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For Jonathan Trott to mark his return to representative cricket with an unbeaten 176, batting for nine hours, was some achievement

Ivo Tennant in Paarl13-Jan-2015
ScorecardJonathan Trott made his first hundred in an England shirt since 2013 (file photo)•Getty ImagesIt was not the cauldron of Brisbane, the pitch was shorn of pace, the attack, ultimately, devoid of energy, and the smattering of spectators were not remotely inimical towards him. Yet for Jonathan Trott to mark his return to representative cricket with an unbeaten 176, batting for nine hours, was some achievement. No matter that too many balls were directed at his pads, feeding his favourite clip through midwicket, for these were prominent runs.Trott was never sated, not even in temperatures which were well above 30 degrees. He collected his runs just about everywhere, off all manner of bowling, adding century partnerships with James Vince, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid. There was no indication of emotion when he reached three figures, just a tug on the buckles of a pad and a brief kiss of his England helmet. No ostentatious fist pumping or imitation of the high jump.Apart from having been dropped the previous day when on 7, Trott gave no chance. Once, he cut Ryan McLaren uppishly past a wide slip, but otherwise there was a lovely flick through the leg side to the midwicket boundary and a controlled, cover-driven four, both off Dane Piedt’s offspin, that were masterly shots. In fact just about everything about this innings, including his emotions and his judgement of a run, was thoroughly controlled.Trott had resumed on 57 and was briefly outscored by Vince, who reached his half-century off 108 balls with eight fours, despatching Beuran Hendricks through the leg side and, in cutting Chris Morris for four, bringing up their century partnership off 290 balls. The South Africa A attack once again was dependant on Northampton-bound Rory Kleinveldt, whose medium pace looks to have come on since he had an unremarkable summer with Hampshire in 2008.’Never doubted Trott could come back’

Vincent Barnes, the South Africa A coach, said that Jonathan Trott, whom he coached as a young man in Cape Town, had told him a month ago he was ready to return to international cricket. “He said he thought he was over his stress-related illness and could come back again. I never had a doubt he could do so. When I coached him, I thought he would become one of the best players in the world.”
Nonetheless, Trott would not be drawn on when he might be ready. “This is part of the process towards the goal of coming back to Test cricket, but I feel no nearer or farther away from that after this innings,” Trott said. He praised James Vince, of whom he said: “He was always ear-marked for England. He struck the ball very fluently – I thought when I first saw him that he was a fantastic player.”

Now, he had Vince, who that year was still in Hampshire’s academy, caught at slip, cutting without moving his feet. So ended a partnership, a match-saving one, of 165 from 53 overs. Vince has benefited through coaching from both Andy Flower and Graham Thorpe on this trip, the upshot being 78 with 12 fours from 171 balls. Very few of his runs are ever scratchy.Piedt, who is a cousin of Hendricks – they are both from the northern suburbs of Cape Town – should have had Bairstow stumped on 22, having beaten him through the air. Rudi Second, who dropped Trott on Monday, a difficult chance, should have snaffled this opportunity. A further three-figure partnership followed, the Yorkshireman lofting Piedt for six to long-on and reaching 63 from 75 balls before Kleinveldt brought one back into him and beat his checked drive. His innings included nine fours.Rashid became the third batsman to bring up a century stand with Trott, his 78 from 105 balls carrying less significance than Vince’s innings but full of wristy uppercuts and drives nonetheless. It made up for his rather expensive bowling and was a counterpoint, more than useful at this stage of the innings, to Trott’s remorselessness on the ground on which he represented Boland when straight out of school. “Like a machine,” said Mark Robinson, the Lions coach, and indeed he was.Trott, having reached his 37th first-class century shortly after lunch, simply ground on, making his 176 runs from 350 balls with 14 fours. He was fit enough to manage an all-run four in the final over, when the Lions took the lead. His last first-class century in England colours (or, more accurately, helmet) was against a Western Australia Chairman’s XI at the start of the 2013-14 tour of Australia. By now, even Kleinveldt, who has known Trott since boyhood and who had tried everything from short-pitched bowling to men out for the hook and still more men to close off his scoring through midwicket, could not come up with anything innovative.

Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been added to Pakistan’s one-day squad for the Sri Lanka series, as cover for the concussed Junaid Khan

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2014Fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been added to Pakistan’s one-day squad for the Sri Lanka series, as cover for the concussed Junaid Khan. Irfan, who will leave for Sri Lanka on Wednesday, has not played international cricket since November 2013 due to a hip injury.”Junaid is getting better and has started practising,” Pakistan’s team manager Moin Khan told ESPNcricinfo. “We just want to strengthen the bench, in case anything goes wrong with Junaid, then we can have a bowler to replace him.”The 7ft 1in Irfan, who has 39 wickets from 27 ODIs at 27.12, had suffered two fractures in the ischium bone of his hip and underwent rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore for the injury. For a while, his recovery was slow and it was feared he might need surgery, but eventually he healed without the operation. He had said in June that being ready for the World Cup was his priority, and he was not rushing his comeback since he was “ensuring this time that I can go a long way without breaking down”.Junaid missed the second half of the SSC Test after he was hit on the head by a bouncer from Dhammika Prasad during Pakistan’s first innings. After he completed his innings and returned to the dressing room, he lost his balance and had to undergo observation in hospital. He was said to have a slight concussion and was advised rest.The three-match ODI series begins in Hambantota on August 23.

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s ODI captain, has said it was not a given that he would lead the side at the World Cup and a lot depended on whether his form improved

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2014Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s Test and ODI captain, has said it was not a given that he would lead the side at the 2015 World Cup and a lot depended on whether his batting form improved. Misbah sat out of the third ODI against Australia in the UAE, which Pakistan lost to concede the series 3-0, and Shahid Afridi led the team in his place.”Yes, I have no other intention,” Misbah told when asked if he still considered himself Pakistan’s full-time ODI captain. “But obviously I will have to see over the next few Tests because form and runs are very important. If I am not scoring runs and my form is not there then I can’t say I have to play. The team and Pakistan are first. If I can get my form back and score runs then I will be back but if not, then obviously, you can’t put the team in such a difficult situation and you have to decide.”The PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan had said on the day of the third ODI in Abu Dhabi that Misbah had not been asked by the team management to not play, and that the decision was entirely voluntarily. Shaharyar said Misbah still had the board’s backing and the decision to continue as captain or not was for him to make.”I requested the management and Shahid myself that I want to step down,” Misbah said. “We have a month and a half of Tests ahead and my form was out, the team was hurting because of it and we had lost the series so I thought fine, let another guy play in my place. Instead of going into the Tests with more pressure I can focus on this little gap now to get a little fresh and hopefully get my form back.”Misbah has averaged only 22.50 in ten ODIs in 2014 and his last five scores before he sat out of the Abu Dhabi game were 13, 36, 18, 0, 15. He has been run-out four times. “Sometimes luck doesn’t favour you. Once you are set you get run-out for example – I think in my last eight innings [10] I have been run out four times. Sometimes this happens. I’m not despondent about this and the good thing is that my form overall is ok, even in nets. I am picking it, middling it.”It depends on your confidence in the team, in the management, in how the board is supporting you,” Misbah said when asked if the decision to step aside was a tough one to make. “The situation at this time was such that I felt anyone else who played in my place was better for the team.”Maybe Afridi could come in with a fresh mind. For the team to win was necessary, by any means and in that scenario I thought I should not play and that Shahid leads and whoever plays in my place could be more of a help. Having that confidence in the players, management and the board, that made it easier for me.”Pakistan are scheduled to play two Tests against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from October 22 and 30.

Nick Browne produced his second career-best innings in a week as he held Essex together against Derbyshire at Queen’s Park

Les Smith at Queen's Park08-Jul-2014
ScorecardMark Footitt claimed two top-order wickets but proved expensive•Getty ImagesNick Browne produced a second career-best innings within a week to hold Essex together on an intriguing second day against Derbyshire at Chesterfield. Browne dug in for more than five hours for an unbeaten 86 before a storm prevented any play after tea.Browne had a previous top first class score of 65 and he scored that last week at Chelmsford against Gloucestershire. He is a big man with powerful arms, and he is strong through the offside. Although his innings was a prolonged one, 60 of his runs came from boundaries.The day started badly for his side. Ravi Bopara was caught behind down the leg side off the tenth ball of the day, bowled by Mark Footitt. Bopara was not happy about the decision and lingered at the crease before trudging to the pavilion.This brought in Jesse Ryder, who scored a century against Gloucestershire a week ago. Ryder went to 32 briskly. He was dropped at slip by Alex Hughes but chopped an inside edge onto his stumps without adding to his score.James Foster, so often the man to go to when things are dodgy in the Essex middle order, launched his innings with a boundary through midwicket off his first ball and made his way to 29 before he too dragged a ball from Tom Taylor onto his wicket shortly after lunch.At lunch Essex were still 159 runs behind Derbyshire, and in a game which has seen wickets fall frequently, apart from Monday afternoon’s stand between Wayne Madsen and Wes Durston, they were in no position to feel secure. Madsen was at the ground but unable to field because the medics judged he was still concussed after the blow to his head delivered by Graham Napier on Monday evening.In the afternoon session Browne pressed on, never looking troubled by the Derbyshire attack but scoring at a sedate pace. Derbyshire used six bowlers, including Madsen who has ten first class wickets to his name from 107 matches, which provides an indication of how easy the pitch had become, as was predicted on the first morning by the locals who know the Queen’s Park square well.After James Foster was dismissed, Ryan ten Doeschate arrived to offer the solidity he has done so often but was trapped on the back foot by a ball from Alex Hughes that appeared to keep a little low, and Hughes had his eighth first-class wicket.Greg Smith, approaching veteran status now, joined Browne and together they added 37 which, in the context of a relatively low scoring match, could turn out to be invaluable, especially if they can extend their partnership on the third morning.Browne has done his time earning his stripes in the Essex second team. Last week at Chelmsford he showed that he has what it takes, and today he was the rock upon which a solid Essex response to Derbyshire was built.

A fine half-century from captain Daryl Mitchell was enough for Worcestershire to pick up a five-wicket victory in their NatWest T20 Blast clash with the Leicestershire at Grace Road

Press Associaiton06-Jun-2014
ScorecardDaryll Mitchell flicks to leg on his way to his first T20 half-century•Getty ImagesA fine half-century from captain Daryl Mitchell, his first in T20 cricket, was enough for Worcestershire to pick up a five-wicket victory in their NatWest T20 Blast clash with the Leicestershire at Grace Road.Leicestershire still only have one victory in this season’s North Division after failing to defend their total of 164 for 6.Mitchell was the star of the show for the visitors as he scored an unbeaten 67 from 50 deliveries, with the Rapids reaching their total with four balls remaining to take their third straight win of the competition.Leicestershire skipper Josh Cobb set off in quick fashion but was caught off the bowling of Chris Russell in the fifth over, having scored 27 from 18 balls. Fellow opener Niall O’Brien fell in the same over having just smashed a six, leaving the hosts 44 for 2 from their opening five overs.Greg Smith and Ned Eckersley both helped move the score along before being dismissed by Mitchell and Colin Munro in close succession.It was left to Tom Wells to take the Foxes to a defendable total, he hit an unbeaten 45 from 28 balls, with Saeed Ajmal taking the wickets of Scott Styris and Rob Taylor in his final over.Set 165 to win, Richard Oliver and Mitchell put on 26 runs before the former was well bowled by Ben Raine.Mitchell continued to score consistently and was ably supported by Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Munro before Jigar Naik and Nathan Buck took a wicket apiece to bring Leicestershire back into the match.But victory was assured as Mitchell remained unmoved at the crease and, despite Alexei Kervezee and Ross Whiteley unable to stay with their captain until the end, a six and four at the start of the final over from the 30-year-old steered Worcestershire to another win.

Roddy Estwick, the West Indies U-19 coach, has challenged his batsmen to step up if they intend to overcome Australia in the ICC World Cup quarter-finals

Renaldo Matadeen22-Feb-2014Roddy Estwick, the West Indies U-19 coach, has challenged his batsmen to step up if they intend to overcome Australia in the ICC World Cup quarter-finals. Estwick said his side’s loss to South Africa exposed frailties in the line-up as they crumbled for 104, chasing 199. Though West Indies posted over 270 against Zimbabwe and Canada, Estwick sees room for improvement.”We started off terribly against South Africa,” he said. “But after that, we batted first and lasted the entire 50 overs and we hope to continue like this against Australia. Before we left the Caribbean, we knew we weren’t doing well batting-wise and that’s still a challenge. We need to spend more time in the crease, build big partnerships and get top scores from the people in the top four [positions].”We’re doing some work in the nets in the short space of time we have and we have gotten accustomed to the conditions here,” he said. “Our batsmen need to play what they see and not what they expect. Take it one ball at a time.”Estwick said Australia were not as strong a side as in the past and was confident West Indies would be able to hold their own. “Watching the scores, the games they played and such, they’re not playing spin as well as other Australian teams so once we focus on this as well as our game, and we concentrate on keeping our discipline, we’ll do well,” he said.Australia lost to Afghanistan, were beaten by Zimbabwe and Pakistan in the warm-ups and before that came to the tournament on the back of a difficult tour of Sri Lanka.Having played their first game in Dubai, Estwick counted on the advantage of familiar conditions to challenge Australia, who are yet to play at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. “It was colder in the earlies but now it’s getting hotter and pitches are moving from green to drier,” he said. “Balls are moving around more too and this showed when we played Canada at Abu Dhabi. We have adjusted to the heat and also in case the pitch loses liveliness.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad moved up the table but questions still loom over their batting. Delhi Daredevils need to win as many as possible from here on

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran09-May-2014Match factsSaturday, May 10, 2014
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)3:37

Hattangadi: Warner should bat up the order

Big PictureSunrisers Hyderabad jumped from seventh position to fifth after defending 134 on Wednesday against Rajasthan Royals. It only makes the mid-table battle more compelling, as teams that missed out in the first half of the tournament look to catch up in the second.Sunrisers are known for defending middling targets and on a sluggish pitch in Ahmedabad, didn’t let Royals get close. While the bowling looks in good health, their top-order concerns remain. Shikhar Dhawan has four scores in the 30s but hasn’t gone on to convert those. Aaron Finch, after scores of 88 and 44, has three sub-20 scores. In their last game, they had KL Rahul and Naman Ojha in the top four, ahead of David Warner, but they fell short of expectations. There is instability in the batting and while it didn’t matter on Wednesday, Sunrisers wouldn’t want to routinely leave it to their bowlers to win games.Delhi Daredevils continue to languish at the bottom and will have to try and win most, if not all, of the remaining games to qualify for the play-offs. Playing at home has made no difference to their fortunes, for they have lost three out of three at the Kotla. Kevin Pietersen is yet to play the type of game-changing knocks he is known for. Their bowlers have struggled for wickets, having picked up seven in the last three games combined. In seven games, they have only picked up 28 wickets. Sunrisers on the other hand have picked up 44 from the same number of games.Form guideDelhi Daredevils LLLWL
Sunrisers Hyderabad WLWLWWhere they standDelhi Daredevils: Last place, with two wins in eight matches
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 5th, with three wins in seven matchesPlayers to watchIn seven games, David Warner has batted in three different positions. He has played four innings at No. 3, two at No. 4, and in the last game he was pushed down to No. 5. Warner is a specialist opener for Australia but Sunrisers have been reluctant to use him there. Warner likes to attack the new ball but with this franchise, his role has changed to that of an innings anchor. Though he has three fifties, Sunrisers need to find him a permanent slot.Kedar Jadhav has assumed the role of a finisher for Daredevils, with brisk 20s in his last three innings, at a strike rate of 170.17. He has not been dismissed in any of his four innings. His best chance of getting more crease time is if Daredevils give him a promotion.Previous encounterThe teams last met in Dubai, with Sunrisers prevailing by four runs in a high-scoring encounter. Aaron Finch (88*) and David Warner (58*) lifted Sunrisers to 184 for 1 and Daredevils began strongly, with the openers M Vijay and Quinton de Kock adding 99. They fell away after that and despite a late surge by JP Duminy, fell narrowly short.Stats and trivia Daredevils’ batsmen have scored the most hundreds in the IPL (5) but Sunrisers’ batsmen have scored none. However, Sunrisers’ David Warner has scored two hundreds while playing for Daredevils Amit Mishra has taken a hat-trick while playing for Daredevils – the only hat-trick by a Daredevils bowler in the IPL. This came against Deccan Chargers – the old avatar of his current franchise M Vijay and Dinesh Karthik’s numbers so far are almost identical – 8 matches, 8 innings, 193 runs, average of 24.12. Their strike rates vary though. Karthik’s stands at 125.32 while Vijay’s at 114.20Quotes”We felt we were 20 short when batting but they didn’t get disheartened. The bowlers have shown good fighting spirit.”

Michael Holding believes Mitchell Johnson’s reign of pace bowling terror is providing an overdue reckoning for batsmen grown impure of technique and slow of reaction by years of bullying bowlers of nothing like the same speed

Daniel Brettig16-Feb-2014Michael Holding believes Mitchell Johnson’s reign of pace bowling terror is providing an overdue reckoning for batsmen grown impure of technique and slow of reaction by years of bullying bowlers of nothing like the same speed. He has also counselled administrators, coaches and spectators to cherish Johnson while he lasts, and work harder to nurture future examples of the express fast bowler.No spectator at Centurion during the first Test was better placed to assess Johnson’s impact than Holding, given his own famed ability to generate the highest pace from a run-up and bowling action far more graceful yet equally powerful. From the commentary box, Holding felt the same heady mix of exhilaration and apprehension he himself caused over the course of 60 Tests, and pointed out this dimension of the game had been missing in recent years with the retirement of Brett Lee and the gradual erosion of Dale Steyn’s pace.”What Mitchell Johnson did in this Test match and in the Ashes is add a new dimension to what you’ve seen over the past five or six years in Test cricket,” Holding told ESPNcricinfo. “We haven’t seen too many people bowl with that sort of aggression and that sort of pace, and I think it’s finding out some batsmen who have been quite comfortable over the past five or six years with the medium pacers they’ve had around.”Dale Steyn has been quick … but Johnson has exhibited a great deal more pace and a lot more aggression. Pace is the game changer. A lot of bowlers are brilliant, Glenn McGrath was a fantastic bowler, but he didn’t have the effect this man is having. With that much pace it’s all about ‘this man can hurt me as well as get me out’, and that changes the entire dynamic of the game.”Holding and Johnson can both be lauded for producing performances of the highest order on dead pitches – the West Indian’s 14 for 149 at The Oval in 1976 and the Australian’s 7 for 40 on Adelaide Oval’s drop-in strip to turn the Ashes irrevocably the way of the hosts earlier this summer. But Centurion had more the ring of Old Trafford from the same series in 1976, when an untrustworthy pitch made for an altogether more macabre spectacle.Johnson had been given pause when asked whether he derived more satisfaction from a ball striking the stumps or a batsman, and Holding hoped there was no desire in any fast bowler to cause physical damage. What he felt more important was the threat of inflicting pain serving to change a batsman’s approach, something Johnson has done frequently in recent months in part due to his much improved control.”I wouldn’t want to be thinking a fast bowler gets any pleasure out of the thought of hitting anyone,” Holding said. “You get pleasure out of the thought that you know they’re afraid of you and you have that extra element to your game. If you have that skill of getting the ball in the right area, what you’re hoping is the batsman will fend it off or do something to get out. Even if he doesn’t get out it passes closely and he thinks in his mind ‘oh that was close, that could have been dangerous’.”At various times through the 1970s and 1980s when we had the fast bowling attack we had, we had that effect on the opposition. You go out as a fast bowler and you see the body language of the opposition players. They know exactly what’s happening. Proper fast bowling adds a different dimension to you as a person if you are bowling fast and you see people hopping around. It stays in the mind, and it affects the person who is hopping around as well.”Johnson’s got control now he didn’t have before. Obviously in the time he’s spent away from the game, Dennis Lillee has worked with him, that has done a lot of good, because pace alone isn’t going to do it, you’ve got to have the control to put the ball where you want to. If you bang the ball into the pitch and it’s flying all over the place that doesn’t really matter, it has to be well directed.”To reach the level Johnson has done at the age of 32 is in some ways a contravention of conventional wisdom about fast men, namely that by the early 30s their speed has begun to depreciate. Holding said this could be partly explained by the amount of time Johnson has taken to mature his method, but suggested that not even an athlete as powerful as the left-armer could maintain such heights indefinitely.”Mitch had come back after being out of international cricket for a while,” he said. “If for instance Dennis Lillee had got him early and sorted him out and he was doing this early in his career, he wouldn’t be doing it to South Africa now. He would not be able to bowl as fast as he’s bowling now for an extended period of time. Impossible. You’re not going to stay at that pace for 10-12 years.”A prime example is Brett Lee … he retired early to make sure he could continue to play Twenty20 and earn big bucks. You cannot fault him for that, but that’s the nature of the game we are playing now. The amount of cricket being played means guys are going to do that, and even guys who want to stay with Test match cricket, they are going to make sure their careers are going to be stretched out a bit more by not bowling as fast.”As for the emergence of other bowlers to rival Johnson’s speed and the pre-eminence Australia are building around it, Holding said that while none could be manufactured, they could certainly be better identified and taught, citing the poignant example of England’s misfiring Steve Finn, a bowler capable of 150kph at his best.”You can’t make them,” Holding said. “If it was simple as that you’d just send young bowlers into the gym and tell them to bowl fast. When countries do find someone with that ability to bowl fast they need to know how to deal with it, and that is why England have destroyed Steve Finn.”They need to know how to deal with people who have the natural ability to bowl fast – not everyone can. You can’t just say everyone is going to search … I’ve heard that for donkey’s years, and people tried to copy us. When you get someone like that you’ve got to cherish it, nurture it properly from youth and make sure you take full advantage of it.”

Sri Lanka’s prospects of winning their first away series since 1999-00 (excluding those in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) improved significantly after Angelo Mathews and Dilruwan Perera batted vast periods of time on the second day

The Report by George Binoy17-Jan-20140:00

Fernando: Mathews’ batting was incredibly restrained

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDilruwan Perera was picked for his bowling but made a telling contribution with the bat•AFPSri Lanka’s prospects of winning their first away series since 1999-00 (excluding those in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) improved significantly after their captain Angelo Mathews and debutant Dilruwan Perera, picked primarily for his offspin, batted vast periods of time on the second day in Sharjah. Both batsmen were dismissed in the 90s, and because of their slow run rate Sri Lanka scored only 428 despite batting nearly two days, but Pakistan’s inability to take ten wickets deprived them of precious time in a Test they need to win to level the series.Having resumed on 220 for 5, Sri Lanka continued at snail’s pace. They scored 82 runs in 35 overs for the loss of Prasanna Jayawardene during an extended first session, and 57 runs in 29 overs for the loss of two wickets in the second. They were quicker in the third – 69 in 18 overs – but Sri Lanka’s last two wickets added those runs. Pakistan had not bowled so many overs in an innings – 172 – since the Rawalpindi Test against India in 2004. They were able to keep their sense of humour, though, and several players shook Saeed Ajmal’s hand after he bowled his 50th over.The day’s centrepiece was the seventh-wicket stand between Mathews and Perera that spanned 53.2 overs and produced 112 runs. But their resistance would not have reached such proportions if Pakistan had better luck. They had been on the wrong end of four reviews on the first day – three umpire’s-call decisions went Sri Lanka’s way – and the trend continued.In Abdur Rehman’s first over, the day’s fifth, Mathews was struck low on the front pad while pushing forward to defend, but umpire Richard Kettleborough said not out. On review, replays indicated the ball would have hit a sizeable portion of leg stump, but the on-field umpire’s call remained. Pakistan’s count of unsuccessful reviews in this series was now 14 out of 15, and Mathews went on from 34 to score 91 off 256 balls.The partnership between Mathews and Perera was only 20 when Ajmal pitched a doosra in line with the stumps from round the wicket and hit Perera’s pad, but umpire S Ravi denied the appeal. Pakistan had exhausted their reviews and were frustrated as replays indicated Perera was plumb. He made 95 off 247 balls.The day had begun with the Pakistan players examining the rough on the pitch, but its appearance proved deceptive because the surface did not misbehave. There was no pace, seam and swing, and the turn was slow. The ball after Mathews survived the review, though, Prasanna hooked a bouncer from Mohammad Talha straight to long leg to end Sri Lanka’s sixth-wicket partnership on 73. It was perhaps the only delivery to hurry a batsman.Smart Stats

Dilruwan Perera became only the second Sri Lanka batsman to be dismissed in the nineties on debut after Chamara Dunusinghe, who was dismissed 91 against New Zealand in Napier in 1995. Click here for a list of batsmen to be dismissed in the nineties on Test debut.

Perera is only the second batsman to get out in the nineties on debut, batting at No. 8 or lower. The first such instance was Ashton Agar’s 98 at Trent Bridge last year.

Sri Lanka’s run rate of 2.48 in their innings was the second lowest by a team with a score of 300 or more in a Test innings in the UAE. Two of the top three instances in this list came in this Test, also involving Pakistan and Sri Lanka, at the same venue in 2011.

Pakistan bowled 172 overs in Sri Lanka’s first innings in this Test. This is the highest they have bowled in an innings since the 177.2 overs they bowled against India in Rawalpindi in 2004. The last instance of them bowling more overs in the first innings of a Test came in 2000, when they bowled 196 overs against England in Lahore.

This was only the second instance in Tests when two batsman batting at No. 6 or lower got out in the nineties in an innings. The first instance came when South Africa played Sri Lanka in Cape Town in 2001, and Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener both got out in the nineties.

This was only the second time that two Sri Lanka batsmen got out in the nineties in a Test innings. The other such instance came against Zimbabwe in Colombo in 2001, when the batsmen were Sanath Jayasuriya and Hashan Tillakaratne.

With runs coming relatively easily against the fast bowlers, Misbah-ul-Haq brought Rehman on and he dried one end up. And after Ajmal was introduced in the 12th over of the day, Sri Lanka slowed to a crawl. Perera had cut his first ball in Test cricket – off Talha – to the boundary and then proved he had both patience and solid defensive technique.It was soon after Ajmal’s first appeal against Perera was turned down that Sri Lanka’s pace picked up. Perera swept the offspinner for four and then charged Rehman to clear the long-on boundary. In between those shots, Junaid Khan had returned for his second spell and Mathews pulled him for four. He later reached his half-century off 157 balls.Mathews also brought up the 100-run stand by pulling Rehman for four, and then had a chat with Perera after Ajmal began to trouble the batsman. Perera was on 43 when Ajmal struck his pads and appealed for another lbw. It wasn’t as close as the previous ones but on another day, another umpire might have given it out and few would have complained. Umpire Ravi did not, and Ajmal’s rage was on full display. Perera inside edged the next ball from Ajmal past his stumps to the boundary.Like Sangakkara on the first day, Mathews’ wicket was sudden. Junaid bowled a wide one and Mathews slashed to hole out to deep point when a century was there for the taking. Rangana Herath lasted just one ball, with Junaid doing what the spinners had strived to all day – earn an lbw.There was no more relief for Pakistan, though. Perera began to open up, and brought up his 50-run stand with Shaminda Eranga off only 77 balls with a flurry of shots against Ajmal. He moved to 95 with an on-the-up drive off Talha, but hooked the next ball in the air and was caught at fine leg. Perera missed becoming the fourth Sri Lankan batsman to score a Test century on debut, but his innings ensured Sri Lanka were on their way to a series win.

Jaywant Lele, the former BCCI secretary, has died of a heart attack in Baroda on Thursday. Lele was the board secretary when the match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2013Jaywant Lele, the former BCCI secretary, has died of a heart attack aged 75 in Baroda on Thursday. Lele took over the post in 1996 and it was during his tenure when the match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000.In that period, the board first set up the Justice Chandrachud Commission to probe the match-fixing charges and then asked the CBI to step in after the former South African captain Hansie Cronje admitted to fixing. The investigation led to life bans on the former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin and batsman Ajay Sharma.Lele lost his post as secretary to Niranjan Shah during the 2001 board elections. He was gearing up for a return to cricket administration in the forthcoming Baroda Cricket Association (BCA).A former engineer with Sarabhai Chemicals, Lele became the honorary secretary of the BCA in 1969. In 2003, he was expelled from the BCA, along with two other administrators, for alleged financial irregularities and administrative lapses.The outspoken Lele was never short of a colourful quote. Before India’s tour of Australia in 1999-2000, a journalist overheard a private conversation in which Lele had predicted that India would lose 3-0. India did lose 3-0. Two years ago, he penned a memoir titled .Lele was also a qualified umpire.While BCCI president N Srinivasan stated he was “shocked to hear the sad demise” of Lele, Sachin Tendulkar said he will miss Lele. “He always hadwonderful words of encouragement for me and genuinely wished well for me,” Tendulkar told . “He was a wonderful person and a well-wisher of mine. I can never forget the interactions we have had over the years. I will miss him.”Malcolm Speed, the former chief executive of Cricket Australia and the ICC, said that Lele was “energetic and reliable”. “I thoroughly enjoyed working with him when I was the chief executive of Cricket Australia. He would always make sure that the relationships between various cricket boards remained cordial,” Speed said. “There are so many special memories that I have of him. He was a lively and colourful character who would ensure that he will be fondly remembered as a cricket administrator and a person. I am deeply saddened by his untimely passing away.”