Atapattu scored 50 in Sri Lanka’s innings, but had to leave the field half-way through India’s reply© Getty Images

A flu bug that has already laid low Marvan Atapattu, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chaminda Vaas has seriously handicapped Sri Lanka’s preparations for their crucial second-stage Asia Cup encounter with Pakistan.Atapattu, the first to be taken ill as the team travelled to Dambulla last week – the final part of an arduous journey from Australia – was so weak that he was forced to hand the captaincy over to Mahela Jayawardene during Sri Lanka’s 12-run win against India on Sunday night. Both Atapattu and Dilshan are on a course of antibiotics and the management remains hopeful that they will be able to play on Wednesday. Vaas first complained of the bug on Tuesday morning and the seriousness of his condition is not yet known.”There is not really a lot we can do about the situation apart from making sure they take on plenty of fluids and rest,” CJ Clarke, the physiotherapist of the Sri Lankan team, told reporters. “The problem is that the players are very tired after Australia and all the travel, and their resistance to these bugs is therefore very low.”There was better news on Sanath Jayasuriya though, who appears to be recovering well from his side strain, an injury that forced him out of the India match. He resumed bowling on Tuesday morning and should be available for selection.Meanwhile, John Dyson, the coach, was delighted with Sri Lanka’s performance in the first round, an effort that he believes has now set the team up well for the second round.”The team played very well in both games in Dambulla and they are feeling pleased with their game and looking forward to the rest of the tournament,” said Dyson. “It was a good boost for the rest of the tournament. It lifts you up and makes you look forward to the next game. It was difficult to come straight in from Australia as it is a long journey back and when you add the bus drive to Dambulla the guys were pretty tired. They have recovered pretty quickly. They are pretty fit and watch what they eat and make sure they get enough sleep so they were ready to play.”But Dyson remains wary of Pakistan: “Pakistan are a very exciting and dangerous team and they are a side that can do anything and our boys will need to be right on their game.

Graeme Smith: gave his side a tongue-lashing after defeat© Getty Images

Sri Lanka’s weary cricketers slip back into their blue-and-yellow pyjamas on Friday for the start of a five-match series against a wounded South Africa team. Buoyant but exhausted after two months of non-stop cricket, Sri Lanka sense an opportunity to prove that, while life may be sweeter with him around, winning is now possible without Muttiah Muralitharan.A short while ago, the withdrawal of Murali, who will be out of action until Christmas, could have had a devastating impact upon the team, as shown by their sharp slump of form just prior to the 2003 World Cup when Murali was recovering from a hernia operation. But Sri Lanka’s confidence has mushroomed in recent months and the success of the team, in the Asia Cup and the South Africa Test series, has been built around a solid team effort."We will miss Murali," admitted Marvan Atapattu, the key figure in Sri Lanka’s rising fortunes. "His bowling aside, he is such a good team player. Just having him in the dressing-room motivates guys. I wouldn’t mind him there even without him playing. But without him the other guys have come forward and shouldered much more responsibility. It is encouraging to see and they have shown great promise for the future."Atapattu is anxious now that his team doesn’t let the momentum slow. The Champions Trophy is looming on the horizon – a tournament in which Sri Lanka have high hopes, having been grouped with Zimbabwe and England, both of whom have woeful one-day records in the recent past – but Atapattu is focusing first and foremost on South Africa. He has been urging his players to keep working, improving and, above all, stay mentally sharp."We have played some good cricket in the recent past, but the key word is "past"," Atapattu said after training under lights. "That has now all gone and this is a new series. If we keep playing the way we are then we will do well, but there are enough and more areas in which we need to improve, including our running between the wickets and the fielding."We will also have to make an effort to keep the energy and enthusiasm levels high. We have been playing a lot of cricket since Australia and have never had more than three days’ rest at any time, so it is hard to keep the boys always alert and mentally alive."Sri Lanka’s selection is relatively straightforward. Avishka Gunawardene is likely to retain his place alongside Sanath Jayasuriya and the other four batters – Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillekaratne Dilshan – are picked without debate. The allrounders follow: Upul Chandana, Farveez Maharoof and Chaminda Vaas. Finally, Nuwan Zoysa walks into the team after his heroics in the Asia Cup, leaving one space for two spinners – Rangana Herath and Kaushal Lokuarachchi.South Africa, meanwhile, are desperate to bounce back after the drubbing in the final Test, a defeat that prompted a fearful tongue-lashing from their captain, Graeme Smith, who tore into them for a lack of commitment, passion and hunger.Their recent slide down the ICC one-day championship table, from second to fourth position after their 5-1 defeat to New Zealand in March and a long layoff, has also prompted some re-thinking within the management team. Eric Simons, the coach, has promised new ideas and a revamped strategy for a new season.Quite what changes he will make remain to be seen. But one option is the better utilisation of some of the firepower hidden in the lower order. Lance Klusener, fighting for his future, might be given anopportunity early against the hard new ball.There should also be a new face, Jean-Paul Duminy, or JP as he is called, who is expected to make his one-day international debut. Duminy, a Western Province left-hander, churned out runs last season, averaging 75 in domestic cricket, but the challenge of batting against Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers in the middle overs will be a test.Bowling selections have been made easier by the departure of Andre Nel,although the choice between Nicky Boje and Alan Dawson might be a tricky decision on the spin-friendly Premadasa pitch. Robin Peterson, the drinks waiter for the first three weeks of the tour, is expected to be the first-choice spinner.South Africa (from) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Jacques Rudolph, 5 Lance Klusener, 6 Jean-PaulDuminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Nicky Boje, 9 Alan Dawson,10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Shaun Pollock, 12 Robin Peterson, 13 Andre Nel, 14 Martin van Jaarsveld.Sri Lanka (from) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Saman Jayantha, 7 Avishka Gunawardene, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Chaminda Vaas, 10 Upul Chandana, 11 Lasith Malinga, 12 Nuwan Zoysa,13 Dilhara Fernando, 14 Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

The BCCI has decided to advise its lawyers to assist the Mumbai High Court in the speedy disposal of the telecast-rights case. The case involves Zee Network and ESPN-Star Sports battling for the telecast rights to all international matches played in India over the next four years. reported the president of the board, Jagmohan Dalmiya as saying: “The committee was updated on all developments pertaining to the TV-rights issue and it was also appraised of the order of the High Court with regard to the “status quo”. The committee decided to advise the Board’s lawyers to assist the HC for expeditious disposal of the matter.”Dalmiya was speaking after the working-committee meeting in Kolkata. However, he wasn’t willing to comment on the possibility of the series being affected due to the delay in the case. “The matter may be sorted out in a day or two,” he said. “We cannot take any decision on this matter till the case is decided upon by the court.”The president said the board would also seek clarification from the court on its order of maintaining status quo.”

With the Zimbabwe selectors expected to name their squad to take on England in five one-day internationals on Friday, it has been claimed that Macsood Ebrahim, the chief selector, was involved in a heated exchange with Elvis Sembezeya at the weekend.The alleged incident took place during the Zimbabwe A v Namibia match at the Old Georgians club in Harare on Saturday. While it is unclear what triggered the incident, eyewitnesses said that Sembezeya, one of the founder members of Takashinga, an all-black club based in the Harare suburb of Highfield, accused Ebrahim of not picking Takashinga players and preferring whites in the Zimbabwe A side that they were watching at the time. That team contained four white players, and was captained by Gavin Ewing.Some of the eyewitnesses also claimed that Sembezeya threatened to dig up the pitch ahead of the England matches if the situation continued. Such threats have been attributed to others within Zimbabwe cricket in the past.There is a certain irony in the row. Last May, Ozias Bvute, who has been identified with Ebrahim as being at the core of the unrest within Zimbabwe cricket, had an almost identical face-off with Stephen Mangongo, Ebrahim’s predecessor, over the same issue – the number of white players in the side. On that occasion Mangongo allegedly ended up in an armlock.

Zaheer Khan scaled a few batting peaks on the third day at Dhaka and broke the world record for the highest score by a No. 11 batsman. Zaheer broke the 31-year-old record that was held by New Zealand’s Richard Collinge, another left-arm fast bowler.

Batsman (Country)	Runs	Opposition	Venue (Year)
Zaheer Khan (Ind)	75	Bangladesh	Dhaka (2004)
Richard Collinge (NZ)	68*	Pakistan	Auckland (1973)
Alfred Vogler (SA)	62*	England	Cape Town (1906)
Glenn McGrath (Aus)	61	New Zealand	Brisbane (2004)
Wasim Bari (Pak)	60*	West Indies	Barbados (1977)
John Snow (Eng)	59*	West Indies	The Oval (1966)
Mushtaq Ahmed (Pak)	59	South Africa	Rawalpindi (1997)
Pat Symcox (SA)	54	Australia	Adelaide (1996)
Rodney Hogg (Aus)	52	West Indies	Georgetown (1984)
Fred Spofforth (Aus)	50	England	Melbourne (1885)
Ghulam Ahmed (Ind)	50	Pakistan	Delhi (1952)

Zaheer also added 133 in an entertaining last-wicket stand with Sachin Tendulkar and they equalled the record for the second-highest partnership in Tests. The following list is the top ten partnerships for the last wicket.

Partners (Country)	Runs	Opposition	Venue (Year)
Richard Collinge and Brian Hastings (NZ)	151	Pakistan	Auckland (1973)
Azhar Mahmood and Mushtaq Ahmed (Pak)	151	South Africa	Rawalpindi (1997)
Wasim Bari and Wasim Raja (Pak)	133	West Indies	Barbados (1977)
Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan (Ind)	133	Bangladesh	Dhaka (2004)
RE Foster and Wilfred Rhodes (Eng)	130	Australia	Sydney (1903)
Kenneth Higgs and John Snow (Eng)	128	West Indies	The Oval (1966)
Arthur Mailey and Johnny Taylor (Aus)	127	England	Sydney (1924)
Stephen Boock and John Bracewell (NZ)	124	Australia	Sydney (1985)
Warwick Armstrong and Reggie Duff (Aus)	120	England	Melbourne (1902)
Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns (NZ)	118	England	Christchurch (2002)
Peter Willey and Bob Willis (End)	117*	West Indies	The Oval (1980)

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Yuvraj Singh made sure that the good start wasn’t wasted with a hurricane half-century© AFP

Stung by a shock defeat last night, a full-strength Indian steam steamrolledBangladesh in the decider at the Bangabandhu Stadium, winning by 91 runs.The match as a contest was finished by the half-way mark when India, poweredby lusty hitting at both ends of their innings, from Virender Sehwag andYuvraj Singh, racked up 348 for 5. There was simply no way Bangladesh weregoing to overhaul that target.The determination was writ large on the faces of Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwagwhen they came out to open. Mashrafe Mortaza troubled both early on, beatingthe outside edge. But that was merely the calm before the storm. Even asthey played themselves in, Sehwag and Tendulkar picked off the loose ballsraised India’s 50 in 9.1 overs. Then, Hasibul Hossain and Musfiqur Rahman -in the team in place of Tapash Baisya and Nazmul Hossain, both out withinjury – got the pasting of their lives.Tendulkar led the early charge, with two cover-drives. He then played theflick, the pull, the cut and the lofted shot over midwicket, peppering theadvertising hoardings with foreceful strokes. Sehwag then showed that he wasno less keen to get going, and lofted Hasibul for a majestic six over long-off. A flurry of strokes powered India to 100 off just 12.5 overs, with thesecond 50 coming in 22 balls.Then, completely against the run of play, Tendulkar attempted to cutKhaled Mahmud, who had been brought into the attack after Hasibul wassummarily dismissed with figures of none for 53 from 8 overs. Khaled Mashudtook a good catch standing up and Tendulkar fell on 47 from just 42 balls (106 for 1).Sehwag, refused to be perturbed by the loss of Tendulkar, and continued toplay big shots even after the 15-over field restrictions were lifted, butperished in the process. He tried to thrash Mahmud for a big six overmidwicket, but could not go all the way, and Mohammad Ashraful tip-toedaround the ropes to to take a stunning catch (125 for 2). Sehwag, who waswell on course to a century, fell in the 20th over, on 70 from just 52 balls.

Rajin Saleh made a fighting 82 but Bangladesh were never in the hunt while chasing such a mammoth total© AFP

Sourav Ganguly (55) and Rahul Dravid (60) then ensured that the barnstormingstart they were given was not wasted. They dabbed, nudged, stroked andoccasionally biffed their way to a 98-run partnership off 116 balls beforeboth were out in the space of 3.1 overs. If Bangladesh thought the fall ofthese two wickets, Ganguly’s with the score on 223, and Dravid’s on 247,would give them respite, they hadn’t reckoned with Yuvraj, who hadn’t done anything noteworthy in the first two matches.Yuvraj signalled his murderous intent early on, sweeping two boundariesbefore the bowlers could properly train their sights on him. MohammadRafique, who had done well with his left-arm spin to send down seven overs for just 23, was taken to the cleaners. Yuvraj played booming strokes somewhere between sweeps and drives in the arc from midwicket to square leg. Rafique’s last 3 overs cost him 40, and before you knew it, Yuvraj had reached his half-century ­off a mere 22 balls. One ball less, and he would have drawn level with Ajit Agarkar’s Indian record, 50 off 21 balls versus Zimbabwe at Rajkot four years ago. But Yuvraj was not finished; he blasted on till the very last over, and scored 69 from just 32 balls, with eight fours and three sixes, and in the company of a sensible and composed Kaif (29) took India to 348 for 5.Bangladesh’s response, barring a industrious 82 from Rajin Saleh, and a few rousing hits from Ashraful (32), and Mortaza (39 from 20 balls) at the death, was tame. Mahendra Dhoni, with five dismissals, did his cause in the Indian wicketkeeping race no harm at all. In the end 349 was simply too big a target for Bangladesh – a good 100 runs more than their previous best against India, 249 in the Asia Cup in 2000. They bettered it by eight runs thanks to some friendly bowling at the end of their innings, but it wasn’t good enough for a capacity crowd who emptied out of the stadium, disappointed, but not completely deflated. Even a crushing defeat couldn’t have erased from their minds the thrilling triumph achieved a day before.

Viv Richards isn’t convinced by Twenty20 cricket yet© Getty Images

Sir Vivian Richards, the former West Indian batting great, has warned the cricket world against dumping 50-over matches for Twenty20 games. His comments come in the wake of several players and officials licking their lips at the prospect of a Twenty20 World Cup.”I hope it doesn’t take the place of 50-overs-a-side cricket,” Richards is quoted as saying by newspaper. “Twenty20 is just in its baby stages. It shouldn’t take away from one-day cricket. That should always remain.” Richards, who is a former West Indian coach and selector, was one of the most destructive batsmen of all time, and enjoyed considerable success in limited-overs cricket in addition to Tests.Recently Twenty20 cricket was introduced, albeit belatedly, to Australian audiences, and met with much success. An unofficial match between Western Australia and Victoria was played to a packed house, and the game between Australia A and Pakistan attracted much interest.”The thing that amazes me is how rapid it is,” Richards said. “If we’re all cricket lovers, it means that we are winning in some capacity because it’s an addition to the game that people appear to be embracing.”

Andrew Symonds injured his Achilles tendon while making 91 in the first VB Series final at the MCG© Getty Images

Matthew Hayden will play his first game for Queensland in more than a year when he returns with Michael Kasprowicz for the ING Cup match against South Australia at the Gabba on Friday. After being replaced by Michael Clarke and Brett Lee for the VB Series finals, the pair asked Cricket Australia for permission to play in the lead-up to Australia’s tour of New Zealand.Hayden was dropped as Australia’s one-day opener after managing 42 runs in four VB Series innings and vowed to return to the side with a “platter” of domestic runs if required. Graham Dixon, the Queensland Cricket chief executive, said Hayden and Kasprowicz were due to be rested under Cricket Australia’s player management plan. "Players who are involved in both forms of the game had been penciled in to have a break this week ahead of the New Zealand tour," he said. "It will be great to welcome them back."However, Hayden and Kasprowicz were expected at the Gabba on Friday as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the state’s first Sheffield Shield winning team in 1994-95. The Bulls have already booked their place in the ING Cup final and will play either Victoria or Tasmania on February 20.Queensland will finalise their squad after Australia’s touring party is announced on Wednesday, but expect to miss the injured trio of Andrew Symonds (Achilles tendon), Shane Watson (side strain) and Martin Love (hand). Symonds was hurt while making 91 in the first final against Pakistan, Watson left the field after bowling 3.5 overs in the second match last night and Love split the webbing between his left index finger and thumb while fielding during yesterday’s 138-run loss to Victoria.

West Indies women have finally secured the financial funding needed to participate in the World Cup – just two weeks before the tournament kicks off on March 22. After months in the grip of a cash crisis, the team now have enough money to compete in South Africa as three separate parties finally came to their aid. Several governments in the Caribbean, corporate sponsors and a CONCAF official stepped in to help West Indies, although they are still short of their budgeted total.Nevertheless, the funds available will be enough for them to compete in the tournament. As West Indies’ coach Ann Browne–John told BBC Sport: “We are still short, we didn’t come up on our total amount but at least we will get there, it may not be with all the trimmings but we’ll get there!”Financial concerns had impinged on the players’ preparations, leading to sleepless nights. “It really was a very terrible situation,” Browne-John recalled. “We were hanging in there right down to the end, we told ourselves sponsors would come on board at some time but we never expected it to take that long.”She had, however, remained in optimistic mood throughout, and has a similarly bright outlook on West Indies’ chances at the World Cup, their first since 1997 after failing to qualify in for the tournament in New Zealand in 2000. “We have a nice mix of youth and experience with three players who have been to the World Cup before,” she said.

Can Belinda Clark steer Australia to success?© Getty Images

After months of intense preparation, the eighth women’s World Cup kicks off today in South Africa and, as Australia’s captain Belinda Clark told Cricinfo: “It should be a great competition.”Well, yes it should – but just who will be watching? In 1997, crowds of 80,000 flocked to Eden Gardens to see Australia defeat New Zealand, while Cricinfo live-streamed the next event, in 2000, from New Zealand.But this World Cup, based in and around Pretoria, could struggle to attract decent crowds – the women’s game is still very much in its infancy in South Africa – so much so that free tickets are being offered for all matches. The exception is the final, at Centurion, where a ringside seat to watch the world’s finest compete for ultimate supremacy will set punters back just R20 (£1.80).Yet on display in the tournament will be a former Wisden Cricketer of the Year, Clark, among others. Clark’s Australia are in dominant mood, with an ominous will. “Our motivation is that we don’t hold the World Cup,” Clark adds. They’re certainly going about reclaiming it in the best possible fashion: they beat India recently 4-3 and last week won all three matches against New Zealand to claim the Rose Bowl.It was not the only defeat suffered by the current World Cup holders, New Zealand, in the build-up: they also lost 3-2 in England last summer. England rose to second in the world on the back of that series: have they peaked at the right moment? The signs are good. They rolled over the hosts South Africa in their two-match warm-up, and butchered two Gauteng representative sides, one by 368 runs and the other by ten wickets with a whopping 44 overs to spare. But England know there are significant tests ahead – starting with Australia in their first warm-up match.”Everyone is a threat,” England’s allrounder Clare Taylor told Cricinfo. And she should know – this is her fifth World Cup. “Anyone can win in a one-off game. It all depends what happens on the day.” “It’s going to be a tough schedule,” says Ireland’s manager and former player, Sandra Dawson. She isn’t wrong: each of the eight teams faces a gruelling seven matches in 13 days – and that’s just for starters.

Can England run out winners at the eighth World Cup?© Getty Images

The teams play each other on a round-robin basis, with the top four qualifying for the semi-finals. Ireland would love to reach the last four: but their goal is a more realistic top-six finish, which will guarantee them automatic qualification for the next tournament. They haven’t played a one-day international since New Zealand hammered them 3-0 last summer and they know that they are far from finalist material.The final itself will be held at SuperSport Park, Centurion, on April 10, but the preliminary matches provide some less attractive venues: some grounds are even situated on a roundabout. But after the merry-go-round that was West Indies’ preparations, the Caribbean side are just grateful to be taking part at all.Since pre-qualifying in Holland in 2003 they have faced an uphill struggle to secure the sponsorship. On paper, they are the weakest side: they have only one centurion in their number – Nadine George. But their financial difficulties could have a galvanic effect, although the semi-finals would be a more realistic ambition.The likely last four are Australia, New Zealand, England and India, with hosts South Africa the other team in the frame. Whether anyone will be there to see it is a different matter.