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ScorecardLahiru Thirimanne was Sri Lanka Board President’s XI’s fourth centurion of the match•AFP

Lahiru Thirimanne joined the centuries club as Sri Lanka Board President’s XI once again dominated the Indians, on the final day at Colts Cricket Club. Pragyan Ojha was the only Indian player to gain as he finished with three wickets – to go with his first innings five – to push his selection for the second spinner in Galle, assuming Harbhajan Singh recovers from his illness on time.Batting practice was the objective of the final day, when the Sri Lankans took guard for their second innings with a lead of 223. Upul Tharanga began aggressively but his knock came to a halt when he was caught by VVS Laxman off Ishant Sharma for 21 off 15 balls. Dinesh Chandimal earned a promotion and he made it count as he helped himself to a half-century and added 113 with Thirimanne. The pair went after the spinners and the partnership progressed at more than seven an over. Chandimal slammed four sixes in his 69 before Ojha had his revenge.The spinners hit back with the quick wickets of Kaushal Silva and Prasanna Jayawardene. Thirimanne made 102 off 149 balls before he was dismissed by Ojha. His partner Amit Mishra managed to get Thilan Samaraweera stumped and a short while later the captains decided to call it off.It was a difficult three days for the Indians who were outplayed with bat and ball.

Cricket South Africa have announced a new-look Under-19 squad for the Zimbabwe tour, retaining only two players from the side that played the youth World Cup in Zew Zealand earlier this year. Keaton Jennings has been named as the captain of the side which will be coached by his father, former South Africa coach Ray Jennings.”This is a younger squad with many new faces who have been part of the database of players that we have been monitoring over the past months. We are starting with the build-up to the 2012 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, where the majority of the players will be eligible to play so this will be a wonderful opportunity to harness the talent we have,” said Niels Momberg, CSA’s Youth Cricket Manager.”We had a terrific crop of under-19 players that took part at the World Cup this year and we have seen players like Dominic Hendricks, Cody Chetty, Graham Hume and Colin Ackermann making names for themselves and moving onto the next level of their cricket careers. I’m sure this next squad will be headed in the same direction,” he said.The tour will feature five limited-overs matches and two Pro20 fixtures in Harare.Squad: Keaton Jennings (capt), Gihaan Cloete, David Bunn, James Price, Simon Khomari, Johan du Preez (wk), Dwaine Calder, Calvin Savage, Keagan Rafferty, Chad Fortune, Rabian Engelbrecht, Quinton de Kock, Riyaad Henry, Lionel Vaaltyn, Diego Rosier

Scott Styris has labelled as “massive” the absence of Kevin Pietersen for New Zealand’s must-win game against England on Monday. Pietersen has flown home for the birth of his first child and although he is planning to return for the semi-finals, his temporary unavailability could hurt England’s hopes in this match.England are all but assured of a spot in the final four, while New Zealand have to win to progress. Pietersen is the third-leading run scorer in the tournament so far and his 53 was crucial in winning their game against South Africa on Saturday.”It’s going to be massive,” Styris said. “He’s probably been, along with Jayawardene, one of the two best batsmen in the competition. He was outstanding yesterday against South Africa and he can win a game single-handedly. He’s world-class and without him, we know that it makes our job easier, although we still have to put the ball in the right areas.”England are going to be very difficult. They’ve been the form team in the competition, or one of the form teams. They’re playing good cricket, they’re confident, and confident teams in Twenty20 cricket are hard to beat. I like to think we’ve got some momentum – we’ve won all bar one of our games. England are playing well as well so it’ll be a good contest.”New Zealand are coming off a morale-boosting last-ball win over Pakistan, but Styris said the result could not mask the fact that improvement was needed in their batting. The New Zealanders struggled to 133 for 7 from their full 20 overs and Styris said to go on and have greater success in the tournament, the batsmen had to be prepared to take more risks.”We seemed to play with a little bit of fear yesterday,” Styris said. “By that, I mean guys were a little scared of taking risks and playing the big shots. In this version of the game, especially in big games, you’ve got to be prepared to get out. I felt that as a group we didn’t do that. I think we have to go in to the next game [without] fear of getting out and failing, and try and take the game by the scruff of the neck.”

Clyde Butts, the chairman of West Indies’ selection panel, has said the players needed to “show a bit more determination and maturity” in their approach to cricket, following the team’s Super Eight elimination in the ICC World Twenty20.”We did not do as well as we were capable of. Sometimes, you don’t mind losing, but the way we lost was bad for our cricket. It was a little bit of a surprise. At that level of cricket, you expect much more out of our players,” Butts told the . “Look at the way we batted against Australia and to a lesser extent against Sri Lanka. One would have expected us to show that we are capable players and that we could have put up a better fight.”West Indies topped their group by beating Ireland and England in a rain-affected match, but won only one Super Eight match – against India – while losing heavily to Sri Lanka and Australia. Despite that performance the selectors retained the same squad, with the exception of Wavell Hinds, for the two Twenty20 internationals against South Africa and West Indies lost the first one in Antigua by 13 runs on Wednesday. Most of the contenders for spots in the squad were with the A team in Bangladesh, while others in the Caribbean had had their chances, Butts said.”Should we go back to the old guard, or should we give these players a little bit more of a run and then try and look to our A team for the future. That is how we the selectors looked at it,” he said. “We selected these players for the World Cup. They had five games. They have two T20 games here and five ODIs. There are going to be times in the near future when the team is going to change. The Test matches are coming up. I am sure you are not going to see some of the same players for the Test series.”Butts said scheduling of regular matches for West Indies A was a step in the right direction for the development of the region’s cricket. The team had a recent home series against Zimbabwe and is presently in Bangladesh. “One of the things that has been put in place is the A team. The young players in Bangladesh are performing. That is one of the good things that is happening now and these players will understand that those players are right up their backside. There are replacement players that can replace them.”West Indies play the second Twenty20 international against South Africa in Antigua on Thursday before the five-ODI series begins on May 22.

Overview

Dependable and destructive: Cameron White•Getty Images

Since their first-round exit in last year’s World Twenty20, Australia have undergone a significant rebuild and installed Michael Clarke as their full-time leader. The changes have led to hope of a strong performance but, unlike in the Test and one-day arenas, they don’t really know what to expect in the Caribbean.Cameron White, Dirk Nannes, David Hussey, David Warner and Shaun Tait are some of the limited-overs experts who are now highly rated in the squad while Steven Smith and Daniel Christian provide some youth. Clarke, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin bring the experience of productive careers in all three genres.Australia have appeared in 29 T20 internationals, including 15 wins and 12 losses, and should enter the event on a high after being unbeaten at home and in New Zealand during 2009-10. However, they were set back by a tight loss to Zimbabwe in their opening warm-up, which was a familiar result.They were upset by the same team in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and their problems with slow starts continued at the 2009 tournament when they were beaten by West Indies and Sri Lanka. “It will be critical for us that we hit the ground running,” the coach Tim Nielsen said. Already they need to turn things around for the first match against Pakistan on Sunday.

Twenty20 pedigree

Twenty20 is Australia’s worst format and the greatest concern is they don’t really know how to be the best. Most of the players are still learning how to master the tactics, although the selectors have finally relied on an impressive batch of specialists with considerable IPL and Big Bash experience. The national side has appeared in a lot of Twenty20s – nine more than India and 15 more than Bangladesh – but most of their main men don’t get a go in the domestic tournaments due to international commitments.

Strengths and weaknesses

Depending on the day, the fast-bowling attack can be the most frightening weapon or the place to attack. If Tait, Johnson and Nannes are on song life will be almost impossible for the batsmen. If they are loose they will be expensive on the smaller Caribbean grounds. Things might have been worse for the opposition if Brett Lee hadn’t been ruled out on the eve of the tournament with a forearm injury.

Key men

Shaun Tait helped win Australia a World Cup the last time he was in the Caribbean, taking 23 wickets at 20.30. Over the past two years his body and mind have restricted him to limited-overs affairs, where he can bowl a handful of overs at full pace. He has already clocked 160kph this year and is a severe threat whenever operating near his peak. David Warner has become a brutal Twenty20 specialist and has an essential role at the top of the order. While Shane Watson can show his muscle, Warner is the man capable of racing along at two runs a ball without feeling like he’s out of control. In 13 matches with Australia he has a strike-rate of 155.32 and if he fires Australia’s chances improve significantly.

X-factor

It still feels a bit strange saying it, but in this set-up Cameron White is a senior figure. Over the past year he has turned from a fringe limited-overs figure into a vice-captain who is dependable and destructive. With the bat he can add steel or power and when he hits cleanly no ground is big enough. In his previous T20 international he crunched 64 off 26 balls in a barely believable display.

Vital stats

Essex have recorded an “immensely disappointing” loss of £216,000 for 2009 but are confident they will be able to withstand the tough financial conditions.Their position is in stark contrast to Surrey, who announced a profit of £752,000 on the same day, and Essex’s sums show the split that is start to appear in the county game – largely between those with Test grounds and the other, smaller, venues.On a positive note for the club was an increase in membership income and strong attendance at Twenty20 games. They are hopeful that their position in Division One of the Championship will provide a boost along with tour matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan.”It is immensely disappointing to announce a six figure loss of 216,000 pounds for 2009 after investment results and a tax rebate,” said Keith Brown, the club treasure. “Cricket is not immune from the recession and this impacted our corporate income, including sponsorship and advertising.”However, our membership income was up and we attracted high attendances at the Twenty20 matches. Our cricket costs were impacted by the absence of exceptional ECB income we received in 2008 and additional contract payments at the end of 2009”.”While other counties have produced similar losses this is no consolation and our 2010 budget process has been very robust with the aim to return to profit.”But Brown took the opportunity to issue a further warning about the potential listing of the Ashes and the subsequent reduction in broadcasting revenue. “However, there is one word of warning. If cricket is forced onto terrestrial television it will have a devastating impact on our income, which will mean we will have to make some very hard decisions.””Promotion achieved one of our objectives for 2009 and it was pleasing to see our home grown players make an impact on the international stage,” added chairman Nigel Hilliard. “Financially the club has had a difficult year, importantly there were no surprises in the accounts the committee were aware that 2009 would be loss making and the final result was a considerable improvement on our budgeted numbers.”

The Sheffield Shield final could be cut from Australia’s domestic season in two years as Cricket Australia continues to search for ways to expand the Twenty20 Big Bash. Squeezing a longer Twenty20 tournament in would make it difficult to keep same amount of games in the Sheffield Shield and FR Cup.One option is to scrap the first-class final and instead award the trophy to the state that finishes on top of the table after the ten regular rounds. The five-day decider was only introduced in 1982-83 and the enormous advantage of hosting – the home team needs only to draw to win the title – has caused some dull finals dominated by ridiculously high scores.”There’s obviously been discussion around the traps,” Tony Dodemaide, Cricket Victoria’s chief executive, told the . “To expand the T20, the alternatives are to extend the season or to find room, and trimming either the Shield or one-day cricket are the only alternatives. The other thing to take into account with the Shield final is that six venues have to make provision for staging it, but five of them wind up idle in the end.”Cricket Australia wants to fit in more Big Bash matches from 2011-12, without impinging on the international calendar or, if possible, the Sheffield Shield. One suggestion was to start the four-day competition in northern Australia early in the season, when southern venues could be too wet, although it wasn’t an idea that pleased Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting.

The storm over the Deccan Chargers games being relocated out of Andhra Pradesh appears to have blown over with the IPL scheduling two matches in Cuttack, which falls in the franchise’s “catchment area”.An IPL release said the decision was taken following a series of discussions “and at the request of the Deccan Chargers franchise to host matches in their catchment area to help build a strong fan base”.Lalit Modi, the IPL comissioner, confirmed the move on his Twitter page as well as through an official statement. “The solution was worked out keeping in mind the sentiments of the cricket loving fans of the franchise,” Modi said in the IPL release. “The revised schedule now includes the Barabati Stadium at Cuttack as a host venue and I hope that Deccan Chargers fans will come out in large numbers to support their team.”Commenting on the development, Venkat Reddy, the director of operations, Deccan Chargers told Cricinfo, “The decision was taken by the BCCI. Sharad Pawar was busy discussing the issue with the state government. Due to the prevailing political conditions in Andhra Pradesh, and the with there being not much time left for the scheduling to change it was felt to move the matches out of Andhra to the catchment areas which have been eagerly preparing to host some games for a long time. Next year the Deccan Chargers will be back playing the game at home.””The decision to move two matches from Navi Mumbai to Cuttack, which is our territory, is acceptable to us,” V Shankar, the Deccan Chargers chairman told . “In fact, the proposal to have matches in our catchment area came from us.”That Hyderabad would not be hosting any IPL matches in the third season followed a decision of the league to shift all matches scheduled to be held in the state. However, the decision – a response to a separatist movement in Andhra Pradesh that has seen sporadic violence – has sparked outrage in the state and in Hyderabad, the capital, with the regional government demanding a rethink. The franchise had also sent IPL a legal notice and threatened a boycott of the 2010 tournament.Deccan are the defending champions, having beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final in South Africa last year. The result was a total turnaround from their last-placed finish in the inaugural edition in 2008.The revised schedule for the Deccan Chargers reads:March 2: Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders – DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
March 19: Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab – Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
March 21: Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils – Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
March 28: Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians – DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
April 5: Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals – Nagpur
April 10: Deccan Chargers vs Chennai Super Kings – Nagpur
April 12: Deccan Chargers v Royal Challengers Bangalore – Nagpur

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has said the ground conditions at the Shere Bangla National Stadium are “almost unplayable and unfit to play” with regard to the evening dew. In fact, he proposed that the subsequent games in the tri-nation tournament start earlier to avoid such a situation.”It was almost impossible to grip the ball as the dew started at 6:00 pm and we had four spinners in our team,” Shakib said. “If the conditions remain like this, even 300 won’t be difficult to chase. I even discussed the matter with [Kumar] Sangakkara, who agreed. We might speak to the officials and try to change the timing of the games to a 12:00 pm start.”His opposite number, Sangakkara, admitted that the dew was a big issue. “I had spoken to the groundsman earlier and therefore decided to chase,” he said. “Tomorrow this could happen to us. I can understand Shakib’s views but I don’t know what you can do about it [changing the time].”Of course, if the start time changes, it would make for better cricket. But I guess you take the good with the bad. You do feel sorry for the fielding side as dew kicked in the evening.”India captain MS Dhoni had expressed his concerns yesterday. “It would be good if we can start the match at 11:00 am, so that it gets over by 8:30 pm or 9:00 pm, at least an hour earlier than what it is now,” Dhoni said. “That is the time it really gets wet, but we have to play at whatever timings are given to us. We don’t decide on these matters.”The dew certainly played its role today, killing the excitement during the chase as the spinners found it difficult to grip the ball. But the game was lost while batting. It was the first game of the tournament and, ideally, it should have been exciting.However the dull, drab and low-quality contest witnessed half the crowd, which was never strong to begin with, heading for the exits mid-way during the chase. Perhaps it was the cold that was the catalyst behind the exodus, but the quality of play certainly wasn’t rivetting enough for them to brave the elements and come in numbers or stay till the finish.Bangladesh suffered from the old problems that have derailed their progress at the international level. Their top order struggled, rather surprisingly, against bounce on such an easy-paced wicket. The first four wickets all fell to short-pitched deliveries.Interestingly, around the time of the toss, the top order were practicing pull shots. They stood in line and kept pulling the balls which were thrown at them on to a net flung to their left. One was curious whether they were expecting short deliveries on this track or were they simply practicing big swings to the on side?And when it came, it didn’t seem like a plan. “On these wickets, you can’t go with a short-ball plan,” Sangakkara said. “But we found out that they were facing some problems with bounce and Suranga Lakmal later exploited it well.”Chanaka Welegedera bowled one short in the fourth over and Imrul Kayes was slow on the pull. The ball brushed the shoulders en route to Sangakkara. Another short ball, in the seventh over from Nuwan Kulasekara, saw Kayes mistime another pull but it cleared midwicket. The third bouncer though, in the 13th over, undid him as he got a fatal top-edge trying to pull.That seemed to kickstart a collapse. Lakmal got one to kick up to Raqibul Hasan’s shoulder height, who stabbed it straight to slips, while Shakib upper cut another lifter straight to thirdman. Mohammad Ashraful and Mahmudullah did the repair job, but on this wicket, with dew waiting to play havoc later in the day, 260 was never going to be enough.

Group A

Water and Power Development Authority‘s bowlers made the most of a curtailed day in Islamabad, reducing Pakistan Customs to 120 for 8 in 34.3 overs. The new-ball bowlers, Sarfraz Ahmed and Azharullah, did most of the damage, taking 3 for 28 and 4 for 51 respectively. Tahir Mughal, who was unbeaten on 24, was the only Pakistan Customs batsman to pass 20.Karachi Whites bowlers dismissed National Bank of Pakistan cheaply on the opening day in Karachi, leaving their team well placed to take a first-innings lead. Their new-ball pairing of Zohaib Shera and Tabish Khan took five wickets between and NBP never got a partnership going as they folded for 198. Qaiser Abbas’ 50 was the top score in their innings. Karachi’s openers added 49 before they lost two wickets in the space of five runs. Mohtashim Ali and Fazal Subhan steered the team to 98 for 2 at close.Khan Research Laboratories‘s bowlers made good use of the 33 overs possible on the first day against Sui Southern Gas Corporation, reducing them to 102 for 4 in Rawalpindi. New-ball bowler Yasir Ali took 2 for 27 while Akhtar Ayub and Ali Khan took a wicket each. SSGC opener Imran Abbas also had to retire hurt on 8.It was slow going on the opening day at the Gaddafi Stadium, with Lahore Shalimar scoring 124 in 53 overs and losing four wickets against Pakistan International Airlines. Mohammad Saad top scored with an unbeaten 43 that took 144 balls while Abid Ali made 31.The first day of the match between Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited was limited to only 16 overs at the Jinnah Stadium. And during that time, ZTBL’s bowlers claimed three wickets for 65 runs while one of the SNGPL openers, Naeemuddin, had to retire hurt. Mohammad Khalil and Azhar Attari bowled eight overs each and took 2 for 28 and 1 for 32.

Group B

Only 19 overs were possible on the first day in Islamabad but, during that period, Abbottabad’s new-ball attack reduced Rawalpindi to 69 for 5. The openers reached their twenties and added 43 before Junaid Khan dismissed both in quick succession. Junaid also dismissed No. 4 batsman Usman Saeed for a duck while Armaghan Elahi picked up the two other wickets.A brisk century from Mohammad Ayub helped Sialkot end the first day against Hyderabad on 357 for 5 at the Niaz Stadium. Ayub scored 142 off 182 balls, hitting 18 fours and two sixes, and had a 164-run stand with Faisal Khan for the third wicket. Faisal missed his century, falling to Faisal Athar for 90, and Athar also dismissed Aamer Gulzar for a duck. Ayub steadied the innings by adding another 99 runs with Mohammad Saeed before he was bowled by Mir Ali.Karachi Blues opener Shahzaib Hasan scored a century but the rest of the batsmen failed to support him and the team was reduced to 261 for 8 by Quetta at the National Stadium. Hasan scored a rapid 119 off 101 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes, but the only other batsmen to pass 20 were Khalid Latif and Ali Asad. Karachi went from 167 for no loss to 257 for 8, Nazar Hussain and Arun Lal taking three wickets each for Quetta while Arshad Khan took 2 for 61.Peshawar captain Sajjad Ahmed remained unbeaten on 58 as the rest of his top-order batsmen struggled against Lahore Ravi in Lahore. Peshawar had slipped to 70 for 5 before Ahmed steadied the innings with wicketkeeper Kashif Latif who remained unbeaten on 35. Aamer Hayat took 2 for 34 as Peshawar ended the day on 160 for 5.An unbeaten hundred from Naved Yasin, and half-centuries from Gulraiz Sadaf and Mohammad Ali, led Multan to 308 for 7 on the opening day against Islamabad at the Multan Cricket Ground. Multan’s innings had got off to a terrible start when Nasrullah Khan dismissed Abdur Rehman and Rameez Alam with the score on 0. Sadaf and Shahid Abbasi, who made 39, then added 91 for the third wicket before Sadaf had a 110-run association with Yasin. Sadaf was dismissed for 85 but the innings was given another lift by Ali, whose 59 came off 78 balls.