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A comprehensive batting display, led by Gareth Hopkins’ double-hundred helped Auckland thrash Central Districts by an innings and 93 runs at the Colin Maiden Park.Central elected to bat, but little else went their way as seamer Dean Bartlett struck twice before they could open their account, removing Brad Patton and Timothy Weston in his first over. Mathew Sinclair followed soon after to leave Central in disarray. George Worker and Bevan Griggs struck fighting half-centuries to give their side a semblance of a competitive score, as offspinner Bhupinder Singh grabbed four wickets to end the innings at 269.When Central’s bowlers reduced Auckland to 128 for 3, the game was in the balance, but things went pear-shaped for the visitors from there. Opener Richard Jones and Hopkins added 135 to all but wipe out the deficit before Jones fell for a fine 123. Anaru Kitchen continued the dominance with his captain, the pair putting on a massive 206 runs to put the game out of Central’s reach. Kitchen struck 14 fours and three sixes in his sparkling innings of 116 before becoming Worker’s third wicket. Colin de Grandhomme then walked in to heap more misery on the tired attack, smashing an unbeaten 86-ball 106. Through it all, Hopkins batted with consummate assurance and style, picking up 23 boundaries on his way to 201.The declaration eventually came with a lead of 366 runs, and with little hope of survival for Central. The new-ball bowlers, Michael Bates and Bartlett, wreaked havoc once again, picking up eight wickets between them, while Sinclair fought hard with 129, but could not prevent the resounding defeat.Canterbury were made to scrap for their five-wicket win over Wellington in Rangiora. After winning the toss, the Canterbury seam attack had Wellington reeling at 66 for 6. Luke Woodcock’s rearguard 76 lifted them out of the morass, to an under-par score of 176, as Brandon Hinii grabbed four wickets.Canterbury’s batsmen then went about building a handy lead, anchored by Shanan Stewart’s ton and a useful contribution from Michael Papps. Ili Tugaga ran through the tail to finish with four wickets and keep the lead down to 142. Wellington put up a much-improved show in the second innings, with the openers Neal Parlane and Stephen Murdoch batting patiently to add 124 and bring their side back into the game. Todd Astle then delivered a twin strike to create a minor wobble, Murdoch departing for 59, and Cameron Merchant, soon after for a duck. But James Franklin and Parlane joined forces to ensure that there was no collapse.Parlane was the first to reach hundred, and eventually fell for a well-made 137 off 243 balls. Michael Pollard helped Franklin add 90 runs and raise visions of a spectacular comeback for Wellington, before both departed within ten runs of each other. Franklin struck 26 fours and a six in his 214-ball 162. Astle, who finished with a five-for, and Johann Myburgh, polished off the lower order to keep Wellington’s lead down to 305. At 85 for 4, it was anybody’s game and for the second time in the match, Stewart seized the moment in style. His 92 was supported well by Peter Fulton’s 77, and Dean Brownlie’s unbeaten 74, as Canterbury coasted home by five wickets.In the only non-decisive result of the ninth round, Northern Districts and Otago played out a high-scoring draw in Whangerei. Otago opted to field and but couldn’t make early inroads due to a solid opening stand from Michael Parlane and Daniel Flynn, who both struck 60s and added 113 runs. Nathan McCullum sparked a middle-order wobble before Brad Wilson’s 107 shepherded the side, in the company of the tail. Peter McGlashan contributed 71, while McCullum and Nick Beard took three wickets each before Northern declared at 465 for 9. Craig Cumming and Darren Broom led Otago’s reply with fine centuries and a 247-run stand for the second wicket. Cumming struck 27 fours in his 160, while Broom made 119. Greg Todd and McCullum then took over, with knocks of 91 and 88 respectively, as Otago went past Northern’s score. They eventually declared 111 runs ahead of Northern, with Graeme Aldridge picking four wickets. Northern had no problems in surviving 63 overs and proceeding to 212 for 7 before the match was called off.Auckland remained at the bottom of the table despite the win, while Northern maintained their top spot.

Brett Lee will be back in Australian colours at the World Twenty20 after being chosen for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery last year. Lee, 33, retired from Tests to prolong his limited-overs career and his reputation has won him a spot alongside Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes and Mitchell Johnson for the tournament starting in the Caribbean next month.Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, would have liked Lee to have played more this summer but hopes he will regain match fitness with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL. “At his best he is one of the best Twenty20 cricketers in the world,” Hilditch said. “He also has the opportunity of continuing to play in the IPL as preparation for this tournament.”Ryan Harris, who made his Test debut in New Zealand, was “extremely unlucky” to miss the 15-man squad while Travis Birt was overlooked after playing three matches during Australia’s summer. The allrounder Daniel Christian holds his spot and Michael Hussey’s experience and strong recent form earned him a trip. It is a strange selection because Hussey hasn’t appeared in a T20 international since the 2009 global event in England.”Dan Christian had limited opportunities in the lead-up to this selection but we see him as an exciting Twenty20 cricketer with his all-round skills with bat and ball,” Hilditch said. “We’ve also added Tim Paine to give us cover in case of injury to Brad Haddin and, of course, Tim’s ability with the bat more than warrants his selection.”Australia must finish in the top two of a group also including Pakistan and Bangladesh to avoid going out in the first round for the second tournament in a row. Their opening game is against Pakistan on May 2 in St Lucia before facing Bangladesh on May 5 in Barbados.Australia men’s squad David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Daniel Christian, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Dirk Nannes, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Shaun Tait.Australia women’s squad Jodie Fields (capt, wk), Alex Blackwell, Jessica Cameron, Sarah Elliott, Rene Farrell, Rachael Haynes, Julie Hunter, Shelley Nitschke, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Leah Poulton, Lisa Sthalekar, Clea Smith, Elyse Villani.

Rajasthan Royals are in danger of losing three senior players to injuries ahead of their next match in Bangalore on March 18. Yusuf Pathan, Graeme Smith and Dmitri Mascarenhas were hurt during the six-wicket defeat against Delhi Daredevils in Ahmedabad, and a final word on the nature of their injuries is likely to be known by Wednesday.Shane Warne, Rajasthan’s captain, said Mascarenhas turned his ankle during his run-out, Smith ran his finger into the ground as he finished taking a catch off Virender Sehwag while Yusuf “popped” something in his shoulder while diving on the field.Warne admitted the injuries have now put a question mark over the availability of the concerned players for the next match, and that Rajasthan could not have found themselves in a worse situation.”He [Mascarehnas] was only limping, though he could hardly walk. He showed a lot of courage to come out and bowl. His ankle is in ice,” Warne said. The Rajasthan captain feared Graeme Smith, who had rushed to take an X-ray immediately after the match, might have broken his finger. “Yusuf might’ve popped something in his shoulder,” Warne said. “Not much to smile about, outplayed in everything, and injuries to three pretty big players as well. Can’t get much worse than that,” he declared with a grin.

The IPL has tweaked the timeout system it introduced last season, with each team now able to call for a two-and-a-half minute break once any time during each innings. It is a more flexible system than in the previous year, when there was a seven-and-a-half minute break at the end of the 10th over of an innings.”The timeout will allow teams to confer amongst themselves at crucial time in the game as needed,” Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said on his Twitter feed. “It will help them re-strategise.”The previous timeout system had come in for criticism from several quarters, including Sachin Tendulkar, who said it hampered the momentum of a team in a Twenty20 match.On a day when Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne raised concerns about playing in the IPL this year during to security threats, Modi emphasised that the tournament’s organisers are working hard on ensuring players’ safety. “Security is always our top-most priority,” he said. “All our actions over the years have demonstrated that. We are working with all round the clock.”Security fears regarding the IPL have intensified over the past few days after a string of statements from the 313 Brigade, Al-Qaeda’s operational arm in Pakistan, issued a warning to “the international community” not to send its representatives to major sports events being staged in India, including the IPL.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outHarbhajan Singh’s tight spell kept India in with a chance, but it was not enough to deny Sri Lanka victory•Associated Press

Historically, when it comes to finals of triangular tournaments, Sri Lanka have had the upper hand over India, who in the last decade succeeded in winning just four in 21 finals. A familiar tale panned out in Dhaka, where a frenetic start was followed by an enthralling finish and the result was yet another tournament win for Sri Lanka over India.Of all the individual contributions that were spread across 96.5 overs of fluctuating cricket in Dhaka, the one that towered over all others was a 71. Those were the runs scored by Mahela Jayawardene, and it undermined the importance of his surprise call-up to the squad midway through the tri-series. Building on the good work of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, especially the Man of the Match Nuwan Kulasekara, Jayawardene smoothed over two spin-induced wobbles and paced the chase precisely to steer them home with nine balls to spare on a chilly evening.Suresh Raina’s first ODI century against serious opposition – his previous two were against Hong Kong and Bangladesh – had boosted India from 60 for 5 to a respectable 245 but they were a strike bowler short after Ashish Nehra took a wicket and left the field. Harbhajan Singh produced two openings with his tidy offspin yet Jayawardene was flawless in his match-winning effort. And to think he’d initially been ruled out of the series through injury.When India dismissed the well-set pair of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara in the space of 14 deliveries on a rare dew-free evening, their total seemed around 40 runs more than it actually was. India turned in a fighting performance after Sangakkara and Dilshan fell, but fittingly it was Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s most experienced player, who anchored the chase.After Nehra sent back Tharanga for his second consecutive duck, only to hobble off with a dodgy groin after bowling eight deliveries, Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, especially, struggled with their bearings and Sangakkara, with very good use of the wrists, latched on readily. He was away with two expertly placed boundaries, just using the pace and putting width away through the off-side arc, and followed those up with two glorious drives past extra cover and point. With Sangakkara striking the ball sweetly, Dilshan set about erecting a platform that would see Sri Lanka through.However, 93 for 1 soon turned into 109 for 3, with spin giving India some hope. MS Dhoni turned to Yuvraj Singh for the 17th over, and it took him one delivery to raise India’s spirits. Dilshan, on 49, tried to cut but the ball stayed low and Dhoni made no mistake holding the bottom edge. In the 20th over Sangakkara, who had raised his half-century off just 48 balls, was tempted by a loopy one from Harbhajan Singh that forced him back and then drew the edge to slip.Boundaries dried up and the tension was palpable, as was perhaps the batsmen’s surprise at the minimal effect the dew had. Where cuts and glances had been abundant, suddenly hard-handed chops to backward point and inside edges off hurried drives became frequent. There was big turn for Harbhajan and Dhoni threw in a leg gully to go with a slip.But Jayawardene is just the man you need to walk in with the asking rate under control and a batsman in good nick at the other end. He aided Sri Lanka’s chase with customary effectiveness: a forward press here, a clipped single there, a deft boundary here, a cheeky two there. It was typical Jayawardene – aware of what the situation demanded and knowing which bowlers to take runs off and how.Having eased the pressure with a lovely dab wide of backward point for four, Thilan Samaraweera failed to spot Ravindra Jadeja’s arm ball and dragged it onto his stumps. That wicket snapped a 48-run partnership, but few circumstances ruffle Jayawardene and he ensured he was around till the end. Harbhajan’s dismissal of Thilina Kandamby in his second spell didn’t bother Jayawardene, who raised his fifty with a characteristic nudge off the pads. A drop by Harbhajan at point when Jayawardene was on 54 was as close as India came to dismissing him. Even the run out of Suraj Randiv with 18 needed from 21 balls wasn’t enough. With three successive boundaries off Sreesanth, each played to different areas and with varying degrees of control, Jayawardene sealed the deal.Jayawardene’s innings overshadowed a splendid century earlier in the day. Raina’s effort was the fourth-highest ODI score by an Indian at No. 6 and kept India afloat but Sri Lanka finished off well, taking the last four wickets for 32 runs in 5.2 overs. By bowling India out in 48.2 overs with some tight bowling at the end, they were always ahead in the match.For the first 11 overs of the game on an overcast and mildly chilly Dhaka afternoon, India’s innings resembled an automobile ignition on a wintry morning in Denmark. A mishmash of indiscreet shot selection, accurate new-ball bowling, efficient left-arm pace and smart catching is often a recipe for a lop-sided contest and India so nearly made it one. The top order played without purpose – completely failing to make use of the chance to bat time at the crease – and wickets fell in a heap within the first ten overs.Gautam Gambhir’s first-over dismissal – bowled off the pads while trying to glance Kulasekara – set about a brief period of chaos where India’s batsmen made the slightly nippy Chanaka Welegedara look like Jeff Thomson. Though hovering in the late 120 to early 130 kmph, Welegedara drew a tentative waft from Kohli and made Yuvraj – who had not batted so early in the innings since November 8 against Australia – look like a novice with two slips licking their lips.Overconfidence did Dhoni and Virender Sehwag in after a mini-recovery, as both fell to the accurate Kulasekara, and with India struggling at 76 for 5 after 15 overs, this was threatening to be one of the quickest finals in recent memory. Luckily for India, Raina and Jadeja proceeded to buckle down and give the innings some substance.Raina never allowed the situation get to him. He was alert to the singles, was skillful at finding the gaps, and ran well with Jadeja. A pull through midwicket in the 20th over changed the tempo from caution to slow acceleration, and an open-faced steer between mid-off and extra cover was the shot of the innings. Forty one of Raina’s runs came behind the wicket, all through dabs, steers, glances and gentle maneuvering, but it was the crisply struck drives that had spectators cheering. The cover area was regularly threaded, especially as Raina made room to dominate the bowlers.At 166 for 5 in the 35th over, India appeared on course for 250 but Dilshan trapped Jadeja (38) plumb in front. Raina’s attempt to boost the tempo after reaching his century didn’t come off, with India losing wickets cheaply. Despite facing 53 dot balls, Raina’s strike-rate was a swift 92.17; marvelous considering the mess he had walked out to. His excellent contribution at least gave India something to bowl at, but 245 just wasn’t enough to prevent Sri Lanka from securing their first tri-series success since the 2008 Asia Cup – against the same opposition.

Dhoni defends flat tracks

After a glut of runs in the Tests and Twenty20s against Sri Lanka, the first one-dayer in Rajkot also turned out be a bowler’s nightmare raising questions over the quality of pitches in India, but MS Dhoni defended the curators.
“Wickets are not easy to prepare. You try to get a good wicket and it turns out to be a flat one,” he said. “The Kanpur Test the wicket was flat but still the game ended one and a half days’ before schedule. In the last four games the wickets have been consistent and batter-friendly. It’s easy to criticise preparation of wickets.”

The Indian batting machine is in prime form, but the shoddy fielding has captain MS Dhoni worried. Three chances were grassed by India during Sri Lanka’s spirited pursuit of 415 in the first ODI in Rajkot. That added to some appalling fielding in the two Twenty20s took the dropped catches’ tally to 12, over 90 overs of limited-overs cricket in one week. And then there were the missed run-outs.”We were fielding well in patches and not dropping catches at the international level,” Dhoni said in Nagpur ahead of Friday’s second ODI. “You may drop the odd difficult catch but straightforward chances need to be taken. In the last three-four games we have dropped a lot of regulation catches. Of course it bothers me.”At the same time it will be solved at some point because of the effort that we are putting in. We are hoping we don’t drop catches in this game.”India did hold their nerve in the field towards the end of the Rajkot game, when Sri Lanka needed only 15 runs in the final two overs. Two run-outs in the penultimate over and a Sachin Tendulkar catch off the third-last delivery helped India edge home by three runs.The bowling from Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra at the death, another facet where India haven’t excelled, came in for praise from Dhoni. “It was one of the best in the past year. I have always said we had not been very consistent with the death bowling,” he said. “In the last game, in the last five overs we gave away only 27 runs. It was a very good effort.”Ashish bowled five overs in a row. There was a bit of reverse-swing going, which actually helped us a bit.”Dhoni said that on superb batting tracks like in Rajkot, the key is to stop singles. “Normally you don’t get wickets like that. It was not a big ground with the straight boundary not more than 60-65 yards. Since the wicket was so nice, it was easy for the batsmen to clear the field. It’s important not to give easy singles.”Looking ahead to the second one-dayer in Nagpur, Dhoni said he expected another run-fest. India racked up 354 when they played Australia in an ODI last month, and 401 runs were scored in the Twenty20 against Sri Lanka last week. “In the last T20 game here there was good bounce. The wicket for the match looks like good and flat. I had a conversation with the curator.”

Mohammad Yousuf believes hiring a specialist fielding coach for Pakistanwill not make much of a difference to the side’s continued problems in thearea. Pakistan dropped five catches in all in their 170-run loss toAustralia at the MCG. That came on the back of the Test series in New Zealand wherethey grassed at least ten chances through the three Tests, including sixin the win in Wellington.The performance has prompted speculation in Pakistan that hiring aspecialist fielding coach is on the cards. Waqar Younis, the former fastbowler, is already with the squad as a bowling and fielding coach, but hehas only been appointed for the Australia series. In any case the brunt ofhis work lies in the fast bowling department.Pakistan have toyed with the idea in the past, occasionally hiring peoplefor the post, but no one has been retained long-term. Jonty Rhodes camein for a brief stint in 2006, just before Pakistan toured England, andYousuf believes the experience points to the futility of such a post. “Wecannot do more than what we do already about it,” he told Cricinfo.”What else can we do other than practice catching all the time. Even ifyou hire a fielding coach, remember Jonty Rhodes before the 2006 Englandseries? We dropped 20 catches in that series. Whoever comes will do thesame kind of practices and throw lots of catches and all that is happeningnow anyway.”The problem, believes Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam, is more deep-rootedand will probably require a systemic change at the domestic level. “Wemust accept that there were lapses in the fielding at Melbourne anddropping the openers was crucial,” Intikhab told Cricinfo.”We do a lot of fielding practice with all the coaches. I’m not going tomake any excuses about the conditions, the crowds and how we might not beused to it. There are some youngsters there, some new guys.”The department is such that if you work hard at it you can reallyimprove. We have hours of practice where we practice slip catches, highballs, flat ones, diving ones, running ones. We cover everything but I’vebeen saying for a long time, it is a grassroots problem. For departmentsand associations in domestic cricket, players don’t really do muchfielding practice. When they come into the international side, that iswhen they start learning properly and that is not easy.”

The way Jonathan Trott has begun his international career suggests he has always been destined to pull on an England shirt, but as his return to South Africa brings him back to his old doorstep in Cape Town he is determined not to get carried away by the early success.Trott’s 87 in the second one-day international at Centurion Park helped England to a comfortable seven-wicket win as he added 162 with Paul Collingwood. It means he has now made significant scores in all three formats, following his 119 on Test debut and the runs he made in the two Twenty20 internationals against South Africa.He hasn’t quite had to deal with the harsh reception that Kevin Pietersen endured in 2005 by supporters or opposition – South Africa coach Mickey Arthur told his team to stop being so ‘matey’ – but early evidence has been that Trott will be able to cope with anything that comes his way during the tour. However, the next time he walks out to bat Trott’s biggest challenge could well come from the venue as he returns to his former home ground from the days he was a Western Province player.”Whenever I was playing county cricket and trying to become the best player I can be and hope to crack on to international cricket, you want to play at Lord’s and the SCG,” he said. “Then for me, I always wanted to come and play back at Newlands and be part of a winning England side – and hope I can contribute to that victory.””It adds a little edge to it for me. But I’m going to have to put the emotions of coming back here to one side to make sure they don’t play any role in the decisions I make on the field.”Questions about Trott’s background will follow him around for some time to come, but already he has become a key figure in England’s planning both for the current one-day series and the Test matches that start next month. He has slotted into the opening role alongside Andrew Strauss – a position he has occupied with success for Warwickshire – and he is savouring the chance to gain reward for hard work without getting wrapped up in emotions.”I’m really happy to be sitting here part of an England team, just won the first one-day game and looking forward to the second,” he said. I worked really, really hard to be able to sit here today and come on this tour.””It’s just the same as when I walked out against Australia in that first Test match. I try not to get too wound up about it – thinking ‘It’s an England game, and I haven’t played many. I just try to bring my Warwickshire processes into playing for England. Just like all the other guys in the team, I’m always trying to better myself.”

Queensland 9 for 382 (Batticciotto 101, Hartley 85, Swan 82*, Geeves 5-106) lead Tasmania 156 by 226 runs
Scorecard
Glen Batticciotto scored 101 as Queensland pushed on to a lead of 226•Getty Images

Glen Batticciotto posted his maiden first-class century and had solid support from Chris Hartley as Queensland set up a terrific lead over Tasmania. At the close of the second day, the Bulls’ advantage had swelled to 226 thanks to late runs from Chris Swan, who was on 82, while Scott Walter was yet to score.It was a tough day in the field for Tasmania and while Brett Geeves finished the day with 5 for 106, the dismissals were too infrequent for the Tigers’ liking. Batticciotto and Hartley combined for a 176-run partnership that took Queensland past Tasmania’s total of 156.Hartley was dropped twice in his 85 before he was caught behind off Geeves. Batticciotto, who was playing his second first-class game at the age of 28, registered 101 from 241 deliveries before he was bowled by Jason Krejza with the Bulls already enjoying a 100-plus lead.The late runs from Swan were a bonus as he scored at nearly a run a ball and he will be eyeing a potential maiden first-class hundred on the third morning. His runs capped off an excellent day for the Bulls, who lost only five wickets after an opening day on which the bowlers collected 14 dismissals in swing-friendly conditions.

Floyd Reifer, the West Indies captain, has said he “entirely disagrees” with the suggestion that his under-strength side has devalued the competition in the ICC Champions Trophy. West Indies sent a weakened squad to South Africa because of an ongoing contract dispute between the first-choice players – such as Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Dwayne Bravo – and the board.The replacements were expected to be pushovers but have credited themselves with two fighting performances. Their bowlers gave Pakistan a scare in their opening game and they ran Australia close in the second as well, reducing them to 171 for 7 before Mitchell Johnson lifted them to 275. West Indies were in with a chance during the chase, having reached 170 for 3, before the batting collapsed and they fell 50 runs short.”Against Pakistan if we had 40 more runs things could have been different and against Australia we were in the game into the 40th over. It’s been a great effort,” Reifer said. “The important thing for us is to know that we are improving. From the first game to this one we have gotten better, as a team and as individuals.”As we play as a team, stick together and keep practising, improving our skills, we will get better. We are a new team to international cricket. We are not going to come in and dominate straight away. We must show improvement, though. We still have more time to prepare and improve our skills and our mental attitude. Getting to international standards is all about the mental attitude.”West Indies were the first team to be knocked out of the Champions Trophy after suffering two defeats but they have a game remaining against India on Wednesday. It will give their young players another opportunity to gain valuable experience in a major tournament.”We try to encourage the guys to learn and learn fast,” Reifer said. “This is international cricket and not like the domestic cricket we play back at home. We talk a lot. We talk through situations that are going to happen in the game and we ask the guys to improve, to talk cricket, to improve their all-round game – batting, bowling and fielding.”