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Kent 111 for 7 (Tredwell 42*) beat Worcestershire 110 for 9 (Coles 4-20) by three wickets
ScorecardKent moved joint top of Group A following a nervy three-wicket win over Worcestershire in a game reduced to 25 overs per side due to rain.Chasing 111 for victory under the lights in Canterbury, Kent slumped to 45 for 6 as Worcestershire scented their second win. But a 47-run seventh wicket stand between brothers-in-law Geraint Jones and James Tredwell bailed Kent out of trouble and saw them to the cusp of a victory they ultimately secured with 11 balls to spare.New captain Tredwell held his nerve and timed the ball sweetly for his unbeaten 42 from 40 balls, while Jones contributed 30 as Kent claimed their third win in four YB40 starts.Kent made an inauspicious start to their run chase when Sam Billings skied a return catch to Jack Shantry, the left-arm seam bowler, who then won an appeal for leg before against Brendan Nash as he aimed to clip an inswinger through midwicket. Darren Stevens checked a lofted drive against Gareth Andrew to clip an overhead catch to the bowler then another inducker from Shantry trapped Ben Harmison leg before for a fourth-ball duck.The home collapse continued when Rob Key pushed inside the line of a Daryl Mitchell offcutter and the Worcestershire skipper celebrated a second success when Adam Ball drove a low catch to mid-on to depart for a second-ball duck and bring Jones and Tredwell together. They rebuilt the innings before Tredwell, who struck six fours and a six, saw Kent to victory in the company of Matt Coles.Earlier, Worcestershire batted first after losing the toss and, following a 140-minute delay for rain and mopping up, made the worst of starts when Moeen Ali fell to only the second ball of the game without scoring. Working to leg against a Mark Davies delivery that held its line against the slope, the ball caught the leading edge of Ali’s bat and flew to Nash at backward point.With 13 on the board Mitchell fenced at a lifting delivery from Coles to edge to first slip and give Coles the first scalp of his evening’s return of 4 for 20.Sri Lanka Test star Thilan Samaraweera crept into double figures before he fell to the first of two stunning catches. Clipping off his legs toward deep midwicket, Samaraweera watched as fielder Billings, back-pedalling toward the boundary rope, caught the ball then immediately tossed it into the air before re-crossing the boundary to reclaim the catch on his return to the outfield.Alexei Kervezee, Worcestershire’s top-scorer with 27 from 31 balls, perished to an even better catch that made it 50 for 4. Slicing an attempted straight drive, Kervezee saw Ben Harmison throw up his right arm when running back toward the pavilion to claim a dramatic one-handed catch as the ball dropped over his right shoulder.Davies snaffled another sharp catch at mid-off to account for Neil Pinner, then Coles returned to demolish the stumps of Andrew and have Ben Cox caught at long leg from a pre-meditated paddle sweep. Brett D’Oliveira was run out attempting a second to long on, but 10th-wicket partners David Lucas and Shantry at least batted out the overs leaving Kent to chase at 4.44 an over for victory.

On Thursday the rains forced Dwayne Bravo and his men to train in the indoor nets at Sophia Gardens. Soul and reggae music piped out of a stereo from corner of the nets as players hummed and danced to the tunes while carrying on with their jobs. This chilled-out attitude is what separates West Indies from other teams. And on Friday, that attitude could provide West Indies the vital edge in a do-or-die encounter against South Africa, an intense opponent, who can be vulnerable if pushed into a tight corner.However, the same laidback attitude has been West Indies’ bugbear in the past. Today Bravo was not afraid to call South African “chokers” because of their history of failures in the most important matches of the biggest tournaments. But Bravo is no Steve Waugh who had an indomitable will, the leadership skill, a handful of match-winners, and the bloody-mindedness, to dominate the opposition.South Africa were robbed of the services of Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith before the tournament began and were then hit by the exit of Morne Morkel due to injury, and Dale Steyn has missed the first two matches. West Indies have had no such concerns. Yet, a desperate finish against Pakistan followed by a woeful performance against India shows that they remain unsettled.West Indies cannot even complain about the conditions considering they played both their matches on dry days, on mostly flat pitches and in their most favourite ground outside the Caribbean – The Oval. West Indies have played out 359 dot balls so far in two matches, which is only seven less than Pakistan, who have played the most. The highest partnership is 78 with only two batsmen making half-centuries – Johnson Charles and Darren Sammy have one each.The middle-order (4-7) which includes batsmen like Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and Bravo, has lacked the vigour scoring at an average of 16.12 with a strike-rate of 53.97. The West bowlers have taken 10 wickets in the tournament at an average of 40.10 and a strike-rate of 52.3, both being the worst in the tournament. West Indies so far have been anxious and awful.Gayle has got starts, but has failed to deliver on his promise to score big runs; Samuels’ poor ODI form in England continues; Darren Bravo has failed to switch gears after playing the anchor role; captain Bravo, too, has shown more desperation than assurance with both bat and ball in hand. Pollard has been circumspect to begin with only to falter soon after; the inclusion of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has scored just two runs in two matches, remains a curious decision; Kemar Roach, after an aggressive spell of fast bowling against Pakistan was completely disoriented against India, thereby releasing all the pressure Ravi Rampaul created.Common sense, Bravo stressed, is what the West Indies players have been forgetting to utilise during crucial moments. “In a game there are times when you need to think on your feet – for example, when to go for the big shots. We need – all of us, myself included – to know when to take a risk or when to hold back like if you just lose a wicket,” Bravo said. “I don’t need to play this shot, I need to play this shot. So that’s a bit of common sense: knowing when to gamble and when not to gamble.”The teams have met three times during the knockout stages in big tournaments with West Indies leading the count 2-1 so far. South Africa defeated them in the final of the 1999 Wills International Cup, but West Indies won in the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals and in the semi-finals of the 2006 Champions Trophy. Does that history make it easier for West Indies tomorrow?”It doesn’t make it easier; it makes it more exciting,” Bravo said. The last time West Indies did play exciting cricket, turned up smarter on the field, were pro-active, though on their feet and won their gambles, was during the World Twenty20. They found themselves living on the edge on more than one occasion during that tournament, yet managed to finish with a big smile. They realised the importance of self-belief. The lack of that now is hurting them. “In this format, it is longer so it requires more skills and more thinking, and I think that’s where we fall short most times in this format,” Bravo said.On Thursday afternoon, Cardiff was emptying fast. If you were arriving today to the Welsh capital, you would be greeted by the gentle wafting rain accompanied by the sight of people checking out of the hotels. Jon Bon Jovi played here last night. Rihanna rocked the city on Monday. But there could be more music in store for the fans – if West Indies regain their self-belief, their brand of cricket which can be as entertaining as that of Bon Jovi and Rihanna.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChris Gayle followed his own modus operandi – dead-bats to hittable deliveries, axe-swings against good ones•AFP

Chris Gayle had failed to leave a mark in cold and wet England, but he probably knows there is only one thing cool in the warmer climes of Jamaica – he himself. And no one at Sabina Park would disagree. After a lean patch in the Champions Trophy where his highest score was 39, Gayle scored his 21st ODI century – his first against Sri Lanka – as West Indies brushed the visitors aside by six wickets and earned a bonus point in the first match of the tri-series.Sri Lanka didn’t have a strong total to defend after their batsmen were felled by the spin of Sunil Narine, who picked up four wickets. Angelo Mathews kept his main bowlers on throughout to try and ensnare the big fish, but Gayle kept blocking, blocking, and then powering it over the ropes with metronomic precision.It was a typically ‘measured’ Gayle innings, following its own rhythm, irrespective of the conditions, the pitch, the attack, and the field. He followed his own modus operandi – dead-bats to hittable deliveries, axe-swings against good ones – giving not even an inkling of a chance to the fielding side and hitting at least a six off each of the five bowlers he faced.Defending a middling total, Sri Lanka knew Gayle was one hurdle they had to get past quickly, but it wasn’t to be. Mathews opened with Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara as expected, but introduced Ajantha Mendis in the fifth over to see if Mendis could do what Narine had done in the first innings. Mathews persisted with fielders in catching positions, however, Gayle was in no hurry. Whenever it seemed a hit was needed, he had one.But despite Gayle hitting three sixes and four fours in the first 10 overs, West Indies hadn’t run away. Johnson Charles was doing his best to keep Sri Lanka interested with a laboured stay. There couldn’t have been a starker contrast. Charles struggled to read Mendis’ spin and the quicks’ swing, his misery prolonged by first, a dropped catch by Mathews, and then, by the umpire who let him get away against two good lbw appeals. He finally hit his first boundary – a six – off his 45th ball, but from West Indies’ perspective, he helped put up 115 for the opening stand.Darren Bravo joined Gayle and the two put up a quick 66-run stand to bring West Indies within touching distance of the target. The big wicket did come, when Gayle finally top-edged a sweep that was intended for the stands. There was a minor flutter as Sri Lanka picked two more wickets in the next three overs, but it was a case of too little too late.Sri Lanka’s openers had also laid a solid foundation with a half-century stand after being put in, but their lower middle order failed yet again to shore up a faltering innings after Narine dismissed both Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. But for a fighting half-century by Mathews, they could have finished with much less than the eventual score.Jayawardene, opening for only the 26th time in 370 ODI innings, scored an effortless half-century at run-a-ball, finding the boundary with silken drives and precise cuts. He greeted Narine with a reverse-swept boundary to bring up his fifty, but was out two balls later inside-edging a sharply-turning delivery to his pads, the ball lobbing up for the wicketkeeper for a simple chance. Sangakkara was dismissed soon after, tamely pushing a flighted delivery to cover.The situation was tailor-made for the much talked-about, but yet to fire, young brigade – Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne – to send a message to their detractors. But Mathews, dropped on 7, decided thereafter to curtail his strokemaking while Chandimal and Thirimanne allowed the pressure to build and fell to soft dismissals, reducing the innings to a crawl.Only 15 runs came in the seven overs after the 28th and by the time they were forced to take the batting Powerplay, Sri Lanka were left with little firepower to take advantage. The Powerplay brought further damage. Ravi Rampaul picked up two quick wickets and Sri Lanka were left trying to use up the full quota of overs rather than going for runs.That shouldn’t take away anything from the way West Indies came back. Dwayne Bravo had elected to field hoping his fast bowlers would exploit the early moisture in the pitch, but it was Bravo who provided the first strike, getting Upul Tharanga to edge to the keeper. There was no looking back once Narine, who now has 33 wickets from 14 matches at home, was introduced. Gayle then provided the ideal finishing touches.

Sri Lanka have recalled Kusal Perera and Dimuth Karunaratne and have named two uncapped players in the squad for the final ODI against South Africa in Colombo on Wednesday. Three senior players have been rested while and two other players have been dropped. With the series safe after the victory on Sunday, the Sri Lanka selectors have turned their focus to blooding emerging players, which has been a priority for the panel this year.Karunaratne, left-arm spinner and allrounder Chaturanga de Silva and left-arm seam bowler Vimukthi Perera are the new additions to the squad. All three recently travelled to the West Indies with the A team, with Karunaratne in particular, excelling on the tour. He has been Sri Lanka’s Test match opener since November last year. Karunaratne last played an ODI in 2011 on Sri Lanka’s tour of England and ScotlandUpul Tharanga is the most high-profile exclusion from the squad, after two successive failures with the bat in the series. Tharanga had been recalled to the side for the recent tri-series in the West Indies, and had struck his highest ODI score of 174 not out on the trip, but failed to recreate that form in the following matches. Middle-order batsman Jehan Mubarak has also been left out.Mahela Jayawardene, Rangana Herath and Lasith Malinga will be rested for the game and Nuwan Kulasekara continues to be unavailable as he recovers from a finger injury. Sri Lanka leads the series 3-1.Squad for fifth ODI: Angelo Mathews (c), Dinesh Chandimal, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Angelo Perera, Vimukthi Perera, Chaturanga de Silva, Shaminda Eranga, Ajantha Mendis, Sachithra Senanayake, Suranga Lakmal.

Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, believes that a period away from the scrutiny of international competition can help Steven Finn return to his best form. Fraser said Finn’s omission from the squad for the third Investec Ashes Test had not come as a shock, after the fast bowler was dropped at Lord’s, and suggested his time would be better served playing for Middlesex than carrying the drinks with England.Tim Bresnan replaced Finn for the second Test, after the latter produced a faltering performance at Trent Bridge, taking two wickets with the new ball in Australia’s first innings but being trusted with only 10 out of 110.5 overs in the second. That ended a run of six consecutive Test appearances for Finn – his longest spell in the team since making his debut in 2010 – as he struggled for rhythm as part of England’s three-man pace attack.The change to a shortened run-up, in an attempt to counter a problem of kneeing the stumps in his delivery stride, was abandoned but Finn’s form and confidence appeared to have visibly dipped. In Tests in 2013, Finn has taken 20 wickets at 33.50 and he was also dropped from the ODI side during the Champions Trophy, having been a bulwark of their success last year.”I know he’ll be pretty disappointed. He needs to get some bowling under his belt really,” Fraser said. “He’s got to bowl better than he has done and the only way you’re going to improve is by playing cricket. There’s only so much good that net practice can do, you need to get in games where it counts.”Fraser pointed out that Finn has had to hone his game on the international stage, with its attendant pressures and demands. At 24, Fraser had only recently made his England debut; Finn already has 74 caps – and 168 wickets – in three formats for England. “He’s a young bloke and he’s done all his growing up and his learning, to a large extent, in front of everybody’s eyes,” Fraser said. “Sometimes it’s quite nice to get away from it all, to groove yourself and get it right and come back.”He’s been in the spotlight. Jimmy Anderson had four or five years before he really established himself as an England bowler – Steven has had quite a bit of success early on but it’s just not happening for him at the moment. There are a few little things that he’s got to work at and careers aren’t straightforward. Players get dropped, players get left out, players go through periods where their confidence and their form is not what they want it to be. Players go away, sort it out, come back and perform to their highest level again.”Since the end of May, Finn has made only five competitive appearances – two ODIs, a Test and England’s Ashes warm-up against Essex, plus the second half of Middlesex’s Championship fixture at Sussex. Rather than continue to keep him on the sidelines, England have chosen to bring Chris Tremlett back into the squad – something that has always been part of their planning – and allow Middlesex to work with Finn.Fraser doesn’t believe Finn’s run-up remains an underlying issue, although he suggested the focus on hitting the stumps may have contributed to clouding the bowler’s mind. Although Finn trimmed his approach to the crease by a few paces on the tour of New Zealand, he has since returned to using his original mark.”No, I don’t think it is,” Fraser said, asked if the run-up was still a problem. “Cricketers tinker, they’re always trying different things and some you try and abandon, some you try and keep going. Obviously during the winter they tried this shorter run-up, he wanted to give it a go and it didn’t work, didn’t feel as good as he would have hoped in the long run so he’s gone back to his old run-up.”I’ve always been keen on his longer run-up because he’s a big lad and it tends to take big men some time to get going, rather than being a short sprinter. He gets up to full speed quite early and can then keep going for the last ten yards and concentrate on letting go of the ball.”An opportunity to relocate his groove in red-ball cricket will come at the end of the week against Durham – who themselves will be augmented by the return of another England discard in Graham Onions – with Middlesex hoping to stoke the flames of their Championship title bid. Progression to next week’s FLt20 quarter-finals also remains possible and many beyond Lord’s will hope that Finn’s return to county cricket can be mutually beneficial.”We love having him around at Middlesex, he’s a good lad,” Fraser said. “Hopefully he’ll get back to enjoying his cricket and start performing as we know he can.”

ScorecardRichard Levi gave Northamptonshire’s chase a great start•Getty Images

Steven Crook was hailed as the “Northants Botham” after his all-round contribution helped Northamptonshire in to the final of the Friends Life t20 for the first time.Crook thrashed an unbeaten 46 from only 24 deliveries as Northants completed the highest successful run-chase in the history of T20 Finals Day. With Cameron White he forged an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 78 in just 35 balls, leading the captains of both sides to suggest he should be of interest to the national selectors.”I believe England should be taking a look at Crook,” Essex captain James Foster said. “He bowls with pace, he has good options and he is one of the few guys around who can strike the ball out of the park. We didn’t do too much wrong today; we were just beaten by two guys who played exceptionally well.”Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely agreed. “He can’t do anything wrong at the moment,” he said. “He’s the Northants Botham. He has been a great singing for us and he is producing in all formats of the game.”The performance marked another step in the rehabilitation of Crook and the Northants team. Heading into this campaign, Northants, who last won a trophy in 1992, had won just three of their last 27 T20 games dating back to their quarter-final defeat in 2010 and Crook was a 30-year-old whose career had never reached the heights his talents suggested it should have done.Indeed, not so long ago he left the game to pursue a career as a rock singer but, after struggling to make the breakthrough, ended up as the in-ground DJ at Northants in 2010 when they hosted limited-overs games. He returned to cricket with Middlesex in 2011 and 2012, but was lured back to Northants by the promise of featuring in all formats.But now, Northants have won nine of their 12 matches this season and Crook, in his second spell at the county, is beginning to gain the attention of the England and, perhaps, Australian selectors. Born in Adelaide, recent rule changes – the “Robson Rule” as it has been dubbed – mean Crook is eligible for both.In such form, playing with infectious confidence and joy, he will prove hard to resist. After bowling his four overs with pace, he utilised his strength to pummel four sixes and three fours. At one stage White and Crook scored 51 in 13 legitimate deliveries.Northants were given a good start in their run chase by Richard Levi. He made 57 from 35 balls, taking 21 off David Master’s third over, and posting an opening stand of 74 in 8.2 overs with Kyle Coetzer.But when Levi mis-timed a full toss to mid-on – replays suggest it was desperately close to being a no-ball for being over waist height – it seemed the Northants innings might stall in a spell where they lost three wickets for 19 runs in four overs. But White and Crook, targeting the left-arm spin of Tim Phillips, who was hit for three sixes in five balls at one stage, revived the chase and ensured victory with 11 balls to spare.Earlier it seemed that an explosive contribution from Graham Napier might prove the difference between the sides. Napier, coming to the crease at the end of the 16th over, thrashed 38 from 15 balls to help give Essex a total 24 higher than par on this ground this season.In partnership with his captain, James Foster, Napier added 54 runs from the final 26 balls of the innings to transform a modest target into the largest that Northants had been asked to chase all campaign.The defeat means that Essex have now lost in the semi-final on all four of their trips to Finals Day.

There were three similarities between the hat-tricks of Rubel Hossain and Tapash Baisya from Sunday’s Dhaka Premier League matches. Both were the last three wickets of the first innings, both came in defeat, and inexplicably, both men did not immediately realise that it was a hat-trick.In Rubel’s case, it took a discussion in the following morning for him to suddenly remember, rather bashfully, that he took the wickets off the last ball of his second last over, and the first two balls of the last over. Neither did anyone at the ground figure out, as reflected in the newspaper reports of the Brothers Union-Gazi Tank match on Monday.”It was a hat-trick, of course,” Rubel told ESPNcricinfo. “I took the wicket of Suhrawadi Shuvo and then followed it up with Mehrab and Ehsanul’s wicket. I didn’t realise it at the time of the hat-trick.”Almost at the same time in Bogra, Baisya forgot too. In the final over of the Kalabagan Krira Chakra innings, he removed Naeem Islam, Shahadat Hossain and Rakibul Hasan off the last three balls. Sri Lanka allrounder Jeevan Mendis took the first two catches, and then reminded Baisya that he had completed the hat-trick after Rakibul’s wicket.”It was the last three balls of the innings, so there was not much to cheer about at the time,” Baisya said. “Morever, I didn’t even realise I got a hat-trick. Jeevan Mendis who took the last catch to dismiss Rakibul Hasan suddenly came and told me that it is a hat-trick.”Baisya’s explanation seems plausible but there is also a hint of apathy that pace bowlers are handed in Bangladesh’s domestic competitions. How attentive club officials missed two hat-tricks, particularly the Rubel one, seems odd. Batsmen and spinners are given more importance, mainly due to the conditions and wickets. But with fresh wickets used in all venues this year, some of which are also re-laid surfaces, the likes of Rubel, Baisya and Al-Amin Hossain have been successful so far.Al-Amin took six wickets when Abahani shot out CCS for just 35 runs, albeit the wicket had very little bounce on it. Rubel took six wickets against Khelaghar in the opening match, followed up by the five-for in Sunday’s game against Brothers Union.”The ball kept low in BKSP-3, so I just had to maintain a tight line and length,” Rubel said. “It is difficult for the batsmen, because it suddenly sinks on them.”I have started off very well, which makes me very happy. I really needed this after the poor form, injury and illness in Zimbabwe.”Rubel also saw these wickets as an opportunity to remind the clubs that pace bowlers are necessary in the scheme of things. Previously, the BCB employed a pool system for national cricketers which meant that each club would be able to take just take two players each. Usually, the bigger clubs avoided filling up these spots with pace bowlers, who then had to find smaller clubs with less pay.”Bangladesh’s pace bowlers had trouble finding a club due to the pool system,” Rubel said. “But this year’s players-by-choice has opened up a lot of doors for the pacers. The clubs are not interested in us, so it is important to do well for our future.”Whether the clubs put emphasis on good fast bowling or not, an in-form Rubel is necessary for Bangladesh’s plans against New Zealand next month. He has used the league to get in form, and prove a point or two on the way.

3rd T20
ScorecardFile photo: Jeevan Mendis took 4 for 14 as Kenya stuttered to 122 for 9•AFP

Kenya’s second weak batting performance in the day, and another star turn by a Sri Lanka A opener handed the hosts a third comfortable victory in the seven-match Twenty20 series, in Colombo. Batting first, Kenya were waylaid by the spin of Jeevan Mendis and Milinda Siriwardana, who took 6 for 28 in eight overs between them, and mustered just 122 for 9.Kusal Perera then hit two thirds of that total by himself, as he struck five sixes and six fours in his 47-ball 81, that secured Sri Lanka A’s unbeaten streak in the series.Kenya opened the batting with Irfan Karim, who had batted well in the first match of the day, but he managed only 3 this time, as Steve Tikolo provided much of the early impetus for Kenya. They continued to lose wickets however, and though several batsmen in the middle overs got starts, none were capable of an innings that reversed the early pressure back onto the hosts. Tikolo was dismissed for 29 by Mendis, and though Ragheb Aga remained unbeaten on 20 off 13 at the end of the innings, the remaining batsmen had scored too slowly to lift Kenya to a competitive total.Shehan Jayasuriya hit a relatively sedate 32 from 41, while opening partner Perera plundered the Kenya bowling at the other end. The pair were separated with only seven runs needed for victory, and the target was eclipsed with four overs to spare.2nd T20
ScorecardAn unbeaten 70 from 44 balls for opener Danushka Gunathilaka set up a 53-run win for Sri Lanka A in the second Twenty20 against Kenya, at the Nondescripts Cricket Club. Gunathilaka combined with captain Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne, who both made busy 20s, to build a strong base early in the innings, before aggressing in Dilhara Lokuhettige’s company towards the death.Gunathilaka’s four sixes and seven fours helped propel Sri Lanka A to 187 for 7, despite the efforts of Nelson Odhiambo and Nehemiah Odhiambo, who took three wickets apiece, albeit at economy rates nearing 10.Sri Lanka A’s opening bowlers were cheap in comparison, and removed both openers inside the Powerplay to begin the opposition’s slide. Captain Collins Obuya attempted to rebuild, as he hit 26 from 33 balls, but his reticence, and the regular clatter of wickets at the other end effectively sealed Kenya’s fate.Kenya’s batsmen had more success after the game had already slipped away from them, as Irfan Karim scored 32 from 19 balls after coming to the crease in the 16th over, but the Sri Lanka bowlers escaped without major damage to their figures, having bowled so economically until then. Legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna was the best of the hosts’ bowlers, taking 2 for 21 from his four overs.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKusal Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan added 96 for the second wicket to steer the game Sri Lanka’s way•AFP

Sri Lanka pick up over-rate penalty

Dinesh Chandimal has been handed his first fine as captain, after match referee Chris Broad found Sri Lanka were one over short of their target in the second Twenty20 against New Zealand on Thursday. Chandimal will be fined 20% of his match fee, while his team is fined 10%.
The penalty could be significant in a 12-month period in which the World Twenty20 is scheduled; a second slow over-rate fine could see Chandimal banned for two Twenty20 matches, or alternatively two ODIs or a Test – whichever comes first.

Kusal Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan struck 96 rapid runs together, as Sri Lanka comfortably hunted down New Zealand’s modest 142 for 7 to take the series 1-0. Both hit half-centuries, and while Kusal’s was the more belligerent, and the more attractive, Dilshan again whet his increasing appetite to bring chases home. He was unbeaten on 59 off 49 balls – his seventh international fifty in eight innings – after Kusal had walloped 57 from 37.Miserly debutant Ramith Rambukwella had been the only man to deliver four overs in a row for Sri Lanka, as Dinesh Chandimal made fine use of the Twenty20 bowling stocks at his disposal. All seven bowlers were called upon, injected in short spells and replaced swiftly when the batsmen showed signs of comfort. New Zealand did not suffer a collapse, but partnerships were prevented, and on a tacky surface, Sri Lanka’s controlled showing prevented even the in-form Nathan McCullum from doing unmanageable damage at the death.Though Kusal’s innings was emphatic, it had its share of good fortune. He lofted his second ball high over the long-on boundary, but two deliveries later, should have been trudging back to the dugout, when he pulled Mitchell McClenaghan to Andrew Ellis, at backward square-leg. Ellis shelled that chance, perhaps because the ball was hit so hard, but Colin Munro did not have that excuse on the long leg boundary, when he too spilt one, with Kusal on 39.In between the drops, Kusal’s strokes veered from excellent to extraordinary. A swinging length ball from Kyle Mills was launched into the sightscreen before he leant back to the next delivery and eased it between point and cover. A good eye and lightning bat speed are the pillars of his batting, and though there were plays and misses as well, the balls he hit almost invariably sped off the bat.Even in his short international career, though, he has tended to perish attacking, and despite two let offs, he did so again. Having crossed 50 off 31 balls – his second Twenty20 half-century – he came down the pitch to send Rob Nicol high into the air, off his top edge. Nicol moved a few meters to his left to complete the catch.In what is developing into a trend, for Dilshan, he was the slower of the two batsmen, whose partnership propelled Sri Lanka well beyond the asking rate and to eventual victory. There were no flashy strokes in his fifty, only measured attacks on poor bowling. Showing respect to New Zealand bowlers he did not fancy, he made sure he would be around to soak up the large crowd’s applause at the end.Hamish Rutherford had waited all tour for a match, but lasted only four balls, nicking Nuwan Kulasekara’s first ball – an away-swinger – to the keeper. Charging down the pitch to miscue an Angelo Mathews’ short ball, Neil Broom failed to impress in his first match for New Zealand in three-and-a-half years.The early strikes forced caution into New Zealand’s batting, and perhaps they reasoned they would make amends with violence later on, as they had in the ODIs. Only, no pair truly established rhythm at the crease, and the bowling changes brought wickets as well as a subdued run rate. Until the 16th over, New Zealand did not score at much more than a run-a-ball.McCullum had been a high-impact batsman during the ODIs, and though flashes of that form bore two fours in the penultimate over, the tackiness of the surface and a controlled death-overs showing from Sri Lanka prevented him from truly freeing his arms. He was run out going for an ambitious second in the final over, before a hitherto expensive Lasith Malinga trapped Nicol in front.Rambukwella produced exactly the sort of spell he had been picked for, conceding less than five an over with his tight offspin. He rarely departed from the length ball, pitched outside off stump, but his skill was tweaking the manner in which the ball arrived. Some were flighted, others were slow and flat, but most were darted in – sometimes after a pause in his delivery stride.Sri Lanka’s eight-wicket win was an apt reflection of their dominance over a severely depleted New Zealand side, and the hosts protect their No. 1 ranking as well. This match was supposed to be the second in the series, but Tuesday’s game was rained out, turning this into a one-off.

Robert Key has returned to his former position of Kent captain after James Tredwell stood down from the role due to his increasing England commitments.Tredwell had suggested such a move at the end of the 2013 season after becoming a regular in England’s one-day side due firstly to Graeme Swann’s elbow problems and then when the fellow offspinner was rested. He was also named England captain for a Twenty20 against New Zealand when Eoin Morgan picked up an injury although the match was washed out after two deliveries.Key was previously in the job from 2005 to 2012 during which time the club secured their most recent trophy with the 2007 Twenty20 Cup. Sam Northeast, the opening batsman, will be Key’s vice-captain.Tredwell said it was not in the best interests of the county to have the uncertainty over when he will be around even though he is not part of England’s Test plans. Depending on how Swann’s workload is managed next season, Tredwell could feature in the Sri Lanka one-day series in May and then against India at the end of the season.”It was with great honour that I took on the captaincy role twelve months ago, and it has been a very tough decision to not carry on,” he said. “However my increased involvement with the England one day squad over last winter and our summer meant I missed large chunks of time in Kent colours and found this particularly difficult.”This may or may not be the same going forward, so in the eventuality I may not be around I feel it is in the best interests of our team here at Kent that I stand aside.”Kent’s chairman of cricket, Graham Johnson, said: “We respect James’ desire to focus on his England career and we thank him for his leadership during the 2013 season. James remains committed to the club and retains his desire to offer leadership in the future.”In Rob, clearly we have someone with all the attributes required of a captain who has shown a great commitment to the county over a great number of years, and a player who has progressed through the Kent system. Having had a season off from what is a demanding role, he shows a renewed desire for the role and an appreciation of what it will take to develop Kent’s on field performance from a squad with much potential.”Our objectives remain the same, the challenge is to achieve the higher level of performance delivery to which the players and those following Kent aspire.”Kent endured a disappointing 2013, finishing seventh in Division Two of the County Championship, failing to progress from the group stage of the Friends Life t20 and ended fourth in their group in the YB40.