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Bangladesh trainer David Dwyer has stepped down from his position after 14 months on the job

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-2014Bangladesh trainer David Dwyer has stepped down from his position after 14 months on the job. Akram Khan, the BCB’s Cricket Operations Committee Chairman, confirmed the receipt of the resignation letter two days ago.Dwyer is understood to have asked for immediate release. He joined Bangladesh as the head of strength and conditioning in February last year, a week before the team left on a tour of Sri Lanka. Like the rest of the coaching staff, Dwyer’s contract was due to expire after the 2015 World Cup.”He has done a great job for the Bangladesh team,” Akram said. “It is up to the board to accept his resignation, but I think we have to start looking for a new trainer immediately. We have a lot of cricket ahead.”Bangladesh’s next assignment is a three-match ODI series against India in mid-June. The tour schedule, however, hasn’t been confirmed.

It took its time coming, it tested a few nerves, but New Zealand finally sealed their first series win at home in five years, not counting the ones against Zimbabwe and Bangaldesh

The Report by Sidharth Monga28-Jan-20140:00

Crowe: NZ have dominated through the series

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ross the Boss: Taylor scored his ninth century•Getty ImagesIt took its time coming, it tested a few nerves, but New Zealand finally sealed their first series win at home in five years, not counting the ones against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. They should have won it three nights ago, they should probably have won it more comfortably tonight after having reduced India to 278 and then reached 54 for 0 in seven overs and 182 for 2 in 33. They will be thankful that they had their two most consistent batsmen – Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson – in the middle when Ravindra Jadeja started to turn the ball square after he himself gave India a fighting total with 62 off 54, a much more assured innings than the one that tied the previous match to keep India alive.Williamson now has four half-centuries in four matches in this series, and Taylor made up for missing out on one in Auckland by turning this into a big one once he crossed 50. Taylor’s innings was exceptional in its discipline: he didn’t try his favourite slog-sweep, in fact he scored just 10 runs in his midwicket arc. Most of his runs came behind and in front of square on the off side. India couldn’t be accused of showing similar discipline when they batted, but they were also put under pressure by a superbly disciplined start by Kyle Mills and Tim Southee, which led to their repetition of the shot that has been getting them out. Between them Southee and Mills bowled three maidens, took three wickets, and conceded just 78.India surprised everyone by not only getting rid of their stubbornness but going to the other end. Not only did they drop Suresh Raina, which was long overdue, they also left out Shikhar Dhawan for Ambati Rayudu, and decided to bat first after having invited the opposition 20 straight times outside Asia. With no specialist opener in the side, India moved everyone up by one spot, which meant India’s best batsman was now opening.However, the opening spells that Mills and Southee bowled would have frustrated the best of openers. There was nothing to drive or cut, forget getting too straight, and India would have had to take a risk if they were going to score. The first risk was taken to the first short ball bowled, and all Kohli managed was a top edge off Southee. Soon Mills got a similar response from Ajinkya Rahane. In between the two dismissals, Rohit became desperate, somehow hit the first boundary of the innings, enjoyed a drop from Taylor, and India still reached only 28 in 10 overs.More good luck, and some classy Rohit shots, followed, and a 79-run partnership shored India up. However, the luck soon ran out. Rayudu top-edged Hamish Bennett, and in an ironical turn of events Rohit edged Kane Williamson for a catch down the leg side. Of all the bowlers, of all the manners. From 151 for 5, India came back remarkably with two batsmen who applied themselves before taking 100 off the last 10 overs. Say what you will about the strategy, Dhoni proved his batting worth with a third fifty in a row. Jadeja, at the other end, showed Auckland was no fluke, and played the cleanest knock of the three fifties in the Indian innings.It was a good comeback if you look at the way India began: two boundaries and 28 runs in 10 overs. New Zealand hit two fours in the first over, reached 28 in the fourth, and were well on their way to hammer India when Jesse Ryder paid once again for his tendency to stay leg side of the ball in order to create room for his off-side hits. That played-on dismissal was followed by Martin Guptill’s lbw – the first such dismissal of the series – and India now had an opening.The opening began to look wider when Jadeja turned the first ball he bowled across Williamson. He beat the bat three times in the first over. R Ashwin provided good support from the other end. The second 10 overs of New Zealand’s innings were the most crucial period of the match. Both Williamson and Taylor played with utmost caution, scored just the 30 runs, saw the asking rate reach 6.13, but didn’t give the spinners a wicket.You would have expected Dhoni to take one of the spinners off and continue attacking with one, but he completely took the pressure off by removing both Jadeja and Ashwin. Suddenly all the pressure was eased, and Taylor and Williamson – 24 off 37 and 17 off 38 respectively – cashed in. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron and Rayudu all conceded boundaries as 63 runs came in the nine overs before Ashwin was brought back.By that time, you would have thought, the game was over, but Jadeja turned it around with a run-out off his own bowling. Another nervous period followed as Brendon McCullum, searching for form, on a hat-trick of ducks, fumbled around a little and the asking rate went past six again. Taylor, though, stood firm at the other end, and guided his captain through hitting timely fours to keep the requirement within reach.The next call of duty was to play out the two remaining overs of Jadeja. That done, the two finished their highest-successful chase against India in style, turning what had looked nervous into a comfortable win with 11 balls to spare.

Toby Radford, the West Indies assistant coach and former Middlesex and Sussex batsman, has been named as Glamorgan’s new head coach.Radford, 41, who was born in Wales and previously coached Middlesex, will take over from Matthew Mott following a season where Glamorgan reached the final of the YB40. He will join Hugh Morris, the outgoing managing director of England cricket who has returned to his former county as chief executive, as part of a new management team at Glamorgan and is set to begin on November 1.Radford said: “It was great to see the team reaching a Lord’s final at the end of the season, and I believe we have a wonderful opportunity of building on this success and developing a team of which the Welsh nation can be proud.””I am honoured to have been offered this position and look forward to working with chief executive and director of cricket Hugh Morris, and the playing and coaching staff of Glamorgan in bringing success back to the county I supported as a youngster.”Following a playing career that was limited to 14 first-class matches, Radford move into coaching firstly with Berkshire and then with the Middlesex Academy before taking temporary charge of the first team in 2007 when Richard Pybus quit midway through the season. He was then appointed on a full-time basis in 2008, the summer Middlesex won the Twenty20 Cup.In 2010, Radford moved to the Caribbean to take up a post at the newly formed High Performance Centre in Barbados from where he became involved with the main West Indies squad firstly as a batting coach and then Ottis Gibson’s assistant.Gibson, himself, had been linked with the Glamorgan role but the WICB made it clear last week that they had not been aware of interest.Morris, who takes up his Glamorgan role in January, said: “In recent years Toby has built a strong reputation as one of the most talented young cricket coaches in England and Wales, and his experience of managing and developing some world class cricketers will be a great asset to our club. He is a proud Welshman and is looking forward to working with our current players and nurturing local talent for the future.”Glamorgan’s run in the YB40, which saw them secure their first Lord’s final since 2000, was the high point of their season. Elsewhere, they finished second bottom in Division Two of the Championship and failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FLt20.Some young players showed promise in 2013 notably offspinner Andrew Salter in the Lord’s final and pace bowler Michael Reed who will be involved with the England development programme over the winter.

Greg Smith finished with a career-best 177 as Essex clinched maximum batting points for the first time this season and took a firm grip at Bristol.

29-Aug-2013
ScorecardGraham Napier removed four Gloucestershire wickets•Getty Images

Greg Smith finished with a career-best 177 as Essex clinched maximum batting points for the first time this season and took a firm grip at Bristol.After rain had washed out 25 overs, the visitors extended their first innings total from an overnight 333 for 7 to exactly 400, Smith being last man out having batted for nearly seven hours, facing 303 balls and hitting 21 fours and a six.Gloucestershire slipped to 41 for 3 in reply before a century stand between Alex Gidman and Hamish Marshall. But Graham Napier and Reece Topley ensured the hosts were reduced to 211 for 9 by the close, requiring a further 40 to avoid following-on.Rain delayed the start until 1.25pm and then interrupted play after just 10 balls, but the clouds got higher and a resumption was made at 1.50pm. Monty Panesar hit a breezy 22 to add 42 with Smith, who went past his previous best first-class score of 165 not out, made for Derbyshire against Glamorgan at Derby in 2010.After Panesar had top-edged a catch to fine leg off David Payne, Tymal Mills ensured Essex of a fifth batting point with 17, including three fours, before falling to the left-arm spin of Tom Smith, who was finally bowled by Craig Miles to end the innings. But Gloucestershire skipper Michael Klinger’s fear that his bowlers had under-performed proved well founded.Chris Dent, Klinger and Gareth Roderick all fell in the first 11 overs of the home side’s reply, Napier taking two of the wickets and Topley one. Gidman became the first Gloucestershire player to pass 1,000 first-class runs for the season shortly after reaching a half-century off 72 balls, but both he and Marshall had to ride their luck in adding 101 in 24 overs.Their partnership ended on 142 when Gidman had his middle stump uprooted by Ryan ten Doeschate, having hit 11 fours. Benny Howell was then run out for 11 by Topley’s sharp throw from midwicket after calling Marshall for a quick single.Marshall was dropped twice in the slips by Owais Shah and Gautam Gambhir on 44 and reached his half-century off 86 balls, with eight fours, before getting a sharp delivery from Topley and edging a catch to wicketkeeper James Foster. Smith followed, edging to Shah at first slip off Napier, and Gloucestershire were 172 for 7, still 79 runs away from avoiding the follow-on.Four runs later Will Gidman was caught behind off a lifting delivery from Topley and Payne was yorked by Napier for a duck before a flurry of boundaries from Craig Miles brought the home side a welcome batting point.

Even if recent scores do not suggest it, Usman Khawaja is slipping closer to a Test match recall in the Ashes series, more than 18 months after his last appearance

Daniel Brettig in Bristol23-Jun-2013Even if recent scores of 51, eight, a duck, 29 not out and six for Australia A do not suggest it, Usman Khawaja is slipping closer to a Test match recall in the Ashes series, more than 18 months after his last appearance.The misadventures of others are helping. David Warner is pondering his behaviour and also a possible move down the order. Shane Watson is searching himself for a way to score runs again. Phillip Hughes is trying to repair confidence battered first in India and again during the Champions Trophy. And Michael Clarke just wants his back to stay supple.All the while Khawaja’s standing as the longtime reserve and sound preparation with Australia A is edging him closer to the XI, his inclusion to arrive perhaps as early as the first Test of the series at Trent Bridge. Of the selected Ashes batsmen, only Ed Cowan via Nottinghamshire and Chris Rogers at Middlesex can happily say they are in better touch.This will be no surprise to those who have seen Khawaja at his best, whether it was standing up memorably to Dale Steyn in Johannesburg in November 2011, or sculpting a Sheffield Shield century of rare quality for Queensland on a Bellerive pitch that looked more likely to be a tennis court last summer. But it will represent a triumph of sorts for Khawaja, who has battled issues of perception, scheduling and punitive team justice since his last Test, against New Zealand in Hobart.”I’m extremely hungry,” Khawaja said. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it before. Every time you go out and play for any team you want to strive to do your best and obviously playing for Australia is the pinnacle for anyone. But in saying that, there’s a lot of time between now and the start of the first Test. I’ve got to keep my head down and go out there and score as many runs as I can because ultimately that’s what it’s all about for me.”Khawaja’s return is not entirely certain, and he will require a substantial score or two in the warm-up matches to come against Somerset and Worcestershire to bolster his case. But there was useful evidence that he is batting neatly against Gloucestershire, as a first innings start was curtailed by Australia A’s declaration, then a solid occupation in tougher second innings climes cut short by a direct-hit from the outfield and a tight run-out call by the umpire.”Runs never hurt, time in the middle doesn’t hurt at all; getting a hundred, getting 200 always helps,” Khawaja said of his recent scores. “But when you get back out every time you start a new innings it’s a different game, it’s got nothing to do with what you scored the day before, the game before, you’ve got to start afresh. Like any other batsman time in the middle is invaluable but in saying that, I think you’ve got to take every game as it comes and I’m pretty confident the way I’m hitting them right now and pretty confident a few runs are around the corner.”That confidence has been derived at least partly by the presence of the Queensland coach Darren Lehmann as an assistant on the tour. Lehmann rated Khawaja’s ability even before he encouraged a move to Brisbane at the start of last summer, and his combination of old school toughness, simplicity and a healthy dose of fun have helped balance the left-hander’s desire to achieve.”He’s been awesome, he’s my coach in Queensland, I get along with him very well,” Khawaja said. “I love the way he goes about his business, he’s tough but he’s always having fun. One of the best things about him is he’s got a really good cricket brain, and you just can’t buy that. He’s had so much experience, he’s played 300-400 first-class games, and the way he talks about cricket he simplifies things. I think he’s got a lot to offer Australian cricket in years to come.”Questions of Khawaja’s drive had been raised in the past, and were given fresh impetus when he was among four players suspended for failing to follow team instructions on the India tour. The episode was a shock to Khawaja, who said such punishments had seldom come his way anywhere, let alone in cricket, but he soon resolved to use the experience as a spur.”I’d never got in trouble much during high school, let alone university. Never failed a course at uni, so it was a bit weird for me,” Khawaja said. “It was tough but I knew the sooner I got over it, the sooner I could get on with it. What had been done had been done, being part of Australia is what everyone wants to do and playing Test match cricket is what everyone wants to do. I’d give my left arm to play cricket.”

MatériaMais Notícias

أعلن نادي ليفربول المنافس في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي عن صاحب الهدف الفائز بجائزة الأفضل عن شهر أبريل الماضي من صفوف الفريق الأول لكرة القدم.

وحصد مهاجم ليفربول، ديوجو جوتا، بهدفه في مرمى توتنهام جائزة أفضل هدف في الشهر الماضي متفوقًا على هدف زميله، محمد صلاح، الأول في مرمى ليدز يونايتد الذي جاء في المركز الثاني.

اقرأ أيضًا.. محمد صلاح رجل مباراة ليفربول وليستر سيتي الهدف الفائز بالأفضل في ليفربول عن شهر أبريل

وجاء هدف روبرتو فيرمينو أمام آرسنال في ملعب “أنفيلد” بالمركز الثالث، وفقًا لاستطلاع الرأي والتصويت من قبل جماهير ليفربول على موقع ناديها الرسمي.

واحتل هدف كودي جاكبو في مرمى وست هام يونايتد المركز الرابع، وظهر جوتا مرة أخرى في القائمة بالمركز الخامس بهدفه الثاني أمام نوتنجهام فورست.

وشارك جوتا في الموسم الحالي مع ليفربول في 26 مباراة في جميع المسابقات وسجل 5 أهداف، لكنه عانى من إصابة في ربلة الساق من أكتوبر 2022 حتى فبراير 2023 حرمته من العديد من المباريات.

كشفت تقارير صحفية إسبانية، أن الدولي الجابوني بيير إيمريك أوباميانج، يقاتل من أجل العودة إلى برشلونة خلال فترة الانتقالات الصيفية المقبلة.

أوباميانج انضم إلى تشيلسي بعد 6 أشهر فقط مع برشلونة، بعدما ضم النادي الكتالوني روبرت ليفاندوفسكي، ولكن الجابوني لم يشارك بصفة مستمرة مع البلوز، عقب إقالة توماس توخيل.

صحيفة “سبورت” الإٍسبانية، أكدت بأن أوباميانج يتفاوض مع نادي تشيلسي للخروج، ومستعد للتخلي عن السنتين المتبقيتين من عقده، لكن النادي الإنجليزي غير مستعد لتقديم أي تسهيلات في الوقت الحالي للاعب.

طالع أيضًا | برشلونة يهنئ ريال مدريد على تتويجه بكأس ملك إسبانيا

اللاعب الجابوني كان قريبًا من العودة لـ برشلونة في الشتاء، لكن اللوائح لم تسمح للنادي الكتالوني باستعادة أوباميانج، لكنه لا يزال على اتصالات مع زملائه في النادي وكذلك تشافي المدير الفني للفريق.

أوباميانج وعد النادي الكتالوني أنه سيفعل كل ما في وسعه للعودة، لكنه ينتظر تقديم برشلونة عرضًا ماليًا لاستعادته، في ظل تمسك تشيلسي بحقوقه، ومستعد لتقديم تنازلات أبرزها تخفيض راتبه من أجل العودة.

تشيلسي دفع 12 مليون يورو لضم اللاعب في الصيف الماضي وليس على استعداد لخسارتها، رغم أنه ليس في حسابات الفريق، ويريد رحيله على سبيل الإعارة للاستفادة المادية، مع عرضي إنتر ميلان ويوفنتوس لضمه.

Match facts

Friday, August 31-Tuesday, September 4
Start time 0930 (0400 GMT)Can New Zealand attack the India spinners in Bangalore?•AFP

Big Picture

It’s not often than an Indian Test win fails to top the sports pages, never mind the cricket pages. India’s comprehensive victory over New Zealand in Hyderabad though was relegated to a sideshow last week as Unmukt Chand’s Under-19 team won the World Cup in Australia. That India’s first five-day success in nine months was so overshadowed was a measure of how lightly New Zealand are treated as a Test opposition, and how heavily India are expected to win.
New Zealand’s Test fortunes seemed on an upswing after upsetting Australia in Hobart, following that up with their biggest Test win ever – an innings-and-301-run thumping of Zimbabwe – and the emergence of several talented young quick bowlers but the optimism has faded over the past few months. The home series against South Africa was always going to be a difficult challenge, but the capitulation on the tour of the Caribbean and against India last week has led to despondence among New Zealand fans. Much has already been written about the frail batting, the scarcity of centuries and the doubts against spin. The Bangalore Test presents a chance to show they are better than they have shown in recent times.
India, meanwhile, couldn’t have asked for a better series to gauge how to fill the void left by the retirement of middle-order stalwarts Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Cheteshwar Pujara will be relieved after marking his return to the Test arena following a one-and-a-half year absence with a big century. Virat Kohli also solidified his position with a fifty and, after a wretched Australia series, India’s attack finally looked Test-quality again.

Form guide

India WLLLL (Most recent first)
New Zealand LLLDL

Watch out for

Suresh Raina has been an integral member of India’s limited-overs sides for several years now, but Test cricket has proved tougher to crack. Kohli and Pujara have earned themselves middle-order spots at least for a handful of Tests, leaving Raina’s place as the most vulnerable. The Test against a feeble New Zealand offers Raina the chance to make the runs necessary to keep a host of challengers at bay.
Ross Taylor has repeatedly stressed on the need for his batsmen to make centuries if New Zealand are to compete in Tests. He himself has only one hundred in more than two years, and that too against a lightweight Zimbabwe. With Jesse Ryder sidelined, Brendon McCullum promoted to the opening spot, and Daniel Vettori injured, New Zealand need Taylor to shore up the middle order.

Pitch and conditions

The Chinnaswamy track isn’t expected to be as spin-friendly as the one in Hyderabad last week, and the quicker bowlers are likely to have more of a role to play. The big concern for the organisers, though, is the weather. There have been evening showers over the past few days in Bangalore, and the predictions are for rains over the weekend as well.

Team news

MS Dhoni has ruled out experimenting with the India line-up ahead of the tougher Tests against England and Australia later in the season, which means the same XI which won the first Test is likely to feature in Bangalore as well. There have been some fitness concerns over Pujara, who was struck on the knee while fielding at short leg in the first Test, but Dhoni said Pujara is expected to play. “Pujara is a bit sore, but the good thing is he batted today at the nets and fielded also,” Dhoni said. “He got a hard hit which means it will take some time to heal but I don’t think it is restricting him in the field.”
India (likely) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav.New Zealand also aren’t expected to make too many changes. Taylor said he was backing his batsmen to deliver after the dismal performance in Hyderabad. The one change they could consider is bringing in either Neil Wagner or Tim Southee for Chris Martin, who was dropped as recently as the second Test against West Indies last month.New Zealand (likely) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 Daniel Flynn, 6 James Franklin, 7 Kruger van Wyk (wk), 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Jeetan Patel, 11 Neil Wagner/Chris Martin.

Stats and trivia

• The Chinnaswamy Stadium isn’t India’s happiest hunting ground, with only one Test win in close to 17 years. Against New Zealand, though, India have won both Tests at the venue.
• After his pair in Hyderabad, Martin is now level with Glenn McGrath on 35 Test ducks, with only Courtney Walsh (43) ahead. Martin’s seven Test pairs is a record.
• Brendon McCullum is 45 short of becoming the sixth New Zealand batsman to reach 4000 Test runs

Quotes

“Sachin Tendulkar may score 45 or 50, still people think he has not scored runs. He has always been under this kind of pressure. He is enjoying cricket and he wants to still improve in every practice session.”

“You have to reach a stage where mentally as well as with your stroke-play in attack and defence, you can dominate them. Not the other way around by letting them dominate you.”

From 166 for 2 chasing 244, Pakistan disintegrated to 179 for 9 in less than four overs to go down by 44 runs

The Report by Abhishek Purohit16-Jun-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn 38 ODIs, Thisara Perera has been Man of the Match five times•AFP

Smart stats

Thisara Perera’s hat-trick was the seventh by a Sri Lankan bowler and the first by a Sri Lankan against Pakistan. Lasith Malinga and Chaminda Vaas have taken three and two hat-tricks respectively.

In the Pakistan innings, six batsmen were dismissed for a duck. This is the third such occurrence (six ducks in an innings) for Pakistan after Birmingham (1987) and Cape Town (1993).

From a position of 169 for 3, Pakistan lost their next six wickets for ten runs. The partnership aggregate between the fourth and ninth wickets (13 runs) is the lowest ever for Pakistan and the third-lowest overall.

Sri Lanka now have an even win-loss record (6-6) at the Premadasa stadium against Pakistan. Against India, they have won 15 matches, the most against a particular opposition at the venue.

The 110-run stand between Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene for the fourth wicket is their 13th century partnership in ODIs. Among Sri Lankan pairs, only the Sanath Jayasuriya-Marvan Atapattu one is ahead (14 century stands).

Sangakkara was dismissed in the nineties for the third time in ODIs. It is also the ninth time a Sri Lankan batsman has fallen in the nineties against Pakistan.

Azhar Ali became only the ninth player overall and the second Pakistan batsman after Saeed Anwar to carry his bat through a completed innings.

The 113-run stand between Azhar and Misbah-ul-Haq is joint-fifth on the list of top third-wicket stands for Pakistan against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan have been abysmal chasers in recent years in ODI cricket. Three hours of accumulation offered hope that tonight wouldn’t end in another failed pursuit. And then, as if all the accumulation had stretched their patience too taut, the dam broke. From 166 for 2 chasing 244, Pakistan disintegrated to 179 for 9. In less than four overs. Thisara Perera followed up his 6 for 44 in the second ODI with a hat-trick. Pakistan registered six ducks, and their 15th defeat in 18 chases of 240-plus in the last three years.In the end, the match was decided in the two batting Powerplays, with Sri Lanka surging in both. A cramping Azhar Ali, who became the first player to carry his bat in ODIs in more than a decade, and Misbah-ul-Haq had put on 113 for the third wicket, leaving Pakistan with 78 to get from 76 deliveries. In the 37th over, the second of the batting Powerplay, Misbah refused a tight single with Ali having run more than half way up the pitch. The effort required to get back worsened Ali’s cramp, making it harder for him to accelerate, like Kumar Sangakkara had earlier after a similar slow fifty.Three balls later, Misbah departed for an efficient 57, with Nuwan Kulasekara taking a sharp low catch at mid-off off Lasith Malinga’s bowling. Umar Gul had put down a much easier chance at long-on off Sangakkara, who went on to add 62 off 48. Malinga stepped it up after Misbah’s departure, pegging Umar Akmal back with three successive sharp bouncers. Akmal drove at and edged his fourth, off Kulasekara, to the wicketkeeper.The fight had gone out of Pakistan. Younis Khan, held back till No. 6, edged a rising Perera delivery to the keeper. Shahid Afridi either explodes or implodes. He did the latter, punching his first ball to extra cover. Sarfraz Ahmed obliged Perera with the hat-trick, guiding him to slip. The persevering Ali was reduced to a spectator, all his hard work undone in minutes of chaos.Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan hadn’t found run-scoring easy in the first half of their chase, but Ali and Misbah kept the visitors going, taking their team to 100 four overs earlier than Sri Lanka had.Pakistan’s top order continued its wobbly ways when Mohammad Hafeez collected his fifth duck in his last 12 international innings, pulling his fifth delivery from Malinga to long leg. Kulasekara kept Ali and Asad Shafiq under pressure with a probing opening spell of five overs for just 16 runs.Still, like Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan had for Sri Lanka, Ali and Shafiq ensured Pakistan weren’t bogged down completely. It was the left-arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon, bowling for the first time in international cricket in his second ODI, who got the breakthrough with his 10th delivery, trapping Shafiq in front on 25 with a slider. The combination of Ali and Misbah was never going to blaze away, but it made sure the asking-rate stayed below six, and under control, finding the boundary just when required. Little did they know of the pandemonium that was to ensue.Not remotely on the same scale, but Pakistan had fallen apart in the field too after being disciplined for more than three-fifths of Sri Lanka’s innings. Gul dropped Sangakkara off Afridi, when on 35 off 82 deliveries. Then came the batting Powerplay. Sangakkara carted 62 off his last 48 deliveries, and Sri Lanka reached the kind of total Pakistan have struggled to chase in recent years.Till Sangakkara was put down in the 31st over, Sri Lanka had been tied down, first by Pakistan’s fast bowlers, and then by their spinners. Sangakkara and Dilshan did add 55 for the second wicket, but they were hard-earned runs, and Dilshan’s departure immediately after the first drinks break meant Sri Lanka had to continue with their cautious approach. The absence of scoring opportunities consumed Dinesh Chandimal as well, after which the expected rain came down to force a 70-minute break.Pakistan’s spinners continued with the run-squeeze after the rain interruption. The next few overs were quiet, but Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene took complete charge in the batting Powerplay, which went for 49. Gul, who was feeling some pain in his right index finger, was to suffer the most. He had given just 16 off his first five overs; he disappeared for 26 in two overs in the batting Powerplay. Sangakkara stepped out to launch the first ball of Gul’s second spell for a straight six. When Gul overdid the bouncer in the next over, Sangakkara pulled him for six more over fine leg.Sangakkara dominated the 110-run fourth-wicket partnership with Jayawardene, who played some innovative strokes. He was quick to lap-sweep and sweep the spinners, and even reverse-pulled Saeed Ajmal for four over point. Pakistan managed to dismiss the duo in the 44th and 45th overs to limit the damage, but most of it had already been inflicted. Pakistan’s self-destruction later sealed the issue.