Oval:Australia will have to set a new fourth innings run chase record if they are to win the Oval Ashes Test after England made a solid, if unspectacular start, to the third day.
Andrew Strauss, the England captain, was the only dismissal as he and Jonathan Trott, unbeaten on 50 at lunch, took the score to 157 for four, against Australian bowlers ploughing a dogged off stump line on a pitch that continues to deteriorate.
Strauss and Trott showed the resilience that has characterised much of Australia's batting in this series as they extended England's lead from an overnight 230 to 329 which if Ricky Pointing's team successfully chase down will eclipse the previous highest fourth innings run chase of 263.
Strauss has been the heartbeat of England's batting this summer and he looked set for a second century of the series when he edged to slip on 75 in the over before lunch.
By then he had already become the highest run scorer in this series from either side when he reached 50 and his run tally stood at 474 when he was dismissed.
The first ball of the day reared up off the dusty pitch and led to a full throated appeal for a catch behind off Trott by Peter Siddle but umpire Asad Rauf, who dropped two clangers on Friday, made a good decision, judging the ball flicked the thigh pad.
Marcus North's off spin was quickly introduced by Ricky Ponting and his first ball was paddled through fine leg for four by Trott to bring up the fifty stand off 127 deliveries.
The first hour, as usual earmarked as crucial by both teams, was attritional with England grinding another 28 runs to their overnight score of 58 for three.
Strauss reached his fifty with a cut to third man and then struck his first boundary of the day when Stuart Clark drifted down the leg side.
Clark persevered with a deliberate ploy to bowl wide to pitch in the rough outside left-hander Strauss's off stump. It shut off the runs but rarely caused Strauss any problems and he eventually hit Clark out of the attack by advancing down the pitch and thumping him through the covers for consecutive fours.
Trott drove Ben Hilfenhaus for three to take the lead beyond 300 and in the following over the 100 stand was recorded as runs began to flow a little more freely as the morning session ended.
With five minutes to go before lunch Trott reached his half century of 89 balls with a four through the on side off Hifenhaus.
Thushara, Murali fashion strong win
With the rain clouds staying away and the Galle sky clear, Sri Lanka romped to victory in the first Test, finishing off proceedings mid-afternoon. The New Zealand tail offered far more resistance than the top order - Daniel Vettori led the way with a brave 67 - but with the spinners coming into their own after early breakthroughs from Thilan Thushara, Sri Lanka eased to a 202-run win. Fittingly Muttiah Muralitharan, who had taken his 100th wicket in Galle earlier in the match, had the final say, running out Brendon McCullum with a superb throw from mid-off to finish off proceedings.
Any realistic hopes that New Zealand had of survival had disappeared soon after lunch, when Jesse Ryder edged Murali behind. McCullum and Vettori staved off the inevitable for a while, and there was polite applause for Vettori when he reached his half-century. Two neat pulls for four off Thushara followed, but by then both Murali and Ajantha Mendis were turning the ball at wicked angles.
And it was Mendis who delivered, coming round the wicket and turning one sharply away to take the edge of Vettori's bat. Once again Prasanna Jayawardene's glovework was smooth, and as Vettori walked back, it was only a matter of when Sri Lanka would wrap things up. McCullum swung Murali for a six, and then swept him for four to rage against dying light, and there were a couple of lovely drives too from Jeetan Patel. But after Mendis had seen him dropped by Malinda Warnapura, substituting for Angelo Mathews, at short leg, Murali struck, with the doosra luring him forward and Prasanna doing the rest.
Iain O'Brien went caught at silly point off the inside edge, and McCullum then made the mistake of taking on Murali's throwing arm to end the contest. The damage, though, had been done much earlier, as Sri Lanka started the morning with some exceptionally tidy overs. The pressure eventually told once Thushara switched the angle of attack to round the wicket. Martin Guptill was clueless against one that came in with the arm and then darted away to clip the top of off stump. Soon after, Tim McIntosh, perhaps still suffering the after-effects of illness, was squared up, and Thilan Samaraweera took a fine low catch at third slip. McIntosh waited for the third umpire's decision, but had to walk off eventually.
An even heftier blow came soon after. Kumar Sangakkara threw the ball to his predecessor as captain, and when Mahela Jayawardene got Ross Taylor to tickle on into Prasanna's hands down the leg side, the Lankan celebrations were raucous. Up in the dressing room, Trevor Bayliss, the coach, held his head in his hands in disbelief.
With the fields more attacking, both Vettori and Jacob Oram had the opportunity to play some strokes. Vettori played a couple of lovely drives, and the sweep and pull were also employed by both as the scoreboard ticked along. But just when it seemed that they might get to lunch without further damage, Oram tried to sweep a straighter one from Mendis, and missed.
Both Vettori and Ryder saw edges off Murali evade wicketkeeper and slip and go for four, but there was to be no great escape for New Zealand. Sri Lanka, whose home form is the envy of so many, chipped away relentlessly and with Thushara adding a cutting edge to the wiles of Murali and Mendis, victory was as inevitable as it was emphatic.
Sri Lanka 452 (Samaraweera 159, M Jayawardene 114, Martin 4-77) and 259 for 5 dec. (Dilshan 123) beat New Zealand 299 (McIntosh 69, Murali 4-73, Thushara 4-81) and 210 (Vettori 67, Murali 3-88) by 202 runs.
Virender Sehwag to meet Arun Jaitley on Tuesday
New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) The crucial meeting between Virender Sehwag, who has triggered a virtual players' revolt against Delhi adminstrators, and DDCA President Arun Jaitley will be held on Tuesday to try and resolve the issues raised by the senior cricketers.
Sehwag has threatened to quit the Delhi Ranji team in protest against alleged nepotism and corruption in the DDCA's sports committee but has been told to keep his decision on hold till the meeting with Jaitley.
The star Indian opener has received support from his senior Delhi teammates like Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra, who have also threatened to play for some other state in the upcoming domestic season if their grievances were not addressed. Former Delhi players have also backed the revolting cricketers.
Since both Sehwag and Jaitley were out of town, the meeting could not be scheduled eatlier.
Scrap Champions Trophy, make way for IPL: Hayden
Saturday, August 22, 2009 (New Delhi): Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden has advocated scrapping of the Champions Trophy and a two-month window for the Indian Premier League in the international calendar.
In his column for the 'Independent', Hayden wrote: There's too much cricket, too much of it is meaningless, and there are just too many different formats.
"Playing the World Twenty20 every other year is too much. And why have the Champions Trophy when you've already got a 50-over World Cup," he said.
Hayden said cricket should take lessons from football and evolve.
"There are strong lessons to be learned from the success achieved in other sports, such as the quadrennial cycle of football World Cup and UEFA European Championships."
"Cricket should follow this with a similar cycle of T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup. To maximize coverage these should be played in odd-numbered years - football major competitions, and the Olympics, are in even-numbered years. The Champions Trophy should be scrapped," he wrote.
Hayden, who plays for Chennai Super Kings, said there was nothing more exciting and challenging than the opportunity to play amongst the best players in the world.
"The T20 format is high-impact, colourful and attractive. I truly believe that the formula works, and that IPL, the world's premier franchise competition, is here to stay."
"The IPL has the ability to generate international fan bases in the same way as achieved by the English football's Premier League. I believe some IPL matches should go on the road each year and be played in other countries, to make it a global competition. The sooner the world of cricket embraces the IPL, the sooner everyone can find ways to benefit from its massive potential," he said.
The Australian giant also backed the idea of World Test Championships to draw spectators to the stands for the traditional format.
"I propose the establishment of a World Series, or a 'World Test Championship' if you like, which would be on a rolling calendar with finals every two years," he said.
"At the core would be the iconic series - the Ashes and India v Pakistan. They should stay as five-match series. Aside from those ties, teams are pooled in two groups, with everyone playing each other and scoring points for wins, draws and series wins, and picking up bonus points for stand-out batting and bowling performances. The leading two in each group would progress to semi-finals and a final, the other would enter a rankings play-off system," he added.
It seems like yesterday: Vijender
NEW DELHI: It's not everyday that an athlete emerges champion even in defeat. On August 22, 2008 Vijender Singh did just that when he lost his
semi-final bout at the Beijing Olympics but the bronze medal that he settled for was the first that any Indian boxer had managed in the world's biggest sporting event.
He completes a "life-changing" year since that feat but Vijender says it is just like yesterday for him.
"It's amazing, a year has passed since I won the Olympic medal and what a year it has been. I still remember the days in Beijing very clearly, it's just like yesterday. Winning the Olympic bronze medal was the start of a new life for me. Everything changed after that medal," the 23-year-old middle weight (75kg) boxer said.
"I lost the (semi-final) bout. It would have been nice to have won and ensured that India's first Olympic medal in boxing was gold," the Khel Ratna awardee added.
"But I am proud of what I achieved and the fact that it made such a difference to Indian boxing gives me immense happiness."
The road to Olympics was a bumpy one for Vijender as he had failed to qualify for the event in his first two attempts and was battling a nagging back problem going into the third and final qualifying tournament.
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