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Western Australia conceded first innings points to opponents South Australia just nine overs short of the scheduled close of play on the second day of this four-day Pura Cup match at the WACA ground in Perth on Saturday.The Redbacks bowlers maintained their discipline, bowling in the corridor and more or less frustrated the Warriors batsmen into coughing up their wickets.Five of six catches were taken behind the wicket when the batsmen went fishing or chasing at balls outside the off stump. Four leg-before-wicket decisions were given against batsmen not really playing a stroke. This inevitably came after batsmen had watched ball after ball sail outside the off stump. Lulled into a false sense of security, batsmen failed to deal with the odd straight one that posed a serious lbw threat.Against this backdrop Chris Rogers played a patient knock of 64 and shared in four partnerships in the middle of the innings.Scott Meuleman 7 (17 balls) started the rot when he skied a catch back to Damien Fleming in just the fifth over of the innings. Interestingly, coming as early as it did, with thirteen runs on the board, this was the only catch in front of the wicket.Out strode former Zimbabwe Test cricketer Murray Goodwin. However, he too returned as quickly as he came out – leg before wicket to Paul Rofe for a third-ball duck. Western Australia were reduced to 13 for two.Goodwin must be under a lot of pressure to perform in a side that is not having the best time of it and has been struggling in recent times. There was an air of disappointment that 12th man Shaun Marsh had not taken Goodwin’s place after the 19-year-old scored so well in the ING Cup one-day fixture against the sameopponents earlier in the week.Marcus North survived past the luncheon interval when he and Michael Hussey added 65 for the third wicket, taking the Warriors’ score to 78 before the pair were separated. North made a solid-looking 25 (85 balls) before he feathered anedge to the ‘keeper Shane Deitz off the bowling of Rofe to give the leanbowler his second wicket of the innings.Hussey neared fifty but could not quite reach the half-century mark. His 48 included a slow 52-minute period with Chris Rogers immediately after the wicket of North. Of the 14 overs sent down in that near hour span, 10 were maidens and just 18 runs were added to the total. Hussey added just three runs to his score in that entire period. His innings abruptly ended in a moment of frustration when he took a swipe at a Ryan Harris delivery outside off and was caught by David Fitzgerald at first slip. Western Australia slumped to 96 for four.Ryan Campbell (4 runs, 19 balls) padded up once too often to Mick Miller and was given out leg before wicket. His only scoring shot came when he lifted Harris over the slips. At this stage Western Australia were in trouble, staring down the barrel, 111 for five. They were still well shy of the follow-on mark.Coming in at this stage Brad Hogg played with typical aggression. Especially effective when cutting behind point Hogg was at the crease till he too chased a wide delivery from Ben Johnson and was caught behind for 25 (50 balls). With Rogers he added 45 for the sixth wicket which fell at 156.Top scorer for Western Australia with 64 (130 balls, 12 fours), Rogers finally fell to a ball from Fleming which straightened off the seam and then cannoned into his pad, trapping him plumb in front of the stumps. North’s 47-run association with Matthew Nicholson saw that Western Australia reached 203 before the seventh wicket fell.Before the scorers needed to mark another run, the wicket of Matthew Nicholson fell in just the next over. He hung the bat out at a ball from Rofe and was caught at second slip by Mick Miller for an entertaining 28 (54 balls) which included just ten scoring shots, six of which were fours.Jo Angel joined Brad Williams in the middle and defiantly helped the Warriors limp past the follow-on target of 209. But Angel was trapped in front by Fleming after scoring just one and it took the umpire some time before he was eventually given out as the scoreboard read 212 for nine.Michael Clark (5 runs, 7 balls) was last to go with the score on 217, getting himself caught at deep backward point by Harris when he cut at a Rofe delivery and only managed a top edge.Brad Williams was unbeaten on 8 (6 balls) when the innings came to a close. The three partnerships he was involved in, all ended in a three-over burst against a resurgent attack soon after the new ball was taken.Rofe with four for 55 was the pick of the bowlers. He and Fleming (3-52) used the new ball well and reaped the rewards of disciplined bowling. Miller (1-32), Harris (1-42) and Johnson (1-26) played a supporting role. John Davison was the onlybowler used who ended wicket-less.Redbacks sent out openers Johnson and David Fitzgerald to see off seven overs atthe end of the day. Johnson was unlucky when he played on to Brad Williamswhilst defending. The ball came off the inside edge and took the back pad beforefalling onto the off stump. Johnson made five from 11 balls and wasreplaced by night watchman John Davison.Fitzgerald and Davison batted safely to stumps when the South Australians had14 runs on the board for the loss of a solitary wicket.Warm humid conditions are forecast for tomorrow with a fine day to follow. In these conditions, one can only surmise than an outright result is entirely probable.

Registering a win over Andhra Pradesh in their Ranji one-day tie at Bangalore, Tamil Nadu topped the points table for the South Zone, consequently lifting the Subbaiah Pillai Trophy and qualifying for the Wills Trophy 2003-04.Tamil Nadu topped with 19 points (played five, won four, lost one), while Karnataka and Hyderabad followed with 18 and 13 points respectively. Goa, in spite of registering two bonus-point wins, could only manage 10 points, while Kerala was fifth with eight. Andhra Pradesh, with no wins from their five games, brought up the tail.At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh’s woes continued as Tamil Nadu cantered to a seven-wicket win in just 34 overs, chasing down their target of 244 with minimum effort. Batting first after losing the toss, Andhra Pradesh actually faired well with the bat; Y Venugopal Rao made a sterling 107 off 122 balls (8×4, 2×6), and his partnership of 205 for the third wicket with Fayaz Ahmed (94, 129b, 9×4) was the defining stand of the innings.But every other batsman, however, made a single-digit figure, and that meant that from 220 for three in 44.3 overs, with Venugopal Rao just out, Andhra could only manage 243 for eight in their 50 overs. L Balaji ended with five for 36 off 10 overs for Tamil Nadu.Skipper and opener S Suresh fell early for Tamil Nadu, but Sadagoppan Ramesh, displaying the first signs of form in this tournament, made 89 off just 87 balls (14×4) before he was run out. He collaborated with S Sriram in a stand of 132 for the third wicket, and once he was out, Sriram went on to complete an unbeaten 110 off 84 balls (15×4) to see his side home.Karnataka scrape home by one wicket against GoaAt the Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wodayar Sports Centre in Bangalore, Goa put up a brave defence of their relatively meagre total of 206, and Karnataka had to squeeze to a one-wicket win to pick up their four points.Goa, asked to bat, were saved from humiliation primarily due to SB Jakati’s knock of 77 off 90 balls (11×4). MD Phadke also made 44, and once Jakati departed the crease, the batting crumbled to 206 all out in 47.3 overs.Karnataka started well, with Barrington Rowland making 53 at the top of the order. But a shaky middle and late order gave Goa hope, and it was only thanks to C Raghu’s unbeaten 27 (34b, 3×4, 2×6) that Karnataka slid home in 42.2 overs.Sujith Somasunder ton thwarts Hyderabad chaseSujith Somasunder’s sturdy 124 (147b, 14×4, 1×6) at the top of the order saw Kerala register a challenging total of 292 in 50 overs, one that gave them a 45-run win over Hyderabad at Bangalore.Aside from Somasunder’s century, it was C Hemant Kumar’s 66 (84b, 3×4) that shaped the Kerala essay. The pair put on 174 runs for the second wicket in just 30 overs, and Sunil Oasis’ quickfire 30-ball 38 saw Kerala post a large enough total to put pressure on Hyderabad’s strong batting.Although the in-form D Vinay Kumar made 98 (111b, 8×4) in the middle order for Hyderabad, he found little support apart from I Khaleel’s 59. Leg-spinner KN Ananthapadmanabhan took three wickets for 37 runs, and Hyderabad were bowled out for 247 in 46.2 overs.Uttar Pradesh trounce Madhya Pradesh by 96 runsA solid opening partnership laid the foundation for a Uttar Pradesh total that proved beyond the reach of Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji one-day tie at the Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground in Indore.Openers Prashant Malviya (64, 87b, 5×4) and Jyoti Yadav (70, 91b, 5×4, 3×6) added 137 runs for the first wicket, and skipper Gyanendra Pandey’s quick 47 lifted Uttar Pradesh to 266 for six in their 50 overs.Madhya Pradesh collapsed to 170 all out in 42.2 overs, with only S Abbas Ali (45, 59b, 4×4) offering any signs of resistance. Ashish Winston Zaidi for Uttar Pradesh picked three for 36 off his eight overs, while left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta did better with three for 22 off 10 overs.Tight win for Rajasthan against VidarbhaRajasthan reached their target of 189 with two wickets and three balls to spare in their Ranji one-day tie against Vidarbha at the Daly College Ground in Indore on Wednesday.Asked to bat, Vidarbha could only post 188 for nine in their 50 overs, with Madhusudan Acharya at number eight top-scoring with an unbeaten 39. For Rajasthan, skipper PK Krishnakumar and Anup Dave took three wickets apiece.An identical top-score ensued from Krishnakumar in the Rajasthan innings, who made 39 off 75 balls. But his presence in the middle proved more fruitful, and although he fell as the eighth wicket two runs short of the target, the target was reached two balls later.

Match facts

Sunday, June 1
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

As the summer blockbuster comes to an end, two of its biggest superstars clash in the finale in Mumbai. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain of the Chennai Super Kings, is the highest-paid player in this league but his counterpart in the Rajasthan Royals, Shane Warne, has delivered better results; his success at this year’s tournament would be the equivalent of the box-office returns of a Shahrukh Khan starrer.A win for Dhoni would justify his US$1.5m price tag but would also be a last-minute twist to the fairytale ending that would hand Warne the trophy. Warne’s dual role as captain and coach of Rajasthan has been the story of the season: an entire team costing less than two-and-a-half times Dhoni’s price, whose owner’s low-budget strategy even got the thumbs down from the IPL’s chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi, was moulded into a successful unit.However, don’t write off Dhoni just yet. His first stint as captain was at the World Twenty20 in South Africa, where an unfancied India claimed the title, and here his team were written off after the exodus of international stars, but Dhoni and Co have battled the odds to reach the final.One factor in Chennai’s favour is that Graeme Smith, whose batting has been the cornerstone of several Rajasthan innings, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Also, Rajasthan were routed by the Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Sports Academy, the venue of the final, and Warne termed the surface “easily the worst of the IPL” as the ball stopped before coming on to the bat.On form, Rajasthan are favourites and their confidence will be boosted by their two earlier victories against Chennai. However, after convincingly knocking out the formidable Kings XI Punjab in the semi-finals, Chennai won’t be too worried about the underdog status.

Form (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Rajasthan Royals: WLWWW
Chennai Super Kings: WWLLW

Watch out for …

Unhappy with the functioning of PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf, Aamer Sohail, former Pakistan opener and captain, has demanded that Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf, the board’s patron, remove the incumbent.”PCB’s new chairman should be a good combination of cricket and administrative knowledge, which are essential to run the affairs of the game,” Sohail told the Karachi-based . “The responsibility also lies with the president, who as patron appointed Dr Nasim Ashraf as the PCB chairman. The whole nation is burning with curiosity as to what action he takes against the man’s reckless decisions about Shoaib Akhtar and Saleem Altaf, director cricket operations for World Cup 2011, particularly after the courts gave a decision in the two cases against the board.”Altaf had been sacked by the PCB, but was reinstated by the Lahore High Court – a decision upheld by the Supreme Court – pending the resolution on the writ filed by his lawyers. In April, a disciplinary committee had banned Shoaib for five years from playing for or in Pakistan. The ban was reduced to 18 months and a fine of Rs 7 million by a board-appointed appellate tribunal. Shoaib then filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court, which suspended the fast bowler’s 18-month ban till a final judgment.Sohail had recently told Cricinfo that Musharraf should be more proactive in convincing international teams to tour Pakistan. “The onus is on the president to convince countries that it is safe to play in Pakistan and that sport has never been targeted here,” he said. “The ICC and PCB are going the whole hog in ensuring it happens here but the president can really help with his involvement.”Sohail said the PCB patron should select the chairman through an advisory board comprising former Test cricketers and experts after advertising for applicants.

The ICC and ECB have reaffirmed their support for the mandatory release of Associate players from county cricket to take part in international matches and the priority of FTP events.This followed discussions and correspondence between the ICC president, David Morgan, and the new CEO, Haroon Lorgat, with Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, and ECB chief executive David Collier.”The full commitment of the ECB to work with counties to support the ICC Board’s mandatory release policy for Associate players is great news and very welcome,” Morgan said. “It will help to ensure that when the top Associates have ODIs against Full Members or compete in next month’s ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Belfast they have their top players available.”In terms of the ICC WT20 Qualifier, that will make sure the best teams reach next year’s event, rather than the teams with the most top players available on that weekend in August, something that will then have a knock-on effect of enhancing next year’s event.”And with all county-contracted players available for a ODI against Full Members it will make the Associate side that much more competitive, making for a worthwhile experience for that Full Member as well as a great career-enhancing one for all the Associate players, even those playing regular county cricket.Those comments were endorsed by Clarke. “The ECB recognises that nation versus nation is the lifeblood of cricket and its integrity must be protected at all costs. One way of protecting that integrity is by ensuring that the top Associate players currently playing county cricket are available for their countries in all their mandatory commitments with Full Members and in prestigious events such as the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The ICC further recognises that this must also embrace and enforce the priority of all FTP events and ECB welcomes that position.”Whilst we recognise the individual choice of players we will continue to proactively remind counties of their mandatory obligations in this regard and this will help to ensure our strong sport grows ever stronger.”Despite the encouraging words, this is actually unlikely to make any difference to the availability of players. Those that have missed matches recently have not been prevented from playing by their counties but have actually chosen to give priority to their full-time employers rather than turn out for their countries.While the boards can do all they can to urge their best players to be available, the increasing number of games played by them allied to the pressure on individuals to perform for their counties means that availability will always be hit and miss.It is likely that most county-contracted players will be freed to play in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers as this is a high-profile competition. But when it comes to one-off ODIs or other lower-key competitions, county is always likely to win through over country.

After India’s massive innnings and 239-run defeat in the first Test in Colombo, Arjuna Ranatunga, the former Sri Lankan captain, has criticised India’s batsmen for playing in the Twenty20 mode and said they lacked focus.”The way the Indians have played this Test is an eye-opener not just for us but for all cricket-playing countries,” he told the . “They dealt with this like a Twenty20 game. I think they were not prepared for Test cricket.” He was speaking after India were bowled out twice in about four sessions of play, with the Sri Lankan spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis sharing 19 wickets.Ranatunga wanted India to focus more on Tests than on Twenty20s. “If the Indians keep getting their priorities wrong, they will go down ranking-wise. Ultimately, it is the rank that is very important,” he said. “And it is this performance that will determine the future of the game in your country. Focusing on the Twenty20 game is a short-term thing. If the game is not protected, we are in for a major disaster.”The Indian batsmen aren’t too focussed. That is something that can creep into our cricket. That is something I don’t want to happen,” he said. Ranatunga has repeatedly stressed that while Twenty20 generates much-needed money, playing Test cricket and representing your country should remain the priority .India have four days to recover from the loss – their third heaviest – before the second Test starts in Galle.

There’s little a team can do once they’ve lost a series with a dead rubber to be played. Faced to confront a future that appears less than rosy, Mahela Jayawardene has emphasised the importance of not giving up even at this stage. “We do have some cricket in the near future so it’s important that we finish on a high note,” he said after losing the series on Wednesday. “We played some really good cricket throughout the Test series and one-dayers and it will be disappointing if you just give up in the next game.”Sri Lanka did play good cricket in the Tests but in the one-day series the performance has been abysmal. Their batting woes have been dissected, Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan have been under par, and most crucially, Ajantha Mendis has been negated. Sri Lanka have maintained their intensity in the field from the Tests, so it’s not a case of channelling energy that way. Jayawardene’s captaincy has also remained aggressive for the most part.Pockets of the local media have criticised Sri Lanka’s batting order, and Jayawardene’s continued support of Chamara Silva and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Barring the first game, three collapses in Dambulla (44 for 6) and the Premadasa (59 for 6 and 106 for 4) have effectively sealed the host’s fate. Much of the criticism has focused on using the struggling Kumar Sangakkara as opener and persisting with the likes of Silva and Dilshan.Sri Lanka have not let on whether they will make any changes so there’s only room for speculation. Sangakkara was nursing a right index finger injury since before the Tests, for which he is due to fly to Australia for surgery, but will be playing on Friday given the absence of another specialist wicketkeeper in the squad. Perhaps tweaking the side will work, perhaps it won’t. Malinda Warnapura came in for a dismal Silva, and made 0 from 18 balls. Changes don’t always work when you’re losing.Sri Lanka don’t have a history of trying out or persisting with newcomers. Since 2000, they have used only 34 players between Nos. 1-6; they include veterans like Aravinda de Silva and Romesh Kaluwitharana, who were at the twilight of their careers.It is evident that not too many newcomers have been tried out. Mubarak and Tharanga have been the most likely replacements after a lean patch. Thilan Kandamby played two games in 2004 and, while he’s improved his game, he remains far from national selection. There’s a massive need to find a replacement for Sanath Jayasuriya – it’s a story itself that Sri Lanka look to a 39-year-old to win them matches – and so far they have yet to decide on the options.There is no time frame on when Jayasuriya is likely to retire as an ODI player, but chances are at this stage, with the Champions Trophy called off, he might take a second look at his options. Jayasuriya will indeed play on Friday, and Sri Lankan fans deserve an encore from the Matara marauder.Defeat brings with it some honesty. Jayawardene began the series by saying that the toss was not too significant, but by the time Sri Lanka trailed 2-1 he was forced to say otherwise. He admitted the toss was vital in previous matches, and that India’s bowlers had taken advantage of the Dambulla track and batted well back in Colombo.Now, with the series lost, Sri Lanka can only admit that India outperformed them. India’s bowlers bowled tighter lines and lengths and the batsmen have succeeded in handling spin and attacking at the tight times. “I was disappointed the way we played,” said Jayawardene. “We had our opportunities. Our one-day cricket hasn’t been consistent.”With nothing at stake, Sri Lanka have the opportunity to make a few changes – personnel, batting order, approach – to try and finish off on a positive note.

With security fears forcing one tournament cancellation after another, an anxious Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is keeping its fingers crossed on a planned tour by West Indies, who are yet to give their consent on playing in the country.The PCB has to wait until the end of this month to find out if West Indies will agree to tour Pakistan in November to play two Tests. The PCB has invited the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to send their team for two Tests immediately after both countries play a one-day series in Abu Dhabi from November 12-16.A senior PCB official said the board was still waiting for a response from their West Indian counterparts. “As far as we know the chief executive of the West Indies board is out of office until next week and we are not expecting a final answer until the end of this month. But we are keeping our fingers crossed they will accept our invitation,” he said.The WICB has said it would talk to its players association and get their consent before giving the Pakistan proposal the green signal.The PCB official said the board was also working on another plan to arrange a series with New Zealand but since all teams are pre-committed to the ICC Future Tours Program, the board realised it was not easy to arrange the series at a short notice. “But we are giving it our best shot because after the postponement of the Australia’s Test tour and the Champions Trophy our players are desperate to play some international cricket,” he said.

The ongoing cull in Pakistan cricket took a high-profile turn today with the announcement by the PCB that Geoff Lawson’s contract as national coach will not be renewed after April 2009.”The day his contract expires he will be no more with the Pakistan team,” the newly-appointed PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said at his first press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “We have no utility for Lawson.”Lawson was appointed by Butt’s predecessor Nasim Ashraf in 2007 on a two-year contract but his impact since then has been sketchy: though Pakistan reached the final of the World Twenty20 last year and won the Kitply Cup this year, they also lost major series at home to South Africa and away to India. They also failed to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup earlier this year.As a result Lawson has been the target of intense media criticism almost from the day he arrived and matters haven’t been helped by the run-ins he has had with them. The serious lack of cricket has also not helped Lawson settle down and gel a team together: Pakistan haven’t played a single Test this year and most of their ODIs have been against minnows such asBangladesh and Zimbabwe. If Lawson does go in April, he will have effectively been judged over only eight Test matches.There appears little chance for him to impress until then either. Pakistan have only a three-match ODI series against West Indies and a Test series against India at home between now and April. Butt explained the decision to keep him until then was purely a financial one.”We will suffer a huge financial loss if we terminate his contract now. Since we cannot afford a heavy loss, we will continue with him,” he said.The Pakistan daily reported that the PCB pays Lawson a monthly salary of US$30,000 and in case it terminates the contract, the board has to pay him a salary for three months.However, the change that many other people have also called for doesn’t appear to be as forthcoming. Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, has been given guarded support by Butt, at least until December this year, according to his original appointment.”Malik was appointed for one year, but his performance will be reviewed after his contract ends in December,” Butt said. The chairman said that appointing a young captain over senior players was not a novel idea and most teams with young captains had done well.”Look at Australia and South Africa, they have relatively young captains despite some seniors in their squads, but they are doing well. For me there’s no senior or junior, it’s the performance that counts,” he said.Since Butt took over on October 7, a number of senior officials in the board and team management have either resigned or been forced out.

Scorecard