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ScorecardDivision One strugglers Lancashire and Hampshire played out a high-scoring County Championship draw at Old Trafford, with both now facing the prospect of a relegation fight later this summer.The players shook hands at 4.50pm to confirm the result when the visitors declared on 237 for 5 in their second innings, leading by 277.Opener Joe Weatherley’s unbeaten 126 off 260 balls, which saw him bat through the whole day, represented his maiden first-class hundred.This draw means that both sides leapfrog Yorkshire to leave them second bottom in Division One after they suffered a seven-wicket defeat to leaders Surrey at Scarborough.Yorkshire are four points behind Hampshire and three behind Lancashire, but they have only played seven and have a game in hand on both.At the start of the final day here, James Vince’s side resumed on 66 for 2 – a lead of 106.An attritional morning saw Hampshire add only 69 as bowlers continued to work hard. Allrounder Jordan Clark made the breakthrough in the 12th over of the day when Sam Northeast was bowled for 10.Lancashire had an early lbw decision against Weatherley adjudged not out. In all, he batted for six and a quarter hours, with Hampshire’s second innings starting late on day three.This was his second century for the county, with his first coming against Kent in the Royal London Cup. The 21-year-old had scored three first-class fifties heading into this game, including one against Surrey two rounds ago.After tea, Weatherley and Ian Holland (26 not out) batted through, sharing an unbroken 73 for the sixth wicket to advance from 164 for 5 following the departure of Rilee Rossouw.Lancashire have another relegation battle next up when they welcome Yorkshire to Old Trafford at the end of July for the first of two vital Roses clashes.That will be their final Championship match at the venue this season as the club will be relaying the outfield ahead of next year’s World Cup and the Ashes Test.With the Vitality Blast on the horizon, Hampshire will have to wait until August 19 to play Championship cricket again when they will take on Nottinghamshire at home.For now, though, their attention will turn towards Lord’s when they will welcome back Dale Steyn, who was rested from this fixture.Liam Dawson will also be back amidst his stint with the England Lions, for whom he taken eight wickets in three one-day matches against the A teams of India and the West Indies over the last week.

Big Picture

Just how far this Sri Lanka top order has to go in ODIs could not have been made more clear in the first match on Sunday. Batting coach Thilan Samaraweera said his team had spoken about seeing out the likes of Kagiso Rabada in the first 10 overs, before taking more risks against the less experienced South Africa bowlers later in the innings, but the hosts nevertheless found themselves 36 for 5 in the ninth over, the game already virtually lost inside 40 minutes.Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera then struck up an encouraging partnership worth 92, but it never looked like the kind of stand that could alter the game’s outcome. This is exactly how so many Sri Lanka innings have played out over the past 18 months – the majority of the batsmen failing dramatically, while one or two others make half-decent contributions that serve only to make the loss less abject.South Africa will be glad to have tasted victory for the first time on the tour, but they know they are not exactly a world-beating ODI unit either. They have spoken about blooding young players in this series, and on Sunday, one of those players, left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi, came good, taking 4 for 33 to wipe out the Sri Lanka lower order after the seamers had made those early breakthroughs. With regular spinner Imran Tahir rested for this series, Shamsi has a gold-plated chance to carve out a place for himself in the ODI XI.Others, such as Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi, also have opportunities to embed themselves in the side as the series goes on.

Form guide

Sri Lanka LWWWL (completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa WLLWL

In the spotlight

Normally, South Africa tours of Sri Lanka mean runs for Hashim Amla. In ODIs, there is no other country he would prefer batting in, having hit two hundreds in his six innings on the island, with an average of 62. On this tour, though, Amla’s scores (across Tests and the first ODI) have read 15, 0, 19, 6, and 19. And while his prowess against spin has truly stood out on previous trips, spinners have dismissed him on each occasion this time, so far. He had also crossed fifty only once in six innings in the ODI series against India earlier this year. South Africa’s coaches are certain he will rebound, but at 35, a few more modest scores could get fans wondering whether this is merely a slump or a more permanent decline.AFP

The man to dismiss Amla in that first ODI was Akila Dananjaya whose new-and-improved googly (he has been working on pushing it faster through the air), fooled the batsman and rattled his stumps. Dananjaya is not always a penetrative bowler, but he is very rarely expensive, which on its own is a not insignificant virtue in this modest Sri Lanka attack. While Sri Lanka attempt to get the rest of their team in order, Dananjaya has done enough over the past eight months to suggest he is a player worth investing in. Even if he has the occasional bad game – though he really doesn’t have many of those – Sri Lanka might do well to play him in as many matches as possible leading up to the World Cup.

Team news

South Africa are likely to keep their XI from Sunday, which means Heinrich Klaasen will probably continue to sit out, while Mulder plays as an allrounder.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Lungi NgidiSri Lanka will be without fast bowler Lahiru Kumara, who split a webbing on his left hand during fielding drills. Kasun Rajitha is most likely to play in his place. They may also think about handing left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya a debut, with Lakshan Sandakan the most likely to sit out if that happens.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 3 Upul Tharanga, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Shehan Jayasuriya, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Akila Dananjaya, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Kasun Rajitha

Pitch and conditions

Despite Sri Lanka’s collapse, there were no major demons in the Dambulla track on Sunday, and another good one-day pitch is expected. No rain is forecast for the day.

Stats and trivia

• In seven innings so far this year, Amla averages 24.71, with a strike rate of 80. His career average is 50.02, with a strike rate of 89.
• From 18 bowling innings, Akila Dananjaya has a career economy rate of 4.97. This is despite his having played in one of the weakest Sri Lanka ODI bowling attacks in the last 20 years.
• Sri Lanka have now lost nine ODIs in a row to South Africa – a losing streak that goes back to July 2014.

ScorecardDropped catches proved expensive for Durham after the visitors chose to bowl first on day one of their Specsavers County Championship match against Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground, Grace Road.Paul Collingwood, captaining Durham for the last time away from their Chester-le-Street home, put down both Harry Dearden and Neil Dexter, both times at first slip, though Dexter should already have been dismissed first ball, Michael Richardson shelling a relatively straightforward chance at third slip.Had Richardson held the chance, off Matt Salisbury, Leicestershire would have been 139 for 5 and struggling. As it was Dexter and Dearden went on to compile a partnership of 77 for the fifth wicket in just 17 overs before Leicestershire’s lower order and tail took their score past 300.In the absence of captain Paul Horton, unavailable due to personal reasons, Ateeq Javid was promoted to open. He and academy graduate Sam Evans put together a partnership of 31 for Leicestershire’s first wicket before Evans was leg before to a delivery from Chris Rushworth which seamed back in to the young right-hander.With the bowlers struggling to cope with the strong southerly wind, Colin Ackermann hit Barry McCarthy for successive boundaries before the Ireland international had his revenge with a delivery that moved away just enough to find the edge.Javid was dismissed shortly after reaching his half-century, his highest score for Leicestershire, leg before to a Rushworth delivery which seamed back, and though Mark Cosgrove showed signs of finding some sort of form in going to 37, he was also beaten on numerous occasions, particularly by Rushworth, before being bowled pushing across the line at a delivery from Salisbury.Dexter’s good fortune enable he and Dearden to repair the innings before Dexter eventually went leg before on the front foot to Gareth Harte with the score on 216 shortly before tea, and when Dearden edged a loose drive at Mark Wood without further addition to the score, Durham might have hoped to have their opponents all out for around 260.But Lewis Hill, in company with Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson and Gavin Griffiths, guided Leicestershire to a third batting bonus point.

ScorecardSummer clings on in Sussex but the county’s thin hopes of promotion have been scattered on the blustery wind. Having arrived at the ground this morning sustained by the envision that they might challenge Warwickshire’s first innings 440 and then embarrass their visitors in the second half of the game, Ben Brown’s players eventually left the field with their opponents 238 runs to the good and all their wickets intact. A few hours earlier Kent had secured promotion and their match at Edgbaston next week seems certain to be a First Division title decider. The bad light that ended the cricket 13 overs early probably seemed rather fitting for home supporters.And it was grimly ironic that Will Rhodes, the player who helped make Warwickshire safe in this game, was recommended to his new county by the current Sussex coach, Jason Gillespie, who had been responsible for the all-rounder’s development when in a similar post at Headingley. Rhodes’ unbeaten 76 in Warwickshire’s second innings took his total of championship runs this season to 850 at an average of 42.5. As Yorkshire’s supporters sigh with relief at their own county’s survival in the First Division they may reflect how much easier that passage might have been had their batting been strengthened by Rhodes’ unflappable presence.Certainly the opener’s good footwork and thumping drives have been features of Warwickshire’s season and his unbroken first-wicket stand of 141 with Dom Sibley, their third century partnership in six innings, finally stamped on any notions Brown’s bowlers might have hatched of taking early wickets and inducing panic. Rhodes’ fearless batting – he slog-swept Danny Briggs for six in the twelfth over – confirmed he has made a success of leaving Yorkshire, the county he had represented since the age of ten. It is a trick few players manage to pull off. Gillespie, of course, will congratulate Rhodes and be pleased for him but he may also reflect on his praise with a wry smile. “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is / To have a thankless child” exclaims King Lear.Yet anyone who expected Sussex to subside in an unsightly heap once their promotion chances became fanciful underestimated the culture of enjoyment and achievement that Gillespie has encouraged at Hove. They also failed to allow for Brown’s competitive instincts and that is normally a grave oversight. This was proved in the first hour of the day’s play when he and David Wiese extended their sixth-wicket stand to 196. Brown’s method is quiet but it captures the attention. There are normally four taps of the bat in the crease, often in two sets of two, and then a firm crack of bat on ball even if the shot is defensive. Obduracy comes as standard.Wiese is hewn from similar rock and the pair looked secure until he was bowled by a ball from Chris Wright which nipped back but also kept low. He was seven short of what would have been a deserved century and his dismissal was crucial to Warwickshire’s progress. None of the remaining batsmen scored runs with Wiese’s unfussy ease and the hour’s cricket before lunch was characterised by close-set fields and a throttled run-rate.Immediately after lunch Jeetan Patel switched himself to the Sea End and this change proved decisive. A couple of sharpish off-spinners prompted Brown to push forward tentatively for a third and he edged an arm ball to Jonathan Trott at slip. He had made 99. Nearly but not quite. It seemed to sum up Sussex’s season. And home supporters had barely got over their misery at the dismissal of their skipper when Chris Jordan top edged a sweep off Patel to Ryan Sidebottom at backward square leg.With Tom Haines’ ankle ligament injury rendering him for the rest of this game, Joffra Archer and Ollie Robinson became their side’s last pair and Archer’s innings was ended on 16 when he edged a very rapid delivery from Olly Stone to second slip, where Sibley took an unnervingly good two-handed catch above his head. Sibley then trotted off to the pavilion with Rhodes and ten minutes later the pair strode out purposefully to begin what may be any team’s final innings at Hove this year.

When David Miller had struck Mohammad Saifuddin for five consecutive sixes in Potchefstroom a year ago, Mashrafe Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal couldn’t keep their cool back in Dhaka. Tamim remembers that he got really nervous for Saifuddin and screamed at his TV, urging him to bowl the wide yorker. He did, and Miller had to contend with 31 runs off the over.A month later, Darren Sammy took 32 off Saifuddin during the Comilla Victorians-Rajshahi Kings BPL match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, where a year later Saifuddin was adjudged Player of the Match for his bowling performance against Zimbabwe. His 3 for 45 slowed down Zimbabwe particularly in the last five overs when he used a fine mix of slower bouncers and fuller length deliveries to stop their big-hitters.Saifuddin said that he wanted to support Mustafizur Rahman, who is one of the leading death bowlers in the world, by keeping the run rate around seven in the slog overs. He conceded 22 runs in his last three overs, picking up a wicket.”I have been bowling in the death overs in the Under-15 and Under-17, while playing under Miraz,” Saifuddin said. “I struggled in my early days in international cricket but I always speak to Miraz and Mustafizur, who is an experienced bowler. I tried to execute whatever I have learned.”It was a batting track. Having conceded some runs in Mirpur during the same period of the innings, we wanted to keep them under 250. Mustafizur is a superb death bowler. I supported him by giving away five to seven runs.”It was a far cry from the “has been” tag that some had put on him quite prematurely after he lost his place in the Bangladesh team earlier this year, having played two ODIs and two T20Is in January and February.Without doing anything flashy in domestic cricket or with the Bangladesh A team in the interim, Saifuddin was brought back because Bangladesh don’t really have a pace-bowling allrounder. He was earmarked from his age-group days as a future Bangladesh prospect. He was fast-tracked into the senior side last year, with disastrous results.Saifuddin said that one of the things he did was discuss handling pressure with the senior players.”I worked on the mental aspects of bowling,” Saifuddin said. “I have discussed it with senior players on how to approach bowling in international cricket. I have been quite expensive at this level previously. I will try to keep up what I did today. There’s a long way left for me.”I wanted Mash bhai to bring me into the attack. I wanted to show something since I am playing in place of Rubel [Hossain] . I wanted to do something different so that I get noticed.”Saifuddin also said that he drew inspiration from his mother’s advice about failing in life, while also using his experience of bowling at the death since his age-group days.”There will be some slips when you are trying to get success. My mother tells me that a baby may fall while taking his first steps but does that mean he will not walk? I will get hit but I will learn from it,” he said.

Khaleel Ahmed’s send-off of Marlon Samuels in the fourth ODI in Mumbai has earned the India left-arm quick an official warning and one demerit point.Having dismissed him in the 14th over of West Indies’ innings, Khaleel turned towards the departing Samuels and yelled out multiple times. Khaleel picked up figures of 3 for 13, helping India win by 224 runs.He was found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC code of conduct, for violating article 2.5, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an international match”.Khaleel admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad, which meant there was no need for a formal hearing. The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Ian Gould and Anil Chaudhary, third umpire Paul Wilson, and fourth umpire C Shamsuddin.

Jon Lewis has left Durham following a restructuring of the club’s cricket operations.Lewis, who had been head coach, joined the club as a player in 1997 and was appointed captain in 2000. As coach, he led the club to the County Championship title in 2013, the Royal London Cup in 2014 and to T20 Finals Day in 2016. He has also overseen a system that has helped produce the likes of Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, Mark Stoneman, Graham Onions, Scott Borthwick and Keaton Jennings in recent years.The restructure – managed by director of cricket, Marcus North – left no obvious role for a permanent head coach, however, and Lewis is understood to have declined the opportunity to apply for a new role.The new coaching structure will see a coach employed to run the Championship and List A side – a nine month a year role – while another coach – again in a part-time role – will run the T20 side. There will also be a batting consultant – available for around 120 days a year – and two full-time roles as bowling coach (which will be Neil Killeen) and an assistant coach or second XI coach, which will be Alan Walker. Jonathan Trott, who is recently retired as a player but appears to be in demand as a coach, has been linked to the batting consultancy position.The club insist the changes are not forced upon them by budget issues, but instead designed to modernise the system and give themselves a better chance of employing coaches who might also be involved in the BBL or similar leagues.Lewis could be forgiven for feeling a certain level of disgruntlement, though. Over the course of his tenure as coach, he has seen his playing budgetslashed by around 50% and seen his side relegated – and handicapped – following the club’s financial issues. He has had to cut his playing staff often, been unable to hold on to some of his best players (Jennings, Stoneman, Borthwick and Onions have all left) and never breathed a word of complaint about any of it.He has already been linked to a couple of vacant positions at home and abroad – Yorkshire are among those currently recruiting – and leaves the club with a strong track record and good reputation.”We wish Jon all the very best in the future and every success in his next career move,” Durham’s chief executive Tim Bostock said. “Iwould like to thank him for his hard work, dedication and outstanding commitment to Durham. Jon will always be welcome back here at Emirates Riverside.”

An imminent return of Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul to the Indian set-up has been ruled out with the Supreme Court on Thursday adjourning – without giving a next date of hearing – the case pertaining to the Lodha Committee reforms. Several issues, including the fate of the two cricketers and the BCCI’s elections, are due to be resolved but the court said it would proceed with the case only after the appointment of an amicus curiae to replace Gopal Subramanium, who left that post recently after holding it for several years.The two-judge bench of Justices SA Bobde and AM Sapre has nominated PS Narsimha, senior advocate in the court, to replace Subramanium and said it would hear the case if and when Narsimha accepted the role.The disciplinary issue of the two players is tied to the appointment of a BCCI ombudsman, the board’s final adjudicating authority under its constitution. The post has been vacant since Justice AP Shah finished his term in late 2016 and the Committee of Administrators has asked the court for directions on a new appointment.The BCCI legal team had advised the CoA that the process of adjudicating on the players would involve an initial inquiry to be done by Johri (see sidebar), which would then be sent to an ombudsman whose ruling would be final and binding. This issue saw a split between the two members of the CoA – chairman Vinod Rai said if the court did not appoint an ombudsman, he would consult the amicus curiae to pick an ad-hoc ombudsman, while Diana Edulji said that she would not support any hasty inquiry because that would only amount to a “cover up” exercise. Incidentally, Edulji was present in court today along with her legal counsel.

Pandya, Rahul plead guilty

Rahul Johri, the BCCI chief executive officer, conducted an initial hearing with Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul over the phone and submitted the players’ explanations to the CoA on Tuesday. Both have pleaded guilty to the charge of indiscipline and misconduct imposed on them by the CoA over their comments recently on an Indian television chat show.
On January 11, the CoA suspended both players and called them home from Australia to face an inquiry. The selectors then named replacements for the Australia series and the New Zealand tour, which starts next week.
“The players have expressed deep regret and they have apologised for all they have done,” Vinod Rai, the CoA chairman, told ESPNcricinfo. “They have said that they did it in their naivete. And they didn’t realise [at the time] what they had done.”

The CoA counsels Parag Tripathi and CU Singh told the court appointing the ombudsman was essential, not only to decide the fate of the players but also in that it would remove all the roadblocks for the BCCI and the states to comply with the Lodha reforms.On the other hand, the BCCI members have said it’s their right to pick the ombudsman. The Solicitor General of India, appearing for the BCCI’s government-affiliated members, made this point today when he intervened to say that only the BCCI had the powers to appoint an ombudsman, and it can only be done post elections. The court said that without the new amicus curiae taking charge, no decision could be taken.Legal counsels for various state associations told the court they had applications pending on the recall of the order last August, which had approved the new BCCI constitution as per the reforms. The states still had reservations about a few significant reforms pertaining to the tenure of the office bearers and the disqualification criteria. The CoA, in its tenth status report, had told that court that not one of the 34 BCCI members had become fully compliant.

The Sri Lankan batsmen ended the three-day practice match in Hobart without a half-century between them in either innings, as they stumbled against the left-arm spin of Jon Holland on day three.The visitors had in fact been modest the entire day, taking only one wicket in their 32.5 overs with the ball before stuttering to 131 for 6 in their second innings. Their only solace is that the their tormentors on day three – Kurtis Patterson, who cracked a second unbeaten century in the game, and Holland, who took 4 for 28 – are not in Australia’s Test squad.Only Lahiru Thirimanne, who is essentially auditioning to open alongside Dimuth Karunaratne, made a score of significance for the Sri Lankans, making 46 off 121 balls. Nos. 4 to 7 fell in fairly quick succession to Holland, with Dhananjaya de Silva and Sadeera Samarawickrama picking up their second disappointing scores in the match, making 2 and 6 respectively. What was worse for the Sri Lankans was that Roshen Silva, who was batting on 23, was forced to retire hurt.Earlier in the day, Marnus Labuschagne, who may be in Australia’s XI in the first Test at the Gabba, completed a half-century, having begun the day on 33. Lahiru Kumara dismissed him for 50 off 101 balls, but that would be the last wicket the Sri Lankans would take in the day, as Patterson struck 102 not out off 136 balls, to go with his 157 not out off 212 deliveries in the first innings. Patterson was involved in an unbroken 90-run stand for the fourth wicket, to which partner Will Pucovski’s contribution was 33 off 70.Perhaps not wanting to risk their frontline seamers, however, the Sri Lankans bowled only Kumara in extended spells on day three, with Dushmantha Chameera, Suranga Lakmal and Kasun Rajitha bowled only for a handful of overs.The first Test starts on Thursday.

Mark Wood believes his maiden five-wicket haul against West Indies in the third Test has allowed him to finally show he is an England player.The 29-year-old fast bowler admitted the dark times were “really bad” as he battled ankle injuries but his 5 for 41 to ruin West Indies’ chances of overhauling England’s first-innings total of 277 was a welcome reward for him and perhaps a message to the doubters.”I’ve had some horrible dark days with injuries and things like confidence and self-belief,” Wood said. “I thought in my own mind I was an England player but I hadn’t shown it. I felt like today I’ve showed I am an England player.”It’s nice to show some people who’ve probably doubted me in the past, I’ve even doubted myself that I can do it, but I wouldn’t say I’m out of the woods yet.”A longer run-up and an impressive trip to UAE with England Lions – he took 4 for 67 and 1 for 56 in a four-day game against Pakistan in November – had Wood believing in his body once more. His blistering pace against West Indies in his 13th Test and first since last May was further proof.”[There were] times where I had no confidence slamming my front foot down … there were times when I was desperate to do well, trying my hardest, but it just wasn’t quite happening for us but luckily today is a day when it’s clicked,” Wood said.”I just don’t feel like I have to force it as much,” he said of his extended run-up, which has dispensed with his sprinter-like initial burst of speed. “I’m still hitting the floor … but with more momentum, more rhythm. Before, I had to get up to speed quick and to get up high pace, I had to muscle it a little bit whereas now I feel in more rhythm, and I can get in the spin of things and today it just clicked.”His rediscovered self-belief came to fruition on the second day in St Lucia, but he had had to wait for the opportunity after being a late call-up to the England squad in the Caribbean when Olly Stone returned home with a back injury before the first Test.”I felt I was actually here on merit,” Wood said. “I felt because I’d done well there [in UAE] it merited my spot being here and this time I wasn’t picked on potential, I deserved it.”And should the self-doubt creep in at any stage again, Wood can call on his latest performance to help him through.”It’s a day I’ll never forget so any time it’s not going quite right I can look back on this game and have fond memories,” he said.