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Day 3 Close West Indians 618 and 39 for 2 lead Free State 264 (Venter 79, du Preez 56, Rampaul 5-55) by 405 runs
ScorecardThe West Indian tourists pressed home their advantage on the third day at Bloemfontein, taking their lead over Free State to an imposing 405 by the close.It might have been worse for Free State, who were tottering at 114 for 7 at one stage, after an incisive spell from Ravi Rampaul, the young but rapid 19-year-old from Trinidad. Free State’s blushes were saved by Kosie Venter, who cracked 79 from No. 7 – he hit ten fours from 124 balls, and helped the last three wickets more than double the score. Dillon de Preez, at No. 10, contributed 56.Brian Lara decided not to enforce the follow-on, despite a lead of 354, but Chris Gayle couldn’t capitalise: he was bowled by Cliff Deacon in the first over of the second innings. Wavell Hinds was also out before the close, by which time the West Indians had added 39 to that lead in 15 overs.

The ECB National Academy ended the second day of the four-day match againstVictoria 2nd XI in Melbourne today in a strong position.The ECB NA were dismissed for 247 with Mark Wagh finishing on 74 not out, Ian Bell scoring 48 and Chris Schofield 49. Australian fast bowler, Damien Fleming ended with figures of five for 36 off his 20.2 overs.In reply the Victorians ended the day on 83 for 4. Yorkshire’s Steve Kirbytook two wickets with Steve Harmison and Chris Tremlett taking one each.

Charinda Fernado bowled Moors SC back into the game to beat Sinhalese SportsClub by 24 runs in the first match of the Premier League One-Day Tournament, which was played at Maitland Place. Fernando claimed six wickets in his 10 over spell and conceded just 29 runs.SSC were heading comfortably towards their 211 run victory target when they were on 107 for two in the 29th over. Fernando the entered the fray to dismiss Tilan Samaraweera for 43 runs and end a 79 partnership with Sajeeva Ranatunga.Suresh Perera was bowled next ball and Ranatunga was dismissed in Fernando’s following over.With the exception of SSC captain, Hemantha Wickramaratne, who made 36, none of the other batsmen were able to establish themselves at the crease. Fernando took three more wickets and SSC were left reeling on 178 for 8 with four overs remaining. The 23 runs needed off the final overs proved too much for the star studded SSC side and Ragana Herath mopped up the tail.”They bowled tightly and our batsmen failed to accumulate enough singles early on, to keep the run-rate under control. The pressure began to add up on the batsmen,” said a disappointed Wickramaratne after the defeat.Earlier, Moors SC elected to bat first and got of to a steady start, with the openers adding 48 runs in the first 13 overs. However, the two openers, Heshan Tillakeratne(23) and Dilshan Witharana(19), were back in pavilion at the 16th over with the total on 65.Thereafter, skipper, Rasika Priyadarshana (29), took charge of the innings and put up 41 runs with Bathiya Perera (19) for the third wicket.Nilantha Cooray who had a good start to the season, making 173 runs in four innings in the Under 23 tournament, showed his form again to score 49 runs in 54 balls. He dispatched five balls to the boundary and hit one six.Dilhara Fernando proved to be a handful for the visitors. He wrapped up the Moors innings for what appeared to be a modest score of 210. Fernando finished with figures of five for 32. Samaraweera chipped in with two for 28.

Leeds United’s communications chief Jay Mooney has been reacting to Tyler Roberts’ injury on Twitter.

The Lowdown: Roberts out for the season

The 23-year-old was named on the bench in Jesse Marsch’s first game as manager against Leicester City and came on with 14 minutes remaining.

Unfortunately, the Welshman suffered a hamstring injury shortly after coming on but didn’t come off despite the fact he was seriously struggling.

Late Monday night, it was confirmed by the Whites that Roberts has undergone surgery on a ruptured hamstring tendon which is set to keep him out of action for three months.

The Latest: Mooney reacts

The club’s official Twitter post received plenty of interaction on Monday evening, including from head of communications Mooney.

He replied using his personal account, labelling it as ‘sad news’.

“Sad news but Tyler will come back fighting. Unbelievably good soul, always happy to go the extra mile for the club.”

The Verdict: Unfortunate

Roberts has made just seven Premier League starts this season, contributing to two goals in 974 minutes of action.

He may have been in line to feature more regularly under Marsch, though, due to the American’s 4-2-2-2 system, so the injury update is extremely unfortunate for the player ahead of 11 make or break fixtures starting against Aston Villa on Thursday.

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The good news for Marsch is that Patrick Bamford is set to make a return after a lengthy period out, so it is a case of one in and one out on the treatment table at Thorp Arch.

In other news: Phil Hay drops huge Leeds news from Thorp Arch before Villa. 

	Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh celebrate Mahela Jayawardene’s dismissal © Getty Images

Majestic
When Yuvraj Singh is in form, his placement is up there with best and when his confidence is high, it’s a crime to pitch it up to him. Farveez Maharoof did just that and paid the price. Yuvraj waited for the ball to arrive, went down on his knees, and unleashed a cover drive that sent the ball racing to the fence, completing the shot with a classy follow through. Everything was perfect about the stroke.Spot on
And just when one thought that Yuvraj would ensure Kumar Sangakkara’s century went in vain – as it eventually did – Chaminda Vaas, a smart assessor of a batsman’s strengths and weaknesses, sent one straight through the huge gap that is created by Yuvraj’s high backlift. Vaas landed the yorker at the right spot, knocking back Yuvraj’s middle stump to end a glorious innings.Old man not at sea
Robin Uthappa hit the ball to the mid-off and set off for a single thinking, perhaps, that taking on the 38-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya wouldn’t be much of a risk. Little did he know that the Sri Lankan warhorse still retains a youthful agility as Jayasuriya demonstrated with his sprint, pick-up and direct hit which found Uthappa marginally short of the crease.Good ol’ basics
Munaf Patel has faced a lot of criticism for his casual attitude while fielding, but he got his own back in the third over of the morning. Sangakkara punched a fullish delivery straight back; Munaf tried to field it in his follow through and the ball deflected off his fingers onto the stumps. It’s arguable that a more agile player might have fielded the ball cleanly, but here Munaf’s effort was just what India needed: Jayasuriya, who was holding the bat in the wrong hand, was well short of his crease and the batsman who had pummelled the Indian new-ball attack in their previous encounter was back in the hutch after facing just three deliveries.Too high, mate
Praveen thought he got the breakthrough that had eluded the Indians for close to 30 overs. Coming round the wicket, his high full-toss startled Sangakkara, whose attempted pull landed in the hands of Uthappa at midwicket. Just as Praveen was about to celebrate his first ODI wicket, umpire Peter Parker rightly ruled the delivery a no-ball, deeming it to have been above waist high.Too straight, mate
Sangakkara might rethink playing his straight drives. Earlier in the innings, his punch down the ground had accounted for Jayasuriya for a duck. Then just as Sri Lanka had taken the upper hand, Sangakkara’s drive deflected off Praveen, the bowler, to the stumps and Jayawardene, who was stranded out of his crease, became the second batsman to perish to Sangakkara’s accuracy.Running wild
As if two run-outs were not enough, Sri Lanka suffered another blow when a misunderstanding between Sangakkara and Chamara Kapugedera resulted in a third one. Rohit Sharma dived to his right at point, picked up the ball and threw in one motion towards the bowler’s end and knocked off the bails. Sri Lanka were running themselves out and India were back in the game.

Unlike their last match the Sri Lankans would want their top-order to fire © Getty Images

The last time these two teams met, the match lasted only slightly longerthan . It may have been aninconsequential qualifying game, with both sides assured of a place in theChampions Trophy, but West Indies were utterly humiliated on a livelyBrabourne Stadium pitch. Farveez Maharoof was the bowling star that daywith 6 for 14, and Sri Lanka waltzed past the target of 81 in just 13.2overs.Tom Moody, who oversaw that demolition job as coach, certainly isn’treading too much into the result. “We will take nothing out of that match,considering these are completely different conditions and situations,” hesaid. “The only advantage we will take is a psychological one.”His wards will also be helped by the fact that West Indies’ campaign hasgone from brimful-of-promise to laced-with-intrigue in the space of aweek. Demoralising defeats to Australia and New Zealand have left them ina situation where defeat on Sunday could conceivably mean the end of theroad.”I’m not sure what the morale is like in the West Indies camp but if it isdown, we’ll try to take advantage of it,” said Moody. “They have come offtwo losses, so this is a big game for them. But it’s equally as big forus. We’re going in there all guns blazing, hoping to play our A game toget two points on the board in this stage of the competition.There’s certainly a healthy respect for a team that Sri Lanka have beatenonly once in five World Cup matches dating back to 1975. “The West Indiesare a very good side with lots of proven match-winners,” said Moody.”They’ve shown that they’re a side that can win competitions and beat bigteams in tournaments. Given that they’re under pressure, this is the timethey will probably come up and play their best games. So, we’ve got tomake sure we’re on our guard.”On a pitch that was expected to favour them, Sri Lanka were largelyoutplayed by South Africa, and Moody admitted that poor top-order battinghad undermined his team’s chances. At the same time, he was certain thatthe decision to bat first had been the right one.”We felt this wicket was going to get slower and lower, and turn,” hesaid. “It suits our bowlers in the middle of the innings. Butunfortunately, through some good play by Kallis and Smith, they took theinitiative in the first 20 overs. We didn’t have enough runs really todefend, and for our spinners to have an impact.”The batting debacle started at the top, with Mahela Jayawardene’s wretchedrun continuing against Charl Langeveldt. “Mahela has been digging deep forsome runs,” said Moody. “Now is a good time for your top order to bepeaking and there could be nothing better than the captain to lead fromthe front. He’s a very fine player and hopefully he’ll play thatmatch-winning knock against West Indies.”That Sri Lanka even made a match of it against South Africa was down to a98-run partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Russel Arnold, afterdisciplined bowling and some inspired fielding had reduced them to 98 for5.”We know that we really only competed in about 30 per cent of the game,”said Moody. “It was only a brilliant spell of four balls that made it looka lot closer than it was. We know that we didn’t bat as well as we couldhave upfront.”Those four wickets came from Lasith Malinga, whose slinging action andvariations in pace were almost too much for South Africa’s lower order.But even there, Moody was of the opinion that there was much room forimprovement. “A bowler like Malinga, you’ve just got to let him go,” hesaid. “He’s a match-winner. If you look at it realistically, he bowledpoorly for six overs in that match, but came back and bowled well forthree.”We’re working on those six overs now and bottling the confidence of thethree overs he bowled well at the end. He knows he was far from having acomplete match as a bowler.”As for what sets Malinga apart from others, Moody just smiled and said,”Everything”. “He has a very unique action, a unique hairstyle [laughs]and he’s unique in that he bowls at 90 miles an hour and is about 5ft,7in. He’s just one of these unique bowlers that tend to crop up in theworld of sport. We tend to get a few in Sri Lanka.”This guy is a little bit different. He has come through the system ofplaying tennis-ball cricket, and hence his exaggerated lower-arm action.Thankfully, in the process of him going to the international level peoplehaven’t mucked about too much with his action. They have left him to be asnatural a possible. He’s reaping the benefits and so is the team.”Moody brushed aside suggestions that Sri Lanka may have peaked too early -“Australia have peaked for about 15 years, haven’t they?” he said with alaugh – and was unconcerned by the fact that there might be a full houseat the new stadium in Providence to cheer on West Indies.”I’m sure there’s going to be a rally of support for the West Indies, butthe crowd can’t go out there and score runs or take wickets,” he said. “Atthe end of the day, we’ll just be concentrating on making sure that we getour processes right and play the cricket that we know we can play.”If they do, the hometown dream could well be a nightmare by Sunday evening.

Scorecard
Pura Cup table

Clinton Perren was Man of the Match for his double of 74 and 168 not out © Getty Images

Michael Kasprowicz produced a timely performance ahead of the South Africa tour as Queensland jumped to a four-point Pura Cup lead with a 294-run victory over South Australia. With Glenn McGrath expected to be ruled out of next month’s Test series, Kasprowicz went head-to-head with Jason Gillespie in the match and today he combined with Andy Bichel for eight wickets as the Redbacks were dismissed for 209.Clinton Perren’s brilliant 168 from 202 balls allowed Jimmy Maher to declare from the comfort of 6 for 365, setting South Australia a massive target of 504. The chase began poorly when both openers departed by the time they reached 2, Kasprowicz collecting Ben Cameron and Bichel taking caring of Greg Blewett. Mark Cosgrove and Cameron Borgas fell with the score on 72 before Kasprowicz struck twice in three balls to end a 97-run partnership between Darren Lehmann and Callum Ferguson.Ferguson left with 38 after being bowled by a Kasprowicz off-cutter, and he quickly found Graham Manou’s edge, which went to Martin Love at first slip. Bichel stepped in with the important wicket of Lehmann, who blasted 13 fours in his 64-ball 74, and finished with 4 for 77 while Kasprowicz ended the match with Shaun Tait’s dismissal to claim figures of 4 for 63. Perren, who scored 74 in the first innings, was named Man of the Match for his impressive dual efforts.The victory gives Queensland a useful buffer as they attempt to win hosting rights for the final from March 24. South Australia suffered their second loss in a row and are third with New South Wales and Western Australia on 20 points, four behind Victoria.

The conditions were stifling at Kochi, but Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag handled the heat and the Pakistani bowlers superbly, and their 201-run stand was the cornerstone of India’s comprehensive win. If conditions like those, you’d expect batsmen to hit plenty of boundaries and save themselves the bother of running between the wickets, but Dravid, especially, batted exactly as he would normally, running hard and striking only the occasional hits to the fence. His innings contained 58 singles and 11 twos – that’s 77% of his runs which came the hard way. Add the singles and two he ran for his partners, and the numbers burgeon to 121 singles, 15 twos and a three. No wonder he was quite exhausted by the end of it all. Sehwag, on the other hand, hit 50% of his runs in boundaries.India’s trump card in the field was Sachin Tendulkar, who renewed his love affair with the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. His overall figures were impressive enough – 10-1-50-5 – but they were even better when he bowled from round the wicket, cramping the batsmen for room. He bowled 53 such deliveries, and conceded just 32 runs, a rate of 3.6 per over, and took all wickets. And when he pitched it outside leg, Pakistan’s batsmen were floundering, managing just three per over.

A report from the Reuters news agency claims that the International Cricket Council will announce a decision to freeze payments totalling millions of dollars owed to countries following the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.The ICC, which is meeting in Barbados this week, has apparently taken the decision because Global Cricket Corporation (GCC), the ICC’s commercial partner for the tournament, is demanding almost US$50 million as compensation for loss of earnings during the World Cup. “All the World Cup countries currently have money withheld,” an anonymous source told the agency.It is possible that money will be released, but only if countries give a guarantee to the ICC that it would be repaid should the claim by GCC be upheld – and the outcome of that might not be known for up to two years.”If the auditors believe the ICC should give some money back, they may be able to access it, but only if the ICC get the bank guarantee they want,” the source said. “The ICC are deciding – should they release any money, and if they should release any money, exactly how much.”India have led the calls for the ICC to pay the outstanding monies now, but the source said their demands are likely to be rebuked. “They are saying strict conditions need to be met before any money would be returned to the World Cup countries,” he told Reuters. “India have come to the table banging their fist saying they want their money back. India are making the most noise and the ICC have said no.”The situation is further complicated by the fact that the ICC is already withholding money from New Zealand and England after their refusal to play group matches in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar and the Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB) got a sigh of relief when the InternationalCricket Council (ICC) named New Zealand’s Brian Hastings asmatch referee for next month’s Test series between Pakistanand Bangladesh.The ICC also appointed Englishman John Hampshire andZimbabwean Russel Tiffin as umpires for the Dhaka andChittagong Tests.Pakistan leave for Dhaka on Jan 2 for two Tests and threeone-day internationals. It will be Pakistan’s maiden Testtour against the newest Test nation who got into the ICCfold last year.The three ICC officials are some of the few who have notraised any suspicion against the bowling action of Shoaib,rated as one of the quickest in the world.Shoaib, who has been reported twice this year, faces a oneyear suspension if reported again after the PCB decided notto utilize the services of Michael Holding as bowlingadvisor in accordance with Stage 2.However, Inzamam-ul-Haq doesn’t have happy memories ofHastings who fined him 50 per cent of his match fee duringthe home series against Sri Lanka in March 2000 for accusingthe opponents of sledging.