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During his visit to Chennai to receive the sixth CK Nayudu award institutedby the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Lt.Col Hemu Adhikari spoke toCricInfo on his long and illustrious career as player, manager and coach.The ravages of time have left their mark on the diminutive former Indiacaptain, not just physically but also in the occasional lapses of memorythat he displayed. Each time Adhikari turned to his charming wife Kamala,or Kemu as he called her, and arrived at the solution after a briefexchange in Marathi. But the gleam in his eyes was palpable as hereminisced about events obviously close to his heart and his commentary waspunctuated by noiseless chuckles. Here are some excerpts.On his debutI made my debut in 1938 for Hindus. Hindus won the championship that timeand Col CK Nayudu was the captain. I regularly played for Hindus butsubsequently this tournament was suspended and our activities were confinedto University cricket. I played for Bombay University in the inter-varsitytournaments.On the DonWe watched him so closely that we got fed up and felt it was better he keptaway from us because he was a very unique batsman. He made a fool of anycaptain. Place an off side field and he’d play the ball away to leg. He wasa supernatural cricketer. A very shrewd captain but very quiet, modest andconservative. Those were his great characteristics. His concentration wasso great. The players asked me how to get him out. I said the only way toget him is to shoot him. It’s no joke to score 300 runs in a day. I don’tthink we’ll ever see the likes of him again.On the Lindwall-Miller duo & Fred TruemanIt’s very difficult to compare bowlers of that generation and thisgeneration. Lindwall and Miller were the greatest combination I’ve seenalong with Trueman and Tyson. Sir Don Bradman used them very intelligently.Miller was very fast for a few overs. So he used to bowl Miller for 5-6overs and rest him. Then he used to bring on Ernie Toshack who was veryconsistent. He used to attack the leg stump and place a field on the legside, so you just couldn’t score. But Lindwall and Miller were the greatestpair I’ve played against.Trueman was not difficult but he used to attack you very much. He wouldn’tmind even if you didn’t get out. I will blow your brains out, he told me.Keep your brains cool, I replied. I told our batsmen not to talk to thefielders. When Trueman comes you turn around and ignore him, I said.On the treachery of dame luck in AustraliaYou see I’m not offering excuses. But an ounce of luck in cricket is wortha ton of skill. Every time we lost the toss and Australia used to batright upto the next day, then there would be heavy rain. The wickets wereuncovered so when the game was resumed they would just play a couple ofovers and declare. Every time we were caught on a bad wicket. So much sothat in the third Test, the crowd started shouting: Come on Don, be asport, let the Indians play on a good wicket and you experience a badwicket because you have to go to England. I got a ball on my chest once.But it was a good education to have. Even writers like Fingleton andO’Reilly said India had bad luck. One Australian cricketer said that whenselecting Yardley as captain for the England team, the chairman ofselectors asked: Is he lucky? Because we want a lucky captain. That’s howhe was chosen. Luck plays a very great part. Of course Yardley was a goodcricketer also.On the pride of place he gave to fieldingWhen I was in school and college, I used to read books and they saidfielding is the key to success. If you get 100 runs but give away 5-6boundaries and drop a couple of catches, you are not worth your place inthe side. But even if you score zero and save 45-50 runs, you have +50 toyour name. So fielding is the basis on which you must build up your cricket.On his belated ascendance to the captaincy in 1958-59You see, when this came we were posted in the Army and my unit was inDharamsala, about 7000 feet high, where you can’t think about cricket. Ihad just forgotten about it. First they sent me a message and I refused. Mywife spoke to me about it. I told her, when I wanted it, they didn’t wantme, so why should I go. She advised that this was not the correct attitude.Meanwhile my chief sent me a message asking me to come and report to himimmediately. He told me the same thing: India needs you. Your country isbigger than the individual. Just go and play and let the public feel whatwrong the Board has done to you.On his omission from the England tour that followed in 1959As a matter of fact, everybody was surprised, all the papers wrote aboutit. My chief called up the chairman of selectors and asked him the reason.He said somebody had told him that Major Adhikari was not available for thetour because of his professional duties. So my chief called me up saying:”If you don’t want to go, why do you put the blame on us. Have I said noto you, I have given you every opportunity.” I said that this was nottrue. I just didn’t want to go because I was out of practice. I was in aplace where I couldn’t see a cricket ball. How can I go and play a Testseries without practice?On his approach on the England tour of 1971I used to give the boys a lot of fielding practice. We would go onto thefield half an hour before the match started and practice. Some of the boyssaid they will get tired. I said if you get tired in half an hour, you’renot a fit cricketer. Someone from outside, a very prominent fellow, came upand said: “See, you’re doing this, supposing a player gets hurt, then whatwill happen.” I said it’s his bad luck. Supposing you fall in the bathroomon the day of your match. You can’t fight against your fate. At thebeginning of the tour, I addressed the boys and said whatever individualprizes you get, they should be deposited with the treasurer and distributedequally among the players. Because a bowler for example, cannot takewickets unless the fielders hold their catches. So it’s the contribution ofthe entire team that matters. The players said that myself and my assistantshould also have a share. I said we have nothing to do with it, it was youreffort. So the boys got it.On the celebrations after Oval ’71The entire crowd were there outside the dressing room and they wanted thewhole team to come outside. Meanwhile a message came and they said thatPrime Minister Indira Gandhi wants you on the telephone. She said: “Onething you have to do, the moment you land, you will be escorted to myhouse. I want to meet the boys and congratulate them for the excellentthing you have done, you have put India on a very different mat.” And wedid just that.On his philosophy of coachingOnce you’re at the crease, as my own coach had told me: “When the bowlerbowls, just forget everything. Watch his grip and follow it till hedelivers the ball and see from where he’s delivering, from near the creaseor away from it. Because he can move the ball from nearer the stumps muchmore but with the same delivery and same action, if he bowls from thereturn crease, the ball may not swing or swing less.” Whenever our teamwas going out, I used to tell the Board that I must get the team one monthbefore for practice. India was known to be weak against bouncers. So I gotthe boys to play bouncers on a cement wicket with a wet ball. I told thebatsmen, if you can’t hook, just duck it. We practiced first with a tennisball without wetting, subsequently with a wet ball and then by slowlydecreasing the distance between thrower and batsman. I personally feel,though I may be wrong, that a coach must know his pupils physically,mentally and spiritually. A foreign coach may not be able to put thingsacross. My whole principle of coaching was not to change the basics. At theage of 19-20, you can’t ask the boy to change his grip or stance. You mustimprove on what he is. There was an incident when an English cricketer wasbatting. He played 2-3 drives through the covers with his foot on theonside, nowhere near the ball. So the bowler told him: “My chum, look atyour foot, it is nowhere near the pitch of the ball.” The batsman replied:”You look at the foot, I look at the ball!”Parting shotRemember, the will of fortune can never remain all the time down. It hasgot to come up sometime, isn’t it, it can’t remain static. It is coming andit will come up. I am very optimistic about Indian cricket.

Ramnaresh Sarwan has backed Chris Gayle as West Indies captain by saying there is no one else at the moment who could do a better job than Gayle. “He is the most calm person I have ever seen on a cricket field, whether he is captain or a regular player, he has been very quiet in the dressing room and whenever he needs to say stuff he does say it, that’s great,” Sarwan said.Sarwan was replaced by Gayle as captain for West Indies’ tour of South Africa in late 2007 after a shoulder injury he picked up in England in May that year ruled him out of the series. Gayle led West Indies to their maiden win in South Africa but they ended up losing the series 2-1.Sarwan made his return to the side last month for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka but the selectors chose to go with the successful Gayle as captain. Sarwan said that did not bother him. Though Sri Lanka won the first Test in Guyana, West Indies came back strongly in Trinidad to level the series. Sarwan scored a second-innings century as West Indies chased 253.”Coach [John Dyson] mentioned in the dressing room [after the win], this is our second win in the last five Test matches and it has all been under Chris so it is important that we continue to play as a team and work as a team and if we do that we will compete against every other team and win games against every other team.”Everyone is very laid back, we know how West Indians are and when he needs to put his foot down he does put it down, no one comes out from their personality, no one is scared and that is really good for us, once everyone is calm in the dressing room and calm on the field we will get the best out of them.”Sarwan also said he was not interested in replacing Brian Lara as the team’s star batsman.”I don’t need stardom, I just need us to play as a team and continue to play as a team, we played very well in South Africa, unfortunately we couldn’t win the series because of injury, all credit must go to him [Gayle], I’m sure he doesn’t want any stardom or Shiv [Chanderpaul] doesn’t want any stardom. We want to build a team and hopefully West Indies cricket can go forward and I think that is important.”

New Zealand hope to have their captain Brendon McCullum back from the third ODI against Pakistan on January 31, and their fast bowler Tim Southee for the home Tests against Australia in February.McCullum has been out of action since aggravating his back injury during the second ODI against Sri Lanka on December 28, while Southee suffered a foot injury during the third ODI against Sri Lanka on New Year’s Eve. New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said Southee would not make it back for the remainder of the home series against Pakistan and the limited-overs games against Australia.

McClenaghan not fazed by competition

Fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan is not worrying about whether he will make New Zealand’s World T20 squad, as he faces competition from team-mates Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Matt Henry. “It’s not on my mind,” he said. “In the past I’ve thought about things too far ahead and worried about that kind of stuff. We’re trying to make sure we focus on just the next game and prepare as well as possible.”
“I first came in as a new ball bowler and we’ve got a lot of guys who can swing the ball and take wickets at the top so my role’s changing. There’s more expectation of being able to close out the game and that’s the kind of pressure that I love. I want to be that guy who can close out an innings and win games.”
The coach Mike Hesson said New Zealand were not just looking to choose the four best fast bowlers, but to pick people who could complement each other by performing specific roles. “Guys are going to have to play different roles. It’s not a matter of playing our four best quicks, it’s having balance among them that they can do different roles: opening, bowling in the middle and at the death.”
“Very happy. Mitch as a T20 bowler is experienced in conditions around the world and he knows his game in T20 probably better than he does in other forms and he certainly showed that the other night [second T20I against Pakistan]. He’s a shrewd operator.”

“Tim is progressing nicely and he’ll be with us this week [in Wellington] to help work with his rehab,” Hesson said. “He’s unlikely [to play the Australia ODIs]. We’ll focus on the Test series at this stage and make sure that he’s firing. We certainly won’t force him playing any games earlier than that unless we need him. He could well play a Plunket Shield game to get him ready for the Tests.”McCullum is set to return for the final game of Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand before he begins his last assignment in international cricket. New Zealand’s first Test against Australia will be McCullum’s 100th, and he is set to retire after the second Test in Christchurch.”He’s progressing really well and doing plenty of work away from the game, from a fitness point of view and we’re really pleased with the way he’s tracking,” Hesson said. “Hopefully he’ll play a part in the Pakistan series and if he does that will be good prep for the Chappell-Hadlee and beyond.”Another fitness concern for New Zealand was Corey Anderson, who has just resumed bowling – one over in the first T20I against Pakistan and four in the second – after playing as a batsman in two matches against Sri Lanka, and for Northern Districts before that. Anderson had suffered a stress fracture of the back during the Lord’s Test in May 2015.”I’m delighted how he’s coming along and he’s certainly confident with the body,” Hesson said. We’ve gone pretty slow with it to make sure that we give him the best chance of being back for a long period. I’m really pleased to give him a chance with the new ball and even happier that he took it.”We’ll just keep managing it. It [Test cricket] is not something we’re going to push. We’ve got some pretty clear loads in place to give him a chance of being on the park a lot longer. We’ve got some one-day cricket coming up and we’re hopeful he’ll be in a position to be able to play a decent role in those.”New Zealand play the final T20I against Pakistan in Wellington on January 22. The series is level 1-1.

Scotland are set to begin their first national Twenty20 tournament later this month after the first game was washed out on Thursday.The Murgitroyd Cup will be played in four regional divisions culminating in a finals day in Glasgow in August.The winners of the existing Mastertion Trophy in the east and Rowan Cup in the west will proceed to a semi-final stage, along with teams from new competitions in the Caledonia and Borders regions.The finals will be held at the Poloc club’s Shawholm ground. Each semi-finalist will receive £500 in prize money with the overall winner collecting £1000.

A career-best showing from Duan Jansen instigated a spectacular collapse from Pretoria Capitals (PC) as they fell from 71 for no loss to 89 for 5. Eventually, PC fell 22 runs short in their chase of 169 against Joburg Super Kings (JSK). This was also JSK’s first ever win at SuperSport Park in Centurion in four seasons of the SA20.Jansen picked up figures of 4 for 23 to help overcome an opening stand of 71 between Will Smeed (34 off 30 balls) and Bryce Parsons (41 off 30). The game seemed to be out of reach when the pair was going well, but the sudden collapse meant PC fell apart in the second half of their innings. So much so that with 42 runs required off the final two overs, the match was over well before the final ball was bowled.Earlier in the day, Rilee Rossouw (48 from 33 deliveries) and Wiaan Mulder (43 off 28) had helped revive JSK’s innings after the loss of two early wickets in the powerplay. The pace and bounce exerted by Tymal Mills and Codi Yusuf proved difficult to get away throughout, though PC’s spinners proved expensive.The pair fell midway through the innings, after which the JSK innings stalled. But some late hitting powered them to 168 for 6. This seemed a below-par total on a surface expected to get better for batting, and that certainly proved to be the case during PC’s opening stand. But once Jansen got into the act, JSK never let go of their advantage.Codi Yusuf had Faf du Plessis caught behind•Sportzpics

Mills, Yusuf stick to plans

There was some early show of aggression from JSK’s young batter Matthew De Villiers, but the seam pair of Mills and Yusuf executed their plans to perfection to ensure the opening pair of de Villiers and Faf du Plessis did minimal damage.On a surface that was showing some extra bounce early on, both Mills and Yusuf were happy to pepper that back-of-a-length area; du Plessis even copped a painful blow on his left forearm early on. It was the short stuff that therefore provided the breakthrough. De Villiers got a bottom edge on an attempted drive on the up – he expected the ball to bounce more than it did – through to the wicketkeeper, while du Plessis was surprised by the extra bounce as he top-edged a hook through to a leaping Daniel Smith behind the stumps.It meant JSK were 16 for 2 midway through the fourth over, and finished the powerplay on 34 for 2.

Rossouw and Mulder counter

Those early losses required a defiant response, and Rossouw and Mulder delivered that in spades. Having cautiously seen through the final two overs of the powerplay, they ensured 31 runs from overs six to ten with some calculated hitting. Then, once the pair got the measure of the bounce, they really upped the ante. The spinners bore the brunt of their wrath, as 37 runs were scored between the 11th and 13th overs.Rilee Rossouw and Wiaan Mulder revived their side after early wickets•Sportzpics

Both Rossouw and Mulder, though, fell in quick succession. However, some powerful strikes from Akeal Hosein in the death overs saw the score propelled beyond the crucial 160 mark, with no team having successfully defended a total below 160 in Centurion.

Jansen’s decisive intervention

When Smeed and Parsons were going strong, the conversation may have been along the lines of a possible bonus point for PC than any real possibility of defeat. But in the span of four overs, the complexion of the game shifted dramatically.Hosein got the initial breakthrough for JSK, sliding one through Smeed, before Jansen took charge. Consistently hitting a back of a length with his tall frame, several batters struggled to get him away. By the time he took his fourth and final wicket, PC had slid to 114 for 7.Alongside Jansen, the likes of Mulder, Richard Gleeson and Janco Smit provided able support. Each hit the deck hard and made boundaries hard to come by. As the required run rate soared, so did PC’s desperation, and the innings gradually fell apart.

The News Broadcasters Association (NBA), the umbrella body for major Indian television news channels, has dropped its threat to boycott the Indian Premier League (IPL) after a “successful meeting” with Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, on Wednesday night.”There is no question of a boycott now,” Chintamani Rao, the spokesman for NBA, told Cricinfo. “We have reached an agreement with IPL on the two main issues that needed to be discussed – accreditation and access to match footage. These issues were discussed, and also concerns from the IPL side.”It is learned that the IPL, which was facing a news blackout for the Twenty20 tournament starting Friday, has climbed down significantly to assuage the NBA’s concerns. Apparently, the IPL will now provide news channels with around four minutes of free match footage instead of the 30 seconds that was offered previously. Besides, the ban on channels using the footage in archival form has been lifted, with the IPL allowing an archival window of one year.Rao, who is also the chief executive of the Times Now channel, said that the BCCI’s accreditation rules will be followed for the IPL. This means that each channel will be given accreditation for one set of crew (journalist and cameraman) at each venue. The IPL had specified on Tuesday that only one pair representing an entire electronic media group would be given accreditation at each venue.The NBA, based in New Delhi, includes leading news broadcasters such as TV Today, NDTV, Times Global Broadcasting Company, TV18, Global Broadcast News Limited and Zee News.A statement released by the NBA on Tuesday night had warned of a boycott. It said that the NBA had sought clarifications from the IPL but, instead of receiving a response from either Modi or any of the other members of the IPL’s governing council, it received a reply from an official of the Sony Network, which along with World Sports Group, had bought the TV rights for the IPL.The statement said the NBA’s questions didn’t fetch a satisfactory response as Sony was “not in a position to discuss matters other than access to footage, and that any offer Sony could make in that regard was limited within the framework of its contract with IPL.” On Wednesday, Rao had said that “unless practical considerations are taken care of, it’s not possible to cover the IPL”.

Match facts

December 18-22, 2015
Start time 1030 local (2130 GMT)1:50

‘Great culture in the group’ – Brendon McCullum

Big Picture

New Zealand have quicks who can scythe through top orders in seaming conditions. They have bowlers who can grind out oppositions on flat decks. Their batsmen can thrash their way to big scores in the sun, but there is also grit enough to overturn difficult match situations. Having been on the receiving end of each of these phenomena over the past year, Sri Lanka might be wondering just what they have to do to beat New Zealand at home. Across two tours, the visitors are now 0-3. None of the results were close.New Zealand appear as strong as ever in the approach to the Hamilton Test. Batsmen who had scored poorly in Australia found runs in Dunedin, and the seam attack is in excellent shape. The only quick who seems a little out of sorts is Trent Boult, but even he is finding ways to get wickets. If the Hamilton pitch is as seam-friendly as Sri Lanka fear, the hosts may play four quicks again. Offspinner Mark Craig, whose recent form has been one of New Zealand’s few concerns, may not be exposed.Defeated and depleted, Sri Lanka have nothing to do but march on, hoping that someone will summon one of those sublime spells or innings that sometimes inspires them to unexpected wins. Dinesh Chandimal seemed the most settled of the Sri Lanka batsmen, but the team needs their captain to contribute a major score. In the past two years, Angelo Mathews has rarely let his team down, even if they haven’t always returned the favour.Rangana Herath’s threat may be muted by the Seddon Park surface, but there is a chance a greentop will narrow the gap between the two seam attacks. Nuwan Pradeep can be especially effective in seaming conditions, and has made substantial contributions to away victories in the past two years. With Dushmantha Chameera’s raw pace and Mathews’ control also on offer, the visitors have an attack that could conceivably take 20 wickets. Therein lies their major hope.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

New Zealand: WLDLW
Sri Lanka: LWWLL

In the spotlight

Like many teams, New Zealand have searched for a stable opening pair for the past few years. Most recently, Martin Guptill has had another stint in the role. He shone white hot in Dunedin with 202 runs in the match, but though Guptill has struck outstanding innings in the past, he has sometimes struggled to keep the flame alive for long periods. The pitch at Seddon Park will be a Test for openers in both sides, but even beyond this match, Guptill may have to prove he can be a more regular contributor to the Test side.Dimuth Karunaratne prospered in the first innings at Dunedin by scaling back his off-side strokeplay and awaiting the hittable straight balls. He was Sri Lanka’s highest scorer in the match, but following that game captain Angelo Mathews had said Sri Lanka might have been better served by a more aggressive mindset. Of the men in the current top order, Karunaratne has the best record in New Zealand. It remains to be seen whether he will stand by the approach that has brought him success, or embrace a more expansive outlook.

Teams news

Sri Lanka will be tempted to play Kaushal Silva on this pitch, but Angelo Mathews said his team was likely to be unchanged.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kusal Mendis, 3 Udara Jayasundera, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Kithuruwan Vithanage, 7 Milinda Siriwardana, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Suranga Lakmal,11 Nuwan PradeepKane Williamson has confirmed that New Zealand will play an unchanged XI in Hamilton.New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt.), 6 Mitchell Santner, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Trent Boult,

Pitch and conditions

Aside from the thick green veneer, the strip that will be used for this match is comprised of Patumahoe soil, which is known to be conducive to bounce and pace. Fine conditions are forecast for the duration of the Test match, with temperatures expected to be in the low 20-degrees Celsius range.

Stats and trivia

• None of the last three games played at Seddon Park has gone into the fifth day. New Zealand lost two matches inside three days against Pakistan and South Africa, and defeated West Indies on the fourth day in 2013.
• Kane Williamson became just the second New Zealand batsman to 1000 Test runs in a calendar year in Dunedin. His tally currently sits at 1063. If he scores 102 runs in the match, he will overtake Brendon McCullum’s 2014 returns to hold the New Zealand record for most runs in any year.
• New Zealand have now been unbeaten in 12 consecutive home matches. If they win or draw the next match, they will equal their longest unbeaten home streak, which had stretched from 1987 to 1991.
• Dushmantha Chameera was comfortably the fastest bowler in either team in Dunedin, hitting speeds of 146 kph.

Quotes

“We’re playing the same team as the last match. By the look of the surface, we will go in with that extra seamer. It’s green. Dunedin was green. We just feel it might be more suited to seam bowling.”
“It’s about being able to compete. We were nowhere near the New Zealanders in the first Test, and we’ve got to go out there and enjoy our cricket.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:27

Kusal Perera blitz sees Sri Lanka home

It was the tale of two lefties in Pallekele. Kusal Perera hammered Sri Lanka’s joint fastest fifty in ODIs, which made a target of 288 look like a cakewalk. But when Pakistan’s tenacity brought them back and put the game on a razor’s edge – 92 runs needed off 112 balls with only four wickets left – debutant Sachith Pathirana produced a decisive cameo -33 off 28 – to help the hosts square the series with an action-packed two-wicket victory.Sri Lanka have lately struggled to find batsmen down the order who can handle the pressure of a chase, or that of a top-order collapse. From his first impression, Pathirana seems a good bet. Although known more for his ability with the ball, hence his batting position at No. 8, he displayed excellent mettle under fire.Pathirana allowed himself a few balls to get used to the pitch, and the wisdom of that decision became apparent very soon. From 4 off 11, he produced a smart late cut to shift gears. He smashed anything short either side of the pitch, and was even able to pick Yasir Shah’s googlies. One of those shots was calmly lofted over mid-off’s head. It must have helped though that he had a very composed Dinesh Chandimal for company, as the pair added 52 runs off 49 balls.Pakistan deserve credit for finding their senses after Kusal bashed them silly. He reached his half-century off 17 balls, filled with pick-up shots over the leg side very much like the one who’s record he equaled, Sanath Jayasuriya.Mohammad Irfan’s extra bounce posed little threat; Kusal’s smashed him at a strike-rate of 242.85. Kusal v Rahat Ali was another no-contest as well – 26 runs off eight balls. Even Mohammad Hafeez, with his penchant for dismissing left-handers, was carted around at a strike rate of 242.85. Kusal faced Anwar Ali for only three balls, but it included a flat, hard, vicious six over square leg. The innings lasted only 25 deliveries, but yielded 68 runs. By the time he creamed one of the bevy of length balls that Pakistan paraded for him down the throat of deep square leg, Sri Lanka were 92 for 1 in the ninth over. At the same time, the visitors had been 27 for 0. Slow and steady does have a history of winning the race, but it was the hare’s day today.The tortoise, of course, did not throw it away. Even with three runs required off 18 balls, Anwar got a leading edge from Thisara Perera to settle in point’s hands. But as that was happening, Chandimal had made sure to cross. Chandimal, who had produced a fine half-century four days ago but ended up on the losing side, did not want to feel that disappointment again. He struck 48 off 63 balls and was there until the end, as per his new role as a finisher, and sealed the third-highest chase in Sri Lanka.The fortunes of both teams changed frequently and somewhat drastically. Pakistan won a good toss, but their top order was not allowed to capitalise because Sri Lanka’s bowlers were extremely tight. At one point Angelo Mathews, who trusted himself to take the new ball and bowl in the death, strung 24 dot balls in a five-overs spell. But the other bowlers could not maintain their levels through the innings and Pakistan took advantage of that – 88 runs in the last 10 overs. There were also several catches dropped – Pathirana dropped two in the space of four balls – and umpteen misfields – Nuwan Pradeep on the boundary was a terrible liability. Those lapses contributed to Pakistan getting off the hook.Azhar Ali had laid the foundation with his fifth fifty-plus score in eight ODIs. He was 8 off 23 balls, but got going with a well thought-out loft over long-on. Singles and twos fed his innings until a less clever swipe towards cow corner cost him his wicket for 79 off 104 balls.That’s when Shoaib Malik took over with a run-a-ball fifty. With his experience, he was quick to assess the Pallekele pitch was rather slow. Brute force only worked against the bad balls, so until they came, Malik used the spinners’ pace to pick his gaps. Fifteen runs were collected behind point, and 26 more belted into the leg side. Finally Mohammad Rizwan hit 52 off 38 balls, and pasted Lastith Malinga around for 20 runs in the 47th over to leave Pakistan with an excellent chance to extend the lead they had coming into this game. As it stands, Sri Lanka have squared it 1-1.Although not without huffing and puffing. They lost four middle order wickets for only 19 runs, and a lot of them were ugly. Upul Tharanga was caught napping by an indipper from Rahat. Tillakaratne Dilshan dragged on for 47 off 63, Angelo Mathews called for a single and was halfway down the pitch before he realised Lahiru Thirimanne was not interested. The Sri Lanka captain could do little more than just give up. Then Thirimanne added to the slide by slicing a catch to deep third man. Pakistan became favourites at this point. But they had not accounted for Chandimal’s resilience.With the required rate always at manageable levels, Chandimal understood that the key to Sri Lanka’s victory was for him to stick around. And so he did. Thirty-two of his 43 runs came from singles. He did not let the pressure suck him into the big shot. Nor did he let the occasion of Sri Lanka’s victory suck him into a glory shot. It was a delicate little glance to long leg and up came the arms and out came a roar. It would seem that Chandimal had decided to mature.

Namibia will be looking to maintain their unbeaten run in the ICC Intercontinental Cup when they take on Netherlands in Windhoek on Thursday. The hosts, who are in third place – 18 points behind the leaders, Kenya – are 14 points ahead of Netherlands, who sit in fourth. Should Namibia win, they will leapfrog Ireland to earn a place in a final for the first time.”One of our goals as a team is to get to the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, and this year, we have a great chance of doing just that,” Louis Burger, the Namibia captain, said. “It is a great competition and we take it very seriously. I think we are ready.”This is a big game for us. We are really looking forward to it becauset every time we play the Netherlands, it seems to be a good game. At this stage it is like a derby for us as we tend to play them a lot. They [the Netherlands] usually come very hard at us and I imagine they will do the same this time. We always go hard at them too so it should be fun. There is a good spirit in Namibian cricket at the moment. We play every game to win and right now it is working well for us.”Namibia will have to make do without their young batsman, Dawid Botha, who has opted to concentrate on academics ahead of cricket – for this match at least. And Burger, although philosophical, admitted his disappointment at Botha’s absence.”Losing Dawid is a blow for us because he is a fine player but he has committed himself to his studies so we have to plan without him,” he said. “There are a few other young guys coming through though so the future is very bright.”Two of those players are Sean Silver and Raymond van Schoor, who, like Botha, took part in the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, and both are included in the squad for this match.Netherlands cannot be underestimated, however. In Ryan ten Doeschate and Alexei Kervezee, they possess two high-quality young cricketers, both of whom play county cricket, and are coached by Peter Drinnen, who was forced out of his Scotland post year . They also welcome back Daan van Bunge, the legspinner, to bolster their attack.Namibia squad: Louis Burger (capt), JB Burger, Raymond van Schoor, Gerri Snyman, Deon Kotze, Bjorn Kotze, Kola Burger, Tobias Verwey (wk), Louis Klazinga, Ian van Zyl, Craig Williams, Sean Silver, Sarel Burger, Nicolaas Scholtz.Netherlands squad: Peter Borren, Mudassar Bukhari, Daan van Bunge, Ryan ten Doeschate, Tom de Grooth, Maurits Jonkman, Muhammad Kashif, Alexei Kervezee, Geert Maarten Mol, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Jeroen Smits (capt, wk), Eric Szwarczynski, Bas Zuiderent.

In a nutshell, the difference between the centuries of Roger Twose andMatthew Bell which helped Wellington to a 46-run first innings lead overAuckland on the second day of their Shell Trophy match at the Basin Reservetoday, was that one aims to score runs quickly while the other just wants toscore runs.From different starting points, with differing goals and differingapproaches, Twose and Bell reached similar destinations as the former made108, the latter 104 and as they helped Wellington to 301 in their firstinnings in reply to Auckland’s 255. Auckland suffered a setback when theylost opener Tim McIntosh to the last ball of the day and were 16-1 in theirsecond innings by stumps.Twose makes no secret of the fact that now his international career isfirmly focused on the one-day game, he sees little value in playing longand painstaking innings at Trophy level. He aims to score as quickly as hecan, playing the four day game as if it were a one day game so that hisapproach, regardless of his playing environment, remains consistent.In that vein, he batted only 144 minutes today for his 108 runs and he hit22 boundaries, setting the pace and the parameters of a third-wicketpartnership with Bell of 168 for Wellington’s third wicket. It spoke mosthighly of Twose that he managed, particularly in the second half of hisinnings, to eclipse a player who was in the process of posting his fourthcentury from only seven Trophy innings this season.Because when Twose was in full flight, notably when he went from 50 to 100in only 42 minutes from 35 balls, Bell was consigned to the status of juniorpartner. He had been at the crease almost an hour when he was joined byTwose – he was then 17 – and he had enjoyed equal status in the partnershiptill the pair neared their 50s. Then Twose swept past him and went on toscore at such a rate for the next 40 minutes that Bell, who was stillaccumulating steadily, seemed almost to have stopped.Twose posted his half century in 88 minutes and from 74 balls when Bell was49. Bell followed him to the mark an over later after 149 minutes at thecrease and after facing 111 balls. But when Twose swept to his hundred in ahandful of overs and with 10 more boundaries, dominating the strike, Bellwas only able to add another 15 runs.Twose’s concentration seemed to falter when his century was reached. He gavea chance – the first of his innings at 107 – and then was caught at 108 byBrooke Walker on the boundary off the bowling of Kyle Mills.Bell then resumed his steady progress and went on to post his century – hisfourth in seven innings this Trophy season – in 284 minutes from 204 ballswith 13 fours. He was out at 104 after batting five minutes more than fivehours and he was ultimately disappointed that he had once again been unableto turn a good century into a large century.Bell’s innings this season in four Trophy matches have been 134, 70, 12,109, 117, 31 and 104 and he has 577 runs to his credit an average of 82.5.But he regrets he hasn’t turned one of his hundreds into a 150 or 200 – achallenge he says is the next obstacle he must surmount.The feature of Twose inning was his quickness, something he says is natural.The feature of Bell’s innings, in this sharp collision of styles, was hisradical new batting stance – something he has developed throughout theseason but which seems awkward and unnatural.Bell said he had batted from his new guard throughout the season – it causeshim to move his feet and get more quickly in line – but his new stance wasmuch more pronounced today that it has been at any other stage. He battedwith his back foot drawn back outside leg stump, his front foot well forwardand his weight tilted over his front knee, almost in the attitude of a milerat the start of a foot race.While the stance seemed limiting outside off stump, Bell said he feelscomfortable facing up in such a manner and, after scoring four centuries,isn’t prepared to trifle with any part of his technique.So Twose enjoyed his freedom today and Bell, with minor reservations,savoured the continuation of the golden weather.”I’m trying to score as many as I can as quickly as I can,” Twose said. “Ithink if you do that you also advance the game, which is good. It’s good forme at an individual level because my desire now is to only play one-daycricket.”I think Belly and I were both doing our own thing out there. I was tryingto be positive and he was doing what he’s been doing all season.”And Bell shrugged off questions about his new stance as being largelyirrelevant, saying his success suppresses any instinct to change.”My stance is only a starting position, not my finishing position,” he said.”It’s very comfortable for me now and ,as they say ,’if it ain’t broke,don’t fix it’.”Bell was disappointed that after he and Twose helped Wellington add 141 runsbetween lunch and tea today, Wellington didn’t go on to put themselves in astronger position. They lost three wickets for 18 runs after Twose was outand were left with a much smaller first innings lead than they would havehoped.But the wicket of Auckland opener Tim McIntosh, who was out to the last ballof the day, leaving Auckland 16-1, had helped tip the balance of the matchin Wellington’s favour. They wrapped up the Auckland first innings thismorning at 255, only 15 balls after their resumption at 248-8 and they headinto the third day still in a position to dictate terms.