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Match Facts

September 8, Old Trafford
Start time 10.15am (0915 GMT)Australia captain Michael Clarke is still looking for his first win over England on tour•Getty Images

The Big Picture

Now the traditional Headingley washout has been concluded, it is time to move on to the cricket. Four remaining matches in the NatWest series still give two fresh and experimental squads time to show their true flavour. The sense of anticipation remains, although too many of the showers forecast for Manchester on Sunday might put a bit of a damper on proceedings.England have expectations that Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara can make the sort of impact batting at Nos. 5 and 6 that will carry them through to the 2015 World Cup. Confidence abounds following their hundreds against Ireland in Malahide and a partnership of 226, which was an ODI record for the fifth wicket. S Rajesh, in Numbers Game, has reflected upon England’s commitment since another failed World Cup campaign in 2011 to lifting the strike rate at this stage of the innings.Australia’s tour of England has so far included a 3-0 Ashes series loss, a Champions Trophy campaign in which they failed to win a match and only two international victories: a Twenty20 game against England and an ODI win over minnows Scotland.Fifty miles east of Manchester, Yorkshire will be rueing their ill luck. A third washout in five one-day internationals was not the sort of news that Yorkshire need when they are still wrestling with debts not far short of £20m. Profits of half a million from a capacity crowd of 17,250 have been washed away, leaving Yorkshire with no chance to recover the losses made on an under-budget Test against New Zealand in May. One money-saving scheme has been abandoned as Yorkshire have concluded that the floodlights at the defunct Don Valley athletics stadium are unsuitable.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
England WLWWL
Australia WLLWW

Watch out for…

Fawad Ahmed has attracted attention in the pre-match build-up because of criticism of Cricket Australia’s willingness to allow him to follow his religious beliefs and not wear a brewers’ logo on his shirt. The discord that has sounded from the wings cannot have eased his integration and he will be eager to do what he does best and remind everybody of his legspin prowess. For England, Ravi Bopara has had a decent summer. He played with a new maturity in the Champions Trophy and that century in Ireland furthered hopes that, at 28, he can yet have a consistently rewarding England career.

Team news

Ben Stokes has the capacity to make the grade as a fully fledged allrounder. He batted as low as No. 8 in Ireland but England have resisted the temptation to award a first cap to Chris Jordan, whose bowling suit is a little stronger. Australia are expected to retain the side that gave Scotland a 200-run thumping.England (possible) 1 Michael Carberry, 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Ben Stokes, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Boyd Rankin, 11 Steven FinnAustralia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Matthew Wade, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Fawad Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

After one of the warmest summers in northern England for many years, the weather has turned a little grouchy, which considering the 10.15am start could make bowling first a big temptation. The Old Trafford pitch was one of the better ones in the Ashes series, although the pace and bounce that was often apparent a few years ago is no longer as common.

Stats and trivia

• England’s last one-day defeat at Old Trafford came in 2006 against Sri Lanka. Since then they have won four in a row, including twice against Australia.
• Australia have won five and lost five of their ten ODIs at the ground.
• George Bailey needs 112 runs to reach 1000 in one-day internationals; Mitchell Johnson is five wickets short of 200.
• Ravi Bopara’s hundred against Ireland took him past Neil Fairbrother, Mike Gatting and Ian Botham on England’s run-scorers list.

Quotes

“My plan is to be annoying, just tick along at that door and hope one day someone comes along and opens it – and I get my chance.”
“He talked up his table tennis, and he’s let himself down a little bit there. That’s probably been a bigger issue for him.”

Fast bowler Fidel Edwards will join the West Indies A squad in India as the replacement for the injured left-arm seamer Sheldon Cotterell. Cotterell had to pull out of the tour after suffering from pain in his left knee.Cotterrell was named in both the limited-overs and four-day squads but did not play any of the three one-dayers or the one-off T20. He was not in the XI for the ongoing unofficial Test in Mysore.”It was a devastating blow when we found out that Sheldon was injured and could not play. He is one of the most promising quick bowlers we have in the West Indies,” team manager Lockhart Sebastien said. “We were looking forward to seeing him perform well on this tour for the West Indies A team, but unfortunately he has been ruled out due to injury.”He was impressive in recent months, especially in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and this was a great chance for him to show his skills again. We are still confident we have the bowlers to do the job and we expect the team to continue doing well on this tour.”Edwards last played for West Indies during the tour of Bangladesh late last year. He didn’t feature in West Indies’ home international season this year but played the CPL, in which he took nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul.Besides Edwards, the other seamers in the West Indies A squad in India are Miguel Cummins, Delorn Johnson and the allrounder Jonathan Carter.

England fast bowler James Anderson has his sights on taking 400 Test wickets, a milestone he said he could reach in around two years as long as he remains fit.Anderson, currently with 329 Test wickets, is second on England’s all-time wicket-takers list, behind Ian Botham (383).”Just 71 more! I don’t know. I’d like to think if I can stay fit, then I can do it,” Anderson said to Alison Mitchell on her Tea Break series on ESPNcricinfo. “Because if I’m still playing in a couple of years’ time, I’ve got to keep taking wickets to stay in the team. At the moment I’m really enjoying playing and being part of a successful team. That’s what makes me happy and why I keep getting out of bed.”Anderson said being second on England’s all-time list was “surreal”. “Even when I started my international career I didn’t think I’d get anywhere near that number of wickets, so being second on the list is still quite hard to believe.”Part of his success, Anderson said, he owes to David Saker, England’s bowling coach. “There are still occasions when I need some technical advice. He’s great at that too. Working out a batsman is something I’ve always enjoyed, and I think I’m fairly good at working out someone when I’m out there on the field, but I think actually planning and looking at video footage of people – that’s an area that’s got better over the years and he’s great at that.”Anderson gestures to David Saker on the balcony at Trent Bridge after taking his advice to dismiss Chris Rogers with a cutter•Getty Images

Giving an example of when Saker’s input had an immediate impact on his wickets tally, Anderson talked about a session break in the 2013 Trent Bridge Ashes Test, when Saker suggested bowling cutters to Chris Rogers. “The first cutter I bowled at Rogers, he chipped at midwicket. I think he [Saker] once had a slip of the tongue and said, ‘The bowlers are just putting his plans into place!’ He should take a lot of credit because he’s done a great job with us, but it is so satisfying when a plan comes off straight away.”Anderson is one of the most complete fast bowlers in the game today. He bowls conventional swing and seam, and has also had great success with reverse swing, which he learnt on the dry wickets of Old Trafford, early in his career.But to achieve reverse swing, a bowler needs help from his fielders to “keep the ball in the right condition”. Anderson said it took the England team some time to get a workable system going. “If you do one thing slightly wrong, it can take it another six overs to get it reversing. If you see us throwing it around the field it’ll be straight from one person to another.”We’ve got three people who look after it and the rest have to keep their hands off it. Obviously people have to field the ball so they’ve got to keep their hands dry as well. You’ll see us in Sri Lanka, where everyone had towels in their trousers and so on. One problem is Matt Prior, because he is dripping wet the whole time.”

ScorecardFile photo: Rahul Dalal struck eight fours during his 58•Sivaraman Kitta

A fine showing from Haryana’s top order- including fifties from Sunny Singh and Rahul Dalal- helped them to 296 for 8 against Jharkhand in Rohtak.With the exception of Nitin Saini who was dismissed for 8 in the fifth over, Haryana’s first six batsmen all scored at least 30.Sunny’s 53 included eight fours, and he added 84 for the second wicket with Abhimanyu Khod, but Haryana were quickly pegged back by two quick wickets in the 28th and 29th overs, that left them at 96 for 3.However, Dalal led the counterattack, putting up crucial stands of 71 and 54 for the fourth and fifth wickets with Avi Barot and Sachin Rana respectively. Dalal eventually departed for 58 – his second first-class half-century – having struck six fours, but Harshal Patel and Mohit Sharma continued the scoring, hitting a total of five fours and two sixes, that left the team on the verge of crossing the 300-run mark heading into day two.Shahbaz Nadeem picked up three wickets for Jharkhand, and Varun Aaron and Shankar Rao picked up two each.
ScorecardA young Gujarat attack played within its limitations to stifle and frustrate a strong Karnataka batting line-up that would be disappointed at its overall performance, given that the top order had done much of the ground work in a challenging first session.To read the full report, click here
ScorecardOn a wicket that aided pacers all throughout the day, Mumbai and Delhi both would be happy with the score at the end of the first day’s play in their Ranji Trophy Group A league tie at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra Kurla Complex facility. Or both the camps will perhaps be a tad disappointed with their efforts.To read the full report, click here
Scorecard Odisha’s slow and steady progress took them to a comfortable 226 for 3 at the end of the first day against Vidarbha as Niranjan Behera and Govind Podder scored half-centuries. Podder scored 74 after coming in at No. 4 and Behera was unbeaten on 90, getting closer to his third first-class hundred.Odisha had won the toss and elected to bat but the decision seemed erroneous initially when they lost both openers – Girjia Rout and Natraj Behera – to Amol Jungade within the space of eight deliveries, leaving them at 26 for 2. However, Niranjan Behera and Podder revived the innings with a stable and patient stand of 150 runs for the third wicket. While Podder scored his second consecutive fifty, which included nine fours and two sixes, Niranjan took much more time to score his 90 runs.The partnership was broken when left-arm pacer Shrikant Wagh had Podder caught behind at the score of 176. Niranjan and Biplab Samantray carried on till stumps by adding 50 runs together, out of which 31 were scored by Samantray.

Eoin Morgan’s presence in the Dhaka Premier League wasn’t much of a surprise given the number of international players in the domestic one-day tournament. His run of low scores was, however, inexplicable. In the end, it was Morgan’s 86 that helped Gazi Tank Cricketers clinch their maiden title when they comfortably beat Prime Doleshwar by 60 runs on Friday.Morgan was named the Man of the Match, receiving a rice-cooker as an award. He had totalled just 70 runs in his first four innings since arriving in mid-November, including getting run out for a duck in his previous innings against Mohammedan Sporting Club. He became slightly thoughtful when the query was about any worry on his part for not getting a big score.”Batting is a very funny game where you have lot of downs and very few ups,” Morgan said. “Today it was an up for which I am very grateful and to score runs and winning to become No 1 is all good news. You try as hard as you can for every game and today it just happened to be me who scored.””In the first couple of games I was unlucky, but today it was the most important game and we came across the line and became champions. I think, after the openers, and [Mahmudullah] Riyad and I really batted well. I have not made a lot changes but it was just that I was much positive and from there my mindset was just good.”The 101-run fourth-wicket stand between Morgan and the Gazi Tank captain Mahmudullah changed the course of the game. It took them from a relatively ordinary position in the 31st over to one of strength. Morgan and ten Doeschate then smashed a few to take the score to 295, a solid score considering the occasion and Gazi Tank’s bowling attack.Mahmudullah later credited his bowlers, particularly paceman Rubel Hossain and young left-arm spinner Naeem Islam jnr who dismantled the impressive Doleshwar line-up.”Rubel [Hossain] bowled well up front, followed by Naeem [Islam jnr],” Mahmudullah said. “It was the foundation of our win. We got regular wickets, and enforced the win. It was a total team effort throughout the league.”I was away on international duty after the first six games. Imrul [Kayes] led the side in some big games and did a very good job. We won a few more games after I returned. We made progress at every match. We have a very experienced coach in Sarwar Imran who worked a lot with the younger players. We had a lot of performers like Imrul [Kayes] and Raqibul [Hasan , Tendo and today there was Morgan.”Despite their strength in name and numbers, it was Doleshwar who were considered a close contender. In their previous encounter, it was Doleshwar who kept their nerve in the rain-affected game.”We knew that their team spirit was good,” Mahmudullah said. “They played very well at this ground to beat us in the first round. We needed around 30 runs in five overs with seven wickets in hand. Today we needed to take early wickets even after making 295 runs because they have a strong top-order.”The next domestic tournament in Bangladesh could be either a Twenty20 tournament organised to give the national cricketers some practice as they build towards the 2014 World Twenty20s at home, or either of the two first-class tournaments – National Cricket League and Bangladesh Cricket League.

Abahani picked up their first win in the Victory Day T20 competition, beating Mohammedan Sporting Club by 77 runs. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim starred with the bat to lead them to the comfortable victory.Batting first, Abahani posted 172 for 8 in 20 overs, with Mushfiqur making 59 off 38 balls. He hit eight fours and a six, adding 70 runs for the third wicket with Soumya Sarkar, who made a 33-ball 37. Later, Ziaur Rahman smashed three sixes in his 24 off 11 balls to take Abahani to 172.The Abahani bowlers combined well to bowl out Mohammedan for just 95 runs in 14.2 overs. Subashis Roy, Farhad Reza, Nabil Samad and Suhrawadi Shuvo took two wickets each.Prime Bank Cricket Club also picked up their first win of the competition, trouncing UCB-BCB XI by seven wickets. Pace bowler Shahadat Hossain starred with the ball while Sabbir Rahman scored a half-century.Batting first, UCB-BCB XI were kept down to 123 for 8 in 20 overs, with Marshall Ayub top-scoring with 40 off 30 balls. Shahadat took three wickets, including the prized scalp of captain Tamim Iqbal for five. He later removed Muktar Ali and Delwar Hossain.Sabbir was unbeaten on 50 off 41 balls with six fours and a six. Shakib made second highest with 33 off 25 balls with two fours.

Match facts

Thursday, January 16 – January 20, 2014
Start time 1000 local (0600 GMT)Saeed Ajmal will be desperate to put his fluctuating form behind him•AFP

Big Picture

As an engrossing tour winds up, Pakistan find themselves in need of a considerable change in momentum to draw the series, while Sri Lanka seek to build on the significant improvements they have achieved in the Tests so far. Suggestions that Pakistan were favourites, in the approach to the contest, seem distant now.Pakistan might have entered the series on a high, but find themselves on the back foot in the final Test. Their pace attack remains a decent threat, but has been unproductive so far, while spinners have struggled on pitches without much turn.The inconsistency of the top order has also affected Pakistan’s combination. Mohammad Hafeez was rewarded for his one-day form but he failed to extend his aptitude in the longer-format of the game, scoring 11, 80*, 21 and 1 at No. 3, while Ahmed Shehzad has also failed. The selection of Hafeez and Shehzad meant that the specialist No. 3 batsman, Azhar Ali, and Shan Masood were benched.In Dubai, Sri Lanka were in control of the match from the second session on day one until they hit the winning runs on the fifth afternoon. Consistency from their fast bowlers was key to that victory, but the batsmen have all worked themselves into form as well, with Nos 1 to 7 hitting half-centuries.Kumar Sangakkara has, in the past, been Sri Lanka’s sledgehammer against Pakistan, but among the more unexpected features of the 1-0 lead is that he has only contributed modestly towards it. He has played Saeed Ajmal exceedingly well in the past, but even without a big innings from him, Sri Lanka’s batsmen have played Ajmal safely, if not always with ease. Misbah-ul-Haq has called for a dry pitch in Sharjah and, if he gets his wish, it will be clear whether the Sri Lanka batsmen were just fortunate to play Ajmal on unresponsive surfaces, or whether they have collectively learned to neutralise him as no other team has done in recent years.As a team, Sri Lanka have also played within themselves, adhering strictly and persistently to the plans of attack devised in the dressing room. At times, Pakistan have tried to wear Sri Lanka down, only to find their opponents were more resilient. Awash with inexperience, Sri Lanka will not want to change a good thing, so it may be up to Pakistan to change the tempo of the cricket in order to put the visitors under pressure.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

Pakistan: LDLWL
Sri Lanka: WDWDL

In the spotlight

Dimuth Karunaratne has deserved his extended stretch in the national team after sustained excellence at the A-team level, but he is yet to seal his place atop the innings. A natural strokemaker, particularly gifted through the leg side, Karunaratne has had the habit of making good starts before falling prey to his own ambition and playing one stroke too many. There is enough in his cricket to convince fans and selectors that he can succeed in Tests, but in a series where many others in the top-order have outshone him, at least one score above fifty in Sharjah will put him at ease ahead of the Bangladesh tour.Saeed Ajmal is under the spotlight once again. He was wicketless in the second innings in Abu Dhabi for 49 overs, conceding 115 runs, and had to wait another 28.2 overs in Dubai to take his first wicket, making the stretch 77.2 overs. He is desperate to put his fluctuating form in the last two Tests behind him.

Pitch and conditions

The track in Sharjah looks flatter and if a batting-friendly pitch is prepared, it may help the team batting first. The pitch is also expected to offer turn from the third day.

Teams news

Pakistan will be forced to bring in a bowler in place of pacer Bilawal Bhatti, who injured his hamstring during the second Test and may look to add left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman to strengthen their spin reserves.Pakistan (probable): 1. Shan Masood/Ahmed Shehzad, 2. Khurram Manzoor, 3. Mohammad Hafeez/Azhar Ali, 4. Younis Khan, 5. Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6. Asad Shafiq 7. Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), 8. Saeed Ajmal, 9. Rahat Ali/Mohammad Talha, 10. Junaid Khan, 11. Abdur RehmanMahela Jayawardene’s split webbing means he is unlikely to field in the slips, but he is almost certain to play, having trained normally in the approach to the match. If the pitch looks likely to take turn, Sri Lanka may rest Nuwan Pradeep, who was short of his quickest pace in the second innings in Dubai, and play a second spinner. Sachithra Senanayake may get a second game, but uncapped Dilruwan Perera is also in the side, and is the more highly-rated offspinner in first-class cricket. Elsewhere, Angelo Mathews will not want to change a winning combination, even if his team is a little light on bowling options.Sri Lanka (probable): 1. Dimuth Karunaratne, 2. Kaushal Silva, 3. Kumar Sangakkara, 4. Mahela Jayawardene, 5. Dinesh Chandimal, 6. Angelo Mathews (capt), 7. Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8. Sachithra Senanayake/ Dilruwan Perera/Nuwan Pradeep, 9 Shaminda Eranga, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Stats and trivia

• Kumar Sangakkara has at least one hundred in each of his six previous series against Pakistan.
• Dimuth Karunaratne’s lowest score in the series is 24, and he only has one half-century.
• Junaid Khan is the leading wicket-taker in the series, with 11 scalps at 26.09.

Quotes

“In the past there was a feeling that the fast bowlers aren’t effective, but we were able to change that idea on this tour.”

“We have to really put some effort and get a result which we want, to level the series. There is no other option for us.”
0:00

Arnold: A lot depends on the pitch

Brendon McCullum was happy to get through to the end of the third day at the Basin Reserve with New Zealand only five down. McCullum and BJ Watling added an unbeaten 158 for the sixth wicket after New Zealand were reduced to 94 for 5. McCullum said it would have been a disappointing end to a productive summer had his side gone down without a fight, but acknowledged that much more was needed to be done on day four.”If we had been rolled over in this Test, that would have been slightly disappointing after how successful the summer’s been,” McCullum said. “That is the beauty of winning consistently and not finding yourself in too many of these situations. And when you do find yourselves in them, it seems a bit easy to get out of it.”Just pleased to be able to get through to the end of the day and make sure we are only five down. We have got a lot more ground to cover tomorrow and being five down is key for us. If we had been six-seven down then this Test was over. That was a big couple of hours at the end there. It is a good start for us today but we know we have got so much hard work to go tomorrow.”Brendon McCullum followed his double-hundred in Auckland with a fighting hundred in the second Test•Associated Press

McCullum restrained himself from attacking the Indian bowlers, especially till he reached his half-century. He said he had only done what the team needed from him at that point. “That is what the team required. And as captain that is what you have got to try and achieve. You are not always going to but you have got to try and work your game to the situation.”McCullum said the Indians had bowled “brilliantly” and made it difficult for New Zealand. The hosts had also been in trouble in the first innings in Auckland at 30 for 3, and even then, it was McCullum who had rescued them, making 224 eventually. When asked if another double was on his mind, he said if he could, that would certainly help the side.”To be honest, we probably need a double-century to keep us in the game. If BJ and I can emulate what we did today tomorrow, tomorrow night would be great to go out and make some decisions about where the game is heading rather than constantly try and fight out of it in this situation.”Bob Carter, the New Zealand batting coach, said he was pleased with McCullum-Watling stand, given that the team had struggled to put together partnerships earlier in the match.”Today was a very tough day of Test cricket. They didn’t give us anything,” Carter said. “They [India] have bowled well since the second innings in Auckland. They bowled very well in this game, certainly in that first part of the day, and I thought we came back at them using very fine technique. I think we built on that partnership and their bowlers got a little bit tighter.”I think our key was to have a partnership. As you saw, we were really struggling to get a partnership. And this has been something that we have worked on. And this is one of the few times where we have had to come from behind. We have sort of been leading most of the summer.”This was a real test of us today and tomorrow is the same – a test of our batting to see whether we can put up a score on the board in order to put India under pressure. They are a fine team, they are going to come out and bowl well again tomorrow. We know we have got a challenge on our hands, and it is something we are really looking forward to.”

Michael Clarke and Shane Warne are two of the world’s more vocal advocates of aggressive, vibrant cricket. But on day one at Newlands, Clarke chose guts over flair, earning Warne’s rich praise for the kind of brave occupation on which Test series victories are won.After taking a fearful battering from Morne Morkel, the toll of which on Warne’s count was “four or five” ice packs in the dressing room, Clarke steadied to reach 92 not out, ending a run of slim scores that dated back to the second Ashes Test during the home summer and placing his team in a fine position to press for a Test match and series victory over South Africa.Shane Warne on Michael Clarke: “I’m very proud of Michael today, it was great to see him show that courage.”•Getty Images

“I think there was four, maybe five ice packs so I think he’ll be stiff and sore tonight,” Warne said of Clarke. “I think he might be drinking chocolate milkshakes because his jaw might be a bit sore too. He’s in a bit of pain, a bit of agony, you cop four or five blows like that, it’s going to hurt at 150kph.”I’m very proud of Michael today, it was great to see him show that courage. There’s been a bit of talk about him not making some runs so it would’ve been easy for him at that stage when your eyes are spinning and you’re getting hit like that to try and say ‘I’m going to hit my way out of this and take them on’. He went the other way, hung in there and showed a lot of courage. At the end of the day he played like we know he can.”Warne observed that Morkel’s spell in mid-afternoon was made doubly threatening by early evidence of inconsistent bounce, a partial explanation for the blows Clarke sustained. But that also meant that Australia’s stumps score of 331 for 3 has already taken on critical dimensions for the hosts, who may have lost Dale Steyn to a hamstring strain.”I thought Morne was bowling a pretty hostile spell, up and down wicket, some were flying through and the next one wouldn’t get up. Been hit in the ear, jaw, head, fingers. So it would have been easy to play a shot to try to stop that, but he hung in,” Warne said. “It looks like he said ‘you know what? Over my dead body, you have to keep hitting me if you want until I can’t stand up’. He showed a lot of courage in that situation given 1-1 in the series to then stand up to that fantastic spell from Morne was wonderful and then be not out at the end, had Australia in a very good position.”There’s a lot at stake, South Africa are No. 1 in the world, you’ve just copped a hiding and been outplayed in all departments, you’ve won a very good toss on a good wicket. If you batted poorly today you’ve nearly lost the Test match on those conditions because it’s going to get a lot worse, it will go up and down and spin. If Australia can score a good first innings they’ll be in a really good position.”Warne expressed some surprise at South Africa’s reluctance to play a spinner in this match, reckoning that Australia might have played two themselves if another had been selected in the Test squad to accompany Nathan Lyon. He also indicated that Mitchell Johnson was eager to try his luck at exploiting the variable bounce Morkel had extracted.”On that pitch it was so dry and would have been ready yesterday, I think the spinner’s going to play a role,” Warne said. “South Africa obviously back their quickies and think Duminy and the left-armer [Dean Elgar] can do a job on that pitch. But I think if Australia had a couple of spinners they might have played them as well, given Shane Watson was available too. Seeing how dry it was we saw it as a definite turner.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIreland took a massive stride towards the second stage of the World T20 with the win over UAE•ICC

Two down, one more to go for Ireland. After taking down a Full Member, Zimbabwe, two days ago, they ensured they didn’t take it easy against the weakest side in the group, United Arab Emirates. Asking UAE to bat, Ireland kept them to an extremely manageable 123 for 6.Netherlands’ 140 had proved inadequate earlier in the day against Zimbabwe, and the ball was only going to come on better under lights. Despite the early loss of Paul Stirling to injury, Ireland were well on their way to victory at 103 for 3 in the 15th over when the floodlights went off at the Sylhet Stadium around 10.10pm local time, the electricity cut due to an impending storm.The lights came back on and play resumed after ten minutes only for the ground to be plunged into darkness two balls later. This time, rain followed the loss of power. The ensuing delay was enough for the match to be called off, leaving Ireland winners by 21 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis method, although the lights started to regain life again another ten minutes later, only to witness a proper downpour this time.Stirling could not perform his role with the bat but he had already played a crucial one with the ball, when he snapped up two wickets in the seventh over to leave UAE at 46 for 3. Those strikes squeezed out whatever momentum UAE had built up with some free-spirited strokeplay at the start. Amjad Ali and Faizan Asif, the UAE openers, did not display the best understanding while running between the wickets but, before frequent confusion culminated in the latter’s run-out, the pair had put on 35 within five overs.Stirling earned Ireland further inroads after that gifted break from UAE. In a spell of 3-1-12-2, he had Amjad cutting to short third man in the seventh over, while Swapnil Patil stepped out and popped one straight to short midwicket three balls later.Just like their opening match against Netherlands, UAE were forced to rebuild but they weren’t able to regain any impetus against the Ireland medium-pacers, led by Kevin O’Brien, who returned figures of 4-0-17-2. Shaiman Anwar did club a couple of sixes in his 30 off 28 but UAE also played out as many as 48 dot balls, piling more pressure on themselves.That resulted in two more quick wickets, setting them back even further. Shaiman mis-hit a pull back to O’Brien off the last ball of the 14th over to make it 88 for 4. Three balls later, that became 90 for 5 as Khurram top-edged a slog, the skier coming down in cover’s hands.Ireland tightened the screws further towards the end, as UAE were able to score only three boundaries off the last five overs – despite losing only wicket in that period – against a mix of full deliveries and slower ones.Stirling suffered a blow to the elbow off the second ball of the chase after he was too early on an attempted pull. He did punch a couple of boundaries in the same over but was in too much discomfort despite taking treatment, and had to leave the field early in the second over.Ed Joyce and William Porterfield extended Ireland’s dominance with an 80-run stand that came in 68 deliveries. With an eye on their net run-rate, Ireland lost a few quick wickets in trying to finish the game early. There was to be an early finish, but Ireland could not claim to have wrought it.