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Doug Bollinger proved during the Adelaide Test that he is a passionate character on the field and he has enjoyed stepping in to Australia’s new-look fast-bowling group in the absence of Ben Hilfenhaus

Cricinfo staff11-Dec-2009Doug Bollinger proved during the Adelaide Test that he is a passionate character on the field and he has enjoyed stepping in to Australia’s new-look fast-bowling group in the absence of Ben Hilfenhaus. Australia view Bollinger, Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle as the future of the Test attack, and despite being the oldest of the four, Bollinger is the least experienced in Tests.That hasn’t stopped Bollinger, 28, from voicing his opinion out in the middle. Bollinger said the natural connection between the new fast bowlers helped counter the lack of experience in a line-up that the West Indies coach David Williams said during the Adelaide Test could “be taken apart”.”Sometimes you try and do that on the field, whether it’s a good time or a bad time, you like to put your comments in just because you’re think you’re a bit older and all that,” Bollinger said in the . “We all get along, all four of us, and [with] Troy Cooley the bowling coach have spoken a lot.”If anything happens we make sure we speak up. It doesn’t matter if you’ve played two games, 100 games, 50 Tests, as long as everyone’s putting their input in and doing something for the team. We all got along, myself, Hilfy, Sids and Mitch. I think that’s just as good as playing 120 games. As long as we’re all connecting.”Before the Adelaide Test, which was his second for Australia, Bollinger described himself as “loud and obnoxious” and his fiery nature was on display when he kicked the turf in anger at an lbw appeal that didn’t go his way. It was an action that earned him a reprimand from the match referee, but Bollinger has vowed not to lose his aggressive streak and hopes he and the similarly fiery Siddle can become a fearsome duo.”Sids is a great fighter,” Bollinger said. “He does get fired up, I like it, actually. You’re playing for your country, you’re not there to make friends, you’re there to win and do your best. A bit of fire doesn’t hurt anyone. I like it how he gets passionate, that’s all I try and do there and if you get a bit angry there, well, that’s good. I like to see it.”[Kicking the ground] was just one of those things that happened. Obviously there’s lines that you can’t cross in international cricket, and I think I was a little bit frustrated. I just wanted to do well and it all mixed together into a bit of a brain explosion, but that’s what happens and I will make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

There was no miracle on the final day for Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka expectedly entered their 12th Ranji Trophy final, where they will face defending champions Mumbai, the only currently active team, who they have not beaten outright

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore06-Jan-2010
Scorecard
There was no miracle on the final day for Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka expectedly entered their 12th Ranji Trophy final, where they will face defending champions Mumbai, the only currently active team who they have not beaten outright.Karnataka’s lead was already past 400 at the start of play on Wednesday, with little interest left in the day’s proceedings. Both teams sleepwalked through proceedings, the highlight of which was a century for Muralidharen Gautam, who became the fifth Karnataka batsman to make two hundreds or more this season.The two biggest cheers from the sparse crowd at the Chinnaswamy were right before Karnataka declared their second innings with the lead more than 600: first, when Rahul Dravid finally walked out to bat at No. 10, and four minutes later when Gautam reached triple figures with a steer past gully for four. Gautam celebrated enthusiastically, waving his bat to his clapping team-mates and to the faithful who had turned up, and was walking back towards the stumps when Dravid signalled the declaration just before tea.The day’s most entertaining passage was when Gautam and R Vinay Kumar combined for a 112-run sixth wicket partnership. After a moribund two hours in the morning, Vinay Kumar clubbed Piyush Chawla over long-on for six, and then jolted the Karnataka State Cricket Association club members who were enjoying their lunch by launching Praveen Gupta into their
enclosure. The free swings from Vinay Kumar also encouraged Gautam to be more enterprising; he whipped a four to midwicket, and unleashed a couple of backfoot cover drives before a late cut took him into the eighties.A demoralised UP were clearly looking to catch the first flight home, barely concerned with dislodging Karnataka’s batsmen. Tanmay Srivastava, who has never bowled in first-class cricket before was given 12 overs while frontline bowlers Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar sent down only three each.The only specialist quick bowler who was used for a long spell was RP Singh, bowling 12 straight overs in the morning. There was still nothing in the pitch for him, but he was more accurate than in the first innings, to be rewarded with the wicket of Ganesh Satish. It was only in the final over of his effort, that he erred by giving too much width, which was promptly punished by a couple of square drives from Gautam.RP got the second new-ball to rise sharply, and struck twice in an over to remove Sunil Joshi and Abhimanyu Mithun. Within an over, the declaration came, leaving UP about 45 minutes to bat till the match was called off, much to the visitors’ relief. Right through the four days, UP were always behind in the game, and there wasn’t even a stand-out individual performance to provide a measure of consolation.UP made the finals of the previous two seasons, but for Karnataka it has been a 11-year wait to get to the title clash. “It’s great for Karnataka cricket, great for a lot of the young boys in the team,” Dravid said. “We have had some tough years in the middle and it’s nice to see that we have made it to the finals this year, things are beginning to look up a little.”He was particularly happy that the dominant season, where Karnataka have had four outright wins and are yet to concede the first-innings lead, was on the back of efforts of youngsters. “Throughout the season the youngsters have done really well, they have been given a lot of confidence by the team management and the selectors,” he said. “They have repaid the faith, other than me and Sunil [Joshi] everyone is less than 25 years of age, hopefully they keep performing and we’ll have some successes not only this year but also in next couple of years.”

Michael Hussey has grown wiser in his four years as a Test batsman and can fashion runs on days when the fluency of his early days is hiding

Peter English at the SCG06-Jan-2010For the first three years of Michael Hussey’s Test career he was the side’s superhero, achieving unimaginable results with the swing of his bat. After an extended stint as a mortal he reprised the role at the SCG to set up Australia’s astonishing 36-run win.Hussey has scored two of the side’s past three centuries, with the 134 not out in Sydney following the 121 when the urn was handed back in London, but those innings carried distinctly different emotions. “The last time I scored a hundred we lost the Ashes,” he said. “I can tell you I feel a whole lot better now than I did on that particular day.”In six Tests including The Oval he has 604 runs at 60.40, ending the short-term doubts over his place in the side. He has often looked scratchy for long periods, but has shown how much he likes to scrap. Hussey does not want to hand over his hard-won position and while he was making many ugly runs – and some old-style Hussey ones, particularly with drives through the off side – the selection trapdoor was moved under Marcus North.”It has been a little bit more difficult leading up to this season,” Hussey said. “I felt like I’ve had the complete support of the captain, the coaches, so it was a case of me going away and concentrating on preparing my game and scoring runs. Just trying to do the business for the team.”In the first innings Hussey was the most capable batsman, sweating over 28 during the extremely difficult phase, and over the final two days he refused to bend. Hussey’s stand of 123 with Peter Siddle kept Australia breathing on the fourth morning and was ultimately responsible for the stunning success.”As I said to Siddle tonight, his batting has won us a Test match, along with this bloke [Hussey] as well,” Ricky Ponting said. “For them to do what they did today, it takes a lot of courage and it takes a lot of discipline.”Hussey has grown wiser in his four years as a Test batsman and can fashion runs on days when the fluency of his early days is hiding. He knows his scoring areas whatever the field and today he drove strongly through the offside for four off the fast and slow men. A shot straight down the ground off Umar Gul took Hussey to an 11th century, his first in Australia since the opening week of 2008.”Today made me realise how hard [Test centuries] are,” he said. “I had my fair share of luck and you probably need a fair share of luck and you need someone like Siddle to show that much courage and application for such a long period of time to be able to get to a Test century. Every single one you try and cherish as much as you can.”As calm as he looks and as measured as he speaks, Hussey has been feeling the strain, particularly after his first nine hundreds flooded in three glorious years. He wanted to start celebrating this one at the end of his first run, but the ball was not certain of reaching the rope so he stuck up one arm like a kite flyer at take-off and continued to sprint. When the boundary was confirmed he jumped skyward before finding Siddle for a cuddle. In the background Kamran Akmal clapped his hands together, making similar sounds to the ones created by his three drops of Hussey off Danish Kaneria on the third day.”I was fortunate in this game but you need some fortune,” Hussey said. “I felt in the last 12 months a lot of fortune hadn’t really gone my way. In this game it has and thankfully I was able to reap the rewards and get to a position where we had the chance to win.”Hussey, who is good at forgetting moments of discomfort, was not bothered by anything that Pakistan did on the fourth morning. After resuming on 73, he was pleased that Mohammad Yousuf set most of his fielders on the boundary, giving him a single whenever he wanted it. As Hussey’s confidence in Siddle grew there was even less fear in taking the run and increasing the lead, which began the day at 80 and finished on an unconquerable 175.

Sri Lanka A overhauled Ireland’s 147 for 5 with an over to spare in the second Twenty20 warm-up game played at the Nondescripts Ground in Colombo today. The Sri Lankans had been in some strife at 54 for 5 before their recovery, with Chinthaka Jayasinghe,

Cricinfo staff31-Jan-2010Scorecard
Sri Lanka A overhauled Ireland’s 147 for 5 with an over to spare in the second Twenty20 warm-up game played at the Nondescripts Ground in Colombo today. The Sri Lankans had been in some strife at 54 for 5 before their recovery, with Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Seekkuge Prasanna and Jeewan Mendis all making 28 to secure the win.Ireland lost Niall O’Brien early on in their innings as he gave Kosala Kulasekara the first of his three wickets. Contributions from captain William Porterfield (24), Andre Botha (20) and Alex Cusack (20) kept Ireland’s score ticking over before Andrew White and Gary Wilson came together, adding 47 runs in quick time to give the total a sheen of respectability.Kulasekara was the most successful of the seven bowlers used by Sri Lanka A, while Chaminda Vidanapathirana and Mendis also chipped in with a wicket apiece. In return, Ireland’s bowers started strongly as Dimuth Karunaratne, Nuwan Zoysa and Dilruwan Perera all fell for single figures.Chamara Kapugedera, who was captaining Sri Lanka A today, prompted a recovery with a quickfire 20 but with his dismissal – by the 17-year-old George Dockrell – half of the Sri Lankan batting line-up was accounted for before the end of the eighth over.The lower middle order rallied, with Prasanna particularly severe on the Irish bowlers, clearing the boundary four times before he became Dockrell’s second victim. Jayasinghe and Mendis then combined to add 47 and power Sri Lanka A’s innings. Cusack bowled Jayasinghe with the first ball of the 19th over, but Mendis remained to guide Sri Lanka A home.

A round-up of the second day of matches from the sixth round of the Regional Four Day Competition

Cricinfo staff21-Feb-2010Shivnarine Chanderpaul led Guyana to a first-innings lead with an unbeaten half-century against Leeward Islands at the National Cricket Centre. Starting the day 148 runs behind Leewards’ first-innings total of 192, Guyana were lifted by Chanderpaul’s steady batting. He was well supported by Gajanand Singh (40), Assad Fudadin (45) and Derwin Christian (45), they closed the day on 266 for 9 with spinner Anthony Martin taking four wickets in the final session. Chanderpaul was still at the crease on 89 and his partner Brandon Bess will do well to assist him to a well-deserved hundred, strengthening Guyana’s position in turn.With a little help from their opponents Windwards Islands, the spin duo Amit Jaggernauth and Imran Khan earned first-innings advantage for Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) as they managed a lead of 75 runs in Port-of-Spain. It was only a 39-run last-wicket stand between Deighton Butler and Kenroy Peters that made the total less shambolic. Khan, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker and offspinner Jaggernauth shared seven wickets among them and cashed in on the numerous errors made by the Windwards batsmen, who failed to get going after beginning the day on 23 for 1. Openers Justin Guillen and Adrian Barath then furthered the advantage with a 101-run stand, which took their overall lead to 211.Barbados tightened their control in the clash against defending champions Jamaica in Trinidad. Resuming on 113 for 1, Barbados took the lead courtesy Sulieman Benn’s impressive 59-ball 54 late on after a middle-order collapse. Barbados then returned to stun the Jamaicans, taking four wickets towards the end to drive home their second innings advantage of 67 runs.

Pakistan will announce a captain for the World Twenty20 in the next couple
of days

Osman Samiuddin14-Mar-2010Pakistan will announce a captain for the World Twenty20 in the next couple
of days, as speculation grows over the identity of the man in the wake of
meetings the board chairman Ijaz Butt is said to have had with a number of
players.On Friday, the selection committee had taken the unusual step of naming a 15-man
squad for the defense of the world title without appointing a captain, and over the weekend Butt is reported to have met four candidates: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq and Salman Butt.The vacancy has arisen out of circumstance: Afridi was meant to be
Pakistan’s captain in the format but the ball-biting incident in
Perth has seen question marks appear over his role. He was banned by the
ICC for two games and has also recently been fined heavily by the board.
Though some in the hierarchy are keen to have him resume the role, there
is said to be opposition after the Perth incident.Shoaib Malik, who took over for two Twenty internationals in Afridi’s absence and has led the side in all three formats, including a run to the World Twenty20 final
in 2007, would’ve been in the running but he is now out of international
cricket for at least a year following a PCB-imposed ban.That leaves few options in the current squad, increasing the chances of,
in particular, Misbah and Razzaq, whose experience will help them. Butt is
said to have held one-on-one meetings with the candidates, though he
refused to comment on them.”In the next few days we will name a captain for the World Twenty20 but
beyond that I will not say anything,” Butt told Cricinfo.There has been speculation over the board wanting to unify the leadership
for all formats. Butt, however, seemed to play that down for now. “We are
only naming a captain for this format and tournament right now and nothing
else,” he said.Pakistan’s next Test and ODI assignment isn’t until this summer when they
head to England to play six Tests against Australia and the hosts, as well
as a series of ODIs. Though they will be in no rush to name a
captain for the other formats, it will be a tricky decision given that
their previous two Test and ODI captains, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf,
are both banned for indefinite periods.Troubles with the leadership began last year when Malik was removed after
a series loss to Sri Lanka amid mounting unrest over his leadership. Since
then, Younis has stepped down twice as captain, to be replaced by Yousuf,
whose own place is now in doubt. Afridi took over as Twenty20 captain when
Younis – having led the side to the title in June 2009 – retired from the format.

Leicestershire celebrated their first away victory in the County Championship for four years when they won for the second time this season despite a defiant century from Derbyshire opener Wayne Madsen

18-Apr-2010
ScorecardNathan Buck added three second-innings wickets to his four in the first to take Leicestershire to victory•Getty Images

Leicestershire celebrated their first away victory in the County Championship for four years when they won for the second time this season despite a defiant century from Derbyshire opener Wayne Madsen.The South African made 109 but highly promising fast bowler Nathan Buck took 3 for 35 and former Derbyshire seamer Andrew Harris also collected three wickets as Leicestershire dismissed the home side for 199 to win by 203 runs with 11.2 overs to spare.Leicestershire won only two Championship matches last season but they now have a 100% record under the leadership of new captain Matthew Hoggard, who took two crucial wickets when Derbyshire looked capable of holding out for a draw.Derbyshire went into the final day needing a notional 390 runs to win but, with their prolific opening batsman Chris Rogers already out, it was a question of trying to bat out time. They could not have hoped for a better first session as Madsen and Paul Borrington denied the Leicestershire bowlers any success before lunch.Borrington faced 94 balls before he hit his first boundary but he did an excellent job for his team and had survived for 167 minutes before he was lbw playing across the line at Hoggard.Leicestershire were convinced they had Madsen caught behind on 71 four balls later, but Hoggard did strike again when Garry Park edged to slip. Hoggard had taken two for 21 in an eight-over post lunch spell but Greg Smith helped Madsen use up 12 more overs until Harris revived his team’s hopes.He had struggled with his line but he got one through Smith’s defences in the 64th over and then tempted Dan Redfern to play at his first ball and edge a catch to the wicketkeeper. When Robin Peterson skied a sweep at Claude Henderson to deep square leg, Derbyshire had lost three wickets for one run in three overs and Leicestershire should have snared another when Lee Goddard was dropped at silly point in the last over before tea.Derbyshire had to survive 34 overs in the final session but Goddard went in the second of them, bowled off stump for a duck as he stretched forward to Henderson. Madsen, who spent 11 overs on 89, reached his first hundred at Derby off 214 balls and was steering his side towards safety when Buck landed a double blow with 17 overs remaining.The teenager got the wicket Leicestershire needed when Madsen was caught at short leg off bat and pad after battling away for two minutes short of five-and-a-half hours, and two balls later Steffan Jones edged low to first slip.Two Derbyshire old boys then sealed victory when Tim Groenewald, having occupied 63 balls in making 12, edged Harris low to Wayne White at third slip to give Leicestershire a 21-point haul and Hoggard another memorable day in his new career at Grace Road.

Cricinfo previews the return match between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils in Mumbai

The Preview by Nitin Sundar12-Apr-2010

Match facts

Mumbai v Delhi, Mumbai
Tuesday, April 13
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Will Delhi’s biggest name fire in a crunch game?•Indian Premier League

Big Picture

Delhi Daredevils have somehow managed to get into a tight spot. After reeling off four successive wins, they misfired against two relatively weak sides to be left competing with the midfield runners in the race to the semi-finals. Gautam Gambhir’s men will be desperate to reverse their losing run against Mumbai Indians, since the margin for error is minimal leading into their final set of league games.
All of Delhi’s three remaining matches are against teams that defeated them in the first half of the tournament. A win against Mumbai, besides taking them to second place, will give them confidence and some elbow-room, while defeat could put them into sudden-death mode. For a side that made it to the last four without much fuss in the previous editions, that will be a tough situation to handle.Mumbai are at the other end of the spectrum: Having almost reached the semis, for the first time in three years, they now have a few games to attain complete perfection ahead of the knockout stage. They were surprised twice in their last three matches and, on each occasion, their batting struggled when Sachin Tendulkar failed. The young Indians manning the top order – Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary – have shown class but not consistency, and Sanath Jayasuriya’s indifferent IPL continued against Rajasthan. In his current form, Tendulkar is capable of taking Mumbai all the way on his own, but it is in his team’s best interests to prepare for every eventuality.

Form guide (most recent first)

Mumbai Indians WLLWW

Delhi Daredevils LLWWW

Team talk

Given Mumbai’s position and the impending World Twenty20, both Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga rightfully deserve breathers. It is unlikely that Mumbai will bench both of them in the same match and, depending on who sits out, either Dhawal Kulkarni or Ryan McLaren can expect to play. Jayasuriya has struggled to 33 runs in four matches and Dhawan deserves to reclaim the opening spot. Can Dwayne Bravo, a match-winner when he gets going, find a way back into the side?
Delhi are unlikely to make any changes despite losing their last game. Ashish Nehra should hold his spot, and so should Mithun Manhas ahead of Kedar Jadhav.

Previously…

Mumbai 2, Delhi 3
When these sides clashed earlier this year, Tendulkar and Tiwary smashed their way to a mammoth 218, which the hosts fell well short of on a Kotla pitch that slowed to a crawl under lights. Thankfully for Delhi, their bowling combination is now quite different to the one that was plundered in that game.

In the spotlight

Virender Sehwag knows he is due for a match-winning innings and must be itching to go after Mumbai’s strong pace attack. Without being even close to his best, he has been Delhi’s best batsman this year, and a Sehwag-special can seal the issue in a matter of overs. Mumbai have used Harbhajan Singh as a striking weapon with the new ball and if these two face off, expect sparks to fly.
It will take a brave man to bet against another Tendulkar show, and Gambhir will have to be spot on with his plans against him. Twice in three games, spin has contributed to his fall and Gambhir’s best bet may be to let his in-form slow men – Amit Mishra and Daniel Vettori – have a go at him.

Prime numbers

• Zaheer, Malinga and Harbhajan hold the 5th, 6th and 8th spots in the race for the purple cap, and have 38 wickets between them. No other team has more than two bowlers in the top-ten
• Sehwag’s 170.52 is the best strike-rate among the top ten run-scorers in the tournament
• Malinga is the only bowler with two entries in the top ten bowling performances of the tournament, with 4 for 22 against Kings XI Punjab and 3 for 12 against Deccan Chargers

The chatter

“I personally would prefer to play away matches as a batsman and bowler.”

“I better make sure I keep scoring fifties.”

The Asian Cricket Council has released the schedule of the 2010 Asia Cup which will be held in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, between June 15 and 24

Cricinfo staff06-May-2010The 2010 Asia Cup will be held in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, between June 15 and 24, the Asian Cricket Council has announced. The tournament comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and hosts Sri Lanka.The tournament gets underway with Sri Lanka taking on Pakistan. Each team plays the other once in a league format after which the top two sides meet in a final. There is also a provision for three reserve days during the league phase, and one for the final. All matches are day-night fixtures.”Funds raised from this tournament will be utilised to support and develop the game in the Asia region,” ACC chief executive Syed Ashraful Haq said in Colombo. “We are already seeing good progress in Afghanistan and Nepal.”Sri Lanka are the current holders of the Asia Cup, having beaten India by 100 runs in the final of the 2008 tournament in Karachi.Schedule
June 15: Sri Lanka vs Pakistan
June 16: India vs Bangladesh
June 17: Reserve day
June 18: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
June 19: Pakistan vs India
June 20: Reserve day
June 21: Pakistan vs Bangladesh
June 22: India vs Sri Lanka
June 23: Reserve day
June 24: Final
June 25: Reserve day

In the five games so far, the team chasing has won all games so tomorrow’s contest offers a chance for the team batting first to get sufficient practice in case they are put in again in the final

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran06-Jun-2010

Match Facts

June 7, 2010
Start time 0900 (0700 GMT)Zimbabwe will have to find an answer to Sri Lanka’s spinners•Associated Press

The Big Picture

India’s inept showing in the tri-series is the main reason why the final league match tomorrow, between the hosts and Sri Lanka, is a dead rubber. What was billed to be an evenly-matched tournament, with India and Sri Lanka sending under-strength teams, has turned into a contest between just two teams. Zimbabwe’s twin victories against India upset all predictions and hence put enormous pressure on India in their final match on Saturday to not only beat Sri Lanka but by a comfortable margin to keep their chances alive. But the Sri Lankans, led by Dinesh Chandimal, oozed class and were the deserved winners. The finalists were already decided and the penultimate game is now a dress rehearsal for the final.In the five games so far, the team chasing has won all games so tomorrow’s contest offers a chance for the team batting first to get sufficient practice in case they are put in again in the final. Zimbabwe struggled against the Sri Lankan spinners in their previous game, which was a very one-sided encounter. If they can work on that area, then the two remaining games should promise to be more competitive. If they could upset India, there’s no reason why Zimbabwe can’t do the same against Sri Lanka.

Form guide (most recent first)

Zimbabwe: WLWLL
Sri Lanka: WWLWL

Watch out for…

Since his record-breaking unbeaten 194 against Bangladesh last year, Charles Coventry has scored just one fifty. Although it’s too much to expect a repeat performance, the best he can do is show more consistency in the middle order, and prove that his blinder of a knock was no fluke. His cameo 32 was crucial in Zimbabwe’s shock win against India in the first match, but in the next two games, he scored just 11 and 20.Sri Lanka’s biggest gain against India on Saturday was Dinesh Chandimal.The wicketkeeper-batsman was initially selected for the World Twenty20 as an attacking T20 batsman, but though he didn’t make much of an impact in the Caribbean, he made the chase of 269 look ridiculously simple, smashing 111. He impressed with his shot selection, footwork and aggressive bent of mind. He looked at ease against pace and spin, and the towering sixes underlined his worth as a promising batsman.

Team news

Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said after Saturday’s game that they will look to experiment before the final and try out some of the players in the bench. Batsman Lahiru Thirimanne hasn’t played a game yet so there’s an opportunity for him. One of the seamers can also be rested, in order to give Dilhara Fernando a game. Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt.), 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Jeewan Mendis, 5 Chamara Kapugedera, 6 Thilan Samaraweera / Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Thissara Perera, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Thilan Thushara / Dilhara Fernando, 11 Ajantha MendisZimbabwe’s Ed Rainsford hasn’t got a game yet. He could replace one of the spinners.Zimbabwe (possible) 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Brendan Taylor (wk) 3 Charles Coventry, 4 Greg Lamb, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Tatenda Taibu, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Andy Blignaut, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Prosper Utseya/Ed Rainsford, 11 Ray Price.

Stats and trivia

• Of his 75 wickets, Ajantha Mendis has 18 of those in Zimbabwe alone.
• Zimbabwe last beat Sri Lanka in an ODI back in April 2003, in Sharjah.
  

  Quotes

  “I’m very impressed with Dinesh Chandimal’s positive intent. I’ve always backed the youngsters to play their natural game.”