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For the third day in a row, one batting performance shone through at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. After Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, it was Virender Sehwag’s turn to delight, scoring 201 from just 262 balls.A break-up of Sehwag’s most productive strokes makes for interesting analysis. The on-drive contributed the maximum number of runs – more than a fifth of his runs came via that stroke (41 runs from 29 shots) – followed by the cover-drive (28 from 10). However, there were other strokes which he played more selectively, but which fetched him excellent value: he only played three late-cuts, but each one was executed with precise timing and placement, and brought a four on every occasion. Also, of the 262 balls faced, he offered a defensive bat 117 times, fairly high by his usually aggressive standard.Against most batsmen, a good-length delivery would have a high probability of being a dot ball. Not with Sehwag, though. As the graphic below shows, his scoring rate off those deliveries was nearly 70; against anything which was too full or too short, he scored at around a run a ball.

Even before the start of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, the organisers have announced that the second edition is tentatively scheduled between April 10 and May 29 next year.According to the Future Tours Programme, Australia are slated to be touring South Africa in April, 2009, India are set to be in New Zealand, and West Indies in Bangladesh. India haven’t toured New Zealand since early 2003 with their scheduled trip in 2007 put of because plans to prepare for the World Cup.The announcement comes in the wake of comments from David Collier, the ECB chief executive, who said the board was planning to adapt their domestic Twenty20 Cup to attract more leading players and offer an alternative to the IPL.”It is a question of finding periods of the year for this [the IPL] to take place,” Collier had said. “We are one of the few countries who play in June, that is why our competitions are so successful because we can attract the best players in the world. That is why we believe that an English Premier League will be very successful including a broad range of cricketers.”Lalit Modi, the IPL Chairman, said the format of the tournament would remain unchanged in its second season. The eight franchisees will first play against one another in a league on home-and-away basis. The top four teams will then figure in the two semi-finals and a final.The first edition of the IPL kicks off on April 18 in Bangalore and the final is scheduled for June 1. “The dates of the second season of the DLF Indian Premier League were decided at a meeting of the Governing Council of the DLF Indian Premier League held inMumbai,” said Modi. “I am confident of the inaugural season becoming a huge success and the second season will be even a bigger success.”

Shane Warne knocked over the final wicket as Hampshire returned to the top of the County Championship’s Division One on Saturday after a stunning Nottinghamshire collapse. Apparently easing to the victory target of 276, Notts dropped from 4 for 250 to 261 all out.Striking twice in the dramatic conclusion, Warne, the captain who made 46 in the first innings after the opening day was washed out, dismissed Chris Read and the last man Ryan Sidebottom, his 35th victim of the season. David Hussey has 591 runs at 73.88 after a strong match on the losing side, adding 64 in the failed chase to his 42 and four second-innings wickets as Hampshire set up the declaration.Warne was in the action early in the National League Division One match against Lancashire yesterday when he promoted himself to No. 3 as a pinch hitter. Taking 15 from 10 balls, he was run out as Hampshire scrambled to 200, which was enough to secure a 79-run win after Stuart Law and Brad Hodge both collected 2. Warne finished with 1 for 22 off seven to give Hampshire their second win in six matches.Matthew Elliott saved Glamorgan from a follow-on defeat with 162 against Sussex at Swansea. The century, which came from 171 balls with 19 fours and two sixes, continued a fine game for Elliott, who collected 85 in the first innings of another rain disrupted game. Sussex skipped to 5 for 497 declared thanks to Murray Goodwin’s 158, but Elliott dragged his side out of a hole and he sits at fifth on the Division One run-scoring chart. Glamorgan’s position isn’t as lofty – they are camped on the bottom, 18.5 points behind Gloucestershire.There were draws all round in the Championship Division Two as the bad weather influenced the fixtures. Michael Di Venuto completed an amazing week of two hundreds, but he couldn’t push Derbyshire to a win against Essex at Chelmsford. Di Venuto started with 23 as his side piled up 462, but he arrived in a hurry in the second inning to pounce on 110 from 154 deliveries.However, Derbyshire’s delayed declaration hindered their efforts to move from the cellar by dismissing Essex, who reached 5 for 245 in search of 379. Jon Moss, who has a top score of 75 and a bowling best of 2 for 38 in six matches, scored 38 and 29 and added a second-innings wicket.The following day Di Venuto blasted a match-winning century as Derbyshire cruised past Kent by 90 runs at Maidstone. Opening the Division Two encounter, Di Venuto belted 15 fours and a six as he raced to 116 off 90 balls. Moss also enjoyed himself with 47 off 44 as Derbyshire eased to 3 for 304 in 45 overs, and he followed up with 2 for 33 from eight as they lifted from the bottom of the table.Martin Love had a rare poor game as Northamptonshire had the best of the Championship match against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Love opened with 0 and 8 – his competition record still stands at an impressive 603 runs at 67 – while Damien Wright pocketed 11 and 30 to go with his four wickets in a contest dominated by the bowlers. Lancashire’s Australians, Law and Hodge, also found batting difficult. Hodge made 7 and 23 while Law scratched 14 and 7.Ashley Noffke showed the back injury that delayed his arrival at Durham has healed as he was the pick with 4 for 75 in 25 overs against Worcestershire at Worcester. Denting the top order with two wickets, Noffke came back to remove Chaminda Vaas and Ben Smith as the first-innings deficit was restricted to 11. Noffke collected 18 runs but didn’t get an opportunity in the second dig as Durham comfortably batted out time and stayed on top of the Division Two table.

Rafiqul Alam, Bangladesh’s newly-appointed chairman of selectors, has said pumping more money into domestic cricket is the easiest way to improve the game at that level.”I rather think that if domestic cricket is spruced with more money, competition will go up and there will be more close matches,” Alam told the ,a Dhaka-based newspaper. “The first-class competition [National Cricket League] should be taken seriously by all concerned,” he said.The Bangladesh board has set up a ten-member committee to review the structure of the domestic game as it feels the weakness of domestic cricket is hampering Bangladesh’s performance at the international level.Alam, who replaced Faruque Ahmed in the selection panel, outlined the goals for his two-year tenure. “My personal point of view is that we should have a short-term goal and that should last three to four years, if not more.” He said Bangladesh had shown considerable improvement in one-dayers over the past few years and should continue to build on the positive work to progress further.The side also has the potential to do well in Tests, according to Alam, and should aim at pushing the game to the fifth day and getting more draws out of their opponents.”We have pushed teams like Pakistan [in 2003], done well in West Indies [in 2004] and almost won against Australia here in Fatullah last year,” he said.Alam played two one-dayers during the tour of Sri Lanka in 1986. He was also a match-referee with the board and has been involved in coaching as well.

ScorecardWestern Australia edged to a 13-run win against Tasmania despite a fighting 105 by Michael Di Venuto at the Devonport Oval. Shaun Marsh guided WA to a competitive 6 for 236 before their bowlers turned in a fine performance to dismiss Tasmania for 223 in 49 overs.Di Ventuo played a lone hand in the chase and received support only from George Bailey, whose 45 was the other score above 20. He and Di Venuto added 95 runs for the fourth wicket and Tasmania needed a comfortable 52 runs off 63 balls when Bailey fell (4 for 185). WA turned on the pressure and dismissed Rhett Lockyear and Luke Butterworth in quick succession (6 for 190), but it was Di Venuto’s wicket, after he had made a brilliant hundred, that derailed the run chase. Ben Edmondson was the best bowler with 3 for 31 and Peter Worthington chipped in with 3 for 34.After being asked to bat, Justin Langer and Luke Ronchi got WA off to a solid start with an 88-run stand. But it was Marsh who held the innings together after three quick wickets reduced them to 3 for 96. Marsh was unbeaten on 81 – he struck three fours and three sixes – and added 95 runs with Chris Rogers for the fifth wicket to take the score to 236. Ben Hilfenhaus provided some controversy when he was ordered from the attack by the umpires for delivering two head-high full tosses in a row.

Plate Group Points Table

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Joginder Sharma tore the Vidarbha batting line-up apart and his six-wicket haul, and 14 in the match, helped Haryana triumph by 41 runs at Nagpur and post their third win of the season. Vidarbha were within striking range of the 328 needed for victory with Faiz Fazal, the opener, anchoring the chase with a fighting half-century. But Fazal’s wicket, at 176 for 5, pegged them back and Joginder seized the moment immediately. He snapped up four of the next five wickets to fall and Harshal Shitoot’s fighting 53 and baburao Yadav’s breezy 33 wasn’t enough to reach the target. Joginder finished with 6 for 92.
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Rajiv Kumar weathered the storm and steered Jharkhand to 137 on the final day at Jamshedpur. Rajiv helped Jharkhand recover from a perilous 24 for 3 with help from Nikhilesh Ranjan and Sunil Kumar. Rajiv was unbeaten on 61, off 142 balls, when the target was reached. With this win, Jharkhand moved to second place in Group A while Orissa’s semi-final ambitions suffered a setback.
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Vineet Saxena made 105 as the game between Goa and Rajasthan finished in a draw. Goa’s only chance lay in forcing an outright victory but Rajasthan thwarted their bid, making 214 for 5, and collected two points by virtue of the first-innings lead. Saxena, who cracked seven fours and a six, received good support from Dishant Yagnik (55) and the two shared a 137-run stand. Four quick wickets fell in the end of the day, including three to run-outs, but Rajasthan held on to get the better of the stalemate and moved to fourth place in Group B.
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Arun Sharma spun Services to a comfortable ten-wicket win over Tripura at Agartala. Sharma, the left-arm spinner, finished with 11 wickets in the match, five of those came in the second innings, as Services leapfrogged to the second spot in Group B. Resuming on 65 for 1 Tripura lost wickets to Sharma and Yashpal Singh (3 for 26) with only Rajashekhar Shanbal, the import from Karnataka, managing a half-century. The Services openers then knocked off the 12 required for victory in just one over.
ScorecardJammu & Kashmir collapsed for just 158 in their second innings as Himachal Pradesh romped to a massive victory at Dharamasala. After crumbling for 93 in the first innings, J&K were given a solid start by their openers, with a 58-run partnership, the second time around. But once they were separated, wickets tumbled at regular intervals and only Manzoor Dar’s defiant 43 delayed the inevitable. Vishal Bhatia, the left-arm spinner, snapped up four of the wickets as Himachal cruised into the semi-finals with three rounds still to go.
ScorecardKerala suffered a humiliating innings-and-29-run defeat after being bowled out for 114 in their second innings at Palghat. Having collapsed for 117 on the first day, Kerala conceded a 143-run lead as all the Saurashtra batsmen chipped in with valuable contributions. S Jobanputra’s breezy 44 was one of the highlights before he accounted for both the Kerala openers with the ball. His partner with the new ball, S Maniar, finished with 4 for 33 as Kerala were shot out in 41.5 overs.

Viv Richards, the former West Indies captain, has said that England have taken a step backward after wresting the Ashes from Australia last year.”It’s all well and good winning a series at home against the best in the world as they did in the Ashes. But you only become great when the odds are really stacked against you and you come out on top,” Richards told BBC Sport. “As it stands, England have gone backwards quite a bit since the summer.”England lost the Test series 2-0 in Pakistan in December 2005, and go into the final Test against India in Mumbai, trailing 1-0. Richards said that to be a great team England had to win in both Pakistan and India.”I remember India and Pakistan were really hard places to tour – the hardest in the game in fact,” said Richards. “It’s not just that their teams are so hard to beat; the conditions are tough and generally most of the team are ill. When you overcome that – what I like to call beating a bad dog in his backyard – only then do you become real world beaters.”England have to win at Mumbai to draw the series and Richards said that with someone like Andrew Flintoff, whom he compared with Ian Botham, at the helm the tourists can pull it off.”I’ve been watching Freddie on the TV and he sounds really pumped up. It’s a really tough ask to win but I wouldn’t put anything past him,” Richards said. “He’s a really magnificent player and, at times, it’s like a mirror of Ian Botham. I always felt Freddie had really underachieved but now he’s superb in every game. He’s the aggressive player England have missed for so many years.”When he and Kevin Pietersen are at their best at the crease, it kind of reminds me of West Indies when we were at our peak.”

Mahela Jayawardene had no excuses after a shoddy performance with both batand ball that cost Sri Lanka the chance to win a bilateral series in Indiafor the first time. With the exception of Chamara Silva, no other batsmancrossed 28, and the Indians overhauled the 260-run target with ridiculousease as the shadows started to spread across the lush green outfield.Having taken a 1-0 lead in the series after a tense win at Rajkot, SriLanka batted poorly both at Goa and Visakhapatnam to hand India victory.”A lot of things went wrong, not just one,” said Jayawardene, when askedto assess a performance that he’ll hope has little bearing on the WorldCup encounter between the two sides on March 23. “Losing a lot of wicketsearly on was one of them. We knew the pitch was very good, and we probablyneeded 275 or 280 or even more. We knew there would be a little bit ofmovement early on, but we survived that. Then we lost wickets.”Having slumped to 56 for 4, Sri Lanka recovered to post 259 thanks largelyto the efforts of one man. “The only bright spot from the whole match wasChamara Silva,” said Jayawardene. “I thought he batted really well, with acouple of other guys chipping in.”Silva made a superb run-a-ball 107 in his first outing of the series,showing the sort of form that inspired Sri Lanka to a famous Test win atWellington last December. When asked if there had been a temptation toplay him earlier in the series, Jayawardene said: “Obviously, we wanted toplay him in at least two games. But unfortunately, the first game waswashed out, and our middle order couldn’t get a bat. We tried to givethose guys a couple of games, and also make sure that every top-order guygot a hit. We always knew the talent that he possesses, and the way hebatted in New Zealand. It’s brilliant to see the way he batted, and itgives us confidence for the World Cup.”Having put a competitive total on the board, Sri Lanka then let the gameslip with some woeful new-ball bowling. Farveez Maharoof started the rotwith a 10-ball first over, and though both Lasith Malinga and DilharaFernando were immensely quick, the radar was never switched on. “Onceagain, we didn’t start well with the new ball,” said Jayawardene.”Defending a total like 260 on a pitch like that, it’s crucial that we getearly wickets with the new ball, which we didn’t do. We bowled both sidesof the wicket, and too many wides and no-balls. We had no momentum fromthat point onwards. We played some poor cricket today, and India playedsome really good cricket.”If you have to control the Indian batting line-up, you have to do wellwith the new ball. You have to hit the right areas, which we didn’t. Ifyou take the whole series, we weren’t very consistent with the new ball.We gave away momentum and were always fighting to get back into the game.”

He himself was as culpable as any on the batting front, with an awfulheave that extended a fallow run without a 50 to 17 games. Consideringthat he had two centuries while averaging over 53 in the 16 games prior tothat, Jayawardene’s form is one of the team’s prime concerns heading tothe Caribbean. “Personally, I’m very disappointed with the way I’ve beenbatting the last couple of months,” he said. “I want to contribute to theteam, and I haven’t been able to do that. I’ve been hitting the ballpretty well in practice, but not spending time out in the middle.”It can’t be overlooked that Sri Lanka played this series without their twomost experienced bowlers, but for Jayawardene, that was no excuse. “Thelast time we came here, Vaasy played a few games, and so did Murali,” hesaid, referring to the series in 2005 when Sri Lanka were thumped 6-1. “Wealways knew it would be a tough task on Indian pitches. But these guyswill learn by playing on different surfaces. They didn’t bowl that well,but will learn from the experience. It’s good that the full squad isgetting prepared for the World Cup, and not just a few guys.”Though he was clearly disappointed with another poor top-order show,Jayawardene was pretty impressed by the manner in which India’s bowlersacquitted themselves on surfaces that were largely batsmen-friendly.”Throughout the tournament, the Indian bowlers did well with the newball,” he said. “To be fair to our guys, I thought they [the Indians] gotthe better of the conditions. The wickets had some moisture and were moreconducive [in the morning], but you can’t take credit away from them.”Our batting also contributed [to the defeat]. We played some really looseshots today and threw a couple of wickets away in tight situations. We hada poor game, you have to put your hand up and take responsibility forthat.”By contrast, India’s batsmen breezed past the target in just 41 overs,with Yuvraj Singh’s fabulous unbeaten 95 and Robin Uthappa’s breezy35-ball 52 providing most of the impetus. “Robin had the advantage ofbatting in the Power Plays,” said Jayawardene when asked to assess the twoknocks. “Yuvi had to play the spinners with the field out. We were tryingto attack and take wickets, and they had the opportunity to score freely.Both batted really well in different situations.”Unless Bangladesh play out of their skins in the Caribbean, these twosides will be tussling for top spot in their World Cup group. “It’s agreat combination with a lot of experience, and they’ll be toughopposition,” said Jayawardene, when asked about the Indians. “Obviously,playing in India, they cherish the atmosphere and you could see thattoday. But come the World Cup, it’ll be a different atmospherealtogether.”With a formidable Australian side suffering an almighty injury-hit wobblein the lead-up to D-day, both India and Sri Lanka, strengthened by theaddition of Vaas and Murali, will journey to the Caribbean with more thana smidgen of hope in the hearts. And on foreign fields halfway across theglobe, both will need to replicate the form that they habitually show onthe green, green grass of home.

Greg Chappell has praised the selectors for taking some brave decisionsbefore the series against Sri Lanka and said that the emphatic win was achieved due to theattitude, spirit and confidence that prevailed in the squad. Talking to Cricinfo before the last one-day international at Baroda, Chappell said that the team had been in need of reinvigoration and added that their tactical and strategic changes were successful because of the refreshingattitude of the new-look side.”The selectors showed a bit of courage going with a bit of youth for thisseries,” he said, “and I think they deserve credit for the couragein moving down that line because the team was really in need ofreinvigoration. And they took that calculated gamble and the players haverepaid them. We needed to change a few things and our tactics and strategiesneeded a good rethink. I think it would have been hard to do that with theold group. As a coach one thing that I do know is that you can’t teachanything to anyone who doesn’t want to be taught. If you’re not looking tolearn something, you’re really going to struggle. And the one thing aboutthese young guys is that they’re soaking up the information. They want toknow what more can we do to be better. And that attitude makes thecoach’s life much easier.”According to Chappell, the team hadn’t allowed Sri Lanka to play as well asthey could have and said that the youngsters should be judged by the mannerin which they went about their tasks. “Sri Lanka are still a formidable sidebut I think they’ve only played as well as we’ve allowed them to play. We’vebowled with discipline and persistence, fielded really well, battedpositively, built partnerships and continually put pressure on Sri Lanka. Idon’t think they were prepared for the reinvigorated team they came against.I’m not sure they are as bad as people are making out. I just think weoutplayed them and part of that was the way the young blokes went aboutdoing what they did.”He also felt that the spectacular success of promoting Irfan Pathanto No.3 in the batting order, during the opening game atNagpur, was a big factor in the outcome of the series. “The first gameprobably couldn’t have gone any better than it did,” Chappell said, “notleast of all in the choice of Irfan at No.3. We attacked the bowlers, theyweren’t expecting it, and they weren’t expecting Irfan to come in at No.3. Ithink that shook them a little bit. Then probably they might have spent sometime looking at tactics for Irfan at No. 3 and then [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni came in at No.3 inthe third game and was in fact even more successful. I think they struggledto recover from that and it gave our group a real shot in the arm.”Chappell also attributed much of India’s purple patch to Rahul Dravid’sinfluence, and thought that he’s done an impeccable job both as a batsman andas a captain. “Rahul took the job with gusto and he was obviously ready forit,” he said. “It was very important that it became his team. It wasn’t myteam but his team. I’ve said many times that the coach’s role is in helpingprepare the team and in working with the captain and supporting the captain.It’s the captain’s team and certainly on game days, he’s the most importantman. The support staff’s role is to take as much pressure off him during thepreparation period so that he’s got time to devote to developing his owngame and preparing himself properly. And the way he went about the lead-upto the first game, the way he captained the team in the first game and theway he played in that first game has had a huge impact on the team and ahuge impact on the result of this series.”Looking ahead to the five-match series against South Africa, starting onNovember 16 at Hyderabad, Chappell warned that it could be a hard-foughtseries. “We still have the home advantage but South Africa are a toughteam,” he said. “They don’t get beaten easily. The one thing they do is tofight hard and even when they’re down they’re dangerous. But if we can shockthem the same way we shocked Sri Lanka, there’s no reason we can’t push themback and make it hard for them to play to the best of their ability.”

Andrew Symonds is prepared to employ his medium-pace to help Australia cover the loss of Shane Watson against England on Sunday. Symonds, who has delivered only offspin since returning from arm surgery, hopes to be back to full bowling fitness in time for the match as the team runs through its options after losing an allrounder.Mitchell Johnson is a chance of coming in but if Symonds is able to increase his pace it opens the way for Brad Hodge to return. “I’m not far off,” Symonds said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “With Shane being injured, I think it is just a bit of cushioning for Ricky Ponting if he needs to have someone else to go to for medium-pace in a Powerplay or something, or just wants to change it up a bit.”Watson is due to have a review on his injured left calf and James Hopes, the Queensland allrounder, has been placed on standby in Australia. While Hopes waits for a phone call, Hodge is desperate for a recall after scoring a century against The Netherlands before being squeezed out by Symonds.Hodge has been staying in shape by undergoing a draining exercise program. “It’s pretty much the only way to keep yourself sane when you are running the drinks most of the time,” Hodge said in The Australian. “I just think it’s an important part of training.”You have got to keep yourself mentally ready and quite strong. I am just trying to keep myself as busy and as fit as I possibly can.” If Australia decide to pick Johnson and attack England with four fast bowlers then Hodge will spend more time on the sidelines.”It’s a couple of nervous days ahead,” Hodge said. “I guess the good thing is I have played well over the last two months. The confidence is definitely there. It’s just a matter of seeing which way the side fits best, and hopefully I’ll get a game.”