Sri Lanka v India, Final, Dambulla, June 24, 2010

MS Dhoni lifts the Asia Cup

India's under-fire seam attack came good when it mattered, setting up fourth win in seven tournament finals for MS Dhoni's side, a statistic that makes a mockery of India's abysmal record in finals. The conditions did support them as they were bowling under the lights in Dambulla, but it was a huge improvement from two nights ago: all three of Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra bowled tight lines, all three got movement both ways, extra bounce, and consequently wickets.

Match Meter
IndiaKarthik wrests initiative: After Gautam Gambhir wastes a decent start with a lazy run-out, Dinesh Karthik hits three lovely boundaries in the eighth over, taking India to 51 for 1.India Sri Lanka Kandamby makes up for poor fielding: With a nice juicy full toss and a long hop wide outside off, Thilina Kandamby removes Karthik and MS Dhoni, bringing Sri Lana within a wicket from India's long tail.India Sri Lanka Malinga, Kulasekara finish well: Lasith Malinga comes back to take out a dangerous Suresh Raina, and along with the disciplined Nuwan Kulasekara, he concedes just 55 in the last 10 overs.
IndiaDilshan falls in the first over: Even before Ashish Nehra gets into action, Praveen Kumar removes the impact man, Tillakaratne Dilshan in the first over.
IndiaNehra rips the heart out: Ashish Nehra proves to be the deadliest of three medium-pacers, repeatedly making the ball land on the seam, and regaining his special ability to get swing with back-of-a-length deliveries, taking three huge wickets for five runs. Advantage Honours even

Sri Lanka could have restricted India to about 30 fewer than the 268 had they fielded as well as they usually do and had they attacked a bit more. India could have got about 30 more had Dinesh Karthik, the best of the batsmen on the day, and Dhoni not gifted wickets to Thilina Kandamby's erroneous part-time legbreaks. All that, however, ceased to matter by the time India's three medium-pacers were done with their first spells, the collated figures of which read 19-2-61-5.

Nehra proved to be the deadliest of three, repeatedly making the ball land on the seam, also regaining his special ability of getting swing with back-of-a-length deliveries. Two of his four wickets were Sri Lanka's best batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. The third was one of the smarter ones, Angelo Mathews.

The man who is used to make impact, though, was removed by Praveen in the first over. Tillakaratne Dilshan took one sighter, and went after the next. It was a bouncer wide outside off stump, and the pull went only as far as mid-on. Zaheer and Praveen then worked hard for the next wicket, troubling the two left-hand batsmen, Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga, with consistent movement.

The wicket eventually came through a forgettable choice from Tharanga. Earlier in the same over Zaheer had hit Sangakkara twice in the thigh area with sharp inward movement. Still Tharanga chose to leave one alone without even covering the stumps. The top of off was hit.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara would have been relieved to see Zaheer (5-1-17-1) off, but it was short-lived. With his second ball, Nehra nearly got Jayawardene lbw, the ball swinging in. In his second over, he got extra bounce and away movement, getting that edge. At 49 for 3 in the 14th over, Sri Lanka were under extreme pressure. Which could perhaps explain Mathews' loose shot two balls later, edging a short and wide delivery.

Nehra's swing continued and Sangakkara tried to do something with the only delivery that looked too short. It bounced too high and Sangakkara was gone in the 16th over, which made it three wickets for eight runs since Nehra's introduction. Praveen played his part from the other end, bowling nine overs of steady away swing from left-hand batsmen for 29 runs.

Nehra produced perhaps his best deliveries for Chamara Kapugedera, getting vicious swing from back of a length, hitting him repeatedly in the thigh-rib region. In his fifth over, Nehra provided some respite, giving Kandamby both width and the angle down the leg side.

It was too late and too little for Kandamby, two of whose best innings have come in losing causes from desperate positions against India. That job of raising hope was left to Kapugedera and Nuwan Kulasekara, who added 35 in the batting Powerplay taken in the 36th over. It brought the defeat margin down to two figures, but couldn't mask the one-sided nature of the contest.

The first half of the match was more even, and it went this way and that. After Gautam Gambhir wasted a decent start and two lives behind the wicket with a lazy run-out, Karthik wrested the initiative through three punched boundaries in the eight over, bowled by Farveez Maharoof.

Maharoof was to endure an ordinary day, being slow in the outfield, dropping a half chance from Karthik, and failing with the bat too. Along with Maharoof, Kandamby's tardiness in the outfield hurt Sri Lanka bad. His drop of Gambhir may not have hurt them hugely, but his reluctance to dive and slowness in acting did.

Kandamby made up though, with a nice juicy full toss and a long hop wide outside off. The first one somehow seduced Karthik into finding deep square leg's lap, and the second got Dhoni to hit straight to point. That brought India down to 167 for 4 in the 33rd over, and Sri Lanka were one wicket away from the long Indian tail.

Sangakkara, though, surprisingly chose his lucky part-timers over peppering Suresh Raina and Rohit with bouncers. When Lasith Malinga was eventually brought back in the 39th over, India were nearing 200. In his second over, Malinga showed why he should have been bowling as soon as Raina came out. Five awkwardly played short balls were followed by a deadly yorker that caught him on the crease.

Having seen a lower-order collapse lose them the previous match, India were circumspect, Kulasekara was accurate, and only 55 came in the last 10 overs. In the final equation, though, that didn't matter.



Gautam Gambhir was run out as India got off to an edgy start



Dinesh Karthik eased the nerves with a series of shots through the off side...



... and brought up a pleasing fifty



Lasith Malinga intervened at the other end as Virat Kohli threatened to open up



MS Dhoni kept things ticking along in customary style...



...before Thilina Kandamby got his wicket to pull India back



Sri Lanka's fast bowlers then used bouncers well to check India's progress



Malinga struck again to remove Suresh Raina as India struggled to accelerate





Praveen Kumar sent Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck to set back Sri Lanka's chase




The situation worsened when Upul Tharanga was bowled by Zaheer Khan



Zaheer was at his menacing best as Sri Lanka struggled to make headway...



Ashish Nehra leads the victorious Indian team off after the game.



... before Ashish Nehra ran through the middle order with three wickets



He picked the crucial scalps of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardena and Angelo Mathews as Sri Lanka slumped to 51 for 5



When Thilina Kandamby was run out after a middle-overs crawl Sri Lanka's hopes were all but sealed

Shaun Tait is set for.....

Shaun Tait is set for a surprise return to Australia's ODI team and Steven smith could be in line for his Test debut after Nathan Hauritz was sent home from England with an injured foot. Hauritz was troubled by pain in his left foot during the first two defeats to England and he is flying back to Australia to recover, which places him in serious doubt for Australia's upcoming Tests against Pakistan.
"While the pain was manageable in the first game, it became more severe during the second game," Alex Kountouris, the team physio, said. "The pain is likely to be related to a previous foot injury and we have decided the best course of action is to withdraw Nathan from the current tour to allow sufficient time for it to recover. His return to training will be determined in the coming weeks."
Given that Australia's Test series against Pakistan begins in less than three weeks, that means the legspinning allrounder Smith is likely to be elevated to Test status. Australia have few other spin options, with Jason Krejza having had hip surgery during the off season and Jon Holland also having been sidelined by injury.
In the meantime, the one-day squad will welcome Tait, who has been playing Twenty20 cricket with Glamorgan and was therefore in Cardiff as Australia lost the second one-day international on Thursday, where they were without Ryan Harris due to a groin injury. Tait will travel with the squad to Manchester for Sunday's third encounter and if he plays, it will be his first ODI since February 2009.
Although he has given up on first-class cricket due to the strain on his body, Tait has remained a powerful Twenty20 strike weapon for Australia. He has kept playing 50-over cricket for South Australia but hasn't had quite the same success, and in last summer's FR Cup he collected 10 wickets at 44.50 with an economy rate of 6.26.
"In view of the injury to Nathan Hauritz and some concerns about the injury to Ryan Harris, the national selection panel (NSP) has made the decision to add Shaun Tait to the ODI squad for the remaining one-day games against England," Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said. "Shaun is still very much in the thoughts of the NSP for the upcoming ICC World Cup and these games present Shaun with a great opportunity to again represent Australia in one-day cricket."
Assuming Tait's body can handle the workload of ten overs, he will add an x-factor to an Australian attack that has struggled for penetration in the opening two games. On an Old Trafford pitch expected to help the fast men, England's batsmen might not like the prospect of facing up to a man who during the Australian summer broke the 160kph barrier.
The team's medical staff will continue to monitor Harris in the lead-up to the third game at Old Trafford. He was Australia's best bowler in the opening match but reported soreness in the groin area after the game.

Bullish Collingwood basks in England dominance

Paul Collingwood has been a key part of England's rejuvenation as a one-day side

Confidence is surging through the veins of England's cricketers both on and off the field as they sit with a 2-0 series lead over Australia. Paul Collingwood, who became his country's leading one-day runscorer during the victory at Cardiff, called for the team to "go hard" before this series started and had no qualms about spelling out where the balance of power now lay.
"We're confident every time we go out and play Australia. It's not arrogance. We are now confident we can beat anyone in one-day cricket on any given day," he said. "If you look at Australia's record over the last year or so they still have that air of invincibility, because they haven't lost many games. But we are the better side at the moment."
The side that Collingwood debuted in during the 2001 season lost all six matches in the NatWest Series against Australia and Pakistan - just one many limited-overs debacles - but this current unit are a far cry from the callow one-day teams that England have often fielded. They have now stitched together a seven-game winning streak which is their longest since 1997-98 and are on the verge of gaining revenge for last summer's 6-1 hammering against Australia which followed the Ashes.
Collingwood's new-found aggression with the bat matches England's 'no fear' approach to the one-day game which began at last year's Champions Trophy, continued through South Africa and culminated in winning the World Twenty20 in West Indies last month.
"After they hammered us last year we all thought we had to do something about it. We are a much better team now," said Collingwood. "But we want to be the best one-day side in the world and we want to win the World Cup next year - and as we stand, we are a long way down in the rankings."
Collingwood's ascent to become England's leading one-day runscorer after surpassing Alec Stewart during his 48 on Thursday is yet to fully sink in for him. He now holds England's runs and caps record having overtaken Stewart's appearance mark last year, something few would have imagined when he barely made an impression during his debut series.
"It was a huge surprise to me when they announced it on the tannoy - and I think there were quite a few Australians out there who were even more surprised than me," said Collingwood. "It put a smile on my face. To know you have scored more runs in one-day cricket than any other Englishman is a lovely feeling."
Collingwood's innings, which formed an important stand alongside Eoin Morgan as England chased down 240, was his first significant score of the season after he sat out the Bangladesh Test series as part of the squad rotation policy following the World Twenty20. He made a scratchy 11 in the opening game at The Rose Bowl and was beginning to fret over the need to make a contribution.
"I've felt a bit rusty so far this summer," he said. "I went into the match at Cardiff thinking 'I need to start playing well again, I need a bit of confidence'.
"Then they announced I'd broken Stewie's record and I thought to myself 'why do you worry so much?' Alec Stewart was a great player, and sometimes you have to pinch yourself to believe that you're playing for England - let alone overtaking someone like him.
"It's all a bit surreal at times. I was thinking 'surely not me?' I knew I had overtaken Stewie's number of appearances - but his runs? Are you kidding me?"

England v Australia, 2nd ODI, Cardiff, June 24, 2010

Andrew Strauss cuts during his 51


Graeme Swann celebrates after hitting the winning runs



Doug Bollinger celebrates bowling Paul Collingwoood,



Paul Collingwood goes over the top



Eoin Morgan glances one fine during his half-century



Paul Collingwood is congratulated on becoming England's all-time leading run scorer
in ODIs



Kevin Pietersen drives through point,



Steven Smith barely manages to reach an off-side carve



Cameron White launches a six off Graeme Swann in a rare moment of aggression,



Craig Kieswetter dives full length to remove Shane Watson,



Shane Watson top edges off Luke Wright to end his innings of 57



Shane Watson reached a fluent half-century before departing for 57



ichael Hussey is bowled for 14



Graeme Swann sits behind the boundary as a free hit is taken



Stuart Broad had Ricky Ponting caught behind during a three-wicket spell




Stuart Broad had Tim Paine caught down the leg side



Stuart Broad had Tim Paine caught down the leg side



Stuart Broad lifted England with two important wickets,



Shane Watson gave Australia a flying start with a string of early boundaries

England v Australia, 1st ODI, Rose Bowl, June 22, 2010

Cameron White bowled off the bottom-edge by James Anderson as Australia's top-order wobbled



Mike Hussey scored 28, putting on 70 for the fifth wicket with Michael Clarke



Craig Kieswetter was in good form at the top of the order for England



Australia celebrate after Ryan Harris removed Andrew Strauss early



Ashes 2010-11Australia had a huge appeal against Kevin Pietersen early on



Luke Wright played calmly to revive England's chase in partnership with Eoin Morgan



Luke Wright played calmly to revive England's chase in partnership with Eoin Morgan



Eoin Morgan's cool-headed half-century kept England in the hunt,



Luke Wright lifted Shane Watson for six over long-on during his 36



Josh Hazlewood bowled Craig Kieswetter for his first one-day international wicke



Josh Hazlewood was mobbed by his teammates after taking his first international wicket for Australia at the age of 19



Eoin Morgan drove Ryan Harris down the ground to seal the win and go to his hundred



Eoin Morgan, restrained throughout his innings, finally let his emotions show when the win was secured



Eoin Morgan's superbly paced 103 came from 85 balls and included 16 fours.