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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.”

Nawroz Mangal, under whose leadership Afghanistan secured ODI status in the 2009 World Cup Qualifiers and then qualified for the 2010 World T20, has retired from international cricket to take up a role as the national chief selector.Mangal, 32, played 49 ODI and 30 T20Is for Afghanistan, making 1139 runs and 454 runs respectively. When Afghanistan played their first international against Oman 13 years ago, Mangal was a part of the XI.

ACB gets new chairman

The president of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, has appointed Atif Mashal as the new ACB Chairman. Atif Mashal replaced Nasimullah Danish and will serve as the ACB chairman for the next five years.

He now finishes as one of five Afghanistan players to have passed 1000 runs in ODI cricket. He struck two ODI hundreds; the first of which – 112 not out off 96 balls while opening the batting – guided the team to a seven-wicket win in the ICC World Cricket League Championship in 2012-13.Mangal, who took over as captain in 2007, handed the reins to Mohammad Nabi in November 2010 but remained a fixture in the team’s line-up, gaining a second chance at leading the team before once again giving up the role to Nabi in March 2013 in order to focus on his own batting.Two years later, he hit a chanceless half-century against Papua New Guinea to seal Afghanistan’s spot in the World T20 in India in 2016.He, however, did not make the squad for the tournament in India. His last international was against Bangladesh in Mirpur in October last year. Opening the batting, he hit a 38-ball 33, but Afghanistan slid to a 141-run defeat.His retirement leaves a significant hole in the batting line-up. Shafiqullah Stanikzai, the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s chief executive officer, however, welcomed Mangal’s experience in the selection panel.”He [Mangal] is a senior and legendary cricketer in Afghanistan cricket,” Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. “Selection is something which is very important and it requires a well-respected individual. Since cricket is very huge in the country and every Afghan is believed to be a stakeholder in cricket we needed a figure of his stature.”So for the last six months we were in discussion with Nawroz to step down from his position as a player and accept the role as a chief selector. He, after consulting with friends, family and all stakeholders, has accepted the contract-based job, which is likely to run for two years. It’s an honour for Afghanistan cricket that a player like Nawroz, who has a big fan following and respect among others, is the chief selector.”Mangal’s first assignment as Afghanistan’s chief selector is to the pick the squad for the Desert T20 tournament to be held in the UAE from January 14 to 20. Apart from UAE and Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman and Scotland will take part in the tournament.

In speaking about Cheteshwar Pujara’s strike rate, just after the Kanpur Test, Virat Kohli reminisced – sort of – of the days when Pujara used to score quick, dominating double-centuries against visiting spinners. That was at the tail-end of a time when India used to bury visiting teams under a mountain of runs and watch them crumble under the scoreboard pressure. India have won four of their last five Tests at home, but on pitches that weren’t typically Indian their batsmen have struggled. A plausible reason is that if it is extremely difficult for Hashim Amla to score on, it is going to be difficult for Pujara too, if not as difficult.A win is a win, though, and India have been happy with them. Even on surfaces that turned from the first hour, there have been periods when India’s batsmen have threatened to dominate, but with so many variables to account for they weren’t able to follow through. Only one man has scored a century since the start of the last season – Ajinkya Rahane, twice and often lower-order runs from Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin proved the difference.A day before the Kolkata Test, in conditions expected to help batsmen according to Kohli, the captain spoke about the need to put runs on the board.”As a home side, we feel we are able to put big runs on the board, that obviously puts pressure on the opposition regardless of the wicket we are playing on,” Kohli said. “I felt that even in the last game we had a chance of getting 400-plus, but we didn’t capitalise. So those are the things we want to correct. Once you have a big score on the board, the opposition feels they have to work that extra bit or bat a session-and-a-half more than they would like to. That gives you an advantage in the game.”This assumes more importance especially if the Eden Gardens pitch plays as Kohli expects it to. This is the first Kolkata Test after the death of former Cricket Association of Bengal president Jagmohan Dalmiya and former curator Prabir Mukherjee. This is also the first first-class match since the whole square was re-laid. Not many know what exactly to expect, but Kohli said: “The wicket is what we see in Calcutta more often than not. It’s generally a very good batting wicket more often than not. We are expecting the same.”In Kanpur, India looked set to get 450. They batted on the first day, when conditions were best for run-scoring, and got off to an excellent start. As it happens on such pitches, one ball turned a little too much, Pujara fell even though he reached it on the half-volley and the incoming batsmen found it tough. Kohli was one of them, top-edging a hook in the first innings and a slog sweep in the second. The thing with Kohli though, over the last year or so, has been the quickness with which he goes to work on his mistakes.In the lead-up to this Test, he has batted against a rubber ball, training himself to control an object that bounces more but not necessarily at a sharp pace. “Rubber ball was because we play three formats and we sometimes do tend to bat in a flow,” Kohli said. “It is very important to work on skills that bring stability as well, which you already have but it is about repeating those things. It was all about wanting to control the ball that is bouncing and not coming at pace. That was the idea behind that.”Cricket is a game where you prepare well but the result cannot be in your hand all the time. Especially batting, where you have only one chance. If you get caught off a no-ball it is different. Generally cricket is a game of chances, but preparation is in my hand. I look to that 100% every time I walk on to practise.”Kohli’s insistence on big runs and scoreboard pressure could also mean persisting with six batsmen and trusting the two spinners to do the job. If this is indeed a more traditional Indian pitch that starts to break up towards the end of the third day, India will need all the scoreboard pressure they can muster in order to help R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.Difficult pitches haven’t always been the reason for India’s top order failing to capitalise on starts. Two months ago in Antigua, India nearly exposed the tail and it was Ashwin’s century and partnership with Kohli that batted West Indies out of the game.Ashwin has had a bit of discomfort in the lead-up to the Kolkata Test with a corn on the middle finger of his right hand. He didn’t bowl in the nets, but had a hit, which suggested he should be fine. Kohli said as much and he would love for himself and his batsmen to not burden Ashwin and Jadeja with run-scoring duties.

Former South African wicket-keeper Mark Boucher has been appointed head coach of the Titans franchise for the next two years. Boucher, whose career ended with an eye injury in 2012, replaced Rob Walter, who left the franchise to join New Zealand’s Otago Volts.Boucher, who has a Level 2 coaching qualification, has not coached before but joined South Africa as a consultant ahead of the ongoing Test series against New Zealand. Boucher worked with the side for three days, with a focus on Quinton de Kock’s glovework and the lower-order batting. Boucher will also be with the South African squad for their preparation ahead of the second Test in Centurion, his new home ground.”I am stoked by the opportunity to get back into domestic cricket. Upon my retirement, I realised I would not be able to play the game any longer, but to be involved in the capacity as coach of a domestic power house like the Titans is thrilling,” Boucher said.The Titans have had a highly successful last two seasons under Walter, in which they have won domestic titles in all three formats. They have also acquired several new players in that time including de Kock and Chris Morris last season along with former Dolphins batsmen Jonathan Vandiar and Daniel Sincuba and Knights seamer Malusi Siboto. Boucher’s main task will be to continue building on those results as the franchise looks for more success.”I would like to fully utilise the opportunity to develop the skills of the Titans squad even more. Rob has left behind an enormous legacy, and it will be big boots to fill. But my challenge is to leave my own footprint and to make a seamless transition in association with a mature and enormously determined group of stars.”

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann will mentor the national team until the 2019 Ashes series in England before making his exit, with succession planning to be a key part of his role over the next three years.Lehmann’s contract has been extended until October 2019 by Cricket Australia, having previously been elongated until next year. Since his appointment on the eve of the 2013 Ashes series, Lehmann has guided Australia to home Test victories over England, India, New Zealand and West Indies, away defeats of South Africa and New Zealand, plus lifting the 2015 World Cup, also at home.However, a heavy away loss in the UAE to Pakistan, the surrender of the Ashes in England last year and a surprising defeat to an unfancied Sri Lanka in Pallekele last week make it patently clear that Lehmann still has plenty of work ahead of him to advance Australia’s claim to the title of the world’s undisputed best team. In addition to the multiple retirements that followed last year’s Ashes, Lehmann’s support staff have changed considerably in the past six months, offering him fresh faces with which to work towards those goals.”The board have actually seen that we are doing okay as such, barring the result in the Test [at Pallekele], but looking forward to the next few years in charge and hopefully getting some wins in the sub-continent, first and foremost on the agenda, but developing the side as we are,” Lehmann said. “We have a different coaching group now coming in and the players are refreshed and I am looking forward to the challenge.””I suppose the big one on everyone’s lips is the sub-continent – we certainly have to improve there. Ashes is a big home and away and, obviously, the World Cup. They are the big ones for us, as everyone knows, but you have got to try and win every games you play. For us, we just have to get better playing in all conditions.”Probably the spinning ball on the sub-continent [is our biggest challenge] you would think. Swinging ball – a lot has been made of the England swinging ball and we won a couple of Test matches this time, albeit we lost the Ashes and the wickets they produced were very seam friendly. End of the day, that is the way cricket goes. For us, it is probably more the sub-continent conditions at the moment, getting prepared for that obviously with the next two Test matches here and then India at the back end.”With typical frankness, Lehmann replied “I would think it would be, yeah” when asked whether the extended tenure would mark the completion of his time as coach. Between now and then, Australia face a tour of India, a Champions Trophy, another home and away Ashes contest and a World Cup in England. The newly-appointed assistant coach David Saker, recent interim coach Justin Langer and Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie will be among the candidates to eventually replace Lehmann.”We’ll give those guys opportunities along the way. As I’ve always said, it’s the best job in the world. I love the job. But it’s a job you can’t do forever either,” Lehmann said. “So whatever opportunities we can give to the guys along the way we certainly will do. And then it’s up to the board what they do from there and the high performance department.”I think you’re judged on results most of the time all around the world not just on the subcontinent. I think you’ve got to play well and win a lot of games of cricket basically as a coach. That’s what players have to do, that’s what coaches have to do in any sport. You’ve got to hopefully keep getting the results that makes it a lot easier.”The rapid improvement of the national team’s results under Lehmann when first appointed three years ago arguably saved the jobs of more senior CA figures including the team performance manager Pat Howard and the chief executive James Sutherland. They have not yet forgotten this fact, allowing Lehmann the rare privilege of extending his role and also planning well in advance for life afterwards.This is a world away from the attitude the board once held, that Lehmann was too much of a maverick to be entrusted with a coaching job. Howard emphasised Lehmann’s standing as a popular figure in Australian cricket and an influencer of the global game, in explaining the decision.”We wanted certainty and stability for the playing group with both the coach and assistant coach contracted as we build towards the Ashes series and the 2019 World Cup,” Howard said. “Darren has had great success in the role and he and the National Selection Panel deserve a huge amount of credit for taking a relatively young side to number one in the world in two of the three formats.”What often goes unseen is how big of a supporter Darren has been of the wider cricket system in Australia and that is crucial to the long term sustainability of Australian cricket. The commitment he shows to the role goes far broader that of the Australian men’s team and extends into the global support of the game through his work on the ICC Cricket Committee.”

ScorecardGodleman’s double century set up Derbyshire’s victory chance•Getty Images

Derbyshire are on course for their first home victory in the Championship since the end of the 2014 season after Worcestershire were routed for 164 and forced to follow-on in the Division Two match at Derby.Billy Godleman’s maiden double century and Neil Broom’s 93 carried Derbyshire to 467 for 5 declared before Ben Cotton and Tony Palladino both took four wickets.It looked a different pitch to the one Godleman scored 204 from 328 balls on as Cotton with 4 for 28 and Palladino, 4 for 32, ran through Worcestershire who were 24 for 1 in their second innings, still 279 behind.Cotton saw it thus: “When the lights are on the ball seems to go through a little bit more and I think that’s why we got a little bit more bounce out of the wicket but we don’t scientifically know why.”Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes said: “Today we possibly had one of those days where we didn’t apply ourselves as well as Godleman, Broom and Madsen did in the Derbyshire innings.”Consequently if that happens you lose your wickets but I don’t want to be too critical because they’ve played really well this year and scored plenty of runs and everyone is entitled to a bad day.”They were nice and fresh and had a new ball in their hand and a big score under their belts so you tend to run in with a real zest. When you have fielded for that length of time while you are probably not physically feeling tired you are mentally not as sharp as you could be and I call that batting tired.”Godleman and Broom set the tone for a day of Derbyshire domination by taking their fourth wicket stand to 155 in 36 overs with Godleman setting a county record for the highest score against Worcestershire when he passed Thomas Richardson’s unbeaten 200 at Chesterfield in 1933.Jack Shantry finally broke through to claim his 250th first-class wicket when Godleman top-edged a pull to leg slip and Broom fell for the second time in the nineties on this ground in a month when his attempt to plant Brett D’Oliveira into the new media centre landed in the hands of long-off.Derbyshire’s declaration at lunch came as no surprise but the collapse that followed did, even though the light was poor enough for the floodlights to be switched on.But that was no excuse for Worcestershire’s limp batting as Cotton and Palladino blew away the top order in the opening 10 overs of the afternoon session with five of the first six mustering only eight runs between them.D’Oliveira’s attempt to flick Cotton through midwicket was taken at short leg, Joe Clarke edged to fourth slip and skipper Daryl Mitchell had his off-stump knocked out when he shouldered arms.Alexei Kervezee was bowled off an inside edge and former Derbyshire batsman Ross Whiteley was snapped up at first slip when he aimed a big drive at Palladino.Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Ben Cox put the pitch into perspective by adding 66 in 14 overs but the return of Palladino removed any chance Worcestershire had of reaching the follow-on target of 318.Cox was trapped on the crease and after Will Davis bowled Joe Leach to claim his first Championship victim, Palladino defeated Kohler-Cadmore’s expansive drive.Matt Henry unleashed some defiant blows, including a pulled six off Davis, before he flashed at Cotton and when Ed Barnard drove Chesney Hughes to cover, Worcestershire had been bowled out in 53.1 overs.Mitchell and D’Oliveira walked out for a second time with nine overs to negotiate and Cotton removed Worcestershire’s captain for a second time when he drove loosely to gully four overs before the close.