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The Sri Lankan celebrations were short-lived last night with the cricketers aware that they only had 36 hours of recovery time before the final of the ICC Champions Trophy, a match that will require a new strategy against theirAsian neighbours India.Australia’s relative weakness against spin was brutally exposed by Sri Lanka’s five slow bowlers on Friday night, but India’s batsmen cannot be expected to capitulate so lamely. Their top seven is not only outrageously talentedbut also very experienced when it comes to playing on the slow, low, turning pitch that can be expected on Sunday night.Thus Sri Lanka are considering further changes, primarily the re-introduction of pace bowler Dilhara Fernando, who has a good record against the Indians having taken 12 wickets in seven matches at 21.91. His extra pace and well-disguised slower ball will provide Sanath Jayasuriya with extra attacking options.Fellow fast bowler Pulasthi Gunaratne appeared nervous in the semi-final but the management will hope that he learns from the experience of playing two matches in front of sell-out crowds. Although under-used on Friday, he cantake the new ball and offers options later in the innings. He is thus likely to be retained.The choice then comes down to whom to drop: leg-spinner Upul Chandana or off-spinner Kumar Dharmasena. Chandana offers extra variety considering that Aravinda de Silva and Russel Arnold can both bowl off-breaks, whilstDharmasena can bowl with a newish ball – potentially important when you are looking to control the likes of Virender Sehwag and company.Indeed, coach Dav Whatmore is concerned about the early overs: “India don’t have the firepower in the bowling department that Australia possess but they certainly have a similarly aggressive opening combination when they bat ­- we are going to have to pay a lot of attention to that.””They have Sehwag, Ganguly, Laxman, Tendulkar, Dravid… the list just goes on and on. We are going to have to be at the top of our game if we’re going to be successful. It’s going to be 100 overs of really hard work.”But Whatmore is confident that his side will rise to the occasion, like they have done during both the Pakistan and Australian games. He’s quick to point to India’s poor record in one-day finals.”They have a powerful batting line-up but as we saw the other night against Zimbabwe they can also lose early wickets,” he said.”In my experience the semi-finals are the hardest games,” he added. “In the finals anything can happen and it is all about holding your nerve. And, remember, India don’t have a particularly good record in finals in recent times.”Sri Lanka have won all three of their matches in the tournament easily, the disadvantage of which is that their lower middle order has yet to be tested. Indeed, number six Russel Arnold has only batted once and that was a gentle unbeaten 22 against the Netherlands.But Whatmore claimed to be unconcerned: “We are not worried about that. The wicket will be good and we know these conditions. The guys are in good form… it’s just that they have not had a chance to prove it.”Sri Lanka (From):Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Russel Arnold, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena, Chaminda Vaas, Hasantha Fernando, DilharaFernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pulasthi Gunaratne.

Going into the third and final National Bank Series Test, England fast-medium bowler Andy Caddick could hardly have dreamt that his four wickets to reach 200 Test wickets would come so quickly.But he went to lunch having just trapped New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan leg before wicket to secure his fourth and to become the ninth English bowler to take 200 Test wickets.He is in esteemed company. The list reads: Ian Botham (383), Bob Willis (325), Fred Trueman (307), Derek Underwood (297), Brian Statham (252), Alec Bedser (236), Darren Gough (228) and John Snow (202).Caddick thought he may have picked up one or two on the first morning.When he came back for the last over before lunch he felt it was because England captain Nasser Hussain felt he needed a change of variation. It worked and also got his 200th out of the way so he could get on with the business England were here for.Caddick said it had been a highlight in his career but not the most satisfying moment. There were games he had played in that had been more satisfying.He said there had been times when he felt he could have been playing, which would have allowed him to achieve the goal earlier, none moreso than when he was not selected for the last Ashes tour.Despite having been told by the selectors that all he had to do to be selected was keep taking wickets obviously the 105 he took during the English summer had not been enough to convince them.Injuries and different selectors did come along and all players went through bad patches but he had been fit for the last five years and felt there was more left to chase other milestones along the way.”The body is getting tired and weary but I will keep going as long as I enjoy it,” he said.Having Hussain as his captain was an advantage as he was a captain who backed his bowlers, and who understood what they were trying to do.”There are a few dos and don’ts as far as bowling is concerned but I have a good relationship with Nasser and with Duncan [Fletcher] as well,” he said.Caddick said the absence of Gough had placed him in a position he enjoyed of having to shoulder more responsibility.Achieving the feat against New Zealand had not made the occasion any more special as he treats every opponent in every Test as just another Test.The pitch was one where players didn’t hang around in going for their shots, he said, and they had to play their shots as there was no guarantee how long they would last if they pottered around.Chris Harris had shown that in his innings “for the second time today,” he said, a reference to a let-off Harris was given after being caught off his gloves from Matthew Hoggard’s bowling by short leg fieldsman Mark Ramprakash.But Harris and Adam Parore had established a good partnership and there was a lot of work to be done by England tomorrow, Caddick said.

Bangladesh Biman mangled Young Pegasus, the weakest among the teams in Super Six, by a massive margin of 102 runs in a low scoring one-sided match of GrameenPhone Premier League held in Fotullah Stadium today. Responding to Biman’s meager 168, Pegasus were bundled out for 66, so far their lowest total in this tournament.Biman embarked on with the loss of two openers early, but came back into the game with a partnership built by Imran Farhat and Aminul Islam. Farhat scored a blitzing 50 off 49 balls that had six fours and a couple of sixes in it, while Aminul Islam made 33.Hasanuzzaman, another notable scorer, contributed with a sturdy 34 off 55 balls, but a horrible collapse in the tail restricted Biman’s progress, as they had to content with 168 all out in 42.1 overs. Kamrul Hasan Jhoney pulled off with a haul of 4 wickets for Pegasus giving away 23 runs.Al-Amin, the medium pacer, mauled the Pegasus top order by removing three batsmen early. To add insult to injury, Anisur Rahman, Imran Farhat and skipper Khaled Mahmud battered the rest of the order within a very short time. They all claimed two wickets each while Pegasus were wrapped up with the total on 66. Faisal Hossain (13) was the leading scorer for the club and turned out to be the only man to reach the double figure.There was no question on Imran Farhat’s being the man-of-the-match for his all round performance (50 runs & 2 wickets).

The International Cricket Council (ICC) have given the green light for aninnovative partnership to begin between Japan, South Korea and the VictorianCricket Association (VCA).The partnership is an ICC Development Program initiative aimed at furtherdeveloping and promoting cricket to new regions. It will see the VCA delivercourses for coaches, umpires, players and administrators in Japan and SouthKorea.VCA Chief Executive Officer, Ken Jacobs said the announcement provided anopportunity for the Victorian Cricket Association to actively involve itselfin the game’s development in the East Asia-Pacific region. “We hope thatthis partnership will play a pivotal role in creating and shaping the futuredevelopment of cricket in Japan and South Korea, whilst presenting uniqueopportunities for Victorian cricket personnel”.ICC East Asia-Pacific Development Manager, Matthew Kennedy was similarlyexcited about the new agreement. “Cricket is at an exciting stage in thesenations with many current activities and initiatives. The involvement ofState Associations is vitally important to the ICC’s expansion of cricket inthe East Asia-Pacific region, therefore we are extremely pleased with thenew partnership between Japan, South Korea and the VCA”.The ICC Development Program contributes US$3.2 million globally on an annualbasis to develop the game of cricket in non-Test playing countries.

Monday 28th May sees the start of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union’s great winter experiment when India play Zimbabwe A at Mutare Sports Club. Never before has Zimbabwe seen first-class cricket in the off-season. Mutare’s pipe opener precedes Test and one-day series with both India and the West Indies in the next few weeks.The Indians have never played at this end of the country and will need their wits about them, particularly when fielding on Mutare Sports Club’s hard, bumpy outfield. The local administrators are holding their breath that no late-season rain interferes, as the new covers planned for the pitch have not yet been purchased.Despite this, regular visitors to the ground will notice plenty of new developments. The old timber shack score-box that suffered at the hands of Cyclone Eline last year has been pulled down and replaced by a grander, timber “media center”. Care has been taken to ensure that this new edifice is not in the path of any falling trees. The men’s changing rooms have been renovated, the toilets given smart new pine seats and the basement showers upgraded. The dining room has been partitioned and a new mobile metal scoreboard has been built.New full-time groundsman Joel Muzeya and his small work force have been working feverishly for the last few weeks getting the field prepared. Joel was formerly the high-density schools coach and this game will be his first major test. It’s envisaged that he will divide his time between the ground and coaching next season. It is hoped to send him to local Test venues to understudy professional groundsmen as they prepare for Test matches later this year.The farmers’ league got under way last Sunday with Makoni hosting Ruzawi River at Rusape Sports Club. Having unilaterally withdrawn from the competition last year, they re-entered this year after realizing how much they missed it. Nigel Hough in his third season as captain has at his disposal no fewer than four golden oldies with first-class experience. As well as himself, there is batting to follow in Kenyon Ziehl and Kevin Curran with Terry Coughlan to bowl leg-spin. Northamptonshire’s ex-skipper Curran has been managing the family farm recently, but hasn’t played cricket for over two years.In a competitive but mostly friendly league, each side bats for 50 overs whilst bowlers are limited to 10 overs per man. That’s where the similarity with one-day internationals ends as field placements, wides and bouncers are played to normal cricket rules. Official umpires are rarely seen, wives keep the score and tea and lunch breaks follow timeworn traditions.Batting first, Ruzawi River only managed 178/9 with Ian Duvenage hitting 67. Zeihl mopped up the tail with 3/17. In reply Makoni coasted home to 180/5 with two overs to spare. Young Richie Blyth-Wood hit 30 at the top of the order; Curran added 56 not out whilst Hough in his normal restrained fashion whipped 38 not out off 20 balls.

It was surprising to see Kedar Jadhav on the field of play a little over 20 minutes after his dismissal. Stumps had been drawn for the day but the triple-centurion, expectedly appearing drained, was back on the field to interact with his teammates and well-wishers.What happened to the ice bath? After all, the toll that the memorable knock, “undoubtedly the best of my career”, had taken on Jadhav’s body would demand one of the longest ice baths – around 20 minutes at least – to help him recover for the rigours in the field for the next two days.”I shall go and have one now,” said Jadhav, who made 327 – the second-highest by a Maharashtra batsman ever in the Ranji Trophy – against Uttar Pradesh. “The body didn’t feel anything in the morning session but after lunch, I was feeling the pain every minute. The fingers were sore and then it started trickling down to other body parts.”Jadhav, who was unbeaten on 102 at the start today, started off in blazing fashion – with a square cut off Imtiaz Ahmed of the first ball of the day and then with a flick to the square-leg boundary in the same over. Those two shots displayed that the fizz hadn’t disappeared overnight and that those who turned up to watch the action would remember the day for a long time.What was astonishing during Jadhav’s knock was the fact that never once did his strike-rate dip below run-a-ball during his almost nine-hour stay at the wicket. Forget a triple; this was Jadhav’s first double century in a competitive game.”I haven’t played much of inter-school and inter-college cricket and have never crossed a double hundred for my club,” said Jadhav, whose previous best in first-class was an unbeaten 114. “Only once in a practice match did I score about 220 but that was a practice game, so you will have to consider this one as my first double century. All I can hope for is this won’t be the last one.”And even though he tore the UP bowling into pieces, playing virtually every stroke in the book – right from a cover drive to a late cut to a straight drive to an upper cut to inside-out lofted drives and even reverse-sweeps – Jadhav was candid in admitting that the UP bowlers made his task easier.”On both the days, they were not consistent. Most of the times, they offered at least one loose ball every over and we had to make sure we didn’t let that one go,” Jadhav, 27, said. “And they kept on bowling to both sides of the wicket, making it difficult for the captain to set fields.”Complementing Jadhav for his “superb knock”, UP coach Venkatesh Prasad also lamented his bowlers’ consistency of spraying the ball all over the wicket. “We discussed it after the first day’s play but somehow our bowlers failed to implement the issues that needed to be addressed,” Prasad said. “Hopefully, our batsmen will make up for it by scoring big on a flat deck.”

Pesky showers had an early influence, on what was effectively the first day of play in the Northern Districts-Canterbury Shell Trophy match, but in the end they could not deny a batsman and a bowler a very good day at the office. Grant Bradburn and Gary Stead stood out as their respective colleagues found wickets and runs hard to come by.After a delayed start, the players came and went at regular intervals during the first two sessions, keeping the ground staff and various helpers occupied with the delivery and removal of the plastic covers.However, at the weather’s convenience, 84 overs – 41 of them in the two-and-a-half hours between tea and stumps – were bowled after Northern Districts won the toss and put Canterbury in on a pitch that offered an interesting contrast of green grass and dark earth. Simon Doull gave that decision early support with the wicket of Robbie Frew in his first over before a run had been scored.But then it was Doull who raised questions about Northern’s policy of preferring two spinners over the medium pace of Graeme Aldridge with a helpful pitch and heavy cloud cover. In his second over, Doull pulled up with a groin strain and although he continued through the morning session, albeit at a lower pace, he was not sighted at the bowling crease in the afternoon.As it turned out, the two-spin tactic benefited Northern, Bruce Martin and Bradburn getting the breakthroughs when Joseph Yovich, Alex Tait and a hampered Doull failed to make the best of the conditions. They were helped by some smart reflex catching in close as Michael Parlane, Mark Bailey and James Marshall put their hands in the right place at the right time.Bradburn turned into Northern’s biggest trump card on a pitch that was suppposedly going to help pace. A nagging length, some surprising turn and persistent accuracy brought the reward of four wickets for 56 off 25 overs. Robbie Hart would probably have been happier if his pace attack had placed similar demands on the batsmen.For Canterbury, their captain showed every sign of not allowing the conditions to take control. Without his unbeaten 77, the Canterbury total would have made sorry reading. A solid defence coupled with the occasional bit of judicious hitting ensured his team a degree of stability. With contributions in the 20s from Harley James, Jarrod Englefield and Gareth Hopkins, the southern visitors would not be too unhappy with 175 for six at the end of a day in which the toss was expected to be crucial.It may have been – but it was a spinner who put bowling first to best advantage.Northern will come back tomorrow intent on wrapping up the Canterbury innings quickly to ensure a chance in the last two days of collecting the outright needed to keep them in touch with the top of the table. If Canterbury respond to their captain’s example, Northern will have their work cut out.

Match facts

September 28, 2012
Start time 1530 local (1000 GMT)Imran Nazir was ruthless in Pakistan’s previous game•AFP

Big Picture

What appears to be the tougher of the two Super Eight groups gets underway with a repeat of the 2009 World T20 semi-final, a match that is remembered as one the most thrilling, in a format where almost anything can be labelled so. Historically, these two make good opponents: the unpredictability of Pakistan against the sometimes uber-predictability of South Africa. But things have changed.Pakistan still implode at times but tend to bring some of their best games to major tournaments. They have also tempered their fiery side with reason and both have been on display in equal measure in the group stage and even before that, in series against Australia and Sri Lanka. Combined, those two contrasting styles could result in a Pakistan side that consistently performs as well as they have done of late.They defended a decent total against a determined New Zealand line-up and then turned on the heat when they hunted down Bangladesh’s score ruthlessly. Importantly, their top three all have runs to their name and each of the bowlers, particularly Saeed Ajmal, have seen success.South Africa also take confidence into this round. They have had one all-too-easy encounter (against Zimbabwe) and one severely reduced match (a seven-over-a-side shootout against Sri Lanka) and managed not to get carried away by the former or spooked by the latter. Their philosophy when playing major tournaments appears to have changed. AB de Villiers spoke about not needing to win every game but building to a crescendo but South Africa have so far won and built at the same time.Having been on tour since the beginning of July, Gary Kirsten has stressed the importance of being fresh to his men. They had two days off in Bentota before they resumed training, which was describe as “lengthy and intensive” by the coaching staff. Surprisingly, they do not have a certain starting line-up as they try to keep an aura of mystery about them in their bid for ICC silverware.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa WWLWW
Pakistan WWLTW

Watch out for

South Africa will not have fond memories of playing against Shahid Afridi after he was solely responsible for stopping their march at the 2009 event. Afridi was a one-man act as he destroyed a Graeme Smith-led side that had not lost a single match in the lead-up to the semi-finals with both bat and ball. He is a man for a big occasion and even though the contest is not a knockout, to make a statement of intent against one of the favourites may be just the stage for Afridi to perform as he did on that day.Power is the quality that most batsmen want to be able to use to score runs in the shortest format, but Hashim Amla has chosen a different route. Small adaptations to his game have allowed him to keep the class and still become the world’s top-ranked ODI batsman. Flanked by the strength of the Richard Levi and the experience of Jacques Kallis, Amla is the calm in the South African batting line-up, something they will need as the tournament goes on.

Team news

Pakistan played the same XI in both their group matches and with two good results should keep the same team.Pakistan : 1 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Nasir Jamshed, 4 Kamran Akmal (wk), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Yasir Arafat, 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed AjmalSouth Africa also won both their matches, although they fielded different XIs, with the change being in the batting line-up. Faf du Plessis was given an opportunity to bat at No. 3 against Sri Lanka and scored 13 in a reduced game. He is the likeliest to be left out as South Africa opt for two spinners on a pitch that should take more turn than was on offer in Hambantota.South Africa (probable): 1 Richard Levi, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Albie Morkel 8 Johan Botha 9 Robin Peterson 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Dale Steyn

Pitch and conditions

Albie Morkel expects a more typically sub-continental surface in Colombo compared with what he called “home conditions,” in Hambantota. The pitch is said to be much slower, with little in it for the quicks. A 60% chance of rain should lessen as the afternoon grows longer but the chance of another shortened match remains.

Stats and trivia

• Three of the top four wicket-takers in World T20 are all from Pakistan. Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul are on 29, 27 and 27 wickets respectively.
• South Africa and Pakistan have played against each other in five T20s, twice in World T20s. South Africa have a better head-to-head record, winning three of the five played overall.

Quotes

“The beauty of our batting line-up is that we have a lot of variety and different sets of batting skills in our line-up. Guys can use their feet, guys can sweep, guys can reverse sweep; so we have some very good options in our line-up.”

“We are blessed with some of the greats in T20s, especially Ajmal and Afridi. This is our main strength even though we also rely on our fast bowlers.”

Group A

Unmukt Chand’s second consecutive hundred helped Delhi trounce Gujarat by 112 runs and register their first points in the table. It was a solo show by Chand as he hit ten sixes and ten fours in his 125 that came off only 63 balls. The second highest scorer in the line up was opener Dhruv Shorey with 25 runs. All Gujarat bowlers, except Akshar Patel, were taken for plenty as Chand piled on and was out in the last over as Delhi amassed 198 runs. Then Sumit Narwal picked three quick wickets to derail the chase – Gujarat stumbled 18 for 5 in the sixth over and never recovered. The innings was wrapped up in the 18th over.Vidarbha sealed a comprehensive win over Odisha in Indore. Vidarbha chose to bat and their decision was justified by a quickfire 63 from Ravi Jangid, who struck eight fours and two sixes in his 33-ball knock. He was helped by useful contributions from the middle and lower orders, including Apoorv Wankhede, who made 26 in 10 balls. In response to Vidarbha’s 180, Odisha managed only 107. Opener Ankit Yadav batted through the innings to remain unbeaten on 54, but saw wickets tumble at the other end. Only one other player reached double-figures in the chase, wrecked by fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who picked up his first five-for in Twenty20 cricket, taking 5 for 18. Yadav last played for India in the Ahmedabad Test in November 2012 after which he was sidelined due to a back problem. This was his first game of competitive cricket after that break.

Group B

A rapid half-century by Wriddhiman Saha set up Bengal‘s 14-run win against Uttar Pradesh in Indore. Put into bat, Bengal openers Shreevats Goswami and Subhomoy Das partnered in a 62-run stand, but both were out in quick succession. Saha arrived in the 11th over and along with Laxmi Ratan Shukla, added a further 98 runs in 9.1 overs. He hit two sixes and seven fours in his 35-ball 64. UP stayed abreast with the require rate during the first half of their chase, but lost four wickets during the period. They were 91 for 7 and only a spirited 31-ball 49 by Praveen Kumar took them close to the target. With the win, Bengal went to the top of Group B table with eight point from two games.Punjab eased to a nine-wicket win over Baroda in Indore, after their bowlers restricted the opposition to 126. Baroda chose to bat, and their opening pair added 44 in 4.4 overs. But captain Aditya Waghmode, who had largely been responsible for the quick start, was the first to fall, and the innings soon slipped to 50 for 3. Krunal Pandya chipped in with 23 in the middle order and was helped by the lower order in pushing the score to 126. Medium-pacer Amitoze Singh picked up three wickets and in a collective bowling effort, was aided by three others who took two each. In the chase, Ravi Inder Singh struck 69 and fellow opener, and captain, Mandeep Singh chipped in with an unbeaten 46. The pair added 118 and that helped Punjab seal the game with more than five overs to spare.

Match facts

March 25, Hambantota
Start time 1430 local (0900GMT)Nuwan Kulasekara was expensive in the first ODI•Associated Press

Big Picture

“Demolished” was the word Angelo Mathews used to describe what the Sri Lanka openers did to the Bangladesh attack in the first ODI. An eight wicket victory with more than five overs to spare is difficult enough for Bangladesh to swallow, but the psychological setbacks incurred during that violent stand may take some getting over as well. The visitors now only have one day in which to launch a series-saving comeback, and with Tamim Iqbal heading home because of a finger fracture, Bangladesh’s chances of levelling the series seem slim.The tourists’ best hope lies in dismissing Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara early and attacking Sri Lanka’s inexperienced middle order, who have not always been an assured ODI unit, particularly against spin. Kushal Perera may have been a capable walloping assistant to Dilshan in the first ODI, but he is yet to make a half century in international cricket, while Dinesh Chandimal has a poor record at home in limited overs cricket, and Angelo Mathews has not been at his best against high-quality slow bowling. Bangladesh must ensure they do not allow the seniors to walk the young Sri Lankan batsmen through their innings, like they have for much of the tour.The hosts, will have been thrilled with the crushing first-up win, and the partnership that set it up, but there was plenty to dislike about their cricket on Saturday evening as well. The bowling was wayward, particularly at the death when Nasir Hossain led the charge, but even earlier in the innings, when Tamim made use of the dross being served up at regular intervals. Sri Lanka have in their ranks a man who at his best can deliver yorker after searing yorker, but Lasith Malinga has been wildly inconsistent over the last 14 months, and Sri Lanka have bled late runs as a result. The hosts gave up 90 runs in the last ten overs in the first match, and captain Angelo Mathews may be prudent to devise a failsafe plan, should Malinga have an indifferent outing.Sri Lanka’s fielding has also been abysmal throughout the tour, and despite a diving catch from Kushal Janith Perera to dismiss Mohammad Ashraful, they will not have been pleased with their overall effort on Saturday. Mathews poor catching form hit rock bottom when he spilt a sitter off Tamim when he was on 55, and wayward throws and a lack of fielding initiative led to bonus runs and reprieves.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLWWL (most recent first, completed matches only)
Bangladesh LWLLW

In the spotlight

Nuwan Kulasekara was the worst of Sri Lanka’s bowlers in the first match, having conceded 67 runs in his nine overs. He had had an exceptional limited overs tour of Australia, but after playing him in both Tests, Bangladesh’s batsmen have grown wise to his inswing, and his away-seamer has not been effective in this tour so far either. Control is often his best asset, but Bangladesh’s batsmen seemed to have targeted him by backing away and blasting him through the off side. Kulasekara has 132 matches experience, and he will want to maintain his reputation for reliability through the rest of the series.With Tamim gone, and Shakib Al Hasan never having been on tour through injury, the batting burden for Bangladesh falls heavy on the shoulders of captain Mushfiqur Rahim. He made his country’s first international double-hundred in Galle, but was less impressive in the second Test, and fell playing an ugly swipe to Mathews in the first ODI. He is already tasked with rallying his side to prevent a series loss, but will now feel he has to contribute substantially with the bat as well.

Team news

Mathews said after the last ODI that his side would not look to make major changes, and with no injuries plaguing their squad, Sri Lanka will likely retain the same XI.Sri Lanka: (probable) 1. Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2. Kushal Janith Perera, 3. Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4. Dinesh Chandimal, 5. Lahiru Thirimanne, 6. Angelo Mathews (c), 7. Jeevan Mendis, 8. Thisara Perera, 9. Nuwan Kulasekara, 10. Sachithra Senanayake, 11. Lasith MalingaJahurul Islam is the like-for-like replacement for Tamim but there is the option of using Mohammad Ashraful as the opener and letting Mominul Haque bat in the middle-order. It is a fair call given how much they need more batting stability, but they could also stay with a similar line-up. In the bowling, Shahadat Hossain may replace Abul Hasan.Bangladesh: (probable) 1 Anamul Haque, 2 Jahurul Islam, 3 Mohammad Ashraful, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Nasir Hossain, 7 Ziaur Rahman, 8 Sohag Gazi, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Abul Hasan/Shahadat Hossain, 11 Rubel Hossain.

Pitch and conditions

Winning the toss may go a considerable distance towards winning the match, with the side fielding second having been hampered by both the dew in the evening, and a pitch was not at its best for strokeplay until later in the evening. The strip prepared for the second match looks similar to the first, and will likely have some assistance for the seam bowlers early on, with moderate turn for the spinners as well.A thunderstorm only just missed the cricket on Saturday, having hit the nearby Sooriyawewa town, but not the stadium itself, and similar storms are forecast for the region for the 25th.

Quotes

“Our bowling and our catching was not successful today. I dropped a catch as well. But our batsmen covered up all those mistakes. I think in the future we need to sort those problems out before they have a big influence on the match.”
Angelo Mathews identifies his sides weaknesses.”Somebody has to stand up and take the opportunity in my absence. We are a good one-day team, so we have the ability to bounce back. We have to win the next game and I think it is possible.”
Tamim Iqbal is optimistic that his team will fare fine without him.