Last day for a languid hero

All Today’s Yesterdays – August 9 down the yearsAugust 8 | August 101992
The last day of Test cricket for David Gower, bowled for 1 by Waqar Younis in the second innings as Pakistan won by ten wickets at The Oval to take the series 2-1. In the previous two Tests, Gower had scored 73 and 31 not out – so there seemed to be something personal in Graham Gooch’s decision not to take him to India that winter, an omission that did England no good. Gower’s languidly brilliant shotmaking brought him 8231 Test runs, an England record broken shortly afterwards by … Gooch himself.1991
The day Ian Botham “just, just couldn’t quite get his leg over”. Botham’s hit-wicket dismissal against West Indies at The Oval sparked that comment from Jonathan Agnew, and a fit of hysterics in the Test Match Special box as Agnew and Brian Johnston fought an irresistible attack of the giggles. Johnston was still fighting for composure long after Agnew had given up the ghost, and the exchange has been replayed time and time again since.1977
As well as taking 143 Test wickets for England, Chris Old could bat a bit, as he showed in hammering a century in only 37 minutes for Yorkshire v Warwickshire at Edgbaston. He hit six sixes and 13 fours and scored his second fifty in only nine minutes.1976
In a typically powerful and merciless assault, West Indies captain Clive Lloyd scored an unbeaten 201 against Glamorgan at Swansea. Wisden called it “the fastest double century since Gilbert Jessop’s days in 1903”. In the next match of the tour, Lloyd’s side completed a 3-0 series win over England.1944
Birth of Terry Jenner, a Test legspinner who was best known for being hit on the head by England fast bowler John Snow at Sydney in 1970-71 but made a genuine contribution to Test cricket by recognising and nurturing the talent of Shane Warne.1965
Hostile fast bowler Peter Pollock completed his second five-wicket haul of the match to win the Trent Bridge Test. It was South Africa’s last Test victory in England until 1994.1926
Birth of Denis Atkinson, who took 47 Test wickets but is best remembered for his only Test hundred. Facing an Australian total of 668 at Bridgetown in 1954-55, West Indies were 146 for 7 when Atkinson was joined by Clairmonte Depeiza. Their stand of 347 was a record for the seventh wicket in first-class cricket. Atkinson scored 219 then took 5 for 65 to become the first to do that double in Tests. His brother Eric also played Test cricket.1946
Death of Ernie Vogler, one of the quartet of South African googly bowlers who toured England in 1907. The following winter, he took all ten wickets in an innings for Eastern Province – and his 36 wickets helped win the 1909-10 series against England. As far as Wisden can discover, he was the first batsman to be dismissed for a king pair in Test cricket, at Sydney in 1910-11. Some modern sources call him Bert – but one of his contemporaries, BJT Bosanquet the inventor of the googly, referred to him as Ernest.Other birthdays
1897 Ted Badcock (New Zealand)
1902 Edward “Nobby” Clark (England)
1911 Khurshed Meher-Homji (India)

Positive vibes from captains win great support

The respective attitudes of competing skippers, Australia’s Steve Waugh and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming were praised in newspapers on both sides of the Tasman as both teams made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear of their rain affected first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane yesterday.The New Zealand Herald: “Another explosive innings from Chris Cairns, who struck 43 off 37 balls, almost took the New Zealanders to the wire, but he was caught on the long-on boundary with three overs remaining and just 21 required.”Fleming said afterwards he thought New Zealand had a couple of chances to win – when he and Nathan Astle put on 100 for the fourth wicket, and when Cairns was rampaging at the end.'”I felt pretty exhilarated throughout, but in the end it was disappointing not to come away with a win, especially after getting ourselves in such a good position.'”It was a good challenge and we have no complaints – you don’t get handed test wins, and we knew we’d have to play out of our skins to earn it.'”Fleming’s counterpart, Steve Waugh, believed his side had created the best of the game-winning chances and rubbished suggestions that his bowlers had contravened the spirit of the game by bowling wide of the stumps.'”New Zealand’s bowlers pitched it pretty wide at times in our first innings, so I don’t think it was a big deal.'”Waugh said New Zealand might have thought they were going to win the match, but felt Australia had dominated the game generally, and would have been unlucky to lose.”Peter Roebuck, The Sydney Morning Herald: “A glorious cricket match ended with honours even as the Australians and New Zealanders threw themselves at each other with all their might.”Australia had the fright of their cricketing life. Under the Gabba lights and with spectators spellbound, the visiting batsmen chased hard and almost reached the end of the rainbow.”Magnificent blows from Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan took the tourists close to their target, only for prospects to recede as wild shots were played in the last couple of overs. Finally Cairns was held on the boundary and the home captain sighed the longest sigh of relief in his eventful career. At the end the teams retreated to the pavilion, bruised, blooded and unbowed.”New Zealand refused to go away and were stopped only by the stiffness of the target and the experience of their opponents.”All praise to both teams for having a go. All praise to the captains for breathing life into a game that was dying on its feet. Steve Waugh can hardly have expected the Kiwis to bat as well in pursuit of a tempting total.”The Daily Telegraph: “It was a fitting result – neither team deserved to lose but neither dominated enough to win and there was genuine warmth and respect among the sides when they shook hands after stumps.”Captains Steve Waugh and Steve Fleming can take a bow for putting the reputations of themselves and their countries on the line with last-day declarations which gave the match a wonderful finale.”The waterlogged game, which will enrich the experience of those who played in it, finished under lights at 6.20pm with a small crowd spellbound.”Chris Cairns (43) almost stole it for New Zealand when he joined Shane Lee and Carl Hooper in the exclusive club of people who have driven balls into the top deck of the Northern Stand.”He twice inflicted this treatment on Shane Warne who conceded 17 off his last over which left the Kiwis needing 21 off their last 18 balls with five wickets in hand for victory.”The Australian: “Three previous days of rain in Brisbane threatened to rob the match of any life but opposing captains Steve Waugh and Stephen Fleming deserve enormous credit for declaring to set up an enthralling and unexpected contest.”It was a spectacular chase, with Steve Waugh forced to spread the field far and wide and Glenn McGrath testing the limits of what is an off-side wide to prevent New Zealand snatching an amazing victory.”Only when the brutal Chris Cairns was well caught on the boundary by Ricky Ponting for 43 from 38 balls, having twice belted Shane Warne deliveries to the top tier of the redeveloped northern stand, could the Australians feel safe.”The Herald Sun: “There is no doubt one of the $64 questions before the Test started was whether New Zealand had the ability to bowl Australia out twice.”On the evidence offered during this rain-affected match, the Black Caps have not made ground on the Australian batsmen. This was despite the first-innings failures of Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn.”New Zealand will have no better chance than having its rivals 6-263, yet it was still on the receiving end of a 486 first-innings scoreline.”Despite New Zealand’s failure to nail Australia when the gate had flung open late in the second-innings run chase, there is a positive culture within a squad that has had no alternative other than to learn the hard way.”Robert Craddock, The Herald Sun: “They don’t have many big names, they don’t do much big talking. They haven’t got the greatest record and they don’t win all that often.”But there is one thing you simply have to give the New Zealand cricket team – it’s got guts.”Quite frankly, its attitude puts England to shame.”Both teams deserve great credit for the show they put on yesterday, proving it is not a crime to risk losing a cricket game in the hope of winning it.”You sense Australia will learn more from yesterday’s experience than it did in all five Tests against the West Indies last summer.”Waugh’s declaration dragged players out of their comfort zone, which is the very philosophy the captain and the coach are all about.”

Leeds: Raphinha disappointed v Leicester

Leeds United’s new manager Jesse Marsch would have been hoping for a better result in his first Premier League game in charge of the club since replacing Marcelo Bielsa last Monday.

Having travelled to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City for the early afternoon kick-off, the Yorkshire club ultimately came away empty-handed after a goal from Harvey Barnes in the second half secured all three points for the home side.

In terms of individual performances from the players, there was one man in particular from whom Marsch would have surely been hoping to see a solid display, but he didn’t end up delivering when it mattered.

Raphinha was below-par v Leicester

With the full 90 minutes under his belt against the Foxes, Raphinha had 54 touches of the ball in total, with just 22 passes completed out of 29 attempted, also losing possession 22 times throughout the match.

The Brazilian also failed to find a team-mate with any of his five crosses and failed to completed any of the four dribbles he attempted, showing how disappointing he was with the ball when in possession.

Things weren’t much better for the winger when he didn’t have the ball, having lost six of his seven duels and giving two fouls away.

This performance ultimately earned the 25-year-old – who is currently picking up £63k-per-week according to Salary Sport – a disappointing overall match rating of 6.4/10, making him the lowest-rated Leeds player to start the game according to SofaScore.

Given how the attacker has been Leeds’ main goal contributor this season with nine goals and two assists to his name, and their highest-rated player in terms of overall performances from WhoScored, it’s safe to say that Marsch would have been looking to him to work his magic and help his team pick up a positive result.

However, having been described as a “passenger” at times in the past by Stephen Warnock, that’s arguably what Raphinha was today against Brendan Rodgers’ side, letting down his manager with an insipid display.

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With the Whites still in danger of being relegated, Marsch will undoubtedly be hoping that the Brazilian winger can fix up his performances and start adding some more goals and assists to his tally before the end of the campaign, or else the club could be facing another spell back in the Championship.

In other news: Graham Smyth has revealed a Leeds “surprise”…

Axar threat looms for top-heavy Delhi

Match facts

December 28, 2015
Start time 1430 local (9am GMT)Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi will be gunning for their second Vijay Hazare Trophy title against plucky Gujarat•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Big Picture

The presence of the big India stars brought some attention to the knockout week of Vijay Hazare Trophy, but it’s the two best teams with those hungry to do well at this level that are left standing. Axar Patel has been Gujarat’s talisman, but he is hardly the established star that would bring newspaper headlines to a tournament. Delhi, on the other hand, have relied mainly on team work in their bowling: Quicks Navdeep Saini and Suboth Bhati have gained massively from a dash of Ishant Sharma. Left-arm spinner Manan Sharma has been the perfect support act with an economy rate of 3.36, and Pawan Negi has had a bit of an X-factor about him.The batting of these two sides have been the opposite. Gujarat have shared around the duties: Parthiv Patel hits at the top, Priyank Pachal, Rujul Bhatt and Chirag Gandhi have been the rocks, and Manpreet Juneja returned to form with a fifty in the semi-final. Delhi are more reliant on Unmukt Chand and Gautam Gambhir. Nitish Rana has shown signs of maturity, and Negi has again provided crucial lower-order quick runs.This has been a good turnaround for both the sides after a disappointing first-class season. Delhi seemed to have put behind administrative controversies when they led the points table in the first half. They fell away in the second half whereas Gujarat failed to recover from a slow start. Only one team will cap it off, though.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Delhi WWWWW
Gujarat WWWWW

In the spotlight

The knockout stage played on tired pitches has been a low-scoring affair. The pitches, especially at Chinnaswamy Stadium, the venue of the final, have been two-paced and generally slow. In the first day-night match of the event, the conditions will be in focus.It might be easy to say Gujarat have been all Axar, but Rujul Bhatt will take exception. He has been a solid middle-order batsman, a good slip fielder and a steady offspinner. He is Gujarat’s highest run-getter with 278 runs, and has given away runs at under 4.5 an over. When Axar was running through Tamil Nadu in the semi-final, Bhatt bowled 10 straight overs for just 34 runs.Chand, meanwhile, is the only one with a realistic chance of unseating Mandeep Singh as the highest run-getter of the tournament. At 308 runs, he is 86 behind Mandeep’s mark of 394. He nearly scored that many in the semi-final, shepherding what could have been a tricky chase on the Chinnaswamy pitch.

Team news

Neither of the teams might have pressing reasons to change their winning combinations.Delhi (probable) 1 Rishabh Pant (wk), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Unmukt Chand, 4 Gautam Gambhir (capt.), 5 Milind Kumar, 6 Nitish Rana, 7 Manan Sharma, 8 Pawan Negi, 9 Suboth Bhati, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Ishant Sharma.Gujarat (probable) 1 Parthiv Patel (capt. & wk), 2 Priyank Panchal, 3 Bhargav Merai, 4 Rujul Bhatt, 5 Chirag Gandhi, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Manpreet Juneja, 8 Rohit Dahiya, 9 Rush Kalaria, 10 Hardik Patel, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.

Stats and trivia

  • This is only the second time these two teams are facing each other in a one-day match. The last encounter was a romp for Delhi, in the quarter-final of 2012-13.
  • Axar Patel is the joint highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 19 of them. He is tied with Punjab’s Siddarth Kaul.
  • Delhi have won the Vijay Hazare Trophy once in 2013. Gujarat are looking for their first title.

Quotes

“We can’t take any opposition lightly. We were beaten by Assam in the days and that cost us the knockout berth. We lost against Vidarbha, a very close match. We could not chase 163. We have got enough instances for the fact that we can’t take any opposition lightly. Of course it being a final, we have to raise the bar in all the three departments and make sure that we put in a 100%, do our best so that we win the finals as well.”
“It is great the way preparation for Australia is going. Have batted and bowled well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. But I am taking it step by step. Right now thinking of the final only. Will think of Australia after that.”

Expensive Aussies and a sudden stumping

An angry Ricky Ponting sets off for the pavilion after the third umpire ruled against him © Getty Images

Wide of the mark
Australia normally don’t give an inch on the cricket field but today their bowlers misplaced their radar and conceded an awful amount of wides. Brett Lee began the glut by firing the first ball of the third over down the leg side for five wides and the disease spread rapidly. James Hopes was the best, conceding only one wide, while Andrew Symonds and Brad Hogg also gift-wrapped five wides. The runs in wides totalled 31, the second highest that Australia have ever conceded in an ODI. Zaheer Khan began to return the favour by bowling two wides in the first over of Australia’s innings and RP Singh followed suit.Tendulkar at sea
An outstanding opening spell from Lee made Sachin Tendulkar look helpless at the crease. He was beaten on the drive by fast outswingers, surprised by a couple of bouncers, survived two close appeals; for caught behind when Snicko suggested an inside edge and a lbw shout when the ball might have clipped leg stump. Tendulkar had his troubles against the other bowlers as well; Nathan Bracken rapped him on the pads first ball and Mitchell Johnson’s bounce hit him on the shoulder of his bat. Tendulkar changed his bat twice during his innings and managed to weather the storm.An extraordinary wait
The spectators had cheered six boundaries off Sourav Ganguly’s bat but none had been forthcoming from Tendulkar despite the fielding restrictions. It was only in the 15th over, bowled by Hopes, that Tendulkar freed his arms and cut to the backward point boundary for his first four. The shot had broken a 42-ball drought and the crowd received it with robust applause.Nimble feet, clumsy hands
Brad Hodge, patrolling the square leg boundary, sprinted to his right to stop a flick from Tendulkar. The ball was winning the race and Hodge too realised that he wouldn’t be able to get there in time. As a last ditch effort, he slid feet first, like a football tackle, and prevented the boundary with his legs. In the next over, Hodge had to move quickly on the boundary to stop Tendulkar’s well-timed cover drive. This time he put in the conventional dive, hands first, but the ball bounced off him and went over the ropes.Caught napping
Tendulkar had battled to survive and reached a well-earned half-century before a utter lapse in concentration brought about his dismissal. He tried to paddle-sweep Hopes but missed and was hit on the pad. The Australians went up in appeal for leg before while Tendulkar had wandered to the middle of the pitch, his attention focused on Steve Bucknor’s finger. No one realised that the ball had gone to Lee at short fine leg who swooped on it and threw down the stumps while Gilchrist was still appealing and Tendulkar was yards short.The perfect finish
The Indians hadn’t hit a single six in their innings despite the boundaries at the Sector 16 Stadium being on the smaller side. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Robin Uthappa had taken 14 runs off the 50th over and one ball remained. Almost unnoticed, Dhoni had moved on to 44 off 34 deliveries and he lofted the last one cleanly over long-on to hit India’s first six and bring up his fifty as well.Déjà vu
In Hyderabad, Yuvraj Singh completed a stunning piece of fielding and fired the throw to Zaheer who reprieved Matthew Hayden by breaking the stumps with his hand. That let off cost India only 13 runs. Today Yuvraj once again threw the ball to Dhoni with Hayden just short of his crease but once again the stumps were broken with the hand. Hayden was on 53 and went on to make 92.India ambushed
Australia had made a strong start to their innings but India had picked up Adam Gilchrist and the match was poised at 59 for 1 after nine overs. Australia went on the offensive in the next two overs and hit India hard. Ricky Ponting cut RP Singh fiercely for four and followed up with two exquisite drives, through mid-on and cover. Hayden pounced on Pathan in the next over and swung him over the midwicket boundary before drilling another four in the same region. Australia scored 26 runs in those two overs and the run-rate escalated.Stunned by a stumping
Ponting had leaned forward to drive Irfan Pathan but was beaten outside off stump. Dhoni quickly whipped off the bails and pointed to Ponting’s back foot, indicating that it was on the line. Umpire Suresh Shastri jogged in to replace and took his time in calling for the third umpire. The Indians didn’t seem too excited and they had returned to their fielding positions while the third umpire pondered over the decision. Ponting too was unperturbed, calmly waiting to take strike again, until he appeared shocked when the giant screen flashed “OUT”. He stood his ground a while, muttered for what it was worth, before striding off in a huff.

Denton's six wickets seal Victoria success

Scorecard
Gerard Denton forced a late collapse from the South Australia tail to help Victoria over the line in a nailbiting finish at Adelaide Oval. Denton set up the victory with early wickets then claimed three more with the second new ball to finish with a career-best 6 for 31 as the Redbacks came within nine balls of a draw.Mark Cosgrove tried desperately hard to save his side, curbing his usually aggressive strokeplay in just under five hours at the crease for 52 not out. At one stage it looked like he and Jason Gillespie might block out a draw but when Jon Moss trapped Gillespie lbw for 18 it paved the way for Denton to clean up the rest.Denton had Cullen Bailey caught at slip for 1, Paul Rofe caught behind for 0 and Shaun Tait caught at leg slip for 0 within the space of three overs. It had been Denton who got his side away to a terrific start by having the openers Shane Deitz (1) and Matthew Elliott (7) trapped lbw.South Australia’s target of 350 – it was set after Victoria added 45 to their overnight score – was irrelevant when Gillespie joined Cosgrove at 6 for 84 shortly before tea. They added 46 in an 83-minute partnership and seemed as though they could hold on as they battled against Shane Warne on a wearing wicket.Cosgrove laboured for 297 minutes with a strike rate of only 19.47, compared to his pre-match mark of 64.92, but his defence was not enough to stop Victoria claiming the six points, catapulting them from last to second on the Pura Cup table.

Southgate facing development debate

The Charity Commission has revealed that it is looking into proposals which would involve the demolition of the clubhouse at Southgate, the original home of Middlesex county cricket and one of the venues for currently used by the county. The venue was donated to the local community by the Walker brothers, who were an integral part of Middlesex’s early history, in 1855.The Walker Ground is protected by an old deed which prevents the sale or lease of the land, but the trustees believe that the future of the site would be guaranteed by a deal with a developer which would result in a new health club and spa being built. Enfield Council has also submitted an application which would see the clubhouse renovated and a new gym built on the site of existing squash courts.The ground’s trustees appear to be split, but one of them, Steve Young, told the Enfield Independent that said he believed the Walker brothers would be excited by the plans. “This action will enable the trust to be a viable entity managing a vibrant sporting community for the foreseeable future,” he said, “while retaining the predominance of cricket on the ground.”

Lehmann named South Australian captain for next season

Darren Lehmann has been reappointed as South Australia’s captain for the 2004-05 season, despite international commitments meaning that he will rarely be available to play for his state. It means the captaincy role during matches will mainly be filled by Graham Manou, the wicketkeeper, who was named as Lehmann’s deputy. Manou replaced Greg Blewett, who was the vice-captain last season.Manou, 25, has played 45 first-class matches for South Australia, taking 136 catches and 12 stumpings, and has a batting average of 18.05. He scored his maiden first-class century last season. Manou captains his Adelaide grade side, but said he was surprised to be named state vice-captain. “The first thing that came over my body was goosebumps,” Manou said. “It was just so much excitement, it’s just an absolute honour.”Paul Nobes, the chairman of selectors, said that Manou was an obvious choice after extensively interviewing players and coaching staff. “Graham Manou’s name came up regularly about being a leader and being a future leader, so it really worked out pretty naturally.”He stated that Blewett was unhappy when told he had lost the job. “He’s disappointed … I just explained that we were going in a new direction and Graham was the man and we’d spoken to a lot of people and they saw Graham as a leader.”He said the selectors toyed with the idea of not reappointing Lehmann because of his Australian team commitments, but decided that would be unfair. “If Darren was available for the full 10 games would he be the captain? [He would] therefore we had no intention of penalising him for playing for Australia.”Manou said he did not foresee any tension captaining Blewett. “He’s always going to lead by example as he has all throughout his career,” he said. “I think it will be a fantastic opportunity for me to have someone like Blewie there.”

Speed dismisses Lillee's charges

Within a day of Dennis Lillee’s accusation that the International Cricket Council (ICC) was placing television-generated revenues ahead of the interests of the game, Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC, hit back, clarifying that all the measures taken by the ICC were only to develop the game further. Lillee had lashed out against at the ICC Future Tours Program, which forced strong teams like Australia to play against minnows like Bangladesh. However, Speed defended the system, citing past examples of minnows who struggled to arrange Test series against the established teams.”Dennis is winding two or three unrelated issues into one. Firstly, in relation to the schedule, the ICC Future Tours Program is driven by the desire to have all Test-playing countries play each other on a regular basis. This is to ensure that everyone has the chance to play at the highest level regularly.”Up until recently the smaller countries were at the mercy of the bigger nations. Zimbabwe is still yet to play a Test in Australia despite being a full member for 11 years. In 1995 Sri Lanka had no home Test and had just two the following year against Zimbabwe.”The ICC has already announced that it will review this program to ensure that it is still operating in the best interests of world cricket.Speed also clarified that the ICC didn’t make any money from the revenues generated from television coverage. “In relation to the money that is generated from these tours, apart from the ICC Cricket World Cup and other ICC tournaments, any television money from these series is paid directly to the home board, not the ICC. In the case of the Bangladesh tour, this is the Australian Cricket Board.”Though he expressed disappointment at Bangladesh’s lack of development as an international team, Speed pointed out that the need was to support Bangladesh cricket, not abandon it.”In relation to the performance of Bangladesh since they became a Test-playing country, I think everyone recognises that this has been disappointing. Only last week, the ICC president, Ehsan Mani, highlighted a number of steps that are being taken to assist Bangladesh lift its performance. This includes the prospect of reducing the amount of Test matches that it plays away from home.”I think Steve Waugh summed this up quite well when he said recently `You’ve got to give them opportunities and chances, and I think they have to get some help as well’. Like Steve, I also think Sri Lanka is a good example of what is possible. Only 10 years after starting Test cricket Sri Lanka won the ICC Cricket World Cup. It is time to provide Bangladesh with assistance rather than punish them." Lillee had earlier suggested a two-tier system, with teams like Bangladesh being relegated to the second rung in order to preserve the value of international runs scored and wickets taken.Speed continued: “The ICC’s mandate is to develop the sport as a global game and to protect the spirit of cricket. The steps that have been taken in ensuring that all teams are able to play each other and the assistance that is being given to Bangladesh both reflect this role.”

Rain set to break Kandy jinx

Sri Lanka’s Kandy jinx looks set to be broken after a second day marred bybad weather which is likely to led to a draw in the second match of thisthree-Test series.Only 73 minutes of play were possible after prolonged rain on Thursday nightdelayed the scheduled start by four hours.During the time available West Indies quickly wrapped up the Sri Lankaninnings, but then lost an early wicket to leave them on 39 for one when playwas abandoned for the day.Left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins struck in the first over the day as heclean bowled Nuwan Zoysa for 23.That brought local hero Muttiah Muralitharan to the wicket. In August he hadswatted and spaded the Indian bowlers all over the ground during his highlyentertaining maiden half-century, but he failed to repeat his heroics andwas caught at mid on for four.Sri Lanka were bowled out for 288.Nuwan Zoysa, playing his first Test match since Sri Lanka played England inMarch at Kandy, over eight months ago, struck with his very first deliveryback.Daren Ganga followed a wide short-of-a-length delivery and guided it lamelyinto the safe hands of Mahela Jayawardene at third slip.Chris Gayle, short of runs in Galle, then showed that he was still in primeform, hitting four powerful boundaries in his 25, including two resoundingpulls off Zoysa.Chaminda Vaas encouraged a couple airy wafts as he swung the ball away fromthe left-hander, but West Indies lost no further wickets before the close.

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