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Eoin Morgan has called comments from Kevin Pietersen “not good for a team environment”.Pietersen suggested that Morgan “looked scared” of Mitchell Starc’s bowling during England’s group match defeat against Australia. Writing on Twitter at the time, Pietersen said he had “not seen a captain show such weakness for a while” and that it was “a horror sign” for England.But, on the eve of England’s first World Cup semi-final in 27 years, Morgan compared his former team-mate’s words to those of Geoffrey Boycott in saying that they “don’t take the best interest of the team or the player” into account and suggested the current England dressing room did not pay much attention to comments of the sort.”When Kevin Pietersen comes out with a comment, it’s very similar to comments I address from Geoffrey Boycott,” Morgan told the . “They are not ones that are considered good for a team environment and don’t take the best interests of the team or the player at heart. Guys are trying their heart out to do well for their country, trying to learn, trying to get better.”Morgan did acknowledge, however, that he had struggled to deal with the short ball in the past. He was memorably forced to retire hurt having been struck by a Starc bouncer in an ODI in Manchester in 2015 – he later said his helmet “probably saved my life” – while he also accepted that it wasn’t necessarily Pietersen’s role to be constructive. In making such comments, Morgan said, the former players were merely doing “their job”.”Possibly four years ago I was challenged in that area,” Morgan said. “Since then I’ve been challenged in different areas and, over the past two years, I’ve managed to counter that.”And you have critics being critics. But they need to do that; that’s their job. So let them be.”

Prolonged Kent resistance eventually counted for little as Yorkshire’s persistent attack mopped up the seven wickets required to secure a 172-run Specsavers County Championship win in Canterbury. Facing an improbable victory target of 384, the hosts did superbly well to take the match into its final session before White Rose seamer Ben Coad mopped up the tail with a season’s best 6 for 52.The fourth day started with a stoical fourth-wicket stand between Daniel Bell-Drummond and Fred Klaassen which frustrated the Tykes’ attack throughout the opening session in adding 54 runs inside 34 overs either side of lunch. Yorkshire finally broke through soon after the resumption when Klassen, the 26-year-old nightwatchman making his Championship debut for Kent, steered one from Duanne Olivier to second slip to end his two-and-a-half hour, 110-ball stay for 13.Hampered by the loss of Tim Bresnan to a calf injury – the former England seamer slipped over when delivering his first ball of day and limped off after completing only two overs – Yorkshire’s attack continued to chip away to pick up three more wickets in the mid-session.Interim Kent captain Heino Kuhn, who has one first-class fifty to date this season, went for a seven-ball duck when nicking to second slip after an ugly, low-handed defensive prod. Bell-Drummond, who offered two chances that were both dropped in the cordon by Lyth, moved past 5000 first-class career runs during his 170-minute stay and was nine short of a battling fifty when he played across one from Steven Patterson to go lbw.Then, after being checked out for concussion following a fearsome blow on the helmet from an Olivier bouncer, Kent’s first innings century-maker Ollie Robinson drove a slower ball away-swinger from Coad to Gary Ballance at cover to make it 142 for 7.Alex Blake and Harry Podmore resisted for 22 overs either side of tea until the introduction of offspinner Jack Leaning accounted for Blake, leg before when prodding outside the line of an arm-ball. With 24 overs remaining Yorkshire took the second new ball through Coad and Olivier, but Podmore and Matt Milnes continued Kent’s defiance into the final hour of the match.Moments later, Coad ran one up the slope to pluck out Podmore’s middle stump for 29, scored in a shade under two hours then, in his next over same bowler had last man Mitch Claydon caught at short leg to secure victory with 15.1 overs to spare.Coad led the bowling plaudits with six wickets, to go with his two previous five-wicket hauls this summer, and Olivier 2 for 92 in clinching unbeaten Yorkshire’s second win of the campaign that takes them to second spot in the table. After their second defeat on returning to Division One Kent slip to fifth.

David White, the CEO of New Zealand Cricket, has said “everything changes now” in terms of security around sports teams coming to the country in the wake of the terror attack in Christchurch which killed 49 people and saw the Bangladesh squad come very close to being caught up in the mosque shooting near Hagley Oval.The aftermath of the attack has also seen Canterbury pull out of the final round of the Plunket Shield while Martin Guptill and Lockie Ferguson have made themselves unavailable for Auckland’s match against Otago in Dunedin.On Friday, the majority of the Bangladesh team were heading to the Al Noor Mosque which is situated less than a mile from the ground on the edge of Hagley Park when they witnessed the unfolding attack. After waiting inside the team bus and making frantic phone calls, including to ESPNcricinfo correspondent Mohammad Isam, they then hurried back across the park after making their own decision to leave the bus before being put into lockdown at the ground.ALSO READ: ‘There’s shooting here, please save us’As is the case for cricket teams that do not travel with their own dedicated security personnel – unlike England and Australia – the Bangladesh squad did not have security with them during their New Zealand tour. White said the events in Christchurch will now be a game-changer for all sports teams visiting the country.”This is shocking. This will change the entire fabric of international sports hosting. I think everything changes now,” he said. “We’ll certainly be having to look at our security in depth. I think the idea of New Zealand being a safe haven is gone now.”Bangladesh flew out of Christchurch on Saturday lunchtime following the swift decision to cancel the third Test. The team manager, Khaled Mashud, said a few minutes made the difference from the team being inside the mosque.”We were very close to the mosque, and we could see from the bus. We must have been about 50 yards from the mosque. I would say we were really lucky. Had we reached even three or four minutes earlier, we probably would have been inside the mosque.”The ongoing Australia Women Under-19 tour based in Christchurch was also cancelled after the attack. The next major tour New Zealand are set to host is when England visit for Tests and T20Is from late October with Christchurch expected to be one of the venues for the two Tests.Canterbury, the only team that could challenge the Central Stags for the Plunket Shield title, were due to playing Wellington at the Basin Reserve from Sunday which means the title is now decided but that was of little consideration in the decision to withdraw.”The team showed a united front in terms of the decision,” Jeremy Curwin, the Canterbury Cricket CEO, said. “It is clear that this tragedy will affect people in different ways, and Canterbury Cricket is here to support our players however we can. We fully respect their decision, and I am incredibly proud of how they conducted themselves throughout this process.”Guptill and Ferguson were due to be part of the Auckland side to face Otago in Dunedin but have stepped down.”Both Martin and Lockie felt personally uncomfortable making the trip to Dunedin given the events in Christchurch, and also, the feelings and concerns of their partners and families,” Simon Isley, the Auckland high-performance manager, said. “Auckland Cricket and New Zealand Cricket completely respect and support their decision. We understand that at times like this, families come first.”White said: “This isn’t about cricket; it’s about something much bigger and much more important than that. It’s about life, it’s about respect; it’s about family and community. Cricket and sport take a back-seat to personal welfare.”The match in Dunedin, which has witnessed police activity in the aftermath of the attack in Christchurch, will take place as planned along with the Stags contest against Northern Districts in Hamilton but to a very sombre backdrop.”Our players fully respect the Canterbury team’s decision,” Central Districts CEO Pete de Wet said. “We are all so saddened by the terrible tragedy in Christchurch, and out of respect, neither our players nor team management will comment further on the Plunket Shield championship until the completion of the final round.”Leading New Zealand players voiced their shock at what took place with captain Kane Williamson posting in Instagram: “Like the rest of New Zealand, I am struggling to understand what has happened today. The need for love in our country has never been higher and I send all of mine to the victims, their family and friends, the Muslim community and every other heartbroken New Zealander. Let’s come together.”

Glenn Maxwell was “disappointed” at not staying unbeaten during Australia’s victory in the first T20I, and he made sure not to repeat that in the second. Coming in at 22 for two, Maxwell struck his third T20I century to chase down 191 in Bengaluru, and hand Australia their first bilateral T20I series win against the hosts.Chasing a target slightly above-par on a tricky pitch, Maxwell struck seven fours and nine sixes to top-score for Australia in back-to-back games. His unbeaten 55-ball 113 helped Australia cruise to victory with seven wickets in hand.That Maxwell had the liberty to play his shots was also down to the company that D’Arcy Short (40) gave him. Australia looked in trouble early on, having lost Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Finch cheaply once again, but the duo’s 73-run third-wicket stand brought Australia back.While Short found the boundary six times, it was Maxwell who brought out the fireworks. The proceedings started in the fifth over, when he top-edged a six off Jasprit Bumrah, and did not spare any of India’s other bowlers either.He paddled Vijay Shankar’s short balls over square leg, whipped Yuzvendra Chahal’s half-tracker over midwicket and crunched Krunal Pandya’s full balls through extra cover. Maxwell used his feet well too, shuffling across the stumps to keep India’s inexperienced bowling attack guessing, and reached his fifty in the 13th over with a nudge to midwicket.Australia still needed more than 11 per over with seven overs to go, and that’s when Maxwell brought out his bag of tricks. Consecutive sixes off Chahal in the 16th over took the wind out of India’s bowling attack, and when he drilled Bumrah for two fours in the 17th, victory looked imminent.With two overs to go, and only 14 runs to win, Maxwell jammed a yorker down to the leg side to bring up his third T20I hundred. And with that milestone ticked off, he clubbed Siddarth Kaul for a six over long-off and then flat-batted boundary to extra cover to bring up Australia’s victory.Virat Kohli acknowledges the applause after his 20th T20I fifty•Getty Images

Earlier in the day, KL Rahul’s blazing 40 had set the ball rolling for India after Shikhar Dhawan failed to find his timing. At 16 for no loss after three quiet overs, Rahul took on Jhye Richardson to collect consecutive sixes in a 15-run fifth over. If Rahul’s first six wasn’t quite convincing – a top-edged maximum – he oozed quality the next ball, nonchalantly lifting a wide ball over the extra-cover boundary.Rahul followed it up with back-to-back sixes off Pat Cummins, first a whip over midwicket followed by a pull behind square, to lift India to 53 for no loss after six. But he perished trying a ramp shot.That brought in Virat Kohli, but Rahul’s dismissal earned Australia two tidy overs. Dhawan, who was looking out of sorts with just one boundary in his knock, then tried to play an inside-out drive over cover, only to find Stoinis running in from the ropes. His 24-ball 14 was the primary reason why India were only at 73 for two after ten overs. When Rishabh Pant fell cheaply once again, trying to clear long-off, India’s projected score stood at 134.But in came MS Dhoni, criticised in some corners for his 37-ball 29 in the first T20I. He struck his sixth ball, off wristspinner Short, over midwicket before shellacking a boundary apiece over the next two overs. Balls that were short and wide were slapped over the infield, while anything on his toes was deposited to cow corner.With Dhoni finding his range, Kohli soon joined in. He began India’s late charge with a short-arm jab over Richardson in the 15th over, before creaming a hat-trick of sixes in the 16th. Nathan Coulter-Nile – Kohli’s team-mate at Royal Challengers Bangalore – found his first slower ball whipped to deep midwicket. Kohli then picked a wide ball outside off to club a six over extra cover. And the icing was the third six, which Kohli – in Dhoni style – muscled over long-on after skipping down the track.With three overs to go, India were still only at 138 for three. But Australia captain Finch’s decision to bowl Short for a third over tempted Dhoni to look for boundaries. He struck three, including two sixes, to extract 19 off the over, to move to 39.By then, Kohli had already reached his half-century and he started the 19th over with a lofted six to a ball that was nearly outside the wide-line. A smoking straight drive over the umpire’s end brought Richardson’s expensive spell (0 for 45) to a close.Cummins broke the 49-ball century stand in the 20th over, but conceded 15 runs off his final four deliveries to finish his spell with an economy of over 13. Dinesh Karthik struck two boundaries, and Kohli finished the innings with a six, to take India to a respectable 190. In their last six overs, India added 91 runs.In all, India’s right-handers struck 175 runs in 15 overs. Their left-handers, Dhawan and Pant, made just 15 in five, and it’s that discrepancy that may have cost India a series-levelling win on the evening.

How the game played outRangpur Riders picked up where they left off 24 hours earlier, producing another commanding performance to trounce Rajshahi Kings by six wickets with eight balls to spare. Considering the ease with which Riders overhauled a target of 187 set by Dhaka Dynamites on Monday, Kings’ first innings total of 141 was never going to seriously challenge Riders. Kings batsman Laurie Evans admitted as much when he wisecracked that Kings were “about 60 short” when interviewed on TV at the innings break.Sticking to their strategy of stacking their lineup with four big-hitting overseas batsman at the top of the order, Riders coasted to the target behind a half-century from Rilee Rossouw. The South African maintained his status as the tournament’s leading scorer, becoming the first to cross the 500-run mark for BPL 2019 putting him nearly 200 runs clear of his closest challenger Mushfiqur Rahim.By the end of the 13th over, the equation was brought under a run a ball during a 71-run stand between Rossouw and AB de Villiers. A late hiccup by Riders in which Rossouw and de Villiers fell in consecutive overs made the final margin appear closer than the match had been in reality.Turning points

• Evans was on 35 when he drove Shahidul Islam to backward point where a sharp, diving catch was taken by Nahidul Islam. At 81 for 5, Kings had little firepower left to make a recovery
• Fazle Mahmud and Qais Ahmad fell on consecutive deliveries in the 20th over of Kings innings to Farhad Reza, ending a 40-run partnership and swinging momentum strongly back in favor of Riders heading into the chase
• Rossouw was dropped on 29 at mid-off by Kamrul Islam Rabbi on a difficult chance on the first ball of the 12th over off Mustafizur Rahman. Rossouw and de Villiers each belted a six in the following over to bring the required run-rate under six with seven overs left as Kings waltzed toward the target

Star of the dayFarhad Reza’s heroics in the field against Dynamites both catching and bowling were overshadowed by a mammoth 186-run partnership between de Villiers and Alex Hales. But Reza showed once again why he’s an unsung hero in the Riders squad by claiming another three wickets against Kings. His day started with the wicket of Johnson Charles skying a slog over midwicket in the third over, then finished by almost claiming a hat-trick in the final over to stifle any hopes of a late surge by Kings.The big missRyan ten Doeschate’s absence from the starting XI due to a side strain robbed Kings of their biggest threat in the middle order to aid in a possible recovery. Three days earlier he struck his first four scoring shots for six on his way to 27 off 12 balls that proved vital in a seven-run win over Chittagong Vikings. The inability of Kings to produce a finishing kick without him against Riders highlighted his value.Where the teams standRiders clinched a playoff spot with the win and moved up into a tie for first place again with Comilla Victorians on 14 points. Rajshahi Kings’ playoff hopes hang by a thread on 10 points in a tie for fourth place with Dhaka Dynamites, but Dynamites have two matches in hand as well as a sizable net-run-rate advantage.

Pat Cummins is not about to use his elevated role as vice-captain to try and force his way into the new-ball role in Australia’s Test team, but is eager not to be rested again between now and a packed season in England which includes the World Cup and Ashes.Cummins, who was promoted to vice-captain alongside Travis Head before the Brisbane Test, claimed career-best match and innings figures against Sri Lanka – 6 for 23 and 10 for 62 overall – as he spearheaded Australia’s charge to an innings victory well inside three days.It was the continuation of an impressive season for Cummins, who was the standout Australia quick during the India series, and he has now risen to a career-high No. 3 in the ICC world rankings, behind Kagiso Rabada and James Anderson. He has 90 wickets in 19 Tests at 22.47 and will be vital to both Australia’s Ashes and World Cup hopes later this year.There is a strong argument to say that his success this season should see him elevated to the new-ball role in the Test team with Mitchell Starc below his best as he went none for 57 in the second innings off 14 overs. However, Cummins was more than comfortable watching debutant Jhye Richardson take the role ahead of him in Brisbane even though his new vice-captaincy role may give him some sway.ALSO READ: The puzzle of Mitchell’s stark struggles“Someone like Jhye, as soon as he came in, I was saying he has got a beautiful seam and has to get the new rock,” Cummins said. “To be honest, I’m pretty happy with my role. I feel like our new-ball bowlers have always done a really good job. When Starcy is on you just feel like he is going to rip through. You saw him against India, both their openers got dropped because we start off really well with the new ball. So, I’m always really happy to come on, itching to get the ball in my hand, but I am happy to wait a few overs.”There was a tantalising glimpse of what Cummins can achieve with an almost-new ball when he came on in the sixth over of Sri Lanka’s second innings and produced a superb final over on the second day, which ended with the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne. He then began on the third day alongside Richardson, with Starc forced to wait his turn, and Cummins picked up three wickets before he conceded a run.”I love to get the ball in my hands in those times but I think overall the new-ball bowlers always do a great job so my job hitting the deck. I do that pretty well and they open the bowling pretty well,” he said.Pat Cummins exults after picking up a wicket•Getty Images

Cummins was rested for the one-day series against India – along with Starc and Josh Hazlewood, the latter then diagnosed with back injury – with the two Tests against Sri Lanka in mind, but he is desperate not to miss any more white-ball cricket ahead of the World Cup. Australia head to India in mid-February for two T20Is and five ODIs followed by five more ODIs against Pakistan in the UAE.”After the [Canberra] game there are two ODI tours and hopefully I am on them and a couple of T20s as well,” he said. “ODIs are a lighter load than Tests and then most of April is off leading into the English summer so we’ll wait and see. Hopefully I will play most of those but I had a good two-week break after the last series so I feel pretty fresh.”Cummins missed the two Tests against Pakistan in the UAE last year with back injury, but with just one more Test to go against Sri Lanka he is on track to get through two full home seasons which, given his injury history earlier in his career, is a commendable effort.Despite a brittle-looking Sri Lanka batting order, it could be harder work in Canberra. Cummins was expecting less help from the surface than in Brisbane and suggested reverse swing, something which didn’t become a factor in the first Test but that Australia struggled to find against India, would be a key factor.”I know in Manuka we are going to have really different conditions. We played a Shield game there earlier this year and it was a pretty good wicket but probably more reverse than traditional swing.”

Clouds overhead, a green pitch underfoot, conditions were perfect for the kind of searing, prodigious late swing that Trent Boult specialises in, but the thing that really envenomed him – the thing that really set his spectacular burst of six wickets from 15 balls in motion – was rhythm.Bowlers had nipped it off the seam all through the series, but Boult’s spell was the first exhibition of vicious swing bowling – of movement in the air. He swung it exclusively left to right (in to the right-handers). Balls that seemed to be headed way past off stump veered dramatically toward the wickets halfway through their trajectory. Some of those he had trapped lbw were so convinced that the ball was sliding past the stumps, they offered no shot.”It’s all about rhythm – for me anyway,” Boult said. “It’s about getting into a groove. A couple of wickets gives you a bit of confidence and just lets you go about your thing. Sometimes you’re not really thinking about much and it’s kind of happening for you. The plans were simple this morning. It was about building pressure on the guys and it was nice to exploit a bit of their weaknesses with some swing bowling. I was just trying to pitch the ball up really.”Trent Boult picked up six wickets from 15 balls•Getty Images

Boult had been bowling excellent lines and lengths through the course of the series, with little to show for it before this morning. In Wellington, he had collected figures of 2 for 145 from the match, despite comfortably having maintained an economy rate of less than three. On the first day in this match, half of his 10 overs had been maidens, but he had still been unable to claim a wicket.”It’s a funny old game really – it’s probably not how I expected it to happen this morning,” he said. “I suppose it can be easy to get frustrated a little bit, trying to figure out why things aren’t happening. I suppose with a little bit more experience – I’m getting old now – I’m realising it can be a funny game, and it’s probably about turning up with the right attitude, and trying to put the ball in the right areas. I was just lucky enough to get a bit of reward.”It had been Boult’s new-ball partner Tim Southee who had reaped “rewards” for the pressure the pair had built together on the first six days of the tour – Southee claiming a five-wicket haul on the first day in Wellington, and three wickets on day one at Hagley Oval. When Boult was getting wickets on day two, however, Southee did plenty to contribute. He took two catches at third slip, and also ensured that the in-form Angelo Mathews remained at the end he was bowling to, so that Boult could take aim at the Sri Lanka tailenders.”It’s one of the strengths of the side, and of the bowling unit, to bowl for each other,” Boult said. “It’s a strength to stick to that plan and be willing to hang in there and be patient. Timmy got the rewards last week and I’m sure there’s just rewards for the other guys around the corner as well. I think that’s one of the main reasons we are so successful is the way we bowl from both ends, and bowl in those partnerships.”

Batsman Lahiru Thirimanne has been recalled into Sri Lanka’s Test squad, with wicketkeeper-batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama also picked in the 17-strong outfit heading to New Zealand for two Tests in December.Dinesh Chandimal, who missed the last two Tests of the recent series against England with a groin strain, is back to lead the side. His deputy is the opener Dimuth Karunaratne, who has been elevated to vice-captaincy ahead of fast bowler Suranga Lakmal, who led Sri Lanka in Chandimal’s absence against England.The only major omission is that of offspinner Akila Dananjaya, who is awaiting the results of his biomechanics test, having been reported for a suspect action. Also failing to find a place in the squad is opener Kaushal Silva, who produced four modest innings in the recent series against England. Danushka Gunathilaka, who also had a poor Test at the SSC, and has been in various disciplinary scrapes over the past 18 months, has been selected, however.The composition of the five-member seam-bowling contingent is largely as expected. Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara, who had both impressed in the West Indies, are in the squad. Dushmantha Chameera, who had a good tour of New Zealand in 2015, has been chosen as well. Senior seamers Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep are in the squad as well. Pradeep has not played a Test for over a year, but that has largely been down to injury concerns rather than form reasons.Thirimanne, who had had an extended poor stretch before being dropped in 2017, makes his way back into the squad via runs for Sri Lanka A. He had been the highest scorer in the A team tour to Bangladesh in July, having scored 347 runs at an average of 173.5, across four innings. The 23-year-old Samarawickrama, meanwhile, has not been in particularly prolific form in the high-profile domestic competitions this year, but has been picked largely on potential. He had played four Tests toward the end of 2017 and made a high score of 38.Sri Lanka Test squad: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera

Finals can often become turgid one-sided affairs. The final of the Coca Cola Champions Trophy at the CBFS Stadium in Sharjah could not have been more one-sided. However, what it lacked in competitiveness it made up for in sheer, undulated drama. Seldom can Sharjah have seen such scenes.Sri Lanka defeated India by 245 in one of their most intimidating performances in the history of Sri Lankan cricket. The architect was, Sanath Jayasuriya, who rescued an innings that was dipping into the doldrums, with a breathtaking 189 from just 161 balls, the second equal highest score in the history of one-day international cricket.Then, with India needing to score a mammoth 300 runs to win, the Sri Lanka bowlers ripped through the top order. Within 24 balls, both Tendulkar (5) and Ganguly (3) were left brooding in the dressing room. India’s chances of winning had been squashed and any self-belief that had previously lingered had now vanished.The Indian middle order capitulated. The only batsman to reach double figures was Robin Singh (11) and India were bowled out for just 54 runs. This was the lowest total ever in the history of one-day cricket in Sharjah and the third lowest in the world.Chaminda Vaas finished with a career best 5 for 14 from his 9.3 overs. Both he and Zoysa bowled aggressively, perhaps fuelled by the inspirational batting of their captain. Everything they did appeared to bring dividends.Ganguly, Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh (3) all played too early and were caught in front of the wicket. Vinod Kambli (3) was brilliantly caught at slip by Jayasuriya, and Zoysa picked up his first wicket when Badani (9) top edged a pull shot straight to Russel Arnold. India were 5 wickets down for 30 and Mutiah Muralitharan had not even marked out his run.When he did, it brought instantaneous success. His third ball, a fizzing, dipping off spinner clean bowled Dahiya (4). Then, in his next over, an arm ball deceived Robin Singh and he too was bowled. To add insult to injury Sunil Joshi was run out in school boyish fashion before Muralitharan and Vaas wrapped up the innings.The batting was piteous, of that there can be no doubt. However, it was the innings of Sanath Jayasuriya that sapped the self-belief of the Indians, and, ultimately was responsible for Sri Lanka winning their fifth match in succession and securing their second triangular tournament title in five months.Sri Lanka were on the ropes. After a brisk start the Indian fast bowlers had fought back and the run-rate had slowed. When Kumar Sangkkara flayed nonchalantly at Tendulkar and dragged the ball onto to his stumps, Sri Lanka were 116 for 4 in the 28th over. The batting became subdued and the running nervy.However, crucially, Sanath Jayasuriya, was still at he crease and he was joined by Russel Arnold, who exerted a calming influence upon his leader. The pair rescued the innings. Arnold was content to nurdle the ball into the gaps to give Jayasuriya the strike.From the very first delivery he faced, which was dispatched to the cover fence, he missed no opportunity offered. His iron wrists and bulging forearms created immense power in his shots and he hit four sixes and 21 boundaries in total.When he reached his century he ran amok, scoring 89 runs from 43 balls and took the game away from India. Ganguly admitted as much afterwards: “We are really disappointed. We had reduced them to 116 for 4 but, then, Sanath batted brilliantly and batted us out of the game. All credit should go to him.”During the carnage, somewhere in the outfield lurked a distraught Sunil Joshi. He had committed the cardinal sin of dropping Jayasuriya when he had made just 93. The left arm spinner had just been recalled into the attack after a miserly first spell of seven overs for 21 runs. Jayasuriya shimmied up the wicket and offered the bowler a relatively simple catch. So confident was Joshi off catching it that his arms flew, prematurely, into the air in celebration. Alas, the ball remained on the turf and with it disappeared India’s chance of winning the match.Unsurprisingly, Jayasuriya dominated the awards ceremony and made a small fortune for his troubles. He won the best batsman, best fielder, fastest fifty, most sixes, the man of the man match and, finally, the man of the series.When interviewed afterwards, he was his normal modest self, albeit with a brighter twinkle in the eye: “We have played as a team throughout the tournament and that is why we have won all fours games. It has been fantastic and I would like to thank all the players for being so supportive.”Murali too, paid tribute to the team ethic: “I am of course happy to have broken the world record, but I have to thank the team because without them it not have been done. I feel that I am bowling the best that I ever have and am really enjoying it.”They are right of course. The key to this Sri Lankan team has been the togetherness. The team play together, live together and enjoy each others company. They consider themselves, not individuals, but part of a whole. It is a state that Ganguly would dearly love to re-create.

Nepal 29 for 0 (Bhandari 24*) beat China 26 (Lamichhane 3-4, Regmi 3-5) by ten wickets
ScorecardChina has long been described as a dormant superpower, but where cricket is concerned, it is clearly still in the deepest of slumbers.It took their next-door neighbours Nepal just 1.5 overs to hunt down a miniscule total of 26, as China slumped to their fifth defeat out of five in the ICC’s latest regional qualifier for the next World T20 in 2020.With a population of approximately 1.5 billion people, China has a burgeoning and focussed interest in global sporting prowess – from their hosting of the 2008 Olympics to the recent relaunch of the super-rich China Super League, they aim to create a GBP500 billion dollar sports industry by 2025.But where cricket is concerned, China remains way off the pace – despite the best endeavours of the former Bangladesh captain, Aminul Islam, who described himself as the “Neil Armstrong of Chinese cricket” when he was appointed by the Asian Cricket Council a decade ago oversee the growth of the game in the country.”We are putting extra effort into China, because without China, cricket is not a global sport,” Aminul told ESPNcricinfo back in 2010. On the current evidence, the sport will remain a second-class citizen for some years to come.In today’s non-contest, just one Chinese batsman, Hong Jiang Yan reached double figures – opening the batting he made 11 from 27 balls, having made scores of 1, 0, 1 and 1 in his first four outings of the tournament.Seven of their players made ducks, two of them falling to Nepal’s star of the show, the 18-year-old legspinner, Sandeep Lamichhane, who returned the stunning figures of 3 for 4 in four overs to take his tally for the tournament to 20 wickets in 17 overs at an average of 2.05.In reply, Nepal’s openers galloped to their total in an 11-ball flurry – with Binod Bhandari clobbering 24 of those in eight deliveries, with three fours and a six.Nepal have now won five games out of five, with a top-of-the-table showdown to come against Singapore on Friday. Both sides have already secured their progression to next year’s WT20 Asian finals, with Nepal sealing their berth with their 117-run win over Bhutan on Tuesday.For China, it’s back to the drawing board – although they have one last outing to come against Malaysia on Friday. And given that Malaysia themselves reduced Myanmar to 9 for 8 in another extraordinary contest on Tuesday, the portents are great.On the plus side, China still have time to get their ambitions in order before these beatings take on any official status. The ICC recently announced that all T20Is would be given full international status, but effective only from January 1, 2019.Fortunately, that edict won’t be extended to 50-over contests, in which China’s record is no better. In April 2017, they lost by 390 runs to Saudi Arabia after being bowled out for 28 in a World League Qualifier.