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Right when it most matters, Bangladesh’s bubble of optimism has been cruelly pricked, while at the same time, the fear of embarrassment that might have undermined England’s approach has been significantly eased

The Preview by Andrew Miller10-Mar-2011Match FactsMarch 11, Chittagong
Start time 2.30pm (0830 GMT)Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell are back in Bangladesh, just over a year since England’s last ODI in the country•Getty ImagesThe Big PictureThis time last week, England’s return to Chittagong was being viewed with the sort of FA Cup-style angst that accompanied Arsenal on their recent trip to Leyton Orient. On paper it was clearly a mismatch, with England having emerged victorious in all but one of their 22 previous fixtures, in all three formats of the game. However, in light of their calamitous three-wicket defeat against Ireland, the contest was being earmarked as a make-or-break moment in England’s campaign. Another slip-up here, and the quarter-finals would surely be out of reach.That, however, was before two extraordinary results redressed the shift towards Minnow Power in a remarkably unpredictable Group B. First came Bangladesh’s capitulation to 58 all out at the hands of West Indies in Dhaka, as a game that could have hoisted them right into the reckoning for the knock-outs instead sent the team’s morale spiralling, with the nation’s mood following suit amid dark and reprehensible scenes outside the stadium.Then, two days later, came England’s incredible comeback against South Africa in Chennai, as the team somehow found the will to defend a limp total of 171, with all ten of South Africa’s wickets tumbling for 102 in a thrilling six-run victory. The net effect of those two results has been to draw much of the sting from this Chittagong contest. It’s certainly not out of the question for Bangladesh to progress to the next stage, especially with Netherlands among their remaining opponents. But right when it most matters, their bubble of optimism has been cruelly pricked, while at the same time, the fear of embarrassment that might have undermined England’s approach has been significantly eased by their dispatching of one of the form teams of the tournament.Nevertheless, these two teams know each other inside-out, with the first half of 2010 including four Tests and six ODIs, split home and away – and the shorter the format, the smaller the gulf between the teams. Bangladesh could and should have claimed the second ODI in Dhaka 12 months ago, only for a nerveless Eoin Morgan to seal a two-wicket victory with his maiden England century. Then at Bristol in July, the Tigers finally pounced, with Shafiul Islam’s last-over dismissal securing an epic five-run victory.The perverse logic of England’s campaign also helps to fuel the prospect of an upset. At some stage, surely, they are going to have to break the cycle of underachievement whenever they’ve been burdened with the favourites’ tag, but having been given extraordinarily close shaves by Canada in a warm-up match and then by Netherlands in their Nagpur opener, the Ireland defeat was an accident waiting to happen. Thrice bitten, four times shy? You’d assume they’d have to learn sometime.Following that abominable effort against West Indies, Bangladesh will doubtless feel liberated with their expectations back at rock-bottom. The intervening days have been devoted to speculation about Shakib’s position as captain, with a media furore accompanying a photo apparently showing him gesturing to the crowd during the post-match presentations at Mirpur. At times such as these, the safest place is often the middle of a cricket pitch. A decent start and a pumped-up crowd, and who knows what could be possible.Form guide(completed matches, most recent first)

Bangladesh LWLWW
England WLTWLWatch out for… England have had a rough time with injuries in the past few days, with Kevin Pietersen’s hernia proving too much for the player to deal with, and Stuart Broad’s side strain forcing him home early for the second time this winter. But the undeniable bonus is the return of Eoin Morgan, arguably the most innovative one-day batsman in the world game at present, and a man around whom England had built all of the strategies that have been so conspicuously absent from their suck-it-and-see approach to date. The broken finger he sustained in Australia has healed more quickly than anticipated, and he had been back in the nets with Middlesex before his SOS from Andy Flower. The aforementioned Dhaka century was a masterful example of how to finish a one-day innings. He’s ready to start out again.A calm 70 against India set the tone for Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign, a violent 44 made the difference in a tight contest against Ireland. But never has Tamim Iqbal’s importance to the Bangladeshi cause been so starkly demonstrated than during that debacle against West Indies. From the moment he chopped Kemar Roach to second slip in the first over of the match, the atmosphere was sucked clean out of the Shere-e-Bangla stadium, and with it the belief of all his team-mates. Against England, his role can only be amplified. He has smacked the small matter of three hundreds, two eighties and a pair of breezy fifties in his 11 matches to date, and by the end of the Tests in England, the bowlers’ strategy was simply to wait for the hurricane to blow itself out. While he’s still at the crease, Strauss and his men know they can’t relax for an instant.Team newsSo many permutations for England to consider, with a new opening batsman needed to take over from Pietersen, and a replacement bowler needed to fill in for Stuart Broad. The one given is that Morgan will revert to his favourite No. 5 position, where he and Ravi Bopara could form a potent combination in the latter stages of an innings. Earlier in the week, Ian Bell was talking like a man who’d been told to renew his first-wicket alliance with Andrew Strauss, although Matt Prior could yet be asked to take up that challenge once again. There is some speculation about England playing three spinners, with James Tredwell a potential addition alongside Michael Yardy and Graeme Swann. But Ajmal Shahzad, who claimed Tamim for a duck when England last played an ODI in Chittagong, is the likelier replacement for Broad.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Michael Yardy, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Ajmal Shahzad, 11 James Anderson.After a result such as the one they endured last week, the temptation might be to throw the baby out with the bathwater. However, Bangladesh have limited room for wholesale changes, and besides, the players who got their team into this mess ought to be the first to have to front up and get them out again. The one potential change is Mohammad Ashraful for Mahmudullah. Though Ashraful was picked primarily as a batsman, his allsorts spin bowling has proven to be the far stronger of his two suits to date. Mahmudullah, who is an offspinning allrounder, has a solid record against England including two Test fifties.Bangladesh (possible) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Raqibul Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Shafiul Islam. The weather has been dry and hot, though not unbearably so. The pitch promises to be a typical Chittagong strip of tarmac – dry and flat, with a touch of turn and low bounce. It was the livelier of the two surfaces on England’s tour in 2009-10, though that is not saying much.Stats and trivia England and Bangladesh have only faced each other once in previous World Cups – at Bridgetown in 2007, when England ground to an unconvincing four-wicket win. Tamim Iqbal has scored 730 runs at 48.66 in his 11 matches against England, including a run of six half-centuries in seven Test innings. His highest score against England, 125, came in his first match against them, the first ODI in Dhaka in February 2010. Andrew Strauss has never played an ODI in Bangladesh, having been rested for last year’s tour. He scored 154 in his last match against them, at Edgbaston in July 2010.Quotes “The boys will be a bit tense, but we know if we play our best cricket, we can beat any side. They are confident enough to do the right things.”
Shakib Al Hasan expects an improved performance from his team.”It’s been great to be involved in some thrilling games. Personally I would have liked them to be a bit easier, I’d probably have a bit more hair on my head at this stage of the tournament. But we have shown a lot of character in a couple of those games certainly, and we want these last two games to be less close, to be honest.”
Andrew Strauss is hoping for a quieter match this time around

If Mickey Arthur were coach of Australia he would keep Ricky Ponting at No. 3 in the Test match batting order

Daniel Brettig31-Mar-2011No one is saying he is after the job, but if Mickey Arthur were coach of Australia he would keep Ricky Ponting at No. 3 in the Test batting line-up. Arthur, who has been informally sought by Cricket Australia as a potential consultant at the Centre of Excellence in addition to his coaching job with Western Australia, is adamant that Ponting should be left in his customary batting position after handing over the captaincy to Michael Clarke.”I’m of the opinion he should stay at No. 3,” Arthur told ESPNCricinfo. “I still think he’s the best in that position, we saw that in the World Cup game [against India], but it will be interesting to see where he ends up. If I was coaching I’d want him at three.”Ponting and Michael Hussey will travel to Bangladesh with the Australia squad on Monday despite their advancing years, and Arthur argued it was vital they both be retained in the Test team for the unenviable task of back-to-back Test tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa later this year. According to Arthur, Ponting will be unburdened by the absence of a leadership role.”I think it [not being captain] will free him up now. Australia still needs him to bat, they need Ponting and Hussey with a good crop of young players now,” Arthur said. “The time is right to look at those young players and to build a team for 2013 [the Ashes] and the next World Cup. Michael Clarke’s got an opportunity now to put his stamp on the team and he needs to do that.”But he can only do that with guys like Ricky and Michael [Hussey] giving the younger players some experience. Touring Sri Lanka and South Africa are two of the toughest tours you can have. That [back-to-back tours] is a very, very tough gig.”The long road towards Ponting’s abdication arguably began when the South Africa team coached by Arthur and captained by Graeme Smith toppled Australia in 2008-09, the first time Australia had lost any series at home since 1993. Smith regarded Ponting as his role model, something that became ever more apparent, Arthur said, the longer he led his country.”They were very similar in the way they went about it. Both always liked leading from the front, and I know Graeme towards the back-end of his tenure took a lot of inspiration from Ricky. Even though their battles were very fierce I know Graeme respected him highly and always regarded him as almost the ultimate.”I think Ricky will go down as one of the best ever. He had a fantastic time and was a fantastic leader, and I certainly know in the South Africa dressing room, he had a huge amount of respect. I think he’s done it well, the time was right for him and he’s gone out on his own terms.”

Tom Maynard, the Surrey batsman, was given the silent treatment on his return to Cardiff last week

Andrew McGlashan26-Apr-2011Tom Maynard, the Surrey batsman, was given the silent treatment on his return to Cardiff last week but responded with an emotional maiden first-class hundred against his former team-mates at Glamorgan.The home side were told not to say a word when Maynard came to the crease even though the situation was perfectly set up for some ‘chat’ from the close fielders, but eventually the Glamorgan players couldn’t resist having a chirp as he finished with 123 in Surrey’s huge 575 for 7 declared.”They said they were told not to speak to me,” Maynard told ESPNcricinfo’s Switch Hit podcast. “There was a bit of silence for a while but once I got going there were a couple of guys who chirped in with some friendly banter, but nothing malicious. They were just trying to coax me into playing one of my erratic shots.”Maynard quit Glamorgan during the acrimonious winter which saw his father, Matthew, resign in protest at how the club was being run after Alviro Petersen, the South Africa batsman, had been secretly interviewed to be the new captain in place of Jamie Dalrymple. The fixture list meant an early return to Wales for Maynard jr and he was able to reach three figures for the first time as his dad watched from the stands.”It was fantastic to have him there,” he said. “I’d like to dedicate that innings to towards the family rather than anything malicious towards the management. I’d like to be something special for us to have. It was a surreal feeling especially going into the away dressing room. I’m just delighted about the outcome it’s just a shame we couldn’t win the game.”Despite wanting to remember the hundred without the baggage of what happened during the winter, Maynard isn’t shy at explaining why he left the club where his surname had become part of cricket history in Wales.”I just felt I couldn’t stay there with the people in charge and the management above the playing side,” he said. “I couldn’t stay and win games for some of the people who’d forced my father out and let the team down.”I’m still very tight with all the players and keep in touch with them a lot. That relationship is still very strong and none of the players have any animosity towards me. A lot of them sided with me and said if they’d had the opportunity to go after what happened then they would. I took advice from a couple of the players and they said I should go.”Although scoring the hundred against Glamorgan added extra meaning Maynard was just relieved to have registered his first ton having waited 38 innings. Last season he hit a low point where he could barely score a run but now feels he has a new lease of life.”To be honest it got to stage where I’d started so poorly in my first-class career that it couldn’t get any worse so I may as well go out and play freely,” he said. “It got to that stage at the back end of last year and from then on I’ve gone well. I’m looking forward to kicking on now this season.”The good news for Maynard is that he has another Championship match against Glamorgan at the end of May.

Northamptonshire completed an innings-and-six-run win over Gloucestershire early on the final morning at Bristol

14-May-2011
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Northamptonshire completed an innings-and-six-run win over Gloucestershire early on the final morning at Bristol.Resuming on 248 for 8, having followed on 269 behind after first-innings centuries for Northants’ Niall O’Brien and James Middlebrook, Gloucestershire were relying on Will Gidman, who was 76 not out at the start of play.No. 10 David Payne, though, could only survive until the 10th ball of the morning, when he was caught by Andrew Hall off Lee Daggett for his overnight one. Last man Craig Miles hung around for another 21 minutes and, with Gidman reaching 81, there appeared the prospect of the hosts at least forcing their opponents to bat again.But with six needed to salvage that sliver of pride, Daggett bowled Miles for five to complete figures of three for 42 and wrap up his side’s maximum 24-point win, Gloucestershire taking just four.

Four of Surrey’s top order hit half-centuries before rookie pace bowler Matthew Dunn had Derbyshire reeling on the third day

31-May-2011
ScorecardFour of Surrey’s top order hit half-centuries before rookie pace bowler Matthew Dunn had Derbyshire reeling on the third day of the County Championship Division Two match at the County Ground.After Rory Hamilton-Brown, Zander de Bruyn, Mark Davies and Tom Maynard took advantage of poor bowling to limit Derbyshire to a first innings lead of 42, Dunn marked his Championship debut by removing both openers.The 19-year-old, who was only drafted in after Jade Dernbach was called up by England, reduced the hosts to 14 for 2 and Tim Linley then struck twice in a dramatic last hour. At the close, Derbyshire were 35 for 4, only 77 runs ahead, to give Surrey a chance of forcing victory despite the loss of the second day to rain.Derbyshire had started day three well placed and Luke Sutton declared immediately they secured maximum batting points for the second game running. But his bowlers did not perform and Surrey’s task of reaching the follow-on target of 251 was helped by the home side conceding 28 runs in no-balls.Derbyshire improved to take the last six wickets for 25 in 10 overs after tea but Dunn and Linley then put Surrey in the driving seat. Linley struck twice in the morning to finish with a career-best haul of six for 81 before Sutton declared one run short of his half-century.Derbyshire needed early wickets to put pressure on the visitors but they served up too many balls that Hamilton-Brown and Jason Roy could dispatch to the boundary. The bowlers were also guilty of over-stepping far too often although ironically it was off a no-ball from Tony Palladino that Brown’s straight drive was deflected onto the stumps to run Roy out for 31 out of 63 in the ninth over.Greg Smith showed there was something in the pitch when he got a delivery to take off to have Mark Ramprakash superbly caught by Martin Guptill diving full length at gully for 5 – but Derbyshire could not maintain a consistent line or length.Hamilton-Brown plundered 14 fours in his run-a-ball 69 before he carved Palladino to point where Wayne Madsen took the catch at the second attempt and de Bruyn found the ropes 10 times in his half-century. Steffan Jones nipped one back to bowl him for 53 but Davies and Maynard took Surrey to a third batting point with a fifth-wicket stand of 123 in 25 overs.Davies drove Chesney Hughes’s slow-left arm spin to cover on 78 to start a collapse but Dunn and Linley put Surrey on top. Dunn sent back Madsen and Guptill in successive overs and Linley struck another big blow when he ripped out first innings century maker Chesney Hughes’ middle stump before dismissing nightwatchman Palladino in the penultimate over.

Pakistan star Shahid Afridi celebrated his home debut for Hampshire by taking five wickets in a 16-run Friends Life t20 defeat of Gloucestershire at the Rose Bowl

25-Jun-2011
ScorecardPakistan star Shahid Afridi celebrated his home debut for Hampshire by taking five wickets in a 16-run Friends Life t20 defeat of Gloucestershire at the Rose Bowl.Afridi, freed to play after resolving his dispute with the Pakistan Cricket Board, finished with figures of five for 20 as holders Hampshire went joint top of the South Group with Sussex after recording their sixth win this season.In a rain-affected match, Hampshire made 139 for 7 and Gloucestershire, chasing a revised target of 124 from 17 overs, fell short. In Hampshire’s innings, Afridi, whose debut against Essex on Thursday coincided with the defending champions’ first t20 loss of the season, managed only 5 before he was caught off Gloucestershire’s acting captain, Kane Williamson.But when Gloucestershire began their pursuit of a target of seven runs an over, they were soon in trouble against the pacy spin of Afridi. Gloucestershire had reached 54 for 2 when Afridi struck for the first time, bowling Ian Cockbain for 24, an innings that included four boundaries.Afridi struck again in his next over when he lured Chris Taylor from his crease to give Nic Pothas a stumping, and he then bowled Will Gidman for seven. But Afridi made his most crucial contribution when he came on for the 15th over of the innings, with Gloucestershire still requiring another 27 for victory.With his fourth delivery, Afridi bowled Richard Coughtrie with a quicker delivery, and then two balls later induced Ian Saxelby to sky a catch to Neil McKenzie at third man. Gloucestershire’s hopes depended on their stand-in skipper, Williamson, who had made 50 from 42 deliveries when he was ninth out to Sean Ervine in the penultimate over.Williamson had struck six fours before lifting a catch to Imran Tahir, who clutched it at the second attempt. Muttiah Muralitharan was last out three balls from the end of the match, bowled by Dominic Cork to ensure Hampshire’s victory.In the Hampshire innings, opener Jimmy Adams was top scorer with 47 before he was bowled by Muralitharan, who returned later to trap McKenzie for eight on his way to economic figures of 2 for 15 from his four-over allotment.Hampshire were in trouble at 97 for 6 after Afridi had perished to a catch at long on, but seventh-wicket pair Pothas and Dimitri Mascarenhas ensured a competitive total with a stand of 40 from 21 balls.

Harbhajan Singh’s mother Avtar Kaur has sent a legal notice to United Breweries asking them to stop airing and apologise for an advertisement for one of their brands, McDowell’s No. 1 soda

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2011Harbhajan Singh’s mother Avtar Kaur has sent a legal notice to the Vijay Mallya-owned United Breweries asking them to stop airing and apologise for an advertisement for one of their brands, McDowell’s No. 1 soda. The notice says the advertisement mocks Harbhajan, his family and the Sikh community.The advertisement in question features MS Dhoni and is apparently a spoof of a commercial for Royal Stag Mega Cricket, a brand of UB’s rivals Pernod Ricard, in which Harbhajan appears. In the Royal Stag advertisement, Harbhajan is shown in various locations, including his father’s ball-bearing factory, asking the question: “Have I made it large?”In the McDowell’s commercial, an actor wearing a turban, like Harbhajan does, asks the same question only to be slapped by his father for making ball bearings that are too big. The advertisement ends with Dhoni telling people to forget making things large and instead do something different.The notice sent to the UB Group demanded the company publicly apologise for the advertisement “through widely-read newspapers as well as television channels prominently” apart from removing the advertisement within three days of receiving the notice. “My client is serving you with the instant notice to give you an opportunity to accept your mistake and make amends,” the notice, signed by lawyer Shyam Dewani, said.”Failing this, we will have no other alternative than to take appropriate legal action including that of filing proceedings for defamation, damages and all such civil as well as criminal actions.” The notice also seeks a compensation of Rs 100,000 to the cricketer’s family towards the cost of the notice.Avtar Kaur also took offence to Dhoni’s role in the commercial and said these kinds of advertisements bring “disunity and friction” in the India team and can be termed anti-national.However, Harbhajan’s representatives Offspin Sports Events and Entertainment insisted that the advertisement had not cause any friction between the two players. “Harbhajan has been totally kept out of this and his friendship with MS Dhoni has not been impacted in any way,” Sangeet Shirodkar, director of Offspin Sports, said.

Martin Guptill made sure there were no slip-ups as Derbyshire put themselves in the promotion frame with a seven-wicket win over Gloucestershire in the Championship match at Derby

13-Aug-2011
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Martin Guptill made sure there were no slip-ups as Derbyshire put themselves in the promotion frame with a seven-wicket win over Gloucestershire in the Championship match at Derby. The home side went into the fourth day as strong favourites to wrap up victory needing 80 more runs with eight wickets in hand and they lost only Wes Durston before crossing the line.Guptill added an unbeaten 66 to his first-innings century and struck the winning boundary after just 53 minutes on the fourth morning.Gloucestershire’s only chance of turning the match on its head was to take early wickets to sow some seeds of doubt in the Derbyshire dressing room but, although there was still some life in the pitch, they managed only one.Guptill and Durston had taken the game away from the visitors on the first day with a stand of 266 and they batted for another 13 overs to take Derbyshire well down the road to victory.There were few alarms for the home supporters until Durston went for a big drive at Ian Saxelby in the eighth over of the day and was caught by Alex Gidman at first slip for 14. Another wicket then might have caused some jitters and Saxelby nearly delivered it in the same over when Greg Smith got an edge that went just past second slip to the boundary.Guptill had rediscovered his form in the first innings after a lean run and he snuffed out Gloucestershire’s faint hopes with some glorious strokes against the pace bowlers. Jon Lewis was pulled through midwicket before the New Zealander drove Saxelby down the ground for another four.An on drive in the same over brought him his 10th four and his 50 from 63 balls and he celebrated by pulling the next delivery to the ropes when Saxelby dropped short. It was fitting that Guptill ended the game and he did it in style with a delicate late cut for four off Hamish Marshall to secure a 24-point victory which takes Derbyshire above Gloucestershire into third in Division Two.

Cricket Kenya’s latest initiative to help develop the strength of the country’s domestic game gets underway later this week with the start of the new regional Twenty20 and 50-over franchise competitions

Martin Williamson15-Aug-2011Cricket Kenya’s latest initiative to help develop the strength of the country’s domestic game gets underway later this week with the start of the new regional Twenty20 and 50-over franchise competitions.For a long time there has been a huge gap between standards of the country’s premier league run by the NPCA and the national team. A previous attempt to organise a competition for the leading players failed because of funding and a lack of interest among participants.But following Kenya’s wretched performance at the World Cup, the board has made sweeping changes, backed by the government and stakeholders, and the East Africa Premier League and East African Cup are perhaps the boldest. Furthermore, the decision to include teams from neighbours Uganda will not only give an edge to matches, but will also help development in one of the most promising up-and-coming Associates.Four teams from Kenya will participate – the Nairobi Buffaloes, Kongonis both based in the capital, the Rift Valley Rhinos from Nakuru and Coast Pekee in Mombasa – while Rwenzori Warriors and Nile Knights will represent Uganda. Teams will be comprised of international players, senior club players and age group cricketers aiming to make the national squads of both countries. The top two teams in each competition will compete in live televised finals at the end of October.Cricket Kenya has agreed a broadcast deal with Supersport who will televise a number of live matches throughout Africa as well as a regular highlights and magazine programme.”This is a hugely exciting development for cricket in the region, one which we hope will improve playing standards and ignite a real interest and passion for the game throughout the region,” CK’s chief executive Tom Sears said. “We hope by concentrating the pool of talent we have into a smaller number of teams playing highly competitive cricket, the fortunes of our national teams will improve over time and lower down, in domestic and age group cricket, standards will improve as players strive to make one of the franchise teams.”There has already been significant interest in the East Africa Premier League and East African Cup from both the cricket and corporate worlds and we believe once the competition commences this will grow and continue to grow in future years.”

A round-up of the third match-day of the Quadrangular Under-19 series in India

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2011India Under-19s continued their successful run in the quadrangular series with a thumping win against West Indies Under-19s at the Port Trust Diamond Jubilee Stadium in Visakhapatnam. India scored 315 and then bowled West Indies out for 191, ensuring not just a win but also a bonus point.After India chose to bat, West Indies got off to the perfect start with seamer Justin Greaves dismissing Manan Vohra caught behind for a golden duck. India were quickly back on track, though, with Unmukt Chand and Hanuman Vihari compiling half-centuries during a partnership of 143 for the second wicket.That stand gave India a firm base, and Akshdeep Nath and Kumar Deobrat capitalised. Nath scored 81 not out off 64 balls, and Deobrat smashed three sixes and two fours in his 37 not out off 16. The pair added 99 runs in the last 7.4 overs of India’s innings, getting their team past the 300 mark.West Indies’ chase never took off. Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra took two top-order wickets to leave West Indies in trouble and offspinner Baba Aparajith ran through the middle and lower order, finishing with 4 for 38 from his ten overs. West Indies’ highest-scorer was John Campbell, who scored 28, and they were bowled out in 43.5 overs. India are now five points clear of everyone else at the top of the table.
Sri Lanka Under-19s’ spinners bowled their team to an 86-run win against Australia Under-19s at the YS Rajasekhara Reddy Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Defending 225, Sri Lanka got a couple of wickets in the first ten overs of Australia’s chase. Offspinner Tharindu Kaushal then bowled a spell of 6-1-15-2 to leave Australia struggling. Legspinner Saranga Rajaguru ran through the tail, taking four wickets, and Australia were bowled out for 139.Sri Lanka had struggled in their innings too, and were 90 for 6 before No. 8 Lahiru Madushanka helped them recover with an unbeaten 56. Fast bowler Billy Stanlake had wrecked Sri Lanka’s top order with four early wickets, but the total of 225 was more than enough to ensure victory and a bonus point.