The Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to grant Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi interim bail in relation to the black-buck hunting incident that he was allegedly involved in.The court has also issued a notice to the Haryana government to produce all documents pertaining to the case by Friday, according to a report by the Press Trust of India. Pataudi has been missing from his Delhi residence for more than a week and has not been contactable.”No interim order will be passed,” vacation judge Justice Rajive Bhalle is quoted as having told Dinesh Mathur, Pataudi’s counsel, in response to Mathur pressing for anticipatory bail for his client.To add to Pataudi’s woes, the Haryana Wildlife Department has said that he had disputed trophies in his possession. “Pataudi’s Ibrahim Palace housed at least 12 trophies of deer species about which he has no certificate to authenticate when he inherited them,” KL Minhas, the chief wildlife warden, is quoted as saying. Minhas also described Pataudi as a “habitual hunter”, saying: “The former cricketer is in the habit of hunting regularly in areas of Jhajjar district with the association of local people.”The wildlife department added that it would conduct tests on the trophies in an attempt to investigate the matter further.
Sourav Ganguly is facing possible censure from the International Cricket Council after describing the rules covering slow over-rates as “ridiculous” in the aftermath of India’s five-run win in the opening one-day international against Pakistan.Both Ganguly and Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, were fined because their sides bowled their overs too slowly. “The old rule was OK where a team with a slow over-rate was docked overs when they batted,” Ganguly fumed. “At the break, when I went to the match referee to ask how many overs Pakistan had to get the target in, he said there would be no overs docked. I find that ridiculous. When you are in a tight situation, and when winning and not losing is so important, players don’t mind forgoing money.”What angered Ganguly was that Pakistan’s dilatory over-rate – not helped by a 20 no-balls and 10 wides – meant that they went 20 minutes over time.Ganguly claimed that he was not told of this before the start of the match, but embarrassingly for him, the rules relating to fines replacing a reduced allocation of overs were changed 11 months ago, and so Pakistan received their full 50 overs in return. In any case, Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee, was not obliged to repeat the rules to the captains.It is now up to Madugalle to decide whether Ganguly should be reported for a Level Two offence under the Code of Conduct – “Public criticism of or inapropriate comment on a match-related incident or a match official.” The maximum penalty is 50 percent of the match fee and/or one Test or two ODI ban.Ganguly admitted that was a surprise to him. “I didn’t know about this rule. It was only when I went up to the match referee that I came to know that this new rule has been applied.”
Coach Dav Whatmore believes that Sri Lanka’s recent experience of SouthAfrican conditions could provide them with a crucial advantage in their WorldCup opener against New Zealand on Monday.Sri Lanka were whitewashed in the Test series and then hammered 4-1 in theone-day series that followed but Whatmore believes that crucial lessons werelearned.”We needed to go through the pain and heartache in South Africa and inAustralia to get an understanding of those conditions,” said Whatmore. “Itwill hold us in good stead despite the confidence being knocked a bit.”New Zealand, meanwhile, last played at home where they swarmed all over theIndians, winning the seven-match series 5-2 on lush, green tracks ill-suitedto the limited overs game.Whatmore questions whether that was ideal preparation for the World Cup:”They won on bowler friendly wickets. It is not going to be easy to adjustin such a short space of time.”The Sri Lankans hope that the pitch will be similar in pace to the turgidsurface that assisted their spinners during their second warm-up gameagainst Free State last week.With off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan having recovered from a thigh injury,Sri Lanka will bowl a minimum of 20 overs of spin during the match.Sri Lanka have an excellent recent record against the Black Caps having won13 of the last 16 matches played since 1997 but Whatmore still rates themhighly.New Zealand are not a team of big stars, but bits and pieces players who doit fairly well and with good team spirit. They have a good history ofstarting competitions well,” said Whatmore.Whatmore predicts that result will be crucial: “Its a must win situation. Itwill give the team a big boost if we can get away to a win. It will probablybe the match of the round in our pool.”New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is unperturbed by his side’s previous form against Sri Lanka, pointing instead to their reputation as starters.”We usually start tournaments well,” said Fleming. “We’re going to do wellbecause we believe in the squad we have.”The return of explosive all-rounder Chris Cairns also adds to substance to abatting line-up that relies heavily on the class of Nathan Astle.Cairns will not bowl during the early games having not regained full fitnessafter a long-term knee injury.The all-rounder also has confidence in his teammates: “In the last twotournaments we had a good side and thought we would do well, but this onehere, with the side we’ve got we’re quietly confident.”The preparation’s been fantastic and it’s the best unit I’ve been involvedin, that’s for sure.”Sri Lanka (from):S Jayasuriya (captain), M Atapattu, M Jayawardene, K Sangakkara, A De Silva,R Arnold, J Mubarak, A Gunawardene, H Tillakaratne, M Muralitharan, C Vaas,D Fernando, P Gunaratne, P Nissanka, C Buddhika Fernando.New Zealand (from):S Fleming (captain), A Adams, N Astle, S Bond, C Cairns, C Harris, CMcMillan, J Oram, S Styris, D Tuffey, D Vettori, L Vincent, B McCullum.
The Coca-Cola Cup tournament in Zimbabwe has managed quite comfortablyto make a fair number of people reconsider their opinions. Before thetri-series began, the hosts were seen to be, if not the outrightfavourites, at least the safest bet of the three sides. India’sconfidence had taken a beating in the recently concluded Test seriesagainst Zimbabwe and West Indies minus Brian Lara were a less thanformidable side. Or so it seemed. With just one match to go before theIndia-West Indies final, the tournament is already over for the hometeam, who had the mortification of losing all four games they played.Then again, this tournament has hardly gone according to script, withthe scenario itself constantly changing and reinventing itself. A lookat the schedule is the best place to start. Zimbabwe and India playedeach other twice, before the latter had a single game against the WestIndies. With India winning both their clashes against Zimbabwe, andWest Indies beating Zimbabwe in their first encounter, the men fromthe subcontinent were virtually through to the final without playingagainst the West Indies!The second aspect that put a dampener on the tournament was thewithdrawal of Messrs Lara and Andy Flower. A recurring hamstringinjury meant that Lara would fly back to the West Indies withoutplaying a match in the tournament. Flower, on whom all Zimbabwe’shopes rested, pulled out before the first limited overs game, citingan injury to his thumb. The Zimbabwean top order bat and stumper wasto undergo a surgery around the same time when the tournament gotunder way. With two of the biggest guns in India’s opposition ruledout, the balance shifted a bit. But surely no one expected India toenter the final with such ease.The Indians for their part have reached the final in effective, butsomewhat unspectacular fashion. Batting second after consistentlywinning the toss, India have had smallish totals to chase: 134 againstZimbabwe at Harare, 235 against Zimbabwe again, at Bulawayo and 170against West Indies at Bulawayo. Perhaps that contributed to the factthere was no centurion, or for that matter a bowler who took fivewickets in an innings. Zaheer Khan with 4-42 got closest to the mark,while fans had to make do with Sourav Ganguly’s 85 against Zimbabwe atBulawayo for the highest score by an Indian. The saving grace however,was that the innings spoken about signaled the return to form of theIndian captain.If India had anything to be a bit worried about in their undefeatedmarch to the final, it was the form of a couple of youngstersseemingly earmarked for higher honours, Dinesh Mongia and VirenderSehwag. Mongia, selected ahead of statemate Yuvraj Singh on the basisof his consistent performances in the domestic circuit eked out just45 runs from two innings, including one innings of 37. Coming in tobat in situations ideally suited to his form of batting chasing lowtotals against opposition attacks without any big guns, Mongiadisappointed. Enigmatic Delhi all-rounder Sehwag too flattered todeceive. Coming in to bat with the score on 187/4 chasing 238, Sehwaghad an ideal opportunity to knock up an unbeaten 20-30 odd runs andforce the pace. Presented with the opportunity, Sehwag failed to grabit with both hands.Then again this is not the time to be overly critical. The only reasonone is nudged to think along these lines is the refreshingly differentapproach of another youngster trying to make a name for himself -Hemang Badani. Helping himself to an unbeaten half century in India’sopening game of the series, the southpaw took every opportunity tostay at the wicket and make a few runs. Never impetuous or rushinginto his innings, Badani failed only in the second encounter againstZimbabwe where he was dismissed first ball by Grant Flower.The other aspect the Indian selectors can take heart in is theperformance of the quicker bowlers. In the absence of the experiencedJavagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, HarvinderSingh and Debashish Mohanty all discharged their responsibilitiesextremely well. Taking full advantage of the moisture in the wicketearly on the seamers accounted for 19 wickets between them. Mohanty,not seen as much more than a tourist on this trip, snapped up 3/18 off10 overs in the first game he got. Will the Indian captain be temptedto give him another go in this tournament? If he does, it will have tobe at the expense of either Ajit Agarkar or Harbhajan Singh, as thetwo left-armers have done enough to hold their places.With just a rehearsal of the final to go before the big event, JohnWright should be quite content with the way the Indian machine ismotoring along. Some fine tuning might happen, but a major change inapproach is unlikely.
In recent days, Leeds United have been linked with a move for Sergino Dest.
According to TEAMtalk, the American right-back is one of manager Jesse Marsch’s top targets heading into the summer transfer window. It’s believed he could be available for a move after falling down the pecking order at FC Barcelona.
The 21-year-old doesn’t appear to be in Xavi’s plans and the Yorkshire outfit believe he would be an excellent addition for the right price – what that is, however, remains to be seen.
He is currently valued at €90m (£75m) by CIES Football Observatory but previous reports in Spain have suggested that the LaLiga giants would be willing to part ways for less than half that; around €35m (£29.5m).
Other outlets (via Sport Witness) have also claimed that there are ongoing discussions with the Catalan side as they are interested in prising Raphinha away from Elland Road and Dest could even be included in some sort of player-plus-cash deal.
Whatever is the case, the 17-time USMNT international would be a great signing for fellow countryman, Marsch, and one that could truly kickstart his era at the Whites.
Primarily a right-back, Dest is capable of playing in a multitude of positions, including on the left flank in the same role, as well as further forward and that is certainly an appealing trait to possess.
It would also put long-serving Marcelo Bielsa favourite Luke Ayling at risk, especially as he has displayed signs of inconsistency throughout the 2021/22 season.
Bringing in a new man to succeed the vice-captain would be a real sign of intent that Marsch wants to do things his way and to move on from the Argentine icon.
Once described as a “big talent” by former Ajax teammate Quincy Promes, Dest has featured 27 times for Barca this season and has proven to be one of their best passers in the league, averaging an accuracy rate of 92.2%, a feat only bettered by two other players, via WhoScored.
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Also averaging 1.6 tackles and 1.9 dribbles per game, the American is clearly a player that can get up and down the flank to good effect, contributing at both ends of the pitch.
If he’s a player that Marsch is indeed pursuing, then director of football Victor Orta must push ahead to try and sign him this summer, and this sort of signing could well truly kickstart this new and exciting era under the 48-year-old head coach.
AND in other news, Fewer touches than Meslier: “Headless” flop who made only 8 passes failed Marsch vs Southampton…
Bowler of the dayJames Anderson was a left-field selection for this match. Everyone predicted that Stuart Broad would replace Steve Harmison, but no-one truly imagined that Matthew Hoggard would also be sent to the dog-house. Even so, Anderson was the “captain” of England’s bowling during their summer series against India, and their Man of the Series to boot, with 14 wickets and a five-for at Lord’s. As far as Peter Moores is concerned, his time is now. Doubtless it helped that Anderson spent four days up at Auckland last week, finding his match fitness with 38 arduous overs in an innings defeat. The benefits of that work-out were fully apparent in a spectacular day’s work, much to New Zealand’s chagrin.Delivery of the dayAnderson is not a like-for-like replacement for Hoggard. On the credit side he is quicker, on the debit side he is more erratic, but when he’s on song, he is capable of bowling balls that no cricketer in the world can keep out. Matthew Bell discovered that in Anderson’s first over of the morning, when he was turned inside-out by a beauty that swung in at pace, pitched and seamed past the edge to clip the outside of his off stump. There’s no answer for that in the coaching manual. It makes you wonder why he insisted on banging it halfway down the track all through the one-dayers.Edge of the dayThere were a few flying around today – five catches in the cordon and two drops as well – but as far as Tim Ambrose is concerned, there’s only one that counts, and that was the one that flew off his splice through the vacant third slip and away to the boundary to bring up his maiden Test century. Rooted on 97 overnight, he had had to endure two of the finest maiden overs that Jacob Oram can ever have bowled – one to end last night’s play and the other to resume the ordeal this morning, and Oram thought he had his man when he jagged a lifter off the seam and past Ross Taylor’s outstretched hand. But Ambrose was not to be denied, as he became the first English wicketkeeper to score an overseas century since Alec Stewart at Auckland 11 years ago.Take of the dayAmbrose’s hundred was an innings of remarkable confidence and aggression, but then so were those of Matt Prior and Geraint Jones before him. The real reason for excitement about England’s latest wicketkeeper is that his glovework appears, at this early stage of his career, to be second-to-none. He was blemish-free on debut in Hamilton, and so far in this innings has taken every chance that has flown his way. The most impressive effort, however, came off a Stuart Broad short ball that climbed violently past Taylor’s nose. Ambrose – all five foot six of him – timed his leap to perfection, hung for an eternity, and plucked the ball in a single outstretched glove.Fielder of the dayMonty Panesar has improved his fielding no end from the Bambi-legged bundle of nerves who first took the field at Nagpur two years ago. But he’s still prone to the occasional moment when he’d prefer the ground to swallow him up. Such as the moment in the 28th over when Taylor drove speculatively towards him at mid-off, only for the ball to bounce straight through Monty’s legs and away to the boundary. Or the moment in the 34th over when Stephen Fleming hurtled for a suicidal single and Monty fumbled the (admittedly poor) throw from Kevin Pietersen. Or the moment in the 53rd over when Daniel Vettori clipped Collingwood to fine leg where Monty, yep, let it through his legs. Two balls later, at the start of the new over, Collingwood struck to remove the tailender, Mark Gillespie, so perhaps we’ll let him pretend that last one was a plan.Rearguard of the dayDaniel Vettori is better than a mere No. 8 batsman these days. Much better. In fact, since New Zealand’s tour of Australia in November 2004, he has averaged 46.18 in 22 Tests, which is nearly 20 runs better than his career mark of 27.65. He made a critical 88 in Hamilton, but his unbeaten 50 in this innings was arguably even better, seeing as he lost Brendon McCullum early and had to marshall the tail as well as give the ball some humpty. No shot was better than the extraordinary flick for six that brought up his half-century. He simply leant back and dabbed the ball up and over the slips, and the pace and bounce of Broad did the hard work for him.Disappointment of the dayThe Wellington crowd is probably 80% English, but there are still enough Kiwis around who realise that Fleming has never yet scored a Test century on his home ground, and that – with his retirement looming – this is his last chance to correct that statistical anomaly. Today’s innings, sadly, was a struggle. He needed a bagful of luck to get as far as he did, as he inside-edged over his middle stump and earned a reprieve from Collingwood at slip. But just when it seemed he’d got over the worst, he produced the worst shot of the lot, a limp waft outside off – half cut, half leave – that looped ever so gently to Pietersen at point. Fleming did at least pass 7000 runs in his innings. His next target is 7160, which will guarantee him a career average of 40. He currently has 7016 …
Scorecard Orissa and Railways are two teams unlikely to attract crowds at the bestof times, with the likes of Debashish Mohanty, Harvinder Singh and SanjayBangar – all low-key players even when they played for India – being thebiggest stars about. And when Orissa who lost the toss and were put in,were kept down to only 101 for 8 in 20 overs, what little interest therewas died. There was a brief flutter of excitement when Railways went from 85for 3 to 87 for 7 in their chase, but by then the match as a contest hadended. Soon enough they knocked off the required runs with three wicketsto spare.It wasn’t as though one brilliant spell from a bowler caused havoc. Orissajust did not seem to have a plan over how to approach their innings, andall batsmen came – and went – swinging merrily. The wickets were sharedaround, and fell in clutches, with the spinners doing most of the damage.G Shankar Rao, the left-arm spinner, picked up 3 for 20, while KulamaniParida, the offie, grabbed 2 for 12.It was an utterly disappointing batting performance, with no batsman evenmaking a quarter-century, which could well be the ‘decent’ individual score in this form of the game. Only one batsman even made 20, and that was Niranjan Behera, who top-scored with23. From the start of the sixth over till as late as the fourth ball ofthe 16th over – which amounts to 70 balls – not a single boundary wasstruck.Sanjay Bangar began Railways’ chase well enough, carting the second andthird balls of the innings for a six over the bowler’s head and a fourpast point respectively. Off the very next ball, though, he edged to thekeeper. From then on it was the TP Singh-show all the way. He hit fourfours and a six in his 32-ball 40 that all but settled the game inRailways’ favour. When he fell with the score on 85, Paresh Patel strucktwice in as many balls, and then Behera prised out another wicket with thescore still on 87, and there was a bit of a flutter, but Baburao Yadav smacked15 to seal the deal with almost four overs to spare. Scorecard It was a quiet day all round in the competition, with Karnataka playing inthe morning, having lost to Punjab just the previous evening. Karnatakanotched up their first win, by four wickets, after winning the toss andsending Gujarat in. Parthiv Patel and Azhar Bilakhia got Gujarat off to aflyer, getting to 55 in just 5.2 overs before they lost their firstwicket.Bilakhia went on to make 62, a rare half-century in this tournament, offonly 47 balls with 6 fours and a six. Patel had made 26, but there were noother scores of note in the Gujarat innings. They stitched together 151, adecent enough score, but it proved to be too few.All eyes were on Rahul Dravid, playing his first-ever Twenty20 match, buthe barely created an impression. He lasted just 8 balls, scoring asolitary single, barely attempting a big shot in his stay at the crease.Robin Uthappa, another player whose game is ideally suited to thistruncated version of the game, failed once more, using up 16 balls for 6,before hitting a catch to Biswajit Solanki off Hitesh Majmudar.Fortunately for Karnataka though Deepak Chougule had no such problems. Heplayed a string of innovative shots and succeeded in getting the ball overthe wicketkeeper’s head for boundaries more than once, scoring an unbeaten41 from 36 balls with five fours. B Akhil (35) and R Vinaykumar (24)chipped in with vital contributions in the lower middle-order, seeingKarnataka home with 3 balls to spare.
Rahul Dravid’s 100th Test turned out to be a bitterly disappointing one, and at the post-match press conference, the captain admitted that his decision to field first at Mumbai was a mistake. However, he stressed that the result could still have been a better one had the top-order batsmen done their job.”Yes, in hindsight when you look at the result of the game definitely I would have changed the decision I made right upfront,” he stated. Clarifying the reasons for the move, he said: “We’d taken five bowlers, and we had three seamers, and we thought there’d be a bit more bounce and seam movement early. We thought we could get a few wickets there, restrict them to a low score, and then bat big in the first innings to set the game up. It didn’t do as much as we expected in the first session, they batted well, and once they’d got 270 for 3 on the first day we knew we were on the back foot.”Dravid refused to accept, though, that the decision at the toss was the major reason for the defeat. “Obviously the decision to bowl wasn’t the right one, but having said that we could have lost the toss and we would have fielded in any case. We could have played much better cricket, especially our batting in both innings, I think the top-order batting has let us down right through the series. We did well to recover to 279, but then again in the second innings I don’t think this was a 100-all-out wicket.”Going into the final day, Dravid indicated that he was satisfied with the position India were in. “I was very happy with the way we bowled yesterday. Our bowlers did a great job to restrict them and I was very happy with the situation as it was in the morning. I thought if we could get to lunch and to tea with wickets in hand, we could really have a crack at the target in the last session. It’s not easy to chase 300 in the last innings especially in India when the ball is turning and a bit of reverse-swing happening. I think we did ok till lunch. Then losing those two wickets in the first two overs after lunch was really the killer blow.”After Dravid’s and Tendulkar’s dismissal, the rest of the Indian batting caved in a shockingly spineless display. Dravid attributed that to “wrong options under pressure”. “Some of the shots we played weren’t up to mark, but when you’re put under pressure that can happen sometimes.”Expectedly, the move to go into the game with five bowlers came in for comment, but Dravid stressed the need to move in that direction, especially if the aim was to start winning outside India. “We feel that going ahead and looking at some of our results in away series, five bowlers is quite important to our combination. You can argue that if we had only four bowlers we might have given more runs in the first innings, or we wouldn’t have been able to bowl as well as we did in the second. We do weigh the pros and cons of six batsmen, but if we want to win a series abroad and if we want to be competitive as a team as England have shown in the Ashes and even here, then we do need five bowlers.”Along with top-order batting, the other area of serious concern for India was their catching: of the 16 chances missed in the game, ten were from Indian fielders, and Dravid admitted that the performance in the field was a let-down. “The situation would have been quite different had we held our catches. We’re working on it. With a few changes in our combinations, some of the fielders in specialist positions have moved out and the boys not fielding in specialist positions have to work on it. We have five batsmen, so all of them should be good catchers; we can’t expect bowlers to be catching in the slips.”The big finds of the series were Munaf Patel, who took 10 wickets at 21.70, and Sreesanth (nine at 25.66). Dravid had a word of praise for them, and also for Anil Kumble and Wasim Jaffer. “Our bowlers – Munaf and Sreesanth – came good for us. They showed good spirit and it’s a good sign for the future. A group of three-four bowlers are bowling with good pace, in good areas, showing good attitude. So that’s one of the pluses in the series. Anil bowled brilliantly and batted well too, while Wasim looked composed as an opener.”Finally, he was all praise for Andrew Flintoff, England’s captain and Man of the Series. “He was phenomenal and truly deserved the Man-of-the-Series award. Every time he went out, he scored runs, was their best bowler on view right through the series and kept coming hard. I think he did a great job as a captain in his first series and he’s truly shown why is the greatest allrounder in the world at the moment.”
Scorecard The battle of the big hitters on a batsman-friendly Oval track, with a short boundary for good measure, was finally won by Yorkshire, but it took three quick wickets from Craig White to check Surrey’s charge. Ally Brown, with 89 from 46 balls, was looking set to lead Surrey home when he was yorked by White, Yorkshire’s seventh bowler, and needing 74 off the last 12 overs, Surrey slid from 261 for 5 to 263 for 8 in three overs. Yorkshire had got off to a flier, reaching 111 for 0 off 15 overs, and never looked back. Matthew Wood made 111 off 127 balls, Ian Harvey provided the fireworks with 69 – his fifty came off 35 balls – and Anthony McGrath completed the assault with 48 off 23 balls. Scorecard Darren Maddy’s half-century gave Leicestershire some hope against Durham at Grace Road as they struggled to 175 for 8 after seemingly being in charge as they reached 109 for 2 in the 27th over. As the clouds gathered, Duckworth-Lewis was always going to be a factor, and Nicky Peng’s 36 injected enough pace into the Durham innings to ensure than when the rain came, they were just about ahead. If they had lost one more wicket then Leicestershire would have been the winners. Scorecard Jonathan Moss stood firm amid a clatter of wickets to help lift Derbyshire to a competitive 197 for 8 from their 45 overs. Derbyshire were in some trouble at 74 for 4 after four of the top five failed to get into double figures, but Moss remained rooted and shot 79 from 81 balls. Luke Sutton provided some support with 46 before rain spoiled the party before Kent’s reply had really begun. Scorecard Somerset and Warwickshire shared the points after their match at Edgbaston was rained off. Somerset had batted themselves into a commanding position, with Mike Burns striking 106 against the county he left nine years ago. Keith Parsons (51) and James Hildreth (54) each added half-centuries, but all their hard work was for nothing when the rains came.
Australia 233 (Ponting 67, Symonds 53) beat Sri Lanka 193 (Sangakkara 101, Kasprowicz 5-45) by 40 runs, and lead series 3-1 Scorecard
Kumar Sangakkara’s third one-day century wasn’t enough to prevent Australia taking the series
On a day of spectacular batting collapses, Australia clinched the five-match series with a 40-run victory. Sri Lanka, set 234, were well set for a famous win, as Kumar Sangakkara scored a magnificent century. However, they suffered a late-innings meltdown, losing their last eight wickets for only 50 runs as Michael Kasprowicz grabbed a career-best five wicket haul.After Sri Lanka had bowled Australia out for 233, they made the worst possible start as Sanath Jayasuriya prodded tentatively for the second consecutive innings at a rising delivery from Kasprowicz (0 for 1). But Marvan Atapattu – fortunate to have not been dismissed earlier when the ball trickled back onto his stumps – and Sangakkara consolidated against some tight bowling from both Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie.The run rate started to climb before Sangakkara cut loose with a thrilling assault against Kasprowicz and Ian Harvey. Both bowlers were flayed for three boundaries in an over, and Sangakkara, particularly strong through the off side, sped to his 11th one-day half-century from just 45 balls.Ricky Ponting was forced to call up his slow bowlers, Andrew Symonds and Brad Hogg. Atapattu, stuck on 18 for seven overs as Sangakkara hogged the strike, tried to break free with a lofted straight-drive, but miscued and was caught by Michael Bevan at long-on (78 for 2).But the loss of his captain did not deter Sangakkara from his thrillingly aggressive approach, and he continued to attack the slow bowlers. Mahela Jayawardene settled quickly and the pair ticked along at a run a ball, slowly pushing the required rate down and creating another headache for Ponting.After 30 overs, Sri Lanka were well placed at 135 for 2, and Ponting turned back to Gillespie, his senior paceman, in search of a breakthrough – and it did the trick. In Gillespie’s second over back, Jayawardene tried to run a short one through the slips, but only edged it to Adam Gilchrist (143 for 3).Sangakkara brought up his third century from 106 balls – without doubt his finest one-day innings – but the celebrations were short-lived, as he chased a wide one from Kasprowicz and was caught behind (148 for 4).Sri Lanka went into freefall: Saman Jayantha, making his debut, followed Sangakkara four balls later as Gilchrist took his fourth catch of the innings, off Harvey. Tillakaratne Dilshan then called for a suicidal run to Ponting at midwicket and was run out by a distance (158 for 6).Upul Chandana and Kaushal Lokuarachchi briefly raised local hopes, adding 31 in 38 balls, but Kasprowicz moved in for the kill to earn Australia their first one-day series victory in Sri Lanka.Gilchrist, meanwhile, put a dreadful week with the bat behind him as he claimed six catches in the innings, equalling the world record that he shares with Ridley Jacobs and Alec Stewart.
Muralitharan: back to his best
It was a remarkable turnaround from the Australians, who looked to be dead and buried once Sangakkara was in full flow, and after they had been bowled out for a modest 233.Ponting paid tribute to his players afterwards: “It was fantastic win. We were behind the eight-ball in the the field but I told my players before we went out that the team that hung in there the longest would win. Chasing a reasonable score, no matter how well you are going, you only need to lose one wicket.”Earlier, the Sri Lankan bowlers immediately gained the ascendancy after a brisk Australian start, taking the wickets of Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn to leave Australia precariously placed at 62 for 3 in the 13th over.But Ponting was once again in sizzling form, swivel-pulling two magnificent sixes off Vaas early on, and racing to his fourth consecutive fifty of the series. He and Symonds repaired the early damage, milking the spinners for 74 in 90 deliveries. But just when it looked as if Muttiah Muralitharan would go wicketless for the third game running, Ponting went back to a fizzing offbreak and was pinned in front (136 for 4).Symonds, passing fifty for the first time in this series after a series of undefeated cameos, pressed on with Bevan, and they added 41 in 52 balls before Murali returned for a second spell. Symonds immediately slog-swept him straight into the hands of Jayantha at midwicket (177 for 5).Australia, though, were still in a good position as Bevan added 24 in 25 balls with Clarke. But when Bevan (14) chipped a return catch to Murali off a leading edge, the innings declined rapidly, as four wickets tumbled for five runs. Harvey was run out by Atapattu at point, Hogg was trapped lbw first ball, and Kasprowicz edged behind for a duck (206 for 9).Clarke, with 36 from 32 balls, and Gillespie stemmed the tide, adding 27 for the last wicket. It was a job well done by Sri Lanka – but they couldn’t finish the job.