Easterns allowed what should have been a comfortable victory over Border intheir first Standard Bank Cup match of the campaign to turn into somethingof a sweat before eventually triumphing by 15 runs.The Border last-wicket pair of Dumisa Makalima and Geoff Love managed to add42 before paceman Andre Nel wrapped up proceedings by bowling Makalima, whohad made 21 off just 29 balls, with the first ball of the 44th over.That gave Nel an analysis of three for 35 and made him, along with AlbieMorkel, who took three for 27 after coming on first change, the mainarchitect of his team’s success from a bowling point of view.Ironically, though, the Easterns attack, including Nel and Morkel, werepartly responsible themselves for Border getting so close to their victorytarget of 190, as they managed to send down 14 wides and five no-balls, oneof the latter for what umpire Mike Gajjar, standing at square leg, ruled a”chuck” by medium-pacer Pierre de Bruyn.Easterns also gave away eight byes in an extras tally of 32, which was 25more than Border had allowed them as they compiled their total of 189 forsix.Border lost too many early wickets to be in with a serious chance ofvictory, with the first six batsmen falling for just 72 to the pace trio ofMorkel, Nel and Kenny Benjamin, before offspinner Derek Crookes, who wouldlater be named man of the match, chipped in with two wickets later on.When Makalima and Love came together at 132 for nine, 58 runs were stillrequired and their task seemed impossible, but with three overs left, therequired number of runs had been reduced to just 21. Five were scored in the43rd over, bowled by left-armer Mike Rindel, leaving them 16 to make off thelast two overs. But the fiery Nel, who had thrown the ball down infrustration at the end of his previous over after a driving Makalima was putdown by substitute fielder Anthony Pollock, steamed in and spreadeagled hisstumps with the next delivery to dismiss Border for 174.Easterns, whose skipper, Deon Jordaan, had won the toss and elected to bat,found themselves in trouble at 65 for four in the 16th over, withwicketkeeper Ian Mitchell having claimed two catches, off opening bowlersVasbert Drakes and Piet Botha, and two stumpings off the bowling ofoffspinner Love.But Jordaan helped redeem his own decision as he and allrounder Crookes setabout fashioning a partnership of 112 for the fifth wicket. Itwas slow but steady as both batsmen reached half-centuries to give the homeside a defendable total. Jordaan eventually perished for 72, bowledby Tyron Henderson, but Crookes stuck around until the end for an unbeaten58.Love was the pick of the visiting bowlers, claiming two for 29 in his nineovers, while Drakes, Botha and Henderson each managed to collect one scalp.

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

ScorecardSamit Patel played a sizeable part as Notts’ run went on•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire’s resurgence continued as a fourth win in five lifted them to third in the Division One table, climbing above Durham and Warwickshire and with ambitions still fixed on overtaking Middlesex to finish the season as runners-up.The result extends the county’s sequence in all formats to 11 wins in 12 completed matches on the eve of a home quarter-final in the Royal London One-Day Cup in which they will seek to avenge last season’s semi-final defeat against Durham, when they were blown away by a Ben Stokes whirlwind at Chester-le-Street.There is no Stokes this time — rested along with Mark Wood after the exertions of the Ashes Test series — and the momentum is with the Trent Bridge side, who have flourished in all formats since former England head coach Peter Moores joined the coaching staff at the end of June.This is their 12th win in all competitions since director of cricket Mick Newell invited Moores to make the short daily commute from his home near Loughborough to impart some of the knowledge and experience that England felt they could manage without.As captain Chris Read explained, it was an opportunity too good to pass up.”I think Mick summed it up at the time when he said we needed some fresh ideas and fresh impetus,” Read said.”Things were not going well. We lost by an innings to Yorkshire at Headingley and to our rivals Derby in the Twenty 20, which were real lows for us.”We were pretty much out of the Twenty20 and in the four-day competition we were in the relegation places. From our point of view as players, and I expect from the coaching staff’s point of view, we had hit a kind of rock bottom. We were not performing anywhere near what we should do.”Having a coach of Peter’s experience five miles down the road sat twiddling his thumbs, it was an obvious thing to approach him and ask to help out.”It is important to understand that he was not brought in as director of cricket or head coach, but just to assist, to see how we were doing, to be an extra pair of hands, a different set of ears and to help make our preparation as good as it can be.”He has had a big influence but it would be hard for someone of his pedigree not to, bringing such a wealth of coaching experience to the dressing room. The way he has worked one to one with players has been magnificent and I know our top order batsmen have benefited greatly from that.”Read stressed, however, that in his view the arrival of Moores has not been the only factor behind Nottinghamshire’s change in fortunes.”We took some tactical decisions regarding the pitches we play on here,” he said. “We wanted to play on pitches that were good for batting and had some pace for the bowlers and I think we’ve had that over the last few weeks.”I should mention the other backroom staff and the work ethic of the players, which has improved greatly since we realised we were not up to scratch.”The win over Warwickshire perhaps reflected that. Having failed to make any inroads on the third afternoon after enforcing the follow-on, it took only 14 deliveries on the third morning for the first breakthrough to be made and thereafter there was never a period in which Warwickshire were allowed to settle.Ian Westwood got a thin bottom edge to a ball from Jake Ball that Chris Read took comfortably, Laurie Evans never looked comfortable and, having escaped unscathed from two Chinese cuts off Harry Gurney, he followed a delivery from Ball that should have gone past him harmlessly down the leg side and gave Read another catch, taking him to 998 dismissals in first-class matches.By lunch, Brett Hutton had accounted for Jonathan Trott, leg before trying to whip the ball away on the leg side, and Sam Hain, who chipped a catch to Luke Wood at short mid-wicket.William Porterfield made a worthy captain’s effort at leading the resistance, batting for more than four hours for his 61, but after Samit Patel had trapped Tim Ambrose leg before, the Irishman was out in agonising fashion, the ball squeezing under his bat and rolling into the stumps.There was always a threat that rain would rescue Warwickshire but it never materialised as anything heavier than drizzle. The light was poor enough for the floodlights to be required and Read was obliged to keep his quicker bowlers out of the picture in order to keep the contest going.Yet in the end the combination of Patel’s left-arm spin and Steven Mullaney’s off-cutters, aided by the luxury of being able to crowd the batsmen with close fielders with runs conceded not a concern, was enough to complete the job.Keith Barker and Rikki Clarke brought their experience to bear in holding Nottinghamshire up but once Barker had been caught superbly at short leg by Riki Wessels, Clarke had no one able to stay with him. Jeetan Patel, not a man to block, scored 28 from 22 balls before slicing a wide ball to point before Samit Patel claimed the last two wickets for figures of four for 23 from 22.1 overs, wrapping up victory at 5.20pm with 12.5 overs to spare.

ScorecardStafanie Taylor cuts during her unbeaten 98•WICB Media/Randy Brooks of Brooks LaTouche Photo

West Indies women’s captain Stafanie Taylor overwhelmed Pakistan women with a powerful all-round performance, making an unbeaten 98 and then taking 3 for 26 in ten overs to secure a 109-run victory for her team in St. Lucia.Pakistan had made a promising start after choosing to bowl and had West Indies at 57 for 3 in 10.1 overs. Taylor then put on 130 runs with Merrisa Aguilleira, who was run out for 68. Kyshona Knight’s 45 off 40 balls added the finishing touches as West Indies powered to 281 for 5. Taylor, on 90, had faced the last four balls of the innings but could manage to score only two off each delivery, finishing two runs short of a century.Pakistan’s chase of a challenging target barely got off the ground. Javeria Khan played a sole hand, making an unbeaten 73 at No. 3, but no one else got past 20. Taylor cut through the middle order, taking three successive wickets to reduce Pakistan from 93 for 3 to 125 for 6. They were eventually restricted to 172 for 9 in 50 overs.

Umar Akmal has been left out of Pakistan’s T20 squad for the series against England in the UAE after being handed a show-cause notice for “bringing the PCB and Pakistan Cricket into disrepute.”

Pakistan T20 squad

In: Rafatullah Mohmand, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sarfraz Ahmed, Anwar Ali
Out Mukhtar Ahmed, Umar Akmal
Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Rafatullah Mohmand, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Imad Wasim (Subject to fitness, otherwise Bilal Asif), Imran Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz, Aamer Yamin

It is understood that Akmal attended a party in Hyderabad without the requisite permission during the current Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match between Hyderabad and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited.Chief selector Haroon Rashid said: “Umar Akmal had been pencilled in for selection, but he has subsequently been dropped on instructions from the Board, as he has been issued with a show cause notice for bringing PCB and Pakistan Cricket into disrepute.”The selectors have also handed a call-up to uncapped 39-year-old Rafatullah Mohmand who is in contention to open the batting. In 2009, Rafatullah was part of the world-record second-wicket stand in first-class cricket when he added 580 with Aamer Sajjad for Water and Power Development Authority.Imad Wasim’s position in the T20 squad is subject to fitness and if he is not available allrounder Bilal Asif will take his place.Meanwhile, Iftikhar Ahmed has been called into the ODI squad to fill the space created by Younis Khan’s retirement following the first match of the series in Abu Dhabi.”Having experience of playing first class cricket for many years, with his form, sound technique and fitness, and also given his fielding credentials, Rafatullah Mohmand has been afforded an opportunity as he was considered to have potential to feature in an international T20 competition as an opener,” Rashid said.”Iftikhar has filled in the spot vacated by Younis Khan in ODIs; it was considered that he also be tried in the T20 format on the back of his performance on the domestic T20 circuit.”

Gloucestershire Gladiators moved up to third in National League DivisionOne on Saturday, with a 51 run victory over the Yorkshire Phoenix. Ian Harveyturned in a marvellous all-round performance, whilst Mike Smith sent downthe match winning spell of the day, as Yorkshire chased after 211.The left-arm quick removed Gary Fellows with the first ball of the innings,trapped leg before. Michael Vaughan struggled 21 balls for his six,. beforehe was brilliantly stumped by Russell, standing up to Smith. Smith’s thirdwicket came from the first ball of his eighth over, Richard Blakey wellcaught by Jack Russell. The damage had been done.Earlier in the day, Ian Harvey had set up the Gloucestershire innings.During his 45 ball 52, he cracked eight boundaries, most of them well timedthrough the leg side. Harvey was well supported by a gutsy Jack Russell, whoscampered for 37. Rob Cunliffe, with 34, set up the innings, crashing theball through the off side. Michael Vaughan picked up four wickets as theGladiators closed on 211.After Smith’s onslaught, there was no way back for Yorkshire. Skipper DavidByas made a solid 38, and Lehman threatened briefly, before he skied onefrom the bowling of Cawdron. Harvey continued his great day, picking up twowickets in two balls, Byas and Middlebrook with slower yorkers. James Averisand Mike Cawdron did their bit, with three and two cheap wickets respectively. It was a marvellous day for the Gladiators.

With just two overs play possible in which the vsitors made 5-0 Surrey andSussex will resume their NatWest fourth-round match at The Oval tomorrow.

The Central Zone Ranji Trophy match between Rajasthan and UttarPradesh was in an interesting stage at the end of the second day. Atthe KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday, the hosts were 183 for fiveat stumps in reply to UP’s first innings total of 270.A fine all round show by AW Zaidi highlighted the day’s play. First hescored 53 at No 8 and played a leading role in UP, 196 for six whenthey resumed, reaching 270. The two overnight batsmen Zaidi and MohdSaif (67) added 68 runs for the seventh wicket. Though there wasprecious little batting after this, Zaidi kept the innings going untilhe was ninth out at 262 in the 120th over. While Saif batted fourhours, faced 202 balls and hit five of them to the ropes, Zaidi faced109 balls and hit five fours.When Rajasthan batted, Zaidi continued his good work with the ball andtook three of the first four wickets that fell with only 78 runsscored. Among them was the important wicket of skipper Gagan Khoda(20). Saket Bhatia and PK Kumar (41) then added 63 runs for the fifthwicket and finally Bhatia and Sanjeev Sharma put on 42 runs during anunbroken sixth wicket partnership till stumps. For his unbeaten 52,Bhatia has faced 98 balls and has had eight boundary hits. Sharma ison 22 and much will depend on this pair on Wednesday. Zaidi by closehad figures of three for 49. Play was stopped 3.2 overs early due tobad light.

Orissa humiliated Tripura by an innings and 156 runs in their EastZone Ranji Trophy encounter at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadiumin Agartala on Sunday. After being dismissed on the first day for 114,Tripura allowed Orissa to make 378 for four declared, powered mainlyby an innings of 178 from Shiv Sunder Das. At the end of the secondday, Tripura were 29/1 after 15 overs and in deep trouble.On Sunday, Orissa needed just 30.4 overs to take the remaining nineTripura wickets. C Sachdev at number four managed a brisk 56, but wastotally unsupported. With eight batsmen failing to make it to doubledigits, Tripura were all out for a paltry 108. Leg spinner JagannathDas was the most successful bowler and ended up with 4/28 off his 13.4overs. This gave visitors Orissa victory by the huge margin of aninnings and 156 runs with a day to spare, and eight points from thematch.

• 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 :

• 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.