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Match facts

November 25-29, 2015
Start time 0930 local (0400GMT)

Big picture

After grey, blustery and mostly cricket-free Bangalore, the teams have moved to the geometric centre of India and the promise of a Test match free of interruptions under clear, cloudless skies. India ended day one of the second Test in a position of great cricketing and psychological strength, but there has been no action in the ten days since. Though the effects of India being 1-0 up cannot have dissipated entirely, there is a blank-slate feeling to the start of the third Test. Let the series begin, again.The portents suggest India are favourites to take an unassailable 2-0 lead. The pitch is dry, the afternoons will be hot, and there are definite signs that India will play three spinners. Most of South Africa’s batsmen are yet to find their feet on this tour. Worse still for the visitors, Dale Steyn, their one bowler capable of neutralising any sort of surface, is almost certain not to feature.South Africa, however, are the No. 1 Test side in the world for a reason. Their batting might not have clicked just yet, as a collective unit, but there is too much quality in their line-up for the situation to become irremediable. AB de Villiers is in the frightening position of being both in form and due for a big one. Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis cannot keep failing in tandem forever. All South Africa need is one big partnership, or two biggish ones, to post their first big total of the series.They can also take heart from their performance in Mohali. The match ended in three days, and India won by a sizeable margin, but South Africa still managed to bowl them out twice, for 201 and 200. If the Nagpur pitch turns out similar to the one in Mohali, it could narrow the quality gap between the spin attacks rather than exaggerating it. India know this phenomenon well. Over the last decade, some of their most significant away wins have come on green pitches that have allowed their seamers to compete on an even footing with pace attacks of greater all-round quality.India’s batsmen, moreover, have spent precious little time in the middle so far. Apart from M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja, none have yet faced 100 balls in the series. If there is any rustiness, South Africa will want to exploit it quickly, particularly if India play only five specialist batsmen.

Form guide

(last five completed games most recent first)
India DWWWL
South Africa DLDDW

In the spotlight

The last time he batted at the VCA Stadium in a Test, Hashim Amla made an unbeaten 253 that set South Africa up for a famous innings win. Amla has struggled so far on this tour, but he has an exceptional record in India – 873 runs at 79.36, with four centuries – and proven ability against spin. A solid contribution from their captain could be just what South Africa needs to spark a revival.The same Test match witnessed the debut of Wriddhiman Saha, who was forced to play as a specialist batsman thanks to an injury crisis in the squad. Having served a long apprenticeship under MS Dhoni, Saha is now India’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper. Though he has contributed a few spunky knocks with the bat in his short career so far, India’s batting line-up still looks a little thin with Saha slotting in at No. 6. He has an excellent first-class record, with nine hundreds and an average of nearly 44, and the confidence of his captain. He needs to translate that into Test cricket to be able to play what is a pivotal role in making India’s five-bowler strategy work.

Team news

India have a squad free of fitness worries, and the one selection call they are likely to have to make is the question of whether or not to play three spinners. With conditions not suited to his medium-pace, India will most likely leave out Stuart Binny, which opens up a slot either for the legspinner Amit Mishra or for an extra batsman in Rohit Sharma. If conditions seem particularly conducive to spin, India could even play both Mishra and Rohit, leaving out Binny and Varun Aaron.India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Varun Aaron.JP Duminy’s offspin often does the job of supporting South Africa’s main spinner, but if the pitch shows signs of taking turn early, they might just include Simon Harmer or Dane Piedt to bowl alongside Imran Tahir. Dale Steyn’s continuing groin troubles have more or less ruled him out of contention, leaving Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott as the leading candidates to partner Morne Morkel in the seam attack.South Africa (probable): 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Stiaan van Zyl, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 Hashim Amla (capt), 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Dane Vilas (wk), 8 Simon Harmer/Dane Piedt, 9 Kagiso Rabada/Kyle Abbott, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir.

Pitch and conditions

Asked about the Nagpur pitch on the eve of the Test, Hashim Amla said it looked like “a good cricket wicket, one that we kind of expect in the subcontinent”. Then he chuckled. Amar Karlekar, the curator, has himself said the pitch would start turning by tea on the first day. Lack of bounce was a concern during the last Test played at this ground, in 2012, but Karlekar is confident there will be no repeat of the bore draw witnessed on that occasion.Nagpur has enjoyed sunny weather and clear skies in the days leading up to the Test. Winter has not set in yet, but the mornings are likely to be cool, before temperatures rise to an afternoon high in the low 30s.

Stats and trivia

• Ajinkya Rahane has played only four Test innings in India so far. His scores in those four innings are 7, 1, 15 and 2.
• Imran Tahir is one wicket short of 50 in Test cricket.
• South Africa won at least one Test on four of their five previous tours to India.

Quotes

“I played only one Test match here, it went well for me. [I showed] lots of patience, something that at that point in time was probably out of my character. It was something that I discovered about myself. I hope the wicket doesn’t play like that in this game because it ended up being a very boring Test match.”
“When I took over the captaincy, one of the ideas was to give me a bit more time, especially when we fielded first, to bat at 4. But you never know. We’re a team in a little bit of transition, with a couple of new faces, so we’re still finding the perfect batting order. So yes, there’s no reason I couldn’t bat at 3 at some stage.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTravis Head hammered gave Adelaide Strikers every one of the 56 runs they made in the last three overs•Getty Images

Pantomime season’s arrived in Adelaide. It’s the final day of the year, so let the good times roll. Or the mad times, in this case. A bumper crowd of 46,389 watched on, rabid, riotous and ever so partisan and Strikers batsman Travis Head gave them everything they could want with a blitz so grand that his team romped to a win despite needing 51 off the last three overs. He got every one of those runs himself, and the five more he needed to finish 101 not out off 53 balls.New Year’s eve arrived with a lot of fanfare, including a premature fireworks display, but everything faded into the background and a mighty game of cricket took centre stage. It contained moments of high farce; funky overthrows, dodgy drops, attempted mankads, mystery injuries and plenty of bickering and after all that – as far as the crowd was concerned at least – the good guys prevailed in a thrilling finish with a young hometown hero standing tall.A night of such oddities, surely, was made for Brad Haddin. An injury-enforced reshuffle meant he swapped opener for finisher, coming in at No. 4 and seeing an efficient Sydney Sixers’ innings home, after Michael Lumb and Ed Cowan – making his first appearance of the campaign – got them off to a flyer. But 66 for 0 became 66 for 2 in no time flat.Lumb was his usual mix of legside hoicks, lusty hooks and bunted inside-out drives, and it took a moment of inspiration to remove him. Alex Ross provided it by sprinting 30 yards round the offside fence to dive and intercept an uppish, well-struck drive. A ball later – Adil Rashid’s first – Nic Maddinson was gone too, trapped plumb in front playing a rather odd reverse sweep.Haddin joined Cowan, who ditched his usual orthodoxy with a couple of violent swipes to leg. It was that stroke that brought about his downfall, however, as he was caught at cow corner, and soon enough Rashid – now the competition’s joint highest wicket-taker – had snared Jordan Silk and Ryan Carters too. In a bit to push the scoring rate up, Sixers had lost half their side in the 14th over. They still had 105 on the board though.Former Strikers captain Johan Botha – who was roundly booed and spent the night donning the near permanent scowl of a man wronged – and Haddin saw the innings through, sharing a 71-run stand. Haddin twice slog-swept Rashid for six, and went after Kane Richardson too, while Botha ran hard before finding the boundary four times in the last two overs, including a magnificent slash over point in a fractious final over. The bowler Ben Laughlin and Haddin clashed when the batsman appeared to edge behind but stayed put, and the umpire doubled the home side’s fury by adjudging it a wide.Craig Simmons and Tim Ludeman got the Strikers’ chase off to a brisk start. Simmons belted Jackson Bird’s opening over for three fours, once through point, then either side of square leg. Next over, he sent Ben Dwarshuis high into the stands with a pull. Ludeman was quickly in on the act, taking a pair of boundaries from each of Doug Bollinger and Botha’s opening overs.Simmons fell at the start of the fifth over, skying an attempted slog off Bird. An over later, Mahela Jayawardene was caught behind, and Ludeman soon followed off a top-edge. Brad Hodge wriggled to 17 off 18, including one mighty six, but when the New Year’s fireworks prematurely began, he and Alex Ross fell in quick succession to the impressive Dwarshuis, and the game looked up.Enter Travis Head. He had taken 19 balls to find the fence, but once he biffed both Bird and Botha for sixes, he was a man on the move. Sean Abbott was set to bowl the 18th over, with Strikers still requiring 51 runs and Head 45 off 38. Head sent Abbott for four to long-on, six to deep midwicket, four behind point, then for two enormous legside sixes. Doug Bollinger bowler an impressive 19th over, but Head still managed a monstrous six over extra cover, to go with five other scampered runs. And Abbott, amazingly, was left to bowl the last set with Strikers needing 13 to win.No Adelaide Strikers batsman had ever made a BBL century and Head was 17 short of a maiden T20 ton. The first was a half-volley on leg stump. Six. Slower-ball bouncer. Six. Short again. Slapped. Six. Century. Pandemonium.If 2016 is half as fun as all this, we are in for a treat.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

It was a rematch between last year’s World Cup finalists that turned into a mismatch. Nathan Bracken earned career-best figures as he bowled Australia to a comfortable 128-run win, exploiting the slow SCG pitch to perfection after Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist set up an imposing target of 6 for 253.Kumar Sangakkara looked like carrying on from his last international innings in Australia – he made 192 in the Hobart Test in November – as he cracked 16 off a Brett Lee over. However, when Bracken trapped him lbw with a delivery that angled in towards middle stump and kept low, Sri Lanka’s hopes quickly slipped away.Bracken finished with 5 for 47 when he collected the final wicket as Muttiah Muralitharan skied a catch to the outfield and the CB Series had its first result following a pair of wash-outs in Brisbane. The rot began with Sangakkara’s dismissal, which sparked a disastrous spell in which they lost 7 for 51.As if to prove it simply wasn’t Sri Lanka’s night, Lasith Malinga was run out in unlucky circumstances when he took a single and grounded his bat past the crease, but in the process it knocked out of his hands moments before Andrew Symonds’ throw hit the stumps. His feet were in the air and Sri Lanka were on the ground.At that point it had not seemed long since Sangakkara brightened Sri Lanka’s prospects with a series of vicious strokes off Lee. He top edged an attempted pull to third man for four but instead of putting the shot away, Sangakkara simply decided that practice makes perfect. Two further pulls from on and outside off stump raced to the boundary before he finished the over with a cracking cover drive that just evaded the diving Symonds.But one over of joy does not make a 50-over victory. Bracken led a strong bowling effort, having Chamara Kapugedera caught sharply by Matthew Hayden at first slip before Tillakaratne Dilshan thrashed a chance to long-off. Sri Lanka had needed almost the highest successful ODI chase at the SCG – the record is Australia’s 260 set in 1998-99 – but they never got close.The slow-and-low pitch was not easy to bat on but the visitors made much harder work of it than Australia. There was also the matter of the different mindsets; Sri Lanka took a defensive approach that allowed Clarke to to finish unbeaten on 77 after Gilchrist set up the total with 61.Clarke poked, prodded and sprinted his way to a half-century as he batted to fields that seemed designed just to stop boundaries. That part of Sri Lanka’s plan worked as Clarke struck only two fours and one six, but he was content to bat himself in with hurried singles and twos.Apart from a six lofted over long-on against Muralitharan early in his innings, Clarke was not forced to take many risks. His first four was an unconvincing bottom edge that flew to third man and took him to 45 but his second – and last – was a more orthodox drive through cover that brought him his fifty from 63 balls.Jayawardene’s tactics had been defensive from the start and there was no cordon in the third over when Hayden edged Chaminda Vaas to the vacant first-slip position. That allowed the 65-run opening stand that Australia used as a platform for their solid effort.The Sydney crowd was denied a Gilchrist century and settled for a sensible knock from the hometown hero Clarke. Gilchrist’s record playing Sri Lanka – five of his 15 ODI centuries came against them – suggested a big innings but there was no repeat of the last time the two sides met, when he made 149 in the World Cup final.Although he was more guarded than usual on the unhelpful pitch, Gilchrist gave the fans a couple of flashbacks to his powerful prime. He rocked back to pull Malinga viciously over midwicket for six and sent Ishara Amerasinghe through and over cover for boundaries.His half-century took more than half the innings, which is almost unheard of for Gilchrist, and his 81-ball effort ended on when Tony Hill ruled him lbw trying to slog-sweep Kapugedera. Gilchrist departed to a standing ovation and it will become a familiar feeling for him over the next month as he completes his farewell. Triple-figures or not, his final series is beginning on a high note.

It is a partnership between the very old – one of cricket’s most traditional establishments, the MCC – and the sport’s newest tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL). Lalit Modi, the chairman of the IPL, has said his league will adhere to the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket, in order to maintain decorum amid all the excitement.”This partnership between the DLF Indian Premier League and MCC is both exciting and important,” Modi said. “It is exciting to be associated with the most famous cricket club in the world, which is the custodian of the Laws of Cricket and the upholder of the spirit of the game.”More importantly, all the cricketers playing in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League are role models for an entire generation of youth and it is crucial for youngsters all over the world to learn straight away the values of this great game and the spirit in which it should be played. The eyes of the world will be on the IPL and we want to see cricket, and the Spirit of Cricket, at its best.”The Spirit of Cricket first appeared as a preamble to the MCC’s Code of Laws in 2000 and is designed to emphasise sportsmanship and good grace in the game.”We are delighted that, right from the outset, the IPL is embracing the MCC Spirit of Cricket initiative,” Keith Bradshaw, the MCC secretary and chief executive, said. “This is an innovative and forward-thinking league that has captured the imagination of the cricketing world and it is pleasing that each player and each team will play their part in supporting the very best traditions of the game.”The Spirit of Cricket is a worldwide concept that affects all players of the game, from the grassroots to the elite level, and we believe it’s fitting for MCC – a worldwide cricket club with an independent voice in the game – to promote the Spirit of Cricket in partnership with the IPL. We look forward to a league full of great cricket and superb cricketers playing in the right way – hard but fair.”The inaugural season of the IPL gets underway on April 18 with the Bangalore Royal Challengers taking on the Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore.

Half-centuries from Andrew Puttick, JP Duminy and Jason Smith gave Cape Cobras the platform for a 68-run win over Dolphins in Cape Town. Cobras, who chose to bat, got off to a good start courtesy Puttick and Stiaan van Zyl (35), who added 116 for the first wicket. Ayavuya Myoli picked up three quick wickets thereafter, and Cobras were 125 for 6 when Puttick was dismissed for a 95-ball 79 (10×4, 1×6). Duminy then resurrected the innings with a 62-ball 68 (4×4, 2×6), putting on 45 with Justin Ontong (20) for the fourth wicket and then 91 with Smith for the sixth. Smith finished unbeaten on a run-a-ball 50 (3×4, 1×6), as Cobras closed on 265 for 7.Dolphins slipped to 31 for 3 in 11 overs, and their chase never really recovered. There were no substantial contributions barring David Miller’s 42 and Ryan McLaren’s 52, as they were bowled out for 197 inside the 45th over. To go with his performance with the bat, Duminy also picked up two wickets with his offspin.A splendid all-round effort from Chris Morris helped Titans complete a comfortable 55-run win against Knights in Benoni. He first blitzed a 16-ball 45, an innings that featured two fours and five sixes, to lift Titans past the 300 mark and then returned figures of 3 for 30 to help bowl Knights out for 246.After being inserted to bat, Quinton de Kock (22) and Henry Davids (65) added an opening stand of 45. However, it was Faf du Plessis’ 72 that anchored the middle overs, steadily building the score in the process. Albie Morkel provided the impetus towards the end with a brisk 40, before Morris struck four consecutive sixes in the final over to lift Titans to 301. Malusi Siboto and Shadley van Schalkwyk picked up two wickets apiece.In the chase, Knights were reduced to 36 for 3 before Rilee Rossouw (62) and Pete van Biljon (32) forged a 87-run stand to keep them in the hunt. However, another clump of wickets fell, which effectively killed the game. Knights were ultimately bowled out in the 47th over, with Morkel and Tabraiz Shamsi contributing with two scalps each.Stephen Cook struck his second century of the tournament to lift Lions to a thrilling four-run win against Warriors in Johannesburg. Chasing 257, Warriors were cruising and required 12 to win off the last two overs before the set-man Christiaan Jonker was dismissed. The penultimate over, bowled by Carmi le Roux, went for just two. Colin Ingram and Jonker compiled fifties to keep Warriors on course in the chase, but Lions regularly chipped away at the wickets.Earlier, it was Cook’s ton that anchored the Lions innings. He formed stands of 69 and 74 with Alviro Petersen (37) and Nicky can den Bergh (45), but momentum was lost with a host of wickets towards the end. Sisanda Magala picked up his third List A five-for to help derail the Lions charge.

Zimbabwe were always likely to be up against it, no matter what side Pakistan turned out, but to win the toss and field on a pancake-flat Karachi track was surely not going to help their cause. Still, Prosper Utseya, the quiet, young captain, had his reasons for doing so.”We don’t have enough experience of playing in such conditions,” he explained after his side lost the opening ODI of the series by 104 runs. “We thought we could do well chasing. 347 was obviously too much of a target but if we had kept them to under 300, it was doable.”There is logic there, for Zimbabwe are not a poor batting side. In their last eight ODIs they have only failed to go past 200 twice and have scored over 240 four times. Indeed, their batting wasn’t the problem here either. Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibhabha might even have entertained vague notions of a chase until the 20th over: both scoring confident, contrasting fifties. Sean Williams added a battling, if ultimately futile one at the end, but as Utseya noted, there is something there.”Three of our guys got fifties and that is definitely a positive for us. We can take that confidence in to our next match,” he said. “We also fielded well and took our catches, so I don’t think fielding first was a mistake.”What he didn’t linger on, and what is likely to be a factor as the series progresses, is their bowling, which appears desperately weak on today’s evidence. Shoaib Malik, who capped a fine match with three wickets to add to a fifty, was probably stretching the bounds of Pakistani hospitality when he said Zimbabwe bowled well.Perhaps it was the effort they put in he was lauding, but at no stage in Pakistan’s innings did the batsmen appear under any pressure. Nasir Jamshed, with the honesty of a debutant, seemed to get it about right when asked which bowler troubled him most during a commanding 48-ball 61: “None of them.”Jamshed was one of five batsmen to score fifty for Pakistan – a record – and one of eight in the match – also a record. But if Pakistan will be perturbed about anything – and it is nitpicking really – it would be the stick Samiullah Khan and Rao Iftikhar Anjum received.”It was a very, very flat wicket,” Malik said. “Every bowler gets hit around occasionally, but when he does, you have to see what he is trying to do when he is being hit. Is he bowling restrictively, is he trying to take wickets?”Pakistan’s combination might also need tinkering and it might be the case in Hyderabad as Malik later hinted; they played with only five bowling options, two of whom are allrounders. They ended the game bowling Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq. “We had only five bowlers today so I wanted to give some confidence to our non-regular bowlers,” was Malik’s response, which may or may not have been said with tongue fully in cheek.The imbalance was the result, it is learnt, of a selectorial disagreement a few days before the match. Malik was keen – as he said publicly – on using Kamran Akmal as an opener, thus letting him try out another specialist bowler. The selectors wanted, however, to try out Jamshed, as a possible solution to the eternal opening conundrum. Nobody will be too unhappy with the results, but Pakistan will be keen to try out an extra bowler somewhere along the line, especially as they couldn’t bowl Zimbabwe out here.”Zimbabwe are a good side. There was a lot of effort on their part today,” Malik recognised. That is undeniable, but it probably won’t be enough over the next four matches.

Rob Key has pledged to investigate England players’ conduct during their mid-Ashes break in Noosa and described drinking heavily as “completely unacceptable” for an international cricket team.England travelled to Noosa, the affluent resort town on the Queensland coast, after their eight-wicket defeat in the second Test at the Gabba for a four-night stay which the team stressed was a “mid-series break” rather than a “holiday”. Brendon McCullum, the trip’s architect, said it was “excellent” and would allow England to head into the third Test feeling fresh.Key, England’s managing director, did not travel to Noosa and said that he believed his players had been “very well behaved”. But reports since their subsequent 82-run defeat in Adelaide have compared the trip to a stag do, and Key said at the MCG on Tuesday that he will “look into what happened” to determine whether any further action is required.Related

• ECB investigating Ben Duckett video amid drinking allegations

• Ashes fallout: Contrite Key admits New Zealand white-ball tour was planning error

• Cricket Australia, ECB seek to address Ashes warm-up concerns

• England's failure demands change

• Rob Key in a bind as McCullum's wild ride hits Ashes skids

“If there’s things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively then of course we’ll be looking into that,” Key said. “Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I’d expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. But from everything that I’ve heard so far, they were very well behaved.”I’ve read what’s been written in the last day or so, and if it goes into where they’re drinking lots and it’s a stag do, all that type of stuff, that’s completely unacceptable. I’m not a drinker. I think a drinking culture doesn’t help anyone in any stretch whatsoever.”I have no issue with the Noosa trip if it was to get away and just throw your phone away, down tools, go on the beach… Everything that I’ve heard so far is that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn’t go out late, had the odd drink. I don’t mind that. If it goes past that, then that’s an issue as far as I’m concerned… There’s lots of people there that might disagree with that, but that’s what we’ll find out.”Key also revealed that Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook had been warned by team management before the series, after they were filmed drinking at a bar the night before England’s third ODI in New Zealand. He said the incident had been a “wake-up call” for the scrutiny that the squad would come under in Australia, which he denied England had underestimated.”I don’t mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that I think is ridiculous, really,” Key said. “There wasn’t any formal action… I didn’t feel like that was worthy of formal warnings, but it was probably worthy of informal ones.”Key also confirmed that England had turned down the opportunity to play a warm-up match against Australian opposition in Adelaide ahead of the first Test, reasoning that they would have more control over a warm-up match involving England Lions at Lilac Hill, a club ground in Perth.Jacob Bethell looks set to come into the side for the fourth Test•Getty Images

“I don’t necessarily believe that had we just gone and played there then we’d now be 3-0 up in the Ashes,” he said. “Even with that, we’ve still got to get more out of our players… You’ve got to look at yourselves as a set up, I think. If your players are playing to their potential and they’re getting beat, that’s fine. But in this series so far, we haven’t done that.”He conceded that England have stripped back their support staff too far, leaving the set-up without a fielding coach for this tour. “When we started, I looked at the huddle on the first day at Lord’s [against New Zealand in June 2022] and there were 38 people in there… We wanted to strip all of that back and go, ‘Right, we want the messaging to come from just a few people’.”I don’t think the argument is to bring in loads of specialist coaches… [But] there’s probably a few spots where we’re weak in terms of our set-up at the moment, where we’ve stripped it back too much and there’s probably a few places we need to start bringing in some of that resource again.”Key described McCullum – whose contract he extended last year – as a “bloody good coach” and backed him to continue despite England’s heavy series defeat, and said that his own future as managing director is in the hands of the ECB’s board.Brendon McCullum and Rob Key look on at training•Getty Images

“The decision really for the ECB will be whether or not they want to rip it up and start again, or whether they want to evolve and whether we’re the right people to do that. Clearly, I believe that Brendon… He’s an excellent coach. His record is very good. This is only the third [Test] series we’ve lost in four years. His win record [25 out of 44 Tests as coach] is very good as well.”Clearly, we’ve mucked up on the big occasions, whether that was the home Ashes series, whether that was last summer against India… The big ones have eluded us. There’s been some brilliant moments along the way. I still feel like there’s plenty of life in this whole thing now, but we have to evolve. We have to make sure that we’re doing things better.”Key also implied that England had made a mistake by backing Ollie Pope as their No. 3 ahead of Bethell, saying: “You start looking at some of the decisions that we’ve made and think, ‘Should we have made a change there much sooner?’ I don’t think that’s right to speculate on who those people are at the moment, but they’re the things that you look at.”Bethell looks set to play in the fourth Test at the MCG on Boxing Day, and Key described him as an “incredible talent” with the potential to become a “world-class” batter. “I have no issue with him being able to go out and play a match-winning innings in the Ashes for us.”

St Thomas College 22 for 2 trail Royal College 294 for 6 dec (Edussuriya 140*, Ratnayake 49) by 272 runs
ScorecardThe Sri Lanka-Australia Test at Galle might be attracting all the international attention, but the 125th annual Royal-Thomian match – the famed three-day “Battle of the Blues” – at the Sinhalese Sports Club was all the talk in Colombo. And a superb hundred by Dhanushka Edussuriya, which gave Royal College the edge at the end of the first day, was sure to generate headlines tomorrow.Edussuriya came to the crease with his side struggling on 60 for 4 after they had lost the toss and been inserted by St Thomas College. He added 101 for the fifth wicket with Ganganath Ratnayake (49) and then 134 for the sixth wicket in 30 overs with Manoj Morawake (45*).In front of a decent crowd, including a fair number of politicians and corporate big-wigs, the morning session belonged to St Thomas as their seamers exploited the early moisture to rip through Royal’s top-order.But St Thomas’s bowlers, bereft of Chathuranga Somapala who failed a late fitness test, lacked the penetration to press home their advantage, and Edussuriya’s took charge. His innings was a masterpiece of timing and control – he reached his fifty in an hour-and-a-half, his hundred in three hours, and never allowed the bowlers to settle. His stand with Morawake left St Thomas’s wilting, and enabled Royal to declare and give themselves 45 minutes to have a go at St Thomas.The tactic worked, as both openers were dismissed in the nine overs before the close.

ScorecardEd Joyce struck 104 as England Lions completed their India tour with a comprehensive 176-run win against Saurashtra. His century enabled the Lions to close in on 300 before an efficient bowling display, led by Charlie Shreck’s four wickets, completed the victory.Joyce added 122 for the second wicket with Joe Denly (56) to set a solid platform for the middle order. Andrew Flintoff made 23 off 28 balls in his second outing, after missing the last match with a stomach bug, but he and Joyce fell with the score on 195.The acceleration came from James Hildreth and Michael Yardy as the pair added 84 for the fifth wicket. Hildreth clubbed 43 off 31 balls and Yardy contributed 42 off 33 as the Lions made up for their below-par effort in the previous match. Nayan Doshi, the Derbyshire left-arm spinner, claimed two wickets but was carted for 80 runs off his 10 overs.Saurashtra never provided a challenge in the run chase as all the Lions bowlers chipped in. Graham Onions began the rout by striking with the third ball and there was a steady procession of wickets with Shreck removing the lower order.

As the Irani Trophy encounter between Mumbai and Rest of India resumed on the fourth morning at the Wankhede Stadium, the only point of interest was whether Murali Kartik would scalp all ten, a feat achieved by only four other Indians in first class cricket: Premangshu Chatterjee, Subhash Gupte, Pradeep Sunderam and Anil Kumble. The umpire from whose end Kartik bowled unchanged was – you guessed it – AV Jayaprakash, who had given the marching orders to Kumble’s ten victims just about 20 months ago.The 24-year-old left armer almost got there, picking up the first nine wickets, and even misdirecting a shy at the stumps that would have thrown out Nilesh Kulkarni when Mumbai were eight down. Speaking to the press after the game was over, Kartik said that was the moment when he felt God wanted him to take all ten. Unfortunately Sharandeep Singh was not kept posted of the almighty’s wishes and invited Santosh Saxena to drive a fullish length delivery into substitute Reetinder Sodhi at extra cover.Sharandeep bent his head in embarrassment like a schoolboy caught out by his headmaster after a disreputable act but that took little away from Kartik’s bravura performance. His unchanged spell of 24-6-70-9 – all victims caught – was a record for the Irani Trophy, beating Ravi Shastri’s 9-101 almost twenty seasons ago. Mumbai were bowled out for 184, leaving Rest with a target of 56 runs which openers Sadagopan Ramesh (24) and Shiv Sunder Das (34) knocked off in 35 minutes inside eight overs.Resuming from the Tata end this morning, Kartik had Paras Mhambrey caught at silly point by Mohd. Kaif in his first over without any addition to the overnight score of 145. And in his next over Ramesh Powar was brilliantly caught at forward short leg by Shiv Sunder Das for scalp number seven. Having watched the carnage from the other end, Amol Majumdar seemed to have realised that by playing defensively to Kartik, it was only a matter of time before one of the close catchers pounced. Indeed after the two openers were caught at midon and midoff as they charged Kartik, the next five victims were all snapped up around the bat.Skipper VVS Laxman had opened with Dodda Ganesh from the pavilion end and in the ninth over of the day, he introduced off spinner Sharandeep Singh who had been underbowled in the second innings after matching Kartik wicket for wicket in the first. But it was Kartik who broke through yet again. Majumdar’s intention to go after the bowler was laudable as he jumped out of the crease but the execution was faulty, the ball brushing past him en route to Laxman at first slip.The batsman stood transfixed at the crease for almost a full minute, staring in disbelief at Jayaprakash as though willing him to reverse his verdict. Majumdar’s two hour occupation of the crease had netted 37 from 92 balls with five fours as Mumbai slumped to 175/8. Rajesh Pawar stroked Sharandeep for two boundaries to midwicket but when he sought to give Kartik the same treatment, it proved fatal. The intended sweep was top edged for Jacob Martin to take a splendid catch running several metres backwards from his position at leg slip. It was Kartik’s ninth successive wicket, leaving him with two deliveries in the over to get at Nilesh Kulkarni but he passed up the opportunity and Sharandeep made no mistake.Kartik said the wicket had been seaming early on and providing good carry but got slower and slower as the match progressed. Asked whether his ejection from the National Cricket Academy had raised doubts in his mind about whether he would gain selection for the Irani Trophy, Kartik replied with an emphatic negative. He said he had to leave because of a cracked wrist bone which had not been diagnosed properly and it was the media which had played it up by clubbing him with two others who had been forced out because of indiscipline. The return to peak fitness of this Superintending Officer employed with the Indian Railways should lend a new and formidable dimension to a hitherto nondescript Indian attack in the ensuing season.