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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Mahmudullah leads his team off the field after a historic win•AFP

Four years and six months after their first Test win, Bangladesh sealed a historic second victory when they beat West Indies by 95 runs in St Vincent. Bangladesh’s spin twins Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah weaved a tantalising web to consign a weakened West Indies to defeat. The only resistance came from David Bernard, who defied everything thrown at him for 134 balls to remain unbeaten on 52.The champagne moment arrived at 4.40 pm local time when Shakib, the stand-in captain, nailed last man Tino Best in front with a dipping full toss with only ten overs left in the day. Best put up his bat as if to suggest he had edged it but the finger was up and the Bangladeshi fielders converged in a huddle of joy, soon joined by a limping Mashrafe Mortaza.It was an enthralling last couple of sessions in a beautiful setting, the Kingstown stadium ringed by the sea. The cricket was almost sub-continental in its elements. Spinners operated with several close-in men prowling near the batsmen waiting for a mistake, and an over-excited chirpy wicketkeeper, Mushfiqur Rahim, applying immense pressure on the batsmen and the umpires with his appeals exclamations. And when the seamers came on, it wasn’t seam but reverse swing on view with the slinging Rubel Hossain and the grunting Shahadat Hossain trying their best to break through.The plot thickened in the last session, as Bernard found a willing partner in Nikita Miller, suggesting a replay of Cardiff, where England pulled off a great escape on Sunday. But Mohammad Ashraful, who failed in both innings with the bat, stamped his presence on the game by removing Miller, who’d stayed on his back foot to defend stoutly for 54 balls, with one that straightened to get the edge. Mahmudullah returned to trap Ryan Austin and take out Kemar Roach before Shakib sealed the finish.Until then, Bernard had proved to be a huge headache to the visitors, standing solidly between them and history. His CV describes him as a stylish batsman but today he added grit to the existing grace. Despite the tremendous pressure, he managed to bat with some elegance, using his wrists to ride the turn and bounce on the final-day wicket. While the rest pushed hard at the ball, he played with soft hands and defended confidently.The contest with Shakib was top-notch, with the bowler shifting angles and trying everything in his arsenal – left-arm breaks, straighter one, arm-ball, round-arm delivery, over and round-the-wicket – to beat a batsman batting in the zone. He moved forward or back, as the length demanded of him, using his wrists to drop the ball down short of the fielders. When the spin noose tightened, he had the courage to play the pressure-relieving strokes like the lofted drives and the cuts. He survived a close lbw shout in the 44th over against Shakib when a ball straightened to hit the pad in front of the stumps but, that blemish apart, he was pretty solid.However, Shakib and Mahmudullah ensured no other batsmen would deny them a slice of history. Shakib, hailed by the former Australian spinner Kerry O’ Keefe as the “best finger spinner in the world”, turned in a suffocating spell of left-arm spin to relentlessly force the pressure on West Indies. Shakib was slightly slow through the air in the first innings and couldn’t pose too many problems on a slow track. Today, though, he ripped it slightly quicker and immediately looked threatening. He varied his pace, even his angle, by lowering the arm on occasion and, unsurprisingly, was the better of the two spinners, despite finishing with fewer wickets. He occasionally got the ball to straighten and slipped in a few with the arm.In his first over Shakib harassed Omar Phillips before going past an attempted sweep to trap the batsman. Later, after Darren Sammy and Bernard had added 37 in 11.3 overs, he struck, removing Sammy with a little bit of help from the batsman. Suddenly, against the run of play and just before tea, Sammy jumped out and sliced an ambitious square drive straight to point.Even when he was not taking wickets, Shakib kept the pressure on and by keeping the batsmen on a leash, allowed Mahmudullah the space to wreak some damage. At one point in the chase the keeper Rahim shouted out to Mahmudullah: “Just keep hitting the right areas; the pitch will take care of the rest”. Mahmudullah did exactly that to pick up three quick wickets after lunch before he returned to take another two in the last session. He increased the pressure with his accuracy and made the batsmen play at every ball. It paid off – and how.Floyd Reifer, who was tormented by Shakib, showed himself to be a prime lbw candidate. Time and again, that front leg was pressed dangerously across but he managed to stab and jab his way out against Shakib. But Mahmudullah finally broke through with one that landed and straightened to strike that front leg. His next victim was Travis Dowlin, inducing a nervous prod straight to short-leg. Chadwick Walton walked in and started off with a second-ball six but was done in by one that kept low from Mahmudullah and was struck in front of the leg stump.The slide had started with a moment of madness from the opener Dale Richards who added 20 runs in two overs before he had a brain freeze. He ambled out of the crease after being hit on the pad by Shahadat Hossain, all the while looking anxiously at the umpire for the verdict on the lbw appeal, which went in his favour, but was run out by a direct hit. That allowed Bangladesh the opening and they stormed through.When the day started, it looked as if Bangladesh were dawdling with the bat and not showing enough urgency to either go for quick runs or leave many overs as possible to bowl out West Indies. However, Darren Sammy took a five-for to bowl them out and that proved a blessing in hindsight as it allowed their spinners enough time to bowl them to a euphoric triumph.

The ICC has said that the IPL will not be given a permanent slot in the international cricketing calendar. Many top cricketers missed out during the two editions of the league due to national commitments, prompting calls for granting the tournament a permanent window in the ICC calendar.However, the game’s governing body is not considering such a proposal at the moment. “No we are not considering giving a window to IPL. Mr Lalit Modi [the IPL commissioner] has frequently said that a window for IPL is not appropriate and I agree with him,” ICC president David Morgan told PTI.Asked whether this could lead to players opting out of bilateral tours to take part in the IPL, Morgan said it would only happen in the case of those on the brink of retirement. “I think some cricketers who are coming to the end of their career will opt to play in domestic leagues like IPL,” Morgan said. “But I believe established international cricketers will want to play international cricket.Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive, had earlier said that an IPL window would be considered for the new Future Tours Programme (FTP) and opposed calls for an expansion of Twenty20 cricket at the international level.But he was cautious about the move which had the strong backing of players and their unions, questioning if such a development would create a precedent for other domestic Twenty20 leagues around the world.”We will explore that,” Lorgat had told Cricinfo. “We will look at all things. We are busy discussing the FTP post-2012, and we will have to look logically at what is right. But it’s very difficult for us to create a window for a domestic event, because that’s not what the FTP is.”The FTP is an international basket of fixtures. That’s what it is. The rest of the domestic seasons for every member country sort themselves out. You could feasibly (create an IPL window), but why would you do it? It’s a domestic event. If you do it in one domestic season, what about all the other domestic seasons? There could be many others that arise. The FTP is done by the members for international fixtures.”

Sri Lanka women enter the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 as underdogs, and have more concerns than they did when they participated in the Women’s World Cup in Australia, where they failed to get past the first stage. They take on Pakistan women in their first game in Taunton on June 12 – a contest that can be termed a grudge battle.Sri Lanka’s 57-run defeat to Pakistan in the World Cup in Canberra cost them a place in the Super Six. For a large part, Sri Lanka had only themselves to blame for that stunning loss because they allowed Pakistan off the hook with some indisciplined bowling, conceding 18 wides. They faltered in their batting too, with three batsmen succumbing to run-outs.”Despite our disappointing performances in the Women’s World Cup, the morale of the girls is very high. They are very keen to make amends when they meet Pakistan again in the Twenty20 version. You need to depend on luck also to win this type of game,” coach Chitral Mendis said during the team’s final practice session at the NCC grounds.The team leaves for London Thursday to take part in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 at Taunton from June 11-21 where they are grouped with the same teams as in the World Cup in Australia- Pakistan, England and India.”I am sure these girls will put up a better performance than they did in the World Cup. Our bowling and fielding is brilliant, it is the batting which is a concern,” Mendis said.Shashikala Siriwardene was the captain of the Sri Lanka women’s team for the World Cup earlier in the year, but was subsequently dropped for disciplinary reasons•Getty Images

Sri Lanka will be greatly handicapped in this department with the absence of three of their experienced players – former captain Sashikala Siriwardene, opening batsman Dedunu Silva and all-rounder Suwini de Alwis who have been left out on disciplinary grounds. These players topped Sri Lanka’s batting averages in the recently concluded World Cup.”We will definitely miss them, they have been our top performers in the past three series including the World Cup. Without their experience our batting is bound to struggle but we will have to play with what we have. Others will have to take on the responsibility to put the runs on the board. I am banking a lot on opening bat Chamari Polgampola who is also the captain, vice captain Eshani Kaushalya and newcomer Chamari Atapattu. I am sure they will make up for the loss,” he said.The three new replacements are Atapattu who was a member of the Asia Cup squad but didn’t get an opportunity to play, Chamika Bandara who played one match against West Indies and Sandamali Dolawatte, a former captain. The squad has trained hard for the past one month, trying to iron out the faults that have cost them matches they ought to have won.Mendis said one of the main reasons for so many run outs in the World Cup (ten run-outs in four matches) was due to lack of practice facilities on centre wickets and erratic calling.”There is no communication between them when running between the wickets,” he said. Lack of experience is one reason because they have played very few international games. They try to take a run off every ball which you can’t do against good sides. We have rectified this shortcoming to a great degree.”Mendis pointed out Sri Lanka’s disadvantage relative to countries like England and India, as the two have far more exposure to domestic cricket at the professional level. Particularly in England, where players tend to take up the sport at the age of 13.”So they are far ahead of us,” Mendis said. “Our girls start their careers from club level at the age of about 19-20 years which is a distinct disadvantage. Even our club standard is very low compared to other countries. We need to organise more tournaments for our girls to raise their standard. We must start playing at least softball cricket at school level.”Mendis is in his second year as the national coach of the women’s team, and his contract expires in December.

Yorkshire’s legspinner, Adil Rashid, has set his sights on an Ashes call-up in a summer in which England’s trump card against Australia could well be the depth and versatility of their slow bowling.Rashid, who was picked by England for his first senior tour in the Caribbean this winter, knows that he is currently a long way down the pecking order behind Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. Nevertheless, at the age of 21, an international cap is already a matter of when, not if, and Rashid is ready to take whatever comes his way this summer.”My main aim is just to keep bowling and get wickets for Yorkshire, and if I can get a part in the Ashes squad, that would be a great experience for me,” Rashid told Cricinfo. “I know what’s got to be done, I just need to keep performing and working hard, and looking to improve. If I can do that, there’s a great chance to break into the England team.”It was a great experience going to the West Indies with the main squad,” he said. “There are some big names in the England squad, and I’d never been to the Caribbean before, so I had to learn about different conditions and different pitches, but it was a great experience in general.”Rashid was a guest this week of the Yorkshire Bank Community Cricket Talent Programme, which aims to uncover 150 talented young cricketers in the region by 2012. “I think the main aim for any young player is to break into the Test team,” he said. “Twenty20 is more there for the fans, because there’s more excitement. But the real cricket only happens at Test level.For wristspinners in particular, who rely on rhythm and thrive in long spells, the demands of Twenty20 cricket are hard to cope with. “It’s part of the game and it’s got to be done, but when you’re coming on for two overs then coming off again, it is difficult to get the pace and rhythm right. But Twenty20 do teach you where to bowl, how to bowl and when to bowl, and if a batter gets after you, what to bowl.”Rashid is something of an anomaly in the world game at present. Since the retirement of Shane Warne, legspin has ceased to be the pre-eminent form of slow bowling, with fingerspinners such as Swann, Panesar and Daniel Vettori taking centre stage instead. “There are not many around,” said Rashid. “There are a couple in county cricket, but it is pretty tough because it’s a difficult art in general. You have your bad days and good days, but when you get it right it’s a great sight.”He did not witness the traumatic debut of Australia’s Bryce McGain, who conceded 149 runs in 18 wicketless overs against South Africa in Cape Town earlier this year, but Rashid agreed with the assessment of Warne that legspinners need a lot of love as they try to make their way in the game.”You’ve got to be looked after,” said Rashid. “If you get hit for a six and a four, the captain must accept that a legspinner is also a ‘risk’ spinner. He goes for runs but he’s there to take wickets as well. It shouldn’t be a bad thing if he gets hit for a six or a four, he shouldn’t be taken off in the next over.”Another factor in Rashid’s favour, however, is the rapid development of his batting. With two first-class centuries to his name already, he added an unbeaten 58 against Warwickshire earlier this month to get his 2009 season underway. “I think I’ll always be a legspinner first and foremost, but I’m batting pretty well this season,” he said. “I’ve been working closely with a few players, and I think the middle order, about 5 or 6, is my natural spot.”

Robert Key will lead a strong England Lions side in the tour match against the West Indians at Derby from April 28. Ian Bell, fighting for an England recall, is included while Sajid Mahmood also gets the chance to push his claims for a spot in the pace pack.Key, after leading the Lions in New Zealand and the MCC against Durham at the start of the season, has another opportunity to show his leadership credentials ahead of the announcement of the captain for the ICC World Twenty20 squad.Michael Vaughan, who yesterday told Cricinfo he was desperate for another chance at international level, hasn’t been included, but will have a Championship game the same week. However, by the time the Lions match begins the Test squad will already have been announced.Samit Patel is edging his way back into the selectors’ good books after being omitted from the one-day squad in the West Indies for being unfit. He has started the season in promising style with 95 in his first Championship innings against Worcestershire before being run out.”This is a really exciting summer for cricket in England and Wales and the Lions matches are excellent opportunities for players to push for England places,” Geoff Miller, the national selector, said. “The Lions squads feature players who display qualities that are capable of winning matches for England, so these games are very important.”Rob Key captained outstandingly well in New Zealand and then took the reins in similar fashion for the MCC in the champion county match, so he will continue to lead for the match against West Indies.”Tim Ambrose, who played the Barbados Test on the recent West Indies tour, takes the wicketkeeper’s position ahead of James Foster and Adil Rashid is the spinner.Squad Robert Key (capt), Stephen Moore, Ian Bell, Samit Patel, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Tim Ambrose (wk), Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Sajid Mahmood, Chris Woakes

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam is confident his spinners will cause problems for Australia’s batsmen, who have struggled against slow bowlers in the ongoing ODI series in South Africa, during the five-match series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi beginning on April 22.Australia were unable to counter offspinner Johan Botha effectively in both the home and away legs of the ODI series against South Africa and they also struggled against Roelof van der Merwe, who took 3 for 37 with his left-arm spin in the third ODI in Cape Townon Thursday.”I am pleased to see the Australians lost wickets against spinners and we too have three quality spinners. If the wickets assist slow bowlers we have a good chance,” Alam told AFP. “It all depends on the response from the pitch, but we can have more than one spinner in every match and get wickets.”The ground in Dubai is new, so we will have to check, and there is also the dew factor in the evening. Although there are plans to use chemicals to counter the dew during the innings break, we have to see how it works out during our practice match.”Pakistan have three spinners in their 15-man squad – the specialist offspinner Saeed Ajmal, and allrounders Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi. The Pakistan squad is currently attending a three-day camp before leaving for Dubai on Sunday.

Bryce McGain said last week that there are worse things than being12th man for Australia. He might have just discovered what one ofthose things is. At the end of his second day of Test cricket, McGainhad already taken an unwanted record: the 102 that his 11 overs hadcost left him with the worsteconomy rate of any bowler in a Test innings.It’s a fluid figure and he could slip down the list on the third daybut what won’t disappear is the pain of being mercilessly slappedaround the Newlands stadium by the centurions Ashwell Prince andJacques Kallis. There were a couple of overs that went for 13 each,two that cost 14 and one particularly nasty one that earned the SouthAfricans 18 runs.The South African spinner Paul Harris is famous for thrusting hishands up after nearly every ball, even if it has been defended off themiddle of the bat, seemingly trying to convince the batsman that heescaped a thunderbolt. McGain appeared unable even to persuade himselfthat he was a threat.After waiting three hours to be handed the ball on the third day,McGain was driven edgily over gully by Prince first ball. Had it flownto hand things could have been so much different. Instead, the batsmenkept attacking and McGain lost confidence, alternating betweendropping short and pitching too full.It was a most uncharacteristic display from a man whose greateststrength at domestic level is his control. Not usually an enormousturner of the ball, McGain strangles batsmen through constant pressureand, though it’s hard to believe from his figures in Cape Town, is atough and restrictive one-day bowler for Victoria.”He was under pressure that whole time,” Australia’s coach Tim Nielsensaid. “The scoreboard’s ticking over, he can see the runs up againsthis name and I think the pressure just got a bit much today, it was apretty hard initiation to Test match cricket.”He didn’t bowl anywhere near as consistently as he would like, hebowled both full and short. I think a pretty good indication was whenhe bowled a couple of overs to Kallis and all of a sudden he had adeep midwicket and he took out one of the attacking players on the offside, which to a legspinner would be normally where you would like tobe getting them to hit. He was probably trying to defend his badball.”Were it a young legspinner trying to make his mark on Tests, it couldhave been devastating. McGain clearly was not jumping for joy but at37, he has learnt to stay calm and for the most part his body languagedidn’t give away the angst that must have been running through hismind.But as the camera zoomed in on his red face following anotherexpensive over, and he deliberately avoided looking up at the bigscreen, he must have been wondering if this was it. After nearly twodecades of club cricket, was he to become a one-cap wonder? Was anAshes tour slipping from his grasp?Nothing has gone right for McGain on this trip, from missing the planeback home and arriving in South Africa after his team-mates, to beingbelted on a flat pitch in the warm-up game in Potchefstroom, to goingdown with gastro on the eve of the first Test in Johannesburg. Nielsensaid McGain would not necessarily have played in Cape Town had MarcusNorth not fallen ill on the day before the match.The challenge is for him to put the disastrous day behind him andprove on the third day that he can be a Test-class bowler. He is goodenough to do that but only if his confidence hasn’t taken a fataldive. Seven South African wickets remain and with the strongpossibility that they may not bat again during the match, it could bethe most important day of McGain’s career.”He’s got a bit of learning to do,” Nielsen said. “He’s had a toughday today. The real test will be to turn up tomorrow morning and tryand learn from today and not run away from the challenge. He needs toreally present himself and bowl those overs in the first session so wecan thump away with our quicks and hopefully get a couple of earlywickets.”

Six of India’s Test squad could be allotted warm-up opportunities in New Zealand’s first-class competition ahead of the first Test in Hamilton next month, according to a report in a local newspaper. India have no practice games during their visit and Justin Vaughan, New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive, said the idea to send the players out to the six provinces was only a plan at the moment.”India have bent over backwards to accommodate our wish for three Tests so we have to give them some warm-up,” Vaughan was quoted as saying in the . “I said to them: `We won’t leave you in the lurch, we will give you some decent warm-up,’ and one way or the other we will honour that.”Vaughan said NZC had yet to approve the idea. The six players concerned are Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Amit Mishra, L Balaji, Dhawal Kulkarni and M Vijay. According to Vaughan, they may turn out to play the State Championship round from March 6-9 either by a “contestable process” or “random allocation”.The reworked schedule resulted in the dates for the second Twenty20 game and the first three ODIs being brought forward. The three-day warm-up match against a New Zealand XI in Lincoln between the ODIs and Tests was also scrapped. Vaughan was hesitant to set up a practice match because that would mean the board would need to line up 16 players from a domestic circuit already without national representation and the New Zealand A squad.”I wish there was a better way to do it, we are still evaluating the options. We haven’t reached a final decision on it it will probably be next week,” said Vaughan. “My board is considering it at the moment and I’ve talked briefly to the major associations about it. I understand if there is some opposition to it.”However, Heath Mills, the head of the New Zealand Players’ Association, said in the , “If they think they can change the conditions halfway through the competition we would be absolutely against that.”The BCCI said they were looking at a final proposal from NZC before giving their consent. “They also want to make sure that none of the states sides which the Indians may represent have any ICL players. We will wait for the New Zealand board decision,” Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI’s chief administrative officer said.During England’s tour of New Zealand a year ago, NZC agreed to allow James Anderson to turn out for Auckland in their four remaining fixtures of the State Championship. Anderson was released by the England management before returning to join the squad ahead of the second Test, and the fast bowler returned in style with five wickets. Vaughan had said then that it was not a popular decision, but this time he it was different because it was “almost a deal to get them [India] here for three Tests.”Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, the previous chief selector, felt the players picked for only the Tests would have benefited with an India A tour of the country at the end of the Ranji season last month. “Rahul and Laxman, besides M Vijay, Dhawal Kulkarni and L Balaji, would have got used to the conditions better for the Test series in the absence of any practice games,” he told PTI. “A little bit of planning and insight would have benefited them after the long layoff from cricket. Also the fringe players would have been helped by their presence in the India A squad.”

Match facts

Saturday February 21 – Wednesday February 25
Start time 10.00am (05:00GMT)

Big Picture

It might just be a two-Test series but it will be of significant importance for both teams. Pakistan, playing their first Test in over 14 months, have experienced a serious dearth of cricket in the country owing to security reasons, and will be led by a man given his third shot at the captaincy. Sri Lanka will be captained for the last time by their most successful leader ever and will try to give him a befitting farewell.It’s not just a simple matter of pitting skills against each other, but finding a state of mind to approach the future. The preparation showed that. Pakistan closeted themselves in an isolation camp while preparing for the series – no outsiders were allowed, the players strived to spend some quality time together and shy players were encouraged to open up; even the former captain Shoaib Malik, it’s said, mixed around with his team-mates.By announcing his resignation early, to the surprise of many in the team, Mahela Jayawardene has allowed his team-mates to regroup for one final campaign under him. In recent times, they have wandered across continents, looking increasingly jaded on the field. The announcement by Jayawardene might help them to shirk their mental weariness and regroup with purpose. If they can do that, the task for the next captain, widely expected to be Kumar Sangakkara, would be easy.

Form guide (most recent first)

PakistanDDLDL
Sri Lanka WWWLW

Watch out for …

Tharanga Paranavitana: Sri Lanka are desperately looking for an opener who can be consistent and Paranavitana, who replaced the out-of-form Michael Vandort in the squad, is almost certain to debut. With 893 runs at 74.41 and 621 at 51.75 in the last two editions of Sri Lanka’s domestic first-class competitions, he is the one for the future. Shoaib Malik: The ‘former captain’ is a label that either pushes people on a downward spiral or charges them to prove a point. Younis apart, Malik will be the man that Pakistan will watch eagerly. The captaincy exit could open the door for Malik the player to really assert himself. No more tough press conferences to attend, no more bickering about his ‘aloofness’, nothing else to do but play cricket. He might just thrive. He will take heart from the past. He averages 66.50 from four Tests against Sri Lanka.

Team news

Pakistan have already picked their 12. Asim Kamal, recalled out of the wilderness, Fawad Alam and Ahmed Shahzad have been cut. Younis has said he would not like to go in with makeshift openers, which means Salman Butt should be partnered by the debutant Khurram Manzoor, who has played seven ODIs. Younis has expressed faith in allrounder Yasir Arafat’s skills so Pakistan will probably decide on one of either rookie, Mohammad Talha, with 34 wickets from six first-class games, or Sohail Khan.Pakistan: (likely) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Khurram Manzoor, 3 Younis Khan (capt), 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Faisal Iqbal, 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Yasir Arafat, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Danish Kaneria, 11 Mohammad Talha/Sohail Khan.Jayawardene was pretty certain of Sri Lanka’s batting composition – Paranavitana, who scored 621 runs with three centuries at an average of 51.75 this season, should open – but said the bowling needed some more thinking. Chaminda Vaas is almost certain to come back and take up the attack, but his new-ball partner remains uncertain. Dilhara Fernando and Thilan Thushara haven’t been at their best recently, and the third option is Farveez Maharoof, who doesn’t bowl at much pace. Fernando and Thushara are quicker but Maharoof’s batting would be handy. It’s a tough call for the management.Sri Lanka: (likely) 1 Malinda Warnapura, 2 Tharanga Paranativana, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Farveez Maharoof, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Ajantha Mendis.

Pitch & conditions

Younis said that he had instructed the curator to make a pitch which is suitable for Testcricket. “There should be some life for both batsmen and bowlers,” Younis said. Sri Lanka’s captain Jayawardene felt the pitch looked like a good batting track.

Stats & Trivia

Quotes

“The test team is quite different. There are only four or five guys who played in one-day cricketso most of the guys are fresh so it’s good for us as a team.”
“Boys should not support me but they should support Pakistan and support themselves and with this I think everything will be simplified, I am a very open person and that’s what I want from the boys too, the purpose of organizing the camp was that if someone has something against anyone he should come up in open and you will know how the team looks tomorrows”.

Scorecard
Points table

Phillip Hughes strengthened his case to tour South Africa with an unbeaten 82 but Phil Jaques failed again as New South Wales built a commanding lead in Newcastle. After Tasmania’s Brett Geeves was agonisingly stranded on 99 for the second time this season, the Blues pushed 350 in front with Hughes and Daniel Smith, who was yet to score, at the crease.It continued a brilliant match for Hughes, who scored 151 in the first innings and now has 891 for the summer. Of the other men hoping for a South African trip, Jaques was caught behind off Gerard Denton for 12, while Jason Krejza picked up 1 for 52.New South Wales had decided against enforcing the follow-on despite taking a big first-innings lead of 193. It could have a much greater advantage were it not for the strong efforts of Tim Paine (63) and Geeves, who struck 12 fours and two sixes, in Tasmania’s lower-order fightback.As Geeves and Tim Macdonald added 55 for the final wicket, Geeves moved within sight of a maiden first-class century, having missed out in November when he was left one short when Macdonald was caught at slip. Then came the unwanted déjà vu as Geeves again worked his way to 99 only to see Macdonald caught behind off Mark Cameron for 3.Things didn’t get any better for Geeves, who then failed to bowl in New South Wales’ second innings. Denton collected 2 for 28 but Tasmania looked extremely unlikely to take any points from the match as they aimed to close the gap with the second-placed Queensland, who lost within three days in Brisbane.<BR clear="all"