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An interesting final day’s play is on the cards in the Buchi Babu allIndia invitation tournament between ONGC and TNCA President’s XI atthe AC Tech college ground in Chennai on Tuesday. At stumps on thesecond day on Monday, ONGC were 95 for two in their first innings inreply to the home team’s score of 383. A total of 289 runs in a daywith eight wickets in hand is a tough, but not impossible task. On theother hand, it is also possible for TNCA President’s XI to take eightwickets without conceding that many. All in all, it can be said thatthe match is nicely poised for a keen battle for the all importantfirst innings lead.Having resumed at 296 for five, TNCA President’s XI could not havebeen happy at getting only 87 runs on Monday morning. The overnightsixth wicket pair of Badri Attavar and D Dhandapani took theirpartnership to 151 before the latter was out for 62. Attavar wascomparatively subdued but got to 155 before he was leg before to Saif.He batted 426 minutes, faced 306 balls and hit 18 boundaries. Therewas some resistance from the tail but the home team’s total fell belowexpectations. Rahul Sanghvi finished the most successful bowler withthree for 90.ONGC were off a good start with openers Manoj Mudgal and Gagan Khodaputting on 52 runs off 12 overs before the former was out for 25.Skipper G Vadhera (3) did not last long but Khoda continued to go forhis shots. Shortly before close, he reached his half century witheight fours and a six. By close he had faced 67 balls and a lot willobviously depend on him as ONGC continue their run chase on Tuesday.Keeping him company is another run getter with the proper credentials,Virendra Shewag who has started off well, getting 13 runs off tendeliveries with two hits to the fence.

Mashrafe Mortaza has conceded that Bangladesh’s effort was scratchy, but said that his side will draw confidence from sealing their second-highest chase in T20s. Despite some hiccups, Bangladesh reached the target of 164 in 18.4 overs, after having overhauled West Indies’ 164 in the World T20 in 2007.”We were not up to the mark,” Mashrafe said. “We had that early run-out [of Soumya Sarkar] and if Mushfiqur [Rahim] or Sabbir [Rahman] didn’t get out at those points, we could have finished it in 17-18 overs. But good thing was that we didn’t panic at any stage, which we used to do in the past.”It is helpful to play in such wickets though I thought it was a scratchy performance. I think chasing this big total will give us more confidence. It is one of our biggest successful chases in T20s so the win is quite a relief. It wasn’t easy chasing 165 so I hope we can hold on to this effort.”Mashrafe was also pleased with the performances of Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman. They shared four wickets and gave away only 10 runs in the last two overs of the first innings. Zimbabwe were given a strong platform for a final push by a 101-run opening partnership between Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda, but Al-Amin and Mustafizur pegged the visitors back.”Al-Amin was our best T20 bowler before his action was reported,” Mashrafe said. He is one of our best death bowlers. I have been saying that Mustafizur is unplayable. I think we have good balance at the death with Shakib and myself also there.”Mashrafe also said that he made a mistake by not using debutant Shuvagata Hom in the middle overs. Mahmudullah and Sabbir Rahman bowled four overs during that period while conceding 36 runs. Shuvagata was then sent into bat at No.4, ahead of Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, but managed only six runs.”He is playing as a bowling allrounder. I could have brought him on instead of Mahmudullah or Sabbir. I sent him to bat at No 4 because I wanted to see him bat in these situations,” Mashrafe said.

‘Tendulkar’s wasn’t a flawless century, as two dropped chances indicate, but the beauty lay in its construction’ © Getty Images

Watching the Indians bat today reminded one of the wretched times they endured while touring abroad during the ’90s. The storylines were mostly the same: top-order crumbles to swing and seam, Tendulkar stands alone, lower-order support arrives before India stage some sort of recovery. Through the previous decade Tendulkar was India’s Atlas Abroad, constructing masterpieces amid the surrounding wreckage.There was an eerie familiarity when the scoreboard read: 2 for 1, 2 for 2, 14 for 3 and 65 for 4. It’s when you usually asked yourself “Is Tendulkar still batting?” (In the last five years you’d probably first ask about Dravid but he was rested for this encounter and that wasn’t an option). Luckily for the large crowd of Indians who’d landed up at Chelmsford the answer was a reassuring one, until he fell twenty minutes before stumps.Tendulkar’s wasn’t a flawless century, as two dropped chances indicate, but the beauty lay in its construction. The early salvos were emphatic – a feather-touch down the ground here, a delicate flick through midwicket there, a crackling square cut here, a dab to fine-leg there. It was a most assured counter-attack against a pumped up bowling attack making the most of the new ball. Tendulkar possessed the mastery that the rest lacked but he also displayed tremendous application under pressure, something the other batsmen fell short on. He was to later term the pitch as a “good” one and said it was mainly the wind factor that one needed to be wary of.It was his first first-class match in nearly two months but he paced his innings superbly. “Having been around for reasonable time,” he said with a particular emphasis on the word reasonable, “I know when to accelerate and when to hold back and be patient. I read the situation and it’s a lot to do with the way my body is moving, the way I’m thinking as well. You can’t go out everyday and try bang, bang, bang and say it’s my natural game.”Some good scores in the recent one-dayers have no doubt helped but a break of two weeks seemed to have produced not a jot of rust. “Till yesterday I was a little apprehensive, I wanted to go out and spend some time in the middle. I had reasonable net practise but in the match situation I wanted to be out there. Conditions are going to be different. I’m relieved I managed to play more than 200 balls.””It was important especially because after Ireland we didn’t play cricket at all, it’s almost a couple of weeks now. It puts you in a different frame of mind and it was important that I get back to reality with the Test matches just 4-5 days away. Scoring runs in Ireland really helped. The conditions were adverse and wickets were helpful. That South African attack is quite good and I managed to score runs there. I had a couple of big sessions at Hove, practising indoors and that helped.”A nudge to point, shortly after tea, took him to hundred and his reaction was instructive. On completing the run he began a big swing of the bat but stopped half-way through the motion. It’s just the start of a long tour, he seemed to be saying, and there will be plenty more bat-swings to come.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene put up the highest ever partnership in Test history – 624 – as South Africa were run into the ground© Getty Images

Mahela Jayawardene came within 26 runs of Brian Lara’s record for the highest Test score, Kumar Sangakkara fell 13 short of a triple-hundred and the two put on a historic 624 runs, the highest ever partnership for any wicket in Test or first-class cricket as Sri Lanka hammered home the advantage and pushed South Africa into a corner as the third day of the first Test ended.It was an amazing day’s cricket – one where the records tumbled with every passing hour. What will give the Sri Lankans no end of pleasure is the fact that the achievement of so many milestones did nothing to reduce their chances of forcing a result in this increasingly one-sided match.When Jayawardene was finally dismissed, bowled by an Andre Nel delivery that kept a touch low and jagged in there was a collective sigh of disappointment from the fans at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Only Lara’s two big innings – 400 and 375 and Matthew Hayden’s 380 were ahead of Jayawardene’s effort in the list of the tallest scores in Test cricket. On the way to 374 Jayawardene left many of the all-time greats, including the likes of Don Bradman, Garry Sobers and Len Hutton, behind. His innings was superb for the serenity and composure with which he accumulated runs. When the loose ball was on offer he was happy to cash in, with trademark flowing drives, especially the inside-out shot over the off side which he plays so well. In all this, though, no-one should forget Kumar Sangakkara, who made a career-best 287 in the record stand with his captain.First the records. It was the mark set by Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama that this pair was hunting down. Jayasuriya and Mahanama had added 576 in that famous Test against India in 1997 where Sri Lanka put on a mammoth 952 for 6 declared in response to India’s first-innings 537. But interestingly, this partnership has come in a Test that is very much live, whereas the previous one came when the match as a contest was all but over, and the game ended in a dull draw.The previous best in first-class cricket came all the way back in 1946-47 when Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad added 577 for the fourth wicket in the final of the Ranji Trophy and helped Baroda beat Holkar.But records apart, Sangakkara and Jayawardene had batted in such chanceless and emphatic fashion that South Africa could come up with little in terms of a response. There was one shout for lbw early in the first session but after that, it was a case of the runs being added with metronomic efficiency. There was barely a risk taken, and the pace was steady for almost the whole duration, after an initial stage when Sangakkara and Jayawardene were watchful. Jayawardene easily went past his previous best score, 242 against India, also made at the SSC, in 1999. Sangakkara too improved on his best, 270 against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2004.The partnership record came, almost with an air of inevitability, soon after the lunch interval. It was a Nicky Boje delivery, slipping down leg, that beat Mark Boucher and ran away for byes that brought up the milestone. Even the South Africans, who have been at the receiving end of this massive 10-hour plus association, had to stop for a moment and join the celebrations as the firecrackers were set off in the stands.From there on the focus shifted to the individual scores of the two batsmen, and it was just after Jayawardene had brought up his maiden triple-century that Sangakkara fell. He drove at Andrew Hall and nicked to Mark Boucher, and could even manage a smile as he walked off for 287. The 624-run partnership had left Sri Lanka as the only team that could win from here on.It’s fair to say Jayawardene enjoys batting with Sangakkara, but he managed quite well even with Tillakaratne Dilshan. First he went past the highest score for a Sri Lankan beating the 340 Jayasuriya managed in the 1997 Test against India where the partnership record was set. Then came the 350. As the crowd built up in the ground, in anticipation of witnessing a world record being surpassed, came the anticlimax, with Jayawardene being bowled by Nel. Sri Lanka declared on 756 for 5, and the South Africans were just happy to get off the field. Hall and Jacques Rudolph, the openers, then negotiated a tricky passage of play, taking South Africa to 43 for no loss at stumps. But with two days to go in this match it’s tough to see Sri Lanka being denied victory, unless there’s plenty of rain.

How they were out

Kumar Sangakkara c Boucher b Hall 287 (638 for 3)
Tillakaratne Dilshan lbw b Steyn 45 (751 for 4)
Mahela Jayawardene b Nel 374 (756 for 5)

Sanath Jayasuriya being helped off the field after suffering the shoulder injury in the match against India on Saturday © Getty Images

The injury-hit Sri Lankan squad got something to cheer about after Sanath Jayasuriya’s MRI scans showed no serious tendon damage from his shoulder dislocation. Described as “very lucky” by his doctors, he is now set for a quick return to the field, possibly against India on Wednesday afternoon, assuming the swelling and soreness of the injury can subside in time.Jayasuriya’s high-risk decision to bat in the first one-day international against India created concern that he might have aggravated damage to his rotator cuff, the most important tendon in the shoulder joint, but the scans only revealed a build-up of fluid. The final report from the MRI scan is to be reviewed in Colombo on Monday by Dr David Young, Sri Lanka Cricket’s Melbourne-based surgeon.”The doctor told him he was very lucky,” confirmed Michael Tissera, SriLanka’s manager. “There appears to have been no tendon damage and only some fluid build-up in the joint. We are not sure at this stage about exactly when he will be able to return but he will definitely play again in this tournament.”Jayasuriya sat out the team’s two-and-a-half hour training session on Monday morning and is almost certain to miss Sri Lanka’s game against West Indies on Tuesday, although Marvan Atapattu was keeping his cards close to his chest at a media briefing: “We will assess his position tomorrow and if he is fit he will obviously play. There is a good chance of Upul [Tharanga] playing and opening if Sanath cannot play.”Sri Lanka have also been boosted by the news that Nuwan Zoysa’s back injury, which forced him to be sent to Colombo for assessment, has turned out to be a back spasm and not the feared strain or stress fracture. “We sent Zoysa to Colombo thinking there was a back problem but it seems to have been just a back spasm and he feels much better now,” revealed Atapattu. “We will assess him when we get back to Colombo with a full fitness test.”Chaminda Vaas’s hamstring injury is also responding well to treatment,although Atapattu made it clear that his return would be delayed until he was really needed: “Chaminda has progressed a lot and has been receiving treatment from CJ Clarke [the physiotherapist] every day. We will keep him for the more important games and will try to delay his comeback as much as possible.”

Sri Lanka 139 for 1 (Jayantha 74*) beat Zimbabwe 136 (Vaas 4-38, Murali 4-32) by nine wickets
Scorecard
The harsh realities of international cricket caught up with the new,enthusiastic but very raw Zimbabwe team, as Sri Lanka overwhelmed them by nine wickets shortly after lunch in the second one-day international at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. It was Chaminda Vaas who set the ball rolling by taking the first four Zimbabwean wickets, and then a dominating innings of 74 not out from Saman Jayantha sealed the match with 29.4 overs to spare.It was men against boys. After Zimbabwe had been bowled out for 136, Sanath Jayasuriya and Jayantha plundered the hapless Zimbabwean seamers, producing an array of dazzling strokes including a sliced six over cover by Jayasuriya off Hondo. The shell-shocked bowlers were quite unable to find their line and length, and their only breakthrough came on the stroke of lunch, when Jayasuriya (31) grew a little over-confident and skyed the suffering Tinashe Panyangara to mid-off (84 for 1).The scoring rate slowed for a while as Marvan Atapattu settled in, but with the dominant Jayantha still going strong, there was no repeat of Tuesday’s close encounter. Zimbabwe’s bowlers were totally outclassed, and only Prosper Utseya, who conceded 11 runs off his 17 balls, could claim to have escaped severe punishment. The Zimbabwean bubble, apparently, had been well and truly burst.On a hot, sunny morning, Sri Lanka won the toss for the second match running and again put Zimbabwe in to bat. Their opening partnership lasted a mere four balls. There was not a run on the board when Vusi Sibanda moved awkwardly across his stumps and was trapped lbw by a delivery from Vaas that straightened. His opening partner Brendan Taylor, who is generally more comfortable off the front foot, struggled for two runs in 29 minutes before fending a short ball from Vaas into the slips (20 for 2).Vaas was bowling superbly. He removed Dion Ebrahim for 16, via a gloved catch to leg gully, and Elton Chigumbura for a duck, as he drove a low catch to short extra cover. At 27 for 4 the situation looked bleak, and much rested once again on Tatenda Taibu. A couple of his early strokes bore a hint of desperation, but he was not prepared to let the bowlers call the tune.Taibu received good support from his former schoolmate, Stuart Matsikenyeri, although they relied mainly on drives and quicksingles, as the Sri Lankans gave them little to pull or cut. But the partnership came to a disappointing end as Taibu swept Jayasuriya, tried to take a second run to a misfield, and was caught just short of his crease by an accurate return from the substitute fielder Rangana Herath. He made 35 and Zimbabwe were 76 for 5.After that, it was a steady decline for Zimbabwe. Matsikenyeri was stumped for the second match running, as he charged down the pitch to Muttiah Muralitharan for 18, while Alester Maregwede made10. He hit Murali for a six over long on, but was deceived next ball and trapped lbw by a top-spinner.Utseya drove Murali for six to record his first runs in international cricket. He went on to make a creditable 25 not out, and shared a lively ninth-wicket partnership of 26 with Douglas Hondo, who was eventually given out lbw by a massive spinner from Muralitharan that hit him on the back pad.Vaas returned to finish off the innings, but Murali did the job for him, despite being treated with considerable confidence by youngsters who perhaps were less aware of his reputation than many of Zimbabwe’s batsmen of the past. Apart from that pair, Sri Lanka’s bowling lookedrather thin, but in this match it scarcely mattered.

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Michael Slater has been dropped from Australia’s team to play England in the Fifth Test, which begins at The Oval on Thursday.Or so it seems, after the opening batsman broke ranks today to tell a Sydney radio station that he has been replaced by Justin Langer for the final match of the current series between the teams.”The powers that be have looked for a change and I’ve been replaced by Justin Langer,” Slater informed listeners of radio station 2WS.”It’s great for him. He’s had a disappointing tour and he gets a breath of fresh air at the end of it. But it’s hard to take when you’ve been dropped.”Slater has experienced a mediocre series, amassing 170 runs from seven innings at an average of 24.28. In the last six of those innings, he has produced scores of 25, 4, 15, 12, 21 and 16 and looked uncomfortable against the new ball pairing of Darren Gough and Andy Caddick. After Slater’s up-and-down series against West Indies at home last season, and his failure to reach the half-century mark in any of six innings against India on the subcontinent in March, he has now recorded only one century from his last 36 visits to the crease at Test level.Langer would, nonetheless, be a surprise choice to open the Australians’ batting. The Western Australian left hander has scored a total of just 183 runs on the tour, and has not batted since the Australians played a rain-aborted match against Ireland in Belfast early this month. His entire experience of opening at Test level has been confined to scores of 10 and 1 against West Indies in Perth more than eight years ago.Langer has been a consistent scorer of Test runs in the number three position over recent years, but lost his place in the eleven to fellow Western Australian Damien Martyn as this series commenced. This followed comparatively lean series for him against West Indies (203 runs at an average of 25.37) and India (161 runs at 32.20).The tour selectors, for their part, are understood to be waiting on the fitness of captain Steve Waugh before finalising the changes to their batting line-up. If the skipper, who now rates himself a 50-50 chance of playing in the match, passes a fitness test, then it seems likely that he will be Slater’s replacement and that either Martyn or Simon Katich – neither of whom has significant experience as an opener at first-class level – will partner Matthew Hayden at the top of the order. In that situation, Langer would remain on the sidelines.When Australia’s touring party was named in April, there had been widespread criticism of the selectors’ decision to take just two specialist openers to England. With Michael Hussey, Jamie Cox, Jimmy Maher and Greg Blewett all appearing to offer potential as replacements, it was believed that the Australians would call up a player from county ranks if an alternative opening batsman was needed.

The first Saturday evening kick off of the new season was an absolute belter as Swansea visited West London and went toe-to-toe with Chelsea to nab a 2-2 draw and take a point back to Wales.It was a game that the Swans more than deserved to take something from, in fact there were plenty of times where Garry Monk’s side were in the ascendency and probably deserved to nick the win.There were plenty of talking points, from debut goals, to sending offs, sluggish displays to free-flowing football… So sit back, and take a look at our three things we learnt from Chelsea 2 – 2 Swansea City.

1. Swansea are a force to be reckoned with (and we’re loving it)

The Welsh side were first to the second ball, spritely in attack, solid in defence and simply wanted it more than Chelsea today.

Montero was excellent, roaming down the left wing and causing the west London side all sorts of problems, while Gomis and Shelvey have struck up a useful relationship and new signing Andre Ayew shone (but more on him later.)

Quite simply, Garry Monk’s side are a pleasure to watch. You can’t help but enjoy their entertaining brand of

football, in fact, you can’t help but root for them – and long may it continue.

2. Andre Ayew could be one of the signings of the season

There were more than a few raised eyebrows when Andre Ayew decided to leave Marseille for Swansea City in the summer, signing a four-year deal with the Welsh club.

It was certainly deemed as a bit of a transfer coup for Garry Monk’s side and after his debut against Chelsea, it looks like a stroke of genius.

Not only was the Ghanaian nabbed on a free, the free-flowing attacked scored on his debut, after a classy drag back left the Chelsea defence floundering before he slotted past Courtois. Expect more from him this season.

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3. There’s something not quite right at Stamford Bridge

From their loss in the Community Shield, to today’s sluggish display – there’s something amiss at Stamford Bridge. It’s not time to panic yet, but Jose will want to stamp out these issues beforeÂnext Sunday when they travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City.

They will also have to do so without Thibaut Courtois after the Belgian keeper received a straight red afterÂbringing down Gomis (who converted the penalty.) Arsene Wenger must be absolutely loving it…

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBJ Watling claimed his 100th dismissal and was part of all four wickets New Zealand took•AFP

Where runs had flowed and wickets tumbled as a result of New Zealand’s assertive batting approach on the first day, the cricket was played at a slower pace on the second at University Oval, but was no less intense. The change in tempo was brought about by a battle of patience between New Zealand’s attack, which moved the ball in both directions from accurate lines and lengths, and two Sri Lankan top-order batsmen determined to cut out risk. At stumps, Brendom McCullum’s team had edged ahead on the day, consolidating their advantage in the match.Sri Lanka lost Kusal Mendis, playing his second Test, and the debutant Udara Jayasundera early to inexperience in alien conditions, but their relatively older hands Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal – both playing their 24th Tests – had kept New Zealand wicketless in the second session. Their partnership spanned 48.5 overs but produced only 122 runs, because for large swathes of time they were given extremely few hittable balls. Sri Lanka had only 17 fours in the day – New Zealand had that many in their first 23 overs – and though Chandimal finished unbeaten on 83, the fall of Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews in the final session left the lower order with a lot to do.That Karunaratne got as far as 84 was because of a little luck and a lot of skill in the morning. In the first over of the innings, he left his bat raised while ducking a bouncer from Trent Boult, the ball pinging off the periscope over the wicketkeeper’s head. In the third, he edged consecutive outswingers but crucially played with soft hands so the catches did not carry to first slip.Mendis, however, did not use soft hands and a delivery from Boult slanted away from the right-hander and took the edge through to BJ Watling, who collected his 100th dismissal and the first of four catches in the innings.Tim Southee tested Karunaratne with two consecutive yorkers that hooped into the left-hander and homed in on his boot. Karunaratne inside-edged the first on to his pad, and blocked out the second confidently. Jayasundera also got a similar delivery as his first ball in Test cricket and survived.Jayasundera scored his first run by tucking Boult off his pads, but did not make another. He had watched Karunaratne slash a wide ball from Neil Wagner over the slips for four, but when he reached out to cut, he only managed a toe end to Watling.Boult’s first spell read 6-2-16-1 and Southee’s 5-1-6-0. That pressure was maintained by Doug Bracewell, who conceded only five runs in four overs before lunch.The scoring stayed slow after the break, the difference being the growing assuredness of Sri Lanka’s batsmen. Runs came via compact punches, dabs and crisp flicks off the pads – nothing extravagant. Karunaratne played the pull confidently, getting on top of the bounce and rolling his wrists to keep the ball down. With the ball not doing much for the seamers, McCullum brought on Mitchell Santner in the 30th over and the left-arm spinner was economical as well, conceding only 12 runs in his first ten overs. Sri Lanka made only 24 runs in the first hour after lunch.After 80 deliveries of restraint, Chandimal attacked, charging Santner and aiming a heave down the ground. The outside edge flew over slip. Two balls later he cut Santner for his first boundary. Karunaratne began to score more freely towards tea, thumping consecutive half-volleys from Wagner to the long-on and straight boundaries, and glancing a rare poor ball from Bracewell off his pads as well. The slight loosening of New Zealand’s purse strings was reward for diligent batting.Wagner was the weak link in the New Zealand attack, and in the first hour of the final session his economy was touching five an over while the innings run rate was around two. He bowled too full and was driven often by Karunaratne and Chandimal through the off side and down the ground. With his seamers ineffective despite the ball showing a tendency to reverse – Boult’s pace was down between 125-130kph – McCullum gave it to Santner.The wicket came against the run of play, when Karunaratne went back to cut a rather cut-able ball but edged it to Watling. Sri Lanka were still trailing by 280 but their captain took only two runs off that deficit: Angelo Mathews was caught down the leg side off Southee, the not-out decision on the field overturned by the faintest of Hot-Spots.Chandimal had got to his 50 off 143 deliveries with three boundaries, but he was less conservative in the final session, striking six more fours after raising his half-century. For company, he had the last specialist batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage, whose hard but airborne drive had been put down by Kane Williamson at short cover.Sri Lanka were 234 runs behind with six wickets in hand at the end of the day, and they will have to face the danger of a ball that is only an over old on the third morning.