India lose points, but still No.1 in Tests

Dubai: India maintained their number one status in the latest ICC Test Rankings but lost a couple of rating points after drawing two matches in their 1-0 series triumph over a lower-ranked West Indies.

Leading the points table, India now have 126 points while the seventh-placed West Indies (88) have gained two rating points despite losing the three-match series which concluded on Sunday.

South Africa (117) is the second-placed team, followed by England (116).

Among the players, Harbhajan Singh has moved one place to seventh. The offie took 11 wickets and interestingly replaced teammate and Man-of-the series Ishant Sharma, who had an impressive tally of 22 wickets in three matches.

The off-spinner took six wickets in the final Test and in the process passed the 400-wicket mark.

Praveen Kumar broke into the top 50 for the first time. The medium-pace bowler from Uttar Pradesh walked away with four wickets in the final Test and is now ranked 42nd.

West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards achieved his career-best ranking 16th, a gain of two places. He holds the 16th place jointly with South Africa spinner Paul Harris.

The top three remain unchanged with Dale Steyn of South Africa still leading the way ahead of England's Graeme Swann in second position and James Anderson in third.

Among the batsmen, West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul rose to seventh following his match-saving 116 not out in the second innings at Roseau.

The top five remain unchanged with Jacques Kallis of South Africa still leading the way ahead of India's Sachin Tendulkar in second position. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Tendulkar, who did not play in the West Indies series, have fallen back because a player loses one per cent of his ratings points for every Test he misses.

There was no change in the top five of the player rankings for Test all-rounders with Kallis leading the way, followed by New Zealand's Daniel Vettori.

Jarvis returns to Zimbabwe set-up

Fast bowler Kyle Jarvis is close to a national re-call after being included in Zimbabwe XI's squad for their two-day match against Australia A at Kwekwe. Jarvis, 22, was fast-tracked into the national side after the appointment of Heath Streak as bowling coach but picked up a stress fracture in his back during the tour of the West Indies in 2009-10.

One of the fastest bowlers in the country, Jarvis travelled to England during the Zimbabwean off-season after completing his rehabilitation and played club cricket with Burwell before being picked up by Essex's Second XI. With his inclusion in the team to face the Australians, he is one step closer to adding to his nine internationals for Zimbabwe, but insisted he could only make the national side on merit.

"Honestly I am not going to just walk into the national team," said Jarvis. "I have to first get myself back in the team and I am going to do that by getting a few performances in.

"I would like to say I am where I was and I would like to get faster than I was, plans are there to get me quicker over the next few months as well. I am much lighter and stronger than I was before now."

Australia A surged unbeaten to the final of the A Team Tri-Series in Harare, sneaking past South Africa A by two runs on Friday. Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus have since been added to their squad, and after their warm-up match they will face what is effectively a full-strength Zimbabwe in two four-day games, the first of which starts at the Country Club in Harare on July 15.

"They [Australians] are class players and I have played against class players before," added Jarvis. "I just have to worry about what I do at my end not what they are going to do. So as long as I do what I do best then I will be fine, I am definitely excited about what's coming up."

Afridi disappointed with Butt's 'petty' statements

Shahid Afridi has said he was disappointed by the "petty things" PCB chairman Ijaz Butt brought up while justifying Afridi's axing as Pakistan's one-day captain.

"I am disappointed because such petty things coming from the head of the board were unwarranted," Afridi told the Daily Times. "He himself made me captain, and everyone, from experts to fans, had praised my leadership and the unity in the team."

Afridi led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup, their best performance at cricket's flagship one-day event since 1999. After that, he led Pakistan to an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match one-day series in the West Indies before a selection meeting bust-up between him and coach Waqar Younis sparked off a controversy. Pakistan went on to lose the two dead rubber games, and Afridi was stripped of the one-day captaincy. He responded by announcing a "conditional retirement" from the game.

Last week, Butt defended the move to axe Afridi by blaming him for the losses in the West Indies, and deeming him as "not captaincy material", in an interview with Geo Super television channel.

Afridi, who is currently in England playing in the Friends Life t20 tournament, said he would consult with his lawyers before planning his next move. "I will unmask all these people who are running a smear campaign against me," he said. "I don't want to say anything right now because I am enjoying my time with Hampshire but when I return I will respond to them."

Meanwhile, Afridi's legal counsel, Syed Ali Zaffar, said the player would have a case if he chose to take Butt to court over his statements. "Ijaz Butt's statement that Shahid Afridi will not captain the Pakistan team again is not only very irresponsible but is like an order or direction to the governing council members [who choose the captain in consultation with the board chairman] and to the selection committee not to even consider him," Zaffar told the Nation. "In this regard, Mr Butt is usurping the authority of the governing council members and selection committee and is clearly acting illegally.

"Afridi can take him to court if he so chooses. I will however add that I have had no discussion with Afridi in this regard. Mr Ijaz Butt is a loose cannon. Under Pakistan Cricket Board's constitution the chairman virtually enjoys dictatorial powers."

Gutsy Chanderpaul denies India

India will have to wait until 2016 to win more than one Test in a series in the Caribbean - a feat they've never achieved and were denied this time due to a resistance led by their West Indian tormentor-in-chief Shivnarine Chanderpaul. He grafted his way to a 23rd Test century and was supported by Fidel Edwards in a decisive 37-over grind that made India rue their lack of effectiveness with the ball.

Even though Chanderpaul's partners failed to match his patience and eventually conceded their wickets to set a target of 180 in 47 overs, timely breakthroughs in the chase meant India's priorities switched from forcing a win to securing their 1-0 lead. A day that began with the visitors in complete control, ended with West Indies achieving parity thanks, fittingly, to a batsman who became their most-capped Test player in this match.

India's late inroads on the fourth day, the fortuitous wicket of Darren Sammy - caught at short leg off a deflection from his chest - on the fifth morning and the subsequent run-out of Ravi Rampaul boosted their chances of wrapping up the game quickly. But Chanderpaul blocked out one end completely. He saw off the seamers with ease, driving and clipping them away for runs early and displaying solid defence and farming the strike when Edwards joined him. Unshakeable at one end, he forced the Indian bowlers to turn their focus completely towards Edwards, whose vigil guided Chanderpaul through to another landmark.

Chanderpaul had been dropped on 25 by Rahul Dravid on the fourth day and offered another chance in his 90s - a brief phase where was troubled by the turn and Harbhajan Singh's round-the-wicket line. He edged Harbhajan a couple of times past slip, once very narrowly past Dravid but reached his century with a tickle off Ishant Sharma and celebrated with a ritual kiss to the Windsor Park surface, much to the joy of a raucous Sunday crowd in the venue's first ever Test.

India's seamers shone for much of the series, including the first innings where they kept probing away, but they faltered today in good batting conditions. They didn't vary their lengths, and bowled too short: Ishant had the better of Sammy thrice in this series by pitching the ball on a length, but rarely did that today; instead, in his very first over, he was slashed for two boundaries. Munaf Patel roughed up Edwards early in his innings, whacking him on the ear when he missed a hook, but the bowlers repeated the dose too often after the batsman had learnt his lesson. Spin was India's hope, with the ball spitting on the odd occasion and though it yielded success, it came long after India desired it.

While Chanderpaul weathered most of the bowling, Edwards, who arrived with the lead just 113, showed he was adept at handling the short-ball barrage, knocking them down off the back foot, swaying out of the way quickly and showing the full face to both the seamers and Harbhajan when they bowled fuller. When Praveen Kumar found a bit of reverse, he drove him through the line after getting to the pitch, and negotiated the turn and bounce despite a cluster of close-in fielders on the leg side. He offered India hope, however, with some needless extravagance. He smashed a slower one from Ishant over mid-off and swung another over midwicket. Having got away on a couple of occasions, he was third time unlucky when Suresh Raina forced another loose shot to mid-off. Devendra Bishoo edged a catch to slip shortly after, leaving Chanderpaul stranded when he'd have been hoping to frustrate India further.

Edwards' performance did fire him up however, and he bowled with fierce pace, and got dangerous swing with the new ball. Abhinav Mukund was trapped in front first ball, playing across the line and Dravid was unsettled by some scorchers that he erred by playing at. He survived a stormy first spell with M Vijay, who put India on course with fluent batting in conditions that considerably eased out after tea.

Singles were easy to come by, and the bad balls were comfortably dispatched. Vijay took Sammy for a couple of boundaries, including one that was off his favourite swing over midwicket, while Dravid punished Bishoo's half-tracker first up, prompting the bowler to switch to a round-the-wicket line outside leg stump. That had an effect on Vijay, who, after playing out five such deliveries in an over, felt the urge to employ a cross-batted heave off Ravi Rampaul's first ball of a new spell. He miscued it to mid-on, but the chase was still on with Raina promoted up the order. Though he infused the innings with some urgency, running smartly between the wickets, his stay, and India's hopes of a successful chase, ended when he scooped a catch back to Rampaul. The captains ended the game at the first opportunity just before the mandatory 15 overs began.

In the end, MS Dhoni was satisfied with a 1-0 result, but could India have rounded off with a stronger statement of intent ahead of a tougher assignment in England? For West Indies, too, this was a satisfactory end. The start of the season was marred by the spat between senior players, including Chris Gayle, and the board. But a Test win over Pakistan led by their under-pressure captain Sammy, two draws against India secured from positions of weakness, the rise of Rampaul, the successful return of Edwards, the impressive debut of Kirk Edwards and Chanderpaul's evergreen reliability were all welcome results.

Dilshan's comments on not wanting to tour Pak insensitive: Qadir

LAHORE: Former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir and ex-Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Lt General (retd) Tauqir Zia, have lashed out at Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan for saying he does not want to tour the troubled country again.

Dilshan has upset the Pakistani cricket community with his comments after the Sri Lanka Cricket turned down an invitation to play a scheduled Test series here later this year.

Dilshan was a member of the Sri Lankan team that was attacked by terrorists in March, 2009. The attack on the Lankan team bus claimed seven lives including that of the bus driver and left five of the visiting players injured.

Welcoming the decision of his board to not travel to the country, Dilshan on Thursday told reporters in Cardiff that he would never go back to Pakistan.

"I don't think so. It was a bad experience for me as a cricketer in Pakistan. As a player, I don't want to go through the same experience in the future. My personal view, I don't want to go back to play cricket there," Dilshan said.

Zia, who led the PCB from 1999 to 2003, said Dilshan's comments were insensitive to the problems being faced by the Pakistani people on Friday.

"I don't think he had any business airing his personal views on a public forum like this. Once the Sri Lankan board had turned down our invitation there was no need for such comments," Zia said.

The former PCB chief felt the matter needed to be taken up with the Sri Lankan board as Dilshan's comments will only hurt any remote chances that Pakistan might have of hosting an international event again.

"The invitation sent by Pakistan was based on an improvement in the security situation in the country until the Osama bin Laden incident took place. No country is immune to terrorism these days. Dilshan's comments were insensitive," he added.

Qadir, who has also remained a chief selector, said the batsman's comments didn't reflect the history of good ties between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"Pakistan has always been a big supporter of Sri Lankan cricket. We went and played there regularly even when Sri Lanka was in a state of war.

"We went and played there even when other teams refused to play in Sri Lanka during the 1996 World Cup. I don't think this guy (Dilshan) has any inkling even of what Pakistan and Sri Lanka have done for each other in the past," Qadir said.

He added Dilshan had no business expressing his personal views in public.

"Even if he does not want to come and play in Pakistan fair enough. We can understand that Sri Lankan players will be reluctant to come after the incident two years back. But to portray Pakistan as a country where international players would not like to play is unfair on us," he said.

The PCB has not reacted officially to the refusal but officials here admit they were expecting it given the spate of terrorist attacks in the country since the death of Osama bin Laden.

England missed Collingwood the bowler and the slip fielder

While England might not miss Paul Collingwood's runs this summer, they need to find someone to take those flying catches in the slips, and to bowl occasionally rewarding medium-pace, says David Lloyd in the Independent. The policy of playing only four bowlers also needs to be debated in the light of evidence from the Cardiff Test, he writes.

Collingwood probably dropped too many chances throughout the course of a long Test career to be mentioned in the same breath as South Africa's Jonty Rhodes when it comes to truly great fielders of the modern area. But he did hold any number of stupendous catches that left his team-mates open-mouthed in admiration.

Now, whether Collingwood would have held the two edges that flashed close to Alastair Cook – new filler of the third slip slot – is impossible to tell. Experience tells us, though, that he probably would have snaffled one of them, and quite possibly have reacted more quickly than Eoin Morgan did at point when a miscue landed fractionally short of him.

In the Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain writes that England have succeeded with a four-man attack largely due to the brilliance of Graeme Swann, but taking 20 wickets could get tougher during the winter. He hopes that England find a way to get Samit Patel into the side to improve the balance.

Steady drizzle washes out morning session

Sri Lanka's ambitions to make further inroads into England's first innings were thwarted on the third morning in Cardiff, as steady drizzle meant no play in the first session and an early lunch was called for 12.30. The covers remained firmly in place although the prospects for play look a little better later in the afternoon.

It meant the visitors had to wait to build on their excellent display yesterday where they reached 400 then claimed Andrew Strauss's wicket in the final over of the day to leave England 47 for 1. Prasanna Jayawardene was the star performer with his third Test hundred in a resilient display from Sri Lanka's batsmen.

The most significant news on the third morning was that James Anderson won't bowl again in the Test after being diagnosed with a grade one side strain. He spent most of the last session yesterday off the field and went for a scan after play. However, he will be able to resume his role of nightwatchman when play does get underway although is unlikely to be fit for the second Test at Lord's next week.

A match-up that's worth the wait?

It's taken 73 games, but we're finally here. Seventy-three. Chew on that number for a moment. The IPL has had 50% more games than World Cup 2011, which was faulted for being too long. It's had 16 games more than the first three World Cups combined. The IPL has tested viewer appetite and player endurance to the limit, in the process turning the less-is-more norm on its head. The audience has spoken: there is only so much cricket India can take. The players have started breaking under the strain: several overseas signings flew home early, the India squad going to West Indies is severely depleted. Seventy-three is a big number.

The verdict, though, can wait until No. 74 is out of the way. An exciting knockout phase is capable of glossing over all the faults of a bloated tournament, and IPL 2011 has been fortunate on that front - Bangalore's hammering of Mumbai in the virtual semi-final notwithstanding. The impact of a good, well-contested final can be even more far-reaching. The success of the most recent World Cup, and the equally resounding failure of the one that preceded it, are quite closely linked to the manner in which the final moments of the respective events panned out. For three years running, the IPL final has been a closely fought game. Can 2011 continue the trend?

Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore are opponents capable of producing that gripping denouement. Going by where they finished in the league table, they are the two best sides in the tournament. Both sides have been incredibly consistent, which is a considerable achievement in a tournament that goes on forever. Skeptics will point at Bangalore's dependence on Chris Gayle, and Chennai's dependence on home advantage. The former is a disservice to Virat Kohli and Bangalore's well-rounded bowling attack, while the latter betrays a poor grasp of the roller-coaster ways of Twenty20 - winning seven games on the trot at the same venue in this format is no mean achievement, regardless of the conditions.

Chennai and Bangalore have a storied Twenty20 history: in the one season when Chennai did not make the final (2009), it was Bangalore who stopped them in the semis. Chennai returned the favour in Champions League 2010, hustling their South-Indian neighbours out of contention. This year, they have traded blows three times already, with Chennai leading 2-1.

IPL 2011 has thrown everything at us, and the feeling at the end of it all is one of gluttonous excess. A cracking final, witnessed by a full house, and featuring good cricket (and that doesn't always mean scores of 200 from both sides) might be a good way to sign off. A Super Over finish will be "just what the doctor ordered".

'I realised I was on the wrong track'

In the season racing past, cricket, to Virat Kohli, must have felt like a washing machine. Through his 12 months with India, Delhi and the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kohli found himself in all manner of cycles - high-speed tumble, delicate, spin, rinse, permanent press.

Just over a month ago, the groundswell of India's World Cup victory just beginning to die down, Kohli was lining up against players he had wept with at the Wankhede. One day it was his captain, MS Dhoni, but he wasn't his captain anymore. The next day Yuvraj Singh had to be stopped from scorching turf, Harbhajan Singh had be stepped out to, and a way had to be found to make Gautam Gambhir step over the line. Kohli had played the IPL before, had understood what it was all about, but this year getting right into it took slightly longer.

Kohli describes his first week in the IPL as "confusing". For the World Cup winners, he said, "it was tough, to motivate ourselves, to actually be at our best. We weren't up to that mental level, to be honest".

Now, though, with only two games left in the tournament's fourth season, Kohli is second behind Chris Gayle in the run-scoring list, (Sachin Tendulkar is within six runs of both men) and has been among the best fielders in the competition. He has even led Bangalore in Daniel Vettori's absence, and on Tuesday he did everything to help Bangalore inch closer to the final: an unbeaten 70 not off 44 balls, followed by a gymnastics-floor exercise special in defence of 175 - attacking the ball, diving, somersaulting and giving the ultra slow-motion cameras plenty to drool over.

Yet at the end of it all, Bangalore and Kohli tumbled to defeat. Once again on Friday, Kohli will be inside the IPL's playoffs machine - and the second qualifying final - versus Mumbai Indians. He'll be asking himself: Again? More?

When viewed from a distance, the game often does not make sense as to how it pans out over the course of a season. To Kohli, though, the past year has brought with it clarity about his batting in the limited-overs game. His is a special ability: to retain what he believes is essential, pure even, about his cricket and yet fit into the whirl of Twenty20, with its insane strike rates and volcanic ash cloud of boundaries that blur perspective and logic.

Whether in 50 overs or 20, when Kohli and his A game take the crease, the rest of him - his image, the tattoos, the emphatic eyebrows, the fin hairdo, the adverts featuring Bollywood starlets and love bites - evaporates. All that remains is the man and his bat.

Off the field, though, Kohli's engagement with the world is mostly through his image as seller of "youth brands." When old fogeys get him to sit still for a few minutes, however, he morphs from punk rocker to cricket philosopher; an open, thoughtful speaker. A short conversation is peppered with words like "self-realisation" and "channelised", and he describes India's performances in the World Cup knockout stages, much like someone from the Tiger Pataudi generation would: "It was probably the best display of team effort I've seen from the Indian team in a long, long time."

In less than four years Kohli has put himself up and ahead of his other contemporaries for a place in what may well turn out to be the new-look Indian middle order in a few seasons. His first step into prominence was as India's Under-19 World Cup winning captain, whose invective-spewing celebration rang a few alarm bells about what India's next generation was going to be like. That was followed by the IPL hellraiser and then the supporting role in a once-in-28-years World Cup victory.

In between all those monumental events, Kohli has survived the unseen: every young cricketer's meaningless wander through the jungles of celebrityhood. About a year ago a switch was thrown in his mind about what he really wanted to achieve.

"Actually, I switched off." he says. That's where all the talk about self-realisation comes from. The junior World Cup victory brought with it mutterings about his bad-boy ways, much like it had for dozens of other youthful sporting success stories. Everyone in Indian cricket is familiar with the tale of how the teenage Kohli resumed his Ranji Trophy innings against Karnataka a few hours after losing his father in December 2006. What happened afterwards is not so well known. Not his lingering personal grief nor the roiling success of the junior World Cup victory.

"I had seen a very tough time, when I was about 17, and it was very hard for me to recover from that for the next two years. Not many people have taken that into consideration before giving me that tag and just thinking of me like that." 'That' means the bad boy in fast burn. "I agree, I made a lot of mistakes at that point in time... those were the kind of things I would have done in a normal life but not a stage like the IPL, where a lot of people were watching you." It is as if, in his mind, he is still sorting through the debris.

"I couldn't handle what happened after we won the World Cup. People looking up at you and thinking that you were someone who could play for India and just giving you tags like 'blue-eyed boy' and stuff like that. I couldn't take it, honestly. I made a lot of mistakes."

In a world where "brands" really matter, tags can be terribly destructive things. Kohli tried to shake off a few with some simple questions and answers. "I realised I'm going on the wrong track. It just came from within. I said, what am I doing? There's no way I'm going to play for India like that. And that is one thing I wanted to do as a child."

He returned to cricket and the monotony of practice and nets and the ground, trying to erase 18 months of mistakes. "I used to stay on the field as long as possible and come back home and stay at home. I totally cut off from everything else that I was doing for one and a half years. It started to pay off in my cricket." This shift in his frame of reference has kept Kohli's game at its simplest, treating Twenty20 as a ladder to a better percentage game in 50 overs. He says the Twenty20 format and the six-week IPL helps a batsman one rung up the ladder - in international 50-over cricket. "You improvise more, and that can help you in the one-day format, say whenever you need to attack in a difficult situation."

He lets field hockey keep its scoops and reverses and just fine-tunes what he already possesses. "I know my strengths and weaknesses and I can't play a shot that I'm not used to. I haven't tried to play special shots. I still play the normal shots in Twenty20. But you need to execute them a bit more [thoroughly] than you do in one-dayers just to get results."

Like the delicious six over extra cover - off Albie Morkel - which gave Bangalore the kick in its last few overs on Tuesday night. Twenty20's short attention span meant that effort was obliterated by Suresh Raina's match-winning innings that followed. "It's different to develop a shot over a period of time, but I don't like to try new shots in every match. I just try to stick to my game plan and score runs sticking to the game plan I have."

That game plan has been mostly about seeking gaps to overturn the field, hard running, and turning over strike before picking the moment to move up a gear. At no stage in his international career has Kohli looked uncertain. Five centuries in 57 ODIs for India, three scored chasing (along with nine of his 13 fifties) - what once used to be considered an Indian impossibility. When India field first, Kohli averages over 55, 10 points higher than his career score. It led ESPNcricinfo blogger Andy Zaltzman to predict that Kohli was so good in the chase, "a post-cricket career as a Hollywood stunt car beckons".

Even if completely devoid of a multi-coloured, surround-sound off-field life, Kohli's career itself should not be dull. For a start, he is aware of where he stands. The two cup victories, he says, make him feel "a bit lucky" but they are not his path to entitlement. "I feel very good when I think about it - you have played in your first World Cup and you end up on the winning side - but I feel a bit lucky as well. But I don't want to treat this as if I have achieved something special. Okay, these milestones have come along but I still have a lot of goals I want to achieve. I want to elongate my cricketing career as a consistent player. I have personal goals I would like to achieve someday."

Test cricket, he has often said, is one of those goals, and Kohli is just behind Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle-order queue. After the IPL he will set out on the first leg of India's six-month travels in what will be unfamiliar terrains. Only 15 of his 57 international games have been played outside Asia. But everywhere India go now, they go as world champions. Kohli says the World Cup win has doubled his confidence in international cricket, "but given all of us a sense of added responsibility as well. If you go on top, you need to remain on top. It takes a lot of character."

He has dealt and survived one heavy round of that character-defining stuff. It helped him seal a spot in the World Cup XI, a title victory and a place among the most promising young cricketers in the international game. There's no time to celebrate though; on Friday, in the IPL's second qualifying final, Virat Kohli must go through yet another spin cycle.

Misbah, Afridi script Pak's 11-run win over SL

Despite a gloomy morning, all roads in the Sri Lankan capital led to the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday. With one of the most high-profile World Cup clashes between the Asian rivals to be played at the home of Lankan cricket, it wasn’t a surprise. More than a victory for the home team, what the fans awaited was an intense battle between the boys in blue and those in green.

Even though Pakistan were playing away from their home, with Sri Lanka being their adopted home for the tournament, the crowd lent solid support to Shahid Afridi’s men. It was evident in the rousing cheer at the end of Pakistan’s national anthem prior to the match. But as the afternoon wore on, the near-packed crowd changed its stand, making it more difficult for the visitors’ batsmen.

Solid Total

Considering the adverse support from the stands and a quality bowling attack despite the absence of Lasith Malinga, one would say that Pakistan did a decent job to put on 277 for seven at the end of the stipulated 50 overs after Afridi had elected to bat.

Crowd support

Later in the night, it was indeed surprising to see the crowds clinging on to their seats even after the Lankan slide started in the middle overs after Afridi struck with his spin bowling. Probably, they were living on the hope of the home side pulling off an improbable victory on a wicket that was getting slower with every passing over.

While the crowds were hoping for a miracle, the Lankan dressing room was hoping that Chamara Silva, who had skipped the opening tie due to the demise of his elder sister, would do it for them, and more importantly, for his beloved sibling.

But by the time Silva started timing the ball sweetly, it was a little too late. With the asking rate surging into double digits and wickets falling regularly at the other end, thanks to Shahid Afridi's another dream spell, the inevitable had to happen.

Too much to get

As a result, when Silva was stumped by Kamran Akmal, who had an off day behind the stumps, off Abdur Rehman in the 47th over, Sri Lanka needed 44 runs off 23 balls with just two wickets remaining.

Soon after that, when the Pakistani team huddled to celebrate their 11-run victory after Muttiah Muralitharan managed a single off Umar Gul, they deserved all the applause that the sporting Premadasa spectators gave them.

Kenya cricket coach clashes with players

The national Cricket coach Eldine Baptiste has fallen out with some of his senior players at the World Cup according to reports from a cricket official.

Kenya has already been well beaten in their opening two matches of the 19th February to April 2nd tournament and face an uphill task to qualify for the final stages.

Cricket Kenya Chairman Samir Inamdar said that the coach has his own way of doing things which did not go down well with some senior players.

New Zealand routed Kenya by 10 wickets after they were defeated by 69 runs in Chennai last Sunday. Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande attributed that debacle to nervousness and promised to do better against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Kenya's Paul Biwott finished second in today's Tokyo international marathon behind winner Ethiopia's Hailu Mekonnen.

The 30-year-old Mekonnen, who only began competing in full distance marathons last year, slowly outdistanced Biwott before the 35 kilometre mark to cross the finishing line in two hours, seven minutes and 35 seconds.

Biwott was second in time of 2 hours 08 minutes and 17 seconds, followed by Japan's Yuki Kawauchi, who clocked 2 hours 08 minutes and 37 seconds to qualify for August's world championships in South Korea.

In the women's race Russia's Tatiana Aryasova emerged victorious ahead of Noriko Higuchi of Japan.

Canada ponder changes, Zimbabwe bank on spin

It might be a clash of the lightweights, but both Canada and Zimbabwe know this could be one of the few opportunities to earn victory points. Little wonder then that both captains sounded confident at the weighing scale. "It is a big game for us," Elton Chigumbura said. "We have to win this match as that puts us in the running for the next stage, the quarterfinals." Later Ashish Bagai, Canada's banker-taking-a-break captain, spoke as if the victory tomorrow was a done deal. "Zimbabwe and Kenya are going to be the best chance to win," Bagai said. "Those were our team goals coming into the tournament."

Zimbabwe have more experience of playing on a big stage, more experienced players and many guiding lights like Heath Streak, Grant Flower and Alastair Campbell to keep an eye on them. Facing them are Canada, mostly a motley crew of amateurs. The only known name, and professional, being John Davison - the oldest player in the tournament, whose belligerent 111 (against West Indies in 2003), the second-fastest century in a World Cup, has now gathered cobwebs. So far in this edition, including the warm-up games and the first group match against Sri Lanka, the 40-year-old opener has a highest of 3.

The top three have failed consistently and Bagai did not rule handing a World Cup debut to the youngest player in the tournament, 16-year-old Nitish Kumar, a precocious talent according to Bagai and Davison. At the training today, Nitish was part of the first line of batsmen and later had an extended session of throw-downs against the new ball. "A bit of a shuffle is on the cards," Bagai admitted. "The first ten overs have been tough for us losing way too many wickets and it has been hard to recover. The top order needs to take responsibility." If Davison and Kumar do open, it would probably be the first occasion in a World Cup of the oldest and the youngest player walking in together.

The onus would be on Bagai to stay strong. He has been Canada's best batsmen in the recent past, averaging 60 in the last 13 ODIs. Another batsman known for his firepower is Rizwan Cheema. At the outset of this tournament, Cheema had said he would like to go big at every opportunity. A duck against Bangladesh did not tame his aggression as he unleashed a flurry of bit hits using raw power against England to help Canada recover from 28 for 5. His 93 runs from 71 balls gave England a mighty scare, but Canada fell short by 16 runs.

Still, if Chigumbura is not worried, it is because in Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer, he has three bowlers who could temper Canadian aggression. Against Australia last week in Ahmedabad, the trio had bowled in tandem and with discipline to limit the world champions to a modest total. "We are going to play to our strengths which is on the spinners side. On the bowling side it won't change much," Chigumbura said, indicating Zimbabwe were likely to stick to the same bowling line-up.

Incidentally, Zimbabwe suffer from the same problem that ails their opponent: their top three have been inconsistent. Both Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu have played 100-plus ODIs but neither has managed to grown into a dependable batsmen. Charles Coventry has fallen apart after he equalled Saeed Anwar's then-record 194 against Bangladesh in 2009. He has since hit only one half-century.

Even though the match is likely to be played to empty stands - not such an uncommon experience for both teams - it will be far from a quiet contest with both sides having a lot to prove while there is also a lot to lose.

Injuries hamper South Africa training

It's not Delhi Belly but three of South Africa's squad are suffering ailments. Legspinner Imran Tahir, batsman JP Duminy and fast bowler Dale Steyn all missed South Africa's training session on Sunday at the Services Ground in Delhi.

"Imran has an upper respiratory tract infection and rested today as a precaution," team manager Mohammed Moosajee told ESPNcricinfo. "JP developed lower back stiffness after the last game and was also rested. Dale bruised his right side after a collision during today's warm-ups and was removed from the rest of the practice by the physiotherapist Brandon Jackson to undergo treatment. They will all be monitored going into Mohali."

Two of the three walking wounded are frontline bowlers but South Africa's assistant coach, Vincent Barnes, was not overly concerned. "I spoke to Dale on the bus and he said his side was a bit sore but he should be fine."

All indications are that South Africa will have their full complement to chose from in three days time when they take on Netherlands. Having played three spinners in their tournament opener against West Indies there is a feeling that winds of change are blowing through the South African attack, and Barnes is enjoying the breeze.

Tahir is the first attacking wristspinner that Barnes has had to work with and he finds him "a breath of fresh air" in the squad. "I hadn't seen a lot of him before but I got to spend time with him during the India series and he has been unbelievable in the set up."

Tahir was picked for South Africa immediately after he became eligible to represent the country on New Year's Day and was included in the squad for the five-match series against India. He did not play a game, instead being hidden as a secret weapon for the World Cup, a move that seems to have paid off.

His 4 for 41 on debut against West Indies was the fifth best performance by a South African in his maiden international match, something that may have surprised the world, but not the insiders. "I am not surprised by what he is capable of," Barnes said. "He is in the side as a strike bowler and he brings the run rate down because he takes wickets."

Together with Johan Botha and Robin Peterson, Tahir forms part of a core slower bowling competent which has helped take the pressure off the quicks according to Barnes. South African bowling has been synonymous with the quicks in the past but in conditions that demand different plans they are now part of a more rounded unit. Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis only bowled 18.3 against the West Indies with none of them completing their full allotment.

Barnes said the five seamers, which include left-armers Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Wayne Parnell, will still "play a big role in this tournament." One of the places they may do so is at their next stop, Mohali. "We expect more pace and more bounce," he said.

The next match comes a full week after their first game and is going to be played against an Associate team which could present South Africa with an occasion to give squad players an outing in the tournament. Barnes, though, believes it's dangerous to view any contest lightly.

"There are no smaller games," he said. "The match will present us with different challenges, it's a day game, so there will be no dew factor. We'll have a look on the day and decide the best XI."

West Indies must be wary of losing focus

The Big Picture

These two teams began their World Cup campaigns with contrasting defeats. Netherlands' loss against England can safely be bracketed in the 'heroic' category, but West Indies' insipid performance against South Africa was depressingly familiar. This contest may not be the mismatch that the two line-ups suggested it should be.

On the evidence of their opening game, West Indies are going to find themselves fighting it out for the fourth qualifying spot from Group B alongside England and Bangladesh. Therefore this match is one they can't afford to take lightly especially after Netherlands showed they have the ability to make the major sides stand up and take notice.

Netherlands will fancy making another mark because they'll face a thin West Indian attack stripped down even further by the absence of Dwayne Bravo. If Ryan ten Doeschate can lead a display of similar resilience as they showed against England, setting a decent target, or chasing one down, may not be out of reach for the Dutch.

However, like England's class with the bat eventually came through against Netherlands' weak bowling resources, the same should apply to West Indies. Even with the loss of Bravo snr there is considerable batting power available led by Chris Gayle followed by the hugely talented Darren Bravo. But the tournament hasn't had an upset yet and West Indies will have to be careful they don't become the first victims.