Brisbane Heat clinched a 24-run win over Melbourne Stars at the Gabba following a collective effort from their batsmen who helped them post 171

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
James Hopes starred in an all-round effort•Getty Images

Brisbane Heat clinched a 24-run win over Melbourne Stars at the Gabba following a collective effort from their batsmen who helped them post 171. Captain James Hopes, who opened the batting, led the way with 49, though he was one of two wickets to fall in quick succession with the team score on 96. But Daniel Christian and Chris Lynn didn’t let the momentum drop, and dealt some significant blows towards the death. The last three balls of the innings fetched 14 runs, after the pair had added a quick 43.Hopes’ was an impressive all-round display as he also picked up three wickets to restrict the Stars to 147. The Stars’ top five each got starts and a second-wicket stand of 48 between Luke Wright and Brad Hodge gave their team hope. But Hopes broke that partnership and picked up two more, and Thisara Perera chipped in with three wickets of his own, including that of John Hastings who had begun to look threatening with a 11-ball 22. Heat are currently fifth in the table and the Stars second.

Brett Matthews, the former South African first-class bowler, died in Pretoria on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2013Brett Matthews, the former South African first-class bowler, died in Pretoria on Thursday. Matthews, 50, had been in a medically induced coma after being injured in a road accident earlier this month.A left-arm seamer, Matthews represented Eastern Province, Transvaal and Western Province during his six-year career. He played 38 first-class matches, taking 120 wickets at 23.63, and claimed 36 wickets in 33 List A games.He was the brother of Craig Matthews, who had 18 Tests and 56 ODIs to his name for South Africa in the 1990s.

A round-up of the Vijay Hazare semi-finals on March 2, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2013
ScorecardAn all-round effort from Gokul Sharma helped Assam reach their first final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, as they beat Kerala by five wickets in Visakhapatnam. They will play Delhi, who won their semi-final against Bengal, in the final on Sunday.Sharma took three middle-order wickets and scored an unbeaten half-century to steer Assam’s chase of 198. Tarjinder Singh, who scored a crucial 49, and seamer Pritam Das, who took three wickets, were the other main contributors to the landmark win.Kerala’s innings was built on two productive partnerships, 79 between VA Jagadeesh and Rohan Prem, and 72 for the sixth wicket between Jagadeesh and Gomez. Jagadeesh eventually scored 89, and Gomez scored a half-century, but for the most part, Assam’s bowlers kept chipping away at Kerala. After Sharma created the opening by taking early wickets, Das helped wrap up the tail. Seven batsmen scored in single digits.In reply, Assam were in early trouble, having been reduced to 28 for 3 in the eighth over by seamers Prasanth Parameswaran and Sandeep Warrier. But opener Pallavkumar Das and Tarjinder Singh steadied the innings with a 72-run stand. Sharma, with an unbeaten 52, and Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad, who scored an unbeaten 29, took Assam home in 46 overs. Sreesanth proved expensive for Kerala, as he gave away 56 runs in nine wicketless overs.
ScorecardDelhi beat Bengal by six wickets to advance to the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the other semi-final.Bengal were put into bat and were in trouble, as seamers Sumit Narwal, Parvinder Awana and Pradeep Sangwan made early inroads to leave them struggling at 32 for 4. Manoj Tiwary and Laxmi Shukla attempted to stabilise the innings, putting on a 73-run stand for the fifth wicket. However, once Shukla was dismissed, Bengal were only able to add a further 51 runs as Delhi wrapped up the tail, to bowl them out in he 41st over. Tiwary top-scored with 87, while Delhi’s Varun Sood picked up 3 for 48.Despite losing opener Dhruv Shorey with the score at 16, Delhi strung together regular partnerships. Gautam Gambhir top-scored with 69 as he guided Delhi towards the 157-run target, and got the support of Unmukt Chand (22) and Rajat Bhatia (28).

Kolkata Knight Riders’ performance was a dominating one for the conditions they played in as defending champions

The Report by Siddhartha Talya03-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Sunil Narine was the star for Kolkata Knight Riders, but Gautam Gambhir played a significant role in the chase•BCCI

In 2008, Brendon McCullum had set the inaugural edition of the IPL alight with a whirlwind century that stands out for its audacity after more than 300 games in the tournament over five years. Not many will remember the exploits of his team in the opening game of IPL 2013 five years from now, but Kolkata Knight Riders’ performance was a dominating one for the conditions they played in as defending champions. On a slow Eden Gardens track that didn’t always cater to power-play, Sunil Narine and Rajat Bhatia restricted the Delhi Daredevils batsmen and captain Gautam Gambhir anchored the bulk of the chase.Mahela Jayawardene, the Daredevils captain, got what he wanted at the toss when Gambhir elected to bowl, but Knight Riders snatched the initiative as early as the first ball. Unmukt Chand, a rising star in Indian cricket and fresh from back-to-back tons in India’s domestic T20 tournament, was beaten by a lovely outswinger from Brett Lee that knocked out off stump. The sight was a delight to a capacity crowd and there were more such instances of batsmen proving clueless against a bowler in a format that’s usually one-way traffic, the other way around.Narine had played a pivotal role in Knight Riders’ victorious season in 2012, and his variations were just as confounding for the batsmen. David Warner was baffled by a sharp offspinner that he edged to slip, West Indies team-mate Andre Russell was caught napping against a , and Irfan Pathan holed out playing a flighted delivery to the hands of long-off.Jayawardene, however, looked in control, adapting expertly to the approach the pitch demanded, restraining himself from playing expansive shots to rely on touch-play, all the while remaining fluent at one end. Lee was upper-cut over slips, Bhatia and L Balaji were steered through the off side before Lee returned for a final spell to be pulled for six, though, again, with more politeness than venom. Jayawardene helped stretch the score to 128 with a late surge, but Bhatia and Balaji, who bowled eight overs together, conceded 43 and picked up two wickets, had played an excellent containing role with their medium-pace and unsettling cutters before that.A sense of urgency was more evident in Gambhir’s start to the chase, as he stepped out to smack Irfan for a four and a six in the third over, the latter clearing long-on. He then targeted Umesh Yadav for two consecutive fours, while Jacques Kallis at the other end was finding the boundary with lesser effort, timing the ball gloriously, a punch down the ground off Ashish Nehra standing out. The pair added 47 in less than six overs, a mix-up that resulted in a run-out chance that was missed by David Warner being the only serious scare.Gambhir ensured a steady run-flow after losing Kallis; the singles came easily with Manoj Tiwary, there were boundaries pierced by late-cuts through gaps on the off side, and enough lapses in the field by Daredevils to keep Knight Riders well ahead of the asking rate.Gambhir and Tiwary fell in quick succession, but Knight Riders were in control of the chase when they needed 29 off 30 with six wickets in hand. Eoin Morgan and Yusuf Pathan saw to it that the task was completed without any fuss, some quick running and a straight six off Russell relieving any pressure in a low-key beginning to a long IPL season.

Following the poor results in South Africa, Pakistan Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez has called for improvements in country’s domestic circuit, which will help produce complete players

Umar Farooq28-Mar-2013Following the poor results in South Africa, Pakistan Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez has called for improvements in country’s domestic circuit, which will help produce complete players who can cope with any conditions anywhere in the world. He was speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Faysal Bank Super Eight Twenty20, after scoring a blistering hundred for Lahore Lions.Pakistan’s domestic structure has seen several changes recently, with revamps almost every two years over the past decade. However the quality of pitches prepared for the domestic matches remains debatable. Hafeez pointed that aspect out, while defending the selections made for the South Africa tour.”It’s not like we aren’t picking the right players, those [the one’s picked for the national team] are the same players who are performing well on domestic circuit. But there are various areas we need to improve on in the domestic structure including the pitches, making them more competitive. Players who are in contention for national selection should play more domestic cricket.”There has always been a sense of competition at the domestic level, various youngsters are trying to rise to play for the country and it’s the duty of the think tank to give the right players chances. We have every sort of player in our domestic cricket, playing in every format of the game, but at the same time raw players are emerging. There is also a dire need to concentrate on the supporting staff working on the domestic circuit, so that player are groomed properly right from the start and national coach shouldn’t have to start from scratch.”Pakistan’s batting fragility was key to their poor returns in South Africa, with Hafeez himself looking uncomfortable playing on tracks that offered seam and bounce. He, batting as an opener, managed to score only 43 runs in the Tests and 118 in the ODIs, and was dismissed by Dale Styen on six occasions.Hafeez said the experience gained from facing South Africa’s bowlers in hostile conditions, though, will be visible in the side’s performance in upcoming matches. “If you look around the world, successful teams have their winning percentage is around 60 to 65 playing in their home conditions and we aren’t even playing in our home conditions for the last four years but still managed to get good results,” he said. “Obviously, the way we lost the Test series in South Africa was very disappointing for us, but we came back strongly in the T20 match and the one-day series and finished on a positive note. Having played such tough cricket it will benefit us for future assignments.”

Delhi Police has said it arrested Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan – all Rajasthan Royals bowlers – for the alleged fulfilling of promises made to bookmakers during this year’s IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-2013Delhi Police has said it arrested Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan – all Rajasthan Royals bowlers – for the alleged fulfilling of promises made to alleged bookmakers during this year’s IPL. The players were allegedly promised money ranging from US$36,000 to 109,000 for each over.Eleven bookies have also been arrested. One of the middlemen has been identified as Jiju Janardhan, described by the police as Sreesanth’s close friend and team-mate at the Ernakulam club. They have all been taken into police custody for five days.Neeraj Kumar, the commissioner of Delhi Police, provided a detailed explanation of its investigation, which began in early April, but said it had no evidence to suggest any other player, administrator or team owner was involved. It has registered cases under the Indian Penal Code section 420 and 120B, which deal with fraud, cheating, and criminal conspiracy. Kumar said Sreesanth was picked up from Carter Road in Bandra, a Mumbai suburb. Chandila was arrested outside a hotel where an alleged bookie was staying. Chavan was picked up from the Royals team hotel in Mumbai.The police has identified the three matches where the alleged fix happened: against Pune Warriors on May 5, Kings XI Punjab on May 9 and Mumbai Indians on May 15. Kumar said the deal was for the bowlers to concede a specified minimum number of runs in a pre-decided over. He explained in detail how the deals were struck, how the players allegedly indicated to the bookmakers that the deal was on, and how they went on to concede those runs. He said the police has the recordings of those tapped phone conversations.Kumar said the police’s investigation began with tip-offs that the Mumbai underworld was involved in cricket corruption. He said their earlier investigations revealed the three named players were in constant touch with illegal bookmakers, and they waited for them to go through their respective fixes before they arrested them. He said the police has been investigating this since early April.Chandila was alleged to have conceded 14 predetermined runs in his second over against Warriors on May 5, but he forgot to indicate to the alleged handlers he was going to do so. The police said he was pulled up after the game, and was asked to return the advance of Rs 20 lakh (US$36,512).Sreesanth, the police said, was alleged to have made the appropriate signal, which was to ask for a towel that he would tuck inside his trousers before bowling his second over against Kings XI on May 9. He was also alleged to have been asked to waste some time so that the bookies can accept bets. This wasn’t a new spell, the police said, but Sreesanth asked for the towel and also did fresh warm-ups and stretching exercises before he began the over.The police alleged Sreesanth had promised to concede 14 runs in that over. He went for 13. The police said the bookies leave themselves a bit of cushion in these deals to cover for external factors. Kumar said the bookies still made crores of rupees through that over. Sreesanth was promised Rs 40 lakh (USD 73,024). Sreesanth wasn’t given another over in the match.Kumar said they then waited for Chavan to go ahead with his fix, which he said happened in the match against Mumbai, in Mumbai on May 15. The police alleged that Chandila was the go-between man for this deal, and that he spent the whole day training Chavan for the over. Chavan went for just two in his first over, but conceded 15 in his second, the third of Mumbai’s innings.Chavan’s signal, the police said, was to fiddle with his wristband. The police said Chandila spoke to a bookie soon after the match, and said that the money – Rs 60 lakh (US$109,521) – should be delivered to him and not Chavan. Kumar said this was the point at which they went ahead with the arrest.Kumar said their investigators went to the grounds so that they could keep an eye on the signals before the allegedly corrupt overs. He said the police was sure the indicators were consistent with the pre-decided signal. He also said the fixed overs were supposed to be the respective bowlers’ second overs, irrespective of whether their side was bowling first or second. The only pre-requisite was to let the bookies know the deal was on, which they did through their signals.Kumar hinted at underworld and overseas connections, but refused to name anybody. He also said the anti-corruption unit employed by the cricket organisers was not aware of what was going on. He said more arrests – of bookies, and not players – could be expected in the coming days.

On a green pitch under a cloudy sky and with Andre Adams at last fit enough to return, you could hardly blame what Wayne Madsen had secretly dreaded but Derbyshire are only two down

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge12-Jun-2013Derbyshire 245 for 2 (Chanderpaul 78*, Madsen 67*, Hughes 59) v Nottinghamshire
ScorecardShivnarine Chanderpaul has been worth Derbyshire’s investment•Getty Images

On a green pitch under a cloudy sky and with Andre Adams at last fit enough to return, there can have been little doubt in Chris Read’s mind about what to do when he won the toss. Bottom-of-the-table Derbyshire, the gap between themselves and the pack beginning to yawn just a little, have yet to bowl first in a Championship match this season and if skipper Wayne Madsen had secretly dreaded what might unfold you could hardly blame him.Yet after a day restricted by rain to 65 overs, Derbyshire are only two down. Madsen is well set alongside Shivnarine Chanderpaul in an attempt to reprise their record-breaking partnership against Surrey two weeks ago and the positive signs that coach Karl Krikken took from drawing that game might be more than wishful thinking. “The last couple of weeks we have started to compete and it’s not a foregone conclusion that we are going to go down,” he said. “There are nine games to go and we’ll keep fighting.”Much of Krikken’s renewed optimism stems from Chanderpaul’s enduring quality and professionalism. Approaching 39 and with pretty much every box ticked in his list of career ambitions, Chanderpaul is playing for his fourth county and his decision to sign a well-rewarded contract with a newly-promoted underdog might be open to cynical interpretation, yet Krikken could not be more insistent that Chanderpaul is giving maximum value.He made his first century for Derbyshire against Surrey and is on course for another here. After their stand of 265 against Surrey, they have put on 145 so far here, with Chanderpaul on 78 from 88 balls, and the Nottinghamshire attack feeling a little chastened. But Krikken says Chanderpaul is about more than runs.”He has been immense for us on the field but it is also his work-rate behind the scenes, with the youngsters in the squad in the nets,” Krikken said. “He is a great cricketer and the time he spends in the nets and the way he thinks about his game is what we want our younger players to emulate.”When you are playing on result wickets it is not easy but now we are getting some flatter wickets he is coming into his own. But he has not moaned at all because he knows we have to try to get results.”It is important to the team, to the younger players, to see your captain and your overseas player standing up to be counted, so their form has come at the right time.”In the earlier games we just weren’t consistent enough. We were having a good session but then throwing it away with a poor one and we know we can’t keep doing that. But in the last couple of weeks there have been signs that we are starting to compete.”Chanderpaul in his customary way gathered his runs with deceptive swiftness. He may not be flamboyant but his clever placement ensures steady singles and as ever he was able to gather boundaries through timing rather than force.It was a contrast from Chesney Hughes, who launched Derbyshire’s best start to an innings so far with gusto, his boundaries coming usually with a flourish. He had nine in his 59 and it was a shame that he paid the price for being too extravagant, mishitting an attempt to pull Harry Gurney to the ropes and cursing himself as the ball flew tamely to mid-off.At least Gurney could feel compensated. He had seen Hughes, on 48, and Godleman, with 19, dropped off consecutive balls by Samit Patel at slip.Adams picked up his sole reward when Godleman followed one outside off stump and gave Read a regulation catch but neither he nor any of his colleagues has found much in the pitch. The ball swung a little under the morning’s cloudy sky but for once here conditions have not been as read. Krikken admitted Derbyshire would have bowled first, too. Madsen, this time, will be pleased he did not have the choice.

After Pakistan’s early exit from the Champions Trophy, the PCB has decided to extend the selection pool ahead of picking a squad for the upcoming tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe

Umar Farooq27-Jun-2013After Pakistan’s early exit from the Champions Trophy, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to extend the selection pool of players and shift focus towards youngsters ahead of picking a squad for the upcoming tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe. Ten cricketers, including Shahid Afridi, underwent fitness tests conducted by a panel of doctors and coaches at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.The change in leadership of the PCB, in the form of Najam Sethi for the suspended Zaka Ashraf, has seen a changed persona of the board. The new interim chairman publicly dismissed the culture of [unmerited recommendation] and ordered selection strictly on merit to produce immediate results. He asked the selection committee and coaches to take more responsibility from now on.The selections for the West Indies tour were nearly settled before the selection panel was given an additional five days by the board chairman, to justify each selection before sending it for approval. The panel, led by Iqbal Qasim, thereafter formed an extensive pool to be tested. The intentions are clear as selectors have been given a free hand to replace the older players with youngsters. They may now think beyond the likes of Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal, who fared poorly in the Champions Trophy.Haris Sohail, who suffered an ankle injury earlier this year, and Raza Hasan, who had major surgery on his spine, are back in contention, along with Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad. Umar was also seen with the wicketkeeping gloves along with coach Dav Whatmore, which means he may be selected as the wicketkeeper in the squad. Mohammad Irfan and Nasir Jamshed, automatic selections over the last eight months, were also asked to undertake fitness tests. Top-order batsmen Sohaib Maqsood from Multan, Sharjeel Khan from Hyderabad, left-arm spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Abdur Rehman, and legspinner Usman Qadir, all featured in a three-hour fitness test.Pakistan suffered three straight defeats in the Champions Trophy with their batting being their major woe. They failed to cross 200 – bowled out for 170 against West Indies, 167 against South Africa and 165 in a rain-affected match against India to get eliminated from the group stage. Only captain Misbah-ul-Haq hit two half-centuries, while the other senior batsmen Mohammad Hafeez, Farhat, Malik and Kamran performed poorly.

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has conceded the batting inadequacies on such gaudy display at Lord’s will take time to be rectified, not only within the Test team but at the domestic levels beneath

Daniel Brettig at Lord's19-Jul-2013Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has conceded the batting inadequacies on such gaudy display at Lord’s will take time to be rectified, not only within the Test team but at the domestic levels beneath. Lehmann spoke frankly of his side’s abject slide from 42 for 0 to 128 all out, saying he had criticised the team heavily within the dressing room. He also revealed Shane Watson’s wrong-headed referral of his lbw, the day’s obvious pivot point, had been triggered by his partner Chris Rogers.Across the day television cameras panned often to Lehmann, not least because he has chosen to listen to the commentary on radio. At Trent Bridge he had made his disgust plain when decisions went against his side, but here he offered expressions apparently drawn from the phrase “if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry”. But he was plain in his distaste for the way Australia had batted, giving up virtually all their pretensions as Ashes challenges in the space of little more than a session. Asked whether he had read the riot act to his players, Lehmann replied: “Yep. Done and dusted. That will stay in the rooms.””The top order failed again and we need to make sure we’re learning from our mistakes and probably haven’t done that from the first innings at Notts to the first innings here,” Lehmann said. “We showed glimpses but we’ve got to bat better. It was more one-day batting than Test match batting. We know we have to improve our batting over periods of time and bat a lot more than 55 overs. We believe the plans are right. Our shot selection was poor today. Simple as that. I think eight out of the 10 were self-inflicted to be perfectly honest.”Since his appointment Lehmann has spoken often of letting his players express themselves on the field, but not without certain boundaries. The issues witnessed at Lord’s, from another squandered start by Watson to panicked shots by Usman Khawaja and Phillip Hughes, have also been glimpsed plentifully in Australian domestic matches, particularly now that the Sheffield Shield has been splintered by the dominance of the Big Bash League.”There’s freedom but there’s also rules within that, and at the moment we’re not following them as a batting group,” Lehmann said. “Some of the shots today were certainly not what we talk about and using match awareness is the biggest thing for us, and making sure we’re playing them at the right time in the right circumstances.Look away now: Darren Lehmann watches Australia collapse•Getty Images

“Domestic level we haven’t made enough hundreds either. Batting time is hard work and you see the England players have had a lot of hundreds in their top five. It’s going to take time for the players to trust and believe they belong at this level. They certainly have all the attributes to play at this level, there’s no doubt about that. It’s the execution and the match awareness. All state coaches would be saying the same thing about how to play long innings because in state cricket we don’t have too many of those either.”As for the fraught use of the DRS, which had the domino effect of clouding Rogers’ thinking after wrongly approving Watson’s decision to refer his lbw so the left-hander did not review his own dismissal, a freak departure to a Graeme Swann full toss that was sliding past leg stump.”Bucky Rogers got that wrong with Shane, he told Shane to take it,” Lehmann said. “That’s just the way it goes sometimes, and then he should have used one on himself but he probably didn’t want to after wasting one. As long as they learn from it that’s the thing. We’ve certainly got the bowling side of it right with the referrals. Now the batters have to get that right.””I think he’s close to having a big score, but I don’t want to keep saying that either to be perfectly honest,” Lehmann said. “We want him to make big scores. He’s a very good player and we’ve had a couple of good starts to be fair, 0 for 84 in the second innings of Notts and 0 for 42 here. We should be making big runs from there, a lot more than 128.”As for how Australia can improve, they need look no further than Ian Bell, twice already a centurion in this series. “He just stays within his limitations doesn’t he,” Lehmann said. “That’s Test matching batting at its best.”

Kandurata Maroons fell six runs short of Uthura Yellows’ 158-run target in spite of a 54-ball 90 from Thilina Kandamby. However, the loss did not affect Kandurata’s place in the table and they will play Basnahira Greens in the final on August 17

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2013
Scorecard Dinesh Chandimal’s 54-ball 90 helped take Uthura Yellows to 158 for 5•AFP

Thilina Kandamby’s 54-ball 90 brought Kandurata Maroons to within touching distance of Uthura Yellows’ total, but a nerveless final over from Shaminda Eranga saw Kandurata fall short by six runs. Earlier, Dinesh Chandimal scored an unbeaten 93 from 57 to help Uthura post 158 for 5.The loss, however, did not have an effect on Kandurata’s standings in the table and their second-place finish has given them a place in the final against Basnahira Greens on August 17.Kandurata’s innings was shaped by Kandamby, who had some support from Pabasara Waduge in the early overs. However, none of the other batsmen could manage more than eight runs.Playing his first match of the tournament, Ramith Rambukwella snared Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne in the middle overs to hamper the chase, and finished with figures of 2 for 14 from his four overs.Chandimal had hit the competition’s only fifty in his previous match and, having had a lean few months in limited-overs cricket, his run in this tournament may signal a return to form. The busy cuts and dabs had returned to his game, as had strokes over the infield that he has struggled to play of late, and though he had two fortuitous top edges that fell into space, he drove the innings along smartly, rarely allowing bowlers to settle against him.He attacked the pacers to begin with, hitting consecutive fours off Dhammika Prasad in the fifth over, but became more assured against spin as the innings wore on. Ajantha Mendis was struck for successive boundaries, in the 16th over, just after Chandimal had launched legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi over long-on for six. Another six off Mendis finished off Uthura’s innings, and those runs would eventually prove crucial in the final tally.With two left-handers opening the batting for Kandurata, Chandimal opened the bowling with Rambukwella, and had two cheap overs out of the offspinner before Kandamby began his charge. Kandamby struck six fours off ten Chathura Peiris deliveries inside the Powerplay, but regular wickets at the other end prevented him from maintaining that frenetic pace.Sangakkara and Thirimanne had been Kandurata’s best batsmen so far in the tournament, and although Rambukwella made short work of both – taking a return catch off Sangakkara’s leading edge, and sliding a quick one underneath Thirimanne’s bat – Kandamby continued to progress smoothly.Kandurata needed only 30 from the last three overs, and though Kandamby made the equation easier with two fours in the 18th over, he was bowled in the next. With 12 runs needed from the final over, it ultimately proved too much for the Kandurata tail, as Eranga delivered six yorkers to seal the victory.