First came a sigh; then came the standing ovation. The moment the third umpire flashed the red light, declaring Brian Lara out for 36, he smiled. A wave of disappointment engulfed the ground – like some giant party being pooped – before Lara began his quick walk back to the pavilion. His final one-day innings at home had just been cut short, but Lara wasn’t going to moan. He was going to enjoy every moment of his walk back to the pavilion, saluting those who had watched him on his home turf.”It’s a difficult situation, knowing that I might not play ODI cricket here again,” he said when asked about his thoughts. “I’ve had a great time playing in Trinidad and Tobago. As I exited the field, Bravo took over things. He’s from Santa Cruz and probably the next one to look forward to, locally at least. I’ve enjoyed my time and the public at T&T have enjoyed me playing here. The public pay to watch cricket and at the end of it both parties usually leave saying ‘you’ve done a good job’. I must thank the public for their support through the years. I would love to play another Test match here. It may not happen in 2007. But I hope this is not the last.”Though he preferred to talk about the win, one that was achieved without a number of key players, Lara added that it wouldn’t make too much of a difference when the Test series gets underway. “What we won today has to do with one-day cricket. We won without Collymore [injured during the game], Chanderpaul, Edwards, Samuels – key players in our team. Psychologically we know they’re down but they are aware that we’re starting afresh on Friday. We now have to come up and face them full on … play competitive cricket and win the big points. You need to play well over 15 sessions. I will take nothing much from here into the Test series.”I think this is a great performance. We played the first game against Zimbabwe on April 29. I think we’ve won 10 of our last 11 games, and that’s including the last match in New Zealand. That is a very, very good run. I’m proud of the guys. But we have bigger fish to fry. We came in with confidence but this is just five days of cricket against India. We have 20 days of cricket to go. That is the ultimate test. We’re going to enjoy this but we know how important the next few weeks are.”When asked what the most satisfying part of this team’s victory was, Lara revealed that he’d been thoroughly satisfied with their planning ahead of the games. “What I’ve enjoyed and noticed about the team – I’m not going to go into details – is that 9 o’ clock meeting before practice and sometimes 6 o’ clock meeting in the afternoon is where we win the game. That’s exactly where we won the games. We discuss different things and come out of the meeting coming really, really strong and confident.”But what had gone wrong with India? Lara spoke about excessive cricket being one of the reasons but added that the main difference had been the absence of one man. “I think the West Indies team is a better one-day team than Indian team. Sachin Tendulkar will make a difference in any series. He is such a key player. He wasn’t there for the Super Series and we lost everything. He has over 300 ODIs and is the best batsman in the world.”

The Indian team will undergo two training camps, spread over five days each, before leaving for Sri Lanka in August for the triangular series.”The team would have a general conditioning camp and, after a break during which they can be back home with their families, would undergo a cricket specific camp. Each camp would last for five days each,” Niranjan Shah, the Indian Board secretary said.Shah added that the squad would be chosen after July 15 and the camps would be held either in Chennai or Bangalore as the other parts of the country would be experiencing monsoon.India is slated to take part in a tri-series, featuring hosts Sri Lanka and South Africa, from August 14 to 29. The team will reach Sri Lanka on August 10 and take on Sri Lanka in their opening encounter on August 16 at Dambulla.

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

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)

Colombo woke up to another soggy morning and no play was possible in the second one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka.Wet conditions, owing to heavy overnight rains, delayed the start before a bout of showers, close to 1pm, ruined the chances of play altogether. With large sections of the outfield still muddy, the umpires decided to conduct a final inspection at 3pm but the fresh rain meant they could call off the day’s play much earlier.The umpires called off play at 1:30pm and, with a similar forecast for tomorrow, the second game could end up being a washout as well. Only 3.4 overs of play was possible in the first game and even the reserve day was washed out. With South Africa already pulling out of the tournament and the weather gods refusing to relent, India’s season couldn’t have got off to a more inauspicious start.

Scorecard

Hampshire took advantage of Gloucestershire’s depleted bowling resources to inflict their first Pro 40 defeat in a rain-affected match at Bristol.Gloucestershire, missing Jon Lewis, their captain, on England duty, and the injured Ian Harvey, conceded 83 from their last six overs, as Dominic Thornely (60*) and Dimitri Mascarenhas (43* from 21 balls) fired Hampshire to 226 for 6 from a revised 33 overs.Gloucestershire were never in the hunt, and were all out for 114 with James Bruce claiming 4 for 29.The win lifts Hampshire into fourth place, a apoint behind Gloucestershire who remain level on points with Worcestershire at the top of the table.

– Mark Gillespie on bowling at the death.I had never seen him bowl before, and pre-match office talk had revolved around two interesting facets of Gillespie. One, his run-up was supposedly a mix of Bob Willis and Dennis Lillee and the other was his ability to bowl at the death. I saw neither Lillee nor Willis in him but the other claim was spot on.He bounded in with short aggressive steps, a white handkerchief protruding from behind, before hurling himself fluently into a nice cocked-up wrist position and more often that not, hit the right areas. In his first spell he threaded the good-length and moved it off the seam to tease the outside edge. He would go close to the stump to either move the ball away or straighten it and suddenly would move wide of the crease to dart it in. And it’s not that he had to create an angle to get the ball in, but whenever he did that it nipped back in sharply. He got his first wicket in the 19th over with one that straightened from the length to dismiss a well-set Connar Williams, a former India batsman. He even slipped in a slower one, that almost got him a wicket, but the image of the death specialist was still yet to fully form in the mind’s eye.That crystallised when he came back at the slog. Admittedly, Baroda were already waging a lost cause when he reappeared but then none of his colleagues could finish the innings off. Not even Shane Bond. Gillespie hit a different length now. Much fuller and regularly pinging the blockhole, he delivered from slightly wide of the crease, and bent the ball in repeatedly. The yorkers appeared, one of them crashing into the base of the middle stump, so did the surprise bouncer that took out Yusuf Pathan. There was no need for the slower ball now, for Baroda were almost down and out and even the attempt to hit had evaporated.As evident by that quote, it’s a mature head that is sitting on young shoulders. Vaughn Johnson, who has been working with him over the past eight seasons, is the man who will know more. “He’s starting to become quite an intelligent bowler,” he told reporters last week. “In a cricket sense, he’s got quite a good brain. He’s a bit loose at times but he’s a good kid. He’s had a fair few bollockings over the years and hopefully that’s done him some good.” But he hinted at a troubled character. “He can be a bit different. He’s one reason I’ve got no hair.” And now, it’s up to John Bracewell and Stephen Fleming to handle their new option with care.Scott Styris clearly looked chuffed that New Zealand have found a fast bowling prospect. “He is bit quicker than you think, he bowls a lots of bouncers as well and he is very good at the death,” Styris said at the end of the match. “He will be handful on wickets which have more pace than this. He has it in him to play very well in the international cricket. He is very aggressive and likes to go after the batsmen and doesn’t like to take a backward step which is very important in international cricket. He has taken his chances, in the A tour to Australia three months back where he knocked out some very useful batsmen and again here he has grabbed his opportunity. It’s exciting for us that we have another fast bowler coming through in New Zealand cricket who isn’t in the 120-130 kmph category.”Gillespie has grabbed his chance with both hands. Surely, the selectors would have noticed it. Come Monday, we shall know.

Australia’s one-day squad will undergo few, if any, changes before the World Cup begins in March, according to the captain Ricky Ponting. He said the 14 players in India for the Champions Trophy would be the basis of the line-up, although injuries and form lapses were unpredictable.”I think the make-up of our team at the moment is pretty close to what it will be for the World Cup,” Ponting told . “I don’t see there’s going to be many, if any, changes to our squad. The squad is looking really good. We’ve got lots of flexibility, we’ve got lots of experience and a little bit of youth around, which is obviously important going into world cups. But the World Cup is a long way off yet and lots of things can happen.”Ponting said he was thrilled with the balance of Australia’s team in India. The young fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has bowled impressively, taking the key wicket of Virender Sehwag against India, and collecting 3 for 40 against England.Shane Watson, who posted his second half-century at the top of the order on Sunday, has also settled into his new role as opener alongside Adam Gilchrist. “There’s been glimpses in every game Watto’s played that he’s got everything required to be a good one-day opener,” Ponting said, “and his bowling the last eight or ten games has been outstanding.” The fast bowler Stuart Clark, who was named in the original Champions Trophy squad but withdrew with a thigh injury, will be one player with a chance to break back into the side over summer.

Brad Hodge has been ruled out of Sunday’s Ford Ranger Cup match between Victoria and New South Wales at Canberra after failing to recover from a quadriceps strain. Hodge missed the Bushrangers’ FR Cup loss to Queensland on Friday but is expected to be fully fit for Victoria’s Pura Cup clash with New South Wales starting next Friday.Hodge, whose injury has come at a most inopportune time given the retirement of Damien Martyn, hoped he still had a chance to play international cricket this summer. “In terms of where [Martyn’s decision] leaves me, well, I guess you would say the door’s ajar a little more and players on the fringe have a fresh opportunity,” Hodge said in a Cricket Victoria statement. “Ultimately that’s one for the selectors to decide so all I can do is keep performing.”Ed Cowan has been recalled to the New South Wales line-up, replacing Aaron O’Brien in the 12-man squad. With Simon Katich struggling at the top of the order – he has just 18 runs from three one-day innings since returning from the Champions Trophy – the Blues have given themselves an extra opening option by including Cowan, who made 74 in his only FR Cup innings this season.O’Brien could consider himself unlucky to miss the game after scoring two half-centuries in four matches in 2006-07. He is the only player to be dropped after the side’s disappointing 24-run loss to Queensland on Wednesday.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Simon Katich (capt), Ed Cowan, Daniel Christian, Brad Haddin (wk), Dominic Thornely, David Warner, Nathan Hauritz, Jason Krejza, Nathan Bracken, Aaron Bird, Scott Coyte.Victoria squad Jon Moss, Michael Klinger, Cameron White (capt), Aiden Blizzard, David Hussey, Robert Quiney, Andrew McDonald, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Shane Harwood, Clinton McKay, Darren Pattinson, Grant Lindsay.

Sreesanth, the Indian fast bowler, has been fined 30% of his match fee after he pleaded guilty to breaching the ICC Code of Conduct on two counts during the first Test against South Africa at Johannesburg.Sreesanth was found to have broken clause C 1 of the Code, which states “Players and/or Team Officials shall, at all times, conduct play within the spirit of the game”, when he ran towards Hashim Amla after dismissing him in the second innings. He was fined 20% of his match fee for this indiscretion.”At the pre-series meeting both captains and the two sets of management were reminded about the need for everyone to show respect for their opponents,” said Roshan Mahanama, the match referee. “We do not want robots out there but we do want players to control their emotions once they get onto the field because they have to realise they are role models for all those watching. Sreesanth, by his actions, showed a lack of respect for the departing batsman and to his credit he acknowledged that by pleading guilty to the charge.”Sreesanth was fined a further 10% of his match fee after he was found guilty of breaching the ICC Logo Policy which states that only white garments must be worn under a shirt in a Test match. While batting, Sreesanth wore a black garment under his shirt. After it was pointed out, he took the field in a white garment but it had a commercial logo.”It gives me no satisfaction to punish a player for a breach of the logo policy but the rule is there in print and both sides were reminded of it before the series,” said Mahanama. “The fact that Sreesanth breached the policy not once but twice showed a lack of respect and although he once again pleaded guilty it was still appropriate he was fined for his actions.”

Dravid’s steely glareOn a two-paced pitch with the ball darting around alarmingly, Rahul Dravid copped several body blows on the first morning. One delivery from Nel, in the 23rd over, reared off a good length and rapped Dravid hard on the glove, close to the injured finger. Nel followed it with a verbal barrage but Dravid responded with a fierce, bloody-minded glare that conveyed much more than words could.Ganguly’s majestic pullBatting with the tail on the second morning, Sourav Ganguly produced the shot of the match. Having ducked under a Makhaya Ntini bouncer he seemed to anticipate another short one. Getting into position early, he let rip an eye-popping pull and tonked the ball way into the midwicket stand. With that one shot, he laid several ghosts to rest.Singh on songIndia seemed to have lost their way a bit at 205 for 9 in their first innings, after losing four wickets for 39, but they hadn’t accounted for No.11 VRV Singh. Jacques Kallis sent across a full-length ball on the stumps and VRV casually made room for himself and clubbed it savagely through extra-cover. It was the start of the momentum shift and South Africa never recovered.Sehwag pouncesLong maligned for his poor athletic ability, Virender Sehwag pouched two brilliant catches and lifted India’s morale. His reflexive lunge at gully to account for Herschelle Gibbs in the first innings was a sharp take but it was bettered by the spectacular dive in the second, to intercept Graeme Smith’s slash. Catch! Sehwag! It all added up to something special.Zak can batZaheer Khan’s vital 37 helped India stretch the lead beyond 400 but it was his first 25 deliveries, which he didn’t score off, that many will remember. Countering South Africa’s chin music through a combination of dead-bat defence, ducking, and weaving, he pitched his tent. Zaheer had given his wicket away with an atrocious swipe in the first innings and it was refreshing to see him buckle down and show his tenacity.Sreesanth goes bananasIt’s a moment that will be played on and on on Indian television, rivaling Ganguly’s shirt-waving antics on the Lord’s balcony. The sequence of events have been well documented – Sreesanth doesn’t connect a Nel short one, is sledged for not having the heart for a fight, charges down the track the next ball, knocks it straight over the bowler’s head for six, maniacally swings his bat while running to the other end, crosses Nel, and gyrates his hips with a ferocity that would make the movies. For probably the first time ever, Nel was beaten hands down in his own game.Ganguly digs it inHe bowled only one over all game but Ganguly’s first ball to Kallis won’t be forgotten. Forget looseners, this one reared off a good length and thudded into Kallis’s chest, rendering him shocked for a few moments. He got back with two spanking fours but he’d received an unplayable delivery from an unlikely quarter. Ganguly later let out a smile when asked about the ball and added, “it probably hit a crack”.Zaheer’s under-arm flickAB de Villiers was stitching together a defiant partnership with Ashwell Prince but a smart piece of fielding from Zaheer – yes, the same Zaheer who many thought needed to be hid in the field, thwarted them. de Villiers, one of the quickest runners in world cricket, scampered for a single but Zaheer, at mid-on, charged towards the ball, swooped down and completed an underarm flick in one motion. Direct hit! Zaheer! Nothing could stop India for the last four days, not even history.- Siddhartha Vaidyanathan