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• It was the 1721st ODI in cricket history.
• It was England’s 327th and Australia’s 483rd ODI match.
• It was the 68th match between these two sides. The record now reads :Australia 35, England 31,tied one and abandoned one.
• Umpires John Hampshire and Ray Julian were officiating in their 20thand sixth match respectively.
• Karachi born Owais Shah became 163rd player to represent England inODIs.
• The two wickets in this match has taken Darren Gough’s tally to 58 inthe matches in England – more than any one else. Gough was earlier atlevel with 56 wickets with Ian Botham. The accompanying table liststhe leading bowlers on English soil :

Bowler	Wkts	For	Mts	Balls	Runs	Ave	Best	SR	RpO	5W
D Gough	58	Eng	34	1948	1326	22.86	5/44	33.59	4.08	1
IT Botham	56	Eng	47	2843	1824	32.57	4/45	50.77	3.85	0
RGD Willis	45	Eng	32	1949	1005	22.33	4/11	43.31	3.09	0
CM Old	36	Eng	24	1411	782	21.72	4/8	39.19	3.33	0
AME Roberts	36	WI	21	1297	692	19.22	4/27	36.03	3.2	0
RJ Hadlee	33	NZ	21	1377	714	21.64	5/25	41.73	3.11	1
MA Holding	33	WI	19	1156	568	17.21	4/33	35.03	2.95	0
CC Lewis	30	Eng	20	1153	893	29.77	4/40	38.43	4.65	0

• Ricky Ponting (102) scored his first hundred against England andeighth in his ODI career. His previous highest against England was 75*at Melbourne on 15-01-1999
• England has now lost seven matches at a trotit second worst run inODIs. It had lost 8 consecutive matches from 25-10-1989 to 23-05-1990.England also had three other sequences of defeat in seven consecutivematches .Incidentally the ODI record of most consecutive defeats isheld by Bangladesh who lost 22 matches before registering its maidenvictory against Kenya at Hyderabad on 17-05-1998.
• The defeat was England’s fifth in as many matches against Australiawhich equalled its worst run against Australia. England had also lostfive consecutive matches against Australia from 06-06-1981 to23-01-1983
• Ricky Ponting was winning his tenth Man of the Match award – hissecond in successive matches.

Match facts

August 20-24, 2015
Start time 1000 local (0430 GMT)4:07

Agarkar: Pujara should replace Rohit if Vijay is fit

Big Picture

The hashtags are out, and it wouldn’t take too long for #SangaSignsOff to take over the online world much as his batting did the real one. The sheer weight of runs, his remarkable consistency and a never-ending thirst to get better deserves a bright and shiny spotlight. But let us not forget there is a Test match to win. A Test series to win. And if anything, Kumar Sangakkara himself will prefer to retire as a match-winner, holding the trophy aloft.The signs towards that are strong. The P Sara Oval is a result-oriented venue – only four of the 18 matches played have been drawn – and Sri Lanka have won eight of them, including their last match here at the ground when they bundled Pakistan out for 138 in the first innings. If number nine happens, it might well be the most famous one of them all.Not many players enjoy as much of a surge as Sangakkara has had in the final few years of his career. In 2014, at the age of 36, he scored the most runs he has ever made in a calendar year. In 2015, he scored his 11th double-century. Talk about retiring on a high. Sri Lanka will no doubt miss the comfort of having one of Test cricket’s best sauntering in at No. 3. But the essence behind his success has been hard work and a desire to always keep up with international cricket, whether by changing his batting grip, or by facing millions of balls in the nets. That can be replicated by the willing.The Indians, though, will want to sharpen their party-pooper skills. A lot. Their credibility against spin has been brought to question. Reasons range far and wide. Overeager against Moeen Ali and Nathan Lyon. Afraid against Rangana Herath. Unprepared as a result of domestic pitches becoming far less inclined to turn. But since immediate change is required, lest India careen to a seventh successive overseas Test series without a win, the onus is on the touring batsmen themselves.Perhaps also on the Indian team management regarding the decision to bench a batsman to stick to their five-bowler plan. Stuart Binny, the seam-bowling allrounder, has been added to the Test squad and talks of his inclusion appear strong. He is a decent option in the lower-middle order, and a steady bowler when Virat Kohli needs things kept quiet. However, India will want to make sure that the match doesn’t hinge on the batting exploits of a No. 7 but rather from one or two of the top order.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

Sri Lanka: WLWLL
India: LDDDL
One last time: Kumar Sangakkara will be hoping to sign out of cricket in style•AFP

In the spotlight

At a time when India are scrambling for batting solidity, M Vijay slotting back in at the top of the order can be a game-changer. He has shown his hunger for runs -1082 runs in 12 matches since January 2014 – and he has faced 2340 balls in that time, the most by an Indian. His judgment outside the off stump has been a striking feature of his success, and he is one of those nimble-footed players, who move late and are capable of dominating spin.Sri Lanka have had their issues with the opening combination as well recently. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva have shown more than enough ability to be persisted with, but they will want to put in a better performance considering the occasion. No Sri Lankan will want to be remembered as a failure in a match that carries such significance.

Team news

Shikhar Dhawan’s injury has taken a form batsman away from India. But luckily for them, M Vijay, appears to have recovered quite nicely. He netted well yesterday and could well reclaim his opening slot in Colombo. Besides that, there might be a chance Binny gets a look-in, perhaps at the cost of Harbhajan Singh. Then there is the Rohit Sharma v Cheteshwar Pujara debate.India (probable) 1 M Vijay, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Rohit Sharma/ Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 Harbhajan Singh/ Stuart Binny, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Varun AaronFast bowler Nuwan Pradeep has a hamstring problem and could be forced out of the XI. The Sri Lankan team has back ups in the form of Dushmantha Chameera, who has been called as the country’s quickest, and left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Jehan Mubarak, 7 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 8 Dhammika Prasad, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Tharindu Kaushal, 11 Dushmantha Chameera/ Vishwa Fernando

Pitch and conditions

The P Sara Oval is traditionally the most seamer-friendly of all the pitches in Sri Lanka. Oddly enough, teams still have preferred batting first and that has more often than not backfired. In addition to the captains at the toss, an eye needs to be kept on the weather. Showers are forecast on all five days of the Test.

Stats and trivia

• India have come from 0-1 down to win a Test series only twice – against Australia in 2001 and against England in 1972
• If Kumar Sangakkara scores a century, he will become the 34th cricketer to finish his career with a century in his final Test. The last one to do so, Jacques Kallis, was playing against India as well

Wolverhampton Wanderers were subjected to a shock comeback by Leeds United at Molineux on Friday night as Bruno Lage’s side squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2.

First-half goals from Jonny Otto and Francisco Trincao had the hosts on course for a third consecutive victory in the Premier League before Raul Jimenez’s red card completely turned the game, with goals from Jack Harrison, Rodrigo and Luke Ayling completing a sensational comeback for Jesse Marsch’s team.

The defeat is a major dent in Wolves’ hopes of securing European football for next season, with the performance certainly being a disappointment, and the display of Willy Boly was particularly under par in the West Midlands.

The centre-back has had a wretched time with injury, having made his first Premier League appearance of the season against Watford recently, with Friday being just his second top-flight outing in 2021/22.

However, according to SofaScore, the Frenchman gave the ball away on 18 occasions, and having had 71 touches, he lost possession once every 3.9 touches in what was a disappointing performance.

Moreover, the 31-year-old maintained a pass completion rate of 75% and completed just three out of 13 attempted long balls, a success rate of 23%. From a defensive point of view, there was little to boast about either, with the defender making just one tackle and one interception whilst failing to record a single block.

However, one positive was that Boly won over half of his duels, with a 54% success rate.

Of course, the Frenchman wasn’t the only player to contribute a below-par showing on Friday night as Wolves threw away a fantastic chance to climb into sixth and put pressure on Tottenham and West Ham once again.

The defeat now keeps them in eighth ahead of the remaining Premier League matches, with Spurs having two games in hand and a two-point advantage, leaving the Old Gold’s European hopes dangling by a thread.

It would have been particularly disappointing to see Boly struggle after a long period out of action, with the defender certainly being a fan favourite at Molineux. The 31-year-old was a kingpin in Wolves’ promotion season in 2017/18 and has since gone on to make 81 appearances in the top flight for the Black Country outfit.

Wolves’ defence has been largely excellent season, with Lage’s men conceding just 26 goals in 30 matches, the fourth-best record in the Premier League.

It will be a record that the manager will be keen to preserve for the remainder of the campaign, but it appears as though Boly could harm the team’s chances of maintaining such a fine concession rate.

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The regular trio of Conor Coady, Romain Saiss and Max Kilman have formed an impressive alliance as the season has progressed. However, Kilman was relegated to the bench against Leeds, and that now appears to have been a costly error by Lage.

With eight games to go, the West Midlands outfit will need to put an excellent run together in order to ensure that they will be playing in European competition next season, and to that end they will require better performances than what Boly delivered last night. Unfortunately, the 31-year-old failed the test presented to him by his manager upon being thrown into the team against Leeds.

In other news: Lage could unearth Jonny 2.0 at Wolves in “aggressive” and “composed” 20 y/o

Vaughan- in the runs Photo CricInfo

Test match batting preparation aplenty was on offer for England in perfect batting conditions against Canterbury in Christchurch today but, Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain and to a lesser extent Craig White excepted, England failed to make the most of their chances.Cricket in Christchurch played in the idyllic weather and surroundings of today is cricket as it should be played and the dreams of the city’s planners of the mid-19th Century were realised at the mid-city complex of Hagley Oval.Yet even the almost English setting, a goal of those town planners, was not sufficient to prevent England also suffering problems.The middle-order batting collapse, the curse of recent England performances, reared its head again in benign conditions before White led a recovery which saw England with a 188-run lead by stumps.Vaughan, despite his lack of appearances on New Zealand soil, is shaping as the most serious contender for batsman of the tour, and that is based on an obvious delight, even in only two appearances so far, in scoring runs and spending time in the middle. This is a player most countries would nurture and encourage.”I couldn’t have asked for a better day. We had the best of the conditions and I needed a score,” he said in reflecting on his masterful 156, scored off 198 balls and including 23 fours.It is amazing to believe that a batsman of such quality has to stand in a queue for a Test match place when he has looked the player most likely to succeed. His attitude of putting the pressure back on the selectors to pick him was confirmed afterwards.”All I concentrated on was putting pressure on by scoring a big hundred.”The make-up of the team is not down to me, I just hope that when the team is named on Wednesday I am in there,” he said.Vaughan, who shared a 207-run stand with Hussain, felt no ill effects of the shoulder dislocation that forced him to leave the field during the fourth One-Day International in Auckland.”My shoulder is fine when I’m batting and is getting better by the day.”I was always going to be playing in this game after having had treatment on the shoulder in Queenstown.”I had no reaction from it when I was batting and I felt free to play any shot. I felt in good touch. We cashed in on some balls that were there to be hit and that is the secret of batting,” he said.Hussain batted like a player still trying to get the one-day series out of his system, which he was after being excused from the first three-day game against Otago earlier in the week. He was much more controlled than Vaughan who was very much the senior partner of their stand.His innings of 69 took 121 balls and ended when he attempted a sharp single, of his own calling, but he didn’t allow for Canterbury square leg fieldsman Gary Stead fielding the ball cleanly and breaking the stumps at the bowler’s end with his throw.The run out came one run after Vaughan’s dismissal and was followed soon after by Mark Ramprakash who was caught by short leg fieldsman Robbie Frew as he attempted to turn a ball from off-spinner Paul Wiseman.Then Andrew Flintoff suffered the mortification of continuing the tumble when hitting a full toss straight back to bowler Chris Harris to be out for one.Four wickets had fallen for eight runs.Usman Afzaal was joined by White and they added 43 runs before Afzaal became the first victim of the new ball, being caught from Warren Wisneski’s bowling for 19 from 56 balls. James Foster was bowled by Wisneski four runs later to leave England 333/7.The chance for Canterbury to wrap up the innings was lost when Ashley Giles was dropped by point fieldsman Shanan Stewart when on nine. He had the ball in his hands but in rolling over he lost the ball.Hitting out in celebration, Giles helped White add 50 for the eighth wicket before he cut at a ball from Wisneski which lobbed to Harris at gully.White brought up his 50 off 114 balls, having his seven fours. By stumps soon after he was 53 not out and Andy Caddick was four not out.Wisneski had problems with his rhythm during the morning but when he returned with the second new ball he proved a much more difficult customer for the batsmen and he ended the day with three for 88.Young tyro Wade Cornelius came in for some stick and had one wicket, Mark Butcher, at a cost of 85 runs. Wiseman had two for 70 from 17 overs.The real pressure goes on the England attack tomorrow. To knock over Canterbury which hasn’t been one of the harder assignments for side’s in recent domestic history, more bowlers than Caddick have to fire.

Brenton Parchment, West Indies’ debutant opener, has been charged with a Level 2 breach of the ICC’s Code of Conduct regulations for running into Dale Steyn while batting during the second day of the third Test in DurbanParchment, if found guilty, could face a 50% fine on his match fee and/or a one Test or two ODI ban for his offence, which falls under article 2.4 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct regulations which refers to “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play.”The on-field umpires, Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar, third umpire Brian Jerling and reserve umpire Zed Ndamane, reported to match referee Roshan Mahanama that Parchment had run into Steyn in the eighth over of West Indies’ second innings.Mahanama has scheduled a hearing on the matter, which will take place at the end of the third day’s play.

Sialkot did well on the opening day to restrict Karachi Harbour to a score of 235 for 8 at the National Stadium in Karachi. With opening bowler Kashif Raza drawing first blood and offspinner Tariq Mahmood later taking three wickets, Karachi Harbour lost their way a little after opting to bat first on a wicket that looked full of runs.The opening partnership between Khalid Latif and the in-form Wajihuddin was worth 64 in exactly two hours’ time. Wajihuddin, fresh from a half-century in either innings of the previous match against Faisalabad, was the first to go after having scored 47 off 104 balls with six fours.Latif was the next to go, after making a slow but defiant 22 off 111 deliveries with a four and a six. Naumanullah then saw his team slump to 87 for 4 with Tariq sending Aariz Kamal and the prolific Fawad Alam, for a duck, back in a matter of eight balls.Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed lifted Karachi’s spirits through a 61-run stand for the fifth wicket with his captain Naumanullah. Sarfraz, who led the victorious Pakistan Under-19 side to victory in the World Cup in Sri Lanka last year, scored a fighting 70 off 138 balls with seven fours. Naumanullah hit a brisk 44 off 72 balls with seven boundaries.Later, only the eighth-wicket pair of Anwar Ali and Atiq Maqbool showed some resistance. Anwar was still at the crease with an unbeaten 23 to his name, having hit two fours and a six while facing 58 balls.Opener Agha Sabir made a fighting century as Karachi Urban looked good for a place in the Gold League final against Faisalabad at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1 in Karachi.By the close of play, Karachi Urban, currently placed second behind defending champions Sialkot in the points table, had reached an impressive total of 288 for 6. Karachi got off to a poor squad after opener Asif Zakir was bowled by Tauqeer Hussain for a duck off the first ball he faced. Saeed Bin Nasir and captain Hasan Raza both struck form after having failed miserably in the previous round match against Sialkot. Sabir and Saeed added 117 for the second wicket in just over two hours 20 minutes.Sabir’s 102 came off 174 balls with nine fours and a six. Saeed made 52 off 123 balls with seven fours and a six. Sabir added 87 for the third-wicket with Raza, who scored 41 off 86 balls with five boundaries. Asim Kamal, having recently returned from Pakistan’s tour of South Africa, failed with a score of six. Faisal Iqbal, however, made 31 not out and shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 53 with Imran Javed (23).Rain washed out the opening day of the match between Peshawar and Lahore Shalimar at Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Stadium. Peshawar, champions twice before in 1998-99 and 2004-05, although currently placed at number five in the points table with 18 points, have an outside chance of making the Gold League final if they attain an outright win in this match with the full nine points.At the same time, they would hope that the two top sides in the ranking — Sialkot and Karachi Urban — do not add to their tally of 24 points each. With the first day lost to rain and no prospect of play on the second day either, it is a setback.Lahore Shalimar too are looking for a win here. They are at rock bottom in the table with a mere six points from their previous five matches of which they have won none. Only an outright victory over Peshawar can help them avoid demotion to next season’s Silver League circuit.

© Cricinfo

Gerry Hill, who played as an allrounder for Hampshire for more than two decades, has died at the age of 92.Hill made his debut in 1932 after being spotted playing cricket by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the New Forest, and played through to 1954.His best season was in 1935, when he took 93 wickets, including a career-best 8 for 62 against Kent at Tonbridge, a performance which earned him his county cap. He batted in all 11 positions for Hampshire with four centuries, including a top score of 161 against Sussex at Portsmouth. At one time Hill was the unwelcome owner of the record for the most runs conceded in an over (32).

Simon Katich moves up to open ahead of Michael Clarke, who remains at No. 6© Getty Images

Michael Clarke’s stunning success as Australia’s VB Series opener has been overlooked in favour of giving Simon Katich a chance alongside Adam Gilchrist. Clarke will stay at No. 6 for the third one-day game against New Zealand as Australia push to settle the series tomorrow with two matches remaining.A shoulder injury ruled Matthew Hayden out of the Auckland clash and Clarke, who has been frustrated by his small amount of batting time, was expected to be promoted. Katich has played 12 ODIs and opened the batting twice with scores of 2 against India last year and 38 against Pakistan in January. Clarke harvested 334 runs at the top of the order during the summer and ousted Hayden for the finals against Pakistan.”There’s no great science behind it,” Ricky Ponting said. “We just like to give Simon a go at the top. We probably feel he’s better suited there in that type of role as well, at the top of the order.”Clarke will continue to be Australia’s versatile batsman. “We see him as being one of those guys that are pretty flexible in any position in the order,” Ponting said. “After the VB series we know he can open and do it well and we know he can bat at five, six and seven and finish games off.” Ponting was hopeful Hayden would be available for Tuesday’s fourth game at Wellington’s Basin Reseve.Glenn McGrath has been rested after taking 4 for 16 at Wellington and 2 for 42 at Christchurch. He will be replaced by Michael Kasprowicz in a move that will please the New Zealand top order, which has struggled in the opening overs against McGrath and Brett Lee. Mike Hussey held his spot after making 32 from 20 balls in the second match.Australia 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Mike Hussey, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Jason Gillespie, 11 Michael Kasprowicz.

Dhaka 302 for 7 (Halim 89*, Niamur 62) lead Barisal 193 (Hossain 55, Rafique 4-60) by 209
ScorecardKhaled Mahmud, fighting for his place in the national side, made a dought half-century in a rearguard action for for Dhaka. In reply to Barisal’s 193, Mahmud’s side were struggling at 54 for 4 when Mahmud and Halim Shah came together. They added 89 runs before Mahmud was out for 51, but Halim went on to remain not out on 89 at the close of the second day, as Dhaka finished on 302 for 7. Naimur Rashid hit a fiesty 62, while Fahim Muntasir made 34 not out.Khulna 160 and 129 for 8 (Parvez 48) lead Sylhet 80 (Razzaq 7-11) by 209 runs
ScorecardKhulna were well on top in a low-scoring match, getting Sylhet out for 80 after making 160 in their first innings. The star of the match was Abdur Razzaq, a left-arm spinner, who took 7 for 11 in just 16.1 overs. Only Imtiaz Hossain, with a gritty 30, provided any resistance, as the Sylhet innings lasted 50 overs and one ball. In their second innings, Khulna extended their lead to 209, as Raju Parvez made 48 of the 129 runs they scored for the loss of eight wickets.Rajshahi 234 (Nuruzzaman 39, Arafat 7-62) lead Chittagong 191 for 7 (Hakim 53, Saifullah 4-54) by 43 runs
ScorecardYasin Arafat’s 7 for 62 was largely responsible for Rajshahi being all out for 234, but Saifullah Khan’s 4 for 54 in 32 overs kept the game on a tight edge, as Chittagong were 43 runs behind at the end of the second day, with just three wickets in hand. Faisal Hossain, whose 21 not out occupied all of 76 balls, was Chittagong’s best hope.

Australia’s tour of South Africa squelched soggily to a halt in Potchefstroom on Monday with only 36 overs play possible on the second day of the three-day match against South Africa `A’. When play was abandoned for the day at 4.30pm, the tourists had lifted their overnight score from 218 for three to 351 for eight.The good news for Australia, though, was a century for Ricky Ponting and an unbeaten 91 for captain Steve Waugh. Given the conditions, this was probably about as much as the tourists could have hoped for ahead of the first Test match which starts at the Wanderers on Friday.There may be a chance for the Australian bowlers to have a run on Tuesday’s final day, provided the weather holds off. Ideally, Australia would have liked the chance for their attack to reacquaint themselves with the Highveld bounce, but in the circumstances it was obviously more important for their batsmen to spend time in the middle.Ponting spent most of it on Sunday, but he moved quickly to his hundred on Monday morning with a couple of cracking boundaries and then a single off Andre Nel, put on standby for Shaun Pollock in the Test squad.Ponting moved on to 120 before he fell, caught at the wicket cutting at left-arm wrist-spinner Gulam Bodi at 271 for four and Damien Martyn went soon afterwards for 1, top-edging a sweep against Claude Henderson.Adam Gilchrist could, perhaps, have done with runs ahead of the Test match, but he made only 16 before Andrew Hall had him caught at slip. Hall had taken the first two wickets to fall on Sunday and he proceeded to make it five for the innings by trapping Shane Warne leg before for a duck as he shouldered arms and then having Brett Lee caught at slip for 6.Lee’s wicket fell during a brief nine-over interlude after lunch and when the rain started falling again, the players disappeared for the rest of the afternoon.It has been a frustrating couple of days at one of South Africa’s best-equipped venues. There could still be time enough on the final day for the Australian bowlers to stretch themselves and, from a South African point of view, for the likes of Daryll Cullinan, Jacques Rudolph and Graeme Smith to make a point to the selectors. Any such point might be too late for the first Test, but it is a racing certainty that the 11 chosen by South Africa for first Test will not go unchanged throughout the series.