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Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka vice-captain, said he was pleased with Sri Lanka’s start to the World Cup but there was still a lot of hard work ahead of his team in the tournament. Jayawardene scored the fastest century by a Sri Lanka player in any World Cup, when he got to the landmark off 80 balls in their first game of the tournament, against Canada in Hambantota on Sunday. The previous fastest hundred was off 85 balls by Sanath Jayasuriya, against Bangladesh in 2007.”We had a few nerves before the game started, just to get on with the World Cup in front of our own crowd,” Jayawardene said. “It’s not easy to play a team like Canada. You’ve got to make sure that you come in prepared. It’s a good start but we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us with other teams.”After electing to bat, Sri Lanka had got off to a relatively sluggish start, with the scoring rate having dipped below five runs an over by the time Jayawardene came in. He credited Canada’s bowlers for that, but said it was always the plan to keep wickets in hand.”To be fair on the Canadian side they bowled really well. They bowled in good areas to start off with, and [Tillakaratne] Dilshan couldn’t get away and neither did Upul [Tharanga], but it was important for us to keep wickets in hand. We had a good partnership between Kumar [Sangakkara] and me. We needed to change that rhythm a bit in the middle overs and we managed to do that and took control of the game.”After Jayawardene was dismissed to a tired shot just after he got his century, Sri Lanka lost some quick wickets in the end overs, sparking further doubts over their inexperienced middle order, which is considered one of the few weaknesses they have in their side. Jayawardene, however, praised the middle order for doing what he described as “dirty work” in going after the bowlers rather than trying to preserve their wickets.”We can’t blame those guys because they went on to accelerate and obviously we will lose a few wickets in that situation. There was another case where we could have taken a run a ball and probably got 300 and would have been happy. But the guys are doing some dirty work for us so and we need to appreciate that.”When the right time comes, as we saw in the warm-up game against West Indies , the middle order clicked, and in the other warm-up against Holland too, we batted very well. Everyone’s got a role to play in our team and according to the situations they will come up and play those roles. There is no point just going out there and blocking the ball and not getting out. It’s all about doing the job for the team.”Sri Lanka are one of the hosts of the tournament but have not had a chance to play an ODI at two of their new stadiums – the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota and the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium – but Jayawardene said they were happy with the time they got to practice in Hambantota. “The first couple of practice sessions we had [in Hambantota], we realised the wickets were really good. Everything went smoothly for us. From the players point of view there are no complaints. We knew we could score 250 to 300 on this wicket.”Sri Lanka’s strong batting performance on Sunday was backed up by an equally impressive showing by the bowlers, even in the absence of Lasith Malinga. Jayawardene confirmed Malinga’s absence was just precautionary and said he would play in their next game, against Pakistan on February 26.”Lasith had a bit of a back strain. He played in the West Indies game as well so we didn’t want to risk him. He bowled yesterday and he was okay but given the fact that we have got a couple of crucial games coming up we thought that he should get a break. He’ll get into his stride in the next few days and should be okay for the Pakistan game.”

Pakistan bowling allrounder Yasir Arafat has been signed up by South African franchise Dolphins for the Pro20 competition as their overseas player. Arafat has been an experienced campaigner in Pakistan’s domestic circuit and has also been part of the national side in three Tests, 11 ODIs and seven Twenty20 internationals.”We are excited to have Yasir join our ranks and look forward to the value that he will add. Yasir will be playing his first match for the Dolphins today [February 4} in their Standard Bank Pro20 in East London”, Jesse Challan, the CEO of the Kwazulu Natal Cricket Union, said in a release.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Lonwabo Tsotsobe took two wickets and an excellent low catch to assist Dale Steyn, who took four wickets, in dismantling India’s batting line-up•AFP

Take a green, pacy pitch, add overcast conditions, and unleash perhaps the world’s best new-ball attack on it. That’s what awaited India’s batsmen at Kingsmead, and though they responded marginally better than they did in the first Test in Centurion, another exhibition of top-class fast bowling from Dale Steyn put South Africa in charge. Several of the batsmen got starts, but then either played poor strokes or received near unplayable deliveries – everyone got into double-digits but the highest score was VVS Laxman’s 38.

Smart Stats

• Dale Steyn is the second bowler to dismiss Virender Sehwag six times in Tests; Matthew Hoggard is the other. No bowler has dismissed him more often.

• Sehwag averages 7.67 against Steyn in Tests in South Africa (23 runs in 45 balls; three dismissals). In India, Sehwag averages 51.67 against him (155 runs in 162 balls; three dismissals).

• Steyn has taken 43 wickets against India, which is the most he has against a single opposition – those wickets have come at an average of 18.95.

• Rahul Dravid’s average of 32.55 in South Africa is his lowest in any country. His average in Sri Lanka is marginally higher at 33.10.

• VVS Laxman’s six off Steyn was only his fifth in Test cricket. The previous six he hit was in March 2005, off Danish Kaneria in Kolkata.

South Africa were also helped by two vital contributions from Lonwabo Tsotsobe, whose place was under scrutiny coming into the second Test: first removing Sachin Tendulkar with a delivery angling across, which was edged to second slip, and then pulling off an incredible low catch at mid-on to end Laxman’s resistance.The perils in store for the batsmen were evident right from the first delivery of the match, which reared from a length and struck Virender Sehwag painfully on the fingers. The ball was jagging around prodigiously and the openers had a tough time: Sehwag was beaten by a peach off the final ball of the first over from Steyn. In the next over from Morne Morkel, a ball swerved in sharply to cut Sehwag in half. Other batsmen may be unnerved by that; Sehwag just smiled and went for his shots without worrying about the movement. The approach paid off for a while, bringing the usual flow of early Sehwag boundaries.With Morkel guilty of bowling too short and Tsotsobe unable to control the runs, India survived nearly till drinks. Steyn, though, had been probing consistently outside off, working his outswinger beautifully. It was one of those outswingers that accounted for Sehwag – pitched up and asking to be driven, only for the late movement to get the outside edge to slip.In his next over, Steyn sent back the other opener, M Vijay – in for the injured Gautam Gambhir – who had looked less in control than Sehwag. A beauty of a delivery had Vijay fishing outside off, and nicking to the keeper. Vijay had started the innings leaving most deliveries outside off, but had a chancy stay – dropped by Paul Harris at first slip when on 3, and later by AB de Villiers, who nearly plucked a blinder at third slip.Tendulkar was adventurous in the short spell till lunch, using the uppercut to pick up a couple of boundaries, though he also had the fortune of a pull flying over the keeper for four. India would have been satisfied with the 74 for 2 they posted in the morning session, but they lost the big wicket of Tendulkar off the fifth ball after the break.India’s two other middle-order stalwarts – Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman – then started a recovery act. Neither batsman was particularly fluent, and their 38-run partnership had periods of total calm sandwiched by bursts of boundaries. Three fours came in the space of seven deliveries early on – with Laxman capitalising on some wayward Tsotsobe bowling – before a six-over spell in which only four runs were scored. Steyn was brought back to break the stand but bowled his only expensive over of the day – a gorgeous straight drive from Laxman brought up India’s hundred before he pulled a short ball for a flat six, only the fifth of his Test career.Once again, just as India seemed to have stabilised, Steyn struck: working over Dravid with a relentless offstump line before getting him to nick an away-going ball to the keeper. Two overs later, he was gifted a wicket as Tsotsobe held on to a casual pull from Laxman and India were down to 130 for 5.Cheteshwar Pujara, taking the place of the struggling Suresh Raina, responded well to the challenge. He had a reprieve when Hashim Amla dropped him at forward short leg, but he was confident through his innings, highlighted by an uppercut for four off Morkel one delivery after he had mishit an attempted hook. He had moved to 19 when he threw it away, miscueing a pull to the keeper.That left India at 168 for 6, and Graeme Smith a satisfied man. Only a couple of overs were possible after tea, with the fading light forcing an early stop. Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni have added 27 brisk runs, and India need them to stick around to boost their hopes of staging a comeback in the series.

If you say something often enough you start to believe it. At least that’s what Australia’s resident hypnotist Brad Haddin is hoping. “This game does turn,” he said repeatedly after England had taken a 72-run lead by finishing the second day at 2 for 317.The series is only seven days old but Australia have been swamped by England over the past four. They own a willing attack but it hasn’t found an answer to the prolific Alastair Cook, who is 136 not out, and it will also have to contend with Kevin Pietersen starting the third day 15 from a century.It wasn’t so long ago that Australia could make things happen, but this version of the side has to wait and wait and wait. In 1989 David Gower sipped champagne during a break to celebrate an England wicket and it wouldn’t have been a surprise today to have seen Ricky Ponting head straight for the marquees for a cup of VB at tea. Ryan Harris removed Jonathan Trott for 78 in the middle session, the first time in 502 runs that the Trott-Cook partnership had been broken.The mood in the dressing room was definitely not bubbly. “We’re not at our perky best, but life goes on,” Haddin said. Adelaide’s new ground has been full and loud, but the local spectators are in various states of shock.For the Australians, there is a party everywhere outside their dressing room. The music from England’s area is louder than the roars of the Barmy Army whenever their batsmen find the boundary.Haddin knows the local players have their “backs to the wall” and wants them to “stay tough” over the rest of the game. “Everything seems to be going England’s way,” he said a couple of times. “The game does turn.”On the first day Haddin was involved in an argument with James Anderson that eventually led to Ricky Ponting having a long exchange with Andrew Strauss about the behaviour of the touring side. Haddin is chirpy from behind the stumps and when he’s holding a bat, but he wouldn’t give any details of the discussions.However, he couldn’t hold a straight face after being asked about Anderson getting under Australian skins. “Nope,” he replied, before breaking into a huge smile.When the lips say one thing, look to the eyes. Australia’s have lost their sparkle, even if this game does turn.

Criticism from outside the camp doesn’t ruffle Kumar Sangakkara. He’s used to it. But in Australia it usually takes something seriously wrong for an ex-player to break the code of support for the country’s captain.During Australia’s series loss in India Shane Warne targeted Ricky Ponting’s fields and Geoff Lawson has called for him to become a specialist batsman. Ponting has been unhappy with some of the coverage and it adds to the intrigue for the limited-overs contest against Sri Lanka, which acts as Australia’s last international item before the Ashes.Sangakkara has been captain of Sri Lanka for more than a year and has developed a relaxed attitude to criticism. “We come from a slightly different cricket-playing scene [than in Australia] where we get to see that almost every day,” he said before laughing loudly. “If it does happen it’s not the end of the world. It’s an opinion expressed and if you’re playing at this level you are able to handle it with equanimity.”Warne tweeted about Ponting’s fields to Nathan Hauritz and the issue continues to rumble, with the former legspinner writing about it on his website on Tuesday. Sangakkara was not surprised by Warne’s comments, but did not think it suggested the Australians were starting to crack.”Warne has very strong opinions on most things,” he said. “He is also a very shrewd and intelligent cricketer, I’m sure he expressed an opinion he thought was relevant. Everyone looks at everything differently, that’s what you realise very soon playing cricket. That’s the beauty of cricket, it’s all put down to interpretation.”One of the reasons for the burst of local complaints is Australia’s drop to No.5 in the Test rankings, their worst since the system was introduced. They are still comfortably on top in one-day internationals, 16 points above South Africa, but appear more vulnerable given the slip in five-day status.Sangakkara doesn’t pretend to understand how the ranking system works but is certain the hosts won’t be a pushover. “Playing the Aussies in Australia is a completely different story,” he said. “How they will look at it in between an Ashes series is something left for them. For us, it’s a great challenge to play Australia anytime.”The Sri Lankans open their tour with a one-dayer against Queensland at the Gabba on Friday and have two more warm-ups before the Twenty20 international in Perth on October 31. Three ODIs follow as the teams start to focus seriously on next year’s World Cup.”We’re trying a few new guys, but we’re settled to a great extent,” Sangakkara said. “There are still a few places up for grabs and we need to have guys ready and able to take up that spot. We have a lot of younger players who have come in, and a lot of experienced players who do not feature in our squad. It’s an interesting time for us.”

Western Australia 5 for 199 (Voges 81*) beat South Australia 198 (Manou 47*, Marsh 3-37) by 5 wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAdam Voges was in charge for the Warriors•Getty Images

Adam Voges’ unbeaten half-century moved Western Australia to a comfortable five-wicket victory as they took care of the struggling South Australia in Adelaide. Voges guided the chase of the Redbacks’ 198 with a composed 81 off 93 balls as they reached the total in the 40th over.Western Australia took a 27-run lead after the first innings having reduced South Australia to 4 for 75 in 20 overs, and required only 97 in their second bat. Marcus North went for 32 after the break, but Voges, Luke Pomersbach (25) and Mitchell Marsh got them home.South Australia, who are bottom of the table, needed the late contribution of Graham Manou and his 48-run stand with Chris Duval (24) for the ninth wicket. Marsh, the medium pacer, picked up three wickets in five balls to leave the hosts at 8 for 138 and they did well to recover, with Manou finishing unbeaten on 47.Daniel Christian showed his power with 39 but too many of the locals only got starts. Michael Hogan was a handful again with 3 for 49 off 11 overs while the spinner Aaron Heal, who opened the bowling, picked up two wickets, including the early stumping of Michael Klinger.

Scorecard
A late assault from Louis Klazinga, including a brace of sixes in the final over, helped Namibia snatch an unlikely one-wicket victory in the second limited-overs game against Uganda at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek.Uganda looked certain to level the two-match series when left-arm seamer Charles Waiswa removed Willem Groenewald to leave Namibia’s last pair needing 18 runs from 11 balls, but Klazinga and No. 11 Elton Ambambi responded in spectacular fashion to seal victory – and a 2-0 series victory – with two balls to spare.Namibia’s win was set up by a pair of aggressive half-centuries from opener Ewaid Steenkamp and captain Craig Williams. After the early loss of wicketkeeper batsman Raymond van Schoor, Steenkamp added 109 – the highest partnership of the match – with Wessel Myburgh to keep Namibia’s pursuit of 258 on course.Though Myburgh was somewhat subdued at the crease, hitting only one four in his 63-ball 27, Steenkamp had no trouble reaching the boundary, cracking eight fours and a six before he was run out for 84 by Ronald Ssemanda.His dismissal set Namibia back to 144 for 3 in the 34th over, giving Uganda an opening from which to attack the middle order, and when Louis Burger and Norbert Manyande fell in quick succession the home side slipped to 177 for 5. But Williams counter-attacked in style, clearing the boundary three times to bring Namibia back into the match and rush to a 38-ball 58 before he fell to make Uganda favourites once again.When Louis van der Westhuizen, Christi Viljoen and Groenewald were also prised out with the required run-rate rocketing past 9-an-over few would have given the tail much chance of chasing down the runs, but Klazinga responded with a career-best effort to crush Uganda’s hopes.Klazinga’s efforts made up for a wayward performance with the ball from him, as he gave away 62 runs while Uganda racked up 257 for 8. After Roger Mukasa launched the innings with an aggressive 38 Benjamin Musoke’s career-best 79 provided the ballast of the visitors’ innings as he added 101 for the fifth wicket with Frank Nsubuga, who contributed an enterprising 55, to lay the platform for a late charge.Musoke took Uganda to 228 before he was bowled by Viljoen, and though Deusdedit Muhumuza and Ssemanda added 29 in 3.4 overs to take the score past 250, Klazinga’s last-gasp hitting proved the difference between the two sides.After losing their Intercontinental Shield fixture and both limited-overs games, Uganda have one last chance to salvage some pride when the two teams meet in a Twenty20 match at the same venue on Sunday.

ScorecardTest selector James Whitaker watched on as two of England’s young hopefuls made attractive half-centuries on the second day of Yorkshire’s Championship Division One match against Hampshire at Scarborough.Opener Adam Lyth, the first batsman to complete 1,000 runs this season, received his county cap before the start of the match and went on to make a stylish 63. Allrounder Adil Rashid, later stemmed a batting collapse with an elegant 76 which helped Yorkshire to reach 322 for 9 declared after they had been put in to bat, the first day of the match having been lost to bad weather.But the two young guns were not allowed to steal all the glory. Hampshire’s 39-year-old captain Dominic Cork bowled with all his usual gusto to finish with season-best figures of 5 for 58.With every point vital for Yorkshire in their quest for the title they were given a promising start by Lyth and Jacques Rudolph, who put on 61 in 18 overs. Rudolph then got too ambitious in what had been an expensive over from David Balcombe. The South African had already hit him for three fours and a two but he then flayed at a wide one outside off-stump and was caught behind by Michael Bates, the first of four victims for the 19-year-old wicketkeeper.Anthony McGrath kept Lyth company until lunch and soon after the interval Lyth moved to his half-century but after striking 13 boundaries and receiving 106 balls he could not avoid making glove contact with a Cork bouncer. In the same over, Cork found the edge of McGrath’s bat and Bates again held on to the catch.Left-armer James Tomlinson, who had bowled well in his first spell without reward, had Andrew Gale giving a low catch to Neil McKenzie at second slip. And Yorkshire slumped to 141 for 5 when Jonny Bairstow fell lbw to Cork, four wickets having toppled for 15 runs in six overs.Help was on hand for Yorkshire in the form of Gerard Brophy and Rashid, who repaired the damage with a seventh wicket stand of 111 in which Rashid struck Sean Ervine for three consecutive boundaries.Rashid’s wristy strokeplay took him to his sixth Championship half-century of the season and Brophy offered good support until he had reached 44 – when he was superbly caught by Jimmy Adams at backward point while slashing at Cork. Any chance of Rashid managing a well-deserved century ended when Ervine got a delivery to shoot through low and trap him lbw after facing 131 balls and hitting 12 fours.Tim Bresnan, who joins up with England at Lord’s tomorrow, became Cork’s fifth victim before Steve Patterson fell to Balcombe. Eager to make up for lost time, Yorkshire declared to leave Hampshire with three overs in which to bat and they closed on eight without loss. Two of the overs were bowled by Bresnan, who will now be replaced by Richard Pyrah.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEoin Morgan brought out all his shots during a thrilling maiden Test century•PA Photos

Eoin Morgan had four Tests against Pakistan to prove he should be on the plane to Australia. He’s booked a ticket in one innings after his maiden Test century carried England to 331 for 4 on the opening day at Trent Bridge. Morgan finished on 125 alongside Paul Collingwood on 81 as the fifth-wicket pair added 213 after Mohammad Aamer’s three wickets left England struggling on 118 for 4Other than Aamer’s continued excellence Pakistan’s cricket was shambolic less than a week after ending their 15-year drought against Australia. The support bowling lacked control with Danish Kaneria’s struggles creating a major headache for Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal had another nightmare behind the stumps. During the first session he dropped a regulation edge from Andrew Strauss and with the game being taken away from them during the final session he couldn’t complete a simple stumping when Collingwood charged Kaneria.Morgan, though, was breathtaking. He raised his hundred (just his seventh in first-class cricket) from 151 balls with a signature straight six off Kaneria – to rubber-stamp an individual battle he won hands down – and it was an innings that answered a lot of questions about technique and temperament.The fact he did it from a position where England were in some trouble after Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott departed in four balls after lunch added further weight to the innings. Neither did he change his game from what has brought him one-day success; he used his feet to the spinners, drove inside-out through cover and even unfurled the reverse sweep.There were a couple of nervous moments. Early in the innings he edged Aamer to Akmal but although the keeper claimed the catch – perhaps just in the sheer joy of thinking he’d caught one – replays soon showed it had grazed the turf. When he’d reached 78 he was given lbw to Kaneria but was saved by the UDRS when replays showed the ball would have spun past leg stump. Two of the next three deliveries were driven effortlessly through the covers.Ironically, had Pakistan not used up their two reviews early in the day they could have referred a lbw appeal against Morgan on 34 when he swept at Shoaib Malik and the ball was hitting flush on leg stump. Both Pakistan’s reviews were taken during Pietersen’s painful 29-ball innings as the visitors twice challenged not-out decisions. Mohammad Asif was the bowler on both occasions, firstly with an lbw appeal which replays showed was only clipping the bails then when he thought Pietersen had edged to the wicketkeeper but the noise, expertly noticed by Asoka de Silva, had been bat clipping pad.Pietersen, though, never settled and looked woefully short of form in his first innings for nearly a month and there was no doubt about his eventual dismissal when Asif nipped a ball back which took the inside edge into the stumps. It was another wonderful piece of bowling from an intelligent operator.England’s problems were compounded in the next over when Trott, who had been reprieved by the UDRS when he had 13 after being given lbw to Kaneria despite an inside edge, padded up to an inswinger from Aamer and this time Trott’s request for a review couldn’t save him.While Morgan entered needing to prove himself in a tricky situation, Collingwood has made his name in such positions and was quite happy to play second fiddle as his young partner sped away. However, he never passed up a scoring opportunity such as consecutive long hops from the struggling Umar Gul that were cut through the covers after Pakistan had kept England’s scoring rate to less than two-an-over for an hour after lunch. By the end of the day the hosts were racing and the stand was England’s first over 200 since Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara added 213 against West Indies, at Chester-le-Street, last May.Strauss had also looked in good form during the morning session although had a huge stroke of luck when Akmal added another awful drop to a sizeable collection of keeping horrors. Akmal had been tidy during the recent series against Australia but he remains an unconvincing gloveman. Aamer did manage to break the opening stand when he squared up Cook and Imran Farhat at first slip showed his keeper how to take a catch.Already, though, it was becoming clear that the onus was on Aamer to do the damage himself and when his opening six-over spell ended life became much easier for Strauss and Trott. But 10 minutes before lunch Aamer was recalled for his second burst and with his fourth ball he found Strauss’s top edge as the England captain’s eyes lit up at a hint of width. Pakistan might have thought they’d shifted the key left hander in the nick of time, but then along came Morgan to stamp his name on Test cricket.

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Greg Smith made his highest score for nearly two months to give Derbyshire achance of a first Championship victory since late April at Derby.Smith made 91 off 163 balls as Derbyshire claimed a first-innings lead of 126and then reduced Worcestershire to 70 for 3 at the close.Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan took 3 for 94 but Derbyshire’s lastfive wickets added 168 to take the home side to 405 before their bowlers leftthe visitors facing defeat.The match was in the balance at the start of day three with Derbyshire 96 runsbehind with six wickets intact but the home side slowly gained the initiativeafter Worcestershire’s bowlers failed to make an early breakthrough.Smith and Dan Redfern batted through the first 18 overs before Matt Masonfinally struck with the new ball when Redfern was well caught at second slip byDaryl Mitchell for 19.Redfern had faced 110 balls but he had done a valuable job in frustrating thebowlers who were then held up by Smith and Robin Peterson as the sixth-wicketpair put on 71 in 22 overs to take Derbyshire past 300.Smith had not scored a half century in any form of cricket since late May -against Worcestershire – but he showed his confidence had returned by hammeringfour boundaries in an over from the wayward Richard Jones.He looked set for a hundred until he drove Moeen Ali’s off-spin loosely toshort extra cover and Derbyshire were only 45 runs on when Peterson was caughtat short leg to give Shakib his first Worcestershire wicket. But Steffan Jones mixed watchful defence with some punishing blows, including two big sixes over midwicket, to score 40 off 43 balls and Lee Goddard chipped in with 38 to leave Worcestershire with a lot of batting to do.David Wheeldon had batted for more than three hours for 20 in the first inningsand he was again threatening to stand in Derbyshire’s way when Jones brokethrough with the last ball of his second over.The experienced pace bowler found the outside edge as Wheeldon prodded forwardand Goddard pouched the chance to end the opener’s one-hour occupation. Worcestershire suffered another blow five overs later when skipper Vikram Solanki got a good ball from Mark Footitt that left him and Chris Rogers dived forward at first slip to hold a fine catch.Derbyshire’s celebrations showed just how important they thought that wicketwas and they were gifted a big scalp off the penultimate ball of the day. Mitchell and Moeen had dug in for 14 overs to reduce the arrears to 56 when Moeen drove loosely at Peterson and sliced a catch to point to leave Derbyshire scenting victory.