West Indies look to level Twenty20s against Australia

Bridgetown: West Indies will be looking to get back to winning ways when they take on Australia in the second and final Twenty20, having suffered an eight-wicket thrashing in the first match of the series in St Lucia. After squaring the one-day series, Australia kept their winning momentum going by easily chasing down a target of 151 to go one up. Shane Watson sparkled with an innings of 69 after allrounder Daniel Christian took 3 for 27 to restrict the West Iindies to 150 for 7 off their 20 overs. Michael Hussey also chipped in with a useful 59, and added 108 for the second wicket with Watson, after David Warner fell for a duck in the first over.

The major change as far as West Indies are concerned is the inclusion of middle-order batsman Danza Hyatt in place of Darren Bravo, who misses out because of poor form. Bravo made 12 in the first T20, and totaled only 48 in five innings, in the preceding ODI series. Having played out an intriguing ODI series against the four-time world champions which ended in a 2-2 result, West Indies will once again be looking to end with honours even, which would be a major boost ahead of the four-Test series which gets underway on April 7.

AFP

However, the Australians have had the wood over West Indies in the six T20 internationals contested by the two teams in head-to-head meetings. After losing the first couple of matches, they have gone on to beat the Windies in the subsequent four matches, which included the win in St Lucia. The batting form of captain, Darren Sammy has been a rather refreshing change for the home side in the ongoing series. Though he failed in the first T20, scoring just seven, Sammy averaged 53.33 in the five ODIs with a highest score of 84, which all but won his side the match in the deciding one-dayer. He will be the key to West Indies' chances of securing victory at Barbados and levelling the series.

Australia on their part will be depending on their top three in the batting order - Warner, Watson and Michael Hussey to lead the charge and a 2-0 wrap of the T20 series. The bowling is in good hands with Brett Lee, James Pattinson - making a comeback to the team after a lengthy injury lay-off, and Clint McKay leading the pace attack, with Watson to follow, and left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty to slow things up.

Probable XIs:

West Indies: 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Danza Hyatt, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Darren Sammy (capt), 8 Carlton Baugh (wk), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Krishmar Santokie, 11 Fidel Edwards

Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Michael Hussey, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 Matthew Wade (wk), 6 David Hussey, 7 Daniel Christian, 8 Clint McKay, 9 Xavier Doherty, 10 Brett Lee, 11 James Pattinson

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England slump puts Andrew Strauss in trouble

Galle: England captain Andrew Strauss faces close scrutiny of his batting and leadership skills as he attempts to keep his spin-shattered team on top of the world Test rankings. England, who toppled India from the mantle with a memorable 4-0 whitewash on seaming wickets at home last year, have come unstuck on the spinner-friendly tracks of Asia over the last three months.

The 75-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle on Thursday was England's fourth consecutive loss, following the embarrassing 3-0 hammering by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates. If Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman wrecked England in the UAE with a combined haul of 43 wickets in the series, Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv grabbed 18 of the 20 wickets in Galle.

AP Photo

England are already assured of a bonus of $175,000 from the International Cricket Council as the number one side on the cut-off date of April 1, but their future at the top remains uncertain. Strauss' men will slip to number two behind South Africa if they fail to win the second and final Test in Colombo from Tuesday and lose the series.

Rankings will change over the next 12 months, but a greater concern for the tourists is the form of their captain. Strauss has now gone 23 innings without adding to his 19 Test centuries, averaging a poor 28.52, and has managed just one three-figure knock in his last 48 innings. He made 26 and 27 in Galle, falling both times to Herath, but the left-hander was determined to change his - and the team's fortunes in the next Test at the P Sara Oval in the Sri Lankan capital.

"I feel in good form, but you're judged on your performances and I have not performed well enough," the 35-year-old said. My job in the side is to score runs, the same as any other batsman, and I have not scored as many as I would have liked in the last 12 months or so. That's very frustrating, but hopefully I will put it right next week," Strauss said.

Strauss admitted his team's inability to put runs on the board had proved costly, both against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. "We have not got scores on the board. You're not going to win too many Test matches if that's the case."

The Galle Test was a tale of missed opportunities for England. The tourists had Sri Lanka on the ropes at 15-3 in the first four overs of the match and again at 191-7, but allowed them to make 318 on the back of a brilliant 180 from skipper Mahela Jayawardene. Bundled out for 193 in their first innings, England once again fought back through the bowlers, who reduced Sri Lanka to 127-8 in the second knock, a lead of 252 runs.

But wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene turned the game around with a defiant 61, adding 87 for the last two wickets with tailenders Chanaka Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal. The fourth innings target of 340, never achieved before by England in their Test history, proved too much for the tourists who were dismissed for 264 despite a wonderful 112 from Jonathan Trott. "Trott did not deserve to be on the losing side," Strauss said.

Captain Jayawardene was candid when asked if England's batsmen had a problem in playing spin. "It's not just about spin bowling, but how you play in certain conditions," he said. "It's about adapting. They have lost four in a row now, so maybe they do have a problem."

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Sri Lanka beat England to win first Test

Galle: Rangana Herath completed a maiden 10-wicket haul to take Sri Lanka to an emphatic 75-run victory in the first Test against England despite Jonathan Trott's defiant century threatening to steal the game.

Chasing 340 to win, England were bowled out for 264 just after tea on the fourth day on Thursday. Herath finished the match with 12 for 171, having taken six wickets in each innings. He was named Man of the Match. Herath's spin bowling partner Suraj Randiv took 4 for 74.

AP Photo

Trott faced 266 balls and hit 10 boundaries before being out just before tea. It was his seventh century playing his 27th Test. Trott and wicketkeeper Matt Prior shared 81 runs for the fifth wicket to raise England's hopes but it was always a difficult chase on a spinner-friendly pitch at Galle. Prior, who made 41, was caught by Lahiru Thirimanne off Herath with the total on 233. Tillakaratne Dilshan took a diving catch on the rebound to dismiss Samit Patel (9).

England's hopes were all but over when Trott was caught well at leg-slip by Dilshan off spinner Randiv. England, the No. 1 Test team, lost their last six wickets for 31 runs and it is their fourth straight Test defeat after losing all matches of a three-match Test series against Pakistan. England were dismissed for 193 in their first innings in reply to Sri Lanka's 318. Sri Lanka made 214 in their second innings.

England captain Andrew Strauss felt that his team lost too many wickets despite being in a good position.

"There's no room for mistakes," Strauss said. "If you make them you've got to be lucky to get away with them and this game we weren't. We were in a great position to make use of the wicket but we all fell a bit too softly."

On the other hand, Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene praised Herath, saying he had taken on the responsibility of leading a less-fancied bowling unit since Muralitharan's retirement.

"He is the most experienced bowler I have right now," Jayawardene said. "He has taken the responsibility not just here but also away from home as well when he bowled us to victory in South Africa."

Jayawardene said Sri Lanka had to be patient when Trott and Prior were batting, hoping that the new ball will create a wicket chance. The hosts took the new ball in the 80th over and the partnership was broken within the next six balls.

"I thought Trott batted really well. It was a very patient knock from him," Jayawardene said. "It was a good challenge to go against the No. 1 team. We knew we had to work really hard to get a result."

Herath said he doesn't want to become overwhelmed by his new responsibility.

"Just because I take that pressure on me, I can't do anything extra," he said. "I know my limitations and I work within those."

The second and final Test will be played at P.Sara Oval in Colombo starting next Tuesday.

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Australia beat West Indies by eight wickets in first T20

St Lucia: Australia romped to an eight-wicket victory over West Indies in the first Twenty20 cricket international on Tuesday, led by allrounder Shane Watson slamming 69 off 43 balls and taking 1-16 from four overs.

Watson lashed five boundaries and six sixes at Beausejour Stadium to guide Australia to 153-2 from 18.1 overs after West Indies had been restricted to 150-7.

AP Photo

Michael Hussey contributed an unbeaten 59 off 45 deliveries, adding 107 runs with Watson after David Warner went for a duck off the fifth ball of the innings with Australia yet to score.

Earlier, Kieron Pollard cracked five sixes and two fours in an undefeated 54 off 39 balls.

Watson's misersly spell with the ball backed up the good work from Daniel Christian (3-27) and Brett Lee (2-30).

The second and final match in the series is in Barbados on Friday.

Australia's pursuit made a horrid start when Warner was bowled playing across the line while facing Krishmar Santokie.

But Watson, Australia's one-day international captain, quickly put the pressure back on West Indies with some superb strokes all around the ground. He raced to 50 off 38 balls to silence a big crowd of close to 11,000 people.

Hussey played the anchor role, only flourishing after Watson fell to ensure West Indies didn't gain any momentum. He reached his 50 off 40 deliveries, and finished with four fours and two sixes.

Captain George Bailey struck the winning runs, helping himself to an unbeaten 21 off 17 balls.

In West Indies' innings, Pollard's big hitting lifted what looked like being a pedestrian total to respectability. His 50 came off only 20 deliveries and he shared a partnership of 62 off 29 balls with Dwayne Bravo, who contributed 14.

Johnson Charles and Nkrumah Bonner had earlier both scored 24.

West Indies' innings had been stuttering at 72-4 in the 13th over. Lee removed Dwayne Smith for 10 and Watson added the scalp of Charles to stall the hosts. Smith edged to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and Charles was plumb leg before playing across the line.

Christian added to the pressure with the wickets of Bonner and Darren Bravo.

Bonner tried to up the tempo and was bowled, while Bravo, in a slump, miscued a pull to deep mid-wicket.

Pollard's late hitting ensured he beat the previous record for the fastest 50 by a West Indian of 23 balls, set by Chris Gayle.

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Ahead of IPL, South Africa and India test Twenty20 strength

Johannesburg: It may appear an insignificant one-off Twenty20 international, but Friday's match at The Wanderers presents top players from India and South Africa an opportunity to oil themselves before the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) begins in less than a week's time.

India have travelled all the way to South Africa to commemorate 150 years of the settlement of their countrymen in the country by playing an inconsequential Twenty20 game against the hosts. While the idea of stuffing up an already cramped international calendar defies logic, the two respective boards – the BCCI and CSA - agreed readily to put their already tired players through unnecessary rigours.

AFP

In light of India having just completed back-to-back tours of Australia and Bangladesh and the South Africans having returned from New Zealand, this one-off affair just days before the IPL commences appears to be a formality that could have been avoided. However, that's not how Indian skipper MS Dhoni looks at it.

"I don't think fatigue will be a real factor. We all enjoy playing the IPL ... that's one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is slightly longer, so you play quite a few games," he said after the team's arrival in Johannesburg.

India's form going into this match has swung from pathetic to average, while touching the brilliant mark like a flash in the pan. After suffering twin overseas Test disasters in England and Australia, any hopes of an uplifting Asia Cup were dashed by a tragic loss to Bangladesh that ejected India from the tournament despite big wins over Sri Lanka and archrivals Pakistan. Thus, when compared to South Africa - who won the Twenty20, ODI and Test series on their tour of New Zealand - India's form appears pale.

On the team front, the hosts have rested most of the players from the New Zealand T20s, retaining only eight from that party. The senior-most batsman Jacques Kallis, though, has been included in the squad - largely because he is scheduled to be honoured after the match – and it is foreseeable that he will bat in the top three, perhaps even opening with Richard Levi who in New Zealand smashed the fastest century in Twenty20 internationals.

In the absence of AB de Villiers, South Africa are likely to play Morne van Wyk as wicketkeeper in place of Cape Cobras' Dane Vilas, yet to play an international match. van Wyk, who has played 13 ODIs for South Africa, last played against India last year when he smacked a national record 50 off 24 balls in Makhaya Ntini's farewell game. In the domestic Twenty20 competition, he is the second-highest run-scorer with 423.

The other uncapped player in the 13-man squad is the Titans' allrounder Farhaan Behardien, but he too may remain sidelined if South Africa opt for Justin Ontong and Albie Morkel. The bowling will comprise of the captain Johan Botha, Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Twenty20 specialist Juan Theron.

In contrast to South Africa, India are at full strength, other than Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan, who were rested for the Asia Cup as well. Robin Uthappa is the only new face in the squad, replacing Sachin Tendulkar, who doesn't play T20 internationals. Uthappa is likely to open the innings with Gautam Gambhir in the absence of Sehwag and Tendulkar.

Probable line-ups

South Africa: 1. Jacques Kallis, 2. Richard Levi, 3 .Colin Ingram, 4. Morne van Wyk (wk), 5. Faf du Plessis, 6. Justin Ontong/Farhaan Behardien, 7. Albie Morkel, 8. Johan Botha (capt), 9. Juan Theron, 10. Wayne Parnell, 11. Lonwabo Tsotsobe

India: 1. Gautam Gambhir, 2. Robin Uthappa, 3. Virat Kohli, 4. Suresh Raina, 5. MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 6. Yusuf Pathan, 7. Irfan Pathan, 8. Ravindra Jadeja, 9. R Ashwin, 10. Vinay Kumar, 11. Ashok Dinda

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IPL 5: Can Delhi shed the underachievers' tag?

Terming Delhi Daredevils as 'underachievers' will not be an overstatement, considering their performance in the last four years. They have always promised a lot, starting every season as one of the tournament's favourites, only to disappoint themselves as well as their innumerable faithful fans at the end. After reaching the semi-finals in the first two editions, Delhi let the contests slip through their fingers when they could have done much better. And their performance has gone downhill ever since. Finishing last among 10 teams in 2011 could be the worst result the franchise would have imagined. As season five is set to get underway, they are once again billed as one of the top contenders for the title. But will they deliver even this around? Only time will tell.

Name: Delhi Daredevils

Captain: Virender Sehwag

Coach: Eric Simons

Owner: GMR Group

Cost of the team: $84 million

Key players: Delhi's captain Virender Sehwag is undoubtedly their biggest trump card. Even if half-fit, Sehwag is still capable of demolishing the best attacks in the league. His opening partnership with the dynamic David Warner will set the tone for the side. And although they have quite a big pool of foreign players in their squad, selecting four from as many as 14 players will be a task in itself. Since Sri Lanka are playing England at home, both Mahela Jayawardene and Kevin Pietersen are set to miss the first two matches of the tournament. And the chances of Ross Taylor, the injured New Zealand skipper, to get fit anytime during the competition are also very slim. In that case, Sehwag may find himself alone if things don't go in his favour in the first few games. There is little to choose between Aaron Finch (Australia) and Gulam Bodi (South Africa). Both are equally exciting batsmen and can take the game away from the opposition in no time.

The allrounders Andre Russell (West Indies) and Roelof van der Merwe (South Africa), along with Irfan Pathan, will provide a balance to the side. Keep in mind, the ball is destined to go a long way if any one of them start flogging, especially in the late overs. The experience and guile of Ajit Agarkar combined with the speed of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron will give a variety to Delhi's pace attack. Morne Morkel (South Africa) and Doug Bracewell (New Zealand) will slog it out for another seamer's spot, if needed by the team.

There will also be a two-way race for the wicketkeeper's slot. Both Naman Ojha and Puneet Bisht are quite good behind the stumps and are also very capable batsmen. But it's Ojha's six-hitting skill that may give him the nod ahead of Bisht.

Strengths: A big pool of foreign players and a good bunch of home-grown talent are the big plus for DD. They have plenty to choose from if things don't go right for them. The availability of players for specific roles makes them one of the favourites for this year's IPL. But their biggest strength is their skipper Sehwag who will once again be the key for them.

Weaknesses: Losing big contests, as they did in the first two seasons, has always been their problem. It will also be interesting to see what recipe will Eric Simons, who has recently been promoted to the head coach's job from the bowling coach, come up with as the South African ended his term with the Indian side on a disappointing note.

2011 performance: The last season was nothing short of a nightmare for the Delhi side as they were the wooden spooners. The team could only win four of their 14 matches. They flopped big time as a unit. The dreadful result also brought the much-needed changes to the overall set up of the team.

2012 prospects: As mentioned, the team management has ticked all the boxes correctly, with changing the core of the side, bringing more and better foreign players and also appointing a new coach. The only thing needed now is players should go out in the park and showcase their best skills. And if the positive intent of the team's think tank combines with the players' performance, then positive results are bound to come

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Taste of T20 along with IPL flavour

Calcutta/Johannesburg, (The Telegraph): Friday’s India-South Africa one-off Twenty20 clash is an International fixture with an Indian Premier League flavour. Two nations will square off against each other, but more than the teams the general eye will be on the individuals as they gear up for the most lucrative league in world cricket, which begins on Wednesday.

For the Indians, both as a team and otherwise, the match will be an appropriate getaway from the failures of Australia and the Asia Cup and a gateway into a format which offers fame and glory comes as quickly as the boundaries and sixers.

The match is being organised to commemorate 150 years of the settlement of the Indians in South Africa. But its scheduling is a bit strange. The match is happening just after the Asia Cup, of which India was a part, and a few days after the Proteas toured New Zealand for a long tour.

In a cramped international calendar, the game does seem like an oddity given that the Indians would be travelling all the way for just over four hours of slambang action before getting busy with their respective IPL franchises.

Only five days separate the match and the beginning of the fifth edition of the IPL. The long journey means that several players will miss initial practice camps with their respective franchises and that would certainly add to the physical strain.

However, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has ruled out the fatigue factor. “All happy...I don’t think fatigue will be a real factor. We all enjoy playing the IPL...That’s one format where you are not representing your country, and the span of the tournament is slightly longer so you play quite a few games,” Dhoni said after arriving with the team.

Contrary to the Indians, the Proteas are in good touch as they had an extremely successful campaign against New Zealand. They won the Twenty20, one-day and the Test series against the injury-ravaged Black Caps.

The hosts though have retained only eight players from that tour in the T20 squad. They have shown some compassion, resting their jet-lagged senior Test players (except Jacques Kallis and Lonwabo Tsotsobe). Almost all the seniors have been rested with the exception of all-rounder Kallis, who will be honoured after the match.

Cricket South Africa has announced that this will be an annual affair, following last year’s Twenty20 game between the two sides at the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. That match was Makhaya Ntini’s farewell game.

Friday’s match is dedicated to Kallis, and the proceeds will go to his scholarship foundation. “With the World Twenty20 coming up in October, every T20 game is important and you can learn in every game,” captain Johan Botha said.

India, though, are almost at full strength, barring opener Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, as the duo has been rested.

All the players, who were part of their Asia Cup campaign, are in the squad except for veteran Sachin Tendulkar, who does not play international T20s. He has been replaced by the hard-hitting Robin Uthappa.

Perhaps this could be seen as a last-ditch attempt to end a horrific season with a win. The IPL franchises have already vented their displeasure about the odd scheduling of this game because the India players are missing from the pre-tournament camps. The hosts are winding down their domestic season so this game hardly disrupts their plans.

India are returning to the venue where they played their first-ever Twenty20. Albie Morkel is the only survivor for South Africa from that game.

India lead the head-to-head in Twenty20s by an overwhelming 4-1.

Teams:

India (likely): Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa/ Manoj Tiwary, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Rahul Sharma, R Ashwin/ Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Vinay Kumar.

South Africa (from): Johan Botha (captain), Farhaan Behardien, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk, Dane Vilas.

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Brutal Pollard helps West Indies take series lead

 

West Indies 294 for 7 (Pollard 102, Barath 41) beat Australia 252 all out (Lee 59, Hussey 57) by 42 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

	Kieron Pollard scored his second ODI hundred with a brutal display of power hitting in St Lucia © Associated Press  Enlarge
Related Links Players/Officials: Brett Lee | Kieron Pollard Matches: West Indies v Australia at Gros Islet Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of West Indies Teams: Australia | West Indies

Kieron Pollard at his most brutal left Australia with an insurmountable challenge at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia as West Indies took a 2-1 lead with one to play in an ODI series that is rivalling their wildest dreams. Pollard produced a memorable display of power hitting, 102 slugged from 70 balls to vanquish an Australian side that West Indies had come to regard as virtually unbeatable.

After a demoralising run against Australia of 13 defeats in 14 ODIs (the other being a no-result), West Indies now have two wins and a tie from their last three games. No side had ever scored more on this ground batting second than West Indies' 284 for 5 to beat England in 2004 and Australia had little chance to buck the trend once they had lost half their side for 112.

That they got so close owed much to a considered half-century by David Hussey and a wrathful late assault by Brett Lee, who was struck on the arm by a beamer from Kemar Roach and, despite fulsome apologies, was sore enough in mind and body to take 24 from Roach's next over, following three fours with two sixes flayed over long-on.

When Lee struck Andre Russell down the ground for two successive sixes, he surpassed his highest ODI score of 57, in his 216th match - and Russell had done nothing to vex him at all. Roach finally got his man in his final over, last out, caught at long-off, with 22 balls remaining.

Pollard had reached his hundred in the final over of West Indies' innings when he slugged a short ball from Lee over midwicket for six, a shot that looked as ponderous as it was effective. It was only his second ODI hundred in 55 attempts (he had only passed 50 four times before), but his threat is growing as an ODI average rising from 19 to 26 in the last year testifies. "It's only one of two," Pollard said. "I'm just trying to learn my craft. Some of those sixes I didn't middle."

Smart stats With their 42-run win in the fourth ODI, West Indies are on the verge of winning their first ODI series against Australia (bilateral series) in 17 years. Their last series win was in 1995 at home when they won 4-1. In the 1999 series, they drew 3-3 with one tie in Guyana. The century is Kieron Pollard's second in ODIs after his 119 against India in December. He now has 1255 runs at an average of 26.14 with two hundreds and four fifties. Pollard scored 102 off just 70 balls to push West Indies to 294. His strike rate of 145.71 is the highest strike rate for a 100-plus score by a West Indian batsman against Australia and the fourth-highest overall for such a score by a West Indian. Pollard, who hit eight sixes during his knock, is now level third on the list of West Indian batsmen with themost sixes in an ODI innings. Pollard also holds the second position too with 10 sixes in Chennai against India. The eight sixes is also a record in an ODI innings against Australia. West Indies scored 134 runs in the last 11 overs of the innings. This is the second-highest aggregate for them in the last 11-over period since 2005. The highest for them is 141 against Pakistan in Adelaide in 2005 when Brian Lara made 156. The 19 sixes hit in the match is a record for the most number of sixes hit in a West Indies-Australia ODI. West Indies' score of 294 is their third-highest overall and their second-highest first-innings total against Australia. They have lost on only one occasion after scoring over 280 in their first innings. Sunil Narine's economy rate of 2.10 is the best for West Indies against Australia since Mervyn Dillon's spell of 4 for 20 in ten overs in 1999 (ten-plus over spells). Brett Lee made his highest ODI score. Lee hit five sixes during his knock and took 24 runs off Kemar Roach's ninth over.

West Indies' innings, stagnating for long periods, finished in a mood of revelry. They took 23 from the final over from Lee, Darren Sammy rounding things off with 31 not out in 13 balls as if he briefly imagined himself Pollard reincarnate.

Shane Watson's decision to bowl first was out of character for an Australian captain. Perhaps the excitement of the journey north to St Lucia got the better of him as Australia finally escaped the slow surfaces of St Vincent. Instead, on a surface offering more pace and bounce - disconcertingly steep bounce on occasions - they ran into Pollard's meaty destruction. "I wouldn't do anything differently," said Watson. "Pollard was impressive, no doubt. It was a beautiful wicket, but if we had taken our catches it would help."

After 39 overs, West Indies were 160-5, four overs of a Powerplay had brought only 15 runs and their innings was close to stagnation. Then Watson, whose seven overs had cost only 15, conceded 17 runs from his eighth as Pollard moved into overdrive. He had a lively ally in Andre Russell during a sixth-wicket stand of 94 in 11 overs that changed the complexion of the match.

Pollard had his moments of good fortune and most of them involved Peter Forrest. Like most touring cricketers, he might not have known the whereabouts of St Lucia in relation to St Vincent but his sense of direction was equally lacking when it came to the exact position of the boundary rope at deep backward square.

Pollard was only 15 when a venomous, flat pull flew through Forrest's hands as he came in a couple of yards closer than he had to. Another mishit against Lee on 24 narrowly evaded David Hussey as he sprinted back at midwicket. Much punishment later, Xavier Doherty dropped a simple chance; and Forrest might also have caught Pollard on 81, but it required several TV replays before the third umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, decided that Forrest's catch was illegal. It was hard to tell whether Forrest's boot had brushed the rope but in any event his decision to throw the ball back infield as his momentum carried him over the rope was a lackadaisical effort.

Pollard can destroy a fielding side's bearings. He blocks more balls than most, but when he hits, he hits so powerfully that his blocking becomes irrelevant. Even when he did not quite middle a pull against Watson, late in his innings, leaning back like a boxer on the ropes, it careered for six over long-on, an area where he got roughly half his runs.

Johnson Charles' innings was made of different stuff. He is only the second cricketer from St Lucia to represent West Indies and was playing in front of his home crowd for the first time. He was angsty, understandably so, needing 30 balls to reach double figures. He encouraged the crowd into excitement with a straight six against Clint McKay but fell for 37 soon after the mid-point, holing out at long-on to an unusual dancing catch by Lee.

Adrian Barath, back in the side after a hundred for Trinidad against Guyana a week ago, provided early impetus with nine fours in all in his 41 from 31 balls. But Marlon Samuels' contribution was excruciating and Dwayne Bravo fell first ball.

Australia's reply malfunctioned as early as the second over when David Warner, one of the few batsmen capable of matching Pollard's slugging style, spooned a drive against Dwayne Bravo to mid-on.

Watson played smoothly for a while, only to pull Darren Sammy's loosener to mid-on. Sammy's short ball, not often regarded as devilish, enjoyed further spoils in his next over when Charles plunged forward at third man to hold a top-edged hook from Forrest and leave for ice pack treatment on a damaged shoulder.

If Sammy's breakthroughs frustrated Australia, two wickets in an over for Russell would have irked them even more. Russell, defying a knee complaint, could barely muster a limping celebration as he first had George Bailey caught at the wicket, cutting, and then two balls later defeated Mike Hussey's attempted pull.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s PP1 PP2 PP3 Last 10 overs NB/Wides West Indies 183 28 11 56/0 14/0 32/1 117/2 0/10 Australia 175 24 8 62/2 32/0 14 for 1 55/3 2(nb)/11

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Mathews out of SL's squad for Eng Test

 

Colombo: Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews failed a fitness test on Friday and was left out of the 14-member squad picked for the first Test against England in Galle starting on Monday.

Mathews missed the Asia Cup because of a calf muscle injury and selectors picked middle-order batsman Chamara Silva to make up the squad.

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"I don't think we can use Mathews as an allrounder in the future," said chief selector Ashantha de Mel. "Mathews has some problem with his legs and it is very unlikely he will bowl much. We have to look at him purely as a batsman."

Silva scored a magnificent 163 off 180 balls for a Sri Lanka Cricket President's XI in a three-day warm-up match against England which ended on Thursday.

He has been in prolific form during the home first-class season and was the only batsman to top 1,000 runs.

Silva played the last of his 11 Tests for Sri Lanka in April 2008 against West Indies in Port of Spain and since then has been a regular player in the one-day side.

In Mathews's absence, Thilan Samaraweera has been named vice-captain to Mahela Jayawardene.

De Mel said Tharanga Paranavitana and Lahiru Thirimanne would have to fight for a place as partner to Tillakaratne Dilshan in the opening pair.

Either Suranga Lakmal or Dhammika Prasad was expected to partner Chanaka Welegedara as a fast bowler while the number seven spot would be between regular wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene and Dinesh Chandimal who had not kept wicket for some time, De Mel said.

England and Sri Lanka will play a two-Test series with the second Test scheduled to start in Colombo on April 3.

Sri Lanka squad for the first Test:

Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Prasanna Jayawardene, Suranga Lakmal, Dhammika Prasad, Chanaka Welegedara, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath.

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