Paine century drives Australia A to series win

Australia A 316 for 5 (Paine 134, Ferguson 48) beat Pakistan A 301 (Latif 100, Ghani 53, Bollinger 3-53) by 15 runsScorecard
Tim Paine smashed 13 fours and five sixes © Getty Images
Related Links-->
-->
Players/Officials: Khalid Latif Tim Paine
Matches: Australia A v Pakistan A at Brisbane
Series/Tournaments: Pakistan A tour of Australia
Teams: Australia Pakistan
Australia edged ahead of Pakistan in a high-scorer at the Allan Border Field to take the one-day series 2-1. Opener Tim Paine cracked 134 to steer his team to an imposing 316 before his counterpart Khalid Latif responded with an exact 100, which wasn't enough as Pakistan fell short by 15 runs.
Pakistan's decision to send the home team to bat backfired as the first two partnerships cost 66 and 108 runs respectively. Callum Ferguson supported Paine in the second-wicket stand with 48. Paine's century came off 124 balls, smashing 13 fours and five huge sixes before being dismissed by Fahad Masood. The Australian innings got a real boost between the 34th and 40th overs when Paine and Adam Voges added 69. Moises Henriques and Jason Krejza then pushed the score past 300 with cameos towards the end.
Pakistan got off to a quick start but lost two wickets before the fifth over. Two half-century partnerships, driven by Latif, put Pakistan on track but the chase lost momentum when Latif fell in the 33rd over to the left-arm spinner Jon Holland. Latif scored at more than a run-a-ball and his knock included ten fours and two sixes. Sheharyar Ghani made 53 before falling in the 40th over, but the steady fall of wickets hurt Pakistan's efforts in keeping with the asking rate.
Paine said he expected a high-scoring encounter. "I enjoyed batting today and it was good to put on some solid partnerships, firstly with David Warner and then with Ferg (Callum Ferguson) after that," Paine said after the match. "I thought 316 was a good score but we knew they would come at us hard, and we're just happy to come away with the win."
He also praised Latif's knock. "His (Khalid Latif) innings was first-class and really helped them through that middle part of the game and they got some momentum up so it was great when Dutchy (Jon Holland) was able to pick him up."
Pakistan round off their tour with a Twenty20 game at the same venue on Saturday.

WIPA asks national governments to step in

The West Indian players currently boycotting the series against Bangladesh have asked the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) to help solve the impasse with the WICB over player contracts. The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) hopes that Guyana president Bharat Jagdeo, the current chairman of CARICOM's heads of government, will be able to intervene and resolve the dispute.
"We at WIPA are fully conscious of the importance of cricket to the economy and unity of the region, and the psyche of its peoples - matters in which you and other Heads of Governments are continuously and intrinsically involved," WIPA chief executive Dinanath Ramnarine wrote in a letter to Jagdeo. "Our players are deeply mindful of this responsibility they shoulder on behalf of this important group of stakeholders. It is, therefore, in this context that we at WIPA wish to have a speedy resolution to these issues."
A meeting between all three parties has reportedly been suggested though it is unclear whether the board has agreed.
CARICOM - a nodal organisation of the region's national governments - has in the past played a leading role in similar disputes, particularly when Keith Mitchell, the former Prime Minister of Grenada, was the chairman of the Heads' sub-committee on cricket.
Meanwhile, the WICB said it would start paying the players for the England tour and the home series against India according to agreements it believed it had already established. Although there are no contracts in place, payments will be made on the basis of verbal agreements and written undertakings the board had with WIPA.
"At present, the situation remains the same," WICB vice-president Dave Cameron told the Caribbean Media Corporation. "We are not going to negotiate under duress and that is final. What we have done, however, is to make arrangements to pay players for their services. Presently, the wages for the England tour and the India tour are being processed and we will get it to the players as soon as possible."
Cameron said payments for the ICC World Twenty20 would be made when the WICB received its money from the ICC. The next ICC event is the Champions Trophy in September, for which the selectors are due to pick a provisional squad of 30 soon.

Australia's smiling assassin

Spot Mitchell Johnson out of his cricket gear and he could easily be mistaken as the lead singer of a multi-million selling emo rock band.

He has the boyish good looks, earrings, tattoos and pierced tongue - although the black eyeliner might be a step too far.

Johnson is a world away from his archetypal testosterone-fuelled fast bowler predecessors charged with intimidating England's batsmen during an Ashes summer.

Could you ever imagine Dennis Lillee, Merv Hughes or Glenn McGrath with a labret chin piercing? Let alone smiling at a batsmen after whizzing a snorter past his nose?

Verbal histrionics are not the 27-year-old's style but he shares the same instincts as his predecessors because the sight of batsmen sniffing leather really gets his blood pumping.

"That's what being a fast bowler is all about," said Johnson.

"I'm not verbal or in your face in the way that some guys are. I just try to let my bowling do the talking, with maybe a few short ones. You want them to feel uncomfortable."

A Johnson bouncer cut Jacque Kallis' chin open in Durban

Which is exactly what he did during Australia's back-to-back Test series against South Africa, breaking the little finger of captain Graeme Smith's left and then right hand in the space of two months.

His first-innings 3-37 in Australia's 175-run second Test win in Durban in March - a victory which sealed the three-match series - was one of the most brutal spells of fast bowling in modern times.

After removing Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla in the first over of South Africa's innings with fast, swinging deliveries and breaking Smith's digit, he floored the robust Jacques Kallis with a savage bouncer, opening a wound on his chin which required three stitches.

All this happened without spearhead Brett Lee, recuperating from foot and ankle injuries, as Johnson led Australia's most inexperienced Test bowling attack in years alongside Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Andrew McDonald.

"I really wanted to get up their batsmen and let them know we were here and seriously trying to win the match and the series," said Johnson, who took 16 wickets in three Tests at an average of 25.

"If they are coming out feeling uncomfortable, then you're on top. They will have that in their minds when they come out to bat.

"That's something I'm definitely going to take into my game more often."

If the swing's not there, I generally try to hit the deck hard Mitchell Johnson

Men in blue helmets, beware.

Johnson was born in Townsville in the tropical climes of northern Queensland, famed as a rugby league stronghold.

Cricket never figured highly on the career aspirations of the young Johnson, who expected to follow many of his childhood friends into the Australian army.

The breakthrough came when he was 17 and attended a fast bowling camp in Townsville headed by Lillee, who was scouring the country for fresh talent.

It took just three deliveries from Johnson for Lillee to realise he had seen a "once in a lifetime" prospect.

"I rang Marshie [Rod Marsh, then head of the Australian cricket academy] and said: 'you've gotta get this kid in'," Lillee revealed.

Three days later, Johnson was on his way down to join Marsh's latest recruits in Adelaide, where he first became acquainted with Troy Cooley, now Australia's fast bowling coach and credited with inspiring England's pace quartet to Ashes success in 2005.

"Troy and I have known each other since I was 17 and I'm 27 now, so we've had a lot to do with each other," he said.

"The good thing about Troy is he will let you do what you need to do in a training session. He'll give you the space and time to figure out if something is wrong. If you don't, he'll mention it."

606: DEBATE Johnson has the potential to be maybe the best all-rounder in 20 years Alexrickets99

After spending the entire 2006/07 Ashes series as 12th man, Johnson eventually earned his first cap against Sri Lanka last November, taking a respectable 2-47 in a crushing innings and 40 runs win in Brisbane.

While Johnson possessed pace in abundance, regularly clocking 90 mph plus, his one fallibility was his inability to swing the ball back into the right hander, the left-arm seamer's calling card.

South Africa coach Micky Arthur attempted to exploit this vulnerability by advising his batsmen to shuffle across to middle and off stumps to negate Johnson's natural angle from over the wicket.

However, those plans were quickly revised when Johnson's first ball in the first Test in Johannesburg swung back alarmingly into opener McKenzie's pads.

Johnson explained this development was not a new phenomenon, but a consequence of adjusting his bowling action, standing straighter in his delivery stride at the point of release rather from than a wider, slingier angle.

"For Queensland (in state cricket), I was swinging the ball a lot," he said.

"But when I started playing for Australia I lost my swing. I was bowling first change whereas back in Queensland I was taking the new ball and swinging it.

"I got a little confused at that time and was trying to hit the deck hard and not worry about swing.

"That's probably when my arm height changed and that's something I have realised over time and worked on with Troy, although it's still a work in progress.

Johnson's fiancee Jessica Bratich is a karate champion

"But if the swing is not there, I generally try to hit the deck hard."

It's not just Johnson's bowling that has grabbed headlines in the past 12 months.

He smashed 96 in Johannesburg in March before scoring his maiden Test hundred two matches later, a brutal 123 not out from just 103 balls, including five sixes, in Cape Town.

This was not lower-order slogging - these were proper cricket strokes played with immense power off both feet on both sides of the wicket, not too dissimilar to watching a left-handed Andrew Flintoff in full flow.

"I love batting. It's something I always work on, but I don't feel pressure to score runs," he said.

Don't be surprised to see Johnson ascend the batting order in the near future, but right now he is content in his current position.

"I really enjoy batting at eight, it's a really good slot to come in," he added.

Off the field, Johnson keeps the tabloids busy as one half of Australia's most prominent couple.

His fiancée, Jessica Bratich, an Australian karate champion, was recently voted as Australia's hottest Wag by a lads' magazine, earning more column inches with her outfit for the Allan Border Medal dinner in February than the breadth of her sporting career.

But despite all the adulation, Johnson is unfazed by the attention on and off the field.

"I haven't put any pressure on myself with this leader of the attack business, I just keep doing the same things I have been doing," he said.

England have been warned.

Prasanna in doubt for first Test.

Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene is likely to miss the first Test against Pakistan starting on Saturday in Galle after picking up a finger injury during a practice game. The team's physiotherapist Ranjith Nanayakkarawasam indicated that the injury might need at least two weeks to heal.

"We are going to have a review on him on Monday and will take a final decision whether he could play or not," Nanayakkarawasam told the Daily Mirror. "Some players get healed rather quickly, and he might be fit by Monday."

If the 29-year-old specialist wicket keeper is deemed unfit on Monday, the selectors would call up either Kaushal Silva or Chamara Kapugedera, depending on captain Kumar Sangakkara's willingness to don the wicketkeeping gloves.

If Sangakkara does agree, Kapugedera is likely to get the nod as an extra batsman, otherwise Silva, the 23-year old Sinhalese Sports Club wicketkeeper-batsman, is likely to earn his maiden Test cap.

Spectacular stadium will light up World Cup.

South Africa: Built to look like a vast cooking pot simmering above a ring of fire, South Africa"s Soccer City Stadium promises to be an unforgettable venue for next year"s World Cup and one of the world"s most spectacular sporting arenas.

Costing 3 billion rand ($373 million) the 94,000-capacity stadium is distinctive, resembling a huge calabash a hollowed-out gourd used as a cooking pot or water carrier throughout Africa.

The calabash has inspired the colouring of the orange and brown membrane that surrounds the stadium while a ring of lights will illuminate the bottom of the building, simulating fire underneath the pot.

When it is completed later this year it will be the biggest soccer stadium in Africa. The stadium, which will host the World Cup final on July 11, 2010, embraces modern technology and will have more than 150 executive boxes commanding superb views of the pitch, comfort for fans and excellent working conditions for the media.

A 300-seat restaurant is being completed inside the stadium, with parking for 15,000 cars around the perimeter. Six days a week, between 3,000 and 3,500 construction workers are busy at the site, 10 kms from Johannesburg and on the outskirts of Soweto.

Among the neat touches in the design are windows and seating aligned to point towards the other South African World Cup venues and towards Berlin, the venue for the 2006 World Cup final.

The players" tunnel that leads from the dressing rooms to the pitch has been built to resemble the inside of a gold mine, in tribute to the industry that led to Johannesburg"s growth into the powerhouse city of the African economy.

There are plans to incorporate the result of every match in the World Cup into the tiling of the membrane as games are played.

The stadium, a little similar in shape to Munich"s Allianz Arena, was built on the site of the hugely popular FNB Stadium, an old icon in Soweto, part of which is now incorporated into the new construction.

Work on the new stadium started in January 2007 and is expected to be finished by October, with the surrounding area completed by the end of the year.

Soccer City will not only stage the final but the opening match on June 11 and four other first-round matches, one second-round game and a quarter-final.

Sessions with psychologist helped - Malik.

Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistan captain, has praised his successor Younis Khan's leadership skills. He said Younis' leadership as well as sessions with a sports psychologist helped Pakistan win the World Twenty20.

"I think those sessions helped as the doctor used the power of hypnotism to drill it into our minds that we were going to England to become the World Twenty20 champions," PTI quoted Malik as saying. "It helped us a lot to play to our true potential."

Malik said losing to India in the 2007 World Twenty20 final, when he was captain, was bitterly disappointing but he felt elated now. "I think our victory over South Africa in the semi-final showed that we could beat anyone on our day.

"We had the momentum with us and with [Shahid] Afridi finding his batting form, it was almost like we were destined to win. I am happy just like the rest of the nation over this victory. It is a big honour for our country and we needed it now."

Pakistan's next assignment is a tour of Sri Lanka which includes three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s between July 4 and August 12.

Symonds decides against Queensland contract

Andrew Symonds' future at domestic level remains uncertain after he told Queensland Cricket he did not want a contract for the 2009-10 season. Symonds has still not decided whether he will be available for the Bulls next summer and if so, whether his involvement will be limited to the short formats.

Since losing his Cricket Australia deal and being sent home from the ICC World Twenty20, Symonds has been enjoying life away from cricket, including playing rugby against some retired stars. He plans to speak to Queensland closer to the start of the season to decide on any possible involvement in their 2009-10 campaign.

Symonds was one of a string of high-profile absentees from Queensland's new contract list with the veteran batsman Clinton Perren dropped along with the left-arm fast bowler Scott Brant. Aaron Nye, Michael Johnson, Worrin Williams and Dom O'Brien also did not have their contracts renewed.

Other omissions from last year's list included Ashley Noffke and Shane Watson, who have switched to Western Australia and New South Wales respectively, and the retired Martin Love and Matthew Hayden. That has opened the door for Craig Philipson to return to the squad after being overlooked last summer.

Alister McDermott, the fast-bowling son of the former Test player Craig McDermott, has been upgraded from a rookie deal to a full contract, as has the batsman Wade Townsend and the fast bowler Scott Walter. The new rookies include Ben Dunk, Alex Kemp, Chris Lynn and the highly-rated Australia Under-19 player Jason Floros, who has moved from Canberra.

Chris Simpson has retained the captaincy despite struggling with the bat last summer and the Bulls are keen for him to take more of a bowling role with his offspin in 2009-10. Queensland won the FR Cup last summer and were runners-up in the Sheffield Shield.

Queensland squad Glen Batticciotto, Ryan Broad, Lee Carseldine, Ben Cutting, Daniel Doran, Chris Hartley, Ryan Harris, James Hopes (Cricket Australia contract), Nick Kruger, Ben Laughlin, Alister McDermott, Greg Moller, Craig Philipson, Nathan Reardon, Nathan Rimmington, Chris Simpson (capt), Grant Sullivan, Chris Swan, Wade Townsend, Scott Walter.

Rookies Cam Boyce, Ben Dunk, Jason Floros, Alex Kemp, Chris Lynn.

Hosts to discuss Pakistan World Cup matches:

Cricket News (June 20, 2009).

Representatives of the four host nations of the World Cup 2011 will meet at Lord's today to discuss what can be done with the 14 matches that were originally scheduled for Pakistan. The recommendations from this meeting will be taken up by the ICC's commercial board that will meet on June 25 as part of the governing body's annual conference.

ICC president David Morgan, vice-president Sharad Pawar and Pakistan board chairman Ijaz Butt met on Friday to discuss the best manner in which a decision could be reached on Pakistan's matches. "I am pleased we have made progress on this matter," Morgan said. "We believe we have come up with that means now, through the meeting of the host countries, and if they are able to produce a recommendation when they meet on Saturday then that can be tabled for consideration by the ICC's commercial board next Thursday."

Butt, however, was disappointed that organisational issues surrounding the World Cup remained unresolved and that the legal proceedings the PCB has brought against the ICC would continue. "I had hoped and expected the support of my Asian co-hosts in resolving these organizational difficulties," he said. "I am deeply disappointed that no progress was made despite the intervention of both the ICC president and vice-president.

"This means that rather than harmony amongst the co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup we will have disagreement and legal dispute. I do hope that they will reconsider their unreasonable stance so that the legal dispute can be resolved and a hugely successful World Cup organized in 2011."

As per last week's meeting, it was decided that Pakistan would not host matches in the 2011 tournament because of the security situation in the country but the PCB will be recognised as hosts and retain fees from its original allocation of 14 matches. Morgan had said the ICC would consider outsourcing Pakistan's matches to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, though co-hosts India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were keen to have the matches remain in the subcontinent.

Gibbs to miss Glamorgan's Twenty20 games:

Glamorgan will be without the services of overseas batsman Herschelle Gibbs for their last four games of the Twenty20 Cup. Gibbs' arrival has been delayed by commitments in South Africa and his place will be taken by Mike O'Shea, who returns after serving a three-week ban imposed for a drink-driving offence.

Glamorgan opted not to retain Australian batsman Mark Cosgrove as their other overseas option because the county has failed to qualify for the quarter-finals. Cosgrove will play Lancashire League cricket and will be available for Glamorgan's second team matches during the week.

"We're desperate to win the matches but we may as well give our youngsters the opportunity," Glamorgan cricket manager Matthew Maynard told BBC Sport. "Mark's contract ended and we had Herschelle to come in but he's had to go back to South Africa for a Cricket South Africa function."

Gibbs, 35, played for the county in the Twenty20 Cup last summer, replacing their outgoing overseas player, Jason Gillespie.

It has been a disappointing tournament for Glamorgan. They have only won one game in six before the Twenty20 Cup was interrupted to accommodate the ICC World Twenty20. "We wish O'Shea and the other youngsters all the best for the tournament," said Maynard. "It gives us the opportunity to juggle a couple of things and use it as an experimentation.

I'm playing like I always do - Afridi:

At the very heart of Pakistan's invigorating run to a second successive World Twenty20 final has been a player you might think was put on the planet to play Twenty20 cricket. A three-four over bash with the bat, a quick four-over spell hustled through the middle overs and some adrenaline-fuelled cheerleading in the field: thanks very much, Shahid Afridi.

Having been the Player of the Tournament in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, Afridi was expected to be a key component again this time. His form in the immediate run-up to the tournament, especially with ball in hand, had been outstanding and even with the bat, against Australia, a brief vigour had re-emerged. And with ten wickets, 122 runs, potentially the catch of the tournament and a semi-final all-round performance to match any, Afridi has again staked his claim for top individual honours.

The catch to dismiss Scott Styris off Umar Gul, running back to long-on and taking it at full-stretch over his shoulder - "any player, any piece of fielding, batting or bowling, can do that," said Afridi - was the moment at which Pakistan's tournament turned. And he followed it up with what he considers to be among his best individual performances against South Africa. "Without a doubt it's up there. I've put in some good matches in the past, but to do it in such a big-game, in a semi, against such a strong side, it has to be up there," Afridi told Cricinfo. "Wickets were down, the pressure was on and it was such an occasion, it makes it very special."

The improvement in Afridi's bowling has been among the more remarkable sights in cricket, all the variety, threat and control apparent in his spell of 2 for 16 against South Africa. As significant have been three contributions with the bat, culminating with an eminently sensible 51 in the semi-final. "I don't know if I'm at my peak with the ball but certainly I've put a lot more effort into it. Nothing extraordinary, just hard work," he said.

"I used to think of myself as a batsman three to four years ago because that is how everyone started to think of me. But I was moved around so much the order that I just went back to concentrating on bowling. I told Younis I wanted to bat up the order and it worked."

Pakistan's surge to a second successive final has been vastly different in nature to the relatively smooth progress of two years ago. Four of their six games have been do-or-die, performances have oscillated and it has resembled more 1992. "Playing in the UK is much different to surfaces in South Africa or Australia," Afridi said. "We arrived here later than most other countries as well and it took us time to adjust to the atmosphere. We've picked up day by day and we've got that momentum now. Our big advantage was that we played two big sides [India and South Africa] in the warm-ups. Sure we lost to them but it was good to have those games."

Younis Khan's influence as captain has also come under the scanner. Even though he is the side's top scorer, his comments at the start of the tournament - that this was all a bit of fun - have attracted scorn. Ex-chief selector Abdul Qadir's comments, that Younis wouldn't have been in the World Cup squad had he had his way, didn't help. Typically, Afridi has brushed aside the criticism.

"As far as I know Younis, I don't think how his statement came out in the press was how he intended it," said Afridi. "You often say something and it gets misinterpreted totally. The best thing about Younis has been his positivity. He is not scared of anything and he hasn't allowed pressure to affect the side. Mentally he is very strong."

Only one game remains now and even if Pakistan have achieved more than anyone expected them to, there appears no let up among the side. "Personally I never lost hope [of reaching this far]. I've played this whole tournament as I've played all my life - that each and every match is my first and last match and that I have to give it my all.

"The way I do it on the field, people can see. The aggressiveness, motivating bowlers, other fielders, I've always done it and if we, as a team, go into the final with the kind of body language that we did in the semis, we can go in confident."

ICC World Twenty20: Dilshan powers Sri Lanka to final

Sri Lanka 158 for 5 (Dilshan 96*) beat West Indies 101 (Gayle 63*, Mathews 3-16, Muralitharan 3-29) by 57 runs.

t will be an all-Asia final at the ICC World Twenty20 after Sri Lanka maintained their unbeaten record by crushing West Indies by 57 runs at The Oval. Tillakaratne Dilshan added another installment to his breathtaking tournament with an unbeaten 96, the highest score of the event, as his team-mates struggled for momentum. Angelo Mathews then stunned West Indies with three wickets in the opening over before the spinners strangled the middle order, leaving Chris Gayle forlornly unbeaten on 63, carrying his bat as no one else reached double figures.

After everything the two countries have been through, it is fitting that Sri Lanka will meet Pakistan in the final. However, unlike Pakistan's campaign which has burst into life after a slow start, there has been a sense of destiny about Kumar Sangakkara's team reaching the Lord's showdown. Sri Lanka's run has been a triumph of mental strength and character and they now have the chance to mark their return to the international scene following the Lahore terror attack with a trophy.

They have played as a team throughout, but their position in the final was down to Dilshan's outstanding individual effort. His innings was the highest for Sri Lanka in Twenty20 and, in a quirky statistic, the innings briefly gave him the highest percentage of a completed innings before Gayle's lone hand nipped ahead. Dilshan looked set for the tournament's first century until losing the strike towards the end. However, with Dilshan set for the closing stages, 60 runs came from the final five overs with Mathews playing a valuable four-ball cameo with two final-over boundaries.

However, that was only the start of Mathews' role in the game. It was a surprise when he was handed the new-ball at the start of the tournament, but has been a constant presence upfront. Nothing, though, had come close to matching this effort. With his second ball he removed Xavier Marshall - who had replaced Andre Fletcher following three consecutive ducks - via an inside edge. It would become a common form of dismissal.

Two balls later, Lendl Simmons was slightly unlucky when he went across his stumps and the ball ricocheted from his thigh pad onto leg stump. That was the end, though, and Mathews' third was the vital wicket of Dwayne Bravo as he too got an inside edge into middle stump. A stunned West Indies were 1 for 3.

Gayle, too his credit, played the situation and even opted to leave a couple of deliveries as he collect his thoughts. Normal service resumed with three boundaries when Lasith Malinga came on early to bowl the fourth over and Isuru Udana was swung for six over long-on. Then came the spinners and coupled with some brainless shot selection, the game was over.

Ajantha Mendis trapped Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the sweep as he and Muttiah Muralitharan made the middle order prod and poke as though playing with their eyes closed. Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was dropped on 2 by Mendis running round from long-on, was soon held by the omnipresent Mathews and Kieron Pollard was made to look a novice when he was stumped off a wide. Mendis' 2 for 9 were Sri Lanka's most economical Twenty20 figures, but Murali's 3 for 29 reminded everyone of where the mystery began.

Sri Lanka's innings was a curious affair, none more so than when Sanath Jayasuriya was labouring over a 37-ball 24. He never looked comfortable, changing his bat four times, before top-edging to short fine-leg. That the opening stand was still worth a profitable 73 in 10.3 overs was down to how well Dilshan played. He drove, flicked and swept (but never quite scooped, although he tried) his way to a 30-ball half century while partners came and went.

Sangakkara was superbly caught at backward point and Mahela Jayawardene clipped straight to short-fine leg as three wickets fell for four runs. It was down to Dilshan to give Sri Lanka's strong attack something to defend and he cashed in on two full tosses by Pollard. Placement was key to Dilshan's display and each time the bowlers strayed he managed to make the most of it.

The innings found some important momentum in the 17th over when Bravo was taken for 18 as he struggled to find his length. Dilshan cracked three boundaries and Chamara Silva then joined in when he swung the final delivery one bounce to the square-leg boundary. Silva's contribution to a stand of 50 in six overs was just 11, before he fell trying to reverse hit Sulieman Benn, but it put Sri Lanka on track for the type of score they have regularly defended and from there they never looked like losers. One more victory on Sunday would complete one of cricket's greatest stories.