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Sunrisers Hyderabad made a winning debut in the IPL as they defended a low score at their home ground on a slow, difficult pitch

The Report by Abhishek Purohit05-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDale Steyn took three in four balls to close out the match•BCCI

Sunrisers Hyderabad made a winning debut in the IPL as they defended a low score at their home ground on a slow, difficult pitch. Thisara Perera, Sunrisers’ $675,000 acquisition, did not begin too badly for his new franchise, top-scoring with a quick 30, taking the first two Pune Warriors wickets and causing a run-out. Amit Mishra wasn’t too far behind, his legbreaks leaving Warriors confounded on a helpful surface. Dale Steyn left the Warriors top order dazed with his outswingers and returned to blow away the lower order with three wickets in four balls.Not many would have given Sunrisers a chance when they almost sleepwalked their way to 126 after being put in, barring a brief effort to break free from Perera. Deccan Chargers, the franchise Sunrisers replaced, had an atrocious record at this ground, and Sunrisers appeared set to extend that in front of a lukewarm turnout. But they came out a different unit with the ball.Steyn, charged up as almost always, beat the Warriors openers repeatedly with quick outswingers. Ishant Sharma was accurate and testing, as he can be in helpful conditions. The wickets came Perera’s way, though.After running him fine for a boundary, Robin Uthappa tried repeating the stroke and went caught behind. Marlon Samuels gave the lone slip catching practice in Perera’s next over, Kumar Sangakkara deserving credit for sticking with the fielder and the bowler.Warriors’ batting line-up stretched way down to No. 8 Mitchell Marsh, but it was to come unstuck as Mishra brought out his control and variations. Yuvraj Singh, on IPL comeback, walked down, and was easily beaten and stumped. Manish Pandey’s struggle to put bat to ball ended with a mishit slog off Mishra, as the asking-rate started mounting.Almost everything clicked for Sangakkara on the field. He needed young Ashish Reddy to bowl a decent 17th over, and the bowler responded by uprooting Ross Taylor’s leg stump with a full, slower delivery.With 33 needed off three overs, Perera was to make another important contribution. Angelo Mathews, who came in at No. 7, smashed a full toss straight back at Perera, who stuck out his right hand, and the dangerous Marsh was caught short of his crease at the non-striker’s end.Warriors’ lower order panicked against Steyn, trying to attack the fast bowler while their captain looked on helplessly from the other end, ruing the fact that his team left as many as seven deliveries unused.Sunrisers used up their quota when they batted, but weren’t able to find any momentum. The top four got only starts, and it was down to Perera to breathe some life into a suffocating innings. He began with consecutive fours off Rahul Sharma and slogged Marlon Samuels’ darts for two more boundaries before mishitting an Ashok Dinda full toss in the 18th over. Perera’s fall meant Sunrisers weren’t able to finish well with the bat, but they were far more determined with the ball.

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene has been fined 10% of his match fee for arguing with the umpires during the second final of the CB Series in Adelaide

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2012Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has been fined 10% of his match fee for arguing with the umpires during the second final of the CB Series in Adelaide. Jayawardene was found to have breached Article 2.1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match”.The incident happened during the 44th over of the Australia innings when Farveez Maharoof bowled a waist-high full toss to Michael Clarke, who pulled it to the square-leg boundary for a four. The umpire declared it a no-ball after a delay, but Jayawardene wasn’t pleased and had an animated discussion with both the on-field umpires, Asad Rauf and Bruce Oxenford.Jayawardene said after the match that he wasn’t disputing the no-ball, only that the umpires took too long to call it.”I think I was the culprit, dragging it for too long. I thought initially the umpire didn’t make a call, and took too long,” Jayawardene said. “I had no issue with the no-ball. waist high or whatever. But I felt that after Michael (Clarke) had spoken to him, that’s when he had made the call. So I have been fined for that. That puts something in my report. That’s all.”The ICC match referee, Chris Broad, said that Jayawardene pleaded guilty to the offence and apologised.”It is understandable that Mahela Jayawardene felt disappointed after Farveez Maharoof’s delivery, which had been dispatched for a boundary, was also declared as a no-ball for a full toss above waist height,” Broad said.”But as one of the senior most players in world cricket today and also as the captain of his side, Jayawardene must maintain a certain level of self-control and clearly his actions went beyond what would be deemed acceptable.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, has said a score in the region of 250 would have tested Australia on the Premadasa track

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2011Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka captain, has said a score in the range of 250 would have tested Australia on the Premadasa track, given that the hosts were playing three specialist spinners. Heavy rain, however, ensured the match was abandoned after 32.5 overs and the teams had to split the two points.”The game was well poised,” Sangakkara said. He was unbeaten on 73 and together with Thilan Samaraweera had laid a strong platform for a challenging score. “We were looking at 250 or even more and it would have been a good game. It was the second game on that track and we had three spinners and they would have been pretty useful on that kind of track.”Sri Lanka went in to this game with Muttiah Muralitharan, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis – it was the first time all three featured together in an ODI. The hosts opted to bat and Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, admitted chasing would have been tough on a such a track, conducive to spin.”You could tell that it was going to be a lot different than the wicket that was played on the day before, because you could see that one right beside it,” Ponting said.Rain had the final say at the Premadasa•Manoj Ridimahaliyadda

“That one had a bit of grass on it, and the one we were going to use today was basically rolled mud. It spun quite a bit early in the game. What you associate with most one-day wickets is they generally don’t do much in the first innings of the game and they might just spin a bit towards the latter half of the second innings of the game. It appeared that this one was going to be a difficult one to chase runs on.”Australia are placed third in Group A, but have a game in hand over second-placed Sri Lanka and face Kenya and Canada in two of their three remaining matches. Sri Lanka take on Zimbabwe in Pallekele next before heading to Mumbai to play New Zealand, though Sangakkara was surprised about not playing that game at home. “We were surprised when we learned that we will have to travel to Mumbai to play that game. I thought hosts play at home,” he said. “Playing the New Zealand game is beyond our control. You can’t change that now. That’s gone now and we need to be up for the task.”

A round-up of the semi-final matches of the RBS Twenty20 Cup

Cricinfo staff06-Mar-2010Faisalabad Wolves opener Mohammad Hafeez picked the perfect time to smash the first century of the tournament, his 53-ball 100 sinking Lahore Lions in the semi-finals at the National Stadium. Hafeez’s effort was the cornerstone of Faisalabad’s 211, the first 200-plus total of the competition, which proved 45 runs too many for Lahore.After being sent in, Hafeez plundered 117 runs with Asif Hussain at 10-an-over to drive Faisalabad towards a big score. It was Hussain who was the aggressor in the early overs, before Hafeez opened out. There was no let-up in the momentum even when Hussain fell for a 34-ball 54 in the 12th over – the next over, from Waqas Ahmed, was the most expensive of the innings, Hafeez blasting a six and three fours to take 20 runs. Hafeez was dismissed in the 17th over, after crashing 16 fours and two sixes, with the score at 176, after which Waqas Ali’s cameo made sure Faisalabad crossed 200.Lahore didn’t wilt in the face of the big target, making a spirited start to the chase despite losing Nasir Jamshed early. Salman Butt and the Akmal brothers kept up with the asking-rate but no one besides Butt could sustain the onslaught. The fight went out of Lahore with the loss of Kashif Siddiq and Waqas Ahmed in consecutive overs in the middle of the innings. The asking-rate started to rise and when Butt was dismissed for 59 in the 15th over, the match was all but decided.In the other semi-final, defending champions Sialkot Stallions reached yet another domestic Twenty20 final by edging out Karachi Dolphins by seven runs in what was a rematch of last year’s title clash.It was a game with plenty of twists. Sialkot opener Imran Nazir started the match with two fours off the first two balls, then smacked a six over square leg and a four to midwicket in the second over before retiring hurt with the score at 29 in two overs. After a steady spell, Sialkot lost three wickets in the space of three overs, followed by another burst of hitting, from Shoaib Malik and Nazir, who returned after the fifth over.Sialkot had reached a strong 89 for 3 after ten when Karachi started to reel in the run-rate, with the help of the legspin of Shahid Afridi, who took wickets in three consecutive overs. Malik remained unbeaten on 40 but Sialkot never hit the gear they had in the early part of the innings to finish on a middling 149.The Karachi chase had a bizarre first 12 overs. They reached 82 for 6, but 49 of those runs came in three frenetic overs, while in the rest they struggled to score. Shahzaib Hasan started in a hurry, carting Mohammad Asif’s first over for 18 but Abdul Razzaq struck twice in the second over to check the scoring. Asif then took two wickets of his own in the third over and Karachi were down to 22 for 4.Afridi didn’t bother about the wickets lost, belting three fours and two sixes before top-edging a catch to cover to fall for a 11-ball 29. The required-rate was less than seven at that stage, so Fawad Alam and Sheharyar Ghani sensibly went about accumulating the runs in singles and twos.After Ghani was dismissed in the 12th over, Fawad brought the required-rate back under control by crashing a six and a four off two free-hits in a Abdur Rehman over. His exit in the 15th over, to a superb diving catch from Shahid Yousuf at short midwicket, turned the game but Karachi managed to take it to a stage where the last pair needed 19 off two overs.When Mohammad Sami took eight off the first three balls from Naved-ul-Hasan, the match could have tilted either way, but he was run out off the next delivery to send Sialkot through to the final.

Sai Sudharsan reflects on a stellar season where he signed off as the leading run-scorer

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-20251:49

Moody: Sudharsan an all-format player for 10-plus years

Gujarat Titans (GT) opener Sai Sudharsan, the current Orange Cap holder, played a crucial role in his team making it to the IPL 2025 playoffs, but believes he has “a lot of things to improve” in his T20 game. Sai Sudharsan has already made his white-ball debuts for India and has also been picked for the upcoming five-Test series in England starting next month, but wants to improve on a few more things before he plays T20s again.”I mean, playing for the country is obviously a dream for everybody, so I would love to do that,” he said when asked about his chances for the T20 World Cup next year after GT crashed out of the IPL in the Eliminator. “But I’m not thinking on those lines because if you see about the season, I have a lot of things to improve as a T20 batter. There are so many facets of the game, or so many sectors, I should improve when I play T20 again. So I’m focusing more on that. Of course, when I get an opportunity, I will give my best for the country.”It’s good to see that I had a good season or I was consistent enough for my team, but I think when the job is not finished, you don’t get the ultimate satisfaction when you get back home. So, definitely, there’s a lot of disappointment in the [team] environment because of the way we played the first 12 or 13 games, which was fantastic to see as a group or as a team from outside. Even when in hindsight you look at a season like this, I think our team was so good they did a lot of jobs really well. So finishing a tournament like this, definitely it doesn’t give that complete satisfaction. But, yeah, appreciating the performances and of course learning from it is the is the thing forward.”Related

• The 'void' that saw GT's season of promise disintegrate

• MI eliminate GT to set up Qualifier 2 with PBKS

• Stats – MI's record total and Rohit's day of milestones

• 'Today was that day for me' – Rohit and MI ride their luck to Qualifier 2

Sai Sudharsan top-scored for GT against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday night, with a stroke-filled 80 off 49 balls that kept the stiff chase of 229 in the balance till he was around. But after he was bowled by Richard Gleeson in the 16th over, the equation reading 59 from 26 after the dismissal, GT fell away.GT captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan did a lot of the heavy lifting among the GT batters this season, scoring 912 runs as an opening pair, the third-highest tally in an IPL season. But the responsibility fell on Sai Sudharsan’s shoulders early in the chase against MI as Gill fell for 1 in the opening over, and there was no Jos Buttler, the team’s third-highest scorer, to follow as he had left for national duties. Kusal Mendis replaced Buttler in the XI but he was hit wicket for 20.B Sai Sudharsan crossed 700 runs in IPL 2025•Getty Images

“Yes, definitely a batter like Shubi when he gets out, it creates a little difficulty in the environment and of course in the game of play,” Sai Sudharsan said. “So, again, I was aware of it and it was clear that we know how Kusal can play. We’ve seen him play quite a lot of times in the nets, so I was confident enough that we could get those runs, of course. And I was believing in myself, I was even telling Kusal that we can definitely do it if we have a good play. And likewise, we had a fantastic powerplay. I think we believe more on ourselves and took the game forward and the game was on course for a long period of time.”Sai Sudharsan and Mendis powered GT to 66 for 1 in the powerplay, and even after Mendis fell three balls after the field spread out, Washington Sundar and Sai Sudharsan kept the pressure on MI with a partnership of 84 off just 44 balls that took GT to 100 in the tenth over. There was, however, a brief stoppage of play when Suryakumar Yadav got some treatment after the 13th over and the partnership was broken four balls later.Did that stoppage break a team’s momentum?”I mean, it can. It can definitely make a difference, but I feel we were aware of it,” Sai Sudharsan said. “That was a good thing about me and Washy, we had a conversation about it and we were together. We were not waiting for the game to start. We were just looking at what all things we have to see. I think it was 12th or 13th over. So we were aware of it because we’ve seen certain occurrences before, so we were having that conversation and thinking about what we have to do rather than, you know, losing that momentum there.”B Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar added 84 off just 44 balls•BCCI

One of the things that cost GT some extra runs was their sloppy fielding as they put down three catches, including two off Rohit Sharma in the powerplay, and the MI opener went on to score 81 off 50. Sai Sudharsan said “it could have cost a bit” because the ball was still swinging in the powerplay and it would not have been easy for a new batter coming in.Sai Sudharsan’s next assignment is the India A tour of England, which started on the same day as the Eliminator with the first four-day game in Canterbury. It remains to be seen if both Sai Sudharsan and Gill make it in time for the second fixture starting on June 6 in Northampton, but GT’s early elimination from the playoffs does give the duo extra time to fly out and get some red-ball game time.Sai Sudharsan has also played county cricket for Surrey, which was a “great experience” for him.”I think I played seven [county] games so it gave me a great experience, to be honest,” he said. “It improved my batting multiple-folds in terms of technique and in terms of basics. It told me basics are the most important thing in batting. So it should help me and I’ll focus more on what I learnt and I’ll try and be aware and create those awarenesses before going into the series.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAn all-round performance by offspinner Prosper Utseya helped Mashonaland Eagles beat Matabeleland Tuskers by five runs to win the Pro50 Championship final in Bulawayo, in a match that was repeatedly interrupted by rain. The result was decided via the Duckworth-Lewis method.Tuskers, who won the toss and elected to bowl, kept Eagles’ innings in check with regular breakthroughs. While most of the middle order got starts, Utseya, coming in to bat at No. 7, was the only batsman to reach 50. He was given out obstructing the field as Eagles were kept to 222 in 49.1 overs.Tuskers looked to be in control of the chase, in spite of several rain interruptions, as the opening pair of Gavin Ewing and Brian Chari added 138 runs. They began sedately but solidly, and launched later when the rain seemed like it would be an issue. However, wickets then began to tumble and apart from a late charge from Charles Coventry, none of the other Tuskers batsmen could make substantial contributions. Tuskers needed 23 runs from 18 balls, before rain interrupted their chase yet again and the D/L method came into play.

Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne said his side would target a lead in excess of 150 when they resume their second innings 87 runs ahead and with three wickets in hand, in Sydney on the fourth day

Andrew Fernando at the SCG05-Jan-2013Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne said his side would target a lead in excess of 150 when they resume their second innings 87 runs ahead and with three wickets in hand, in Sydney on the fourth day. Sri Lanka had moved to within eight runs of wiping Australia’s first-innings lead when they lost their second wicket, but five more batsmen fell in the third session to leave the visitors poorly placed.Though the SCG pitch remained well-suited to batting, Karunaratne hoped Sri Lanka’s spinners could defend a modest total, as the match approached a result. Dinesh Chandimal remained unbeaten on 22 at stumps on day three, with Rangana Herath for company.”We did hard work in the first and second session, but we lost the last session which was very disappointing,” Karunaratne said. “Chandimal is at the wicket, so he can do something tomorrow. If he puts some runs on the board, like 150-175, there is a chance to do something on this track.”The wicket is turning a lot now and Australia are batting in the fourth innings. There’s something on the wicket. I think Rangana Herath and Tillakaratne Dilshan can do something for us.”Karunaratne also defended Thilan Samaraweera’s shot selection, after Samaraweera had advanced down the pitch and aimed a slog over midwicket off Nathan Lyon, off the third ball he faced. The swipe produced a top edge that was taken at mid-off, leaving Sri Lanka four wickets down, being only 20 runs ahead.”The things he is used to doing haven’t been successful for him in the last two or three innings. He tried to do something different. He tried to attack and get some runs, spread the field and then he could play his normal game. There are different plans for different players. He had a different gameplan and he tried it, but he was unlucky. I think in the next series he will come to the fore again.”We haven’t had much luck, and it’s been a disappointing series for all of us. We didn’t bat well in the whole series, except when Tillakaratne Dilshan got a hundred in the first Test and Lahiru Thirimanne batted well in the first innings here.”Sri Lanka had played Nathan Lyon aggressively throughout the Test, and Karunaratne said that that had been their plan, as most Sri Lanka batsmen felt more comfortable against spin bowling. Lyon picked up Samaraweera’s wicket, but was expensive at 4.84 runs an over, and was hit for three aerial fours in an over by Angelo Mathews despite the visitors’ dire match situation.”The Aussie fast bowlers are doing really well in the three sessions, and they do the basics right with line and length and set the field well. If we have a chance to get some runs, it’s against the offspinner through mid-on and midwicket when those fielders are in the circle. Mathews is a good player to hit some big shots. Thilan also tried to do the same thing.”

MatériaMais Notícias

O Bahia está pela primeira vez nas quartas de final da Copa Sul-Americana também graças a noite eficiente do volante Flávio. Improvisado na lateral-esquerda pela falta de opções, o jogador não comprometeu e ainda marcou o pênalti que definiu a série de cobranças alternadas, garantindo o triunfo do Esquadrão de Aço.

Logo depois da disputa na marca da cal, o jogador reconheceu a emoção da responsabilidade de “fechar a conta” e, além de falar sobre sua experiência do lado esquerdo da defesa baiana, dividiu os méritos da vaga com seus companheiros.

– Não é fácil, foi uma emoção muito grande. Todo mundo sabe que eu não sou lateral-esquerdo e eu pude ajudar meus companheiros. O professor perguntou se eu poderia ajudar na lateral e eu não abdiquei, falei que iria ajudar. Não poderia deixar meus companheiros na mão com o Léo suspenso e o Paulinho não estando inscrito. Tive a felicidade de bater o último pênalti, mas todo mundo que bateu e o Douglas foram fundamentais, eu só concretizei – analisou Flávio.

Com relação ao pensamento de onde o Tricolor da Boa Terra pode chegar na Sul-Americana, o volante não titubeou:

– Frisamos no vestiário que poderíamos fazer história e fizemos, já que o Bahia nunca tinha chegado nas quartas de final. É pensar grande, time grande tem que pensar grande e a gente vai chegar longe, se Deus quiser.

O próximo jogo do Bahia na temporada será no próximo sábado (6), às 21 h, quando terá a difícil missão de duelar frente ao Grêmio no Rio Grande do Sul pelo Campeonato Brasileiro.

RelacionadasBahia“Quem está mais próximo vai entender”, afirma Edigar Junio sobre importância de seu golBahia04/10/2018BotafogoCalou o Niltão! Bahia segura pressão e passa pelo Botafogo nos pênaltisBotafogo03/10/2018

ScorecardNightwatchman Ollie Rayner struck a maiden Championship hundred to keep Middlesex in the game•Getty Images

Ollie Rayner’s debut as a first-class cricketer brought with it membership of a fairly exclusive club when he made a century against the touring Sri Lankans at Hove in May 2006. Now he can proudly wear the metaphorical tie of another society after completing his second career hundred in an innings he had begun as nightwatchman.Rayner’s unbeaten 143 saved Middlesex from being asked to follow on and meant that Andrew Strauss could have a chance to sharpen his slip catching before taking guard for his last pre-Test opportunity to score runs. Indeed, instead of batting to save the game, Strauss may find himself leading a run-chase that does not require a Nottinghamshire declaration after the hosts lost three wickets in 10 overs at the close.To complete a memorable day, Rayner took two of those wickets, showing no sign of weariness from five and a half hours at the crease even as acting Middlesex captain Chris Rogers chose to bring his offspin into play only three overs into Nottinghamshire’s second innings.Outside Test cricket, where there have been six recorded instances of centuries from nightwatchmen, most memorably the double hundred by Jason Gillespie in Chittagong, records of such occurrences are harder to trace. Richard Illingworth, now a leading umpire, did it three times for Worcestershire. Suffice to say that Rayner’s score must at least be among the highest. It would be an enormous surprise, certainly, to find another batsman born in Fallingbostel, Germany, to rival his feat.Not that he is known as a blocker, anyway. Between his debut knock and this one have been eight half-centuries and this innings was impressive in both temperament and technique. He lost Joe Denly as a partner in only the third over of the morning as Andre Adams induced an edge to first slip, which looked like a significant blow. Having faced seven balls without scoring on Thursday evening, Rayner was at least off the mark thanks to a loose opening from Adams but with a fresh partner taking guard suddenly found himself carrying extra responsibility.Yet he wore it splendidly as he and Dawid Malan fashioned a solid recovery on a pitch that, in their favour, had flattened out, and against a Nottinghamshire attack that rarely could not build pressure. Stuart Broad, in particular, looked some way off his best.In his second match following injury, Broad struggled in vain for rhythm. As often as he produced a ball to ask questions of the batsman he delivered another that offered easy runs. Frustration was only to be expected. His habit of sinking his hands into his trouser pockets as the ball sped away across the outfield was so that he could clutch his hand-warmers, apparently, but it rather reinforced the impression that he was not exactly feeling on top of the world.His colleague, Graeme Swann, looked much the happier of those with the first Test at the back of their minds, although none of the Nottinghamshire bowlers caught the eye as much as Harry Gurney, the pacy left-armer, whose addition to the Trent Bridge armoury looks increasingly like a coup for Mick Newell.Gurney, confidence buoyed by his dismissal of Strauss on Thursday evening, was the man to break Rayner’s partnership with Malan, spearing one into the pads to trap the left-hander on the crease after the pair had added 119.At 182 for 5 there seemed real doubts that a target of 274 to avoid the follow-on was within Middlesex’s scope but, try as Nottinghamshire might, there was no shifting Rayner. He survived a couple of scares in reaching fifty, Neil Edwards putting down a difficult chance at short midwicket off Swann, who suffered more frustration within moments when Rayner cut him fiercely through first slip, where Alex Hales could get only outstreched fingers to the ball. Otherwise, save for a lackadaisical moment where he almost ran himself out, it was an innings of composure and class.Some of his strokes were of the highest calibre, particularly when he was driving through the covers, and the flick with which he dispatched the suffering Broad into the Bridgford Road stand was almost disdainful. His hundred came up in 182 balls, with 15 fours in addition to that six.Rayner added four more boundaries, the last of which steered Middlesex safely past the follow-on point at eight down. Once a third batting point was secured, Middlesex declared.But that was not the end of the fun for Rayner, who bowled Hales with his fifth delivery and then had Swann, whose stint as nightwatchman was somewhat less successful, caught at silly point. With Edwards caught by Strauss at first slip off Steven Finn in between, Nottinghamshire found themselves in unexpected bother and will begin the final day looking slightly vulnerable.

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the third ODI between West Indies and Australia in St Vincent

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale20-Mar-2012Match factsSunil Narine has been a tricky customer for Australia to handle in the first two games•Associated PressMarch 20, Arnos Vale
Start time 0930 (1330 GMT)Big PictureIf there were any doubts about how much Sunday’s win meant to West Indies, who had not beaten Australia in an ODI since 2006, consider the reaction of the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Ralph Gonsalves, who has been in the crowd during the first two games, declared Tuesday a public holiday and as a result, the third match had already sold out by Monday. If West Indies can parlay that support into another victory, they will have a 2-1 series lead ahead of the final two games in St Lucia, and will have a terrific chance to beat Australia in a one-day series for the first time since 1995.To avoid that scenario, Australia need more from their batsmen, especially given they have weakened their batting depth by leaving Peter Forrest out to accommodate the offspinner Nathan Lyon. In the first two matches they had nine scores above 20 but no batsman has managed a half-century. That is not easy on a slow pitch, but they must find a way, especially if they have their full allotment of overs to bat. They scored at less than four an over in the second match and only marginally above that in the first game, and finding a way to handle the spin of Sunil Narine will be one of their major challenges.West Indies have also been bereft of half-century makers in this series but Kieron Pollard was well on the way to one when the winning runs arrived on Sunday. Their batsmen played poorly in the first match and the task is to make sure Sunday’s efforts are repeated in this game, not the batting from the opening encounter.Form guide(Most recent first)
West Indies WLLLW
Australia LWWLWIn the spotlightSunil Narine’s 4 for 27 on Sunday was the second-best analysis ever recorded by a West Indies spinner in an ODI against Australia. Only Chris Gayle has bettered those figures, when he took 5 for 46 in Antigua in 2003. Narine’s changes of pace and flight, and the variety of spin in his armoury make him a difficult proposition in one-day cricket. Further success in this series will also boost his chances of a call-up for the Test matches that follow.Clint McKay doesn’t draw the headlines like some of his team-mates but he has made himself an important part of Australia’s one-day side, filling a Nathan Bracken-style role. His changes of pace are challenging in the 50-over format and his variety and accuracy makes him well suited to the slower Arnos Vale pitch. Almost inconspicuously, McKay has put himself in a position to reach 50 ODI wickets quicker than most Australians. He has 47, and is about to play his 26th ODI. Dennis Lillee reached the mark in 24 matches and Shane Warne in 25, and should McKay get there this game he will be equal third-fastest with Len Pascoe, who took 26 games.Team newsWest Indies will be reluctant to alter a winning side, with changes more likely ahead of the fourth and fifth matches when the teams move on to a new venue.West Indies (possible) 1 Kieran Powell, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Carlton Baugh (wk), 9 Darren Sammy (capt), 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Kemar Roach.Australia have announced their side and there will be one change, the inclusion of the offspinner Lyon at the expense of the batsman Forrest. Lyon should enjoy working on the slow Arnos Vale pitch, where Sunil Narine was so difficult for the Australians to handle in the second match.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Shane Watson (capt), 3 Matthew Wade (wk), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 David Hussey, 6 George Bailey, 7 Daniel Christian, 8 Brett Lee, 9 Clint McKay, 10 Xavier Doherty, 11 Nathan Lyon.Pitch and conditionsThe slow Arnos Value surface has proved difficult for batsmen over the past two matches and the same is expected in this third game. Thunderstorms have been forecast, so the sides might face another abridged contest.Stats and trivia Sunday’s victory was the first time West Indies had beaten Australia in an ODI in 14 matches, stretching back to the 2006 Champions Trophy Excluding matches where they have been bowled out, Australia’s run-rate of 3.85 on Sunday was their lowest in an ODI in four yearsQuotes”We have shown that we can win and now the aim is to repeat the performance.”
“The conditions make it a little bit more difficult [for batsmen]. You’re definitely never in.”