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ScorecardSaad Ali was unbeaten at the finish•Getty Images

Pakistan Under-19s improved on their already impressive bowling performance in the first one-dayer to rout Australia Under-19s for 139, setting up a seven-wicket victory that clinched the three-match series. A succession of useful contributions from the top-order batsmen allowed the visitors to reach the target with 15.2 overs to spare.Pakistan had dismissed Australia for 187 in the first match, after choosing to field, and Babar Azam asked the hosts to bat once again. Australia reached 14 before losing their first two wickets in the space of three runs. The promising Kurtis Patterson was run out for a duck.They slipped to 53 for 4 before Cameron Bancroft and Travis Head had a 52-run partnership. However, they too fell in quick succession and after that the end was swift. Fast bowler Zia-ul-Haq claimed 3 for 20 in seven overs, while Azizullah and Ehsan Adil conceded less than two runs per over.Australia’s bowlers struck at regular intervals but they needed to knife through the Pakistan line-up to pose a challenge and they were unable to do so. All of the top five batsmen got past 20 and Saad Ali raised the tempo, scoring 36 off 33 balls to secure victory in the 35th over.”We started quite well at the top with Peirson and Bancroft and we were quite aggressive but unfortunately in the batting side of things there wasn’t many positives after that,” Patterson said after the defeat. “The bowling was good early on, we bowled quite patiently but at the end of the day 139 is just not really enough.”We have gone two games in a row now where we have massively underachieved and especially today as the pitch was even better, to only get 140 on a flat wicket is really under par and we need to particularly work on our play to spin as well as our play to pace as well.”

Daniel Vettori has become the Big Bash League’s first international signing for this season, agreeing to a three-year deal with the Brisbane Heat. The BBL contract window opened on Monday and the eight teams have a fortnight to lock in the majority of their players, which can include two from overseas, and all players are up for grabs having become free agents after the first BBL.But Vettori was keen to continue his association with Brisbane and Queensland, which began when he turned out for the Bulls in the 2009-10 Big Bash. Last summer he returned to the Gabba, playing three games for the Brisbane Heat in between his commitments for Northern Districts in New Zealand’s Twenty20 tournament, which ran at the same time.”I had a really good time last season,” Vettori said. “They were a great bunch of blokes led by a top coach in Darren Lehmann and his support staff, which made for a very enjoyable environment to play cricket in. It was a pretty easy decision to make to come back. It’s another chance to play in front of the fans at the Gabba which is a great ground.”It’s nice to have the security with the three-year deal. Knowing you can commit to the team and the fans for the next few seasons, it means you know where you are going to be and can plan around that. I’m looking forward to it.”Again this year, Vettori will juggle his responsibilities for Northern Districts with his BBL matches, which will mean regular flights between Australia and New Zealand. However, he said his preparation was not too badly affected last season and he believed he would be able to handle the dual commitments again.”It was difficult at times but still manageable for me last season,” Vettori said. “It doesn’t really affect your performance. You have to make sure you are prepared and up for every game when it comes around.”Darren Lehmann, the Brisbane Heat coach, said Vettori was an important member of the squad last season, when the Heat finished fifth and narrowly missed a place in the semi-finals.”Dan showed last season his value for us,” Lehmann said. “He’s a great leader on and off the field where he is always a highly motivated team member. As a coach, he’s the ultimate professional. I think he’s a wonderful fit for the Heat and would expect that he will perform an important role for us for the next few seasons.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAngelo Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekara celebrate victory after a thrilling finish•AFP

Smart stats

• Sri Lanka’s two-wicket win is their narrowest margin of victory against Pakistan (in terms of wickets). It also equals their closest win in terms of the number of balls remaining (two balls).

• The target of 248 is also the highest chased by Sri Lanka in ODIs against Pakistan at the Premadasa stadium. Overall, it is the third-highest target chased by any team at the venue.

• The series win is Sri Lanka’s third in their last four series (bilateral series) against Pakistan. Their previous two series wins were 2-1 in Pakistan (2009) and 3-2 in Sri Lanka (2009).

• Angelo Mathews’ 80 is the highest score in a chase by a Sri Lankan batsman against Pakistan at the Premadasa stadium and the third-highest for them against Pakistan at the venue.

• Mathews’ strike rate of 105.26 is the highest for a Sri Lankan for a fifty-plus score against Pakistan at the venue.

• Umar Akmal’s half-century is his 15th in ODIs and fifth against Sri Lanka. He averages 51.27 against Sri Lanka while his overall average is 38.48.

• This is the fifth occasion that Mahela Jayawardene has been dismissed for a first-ball duck.

• Mohammad Sami conceded 75 runs off 9.4 overs. This is fourth-highest on the list of most runs conceded by a Pakistan bowler against Sri Lanka and the highest by a Pakistan bowler in Sri Lanka.

Pakistan’s journey to defeat in the final game that decided the series was an emotional ride, which had several moments of satisfaction and relief, but ultimately ended in frustration and regret. The satisfaction was because of a significantly improved batting performance that cast aside memories of a dispiriting collapse in the previous ODI, they experienced relief after wriggling out of difficult situations they’d created, the brief-but costly-spells of wayward bowling were a source of frustration, but the emotion that will linger will be the regret of an insipid fielding display that undermined each forward step. Amid all this, Angelo Mathews was a figure of calm and assuredness, and not for the first time he rescued Sri Lanka from trouble and fashioned a thrilling victory with the tail.Not quite the “tail”, since Sri Lanka’s No. 9 – Jeevan Mendis – has nine first-class hundreds. Nuwan Kulasekara did his bit too, but Mathews’ presence was the key. With his team on 138 for 6 in the 35th over, Pakistan were the favourites. Mathews didn’t flinch. He was selective in the balls he picked to dispatch, displayed confidence in his lower-order team-mates, indulged in a lot of touch-play and placement to work the gaps, all the while reminding his opponents that his was the decisive wicket.Those reminders weren’t enough to prevent Pakistan from letting their guard down. Outfielders failed to prevent twos that should have been ones, and those inside the circle failed to run the batsmen out at least three times, missing their targets as the chase approached a thrilling end.With 12 needed off five balls, Mohammad Sami – replacing the “rested” Saeed Ajmal – bowled a juicy length ball that Mathews launched over long-on. Another poor throw and two runs later, with four needed off three, Mathews cracked a short ball over point to seal the win.There had been several mini-conferences between overs, parallel discussions between fielders, all summing up Pakistan’s struggle to close the lid despite climbing to positions of advantage. The run-outs of Thisara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne deprived Mathews of two capable partners, but Pakistan were in for a surprise soon when Mathews ceded floor to Mendis, who kickstarted the counterattack.Just when the required-rate had gone past nine an over in the 44th, Mendis smashed Sohail Tanvir’s slower ball for six over long-on before driving and glancing Umar Gul for two boundaries. Tanvir eventually got rid of Mendis, but Kulasekara hung on, even collecting a fortuitous boundary past third man off Sami. The pair of Kulasekara and Mathews knocked off six singles in the penultimate over, leading up to Mathews’ final surge in the 50th that included another missed run-out.While poor ground-fielding produced the reprieves towards the end of the innings, it combined with poor catching in the first half. Misfields and a ball kicked for four in the outfield preceded a straightforward catch dropped off Kumar Sangakkara on 25 by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. The run that lapse conceded brought about a half-century stand between Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal. It had helped Sri Lanka recover from two early blows inflicted by Tanvir, who castled Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga. Even though Sarfraz reacted sharply to run out Sangakkara for 36, the Pakistani heads continued to sink in their hands as the fielding woes didn’t stop.Chandimal, too, was given a life on 35 when a mistimed pull off Gul in the 30th over was put down by Azhar Ali at deep square leg. Ali was several yards in and failed to hold on as he back-pedalled and was unable to keep his balance. Chandimal went on to score a further 19 runs, those extra runs proving a major contribution in the outcome.Pakistan replaced an experienced Younis Khan with Imran Farhat, who opened the batting and delivered to make a fluent fifty, with shots relying heavily on wristwork and backed up with flourish. He built a solid partnership with Ali, who then formed a steady association with Asad Shafiq. Each of the three batsmen, however, gave their wickets away – Farhat and Ali were caught off avoidable shots while a moment’s hesitation for a single accounted for Shafiq.Umar Akmal gave the innings impetus with his attacking, unbeaten 55. He thrice flicked Lasith Malinga past short fine, struck Perera for two sixes and promised to take Pakistan past 260. At 220 for 6 in the 44th over, that was well within reach. Akmal was picking Malinga’s slower ones, but that changed soon as the seamer got his yorkers on the mark. Akmal made room, moved across, swung hard, tried to scoop, but Malinga had the better of the contest at the death. His thrift ensured Akmal managed only nine runs off his last 19 balls, and Pakistan just 27 off the last six overs. It would hurt Pakistan in the end, but not as much as their fielding.

With defending champions Chennai Super Kings still fourth in the points table after a five-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, Super Kings’ coach Stephen Fleming has said that it’s the first time his side has been challenged for form in the last two years.Super Kings, who were IPL champions in 2010 and 2011, have lost five out of ten matches this year. “The nature of which we are playing needs to improve and we need to look at the personnel as well as this is the first time we’ve been challenged for form,” Fleming said. “We have been a very consistent side, but now we have to make the right decisions based on what our captain needs.”Super Kings’ batsmen have struggled to find form this year, with their top-scorer Faf du Plessis averaging 37.11 from nine innings. Fleming said that his side must play well as a unit if they want to succeed. “We’re just not getting enough runs and defending well enough,” Fleming said, “He [MS Dhoni, the captain] needs to be supported in the field. We must reassess which bowlers we need and hope our batsmen score more. Things must improve quickly.”On Monday, Knight Riders outperformed Super Kings with bat and ball as they failed to string together substantial partnerships and missed a number of run-out chances. Fleming said that though his batsmen played well, bowling and fielding was a concern.”Today we showed a lot more intent on a tough wicket but when we tried to push ahead or clear the boundary we missed out the 15 to 20 runs that we needed. Knight Riders had one good partnership (between Gautam Gambhir and Jacques Kallis) that took the game out of our reach,” Fleming said.

Big Picture

In its short existence, Pune Warriors, the youngest and costliest IPL franchise, has been in the news for various off-field reasons. The unavailability of their star player Yuvraj Singh due to illness precipitated a crisis in Indian cricket as the franchise owner, the Sahara Group, pulled out of its sponsorship of the national team and also put the franchise up for sale after disagreements with the BCCI. After confusion, uncertainty and negotiations, they decided to stay on as both, India team sponsors and Warriors owners.Warriors didn’t have much to show for their debut season last year. They finished second from the bottom and had a disappointing run of seven straight losses. Their batsmen failed to fire and they won only when their bowlers were able to restrict the opposition and set up modest chases. They were the only franchise whose ‘home’ stadium was anything but. Situated in Nerul, adjacent to Mumbai on the highway that leads to Pune, the DY Patil Stadium was the Warriors’ base.A spanking new stadium beckons this season. The Sahara Stadium on the outskirts of Pune will be the Warriors’ new and permanent home. Getting to the ground will be an achievement for Pune residents, though.Warriors suffered last season from the failure of their top order to fire, leaving too much to do for the likes of Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa. Yuvraj came in too late on many occasions, with Warriors already out of the game. That cannot be improved upon this season, with Yuvraj’s absence.Sourav Ganguly can be expected to be tactically better as captain than Yuvraj was, but it would be unrealistic to expect him to have a similar impact with the bat. Twenty20 batting has not been Ganguly’s strength. A career strike-rate of 108.64 and an average of 27.00 in the format reflect that. Can Ganguly’s leadership inspire Warriors? That they have a meatier squad this time should help. Tamim Iqbal, Marlon Samuels, Angelo Mathews and Luke Wright add lots of power to the batting. These additional resources make the bowling look thin in comparison, but on the evidence of last year, that wasn’t the bigger problem area for Warriors.

Key players

Warriors’ $2.1m signing, Robin Uthappa, had an average tournament last year with 264 runs from 14 games. With Warriors not being able to get a top wicketkeeper after losing Tim Paine to injury, Uthappa will have to continue shouldering the additional task of keeping wicket. He has had a decent run with the bat this domestic season and Warriors will hope he can carry that form into the IPL.Rahul Sharma is back to the tournament that launched him into the Indian team. Sixteen wickets at an economy-rate of 5.46 with his unconventional, skiddy and bouncing legbreaks made the Indian selectors mark him as one with potential. This season will be different. Rahul will be expected to perform as an India player. It will be a test.He might be in the news for the wrong reasons at the moment, but last year, Jesse Ryder was Warriors’ second-highest run-getter with 292 from 13 games with a strike-rate of 148.22, the highest for his side. He has cut short his break from cricket to play in the IPL and has arrived with a sports psychologist in tow. He looks to be in the mood to prove a point. Far away from the scrutiny back home in New Zealand, if he is able to do that, Warriors would have gained almost as much as Ryder will.

Big names in

Just imagine the kind of following Kolkata Knight Riders would have generated if they had Ganguly, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal playing together. It would probably have been the franchise with the biggest following, with West Bengal and Bangladesh combining to form a massive fan base. Warriors needed someone like Tamim at the top. For all his newfound penchant of playing the long innings in ODIs, Tamim can explode at will, and when he is in full flow, there are few better sights in the game. Authoritative cover drives and graceful clips, Tamim has all the strokes at his disposal.Marlon Samuels was the first player to be signed by Warriors after they had boycotted the IPL auction earlier this year. Samuels has been around for a long time and is a powerful batsman as well as an underrated bowler. With Angelo Mathews not being able to bowl at the moment, Samuels’ role in the side gains importance.Michael Clarke is an interesting acquisition. He has never looked comfortable in this format with a strike-rate of 108.85 in 40 Twenty20s and had given up the format earlier. His last Twenty20 was in October 2010. He can be a useful bowler with his slow left-armers and is a sharp fielder but just what value he will add with the bat to a line-up boasting many power-hitters remains to be seen.

Big names out

Warriors have lost capable allrounders Mitchell Marsh and James Hopes, and batsman Graeme Smith, to injury. The biggest loss, of course, has been that of Yuvraj, their best batsman and third-highest wicket-taker last year.

Below the radar

The experienced South African fast bowler Alfonso Thomas was a key component of Warriors’ attack last year with 11 wickets at an economy-rate of 7.71. The 35-year-old veteran has played domestic cricket all around the world and while he is not a big name, his experience will be required.

Availability

Samuels’ availability will depend on whether he is part of the West Indies Test squads for the home series against Australia in April and the upcoming tour of England in May. Clarke will miss the first half of the IPL while he leads Australia against West Indies.

2011 in a tweet

A false dawn, losses, more losses and a helpless Yuvraj. Deserved to bring up the rear of the table

The Knights will play the qualifier after they notched up their seventh win of the competition in their last league game, beating the Warriors by seven wickets at the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley. Put in to bat, Warriors were pegged back in the fifth over of the innings when they lost two wickets in two balls. Davy Jacobs (46) and Johan Botha (41) then shared an important 87-run partnership, but Jandre Coetzee (3 for 25), who is the second highest wicket-taker in the competition with 17 scalps, accounted for both the batsmen in the 18th over as the Warriors finished on 141 for 6. In reply, Knights captain Morne van Wyk (37) led the chase, along with Reeza Hendricks (48) and Dean Elgar (33), to achieve the target with five balls to spare.In another scramble for the qualifier spot, the Titans beat the Cape Cobras by six wickets at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Electing to bat first, the Cape Cobras struggled against the trio of Alfonso Thomas (2 for 22), Albie Morkel (2 for 37) and Roelof van der Merwe (2 for 26). But Dane Vilas (48) and Justin Kemp (24) clouted Morkel for three sixes and a four in the 19th over, which went for 27 runs, to lift Cobras to 156. In response, batsman-of-the-match Faf du Plessis (38) hit three sixes and was well supported by the top-order as the Titans completed the chase comfortably.The results of Sunday’s ties have put the Lions (35 points) straight into the final, which they will host at the New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, irrespective of the results of the remaining games. The Titans have a chance to leapfrog the Knights in the points table and host the qualifier, if they win with a bonus point in their last league game against the Warriors.

The USA Cricket Association (USACA) general elections have once again been rescheduled and are now set for April 14. The announcement by the USACA board to push back the elections is the latest in a mounting list of delays for elections which are now almost a year overdue. No reason was given for the delay.The elections will be held at the USACA Annual General Meeting at the Westin Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A USACA press release states that all of USACA’s member leagues are eligible to submit nominations for board positions by March 12, but only the 15 league presidents whose leagues are in “good standing” will be allowed to attend the AGM. The USACA board recently voted to make 32 of its member leagues ineligible to vote in the upcoming elections.The current board’s three-year term should have ended on March 29, 2011 but a March 31 announcement was made by the board that elections would be held on October 15. As that date approached, several attempts to hold a board meeting in order to lay out a process for elections were postponed. Before long, the highly controversial compliance audit review of USACA’s member leagues was commissioned by the board which further stalled elections.Elections were constitutionally mandated to take place no later than November 30, 2011. However, at an October 22 meeting in Florida, members of the board approved a plan which laid out a timeline for elections to take place by December 21. At a November 17 board meeting, compliance review auditor Robert Chance stated that he needed more time to collect information regarding the eligibility of leagues. The board met again on December 3 and decided to push back elections three months with a date set for March 17, 2011.The results of Chance’s compliance audit were made public on February 10. On February 26, the board voted to make more than two-thirds of member leagues ineligible to vote. By the time of the newly scheduled election date of April 14, the current board will have been in place a year and 16 days longer than their three-year term limit.Former Cricket Canada CEO Atul Ahuja, who had earlier stated his intentions of running for USACA president, issued a pair of press releases last week to announce that he will now boycott the USACA elections.”Team Ahuja unanimously condemns the arbitrary exclusion of two-thirds of the US Cricket leagues from voting in the upcoming elections,” a release from Ahuja said. “The manipulation of the electoral process in this manner is bound to bring further disrepute to the administration of the sport.”Protesting the exclusion of 32 of the 47 leagues from voting, Team Ahuja has unanimously decided to boycott participation in the upcoming US Cricket election. Team Ahuja reiterates that the role of a governing body is to include and not exclude the vast majority of stakeholders and custodians of cricket in the United States.”

Jos Buttler and Danny Briggs have been named in England’s limited-overs squads to face Pakistan in the UAE. The pair, both of whom are uncapped in ODI cricket, have been included in the squad that will play four ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals.Ian Bell, however, was omitted from the squad. Bell had passed 50 only once in his last 14 ODI innings and had looked uncomfortable against Saeed Ajmal’s spin in the recently concluded Test series. It is entirely possible that Bell, aged 29 and a veteran of 108 ODIs, has played his last limited-overs match for England.Buttler, a 21-year-old from Somerset, has been in good form recently for England Lions. He struck two centuries and a half-century in his last five innings against Sri Lanka A, including one century from just 56 deliveries. He broke into England’s Twenty20 side towards the end of the English season after impressing in several important games – notably the CB40 final and the FPt20 quarter-final. He is seen as having the big-match temperament and the big-hitting game to prove a destructive ODI player. He can also keep wicket.Briggs, a 20-year-old left-arm spinner from Hampshire, is one of three spinners in the 16-man squad. A bowler who relies more on control than any extravagant turn, England hope Briggs proves well-suited to the slow, low pitches anticipated in the UAE.Tim Bresnan, who has just rejoined the England squad, having earlier returned to England for further treatment on an elbow injury that required surgery at the start of December, is also included subject to further fitness tests.Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales will join the squad for the Twenty20 leg of the tour, with Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott returning to England. Stuart Broad is the captain of England’s Twenty20 side that will be looking to retain their World Twenty20 title in Sri Lanka in September.

Squads

ODIs: Alastair Cook (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott
Twenty20s: Stuart Broad (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann

England’s National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: “We have selected two squads that include both experienced international players and younger players who have performed strongly for England Lions in recent months and deserve an opportunity to further test themselves against quality opposition. Playing against Pakistan in the UAE will be challenging but it is important that these players continue to develop their skills so that we are able to make strides in limited-overs cricket particularly on the subcontinent.”England have a mixed ODI record. While their home form remains impressive – they won series against both World Cup finalists, India and Sri Lanka, at home in 2011 – their away form is grim. They lost all five matches against India in October and 14 of their last 20 outside England. They have won just five and tied the other.Their record in Asia is even more gruesome. Since December 12, 2005, England have won just 12 of 38 ODIs in Asia and four of those victories came against Bangladesh and the Netherlands. Pakistan, by contrast, have won 12 of their last 13 ODIs and 23 of their last 30. England, however, have won five of the last seven ODI meetings between the sides.In a bid to improve the tempo of England’s batting, Kevin Pietersen will be given another opportunity to open the innings, with Craig Kieswetter dropping down to bat at No. 5. While England hope Pietersen can exploit the powerplay overs, after a brief experiment at the World Cup before his injury, Kieswetter is also seen as an accomplished hitter of the older, softer ball. Both may require productive series to silence their critics.Kieswetter has only passed 50 once in his last 24 ODIs, while Pietersen has not made a score of 80 or more since November 2008.Indeed, in that period, he has only passed 50 three times in 34 innings. But England have invested a lot of time in both of them and would be loathe to change tactics now.England will warm-up for the series by taking on England Lions on Friday, before the ODI series begins in Abu Dhabi on February 13.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Hashim Amla made his ninth ODI century in just 51 innings•Associated Press

South Africa’s season of outlandish results produced another jaw-dropper as Sri Lanka subsided to 43 all out, their lowest total in one-dayers. The shorter format was widely expected to make the one-day series a more even contest than the Tests, but Sri Lanka’s 258-run defeat in Paarl was the third largest in ODI history, giving AB de Villiers the perfect start to his captaincy.South Africa’s batsmen had earlier enjoyed themselves despite the scorching heat as they ran up 301 after winning the toss. Hashim Amla highlighted why he’s the world’s top-ranked ODI batsman with his ninth century, and was supported by the two other big guns of the batting – Jacques Kallis provided the early impetus before de Villiers produced the most fluent innings of the match to power South Africa on a pitch where both seam and spin proved elusive in the afternoon.Lasith Malinga underscored his value to Sri Lanka, with a five-for that reined in South Africa towards the end of the innings, but his sterling efforts proved moot as Sri Lanka lost five wickets in five overs to effectively end the contest.Two South African bowlers with points to prove were given the new balls and they snuffed out the resistance even before the main man Dale Steyn was called on. Morne Morkel, coming off an indifferent Test summer, started the collapse in the first over as Upul Tharanga attempted a leaden-footed slap which ended as a low catch at backward point. In the next over Lonwabo Tsotsobe, having lost his place as third seamer to Vernon Philander in the Tests, showed how potent he can be by getting the ball to jag in and rear at the batsman. That proved too much for Tillakaratne Dilshan, who also bagged a duck by gloving to the keeper.The alarm bells were truly ringing when Dinesh Chandimal struggled to get bat on ball, inside-edging an accurate Tsotsobe three times before nicking a loose drive onto the stumps. Morkel then virtually killed off the game in the fifth over: Kumar Sangakkara’s attempted upper cut gave de Villiers his second catch, and two balls later Angelo Mathews’ awkward fend at a short ball popped to midwicket.Mahela Jayawardene then made an unforced error in the eighth over, stabbing a wide ball to point as Sri Lanka slid to 13 for 6. The match was long gone, and the immediate concern was over avoiding the ignominy of the lowest score in one-day history.In that manic Test at Cape Town in November, Australia’s last pair had averted the lowest Test total, and this time Sri Lanka’s tail did the job. Not that it offered much consolation for Dilshan, who looked shell-shocked in the dressing-room as his team disintegrated. While the pitch certainly provided a bit more help to the bowlers under lights, it was nowhere near as dramatic as the scoreline suggested.When South Africa batted there had few of the troubles Sri Lanka faced. Malinga extended Graeme Smith’s poor run in one-dayers, but till the 40th over, the likeliest cause of a South African wicket was a run-out.Amla wasn’t at his assured best early on, outside-edging a few drives and mistiming some pulls. Kallis, though, batted like a man coming off a double century a week ago, routinely releasing the pressure after Sri Lanka’s bowlers put together a few disciplined overs – most strikingly when he thumped Malinga over long-on for an imperious six, ending a run that yielded only 2 runs in 15 deliveries.Both batsmen used the steer to third man and the clip to square leg efficiently to keep the singles coming. They had sauntered to 69 for 1 in 15 overs before opening up in the bowling Powerplay, off which they took 37 runs. With both batsmen looking good, South Africa opted for the batting Powerplay as early as the 27th over, but the 144-run stand was finally broken as Kallis was run out by a direct hit from Jayawardene at cover.If there were fears that would slow down South Africa, de Villiers brushed them away as he played another of those innings where he seemed instantly at ease on a track where most others take time to settle down. He had a streak of 19 successive singles with Amla before becoming more enterprising, unleashing a series of boundaries through cover and extra cover to get to his half-century in 36 balls. Amla, meanwhile, calmly moved on to his hundred, celebrating the achievement with a gentle wave of the bat and helmet.At 241 for 2 after 40 overs, South Africa seemed headed for at least 320. A Kulasekara yorker, though, removed the rampant de Villiers, before Malinga worked his magic to rip through the lower middle order.The South African batting and Malinga’s five-for were both completely overshadowed by what followed, in a one-dayer that is destined to be remembered as the ’43 all out’ game.

West Indies A won a low-scoring, rain-affected contest in St Vincent to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series against Bangladesh A. The hosts were in early trouble at 56 for 5 after being asked to bat, with Robiul Islam and Kamrul Islam Rabbi taking two wickets each. Leon Johnson and Carlos Brathwaite, who top scored with 53, steadied the innings with an 82-run partnership and helped West Indies A reach 204 for 9 in 50 overs.Shannon Gabriel hurt Bangladesh A by dismissing the openers early to leave the visitors on 20 for 2 after 8.2 overs. They reached 52 for 3 in 14 overs when rain interrupted play and forced a revision of the target to 198 in 45 overs. The chase went into free-fall after the resumption with wickets falling regularly. Only Shuvagata Hom and Suhrawadi Shuvo, apart from extras, made it past 20 and Bangladesh A were dismissed for 164 in 41.4 overs. Gabriel took 3 for 31 while Veerasammy Permaul finished with 3 for 28 to complete a 33-run win by D/L method.