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It’s the afternoon before the first match of the tour and the drop-in pitch is yet to be installed. Unaware that a potentially deciding factor in the match has not made its appearance at the AMI Stadium, India and New Zealand practice at the High Performance Academy, half an hour away from the venue for Wednesday’s Twenty20, which is expected to be a rare sell-out.Daniel Vettori is about to address the pre-match press conference in the team hotel, followed by Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the academy. The big-screen operators are tuning their equipment at the stadium. But they don’t know what entry music each player will want. The DJ will need to be prepared with a wide array of music. The players don’t know how the pitch will behave, and they will have to be prepared for any eventuality.Until less than 24 hours before the start of the game India had not visited the venue. They may have got perfect facilities to train at the academy – two beautiful grounds, and faultless nets both outdoors and indoors – but it can never replicate the actual venue and the actual match timings.When they did go to the AMI Stadium at 8pm, mainly to get used to the wind and the cold, having trained till then only during the mornings or afternoons, India didn’t hit the ground running. In the first round of their first fielding drill, it showed they needed more warming up. The ball seemed to sting in temperatures of around 10 degrees celsius. They will need to come properly warmed up for the game on Wednesday.What they would have also noticed is the stadium’s shape cannot be geometrically categorised, so they will need to work out their angles. The flood lights are low, the boundaries are short, the outfield is not even all around and since some stands are under construction, the vacant spaces let the wind in.”The temperature has been up and down, and the wind is pretty cold,” Dhoni said, before visiting the stadium. “A lot depends on the conditions tomorrow. If it is cloudy and there is a bit of rain, it will help the seamers. But if there is too much rain, the ball will become soggy and the batsmen will benefit. It will be interesting, at the end of the day it will depend on how the weather pans out, but overall, it has been cold so far.” Not knowing what to expect, India will decide their XI only on the day of the game.Another unknown factor is the format itself. India may be the world champions at Twenty20, but no team has worked out how exactly to go about the game. “It took 10 to 20 years for someone to master the formula in ODIs,” Ross Taylor said yesterday. “There are different strategies, and no right way to play.” New Zealand, though, have the most experience of the miniature forms of the game – Cricket Max originated here.In a way, both teams would think Twenty20s are the best way to start the tour. India have no tour games, and if they lose these matches before familiarising themselves with the conditions, it won’t affect them as much as defeat in the ODI series.It’s not often that India start as favourites outside the subcontinent, but New Zealand believe that is the case this time. They’ll also believe their best chance of causing an upset is early in the series, and in the shortest format of the game.The anticipation is slowly building. India have been practising here for the last four days – sometimes for four-and-a-half hours, for what is a three-hour-long match. New Zealand have been good hosts: they have given India superb practice facilities, they have called them the best team in the world, and are believed to have extended the ultimate hospitality – inviting Indian Test specialists to play in their domestic games. But the time for niceties is over now. It’s time to – as is the norm before rugby games here – let the horses out onto the AMI Stadium.

Scorecard

England’s bowlers found the opposition tougher than expected on the second day against a Barbados Cricket Associations President’s XI as they reached a respectable 245. Their resistance was led by captain Sharmarh Brooks and allrounder Kevin Stoute, as the pair added 104 for the fifth wicket. The pick of England’s bowlers was Amjad Khan who took 5 for 79 before Alastair Cook and Ian Bell picked up easy half-centuries.Matt Prior’s temporary departure from the tour has probably made England’s selection issues slightly clearer ahead of the fourth Test and now the main issue is who replaces Andrew Flintoff at No. 6. Ambrose is unlikely to be risked so high up the order so England are now likely to select a four-man attack, meaning the chances of a debut for Amjad have receded, but his five wickets won’t have done him any harm in the long run.The decision seems to rest between Ravi Bopara or Ian Bell. Following his 124 yesterday Bopara has certainly put his name in the frame and he also offers a more in the way of bowling. He had the chance to add to his credentials with the ball when he was given an early bowl on the second day, but his five-over spell was uninspiring as Brooks and Stoute were happy to swing through the line.Adil Rashid was also given a chance ahead of Monty Panesar, but was regularly picked off by Stoute, who swung him for six over deep midwicket en route to a 65-ball half-century.Andrew Strauss went through a variety of options, including a couple of overs for Bell, but it took until 15 minutes before lunch to break through when Stoute was caught at first slip off Amjad. Panesar then collected his first wicket of the match on the stroke of lunch when Ryan Wiggins was trapped lbw for a duck.Brooks played a very composed innings as he dealt comfortably with England’s quicks and spinners. His half-century took 102 balls and the prospect of a memorable century was looming when he pushed loosely at Ryan Sidebottom and was caught at gully for 69.However, any thoughts England had of quickly wrapping up the innings ahead of a long second innings in the afternoon were thwarted by Jason Holder who showed that he has batting talent to go along with his bowling skills. He struck six fours and a six before playing around a delivery from Amjad, who then collected his fifth wicket when he bowled Ronaldo Arthur.Strauss had to leave the field shortly before the innings finished after picking up a knock on a finger while at slip. It proved nothing serious although he opted to spend the final session in a selection meeting with Andy Flower and James Whitaker as England enjoyed an extended net. When Bell fell to an attempted reverse sweep, that signalled the end of the game, but thoughts had already turned to the more serious task of the fourth Test.

The days of England sides embarking on a Test series in the Caribbean aiming to head home with as few broken bones as possible are a fading memory. The images of Ambrose and Walsh inflicting scarring – both physical and mental – on a generation of batsmen, as the likes of Holding, Marshall and Garner did before them are now only for YouTube.Even though England have failed to live up to their lofty billing over last three years, their current generation of players are getting used to being favourites whenever these two sides meet. For so long it was the other way round, but any sense of enjoyment they gain from being able repay some of those painful debts is tempered by the depths to which West Indies cricket has fallen.However, there is hope that this series may just be different from the last three and provide a close-run affair. Test cricket needs as many good series as it can muster at the moment, and while a ding-dong battle like Australia and South Africa have recently managed is probably asking too much, some hard-fought cricket isn’t.In reality England should win, but they have had anything but a calm build-up. It’s just 41 days since they finished their last international in the fog and chill of Mohali, but so much has happened since then that the team has entered a new era barely six months after the last rebirth was heralded. Now there is no more room for second chances, squabbles or dressing-room splits.This, if anyone has forgotten, is an Ashes year and starting at Sabina Park tomorrow is the first of the six matches – four in West Indies and two back home – that England have to come up with a successful strategy. There are plenty of questions to answer; who should bat at No. 3? Can Andrew Flintoff be a Test No. 6 again (if only for six months)? Is Steve Harmison ever going to be a match-winner again? And who is the frontline spinner?And that list says nothing of the man who has been centre of attention for the last month. Kevin Pietersen left India defeated, but with a clear plan of how he wanted to take England forward. That plan didn’t involve Peter Moores and Pietersen’s bosses at the ECB couldn’t work with that. So Pietersen was hurriedly and messily returned to the ranks, to be replaced by Andrew Strauss who has now been thrust into the task of bringing the team back together.In reality, the splits and cliques in the England dressing room have probably been over-egged ever so slightly. Yes, certain people hang around in certain groups but that happens in every walk of life from the playground to the boardroom. The key for England is that differences, if any remain, are put aside. The build-up since arriving in the Caribbean two weeks ago hasn’t been stress-free for Strauss. There has been the ubiquitous Flintoff injury concern and a lack of incisiveness from the quick bowlers.

On the plus side Pietersen, it seems, is moving on at least in cricketing terms – he still holds plenty of grudges against people in suits and those in the press box – and if recent events have made him more focused than ever, then in a perverse way it will help England. One thing about Pietersen is he can sense an opportunity and this series over the next five weeks offers him the chance of a mountain of runs.When England last toured the Caribbean they were 16 months away from an Ashes series rather than six, so the building work that went into making that successful side has to be put on fast-forward. In 2004 the middle order – Mark Butcher, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe – knuckled down and eked out whatever they could on tricky pitches, but had all disappeared by the the 2005 Ashes, to be replaced by the more stylish trio of Strauss, Ian Bell and, of course, Pietersen. The facet that won back the Ashes, however, was formed and forged on these shores. Harmison, Flintoff, Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones became England’s dream team and now it is down to the class of 2009 to try and replicate that development.What that foursome managed on the previous tour followed the work of another impressive combination during the 2000 series in England and was payback for many years of being on the receiving end. England supporters still remember with vivid reality the 46 all out in Trinidad in 1994, but revenge has been dealt out on numerous occasions in recent times. On four occasions West Indies have been skittled for less than 100, with their 47 all out at this venue five years ago topping (or should that be bottoming) the pile.Some West Indian commentators think talk of any green-shoots of recovery (much like in the economy) are way off the mark, but there have been some causes for optimism. They earned a 1-1 draw against Sri Lanka and made Australia work for their win during the last home season, and they recently emerged with a (rain-affected) draw in New Zealand. England shouldn’t scoff at a record like that. Their efforts in the last 12 months have only been sugar-coated by wins against New Zealand.In Shivnarine Chanderpaul West Indies have one of the most prolific batsmen of the modern age, the current world No. 1 no less, and in Chris Gayle one of the most destructive. With the ball, Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards form a potent pair who can rattle England while Daren Powell has confidently predicted a 3-0 home win, although Powell’s prophesising doesn’t quite have same sting as Glenn McGrath’s. If those players can fire, supported by Ramnaresh Sarwan and the gritty Brendan Nash, who has brought some Australian steel, determination and work ethic to the middle order, there’s plenty reasons to expect the unexpected.But, there’s that little two-letter word ‘if’ – it prefaces so much about the West Indies team because it’s so hard to know what team will turn up on the day. There is always a feeling that lurking around the next corner is another batting implosion, although they haven’t had a double digit demise since being rumbled for 94 in Barbados on England’s last visit.The absence of Dwayne Bravo, however, is a major blow, much as Flintoff’s would be for England, because he has been a shining light through some of their darkest times. He is a lesser bowler than Flintoff but his equal with the bat, however he remains sidelined by an ankle injury.Yet, as the A-team showed during their handsome display in St Kitts last week these islands are not bereft of talent. Besides England have already come unstuck against a motivated, talented group of West Indian cricketers this winter. They may have been masquerading as the Stanford Superstars back in November, but six of them will line up in Jamaica on Wednesday. If they can show the same drive when a million dollars a man isn’t on the table, this could be a fascinating series.

Graeme Smith will fight through the pain of a debilitating elbow injury for one more match in the hope he can take South Africa to a 3-0 victory over Australia – and be fit for the return series next month. Smith knows he should be having surgery but wants to be available for both engagements and will miss the one-day campaign in the hope he can recover.”It’s something I’d like to get rid of,” Smith said at the SCG. “It’s probably reached the point of surgery, but the length of time out of the game after having surgery was probably eight to 12 weeks, which doesn’t give me much time do that now.”Smith has chosen a technique where he will have his own blood injected in the tear in his right elbow twice over the next six weeks. “It’s not a gamble,” he said. “It’s pretty simple.”This is the last port of call before surgery and hopefully it works. If it doesn’t, I’ll go as far as I can and do what I have to do.”The problem has been hampering Smith since the Indian Premier League and is so painful he sometimes struggles to brush his teeth, but “they’re clean at the moment”. “It’s getting worse and worse the more you use it and the more you play,” he said. “I just feel that I can hopefully push it out for one more game.”It’s been such a terrific year, last year, and I would like to finish the series on a high with the boys. Then I’ll do whatever I can to make sure I’m strong and ready for the home series.”

Daniel Vettori has ten days to instill a Test mindset into his players after they resembled a misplaced one-day line-up during their 0-2 loss to Australia. The series between the world’s No. 1 Test team and the group ranked seventh was as one-sided as could be expected, but both camps now move on to what should be much more closely-fought matches.New Zealand could not take Australia to a fifth day at the Adelaide Oval having also fizzled out inside four days at the Gabba last week, and the losses mean they have slipped to eighth on the ICC Test rankings. They fell below West Indies, who they take on in a Test series starting in Dunedin on December 11, while Australia will shortly be challenged by the No. 2 team South Africa.New Zealand will also have a new coach, Andy Moles, for the West Indies games and the immediate task is to convince the top order to take a longer-term approach. The batsmen lacked patience in Brisbane and again in Adelaide their shot selection was flawed as they could not make Australia bat twice, failing to learn from the resolve shown by their opponents, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke.On the fourth day at the Adelaide Oval, New Zealand needed to stay firm at the crease. Instead, Aaron Redmond flayed at a wide delivery from the second ball of the day and was caught at point, Jesse Ryder prodded lazily to cover and Ross Taylor nudged a nothing shot back to the bowler Brett Lee. In both matches New Zealand have looked not like a Test team but like a limited-overs side being asked to play for five consecutive days.”Application is the big key because we all acknowledge that they’re pretty talented guys,” Vettori said. “The top six are all extremely talented players. We need to find a way to turn that talent into consistency, scoring runs, and in the end it does come down to application.”Part of the problem could lie in the order in which the men are sent out. Ryder at No. 3 and Taylor at No. 4 are naturally attacking players, while the next men in, Peter Fulton and Daniel Flynn, prefer to defend. It is a setup that works best when the openers make consistently strong starts, but the Redmond-Jamie How combination averages 26.64 before the first wicket falls.A loss by an innings and 62 runs was a disappointing way for John Bracewell to end his tenure as the national coach but Vettori said it was symptomatic of the way the Test side had performed under Bracewell. During Bracewell’s five years in charge, the team did not win a Test away from home against anyone but Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.”That’s not anything to do with him,” Vettori said. “He’s always set up the right plans for us…it’s the players who have let him down with this performance and probably a lot of other Test performances under him. We’ve thrived under him as a one-day team but just haven’t managed to put in the same application in our Test match performances.”It was always going to be difficult to turn that around in his final matches at the helm against the world’s highest-ranked team. Australia were coming off a frustrating series loss in India, where players like Brett Lee and Brad Haddin had struggled for impact, and captain Ricky Ponting was pleased to see those men return to form ahead of the South Africa Tests. But Ponting said the team needed to keep a win against New Zealand in perspective.”We’ve got to be realistic with ourselves,” Ponting said. “I think we were that after the Brisbane game as well. We won that Test convincingly by 150 runs but when I spoke to the guys coming into this game I felt there was a lot of room for improvement and I think we’ve all seen a great deal of improvement from most players in this game.”We know we have to play at our absolute best if we want to win the series against South Africa and I think the last couple of weeks has been a good step for us. Right through India we were a fair way below our absolute best. We were a bit off our best in Brisbane and we’ve taken a step closer here.”

Scorecard

Dinesh Karthik and S Badrinath added 313 for the third wicket, more than twice of what the entire Uttar Pradesh team managed in its first innings, to put Tamil Nadu in a commanding position at stumps on the second day in Ghaziabad. Tamil Nadu lead by 206 with six wickets still in hand, and will look to bat the opposition out of the game to secure an innings victory.Karthik and Badrinath came together with the score on 41 for 2 and crushed any hopes the home team would have entertained about making further inroads. Badrinath hit 13 fours and a six in his innings of 123, his 16th first-class century. He was eventually stumped off Praveen Gupta, who bowls left-arm spin, with the score on 254, and the foundation for a much more substantial lead firmly laid.Karthik, however, was the star of the day, remaining unbeaten on a career-best 159, and adding a further 94 with S Vidyut, who made 44. His knock, his fifth century, was laced with 19 boundaries. He is just four shy of 3000 first-class runs and will be the key for Tamil Nadu tomorrow, as the way he consolidates his innings could well determine the eventual lead Uttar Pradesh will have to scale down.The only moment of consolation for Uttar Pradesh, after Badrinath’s dismissal, was the wicket of Vidyut towards the end of the day, caught by Ravikant Shukla off Sudeep Tyagi. Suresh Kumar, who came in to bat at No.5, was not out on 5, as Tamil Nadu ended the day on 356 for 4

ScorecardDelhi struck back after a one-sided first day, bowling out Mumbai for 330, with Sumit Narwal and Parvinder Awana taking seven wickets between them, and then recovering from a precarious 79 for 4 to 176 at stumps without any further damage, thanks to an unbeaten 93-run fifth-wicket partnership between Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia.Mumbai squandered their first-day advantage, losing eight wickets for 35 runs in under 20 overs. The 223-run partnership between overnight batsmen, Ajinkya Rahane and Amol Muzumdar, ended when Pradeep Sangwan, the left-arm pace bowler, trapped Muzumdar lbw for 83. Rahane fell in the next over, caught behind off Narwal for 160, as the two well-set batsmen departed, leaving an unexposed lower middle-order to combat the momentum Delhi secured early into the second day. Their resistance proved weak, as each of the last five Mumbai batsmen to fall failed to reach double figures.Delhi began poorly, losing Shikhar Dhawan, bowled by Agarkar, for 1. The top order struggled to build partnerships, with the next three wickets yielding 20 or more runs each, but failing to consolidate. Aakash Chopra was caught behind off Nilesh Kulkarni for 16, and Usman Malvi, the fast bowler, trapped Mayank Tehlan lbw for 21. Agarkar then took his second wicket , bowling Aditya Jain for 8, as Delhi seemed to lose the initiative after their remarkable comeback earlier in the day.Manhas and Bhatia, however, steadied the ship, hitting 20 boundaries between them. They will need to stick around for much longer tomorrow to help their team gain a first innings lead and tilt the balance in Delhi’s favour.

ScorecardRiding on a massive, unbeaten 250 by Nilesh Modi, Gujarat posted an imposing 520 for 9 on the second day in Ahmedabad, and managed to dismiss Ravi Teja, the Hyderabad batsman, to strengthen their dominance in the match.Niraj Patel and Modi, who had put on 127 for the second wicket on the first day, added a further 35, before Patel was bowled by Shoaib Ahmed for 76. Although none of the other batsmen managed to get a sizable score, they chipped in with important cameos, providing enough support to Modi, to take Gujarat past 500. Parthiv Patel made 33, adding 58 for the fourth wicket, and Monish Parmar made a quick 34 off 25 balls, to put on 55 for the eighth wicket, as Hyderabad struggled to make frequent inroads, allowing the Gujarat batsmen to build important partnerships, enough to take their team to an imposing total. Shoaib and T Suman had three wickets each to show for their efforts.Gujarat eventually declared and bagged an early wicket, courtesy Ashraf Makda, to leave Hyderabad at 33 for 1 at stumps.

ScorecardRajasthan, who just about had the edge on the first day, were well and truly on top at the end of the second, as Vivek Yadav, the legspinner, playing in only his second first-class match, took 4 for 45 to help bowl out Orissa for 281. In response, Gagan Khoda anchored the Rajasthan innings, scoring a patient, unbeaten 87, as his team progressed slowly to 172 for 2 at stumps.Halhadar Das was not out on 59 but was able to add just 16 runs to his overnight score of 43, as he ran out of partners. Debasis Mohanty fell on the fourth ball of the day, caught off Sumit Mathur. Gajendra Singh then dismissed Preetamjit Das for 14, and Yadav took the last two wickets to fall, as Orissa failed to build on an impressive start provided to them by their openers, Bikas Pati and Shiv Sunder Das, who put on 125, on the first day.Rajasthan got off to a good start, with their openers adding 81 before Dhiraj Singh trapped Saxena for 36. He struck again to remove No.3 batsman Rajesh Bishnoi for 5, but Khoda was ably supported by Robin Bist, who remained unbeaten on 32, to build the foundation for a sizable first innings score for Rajasthan.
ScorecardTwin tons from Conor Williams, the Baroda captain, and Azharuddin Bilakhia put Baroda firmly in command at stumps on the second day. Both batsmen made a mockery of the Railways score of 224, adding an unbeaten 218 for the second wicket as Baroda lost just one wicket, that of Satyajit Parab, who made 28, and secured a lead of 41 in their still ongoing first innings.Parab was lbw to Sanjib Sanyal, the medium-pacer, with the score on 47. But Williams, who scored his 16th first-class ton, and Bilakhia, whose unbeaten 127 is now his career-best, consolidated the Baroda innings steadily, hitting 25 boundaries and two sixes in their mammoth partnership, to provide their team with a platform for a substantial lead and a potential innings win.
ScorecardCrucial middle-order contributions by Taruwar Kohli and Ankur Kakkar, who added 119 for the sixth wicket, took Punjab to a formidable total of 481, a score they will settle for after ending the first day at 291 for 5. The Saurashtra response, led by opener Bhushan Chauhan, was solid, as they were 81 for 1 at stumps.Kohli, in his debut match, played a sedate knock, and was well supported by the more experienced Kakkar, with both scoring at over three an over, pretty high by this season’s standards, to take the Punjab’s score past 400. However, given their partnership, Punjab will be disappointed to not have scored in excess of 500, as they lost their last five wickets for 72 runs. Kakkar was the first to fall in the day, lbw to Ravindra Jadeja, the left-arm spinner, for 64. Kohli made 79 before being caught behind off Kamlesh Makvana as Saurashtra took a couple of quick wickets. But Manpreet Gony chipped in with a quick 33 to help Baroda get to their eventual score. Jadeja took two wickets in the day, to increase his tally to five, and shared eight wickets in all with Makvana.Kanaiya Vaghela put on 44 for the first wicket with Chauhan, but was trapped lbw by Gagandeep Singh, the fast bowler for Punjab. But Shitanshu Kotak, the No. 3 batsman, and Chauhan ensured there were no further hiccups and will be keen to consolidate their stand and help provide their team with a handy first innings lead.
ScorecardWhile a raucous crowd had watched the two teams share the spoils on the first day, a far quieter one witnessed hosts Karnataka dominate on day two. Sunil Joshi’s all-round show had Andhra in so much trouble that despite a counterattacking 104-run seventh-wicket stand between Manoj Sai and M Suresh, the visitors faced the prospect of a follow-on. (Read the full report.)

Glamorgan are stamping down on ticket touts ahead of next year’s Ashes Test after cancelling six tickets discovered on an internet auction site.The club have blacklisted the individual from buying any international tickets for matches at the ground for five years. A batch of 6000 tickets for the opening Test went on sale last week and were snapped up within hours, but were soon appearing for resale online which breaks the terms and conditions.”Glamorgan Cricket, in conjunction with the ECB, has been proactive in taking measures to reduce the opportunity for ticket touts to profit from the secondary sales of tickets for next year’s Ashes Test Series,” the club said. “Glamorgan Cricket limited the number of tickets per order when they went on general sale earlier this month to reduce ‘bulk buying’ by ticket touts.”Operations director Simon Lee added: “We believe by setting the standard of a ‘zero tolerance’ to individuals breaking the terms and conditions and selling of their tickets, we will help squeeze ticket touts out of business and protect the genuine fans wishing to come to the game.”

Match facts

Oct 21, 2008
Start time 7.30pm (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

Chennai Superstars and Hyderabad Heroes are on equal points ahead of their clash on Tuesday but will be aware that a slip up could result in a drop down to the bottom half of the league. Chennai are currently third, having played an extra game, and will have their work cut out against an undefeated team which is currently ranked No. 2.Having started with comfortable wins against Dhaka and Ahmedabad, Chennai narrowly missed out against Chandigarh. However, the winners of the inaugural ICL 20-20 Indian Championship and runners-up in the domestic tournament in 2008 will look to get back to their winning ways.Their record against Hyderabad isn’t flash, though, for they haven’t beaten then once in four previous meetings. However, with Ian Harvey at the top, and the dependable R Satish and Russel Arnold in the middle, along Shabbir Ahmed and Nantie Hayward leading the bowling, Chennai could reverse the trend this time around.Hyderabad sent out a strong message to the teams in their very first match against Lahore: they would not give up their crown easily. They beat Lahore in a reduced match and then completed a thrilling win against Dhaka Warriors thanks to their captain Chris Harris.Abdul Razzaq has also looked in good form with both bat and ball for Hyderabad. He and Jimmy Maher form one of the most dangerous opening partnerships in the tournament. Ambati Rayudu will also be keen to get among the runs, having missed out against Dhaka after scoring 58 against Lahore.

Watch out for

Harvey: He possesses one of the wickedest slower balls in the game. He’s also a hard-hitting batsman and will look to give Chennai the perfect start at the top of the order.Arnold: Arnold’s ability to adapt his game to the situation makes him an ideal No.6 in the line-up. He keeps calm under pressure and is also an excellent fielder. Rayudu: A fluent stroke-maker with a compact technique, Rayudu has proved his abilities on several occasions. If the 58 against Lahore was anything to go by, he will play a big part in the fortunes of the Hyderabad Heroes this season.Harris came into his own when Hyderabad were struggling against Dhaka. He single-handedly rescued the match with a 17-ball 37. His slow medium pace could also play a key role in containing the Chennai batsmen during the middle overs.

Quotes

“It is good to see them coming out so well, it only adds to our relief.”
Harris on the performance of the local players in the squad“I think it has to be the Chennai Superstars; the rivalry has always been there with them”

Sri Lanka 147 for 2 (Mahela 61*, Kapugedera 45) beat India 146 (Mendis 3-21, Murali 3-37) by eight wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The actors were different from the Test series but the script remained the same. India were injected with fresh blood but couldn’t escape the slow poison of M&M. Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara did the initial work before Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan blew away the rest to bowl out India for 146. Without having to contend with the pressure of a high asking rate, a serene Mahela Jayawardene weathered the minor hiccup of the loss of the openers and steered his side home in the company of Chamara Kapugedera.You couldn’t escape the sense of deja-vu. Having lost the toss, Jayawardene delayed the introduction of the spinners till the 20th over, but when Mendis finally appeared, it was evident his spell over the batsmen remained unbroken.India’s plight was best exemplified by the dismissal of Yuvraj Singh. He had struggled against the seamers, surviving a dropped chance at five against Kulasekara, before Mendis swallowed him in a spectacular first over. It was quite a sight. The first ball hastened past a mystified Yuvraj, the second-ball skidder fetched a plausible appeal for lbw, and the third saw a desperate counterattack clear the field and the boundary. The fourth was the carrom ball; thinking it would spin away, Yuvraj pushed his bat well outside the line but the ball straightened to sound the death knell.And Mendis dealt the killer blow almost immediately when he drew Mahendra Singh Dhoni into edging his legbreak to slip. The tailenders resisted briefly but India folded up for a measly score. It was the culmination of the good start provided by the seamers. Aided by the seam movement on a two-paced track – grassy areas punctuated by patches of dry areas – both new-ball bowlers kept it simple: Vaas interspersed his angling full-length deliveries with ones that straightened while Kulasekara troubled the batsmen with his incutters to the right-hand batsmen.Vaas, overshadowed by Mendis and Murali during the Test series, reminded India just why he is the highest wicket-taker in India-Sri Lanka ODI encounters by breaching the defences of the in-form Gautam Gambhir with the second ball of the match. Kumar Sangakkara stood up to the stumps right away to prevent Gambhir’s usual walk down the track and Gambhir drove completely outside the line.

One by one, they stumbled. Suresh Raina never looked in, constantly flirting outside off, eventually succumbing to his urge to drive on the up. The debutant Virat Kohli, replacing Virender Sehwag who’d twisted his ankle in practice, was no better. He was unsure of whether to go forward or back during his stay and was caught dead in front by an incutter from Kulasekara.Kulasekara should have got the next man, Yuvraj but Jayawardene fluffed a regulation chance at second slip. Yuvraj’s start was typical: the bat was tentatively pushed away from the body a few times before he broke free with a well-timed clip through the on side. Emboldened, he went for the on-the-up flash and the resultant edge should have terminated his stay. After that, though he never looked completely at ease, he started to play close to the body. That was until Mendis arrived.Rohit started cautiously, opening the bat face to pinch singles, before he suddenly, and against the run of play, walked down the wicket and swung a short-of-a-length delivery from Vaas over deep midwicket in the 16th over. However, immediately after Mendis sent Yuvraj packing, Rohit steered a delivery slanted across him straight to the solitary wide slip and India continued to free fall.Sri Lanka, too, wobbled initially in the run chase against some disciplined bowling from Munaf Patel – who prised out the openers – and Zaheer Khan. On a day when the Indian batsmen were shamed, their bowlers provided brief moments of consolation. After six overs of stalemate, Sanath Jayasuriya lost his patience. He skipped down the track but skied the lofted carve to mid-on. Sangakkara, too, fell to the urge to dominate, getting a leading edge from an attempted whip across the line.However, Jayawardene took charge, looking good from the go. He creamed the seamers through the covers, a gorgeous on-the-up off drive off Munaf in the 17th over being the highlight. Dhoni introduced spin in the 23rd over but even he would have known that neither Harbhajan Singh nor Pragyan Ojha could have produced any miracles. The target was simply not enough on this track.Munaf was the best Indian bowler on the view. He repeatedly whipped the ball down from a loose-limbed action and got the ball to either cut back in or shape away from the off stump. He might have even bowled the best ball of the day by a medium-pacer when he got one to seam away late past Jayawardene’s bat but, as in the Tests, the Indian batsmen hardly gave the bowlers any cover to fire. The Sri Lankan summer of mystery continues to taunt and tease the Indians.

Mohammad Asif’s B sample test has shifted from July 28 to August 6 after he requested for more time to make travel arrangements for his visit to Switzerland, where he will be assessed at a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory.”Hopefully, we will prepare a strong case by August 6,” Shahid Karim, Asif’s lawyer, said, adding that he will accompany his client on the trip and that both were applying for visas on Tuesday.Asif is looking to clear his name after he was found to have used a banned substance during random dope testing at the Indian Premier League, where he played for the Delhi Daredevils. He is currently under suspension for the offence, and is due to appear before an IPL tribunal to face those charges and is likely to face some punishment from the Pakistan board thereafter.