A round-up of the third round matches of the Premier League Tournament 2012-13

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Feb-2013Army Sports Club strengthened their position atop the Group A ladder, while Tamil Union and Sinhalese Sports Club moved to the top of the Group B table, after the third round of the Premier League Tournament. Army recorded their second innings victory on-the-trot ,against the Lankan Cricket Club, while SSC took first innings points in their clash with NCC. Tamil Union won by eight wickets for the third time, defeating Galle Cricket Club at the Galle International Stadium. Most of Sri Lanka’s Test cricketers had returned to their club teams for this round. Six of the ten matches yielded outright results.Army‘s spin duo have been in outstanding form during the tournament, and they were once again the architects of victory, sharing all but one of the 20 wickets between them in Panagoda. Ajantha Mendis was named in Sri Lanka’s preliminary Test squad for the Bangladesh series this week, and he celebrated by taking seven first innings wickets for 67, to dismiss Lankan Cricket Club for 200, after they chose to bat first. Only Lakshan Edirisinghe passed fifty for Army, but enough batsmen got starts to hand them a 131-run lead, before they unleashed the spinners on the opposition again. It was legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna’s turn to get a big haul in the second innings, as he took 6 for 36 while Mendis got 4 for 38. Mendis is now the top wicket-taker in the league, and Prasanna is third. LCC fell for 107, and lost by an innings and 24 runs.The big clash of round three was between Sinhalese Sports Club and Nondescripts Cricket Club at the SSC ground, and first innings tons from Dimuth Karunaratne and Thilan Samaraweera helped SSC to 511, after being sent in, before Sachithra Senanayake secured first innings points with the ball. Karunaratne and Samaraweera both made their second first-class centuries in the season, but while Karunaratne is tuning up for the Bangladesh series, in which he is almost guaranteed to open for Sri Lanka, Samaraweera’s 136-ball 111 came in a week when he was dropped from Sri Lanka’s Test side. Senanayake then took four wickets, and Dhammika Prasad took three, as the hosts dismissed NCC for 232, with Dinesh Chandimal being the only batsman to put up significant resistance, making 89. SSC opted not to enforce the follow on and made 232 in the third innings, which effectively made an outright victory impossible. Offspinner Tharindu Kaushal was also picked for Sri Lanka last week, and had arrived at SSC with an average under 9. But his incredible first-class figures were dented slightly in his third match, as he collected 5 for 154.Sri Lanka’s selectors will be pleased at the nature of Tamil Union‘s victory over Galle Cricket Club in Galle, as the players they have chosen for the Bangladesh series were largely responsible for the result, at the venue at which they will play their first Test, in three weeks. Suranga Lakmal nabbed five wickets in the first innings and Shaminda Eranga took three, as Tamil Union skittled Galle for 137, before Ashen Silva and Jeevan Mendis – who have both been picked in the Test squad for the first time – made the only first innings fifties in seemingly difficult batting conditions. If it’s Galle, it usually means a Rangana Herath five-wicket haul, and he obliged with 5 for 20 in the second innings, while Eranga took four more. Galle were dismissed for 131 in the second dig, and Tamil Union waltzed to victory, having been in the lead by 89 after the first innings.Panadura Sports Club defeated Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club by 101 runs in a big group A clash in Panadura, thanks largely to the efforts of Prasanna Jayawardene, Dilruwan Perera and Chamara Silva. Jayawardene is still recovering from the broken thumb he suffered during the Boxing Day Test, and has not resumed keeping wickets, but held Panadura’s first innings together, with a 94-ball 77. In response to the hosts’ 214, Bloomfield could only score 131 as Perera and Chathura Peiris took seven wickets between them. An unbeaten 104 from 105 balls from Chamara Silva then made the match safe for Panadura, who declared at 285 for 5 in the second dig, then dismissed the opposition 102 runs from their target. Suraj Randiv took three wickets in each innings for Bloomfield, and made a fifty as well, but he travelled at over five an over.Elsewhere, a 333-run opening stand between Udara Jayasundera and Ian Daniel helped Ragama Cricket Club take first innings points in their match against Burgher Recreation Club in Colombo. Jayasundera made 222 and Daniel 172, after BRC had made 367 in their first innings. Malinga Bandara took 6 for 90 for Ragama in the first innings.Another exceptional partnership helped Moors defeat the Colts Cricket Club by six wickets, after the Colts seemed to be heading towards victory. Isham Ghouse and Janaka Gunaratne put on an unconquered 260 together in the fourth innings, after their side had slipped to 53 for 4 in pursuit of 308. Neither team had managed 150 in the first innings, though Colts took a handy 46-run lead, but the pitch settled down as the match wore on, making the steep fourth-innings chase possible. Akila Dananjaya bowled 16 overs in the match for Colts and took 2 for 61. Dilhara Lokuhettige, Sajeewa Weerakoon and Chaturanga de Silva all took five wicket hauls.

Thilan Samaraweera is looking to make a career with English county Worcestershire before he eventually quits the game

Sa'adi Thawfeeq10-Mar-2013Thilan Samaraweera, the Sri Lanka batsman who announced his international retirement earlier this week, is looking to make a career with English county Worcestershire before he eventually quits the game.Samaraweera decided to quit Tests and ODIs after he was left out of the 15-member squad named for the first Test against Bangladesh but will continue to play first-class cricket.”I want to do well for Worcestershire so that it will open the doors for other younger players from Sri Lanka to play county cricket,” Samaraweera said. “I tried to get into the county circuit for the last five years but I couldn’t because every county is focusing on signing up Australians and South Africans. I had a chat with coach Graham Ford in 2012 and it was largely due to his efforts that I got the county contract. I want to make the most of it.”Samaraweera said that it was former India batsman VVS Laxman who first got him interested in playing county cricket. Laxman played a couple of seasons for Lancashire, in 2007 and 2009. “When I met Laxman in Sri Lanka some years ago I spoke about getting to play for Lancashire. He told me that I should play county cricket because it improves your game as a professional and teaches you to take pressure and so on. Unfortunately I didn’t get a break at that time. Now at this stage of my career I want to do well and pave the way for the youngsters.”Samaraweera, who leaves for England this week, said that he had no regrets quitting international cricket at the age of 36.”I am happy the way I am leaving cricket although I have so many sad memories also. I was dropped three-four times in my career and every time they dropped me the selectors would say they want to bring a youngster in. They moved me around in the batting order often and the first player to get the chop from the selectors was always Thilan Samaraweera. I can’t control that. But at the end of the day I am really happy with what I’ve achieved.”I could have done better if I had scored 18-20 Test hundreds but when I started people never thought that I will end up playing 81 Tests and score over 5000 runs average nearly 50 and play in a World Cup final. When I started there were a lot of better players than me but I came to the top through sheer hard work and sacrifice. Hard work is the key word for me.”One of the blots on Samaraweera’s career was the failure in his final international series, managing only 79 runs in six Test innings in Australia. “When the country needed me as a batsman in Test cricket I delivered but unfortunately people only remember the shot I played in my last innings at Sydney. It was a bad shot. When people meet me they always remind me about that shot. I was a bit disappointed playing that stroke. If we had another 70-80 runs it would have been another historical moment in our cricket. My dismissal and Angelo’s (Mathews) run out was the turning point in that Test. But it happens in international cricket. You can go through bad patches in a series which you cannot help.”

Suresh Raina has been called up to the India squad for the fourth Test against Australia as replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2013

India squad for Delhi Test

MS Dhoni (capt), M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Dinda, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma
In: Suresh Raina
Out: Shikhar Dhawan

Suresh Raina has been called up to the India squad for the fourth Test against Australia as replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan, who has been ruled out for six weeks with a fractured left hand. Gautam Gambhir, who had been dropped in favour of Dhawan for the Australia Tests, was also added to the squad initially, before a blood test showed he was down with jaundice, a BCCI release said.Dhawan had injured his hand while trying to stop a Phillip Hughes square drive during Australia’s second innings on the fourth day of the Mohali Test. He did not field for the rest of the day and also did not bat during India’s chase after having made 187 in his debut innings. ESPNcricinfo understands the selectors had discussed that the need for naming a replacement for Dhawan would arise only if the team management asked for it.Dhawan’s fracture, Gambhir’s illness and Virender Sehwag’s axing after the Hyderabad Test leave M Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane as the only openers in the squad. Vijay is the only India opener to have played in all three Tests so far, with hundreds in Hyderabad and Mohali. Rahane is yet to play a Test but looks most likely to partner Vijay in Delhi.However, with Raina’s inclusion as a back-up batsman, it won’t be surprising if Cheteshwar Pujara opens, like he did in the second innings in Mohali, and Raina bats in the middle order, leaving no place for Rahane.The last of Raina’s 17 Tests came against New Zealand in Bangalore in September 2012. He wasn’t part of the squad for the four Tests against England and the first three Tests against Australia. He had an underwhelming Ranji season, with 304 runs in six games at an average of 33.77, although he did make 134 and 71 in the Irani Cup game against Mumbai last month.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will hold its first secret-ballot election on April 16

Sa'adi Thawfeeq15-Apr-2013Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will hold its first secret-ballot election on April 16, with officials from the Elections Department attending as observers at the board’s request. SLC’s two most powerful posts will, however, remain uncontested – Jayantha Dharmadasa, a former interim committee chairman, is set to become the president while incumbent secretary Nishantha Ranatunga will retain his position.”This is the first time we are going to have a secret ballot, so we are seeking the assistance of the Elections Department,” Ashley de Silva, Sri Lanka Cricket’s acting chief executive officer, said. “They have given us guidance and advice but they will not be directly involved with the elections.”De Silva added that the method was in accordance with the new amendments to the Sports Law. “The SLC constitution calls for a show of hands, as has been the practice over the years, but the new amendments to the Sports Law that has been gazetted states that elections should be held under a secret ballot,” he said. “The Sports Law supersedes the constitution of all sports bodies in the country.”According to the amended Sports Law, those elected at Tuesday’s election will serve a two-year term instead of one, which was the case previously.The nominations of both Dharmadasa and Ranatunga were challenged in court. The allegation brought against Dharmadasa was that his appointment to the position of president by the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket was unconstitutional. The Colombo District Cricket Association, which brought the litigation against him, wanted the date of the election postponed. However, the court has given the defendants time till April 20 to file their reply. The case against Ranatunga was dismissed by the court on the grounds of false evidence.The two posts for vice-president will be contested by three candidates – K Mathivanan, Asanga Seneviratne and Mohan de Silva. The post of the treasurer will be contested between Nuski Mohamed and Eastman Narangoda, while the contest for the assistant secretary’s post will be between Priyantha Soysa, Bandula Dissanayake and Hirantha Perera. Ajitha Pasqual and Irwin Jayawardene will contest for the post of assistant treasurer.There will also be contests for the following committees: tournament, umpires, sponsorship and tour-organising.

Like passers-by caught up in a shootout between two gangs, it was Derbyshire’s misfortune to find themselves in the middle of a fierce battle for a Test place between two eager New Zealand seamers

George Dobell at Derby05-May-2013
ScorecardBruce Martin’s 3 for 13 did his chances of selection in the first Test no harm•Getty Images

Like passers-by caught up in a shootout between two gangs, it was Derbyshire’s misfortune to find themselves in the middle of a fierce battle for a Test place between two eager seamers on the second day of New Zealand’s opening match of their tour of England.Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner claimed seven wickets between them as they fought for a position in the Test team, brushing aside Derbyshire for just 154 in the process. Only one batsman made more than 16, Wes Durston, and he was dropped on 6.Later, despite a first innings lead of 135, New Zealand’s batsmen suffered some setbacks of their own – their top five were all bowled in the second innings – before an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 105 between BJ Watling and Tom Latham restored the balance of power. By stumps New Zealand had extended their lead to 334.It appears only one of the two New Zealand seamers can find a place in the team for the first Test at Lord’s. While it has been presumed by many that Bracewell, who missed the Test series against England in New Zealand after injuring his foot on broken glass, will return to the side for the upcoming series, it seems nobody has told Wagner.Certainly Wagner, who claimed 12 wickets in the series against England, is not going to relinquish his place without a fight. He bowled throughout the first hour on the second morning at Derby and added two wickets to the one he claimed the previous evening. As wholehearted as ever, Wagner sustained impressive pace, maintained a pretty good line and was rewarded with the wickets of Billy Godleman and Wayne Madsen, both of whom edged fine deliveries angled across them.But Bracewell also provided a compelling reminder of his own case for inclusion. Strong as a bull, he generated a pace that was unappreciated by some of the Derbyshire tail-enders and, even if he over did the short ball a little, finished with four wickets. At one stage he had two in two balls – Dan Redfern caught in the slips as he fended at a well-directed delivery that bounced more than he expected and then Ross Whiteley, who is developing a reputation as a poor player of the short ball, also caught in the slips as he fended away from his face. Later he returned to defeat the timid strokes of Peter Burgoyne and Mark Footitt.”I kind of see it like that,” Bracewell said when asked if he thought he was involved in a ‘bowl off’ with Wagner. “Neil’s come in and taken wickets so credit to him but every game you play you’re trying to prove a point. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’ve been looking forward to playing at Lord’s for a while, so let’s hope I can play and do well.”Bracewell admitted to having been “gutted” to have missed out on playing against England in New Zealand, but dismissed the inevitable questions about the context of the injury to his foot.”I was looking forward to the England series,” he said. “I felt my form was pretty good. There were a few stories, but I just stood on a piece of glass while I was cleaning up. I had a few mates round the night before and it happened in the morning. A few things got blown out of proportion and a few stories came out. People can believe what they want to.”It was deep enough but it was more the bruising that took a bit longer to heal. It was pretty bad luck really. It made it pretty frustrating. A silly little thing like that to make you miss three Tests, important Tests, is pretty annoying.”It is possible New Zealand could play both Wagner and Bracewell at Lord’s. While the positions of Tim Southeee and Trent Boult appear secure, there might be an argument for fielding four seamers and doing without the specialist spin of Bruce Martin. Kane Williamson could provide a spin option if required. But Martin, who here quickly settled to a probing length and found turn that was missing for the Derbyshire spinners, did his own case no harm when luring Durston down the pitch and having him stumped by substitute wicketkeeper Tom Latham, taking the opportunity to gain some experience with the gloves in these conditions. Later Martin saw Richard Johnson and the left-handed Matt Higginbottom caught at short extra-cover and short midwicket respectively as they drove uppishly – and obligingly – to the fielder positioned for the stroke.It could have been worse for Derbyshire. Durston was put down in the gully by Kane Williamson off Wagner – a tough, low chance when the batsman had scored 6 – and went on to strike nine fours in a merry, counter-attacking innings.This match has been watched by a disappointingly small number of spectators – it would be more accurate to call it a “sparse” than a “crowd” – but Derbyshire deserve credit for the wicket at the County Ground. While many Test venues have settled for low, slow tracks which do little for anyone, least of all the spectator, the pitch at Derby offers decent pace, bounce and a little movement for seamers and spinners. It is, in short, a fine cricket wicket.The New Zealand bowlers were not alone in enjoying the conditions. Mark Footitt, a left-arm fast bowler who has promised so much for so long that he might be convicted of a cricketing version of perjury, added two wickets to the four he claimed in the first innings, again making the ball swing at pace. The left-handed Hamish Rutherford was beaten by a beauty that left him to take the top of off stump, while Dean Brownlie was enticed into a loose drive only to be beaten by swing and play-on off the inside edge. It was not a shot that will have done his case of retaining a Test place in front of the returning Martin Guptill a great deal of good.But Guptill was unable to take advantage. Struggling a little with his balance, he was punished for pushing his bat out far in front of his pad by one that nipped back, while Peter Fulton fell in similar fashion to the impressive Alasdair Evans. Kane Williamson’s delightful innings – a punch down the ground was the shot of the day – was ended when he played-on to a quicker one from Burgoyne, but Watling, elegant on the drive and strong on the sweep, and Latham looked untroubled by the support bowlers and snuffed out any lingering hopes Derbyshire had of clawing their way back into the game.

The latest news to come out of the scandal caused by the alleged corruption in the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2013

On what is expected to be a difficult track in Providence, the frailty of both side’s batting could again be on display

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran15-Jul-2013

Match facts

Tuesday, July 16
Start time 0900 (1300 GMT)Mohammad Hafeez has struggled for runs in recent months•WICB Media

Big Picture

“Another wicket” read a placard in the stands at Providence on Sunday. The message might have been banal, but the fan got what he asked for regularly in the first ODI as the batting frailties of the two teams were once again exposed. In mitigation, the track aided both the spinners and the quicks, and Misbah-ul-Haq went on to call it one of the toughest he has ever played on.Still, in Pakistan’s last 10 ODIs, only once has the score touched 100 with less than three wickets down, and that one time came against lightweights Ireland. Pakistan fielded a new-look batting order in the first ODI but the scorecard still had an all-too-familiar look midway through the innings.West Indies have faced similar problems, and it is only the home series against Zimbabwe that provides some respectability to the stats of several batsmen. All the big names, so sought after in Twenty20 leagues around the world, have floundered in ODIs this year – not one among Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard have averaged even 25 in 2013. What’s more, the only batsman they have in the squad to replace someone in the XI is Devon Smith, who has two ducks in his only ODIs in the past fortnight.More than any careful innings construction over 50 overs, West Indies seem to hope for one of their outrageously talented batsmen to pull off a special performance, like the returning Shahid Afridi did for Pakistan in the first match. The need for a stabiliser in the midst of the array of volatile hitters remains pressing, but the batsman to fill that role remains elusive. Tuesday’s game will be played on the same track as Sunday’s, which means the batsmen are set for another difficult day.Unlike the past couple of weeks in the Caribbean, though, the forecast is for a mostly sunny day on Tuesday. Another change from the first game is that the DRS is expected to be in place, with Hawk-Eye and Ultramotion.

Form guide

(most recent first, last five completed matches)
West Indies LLLWW
Pakistan WLLLW

In the spotlight

Shahid Afridi turned in one of the great one-day performances in his comeback game on Sunday, the sort of magical effort hardly any other player can conjure. His loyal and vocal fans are quick to highlight these peaks, but there are a equal number of doubters who point to Afridi’s infuriating inconsistency. Expecting steady reliability from Afridi is unfair, but the time has come for him to show that these crests won’t be followed by extended troughs.Sunil Narine is the world’s top-ranked ODI bowler. Yet, in his previous two ODIs, he hasn’t been anywhere near bowling his full quota of overs. Against Pakistan, on a track with plenty of juice in it, he was taken apart by Afridi, and was used for only three overs. Just three overs from a specialist bowler? Time to bring back some of that early mystery which brought him such success.

Team news

Pakistan made a raft of changes to their side before the first ODI, so it is unlikely they will shuffle the side much ahead of this game. Fast bowler Junaid Khan and batsman Umar Amin are two players who will be hoping to get a look-in.Pakistan: (probable) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Asad Shafiq, 6 Umar Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Asad Ali, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad IrfanIt may have been a humiliating defeat for West Indies on Sunday, but they don’t have too many options in the squad.West Indies: (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Kemar Roach/Tino Best, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Jason Holder

Stats and trivia

• Shahid Afridi now has 30 ODI Man-of-the-Match awards, equal with Aravinda de Silva and Brian Lara*. If he gets two more, the only players ahead of him will be Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya
• West Indies are Misbah-ul-Haq’s favourite opposition – he averages 79.33 against them in 11 ODIs
• In bilateral series between Pakistan and West Indies, no team which won the first ODI has lost the series

July 15 6.30pm GMT This stat has now been corrected

Lancashire put one foot in the Friends Life t20 quarter-final after annihilating their Roses rivals Yorkshire by eight wickets at Old Trafford.

Myles Hodgson at Old Trafford24-Jul-2013
ScorecardTom Smith got the chase off to a blistering start•Getty Images

An electricity failure may not have been the perfect dress rehearsal for hosting the third Investec Ashes Test in a week’s time but as omens go, an emphatic hammering of your fiercest rivals to all but secure your place in the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals was almost as good as it gets for Lancashire.Dominant throughout in front of a partisan 12,151 crowd, Lancashire will qualify for the quarter-finals if Derbyshire fail to beat Leicestershire on Friday. It was the perfect send off, almost, for the refurbished Emirates Old Trafford before it is handed over to the ECB in preparation for potentially the decisive Test in the Ashes.Yet only a week before the ground will hold 26,000 for the opening day of the Test, Lancashire suffered a 20-minute power cut at the Statham End, which wiped out electricity to the dressing rooms and two floodlights at that end of the ground, and was only resolved shortly before the start. It was perhaps fitting, given his recent form, that Jimmy Anderson should rectify the problem, although not England’s premier swing bowler, but his namesake who performs as Lancashire’s resident electrician.That problem apart, which ground officials insisted would not have delayed the start, it was a triumphant evening for Lancashire. The temporary seating area, which will hold 9,000 for the Ashes, was utilised for the first time and they delivered one of their best displays of the season to all but end Yorkshire’s slim qualification hopes and boost their own with a fourth win in their last five matches.Having won the toss and decided to bat first, presumably to ensure Lancashire had the potentially more difficult task of batting under floodlights, Yorkshire’s plan backfired spectacularly and they struggled to 124 for 8 on a sluggish pitch. Restricted to 23 for 2 at the end of the six Powerplay overs, they were unable to regain any momentum after being confronted by an electric display in the field from Lancashire.Their only partnership of note, 33 off 27 balls between Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance, had limited effectiveness because of the athleticism of Lancashire’s fielding display that frustrated their desire to show more aggression. Lyth fell to a catch at fine leg attempting to scoop Tom Smith and Ballance fell to a brilliant diving catch by Steven Croft, who ran in from the long-on boundary.Attempting to gain momentum, Yorkshire suffered two run outs in a desperate chase of runs and recorded only one boundary in their final four overs, which provided a stark contrast to Lancashire’s approach when they began their reply. From the moment Stephen Moore pulled two boundaries in the second over from Iain Wardlaw, the contest was all but over.Moore and Smith added 88 in only 7.4 overs and although Lancashire lost two wickets in Azeem Rafiq’s first over, Smith stumped as he advanced down the wicket for an aggressive 42 and Ashwell Prince brilliantly caught at cover by Lyth, any anxiety from the mainly Lancastrian crowd was brief with Moore’s unbeaten 66 off 35 balls securing victory with nine overs remaining.

Sarfaraz Khan’s four-wicket haul, along with Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 31, ensured India U-19 completed a series win over Sri Lanka U-19 by beating them by seven wickets in Dambulla

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2013
ScorecardSarfaraz Khan’s four-wicket haul, along with Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 31, helped India U-19 wrap up the ODI series against Sri Lanka 2-0 with a comfortable win in Dambulla.India won the toss and put Sri Lanka in to bat. The openers didn’t last long, with Abhimanyu Lamba removing Sadeera Samarawickrama for a duck. Sri Lanka continued to lose wickets through the first fourteen overs as the bowlers kept the scoring in check. Opener Minod Bhanuka did most of the scoring initially, scoring 42 in 53 balls, but he was dismissed in the 14th over. A 59-run stand between Priyamal Perera and Sanjika Ridma revived the Sri Lankan innings briefly, but Sarfaraz broke the partnership, dislodging Ridma for 23, to pick up the first of his four wickets.Sarfaraz then tore into Sri Lanka’s middle order, removing Thilaksha Sumanasiri and Roshan Anurudda soon after. Seven wickets fell for the addition of 27 runs as Sri Lanka crashed to 137 in the 40th over when Perera, on 50, was caught by Vijay to Zol to give Sarfaraz his best figures of 4 for 27. Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with 3 for 16.Facing a below-par total, India started well, putting on 39 for the first wicket. Zol, who has been in prolific form with his last four innings reading 67, 76, 128 and 173, was only able to muster 23 before being caught by Saveen Nanayakkara off the bowling of AK Tyronne. In came Sanju Samson. He put on 29 with Shubham Khajuria (34), and then knocked off the remaining 38 with Mohammad Saif, ending the match with a six in the 33rd over.

David Hopps at Taunton12-Sep-2013
ScorecardNick Compton gave a timely reminder of his ability•Getty Images

There was no England selector at Taunton yesterday so in the spirit of co-operation, here is a summary for the next meeting of the top table. NRD Compton v Surrey, Taunton, September 12: Runs 66. Balls: 88. Dollars (looking like): A million. A few facts to gather dust ahead of the announcement of the Ashes squad on September 23.Observing Compton in this form begs the question why England seemingly drew such a heavy line under his Test career. Opting to open with Joe Root in the Ashes was one thing; allowing Compton’s exclusion to be seen as perpetual banishment was quite another.England, it seemed, observed a couple of tortuous innings against New Zealand and took a view, but watching his clear-headed strokeplay at Taunton begged the question of exactly which opener would offer more reliable opening cover for the tour of Australia? Compton remains short of 1,000 first-class runs this season – so does every Somerset batsman – but he averages 48 which is respectable enough. Michael Carberry, incidentally averages 40 for Hampshire in Division Two. To opt for Varun Chopra would be a gamble on an untried player at international level.There was a time just before lunch when it was possible to imagine that this was a top-of-the table encounter, not a match between two candidates for relegation. Compton, in league with Craig Kieswetter, was central to that, counterpunching with style against a highly-regarded Surrey pace attack. The quality of the strokeplay was as good as you could wish to witness. Taunton was a good place to be.In this troubled Somerset season, home supporters drank it in like they might soak up the last sunshine of summer, regarding it as all the sweeter because they knew how ephemeral it would be.Kieswetter fell softly on the stroke of lunch, driving loosely to cover; and soon after the resumption, Compton became one of two wickets in an over for Jade Dernbach as he tried to guide behind square on the off side and played on. It was a frustrating end, but he was the only Somerset batsman to give the impression of permanence.At 133 for 6, the Somerset scoreboard had a familiar ring to it, but they found something within themselves to reach 260, securing two priceless batting bonus points and a first-innings lead of 65. Surrey’s second innings began briefly, but bad light stole 20 overs from the day.If enterprise was the impression as Compton and Kieswetter added 62 for the fourth wicket, the stand of 68 between Peter Trego and Craig Meschede for the seventh wicket was a judicious one. A brilliant catch by the 18-year-old debutant, Dom Sibley, at deep cover silenced Trego. Piyush Chawla also dug in for 32 at No. 10; a late overseas acquisition respecting the opportunity he has been given.But all that felt like struggle; it was the hour up to lunch that raised the spirits. Compton drove vigorously and Kieswetter’s dash was backed up by rapid running between the wickets. Compton was dropped off Dernbach on 42, a challenging low catch to Vikram Solanki at second slip, diving across Gareth Batty at first, and Meaker was ill-served by several thick edges to third man (fashionably unguarded), but the overriding mood of a stand of 62 in 12 overs was one of optimism.Somerset had begun the day with a little victory, denying Surrey a batting bonus point as Alfonso Thomas snaffled the last two wickets without a run added. But Surrey struck back immediately when Somerset lost both openers for nought, with Marcus Trescothick dragging on third ball – a reward for Dernbach’s insistent line.Trescothick’s immediate desire to retain the Somerset captaincy had been reasserted in timely fashion in his column in the . “What I can say is I love captaining Somerset as much as I love the club itself and at this point I have no intention of handing over the reins,” he said. “I know there are people who have looked at my shortage of runs this season and linked it to the added pressure of being skipper – but I have been doing the job for four seasons and I don’t believe it has any adverse effect on my form. I enjoy the challenge and it remains my dream to lead the team to the success we all crave.”Success was not the word that sprung immediately to mind. Survival will do for a start.