Mahela Jayawardene treated England to another gentle batting masterclass with a second successive Test century on the first day of the second Test

The Report by David Hopps03-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Anderson took three early wickets before Sri Lanka fought back, led by a century from Mahela Jayawardene•Getty Images

Mahela Jayawardene, an understated batsman in a world that long ago surrendered to overstatement, treated England to another gentle batting masterclass with a second successive Test century to ensure Sri Lanka maintained a position close to equilibrium at the close of the first day of the second Test.Jayawardene exuded calm, recapturing the mood that brought him 180 in the first Test in Galle, with 105 stealthily assembled in more than five hours before Graeme Swann, straightening one from around the wicket, had him lbw, a decision upheld on review, and the slightest rustle of disbelief arose around the P Sara Oval at a rare misjudgement in an unblemished innings.England dismissed Jayawardene with the second new ball imminent. They took it for the last nine overs and plucked out a sixth wicket when Steven Finn had Mahela’s namesake, Prasanna Jayawardene, caught at the wicket.It was a reward for another disciplined bowling display, in which an increasingly resilient Finn proved he can now share, but the pitch already has a mosaic of cracks and, even allowing for its stultifying lack of pace, there is already ample evidence of uneven bounce and turn for the spinners. That will be enough to keep England’s sense of well-being in check.Four successive Test defeats in Asia have encouraged ever-more defiant noises from England about how they must maintain their energy and trust their attacking instincts. Jayawardene showed them a different route, cajoling the Test gently towards him, displaying the virtues of patience and delicacy as his innings murmured along. He survived a drinks break on 99, removed his helmet to reveal his distinctive black head-covering and then clipped Samit Patel wristily wide of mid-on for his 31st Test century.James Anderson gave England a flying start with three new-ball wickets in his first five overs, dismissing Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara in successive balls, but Jayawardene flicked the hat-trick ball to the fine leg boundary to get off the mark and, as determinedly as England tried to stem the flow of runs off his legs, settled in for the duration.It was a sweltering day in Colombo with not as much relief from the gentle sea breezes that had been apparent in Galle; April, the month before the Yala monsoon finally breaks, when wealthier Colombo families head to the hills in search of relief and when to commit to any physical exertion was once regarded as akin to madness.

Smart stats

• Mahela Jayawardene’s 105 is his 22nd Test century at home. Only Ricky Ponting, with 23, has more home hundreds.

• Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene have become only the third Sri Lankan pair to add more than 3000 partnership runs in Tests. Among the 32 pairs from all teams who’ve achieved this, Jayawardene and Samaraweera have the fifth-best average.

• In 11 home Tests against England, Jayawardene has scored six centuries and averages 90.66. In ten Tests in England, he averages 34.11.

• Jayawardene has now scored eight Test hundreds against England, which equals the record for a Sri Lankan batsman against an opposition – Aravinda de Silva has eight against Pakistan.

• In his last ten away Tests, James Anderson has taken 41 wickets at an average of 24.97. In his previous 19 away Tests, Anderson had taken 52 wickets at 43.84.

• Kumar Sangakkara has failed to score seven times in Tests, but Sri Lanka have won their last four Tests when Sangakkara hasn’t scored. The last time Sangakkara got a duck and Sri Lanka lost the match was against Australia in Darwin in 2004.

There was a time in his career when Anderson would have melted into insignificance in such conditions, cursing a slow pitch and the hot, viscous air, but these days he is a connoisseur of fast bowling and once again he rhythmically dismantled Sri Lanka’s top order. There was enough inconsistent bounce to sustain him and he caressed the new ball with the recognition that once it softened life would become much more onerous.England had taken three Sri Lanka wickets for 15 and fewer in Galle and still lost, a statistic that it has been suggested is unique in Test history. It has been the same all winter for England: skilful, disciplined bowling followed by comedic batting. Anderson took his wickets with the air of a bowler who had come to understand that it guaranteed nothing.Dilshan briefly flared, driving Anderson for successive offside boundaries. But Anderson compensated, yanked his length back a touch, Dilshan dabbled outside off stump and Matt Prior took a neat catch.Sangakkara fell first ball, just as he had in the first innings in Galle, Anderson producing a perfect line and the edge flying to first slip where Strauss fumbled by his midriff but clawed the rebound back with his left hand. Strauss has entered the Test under the most pressure since he was appointed England’s captain three years ago: it was not the day to drop it.Anderson’s third wicket, an ungainly leave-alone from Lahiru Thirimanne, with the decision, this time by the Australian Bruce Oxenford, again upheld on review, fleetingly took his average in his 68th Test below 30 for the first time since his debut summer nine years ago. By the close, it had crept beyond 30 once more, but it was a statistical reminder of his development.Jayawardene peacefully rebuilt the innings, in partnership with Thilan Samaraweera, but England had a lucky mascot to sustain them. Tim Bresnan, playing his first Test of the winter after England omitted Monty Panesar, has been on the winning side in ten previous Tests and he found a hint of reverse swing to have Samaraweera lbw.England made good use of the bouncer against Samaraweera, on a lifeless but uneven pitch. He was struck on the side of the helmet by Finn as he ducked a short ball that failed to get up. He looked briefly disorientated and England might have benefited from one of several ill-judged singles when Finn’s shy from mid-on could have run him out.But tension at the end of an unsuccessful winter had been evident in the response of Andy Flower, England’s team director, when Samaraweera, on 34, survived a DRS appeal for a catch at short leg as a short ball from Steve Finn struck his thigh pad and found its way to Alastair Cook.The not-out decision by umpire Asad Rauf was upheld after a lengthy delay, and innumerable replays, by the third umpire, Rod Tucker. There was no concrete evidence to overrule Rauf’s decision, however much there might have been suspicions of a hint of glove, but that did not stop Flower visiting the TV umpire’s room for an explanation and the cameras caught that, too, with his ill grace apparent.Flower is not averse to a visit to the umpire’s room during play to press his case, although perhaps not as blatantly as his predecessor, Duncan Fletcher, whose psychological gambits can occasionally be of a style that would even make Sir Alex Ferguson take note.

A hard-hitting 74 by Stephan Myburgh helped blast Netherlands to a nine-wicket win under the Duckworth-Lewis method against Worcestershire

07-May-2012
ScorecardA hard-hitting 74 by Stephan Myburgh helped blast Netherlands to a nine-wicket win under the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-ravaged Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Worcestershire at Kidderminster.Opener Myburgh smacked four sixes and seven fours to power his side to a revised victory target of 139 off 19 overs with 13 balls to spare.In a Group A clash which was switched to Kidderminster because of flooding at New Road, on-song Myburgh was Netherlands’ hero for the second successive match. The previous day he hammered 77 when they won a thriller by one run against Gloucestershire at Bristol.He confidently took centre stage for a second time after Vikram Solanki had top-scored with 63 for Worcestershire in a game that began as a 27 overs-a-side affair. Solanki’s knock enabled the Royals to score 172 for 4, but further rain reduced Netherlands’ target to 139 off 19 overs.It was a target the visitors safely reached thanks to Myburgh and Cameron Borgas, who was unbeaten on 55 which contained three sixes and five fours. They put on an unbroken 132 which spanned 14 overs.Play finally got under way at 3.45pm in front of a sparse crowd with Worcestershire, having been put in, soon losing Moeen Ali when he offered a high two handed catch to Tim Gruijters at mid-on off paceman Mudassar Bukari, who finished with 3 for 29.Michael Klinger only lasted for nine balls before he moved up to a Tommy Heggelman ball and was comfortably caught at mid-off by Tom Cooper. It reduced Worcestershire to 32 for 2 in the eighth over and left Solanki and James Cameron to lift their side past the 50 mark in the 12th over.The darker rain clouds began to gather again, however, as both batsmen battled to keep the scoreboard ticking along. But despite the steady drizzle they went on to complete a well earned half-century partnership in 10 overs before taking Worcestershire into three figures in 20 overs.Solanki completed his 50, containing one six and two fours, off 69 balls before Cameron, attempting to force the pace, was snapped up at deep mid-wicket by Heggelman off Bukarhi for 38. He had put on 78 in 15 overs with Solanki, who was joined by his skipper Daryl Mitchell who rapidly moved on to 20 before being put down by Heggelman at deep cover.He capitalised by adding 41 in 23 balls with Solanki, who was finally caught on the boundary by Michael Swart off Bukhari after hitting one six and four fours off 80 balls. Mitchell ended unbeaten on 31 off 15 deliveries.After a delay because of further rain, Holland launched their reply in far from ideal conditions and soon lost Michael Swart to seamer Jack Shantry. A heavier downpour soon forced the players to head for shelter before the visitors initial revised target of 152 off 22 overs changed for the final time following the loss of three overs.

Chennai Super Kings’ coach Stephen Fleming has said that it’s the first time his side has been challenged for form in the last two years

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2012With defending champions Chennai Super Kings still fourth in the points table after a five-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, Super Kings’ coach Stephen Fleming has said that it’s the first time his side has been challenged for form in the last two years.Super Kings, who were IPL champions in 2010 and 2011, have lost five out of ten matches this year. “The nature of which we are playing needs to improve and we need to look at the personnel as well as this is the first time we’ve been challenged for form,” Fleming said. “We have been a very consistent side, but now we have to make the right decisions based on what our captain needs.”Super Kings’ batsmen have struggled to find form this year, with their top-scorer Faf du Plessis averaging 37.11 from nine innings. Fleming said that his side must play well as a unit if they want to succeed. “We’re just not getting enough runs and defending well enough,” Fleming said, “He [MS Dhoni, the captain] needs to be supported in the field. We must reassess which bowlers we need and hope our batsmen score more. Things must improve quickly.”On Monday, Knight Riders outperformed Super Kings with bat and ball as they failed to string together substantial partnerships and missed a number of run-out chances. Fleming said that though his batsmen played well, bowling and fielding was a concern.”Today we showed a lot more intent on a tough wicket but when we tried to push ahead or clear the boundary we missed out the 15 to 20 runs that we needed. Knight Riders had one good partnership (between Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis) that took the game out of our reach,” Fleming said.

Quetta wicketkeeper Bismillah Khan has had his appeal against a one-year disciplinary ban turned down by a PCB judicial commissioner, meaning he will not receive a central contract for 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2012Quetta wicketkeeper Bismillah Khan has had his appeal against a one-year disciplinary ban turned down by a PCB judicial commissioner, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, in Lahore. This means Bismillah will not receive a central contract from the Pakistan board.Bismillah, who was handed a 12-month ban for fighting in a grade-two match at Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala on April 21, had been named in the stipend category of the PCB’s 2012 contracts.Following the contracts announcement, Intikhab Alam, the PCB’s director of international cricket operations, said that Bismillah would not be excluded from the list unless the commissioner ruled against him. “His contact currently is on hold, we will wait for the outcome of his appeal,” Alam had said. “The contract will be withdrawn if the commissioner upholds his ban.”In all, 21 Pakistan players had been given full-fledged contracts in May, while 21 players have been placed in the stipend category. Players in the stipend category will receive a retainer of 62,500 Pakistan rupees (US$660 approx) for the calendar year 2012 from the PCB.

South Africa celebrated their first win at The Oval in 14 attempts without their captain Graeme Smith

Firdose Moonda at The Oval23-Jul-2012South Africa celebrated their first win at The Oval in 14 attempts without their captain Graeme Smith, who dashed back to South Africa on a 7pm flight from London to be with his wife, Morgan Deane, for the expected birth of the couple’s first child on Wednesday.Smith arrived on the final day of the first Test with his bags already packed and a special shuttle organised to get him to Heathrow. With no knowledge of when the match would end, Smith was due to travel to the airport in a motorcycle sidecar, to weave through the traffic faster. The earlier finish meant he could get there in more regular vehicular fashion, by car. He will spend the first week in South Africa with his newborn, believed to be a girl, before returning to England next Monday to lead the team at Headingley.While Smith has gone home, the rest of the team are thinking of home. Jacques Kallis, in particular, has his mind in Cape Town, where his friend Mark Boucher is recovering from a career-ending eye injury. Kallis dedicated his century on the fourth day to Boucher, with a gesture to his eye.”It’s sad what happened to Mark and it was unfair to have his career end like that,” Kallis said. “He played a big role in this side. In his special way, he is [still] playing a role in this side. The guys feel for him and wish that he was here. He’s still got an impact. It was just my way of letting of him know that he is still very much in our thoughts. It was sad to see a mate go out like that but it was to show we are thinking of him and hope that things go well.”Boucher’s enforced absence handed AB de Villiers the gloves for the first Test, with the specialist, Thami Tsolekile brought to the squad. De Villiers took five catches in the first innings and eight in the match in total but did make some clear errors. He dropped Ian Bell on 20, off Imran Tahir’s bowling, missed a run-out chance against Bell later on in the day and let through 11 byes in the second innings.Despite that, South Africa coach Gary Kirsten said de Villiers is likely to hold on to his position for the next match, with Tsolekile set to carry drinks again. “AB was the reserve keeper for this tour, so there would be no reason to suggest why he wouldn’t keep in the next one,” he said. “I thought he kept really well. It was not easy out there, especially with the spinner. He hasn’t had a lot of Test match keeping so for a first outing in Test match cricket for a long time, I thought he did exceptionally well.”De Villiers was not required to bat, so his back, which is prone to spasms, was not tested in this match – but he cannot expect the same to happen in the second Test. Kirsten said South Africa considered it “very special” to have won the match having only lost two wickets but saw it as an illustration of their batting stamina.”We’ve got some real class in out batting line up,” he said. “We’ve got guys with a lot experience and guys who enjoy batting a lot. They don’t give their wickets away; they take pride in spending a lot of time at the crease. It was particularly satisfying as a coach to see that.”More pleasing, perhaps, because the build-up to the series was dominated by talk of South Africa being underprepared, having last played Test cricket in March. Instead of getting in more net practice, Kirsten took his team to Switzerland for a bonding camp that was joked about in certain circles. Kirsten, said he fully expected his unorthodox methods to work, however. “The only way you can really effectively prepare for Test match cricket is by playing Test match cricket,” he said. “It’s very tough to get yourself into a Test match intensity mode playing first-class cricket. We tried a few different things. The guys came into this Test match mentally fresh.”Those clear heads came together to take the lead in a three-match series, which both captains said could prove decisive. Kirsten was cautious not to say the same and regarded this win as just another rung on the long ladder he wants to climb with South Africa. “We know we want to become the best cricket team in the world and we know what we need to do to achieve that,” he said. “This is the next hurdle. There’s a lot of work to be done and there’s a lot of focus needed. We are focusing everything on preparation at the moment.”

FICA has said it will deter players from taking part in the 2013 SLPL, unless tournament organisers honour the bank guarantees clause in player contracts

Andrew Fernando06-Sep-2012Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) has said it will deter players from taking part in the 2013 Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) unless tournament organisers honour the bank guarantees clause in player contracts. FICA CEO Tim May said his organisation had made repeated requests for proof of the bank guarantees, but SLC and their promotions partner Somerset Entertainment Ventures (SEV) had failed to provide it.”I can categorically state that if the bank guarantees are not sighted by the relevant date for next year’s tournament, we will be recommending players not to travel to Sri Lanka until the guarantees are sighted by FICA and agreed to be in a form suitable for its purpose,” May said.The contracts stipulate that each SLPL franchise must provide bank guarantees for the total amount of players’ salaries. If the franchise fails to meet the payment schedule, players can then activate the guarantees after a seven-day period in order to receive their pay. Players were due to receive 25% of their salary upon arrival in Sri Lanka, a further 25% on the day of their franchise’s first game, and the remaining 50% on the day of the team’s final SLPL match. “Non-production of these bank guarantees is a major breach of the player contract,” May said. “The bank guarantees were instrumental in obtaining many players’ signatures to participate in this event.”SEV CEO Sandiip Bhammer says franchises were unable to acquire bank guarantees because the process of getting guarantees for each individual franchise would have taken too long and was too complicated. He said tournament organisers had instead asked franchises to acquire a pay order for the total amount of player salaries and they had in turn shown proof of these pay orders to FICA.”I don’t understand what FICA’s problem is,” Bhammer said. “FICA only come in if there is a problem with player payments, but in this case, they have all been paid in full.””A pay order is in fact a stronger guarantee of player payment than a bank guarantee, because it means that a certain amount of money is blocked off and becomes accessible to players if there has been a breach of payment.”May said that the SLPL players had been paid “largely on time” but that several players from one franchise were yet to receive 50% of their pay, though as the local players of that franchise had been paid in full, the money may still be on its way into the foreign players’ accounts. He also said that Uva Next, who had delayed the second installment of payment to players, only paid their dues after being threatened with player withdrawal.Bhammer said he was certain that all players who participated in the SLPL had been paid in full.”When Uva Next were late to pay their players, Tim May insisted that the franchise pay the players 100% of their salary while the tournament was still going, which wasn’t something that was in their contracts. We ensured that the Uva team forked out more money than they were contractually obligated to do, so they actually ended up paying 75% of salaries before the tournament ended.”Bhammer said he was not concerned by FICA’s threat to deter players from travelling to the SLPL in future.”The best adjudicators here are the players themselves. Several of them have come out in the media and said they enjoyed the tournament and would be glad to play in it again. You don’t really need a better endorsement than that.”The SLPL did not use a player auction to determine player salaries, but instead contracted players for a pre-determined sum before players were assigned to a franchise via a draft. The three-week tournament ended on August 31.

Harbhajan Singh: the solution to India’s World Twenty20 bowling problems, or just a spin bowler enjoying the simplest of comebacks against a hapless England side? Even in the aftermath of such a comprehensive victory, MS Dhoni was not about to become carr

David Hopps in Colombo24-Sep-2012Harbhajan Singh: the solution to India’s World Twenty20 bowling problems, or just a spin bowler enjoying the simplest of comebacks against a hapless England side? Even in the aftermath of such a comprehensive victory, MS Dhoni was not about to become carried away.India thrashed England by 90 runs and Harbhajan, in his first international for more than a year, finished with 4 for 12, the best bowling performance by an Indian bowler in Twenty20 internationals, and the Man-of-the-Match award.”Without playing for India, I don’t know what else I could do,” he said. “It’s been a hard year for me. I’ve been out of the side due to injuries and whatnot, and the other boys have been doing really well. So for me it was an important game. Getting a wicket with the second ball gives you confidence. This award was for my Mom and for the people who have stuck with me in difficult times.”Solution found then: The pitches will wear and they will doubtless be kept dry assuming the onrushing north-west monsoon can be countered somehow. All India have to do is pair the spin duo of R Ashwin and Harbhajan, maintain Irfan Pathan as an opening batsman to turn four bowlers into five and the job is as done as done?But the evidence of India’s potential masterplan was provided by England, a side traditionally so fallible that Harbhajan could have taken all 10, re-enacted every line in a Bollywood movie mid-pitch and held an impromptu wedding ceremony on the edge of the outfield and still the suggestion that his time was nigh would have been doubted.Dhoni’s more cautious assessment made sense to most observers. “I think I have seen Bhajji bowl better but his performance, if you read the circumstances, coming back after a period of time, getting a chance where he has to prove himself that he is very good, has a certain amount of pressure. It can be his expectation level only, but that desperation level is there.”It was important that he did well in this particular game – I don’t mean he had to take four wickets – but I think he is someone who can do better than this but if you go by the circumstances it was a brilliant performance by him.”I don’t know who will play. We have a problem of plenty right now but I am quite happy with a problem of plenty than to look for who is our fifth bowler and who will bowl. The selection will depend on the wicket. If it is a hard wicket the spinners may not be that effective.”Harbhajan did not have to work overly hard to conquer England; his achievement was to conquer himself. He returned to India’s side not as the purveyor of pessimistic leg-side darts, but throwing the ball high with confidence again. It helps your confidence when a run of top-order dismissals reads 0, 6, 2 ,1 , 11, 1, 3.England planned well by sending their exciting crop of young one-day batsmen on a Lions tour of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka earlier this year but none of them did particularly well. In Harbhajan’s first over, Eoin Morgan, more experienced than most, was bowled attempting to cut his top-spinner, a dismissal far from unique to him. Instantly, the strut returned and from then on it was a matter of rack ’em up, knock ’em back, line ’em up, put ’em down, have a little taste, as Razorlight sang about something completely different.”It is a bit new to them,” Dhoni said about Harbhajan’s victims. “Even when the ball spins in England, still there is a bit of pace and you can play your big strokes the way you want to play. But in the sub-continent when it starts turning the ball really stops so you have to be careful when you are playing those drives. But they are a very good side so slowly you will see them adapt to the conditions.””For me it was an important game,” Harbhajan said. “I hadn’t played international cricket for a full year. Getting a wicket first or second ball gives you a lot of confidence. In T20 cricket, it’s important to just read the game. I have tried to cut down my run-up a bit. I was running in too fast, and struggling to find my areas. So I was consciously coming in off a short run, and slowly.”Harbhajan was dropped by India after the Trent Bridge Test last year, one of the few victims of a 4-0 whitewash. He led Mumbai Indians to the Champions League trophy, proof of his ability to perform in T20, but developed an injury around the time he was omitted from India’s squad for Australia. He then went to Essex, played steadily if not spectacularly (13 first-class wickets at 33), and then developed another injury about the time India picked him again.Even after this performance the doubters will remain, but T20 – as more and more people are beginning to realise – is just as much about outwitting an opponent as Test cricket, not by a carefully-designed plan, evolving over hours, but by an instinctive decision that can take less than a second. Harbhajan seems well equipped for such mindgames.

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has welcomed the ICC’s endorsement for countries to play day-night Tests

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2012James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has welcomed the ICC’s endorsement for countries to play day-night Tests. The change, which depends the development of a suitable ball, came into effect with the new playing regulations from Tuesday.Sutherland indicated that Australia would consider proposals to play day-night Tests at home, to better help fans follow “cricket’s premium format”. The arrangement would require bilateral agreement on playing times and the brand, type and colour of the ball used.This last point could be the most significant obstacle in the immediate future, with tests on a pink ball still being conducted. Cricket South Africa last month expressed doubts about the ball’s viability, while day-night first-class matches have also been trialled in England, the West Indies and, most recently, Bangladesh.”Test cricket is by definition played on at least three week days, times when most people are at work or school, and this limits the ability of fans to attend or watch on TV,” Sutherland said. “We limit ourselves by staging cricket’s premium format at times when fans often cannot watch.””CA has a formal strategic plan that demands Australian cricket puts fans first and we will now add day-night Tests to the agenda when we talk to other Test nations about their future tours Down Under.”Sutherland said that when a Test was played in Perth on Australia’s west coast, which is three hours behind the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the television audience was much higher because fans on the east coast were home from work. However, he conceded that coming up with an alternative to the red ball used in Tests could take time.”Finding a Test ball that is as easily visible in the day as it is at night is still a technical work in progress that the ICC is now leading and it has not yet been possible to predict when such a ball might be available,” he said. “The traditional red ball is not regarded as suitable for night cricket because it is not as visible at night as it is in the day, and the ODI white ball is not suitable for Tests as it is not as durable and does not last as well as a Test ball needs to last.”However, the move to day-night Tests could gain extra momentum with Cricket Australia set to negotiate a new broadcasting deal over the next few months. Channel Nine is keen on the idea of Test cricket being on air later in the day, when more viewers can tune in, and the network’s head of sport, Steve Crawley, said the matter would be discussed when CA and Nine sit down to work on a new deal.”I can’t see a downside to it from an entertainment point of view,” Crawley told the . “We’ll be starting a Test match [against South Africa] Friday week in Brisbane at a time of year when so many people are at work during the day, and night-time cricket would give us a bigger audience.”

Andy Flower has admitted that England made a mistake in not selecting Monty Panesar for the first Test of the series against India at Ahmedabad.

George Dobell20-Nov-2012Andy Flower has admitted that England made a mistake in not selecting Monty Panesar for the first Test of the series against India at Ahmedabad. England lost the Test by nine wickets after conceding a first innings deficit of 330 with Flower, the England team director, also conceding that he misread the pitch.But Flower declined to confirm that England would alter the balance of their attack for the second Test, which begins in Mumbai on Friday. While he conceded that England’s seamers had been out-performed by their Indian counterparts in Ahmedabad, he said the England team management will inspect the pitch before any selection decision is made. As things stand, Flower expects Mumbai to offer more assistance to the seamers and would only confirm that England would bring in a batsman to replace Ian Bell, who is absent on paternity leave.”With hindsight yes, it was a mistake not to play Panesar in Ahmedabad,” Flower said. “I didn’t expect that pitch to turn as early as it did. In fact, once we saw it turning early in the game I thought it might deteriorate more and I was surprised on day four and five how well it played. I certainly misjudged that pitch.”There might be a little more bounce in Mumbai which will help our seamers. Of course we have to bring in a batsman, but on any other changes I’d like to see the pitch first. Then I’ll try to make a better judgment than the last one. If it looks as though it will turn a lot, we will contemplate two spinners.”I don’t think our seamers bowled as well as they could have and the skill with reverse swing and finding the right length to hit the pads is a particular skill. I think India did that better than we did. Their seamers out-bowled our seamers, but I also think we gave them a couple of soft dismissals.”England’s attempts to square the series in Mumbai have been dealt a severe blow with the news that Steven Finn will not be fit to play in the second Test. Indeed, Finn undergoes a scan on Tuesday that will define whether he had any further part to play on the tour. Stuart Meaker, who was called into the squad when Finn was injured in the first warm-up game, will remain with them rather than joining the England Performance Programme squad.”Finn unfortunately hurt that same area of his thigh and he’s having a scan,” Flower said. “We don’t think there’s any structural damage, we need to check. If there is not he will go and join our performance programme. He’ll rehab with them and they’ve got a three-day game starting on the 27th which is the last day of this Test. Hopefully we can get him in that and test him out and if he comes through well he’ll be available for the third Test.”Flower conceded there was an air of predictability about England’s troubles in India but, despite the side now having lost five out of six Tests in Asian conditions this year, said “he would like to think” there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the team or the team set-up. Instead he felt that the batsmen, in particular, were guilty of simple errors. He did not condemn India’s decision to deny them quality spin bowling in the warm-up matches, though he did jokingly suggest that England would be unlikely to respond by providing only spin bowlers for India in their warm-up games on their next tour of England.”We have to overturn what seems predictable the moment,” he said. “There are some very basic things that we haven’t done well enough and I hope I’m not making personal excuses here. I don’t think it’s anything to do with the environment, or team dynamics, or the way we train. I think that we have failed in a number of first innings and if you do that in the subcontinent you pay the price. That’s the area where we have failed and I don’t think we should over-complicate it. I hope there is no real reason why it should keep happening in the first innings.”If we’d batted in the first innings like we batted in the second it might have been a different story. Those three wickets hurt us at the end of day two, obviously, and the ball turned quite sharply and quite quickly in that first innings. And there were a few soft dismissals which cost us.”Flower was keen to defend Kevin Pietersen, who, in his first Test since his recall, scored 19 runs in two innings and was twice dismissed by the left-arm spin of Pragyan Ojha, but Flower stressed the excellence of his long-term record.”Look, Kevin’s a very fine cricketer and he has 21 Test centuries,” Flower said. “This will not go down as one of his memorable Tests, of course, but he’s got three more Tests to contribute to winning games for England.”In this last Test the left-arm spinner got him out twice and he obviously struggled against him. But, only a few Tests ago against Sri Lanka, he scored a magnificent 150 and they had a reasonable left-arm spinner playing in subcontinent conditions. The method he used there was a very successful one. I’m not just talking about his very attacking method but his defensive one too. He’s a very experienced cricketer and I trust he’ll bring that experience to bear in the next Test match.”

The Mumbai slip cordon failed to support the good work of their bowlers, dropping plenty of catches to let Punjab gain the upper hand on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group A tie at the Wankhede Stadium

The Report by Amol Karhadkar at Wankhede Stadium08-Dec-2012
ScorecardMandeep Singh scored a century after being offered several lives•Fotocorp

The Mumbai slip cordon failed to support the good work of their bowlers, dropping plenty of catches to let Punjab gain the upper hand on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group A tie at the Wankhede Stadium.Riding on an unbeaten century by stylish batsman Mandeep Singh, who was given three reprieves, and his 128-run stand for the third wicket with Ravi Inder Singh, Punjab ended the first day at a strong 288 for four. Had the Mumbai fielders grabbed five chances, three of them offered by Mandeep in the last session, the 39-time champions could have had the better of their opponents, who are the only team to have qualified for the knockouts so far.With the Wankhede pitch wearing a different look to the one used for the Test match a fortnight ago, captain Ajit Agarkar’s decision to bowl first wasn’t a surprise. While Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni kept it tight, the in-form Punjab openers Jiwanjot Singh and Karan Goel saw off the first hour without much trouble.However, sensing that the Pavilion End was offering more assistance for the quicks, Agarkar changed ends after bowling four overs from the Tata End and the move worked. He managed to extract additional bounce and Goel, who had hit a sweetly-timed boundary off Balwinder Singh Sandhu in the previous over, edged it to Ajinkya Rahane at second slip.While Jiwanjot, who has been piling on runs in his maiden first-class season, was cautious, Ravi Inder Singh didn’t take time to get going, thanks to a flurry of edges that flew off his bat to the vacant third-man boundary. With medium pacer Sandhu, playing his first match of the season, and offspinner Ramesh Powar looking lacklustre, Agarkar introduced allrounder Abhishek Nayar in the first session itself. And Nayar, who had bowled a dream spell of 19-12-13-6 against Bengal four days ago, created a chance immediately. Nayar forced a nick off Jiwanjot but wicketkeeper Aditya Tare’s diving attempt went in vain.After being given a life and with lunch approaching, Jiwanjot went into a shell. Left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan, introduced in the 32nd over, got an edge off the batsman off the first ball he bowled. But Rohit Sharma failed to latch on to the edge while diving to his right. After surviving chances on 39 and 41, Jiwanjot went in to the break having added 51 runs with Ravi Inder, with Punjab at 108 for one.But the two chances didn’t prove costly for Mumbai as Jiwanjot prodded at one from Kulkarni soon after lunch and provided a catch to Hiken Shah. The rest of the session was dominated by Ravi Inder and Manpreet, who displayed all the strokes in their array at will. While Ravi Inder preferred to score boundaries in a gentle fashion, Mandeep, who led Punjab in the last three games in Harbhajan Singh’s absence, adopted a more aggressive approach.Mandeep waged an intentional attack on Chavan, who was bowling a tight line and length. In the 47th over, he slog-swept the lanky spinner for a boundary twice, and then danced down the pitch to hoick him over the long-on boundary. Perhaps the young batsman was relishing being relieved of his captaincy duties as he continued to pile on runs at will.In the last session though, Mandeep seemed to have repeated lapses of concentration, but the Mumbai fielders repeatedly came to his rescue, dropping him on 67, 73 and 93 in the slips. With so much help from the opposition, Mandeep did not falter in converting his maiden fifty of the season into his fifth first-class century. The milestone came with an elegant flick off Kulkarni that raced to the midwicket fence.Mumbai, however, managed to have the last laugh on the day when Uday Kaul became the third left-hand batsman to have been caught behind with just two balls remaining in the day’s play. Though Kulkarni gave the hosts the much-needed breakthrough, they would be aware that the job is far from being done. And if the fielders – all of them specialist batsmen – don’t back their bowlers, the line-up, without Wasim Jaffer who had to leave for Lucknow due to a close relative’s death, will have to work doubly hard with the bat.