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A century from Sarah Taylor helped South Australia to victory in the final of the Women’s National Cricket League and ended New South Wales’ 10-year hold on the trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2015
ScorecardA century from Sarah Taylor helped South Australia to victory in the final of the Women’s National Cricket League and ended New South Wales’ 10-year hold on the trophy. Taylor made a rapid 110 from 106 balls while Bridget Patterson anchored the innings with 76 as South Australia took the game away from the defending champions.Sarah Taylor celebrates her century•Getty Images

In reply, none of the vaunted NSW top order could muster a substantial contribution. They were 112 for 6 before Naomi Stalenberg swung the bat for 58 from 38 balls but the Breakers were eventually dismissed for 210 with four overs left unbowled.Taylor, the England wicketkeeper, has made headlines for appearing in men’s club cricket while in Australia and she sparkled at Hurstville Oval, winning the Player of the Match award. She was at the crease in the fourth over and struck 14 fours during a stand of 181 with Patterson; wickets fell regularly after Taylor’s dismissal and although the platform had been laid for a more substantial score, 7 for 264 proved to be plenty.The Australia trio of Alyssa Heally, Alex Blackwell and Ellyse Perry managed 63 runs between them as NSW stalled early in their chase. The highest partnership of the innings was 51 between Stalenberg and Nicola Carey for the seventh wicket.Former NSW bowler Sarah Coyte finished with 1 for 24 from 10 overs and all six of the Scorpions bowlers picked up wickets, to give South Australia, who had finished second to NSW during the group stage, their first success in the 50-over competition. NSW had won 17 out of 19 titles since the WNCL was established in 1996.

Sri Lanka Cricket has agreed to release seven high-profile cricketers to play in the Bangladesh Premier League, in an about-turn from their previous stance

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Nov-2015Sri Lanka Cricket has agreed to release seven high-profile cricketers to play in the Bangladesh Premier League, an about-turn from their stance last week.A desire to maintain a good relationship with the BCB, and the one-week postponement of Sri Lanka’s domestic one-day tournament have led to the change of heart. SLC’s desire to see foreign cricketers – including those from Bangladesh – participate in its own city-based T20 league, may have also influenced the decision.

List of players to be given no-objection certificates

• Jeevan Mendis

• Ajantha Mendis
• Tillakaratne Dilshan
• Chamara Kapugedara
• Thisara Perera
• Sachithra Senanayake
• Seekkuge Prasanna

Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sachithra Senanayake and Ajantha Mendis are among those who will now be allowed to play in the BPL.SLC had been opposed to issuing no-objection certificates to its centrally contracted players largely because their absence would have diluted the quality of the forthcoming Premier Limited Over Tournament. That tournament was originally scheduled to begin on November 20, but it now appears likely to be put off until around November 27, thanks to prevailing bad weather in Colombo.As the BPL runs from November 22 to December 15, the cricketers leaving to Bangladesh will miss several rounds of the Premier Limited Over Tournament in any case. However, SLC officials said the home clubs had agreed to release these seven centrally-contracted players, and some players themselves had made appeals to be allowed to play in the BPL. The players had argued that BPL experience would stand them in good stead come the Asia Cup in February next year, which will also be played in Bangladesh. All seven players released are likely to be in contention for Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup squad, and indeed the World T20 to follow.SLC has also said it would like to have overseas cricketers participating in the inaugural Elite Championship T20, which is set to begin towards the end of January. That tournament would appear more attractive to sponsors and broadcasters if two foreigners featured in each of the five teams. Given the current international schedule and the money that is likely to be on offer, SLC believes cricketers from Pakistan and Bangladesh are most likely to be drawn by the Elite Championship T20.In addition to the seven centrally-contracted players, two other Sri Lankans had already been confirmed to participate in the BPL – Kumar Sangakkara, who had been awarded a central contract but is now retired from international cricket, and Dilshan Munaweera, who does not have a central contract.

Sourav Ganguly has come under the ‘conflict of interest’ scanner after Sanjeev Goenka, with whom he co-owns football franchise Atletico de Kolkata, was awarded the bid to own the Pune franchise

Sidharth Monga08-Dec-20155:07

Ganguly faces the conflict question

Sourav Ganguly’s association with one of the new IPL franchise owners has been questioned as a possible case of conflict of interest. Ganguly is a member of the IPL governing council and is also a co-owner of the football franchise Atletico de Kolkata; a fellow co-owner is Sanjiv Goenka, who heads the New Rising consortium that today won the Pune IPL franchise.The matter was raised at the press conference that followed the auction procedure and BCCI officials present denied it was a case of conflict but said it would be for the newly appointed ombudsman to decide. Ganguly, when contacted by ESPNcricinfo, laughed off the suggestion of conflict, saying football and cricket are two different sports.

The Kumble Question

The recent resignation of Anil Kumble, another former India captain, from the Mumbai Indians support staff had raised similar doubts over conflict of interest. Manohar was asked on Tuesday whether he thought Kumble’s case was similar to Ganguly’s, as he was not directly related to the Mumbai Indians franchise, and he replied: “No, he was on the technical committee, and the technical committee makes all rules and regulations with regards to playing of the game.”

Shashank Manohar, BCCI president and a lawyer himself, offered a more nuanced defence. “According to me there is not [a conflict of interest] because this is a transparent bidding concept,” Manohar said. “Basically I get questions everyday [about conflict of interest]. People have not understood the meaning of the word conflict. Conflict means where there could be an obvious bias with regards to the decision-making process. When a person can influence the decision-making, then only there is conflict. You can’t extend it to absurdity levels. I am a lawyer, if there is a client of mine, unless it can be shown I have influence, there is no conflict if he bids for a team.”Manohar, though, said his assessment of the Ganguly situation was his own personal view. “Everybody has a right to disagree with me. I am not going to be the judge. The board has appointed an independent agency.”Manohar’s point was that nobody knew the bid amounts while walking into the meeting. They didn’t even know who all were going to bid. The bidders made walk-in offers, which ruled out any knowledge to anyone as to who was going to bid how much. “It was a closed bid submitted at the bidding time,” Manohar said. “Sourav Ganguly has nothing to do with that. Even if somebody has an objection now, we have appointed an ombudsman to look into these cases.”New Rising made two bids in this reverse-bidding process, both in minus. Both were lower than any other bid, but they could get only one franchise according to IPL rules. Every other bidder made at least one positive bid.Manohar did not, however, address the issue of a situation that could arise going forward, where the IPL’s governing council – of which Ganguly is a member as a “cricketer” – might have to decide on matters directly related to the Pune franchise. Though his role is seen as largely ceremonial, it could be argued that he would have influence over decisions taken.It could also be argued that Ganguly is partner with Goenka in a separate entity, and might not have anything to gain financially from New Rising as a co-owner of Atletico. Such a defence has not been put forward by any of the parties involved, although Ganguly’s cryptic reply to ESPNcricinfo might have hinted at that.

Stephen Cook has moved a step closer to making his Test debut against England at Centurion after Rilee Rossouw was released from South Africa’s squad

Firdose Moonda20-Jan-2016Stephen Cook has moved a step closer to making his Test debut against England in Centurion after Rilee Rossouw was released from South Africa’s squad to play for his franchise, Knights, in the fifth round of the Sunfoil series which starts on Thursday.Stiaan van Zyl, the incumbent opener alongside Dean Elgar, was let go from the squad yesterday after his struggles during the first three Tests where he had a top score of 33 in five innings. The one remaining stumbling block for Cook, a specialist opener who topped the first-class runs charts last season and has scored two centuries and a fifty from three games this summer, would be if South Africa deploy wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock in the opening berth in order to make room for JP Duminy in the middle order.De Kock missed the Wanderers Test with a knee injury picked up walking his dogs but passed a fitness Test on Wednesday afternoon to be available for selection*. South Africa were pondering moving de Kock into the top two in Johannesburg before the injury he suffered on the eve of the game.The desire to include Duminy in the middle-order is two-fold. Not only does he offer a part-time offspin but he is coming off the back of a career-best unbeaten 260 for Cape Cobras, scored the match after he was dropped from the Test XI in Cape Town. Room for Duminy can still be found without moving de Kock up the order if South Africa sacrifice Faf du Plessis, who has been among their misfiring men.Whichever route South Africa take, Elgar will have a new opening partner and is well aware of the qualities Cook would bring.”Cookie has been knocking on the door for a long time. With a lot of domestic performances he’s put in, you cant not notice what he has done in the last two or three seasons. He’s done very well for the Lions. He has put up his hand and put a lot of pressure on the openers,” Elgar said. “We’ve opened for the A side. It’s an exciting time for Stephen and I know he is looking forward to it. A lot has been written in the media about he never gave up hope of playing for South Africa.”Elgar remained supportive of the axed van Zyl, a regular No. 3 and still believes he has an international future. “It’s unfortunate that Stiaan is the guy thats been left out. I feel for him because he was asked to do a job that was foreign for him,” Elgar said. “I feel it was a position Stiaan was very capable of doing. I. I feel for him because I know what it’s like being in bad form. I don’t really have much to say on him opening him opening the batting, but I do sympathise with him.”Hardus Viljoen, the fast bowler who made his debut at the Wanderers and struck with his first ball in Test cricket when he had Alastair Cook caught down the leg side, has also been released from the squad. It now appears likely that the decision over the bowling combination is two from Chris Morris, Kyle Abbott and offspinner Dane Piedt. The inclusion of Piedt would aid in maintaining the four players of colour if Duminy was not recalled.*January 20, 3.10pmGMT: This story was updated with news of Quinton de Kock’s fitness test

Bangladesh Under-19 captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz has praised his “unbelievable” team-mate Zakir Hasan for providing him with a calming influence, after the pair’s 117-run stand guided the hosts to the semi-final

Mohammad Isam05-Feb-2016When Bangladesh Under-19’s captain Mehedi Hasan and wicketkeeper-batsman Zakir Hasan came together in the 29th over against Nepal Under-19, it was amidst much tension in Mirpur. The home side were 98 for 4 chasing 212 with a place in the semi-final on the line. Thankfully for Bangladesh, the pair did not panic and took the game away with their 117-run unbroken stand.The partnership was not completely smooth-sailing; only after the pair had batted together for 13 balls did Mehedi smash one through the in-field and get his first boundary. Singles were not missed at any opportunity, but the run-rate kept rising, and by the time the next four came, at the start of the 35th over, Bangladesh needed 86 off 15.5 overs. For the next 7.2 overs, Mehedi and Zakir only picked singles and twos. Finally, in the middle of the 43rd over, Zakir’s swept four off Dipendra Airee gave Bangladesh a release.From the 42nd to 45th over, the pair took six, eight, 12 and 10 runs, which reduced the target from 63 needed off 54, to 27 needed off the last 30 balls. In one instance, they ran three and then took twos off the next two balls before taking a relaxed single. This was in the same over in which Mehedi lofted Sandeep Lamichhane over extra-cover for a boundary. Some of the pair’s running between the wickets looked risky but their overall maturity proved much of it was calculated.Mehedi said that it was Zakir who came up with the calming influence by giving him a plan and then chiding him when the Nepal captain Raju Rijal missed his stumping in the 38th over.”He [Zakir] was unbelievable today,” Mehedi said. “He got back to runs after a long time with this fine innings. It was great timing for the team, as we really needed him today. There was some pressure when we started our partnership. Zakir told me that we will just play on singles, rotate the strike. We won’t go for fours or sixes. His words worked quite well for us.”When the stumping incident happened, I had lost a bit of focus at that moment. The mid-off was up so I tried to hit it over him. When I had settled down after the miss, Zakir told me it is no time to relax. ‘We have to bat long,’ he said. I was fine from that point.”The fifth-wicket partnership was also the coming together of two young men who made it to professional cricket through contrasting circumstances, about 480km apart. When he was growing up in Khulna and falling in love with the game, Mehedi’s father opposed the idea of his son taking up cricket seriously. But Mehedi would sneak out to play matches, and often get caught. However, after winning an award for Best Batsman in an Under-14 tournament, it became easier for Mehedi to convince his father that cricket was where his passion really lied.It was different for Zakir while growing up in Sylhet. Although there was some pressure on him to take studies more seriously, his elder brother brought news that BKSP were holding a trial nearby. Zakir was selected for the sport institute’s branch in Dinajpur, about 568km from his hometown.Mehedi and Zakir came together for the Under-19 national camp during the 2014 World Cup, and are one of five players to play a second World Cup. But despite spending the last three years together in training camps, hotels and cricket grounds, their understanding frayed at times during their fifth-wicket partnership. Nerves were evident from the beginning as the non-striker, whether it was Mehedi or Zakir, continued to get too far out of his crease even when a single was not on offer.There were plenty of close calls as Nepal missed the stumps on at least five occasions with the batsman short of his crease. Mehedi offered an explanation, suggesting that his team was not accustomed to the dimensions of the Shere Bangla National Stadium”The ground is slightly different, sometimes we didn’t understand where the ball was. Say, when we defended the ball we couldn’t at times tell if it went into the gap or not. The ground is quite large too. But we have good understanding, and there can be one or two mistakes. I don’t think it is a major problem,” he said.Mehedi and Zakir were possibly confused by the pronounced slope in Mirpur, which sometimes makes the ball hard to spot when it goes 15-20 yards from the pitch on either side. No matter, they have to get used to this ground quickly for the semi-final against either Pakistan or West Indies, on February 11.

Ireland were knocked out of the World T20, after persistent rain resulted in another washout against Bangladesh in Dharamsala

The Report by Mohammad Isam11-Mar-2016Match abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTamim Iqbal blitzed a quickfire 47, but rain had the final say•Associated Press

Ireland were knocked out of the World T20, after persistent rain resulted in another washout against Bangladesh in Dharamsala. Play was called off at 10:20pm local time, after rain had stopped the game after eight overs in the Bangladesh innings.This result means the Bangladesh-Oman encounter on Saturday will decide who goes through from Group A, with both teams on three points each while Netherlands and Ireland are on one point each.The match was always at the mercy of the weather after rain forced the Oman-Netherlands game earlier in the afternoon to be abandoned. Rain had stopped at around 7:30pm and allowed the match to start at 9:45pm, but it relented for just over an hour.Bangladesh’s innings started like it did against Netherlands, with a dropped catch of Soumya Sarkar in the first over. This time it was Andy McBrine who spilled the chance at deep midwicket. McBrine also conceded four overthrows in the next over before Tamim Iqbal took to the Ireland bowlers with muscular hits.In the same over, he walked across to the off side to swing Boyd Rankin for a whipped six over fine leg before bunting him down the ground for four to get 16 runs from the over. Bangladesh were quickly up and running.Tim Murtagh was also hit for a six over mid-off, and four through the covers in the next over. Sarkar then struck three fours off Kevin O’Brien, an over that went for 19, the second of which was dropped by Rankin at mid-off. The third boundary was a scoop which completed Bangladesh’s first fifty-plus opening stand in two years.Tamim welcomed McBrine into the bowling attack with a straight blast for six before the offspinner had Sarkar stumped for 20 off 13 balls. Bangladesh were 63 for 1 in five overs before George Dockrell, who replaced Craig Young, was reverse swept for four off his first ball. Tamim survived a stumping chance off the next delivery before Sabbir Rahman slammed McBrine for a straight six in the next over.Tamim struck his fourth six in the eight over and three balls later was caught by the Ireland captain William Porterfield at short midwicket, having made 47 off 26 balls with three fours and four sixes.Rain, accompanied by lightning, interrupted play again as Tamim trudged off, depriving Ireland of a shot to redeem themselves.

Veteran James Hopes and rookie Jack Wildermuth combined to bowl Queensland to victory inside three days in a low-scoring Sheffield Shield match against Victoria

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Mar-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Jack Wildermuth finished with seven wickets for the match•Getty Images

Veteran James Hopes and rookie Jack Wildermuth combined to bowl Queensland to victory inside three days in a low-scoring Sheffield Shield match against Victoria. Set 228 for victory, the Bushrangers were skittled for 127 as Hopes collected four wickets and Wildermuth picked up three, with Rob Quiney’s 53 the only innings of note for Victoria.Batting was tough throughout the match at the Gabba, with Queensland’s first innings of 190 the highest total of the game. They resumed their second innings on 9 for 174 on the third morning and added only 10 runs for the loss of their last wicket, but they already had enough of a lead given the scoring trend of the match.Mark Steketee and Peter George picked up early wickets to leave Victoria at 2 for 15, but it was Hopes and Wildermuth who did most of the rest of the damage. Hopes picked up 4 for 43 and Wildermuth finished with 3 for 26, continuing his emergence after he made his first-class debut late last season.Wildermuth has a rookie contract with the Bulls and previously worked as a barista at the Allan Border Field. “It was only a couple of years ago he was making us coffees,” Hopes told reporters after play, “so he has come a long way in a short time.”

The IPL governing council will meet in Delhi on Friday evening to sort out the venues for the home matches of Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, in addition to finalising the itinerary

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Apr-2016The IPL governing council will meet in Delhi on Friday evening to sort out prevailing confusion over venues for the home matches of Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab and also finalise the IPL’s itinerary. The meeting assumes significance in the wake of the Rajasthan High Court entertaining a public interest litigation as to why Jaipur, which Mumbai had picked as an alternate home venue, should not host IPL matches because of the drought situation in the state. With uncertainty over Jaipur hosting matches, the GC will consider Dharamsala, Kanpur and Mohali among other options.Mumbai and Kings XI, along with Rising Pune Supergiants, were affected once the Bombay High Court ruled that the IPL had to move out of Maharashtra, with parts of the state facing severe drought. Kings XI had originally chosen Nagpur as their second home venue for three matches on May 7, 9 and 15. The court allowed only the May 1 derby between Supergiants and Mumbai in Pune to go on as per the original schedule.Consequently Mumbai picked Jaipur as the venue to host their three home matches (May 8, 13 and 15), and Supergiants opted for Visakhapatnam for their matches originally scheduled for Pune (May 10, 17, 21).On Wednesday, the Rajasthan High Court asked the state government to file a comprehensive response as to how it plans to supply water not just for the IPL matches, but beyond that in the summer months. In an earlier hearing on April 21 the court had questioned the BCCI and the state government as to why the IPL needed to move to Jaipur when large parts of Rajasthan were affected by drought.With the court scheduling the next hearing for May 3, both the BCCI and Mumbai Indians are edgy since waiting for its decision might be cutting it too fine. Both the franchise and IPL officials are tight-lipped about back-up venues. Dharamsala, Mohali and Kanpur have been reported in the media, but nothing is confirmed.Curiously Kings XI had picked Dharamsala as the alternative for their matches originally scheduled for Nagpur and had even sent out a media release to announce it. However, the IPL has not confirmed this. Although no official from either the franchise or the BCCI has made any public comment it is understood that the board’s top brass were peeved by the franchise approaching the Himachal Pradesh government for a clearance.It is learned that Anurag Thakur, the BCCI secretary, who had been critical of the Himachal government for denying adequate security for the World T20 match between India and Pakistan, which was eventually moved from Dharamsala to Kolkata, has not given his nod to Kings XI yet. One of the franchise officials even hinted that Thakur might allow Mumbai to play in Dharamsala while asking Kings XI to play in Mohali.However, even Mohali is in doubt since the Punjab Cricket Association is not too keen on hosting extra matches, according to a BCCI official. According to him, it was decided that Mohali’s last IPL match would be on April 25, after which the venue would host an Under-19 zonal camp for six weeks. That camp is already underway, having begun on April 24. In addition, a three-day Under-16 match began this morning in Mohali.

Gujarat Lions captain Suresh Raina is in the Netherlands, awaiting the birth of his first child, and is unlikely to take part in the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu13-May-2016

Match facts

Saturday, May 14, 2016
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)4:28

O’Brien: RCB should pick Richardson or Head over Gayle

Big picture

Where is Suresh Raina? And what do Royal Challengers Bangalore have to do to make the playoffs? As far as burning questions go, those two must be causing wildfires. The Gujarat Lions captain had left for the Netherlands last week for the birth of his first child and has not returned to India yet. A five-day gap between matches had given Raina hope that he would be back in time, but it hasn’t worked out that way, and he is set to miss his first IPL fixture in nine years.Meanwhile, Virat Kohli boomed that he “loved” the situation Royal Challengers were in, having to win each of their four remaining matches to progress past the league stage. Technically, it appears Royal Challengers can weather one more defeat. Unfortunately, their dance card includes three title contenders – Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils – all of whom had thumped them earlier this season. So a bloody-minded, do-or-die approach is probably the best way forward.Plus they have a score to settle. On April 24, Lions had chased a target of 181 with ease and one of the protagonists, Dwayne Smith, had said the Royal Challengers attack was “not that strong”. Things like that tend to rile up an opposition, especially one fighting for survival.Lions have a compelling reason to win in Bangalore as well, for if they do, they will go top of the table and that might just be the kind of present the team would want to give their captain Raina when he joins them in Kanpur for their match against Knight Riders on May 19.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore LWWLL (Last five matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Lions WLLLW

Watch out for

It’s been an up-and-down season for Yuzvendra Chahal. A wristspinner relies on putting as may revs on the ball as he can to defeat the batsman in flight, but perhaps large bats and small outfields – daily life at the M Chinnaswamy stadium – have thrown him off track. He took 1 for 16 in four overs to fan hopes of Royal Challengers defending 151 a couple of days ago, and his team will want to give him a lot more runs on the board next time.It is said that Ravindra Jadeja is a bowler first, fielder next and a batsman if needed. And he may certainly be needed if Lions make the knockouts and run into top-order trouble. It would be prudent to give him a little more time in the middle now, especially at a batting-friendly venue like Bangalore.

Team news

After figures of 1 for 43, 0 for 52 and 0 for 37, there is a strong case for Royal Challengers to replace Chris Jordan with the left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi. Chris Gayle may also be under pressure considering he is yet to make a double-digit score this season.Royal Challengers Bangalore (probable): 1 Virat Kohli (capt) 2 Chris Gayle, 3 KL Rahul (wk), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Shane Watson, 6 Sachin Baby, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 S Aravind, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.Besides the culmination of Raina’s 143-match streak, Lions have to think about who to replace him with. There are enough options to take on the captaincy, with coach Brad Hodge indicating Brendon McCullum is likely to do so. Back-up batsmen Akshdeep Nath or Ishan Kishan may slot back in the XI.Gujarat Lions (probable): 1 Brendon McCullum (capt), 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Akshdeep Nath/ Ishan Kishan, 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Aaron Finch, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Dhawal Kulkarni, 10 Shivil Kaushik, 11 Pravin Tambe.

Pitch and conditions

A strangely slow pitch had featured in the last game in Bangalore and both seamers and spinners found grip. Perhaps it was simply the natural wear and tear that is expected late in the season. More worryingly, the forecast is for light to heavy showers through the afternoon and evening.

Stats and trivia

• McCullum, Smith, Finch and Karthik make up four of the Lions top five and they have maintained strike rates above 130 this season. Their finishers Bravo and Jadeja, however, are striking at just over a run a ball
• Gayle has hit only one six from four matches. Kohli and AB de Villiers have 17 each, and KL Rahul has 15.

Quotes

“It’s a huge loss. Anyone that’s scored close to 4000 runs in this tournament is a loss to our line-up. Having said that though, we’ve got some players who can step into his role. We’ve got a lot of experience in Smith, McCullum, Finch, Dinesh Karthik, Jaddu, Bravo, all match-winners who can step up and win us a game.”

Angelo Mathews admitted he thought Sri Lanka “had the game in the bag” after a dramatic tie in the first ODI of the Royal London series

George Dobell at Trent Bridge21-Jun-2016Angelo Mathews admitted he thought Sri Lanka “had the game in the bag” after a dramatic tie in the first ODI of the Royal London series. England went into the final over eight wickets down and needing 14 to win but levelled the scores off the final ball thanks to Liam Plunkett’s six.England had earlier recovered from 82 for 6 through Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes but Mathews, the Sri Lanka captain, did not blame his bowlers for the result and instead reflected that his side had been poor in the field and had finished 15 or 20 runs short of a par total.”I thought we had the game in the bag for most of the overs,” Mathews said. “Unfortunately, Nuwan Pradeep’s final ball yorker fell just off line and went for a six. For Pradeep, it happens. Unfortunately for bowlers, it happens. All the bowlers did well.”We fell short by 15 or 20 runs. It was a brilliant wicket to bat on but we had to be satisfied with 286. We just kept losing wickets at crucial times.”We’ve got lots of positives. We batted and bowled pretty well. But we were poor in the field. We can improve in all three departments, but especially in the fielding.”Eoin Morgan, England’s captain, admitted that his side were lucky to escape with a tie, calling it one of their worst batting performances of the last 12 months, but said that the belief in the squad was high.”You can always win the game from any situation and today proved that a little bit,” Morgan said. “We were dead and buried a couple of times in the World T20. There is a lot of belief in the changing room, particularly with the bat.”We are very lucky to get out of this game with a tie and go to Edgbaston at 0-0 all square. The general performance was poor. Bat, ball, field, was really rusty. That was as bad as we have performed with the bat over the past year.”Morgan also praised the contribution of Man of the Match, Woakes. “A lot of Woakes’ story is that he is competing with Ben Stokes and the two of them are incredible cricketers. We are lucky to have both of them.”Plunkett, who had hit six sixes in his previous five ODI innings, said that he knew he had done the job as soon as the ball came off the bat.”You know when you have nailed the ball,” he said. “It’s that feeling pretty much when you’re on a golf course and you nail it off the tee; it’s a similar feeling. As soon as I hit it I thought ‘it’s six bits, thanks for coming’.”I’ve practised striking the ball into the stands a lot. I bat at the death for Yorkshire as well, I feel I’m decent at doing that. I did back myself, if he missed, to hit it. I was trying to stay still. If he yorks and missed it try to go straight, if he tries to bowl a slow ball hopefully I can hit it out of the ground.”