It was the first game in T20I cricket history that was left as a tie in the record books

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-2018Safyaan Sharif after claiming the final wicket•Getty Images

Paul Stirling made the most of a let-off on the second ball of the Ireland chase to break his own Ireland record for his side’s highest score in T20 internationals in a dramatic tie with Scotland at Deventer. It’s just the 10th tied result ever in the format, including tournament-matches decided later by a super over, and first since England tied Pakistan at Sharjah in November 2015. Interestingly, it was also the first game in T20I cricket that was left as a tie, and not decided by a super over or bowl out.Ireland needed seven off the final over with five wickets in hand and Kevin O’Brien well-set on 28, but Safyaan Sharif denied an Irish win against the odds by dismissing O’Brien off the first ball. Just four runs came off the next four balls to leave Ireland three to win off the final ball, but Stuart Thompson was able to scamper a two to long-on to level the scores.Stirling had yet to score in Ireland’s pursuit of Scotland’s 185 when he was spilled over the rope at deep square leg for six off the bowling of Sharif but went on to make a 27-ball half-century, his eighth in T20Is. The second life was reminiscent of his bruising half-century against Scotland in last year’s semi-final at the Desert T20 Challenge when Stirling was dropped in the first over of the match off Mark Watt.Just like in Dubai, Stirling punished Scotland for the error, bashing 81 off 41 balls. In the process, Stirling eclipsed the previous best for Ireland made by himself in the final of the 2012 World T20 Qualifier when he cracked 79 off 38 balls in a championship winning performance over Afghanistan. His innings ended 19 short of what would have been Ireland’s first T20I ton when he slashed left-arm spinner Hamza Tahir to short third man for Tahir’s maiden T20I wicket.By that stage, Ireland needed 60 off the final 6.2 overs with six wickets in hand. O’Brien replaced Stirling and kept the required run rate in check with three sixes in his knock to steer Ireland into the final over before falling with victory in sight.Scotland had raced to an impressive start behind captain Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey, who added 93 in eight overs. However, Ireland’s bowling unit did a spectacular job reeling them in over the final 12 overs during which Scotland scored at less than eight per over.Coetzer eventually fell at the end of the 14th over for a top-score of 54, but Scotland struggled to press on despite plenty of wickets in hand. Thompson produced a superb containing spell of 0 for 16 in three overs while Stirling also kept Scotland’s middle order from breaking away with 0 for 22 in three as Scotland failed to score a boundary in a six-over stretch from the 11th through the 16th.Scotland had a brief surge in the 19th when Barry McCarthy conceded 21 in a nine-ball over that began with a no-ball. Both the overstep and the ensuing free hit went for four as Scotland pressed on toward their second highest T20I total. But they stuttered once more at the finish as medium pacer Peter Chase conceded just six singles in the 20th over to a well-set Calum MacLeod (46 not out off 39 balls) and Richie Berrington. Chase’s death spell proved vital in the final result.Despite ICC playing conditions implemented in September 2017 calling for a super over to decide all ties in T20Is, no super over was played.

The day started off with Sri Lanka five wickets down in the second innings. It ended with Sri Lanka five wickets down in the fourth

Shashank Kishore and Sreshth Shah26-Jun-2018AFP

An inspired Jason Holder breathed fire to remove four Sri Lankan wickets late in the day as West Indies kept their hopes of a series win alive on a 20-wicket day in Bridgetown. These are the most wickets to have fallen in a single day of Test cricket in the Caribbean, surpassing the 18 that fell when England last toured here in 2015.Holder’s figures at stumps on the third day read 8-3-21-4 as Sri Lanka stumbled to 81 for 5 chasing 144 for a series-levelling victory in the third Test. The visitors could effectively be six down, with Kusal Perera in hospital for scans following a nasty injury while fielding earlier in the day. Official word on his availability is awaited.West Indies had grabbed a 50-run lead, that could have been much more if not for a shoddy drop down leg by wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich in the day’s first over, with Sri Lanka yet to add to their overnight 99 for 5. On 13 then, Dickwella went on to top-score with 42 in Sri Lanka’s 154 all out. Holder picked up three of the four wickets to fall, finishing with 4 for 19 off 16 overs.The game then galloped forward when Sri Lanka took just 31.2 overs to skittle West Indies for 93, the least overs they’ve taken to bowl out a Test side outside Asia. Kemar Roach’s adventurous 23 not out was the highest in a disastrous batting performance, with each of the top five recording single-digit scores. Suranga Lakmal, the captain, and Lahiru Kumara picked up three wickets apiece, Kumara easily the most impressive of the lot, troubling batsmen with genuine pace married with tremendous accuracy.Then under lights, Holder, Roach and Shannon Gabriel got the ball to hoop around, putting the batsmen through a searching examination. Sri Lanka’s hopes now hinge on Kusal Mendis, unbeaten on 25. He has allrounder Dilruwan Perera and the lower order for company.Danushka Gunathilaka and Mahela Udawatte opened the innings in Kusal’s absence, but were dismissed cheaply to expose a fragile middle order missing Dinesh Chandimal, who is sitting out because of a suspension. Udawatte’s horror international return after a 10-year gap continued when he was beaten for pace by a sharp inswinger from Roach to be lbw – his second duck and third single-digit score in four innings on tour. Gunathilaka, meanwhile, top-edged a pull to a back-pedalling Devendra Bishoo at mid-on off a steep Holder delivery.Dhananjaya de Silva was then put to severe test by an inspired Holder, who eventually had his wicket when the batsman shouldered arms to a ball coming inwards and saw his off stump flattened. So fired up was Holder that West Indies wasted a review to a caught behind appeal off Roshen Silva, but he wouldn’t last long, nicking to second slip in the same over to leave Sri Lanka in trouble at 50 for 4. That could have been 59 for 5 had Shai Hope, keeping in place of an injured Dowrich, held on to a one-handed chance offered by Kusal Mendis off Holder.At the start of West Indies’ innings, the home side’s hopes of building on a big lead suffered early setbacks when they slid to 13 for 3 at the end of the first session where eight wickets fell. Kraigg Brathwaite was snaffled at short leg by a rising Lakmal delivery, while Devon Smith and Hope were beaten on the inside edge by sharp inswingers. Dowrich and Holder briefly resisted to add 27, the highest partnership of West Indies’ second innings, before things unravelled. Eventually, Roach’s cameo took the lead well beyond 100, and gave them a respectable pink-ball target to bowl at.

The India A batsman admitted there was something wrong in his technique, but he had the backing of his coach Rahul Dravid

Deivarayan Muthu in Bengaluru05-Aug-2018Eighteen-year-old Prithvi Shaw’s method of driving through the off side defies the coaching manual. Instead of transferring his weight forward and meeting the pitch of the ball, he usually hangs back with his back leg often falling to the leg side. Karnataka veteran Vinay Kumar exploited this technical weakness when he had him caught at slips with an outswinger during his hat-trick in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Mumbai in Nagpur last year.In the Under-19 World Cup final against Australia at Mount Maunganui in February, Shaw kept reaching out for full away-swingers outside off. Seamer Zak Evans beat his outside edge twice before Shaw threw his hands in the corridor and squeezed two other balls to the off side in the second over of India’s chase of 217. After Evans threatened the outside edge, Will Sutherland found it with a perfectly pitched away-swinger. Shaw dragged his back leg down the leg side and his head fell over as he shaped to drive away from the body.Even on Sunday, when he was playing for India A against South Africa A at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Shaw was initially tentative outside off. A play and miss here. A stab past the slip cordon there. Seeing the hard, new ball move off the seam, Shaw then opted to shelve the drive in the early exchanges and later nailed them in the arc between point and mid-off once the ball became softer.”I think [in] the morning session that ball moves here. If you play [out] that first hour, it becomes easier and the ball comes on,” Shaw said after play on day two. “Taking the morning session out [is important] and the scoreboard kept moving.”Shaw admitted that he was working on maintaining a stable base, particularly while driving the ball, but wasn’t too bothered with his back leg collapsing down the leg side.”In the practice sessions, I tried to get the back foot across [and not down leg] but it’s not happening,” Shaw said. “But Rahul [Dravid] sir said, ‘it’s fine if you’re doing that and you’re scoring runs’. It’s not affecting me while scoring runs. I know it’s a mistake but I am still comfortable with my batting.”The drives weren’t perfect but they were easy on the eye, leaving a sparse Sunday crowd in Bengaluru chanting “Prithvi! Prithvi! Prithvi!” and the South Africans scratching their heads. Duanne Olivier, Beuran Hendricks, Malusi Siboto, Shaun von Berg, Dane Piedt and Senuran Muthusamy were all crunched through the covers. Just when Shaw seemed set for much more, he misread the turn of an offbreak from Piedt and was bowled through the gate for 136 off 196 balls.However, his senior opening partner, Mayank Agarwal, who is likely to be in contention for national selection alongside Shaw, kicked on to an unbeaten double-century on the second day. This follows a record domestic season in 2017-18, in which he tallied 2141 runs for Karnataka, and a productive maiden stint with India A in England, where he cracked three hundreds in the team’s run to the one-day tri-series crown.”Me and Mayank have a good understanding while batting,” Shaw said. “We’ve now played a lot together in the India A series in England and we’re continuing it here. It’s (the success) because of how we talk on the field while batting and whenever he does some mistake, I’ll be the one who tells him that. It’s very important when he have an understanding and to know how to build an innings. This is what kept us going today. Mayank’s double-hundred is a great knock and I think this is the best I’ve seen him bat. He is still going on and I want him to make a bigger score tomorrow.”Shaw gushed when asked about sharing the dressing room with M Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane in the four-dayer against England Lions in Worcester last month. Is he closer to sharing the dressing room with them in the national side? For a definitive answer, you needed to be a fly on the wall when his coach Dravid and chief selector MSK Prasad were chatting after an utterly dominant batting day.

The allrounder wants to be allowed to develop into his own style of player without comparisons to the past

Nagraj Gollapudi at Trent Bridge19-Aug-20180:47

‘Let me be Hardik Pandya, I’m good at being Hardik Pandya’

Hardik Pandya wants to be Hardik Pandya. He wants to stop being compared to the India’s greatest allrounder, Kapil Dev.Pandya took his maiden five-wicket haul within 29 balls on the second day at Trent Bridge, breaking England’s spine as they conceded 168-run lead, which was extended to 292 by the close with India having eight wickets in hand. Pandya is now the second-highest wicket-taker for India with eight and has the best average.Ever since Pandya smashed a 50 on debut and then made a century in his third Test during last year’s tour of Sri Lanka, the question has been asked if he can perform the role that Kapil did for India for about 15 years.Last week, the former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding told ESPNcricinfo that Pandya is not yet completely performing his role as a bowling allrounder convincingly. Holding had heard Pandya was being compared to Kapil during the South African Test series this January. Based on his own observation Holding said Pandya was “nowhere near” Kapil and India needed to find “somebody” who could contribute more.After his performance on Sunday, which turned the match firmly in India’s favour, Pandya said he is tired of the comparison and wants to put a stop on the talk.”The problem with this is you compare yes, but all of a sudden something goes wrong and they are like he is not that [Kapil Dev],” Pandya said. “I have never wanted to be Kapil Dev. Let me be Hardik Pandya. I am good at being Hardik Pandya, reached here till now, I have played 40 ODIs and now 10 Test matches being Hardik Pandya, not Kapil Dev. They are great in their era. Let me be Hardik Pandya. Stop comparing me with anyone. I will be happy if you don’t.”Talking to former England captain Nasser Hussain on Pandya said he does not care what the critics think. “For sure not. I will simply say one thing. Let’s not worry about me. I know what I am exactly doing. My team backs me. That’s what matters. And to be honest I don’t care what people say.”Pandya told Sky Sports the focus of the bowling group in the second session was to bowl full. “I tried to swing the ball and if you try to swing the ball you go little full. You tend to get driven. I am not afraid of getting driven because if the wickets come runs does not matter.”Pandya added that he did not want the batsmen to read him and one way to do that was to vary his release points, bowl from different parts of the popping crease, use the seam in different angles and create doubts in the their mind.”I feel that if I keep on bowling the same way they might get used to it,” he said. “So I always focus on using the crease or even the line where I am bowling because it is very important, it makes a huge difference. If I go wide and I bowl the same ball the batsman thinks it is coming in with the angle, but if goes out you get the opportunity of getting him out.”In the later press conference, Pandya revealed Ishant Sharma had jokingly told him to talk about his role in the five-for. Jokes apart, Pandya acknowledged Ishant did play a “big role”. Having played against most of the England batsmen in international and county cricket, Ishant has the knowledge of their weaknesses which he shared with Pandya.”Ishy [Ishant] was telling me the same thing: don’t go for the wickets, if you keep bowling at the rights areas, you have the talent to get them. That’s the same thing I tell him and same thing which we tell other bowlers. Keep it tight, let’s see what they do, let’s check their patience and once again we saw the result what happens.”Last year, in Pallekele, Pandya raised his bat to celebrate his maiden Test century. Today, in Nottingham, he flashed the ball to relish the maiden five-wicket haul. Which did he enjoy more? “I am happier with taking five-wicket haul than scoring a hundred. I have taken very few five-wicket hauls, I think this is the second of my life. and it has come at a very important place so I am very happy.”

A fifty on debut is just the start for India’s new batsman after contributing to his team’s third-day fightback

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval09-Sep-20182:28

Panesar: Vihari the find of the tour for India

Late on Saturday, when Hanuma Vihari walked down the steps from the dressing room onto the field, he had to stand a few minutes on his own while his captain skirted off for a toilet break. India had lost the quick wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to slip to 103 for 4, and though Virat Kohli was going strong, he was annoyed at the mistakes of all his top-order batsman.Vihari was quiet, but nervous. Kohli soon returned and patted him on his shoulder to wish him luck as the debutant prepared to face his first ball in international cricket.Vihari would have wanted to walk in at a better time. Whatever thoughts were crowding in his mind, he had to banish them as that first ball in Test cricket was due to be bowled by James Anderson, a man who had been piqued by umpire Kumar Dharmasena after his refusal of a close call for lbw against Kohli.Anderson bowled full and swung it away. Vihari leaned forward and dead-batted it. In that first stroke, Vihari showed his willingness to play the ball and not get hindered by doubts. His journey in international cricket had begun.He might have been shaky and nervous on that initial evening, but this morning Vihari was far more composed and confident in his defence and strokeplay. His head had been falling away yesterday and he was vulnerable against the inswinging ball. But today he looked far more balanced and would go to crack a half-century in his maiden Test innings and emulate a pair of former Indian captains, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, the last two men to have achieved a similar feat in their first innings in England.Crucially, his 77-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Ravindra Jadeja, the highest by India’s lower order in this Test series, brought India back in the final Test.Below, Vihari describes in his own words his journey into Test cricket:On his nervous beginning

Initially I felt the pressure, to be honest. Going in yesterday, cloudy conditions and Stuart Broad and (James) Anderson bowling at you. I had nerves. With that, I wasn’t good with my decision-making. But having Virat at the other made my job a little easier, I guess. His inputs helped me initially. He’s been playing very confidently throughout the series and he’s confidence boosted me at the other end. I will give a lot of credit to him for helping me out yesterday initially. But once I settled down, the wicket was very good to bat on, especially with the medium-pacers. It got a lot slower yesterday.On his early difficulties against the inswinger

Nerves make you do unusual things. If I don’t have any pressure on me, if I settle down nicely, I don’t think any ball will cause me trouble. Yesterday, I definitely had problems facing the incoming delivery but Virat gave me some cues so that I could play it comfortably. I tried doing that yesterday. And even this morning, I tried to negate that inswinging ball, especially
from Broad. I did it more comfortably than in the initial stages.On learning that he was about to make his Test debut

I got to know the day before the match. Obviously, I was very thrilled. Because that was my dream, growing up playing cricket. I first informed my family about it and they were very, very happy as well. Getting a fifty on debut is just the start.On India A coach Dravid’s influence
I called him [Dravid] the day before I made my debut and told him I was making my debut. He spoke to me for a couple of minutes and gave his inputs and I thought it eased my nerves a little bit, because it is coming from a legend and you know that you belong here. He just told me that you have the skillset, you have the mindset and the temperament, just go out there and enjoy yourself. I would like to give him a lot of credit for that because my journey with India A was very important for me to come here, because not only that I performed there, but the way he gave us inputs, that made me a better player.

The adverse effect the pink ball and the dew have on Yasir Shah’s bowling and Pakistan’s iffy results in day-night Tests have led to the move

Osman Samiuddin09-Oct-2018Pakistan chose not to schedule a day-night Test this season because they felt it would hamper their side’s chances against Australia and New Zealand.This is the first season in three that the PCB, hitherto a keen proponent of the concept, has not staged a day-night Test in Dubai. Indifferent results in the two previous Tests prompted the team management to tell the board to opt against one this time round.Pakistan won the first Test against West Indies two years ago, but only after a massive scare in the second half of a game they had initially dominated. Their batsmen first collapsed under lights to Devendra Bishoo’s legspin, and then their bowlers struggled to defend 346 in the fourth innings. Last year they lost to Sri Lanka, when their batsmen failed to make over 262 in either innings.More than the batting, however, the team was concerned about the blunting of their main weapon Yasir Shah, through a combination of dew, the pink ball becoming soft quickly and the pitch not breaking up as much as expected.Though Yasir has taken 15 wickets in the two day-night Tests, they have come at a higher cost compared to wickets in daytime UAE Tests – 31.00 against 24.75. More critical is the rate at which they have come, a strike rate of 60.7 in the two day-night games as opposed to 51.5 in day Tests.The board is understood to have canvassed the team as both the PCB and Cricket Australia have pushed the concept of day-night Tests. But based on those on-field concerns, the PCB decided not to pursue the option.That goes against the grain of most missed chances to play day-night Tests. Generally it is the touring side that has turned down the opportunity to play – and mostly on the basis that they would be unfamiliar, and so uncomfortable, with the conditions. Sri Lanka turned Pakistan down once in 2013, while India and Bangladesh have also refused to play day-night Tests on away tours.It didn’t help that, unlike the rest of the world, a day-night Test makes little difference to attendances in the UAE. Neither the West Indies Test nor the one last year against Sri Lanka attracted a noticeably bigger crowd.As has become the norm for Pakistan’s UAE Tests, the ongoing Test has been played out in front of virtually empty stands, enlivened only in pockets by groups of schoolchildren. Free entry for the Tests hasn’t made a difference, though the fact that it is the case is because the PCB, for the first time since 2009, has negotiated a deal whereby it doesn’t pay a hosting fee for a Test. Usually the PCB would pay approximately USD 35,000 plus expenses per Test as a separate cost in the UAE, something it has avoided this season when they play five Tests there.The fact that the Test began on a Sunday – the start of the UAE working week – is unlikely to have adversely affected that aspect. Sunday starts for Tests are not unusual in any case: the West Indies Test in Sharjah in 2016-17, the England Test at the same venue the year before and the Test against New Zealand in 2014 in Abu Dhabi all began on Sundays. The compressed nature of this tour and season has played some part in this game beginning on Sunday.According to one board official, the PCB wanted to have a schedule whereby as many of the limited-overs games take place on weekends, though ultimately, of the three T20Is Australia play here, only one is on a weekend. And only two of the six limited-overs games New Zealand play here take place on a weekend.

Brendon McCullum has left Lahore Qalandars ahead of the fourth edition of the PSL, while Lahore have agreed a double swap with Quetta

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2018Lahore Qalandars will need to appoint a new captain, after Brendon McCullum parted ways with the franchise.”A big thank you to Lahore Qalandars for the past 2 seasons,” McCullum tweeted on Saturday. “Today we have parted ways but I leave with fond memories and friendships. I wish you all the best in the future. To the Rana family, a special thank you. Our friendship will always remain.”Earlier this year, McCullum had offered to “offload” his captaincy in a bid to change the fortunes of the side, which had lost six straight matches last season and finished at the bottom for the third consecutive year.McCullum moves back into the draft and snapping him up will require franchises to use their Platinum pick. The former New Zealand international was himself signed by Lahore in this manner two years ago for the second season, when finishing bottom in the first year gave them first pick in the draft. He served as captain of the Lahore for both seasons, but failed to turn their fortunes around.McCullum’s departure was just one among a number of high-profile exits for the beleaguered franchise, which is looking to stay off the bottom for the first time in the PSL’s history. Sunil Narine and Umar Akmal have been traded by Lahore to Quetta Gladiators in a deal that sees Rahat Ali and former Under-19 captain Hassan Khan move the other way, into the Lahore franchise.Lahore’s chief operating officer Sameer Rana, said: “On behalf of the Lahore Qalandars management and fans, we would like to thank Sunil and Umar for their services to the team. They added tremendous value to the Qalandars and I wish them well on this next chapter in their PSL careers. We are very excited to welcome Rahat Ali and Hassan Khan to the Qalandars family. Rahat showed what he is capable of with the ball in this format with his excellent bowling last year and Hassan has impressed everyone with his determination and calmness on the field.”Quetta owner Nadeem Omar called Narine and Umar “world-class additions to the Gladiators’ squad”. He was particularly effusive in his praise for the West Indies offspinner, whom he labelled a “magician with the ball and one of the best match-winners in T20 cricket”.The swap deal between Lahore and Quetta also means the former will take Quetta’s Platinum pick in the first round, while Quetta get Lahore’s Silver pick in the second round.

They qualified on the virtue of finishing higher than Paarl Rocks on the points table

The Report by Liam Brickhill14-Dec-2018A summer downpour sent Jozi Stars into the final of the inaugural Mzansi Super League, heavy rain washing out the play-off eliminator against Paarl Rocks at the Wanderers.The weather was starting to close in even as the captains met in the middle for the toss half an hour before play, with Rocks captain Faf du Plessis calling correctly and opting to field. The players never left the dugout, however, with the covers coming out straight after the toss. When it was still raining heavily at 8.30pm, the game was officially called off.There was no reserve day, and according to the league’s playing conditions in the event of insufficient playing time being available to achieve a result, Stars went through to the final on the basis of their better final log position as they finished in second position with 29 points.They will meet Cape Town Blitz in the final on Sunday at Newlands, where the weather should be set fair. In the event of inclement weather in the final, there will be a reserve day, as well as two hours of additional playing time allocated on both the match day and the reserve day. An additional 20 minutes is permissible for a Super Over to take place which is inclusive of the 10 minutes changeover period after the match.

Windies batsman delighted to deliver a matchwinning hundred at last

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur11-Dec-2018Shai Hope, five runs short of his third ODI hundred but with his side in deep trouble at 185 for 6, told Keemo Paul to hang in there with him.Paul arrived at the crease with West Indies needing 71 runs in the last eleven overs. Hope had just lost the side’s other recognised batsman, Roston Chase, at the other end. Bangladesh’s bowlers had their tail up, but Hope, unsurprisingly, never gave up hope.There was reason to believe, too. Paul’s big-hitting 36 in the first ODI had helped West Indies avoid a really low score, and his reputation as a helpful tail-ender was enough for Hope to cling to. He delivered, despite two dropped catches in the deep leg-side field, with a crucial unbeaten 18 that ensured Hope didn’t have to worry too much even as he went after Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain in the 48th and 49th overs.”[The plan] was just to bat as deep as possible,” Hope said. “We know Keemo has very good batting ability. I had full confidence in him. We just tried to rotate as best as possible. We knew the wicket was a bit difficult to come in and strike from ball one, so he played a very crucial hand here to go over the line.”But the evening belonged to Hope, who was adjudged player of the match for an unbeaten 148 that contained 12 fours and three sixes. Despite spending most of the innings running hard for the 106 singles and 18 twos, it was his first and third six that had stirred West Indies to life.The first came in the ninth over when, after Chandrapaul Hemraj’s early dismissal, West Indies’ scoring rate was dipping, just like it had in all their previous matches on this tour when they had lost an early wicket.Hope drove Mustafizur over long-off, which helped his second-wicket stand with Darren Bravo to pick up the pace. By the time he had to find his third six, West Indies desperately needed some renewed impetus with 32 needed off the last three overs. With Rubel coming around the wicket, he took his front foot out of the way and slammed him straight into the sightscreens.Hope then struck Mustafizur for three fours in the penultimate over, bringing down one of the best death-over bowlers in world cricket.
Afterwards, he admitted it was a happy moment for him to score, at last, an ODI hundred in a match-winning effort for West Indies.”It must be above the other two, because we tied those games. I am just pleased to get over the line. It is great to score a hundred but there’s more joy if you can get over the line as a team.”I just believed regardless of what was happening. We are here to play cricket, compete and win. It is only a matter of time before we get over the line,” he said.Hope said that he grabbed the opportunity to bat the entire length of the innings, but had to adapt to Bangladesh’s spin threat as well as Mustafizur’s cutters towards the end of the innings.”It was about pacing the innings. I knew that someone had to bat deep. I got the opportunity to start at the top of the order. I had all 50 overs. We knew that they will throw spin at us in the first 10 overs of the game. We came with a different plan and it came off this time.”When the bowlers took some pace off, it was a lot more difficult to get bat on ball, especially against Fizz. His offcutters were quite difficult to get away in the crucial stage. The wicket wasn’t the best for strokeplay but it was much better than the last game.”

The captain himself failed to deliver in Australia and could only pick out Sri Lanka’s slip catching as the single positive from two heavy defeats

Melinda Farrell in Canberra04-Feb-2019Dinesh Chandimal, the Sri Lanka captain, has urged his players to work harder during the next leg of their three-country tour in South Africa. He could only name a single positive – slip fielding – in their performances against Australia after losing the second Test by 366 runs.The two Test defeats in Australia follow a 1-0 loss to New Zealand in a two-Test series and defeats in all four limited-overs matches on that tour. While Sri Lanka have been plagued by an injury list that includes Angelo Mathews and four of their first choice fast bowlers, Chandimal admitted to concerns about the form of the batsmen.Sri Lanka must now regroup for their stint in South Africa, which comprises two Tests, five ODIs and three T20s.”We were outplayed as a team in all three departments,” said Chandimal. “Credit goes to Australia, they have played some outstanding cricket throughout the series. They deserved to win like this.”We just need to work harder than what we are doing. It’s always tough playing in Australia against a good bowling attack but we all know before we come here it’s always challenging. As a batting unit we have to step up. That’s the one area we have concern. I’m sure the boys will come good in South Africa.”The only positive is the slip catching for our fast bowlers and that’s one positive we can take from this series. I don’t want to talk about the negatives and sure the boys we can learn from it and come good in South Africa.”Chandimal has had a challenging tour personally with scores of 5, 0, 15 and 4. But he remains optimistic that hard work will pay off in South Africa, despite being disappointed by his own form in Australia.”Really disappointed,” said Chandimal. “But I work hard in the nets and I work hard on my game and I work hard on my game plans but I couldn’t get what we want. It is tough and I always putting my heart and soul when the practices come. I’m sure it will come in South Africa.”This is our transition period and now as a team and players we have to step up. In our young group [only] some of the players have played more than 30 Test matches so they are still young and in the international arena are really experienced. Now this is the time to face your game and play for your team. We couldn’t get the best combination because of the injuries.”While Sri Lanka have had to deal with a swag of injuries, including two of their batsmen – Kusal Perera and Dimuth Karunaratne – retiring hurt after being struck by bouncers in Canberra, there have also been off-field rumblings in the form of a public spat between ODI allrounder, Thisera Perera and the wife of ODI captain Lasith Malinga. In addition the coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, was dumped as an on-tour selector before the second Test. Chandimal backed the team management’s handling of the situations.”They put their heart and soul and they give good advice,” he said. “You can’t control what happens back home and just control what you can control. That’s one area we are focusing on as a team.”