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Lasith Malinga, the World Cup’s equal leading wicket-taker, has been ruled out of Sri Lanka’s match against New Zealand on Thursday with a grade two tear in his left ankle. With the recovery period set between seven and 14 days, Malinga will almost certainly miss the Australia game on in Grenada on Monday and perhaps even the Ireland clash there two days later.Malinga did not train on Tuesday after hurting himself while running at an earlier practice session. Sri Lanka, who first believed the problem was nothing serious, could bring in Farveez Maharoof or Nuwan Kulasekara. But the loss of Malinga, who has 15 victims at 14.26 in the tournament and took a record four wickets in four balls against South Africa, is a serious one against the top-of-the-table New Zealand. Muttiah Muralitharan, meanwhile, has recovered from his groin strain.”We’ve got experienced players who can come in and we are confident they can do a job for us,” Mahela Jayawardene told . “It depends on how much of a gamble we want to take at this stage.”Jayawardene said an unbeaten New Zealand had not been truly tested in the Caribbean and Sri Lanka were in a good position to challenge them, having drawn 2-2 in their ODI series in New Zealand in December and January. “They are playing some really good cricket but they haven’t played one of the top teams yet,” he said.”They’ve got a very good all-round side and bat until deep. We’ve played them a lot in the last 12 months and we know their strengths and weaknesses.”

Shane Warne believes Australia must improve their spin-bowling depth by using the slow men more often and more aggressively in state cricket. The retirement of Brad Hogg and uncertainty over Stuart MacGill’s fitness has left Australia without a clear first-choice Test spinner and Warne says the lack of opportunities in some domestic teams is contributing to the dearth of options.”A lot depends on the conditions they play under,” Warne said. “Sometimes it’s harder for some of the guys, like in Queensland for instance, where the Gabba should be one of the best places to bowl spin bowling.”They’ve got to educate the captains up in Queensland about how to actually use the spinners, they’re generally an afterthought. [They think] quick, quick, quick, let’s go for another quick, let’s go for a part-time quick, last day before lunch [ask the spinner to] have a bowl. That process is unfortunately around in a few places.”This year’s domestic statistics back up Warne’s concerns, with Victoria’s legspinner Bryce McGain the only slow bowler in the Pura Cup’s top 12 wicket-takers. Queensland’s first-choice spinner, Daniel Doran, has been given only 16 overs per match on average, compared to McGain averaging 37 overs a game.The trend is something Warne is trying to change in his new role as a spin coach with Cricket Australia. He is in Melbourne this week and will visit Sydney and Hobart next week, continuing his nationwide tour working with the tweakers and trying to help their captains understand how to use spin as an aggressive tactic.Australia’s main aim is to find somebody who can step into Warne’s old role at international level and Warne believes MacGill remains the top choice, if he is fit and bowling well, with McGain the next best candidate. MacGill is 37 and McGain turns 36 this month, but Warne said it could be risky to give a younger man opportunities purely because of his long-term prospects.”Sometimes it can be quite damaging for a young spinner that hasn’t got the confidence to throw them in there and that could be the end of them, or they can be lost for a few years until they find their feet again,” he said. “It can be good, but sometimes you’ve got to know what the personality is of the player, what makes them tick.”We’ve got some good spinners there. [We don’t] expect to turn up a spinner in a year or two that can take 500 Test wickets but what I could hope is that the spinners can actually perform consistently well over a period of time. If that happens then I think we’re doing okay.”

Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss the first day of the Antigua Test
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMARahul Dravid’s decision at the toss, to bat first, was vindicated when India made 361 for 4 on the first day, at 4.24 runs per over. But did he perhaps choose the wrong team, going in, once again, with just one specialist spinner in Anil Kumble. Amit Varma discussed that and more with S Rajesh. Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA

The two teams could not have had more contrasting routes to the final. Bengal were steady throughout, with a couple of outright wins and no defeats. They had well laid-out plans and went about executing them quite professionally, spearheaded by the bowling of Ranadeb Bose and the batting of tyros Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Manoj Tiwary. Mumbai’s progress was far more dramatic: at one stage they were staring at relegation, before they scripted a quite amazing turnaround, winning their last three group matches.BengalRound 1, v Punjab at MohaliFirst morning in chilly Chandigarh, put in, and 18 for 5. Deep Dasgupta and Laxmi Ratan Shukla resurrected the innings, Dasgupta at his gritty best. Sourav Ganguly provided the crucial breakthroughs with the ball for Bose to mop up the tail. Ganguly played a quick cameo with the bat too to set up a competitive target. But it was Ashok Dinda, filling in for the injured Shib Shankar Paul, who provided the decisive blows in the second innings to provide a win that would contribute hugley, both arithmetically and psychologically, to their advance into knockouts.Round 2, v Mumbai at KolkataA first in mutual history. Bengal enforcing a follow-on on Mumbai, Manoj Tiwary converting promise into numbers. Bose raised his game a notch, persisted on a dead Eden Gardens track, and ended up with figures of 34.1-14-69-5.Round 4, v Gujarat at Kolkata
If Punjab was a narrow escape, this time they conceded the first-innings lead by three runs. The game was always going to be a first-innings battle, and Bengal looked good with Shukla and Bose carrying them from 291 for 7 to 324, and then they collapsed to lose the next three wickets for only two runs. This loss of two points could have proved crucial in the end.Round 5, v Maharashtra at KolkataLosing the toss at Eden is not good news if you are a medium-pacer. Yet Bose and Sourav Sarkar, a 22-year-old debutant, somehow got Maharashtra out cheaply. The batsmen did nothing spectacular but all eight of them (Lahiri at No. 8) got starts and that was enough to get the first-innings lead.Round 6, v Hyderabad at HyderabadBengal’s most sensational result. Having fallen behind by more than 100 in the first innings in an away match, they came back with the resolve of champions. Bose this time changed identity: from a workhorse on flat tracks he became a destroyer, taking seven wickets in 20 second-innings overs for only 25 runs. The win restored them to the top of the table; they still needed to seal their place in the semis, though.Round 7, v Rajasthan at KolkataBose just couldn’t do anything wrong. He and Sarkar, answered the captain’s call of bowling first on an Eden Gardens track with typical bravery, and blew away Rajasthan. Tiwary, Ganguly, and Jhunjhunwala joined in the festivities to book that semis berth.Semi-final, v Karnataka at KolkataBose and Sarkar were lethal again on first day. Before Karnataka knew what hit them, they were bowling on Day One. Contrary to style, though, Bengal failed to close the game out in the first innings, giving Karnataka a glimmer which they used in the second innings to set an imposing target. But Tiwary again came to the party with his third score of 150-plus, as Bengal cruised to 307 for 4.

MumbaiRound 2, v Bengal at KolkataMumbai’s young attack got ground into dust as the seniors Ramesh Powar and Nilesh Kulkarni failed to inspire. Nine bowlers were used, only seven wickets taken over more than two days. The inexperience in batting showed too, with only Bhavin Thakkar making any impression.Round 3, v Punjab at MohaliThis was a cracker, even if only for the first-innings lead. From 139 for 5, Amol Muzumdar stitched partnership after partnership with the tail, and fell in freakish circumstances. Mudeep Mungela, No. 11, straight-drove Amanpreet Singh who got a touch on to the ball which hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end, where Muzumdar was backing up too far. On his way back, Muzumdar wept.Round 4, v Hyderabad at HyderabadIf Muzumdar had thought he had seen the worst, he was wrong. The batsmen hit a new low and the bowlers never reached threatening proportions, except for a lone battle put up by Ramesh Powar. Three matches, all three with the toughest sides of the group, one loss but no points. They needed inspiration which was not coming their way.Round 5, v Gujarat at MumbaiTheir first home game and Mumbai found inspiration in a young batsman, a young allrounder, and two old spinners. Rohit Sharma finally got a first-class hundred – a double, at that – and, with the help of Abhishek Nair, put up enough for the spinners to come into play. With the Wankhede pitch assisting them, Nilesh Kulkarni and Powar became an imposing proposition, and Mumbai was alive again.Round 6, v Rajasthan at MumbaiThe pace bowlers got their act together this time and all of a sudden Mumbai started to look like contenders. After dismissing Rajasthan cheaply, they made enough – Muzumdar got a century – for bowlers to chip in towards a collective second-innings effort. Two wins with bonus points from both meant they were still alive and within a win of a semi-final berth.Round 7, v Maharashtra at NashikLosing to Maharashtra last year had hurt them the most, which is probably why they had reserved their most emphatic display for their junior neighbours. Youngsters Kukreja and Shah took them across 500. Ajit Agarkar, on a break from international cricket, forced Maharashtra to follow on, and Kulkarni showed his lethal side again, as Mumbai literally stormed into the semis.Semi-final, v Baroda at VadodaraThe value of Muzumdar’s 97 in the first innings was felt in the other three scores: 142, 145, and 173. But the semi-final win did not come without its twists. After securing a first-innings lead on a green top, Mumbai got off to the worst possible start in the second. Five ducks at the top of the order, and no run on the board; that was embarrassing. But their lower order had little time to think about embarrassments; they were busy collecting enough runs which would matter in the end and not the scoreline that once read: 5 for 0.

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Following the impressive display by their batting team-mates, Maharashtra’s bowlers came to the party and routed a woeful Rajasthan for 86 and 191 en route to an innings and 250-run win at Ratnagiri. Rajasthan, reduced to 42 for 4 at the close of the second day, crumbled against Anupam Sanclecha and Aditya Dole, the opening bowlers, and Sairaj Bahutule, the former India legspinner. Sanclecha removed Mohammad Aslam with his third ball of the day and added two more victims to finish with 5 for 54, while Dole and Bahutule shared the other five. Still 439 in arrears, Maharashtra could only muster 191 in their second innings, as Bahutule, opening the bowling, and Dheeraj Jadhav, known for his stylish batting more than his part-time offbreaks, seized seven wickets to complete a crushing victory, and help their side gain five points.
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After being dismissed for 145 in their second innings, Andhra’s bowlers took five Saurashtra wickets to keep their chances of a win alive going into the final day at Rajkot. Set 274 to win, Saurashtra slipped to 127 for 5 as Venugopal Rao, the host captain, lead the way with two key scalps and changed his bowlers around to good effect. Only Shitanshu Kotak, unbeaten on 57, offered resistance and held the key for Saurashtra. Sandeep Jobanputra, the left-arm fast bowler, and Rakesh Dhurv, the left-arm spinner, took 3 for 78 and 3 for 7 in Saurashtra’s impressive bowling effort.
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Chasing 122 to beat Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka slipped to 54 for 5 before stumps were drawn on day three at Kanpur. Karnataka’s bowlers combined to bowl UP out for 194 in their second innings, with Sunil Joshi (3 for 41), Chandrashekar Raghu (2 for 35), R Vinay Kumar (2 for 26) and KP Appanna (2 for 22) sharing the spoils. Shivakant Shukla top-scored with 47 in an inconsistent UP innings. Shalabh Srivastava and Praveen Kumar, UP’s opening bowlers, picked up two wickets each to keep their side in the hunt.
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Mayank Tehlan turned his overnight century into a maiden double, and Rajat Bhatia added three figures of his own as Delhi posted 493 against Baroda at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Overnight on 108, Tehlan began the day with a series of boundaries and though he lost Virat Kohli early, was offered solid support from Bhatia in a 149-run stand for the fifth wicket. Four deliveries after he stole three off Yusuf Pathan to get to 200, Tehlan fell to the same bowler, but Bhatia (106) ensured the effort was not lost and shouldered a feeble lower order before he was last man out. Pathan (4 for 103) and Rajesh Pawar (4 for 149) were the only bowlers to have any effect on Delhi.
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Gaurav Vashisht, Haryana’s young offspinner, took a career-best 6 for 24 to spin out Tamil Nadu for just 149 at Chennai. In a 25-over spell, which included 15 maidens, Vashisht ran riot over TN’s middle and lower order, after Joginder Sharma set the tone with three wickets at the top. In reply, Sumit Sharma and Ankit Rawat, Haryana’s openers, added an unbeaten 31 to extend the lead to 149 by stumps.
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Powered by Niraj Patel’s career-best 173, Gujarat took a 205-run lead over Hyderabad and removed two of the home side’s batsmen to finish the third day in Uppal firmly in the driving seat. Overnight on 109, Patel forged the lead with Bhavik Thaker (56) and despite a middle-order wobble, Gujarat posted a commanding 406. Pragyan Ojha and Inder Shekar Reddy, Hyderabad’s left-arm spin duo, accounted for eight wickets between themselves. In response to Gujarat’s total, Tirumal Suman and Anirudh Singh, Hyderabad’s captain, were dismissed.
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A 133-run sixth-wicket stand between Amol Muzumdar, Mumbai’s veteran batsman, and Wilkin Mota, the rookie allrounder, took Mumbai to within 81 runs of Punjab’s first-innings total on the third day at Mohali. Punjab began the day well, removing Vinayak Mane, Bhavin Thakkar and Sahil Kukreja (43) in the first session, and adding two more in the second, but Muzumdar joined forces with Mota, all of four matches old, to steady the ship. Muzumdar finished unbeaten on 86, while Mota fell to Ishan Malhatra on the last ball of the day. Amanpreet Singh, the right-arm medium-fast bowler, was the most successful home bowler with 3 for 54.

Division One

Iain Sucliffe’s second century of the season handed Lancashire a solid base in their crucial clash against Warwickshire at Blackpool. Sutcliffe added 108 for the third wicket with Stuart Law after Warwickshire struck twice before lunch. Law stroked 12 boundaries in his 97-ball 61 and Sutcliffe reached his ton off 101 balls. However, Lancashire progress was halted when rain washed out the final session and there was a poor forecast for tomorrow. Moments before tea, a water bomb and held up proceedings for a few moments after landing on a length.Paul Weekes, who has on the verge of leaving Middlesex midway through the summer, hit his first century of the season as they recovered from a difficult position against Yorkshire at Scarborough. Weekes arrived with Middlesex 115 for 4 after Deon Kruis had taken the first four wickets and turned the innings around. He lost Scott Styris for 64 – the first success for Matthew Hoggard – but formed important stands with David Nash and Chad Keegan. Kruis picked up five, but Hoggard was restricted to two scalps on his return to county action.

Division Two

Northamptonshire are in a fine position after the opening day against Derbyshire at Derby. Matthew Nicholson led an impressive bowling performance with 4 for 12 and his first spell off six overs consisted entirely of maidens. At 79 for 2, Derbyshire had nearly weathered the early storm, but Nicholson removed Chris Taylor and the rest crumbled as Greg Smith and Ant Botha followed on the same score. Monty Panesar chipped in with two, including Travis Birt who top-scored with 63, and Ben Phillips wrapped up the innings. Chris Rogers led a positive start to the Northants innings and the deficit is already down to just 45.The Essex bowlers were put to the sword at New Road as three Worcestershire batsmen slammed centuries. Lou Vincent set the ball rolling with a 101-ball effort at the top of the order, adding 121 for the second wicket with Vikram Solanki. After Vincent fell to Alex Tudor, Solanki went to three figures from 163 balls, his fourth of the season, as he passed 1000 Championship runs for the summer. Graeme Hick then joined the part to grind Essex into the dirt as they conceded nearly five-an-over.Mark Butcher and Azhar Mahmood led a Surrey fightback at The Oval with a stand of 192 against Glamorgan. James Franklin took four wickets, including Mark Ramprakash for 77, and Surrey slipped to 198 for 5. However, Butcher and Mahmood counter-attacked with their fourth and first tons of the season respectively. Butcher took 153 balls and carried on past 150 as Surrey approached maximum batting points. Mahmood struck 15 boundaries before falling to David Harrison late in the day.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has declared day-night Test cricket “here to stay” after the conclusion of the inaugural floodlit match at Adelaide Oval, a popular success despite its meagre three-day running time.A crowd of 123,736 poured into the ground across those three days, and similarly strong television audiences made it a spectacle to delight broadcasters and administrators alike. But the verdict of the players was always going to be critical to the future of the concept, and in the glowing words of McCullum and his opposite number Steven Smith there was ample evidence that the game’s elite practitioners will be comfortable with doing this kind of thing more often.The only reservation raised by both McCullum and Smith was the amount of grass left on the Adelaide Oval pitch, which they agreed was the major factor in the game’s short time span. But they were equally adamant that players would be able to adapt with greater experience, with the added incentive now of having played a Test match in front of such a celebratory and voluminous gathering.”It’s a great concept,” McCullum said. “As pink ball cricket evolves as I am sure it will grow into a global game and I think we will see the pitches probably won’t have quite as much grass on it. The thing about day-night Test cricket is it is meant to allow Test match cricket to be played at night time, it is not meant to be to change how Test cricket should play.”There was a fraction too much grass on it, I think we saw under lights that the pink ball probably responded a little bit much, but I would say that because I am a batter. Overall it was a roaring success and 120,000 people over three days, people are voting with their feet and I think it’s here to stay, which is great.”In general, spectators would want see results in games. And will want to see captains start to try and force results. Sitting in changing room after hard fought Test win that’s what’s most memorable as a cricketer. Sometimes fighting draws are great and I think we’ll find captains will try and push home some advantage to get Test victories.”Smith was naturally relieved after seeing out a series victory over a fast-finishing New Zealand, and he had little hesitation in describing the contest as a “great” one. “The whole Test match was a great innovation, it was a great spectacle,” he said. “To get 120,000 people through the gates in three days is absolutely amazing. I thought it was a great spectacle and a great Test match.”It was a game that was dominated by the bowlers. New Zealand’s bowlers bowled just as well as ours. But it was one of those games – if you got yourself in you could still score runs, it just wasn’t to be this game for a lot of the batters, we got starts and couldn’t go on with it. I think the contest is there if you’re willing to have a game plan and bat some time you can certainly score runs.”Like McCullum, Smith noted the thick grass coverage presented for the pink ball, but was happy enough to live with that after finishing the match as a narrow winner. “I think the wicket here compared to the two Shield games that have been played on it and particularly the pink ball shield game we played, it looked like the grass was a bit more lively,” he said. “I think it was the same height as the grass in the Shield game but it was probably just a tad greener.”That created a little bit more movement for the bowlers and kept the ball together and swinging for a long period. But I think it was great to see something different, the first two Test matches were dominated by the bat, so it’s great to see something different and see the bowlers coming into their own.”

In a dramatic about-turn Marvan Atapattu, the former Sri Lanka captain, has been included in the Sri Lanka squad for the tour of Australia following a request made by the sports minister Gamini Lokuge.Atapattu will join the team as the fourth opener – alongside Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga and Michael Vandort – increasing the tour party to 17 players. Atapattu was originally selected in the squad on the belief that he met the national selection committee and thrashed out his problems. But Atapattu refused to attend as long as Ashantha de Mel was the chief selector.The matter was then taken up by Lokuge who summoned the national selectors and the hierarchy of Sri Lanka Cricket to sort out the issue. The outcome of the meeting was that the minister would speak to Atapattu and, if he was willing to tour Australia, he should be included in the team.Atapattu asked for time to make a decision on the offer and was abroad on an official assignment in Rome. On his return on Thursday he met Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Duleep Mendis and informed him that he was available for the tour to Australia. “I met Duleep and we spoke about the terms and conditions under which I will be playing. I was satisfied with them and I told him that I was available for Australia,” said Atapattu.Atapattu’s return to the national team marks the end of a six-month ordeal which began with the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean where he, although being a member of the team, was not selected to play in any of Sri Lanka’s 11 matches in the tournament. He was then overlooked for the one-day series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and when the selectors named him for the home Tests against Bangladesh, Atapattu pulled out saying that he was not mentally prepared to play Test cricket.Atapattu then wanted Sri Lanka Cricket to release him from his central contract and went onto play a season of league cricket in England with Lashings. He was subsequently left out of the inaugural World Twenty20 tournament and the recently concluded one-day series against England.”We would welcome Marvan into the team,” said captain Mahela Jayawardene. “He is experienced and has done so well for Sri Lanka that you always welcome a guy like that. It all depends on how keen and committed he is to the team. That is the most important thing.”Sri Lanka leave for Australia on Tuesday and the first Test starts at Brisbane on November 8.

Delaying the declarationSui Northern may have bossed the game, but an experienced captain like Mohammad Hafeez will regret not declaring earlier for so long. Batting first, they out on 511 in 150.1 overs against Habib Bank before being dismissed. Azhar Ali and Khurram Shehzad scored centuries – 118 and 133 respectively as they ground HBL’s bowlers down. Amad Butt did come away with a six-wicket haul, but not before bowling 38 overs and conceding 106 runs.In response, HBL were dismissed for 202 and asked to follow on. However, with bad light meaning several overs were lost, only 19 overs could be bowled in the second innings, with Ahmed Shehzad’s side at 67 for one when the match was called off. Given the extent of HBL’s dominance, they will be disappointed to kick off the Super Eight stage with a win.The two-day gameHave you ever heard of a contest where 167 runs were enough to secure an innings victory? Well, here’s one. On a pitch that seemed to have laid a particularly potent curse on all who batted upon it, WAPDA beat Khan Research Laboratories by an innings and seven runs in a game that lasted merely 120 overs. KRL were skittled out for 95 in their first innings, 40 of them coming from one man, Junaid Ali. WAPDA’s Waqas Maqsood registered the best figures of the tournament, taking nine wickets for 32.WAPDA appeared to have let KRL back into the contest with a fairly ordinary batting display of their own, getting dismissed for 167. More than half of those runs – 86 – came off the bat of No. 8 Khalid Usman as they opened up a 72-run lead. As it turned out, KRL’s second innings was even more listless than the first as they meekly surrendered for 65. Mohammad Asif took six wickets as WAPDA wrapped up a comfortable win.The Lahore DerbyLahore Whites and Lahore Blues played in the final of the recently concluded National T20 Cup, with the Blues coming out on top. They played each other again in the QeA’s Super 8 round, with the same outcome, the Blues sealing a 9-wicket win.They began sharply, bowling out Lahore Whites for 141, Aizaz Cheema and Bilawal Iqbal sharing 8 wickets between them. Their batsmen followed that up with a solid 281, with opener Tayyab Tahir and captain Saad Nasim scoring 83 runs each. Having opened up a 140 run lead, they proceed to clean up the Whites for 207, Cheema’s 7 wickets securing him an 11-wicket haul for the match. That left the Blues with the straightforward task of chasing 68 runs for a win, which they did in under 10 overs for the loss of just one wicket.Fawad watchFawad Alam stormed back to form, scoring 124 for Sui Southern. It was, albeit, an innings in vain as a second-innings collapse saw them slump to 149 runs.United Bank captained by Younis Khan, scored 252 in the first innings, with Shan Masood top scoring with 75. Saad Ali, who has been far and away the highest scorer in the tournament, also scored 52, while Ahmed Jamal’s 6 for 52 ensured UBL weren’t allowed to bat SSGC out of the game.While Alam’s century secured his side a 27-run lead, the innings of the round belonged to Umar Akmal, who once again demonstrated his seemingly boundless ability with the bat – if he is motivated enough. He smashed 148 in 166 deliveries, effectively batting SSGC out of the game as they declared at 328, setting SSGC a target of 302. SSGC never looked like escaping with a draw, let alone clinching victory, with no batsman scoring more than 27 (Alam managed 26) as they were bundled out for 152.

ScorecardWill Smith’s first limited overs century powered Durham to the top of the North Conference as they completed a 143-run demolition of Worcestershire. Smith’s hundred was followed by Dale Benkenstein’s impressive striking as the captain hit 94 from 66 balls.Smith and Benkenstein added 155 for the fourth wicket as Worcestershire’s attack were given a day to forget. Kabir Ali, especially, will want to put events behind him as the former England seamer went for 94 off his 10 overs. Doug Bollinger fared little better, also conceding over nine-an-over, and only Ray Price’s economical spell prevented even further carnage.Any chance of the visitors making an impact on their chase was blown away as they sank to 17 for 3. Ottis Gibson, who can still do a better job than some of the West Indians in the tour party, grabbed two as Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett were made to wait for the ball.The England pair failed to impress, bowling six overs each for a total of 73 runs and a wicket apiece. They were overshadowed at the end by Gareth Breese, who claimed his first one-day five-wicket haul to wrap up the massive win, with only Moeen Ali providing meaningful resistance with a career-best 86.