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ScorecardSteve Rhodes claimed a “moral victory” for Worcestershire after rain thwarted their victory attempt on the final day of the Championship match against Gloucestershire.Worcestershire would have risen to second in the division two table had they been able to secure the win. But, with rain preventing any play until 3.45, the visitors were able to cling on for a draw. Perhaps, had Vikram Solanki clung on to a chance offered by Vikram Banerjee at fourth slip, Worcestershire might have been able to force victory.But, by then, Gloucestershire were already 85 runs ahead with just 18 overs remaining.It was wretched luck for Alan Richardson, however. The 35-year-old seamer, who bowled 28 accurate overs in the second innings, was easily the pick of the attack and richly deserved his third five-wicket haul of the campaign.A couple of Gloucestershire players were also grateful for the reprieve. Both James Franklin and Chris Taylor were dismissed by bizarrely inappropriate shots. Franklin obligingly pulled directly to the man positioned for the shot on the square-leg boundary, before Taylor undid much of the value of his resistance with a horrid heave across the line.Without Richard Jones, however, who was off the field with a hamstring strain, Richardson lacked support and Gloucestershire were able to cling on until the sides agreed to shake hands on the draw with 10 of the scheduled overs remaining. Jones will undergo a scan to ascertain the extent of his injury in the next 24 hours.”It’s very frustrating,” Worcestershire’s director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, said afterwards. “I felt we played all the cricket in the game but we can’t control the weather. That’s two games in a row we’ve had the best of draws. It’s a moral victory.”Rhodes expressed satisfaction at Worcestershire’s start to the season, however, taking particular pleasure in the performance of the club’s younger players.”We’re reasonably well placed,” he said. “We’ve only lost one [championship] game – which is better than anyone else in the division – and we’ve shown a bit of resilience. There are good signs for the future. Our two leading run scorers are aged 20 and 22 [Alexei Kervezee and Moeen Ali respectively] while until this game 23-year-old Richard Jones was our leading wicket taker. All three are very ambitious and, with hard work, can go a stage further.”I’ve always said I want us to be in a position to challenge for promotion in the last month of the season. That would be lovely. We’re a proud county and we want to be playing in the top division.”Gloucestershire were stung by the news that they had suffered a two-point deduction for their tardy over rate. Still, they are up to second in the table (equal on points with Sussex, who have a game in hand) and look likely to be involved in the promotion race.”We still felt we could win this morning,” their captain, Alex Gidman said afterwards. “But to come out of the game with a draw having not played our best cricket is a positive for us.”Gidman also insisted he was not concerned by his side’s poor form with the bat. Despite Gloucestershire averaging the lowest score per wicket of any side in the country and are the only team without a first-class century in the campaign.”I’m not really worried, no,” he said. “We’ve played on some tough wickets and, at the halfway stage of the season, we’re challenging for promotion. Statistics are fine, but it’s what works for the team that is important, and we’re right in the hunt.”Meanwhile Gloucestershire have added Ian Butler to their squad for the T20 Cup. The fast bowling allrounder, who recently impressed in New Zealand’s World T20 campaign, joins up with compatriots John Bracewell, Hamish Marshall and James Franklin in Bristol.

Match facts

Wednesday, April 21
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Both their league games were one-sided affairs. Will the semi-final promise an even contest?•Indian Premier League

Big Picture

Around last weekend, Royal Challengers Bangalore were a pleased side. Assured of a semi-final slot, they were looking forward to playing the knockout match on a pitch that suits their style of play, in front of a crowd that gets behind them vociferously. On Saturday, though, things changed. First they got a hammering from table leaders Mumbai Indians, which meant their net run rate fell, taking them to No. 4, setting up the semi-final against the same opponents. Before that thrashing started, there were two bomb explosions outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which meant the semis were moved to the DY Patil Stadium in the outskirts of Mumbai.Now Bangalore find themselves up against an imposing side at an intimidating venue: ask Adam Gilchrist, whose Deccan Chargers played a “home” match at DY Patil against Mumbai Indians. Yet Bangalore are one of the few sides this season that know that Mumbai can be beaten: they did so, convincingly, and in front of the Brabourne crowd. Mumbai would like to use their home advantage to make their first-ever appearance in an IPL final.

Form guide (most recent first)

Royal Challengers Bangalore LWLWL
Mumbai Indians LWWWL

Team talk

After having experimented in their last few matches, Mumbai should go back to full strength, barring injuries. Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga are the two clear choices for overseas players. Dwayne Bravo hasn’t been in great form, so they may give JP Duminy a look-in. Dilhara Fernando might have impressed them enough with his split-finger slower ball, but Ryan McLaren might get the nod because he is a decent batsman too.Mumbai Indians (probable) 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt.), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Saurabh Tiwary, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 JP Duminy, 7 R Sathish/Ali Murtaza/Abhishek Nayar/Aditya Tare, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ryan McLaren/Dilhara Fernando, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Lasith MalingaBangalore are not likely to tinker too much with the XI that lost its last league match to Mumbai. Pankaj Singh v Praveen Kumar seems to be an interesting choice.Royal Challengers Bangalore (probable) 1 Jacques Kallis, 2 Manish Pandey, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Ross Taylor/Cameron White, 5 Robin Uthappa (wk), 6 Rahul Dravid, 7 Virat Kolhi, 8 Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble (capt.), 10 R Vinay Kumar, 11 Praveen Kumar/Pankaj Singh

Previously…

Bangalore 3 Mumbai 3
Their first match this year encounter was one-way traffic, with R Vinay Kumar and Dale Steyn slicing open Mumbai’s batting, and Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey leading the chase. But Mumbai returned the favour through an even more one-sided match, a 57-run win.

In the spotlight

Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey have fizzled out after having given Bangalore some smashing starts in the first half of the tournament. Both have recently had question marks against their roles in the team, but it might be too late to replace them. They were as big a factor behind the success as they have been behind a lukewarm second half, and they will not want to be failures if they come second-best in the semi-final.Lasith Malinga was one of the most difficult men to score off, bowling yorkers at will and using the slower ones as well. But he was rested for the last three matches, so the question is if he will be able to hit his rhythm right away when comes back for a pressure match.

Prime numbers and trivia

• In the first half of the tournament, the opening stand of Kallis and Pandey averaged 72.6 per dismissal at a run-rate of 8.07 per over. In the second half, they have gone at 11.4 per dismissal and 5.34 an over.
• Sachin Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan have opened for Mumbai seven times, and their opening combination has averaged 46.43 at 8.55 per over. In the seven remaining games, Mumbai’s first wicket has averaged 24.43 at 7.6 an over.
• Of the six IPL matches played at the DY Patil, three have been won by sides batting first and three by the chasing sides. The average first-innings score has been 153, and second innings 140. Quicker bowlers have enjoyed the venue more, taking 56 wickets at an average of 22.05 and economy-rate of 7.48. The corresponding stats for spinners are 19 wickets at 26.74 and 7.82.
  

  Chatter

  “I don’t think any team has an advantage anywhere. You have to go out and do well. Every team has been beaten by every other team at some stage. Every team has the ability to beat any other team.”

Victoria 9 for 286 (Wade 96, Swan 3-57) v Queensland
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMatthew Wade’s 96 revived Victoria on a swinging opening day at the MCG•Getty Images

Inexperienced teams have trouble finishing opponents off and Matthew Wade took advantage of Queensland’s absent killer instinct to stage a strong recovery at the MCG. Victoria were in awful trouble at 6 for 75 two overs after lunch, but Wade steered them with 96 and found valuable allies in John Hastings and Damien Wright as they finished on 9 for 286.After such a stunning start it was a lethargic second half to the day from Queensland, with Wade and his partners getting settled and then taking off. Wade produced a two-paced innings, stabilising the situation with extended watchful periods before breaking away to show his aggressive side with three sixes. He was closing on a deserved century when he skewed James Hopes to mid-off just before stumps.Both sides still have a lot to do over the next four days, but by missing out on a huge first-innings score Victoria, who won the toss, have given up some of the perks of finishing the regular season on top. They only need a draw to lift the Sheffield Shield, but this match already looks like it is heading towards a result.It seemed like it was going to be over early after such an eventful opening, but Wade put on 86 for the seventh wicket with Hastings (47) and another 84 with Damien Wright, who was aggressive during his 42 off 53 balls. Darren Pattinson, the No. 10, joined Wade in adding an important 40 that delayed the Bulls some more.Having watched their more qualified team-mates be controlled by the fast bowlers before lunch, Wade and Hastings battened down and tried to find a way to escape. In the 16 overs after the interval there were only 24 runs, but the batsmen were relieved to see the pitch flatten out, and Hastings benefitted from Chris Lynn’s miss at point on 2.Wade and Hastings were happy with the arrival of Chris Simpson’s offspin, with Hastings swiping two sixes to midwicket in the same over. However, Hastings got too aggressive to Cameron Boyce, the young legspinner, after tea and was caught at deep mid-off the ball after he lofted a straight boundary.Wade also attacked Simpson with a six to long on, and he punished Boyce, twice launching him into the stands. He collected 12 fours and stayed for 206 balls, but exited craving another boundary.Victoria suffered a setback in the morning with Chris Rogers, their rock at the top, succumbing to a broken hand and the reshuffle upset the hosts. Chris Swan (3 for 57) achieved the first two breakthroughs when Rob Quiney pushed forward and edged behind, and Nick Jewell was bowled by a fine delivery ducking back in.The Bulls were hopeful of more damage on a pitch offering early help, but they were surprised by the strength of their position at lunch. Victoria were in desperate trouble at 5 for 75 and the situation worsened when Ben Cutting bowled Cameron White for 10 with a beautiful ball that decked away.David Hussey, the side’s other big gun, had already been defused on 8 by Hopes, who watched the edge go to Simpson at first slip. Further smiles for the visitors came when Luke Feldman was on a hat-trick after removing Aaron Finch (26) and Andrew McDonald, who drove without getting properly forward to give Simpson another catch. Wade defended the hat-trick ball and set about ensuring a much healthier position.

ScorecardMonty Panesar bowled four tight overs on his competitive debut for his new county but was up-staged by fellow spinner Chris Nash as Sussex clinched a nervy seven-run success against the Fly Emirates part-timers in Dubai.Defending a disappointing total on the opening day of the Emirates Airline Twenty20 festival , Sussex had Nash and Panesar to thank for avoiding the giant killing with tight spells on a crumbling surface at 7he Sevens stadium. Though the Emirates side made a decent start in their pursuit through Mohammad Iqbal (22) and Amjad Javed (16) the run rate started to creep up once Sussex captain Michael Yardy turned to spin.”I really enjoyed it, we assessed the pitch quite quickly and bowled according to the conditions in front of us,” Panesar said. “I got my lengths right, which made the sweep shot a dangerous stroke out there. I was given the one leg-before and might have had another, but overall I was happy with my first game for Sussex.”The key moment came in the ninth over of the pursuit when Sussex removed dangerman Shahid Afridi for 8. Chancing a tight second to Chris Liddle at deep point the Afridi comfortably lost the race back to the striker’s end and his side’s hopes of causing an upset went with him.The Sussex innings had been anchored by Man-of-the-Match Nash who took an early view that “120 would be a top score on that pitch” and he was proved right. His top-score of 45 from 42 balls included only four fours but was to prove invaluable to the Sussex cause.Only he and Michael Thornely (18) reached double figures and once Nash skied to fine leg the Sussex tail fell away badly as they lost their last six wickets for 32 in the last six overs of their innings.

If any of the England squad harboured a temptation to take the tour of Bangladesh lightly, then Matt Prior’s predicament at the start of the series was just the sort of scenario to sharpen the collective focus. Prior set off from England in mid-February looking like England’s No. 1 wicketkeeper in all formats, only to encounter the formidable figure of Craig Kieswetter during the squad’s stop-over in the Middle East.By the time England touched down in Dhaka, Kieswetter had been drafted in as a 16th member of the full ODI squad, as Andy Flower spoke openly of bedding him into the side in time for the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean. For a while, it seemed there could be room for only one wicketkeeper-batsman in the starting line-up, but the incumbent Prior responded impressively as Kieswetter’s debutant nerves got the better of him, and in the series-sealing victory at Dhaka on Tuesday, his 42 from 58 balls proved invaluable in a two-wicket win.”A little bit of pressure always helps I suppose,” said Prior, for whom the scenario evoked familiar memories. “I’ve never been someone who shies away from competition, because ultimately I believe the best man plays, and that’s how it is. I started my career with Tim Ambrose at Sussex, and Timmy and I had that mentality back then that we work together, work very hard together, and push each other.”It’s no different now,” he added. “I like to think of myself as a big team man and a big team player, and to make them feel a part of the team, and I greeted Craig no differently to how I’d greet anyone else in the squad. It’s competition, but if it means we have to perform, it’s a good thing for English cricket, and hopefully it’ll make me a better cricketer. I just want to play in a winning England team, and if having a hard-hitting batter like Craig at the top of the order is going to help, then I’m all for it.”Kieswetter’s initial outings for the England ODI side have been tinged by nerves, as he compiled a chancy 19 in the first match, followed by a streaky 4 in the second, but having arrived in the country with a hard-hitting 143 from 123 balls in the first warm-up, nobody doubts the potential he brings to the No. 1 position. Instead, the onus has been on Prior to reinvent his own game, having been tried and tested in a variety of positions further up the order, before his latest incarnation as a finisher at No. 6.”I see no reason why there should not be a place for both of us in the team, with me keeping and batting at No.6, while he’s opening the batting. But it’s all down to the performance,” said Prior. “Whatever position I’m in, I enjoy the challenge of being in the game, and batting at No. 6 you go in at crucial times. Those positions can sometimes be the main places for getting a team over the line or not, so you take on the challenge and embrace it.”At the start of the series, there was some speculation that Prior might lose the gloves to give Kieswetter a chance to practice the full wicketkeeper-batsman role ahead of the World Twenty20, but that notion has been shelved, and rightly so, for if there’s one aspect of Prior’s game that has been nigh on flawless of late, it has been his glovework. But now, he says, it’s time to revert to working on his first love – batting.”During the South Africa tour, and certainly for the last few months, I’ve put a lot of emphasis into my keeping,” he said. “But there are only so many hours in the day, so the thing that’s had to give way was a bit of time on my batting. It was a choice I made, rather than me not being bothered, but after South Africa I thought, hold on a minute, I feel in a good place with my keeping, I feel I’ve put the hours in and worked really hard, but I’ve got to maintain my batting as well.”The efforts he’s put in so far paid dividends for England on Tuesday in a vital fifth-wicket stand of 90 with the Man of the Match, Eoin Morgan. Together they hauled England out of a hole at 108 for 4 in the 24th over, as England went on to clinch the series by two wickets in an exceptionally tense finale.”Going in in that sort of situation was a good test, and pleased with how I played and how I managed to play the spinners,” said Prior, who was forced to manipulate the ball into gaps, and dispense with the hard-handed cuts and drives that are his stock-in-trade as a Test-match counterattacker.”I played okay and it was a good partnership, but I was disappointed with when I got out,” he added. “It was a big time for pushing singles, and in the future I’d like to be the one getting the not out, and making sure there aren’t any hiccups or twists and turns.”I think it’s easy to say it’s only Bangladesh, but they know how to play and bowl in their own conditions, and they are not a walkover by any stretch of the imagination,” he added. “That first hundred from Tamim Iqbal was a fantastic knock, and Mushfiqur Rahim played brilliantly the other night. It’s not just about turning up and beating a weaker team, nowhere near.”

Somerset have confirmed that head groundsman Phil Frost has been made redundant after 22 years at the club.Frost, alongside another member of the ground staff, was relieved of the position in December in an attempt to “identify cost effectiveness and improve efficiency”, according to a statement issued by the club.While Hampshire sign lucrative link-ups with teams across the globe, other counties face the harsher climate of recession and, with news that the Champions League Twenty20 will encroach on the English season, an increasingly precarious domestic structure.Frost won many awards for his work at Taunton, but has also come under fire for the batsman-friendly nature of Championship pitches which have led to a high number of draws. The club are keen to produce more result-orientated wickets for the 2010 season and now Brian Rose, the director of cricket, will oversee the work.Somerset recently signed Kieron Pollard and Cameron White, two premium Twenty20 players, in an attempt to reach the lucrative Champions League tournament, which will have stretched their budgets and now cuts are having to be made elsewhere.

Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper and captain, had recommended in a report to the PCB to drop Kamran Akmal from international cricket, to give him time to correct a number of flaws.Latif, widely regarded as the best, pure gloveman to come out of Pakistan after Wasim Bari, worked for the PCB in a brief stint as a wicketkeeping coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) from June 2008. A number of the country’s top wicketkeepers attended, including Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed and Salman Ahmed, both of whom have often been touted as potential replacements.”I gave the board a report in which I recommended that Akmal not play international cricket for at least six months but they didn’t listen,” Latif told Cricinfo. “He had too many technical faults, had put on too much weight for a wicketkeeper of his size and wearing a helmet to spinners was really hampering him.”Akmal’s glovework has long become a source of worry for Pakistan. For a period over 2004-05, including the last trip to Australia, his keeping was widely lauded. But during 2006, in particular the tour to England where he continued playing with an injured finger, his form dipped alarmingly, and he dropped a number of chances over the next two years.His work became a little tidier last year, but he dropped four catches in the Sydney Test, including Michael Hussey three times off Danish Kaneria. Hussey went on to score a hundred, setting up a shock 36-run win for his side from a dire position.There are reports now that Sarfraz has been called up to the squad, though management in Australia is yet to confirm it. Sarfraz, who led Pakistan to an U-19 World Cup triumph, briefly replaced Akmal in ODIs during the 2008 Asia Cup. But Akmal’s batting – he has 11 international hundreds – has often saved him; he scored valuable runs on the recent tour to New Zealand, which resulted in Sarfraz, who was on tour as a back-up, being sent back to Pakistan.”The blunder was to send Sarfraz back,” Latif said. “I had recommended that at least try guys like Sarfraz and Salman Ahmed. He wears helmets to spinners which I think they shouldn’t because it messes up the eye-line.”And as far as the argument for his batting goes, in such Tests what help is the batting? He scores a hundred every six or seven innings. Outside Pakistan and the subcontinent his average is very low. If another guy comes and scores 30 or 40 in most innings, isn’t that better?”Pakistan appear reluctant to lose or even rest Akmal, however. Yousuf – and Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik before him – has enough faith in his batting to keep him in the side. Yousuf defended Akmal after the third day, when he had dropped Hussey thrice, and did so again in the aftermath of the loss.”It’s not easy to make such players,” Yousuf said. “If you drop him, his confidence is totally down and it will go further down. If you don’t want to play him again then it is understandable. But making such a player is not easy. He will get spoilt if he is dropped.”Yousuf conceded, however, that something might be done, though it is believed even he is unaware of the reports of Sarfraz’s impending arrival. “This is something to discuss after a few days really,” Yousuf said. “Kamran Akmal – okay if we say let’s not play him in Tests, but he will do well in ODIs and Twenty20s and come back again into Tests. And not everything is in my hands.”

Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis have been voted into South Africa’s all-time Test XI, along with Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald, by a Cricinfo jury.Smith will open the innings with Barry Richards – one of cricket’s greatest what-might-have-beens, who played just four Tests before South Africa’s isolation in the 1970s. Kallis bats one-down, followed by Graeme Pollock, one of the finest left-hand batsmen in the game, who along with Richards was among the stars of the 1969-70 series against Australia in which South Africa whitewashed the visitors 4-0.Among the notable absentees in the XI are allrounders Trevor Goddard and Eddie Barlow, Gary Kirsten, and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, who has a record 475 Test dismissals. The gloves were instead given to Johnny Waite, who shares the South African record for most dismissals in a five-Test series, 26, with Boucher.The middle order features Dudley Nourse, who once batted nine hours with his broken right thumb pinned, to score a double-century in South Africa’s first Test win in 16 years, and the legendary early-20th-century batsman-cum-legspinner Aubrey Faulkner.South Africa have been blessed with a rich pool of allrounders, and Mike Procter (221 runs and 41 wickets in seven Tests) makes it into the side with Faulkner (1754 runs and 82 wickets in 25 Tests). While Shaun Pollock was picked as a fast bowler, he more than holds his own as an allrounder. Add Kallis and you have four world-class allrounders in the XI.Richards, unanimously voted into the XI, and Procter, with eight votes, were the only ones to make it despite having played fewer than 10 Tests each. Richards’ opening partner, however, just sneaked into the side, ahead of Barlow. Neil Manthorp, a broadcaster and journalist who was on the jury, said the idea of Smith opening with Richards in his prime was “too delectable to ignore”.”Graeme has shown throughout his career an ability to rise to the big occasion. Just because he still has so many years left of his career doesn’t mean to say we shouldn’t judge him on what he has already achieved, which is phenomenal. Most places in the XI can be considered contentious, but Smith as an opener, in my opinion, is a complete no-brainer,” Manthorp said.Graeme Pollock, Nourse and Donald were also unanimous picks, while Kallis and Hugh Tayfield, who took the lone spinner’s berth, got nine votes each.The jury included Ali Bacher, who led South Africa in the 1970 series against Australia before becoming the managing director of the board in the 1990s, Rudi Koertzen, and Colin Bryden, the editor of the .Cricinfo readers were asked to pick their all-time South Africa XI, and while their top four matches the jury’s, they overwhelmingly voted for Boucher as keeper (five times as many votes as second-placed Denis Lindsay). They also opted for AB de Villiers over Nourse, and gave Shaun Pollock allrounder duties to accommodate Steyn.Read the jury’s quotes on the XI here.The nominees
Openers: Barry Richards, Bruce Mitchell, Graeme Smith, Eddie Barlow, Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Jackie McGlew.Middle order: Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Dudley Nourse, Graeme Pollock, Herbie Taylor, AB de Villiers.Allrounders: Aubrey Faulkner, Mike Procter, Brian MacMillan, Trevor Goddard, Jimmy Sinclair, Shaun Pollock.Wicketkeepers: Mark Boucher, Johnny Waite, Jock Cameron, Denis Lindsay, Dave Richardson.Spinners: Hugh Tayfield, Paul Adams, Cyril Vincent.Fast bowlers: Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Neil Adcock, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Peter Pollock, Fanie de Villiers.

At 40, challenges still exist for Sanath Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan team management, led by captain Kumar Sangakkara, has decided to push Jayasuriya down the order to make better use of the allrounder. Jayasuriya admitted it was a “big challenge” for him to return to the position where he had started his career.”Since 1995, I have opened unless I was coming back from an injury. So it is a big challenge, which for the last 15 years I haven’t faced,” Jayasuriya told Cricinfo on the eve of Sri Lanka’s first ODI in Rajkot. “But I have taken up the challenge and I will work hard to perform.”Jayasuriya was a regular middle-order batsman before being asked to open in the World Series Challenge in Australia in 1995 by the then captain Arjuna Ranatunga for the first time. Jayasuriya lapped up the new job with an intensity that would make him a household name in the years to come and completely redefine the role of an opener in the 50-over the game. But with age Jayasuriya’s reflexes have thinned down, resulting in the dip in his ODI form. To avoid the issue becoming a growing concern, the Sri Lankan think tank decided to push him down the order. The new job came with a disclaimer: there was no security.Interestingly, Jayasuriya’s previous performances in the role have been far from impressive: in 39 innings, he averages 13.13 with no fifties. He last batted in the middle order in 2005 against India, scoring an unbeaten 43 at No. 6 to help Sri Lanka chase 206.Despite the pressure building on him, Jayasuriya indicated he was not in a desperate situation. “Nobody is guaranteed a place if you don’t perform,” Jayasuriya said. “It doesn’t matter if you are an allrounder or an opener. So whenever I get an opportunity I have to perform.”Comparing the two roles, Jayasuriya said facing the new ball was a completely different equation as against negotiating the old ball in the middle-to-end overs. “It is unlike batting as an opener where you have the license to play your natural game and go after the bowling. The field is up and you are looking to get runs on the board so you are attacking from the very beginning,” he said. “In the middle order, you need to play according to the situation and occupy the crease for longer periods.”Despite the change in his job profile, Jayasuriya remains a dangerous proposition for the opposition, a fact the Indian captain MS Dhoni agreed with. “Whenever he has played a long innings, batting through the middle overs, he emphasises more on running between the wickets,” Dhoni pointed out.Dhoni said Jayasuriya is not as brutal while batting in the middle order, where the focus is to run hard and then go after the bowling at the end of the innings. According to Dhoni, the key to arrest Jaysuriya’s development was to restrict him from converting the singles into twos and threes.”He is a very good runner, (who) tries to put pressure on fielders,” Dhoni said. “The key is not to give him easy singles and doubles.”Sri Lanka have announced that Upul Tharanga will partner Tillakaratne Dilshan at the top.

There are few batsmen who possess the extra gear that Virender Sehwag does. On the first morning at Green Park, he was initially circumspect, having been dropped off the third ball he faced. There was some early swing for Chanaka Welegedara and there were no wildly adventurous swipes against Angelo Mathews either. Off the first 20 balls that he faced, Sehwag made just four, leaving Gautam Gambhir to keep the scorers busy. From the first 11 overs, India made 31. Hardly slothful, but no run-riot either.In a trice though, the mood changed. A cover drive and a crunching shot through midwicket off Mathews were a warning sign, and Sri Lankan heads would surely have dropped when he drove the same bowler down the ground twice in his next over. Eye in and feet moving, by Sehwag standards, the spinners then had no chance. In the next 30 overs, 201 runs came in a near-cascade.Ajantha Mendis, scourge of India in a Test series last year, was thrashed for 35 from 19 balls. Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath fared little better. If not for a fine catch from Tillakaratne Dilshan, the damage would have been far greater than 417 runs. Having scored 233 from the 41.2 overs that Sehwag spent at the crease, India then managed only another 184 from 48.4 overs. Still great going by Test-match standards, but a near-crawl compared to Sehwag’s pace.It obviously helped to have Gambhir at the other end, enjoying the sort of purple patch that batsmen experience only once or twice in the careers. For most of the morning and afternoon, he matched Sehwag stroke for stroke, throttling back only once the run-rate climbed near to a run a ball.As with most Sehwag innings, there was no dearth of the audacious. Herath was clubbed to the midwicket boundary even when he pitched well outside off stump, and Mendis found one sailing well over the man at long-on. The old cliches about giving the first hour to the bowler and battening down the hatches when in sight of an interval are all humbug as far as he’s concerned.By Sehwag’s standards, the past 18 months had been lean ones. Though he never struggled to the extent that his place in the side was questioned, the big booming centuries that had marked him out as a new-ball bowler’s worst nightmare were conspicuous by their absence. This was his first three-figure knock after that dazzling unbeaten 201 in Galle, though it would be foolish in the extreme to judge him by weight of hundreds alone.There would have no dramatic final-day victory for a grieving nation to celebrate in Chennai last December if not for his breathtaking 68-ball 83 on the penultimate evening. He also contributed 90s to both Indian victories over Australia. But the defining innings, the full-day flail that had so enervated the South Africans [Chennai] and the Pakistanis [Multan and Lahore, to pick out just two] was missing.That came as a surprise to many. Though his reputation may be that of a dasher, there have been few batsmen in the history of the game as adept as Sehwag when it comes to building on a start. Before his dismissal for 131 today, his previous 11 centuries had all been scores in excess of 150. And while the impetuous swipe at the MCG in 2003 when on 195 is still remembered by many, he plays according to the situation far more often than people give him credit for.In that context, his match-saving innings in Adelaide just under two years ago probably has pride of place. Having just negotiated a path back into the XI, it was a big match for Sehwag. And after scoring big in the first innings, India were in real danger of defeat on the final day. But Sehwag knuckled down to play what was, for him, a sedate innings. By the time he departed, after 151 from 236 balls, the game was safe.His strike-rate that day was 63.98, and no other figure tells you as much about the man. Consider the other aggressive opening batsmen of the age. Chris Gayle scores his runs at 57.46 per hundred balls, Andrew Strauss at 49.49. For Matthew Hayden, who loved nothing more than to dominate the bowlers, the figure was 60.10. For Graeme Smith, the number is 61.2. Sanath Jayasuriya’s was 65. And Sehwag? A staggering 79.26.To put that into perspective, just compare him to Adam Gilchrist, widely accepted as the most destructive batsman of this era. Gilchrist never had to confront early swing or seam movement, and he could often take toll of attacks demoralised by those that had gone before. Yet, his strike-rate (81.95) is only marginally better than Sehwag’s.It’s too early to pass judgement on this pitch, but Sri Lanka will rue that Prasanna Jayawardene dive across first slip in the day’s opening over, and also the lack of discipline from the bowlers, who bowled far too many deliveries on the batsmen’s pads and wide of off stump. The gains of the Motera have been wiped out in the space of three sessions and the next four days could be one long haul to safety. They can console themselves only with the thought that they aren’t the first team to suffer so at Sehwag’s hands. And they certainly won’t be the last.