Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Ricky Ponting’s Australia emulated Steve Waugh’s run of 16 consecutive Test wins as they took a 2-0 lead in the series against India in a thriller of a game that went right down to the wire at the SCG. With only six minutes to spare as the shadows lengthened Michael Clarke picked up the last three wickets from only five balls as Australia sneaked home. India will be gutted, not merely because they had resisted stoutly but because once again they were at the receiving end of some umpiring decisions that will be talked about for some time to come.At the end of a very long day it seemed as though India had hung in there for the draw that left the series open heading into Perth when Clarke was thrown the ball in the 69th over of the day. Anil Kumble, who had resisted admirably, negotiated it with little trouble. But it was the next Clarke over that knocked the last nails into India’s coffin.Off the first ball, a brute that reared and took the outside edge to be smartly caught by Michael Hussey, Harbhajan Singh was dismissed. RP Singh planted his foot down the pitch to the next one but only interrupted the ball’s onward journey to the stumps and was lbw for a first-ball duck. Ishant Sharma negotiated the hat-trick ball, another straight one, and dabbed the next to the on side but the fifth ball did for him. Tossed up and outside the off, the ball gripped the surface and went via outside edge straight to slip, and Australia had the result they wanted.The knock of the innings came from Kumble, and you had to feel for him when he was left stranded on 45 off 111 balls as the last wicket fell. Kumble was a picture of concentration and determination, and if there was any anger at the decisions that went against India it was channelled into a batting effort that would have done many top-order batsmen proud. Although more comfortable playing off the back foot Kumble ensured that he came forward to the spinners when he could, taking the lbw out of play as much as possible.At the end of the day Australia won a dramatic Test but it was not entirely without some help from the umpires. When you pick up a pack of Benson & Hedges you get a statutory warning: “Smoking cigarettes is injurious to health.” From this day on, the firm of Benson & Bucknor may well have to come with some sort of warning. It’s a shame when you have to spend more time talking about the umpiring than the wickets taken or the runs scored, but when the errors umpires make play a big role in deciding the course of a game, there’s little choice.The first bad decision of the final day went against Rahul Dravid, who was a key component in India’s stonewalling after Australia had set them 333 from a possible 72 overs and shut them out of the game. Dravid’s dour approach at the top of the order has raised a good many eyebrows and elicited ironic jeers and cheers from Australian crowds, but it was just what India needed.Dravid was positive in his judgment of what to play and what to leave, confident in defence and when the occasion presented itself, willing to drive safely. He had consumed 103 balls for his 38 when he tucked his bat completely behind pad with all the safety of a Swiss banker and padded Andrew Symonds away. Even with no part of blade visible, Steve Bucknor upheld a spirited appeal for the catch behind when the ball had come off the knee roll. Dravid has copped his fair share of debatable decisions as he has tried to bat his way out a lean patch, but this one took the cake, and he shook his head in disbelief all the way back to the dressing room.When Dravid fell, India were 4 for 115 and precariously poised. Already Wasim Jaffer had gone for a duck, edging Brett Lee to Adam Gilchrist, VVS Laxman had been trapped plumb in front by a clever bit of bowling from Stuart Clark and Sachin Tendulkar had dragged one back onto his stumps.Sourav Ganguly batted as though he was under no pressure, bringing a refreshing confidence and positive mindset to the middle. Just as Dravid’s defensive approach was best for him, Ganguly had found a way to launch his own resistance and it was certainly more pretty to watch. Planting his foot well down the ground and driving superbly through the off side, Ganguly was scoring at a run-a-ball when none of the Indian batsmen before him had come close to doing so.

Andrew Symonds was the one to suffer the most against Ganguly, being taken for three consecutive boundaries through cover in one over, as well as having him dropped at slip off his bowling. The fast men did not trouble Ganguly much either, that is until the ball that terminated his innings. Having raced to a half-century Ganguly slashed one to Clarke in the slips cordon. Clarke went low to take the catch and it was not clear if he had got his fingers under the ball, but that should have proved to be irrelevant as he subsequently grounded the ball, tumbling to his left in the process of completing the catch. Mark Benson, called upon to rule on this one, chose not to ask his partner at square-leg, or go to the third umpire, and instead was satisfied by a word from Ricky Ponting, also stationed at slip. Only a few minutes before this Ponting had claimed a bat-pad catch after clearly grounding the ball in the process. Why Benson chose to take Ponting’s word for it, after all that had happened, is something only he knows the answer to. Either way it was time for Ganguly to go, on a well-made 51 and India were 6 for 137.Then a fresh rearguard began, with two new protagonists in Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumble. Dhoni has not been a force with the bat in the Tests so far and it was not his brute force but his mental strength that was called upon. Dhoni left his big shots back in the pavilion and defended stoically, albeit in somewhat unorthodox fashion. He was fidgety outside the off stump but ensured he did not nick the ball.The Dhoni-Kumble stand had pushed on to 48, and more importantly eaten up precious time – 21 overs to be exact – before an error of judgment from Dhoni, when he padded up to an offbreak from Symonds and was plumb in front, separated the two. Then came the Clarke special that sealed the deal. He’d endured a poor match with the bat, picking up more wickets than scoring runs, but playing such a big part in the win, he’ll take it.And Clarke’s wickets could not have been more timely. When Ponting prolonged the Australian second innings till they reached 401, thanks mainly to an unbeaten 145 from Hussey, there was just the thought that he hadn’t the time to bowl out the Indians. At the end of the day, 72 overs proved to be enough, albeit by the thinnest of slivers.

It looked like being one of those sleepy subcontinental Tests, where the side batting first runs up a big score and the other team tries to match their total.And the first two days on a docile pitch at Colombo’s R Premadasa (formerly Khetterama) Stadium followed that template. India made 537 for 8, with centuries from Sidhu (his eighth in Tests), Tendulkar (12th) and Azharuddin (18th). India declared shortly before the end of the second day, and Tendulkar promised his bowlers would “attack for three days”. They claimed a wicket in the last over. It went to Nilesh Kulkarni, 24, a left-arm spinner from Bombay, who became only the 12th bowler to take a wicket with his first ball in Tests. But his dream start was to turn into a nightmare: he sent down 419 more balls without taking another wicket, and conceded 195 runs.Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama, team-mates with Colombo’s Bloomfield club, batted throughout the third day (the 12th instance in Testhistory) and on through the fourth. No pair had survived two full days’ play before, although Garry Sobers and Frank Worrell almost managed it against England at Bridgetown in 1959-60: they also batted through two days, but an hour was lost to rain on the second of them.Jayasuriya had reached 326, Sri Lanka’s first Test triple-century, by the fourth-day close. He was within sight of Brian Lara’s Test-record 375, and in anticipation of a new mark the gates were thrown open on the final day. Over 30,000 crowded in, but many were still trying to find a perch when Jayasuriya, two balls after losing his partner for 225, was surprised by one that bounced from offspinner Chauhan and popped a simple catch to Ganguly at silly point. The Indian fielders all ran to congratulate the batsman, and clapped him off the field. Jayasuriya had made 340, from 578 balls in 799 minutes, with 36 fours and two sixes. He banished once and for all any notion that he is only a one-day hitter. Only three higher scores have been made in Tests – Lara’s 375, Garry Sobers’s 365 not out, and Len Hutton’s 364.Jayasuriya’s first task had been to ensure that Sri Lanka avoided the follow-on. “I was happy to go all that way,” he said. “I wasn’t going after the record – at least not until the end of the fourth day, when someone told me I was only 50 short. I felt a great pressure on me when I came out to bat [on the fifth morning], and obviously I am disappointed now – but at least my country has made a great achievement.”His partnership with Mahanama, who scored his first Test double-century, set several more records. They eventually put on 576 in 753 minutes, the longest stand in Test history and only one run shy of the highest in first-class cricket (577 by Vijay Hazare and Gul Mahomed in India in 1946-47). They cruised past the previous-highest Test partnership, the 467 of Martin Crowe and Andrew Jones at Wellington in 1990-91. This record was taken with some relish, as the suffering bowlers on that occasion were Sri Lanka’s.The record breaking did not stop when the epic partnership was ended. Aravinda de Silva showed little sign that he had been padded up for the best part of 13 hours, compiling a neat 12th Test century of his own, while skipper Ranatunga made 86, becoming the first Sri Lankan to pass 4000 Test runs during his innings. Mahela Jayawardene, 19, also chipped in on his debut.England’s 903 for 7 at The Oval in 1938, the highest Test total, was the next big target: eventually that too was surpassed. A score of 1000 seemed a possibility, but as there was no chance of a result a halt was called with seven of the last 20 overs bowled. Sri Lanka’s 952 for 6 is the third-highest total in all first-class cricket, exceeded only by Victoria’s two four-figure totals in Australia in the 1920s.Ona dead pitch India stuck well enough to their task, at least on the third and fourth days. Not surprisingly, the bowlers and fielders wilted on the final day as Sri Lanka piled on the runs with all prospect of a result long gone. Opening bowler Kuruvilla, who picked up a leg injury, was spared much of the punishment, but Chauhan, on his return to Test cricket after doubts about his bowling action, and Kumble both conceded over 200 runs.Tendulkar said the pitch was “unfit for Test cricket”, adding: “If we had lost the toss and batted second, we could also have played a massive innings. We only lost wickets because we took chances and looked for runs.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, believes Ishant Sharma was provoked by Andrew Symonds into the reaction that earned the young bowler an ICC reprimand and fine. Dhoni also said the Australians had turned this kind of incident into an art form and that India would need to catch up.”It’s an art and they are good at it, but the Indians will learn soon,” Dhoni said after India’s comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Hobart that booked them a place in the finals against Australia, which start on Sunday.Ishant was fined 15% of his game fee by Jeff Crowe, the match referee, for sending Symonds off with words after dismissing him in Sunday’s game at the SCG. Though the Indian team management accepted Crowe’s verdict, they also asked him to speak to the Australians about their provocative behaviour in the field. They even cited as evidence specific instances in the previous two CB Series clashes between the teams.Dhoni, who wasn’t in close proximity to either Ishant or Symonds when the incident occurred, felt Ishant had every right to do what he did, adding it was Symonds who started it. Television cameras showed Dhoni pacifying Ishant after the umpire Daryl Harper had cautioned him about the bowler.”It’s (provocation) been going on for a long time,” Dhoni said. “We have to be careful about it and if they provoke us we need to mind what we say. Ishant just reacted to what Symonds said.”Dhoni, who had double the reason to celebrate today’s win – his side’s entry into the finals was confirmed as well as him completing 100 ODI catches – defended a series that has never been too far from reaching boiling point. “Cricket can never be friendly. As long as the rivalry never crosses the line it’s fine.”Dhoni himself avoided an ICC rap after he was found wearing gloves that weren’t within the regulations. The pair of white ones he sported came with a loop-like webbing that had been reinforced at the edges.Law 40.2 states that “if the wicketkeeper wears gloves, they shall have no webbing between the fingers except joining index finger and thumb, where webbing may be inserted as a means of support…”Dhoni said he had obeyed the laws and didn’t want any further controversy. “It was close to the line of ‘if the gloves were legal or illegal’. In the 100 catches I’ve taken only three or four might have been caught in the webbing. Otherwise, the rest I’ve claimed out of my glovework and my skill.”

Leicestershire have defended their use of Kolpak players and insist they won’t mean that young English cricketers will be kept out of the first team.There have been plenty of arrivals at Grace Road during the off season with South African quicks Garnett Kruger and Dillion du Preez along with Jermaine Lawson, the West Indies fast bowler, joining on Kolpak deals. They join HD Ackerman and Claude Henderson, while the official overseas player is Boeta Dippenaar.However, chief executive David Smith told the that the club’s aim is to push forward young talent. “Our medium-term plan is to develop Leicestershire and Rutland-born cricketers,” he said. “This will help us engage the local business community as the team will reflect the multi-cultural diversity of our city. This is vital if we are to underpin the financial stability of the club over the coming years.”He says that the Kolpak route isn’t one that the county takes lightly, but draws on the example of Durham to prove how it can be successful.”Kolpak cricketers are not popular but we have used the Durham blueprint for success in an effort to develop our team in the mid-term and hopefully provide England with some international cricketers.”However, Durham have produced a number of England players in the last five years – Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison, Liam Plunkett and Phil Mustard – while Leicestershire’s only major success story is Stuart Broad who has now moved to Nottinghamshire.

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s effort to host a home series received another jolt with the West Indies turning down an invitation to play a one-day series later in the year.After being rejected by Australia, India and Sri Lanka for security reasons and scheduling problems, the PCB has now been told by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that they can’t undertake a tour in August due to prior engagements.The PCB had invited West Indies and New Zealand to play a three-match ODI series in August to give its team some practice before the Champions Trophy in September. This would have also helped the PCB recover from the financial setback suffered due to the postponement of Australia’s tour in March. Bangladesh are currently in the country for a five-match ODI series and a Twenty20 international to cover for Australia’s pull-out.”Yes, the West Indies board has informed us that since they are already committed to play some games in Canada in August, they can’t accept our invitation,” Shafqat Nagmi, the PCB’s chief operating officer, said. “We have sent a fresh invitation to New Zealand asking them to come and play a full five-match one-day series instead of three ODIs. We are awaiting a reply from them.”

Johann Louw, the South African-born allrounder, has rejoined Northamptonshire for the 2008 season. Louw last played for the club in 2004, after which he signed for Middlesex.”We are fortunate that we have been able to attract a player of Johann’s quality back to the club at this late stage of preparation,” David Capel, the Northamptonshire coach, said. “We needed to reinforce our seam bowling department due to the ECB blocking Johann van der Wath and Andrew Hall’s registrations for 2008, and although we will not have Johann available for the opening two Championship and Friends Provident Trophy matches he will be a welcome addition to our squad.”He has expressed to me how excited he is about returning to us and I feel that he is capable of matching his best season for us when he took in excess of 60 first-class wickets. He has obviously been in good form during the South African domestic season, which he will be looking forward to continuing when he joins us at the end of April.”Louw said he was looking forward to returning to the club, adding: “Hopefully we can achieve what the club has being working towards and personally it will be great to be under the watchful eye of David Capel. I am very excited about the season and can’t wait to join the squad at the end of April.”

It took Darren Lehmann a long time to become comfortable with the role of the full-time coach. A natural, free-swinging player, he was happier doing rather than thinking for much of his career. Now he wants to be one.Lehmann retired from the first-class scene last year and the break from South Australia has helped him re-discover his love for the game. To stay involved he now wants to pass on the things he did and didn’t learn during his long career.”There’s so much out there,” he said during a break from a level three coaching course in Brisbane. “You are allowed to know more as you get older. I knew a lot more at the end of my career, but I thought I knew a lot more at the start.”Lehmann, who played 27 Tests and 117 internationals, was essentially self-taught while picking up important tips from David Hookes, Greg Chappell and Wayne Phillips. “Having a ‘coach’ coach has never been high on my agenda,” he said. “When I stopped playing I fell in love with the game again. Then you want to become a coach. I love watching and want to learn about all the coaching techniques going on behind the scenes.”The Centre of Excellence, where the course is being held, is a familiar place for Lehmann, who last year travelled with the Academy side as an assistant, a role he will repeat this winter. As a teenager Lehmann rejected the chance to attend the facility when it was based in Adelaide, but 20 years later he is one of the many past players who has turned into a tutor.”It’s really enjoyable, and I can have an influence on them,” he said. “I’m trying to up-speed them as players. I learnt most things after 30 as a player. Now I try to help them to do it in their 20s, so they reach their peak earlier.”Lehmann is joined at the seminar by his former South Australia team-mate Greg Blewett, a light-footed batsman who played 46 Tests between 1995 and 2000. Blewett stopped playing last year and has kept himself busy working as a television commentator. “I’m at the stage where I’m trying to find out what I like the most,” he said. “It’s really a trial and error thing.”Lisa Keightley, the Australia women’s coach and former opening batsman, is also on the course along with the current first-class players Dan Marsh, Andrew McDonald and Nick Jewell. Rumesh Ratnayake, the Sri Lanka fast bowler of the 1980s and 90s, and Douglas Hondo, who appeared in nine Tests for Zimbabwe, add an international flavour to the Cricket Australia initiative, which is being run alongside Australia’s pre-tour camp for the West Indies tour.”To have the likes of Lehmann, Blewett and Keightley working with other high performance coaches from around the country and overseas will provide a fantastic learning environment for what is Australia’s flagship coach education program,” Tim Nielsen, the national coach, said. “This course illustrates the importance of ongoing education for coaches.”

India batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who bowls part-time offspin, has been reported for a suspect action after the fourth Test against South Africa in Delhi. Dhawan will have to undergo tests within the next 14 days and can continue to bowl in international cricket until the results of the test are known. The match officials’ report, which was given to the Indian team management, cited concerns about the legality of Dhawan’s off-spin deliveries, an ICC release said.Dhawan bowled three overs and conceded nine runs in South Africa’s second innings at the Feroz Shah Kotla, a match India won by 337 runs to complete a 3-0 series victory.Apart from Dhawan, the international players reported for suspect actions in 2015 include West Indies’ Sunil Narine and Marlon Samuels, Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez and Bilal Asif, Sri Lanka’s Tharindu Kaushal and Zimbabwe’s Malcom Waller. Narine and Hafeez were subsequently banned after their actions were found to be illegal.

Bangladesh are toying with the idea of sending Mashrafe Mortaza up the batting order in the upcoming T20s against Zimbabwe. The idea is a first, at least for Bangladesh, for thinking out of the box has not always been high on their agenda in a format where they have been a few steps behind the times.It is understood that Mashrafe’s floating batting position is still in the discussion stage, and will only be used as a surprise option. While Mashrafe has been batting regularly in the nets, the idea gained momentum when he struck an unbeaten 32-ball 56 for Comilla Victorians during the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League. Given the emphasis is clearly on experimentation ahead of the World T20, Zimbabwe can expect the unexpected.Chandika Hathurusingha, the Bangladesh head coach, held his cards close to his chest, but is understood to be the man to have floated the idea. “Mashrafe has done good things for himself and he is telling me all the time that he can bat, so I asked him to prove it to me,” he said. “He is doing well in the nets.”Mashrafe underlined the challenge of trying out the new role, but was open to moving up the order if the situation demanded it. “It is hard to start something new at this stage of my career,” he told . “It was a different story when my batting was at its best. It is hard to adapt now. But I am trying for the sake of the team. I am confident and the rest depends on how much I can do.”In the build up to World T20 campaigns in the past, Bangladesh have promoted and tried out players with reputations of being big-hitters. However, apart from the 2007 tournament, where they famously beat West Indies, Bangladesh have failed to make an impact in each of the other four editions. This time, the thought process has not really bordered on the outlandish. But keeping Mashrafe as a batting option is forward thinking given how the captain has inspired the team.In any case, Bangladesh’s 14-man squad for the Zimbabwe series has been training on specific areas for the last five days at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna, in a bid to get the players used to the idea of playing T20s. Batsmen have been practicing their big-hitting skills, while the fielders have been made to work on the busy areas of the ground like the deep leg-side boundaries and the cover region.Along with the front-line batsmen, who have spent plenty of time on the centre-wickets in front of the bowling machine, Mashrafe getting a sizable amount of time with the bat has intrigued fans and media alike. The inclusion of Nurul Hasan, Shuvagata Hom and Abu Hider further states their intent of bringing the big-hitting flavour to an otherwise industrious batting unit.Mashrafe, who said that Bangladesh’s experimentation was focused on the forthcoming Asia Cup T20s and World T20s, was open about using the matches against Zimbabwe as a trial run leading into the bigger battles. “All of those in the squad will be getting a chance,” he said. “We will not try anything that will look odd. We are only thinking of doing things that will help us in the forthcoming tournaments. We have to try something different, test ourselves looking ahead.”It is hard to deny that BPL didn’t have an impact. But I think now they are hitting the ball well, especially in the nets in the last few days. It makes me positive. I think we can do well if they bat and bowl in this way. At the same time there’s the pressure of international cricket so it is important to implement with cool heads.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAnmolpreet Singh’s measured 72 led India to 267, after a shaky start•Getty Images

India soared to the final of the Under-19 World Cup, for the fifth time, after their dominant 97-run win against Sri Lanka in the first semi-final in Mirpur. India’s top order was tested by Sri Lanka’s pacers on a pitch with a tinge of green, but Anmolpreet Singh and Sarfaraz Khan added 96 together, and from thereon there was no stopping India, as they eventually sealed the victory with 44 balls to spare.This means that India now have a shot at winning the title for an unprecedented fourth time, as they await either hosts Bangladesh or West Indies who will clash in the second semi-final at the same venue, on February 11.Chasing 268, Sri Lanka were dealt an early blow when pacer Avesh Khan had Avishka Fernando leg-before in the first over. Kaveen Bandara, the other opener, was soon run-out, for four, after a mix-up between the wickets. In the tenth over, Mahipal Lomror moved smartly to his left from mid-on to catch Charith Asalanka’s top edge, reducing Sri Lanka to 42 for 3. This left Kamindu Mendis and Shammu Ashan with a lot to do amid scoreboard pressure.They batted slowly, sharing 49 in 13.5 overs, before Mendis was snapped up by Washington Sundar at short fine leg off the left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar. Lomror then injured his right ankle while trying to stop a drive, and limped off the field, three balls into his first over. He did not bowl further in the match.Ashan made 38 before India’s captain Ishan Kishan ran him out, with some sharp piece of fielding from midwicket. Vishad Randika and Wanidu Hasaranga exited in the space of three overs, as Sri Lanka fell to 149 for 7. Dagar then came back and wrapped up the tail, finishing with figures of 3 for 21.India ran into early trouble as well when seamers Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara removed Rishabh Pant and Kishan by the tenth over. Both openers struggled against pace and bounce, before edging away-going deliveries in a bid to break free. Both catches were taken by wicketkeeper Randika, though the first one was deemed clean only after several replays.Sarfaraz and Anmolpreet came together and rode out threatening spells from the pacers, especially Asitha. Sarfaraz and Anmolpreet found their bearings once Sri Lanka introduced their spinners. Sarfaraz struck four fours with cuts, slog sweeps and orthodox sweeps. He even sent Damitha Silva over long-off for a six. Sarfaraz was dismissed when he miscued Asitha to mid-on in the 31st over.Anmolpreet, who was reprieved on 32 at cover, cashed in, and reached his fifty off 69 balls with a wristy flick through midwicket. Anmolpreet then found good company from Sundar as India took the game away from Sri Lanka. They kept India ticking before Anmolpreet attempted a ramp and was given out caught behind, though replays suggested that it was deflected off the sleeve.Sundar, too, was caught by Randika, after hitting 43 off 45 balls, including three fours. Lomror and Dagar then produced cameos as India took 49 from the last five overs.