Kevin Pietersen has reiterated his commitment to attend the birth of his first child, even if means leaving the field mid game

Cricinfo staff30-Apr-2010Kevin Pietersen has backed Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy to carry England ‘a long way’ in the World Twenty20 but reiterated his commitment to attending the birth of his first child, even if meant leaving the field mid game.Aside from Bangladesh, England are the only Test-playing nation not to win a global tournament and have endured a dismal run in recent times. Yet they play their first game on Monday in Guyana in conditions likely to favour the slower bowlers and Pietersen feels England have the men to deliver.”I think we’ve got a good chance,” Pietersen said. “We’ve got some pretty good spin bowlers – Swanny’s obviously world-class, [Michael] Yardy’s performed brilliantly in the two warm-up games, and I think I may have a trundle in Guyana on those wickets.””If we field well, take all our catches and have some moments of brilliance, I don’t see any reason why we can’t go a long, long way. But anyone could win this tournament – it’s very unpredictable.”Should they make the final it is likely Pietersen will not be available because he will leave the Caribbean to be present at the birth of his first child, who is due on the weekend of May 15 and 16. He has made his position clear all along and has the support of the England management.”As soon as she goes into labour, I’ll be off,” he said. “No matter where it is in the tournament, I’ll be off – and it’s been cleared with the management to do that. If I’m in the middle of a match, I’ll obviously get off the field and then I’ll be on the next plane that flies into London Heathrow.”Should he leave the tournament, Pietersen would be following on from a precedent set in recent times. Andrew Strauss missed the third Test against Pakistan in 2005 and Matt Prior missed the fourth Test against West Indies last year. It’s a trend Pietersen is happy to see continue. “I think it’s pretty sad that if you have your first child people criticise you for wanting to be there, whatever walk of life.”

A day ahead of India’s departure to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, MS Dhoni has said the tournament presents a chance to start zeroing in on the combination for the 2011 World Cup

Siddarth Ravindran in Chennai12-Jun-2010A day ahead of India’s departure to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup, MS Dhoni has said the tournament presents a chance to start zeroing in on the combination for the 2011 World Cup. Dhoni and several other senior members of the Indian team have had a month away from the treadmill of top-flight cricket, and will join several youngsters such as offspinner R Ashwin and quick bowler Ashok Dinda for the competition in Dambulla.”This is the time, with 8-10 months to go for the World Cup, when you can make a few changes,” Dhoni said in Chennai. “Once we get closer we want to play with a fixed side and give them more exposure, get them more used to the conditions.”Over the past few years, most venues in the subcontinent have laid out batsmen-friendly tracks for one-dayers but Dambulla, which hosts all matches of the Asia Cup, remains one of the exceptions. “It is an important tournament. We’ll (seniors) be playing one-day cricket after quite a long time,” Dhoni said. “Conditions will be a bit different, Dambulla is not one of the high-scoring venues, it will be important to keep that in the back of the head.”One of the talking points about the Indian squad has been the axing of Yuvraj Singh, who has struggled for form and fitness in the past several months. Dhoni said he was a ‘fan’ of Yuvraj and expected him to make a quick return to the team.”Last couple of years, he has been the main strength of our middle order, definitely we will miss him,” Dhoni said. “The kind of talent he has it shouldn’t be difficult for him to come back.”The squad is also missing a quartet of young fast bowlers – Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Sreesanth and Munaf Patel – whose form has declined after heartening starts to their international careers. Dhoni felt that with more experience they would return to their best. “It is a difficult job, when it comes to fast bowling in the subcontinent,” Dhoni said. “The wickets are placid in ODIs, the more exposure they get, the better they will get.”The Asia Cup will be Dhoni’s first assignment since the disastrous World Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean last month. There had been reports of coach Gary Kirsten giving the team a dressing down after three defeats in the Super Eights led to an early exit, but Dhoni played down the issue.”Gary had individual sessions, it was not to bring anybody down or point anybody down,” Dhoni said. “It is the normal procedure we have most likely after every series, it was nothing more than that.”

Waqar Younis has said the damage caused to the team by the turbulence of the last few months was the worst Pakistan had suffered in the last few decades

Cricinfo staff09-Jun-2010Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, has said the damage caused to the team by the turbulence of the last few months was the worst Pakistan had suffered in the last few decades. Waqar, however, hoped the influx of young talent into the team for the Asia Cup would help the side move on and be ready for future competitions.”I think what has happened in the last three months, it has damaged the team more than it did in the last 25-30 years,” Waqar told reporters in Lahore. “Now is the time to look forward and see how we could perform well and win international matches.”The recent problems in the Pakistan team surfaced after their winless tour to Australia, following which the PCB conducted an inquiry and punished several players. Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan for a year, while Shahid Afridi, Kamaran and Umar Akmal were fined. No reasons for the penalties were forthcoming from the PCB at the time, but a leaked video later revealed the extent of discord within the team. However, all the players apart from Yousuf, who retired from international cricket, appealed against their punishments. The bans on Malik and Younis were overturned by an arbitrator; Afridi’s fine was removed while those of the Akmals were reduced.The selectors then included Malik, who had been slated for his attitude during the inquiry, in the squad for the Asia Cup, and recalled injury-prone fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. The 15-man list, though, also includes three uncapped batsmen in Shahzaib Hasan, Umar Amin and Asad Shafiq, and Waqar predicted a bright future for them.”They [experienced players] are great players,” Waqar said. “But I think it’s the right time to indulge new players, and I believe Umar and Asad are no doubt very talented and have a bright future. We have not won anything significant over the last two-three years, but with youngsters in the side we have a hope to get back on a winning track.”Waqar also said he wouldn’t be rushing Shoaib, who last played for Pakistan in May 2009, back into action. “He is fit, but I know it’s not easy to make a comeback because I have gone through this when I used to play international cricket,” Waqar said.Pakistan depart for Sri Lanka on Saturday and open their campaign against the hosts on June 15.

Cracking half-centuries by Steven Davies and Andrew Symonds helped Surrey maintain their hopes of qualifying for the Friends Provident t20 knock-out stages

22-Jun-2010
Scorecard
Andrew Symonds top-scored for Surrey with a 33-ball 63 to help set up an 11-run win•Getty Images

Cracking half-centuries by Steven Davies and Andrew Symonds helped Surrey maintain their hopes of qualifying for the Friends Provident t20 knock-out stages after edging out Hampshire Royals by 11 runs in a high-scoring clash at The Oval.Chasing the Lions’ excellent 200 for 8, Hampshire ran out of steam against the Surrey spinners with 1 for 28 for Gareth Batty and two wickets for Rory Hamilton-Brown that gave his side their fourth qualifying win.Batting first, the Lions got off to a flying start through openers Hamilton-Brown and Davies who posted the home 50 inside four overs of the powerplay. Hamilton-Brown contributed 10 to the run-fest until he clipped a length ball from Sean Ervine into the hands of Liam Dawson at deep square leg. Left-hander Davies showed no compassion for his ex-Worcestershire team-mate, Simon Jones, who, two years after his last Twenty20 appearance prior to knee problems, disappeared for 25 in his first over.Davies sprinted to an 18-ball 50 with nine fours and a brace of sixes and drove another sublime six over extra cover off Ervine, only to fall two balls later when he clipped to Jimmy Adams at deep square-leg to make it 74 for 2.Teenager Jason Roy, preferred to veteran Mark Ramprakash, hit an audacious six off left-arm spinner Danny Briggs into the top tier of the pavilion but the right-hander from Reigate soon top-edged a sweep to deep-square.Stewart Walters attempted to accelerate with a slog-sweep against Briggs’ arm ball only to be bowled and Jones bravely switched ends to concede only seven from his second over from the Vauxhall End.Symonds, in tandem with Younis Khan, added 71 in seven overs with Symonds posting the second 50 of the evening in 11 minutes with five fours and two sixes but Khan sliced a drive to long off to give Ervine figures of 3 for 28. Ervine’s direct hit from long-off to the striker’s end stumps ran out Symonds for a stunning 63 from 33 balls as he chanced a second run.Entrusted with the last over, Jones showed his character to run out Chris Schofield in his follow through then bowl Batty with a slower ball, but he was powerless to prevent Andre Nel’s last ball six that raised the Lions’ 200.Initially, the Royals run-chase ticked along at the asking rate of 10 an over as Michael Lumb (11) and Jimmy Adams added 33 before Lumb miscued to midwicket to bring teenager James Vince to the crease for only his second t20 appearance.The youngster showed his style with 43 from 17 balls before needlessly attempting a slog-sweep to lose his leg stump to Hamilton-Brown. Ervine (3) checked a drive into the hands of the Surrey skipper at cover then Adams, having hit 46 off 37 balls, attempted to cut Schofield only to be caught behind off a looping bat-pad chance.The 14th over proved a turning point as Batty conceded only five, forcing the asking rate beyond 12 an over for the first time and Nic Pothas (18) soon cracked under the pressure by holing out to deep cover.Dawson soon followed to another catch in the deep and though Neil McKenzie (52 not out) improvised cleverly Hampshire were unable to find the 29 they needed from Nel’s final over of the night.

Trent Johnson will captain the Ireland squad for the Intercontinental Cup and the RSA Series one-day internationals against The Netherlands in August

Cricinfo staff30-Jul-2010Trent Johnston will captain the Ireland squad for the Intercontinental Cup and the RSA Series one-day internationals against The Netherlands in August. He will be standing in for William Porterfield, who is unavailable due to county commitments with Gloustershire.Ireland will also be without opening bowler Boyd Rankin, who will be on duty for Warwickshire, and wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien, who underwent surgery on his damaged finger last week and is expected to be out of action for about two months.Gary Wilson, who top scored for Ireland in their last ODI against Bangladesh, will don the gloves in place of O’Brien.Ireland Squad: Trent Johnston (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, James Hall, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson (wk), Craig Young, Nigel Jones (ODI’s only)

The final day of the Test series lived up to its billing with India emerging victorious in a gripping contest to level the series and confound those who had doubted their depleted line-up

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya07-Aug-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
VVS Laxman anchored India’s chase on a tense final day•AFP

India emerged victorious to level the series on a gripping final day at the P Sara Oval. VVS Laxman battled the pressure as well as an injured back in a tense chase and, with support from Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina, countered the probing Suraj Randiv to reach his 16th century and seal a memorable win – India’s fourth-highest successful chase in Tests.India needed a recovery each time Laxman stepped out to bat this series, and he delivered once again: his most valuable innings coming in a situation that was the most challenging. The nerves of a tough chase were more evident in his partners, who offered chances and survived moments of edginess, as opposed to Laxman, whose solidity guided India home.Laxman seemed to have more time than the rest to play his shots, and he picked gaps in the spread-out fields with comfort during a constant search for singles and twos. The wrist worked its charm early in his innings with a couple of delightful drives off Ajantha Mendis on either side of the pitch, and he latched on anything short, pulling Lasith Malinga for two boundaries behind square. Randiv’s extra bounce was neutralised with a quick adaptation to varying lengths and the use of soft hands. Mendis’ googlies were read early, and Malinga’s slightly wayward line was dominated with flicks, glances and pulls, along with a safe negotiation of his intermittent yorkers.Laxman suffered back spasms shortly before he lost Tendulkar, and relied on Virender Sehwag as runner. As India approached the target, Laxman moved towards his century with sublime timing, easing the spinners through covers, and brought up the landmark with a tickle to fine leg.Randiv was the most threatening of Sri Lanka’s bowlers and assumed the role of lead spinner in just his second Test. He delivered the ball quick from a high angle and was potent on a track generating bounce. Randiv’s three wickets on the fourth day had put Sri Lanka ahead and they would have been on top had an initially patchy Tendulkar not been dropped at forward short leg. He attacked from round the wicket, targeted the rough and got the ball to spit from a middle-and-off line. India’s approach throughout the day had been positive and Tendulkar’s hunt for runs, though reflecting his determination to keep India on track, kept Randiv interested. Tendulkar closed the face often, used the paddle, made room to cut Randiv from the stumps and even stepped out of his crease. He inside-edged Randiv to one that spun in but Tillakaratne Dilshan failed to hold on to a straightforward chance, a moment Tendulkar shrugged off with a lovely off-drive next ball.The feature of the Tendulkar-Laxman partnership was the ease with which they took singles, 48 of them in a 109-run stand. The fielders at mid-on and mid-off were placed deep enough for the batsmen to steal a run, and Kumar Sangakkara also had a deep point, who was kept busy. The steady flow of fours tempered Sri Lanka’s plan of attack, and the vacant areas were exploited through a series of nudges, cuts and dabs. One such attempt, however, brought about Tendulkar’s downfall as he gloved a sweep to the wicketkeeper to give Randiv his maiden five-for. But a counter-attack by Raina in a stand that dealt mainly in boundaries crushed Sri Lanka’s hopes.Raina’s previous two Test innings had an assuredness unusual for a debutant but he batted more like one at the start of his knock today. Raina tried to attack from the outset, an approach that could have triggered another twist to a topsy-turvy Test. He edged a wide delivery from Malinga that scraped the hands of slip and charged down the track the next ball to swing and miss. Those lapses prompted more caution and he opted for aggression only when the field came in. Raina launched the spinners twice over mid-on, smashed Mendis down the ground and ended the game before the tea break by dispatching Chanaka Welegedara into the stands at midwicket.Laxman’s performances in both innings were crucial but the game was set up in two decisive phases by Sehwag. His blistering century set a tempo to the Indian first innings that enabled them to scale down a formidable Sri Lankan total in quick time. And his dismissals of the Sri Lankan openers, Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana, on the third day deprived the hosts of the strong start they needed to post an intimidating target. All this on a competitive pitch, which gave India’s bowlers enough assistance to grab 20 wickets despite the absence of their most experienced bowler and the unavailability of a first-choice seam attack.

A round-up of matches from the second day of the BCCI Corporate Trophy

Cricinfo staff02-Sep-2010Group A
A combined bowling effort from State Bank of Hyderabad inflicted a second consecutive defeat on All India Electricity Board in Visakhapatnam. Vinay Dandekar picked up three wickets and was supported by Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Rana Chowdhary who picked up two each. The problem for SBH was the failure of their batsmen to convert starts. T Suman made a fluent 32, P Srihari Rao chipped in with 37 while wicketkeeper M Srinivas contributed an unbeaten 33. They were not helped by the appalling lack of support from the other end, as the AIEB bowlers kept chipping away.AIEB would have backed themselves to chase down 172 but they didn’t have to go that far. Rain intervened when they were on 99 for 2 in 20.3 overs, well past what they required at that stage in the event of an interruption.Group B
In a thrilling contest in Chennai, Tata Sports Club survived a spirited chase by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and prevailed by one run to open their mark in the BCCI Corporate trophy.The chase of 265 was dealt a major setback when Abhishek Nayar’s fluent knock of 85 was terminated by Gaurav Jathar. At 138 for 4, it seemed TSC were in control but captain VA Indulkar and wicketkeeper Uday Kaul struck half-centuries to surge BPCL back in the game. Indulkar was more measured while Kaul stepped up with four fours and a couple of sixes. Just as it seemed BPCL would upstage their opponents, Wilkin Mota struck twice, ending the threatening stand and then dismissing Sairaj Bahutule. Mota bowled the final over and Bahutule fell first ball but BPCL were still favourites, requiring 4 off 5 balls with Kaul still batting. However, they managed just two more, failing to dispatch Mota, and slipped to an agonising defeat.The star with the bat for TSC was Dhruv Singh, who led his team’s recovery from 109 for 5 with an attacking 115. He was supported down the order by Mota, who chipped in with 30 – part of a decisive all-round effort – and Ajit Agarkar, who blasted 31 off 19 to stretch his team’s score to one they barely managed to defend.Group C
Air India eased to their second straight win in the tournament, beating Chemplast by six wickets in Hyderabad. Even a century from Napoleon Einstein and a score of 278 wasn’t enough in the wake of a solid reply from AI’s batsmen. Captain Mohammad Kaif took the lead in steering his team home, making an unbeaten 82 in 88 balls including four fours and two sixes. And there was ample support from the rest. Hrishikesh Kanitkar scored a run-a-ball 53 in a 118-run stand with Kaif, while Sushant Marathe and Chandan Madan put the chase on track with a 70-run stand. Victory was secured without much fuss with 14 balls to spare.Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited edged State Bank of Mysore by five runs in a fascinating encounter in Hyderabad. Both teams were bowled out, there were no half-centuries in the match and yet there were 575 runs scored in all.BSNL opted to bat and seemed to be on track for a more challenging score with a series of consistent contributions from the batsmen in the top and middle orders. Monish Mishra made 39, NS Negi made 41 and Niranjan Behera chipped in with 36 but what was missing was a more substantial innings. Chethan William grabbed three wickets while every other bowler chipped in with at least a wicket to keep BSNL in check and restrict them to a score of 240.SBM were in a good position to secure a win at 152 for 3 but offspinner Kamlesh Makvana broke a 76-run stand between William and B Akhil. He dismissed both batsmen and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Diwan stepped in to trigger a collapse where the last five wickets fell for 31 runs to deprive SBM of a win.Group D
State Bank of Patiala and Income Tax (India) served up the third closely-fought game of the day, with the former prevailing by 17 runs in Bangalore. SBP batted first and squandered an excellent start provided by their openers, R Rehni and Ravi Inder Singh, who added 101. Inder Singh made 75 but there were no major contributions from the rest. Spinners Ankit Sharma and Parag Khanapurkar grabbed seven wickets between them to help skittle out SBP for 218. SBP held the edge in the chase, limiting IT for 104 for 6 at one stage. But wicketkeeper Amol Ubarhande and Rohit Dahiya tried to revive the innings with a 57-run stand for the seventh wicket, but SBP fought back. Mukesh Sharma chipped away at the rest of the line-up, finishing with 5 for 26, and ending IT’s innings with more than three overs to spare.Oil and Natural Gas Corporation raced to victory against Madras Rubber Factory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Despite good starts, the MRF top-order batsmen fell in pairs. The openers Thalavan Sargunam and S Anirudha fell with the score on 87, Sridharan Sriram and Y Gnaneswara Rao then fell in a space of three runs. Venugopal Rao remained unbeaten on 83 but MRF had been in a position to post more than 242 for 6. The score proved inadequate. Praveen Kumar, who opens the bowling for India, shone in his role as a batsman at the top of the order, giving the ONGC innings a boost with a quickfire 54. His opening partner Sandeep Sharma made 75 while Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir remained unbeaten to steer their team to victory with 73 balls to spare.

The ECB has threatened to take legal action against Pakistan board chairman, Ijaz Butt, unless he makes a public apology for alleging that England’s players accepted a bribe to lose the third ODI at The Oval

Cricinfo staff22-Sep-2010The ECB has threatened to take legal action against Pakistan board chairman, Ijaz Butt, unless he makes a public apology for alleging that England’s players accepted a bribe to lose the third ODI at The Oval.”We are looking for an apology. If it does not come we’ll look at other options,” ECB chief executive David Collier told the . “You can’t impugn someone’s integrity without having proper evidence.”To date I can say that we have received zero evidence of anything having influenced any England player. Clearly we will seek advice but there are quite strong laws of defamation.”In an extraordinary statement, which he read out to ESPNcricinfo, Butt had said, “There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match [the third ODI]. No wonder there was such a collapse.” He had also accused certain “august cricket bodies” of conspiring to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket.Butt’s allegations were of such gravity that the ECB waited almost 24 hours before formulating an official response, and their statement was issued after a meeting between the board and the team. Present at the discussions were Collier, ECB chairman Giles Clarke, the managing director of England Cricket, Hugh Morris, and the England captain and coach, Andrew Strauss and Andrew Flower, who went on to have a subsequent meeting with all of the England team.The ECB and the team issued a strong statement rejecting Butt’s allegations and Collier said that they had decided to proceed playing the final two ODIs “in the best interests of world cricket, England cricket, the ICC and the world game.”Pakistan went on to win the fourth ODI at Lord’s and level the series 2-2 ahead of Wednesday’s decider at the Rose Bowl.

South Africa have been forced to experiment this series, with Jacques Kallis’s calm head missing from the top of the order, and captain Graeme Smith unable to rely on the menace of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel with the ball due to a slew of injuries

Liam Brickhill at Bloemfontein15-Oct-2010South Africa have been forced to experiment this series, with Jacques Kallis’s calm head missing from the top of the order, and captain Graeme Smith unable to rely on the menace of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel with the ball due to a slew of injuries.But an authoritative 64-run win in the first one-day international against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein has eased worries about South Africa’s second string, and Smith urged the newer members of the squad to make the most of their opportunities and “make those positions their own”.”You’ve got two guys [Morkel and Steyn]”, explained Smith. “One has bounce and he can hit 145 km/h, the other has swing and can hit 140 to 150km/h. They are wonderful assets to have. At the moment we don’t have that, but it’s an opportunity for guys to still get their skills right.””Some of these guys are going to be performing in the next games, and when those guys are back and fit these guys will be looking to stake claims, so it’s important that they show their worth.”While Smith made sure to mention David Miller’s expressive half-century – which came from just 30 balls and included five fours and two enormous sixes – he held special praise for the stellar knock from Colin Ingram. He became the first South African – and the sixth batsman overall – to strike a century on ODI debut and his aggressive 124 boosted South Africa’s total well out of reach.”I think he [Ingram] was pretty nervous walking in today, but he remained calm and stuck to his game plan. He’s done a lot of work at domestic level, and he was able to bring that here. He trusted himself out there today and that’s an important mindset to have. If you put the work in, it’s about going in there and allowing yourself to trust yourself, and I think that was quite evident today.”Smith confirmed that South Africa will be without Morkel’s services at least until the final game of the series in Benoni on Friday and suggested there were times at which South Africa’s replacement bowlers let Zimbabwe’s batsmen dictate terms. Nevertheless he insisted that the bowlers had, on the whole, progressed from their unconvincing performances in the Twenty20s.”It’s always difficult to rate a performance like that,” said Smith. “We put 350 on the board, but it was a very quick outfield and a beautiful batting wicket. I think in patches with the ball we were very good. There were times we drifted a little bit. Maybe the first ten overs was an area we were a little bit loose.”We let them get away a bit but from then until about the 35th or 36th over I thought we were very good. From there, once you realise a team is not being competitive anymore it makes it a little bit tough in the cold like that. There are always things to improve on, but compared to Sunday’s bowling performance, it was a lot better.”

Chris Gayle wants to top his highest score of 317 in Tests

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Galle15-Nov-2010Chris Gayle, playing his first Test after being replaced as captain, harboured hopes of a maiden Test win for West Indies on Sri Lankan soil after scoring his third Test double-century on the opening day of the first Test at Galle on Monday.”It would be nice to get a Test win in Sri Lanka but it won’t be easy. You’ve got to get ten wicket- taking deliveries and move on to get another ten. We still have four more days to go we’ll have to continue and build on this,” said Gayle who scored 219 not out of West Indies’ total of 362 for 2.Sri Lanka beat the West Indies 3-0 in 2001, despite West Indies scoring over 400 runs twice in the series, something Gayle had clearly not forgotten. “Brian [Lara] scored over 600 runs in the series but we lost all three Test matches. At the same time we got about 400 runs here [Galle] in the first Test the last time I was here, but we still lost the Test match.”We still have that in mind so we are not taking anything for granted. It was a good day for us so we just have a try and get about 500 runs and get a good start.”Gayle also expressed his desire to set a new career best. “I’d love to get to that 317 that would be a milestone. The wicket’s still good to bat on and the spinners are getting a bit more bounce and turn. We’ll see tomorrow, if we can get past the first hour anything is possible.”The century was Gayle’s first in the subcontinent and he was thrilled to have finally managed the feat. “I was aware of that I had not scored a hundred against all three teams. I was keen to score a Test century against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India. Coming here I was definitely looking forward to that first break. When I got it I was very pleased and to be batting right to the end.”The last time I toured here I didn’t get any runs. I didn’t get a half century in the Test and I struggled. When I got an opportunity like this it was very happy and thrilling for me to actually get past the milestone.”Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss heaped praise on Gayle but was critical of the way Sri Lanka bowled in the first session. “He’s obviously a class player and a strong hitter and a devastating batsman when he gets going. Today was his day. We beat the bat a few times especially earlier with a couple of top-edges, and on another day if something goes to the hand you are away.”My point of view is I was disappointed with the way we went about things in the first session, which put us behind the eight ball. We gave a guy like that a bit of a start where he would go from strength to strength.”I thought the six or seven overs we bowled quite well to the lines and lengths that we wanted to. We got away from that after that first six or seven overs. It was a wicket that if you were slightly short or off line or full, with a fast outfield it was four runs.”Bayliss said that with Angelo Mathews unable to bowl because of a leg strain, Sri Lanka struggled with four bowlers on a placid pitch. “When we first played here we had four bowlers as well. If we go with five bowlers and five batters, and if we didn’t have enough runs on the board, everyone will start saying why you went with five batters only. It’s something that without Angi [Mathews] being able to bowl puts us at a disadvantage.”