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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWest Indies remained in a position to push for their first Test victory in England since 2000, in no small measure due to the all-round efforts of their captain Jason Holder, but Joe Root carried his team’s hopes of being able to set a testing chase having been reprieved by West Indies’ fielding for the second time in the match. England closed on 171 for 3, a lead of two, on a surface offering some assistance for the spinners and the occasional sight of uneven bounce.Mark Stoneman’s maiden Test fifty, completed after he suffered a dislocated little finger on 35, was an encouraging innings but, when he was dismissed, England were 94 for 3 and still 75 behind. It could have been better for West Indies had they spotted a thin edge from Dawid Malan when he had 4 and, more importantly, not dropped Root on 10 – this time by Kyle Hope at gully – with the fourth-wicket pair having added 77 by the close.It had taken Root 21 balls to get off the mark against some excellent pace bowling, and it was a rare jittery innings from the captain, but he started to find more fluency after the life. Holder thought he had cut him off on 35 when he was given lbw, but the DRS saved Root – as it did Kraigg Brathwaite twice yesterday – with the ball shown to be missing leg stump. While Holder was excellent with bat and ball, it was odd captaincy that he only gave legspinner Devendra Bishoo two overs on a dry surface, the second of them five minutes before the close.

West Indies’ unbeatable lead

• 133 – Highest first innings lead for West Indies after which they lost a Test, coming against England at Lord’s in 2000. They earned a lead of 169 in this Test. They have gained a first innings lead of 150 or more 117 times and never lost.

• 2009 – The last time England overturned a lead in excess of 150 to win a Test – 179 versus New Zealand at Old Trafford.

• 3 – Five-wicket hauls for James Anderson in the last two Tests at Headingley. He had taken 5-fors in both innings against Sri Lanka last year and took another 5 for 76 in the first innings of this match. In his first seven Tests at Headingley he had picked up only 19 wickets at 41.36 with not even a single four-for. He’s now three short of 500 Test wickets.

• 2014 – Last instance of West Indies scoring a 400-plus total, which came against Bangladesh in Kingstown. Their last away from home was in Dunedin in 2013-14 when following-on.

West Indies’ lead was swelled by a crucial stand of 75 between Holder and Jermaine Blackwood after James Anderson had struck with the first two deliveries of the day to give England hope of swiftly beginning their second innings. However, the stand could have been broken with just four added but Moeen Ali spilled a simple chance at mid-on when Blackwood had 21. They could yet be vital runs.Stoneman and Alastair Cook began solidly after the lunch break, bringing up just England’s second fifty opening stand of the season, before two wickets for Holder in an impressive 12-over spell either side of tea shored up West Indies’ position. Holder found increasing movement during his burst and beat Cook twice in three balls from round the wicket before finding the edge when the former England captain was threatening one of his long-term stays in the middle.Tom Westley’s immediate Test future was then plunged into further doubt when he played a horrid, wild drive at a wide delivery and sent a thin edge to Shane Dowrich. It came the over after there had been a horrendous mix-up between him and Stoneman, which should have left Westley run out. However, there was a poor return from the deep and Bishoo couldn’t complete the opportunity. The shot that followed was of a slightly frazzled mind.The debates around Westley will continue to swirl ahead of the final Test at Lord’s, but Stoneman will be causing the selectors fewer headaches – for a short while, at least – after an accomplished 124-ball stay. He got his innings underway with three boundaries in four balls off Kemar Roach and kept his composure after taking the blow on his left little finger in the first over after tea which required the physio to pop his digit back into place. Given the problems trying to find an opening batsman, the selectors could have felt the position was cursed had they lost their latest candidate to an injury.Stoneman’s half-century came from 107 deliveries but, for the second time in three innings, he was on the receiving end of a gem of a delivery. After Roach took his off stump at Edgbaston, Gabriel did the same here with a wonderful ball which straightened from round the wicket – although Gabriel was mighty close to overstepping on a day where he delivered five no-balls (with others not called). Millimetres, at most, saved him.From there, England held firm to end the day positively – as they had started it. Shai Hope had resumed on 147 but didn’t make it past the first delivery of the morning when he nibbled at one outside off from Anderson and feathered an edge to the keeper. One ball later, England thought they had hauled themselves back into the match when Dowrich edged to second slip, giving Anderson his third five-wicket haul in as many innings at Headingley, where he had previously taken none in seven outings.However, Moeen’s drop knocked the stuffing out of England. Blackwood was always going to play positively, but having reached 10 off 20 deliveries Holder also cut loose with three consecutive boundaries off an agitated Broad with increasing style: a swivel-pull behind square, a back-foot drive through the covers and then the best of the lot – a glorious cover drive which any batsman in the world would be happy to claim.Blackwood didn’t find scoring as easy and found a variety of ways to add to his boundary count. There was a leading edge over Ben Stokes at gully (after his demerit point last night, Stokes needed to keep his thoughts to himself) and then another four to third man when he ducked a bouncer, but left his bat in the air, the ball flying off the toe end.The lead was quickly approaching 150 – the mark that Anderson said last night would make the game very difficult to turn around for England – when both batsmen fell in the 40s. Holder tried to take the aerial route down the ground, a shot he had played well previously, but was well held by Moeen running back from mid-off to give Chris Woakes his first wicket. Blackwood was then run out one short of fifty by a strong throw from Stokes and a good gather at the stumps by Bairstow.

Dominic Sibley has turned down a new three-year contract at Surrey to join Warwickshire after receiving promises that he would bat in the top order in all three forms of the game.Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, admitted that Sibley’s decision was “bitterly disappointing” and stressed that he had a philosophical resistance to giving players guarantees in the unpredictable world of professional sport.Stewart said: “Dom was offered a very good three-year contract but has told me the reason he is leaving is that he feels his opportunities at Warwickshire would be greater, given the written assurances he has received that he will be batting in the top three in all forms of the game next year.”In performance sport, this was not something that I was prepared to do – for him or any of our players – as we will always select the best possible XI for each occasion and it would be wrong to give anyone these guarantees.”We’ve had numerous conversations with Dom and his advisors over the last eleven months and I’m comfortable in knowing that we could not have done any more in showing how much we wanted him to be a big part of this club.”We believe we were moving Dom in the right direction and are bitterly disappointed he has chosen to leave us at this stage of his career.”Warwickshire have not commented on the matter of where Sibley will bat but Ashley Giles, the club’s sport director, welcomed the latest addition to an “exciting young squad” at Edgbaston.”At 21-years-old, Dominic is an outstanding cricketer with England potential, having already scored two first-class centuries whilst also being an accomplished white-ball batsman,” Giles said.”He has a big role to play for the club across all forms of the game and we’re delighted that he has chosen to take this great opportunity to become a Bear and be part of this exciting young squad that we are building.”What is apparent is that Warwickshire are rebuilding an ageing squad with young and somewhat unproven players. Sibley follows Will Rhodes, the former Yorkshire allrounder, who never claimed a regular place at Headingley and Somerset batsman Adam Hose, who was in his breakthrough season.Sibley first played for Surrey at Under-9 level and has since come through the Academy system. In 2013, he became the second-youngest English player – behind WG Grace – to score a first-class double-hundred, when he made 242 against Yorkshire. He was first offered a three-year deal at the end of last season, which remained on the table for the entirety of this summer but has now been turned down.This season, he has played seven of Surrey’s eight Specsavers County Championship matches, averaging 33, with no centuries and four fifties. He started four of the ten games played in the Royal London Cup and has so far played every match of the NatWest T20 Blast campaign.

Gloucestershire 383 for 8 (Taylor 143, Barnard 4-94) and 20 for 0 lead Worcestershire 300 for 9 dec (Cox 126, Rhodes 52, Noema-Barnett 4-31) by 103 runs
ScorecardBen Cox•Getty Images

For Steve Rhodes, one feels, Worcestershire is a family thing. Nine of the team playing in this match came through the county’s Academy and it hardly takes preternatural insight to understand the pride a director of cricket takes in such a fact. So when Ben Cox cover-drove Liam Norwell to the boundary to reach his first century for over two years it represented another small step in Rhodes’ development of a group of mostly young players capable of winning promotion to the first division and then staying at English cricket’s top table. The former is something Worcestershire have managed four times under Rhodes; the latter has clearly been trickier.Cox eventually became the first of three late wickets taken in four balls by the medium-pacer Kieran Noema-Barnett but by the time he edged an attempted cut to Gareth Roderick, he had made a career-best 124 and his innings had included a score of boundaries, most of them lovely, and a couple of sixes. So for the second time in 24 hours a Cheltenham crowd rose in the evening sunlight to salute a centurion and the batsman acknowledged the applause from all sides of the ground, not merely his own balcony. That shared joy is yet another distinctive feature of outground cricket.When Cox was out Worcestershire were 279 for 7, which plainly represented a considerable recovery from 69 for 4, the total when Joe Clarke had been dismissed just after lunch. Their revival permitted Joe Leach to declare 21 runs later, once the third bonus point had been collected. No wickets fell in the eight overs of Gloucestershire’s second innings following that attacking closure, but if the weather treats us just a smidgeon more kindly than forecast we can still look forward to a fine last two days of this match.Yet on a day when the innocent excitement of youth had been gloriously evident on the College Ground, it was fitting that Cox’s main ally in restoring his side’s fortunes had been 23-year-old George Rhodes, with whom he put on 141 for the fifth wicket. Rhodes and Cox repulsed Gloucestershire’s bowlers before besting them. Only when Cox began the post-tea session with a bunch of drives and his second hooked six off Norwell was Rhodes obviously overshadowed and that was the prelude to his dismissal, caught at backward point by Will Tavaré off Craig Miles for a patient 52. In the preceding two hours or so Rhodes had shown that shrewd judgement is a family trait as he joined Cox in resisting an attack which made good use of a pitch offering pace and bounce. It is interesting that these characteristics are particularly evident in Scarborough and Cheltenham. Yes, two outgrounds.But the resolute batting of Rhodes and Cox was only the centrepiece of a day which had begun with crocodile lines, rucksacks of excitement and voices pitched higher than normal in first-class cricket. These curious features were present because one of the pleasanter recent initiatives undertaken by county clubs has been to invite children to championship matches. “Instead of the annual trip to Alton Towers, boys and girls, we are going to watch Shiv Chanderpaul build one of his famous innings!” Cue widespread rejoicing and Facebook mayhem. One mocks, but the children who gathered at the College Ground this cloudy Monday morning certainly entered into the spirit of the thing and seemed to enjoy themselves hugely as Gloucestershire maintained their grip on the game.Not that their reaction to events was quite the same as long-standing county members. “Norwell, Norwell, Norwell!” they chanted as the Gloucestershire seamer had Tom Fell well caught for 2 by Noema-Barnett at fourth slip. Half an hour later favouritism became idolatry when their new hero caught Brett D’Oliveira at deep backward square leg a few yards in front of them. “Oh Norwell, we love you,” they chorused, which may not be something even Liam’s family chant so very often. All this enthusiasm was to be welcomed, of course, and it made a pleasant backdrop to Worcestershire’s hesitant progress to 68 for 3 at lunch in reply to Gloucestershire’s 383. Some might argue was that the very best thing we saw all day was a few hundred schoolchildren playing informal games of cricket on the outfield.Yet it was all far removed from the language and tone of John Betjeman. “Floruit, floret, floreat! Cheltonia’s children cry,” he wrote in his poem “Cheltenham”. “I composed those lines when a summer wind / Was blowing the elm leaves dry, / And we were seventy-six for seven / And they had C B Fry.” Our young supporters had no need of such plucky stoicism. They had seen Jack Taylor extend his overnight century to 143 and they had watched Phil Mustard’s seamers make good use of a pitch which rewarded accuracy.Daryl Mitchell was the first Worcestershire batsman dismissed when he came half forward to a delivery from the left-arm seamer, David Payne, which tracked back into him. Just after lunch Clarke played no shot to Noema-Barnett and had his off stump knocked back as the ball moved in off the seam. Twenty minutes later the children left; their work among us was done.Rhodes and Cox’s labours, on the other hand, were just beginning and they received rich appreciation from spectators for whom a visit to the College Ground is part of their summer. By the time the two batsmen were parted, the taxis and early commuters were making their way home down Sandford Road. While those vehicles may not have been Betjeman’s distant carriages jingling through the stuccoed afternoon, they did not need to be. At Cheltenham the past is never dead and it is wonderfully easy to feel young again. This is a magical cricket ground.

South Africa are “optimistic” Vernon Philander will be able to bowl on the fourth day of the ongoing Test against England after an x-ray revealed bruising but no fracture to his right hand.Philander was hit by James Anderson while batting and received treatment on-field before going on to score 52. He did not take the field for the first 38 overs of the England innings but returned for the final 13, although he did not bowl. Barring anything “out of the ordinary” normal service should resume on Sunday.Philander sustained the injury off the 12th ball he faced, when he had not yet scored a run. A short ball from Anderson reared up and struck him on the glove but did not prevent him from playing some of the better shots in the South African innings. Although Philander routinely wrung out his hand after several shots, he did not appear to be in any significant discomfort and found the boundary seven times, including with a bottom-handed hoick over midwicket.When South Africa’s innings concluded, Philander was taken to the hospital and could not join his team-mates on the field. He returned to the change-room and received icing before making an appearance in the final hour. Even though Philander would have been able to bowl immediately – because his injury is external and so does not require him to spend the same amount of time on the field as he was off it – he did not bowl on Saturday afternoon and fielded with his left hand. Overnight rest should see him ready to bowl on Sunday morning.The diagnosis is a relief for South Africa, who feared being robbed of a third first-choice player. They are without Faf du Plessis for this Test after he remained at home following the birth of his first child and will be without Kagiso Rabada for the second Test after he was suspended for a code of conduct violation.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:25

Bangar: Tewatia’s introduction turned the match

A sensational display of end-overs bowling from Mohit Sharma and strangulation by legspin from Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, helped apply the choke on Kolkata Knight Riders. By securing one of three wins they needed, Kings XI lived to fight another day.In what was an engaging last five overs off which Knight Riders needed just 50, Mohit brought out all his slower variations – the knuckleball, back-of-the-hand slower deliveries and offcutters – and delivered them with precision to deny Chris Lynn, who wiped out half of Knight Riders’ 168-run target off just 52 balls, and Manish Pandey. The pair’s dismissal off successive deliveries off the 18th over helped close out a tight game, with the Sharmas – Mohit and Sandeep – defending 29 off the 12 deliveries to ensure three playoff spots were still up for grabs.Knight Riders’ productive first sixKings XI made four changes, two of those being forced. One of them – Hashim Amla – had just smashed a 60-ball 104, his second century of the season, in the previous game. Even so, the rest of the batsmen stuttered as they finished with just 189 when they should’ve posted 210. Now, without Amla, who along with David Miller was unavailable because of national duty, Kings XI needed a robust beginning from the openers. Manan Vohra, who had earlier in the tournament shunted up and down the order to accommodate both Shaun Marsh and Martin Guptill, sparkled briefly, but his dismissal brought about a restrained approach. The first six overs fetched just 41 for the loss of the openers. Knight Riders had begun well.Maxwell, Saha keep the innings aliveOn a surface where the ball was deviating just about enough to keep the medium-pacers interested, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme bowled six overs in tandem, conceding just 22 off the first four immediately after the Powerplay. Kings XI limped to 63 for 3 in the first half. They went 17 deliveries without a boundary after Shaun Marsh’s dismissal in the ninth over, before Maxwell cut loose – hitting de Grandhomme for two successive sixes off legitimate deliveries to trigger a surge. Maxwell’s picking of lengths was impressive as he played the pull effectively against the pacers. Wriddhiman Saha, on 10 off 17 at one stage, pinched crucial boundaries to move to a run-a-ball 26. At 115 for 3 with five to play, Kings XI needed big back five overs. But they were denied.Kuldeep Yadav, returning in place of Piyush Chawla, was rewarded for his willingness to flight the ball as he had Maxwell caught at wide long-off in an attempt to hit him for a third successive six. In his next over, he had Saha stumped after being biffed across the line one ball earlier. A cameo from Tewatia lifted them to 167, not underwhelming but not match-winning either.Getty Images

Narine tees off, Lynn consolidatesTwo quiet men, who don’t believe in intimidating opponents with words, let their blades talk. Sunil Narine’s no-frills approach fetched him four fours in a 10-ball 18. Lynn, playing in only his second game after returning from a shoulder injury that kept him out for three weeks, didn’t show signs of “not being a 100 percent” as he revealed during a flash interview. Time and again, he was tested against the short ball, only for the deep midwicket and wide long-on boundaries to be peppered with regularity.The best shot of his knock – a flat-batted swat off Matt Henry which he fetched from outside off – showed how brutally effective he can be even if not at full tilt. Yet, this wasn’t as brutal a knock as the one against Royal Challengers Bangalore. By bringing up a half-century off just 29 deliveries, Lynn ensured Gautam Gambhir’s struggle against spin – he scratched around 17 deliveries for 8 before mistiming a slog to deep midwicket – didn’t deeply disturb the asking rate.Tewatia spins a webOne ball after sending back Gambhir, Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, saw off Robin Uthappa, but to not give any credit to Axar Patel would be doing injustice to his efforts. Running around from straight deep midwicket, he covered quick ground before putting in a dive to catch the dipping slog sweep inches from the ground near deep square leg. Now, the choke was on. Axar followed it up by conceding just three in his next over. The spinners – Tewatia along with Axar and Swapnil Singh – at that stage had combined figures of 2 for 30 off six overs. Knight Riders needed 86 off 54 balls.Maxwell’s punt on Mohit pays offBy leaving two overs of Mohit in the last five, Maxwell gambled. Considering the form Lynn was in, it was a tough proposition. But the pressure applied by the spinners left Knight Riders with a steep task against a bowler, who justified the INR 6.5 crore investment, at a crunch moment when the game was on the line and Kings XI’s chances of staying alive was hanging by a thread. That he bowled just three overs may have been a decision Kings XI could have rued, but on the night, it was his experience that prevailed.

Match facts

Royal Challengers Bangalore v Gujarat Lions
Bengaluru, April 27, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Form guide

• Royal Challengers Bangalore (sixth): match washed out v Sunrisers Hyderabad, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 82 runs, defeated Gujarat Lions by 21 runs

• Gujarat Lions (eighth): lost to Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs, defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 4 wickets, lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 21 runs.

Head-to-head

This season: A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli set up a Royal Challengers total of 213 in the first innings. That was enough to ensure a 21-run win despite a 44-ball 72 from Brendon McCullum.Overall: The teams have met four times, with Royal Challengers winning thrice and losing once. They have batted first in three of the four matches, posting totals of 180, 248 and 213.

In the news

With the allrounder Dwayne Bravo ruled out of the entire season with a hamstring injury, Lions have signed up Irfan Pathan as a replacement, who will now be playing for his sixth IPL franchise.The last match at the Chinnaswamy, between Royal Challengers and Sunrisers Hyderabad, was washed out without a ball bowled. According to the Meteorological Centre’s forecast for Thursday, Bengaluru can expect “one or two spells of rain or thundershowers”.The washout against Sunrisers left Royal Challengers with only five points from eight games. Their hopes for making the playoffs, therefore, hang by a thread. Even six wins out of their six remaining games may not guarantee qualification.

The likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Chris Gayle/Travis Head/Shane Watson, 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Kedar Jadhav (wk), 5 Mandeep Singh, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Tymal Mills/Adam Milne, 9 Samuel Badree, 10 S Aravind, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalGujarat Lions: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Aaron Finch/Jason Roy/James Faulkner, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Dwayne Smith, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Ishan Kishan, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Shubham Agarwal/Praveen Kumar/Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Nathu Singh

Strategy punt

Brendon McCullum has a poor record in T20s against both Samuel Badree (26 off 34 balls, two dismissals) and Yuzvendra Chahal (20 off 23 balls, three dismissals) – a case, perhaps, for Royal Challengers to bowl their legspinners in tandem with the new ball. The last time they met Lions, Royal Challengers opened the bowling with two spinners in Chahal and Pawan Negi.

Stats that matter

• Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have outstanding records against Lions. Kohli averages 91.00 and has a strike-rate of 160.58 against them, while de Villiers averages 228.00 and scores at 198.26.
• Lions did not play Dhawal Kulkarni in their previous match, against Kings XI Punjab, but could include him at Chinnaswamy. In the IPL, he has conceded less than eight an over against Kohli, Gayle and de Villiers – his economy rate against Gayle is a mere 6.77. He has also dismissed Kohli four times and Gayle three times.
• Ravindra Jadeja’s economy rate of 9.70 is the worst for any spinner who has sent down a minimum of 50 balls this season. He has only taken two wickets at 97.00 – the worst average of spinner this season.
• The first six overs of Royal Challengers’ innings should make for interesting viewing. They have the worst Powerplay run-rate (6.78) of all the teams this season, while Lions have the worst economy rate (9.80).
• Gayle has scored only 69 off 70 balls in the Powerplay this season, with a 61.5% dot-ball percentage, the worst among all batsmen this season.
• Jadeja has a good T20 record against Kohli, conceding only 104 runs to him off 95 balls. He has, however, struggled against Gayle, de Villiers, Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav, conceding more than nine an over against each of them.
• Of all the spinners to bowl a minimum of five overs in the Powerplay this season, Yuzvendra Chahal has the best balls-per-boundary ratio – 10.00. Harbhajan Singh (9.00) is second on that list. Sunil Narine (6.75) is a distant third.

Bangladesh’s players have often stressed on the need to do well in the first hour of a session. But they have understood, and justifiably so, that far too many times they have given it their all in the first hour only to fizzle out in the second.In their last three Tests in New Zealand and India, there have been examples of Bangladesh starting well in a game or a session, only to be unable to carry on for the rest of the day and press home the advantage. In Hyderabad against India, Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi started strongly on the opening day, but the pair, as well as subsequent bowlers, could not keep up the pressure on the Indian top order. The same situation transpired with the ball on a number of occasions in Wellington and Christchurch, where they could not push on after a good start.This happens even more when Bangladesh are batting. Too often, they lose wickets in a cluster in the latter part of a session after getting into a position of strength. Well-set batsmen lose focus, which is one of the two problems addressed by coach Chandika Hathurusingha.”The one-percenters and five-percenters are letting us down,” Hathurusingha said. “We know that we have the capability. There are two things – one, concentrating over a period. We sometimes switch off. The other thing is something that we have identified and spoken about, which is that we have to play the whole session rather than giving everything in the first hour and fading away in the second hour.”We have discussed the game plan, how to be competitive for two-hour sessions. We did well when we tried this in the two-day practice game. I think this is going to help us. Now, we will learn from those mistakes and identify those moments in the game when they come, and obviously, we are going to keep reminding [ourselves] those things during this series.”Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s opening batsman, also spoke of the need to achieve small targets within the Test. One of the early boxes he has ticked has been getting a big score in the practice match in Moratuwa, where he cracked 136 off 182 balls with nine fours and seven sixes.”The team and I have to take on small targets so that our process remains on track. If we can bat well and stick to our plans, we can do something good. Things will be different.”I did well in one innings, but that doesn’t mean I will keep playing the same way in Galle. But, as I said, if I am on track with the process, it gives me more chance to get a big score.”Tamim said that Bangladesh have a chance to beat Sri Lanka in a Test series, something they are yet to do. “We know the importance of the series. We feel we should win it if we play good cricket,” he said. “They are also a good, young team. We are mentally prepared and everyone is trying their best to make it to the final playing XI.”Hathurusingha said that the players, having impressed more on an individual level, and sporadically as a team in New Zealand and India, would now have to put it all together for a major team effort in Galle and Colombo despite the heat, which is a worry.”I think we have a good chance this year – other than the two Test series in India and New Zealand – for various reasons. We had good performances in those conditions, but here, we stand a good chance if we execute our plans.”Skill-wise, both teams match really well. Home advantage for Sri Lanka is a huge factor. It is totally different to any other Test country. Heat is a huge factor, for concentration and building pressure. That’s the only thing that I am bit concerned about, but we are going to be very competitive.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSouth Africa rode a roaring 187-run first-wicket stand and two effortless centuries from their openers to a monumental 384 for 6 and, eventually, the No. 1 ODI ranking. Their reward for winning an 11th ODI on the trot was the unseating of Australia – whom they had also thrashed 5-0 at home last year – and moving one point clear at the top of the table.South Africa’s dominance of Sri Lanka in this series has been complete. They outbatted, outbowled and outfielded the visitors again, and this win – an 88-run thumping – was a fitting finish. The only consolations for Sri Lanka were Asela Gunaratne’s hard-earned-but-inconsequential maiden century, as well as having batted 50 overs for the first time in the series.If Quinton de Kock was the early aggressor, taking the innings by the collar inside the Powerplay, Hashim Amla bided his time, and only later fashioned violence from timing and grace. Amla embraced all-out attack only after reaching triple figures, but even at his most belligerent, did not lose the characteristic zen. The head stayed steady and the wrists whipped through the ball at the point of contact. His 154 from 134 deliveries was his second-highest ODI score, and again helped showcase the awesome might of this South Africa top order. Even on days when AB de Villiers does not fire, they can still make insurmountable scores.It was thanks to more poor catching, more wayward bowling, and the general lack of menace in their attack that Sri Lanka found themselves stuck chasing the biggest score of the series. Though they had made something of the pursuit of 368 in Cape Town on Tuesday, they did not manage to stay in the game beyond the early stages of their innings this time.Niroshan Dickwella flashed attractively for a 19-ball 39, but the rest of the top order fell around him. They were 82 for 5 in the 14th over, their fate virtually sealed, but Gunaratne and Sachith Pathirana sought to make the best of a bad situation by putting on a 93-run sixth-wicket stand. After Pathirana departed, the tail made it their mission to get Gunaratne to his hundred. He wound up with 114 off 117 balls, and Sri Lanka made their way to a somewhat respectable 296 for 8.Sri Lanka had in fact asked South Africa to bat at the toss, and though Suranga Lakmal bothered Amla’s outside edge in the early overs, de Kock quickly set about lighting the thrusters under the innings. He collared a pair of boundaries in each of the eighth, ninth and tenth overs. By the time the fielding restrictions ended, South Africa had sped to 71 for no loss, and de Kock to 47 from 35 balls.Hashim Amla went on to his 50th international hundred•Associated Press

When slip fielder Upul Tharanga failed to lay a hand on a catchable outside edge from Amla in the 15th over, South Africa were allowed to continue progressing at their hectic pace.Tharanga did change his bowlers up regularly, in attempts to prevent batsmen from establishing a rhythm, but save for that edge from the offspin of Dhananjaya de Silva, chances failed to come. Both batsmen were severe on errors of line from the spinners, who collectively bowled quickly through the air. With little turn on offer, de Kock and Amla were plundering runs into the outfield off most deliveries, and rarely failing to seize boundary opportunities.At the halfway stage of the innings, no bowler had managed to concede less than a run a ball and South Africa, at 180 for 0, were almost certainly heading for a mammoth score. It was in the 25th over that de Kock struck his 15th four of the innings – a powerful sweep to beat backward square leg – and went to triple figures for the 12th time in his ODI career. Few of his other hundreds would have come so easily. He holed out to deep cover soon after, though, finishing with 109 off 87 deliveries.Perhaps in an innings like this, it is the likes of de Villiers, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien who are expected to take control of the death overs, but in fact it was Amla himself who led the final charge. Having timed the ball beautifully for the first 40 overs, he seamlessly incorporated power into his game after completing his 24th hundred in the 41st.He carved sixes over point, slammed the short balls over deep square leg, and even struck cleanly down the ground – launching successive Lahiru Madushanka balls over the rope between long-on and cow corner in the 47th over. Having scored his hundred at slower than a run-a-ball, Amla smoked his next 54 runs in 22 deliveries. Each of his five sixes came in that period.Sri Lanka’s top order came out attempting to get ahead of their taxing required rate early, but wound up making too many fatal mistakes. Tharanga sent an outside edge to third man in the fourth over; Kusal Mendis picked out mid-off with a lofted drive in the sixth; Dickwella, after slapping and scooping merrily, was caught at mid-off as well. Sandun Weerakkody and de Silva did not last long either – the latter’s modest tour of South Africa ended by a Tahir googly, which bowled him through the gate.Gunaratne was slow to begin with but sped up after the departure of Pathirana, who had been the aggressor in their association. Having seen off the quicks, Gunaratne picked out the spinners to attack, sweeping and reverse-sweeping especially well, while the likes of Jeffrey Vandersay and Lakmal gave him company. He reached triple-figures in the 48th over – his second fifty having come off 25 balls.

Umar Akmal, the Pakistan batsman, believes he can revive his Test career despite not having played the format for nearly six years.Akmal, 26, had made his Test debut at the age of 19 in 2009. He scored a century in his first innings but did not make another one in his next 15 Tests and was not picked again in the format after September 2011. He had scored 1003 runs in 30 innings, with six half-centuries, and averaged 35.82.Akmal was of the opinion that his batting style was suited to the way Test cricket is played presently. “I still wonder what I did wrong and where I went wrong to be dropped from Test side,” Akmal said in Dubai, where he is playing for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. “They only dropped me saying that I am not suitable for Test cricket because I don’t hold back, which is required in Tests.”But the approach to playing Test cricket has changed over the years. Now teams score 350 or so in one day and matches hardly go into fifth day. I was playing the very same brand of cricket, which was actually evolving at that time, but I was dropped because I play fast and not the conventional way. Was that my mistake? If so, then the whole world has now adapted this modern form of cricket in Tests as well.”Around 2010 and 2011, Akmal’s form dipped and subsequently he began to make headlines for discipline problems. His limited-overs form began to suffer as well and he has only two centuries in 105 ODI innings and eight half-centuries in 77 T20I innings. His flashy shot selection was a point of much debate. Akmal’s duck against Peshawar Zalmi on Sunday was his 24th in the format – the most in T20 cricket.Akmal, however, said that his position in the batting order adversely impacted his ability to play long innings and score big. He preferred to bat up the order but was kept in the lower middle, often having to play the low-percentage role of aggressor towards the end of an innings.The recent 1-4 defeat in Australia was Akmal’s first ODI series since the 2015 World Cup. He made 131 runs with a high score of 46, having batted one innings at no. 5 and four at no. 6.”I am not careless, just playing my natural game,” Akmal said. “If I am asked to score ten per over then what you expect from me? Should I play for myself, score at five, and let the run rate mount on my team? No, I rather go out, play big, and try to achieve my team’s requirement. And we all know where I play [in the batting order], at which number. People often compare me with other batsmen but why don’t people realise that the number I bat at is critical and there is the burden of extra responsibility.”I still try to help my team out of pressure situations by pushing back the opponent, but sometimes I am not able to do so. But my intentions are clear that I want to play for my team according to the requirement and will play my shots.”Another issue is Akmal not satisfying the PCB’s standards of fitness, on which there has been greater emphasis over the last three years. At his previous assessment, Akmal was weighed at 91kg and his fat-level reading was 115.6 – anything over 100 is considered high. Akmal, however, defended his fitness levels.”If you talk with different players around the world, some are slightly bulky and some are smart in physique, but that doesn’t mean weight defines their actual fitness,” Akmal said. “I don’t remember going off the field in a game, or conceding a second run. I am energetic in the field and my running between the wickets is fine as well.”So what exactly do you expect from me? To be smart and thin, why? I can quote you many examples in which those players are theoretically fit but cannot even clear the circle. I have a natural body and if I try to reduce it I may lose my strength for power hitting.”

Which will it be for the last day of this Test series? Will it be the Pakistan that we saw towards the end of the Brisbane Test, never quite down and pushing towards what would have been the most epic scaling of a target in Test cricket? Or will it be the Pakistan of Melbourne’s last day, unable to bat out 67 overs on a blameless surface to secure a draw?It is difficult to believe that this Pakistan side is one bad session from yet another whitewash in Australia, what would be the fourth in a row. Difficult as much because this is no vintage Australia side and that this was Pakistan’s most settled side in nearly 15 years to visit; difficult because, for once, Pakistan’s batting has done enough good work most of which their supposedly better halves have wasted.It hasn’t worked out that way but even this deadest of dead rubbers holds some point for Pakistan. A draw will be their best result since the Sydney win over 20 years ago. It will be small consolation, but consolation enough and perhaps an appropriate way to sign off on the Misbah era.”We want to finish this series on a good note,” said Younis Khan, who ended Pakistan’s first innings unbeaten on 175, his first hundred in Australia. “It will be better for us if we show some fight. It will not be easy. Fifth day of a Test, in Sydney, they have two spinners and they have good fast bowlers.”You can’t say [which Pakistan will turn up]. But my wish and effort is – though we cannot win the series, we were capable of winning it but we didn’t – but at least, if we do well tomorrow, if we fight tomorrow, it will be very good for the Pakistan cricket and the side.”It has been a strange tour from which to glean positives. The highs have been exquisite and solely reserved for the batsmen, but they have all come with a bittersweet after-taste. Asad Shafiq’s hundred in the fourth innings at Brisbane, Azhar Ali’s double-hundred at the MCG and now Younis’ 34th century – ordinarily they would be cause for greater celebration for Pakistani batsmen in Australia but they might end up as the footnotes of a whitewash.Younis’ innings itself was unusual in that it came in a dead rubber (only the second of his 34 for which that is the case) and it brought mixed feelings.”Definitely,” he said. “I don’t believe there needs to be big individual performances – I believe in having even minor performances but those which help you to winning a game, towards winning, towards positive result.”But there could be longer-term benefits. “It is a good sign for Pakistan that Azhar for instance scored a double in the last Test and it was Pakistan’s best innings in Australia. Big names have come here, big openers have come here and they didn’t do as well.”Also Asad Shafiq, the way he played in that Test, and then my innings. I think from a series like this, if you have those kinds of innings, it really motivates and inspires youngsters back home. Back home there is no cricket but against top teams – although this is a young Australia team, rebuilding and not like the ones we faced in 2004 and even 2010 – but these performances, the youngsters in the country get good motivation.”I came a bit late to this series so I can’t highlight this [hundred] that much. But on the other side, I did have a desire to get a century here so I’m thankful for that.”