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Sri Lanka legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay picked up three wickets to help to set up Sri Lanka’s six-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the tri-series final, and his dismissals of Craig Ervine and debutant Tarisai Musakanda proved to be the turning point in the match. Vandersay, who last played an ODI series for Sri Lanka in January, said that his side’s ability to pick wickets in clusters made the difference against Zimbabwe.Vandersay snapped the 53-run stand between Ervine and Musakanda when he had the former caught and bowled, and two overs later he had Musakanda caught at slip for a run-a-ball 36 as Sri Lanka asserted their dominance. “It was not only [the two early wickets I took], but the quick sessions we bowled where wickets were falling regularly,” Vandersay said. “We kept it going, kept building up the dot balls, and that built pressure.”Under low cloud, on a tacky track, Vandersay finished with three scalps, while Sachith Pathirana took two of his own and Asela Gunaratne’s slow-medium off-cutters helped to wrap up the tail. It was as much as Sri Lanka might have hoped for after losing the toss – though had they won it, they would also have batted first.”We wanted to bowl second, mainly because we thought it was going to spin in the second innings,” Vandersay said. “That’s what we were thinking. So I’m not surprised Zimbabwe took that decision, batting first.”Vandersay had been picked to play in Sri Lanka’s last match against Zimbabwe, but inclement weather meant the game was washed out. Given another chance today, he made the most of helpful conditions to add his name to the list of young Sri Lankans who have excelled on this tour.”Even the first game that I got with Zimbabwe, when it was rained off, it looked like a turning wicket,” he said. “Today, of course we saw so much turn, so it was definitely the right track for me to play on. I’m really happy that we won the series, first of all. Personally, I’m happy that I was able to play today and get a few wickets. It’s been a good series.”Players like Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, even Asela Gunaratne, they’ve been performing consistently. The younger guys have shown some maturity, and done really well in the series. It is quite a satisfactory feeling for us as a team. We lost Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal before this series, and they’re consistent performers. To see our guys putting their hands up and performing well for the team, without some of the seniors being here, is quite satisfying.”

England 278 for 6 (Duckett 63, Billings 62, Stokes 47*) beat Bangladesh 277 for 6 (Mushfiqur 67*, Sabbir 49, Imrul 46, Tamim 45, Rashid 4-43)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball updatesHold the pose and watch the ball disappear down the ground high into the crowd. Such was the perfect manner in which Chris Woakes settled a wonderful one-day series. Little speaks more highly of England than the fact they turned up in Bangladesh the first place but, having turned up, they fulfilled their aims on the field as they ended Bangladesh’s run of six successive series wins in ODIs on home soil.Bangladesh have an impressive lists of conquests to their name, but they have still not beaten England in a bilateral series, losing this one 2-1 as they went down in Chittagong by four wickets with seven balls to spare. Their 277 for 6 looked formidable on a slow pitch that turned substantially for Adil Rashid as he took ODI-best figures of 4 for 43. But the pitch quickened slightly as the dew fell, their finger spinners failed to find the same purchase and England met the run chase with imagination and maturity.When Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales withdrew from the Bangladesh tour because of safety concerns, England made it clear that there would be no retribution, while stressing that nothing could be taken entirely for granted: life has a habit of moving on was the gist from Andrew Strauss, MD of England cricket.Life has moved on, not enough to exclude them – Morgan will skipper on the ODI leg in India – but after this victory it will be enough for England to contemplate their deepening batting options with mounting excitement as they prepare to host the Champions Trophy and World Cup in forthcoming years. They won not just without Morgan and Hales, but without Joe Root and the injured Jason Roy, too, a first-choice top four whose absence was survived.Ben Duckett and Sam Billings, two batsmen to benefit from others’ absence, were prominent figures in England’s successful chase. Both lodged half-centuries that represented their best England ODI scores. Duckett’s, his second of the series, again built on a county season that brought him player-of-the-year recognition, while Billings played with zest as he capitalised on Jason Roy’s absence from the top of the order because of injury.Considering the shenanigans in the second match in Mirpur, after which the match referee doled out two fines and a reprimand, it was perhaps fortunate early in England’s run chase that it was Billings who collided with Mashrafe Mortaza, the bowler, who wandered into his path as he sought a second run. Some well-modulated, polite protest sorted that one out. A swept six against Mashrafe announced that he was set and the shot continued to sustain him until, on 62, it also brought his downfall when he top-edged Mosaddek Hossain to deep square.Billings has dash; Duckett scores quickly without you entirely noticing. He is an inventive cricketer, able to expose the field with a mix of sweeps, ramps and inside-out drives; a stout batsman with a permanently puzzled expression that might have been sketched for Toy Story. In one-day cricket, perhaps in Tests too, he can become a favourite. He perished to a ramp shot against Shafiul Islam, an alert keeper’s catch for Mushfiqur Rahim.With James Vince having fallen lbw in Nasir Hossain’s first over and Bairstow bowled by Shafiul, misjudging the length as he tried to pull, England were 99 short with 19 overs by the time Jos Buttler reached the crease. A slower ball from Mashrafe silenced him, then Moeen Ali chipped him feebly to mid-on. But Ben Stokes played with restraint and, only when Woakes was put down by Imrul Kayes at first slip off Taskin Ahmed – a head-high catch with 21 needed from 21 balls – did England feel that momentum was with them.Ben Stokes eased any tension towards the end of England’s chase•Getty Images

Perhaps influenced by the heated exchanges in Mirpur, even if only sub consciously, England had recalled Liam Plunkett, their most aggressive fast bowler, as a mid-innings enforcer. It was the wrong call. The Chittagong pitch was so slow that it was no time to be The Enforcer – even Dirty Harry would have taken the day off – but it turned from the outset. Liam Dawson, the Hampshire allrounder, must have rued a missed opportunity to bowl his left-arm spinner on a surface like this.Fortunately for England, Rashid had the sort of day when the heavens bestowed kindness upon him. Two long hops and a full toss accounted for three of his wickets and, on each occasion, his raised index finger looked like an exercise in positive thinking rather than a gesture of unadulterated triumph. But he turned the ball bigger than anybody and that contributed to his sense of threat, enough to take the Man-of-the-Match award. And he is England’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs this year.By the time that England had dispensed with the openers, Imrul and Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh would have felt quite settled at 106 for 2 in the 23rd over. Tamim became the first Bangladesh batsman to reach 5,000 ODI runs with a collector’s item – swatting a bouncer from Woakes in front of square. But reputations shift and it was the wicket of Imrul that England most hankered after, illustrated by a wasted review when he was 31 as they searched unsuccessfully for a hint of glove as he reverse swept Moeen. Stokes broke the stand, Imrul clipping him to square leg.Rashid then took four of the next five wickets to fall, repeatedly stymieing Bangladesh’s ambitions. Tamim, reaching for a short ball, got it as far as Vince at cover; Mahmudullah hit another long hop in the same direction. Sabbir Rahman, at least, received the high-class kill his sprightly innings deserved as Butter held an edge off a fierce leg break. Nasir Hossain was Rashid’s last victim, this time courtesy of a full toss sinking faster than the pound.Moeen wicket also possessed fortune as he defeated the left-hander, Shakib Al Hasan, on the outside edge and was stumped by Buttler who inadvertently flapped the ball onto the stumps and was fortunate that the bails fell off before he crashed his gloves into the timber.Bangladesh held their nerve as 10 overs elapsed without a boundary and by the end of the innings Mosaddek and Mushfiqur had been rewarded with an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 85 in 12 overs.Mushfiqur’s unbeaten 67 from 62 balls was his first half-century in 21 knocks, with England blowing two good chances to remove him. He might have been run out on 26 when Mosaddek sent him back but Bairstow missed. Then on 44 he struck Woakes down the ground but Stokes, having made good ground for the catch, had four bites before putting it down. With a bat in his hand, and a series to win, Stokes was to allow no such liberties.

It took Dolphins just 11.5 overs on the fourth morning to take the remaining three Warriors wickets and seal victory by an innings and 70 runs in East London. Fittingly, it was left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj who took the winning wicket to rack up career-best match figures of 13 for 157.The win was set up by a solid batting performance from the Dolphins on the first two days. After losing Imraan Khan on the first ball of the match, Dolphins rebounded strongly courtesy good returns from the rest of the top five. While No. 3 Daryn Smit top-scored with 121, he was well supported by Sarel Erwee (59), Vaughn van Jaarsveld (90) and Khaya Zondo (81). But, coming in at No. 9, it was Maharaj who made the difference between a decent first-innings total and a very good one. He struck 72 off 71, sharing a 108-run eighth-wicket partnership with Zondo, to help Dolphins up to a final score of 478.Then came the bowling heroics. In the first innings, Maharaj took 7 for 89 to spark a collapse from 132 for 1 to 230 all out. Edward Moore (62) and Colin Ackermann (68) scored fifties for the Warriors, but the next highest score was 29 by No. 9 Andrew Birch. Dolphins imposed the follow-on and there was no let-up in Warriors’ second innings. Maharaj collected 6 for 68 as the Warriors crumbled to 178 all out, handing the visitors an emphatic victory to start their season.Test opener Stephen Cook struck an unbeaten 97 in Lions’ successful chase of 160•Getty Images

Lions wrapped up a 10-wicket win against Cobras early on the third day in Johannesburg. Chasing a modest 160, Lions romped to victory, with Test opener Stephen Cook top-scoring with an unbeaten 97.On a spicy surface, Cobras, having been embroiled in off-field issues over the future of their coach Paul Adams, chose to bat and were quickly skittled for 102. None of their batsmen made more then 29 runs while wickets were shared between Lions’ four seamers. Debutant Wiaan Mulder, who will begin his final school examinations shortly, enjoyed the best returns with 3 for 10.Cobras then hit back by reducing Lions to 99 for 8. Dane Paterson and Vernon Philander made the early inroads but it was another youngster, former Under-19 World Cup squad member Jason Smith, who claimed the biggest haul – 4 for 24. Temba Bavuma, who made an unbeaten 76, with support from Nono Pongolo, ensured the Lions gained a 52-run first-innings advantage.Cobras were in danger of another embarrassment when they tumbled to 17 for 4 and then 113 for 7, at the hands of Hardus Viljoen and Mulder. Smith showed his value with 95 while Dane Piedt provided some tail wagging and made 41, batting at No.9. Viljoen finished with 6 for 75 as Cobras managed to eke over 200 in their second dig.It was late on day two that Lions’ chase began and they looked to end the match quickly. They faced 18 overs and racked up 117 runs but bad light dragged the match into a third day. None of the Cobras bowlers enjoyed any success as Cook and Rasssie van der Dussen reached the target to give Lions maximum points: 15.08.Marchant De Lange claimed career-best figures of 7 for 23 in Knights’ four-wicket win•Getty Images

Down the road at SuperSport Park, Mark Boucher’s coaching career did not get off to the start he would have wanted. Titans suffered a four-wicket defeat at the hands of Nicky Boje’s Knights, whose squad had been bolstered by a host of former Titans players.Marchant de Lange’s career-best 7 for 23 gave Knights just 171 to chase. Theunis de Bruyn then stayed unbeaten on 90 and took them to the target.De Lange did not do the early damage, though. That was down to Duanne Olivier and Mbulelo Budaza, who reduced Titans to 97 for 4 on the first morning. Among the early wickets was Dean Elgar, who was making a comeback after an ankle injury. He scored 33 off 71 balls, including five fours. Heinrich Klaasen and David Wiese shared a sixth-wicket stand of 142 to take Titans to a competitive 287, which was made to look even better when they bowled Knights out for 174.This meant Titans gained a first-innings lead of 113 runs, but then they slumped. In 14.2 overs on the second afternoon, de Lange and Olivier ran through them. Titans were bowled out for 57 with just three of their batsmen getting into double-figures. Knights closed the day on 41 for 1, with victory in sight.The third morning brought a thriller as Rowan Richards and Malusi Siboto kept the Knights in check. At 92 for 5, they still needed 79 runs and with a long tail, that was a tough ask. De Bruyn, though, held firm, and found support from Shadley van Schalkwyk, to steer his team home.

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.

Match facts

Monday, June 13, 2016
Start time 0900 local (0700 GMT)

Big picture

Cricket at the Harare Sports Club is often a throwback. The ball swings, almost through the day. The outfield is large enough that mis-hits do not turn a profit for the batsman. And if you want to buy runs, you have to spend time. That Zimbabwe could only put up 168 – a total considerably short of their own expectations, let alone the par score at the ground – was because only four of their XI could last more than half an hour at the crease on Saturday.Another deficiency that needs addressing is their strategy. After 299 balls, Zimbabwe could round up only 82 singles. They did, however, go on a spree looking for dots and found 197 of them. Early morning starts in the winter ensure considerable sideways movement. Why tackle that on your own when you can tag in your partner at the other end? India did that to perfection through KL Rahul (108 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (120 balls), who shared strike almost evenly to record the best second-wicket partnership ever (162 runs) at this ground.Although 50-over cricket does provide batsmen with the luxury of time, it is preferable to avoid stagnation. That way the opposition has to worry about things beyond simply putting the ball on a good length and hitting repeat. Zimbabwe’s think-tank is aware of this, judging from batting coach Lance Klusener’s comments at the post-match press conference: “Had we applied ourselves and maybe got a few partnerships would’ve maybe at least forced them [India] to try and play a little bit differently.” When in his prime, Klusener was the kind of batsman who always looked for runs. Zimbabwe would do well to inculcate that mindset.

Form guide

Zimbabwe: LLWWL (last five matches, most recent first)
India: WWLLL

Watch out for

It can’t have been fun for Karun Nair, spending 38 overs in the dressing room with only 7 to his name while his team-mates tucked in. A batsman known for his uncomplicated technique and an appetite for big runs, he would want another chance as opener to erase a forgettable debut.Chamu Chibhabha is Zimbabwe’s leading-run getter since the start of 2015. He was able to survive most of the first hour on Saturday until he was undone by a lovely inswinger from Jasprit Bumrah and walked back with 13 off 42 balls. Zimbabwe would want their opener to set a better pace than that.

Team news

This tour was aimed at determining how strong India’s reserves are, but with only three of the XI getting to bat, the team management may keep Mandeep Singh and Faiz Fazal on the bench a little longer. Left-arm quick Jaydev Unadkat, offspinner Jayant Yadav and allrounder Rishi Dhawan may get a look in considering India should have enough information about Bumrah and Axar Patel.India (probable): 1 Karun Nair, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 MS Dhoni (wk) 7 Axar Patel/ Jayant Yadav/ Rishi Dhawan, 8 Dhawal Kulkarni, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Jasprit Bumrah/ Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Barinder SranZimbabwe stacked their team with batsmen up to No. 8 but were not able to make a strong enough total. Perhaps the presence of an experienced batsman like Sean Williams would help change that.Zimbabwe 1 Chamu Chibhabha, 2 Peter Moor, 3 Hamilton Masakadza, 4 Sean Williams/ Vusi Sibanda, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 7 Sikandar Raza, 8 Elton Chigumbura, 9 Graeme Cremer (capt), 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Taurai Muzarabani

Pitch and conditions

There was appreciable swing in the first hour, and some seam movement even when the ball got old at the Harare Sports Club. Totals in the vicinity of 230-250 should prove competitive. Monday is set to be rather cloudy.

Stats and trivia

• 197 – Dots accumulated by Zimbabwe in the first ODI – joint fifth-most in an ODI against India in the last 10 years
• Bumrah, with 25 wickets, is India’s most successful bowler in 2016. The next best is R Ashwin with 23 wickets.

Quotes

“There’s no doubting the talent there. We might just have to feel our way into the next week or so but I am sure we will settle in as soon as we can.”

Brydon Carse’s three wickets helped Durham to a fine victory•Getty Images

The late Richie Benaud once mused about the distinction between a closure and a declaration. The former, he argued, was a statement of brute strength whereas the latter was a challenge. When Paul Collingwood ended Durham’s innings on the final morning of this game, there was little doubt that he had declared.To clinch their third win in four Division One matches this season, Lancashire would need to score 325 runs in 96 overs or fewer, an asking rate of only 3.385 runs per over. Collingwood’s tactical daring came as something of a surprise; this is a cautious age, one in which captains have often called off the dogs too late, their reluctance fuelled by fear of defeat and the opprobrium of those supporters who rarely praise a declaration when their team has lost.So when Graham Onions swung the final ball of the match deliciously past Simon Kerrigan’s groping bat at 4.39pm and uprooted the off stump, it represented a marvellous vindication of Collingwood’s courage and nous in giving his inexperienced attack the time to take ten wickets on a pitch good enough for one joyously talented cricketer, Scott Borthwick, to score two centuries.Yet Durham’s captain will also take pleasure in the fact that his trust in his younger seam bowlers was repaid. Onions took the second and last wickets but his line was awry for most of this last day and his 15 overs leaked 65 runs. It was Brydon Carse and James Weighell who did the heavy work for Collingwood’s side, their callow enthusiasm proving an asset against the carelessness of Lancashire’s battle-hardened batsmen. This was a day when grizzled veterans were no match for inexperienced freshmen.Indeed, the fact that Lancashire even took the game into the final session was due to the technical skill and good judgement of 22-year-old Liam Livingstone, whose unbeaten 60 rather shamed his senior colleagues. After making his debut against Nottinghamshire, Livingstone has now passed fifty in three of his five innings. He has looked for the most part, commendably untroubled by county attacks and his assured innings, particularly during his 56-run stand for the ninth wicket with Kyle Jarvis, must have given Collingwood far more concern that the forecast rain which, rather like Billy Bunter’s postal order, never arrived.Yet in the first few overs of Lancashire’s innings it seemed likely that the more recreant and faithless home supporters might be ready to collect faggots for a bonfire on which to burn an effigy of Shotley Bridge’s most famous son. Though Weighell had nailed Haseeb Hameed lbw with a full length ball that eluded the opener’s forward push, Karl Brown fed greedily on the attacking lengths bowled by Weighell and Onions.Indeed, after five overs Lancashire were 46 for 1 and their rate of progress had so offended the Riverside’s infrastructure that the ground’s best scoreboard threw a tantrum and froze so rigidly on 20 for 1 that it had to be turned off for a few hours. It barely mattered; the damn thing had flirted with utter uselessness for much of the game and it is not as though Chester-le-Street is hosting a Test match next week…But if mere technology was failing Durham, common humanity was doing the club proud. Having hit nine fours in his 26-ball 41, Brown played across the line once too soon to Onions and became the first of five top-order batsmen to get to 20, with only Livingstone going on to make the substantial contribution his side needed. Collingwood, meanwhile, tolerated both Onions’s failure to control his swing and the poor deliveries sent down by his younger bowlers with admirable phlegm. He simply rotated his attack astutely and this worked for him when the second- and third-change seamers took three wickets in 16 deliveries in the half-hour before lunchThe most culpable batsman was probably Alviro Petersen, who failed to take into account the extra bounce on this pitch and cut Carse to Keaton Jennings at backward point. Throwing your head back when you are out, as Petersen did, is all very well; getting your nut over the ball when playing a shot is the better plan. In his next over Carse tempted Luke Procter into a half-drive and Borthwick at second slip made a two-handed catch look beguilingly simple. Five minutes later Steven Croft’s cut to a lifting ball from Barry McCarthy gave Richardson the first of his three catches and left Lancashire on 97 for 5.The batting after lunch showed greater resolve but until Jarvis joined Livingstone it did not promise to alter the game’s pattern. Durham’s bowling was poor immediately after the resumption and Alex Davies added 67 with Livingstone before chasing a wide ball from Weighell and nicking a catch behind. Tom Bailey then fenced at a lifter from Carse, and Neil Wagner was caught by Jennings at short leg off Borthwick, the ball rebounding off the fielder’s boot.Then, as if to toy with the hopes of visiting supporters, Jarvis and Livingstone played straight to the good balls and profited from the bad for nearly an hour. There are times when batting is that simple. Lancastrian hopes of a famous triumph probably rose when Livingstone pulled Ryan Pringle for successive sixes but they were quickly extinguished by Jennings’s very sharp short-leg catch to remove the obstinate Jarvis for 28.That brought Kerrigan to the wicket. Three overs later Lancashire’s chances of victory were hanging from the gallows tree.

Derbyshire 377 (Andersson 105, Chahal 6-118) and 185 for 5 (Reece 61*, Guest 60*) drew with Northamptonshire 550 for 9 dec (Broad 171, Keogh 125*, Proctor 71, Bartlett 66) Brooke Guest and Luis Reece both made attacking half-centuries as Derbyshire salvaged a weather-assisted draw on the final day of this Rothesay County Championship fixture against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.With heavy morning rain preventing play until 3.30pm, Northamptonshire were unable to press home their overnight advantage, having reduced the visitors to 52 for 4 on the third evening, still 121 behind.But while Rob Keogh (2 for 37) removed nightwatch Joe Hawkins without scoring in just the second over of the day, Guest and Reece quickly settled into their work, finding boundaries easy to come by as they posted a stand of 131 in 36.2 overs.With no further wickets falling, Derbyshire cleared the deficit and moved into the lead, the teams shaking hands at 5.30pm with the visitors on 185 for 5, both teams taking 13 points.Earlier Northamptonshire opened with spin at both ends. Yuzvendra Chahal (2for 79) had made a double wicket strike last evening and while he and Keogh both found turn and bounce to beat the bat, they were often inconsistent as Reece and Guest tucked in to the bad balls.It was Keogh who trapped Hawkins lbw as he attempted to steer to leg. But while he challenged Guest outside off stump, the right-hander found a way to score, sweeping him for consecutive boundaries before pulling Chahal for another four.Despite a ring of close fielders and several shouts for lbw, Derbyshire started to accumulate quickly. Reece swept Keogh for four and reverse swept Chahal to take Derbyshire past 100 in the 37th over. Guest brought up the 50 partnership off 82 balls by pulling Chahal through midwicket before going back to cut Keogh through extra cover.Northamptonshire turned to the pace of Liam Guthrie and thought they had the wicket of Guest on 36, appealing for what looked like an excellent diving catch by Justin Broad at short midwicket, the umpires conferring before giving the batter the benefit of the doubt.Chahal switched ends, but with the ball growing softer on a damp outfield, Guest cut him away for four, Reece then sweeping to bring up his 50. With the game drawing to a conclusion, Guest cracked George Scrimshaw through extra cover and then ran a single to reach his own half-century. Next over, Guest again powered Scrimshaw through the covers to take Derbyshire into the lead.