Sri Lanka hope to level series despite Hughes ton

COLOMBO : Sri Lanka kept their hopes alive of securing a series-levelling win over Australia in the final Test in Colombo on Monday, despite an unbeaten century from opener Phil Hughes.Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath grabbed all three wickets as the tourists, trailing by 157 runs on the first innings, ended the fourth day's play at 209-3 in their second knock at the Sinhalese Sports Club.Hughes was unbeaten on 122 and skipper Michael Clarke was on eight, with Australia going into the final day on Tuesday 52 runs ahead with seven wickets in hand.Clarke's men will need to bat out at least two of the last three sessions to draw the match and clinch the series 1-0 on the back of a 125-run win in the first Test in Galle.The rain-hit second match in Pallekele was drawn.Hughes had walked to the crease in danger of losing his spot in the team after failing to score a half-century in 11 innings since an unbeaten 86 against New Zealand in March last year.The left-hander, who had an umpire's review for a catch at the wicket go in his favour off the last ball of the day, responded with an aggressive knock that contained 16 boundaries and a six.Hughes had also survived a review for leg-before on 99 before cutting seamer Chanaka Welegedara for two runs later in the same over to bring up his third Test century.Hughes celebrated the landmark by raising his fist towards the travelling Australian media in the press box before he acknowledged the cheers from his team-mates and the crowd.Hughes contributed 36 in an opening stand of 62 with Shane Watson, who fell leg-before to Herath for 21 when a TV review overturned umpire Tony Hill's decision to reprieve the batsman.Shaun Marsh added 60 for the second wicket with Hughes when he was given out by Hill, caught at short-leg off Herath, even though replays showed the ball made no contact with the bat.Marsh, surprisingly, did not ask for a review.Hughes then put on 66 for the third wicket with Ricky Ponting, before the former captain edged a vicious turner from Herath to the slips after making 28.Earlier, Sri Lanka gained a sizeable lead through a maiden Test century from vice-captain Angelo Mathews.Mathews returned unbeaten on 105 as the hosts added 45 runs to their overnight score of 428-6 before they were all out for 473 shortly before lunch on the fourth day.Fast bowler Peter Siddle claimed two of the last four Sri Lankan wickets to finish with 4-91 from 35 overs. Trent Copeland and Mitchell Johnson picked up two wickets each.Siddle bowled Shaminda Eranga for 12 and trapped Herath leg-before for three within the first hour.Mathews was stranded on 95 when Sri Lanka lost their ninth wicket, but the right-hander reached the coveted century by driving Siddle to the cover fence for his 10th boundary.The 24-year-old has been one of Sri Lanka's few batting stars in the series, having made 95 in the first Test and 58 in the drawn second game.Last man Suranga Lakmal contributed 13 in a 10th-wicket stand of 23 with Mathews before he was bowled by Johnson.

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Hughes leads Aussies fight back against Sri Lanka

COLOMBO : Phil Hughes hit timely form as Australia fought hard to wriggle out of a tight corner in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Monday.Hughes was unbeaten on 78 as the tourists, trailing by 157 runs on the first innings, moved to 127-2 in their second knock at tea on the fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.Michael Clarke's Australia need to bat out a major part of the last four sessions to draw the match and win the series 1-0 on the back of a 125-run victory in the first Test in Galle.Hughes had walked to the crease in danger of losing his spot in the team after failing to score a half-century since an unbeaten 86 against New Zealand in March last year.The left-handed opener responded with an aggressive knock that contained 11 boundaries and a six.Hughes contributed 36 in an opening stand of 62 with Shane Watson, who fell leg-before to Rangana Herath for 21 when a TV review overturned umpire Tony Hill's decision to reprieve the batsman.Shaun Marsh added 60 for the second wicket with Hughes when he was given out by Hill, caught at short-leg off Herath, even though replays showed the ball made no contact with the bat.Former captain Ricky Ponting, who replaced Marsh, had yet to score.Sri Lanka, needing a win to draw the series, gained a sizeable lead through a maiden Test century from vice-captain Angelo Mathews.Mathews returned unbeaten on 105 as the hosts added 45 runs to their overnight score of 428-6 before they were all out for 473 shortly before lunch on the fourth day.Fast bowler Peter Siddle claimed two of the last four Sri Lankan wickets to finish with 4-91 from 35 overs. Trent Copeland and Mitchell Johnson picked up two wickets each.Siddle bowled Shaminda Eranga for 12 and trapped Herath leg-before for three within the first hour.Mathews was stranded on 95 when Sri Lanka lost their ninth wicket, but the right-hander reached the coveted century by driving Siddle to the cover fence for his 10th boundary.The 24-year-old has been one of Sri Lanka's few batting stars in the series, having made 95 in the first Test and 58 in the drawn second game.Last man Suranga Lakmal contributed 13 in a 10th-wicket stand of 23 with Mathews before he was bowled by Johnson.

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Mathews' ton gets S Lanka 157-run lead over Aussies

COLOMBO : Angelo Mathews scored his maiden test hundred to give Sri Lanka a handy first-innings lead of 157 against Australia on the fourth day of the third and final Test on Monday. Mathews, unbeaten on 85 overnight, was stuck nervously in the nineties as he lost three partners in quick succession but finally got across the elusive 100-mark with a cover-driven four off Peter Siddle. Mathews, on 95 when the ninth wicket fell, would have tothank last man Suranga Lakmal for hanging around for 37 minutes to help him get to his century. The 24-year old all-rounder, who had twice been dismissed in the nineties in his 16-Test career, jumped into the air to celebrate his century and was warmly applauded by his team mates in the dressing room. Australia made early inroads into the Sri Lankan batting on Monday when Siddle breached the defence of debutant Saminda Eranga (12) and trapped Rangana Herath (3) leg before. Chanaka Welegedara (1) was run out after a misunderstanding with Mathews that saw both batsmen stuck at the non-strikers end. Siddle, who replaced the injured Ryan Harris for the final Test, was Australia's best bowler, finishing with four wickets for 91. Australian were 16-0 in their second innings, with Shane Watson and Phil Hughes at the crease at lunch. Australia lead the three-Test series 1-0.

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World wants to see Indo-Pak play: Saqlain

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan spin legend Saqlain Mushtaq, believes that the rival of Indo-Pak cricket series will be great as the entire world wants to see India and Pakistan play for the sheer passion the players show.There are talks that Indo-Pak cricket could be revived with India hosting a series in February-March 2012.“I personally feel that India and Pakistan should start a series on the lines of Ashes. But lets wait for the ties to resume first," Mushtaq said. Talking about Indian team's performance on the England tour, Mushtaq said, 'It was the failure of the team and you cannot just blame the spinners. You didn't have runs on the board and, in such scenario, the spinners can’t gamble".“The conditions were pacer-friendly and, as one saw, it was the pacers who did the trick for the hosts. So I don't think it would be right to blame the spinners alone,Mushtaq said that he thinks India's performance in England was an overall failure and no specific department should be blamed. "The injuries made things worse for India as they could not field a full-strength. I am sure that if India did not have injury problems, the outcome would have been different.In fact, I am sure that things will be different when England visits India next month. India should have all their players fit and the conditions will also favour them," he said.

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Fate of national T20 undecided

LAHORE : As Dengue continues its grip over Lahore, cricket seems to be its latest victim. The fate of the national T20 tournament which was scheduled to begin from the 25th of this month has now been cast in doubt Several teams have advocated that the venue for the tournament be changed from Lahore or the dates should be pushed back. According to sources the PCB has not made an official announcement about the tournament.

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Sri Lanka lead Australia by 157 runs

COLOMBO : Sri Lanka, replying to Australia's first innings total of 316, were all out for 473 before lunch on the fourth day of the third and final Test in Colombo on Monday.Angelo Mathews returned unbeaten on 105. The hosts, seeking a series-levelling win, lead Australia by 157 runs on the first innings.

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Sri Lanka take charge against Aussies

COLOMBO : Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan inspired Sri Lanka's tenacious batting display as the hosts took charge of the third cricket Test against Australia in Colombo on Sunday.Sri Lanka, seeking a series-levelling win, closed the third day's play at the Sinhalese Sports Club on 428-6 in their first innings, a lead of 112 runs over Australia's 316 with four wickets in hand.Dilshan struck a rousing 83, Kumar Sangakkara made 79 in his 100th Test appearance, Mahela Jayawardene hit 51 and Angelo Mathews returned unbeaten on 85 as Sri Lanka led Australia for the first time in the series.Prasanna Jayawardene chipped in with 47, sharing a sixth-wicket stand of 81 with Mathews that increased Australia's frustration in the field on a hot, humid day.Dilshan, who had contributed just 56 runs in the previous four innings of the series, hammered 14 boundaries before he was caught behind off Trent Copeland just before tea.Dilshan put on a valuable 121 for the fifth wicket with Mathews on either side of lunch after Australia had threatened to take charge in the morning session.Australian fast bowler Peter Siddle, who battled bravely in trying conditions to finish the day with 2-76 from 27 overs, said his team faced a tough task over the next two days.The tourists grabbed the crucial wickets of Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in the space of 12 runs after Sri Lanka resumed at the overnight score of 166-2.The pair, who compiled Test cricket's highest partnership of 624 at the same venue in 2006 against South Africa, put on 101 for the third wicket.The two former Sri Lankan captains appeared to have settled in for the long haul when Australia earned a lucky break.Jayawardene batted aggressively in the morning session to hit four boundaries but chased a wide ball from Shane Watson and edged a catch to wicket-keeper Brad Haddin.Jayawardene, who has hit 10 Test hundreds at the SSC, managed only a half-century this time.Australia claimed the second new ball after 81 overs and met with immediate success when Siddle dismissed a well-set Sangakkara with the fourth delivery.Sangakkara smashed the first ball to the cover fence, but edged a rising ball later in the same over to Haddin.Dilshan, an opening batsman who demoted himself to number five for this match, had a harrowing start to his innings.He left the first delivery from Watson, which dipped in dangerously close to the off-stump and had yet to get off the mark when a miscued shot off Watson fell just short of a diving Shaun Marsh at mid-on.Dilshan opened his account with a flick off Mitchell Johnson for a boundary, which also brought up Sri Lanka's 200 and then joined hands with Mathews to flay the Australian attack on a good wicket.Mathews reached his third half-century in the series with two boundaries in one Siddle over after resumption.Australia are ahead 1-0 in the series, having won the first Test in Galle by 125 runs

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Kuwait defeat Jersey in final-over thriller

Kuwait defeated Jersey in a final-over thriller to complete an exciting game today (Monday) at Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL Div. 6) in Kuala Lumpur. The two sides faced-off today after rain forced its fixture to be abandoned yesterday.The teams headed to Kinrara Oval for a 1030 start but heavy rainfall saw the game delayed but the clouds cleared in time for a reduced-overs fixture, 39 to be precise, which began at 1345 local time.The top order did not have a great start to the day with Jersey three down by the 15th over, Abdullah Akhunzada, Saad Khalid and Mohammed Naseer sharing the spoils. It was then up to captain Peter Gough alongside Corey Bisson to stabilize the Jersey innings which the duo did, both scoring half-centuries.Bisson departed on 54, after a call to run from Gough saw the 19-year-old not quite have the pace to make it to his crease in time and he was run out by Kuwaiti wicketkeeper Sharjeel Tahir. Gough anchored the team's innings until the 33rd over when he was caught by Mohammad Amin, while the rest of the Jersey side failed to sparkle with the bat. In contrast, Kuwait's fast bowler Saad and legbreak bowler Akhunzada both had good games take three wickets each to leave the side chasing 157 in its 39 overs.After a short break, Kuwait made light work of knocking of the runs in the afternoon sunshine at Kinrara Oval, Irfan Bhatti and Aamir Javed contributing 55 runs to the target before Bhatti was dismissed bowled by Ben Stevens on the last ball of the 10th over.Some good catching in the field saw Aamir and Saad Qamar dismissed off the bowling of James Faudemer, as things began to look bad for the Kuwaitis who slipped to 128-6 in the 28th over losing key middle-order batsmen Saad Khalid, Hisham Mirza and Sibtain Raza for just 34 runs.With 4.2 overs to go, and 20 runs to get, it was up to Naseer and Amin to try and steer the side home but Naseer departed after being clean bowled by Charles Perchard. The task of winning the game then fell to Amin and Akhunzada but Stevens had other ideas and the very next over clean bowled the former, setting up a thrilling final three overs.Akhunzada was promptly caught at short mid-wicket by Ben Silva off the bowling of Stevens, who was cleaning up the tail with aplomb, leaving Sharjeel Tahir and Azmatullah Nazeer to attempt to win the game for the Division 7 winners. Azmatullah smashed a huge six to bring the target down to six runs off nine balls, adding to that a couple of quick singles and the duo needed to strike four runs off the last over to give Kuwait victory. Despite Jersey's bowlers best efforts Azmatullah and Sharjeel had an alternative plan and needing just four off the last over the duo needed just three balls to seal the deal for the team and leaving Gough's Jersey to ponder another defeat."I thought we performed superbly in the field today and Ben Stevens did really well to work his way through the Kuwait batting line-up. Corey Bisson and myself did well batting today, but I know we have the strength in our top order in Sam de la Haye, Dean Morrison and Ben that we will bounce back as a batting unit and perform better tomorrow."We really pushed Kuwait and we just need another good day to get ourselves our first win, both of these first two matches have been tight and we've shown we've got the skills we just need to finish these games off with victory now," said the Jersey captain Gough.Kuwait coach Basil Jayawardene added: "I think as a team we're still getting used to the conditions here in Malaysia and we needed some time to bed into the tournament. Jersey definitely tested us as a side today but we managed to finish the game and seal the win with three balls to spare."Scores in brief after Round 2At Kinrara (39-over fixture) Jersey 156-8, 39 overs (Bisson 54, Gough 52; Akhunzada 3-22, Saad 3-31)Kuwait 157-9, 33.3 overs (Amir 42; Stevens 3-10, Faudemer 2-17) Kuwait won by one wicket

Pepsi ICC WCL Division 6 Points Table

Team	P	W	L	T	N/R	Pts	NRR
Malaysia	2	2	0	0	0	4	+2.34
Guernsey	2	2	0	0	0	4	+1.17
Fiji	2	1	0	0	1	2	-0.45
Kuwait	2	1	0	0	1	2	-0.638
Jersey	2	0	0	0	2	0	-0.148
Nigeria	2	0	0	0	2	0	-1.797

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