day to spare and so taking a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series.

Michael Clarke, who held firm with a typically stylish fifty in 58 balls, was 60 not out and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin 15 not out.

Ponting had added just one run to his lunch score, when 10 balls after the break, he tried to force the ball but played on to pace bowler Stuart Broad for 38.

His exit left Australia in dire straits at 78 for three and continued Ponting's poor run of Test scores at Lord's where his best is 42.

It was all a far cry from last week's drawn series opener in Cardiff where Ponting made a majestic 150 and Australia were only denied victory by a last-wicket stand between James Anderson and the now dropped Monty Panesar.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann then got in on the act with two wickets for two runs in 19 balls.

He removed left-hander Michael Hussey (27) with a ball that turned and bounce thanks to Paul Collingwood's sharp slip catch.

Hussey was given out by West Indies umpire Billy Doctrove although replays suggested the ball may have missed the outside edge - one of several umpiring decisions Sunday that went against Australia.

But there was no doubt about Swann's next wicket, with Marcus North bowled between bat and pad to leave Australia 128 for five.

Injury-hit all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who before this match said he would retire from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes, struck twice to reduce Australia to 34 for two before lunch.

But controversy surrounded both wickets, with veteran umpire Rudi Koertzen, standing in his 100th Test, missing a no-ball in the lead-up to Simon Katich's exit and then giving Phillip Hughes out to a disputed slip catch by England captain Andrew Strauss.

Fast bowler Flintoff, saw Katich guide his eighth ball Sunday to the gully where Kevin Pietersen safely held the catch.

But replays showed Flintoff had overstepped the crease.

That should have led to a call of no-ball from South Africa's Koertzen which in turn would have denied England their first wicket.

Ashes-holders Australia then saw Hughes, their other left-handed opener, on 17 edge Flintoff to first slip Strauss.

The 20-year-old started to walk off but was told to stay by Ponting, who on Saturday had seen England's Ravi Bopara reprieved after the umpires referred a low catch to TV umpire Nigel Llong.

But this time around Koertzen, after asking Doctrove if the ball had carried, gave the decision without calling for Llong's assistance.

Flintoff, the star of England's 2005 Ashes triumph, had taken two wickets for two runs in 20 balls.

Strauss, with rain in the air, declared before play Sunday on England's overnight second innings score of 311 for six.

That left Australia chasing a target that, were they to achieve it, would be a new world record for the highest fourth innings total to win a Test, surpassing the 418 for seven made by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2002/03.
Scoreboard
England 1st Innings 425 A Strauss 161, A Cook 95, B Hilfenhaus 4-103, M Johnson 3-132
Australia 1st Innings 215 M Hussey 51, J Anderson 4-55, G Onions 3-41
England 2nd Innings
A. Strauss c Clarke b Hauritz 32
A. Cook lbw b Hauritz 32
R. Bopara c Katich b Hauritz 27
K. Pietersen c Haddin b Siddle 44
P. Collingwood c Haddin b Siddle 54
M. Prior run out 61
A. Flintoff not out 30
S. Broad not out 0
Extras b16, lb9, w1, nb5 31
Total for 6 wkts decl 311
Fall of wkts 1-61, 2-74, 3-147, 4-174, 5-260, 6-311
Bowling
Hilfenhaus 19-5-59-0 (3nb), Johnson 17-2-68-0 (1nb, 1w), Siddle 15.2-4-64-2, Hauritz 16-1-80-3 (1nb), Clarke 4-0-15-0

Australia 2nd Innings
P. Hughes c Strauss b Flintoff 17
S. Katich c Pietersen b Flintoff 6
R. Ponting b Broad 38
M. Hussey c Collingwood b Swann 27
M. Clarke not out 60
M. North b Swann 6
B. Haddin not out 15
Extras (lb5, nb4) 9
Total (5 wkts, 49 overs, 227 mins) 178

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-34, 3-78, 4-120, 5-128

Bowling:
Anderson 12-2-57-0
Flintoff 14-3-35-2
Onions 6-0-35-0
Broad 9-2-23-1
Swann 8-1-23-2

Match position: Australia need a further 344 runs to reach their victory target of 522 with five wickets standing

Toss: England

Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA)

TV umpire: Nigel Llong (ENG)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

India elect to field against Windies

India won the toss and decided to take the field on Friday in the third One-day International against West Indies at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.

There are two changes for India with Ishant Sharma and Abhishek Nayar replacing Praveen Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja, but West Indies are, predictably, unchanged.

The four-match series is level 1-1, after India won the high-scoring opening ODI by 20 runs last Friday at Sabina Park in Jamaica, and two days later, West Indies rebounded to secure an eight-wicket victory in a low-scoring second ODI at the same venue.

Whichever side wins the third ODI will be fortunate to take an unbeatable lead in the series, but India will be hoping it will be them, as they look to formalise a rare ODI series victory in the Caribbean before embarking on a much-anticipated two-month break from the game.

West Indies: Chris Gayle (captain), Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Jerome Taylor, David Bernard Jr, Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampaul

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ashish Nehra

UMPIRES: Clive Duncan, Nigel Llong

TV UMPIRE: Goaland Greaves

MATCH REFEREE: Chris Broad

Pak to host home series against Kiwis on neutral venue

Pakistan would host New Zealand for three Tests and five one-day internationals on a neutral venue, after all efforts by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to relocate the ‘home’ series against Kiwis to New Zealand failed.

Sources said the PCB proposed hosting the series in New Zealand itself , but issues regarding television rights and sharing of revenues could not be sorted out with the New Zealand cricket officials

The PCB is now considering hosting the series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), The News reports.

The series is likely to be held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in October-November this year.

Ponting in search of missing Ashes triumph

Australia captain Ricky Ponting heads into the upcoming Ashes series against England looking to erase the one blot on a CV filled with outstanding achievements.

Ponting, one of the most talented batsmen of his and many another generation, has yet to captain his country to Ashes glory in England.

He was in charge when Australia lost their first Ashes series in nearly 20 years when England won 2-1 on home soil four years ago.

"I was disappointed to lose the Ashes in 2005 as the entire touring group were," said Ponting. "I've been lucky to play in an era of Australian cricket that's been very dominant.

"One thing I haven't been able to achieve as captain is to win an Ashes series in England and I'll make sure that I get that point across to the rest of the guys."

Will he ever.

The fact the Tasmanian was in charge when Australia regained the Ashes 5-0 'Down Under' in 2006/07 won't lessen his determination to do well now.

His captaincy skills have been repeatedly 'bagged' with former Australia fast bowler Jeff Thomson stinging in his criticisms again this week.

But Thomson also said Australia had the better line-up and that may yet prove to be true even though they are now without retired stars Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

The loss of leg-spin great Warne and accurate paceman McGrath, who between them took 49 wickets in the last Ashes series, has made life harder for Ponting in the field, as it would for any captain.

Even so he still led Australia to a Test series win in South Africa after the Proteas had had to perform brilliantly to win the preceding series in Australia.

They don't have those legends they had but the guys that have come in have done a good job and they will be determined to make their own mark in Australian cricket," said England captain Andrew Strauss.

In left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson and the emerging Peter Siddle, Australia have a lively pair of fast bowlers.

Meanwhile the way veteran quick Brett Lee reverse-swung the ball to take five wickets against England Lions at Worcester on Thursday suggested a skill that proved their undoing in 2005 has been mastered by at least one Australian.

But the question is have Australia's batsmen got better at playing it? Left-hander Gilchrist was driven to distraction by Andrew Flintoff's bowling in 2005 and Australia's top order contains several of his fellow southpaws.

However, taking 20 wickets in a Test has proved a problem for England in recent times.

Flintoff, England's hero four years ago, is coming back from a knee injury while star batsman Kevin Pietersen heads into the Ashes under the cloud of an Achilles problem.

England do at least appear to have more and better spin options than Australia although it will be up to the home side's batsmen to give the likes of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar something to bowl at, even on a Cardiff pitch for next week's Ashes opener which has a reputation for taking turn.

Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz, an unusually conservative selection by Australian standards, has rarely looked like taking a wicket so far on tour, a vindication of the damning assessment of former Australia captain Ian Chappell that containers should remain the preserve of the shipping industry.

"One of the great strengths of Australian cricket has been how adaptable we've been over a long period of time," said Ponting.

"Yes Swann has done a good job in the games he's played but I see him as being fairly similar to Nathan Hauritz. They are not overly big spinners."

If Australia do leave Hauritz out, it will mean Ponting having to fiddle overs from the likes of Michael Clarke and Marcus North if his quicks are not to run the risk of burnout.

Australia opener Phillip Hughes burst on the scene in South Africa with back-to-back hundreds in only his second Test but the unorthodox left-hander was roughed up by fast bowler Stephen Harmison against the Lions.

Having said that Harmison, equally capable of sending the ball to second slip as he is of sending down a blistering bouncer, is currently out of the England side and may not feature in the Ashes at all.

In Strauss, England have a captain who helped unify the side after the fall-out from Pietersen's enforced resignation from the post.

A sound opener it will be up to him and fellow left-hander Alastair Cook to give England a solid platform at the top of the order.

New England No 3 Ravi Bopara looked good against a lacklustre West Indies but how he goes during the Ashes remains to be seen - as indeed does the latest chapter in cricket's oldest international rivalry.