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With Afghanistan, Ireland and Bangladesh unable to produce an upset in their opening World Twenty20 matches it is now down to Zimbabwe to shake up the established order. And if they do Sri Lanka, one of the favourites for the title and last year’s finalists, will be on an early plane home or trying to find somewhere to hang around before the series against New Zealand in Florida.The idea of Zimbabwe beating Sri Lanka isn’t as outlandish as it may sound. They have laid their maker during the warm-up matches with victories over Australia and Pakistan to reinforce the feeling that their game is on an upward curve, even if that graph does remain on a gentle gradient. Coupled with that there is the pressure on Sri Lanka, who know it’s win or bust for them.They were in a very different situation last year when they moved to the final unbeaten, and the defeat against New Zealand was clearly tough to stomach for Kumar Sangakkara. There were a number of stages when they were taking control in the opening match; as Mahela Jayawardene and debutant Dinesh Chandimal were adding 69 for third wicket, when Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya struck in quick succession and when Jacob Oram was bowled.But unlike the side in England they just couldn’t quite find that way to win. Lasith Malinga was unable to defend 10 off the last over as his length, for once, deserted him, and the lack of momentum at the start of their batting effort proved costly. One innings does not change Tillakaratne Dilshan’s stats as one of the pre-eminent Twenty20 batsmen, but it continued his poor form from the IPL.”We were a bit slow in the first six overs, which put us under a lot of pressure,” Sangakkara said. “We probably lost a bit of momentum in the first six overs and that was vital to try and kick on and keep the momentum going.”Sri Lanka were one of the most active nations at the IPL with eight of this squad involved for various franchises. It can be a double-edged sword which was shown no more clearly than by the performances of Jayawardene and Dilshan against New Zealand. Jayawardene enjoyed a productive tournament and his form prompted a change in tactics from Sri Lanka who promoted him to open in place of Jayasuriya – someone who played in Twenty20 style before the game was invented.There was something incongruous seeing a Sri Lanka score of 135 for 6 with Jayasuriya nought not out without facing a ball having come in at No. 7, with youngsters Chandimal, Chamara Kapugedera and Angelo Mathews preferred ahead of him during the final overs. Jayasuriya is no spring chicken and was almost invisible during the IPL as he played just four matches for Mumbai Indians, but in this team he is being picked almost purely for his left-arm spin.Still, Sri Lanka have a team that should still be masters of this format especially with their depth of spin bowling on these slow West Indian surfaces. Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan were the pick against New Zealand, while Ajantha Mendis’ performance showed how quickly fortunes can change in Twenty20. When he removed Scott Styris he looked to have struck a match-winning blow, but Oram put the next two balls over the rope and it was game on again.There is a thought that batsmen are starting to work out Mendis after the astonishing start he made to international cricket. Like Jayasuriya he was barely used in the IPL – just two matches for Kolkata – and he does appear to have lost a little of that zip which made him so lethal. Coupled with Dilshan’s struggles it means Sri Lanka’s two x-factor players are not the force they were last year. They should still beat Zimbabwe, but will need their flamboyance to progress further.The tournament will be worse off if Sri Lanka aren’t in the Super Eights, but first they must earn the right to be there.

Swipe of the day
Poor Tim Bresnan may never get a better chance to post a Test-match century. The pitch was flat, and with James Tredwell (one of the game’s more competent debutant No. 10s) alongside him, England were in no apparent hurry to get a move on as he edged towards his landmark. Bresnan duly moved his career tally to exactly 100 runs, but alas, only 91 of those came in this particular innings. With the century in sight, Abdur Razzak ripped one out of the rough as Bresnan aimed to slot a big heave over long-on, and he knew he was gone long before the third umpire confirmed the stumping.Drop of the day
Of all the batsmen in the Bangladesh team, the one you don’t want to give a sniff to is Tamim Iqbal. He has the class and the range of strokes to punish all indiscretions, so when Jonathan Trott shelled a chance that Mike Atherton described as one of the three worst drops he’d ever seen in international cricket, it seemed England’s victory hopes had been grassed at the same time. Tamim, as it happens, had already survived two tougher chances, but this was an absolute shocker. A gentle lob off a slashing swipe outside off, and Trott barely even had to backpedal as he made to collect the ball in front of his face. But instead of cashing in, Tamim seemed flummoxed by all this good fortune, and seven overs later, Stuart Broad showed how a catch should be taken, low in the gully.Fluke of the day
Alastair Cook has not enjoyed himself in the field in this Test. Three clear-cut chances fizzed through his fingers in the first innings, while his second-day captaincy left a whole load to be desired. But at least his boot has been in full working order. On Saturday, Shakib Al Hasan survived a trial by TV after a firm drive ricocheted off his toe and into Matt Prior’s gloves, but was deemed to have touched the turf en route. Today, however, there was no doubt at all. Cook’s toe was once again on hand (to pardon the phrase), as Junaid Siddique’s firm push turned into a gentle lob to the bowler, Tredwell.Shot of the day
Jahurul Islam was a nervous man as he made his way out to the middle. On Saturday he picked up a duck in his first innings in Test cricket, and with a pair in prospect, England parked four men around his bat right from the moment he arrived. Five tense dot-balls ensued, as he drove with defiance but failed to pierce the field. But then, he decided, what the heck. A firm plant of the front foot, a massive swing of the blade, and his first scoring stroke in international cricket was a straight six down the ground off Graeme Swann. Eight balls, and one half-chance later, he repeated the dose and doubled his tally, this time off Tredwell.Appeal of the day
Stuart Broad attracted a heap of criticism for failing to look at the umpire while appealing for lbw against Razzak in the first Test, but he was on his best behaviour today. Twice in two balls, he remembered his manners and turned to address Rod Tucker – firstly when the umpire turned down an lbw shout against Mushfiqur Rahim that looked from the replays to have been better than marginal, and then, moments later, when he squeezed a delivery through bat and pad and into the base of the stumps. Presumably he was unsighted, but perhaps he was just making sure.Departure of the day
Every England trip has its forgotten man, and few members of this particular tour party have been as anonymous as Liam Plunkett. His tour of Bangladesh consisted of two ineffectual overs in the second ODI at Dhaka, and a whole load of drinks-carrying thereafter, and now he won’t even be on the same flight home as his colleagues. An ECB spokesman confirmed that he had experienced “minor discomfort” in his right elbow while throwing, and would be heading home a full 24 hours before the end of the tour to seek further medical advice, before jetting off on holiday.

The IPL management has laid down the guidelines for when teams can use their two-and-a-half minute strategic time-out in 2010: the bowling side can ask for the break between the sixth and eighth overs while the batting team can opt for the same anywhere between overs 11 to 16.The mid-innings strategic time-out, which came in for widespread criticism after it was introduced in the 2009 season, had been reduced from seven-and-a-half minutes per side for the third season.Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, admitted that the league was forced to review the duration of the timeout after important players including Sachin Tendulkar had disapproved of the long break because it hampered a team’s momentum.”That was a trial process,” Modi said. “Now we have changed it to total of five minutes split into two-and-a-half minutes for each time. The bowling team can take it from overs six to eight while we have noticed that the batting team always need to discuss with their team-mates at the end stages, so they can opt for the timeout between overs 11-16.”While introducing the tactical time-out, Modi stated its purpose was allow teams to discuss strategies instead of having to spend time on it during the course of the game, and hence minimise match-time delays. Critics disagreed instantly, saying it was nothing but another channel for the league to make more money.But the franchises, some of whom had originally not accepted the interruption openly, now say the timeout is necessary from the both the cricketing and the financial perspective. “[The] strategy break is good because you need to get more revenues in it,” one of the franchise officals said. “Ultimately the entertainment part is great but within a short break you have to get the revenues otherwise the IPL can’t survive.”Even if teams agree the timeout is beneficial, some are still trying to come to grips with it. “You cannot do much in such a short time. You cannot reinvent a wheel,” said TA Sekar, director of cricket for Mumbai Indians, who was with earlier with Delhi Daredevils for the first two years of the IPL. “Invariably each time there was a break players lost concentration. It is quite an innovative thing they are trying, it may help, it may not.”But Sekar admitted breaks were important in the Twenty20 due to the rapid manner in which changes occur. “Twenty20 is a game where execution of your plan is very, very important because you don’t have the time to comeback,” he said. “So [the] strategy break may be helpful because somebody inside [the dug-out] might see something happening which the players inside may not see.”

Stumps
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
HawkeyeSssssmokin’: Dale Steyn took a career-best 7 for 51, his 13th five-for in 37 Tests, to take South Africa to the verge of victory•Associated Press

Those 22 yards never mattered less. With one of the most lethal and joyful spells of pace and swing seen in India, a red-hot Dale Steyn took the pitch out of the equation and led South Africa to the verge of what should be close to their finest Test victory. He took out two in the morning with conventional swing, and followed it up after tea with a spell of 3.4-2-3-5 with the old ball. The momentum created was too much to not enforce a follow-on, and Steyn had enough fuel in him to come back and dismiss Virender Sehwag, the only batsman who troubled South Africa in the first innings.Sehwag, whose century was remarkable for its restraint – and one of his best in Tests, will rue his unremarkable first-innings dismissal. He had revived India from 56 for 3 but, when he lobbed a full and wide delivery from Wayne Parnell straight to sweeper-cover, he kick-started a collapse of seven wickets for 41 runs.In the lead-up to the Test, Steyn had famously said, “A 150 or 145km yorker is absolutely no different whether you bowl it here in Nagpur, or Chennai, Johannesburg, Perth.” Turns out even if Steyn is not bowling yorkers, but swinging it accurately at a healthy pace, and if it all comes together in one spell, the pitch matters little.It all started with the sighter from hell from his friend and new-ball partner, Morne Morkel. Gautam Gambhir could consider himself unlucky for getting this delivery first up: back of a length, couldn’t get forward, couldn’t go back, 145ks, angling into him, making him commit, and then leaving him enough to kiss the outside edge. In the second innings, Gambhir would shoulder arms to a similar delivery, and it would jag in and kiss the outside edge of the off stump. Three balls from Morkel, zero runs, out twice. When it’s not your day, it’s probably not your evening either.In between those two wickets there was Steyn. Consistent outswing in his first spell kept Sehwag quiet, and when he got M Vijay on strike it was time for some breakfast. Ball one: full, swinging away, defended by Vijay off the back foot, in front of his body. Ball two: Steyn goes a foot wider, the wrist goes outside of the ball, Vijay shoulders arms, and the inswinger pegs back the prone off stump.Sachin Tendulkar was going to be tougher to get, but got he was. He came forward and off-drove an outswinger for four. End of over. The first ball of the next over was similar, elicited a similar shot, but was about a foot shorter, which meant Tendulkar wasn’t close enough to it, hence the edge.Sehwag was the most difficult to get, and along with the debutant S Badrinath brought India back to even terms. Don’t go by his strike-rate of 78.41. He was as watchful as is possible for him. He ignored short deliveries outside off, mostly scored down the ground, foiled Morkel’s plan of tucking him up by flicking towards midwicket, and even didn’t treat Paul Harris’ spin as the trash he thinks spinners are.

Boucher in doubt for remainder of Test

Mark Boucher’s participation in the remainder of the first Test against India is doubtful after he suffered a back sprain on the third day. Boucher did not emerge after tea in Nagpur as AB de Villiers took up responsibilities behind the stumps. Scans taken at a local clinic though, indicated that it was only a strain and Boucher should be available for the second match beginning on February 14 in Kolkata. “The CT scan and MRI scan have given him a clean bill of health. It’s a lower back sprain and he will continue ongoing treatment from the physio,” Michael Owen-Smith, Cricket South Africa’s media officer, said. “I’m not putting a timeframe when he will be back on field but we are confident he will be ready for the Kolkata Test afterwards.”

Immediately after reaching a disciplined century, though, Sehwag played an over that went completely against the character of his knock. Parnell consistently bowled full and wide deliveries with a strong off-side field; two balls went for boundaries and one for five wides, but the last one fetched him the big wicket. No doubt there was a trap in place, and Sehwag couldn’t resist walking in.By tea Badrinath had put behind him an edgy start, and nudged and nurdled his way to a creditable half-century, and something resembling a partnership was forming between him and MS Dhoni. Business, though, was about to pick up after the break.Dhoni padded up to Harris in the first over, and the ball kicked up and took his glove, invitingly hanging, and started the slide towards – barring miracles – a first Test defeat as captain. In the next over, Steyn reversed it in towards Badrinath, who couldn’t keep it down and chipped to short midwicket. The field placement showed South Africa knew what they were doing.Had the stumps owned feet in that spell of play, Steyn’s reverse-swing would have still found them. The other debutant, Wriddhiman Saha, had clearly been asleep when Steyn took Badrinath with an inducker, and almost got a return catch from Harbhajan Singh with that delivery. The first ball Saha faced from Steyn he shouldered arms, but the off stump had no such luxury.Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra didn’t look interested in standing on the burning deck, kept backing away, and before you could say “collapse”, they were both bowled. Had Harbhajan not got his back leg in the way, he would have lost his stumps too. Immediately followed the definitive image, Graeme Smith motioning towards Harbhajan and Ishant Sharma, who were the last pair, asking them to tell their openers to see Steyn and Morkel in 10 minutes.The aggression followed, the momentum followed, and after Gambhir’s wicket, Morkel gave Sehwag a perfect implementation of his plan. Dug in short, the ball seamed in, beat Sehwag’s bat, and hit him flush in the ribs. The bat went flying away, down went Sehwag in pain, and the edge outside off was not too far off.Vijay and Tendulkar batted better in their second efforts of the day, added 38 runs for the third wicket, and made sure others weren’t taking guard for the second time in one day.

Scorecard
Afghanistan prevailed in a rain-affected game at Colombo, with Canada falling 8 runs behind the required Duckworth/Lewis score as they reached 96 for 2 in 12 overs. Afghanistan’s total of 185 for 5 was thanks largely to the efforts of Karim Sadiq, who top-scored with 67 on Twenty20 debut before two powerful cameos by captain Nowroz Mangal and Mohammad Shahzad boosted Afghanistan’s total.Sadiq and Noor Ali got the better of Canada’s bowling attack in the first of the Afghan innings, cruising to 76 in the tenth over before Ali picked out Rizwan Cheema off Sunil Dhaniram’s left-arm spin. Sadiq proceeded to his half-century, clearing the boundary twice along the way, but with almost seven overs remaining in the innings he fell to Khurram Chohan.Chohan also accounted for Raees Ahmadzai before Mangal and Shahzad went ballistic, thrashing 44 runs in under three overs. Both were dismissed in consecutive overs, but by then the damage had been done and Canada faced the prospect of a stiff run chase.Cheema, opening the batting with Trevin Bastiampillai, lofted five sixes in his 39 to set the pace of Canada’s innings before he was trapped lbw by legspinner Samiullah Shenwari. With his dismissal Canada’s innings lost momentum, however, and Abdool Samal and captain Ashish Bagai failed to hit a single boundary in their 27-run partnership. With 90 runs required off the final eight overs the match looked set for an explosive denouement, but the weather intervened to seal the result in Afghanistan’s favour.

Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, has been ruled out of this season’s IPL as his recovery from a groin injury was taking longer than expected. He has been troubled by it since last year’s IPL and aggravated the problem during the ICC Champions Trophy in September. Ryder has not played any international cricket since.His manager, Aaron Klee, said Ryder was now focussing on getting fully fit for the World Twenty20 in the West Indies. “Jesse is understandably disappointed about not going to India for the IPL, but he is realistic about returning too early and aggravating his groin injury,” Klee said. “He is better to be completely recovered and play a full tournament in the West Indies than risk rushing back to play IPL and jeopardising his involvement in both tournaments.”Ryder will continue his rehabilitation with a four-week stint at the high-performance centre in Christchurch with John Wright. Ryder’s injury has already ruled him out of the upcoming home series against Bangladesh and has also put him in doubt for the series against Australia in February-March.”At the moment he’s coming down for four weeks and we’ll see how he goes,” New Zealand physio Kate Stalker told the . “He’ll be batting every day with Wrighty. He enjoys batting with Wrighty so it’s a good opportunity to combine the two. He’s definitely been doing the right things, it’s just to be able to do more.”He is one of several New Zealand players recovering from injury. Allrounder Grant Elliott was scheduled to see a knee specialist and Stalker said he could need surgery. “If his knee hasn’t settled sufficiently he might require surgery but we’re hoping he’ll just require a conservative rehab plan from here.”Kyle Mills, who is recovering from knee and shoulder problems, is due to return in late March, while Shane Bond (abdomen problem) is on track to play Australia.

Stuart Clark has conceded his international career is all but over, but says recent opportunities to captain New South Wales have convinced him to play on. Clark, who has been overlooked by national selectors since Australia’s defeat at The Oval, has identified IPL and county cricket stints among his new career objectives, along with leading the Blues in the absence of first-choice skipper Simon Katich.A back injury will prevent Clark from playing until after Christmas, but the 34-year-old paceman insists retirement is not on the agenda. The selection of Clint McKay, the rookie Victorian fast bowler, in the squad for the recent Adelaide Test against West Indies appeared to represent the final nail for Clark’s international aspirations, however the lure of playing domestic cricket across three countries has proven enough incentive to persuade him to continue in the game.”If I woke up in the morning and the desire wasn’t there, I would probably give it away,” Clark said. “But that’s not the way I’m feeling at the moment. There probably won’t be many international opportunities coming up anymore, but I still love playing for New South Wales and the idea of playing IPL and county cricket is exciting.”There are a whole heap of new challenges out there for me. The opportunity to captain New South Wales has been fantastic. Just to see the enthusiasm in the young blokes, and remember being in their position a few years ago, is a lot of fun. This is a new experience for me and one I’m really enjoying.”Clark is hopeful the back injury sustained last week before the Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland will not prove season-ending, and he has targeted a January comeback. He then plans to take up a one year contract with Kent – the county that courted him ahead of this year’s Ashes series – while exploring opportunities in the IPL.”That is the furthest thing from my mind,” he said of retirement. “It is unfortunate what has happened over the last week with my injury but hopefully given that the rehab has gone to plan, then after Christmas I will be doing some light training and getting back into it.”Australia’s selectors have not completely discounted an international recall for Clark who, just four Tests ago, played a leading role in Australia’s three-day victory over England at Headingley. He was named Man-of-the-Series following Australia’s 5-0 Ashes rout in 2006-07, and with England’s return just ten months away, there remains a slim chance he could come into calculations.Clark, though, is aware that age and injuries are counting against him. Some within Australian cricket feel surgery to remove a bone spur from his bowling elbow last year has robbed him of a few yards of pace, and the man himself is not counting on a phone call from Andrew Hilditch’s panel anytime soon. “I do agree it is looking very unlikely,” he said.

The England learning disabilities team have arrived in Australia for a tri-nations tournament also involving South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and are aiming to settle a few scores.It is the third time the event has been held, with South Africa hosting the inaugural series in 2005 and England the second in 2007. On both those occasions England have not reached the final but Ian Martin, the national manager, believes their time may have arrived.”We’re a much stronger outfit this time around because we’ve been able to throw a lot more resources behind the development of our talented players,” he told Cricinfo. “The head coach is an ECB level-four coach, and there are not many level four coaches in the country, so it’s fantastic to have this guy working with us. We’ve thrown a lot more resources into coaching expertise for developing this group of players. The squad is a much stronger unit now than it was in the previous two tournaments.”The event involves each side playing each other twice in 40-over contests and the two teams with the most points after their four games progress to the final. England play their opening fixture against the hosts, at the MCG, on December 3rd a dream fixture for any England cricketer and something that the team are eagerly anticipating. “The boys are absolutely looking forward to it, really excited and looking forward to the challenge,” Martin saidFor the senior players who have been involved with the national team for a few years this is their chance to exorcise a few ghosts and with new faces in the squad, the mood in the dressing room is positive ahead of the series.”Those who have been there since the outset in South Africa and the follow up in England feel they have a score to settle,” Martin said. “The addition of the new players as well has made them really confident. There’s a great atmosphere, they’re great fun to be around and we’re really looking forward to getting out there.”As with any contest involving England and Australia there is bound to be a bit of needle and Martin is not worried if his players are unpopular, sounding distinctly Australian, when he said his only concern is to win games.”There’s a social side to a degree, but at the end of the day it’s an England cricket tour, we’re going out there to win cricket matches. The social side can come after we’ve won the tournament.”Disabilities cricket in England has been given a boost since 2006, with the ECB playing a more active role in developing the game, something that Giles Clarke was keen to point out when the row about free-to-air Ashes erupted. But Martin suggested that the extra funds are felt more at county than England level.”In terms of fundraising for the national squad [the money from the Sky deal] has not made a difference because the ECB supported the national squad anyway,” he said. “But if you take the national County Championship for physical and learning difficulties, the British Association for Cricketers with Disabilities (BACD) used to have to fundraise to run that competition. What’s different now is that the ECB underwrite the competition in its entirety, so all the administrators have to do now is put on a quality competition.”It’s about having the ability to invest in it really. If you take the question of facilities it’s impossible to avoid the debate [about TV rights]. But the important thing is that with the support the ECB has provided, we’ve seen a 66% increase in participation at grass-roots level from last year and we hope to keep that trend going.”

Group B

Scorecard
Sunny Singh, the right-hand batsman, became the first player from Haryana to score a triple-century as his team ended the second day in Indore on a commanding 546 against Madhya Pradesh. It was a brisk triple-hundred, which came at a strike-rate of 93.69 with 44 fours and seven sixes. Sumeet Sharma supported him with a stand of 71 for the sixth wicket to extend Haryana’s domination. Sunny went past Ajay Jadeja’s 256, a Haryana record which stood for nearly 18 years. Jadeja’s feat came against Services in Faridabad in the 1991-92 season. Sunny’s epic ended when he was stumped by Naman Ojha off Abbas Ali for 312. Madhya Pradesh lost Ojha for 31 but ended the day in a good position at 113 for 1.Sunny was thrilled at entering the record books but remained aware of the bigger target for his team this season. “It’s special being the first triple centurion of the season, but what makes it more so is that it’s the first from my state,” he told the . “My goal this year will be to lift the team to the Elite Group.”
Scorecard
Syed Sahabuddin marked his comeback to the Andhra squad (from the ICL) with a century and with his captain B Sumanth, who also scored a hundred, took Andhra to a strong 442 against Kerala at Kannur. The Kerala bowlers had to toil for nearly 60 overs to dislodge the overnight pair of Sahabuddin and Sumanth, who added 194 for the sixth wicket. Padmanabhan Prashanth finally got the breakthrough when he got rid of Sahabuddin for 120. Sachin Baby soon accounted for Sumanth with the score on 412. Sreekumar Nair was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 52 but Sreesanth went wicketless in his 23 overs.

Group A

Scorecard
Jharkhand’s Shiv Gautham was denied a century on first-class debut by a narrow five runs but he took his team to a position of strength, setting up a total of 431 against Tripura at the Metallurgical and Engineering Consultant Limited Sail Stadium in Ranchi. Jharkhand were in danger of being bowled out for a lesser score, but a ninth-wicket stand of 86 between Gautham and Varun Aaron lifted them. It was upto Rahul Shukla, the No.11, to stick around as Gautham neared a century, but a run-out left him stranded on 95. His innings included eight fours and two sixes. Shukla, however, contributed with the ball as he picked up two wickets to reduce Tripura to 116 for 3 at stumps.
Scorecard
Four-wicket hauls by Pankaj Singh and Vivek Yadav helped Rajasthan gain control with a first-innings lead of 39 in Guwahati. Assam lost the plot after a strong opening stand of 87 between Parvez Aziz and Dheeraj Jadhav, losing their last nine wickets for 86 runs. Pankaj, the right-arm seamer who was a fringe player during India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08, took the important wickets of Aziz and Amol Muzumdar while Yadav, the legspinner, chipped away at the middle and lower-order. The lack of partnerships hurt Assam as they folded for a disappointing 189. Rajasthan were jolted by Abu Nechim Ahmed’s double-strike in an over but debutant opener Ankit Lamba hung on till stumps to ensure no further losses.
Scorecard
Ajay Ratra and Saurabh Bandekar scored centuries to propel Goa to 474 in Nagpur. The home side were steady in their reply, reaching 113 for 2 at stumps. Ratra, unbeaten overnight on 84, went on to score 121 off 221 balls while his partner Bandekar was more aggressive, consuming 153 balls for his 100. Both were dismissed by legspinner Azhar Sheikh, who finished with 4 for 71. Their 176-run stand for the sixth wicket was the driving force behind the Goa innings. A ninth-wicket stand of 49 between Shadab Jakati and Amit Yadav frustrated Vidarbha as they pushed the score past 450. Vidarbha lost two wickets in quick succession to Kshemal Waingankar after a half-century opening stand but Amit Paunikar was steady till stumps with an unbeaten 47.

India needed to win the sixth ODI against Australia in Guwahati to stay in the series but, less than an hour into the contest, their hopes were snuffed out. Doug Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson wrecked their formidable top-order, reducing them to 27 for 5, a situation MS Dhoni described as a “bit too much” to come back from.”The pitch didn’t misbehave in any way, though there was a bit of movement for the fast bowlers early on,” Dhoni said after India lost the series 4-2 with a game in hand. “I said at the toss also that the first half-an-hour would be crucial and if we negotiate that we could set the total that we had in mind.”I think 27 for 5 was a bit too much. Even 150 was looking very difficult after that and we were fortunate to cross the mark after that. If we lost maybe one or two wickets, it would still be decent because you had the chance of getting back. We had a seventh batsman and we have also seen Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar contributing to a certain extent.”Dhoni batted first on winning the toss on a pitch he felt would aid the spinners as the match progressed. However, the Australian fast bowlers exploited the assistance it offered after an 8.30 am start and found movement in the air. The Indian fast bowlers failed to gain similar movement later in the day and their spinners had too little a total to defend. The batsmen’s failure to contribute collectively was also a significant factor in India’s three defeats while chasing in Vadodara, Mohali and Hyderabad.”We haven’t backed the opportunities that we have got. A majority of the batsmen haven’t contributed at the same time,” Dhoni said. “In the games where our top order didn’t perform, our middle order also didn’t bat well. In the end we have lost the series. We have done well in patches in this series but we haven’t grabbed the opportunities.”