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Scorecard
Lisa Sthalekar picked up 4 for 18 in four overs•Getty Images

Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand, clinching a tight win thanks largely to the efforts of Alex Blackwell, Leah Poulton and Lisa Sthalekar. After Australia chose to bat, Poulton guided her team’s innings inside the first 10 overs with 35 off 30 balls, striking four fours and a six. From a tricky 80 for 4, Blackwell took over and batted steadily, scoring 41 off 43 deliveries despite hitting just one boundary. There was some lower-order support from Sarah Coyte and Jess Jonassen, and they stretched Australia’s score to a competitive 134 for 8.New Zealand were in early trouble in the chase, losing their first three wickets for 28, but Amy Satterthwaite (45) and Liz Perry (24) were involved in a threatening 47-run stand. Both scored at better than a run a ball, but Sthalekar, who opened the bowling, struck, removing Perry. Australia picked up wickets at a steady rate, depriving Satterthwaite of partners until she was dismissed herself, the seventh wicket to fall with the score on 95. Morna Nielsen and Katey Martin kept New Zealand’s hopes alive during a 32-run stand for the ninth wicket – Nielsen struck two sixes – but it was too late, and New Zealand fell seven short. Sthalekar was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 for 18 in her four overs.

Match facts

February 10, Sharjah
Start time 1500 (1100 GMT)Mohammad Hafeez has endured two quiet Tests with the bat, and will be eager to rediscover his touch•AFP

Big Picture

Dreams rarely come to fruition at such breathless speeds. After winning their way through five divisions in two years, gaining a berth in the World Twenty20, and dominating better established Associates and Affiliates in the four-day format, Afghanistan have reached base camp – an ODI against a Test-playing nation. Barring an upset of the sort that can only involve Pakistan, Afghanistan will most definitely struggle in their first real audition in the one-day format, but to focus on the result at this momentous juncture would be to miss the point completely.While their relationship with Pakistan may have been relegated to a love-hate relationship on the political front, the camaraderie shared between their cricketing administrations has been heartening. Cricket may have never taken root in Afghanistan but for their refugees who were forced by war to spend considerable time in Pakistan. The gratitude was repaid last year, when Afghanistan became the first team to tour Pakistan following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan side in 2009. People from both sides of the Durand Line will watch with interest when master and disciple clash in Sharjah on Friday. Expect a sizeable crowd, and healthy TRPs.Afghanistan have a lot more to gain from the one-off encounter, while Pakistan will know the match could prove a banana peel before the real deal – their limited-overs clashes against England.Pakistan’s set up changes considerably when they shift from whites to colours; Abdur Rehman and Azhar Ali, who played such sterling roles in the Test whitewash of England, will most likely not figure in the XI.Shahid Afridi, who has been nothing short of inspirational since his latest un-retirement, will reappear in the starting XI. His presence will add so much more to the squad’s strength, while his exuberant ways will once again provide Misbah-ul-Haq’s calm methods of control an interesting challenge. It will be intriguing to see if Afghanistan can land a few telling blows before Pakistan recalibrate their game for the shorter version.

Form guide

Pakistan WWWWW (Most recent first)
Afghanistan WWLWL

In the spotlight

Mohammad Hafeez has endured two quiet Tests with the bat, and will be eager to rediscover his touch before taking on England. Despite his consistent run in 2011, Hafeez’s batting average is a sorry 26.96, and that’s down to his tendency to waste starts. Hafeez’s biggest enemy on Friday could be his own impetuousness. He’s more certain to have an impact with his nagging brand of offbreaks.

Team news

Afghanistan suffered a major blow when fast bowler Hamid Hassan was ruled out of the game with a knee injury.*

Pitch and conditions

Gone are the days when the Sharjah surface was a featherbed favouring batsmen hitting through the line. The last time an ODI was played here, Pakistan recovered from the depths of 120 for 7 to post 200, and ended up defending it successfully. Afridi played a headlining role with the ball, but even more surprisingly, batted within himself to finish with a modestly-paced (by his standards) 75 off 65 balls. He got the ball to turn magically, and left batsmen of the calibre of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara looking clueless. Expect spin to dominate again in Sharjah.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have won 75 of their 109 games in Sharjah
• Friday will be the first ODI clash between an Affiliate and a Test-playing team

Quotes

“It’s a great opportunity for Afghanistan players and they can’t wait for Friday.”

“If you take some team for granted, that is really a mistake for you. We are not going to do that.”
*February 9, 2012, 15.30 GMT: The preview has been updated with the news of Hamid Hassan’s unavailability

Group AMedium-pacer Rituraj Singh, playing only his second first-class match, took 6 for 75 to bowl Rajasthan to victory by an innings and 56 runs against Orissa in Jaipur. The result significantly boosted the defending champions’ chances of making the quarter-finals for the second year in a row. Orissa began the day on 76 for 6 and, though Deepak Behera and Govind Podder extended their partnership to 69, once Pankaj Singh removed Behera for 27, the end came swiftly. Sumit Mathur picked up two more wickets to finish with 5 for 30 as Orissa were bundled out for 134 in their first innings. Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain, enforced the follow-on in the quest to register an innings victory, which could fetch the bonus point necessary to keep their knockout chances alive.It was not going to be a smooth journey, though. Subhrajit Sahoo, who made 55, and Biplap Samantray, with 82, offered resistance against Rajasthan’s three-pronged pace attack. Rituraj, however, had Samantray caught behind and two overs later removed Abhilash Mallick in similar fashion to start the slide. Orissa lost their last five wickets for only 27 runs.The win, Rajasthan’s second in two weeks, gave them six points – sixteen in total – and took them to third spot in the group. Even if Saurashtra, who had an exciting victory against Railways, had same number of outright victories and points as Rajasthan, the defending champions had a better run quotient (total runs against total wickets). Rajashtan’s quotient of 0.984 was a shade higher than Saurashtra’a 0.925.If Uttar Pradesh fail to beat Karnataka, Rajasthan will make the quarterfinals because they have more wins. The only way UP can pip Rajasthan is by beating Karnataka.Saurashtra beat Railways by 97 runs at the Karnail Singh Stadium. After the carnage of the first two days, when 36 wickets fell, expecting Railways to mount a rearguard action with only four wickets in hand was always going to be more fantasy than reality. It only took 70 minutes for Saurashtra to finish the job. Ravindara Jadeja added four wickets to his kitty to finish with a ten-wicket match haul. For Railways, M Suresh had offered some hope but he could add just three runs to his overnight score before becoming Sandip Maniar’s lone wicket of the innings. Maniar had bowled only three overs across the match on a pitch where spinners reigned supreme. Jadeja then knocked over the last three wickets, including that of Ashish Yadav, who top scored with 50.”We are in a group where six of the eight teams have won the Ranji Trophy in the last 10 years. But for this game we played hard cricket,” said Abhay Sharma, the Railways coach.Group BHalf-centuries from Nitin Saini and Priyank Tehlan shifted the momentum Haryana‘s way against Gujarat in Surat. Saini anchored the innings, batting for three hours to make 91. He was initially well supportd by Rahul Dewan (42) and Sunny Singh (40), but his dismissal began a period in which Haryana lost four wickets for 33 runs, two of them being run-outs. Tehlan and Amit Mishra wrested the initiative, however, adding 127 runs to take their side to 321 for 6, a lead of exactly 300. Tehlan’s 85 contained 12 fours and a six, while Mishra was more circumspect, taking 106 balls for his 39.Haryana’s declaration left Gujarat 12 overs to face before the close, which proved to be enough time for medium-pacer Harshal Patel to have opener Priyanka Panchal caught behind for 10. Gujarat ended the day on 34 for 1, needing 267 more for victory.Having already conceded the first-innings lead, Haryana need an outright win to avoid being relegated to the Plate League next year. However, should they pull off the victory and Baroda finish second to Bengal, Haryana will also qualify for the quarter-finals. If Gujarat lose the match, they will be relegated instead.A career-best 111 from Anustup Majumdar, and 99 from Laxmi Ratan Shukla, set up Bengal‘s total of 390 before Ashok Dinda took three wickets to leave Baroda reeling at 103 for 5, still trailing by three runs at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. Bengal began the day needing 21 to take a crucial first-innings lead and Majumdar and Shukla first took them past Baroda’s total of 284 and then past 300. Majumdar was eventually caught of Sankalp Vohra for 111. Shukla added a further 51 with Sourav Sarkar before being bowled by Swapnil Singh one short of his hundred.Faced with a deficit of 106, Baroda got off to the horror start, with Dinda removing both openers in his first over with only a run on the board. Rakesh Solanki battled to his half-century, but wickets fell consistently at the other end. Dinda picked up a third wicket when he bowled Pinal Shah for 10. Irfan Solanki was on 55 and Irfan Pathan on 4 at stumps.If Haryana beat Gujarat, Baroda will need a a draw to qualify for the quarter-finals.A defiant 98 from Zafar Ali could not prevent Tamil Nadu from taking a 197-run first-innings lead as Madhya Pradesh was dismissed for 289 in Chennai. Ali was the seventh wicket to fall, having faced 291 deliveries, but he received little support from the rest of the line-up. Jalaj Saxena made 43 but the next highest contributor was extras, with 38. Five bowlers shared the wickets, with Jangannathan Kaushik the pick of the bunch, taking 3 for 48 from 21 overs. Tamil Nadu then extended their lead to 227 by the close, but lost Abhinav Mukund and S Badrinath in the process, while M Vijay was forced to retire hurt. Dinesh Karthik, who made a century in the first innings, was unbeaten on 14.

Group A

Himachal Pradesh closed in on a first-innings lead in Kannur, and a place in the next round, after reducing Kerala to 249 for 7, still 203 runs behind. HP were a point behind their hosts in going into the game, but the three points on offer for a first-innings lead would catapult them past their opponents. Kerala had started brightly on the third day, progressing to 112 for 1 before left-arm spinner Abhinav Bali trapped Sony Cheruvathur lbw. Wickets fell at regular intervals after that – offspinner Gurvinder Singh took two in one over and three in three overs – to reduce Kerala to 193 for 7. Raiphi Gomez (51*) and Padmanabhan Prasanth (22*) prevented any further losses, but will be hardpressed to prevent the visitors from hammering home their advantage on the final dayPrasanth Kumar and AG Pradeep made cautious half-centuries to take Andhra to 192 for 3 against table-toppers Vidarbha in Cuddapah. The pair came together with their side 45 for 3 and built an unbeaten stand worth 147 at exactly two runs an over. Prasanth faced 249 balls for his 80, while Pradeep was marginally faster, taking 236 balls for his 82. With only one day remaining though, Andhra are unlikely to qualify for the knockouts, since they need an outright win just to have an outsize chance of going through.Services need 194 runs to win with nine wickets in hand despite losing their last five wickets for just four runs in their first-innings on the penultimate day against Tripura in Agartala. Having begun the day on 246 for 5, Services succumbed for 253, the last four batsmen making zero. But their bowlers responded by dismssing Tripura for 227 to leave themselves a gettable target. Suraj Yadav took 4 for 54 and Nishan Singh 3 for 57, while Vinayak Samant topscored for Tripura with 49. Pratik Desai was out to the second ball of the innings before Services ended the day on 23 for 1.

Group B

Ian Dev Singh’s made 168, his highest first-class score, to give Jammu & Kashmir a 44-run first-innings lead, but with only one day remaining at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad are all but assured of the one point they need to qualify for the next round. Ian Dev faced 339 balls and batted for just seven hours and 42 minutes to anchor J&K. Lalith Mohan was the best of the bowlers, taking 6 for 109 from 48.3 overs.An allrounder effort from their bowlers helped Assam restrict Maharashtra to 244 and take a 35-run first-innings lead, before they extended that to 115 by the close in Guwahati. Ankit Bawne topscored for Maharashtra with 81, while Kedar Jahav made 60. Arup Das took for 4 for 45 for the hosts. Assam lost their top three early, but at 80 for 3 and barring a batting collapse, the match appears headed for a draw.Amit Yadav’s five-for helped Goa bowl out Jharkhand for 204 in their second innings, leaving them a target of 234 in Jamshedpur. Opener Anup Kolambker was bowled in the first over, but Ryan D’Souza and Vidhyadhar Kumar carried them to 62 for 1, and needing a 172 for victory. Amit ran through the lower middle order, taking four of the last five wickets, as Jharkhand slumped from 161 for 5. Opener Manish Vardhan topscored with 67.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) collapsed to fast bowler Tabish Khan at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi, giving Karachi Whites their third win of the season, this one by 111 runs. KRL’s top order had given them some hope on the third day, and they began the final day on 121 for 3 chasing 305. They only managed another 72 runs, with Tabish picking up 7 for 52 to give him 14 wickets in the match. He is now 10 wickets clear of everyone else at the top of the wicket-takers charts in Division Two.Peshawar romped to their fourth-straight win of the season, beating United Bank Limited by 153 runs at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. Seamer Riaz Afridi took six wickets as United Bank collapsed from 91 for 2 at the start of the day to 210 all out. Facing a daunting target of 364, United Bank’s Ali Asad scored a half-century at the top of the order, but once he was dismissed by Riaz, the rest of the batting crumbled with a total of five players being dismissed in single digits in the innings.Quetta did not leave themselves enough time to bowl out Lahore Shalimar at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground, and ended up taking just three points from the game for a first-innings lead. Having started the day 218 runs ahead with six wickets in hand, Quetta were in a position to get quick runs and declare early. However, they batted for 22 overs, allowing both Taimur Ali and Abid Ali to reach their centuries. By the time Abid had reached three figures, the lead was 324, but there were less than 70 overs left to bowl Lahore Shalimar out. Lahore Shalimar ended up batting 52 of those and reached 151 for 3 thanks to half-centuries from Mohammad Hamza and Adnan Raza.Having already secured points for the first-innings lead, Lahore Ravi decided to use the final day of their match against Multan at the Gadaffi Stadium as batting practice, and Mohammad Zohaib and Usman Salahuddin both got unbeaten hundreds. It was Salahuddin’s second century of the match – he scored 131 in Lahore Ravi’s first-innings total of 383 – and he now has 435 runs for the season at an average of 87.00. Multan had come agonisingly close to Lahore’s first-innings score, but when they fell short there was not much time in the game for Lahore to force a result. They batted through the fourth day, reaching 253 for 2 with Salahuddin finishing 116 not out and Zohaib 103 not out.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRob Nicol became the seventh batsman to hit a century on ODI debut•AFP

New Zealand’s debutants – Rob Nicol and Doug Bracewell – played starring roles in a nine-wicket steamrolling of Zimbabwe that gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the ODI series. Nicol hit a fluent century and his opening stand of 153 with Martin Guptill made short work of Zimbabwe’s inadequate 231 for 6.That Zimbabwe even got that far was down to a stirring rearguard led by their captain Brendan Taylor, whose unbeaten 128 lifted them from the shambles of 21 for 4 in 11 overs. Zimbabwe’s bowling woes, however, continued unabated as they allowed New Zealand to take their tour tally to a prolific 546 for 4 off 75 overs, one of those rare breakthroughs coming courtesy a run-out.Faced with a middling target and a tame attack, Guptill and Nicol wasted no time in putting the nature of the pitch into perspective. Zimbabwe’s easy lengths, delivered at amiable pace, sat up nicely for Guptill to launch the chase with a raft of drives. He repeatedly moved into line to punch Kyle Jarvis and Chris Mpofu through the off side. Nicol, fresh from a century for the Mashonaland Eagles in the domestic Pro50 Championship, backed up Guptill with a series of leg-side fours as New Zealand rolled past 50 in six overs.The introduction of Ray Price slowed down the scoring a touch, before it was more a case of the batsmen pacing themselves. Elton Chigumbura troubled Nicol briefly with a couple of spirited legcutters but, almost on cue, the bowling Powerplay was taken in the 16th over and released the pressure. Jarvis was reintroduced, and Guptill resumed his belligerence over the off side, while Nicol kept turning the strike over.Zimbabwe were going through the motions by the time Guptill deposited Prosper Utseya over midwicket in the 26th over. Guptill’s expression when he holed out for 74 suggested the agony of a batsman who had let go a hundred that was there for the taking. But Nicol persevered to become the seventh batsman to hit a century on ODI debut, a list that includes Guptill’s name. An early batting batting Powerplay and the presence of the in-form Brendon McCullum at the crease meant New Zealand were home with plenty to spare.Despite their toothless bowling, Zimbabwe lost the game in the first quarter of their innings. Broad shouldered and tattooed, with muscular arms, Bracewell strode in with a streamlined open-chested action and hit perfect lengths from the outset. He dislodged Vusi Sibanda and Chamu Chibhabha with exemplary away seamers, but the wicket that stood out was Hamilton Masakadza’s.Bracewell worked him over with a string of ten dot balls consisting largely of length deliveries that landed on the seam, interspersed with a pacy yorker and a well-directed short ball. The eleventh was full, Masakadza’s eyes lit up as he lurched forward to drive, and the ball grazed the inside edge to uproot middle stump. Tatenda Taibu was then consumed by Kane Williamson’s acrobatics at cover, as Zimbabwe stumbled out of control.Though crease-occupation was their prime objective, Mutizwa and Taylor managed to pump adrenaline into the innings from the outset. They were cautious initially, and release came in rare spurts, predominantly against Andy McKay. Taylor cracked him square and carved him through the covers, while Mutizwa slammed him over midwicket.Defence, misses and singles remained standard fare until the introduction of spin eased the pressure. Taylor and Mutizwa handled the offspin duo of Nicol and Nathan McCullum with relative ease to chug past their 50-run stand. The pressure began to show on New Zealand, with Nathan McCullum spilling a return chance and McKay parrying Taylor over the long-off boundary for the first six.Taylor celebrated the miss by clattering McCullum for six more as Zimbabwe ushered in the batting Powerplay on the ascendancy. Taylor and Mutizwa pulled off a series of audacious laps over fine-leg to take 32 off the five-over block, which meant momentum was coursing through the Zimbabwe innings when the slog overs commenced. Though Mutizwa fell in the 42nd, Taylor was primed for assault.He remained subdued until he reached his 100 in the 47th over, but exploded in Bracewell’s final over. Bracewell served Taylor a full toss, a slow length ball and a short delivery, all of which were gleefully deposited into the leg-side stands. One debutant had endured a ragged finish to his day, but another was about to more than make up for it.

Cameron White, Australia’s Twenty20 captain, had every reason to be smug as he walked into his arrival press conference in Cape Town. He appeared in front of the media minutes after his country’s national rugby union team knocked South Africa’s defending champion Springboks out of the World Cup by 11 points to nine and, in so doing, qualified for the semi-finals.Instead, he was gracious and chirpy. “It sounds like the referee didn’t have a great game,” White joked.That one-liner would have immediately endeared him to the South African public, who are reeling from seeing their rugby team suffer the same fate their cricket team did six months ago in Dhaka, and have already earmarked the upcoming cricket series as a way to take revenge over Australia.With public pressure mounting, South Africa’s cricketers will have to hit the right spots immediately after coming off their longest winter break in 14 years. They will only have three days to plot the downfall of Australia because of the timing of the Champions League. But, their opposition have had the same concern, with two Australian franchises having played in the competition.White sees their participation in that tournament as a plus. “It’s a good thing coming off real match time and hardened competition, rather than coming out of Australia with a bit of net preparation,” he said. “It’s probably not ideal that we are coming from all over the place but at least we’ve been playing some matches.”David Warner is the Australia player who best used the Champions League to make a statement, with his two centuries for New South Wales underlining his status as danger batsman in Twenty20. White said Warner was probably “the star of the series” and is hoping he can repeat some of the “good success against the Proteas, like the one memorable game at the MCG a couple of years ago”. Warner scored 89 off 43 balls on debut for Australia against South Africa in January 2009.Young fast bowler Patrick Cummins, who is new to the Australian side, also impressed with seven wickets at an average of 19.42. White admitted that he does not know Cummins very well, either on or off the field, but hopes to integrate him into the side. “I saw him bowl in a couple of games on TV, anyone who bowls 150 [kph] is really good to watch,” he said. “I actually haven’t played with Pat before, but I am looking forward to seeing him in the flesh. Clearly he’s got some very, very good pace.”Although White indicated that Australia will be experimenting to some degree with combinations, he hopes they can find ones that work early on as they look ahead to next year’s World Twenty20. “Every game is like gold to us,” he said. “There are not many Twenty20 internationals going into that World Cup, so every one of these games is vitally important for our preparation for that tournament.”With Australia focussed on building a stable XI and establishing continuity in the shortest format of the game, South Africa may see it as the ideal opportunity to pounce. They will turn to their new look outfit, with Gary Kirsten as coach, and Hashim Amla captaining in AB de Villiers’ absence through injury, to restore national sporting pride.White is not reading too much into South Africa’s claims of starting a new era and feels both teams are in an equal stage of transition. “We know they are missing a couple of players and they have a new coach, so do we,” he said. “Actually we don’t even have a coach at the moment, we’ve got an interim coach, so we’re in a similar position.”With Troy Cooley standing after Tim Nielsen stepped down last month, the absence of a head coach does not worry White, who said it’s up to the players to do their bit. “You can have the best coach in the world, but we’ve played quite a lot of Twenty20 cricket as individuals, so we know how to play the game. There’s only so much a coach can do in Twenty20 cricket.”

Shaun Marsh will bat at No. 3 for Australia in place of the absent Ricky Ponting in the second Test in Pallekele, after Michael Clarke confirmed an otherwise unchanged XI to face Sri Lanka.Ponting is at home for the birth of his second child, handing Marsh his chance to wear a baggy green cap. The decision to bat Marsh at No. 3 is a surprise, as it was thought that Usman Khawaja, who made his debut in Ponting’s place at the SCG in January and batted at No. 6 in the first Test in Galle, would be promoted. However, Marsh has played much of his international cricket for Australia at the top of the order, and may be more comfortable starting against the newer ball.The Australians had few other selection questions to answer following a 125-run victory in the first Test, and their level of certainty was increased by the first glimpse of a Pallekele pitch, which looks far more conventional in its preparation and grass coverage than the Galle dustbowl.Brad Haddin, Australia’s wicketkeeper, said Marsh was ready for Test cricket after being on the Australian first-class circuit for nearly a decade. Haddin was behind the stumps for NSW in Newcastle when a 19-year-old Marsh clattered 119. He did not fulfill that promise immediately, but Haddin said he had seen plenty of development from Marsh.”It will be disappointing to lose Ricky, but it’s a good opportunity to give Shaun Marsh a crack at Test cricket,” Haddin said. “He’s going to be a wonderful player I think, Shaun, and I think he’s ready now for Test cricket.”He’s done a lot of growing up, from a cricket point of view, in the last 24 months and we’re really looking forward to him having a crack at Test cricket. I think he can be something pretty special.”Shaun, as a person, he feels a lot more comfortable around the group now, he’s been here the whole tour and I think he’s really starting to understand his game. I think he’s pretty close to doing some special things for Australia.”We’ve seen some glimpses of it in one-day cricket for us. He’s got some pretty important runs and tough runs at times, which has been good, so I’m just looking forward to him having a crack at this because he’s had a long tour here, and he deserves a go.”The single change to the Australian team reflected the quality of its performance in Galle, where the bowling attack excelled in its tightness and planning, and the batsmen showed plenty of fight on a difficult pitch.”I’m very proud of it. I think it also shows small steps forward, we’re trying to move forward as a cricket team and be better cricketers,” Haddin said. “To do that you’ve got to play in different conditions. Whether it’s here, England, South Africa, wherever. You’ve got to make sure you’re trying to get better and better so you can present yourself well on all services.”I think it’s a little tick in the box, the way we did handle ourselves throughout the whole game, and the result came out in the end. From a team point of view I think it was a very good result to get the win, especially on something so foreign to us.”Having played in numerous recent Australian teams that fell back after making a strong start to a series, Haddin was mindful of the need to keep pushing hard in Pallekele.”It does [help our confidence], but the one thing we’ve got to remember too is that on a number of occasions we have started a series well and fallen away,” Haddin said. “I think it is important now for this group that yes, we’ve taken a small step in the first Test, but we’ve got to make sure we keep getting better, not fall back into old habits.”Australia: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Phil Hughes, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Usman Khawaja, 7 Brad Haddin, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Trent Copeland, 11 Nathan Lyon.

Australia captain Michael Clarke has said that he expects a tough five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka. Clarke takes over as captain from Cameron White, who led the team in the two Twenty20s but is not in the one-day or Test teams.”Sri Lanka has shown that they are playing some good cricket at the moment in the T-20 matches,” Clarke said. “They love playing in their home conditions and it looks like that we will have lot of spin to face. We have obviously seen their bowlers a lot over the years, but there’s no guarantee that we are going to have any success. The conditions are very tough to play spin bowling. We have to be at our best and we have to be playing well. I can guarantee that all the boys are excited.”The first game will take place at the Pallakele Stadium on Wednesday and Clarke said the pitch looked fantastic. “Once you get in as a batter, it’s a beautiful place to bat. It’s just going to be tough to start off the spinners. But look we don’t expect anything different throughout the tour. We know wickets are going to be conducive to spin bowling.”Australia lost both T20 Internationals prior to Clarke’s arrival, which he said was a good indication that they need to get better in conditions that suit spin. “The boys have been training hard. That’s been our main focus in the last couple of months. We are really working hard on our preparations and putting in lot of time and energy in trying to get better. We know that we need to improve in all facets of the game. Few of the boys who have come with the ODI side are good players of spin and hopefully that will help us out.”Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis took 6 for 16 in the second T20, the best figures in the format’s international history, and Clarke said that his batters were looking forward to the challenge of facing him. “He’s a very good bowler and he has success in his career in all three formats of the game. We know that he’s a tough competitor and he spins the ball in both directions. That makes it harder for the batters. We have faced him before and it’s going to make our job hard.”We are looking forward for the challenge. We have obviously seen their bowlers a lot over the years but there’s no guarantee that we are going to have any success.”

Stuart Broad, the England fast bowler, has been fined 50% of his match fee for showing dissent towards an umpire’s decision during the second ODI against Sri Lanka after using “unacceptable and offensive” remarks at Billy Bowden.He was found guilty of a Level 2 breach of Article 2.2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct. Broad admitted to the offence after it had been brought to the match referee Alan Hurst’s notice by the on-field umpires, Bowden and Richard Kettleborough. There was no need for a hearing and he was promptly fined.”The charge related to an incident in the final over of the Sri Lanka innings when Broad appealed for an lbw [against Jeevan Mendis], which was turned down. As he left the field he made some unacceptable and offensive remarks to umpire Bowden about that decision,” an ICC statement said.”Accepting an umpire’s decision is an essential feature of cricket and part of the game’s unique spirit,” Hurst said. “Stuart’s behaviour was not acceptable in any form of cricket, and as a well-established member of his country’s national side and current captain of the Twenty20 international team, he must take responsibility for what he says and does.”All Level 2 breaches carry a minimum penalty of a fine equivalent to 50% of a player’s match fee up to a maximum penalty of a suspension for two ODIs or two Twenty20 internationals or one Test.This isn’t the first time Broad has been fined for a disciplinary breach. He had to forego 50% of his match fee after hurling a ball at Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Zulqarnain Haider during the Edgbaston Test last year.It also comes little more than a week after Broad admitted his captaincy of the World Twenty20 team means he’ll have to be on his guard.”I’ll certainly be watching my behaviour, but to be fair I think those occasions have become rarer and rarer in the last year,” he said. “But I’m certainly not going to lose my passion for the game, I think it’s something I thrive on.”You always have to be aware of what you are doing. I think it will be pretty hectic and I’ll have to be thinking about a lot of things. But the key is when I get the ball in my hand I don’t change much, have a presence and deliver my skills.”