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

In the build-up to this Test, playing in Sri Lanka has been described as one of the game’s toughest challenges and England responded with an outstanding bowling performance on the opening day at Kandy. Matthew Hoggard took four wickets in 25 balls during the morning session as Sri Lanka hit the depths of 42 for 5, then Monty Panesar chipped in with three after a partial resurrection from Kumar Sangakkara and Prasanna Jayawardene who added 106 for the sixth wicket to lift them to 188.The morning session was a dream for England as Hoggard, playing his first Test since June, swung the ball as though back on home soil at Headingley. Three of Sri Lanka’s middle order were dispatched for single figures as Hoggard added Kandy to his list of overseas success stories, alongside diverse locations such as Nagpur, Adelaide and Johannesburg. However, home embarrassment was averted to some degree by Sangakkara and Jayawardene who mixed caution with aggression before the second collapse of the innings as the last four wickets fell for eight runs.But England couldn’t finish with their full card intact after facing 17 overs. Alastair Cook went third ball, planting his front foot across the line to Chaminda Vaas, using his 100 Tests worth of experience with the new ball as Hoggard did so successfully. Michael Vaughan could have gone, too, but Asad Rauf gave him the benefit of very little doubt against Lasith Malinga. There were three overs from Muttiah Muralitharan; that’s a battle that will unfold on Sunday.It was always expected that this ground would offer England their best chance in the series, the conditions being less fierce than Colombo and Galle while the pitch offers more for seam and swing merchants. But Vaughan would have had no hesitation in batting first and Mahela Jayawardene was smiling widely at the toss. However his grin disappeared as quickly as Sri Lanka’s openers; Sanath Jayasuriya driving to backward point to increase speculation he will be forced to retire and Michael Vandort chipping limply to mid-on to open Hoggard’s account.The next three came in a rush with Matt Prior holding three outside edges. Jayawardene was undone straight after drinks, Chamara Silva was squared up by a beauty and Jehan Mubarak completed the trio with a lazy prod at his fifth ball. Hoggard was making the ball talk, adjusting faultlessly between left- and right-handers and England sensed a chance to run through a shocked batting line-up still suffering a hangover from Australia.

But after Hoggard’s burst, it was much more how Test cricket is meant to be in Sri Lanka; batsmen settling in while the pitch is at its best for scoring and bowlers having to bust a gut. Sangakkara followed his efforts in the Hobart Test last month, where he scored 57 and 192, with another innings to show why he is ranked No. 3 in the world. He had two moments of concern, an edge off James Anderson which flew through a vacant third slip before lunch and a close lbw appeal against Panesar when he padded up to a ball which spat out of the footmarks. As Sangakkara escaped, Muralitharan may just have made a mental note in the dressing room.Sangakkara’s half century took 80 balls and he played Hoggard, who only bowled four overs in the afternoon after 10 in the morning, with more ease than any of his team-mates. Vaughan began to work harder with his field settings, putting men on the drive and sweepers on the fence to try and stifle the scoring. England benefited from youthfulness, maintaining their focus except for lapses apiece from Ryan Sidebottom and Hoggard which allowed boundaries to escape.Jayawardene belied his recent form – a pair at Hobart – with a positive innings after taking 17 balls to open his account. He always gave the bowlers a chance, but there were a fair share of handsome boundaries. Panesar struggled to find his rhythm, but his confidence was given a timely boost when Jayawardene chipped straight to short leg, where Cook held on after a juggle, and he added two more either side of tea as he settled into his role.Sangakkara deserved a century, but left with the tail he chanced his arm and skewed an outside edge towards backward point where Paul Collingwood leapt to his right to hand Anderson reward for an economical performance. The last wicket came in typically comical style as Malinga heaved the ball through midwicket and Muralitharan was nowhere near making the second as Ravi Bopara, handed his debut after edging out Owais Shah, acted swiftly in the outfield. But Muralitharan’s main role is with the ball and, having seen the turn on offer for Panesar, he is the biggest threat to England’s strong position.

Johmari Logtenberg, who it’s no exaggeration to call a batting sensation, has surprised the world of women’s cricket by suddenly giving up the sport for golf. More unexpected still is the fact that the cricket star, who averaged 422.50 in a domestic season and has been instrumental in the international set-up since the age of 14, has only just taken up golf on a whim and she doesn’t know if she will be any good at it.”I didn’t plan to play golf,” she told the Times of South Africa. “It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision”It seems an extraordinary move for the girl, still only 18, who had the cricketing world at her feet with two one-day international centuries and five fifties under her belt. Then again she didn’t earn any money from it – English counties offered to pay her travel expenses “I would have ended up playing for charity” – while a successful women’s golfer can earn a lucrative sum.With great hand-eye co-ordination, the one thing that perhaps will not raise eyebrows is that she’s already got a handicap of 12 despite these being early days where golf is concerned.She has enrolled at Gavan Levenson’s golf academy to improve her game further but if it doesn’t work out she hinted there would be a chance she could go back to cricket. “We’ll only see after this year whether golf is for me.”

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

Ramnaresh Sarwan reached the close of the fourth day in Trinidad on 93 not out, seven runs short of the seventh and, potentially, most valuable Test century of his 51-match career, as he and Dwayne Bravo added 78 for the sixth wicket in a crucial unbeaten partnership. Together, they batted out the final 32 overs of an extended final session, to ensure that West Indies would begin the final day with a fighting chance of saving the second Test.That prospect had seemed an eternity away at the mid-stage of the innings, when Nicky Boje and Makhaya Ntini instigated a dreadful collapse of four wickets for 13 runs in seven overs either side of tea. Facing a first-innings deficit of 51, West Indies had reached a state of relative prosperity at 79 for 1, when Boje spun one into Wavell Hinds’s pads to trap him lbw for 22 and open the floodgates.Three overs later, both Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had fallen for single figures, and the teams were still digesting their tea when Donovan Pagon was the fifth man out, bowled by Ntini for 2 to complete a miserable match. Yet Sarwan remained phlegmatic throughout, and after his first-innings failure (in which he had top-edged a bouncer to fine leg) he was watchful and tenacious against pace and spin alike – save for one notable let-off.Poor Jacques Rudolph endured a day to forget in the field. First, he took his eyes off the ball while fielding at short leg, and failed to notice that Sarwan had lobbed an attempted pull over his right shoulder. Then, while fielding at square leg in the first over of Monde Zondeki’s new spell, he completely muffed a firm clip off the legs from Bravo, who had made just 12 at the time.Nevertheless, from the moment they grabbed massive scalp of Lara, six balls before the interval, the day belonged indubitably to South Africa. After falling for 196 in the first innings, Lara had glanced Andre Nel to the fine-leg boundary to bring up his 200th run of the match, but before he could progress further, Boje tempted him to shape for the cut and bowled him neck and crop as the ball spat hard and low out of the rough. It was a ill-judged shot, but given the success his attacking approach had enjoyed in the first innings, it was hard to criticise.

Lara’s demise was music to South Africa’s ears, but Graeme Smith was not satisfied and with one over remaining before tea, he recalled Makhaya Ntini to the attack to instant effect. Ntini, who had already accounted for Chris Gayle in a hostile new-ball spell, rapped Chanderpaul on the pads with his very first delivery, and umpire David Shepherd instantly upheld the appeal. Replays showed that the ball had pitched outside leg stump, but it was too late for recriminations.The collapse made ample amends for South Africa, after their best-laid plans had gone badly awry in the morning session. As if a precursor of what was to come, it was the unassuming offspin of Gayle that did the damage, as South Africa lost all four remaining wickets in the first 40 minutes of play. Had they managed another session of steady accumulation, their lead of 23 with four wickets in hand could have been translated into a matchwinning position. As it is, they were bundled out for 398 – a slender advantage of 51 – and West Indies had been allowed right back into the match.Gayle, who had wheeled away without success or scare for 33 overs on the previous two days, struck with his very first ball of the morning to remove Mark Boucher for 28, and when South Africa’s other overnight batsman, Ashwell Prince, fell in the very same over, Gayle mopped up the tail so efficiently that Chanderpaul did not even contemplate turning to the new ball. Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel were both suckered by a lack of spin and bowled, as Gayle wrapped up the innings with 4 for 9 from 4.5 overs.The spin of Boje was South Africa’s greatest threat as well, looping the ball onto a full length from around the wicket to stifle West Indies’ run-rate and tempt them into indiscretions. But neither Sarwan nor Bravo – another man who had missed the first Test because of the sponsorship row – lost their nerve.However, the vagaries in the Trinidad pitch had been shown up during a hostile new-ball spell from Ntini and Nel, and the pair will be in harness on the fifth morning as well, when the second new ball becomes available after two overs. It will be the critical phase of this match. If West Indies can see it off, they may yet go to Barbados with the series all-square.How they were outSouth AfricaMark Boucher c & b Gayle 28 (374 for 7)
Leading edge, easy return catchAshwell Prince c Chanderpaul b Gayle 45 (375 for 8)
Checked drive, good tumbling catch at short coverMakhaya Ntini b Gayle 4 (384 for 9)
Straight low long-hop, pegged back off stumpAndre Nel b Gayle 6 (398 for 10)
Round the wicket, deceived by angle, missed a straight oneWest IndiesChris Gayle c de Villiers b Ntini 1 (14 for 1)
On back foot, fenced lifter to gullyWavell Hinds lbw b Boje 22 (79 for 2)
Played back to big turner, might have done too much?Brian Lara b Boje 4 (85 for 3)
Ripped out of rough and kept lowShivnarine Chanderpaul lbw b Ntini 1 (86 for 4)
Looked plumb, but pitched outside legDonovan Pagon b Ntini 2 (92 for 5)
Trapped on crease, under-edged yorker onto stumps

A low scoring affair between Pentasoft and Combined Districts XI sawthe Chennai software company notch up an easy victory in the Moin udDowlah Cup at Hyderabad. Combined Districts’ skipper Vishnuvardhan wonthe toss and decided to have a bat. Although he won the toss there waslittle joy for Vishnuvardhan. His openers got off to a dreadful start,with Venu losing his wicket to Tamil Nadu all rounder Sadagopan Maheshin just the 4th over of the day.One drop batsman Mohamood Ali got to 5 before he was cleaned up byPavan Kumar. Another Kumar, this time Sathish, got rid of openerNaveen Reddy and Combined Districts XI were in a spot of bother at30/3. The spot of bother got progressively worse as 30/3 became 39/5.Wickets were shared around as Combined Districts slumped to 110 allout.Chasing 111 from 50 overs was never going to pose any problem for abatting line up that boasted the likes of Sadagopan Ramesh, ShivSunder Das and Hrishikesh Kanitkar. With just one wicket down,Pentasoft cruised to a nine wicket victory. Ramesh (67) and Das (25)were unbeaten at the crease as the target was overhauled with 29 oversto spare. Ramesh’s knock of 67 came off just 71 balls and included 10sweetly timed hits to the fence.Not one to be left behind, Das helped himself to an easy 25 (33b,2×4). Pentasoft have a number of stars in their side, and are bound tobe stretched further by opposition stronger than Combined DistrictsXI.

Scorecard
Muttiah Muralitharan spun Lancashire to a 76-run victory against Worcestershire at New Road after Andrew Flintoff had led their superb fightback on the third day. It is Lancashire’s first victory since the fourth Championship match of last season at Old Trafford, which was also against Worcestershire. At the start of the final day, the match hung in the balance, Worcestershire needing a further 210 runs with eight wickets in hand. Graeme Hick and Vikram Solanki took them in sight of the total, each striking half-centuries but ultimately it was not enough. Both of their innings were boundary-crammed; Hick’s 57 comprising 11 fours and one six, while Vikram Solanki smote nine fours in his 52. Dominic Cork turned the match by removing Hick, Ben Smith and then Cahminda Vaas in quick succession. Muralitharan then mopped up the tail as Lancashire recorded their first victory of the season.**David Wigley did not bat for Worcestershire in their second innings: he was absent hurt with a broken hand; the result of an accidental beamer from James Anderson.Match drawn
Scorecard
Derbyshire and Northamptonshire shared the points at the County Ground after rain forced the match to be abandoned on the final day – although the match was heading for a draw after the home side had put up a much-improved batting performance on the third day. Northamptonshire had made them follow on, but their openers Steve Stubbings (58 not out) and Michael di Venuto (55 not out) remained unbeaten at the close. Derbyshire had showed once more their tendency to collapse: they were 175 for 7, before a defiant rearguard stand of 61 between Chris Bassano and Ant Botha. Johann Louw finished with career-best figures of 6-71, a worthy reward for more than 30 overs of hard work. Northants will have fancied their chances of making inroads into the home side again, but Stubbings and di Venuto put up sterner resistance and Derbyshire clung on for the points when the rains came.
Scorecard
A last-wicket stand of 70 between Robert Turner and Nixon McLean was not enough to save Somerset they slumped to a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Essex. The visitors had not been expecting to bat again – and when they did, they knocked off the target comfortably, losing just one wicket in pursuit of 76 – after Somerset, in their second innings, were 65 for 4 at one stage and then 170 for 8, which was still 67 runs behind. But Somerset’s last two partnerships produced a combined total of 143, forcing Essex to take to the crease again. Will Jefferson, Ravinder Bopara and Alistair Cook knocked off the runs.

Northern Districts achieved a significant improvement in its financial performance last season reducing its deficit for the year by $64,855.Traditionally the first of New Zealand’s associations to present their annual report, due to an earlier end of financial year date, ND ended with a deficit overall of only $8136.That was largely due to an increase in sponsorship, donations and grants of $279,949 to a total of $1,669,510 and an increase in park income of $76,784, up from $68,670 the previous year.The cost of playing cricket doesn’t get any cheaper however, and participation this year cost ND $901,967, an increase of $261,177 over the previous summer.Coaching and development costs also increased, reaching $367,596, which was $132,272 higher.ND chief executive John Turkington said: “Whilst a significant proportion of our income is sourced from New Zealand Cricket, most of the income comes with particular tags, and it is through the maximising of local fundraising opportunities that we are able to extend the basic development programmes, operate a comprehensive Academy programme, field competitive teams in all grades and grow the game at all levels.”Overall, it was one of the more successful seasons for the association with its men’s side winning the State Shield when qualifying third for the playoffs and Northland winning the Hawke Cup.Turkington said that after the loss of stalwart players like Simon Doull, Grant Bradburn and Mark Bailey the Shield success was a credit to coach Bruce Blair and the rebuilding process he employed.Equally as satisfying was the growth occurring in Bay of Plenty and the Waikato where grass roots growth has been marked. There was good support from sports agencies in both regions but Turkington added: “Real credit for the growth and sustainability of our game throughout the region must go to the number of volunteers who manage, organise, coach, score and umpire each Saturday to ensure cricket is available to the wide numbers for whom it is their No 1 summer sport.”Initiatives launched last year by ND, the North Island Masters tournament in Taupo and the Origin Cup for ethnic groups in Hamilton are intended to become annual events.

On McMillan’s batting: His technique has improved, he’s got the mistakes out of his system. He’s watching the ball, and playing it much later. He’s acknowledged that the enforced break had been to his advantage. I have contacted all the four century makers, either on the phone or on text.On the ability of New Zealand batsmen to handle spin: I would have settled for 400, but 630 is brilliant. The fact that we have been able to score so highly in Asian conditions, on this tour, and earlier in Sri Lanka shows that our batsmen have improved technically. It is particularly pleasing because the Indian spinners have had a complete hold over New Zealand batsmen. So many players scoring centuries is a proof of growing maturity.

The Adelaide Turf Cricket Association (ATCA) has been rescued by its member Clubs and players and the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA).The rescue package, which was overwhelmingly supported last night at a general meeting for the Association’s members, included a $10 per player rescue levy, payable at the beginning of the coming season.The meeting saw representation from 44 out of their 45 member clubs, including life members, umpires and players.The package also included a $52,000 interest-free, 5-year loan, negotiated with the SACA, which has enabled the Association to clear itself of its immediate creditors and remain solvent.General manager of the Adelaide Turf Cricket Association, Andrew Ramsay, who commenced in the role at the beginning of August, was encouraged by the support shown by all member clubs."It was fantastic to see such a healthy turn out last night. Everyone at the Association is thrilled with the support from of our member clubs and players during such a difficult time.""The proposed rescue levy was strongly embraced, with clubs simply wanting to see the Association get on with administering the game of cricket for our 4,000 players."The rescue levy will be officially tabled at the Association’s annual general meeting of September 22, and is anticipated to be positively endorsed.The Association also plans a number of fundraising and other activities to secure its financial future.

While many are calling for an increase in the use of technology to assist umpires, Dennis Lillee has slammed the way that television coverage has taken on board some of the devices. He is particularly incensed by “Hawkeye”, a system used to predict where a ball which hits a batsman’s pads would have travelled.”I have no problems with technology that assists in helping umpires adjudicate correctly on run-outs and stumpings, but I am afraid Hawkeye and his mate, the Snickometer, are pure gadgetry,” Lillee wrote in his column for the Geelong Advertiser. “Some of Channel Nine’s graphics regarding where the ball supposedly lands and travels after it bounces are an insult to one’s intelligence.”Hawkeye is purely a guide for armchair buffs, yet it seems a hell of a lot of experienced commentators take it as the be-all and end-all. Blokes with that experience — and most of them are former Test captains — know full well that every ball does not continue through at the predicted height.”From a fast bowler’s perspective, there is no way Hawkeye can tell if a delivery is going to skid a bit more than normal or hit a crack, or a damp or worn patch, or a bit of grass on the wicket. Batsmen struggle with the unpredictability of bounce, so how on earth is Hawkeye going to know what every ball is going to do, how it comes out of the hand or is angled?”Lillee’s comments come in the aftermath of the leg-before decision given by Steve Bucknor against Sachin Tendulkar in the first Test at Brisbane. Bucknor was roundly condemned for what many pundits thought was a dreadful decision, but Lillee thinks otherwise. “When I first saw Jason Gillespie thump the ball into Tendulkar’s pads my immediate thought was ‘He’s out’,” Lillee wrote. “I found the hullabaloo surrounding Tendulkar’s dismissal quite disturbing.”

Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo has admitted that he wished that he and his team had taken a stand against the old Kenyan Cricket Association earlier than they did.Tikolo and a number of senior players finally went on strike last October after more than a year of disputes over payments they claimed were owed to them by the Sharad Ghai led board. That regime was finally removed by fresh elections in May, and Ghai is awaiting trial on charges that he misappropriated around $3.5 million of KCA funds.”The association was mismanaging the sport and we did not utter a word as things deteriorated,” Tikolo told the Nation. “Last year we said enough was enough and refused to play. Our action prompted the government to act. Now the rot in cricket has been cleaned out. Had we protested earlier then we would be at a higher level in the game.”Tikolo also revealed that he regretted his role in chosing Andy Moles as the national coach. He was one of three people given the task of finding a replacement for Sandeep Patil, but revealed that it was a decision he immediately rued.”We could not work with Moles,” he told the paper. “Our relationship in the dressing room deteriorated by the day … it even threatened our performance.”This made me realise my work is to play – hiring and firing coaches is the job of the association. When things went wrong we could not complain as we were part of the selection panel.”