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Sri Lanka captain also explains why they’ve been hard to come by

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Sep-2024It’s the batters, batters, batters. Right through the series, Sri Lanka have emphasised that it was their batting order that was letting the side down. Four innings in, with Sri Lanka never having got close to 350, with none of their top seven having got to triple-figures, captain Dhananjaya de Silva has reiterated the importance of top order runs again.In the first Test, Sri Lanka were 72 for 5 in the first innings. In the second Test, they were 83 for 5 in the first innings. Here’s where de Silva believes they lost.”Our batters have to score runs, and that’s the biggest issue we’ve had, ” he said. “Those who got starts didn’t turn them into hundreds and 150s. If you look at Joe Root on their side, he’s consistently made runs and it’s around him that others made runs. That’s what someone on our side needs to do as well, so we can get to 300 or 350. First-innings runs are what’s crucial to victory.”Related

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The only Sri Lanka batter to make serious runs on tour has been Kamindu Mendis, who batting at No. 7 has made scores of 113 in Manchester and 74 at Lord’s. He arrives at his sixth Test with a batting average of 78.87, having made six fifty-plus scores in nine innings, and having gone onto triple-figures on three of those occasions.Sri Lanka would have been tempted to shunt him up the order for this match, given not only his form, but the fact that he bats in the top and middle order frequently for domestic sides. But they will leave him where he is, for now, de Silva said.”I think if Kamindu plays well down there there’s no reason to change what he’s doing and put him in trouble. If he’s scoring there, it’s good for his career as well. In the future, maybe we will talk to him, about his plans as well and see what changes we can make. But right now we’re thinking of him as a No. 7.”The remainder of the batting order, even those on their third tour of England, have struggled badly against England’s seamers meanwhile. A lot of this has to do with their discipline, de Silva said.”They [England] have a lot of control in addition to their experience. They have great control of line and length and we don’t get many loose balls in England. We need to be prepared for that and our plans have to take that into account. That’s just what you get in England. In the two previous matches they didn’t let us execute our plans. That’s why they were successful.”Root, who has made 350 runs in four innings so far in the series, has also helped pound Sri Lanka to a 2-0 scoreline. Earlier this week, Dimuth Karunaratne spoke about Sri Lanka needing to go back to square one with their planning for him. De Silva hopes they’ve now got something together that will surprise Root, at the very least.”It’s not that our plans against him didn’t work – he just very quickly recognised what we were trying to do and countered it. That’s what world class players do, and that’s why he scored runs. We’ve hopefully come up with something now that he won’t expect.”

Elsewhere, Surrey confirm Kemar Roach’s return for opening months of Championship season

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2024Australia batter Cameron Bancroft will return to Gloucestershire this year after signing a deal to represent the club across formats in the 2024 season.Bancroft was recently overlooked by Australia’s selectors for the Test opening spot vacated by David Warner, but has been prolific for Western Australia in the last two Sheffield Shield seasons. He was named men’s domestic player of the year at the Australian Cricket Awards earlier this week.He previously played for Gloucestershire in 2016 and 2017, and also played county cricket for Durham (2021) and Somerset (2023). “I’m absolutely delighted to sign with Gloucestershire and to have the chance to return to the club where I started my county career,” Bancroft said.He will link up with the club in April and be available for the majority of the summer. “I love playing county cricket and the opportunity to play all formats with the club is something I’m really excited about,” he said. “With a new coach and a really talented playing group, I’m looking forward to the season ahead.”Gloucestershire are in a transitional period after losing senior players Ryan Higgins (Middlesex) and Benny Howell (Hampshire) last season. They were winless in the County Championship last year, finishing bottom of Division Two, and failed to qualify for the T20 Blast knockout stages and were losing semi-finalists in the Metro Bank Cup.On Thursday, they unveiled Mark Alleyne as their new coach after Dale Benkenstein left for Lancashire. “I’m really excited to have someone of Cameron’s ability and experience on board for the season to come,” Alleyne said. “We already have an exciting group of players here so to add to that with a player of international calibre in Cameron, it’s fantastic for me as a coach to have such depth in the squad.”Meanwhile, Surrey have confirmed that Kemar Roach will re-join the club for the first seven matches of the Championship season. “Everyone knows that Surrey is a second home for me, and I love coming to London to play at one of the best grounds in the world,” he said.”The Club’s ambitions in the red-ball game are a big draw for me and I want to play my role in winning another County Championship trophy. I cannot wait to start my fourth season with Surrey.”

Chief executive Nick Hockley indicated they were keen to enable sanctions to be reviewed “for good behaviour and growth”

AAP13-Oct-2022Cricket Australia is contemplating lifting David Warner’s lifetime leadership ban as soon as Friday, with directors looking at rewriting the organisation’s code of ethics.Warner has had a leadership ban hanging over his head since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, with him keen to have the punishment reversed. The 35-year-old has been mentioned as a candidate for Australia’s vacant one-day captaincy, but cannot fulfil the role under his sanctions.Under current rules players who accept a sanction under the code of ethics waive their right to have the matter reviewed.It means CA’s code would need to be rewritten for Warner’s ban to be reviewed, something directors will discuss at Friday’s board meeting in Hobart.Related

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“The view within Cricket Australia is that David is doing particularly well on the field and making a great contribution off the field,” chairman Lachlan Henderson said.  “The first step in terms of David’s leadership ban is to review the code and see if those sanctions are able to be reviewed. And the appropriate revisions to that code that would need to be made.”Henderson said the code would be rewritten if deemed necessary before a call on the one-day captaincy is made.”Our intention is to review the code as quick as is practical. It’s not in anyone’s interest for us to delay that,” Henderson said. “It would be in time for any future leadership conversations in relation to David.”There are however hurdles to clear. CA is wary any change made to the code in consultation with ethics commissioner Simon Longstaff could have implications on matters beyond Warner.At the same time, CEO Nick Hockley stressed players had a right to show they had changed since the point of being handed a lifetime ban.”In very simple terms, we are looking at sanctions to be reviewed for good behaviour and growth after a period of time,” Hockley said. “Pending tomorrow’s discussion, there would then need to be a revision of the code and that would need to be approved by the board.”The pair’s comments came after CA reported a $5.1 million loss for the 2021-22 financial year at Thursday’s AGM.CA largely blamed the loss on challenges presented by the pandemic, as well as a drop in media rights from the UK for last summer’s Ashes.Former women’s quick Clea Smith was also unanimously voted onto the CA board as the sole former player serving as director, after Mel Jones’ decision to exit.Smith has previously held roles at the Australian Cricketers’ Association and was influential in the parental leave policy being introduced in 2019.Former Cricket Victoria chair David Maddocks was also voted in as a replacement for the outgoing Michelle Tredenick.Meanwhile CA remain undecided whether to lift a ban on playing Afghanistan in bilateral matches before a three-match ODI series early next year.Australia refused to host the country while under Taliban rule last summer, but have agreed to face off against them in the men’s T20 World Cup on November 4 as it is an ICC event.

Glamorgan keep knockout hopes alive with win over in-form Hants

ECB Reporters Network19-Aug-2022Glamorgan produced a huge upset, easing themselves to a shock victory over Hampshire thanks to a brutal maiden first-class century from 22-year-old Tom Bevan that eased the reigning Royal London One-Day Cup champions to a seven-wicket victory over Group B leaders Hampshire at The Gnoll, Neath.Bevan reached his century off 88 balls and smashed eight sixes on his way to 134 as he guided Glamorgan to their 229-run target. “I’ve been involved with the club for a long time and it’s a very special feeling,” he said. “I went away to University at Cardiff Met, which was a massive step for me. I went to Cape Town after that and I have always been happy just to be playing and taking all the opportunities that come my way. My dad has been a massive help for me: even when I’ve not been scoring runs, he’s always willing to throw balls for me.”Having put into bat, Hampshire were on the back foot from the start and struggled to set up a defendable target, limping to 228 for 9 despite a knock of 93 from skipper and opener Nick Gubbins. While he hung around before being the seventh wicket to fall, Hampshire lost five wickets before they reached three figures.His sixth wicket partnership with Ian Holland (63*) put on 72, but that was the best Hampshire had to offer. They then looked shell shocked in the field during Bevan’s onslaught.As their bowlers struggled to find their lengths they were duly taken down by Cardiff-born Bevan and Colin Ingram. They put on 203 for the second wicket to turn the run chase into a stroll as Glamorgan won with 110 balls remaining.Related

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Glamorgan took control early on, after winning the toss and sending Hampshire in to bat. Hampshire found themselves in a bit of trouble at 99 for 5. Only Gubbins looked to get the better of the conditions as the visitors struggled on a tricky pitch.After a quiet period between overs 20 and 30, with only 29 runs scored, Hampshire started to rebuild their innings and began to up the rate, playing with a lot more positive intent. Gubbins looked at his fluent best, playing some stylish shots, before reaching his half century from 72 balls.The Hampshire opener continued to find runs at a healthy rate throughout his innings, on his way to 93, but fell soon after, taking on Carlson’s off break with a lofted shot straight to Billy Root on the boundary.Hampshire continued to attack, upping the rate in the final 10 overs. Ian Holland, fresh off international duty, got to his half century off 52 balls. Glamorgan’s bowling and fielding had lost all its shape in the later stages and Hampshire got to 228 for 8.Hampshire had all the momentum heading into the innings break but they struggled to put Glamorgan under any real pressure, defending an under-par score.Despite the loss of Chris Cooke for nought early on, Glamorgan never really looked in trouble with Bevan smashing the ball all around the ground. The combination of Bevan and Ingram racked up that double century partnership.Bevan was eventually out for a magnificent 134, not before essentially winning the game for Glamorgan. Billy Root joined Ingram at the crease and the pair eased the home side to a shock victory over a very strong Hampshire side.

Opener hints he might stay for another Ashes tour while also targeting victory in India

Alex Malcolm29-Dec-2021Australia opener David Warner has hinted that he might want another crack at winning an Ashes series in England in 2023.Warner turned 35 in October during the T20 World Cup when he was player of the tournament in Australia’s triumph and he will be nearing 37 by the time the next away series against England rolls around.But after Australia wrapped up the home Ashes series 3-0 inside 12 days at the MCG yesterday, Warner suggested there were still a few things he would like to accomplish before he stops playing Test cricket.”We still haven’t beaten India in India,” Warner said. “That would be nice to do. And obviously, England away, we had a drawn series [in 2019], but hopefully, if I managed to get that chance and opportunity, I might think about going back.”Warner has played 13 Tests across three series in England and eight Tests in two trips to India but Australia have lost four of those five series and Warner has lean records in both nations, averaging 26 and 24 respectively without a century, something that he would clearly like to rectify.He sees age as no barrier having silenced his doubters following sterling performances across the T20 World Cup and the first three Tests of this series.”I think James Anderson sets the benchmark for older guys these days,” Warner said. “We look up to him as we’re getting on in our days. But for me, it’s about performing to the best of my ability and putting runs on the board. In the first two Tests, I actually look like a proper batsman, it’s almost like I’ve played my career the other way and had to knuckle down and respect the bowling and the line and lengths that they were bowling and obviously, the hundred eluded me.”I feel in good touch. As I said, I was out of runs not out of form, so hopefully, I can put some more numbers on the board leading into this new year.”Related

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Warner made it clear that Australia aren’t satisfied with just securing the Ashes at home. The team is already looking forward to upcoming tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka which will be vital in their quest to reach the next World Championship final, an opportunity they missed earlier this year after last summer’s defeat to India at home.”Those [tours] will really show where we are as a team and our character,” Warner said. “When you go to the subcontinent, you potentially could play two spinners. And then the selectors look at the batting line-ups with who they feel is probably going to be better on the subcontinent wickets and who’s not. There are going to be some brave decisions being made. But we’re looking forward to that.”Warner was pleased to see his opening partner Marcus Harris amongst the runs in Melbourne after a lean start to the series and the pair are determined to forge a strong partnership together.”Awesome to see Harry score some runs,” Warner said. “He is a tough tenacious fella. We gel well together when we’re out there. Obviously, a minor hiccup last game but that’s what happens in cricket can happen. His courage to keep fighting and working ways out to score runs when bowlers are bowling these good lines and lengths, he fought it out well. I’m really, really pleased for him.”When he’s looking to score and I’m looking to score, I think our defence takes care of itself and we’ll be in and amongst the runs in the next two Tests.”

Broad warns there will be no respite in England’s attempt to discomfort Smith on his return

George Dobell in Manchester02-Sep-2019Stuart Broad is excited to see the resumption of the “awesome” competition between Steve Smith and Jofra Archer when the Ashes resumes in Manchester on Wednesday.While Broad welcomed the return of Smith after the worrying injury he sustained at Lord’s, he warned that Test cricket was a “brutal sport” and there would be no respite in England’s attempt to discomfort him.Smith was obliged to miss the Leeds Test after sustaining a delayed concussion injury when hit on the neck by an Archer bouncer at Lord’s. While Smith resumed his innings after a short period off the pitch, he appeared somewhat skittish and soon fell leg before having left a straight ball. Underlining his confused state, he called for a review of the decision but then walked off before it was confirmed.Also read: ‘We felt a bit like we got the Ashes stolen’ – LangerBut while some have suggested he may be somewhat nervous when facing Archer, Smith has pointed out that the bowler has not actually dismissed him in the series. All of which has left Broad looking forward to another gripping passage of play between the pair.”Firstly, it’s great that Steve is ok and coming back into Test cricket,” Broad said. “No one wants to see anyone miss cricket through a head injury. It was a nasty hit. It’s great to have him back.”But Test cricket is a brutal sport. Sides go hell for leather against each other. So I’m sure that, when Steve comes in, Jofra will be in Joe Root’s ear wanting the ball. And I’ll be excited when he does.”It was a really tasty bit of cricket at Lord’s. Smith was on 70 or 80 and playing beautifully, but suddenly Jofra went from bowling 84mph to bowling 95mph. He was really charging in. That’s the intensity – the theatre – Test cricket brings.”That sort of cricket is awesome to watch on the telly or from the stands but when you’re stood at mid-on it’s pretty special. Hopefully we can have a battle like that again.”The dream is someone nicks him off first ball and Jofra doesn’t get to bowl at him. But Smith does average 60-something. So there will probably be a period in this game where those two come together again and, touch wood, I’m on the pitch to view it.”Jofra Archer bowls during a net session at Old Trafford•PA Images via Getty Images

Broad has had his own experience of trouble against the short ball. He was memorably struck in the eye while batting against India at Old Trafford, the scene of this week’s Test, in 2014. Top-edging his attempted pull off Varun Aaron, he sustained a badly broken nose and admitted he suffered nightmares as a consequence. He used psychologists to help recover but, before the injury, he averaged 23.95 with the bat in Test cricket with one century and 10 half-centuries. Since then, he has averaged 13.18 with just two half-centuries.While he believes Smith is unlikely to suffer such extreme consequences, it has left Broad grateful for the improved protection offered by modern helmets.”Smith has a bit more skill than me with the bat so it probably won’t affect him,” Broad said. “I don’t think I’ve ever played in a series where so many people have even hit in the head. I can’t even describe why. Obviously both sets of fast bowlers are bowling well and looking in good rhythm. The pitches have maybe played slightly untrue and a bit two-paced: one will skid through and one will slow down. It feels like the doctors are running out every 10 overs.”But it’s part of Test cricket. You bowl a bouncer not to hit someone in the head, you bowl a bouncer to maneuverer footwork and change momentum of bodyweight. But your best bouncer is directed over leg stump and at the head, unfortunately. But fortunately the helmets are much better now.”While Archer’s confrontation against Smith may gain the headlines, Broad’s private competition against David Warner has been just as absorbing. Broad has dismissed him four times in the three Tests and feels he is reaping the rewards for bowling a fuller length. But he warned that the pitches for the final two Tests could be better for batsmen and praised Warner’s batting in the first innings in Leeds.”It’s been a great battle so far,” Broad said. “I’ve really enjoyed it. I had to look quite closely pre-series as, until this series, he had probably had the better of me.”I’d always focussed on his outside edge thinking that running the ball across him would bring in the slips. But the bloke has incredible hand-eye coordination, so if you miss your line at all it seems to disappear through the covers.”I had a change of mindset in this series and have tried to bring the stumps into play more against him. I’ve looked to nip it back onto off-stump and then, if the ball holds its line, it brings the outside edge in and that actually limits the scoring options slightly.”Also, the pitches have been in our favour with the new ball. I don’t want to take too much credit that I’ve out-thought him or anything. It’s been a really good time to bowl with that new ball.”But Test cricket always moves on and this pitch will be very different to Lord’s or Headingley. And on that first morning at Headingley it was probably as good a time to bowl as you’ll ever get in Test cricket: cloudy, heavy, swinging, seaming. He might have played and missed a lot but he got through that period and got a pretty crucial fifty. He’ll take confidence from that.”

Marcus Stoinis’ dream performance was the sign of a much improved allrounder but the end of the match was a harsh dose of reality

Daniel Brettig30-Jan-20171:09

‘No time for nerves’ – Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis played the innings of his dreams at Eden Park – only to have reality bite him hard with the closing run-out of Josh Hazlewood, to ensure Australia fell narrowly short of the most unlikely of pursuits.There were decidedly mixed emotions in Stoinis’ voice as the 27-year-old spoke of his unbeaten 146 that took the visitors to within seven runs of victory. Satisfaction, sure, at stamping himself as an international cricketer of character and power, as well as a much improved allrounder as shown by his three wickets earlier in the day; but it will take some time before the pain of that final run-out, and a dash for the win thwarted, subsides.”If you look at the stat book after making 140-odd and taking three-for it doesn’t feel that good,” Stoinis said in Auckland. “It just shows how much of a team game cricket is and how important winning is to everyone. I’m happy to an extent but probably not what I would imagine.”As an all-round game, it’s what you dream of and think about when you close your eyes before the game. I’ve had smoother innings than this but this is a different kind of pressure. To put the performance on the board feels good.”Stoinis first turned out for Australia in an ODI in England after the 2015 Ashes series, and was left with a couple of clear goals for improvement. The first was to strengthen his bowling, and he has done so in adding a little more pace and a lot more consistency, as Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro found out. But he also needed to bring more adaptability to a batting game that had looked impressively correct but also rigid.”I think my bowling had to improve to move into that allrounder’s position,” he said. “In state cricket, I probably bat a bit higher, but it’s a different mould of position if you’re going to be batting at six, seven or whatever it is. Mostly just thinking about what’s happening in the situations you’re in and understanding the game. On the bowling side of things, [it’s] just consistency really.”‘The plan was to try to hit a six and get a draw and then leave Josh to get a single to win the game’•Getty Images

Even with that progress in his mind, winning seemed the remotest of possibilities when Stoinis walked out to join Sam Heazlett at 54 for 5, and grew less plausible still when the debutant was dismissed. However he kept his cool, and talked through the situation with the experienced James Faulkner.”When Jimmy [Faulkner] came out, I was thinking ‘ok, you’ve got to give yourself a chance here, so first thing’s first, have a look around, get yourself moving’,” Stoinis said. “Then once he got to about 15 or so, we spoke and made a little plan there as to the way we’d go about it. When you come up with a plan, everything is more simple even though it seems a long way away. So it was all thought out.”[The plan was] pace myself but then target a certain bowler and the end with the wind was the main thing for me. Then there were a couple of overs before they put five out on the boundary where I thought it might be time to have a crack. Also, once you’ve faced 100 balls it does get a bit easier, so the more wickets we lost, the more I thought it was my turn to score the runs.”Later in the innings, Stoinis appeared to occupy the “zone” famously spoken of by many elite athletes where they are simply doing and not thinking. The spell was only broken when last man Hazlewood hared down the wicket when Stoinis bunted a yorker back down the ground, allowing Kane Williamson to underarm the stumps down.”There’s too much going on for the nerves by that time, you know,” Stoinis said. “Some of our most experienced players, they might be bowlers but the way they think about the game is as good as it gets. Josh Hazlewood and [Mitchell] Starcy were good at calming the nerves.”[With Hazlewood] the plan was for me to face the first four or five and then get a single last ball. But at the end there, the plan was to try to hit a six and get a draw and then leave Josh to get a single to win the game.”

David Warner is hopeful of being available for Australia’s next match against West Indies on Monday, despite suffering a painful blow to the finger in the win over South Africa on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2016David Warner is hopeful of being available for Australia’s next match against West Indies on Monday, despite suffering a painful blow to the finger in the win over South Africa on Saturday.Warner was Man of the Match in St Kitts for his 109 against South Africa, but late in South Africa’s chase he was struck on the index finger of his left hand diving for a catch. Warner left the field immediately after the blow but he took hope from the fact that, while it had hurt, the feeling was different to when he had broken his thumb previously.”The finger is quite sore,” Warner said. “We’ll keep assessing it over the next 24 hours. It’s quite painful. To me it’s just got the same bruising marks as a normal bung on the finger does. I’m always hopeful. A sore finger is not going to stop me but if it’s broken, that might.”I was a bit hesitant. When I first looked at it, it didn’t look too good. It had that sort of purple mark on the nail. But it doesn’t feel like the thumb … I’ve broken the thumb twice, I know what that feels like. Hopefully, I’m being positive, and there’s not too much damage.”Warner was struck when he dived in an attempt to catch a JP Duminy cut off the bowling of Mitchell Marsh in the 39th over and while he failed to make the catch, Australia’s bowlers created enough chances to secure a 36-run win. Warner’s century was the difference in the match, and despite the short boundaries at Warner Park, nearly half his runs came in ones and twos.”It’s always challenging when you play on these small grounds, because in the back of your mind you’ve got to take the ego out of it,” Warner said. “When you’re in, you can feel like you can hit every ball for six. But once that ball got older it was harder to bat. It was actually quite hard to free the arms. You’ve got to try and get yourself in and be positive.”The boundaries are always going to come if you’re being positive, looking with intent to hit the ones and twos. That’s the most important thing about this game, is rotating the strike. There’s four fielders out until the last 10, you’ve just got to make the most of it until you get into there.”The hundred was Warner’s sixth in ODIs and his first outside Australia. Warner’s one-day form this year has been excellent – so far in 2016 he is the world’s leading scorer in ODIs, with 511 runs at 63.87.

Pakistan registered their first series win in Sri Lanka in nine years through yet another ruthless performance

The Report by Sidharth Monga22-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:18

Series win in SL after nine years

For the third time in the series Pakistan denied those expecting drama and nerves and inexplicable events normally associated with Pakistan cricket. They first refused to let Sri Lanka get away despite a seemingly effortless 100-run second-wicket stand and dragged them down to 256, and then Ahmed Shehzad followed it with a ruthless chase of a target that could have been tricky on a dry turning surface. This was their first bilateral series win in Sri Lanka in nine years, and took them closer to Champions Trophy qualification.In fact even in the second match – the one that they lost – Pakistan were predictable and excellent. They just came up against individual brilliance of the Pakistani kind, and even after that record fastest fifty by Kusal Perera Pakistan fought to make sure it was not a cakewalk for Sri Lanka. There was no such out-of-the-world brilliance from Sri Lanka this time, but Pakistan retained that tenacity even though Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan seemed in control scoring half-centuries after Perera fell for a duck. The fielders cut out the singles, the spinners choked supply of easy runs, the quicks struck to cash in on the pressure, and Sri Lanka went from 170 for 3 to score only 86 in the last 14 overs.As a comparison, in the next 14 overs there was enough evidence Pakistan were going to cruise through the chase. Sri Lanka finally went to using Lasith Malinga as an attacking option, but Azhar Ali and Shehzad took his first three overs for 20. When it seemed like pace on ball was flying, Sri Lanka went to spin only to see Shehzad jump out of the crease and belt Sachith Pathirana back over his head first ball for a six. Nuwan Pradeep injured himself, Suranga Lakmal looked ineffective, and already Malinga was back for a second spell. Malinga provided a breakthrough, but then had Shehzad edge through vacant slip and then through the hands of slip for successive fours. All in the first 14 overs.With his side 92 for 1 in the first 14, Mohammad Hafeez could now afford to take his time settling in. He also blunted out Malinga as he exhausted his nine overs in the first 20, looking desperately for a breakthrough. In Malinga’s ninth, Shehzad suggested it wouldn’t have made a difference had Malinga many more left in his bag. He whipped him for successive fours to reach 71, and Pakistan were now 116 for 1 in 20 overs.Let down by spinners, missing in-form attacking bowlers, Sri Lanka threw other options at Pakistan, but there were no batsmen willing to oblige those looking for what has in the last 10 or so years become inevitable drama with Pakistan matches. Shehzad and Hafeez batted with authority. While Hafeez accelerated from 7 off 24 to the eventual 70 off 88, Shehzad never really slowed down. The only regret for Pakistan will be that a rare moment of fielding brilliance – diving-forward catch by Perera at third man – from Sri Lanka resulted in Shehzad’s falling five short of a hundred.Fielding brilliance was plentiful when Pakistan were in the field. From the time left-arm spinner Imad Wasim, playing only his second match, combined an arm ball with low bounce to remove Dilshan at 109 for 2 in the 23rd over, the fielders and the spinners circled around Sri Lanka. Often six men stayed inside the circle, and the spinners ran through their overs, building pressure dot by dot. Between them the three spinners – Yasir Shah, Wasim and Shoaib Malik – conceded just 108 in 24 overs.The first victim of the pressure was Mathews. Shah had been negotiated well by Dilshan and Thirimanne, but Mathews found it tough to face Wasim and Malik. With no easy singles on offer, Pakistan kept daring Mathews to take the risk. Nineteen runs came in Mathews’ first 5.3 overs at the wicket, and when he looked to break the shackles he hit Rahat Ali – in his first over back – straight to mid-off.Dinesh Chandimal, seemingly thanks to instructions from the dressing room, sought to avoid a similar fate – Mathews scored 12 off 23 – and went on a hitting spree. He tried one ambitious shot too many, getting out to Mohammad Irfan for 20 off 21. Amid all this Thirimanne went on smoothly, driving and late-cutting his way towards a hundred. Now, though, with an inexperienced lower middle order with him Thirimanne had to make a decision: stay the anchorman and bat till the 50th over or hit a few shots to take some pressure off the youngsters.Thirimanne went for the latter. When he first tried the big sweep off Shah, he was dropped by Ahmed Shehzad at deep square leg, a catch he somehow went on to claim. An over later Thirmanne provided both Shah and Shehzad the redemption, trying another big sweep, mis-hitting it, and watching Shehzad fly to his left. An innings that had looked solid for a long time had slowly but surely disintegrated, setting Pakistan a target that would be hunted down with 9.1 overs to spare.

Allrounder Shoaib Malik and fast bowler Mohammad Sami have been recalled to the Pakistan team for the two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe in Lahore

Umar Farooq19-May-2015Allrounder Shoaib Malik and fast bowler Mohammad Sami have been recalled to the Pakistan team for the two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe in Lahore. Uncapped 19-year-old opener Nauman Anwar and former under-19 captain Imad Wasim were given call-ups.Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti and Hammad Azam also returned to the squad, while Saad Nasim, Imran Khan and Haris Sohail were dropped from the Pakistan T20 squad that played against Bangladesh in Mirpur last month. Saeed Ajmal, who was ineffective with his new bowling action, was also dropped along with Sohail Tanvir. Both Sohaib Maqsood and Sohail Khan were sidelined over fitness issues, and Junaid Khan was the other notable exclusion for the Zimbabwe series.Sami’s call-up came as a surprise considering he has not played for Pakistan since June 2012, when they toured Sri Lanka. He took six wickets in three matches in the Super8 T20 competition in Faisalabad last week.Anwar, who entered the domestic circuit last year, has only played a handful of first-class matches but caught the attention of the selectors after an extraordinary show in the recently concluded Super8 tournament in Faisalabad, scoring 270 runs at a strike-rate of 162.65 for Sialkot Stallions. Wasim, who led the Pakistan Under-19 World Cup team in 2007, was selected on the basis of his all-round performance for Pakistan A in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka A.The selectors retained Ahmed Shehzad, who was not part of the ODI series in Bangladesh but played the T20. He scored 0, 58*, 8 and 8 in four innings in the Super8 tournament. Umar Akmal, who was also not part of the Pakistan side against Bangladesh, returned to the squad after putting up scores of 35, 1, 95*and 85*.Pakistan will play two T20Is and three ODIs against Zimbabwe – the first international cricket to be played in the country since March 2009. Only six players – Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Sami – in this T20 squad have played an international match in Pakistan.Squad: Shahid Afridi (capt), Sarfraz Ahmed (vc), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Nauman Anwar, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imad Wasim, Bilawal Bhatti, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami