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Pathirana had suffered a shoulder injury against Pakistan and missed Sri Lanka’s next two games

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2023Allrounder Angelo Mathews has replaced fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad. Pathirana had suffered a shoulder injury while playing Pakistan in Hyderabad on October 10, and was ruled out of Sri Lanka’s subsequent matches against Australia and Netherlands.Mathews had already linked up with the squad ahead of the match against Netherlands, having been called up as a travelling reserve along side fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera.Related

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Former captain Mathews, 36, last played an ODI against Afghanistan in June. He comes with plenty of experience on this stage though, having played the World Cups in 2011, 2015 and 2019. He was Sri Lanka’s captain during the 2015 edition.Pathirana is Sri Lanka’s second injury loss this World Cup after their captain Dasun Shanaka was ruled out due to a quadriceps tear, which he had also picked up during the match against Pakistan. Chamika Karunaratne had taken Shanaka’s place in Sri Lanka’s squad, with wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis standing in as captain. They are also without legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who was ruled out of the World Cup with an injury.Before his injury, Pathirana was taken for as many as 185 runs in the 19 overs that he had bowled across matches against South Africa and Pakistan, with an economy rate of almost 10.Sri Lanka are looking for an upswing in form themselves, having registered their first win of the World Cup when they beat Netherlands by five wickets in Lucknow on Saturday, having lost three in a row till then. They are currently placed ninth on the points table.

No concerns in seven-wicket victory as visitors hunt down 214 with ease

Paul Edwards28-Jul-2022
A match that had appeared to be nip and tuck on Wednesday evening eventually proved to be neither. On a pitch that was drier and easier for batting than it had been earlier in the week, Hampshire’s batters strolled to their target of 214 to set up a second successive push for the County Championship in September, when their next opponents will be Northamptonshire at the Ageas Bowl.And if James Vince’s side do win their county’s third title in September, they will have conformed to the curious pattern whereby recent champions – Middlesex, Essex, Surrey and Yorkshire themselves – have all recorded victories at North Marine Road. Scarborough has always been the most hospitable of towns but rarely to this extent.Yet there was really no point in this day’s cricket when Yorkshire appeared likely to discomfit their opponents. Runs came easily in the cool morning as Jordan Thompson strayed down the leg side and Ian Holland tucked into a couple of pies. Then Ben Coad bowled too full, a rare error, and Felix Organ gave it the full diapason down the ground. Before we had finished our first coffees of the day, Hampshire had scored 30 runs and the shape of the game looked very different. Matthew Waite replaced Thompson but he went for runs as well. Hampshire’s fifty came up in 45 minutes and Dom Bess was bowling from the Peasholm Park End by noon.Even in late July we are at the stage when cricketers take notice of other teams’ progress. So the only sombre note in Hampshire’s morning came from the Kia Oval where Division One leaders Surrey were beginning what proved to be a serene run-chase against Warwickshire. Meanwhile, Holland and Organ continued to mind their own business, pushing singles and ticking things along “sensibly, steadily” much like the clock in .Holland showed himself to be as adept at the reverse-sweep as Alfred (Scarborough College Class of 22) had been before play started, when one of the youngster’s well-timed efforts clattered into a couple of spectators on the wooden benches high in this amphitheatre. But the ball was soft and no one objects to lads practising cricket in this town.The morning’s only alarm for Hampshire came when Jonny Tattersall missed a stumping when Organ was 37 but the ball had spun sharply out of the rough and down the leg side. Only the martinet Yorkshire coaches like Arthur “Ticker” Mitchell would have laid into the keeper for that one. At lunch, Hampshire were 121 without loss – just as everyone had predicted.The afternoon’s play brought a little comfort for Yorkshire supporters, although they might have seen Hampshire’s loss of three wickets in 5.4 overs as an irritating reminder of what might have been possible had their bowlers shaped themselves earlier. But Coad was playing his first match after four months out with injuries and he will have been encouraged to remove Holland for 71, when a little extra bounce induced an edge to first slip, and then Joe Weatherley, who was leg before wicket for nought. Those dismissals sandwiched the departure of Organ, who hit Bess for a splendid six over long-on, only to pull the next ball, a steaming long-hop, straight to Matthew Revis at deep square leg.The super-optimists at North Marine Road may have thought these wickets a prelude to the sort of fightback in which Steve Patterson’s team has specialised this summer. If so, they were swiftly disabused of this notion by the grace of Vince, whose cover drives off Bess and Patterson were of the highest quality. Hampshire’s skipper even managed to invest a slog-swept six with aesthetic value and he was unbeaten on 43 when the victory was confirmed and the red balls were put away for a month or so.Meanwhile, at The Oval Surrey’s progress towards victory was progressing smoothly and their victory over Warwickshire has extended their lead over Hampshire at the top of the table to 16 points, albeit Vince’s team look to have the easier final three games. And at least we should have yet another September to cherish through the autumn

The South Africa allrounder became the most expensive overseas player ever at the auction

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-20213:02

Is RR’s bowling unit sorted?

Chris Morris, the South Africa allrounder, and New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson were the biggest winners at the 2021 IPL auction. Morris became the IPL’s most expensive overseas player ever signed at an auction when he was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for INR 16.25 crore (USD 2.2 million approx), while Jamieson recorded the day’s second-highest figure, signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 15 crore (USD 2 million approx).Two more spending records were broken, dispelling doubts over a cautionary mood in the Covid-19 era. Karnataka’s offspinning allrounder K Gowtham became the most expensive uncapped buy in IPL history when Chennai Super Kings signed him for INR 9.25 crore (USD 1.2 million approx). And Punjab Kings’ INR 8 crore (USD 1 million approx) for Australian fast bowler Riley Meredith made him the costliest uncapped overseas player ever. The day’s two other millionaires were Glenn Maxwell – picked up by the Royal Challengers for INR 14.25 crore (USD 1.95 million approx) – and his compatriot Jhye Richardson, signed by the Kings for INR 14 crore (USD 1.9 million approx).Notable mentions included Cheteshwar Pujara returning to the IPL after seven years – the last time Pujara played any form of T20 cricket was in March 2019, for Saurashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – going to the Super Kings for INR 50 lakh, and Arjun Tendulkar, the very last name out of the hat, going to Mumbai Indians for INR 20 lakh. On the flip side, some big names like Aaron Finch, Jason Roy and Sheldon Cottrell remained unpicked.Chris Morris was signed by Rajasthan Royals for $2.2 million•Getty Images

After a slow start to the proceedings, Maxwell became the day’s first millionaire. Maxwell began at his base price of INR 2 crore and the bids quickly spiralled, with the Royals, the Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders also fighting for his signature.Maxwell had spent seven seasons with the Punjab Kings (Kings XI Punjab till last season), scoring 1383 runs at a strike rate of 157.69, and helped the team reach the final in 2014.Then Morris’ name came up and sparked a fierce bidding war – his eventual fee climbing more than 20 times from the base price – involving four different teams, with the Royals eventually beating out the Royal Challengers, Mumbai Indians and the Kings to sign him. He had played for the Royals during the 2015 season and was the team’s joint-highest wicket-taker that year with 13 wickets.Morris overtook Yuvraj Singh (INR 16 crore in 2015), Pat Cummins (INR 15.5 crore in 2020) and Ben Stokes (INR 14.5 crore in 2017) as the costliest buy at an IPL auction, but the Royals believe it was money well spent.”We did due diligence, he’s an ex-Royal who can deal with a price tag like that,” Jake Lush McCrum, the Royals CEO, said. ” He is a quality bowler through all phases of the game, can win us games with the bat too. We did stretch, that was our last bid, luckily Kings XI held back. Delighted to have him back with the Royals.”Related

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The Royal Challengers also came close to bagging Maxwell’s Australian team-mate Steven Smith, but were eventually beaten out by Delhi Capitals, who signed him for INR 2.2 crore. The Capitals also bolstered their squad with the addition of India quick Umesh Yadav, for INR 1 crore.Having missed out on Maxwell, the Super Kings did eventually manage to get another allrounder, fighting off bids from the Kings to land England’s Moeen Ali for INR 7 crore.The Kings also tried to secure Shakib Al Hasan for INR 2.6 crore, but Bangladesh’s premier allrounder was eventually sold for INR 3.2 crore to his former team, the Knight Riders, with whom he won the title in 2012 and 2014.The Kings signed England opener and the top-ranked T20I batsman Dawid Malan for his base price of INR 1.5 crore. They then splashed INR 14 crore on Richardson, winning a lengthy battle against the Capitals and the Royal Challengers for the Perth Scorchers fast bowler. Soon after, the Kings and the Capitals locked horns yet again, this time for Hobart Hurricanes seamer Meredith. The Capitals went as high as INR 7.75 crore for Meredith’s signature, but the Kings sealed the deal with their INR 8 crore bid.Tamil Nadu finisher Shahrukh Khan, who recently won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, also landed a giant payday thanks to the Kings, who signed him for INR 5.25 crore, more than 51 times his base price of Rs 20 lakh.Mumbai, the most successful IPL team and two-time defending champions, spent most of their purse on boosting their already stellar bowling attack, signing Adam Milne (INR 3.20 crore), Nathan Coulter-Nile (INR 5 crore) and Piyush Chawla (INR 2.40 crore). But, with the day’s very last transaction, they landed arguably the biggest surname in Indian cricket.

South African batsman joins club on two-year deal following international retirement in August

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2019Surrey have completed the signing of Hashim Amla on a Kolpak registration.As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Amla joins the club on a two-year deal, though the second year could be jeopardised by the UK’s impending departure from the European Union.Amla, 36, retired from international cricket in August after a 15-year career playing for South Africa, and joins his former team-mate Morne Morkel at The Oval.He previously played for Surrey as an overseas player in 2013 and 2014, and ESPNcricinfo understands his representatives also held talks with Middlesex and Hampshire.Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, said that the number of his players in or around the England set-up meant that the opportunity to sign Amla was “too good to ignore”.”His record speaks for itself and we know from his previous spells here that he will be an excellent resource for all of our players to learn from both on and off the field.”With several of our players now in or around the international setup, the opportunity to bring Hashim back to Surrey was too good to ignore.”Amla said: “Surrey are one of the most established and accomplished cricket clubs in the world and I am very excited to be joining them again while also not forgetting the opportunity to play alongside my good friend Morne Morkel again.”I was part of the Surrey team in 2013 and 2014 and thoroughly enjoyed myself during those stints, so to rekindle that relationship for a longer period is something that excites me. I’m really looking forward to working with Alec Stewart and the rest of his team.”Amla is the latest in a raft of signings the club has made in the past week. Michael Neser (Championship), D’Arcy Short and Shadab Khan (both T20 Blast) will join as overseas players, while Reece Topley has signed on a white-ball deal. Nick Kimber and James Taylor, both England Under-19 internationals, have joined from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire respectively.

The first round of the 2018 NCL had an unprecedented 13 centuries, but the Khulna batsman’s twin centuries against Rajshahi stood out

Mohammad Isam04-Oct-2018Best batsmenTushar Imran stood out among the 12 centurions in the opening round of the 2018 National Cricket League, with his twin centuries against Rajshahi Division in difficult circumstances, while Rony Talukdar and Ariful Haque racked up double-hundreds.Tushar nearly accounted for half of Khulna Division’s 210 all out with his first-innings 104. It wasn’t until the arrival of the No. 9 Nahidul Islam, with whom he added 88, that he found support. Tushar followed it up with 159, with the help of 21 fours and a six, as Khulna fought hard to earn a draw. He added 250 runs for the third wicket with Anamul Haque, who also started the season with a century.In Fatullah, Rony’s third double-hundred came in Dhaka Division’s second innings, in which he and Abdul Mazid shared a Bangladesh first-class record opening stand of 350 runs. They beat the previous best of 341 runs between Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mizanur Rahman from the 2017-18 NCL. Rony made 228 off 252 balls with 18 fours and seven sixes.Ariful’s 231 was his maiden double-century, which arrived with the help of 21 fours and four sixes in a near-eight-hour stay at the crease in Bogra. In the same match, Barisal’s No. 3 Fazle Mahmud missed out on a double ton, perishing on 195, having spent more than eight hours, and 424 balls while hitting 18 fours and three sixes.Best bowlersThe best news to come out of the bowlers’ camp was legspinner Jubair Hossain’s five-wicket haul against Dhaka Division, his first five-for in four years. Jubair had been a neglected figure in Bangladesh cricket ever since he burst on to the scene in 2014.He played only a single first-class game last season, and largely spent the Dhaka Premier League List-A competition on the bench. In a bid to revive his career, Jubair has been working with a legspin bowling coach in the last six months.Among the fast bowlers, Shahadat Hossain took his best match figures in ten years, finishing with 8 for 106 against Chittagong, and Shafiul Islam took a five-wicket haul in the first innings against a strong Khulna batting side.Meanwhile, Afif Hossain doubled his first-class wickets tally with a seven-wicket haul against Rajshahi. Having dismissed Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Junaid Siddique in the top-order, he removed the last five wickets, although Rajshahi had a healthy 352-run lead.Best matchRajshahi Division knocked down Khulna Division, the defending champions, for 210 in their first innings in Rajshahi, a body blow for the side that has won the last three NCL tournaments.Rajshahi’s reply with the bat was even better, as they took a 342-run lead having posted 552 in the first innings. Mizanur Rahman and Jahurul Islam struck centuries, and with several substantial partnerships throughout the innings, Khulna had little respite.But their powerful batting line-up responded to the deficit superbly, with Anamul Haque and Tushar Imran putting together 250 runs for the third wicket and taking the fight into the fourth day with eight wickets intact. Even after they fell in the space of four overs, Soumya Sarkar struck a quickfire century, only his second in first-class cricket and one that came after more than two years.Khulna fought back hard and finished the game with 2.5 points. Rajshahi took 4.8 points, but they would treat this game as an opportunity lost.Points to noteTwelve batsmen scored 13 centuries in the NCL’s first round, an unprecedented start to a cricket season in Bangladesh. Almost the entire front-row of the country’s first-class batsmen made good starts.The bowling, however, wasn’t as impressive, with only two fast bowlers, Shahadat and Shafiul, standing out with wickets. The usual cast of left-arm spinners took five-wicket hauls, although Jubair’s first five-for in four years was a point of interest.Players to watchAmong the Bangladesh players who were part of the Asia Cup squad, Soumya Sarkar and Nazmul Islam stood out with a century and five-wicket haul respectively.The national selectors would also look at Anamul Haque (who was dropped from the Asia Cup squad), Mizanur Rahman, Abdul Mazid and Shadman Islam for Bangladesh’s opening slot, as all four struck centuries.Naeem Islam and Jahurul Islam also reminded the selectors about their form with centuries, while Sohag Gazi started the season with a century and four wickets in the match.

Faf du Plessis says that South Africa’s problems cannot be solved by waiting on AB de Villiers to make a comeback that may never happen

Firdose Moonda at Old Trafford07-Aug-20172:06

Will AB de Villiers be remembered as an all-time great in Tests?

AB de Villiers is unlikely to play Test cricket for South Africa again and they need to accept that, according to their captain, Faf du Plessis. In the aftermath of their 1-3 series defeat in England, where batting collapses were a significant cause of South Africa’s inability to compete, du Plessis admitted their problems cannot be solved by waiting on de Villiers to make a comeback because that may not happen.”I would love AB to play – we all know how good he is and we missed him, but we’ve spent too much time talking about when he is going to come back. The hope of him coming back is something we need to move past, we need to find someone else to fulfill that role. If AB comes back it’s a huge bonus but I don’t expect him to come back into the Test team,” du Plessis said.De Villiers’ last Test was 19 months ago against England in Johannesburg, when he was stand-in captain following Hashim Amla’s resignation. Since then, de Villiers had been confirmed permanent leader but had to sit out what would have been in first series in charge – against New Zealand last August – with an elbow injury. Du Plessis took temporary charge of the side and when they won away in Australia, was asked to do the job full-time. De Villiers needed more time to recover and conceded the Test team had made strides under du Plessis.Then, in January this year, de Villiers announced a sabbatical from the longest format until at least December, when South Africa are due to host India. He cited workload management, with an eye on the 2019 World Cup, as the main reason for his decision. However, during this tour, it emerged that de Villiers had actually wanted to retire from Tests completely in late 2016 but was persuaded to stay on by CSA. De Villiers has since said he will make a firm decision on his future when the board announce their plans for the coaching position at the end of this turn. Russell Domingo, who has de Villiers’ support, is out of contract and is expected to be replaced by Ottis Gibson which may bring on a full retirement by de Villiers, or at least a hanging-up of his Test whites.Du Plessis now wants the team to get used to the idea instead of wallowing in the what-could-have-beens. On this tour, they tried three different No.4s to replace de Villiers in JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma. With Duminy dropped and de Kock unlikely to be able to adapt his game to a more conservative situation, they seem to have settled on Bavuma to take the team forward.”We didn’t come here planning for JP to be dropped, we were hoping that he could bowl and play those x-factor innings,” du Plessis said. “The change with Quinton going in at four was to transfer pressure back on the England team and he is the one guy who can do that. He did that in the second Test with match-changing innings on a greentop but from a consistency point of view your number four needs to play the way the team needs him to play and Quinton plays the way Quinton need to play. In conditions like this, with the ball moving around, I think it’s better for Quinton to come in at six or seven like your Bairstow, Stokes and Ali.”Temba is probably technically our best player along with Hashim and myself. I love what I see in Temba’s character and he’s going to be an important leader for us in the team,” he added. “I’m a big believer that, if you see that in somebody you give them responsibility to bring the best out in them. When he batted at four he was our best player in really challenging conditions and that showed me that he has the capability of being South Africa’s number four for a long time.”Overall, du Plessis conceded that the series was lost with the bat but hopes South Africa will be able to find the personnel to bulk up their reserves and discover the team balance they need going forward. “From a batting perspective we haven’t been where we needed to be, myself included, and England has a really quality bowling attack so we knew the series was going to be won and lost there,” he said. “The learning for the batting unit will be important – we know there are holes we need to fix. Heino [Kuhn] didn’t do as well as he would have liked, he’s a quality player so we’ll have to look at that and, from a balance point of view, six or seven batsmen is always the question for us.”

While other Sri Lanka batsmen have spoken of embracing positivity at the crease against a strong England attack, Kusal Mendis has instead begun to focus on batting time

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Jun-2016While other Sri Lanka batsmen have spoken of embracing positivity at the crease against a strong England attack, the youngest man in the top order has instead begun to focus on batting time. Impulsive, raw and attacking, 21-year-old Kusal Mendis may average less than 30 in 10 Test innings so far, but coaches and selectors have seen in him a spark that could be fanned into flame.Mendis hit Sri Lanka’s sole half-century in a woeful Headingley Test, and made two starts at Chester-le-Street. Sri Lanka appear happy to give him a longer run in the No. 3 spot, where he has said he feels comfortable and where he has contributed more substantial innings than many of his team-mates. Having hit 114 runs from 154 balls this series, the batsman himself has set sights on playing longer innings.”We have realised that the key is to let the England bowlers go for more spells,” Mendis said. “We will have a few plans and it’s only natural that a bowler, when he bowls fourth or fifth spell, he will leak runs. If we can bat for longer, we will be able to achieve our targets more easily. We have had about five very good days of training leading up to the Lord’s Test. We will talk about all these areas.”Sri Lanka had employed the “tiring” tactics with some success against Yasir Shah in 2015, when Angelo Mathews, in particular, had first dead-batted, then scored freely off the legspinner’s later spells in Pallekele. Mendis’ survival early in his innings here may depend on how well he can avoid the traps England set for his leg-side dominant play.”England tried out a few things in the second Test and I realised that,” Mendis said. “I know what’s coming at Lord’s. They will deny me any runs on the leg side. That’s the challenge. The coach and captain had a chat with me and we will come up with some counter moves where I will try and score on the off side.”Mendis was the captain of Sri Lanka’s Under-19 side in 2014 – a year in which he also earned a cricket scholarship to play in the Middlesex Leagues. He said he owed much of his success to his family – particularly his father, who is a three-wheeler driver by trade.”My father was the biggest strength for my cricket. Other than that, a lot of coaches and many other individuals have helped me. I get a lot of support from my captain, vice-captain, coach and the management. Even though I’m the youngest member of the team, they don’t treat me any differently. Whether I’m doing well or have a bad game I feel that support.”For now, Mendis has been weaned at the international level on Tests only. But his strike rate in the longest format suggests he could be an option for Sri Lanka in limited-overs crickets as well.”My biggest ambition was representing my country. I was thrilled when I made my Test debut against West Indies last year. Then I toured New Zealand and now I am here. I hope I will stay in the team for a long time.”

Rajasthan Royals batsman Brad Hodge will not be fit for the Champions League T20 final on Sunday, the Royals coach Paddy Upton has told ESPNcricinfo

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2013Rajasthan Royals batsman Brad Hodge will not be fit for the Champions League T20 final on Sunday, the Royals coach Paddy Upton has told ESPNcricinfo. Hodge had injured his knee during the semi-final against Chennai Super Kings last evening in Jaipur. He has had scans on his knee, the results of which are awaited.Hodge had collided with Shane Watson, whose head hit Hodge’s knee, at point during the final over of Chennai Super Kings’ chase and had to go off the field. Shaun Tait, the Australian fast bowler, is the only overseas player available on the Royals bench.Losing Hodge is a blow to Royals’ chances of winning their maiden Champions League title. Batting at No. 6 in the role of a finisher, Hodge has scored 109 runs in three innings – two not-outs – at a strike rate of 198. His unbeaten 52 off 23 balls against Otago was instrumental in Royals securing a home semi-final, which they won by 14 runs.

An unbeaten half-century stand for the seventh wicket helped South Africa Women beat Bangladesh Women by four wickets in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2012
ScorecardAn unbeaten half-century stand for the seventh wicket helped South Africa Women beat Bangladesh Women by four wickets in Mirpur and square the three match series 1-1. Bangladesh would have fancied their chances in the match when they reduced South Africa to 130 for 6 chasing 180, but Dane van Niekerk, who scored 45 off 64 balls, and Shabnim Ismail thwarted the spin challenge and went past the target with four balls to spare.Bangladesh had chosen to bat first and put up an improved batting display, after both teams had struggled the previous day, to score 179. The highlight of the innings was a 70-run fourth-wicket stand between Lata Mondal and Farzana Haque, both batmen scoring half-centuries. But Legspinner van Niekerk, 2 for 30, and offspinner Sunette Loubser, 2 for 26, picked up regular wickets to keep Bangladesh under 200.South Africa were in trouble early in their reply as they lost four wickets with only 33-runs on board, but unlike falling to spin as in the previous game, the visitors lost three of those wickets to medium-pacer Jahanara Alam. A 64-run stand between Alison Hodgkinson (33) and Marizanne Kapp (39) stabilised the chase before the lower-order saw them through.The third and the final match of the series will be played on September 9 in Mirpur.

It had been inevitable for much of the previous three days but England officially became the No. 1 Test team in the world, ending India’s stay at the top with one of their most crushing victories, by an innings and 242 runs

The Report by Andrew McGlashan13-Aug-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Anderson did the early damage for England as he removed key batsmen in his first spell•Getty Images

It had been inevitable for much of the previous three days but England officially became the No. 1 Test team in the world shortly after 3pm, ending India’s stay at the top with one of their most crushing victories, by an innings and 242 runs. The fourth day didn’t even last until tea as the visitors were dispatched for 244 after James Anderson ripped the top off the batting before Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad chipped in.In theory India had the line-up to at least make England toil for victory, but in reality they have looked a beaten side throughout this match. When Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid fell within the first four overs of the day it was clear Sunday wouldn’t be required although at least India went down swinging as Praveen Kumar clubbed 40 off 18 balls – momentarily looking on course for the fastest Test half-century – and MS Dhoni continued his return to form with an unbeaten 74.Yet all it did was delay the inevitable and when Sreesanth fended at Tim Bresnan, Kevin Pietersen held the catch at gully and England went top of the pile. Although the tables weren’t introduced until 2003 back-dating shows it’s the first time they have been No. 1 since 1979 although that was when West Indies had been severely depleted due to the Packer-era.India, meanwhile, lose their title after a stint of 21 months and will have to dig very deep to try and salvage pride at The Oval. If they lose the series 4-0 they will be down to third. Sachin Tendulkar was the only one of the top six to really show the hunger for a fight and had moved to 40 when Dhoni drove towards Swann, who got his right hand to the ball, deflecting it into the stumps with Tendulkar’s bat on the line. While it’s always a tough way to fall, Tendulkar had backed up a long way which leaves the chance of such a dismissal. Regardless, though, Tendulkar wouldn’t have saved the match for India because of the damage inflicted in the first hour.Anderson didn’t wait long to make an impression; he found Gautam Gambhir’s outside edge with his first ball of the day and the catch was taken by Swann at second slip. Gambhir has shown the ability to occupy the crease in the past – he cited his 436-ball innings at Napier as how India could save this game – but with him removed early the pressure was squarely on Dravid and, of course, Tendulkar. Dravid, though, did not last long but his dismissal appeared to throw up a bizarre set of circumstances.When he played forward to Anderson’s outswinger, the noise suggested a clear outside edge and Simon Taufel gave the decision. However, subsequent replays showed that the sound didn’t quite match the pictures and it appeared Dravid’s shoelace may have flicked the bottom of his bat. Dravid could have reviewed but didn’t take the option and whether there would have been enough clear evidence to overturn the decision will never be known.India were 40 for 3 and sinking fast. Tendulkar gave momentary relief with a couple of sweet drives, but VVS Laxman was given a tough time by England’s fast bowlers. Anderson’s swing and Broad’s extra bounce kept him on nought for 16 balls before Anderson produced another fine delivery to take the outside edge.Broad, meanwhile, tried to take advantage of Tendulkar’s problems with the sightscreen behind the bowler’s arm. In a similar manner to Andrew Flintoff against Jacques Kallis in 2008, Tendulkar was having trouble picking up deliveries from a set of dark windows and Broad probed away with a series of very full balls which he tried to squeeze under Tendulkar’s bat.Tendulkar, though, responded with a fighting effort although a few of his drives came with a hint of frustration – even anger? – at India’s position. The wait for the 100th hundred carries on until at least The Oval and there is a growing sense that it isn’t meant to happen in this series.Before Swann’s literal hand in Tendulkar’s scalp, he’d been brought on to target Suresh Raina and it was an absorbing, if brief, battle. Raina should have gone for 1, but Andrew Strauss couldn’t hold a low chance at gully as Swann tried to add to his lean tally of two wickets in the series. Raina didn’t hold back, crunching a straight drive past Swann’s right hand, then driving over cover, but Swann had the final say when he gained an lbw decision from Steve Davis.Raina wasn’t happy, and even signalled for a review having forgotten they can’t be used for lbws, but replays confirmed Davis was spot on with the ball hitting middle and leg. The fact Raina even considered the DRS showed his frazzled mindset. Swann claimed his second shortly after lunch when Amit Mishra was well caught at mid-off but his figures then suffered at the hands of Praveen with one over costing 21.The fifty stand between Praveen and Dhoni was raised in 28 balls of free swinging to ensure no record defeat for India. The fun ended when Broad was recalled and immediately had Praveen, whose right thumb had been given a battering, caught at cover. Dhoni continued to show the fight that has been so lacking from India, but it had long since become a forlorn effort. His team has had their time at the top, for the time being at least, and now that’s England’s honour. The next challenge is to stay there.