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Batsman Indika de Saram has forced his way into the Sri Lanka ICC World Twenty20 squad with some outstanding performances for Ruhuna in the ongoing Inter-Provincial Twenty20 tournament.de Saram was included by the national selectors along with four other players – Tissara Perera, Gayan Wijekoon, Milinda Siriwardene and Lahiru Thirimanne – expanding the squad’s strength to 30.de Saram was surprisingly left out of the provisional squad of 25 picked by the selectors prior to the Twenty20 tournament last month, but performed exceptionally well to earn a recall to the national squad.He is the leading batsman in the tournament with 232 runs at an average of 58 and a strike-rate of 147.77. He has also hit the most number of sixes (12) and fours (18) in the tournament so far with a top score of 94.He made his debut for Sri Lanka at home against the Australians in 1999. However, he was in the sidelines for nearly eight years before he was recalled for the Twenty20 international against India this February.Ruhuna play Wayamba in one semi-final of the Twenty20 tournament on Saturday.Sri Lanka provisional World Twenty20 squad: (revised) Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan (vice-capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Silva, Angelo Mathews, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Lasith Malinga, Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Kaushal Weeraratne, Upul Tharanga, Isuru Udana, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Nuwan Zoysa, Gihan Rupasinghe, Thilina Kandamby, Malinga Bandara, Dilhara Fernando, Indika de Saram, Thisara Perera, Gayan Wijekoon, Milinda Siriwardene, Lahiru Thirimanne

Ricky Ponting has called for greater consistency from his batsmen ahead of Thursday’s crucial encounter against South Africa in Cape Town. The hosts levelled the series 1-1 in Centurion on Sunday when the visiting top order collapsed, but Ponting has rejected the need for a player revamp.”We don’t need wholesale changes,” Ponting told AAP. “We need to get those guys to play a little bit better. I’m in exactly the same boat. It’s a while since I’ve made a hundred in one-day cricket so I’ve got to really knuckle down and get stuck in as well and make a big score.”Ponting fell for 8 in Sunday’s seven-wicket loss as Australia were dismissed for 131 in the 41st over. “Batting in the top order in one-day cricket is all about making big scores and taking the responsibility upon yourself to do that,” he said.”Michael Clarke’s had success there, Brad Haddin has been very good and I’ve been in the No. 3 position for a long time. We need to get a lot more consistency out of us for the remainder of this series.”He expected some changes for the series against Pakistan that follows the current contest. “Shaun Marsh and probably Andrew Symonds are going to come back in and those sorts of guys,” he said.”But we’ve got the squad we’ve got here now. It’s about us playing better than we did [on Sunday].” The winner of the five-game series will take the No. 1 one-day ranking.

Ricky Ponting has captained Australia to an Ashes clean sweep and two World Cup triumphs but never has he been prouder of his players than after they wrapped up their series victory in South Africa. Leading a vastly inexperienced side that few expected to succeed, Ponting guided his men to wins in Johannesburg and Durban to ensure they held on to the world No. 1 Test ranking.”I’m extremely proud of the players,” Ponting said. “This is as happy as I’ve been in my whole career as an Australian player. This is a great achievement from this team, and I’m sure there will be a lot of people back home in Australia really proud of what the team has done.”Players like Phillip Hughes, Marcus North and Ben Hilfenhaus were untried at Test level before this tour while a string of other squad members were still making their names. Ponting said the win was “certainly right up there” with any of his other achievements in the Australia side, largely because they entered the series as underdogs following their defeat at home against South Africa.”To be able to bounce back and win the way that we have here against a side that no one thought we could beat makes the achievement even more special for me,” Ponting said. “World Cups are great, Ashes 06-07 was an amazing achievement to win that 5-0, bouncing back the same sort of way that we have now.”I’m not putting it above any of those but if you look at our group ofplayers, and you all did I know very carefully, that we were bringingaway on this tour, there’ll be a lot of people around the world whodidn’t think that this was achievable. So for us to have achieved whatwe have done over this week would make this win as special as any thatI’ve been a part of.”Ponting has become used to being in charge of the world’s No. 1 sideover the past few years. South Africa took the top Test ranking onlybriefly in 2003 but Ponting said the ICC championship mace had beenthe furthest thing from his mind as this tour approached.”I haven’t mentioned the trophy once around this whole group becauseit’s not the reason we play,” Ponting said. “We play to win games ofcricket for Australia and to do the best that we can for each other asa group of players. Whatever happens as a result of that, happens. Ifsilverware comes your way then great, but that’s not the reason thatwe play the game.”Australia will enter the third Test in Cape Town searching for a 3-0result, the kind of clean sweep that used to be commonplace forPonting’s sides. Although some of their young bodies will be sore andsorry after back-to-back Tests, the squad has nine days to recoverbefore the Newlands Test begins on Thursday March 19.

Queensland 8 for 187 (Hartley 49*, Batticciotto 40) beat Victoria 175 (Quiney 52, Rimmington 4-40) by 12 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A stunning Queensland revival handed Victoria their third consecutive one-day final defeat as the visitors overcame their batting nerves in unbelievable style. Defending 8 for 187, an assignment which is never fun for the bowlers, the Bulls’ attack made the most of a two-paced pitch and knocked over the hosts for 175.The Bushrangers were sailing as soon as Shane Harwood picked up two wickets in his first spell and when the Bulls were 5 for 56 it seemed only one side could succeed. Chris Hartley’s careful and unbeaten 49 held Queensland together as they did well to last 50 overs. Victoria’s over-confident batsmen then struggled in their familiar conditions.Nathan Rimmington’s energetic medium-fast offerings captured 4 for 40 and the Man-of-the-Match award after he was the major player in the dramatic shift. The Bushrangers were cruising at 1 for 71 when Brad Hodge was lbw to Chris Swan, but they toppled to 7 for 131 as Rimmington emerged with three breakthroughs. Ben Laughlin also starred, finishing with 3 for 25, to steal the trophy from a seemingly unwinnable position.Adam Crosthwaite and Clint McKay (22) steered the Bushrangers in a 37-run stand for the eighth wicket, but they both left after the batting Powerplay was taken in the 46th over. With two wickets remaining, the hosts needed 20 off 26 balls and Crosthwaite (29) was in charge until he square drove to James Hopes at backward point. It gave Rimmington his fourth wicket and Queensland’s great escape was confirmed when Laughlin bowled Harwood with 12 balls to spare.Rimmington’s haul built on the strong display of Swan, who opened with 10 overs straight and picked up the dangerous duo of Chris Rogers and Hodge. Rob Quiney, who was 12th man for Australia’s Twenty20 against New Zealand, provided an excellent start with a muscular 52 from 58 balls that took the game even further from Queensland. He was so dominant early in the chase that when he was bowled off a Swan no-ball in the 11th over he had collected 40 of Victoria’s 43.Just as it seemed he would see out the chase Quiney bunted Rimmington to cover; Victoria were 3 for 84 and headed for embarrassment. David Hussey (8) was run-out three overs later when the victim of a poor call from Cameron White and Hopes’ crisp under-arm. The problems continued when Aaron Finch played on to Rimmington despite a desperate swipe to save the ball from rolling on to the stumps.The Bushrangers had lost 4 for 26 and were 90 short of victory with half their batsmen gone. After a steadying 33-run stand with Crosthwaite, the captain White made another bad mistake when he found deep square leg on 24 and walked off with his side a desperate 6 for 131. In the end Victoria did well to get so close as they chased their first one-day trophy since 1998-99.After the early carnage, Queensland were saved by a 67-run stand between Hartley and Glen Batticciotto (40). Hartley and Swan, who sped to 30 from 28 balls, added a valuable 54 for the ninth wicket in what turned out to be an invaluable stand.Hartley’s career-high score, which came from 102 deliveries, grew into the game-sealing innings against an excellent Victoria attack. Harwood captured 2 for 23 from 8.4 overs before his ankle slipped awkwardly on the pitch, while Damien Wright backed him up with 2 for 31. McKay was also impressive with 1 for 33 before he left the field with a side strain after 9.2 overs. The bowlers were quickly let down by the batsmenAfter going for eight in the opening over of the match, Harwood picked up Ryan Broad lbw for 4 in his second and bowled Hopes (10) in his third. The Bulls were intimidated by Harwood’s opening spell of 2 for 9 off five and the feelings of insecurity did not disappear until their bowlers got the ball.Symonds arrived to engage in a series of verbals with Harwood and was troubled while waiting 12 balls for his first run. Scoring was tough for most of the Queenslanders, with Batticciotto taking 13 deliveries to get off the mark and Hartley needing 15. On 23, Symonds drove Wright to Hodge at mid-on and Queensland were thinking a score of 100 would be satisfying.Lee Carseldine was run-out when Symonds, who wanted a single from the last ball to avoid more roughing up from Harwood in the next over, called from the non-striker’s end. Quiney’s direct hit left Queensland at 3 for 24 after 10 overs and four balls later Nathan Reardon edged Wright to White at first slip. Things had improved for the Bulls by the end of the innings, and the moods lifted dramatically when they bowled.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ben Rohrer showed no nerves as he rescued New South Wales with a fierce assault that ended Victoria’s dominance of the domestic Twenty20 competition. The Blues were struggling at 4 for 92 before Rohrer roared with 44 off 20 balls, including four sixes, as they secured the title from the final delivery.Rob Quiney exploded for Victoria with 91 from 56 in Victoria’s 4 for 166 and it seemed like enough, but their hopes of a fourth title ended when Rohrer and Daniel Smith scampered a bye from the last ball. The suspense extended with a run-out referral that was given not out and Rohrer’s speeding dive took the Blues to 5 for 167.Rohrer finished Bryce McGain’s spell with consecutive sixes and when the Blues needed 42 from the final four overs he slog-swept Jon Holland over the midwicket boundary. Another clearance from Rohrer in the next over left them wanting 18 off 12 balls and it was cut to 10 for the last six offerings from Shane Harwood.Rohrer picked up two from the opening delivery before benefitting from a wide and gaining a single. Dominic Thornely (27) glanced a four to ease the pressure, but was then bowled and Smith relied on a misfield for a single. Rohrer saved more tension when he sprinted for a run after missing the last delivery.Both teams had already qualified for the US$6 million Champions League by reaching the final, but New South Wales gained a A$32,000 bonus for the victory in front of 17,592 supporters. If they repeat this success in India in October they will be drowning in prizemoney.Victoria needed a big contribution with Brad Hodge, the most successful batsman in the competition’s history, out injured and Quiney stood up after a steady start. He blasted three legside sixes off Steve O’Keefe and also heaved in to the fast bowlers as he cleared the boundary eight times. At his peak he catapulted seven maximums in 20 balls, with an off drive from Aaron Bird standing out.After taking 36 deliveries for his fifty, he added his next 41 from 20 before top edging to Doug Bollinger, who captured a smart running take at short fine-leg. Quiney and Andrew McDonald, the stand-in captain, flooded 98 runs in 9.5 overs to lift the Bushrangers from their early problems. A straight six was McDonald’s highlight and he contributed 30 off 29 in a sensible display.The Bushrangers were also missing Cameron White and David Hussey on Australian duty while the Blues were without David Warner, Brad Haddin and Nathan Hauritz. It was Warner’s absence that led to Brendon McCullum being signed in case he is available for the Champions League.McCullum’s appointment was controversial but he showed some goodwill when he walked to a fine edge behind off Harwood on 10. There were two fours during his 11-ball stay and he was outshone by Phillip Hughes.Hughes and Simon Katich pushed the Blues quickly to 85 when Hughes was bowled for 43 trying to slog Dirk Nannes. Nine balls later Katich (37) chipped McGain to long-off and in the same over Moises Henriques fell in a similar manner, with the hosts in danger at 4 for 92.Life was also hard for Victoria over the first half of their innings as they lost three batsmen to single-figure scores. Aiden Blizzard fell to a juggled catch from Katich off Bollinger before Bird struck twice in his opening spell, leaving the visitors at 3 for 53 in the ninth over.Matthew Wade cut to deep point and Chris Rogers, who came in for Hodge, tried to turn the ball to the legside and his leading edge darted to gully. Bird was strong with 3 for 21 and he returned to pick up Quiney, but by then New South Wales had lost their edge. Rohrer regained it in stunning fashion with his brutal and perfectly timed display.

Match facts

December 26-30, 2008
Start time 10.30am (23.30GMT)

Big Picture

It will be almost impossible for the Boxing Day Test to live up to the drama of South Africa’s win in Perth. So unexpected was their brilliant chase of 414 that it left both teams in a state of shock. The squads have had a few days to digest the outcome and for Australia the distaste of losing forced at least one player to be spat out. But it will take more than just personnel alterations for Ricky Ponting’s men to fight back in Melbourne. They face the challenge of turning a moderate attack into one capable of curbing South Africa’s powerful batting line-up, while their own batsmen try to click back into gear.South Africa have spent so long chasing Australia that it must be an odd feeling for them to know that they are potentially five days of good cricket from beating them in a series in Australia for the first time. An Australian victory would set up a thrilling decider in Sydney. The bookmakers still have Australia as warm favourites but the way South Africa played in Perth, it would be a brave punter to back against them.On a side note, a strange thing happened during the week. Two days after South Africa’s greatest Test victory they actually in the ICC’s Test rankings. The intricacies of the ranking system meant India’s series-clinching draw against England was enough to nudge them ahead of South Africa, although it will almost certainly be temporary. South Africa will regain second place unless they lose both remaining Tests and if they win them both they will take the top spot from Australia.

Form guide (last five Tests, most recent first)

Australia LWWLD
South Africa WWWLW

Watch out for

Matthew Hayden is having one of the leaner runs of his Test career but if he could pick the perfect place to try and bounce back it would be the MCG. Hayden has made centuries in the past three Boxing Day Tests and in six of the past seven. Since 2001 he has averaged 102.40 at the venue. To get anywhere near that he will need to rediscover his form quickly. His judgement has been muddled in recent months and a strong South African pace attack will not give him an easy ride. Hayden has declared his intentions to play on; this Test more than any other might help determine for how long.Jacques Kallis is out of form so rarely that opposition teams really need to keep him down while they have the chance. Australia couldn’t do that in Perth. He entered the game with one half-century from his past 11 Test innings and went on to raise a pair of fifties that helped South Africa to a historic win. Kallis made 63 and 57 and while he was rightly overshadowed by several of his batting colleagues, it is only a matter of time before Kallis again stamps his authority on a Test.

Team news

Despite all the talk of potential personnel changes, Australia have made only one alteration to the side that lost in Perth. The offspinner Nathan Hauritz has taken the place of the axed Jason Krejza, with Peter Siddle holding his position ahead of Ben Hilfenhaus for his first Test at his home ground in Melbourne. A knee problem hampered Andrew Symonds in the field in Perth but the problem was not considered serious enough for him to be rested for the second Test.Australia 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Hauritz, 11 Peter Siddle.South Africa have named the same side that earned the remarkable win at the WACA. The only question-mark was over the fitness of Ashwell Prince, whose cracked thumb kept him out of the Perth line-up. Prince was making good progress but was not considered quite ready for a return at the MCG and his replacement JP Duminy, who struck the winning runs on his Test debut, has proven a more than capable Test No. 6.South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Neil McKenzie, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Pitch and conditions

The MCG pitch is generally one of those surfaces that has something for everyone. It’ll offer some early seam movement, a bit of swing and some turn later in the match. After Hayden made a century there last year he called it the toughest surface he had batted on for two years. No batsman has made a century in the two Sheffield Shield games at Melbourne this season and spin has accounted for only two wickets in those matches. That statistic is slightly disingenuous though; Victoria’s primary slow bowler Bryce McGain is injured and only one spinner has been given a decent spell at the MCG this season.

Stats and Trivia

• Australia have won their past nine MCG Tests and have not lost there since 1998-99, when Dean Headley bowled England to a remarkable victory.
• Australia have not lost the first Test of a home summer since 1988-89, when West Indies went on to take the series 3-1.
• Jacques Kallis is 79 runs from becoming the first South African to score 10,000 Test runs.

Quotes

“It’s awesome to be involved in a series where we’re now coming from behind. A lot of the Boxing Day Test matches I’ve played in we’ve been in a very, very dominant position.”
“One victory doesn’t make a summer. There’s a huge amount of cricket for us to play.”

Cricket Australia has reiterated its preference to have the proposed tour of Pakistan in the country itself, after reports claimed that the PCB was planning to stage the postponed series, originally scheduled for March 2008, at a neutral venue.Australia had pulled out citing security concerns, following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. However, CA has promised to tour Pakistan on two separate occasions in 2009, the first of which has been planned for April, and will include five ODIs and a Twenty20 match.Reports in Pakistan, though, suggested that the board had begun plans to stage the matches in Kuala Lumpur fearing another pullout by CA. Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, and chief operating officer Saleem Altaf are believed to have visited the facilities in the Malaysian capital last week after attending a meeting at the Asian Cricket Council headquarters.CA spokesman Peter Young said he was not privy to the plans outlined in the reports. He said any tour of Pakistan would again be subject to a security assessment and he indicated Australia were eager to tour Pakistan, where they haven’t played since 1998.”I am not aware of the PCB’s plans and at this stage,” he told . “All I can say is that we are very, very keen to play Pakistan at the scheduled time and are looking forward to doing so, subject to the normal safety and security criteria that apply whenever we play anywhere.”The PCB had turned down the offer to stage the matches at a neutral venue when CA initially expressed their reluctance to tour last year. The two teams have already played Tests in Sri Lanka and Sharjah in 2002, and CA chief executive James Sutherland said last March that the option of another neutral series had been discussed.”Playing at a neutral venue was one of the options that was certainly put on the table,” Sutherland said. “But at the end of the day that is something for the Pakistan Cricket Board because it’s their tour and we certainly sympathise with their position in that they desperately want the tour to go ahead in Pakistan.”Pakistan didn’t play a Test in 2008 and their hosting of the Champions Trophy in September was also postponed after some of the participating nations expressed concerns over security conditions. India have also cancelled their tour of Pakistan, which was scheduled to start from January 6, in the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai.

Match facts

November 25, 2008
Start time 7.30pm (1400 GMT)

The Big Picture

Dropping points in the early stages of the ICL 20-20 Indian Championship had eventually proved costly for the Dhaka Warriors during their charge for a semis spot, something the Bangladesh XI – virtually the same side – will be wary of, with just a finals spot up for grabs this time round.A middle order collapse hurt them during their chase against the World XI in the opening encounter, with Alok Kapali disappointing after a successful outing in the previous tournament. Starts from Shahriar Nafees and Nazimuddin proved little as World XI ran out comfortable winners by 12 runs. Captain Habibul Bashar will look to rally his troops as they look for their first piece of silverware in their debut ICL season.The India XI will take plenty of confidence from a four-wicket win over Pakistan. They dropped four catches in the field – a fact which will definitely not go down well with their coach, Steve Rixon – but the coolness shown during the chase was commendable. Ambati Rayudu oozed confidence in a stellar half-century that saw India nearly to the finish line, the veteran Hemang Badani showed just how much he brings with his experience, and Ali Murtaza showed heart to bowl in the face of adversity. India succeeding in keeping Imran Nazir to a whimper, but against some devastating Bangladesh hitters, they cannot afford to slag in the field.

Players to watch

Kapali holds the unique distinction of being the first batsman to score a century in ICL history. He was fourth on the batting charts, scoring 324 runs from eight matches at 54.00.Rayudu came along rather splendidly against Pakistan, thumping 65 from 47 balls. His hitting to the off side was particularly clinical, as was his electric running between wickets. Potentially, he is Bangladesh’s biggest threat.

Quotes

“This game is all about how you handle the pressure. The side which can withstand it is likely to become the champion.”
“We need to bowl a better line and length in order to contain the opposition.”
Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh XI captain, highlights the problem with his side