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Scorecard
Shamsur Rahman’s 125 ensured that Bangladesh Academy finished the first day of their match against the Sri Lanka Academy XI in a strong position in Dambulla. He shared a 179-run stand for the fourth wicket with Marshall Ayub, who scored a patient half-century, to lead Bangladesh Academy to 340 for 5 at stumps.Bangladesh’s openers, Imrul Kayes and Mahbubul Alam, handled the Sri Lankan fast bowlers with ease and scored 46 runs by the first drinks interval even though they were sent in on a pitch with a hint of grass. However, Alam fell for 24 when his attempt to hit offspinner Suraj Mohamed for a second six resulted in a catch at deep-midwicket. Kayes was joined by Shamsur and the pair added 38 before Kayes fell just before lunch, bowled by legspinner Seekuge Prasanna for 45.Naeem Islam, the Bangladesh captain, looked in good nick during his 21 but his innings was cut short when he was stumped off Mohamed. Shamsur and Ayub strengthened Bangladesh’s position by batting together for close to 49 overs. Chaminda Vidanapathirana finally broke the stand when he bowled Shamsur and, in the very next over, Ayub was trapped leg-before by Seekkuge Prasanna. Farhad Hossain and Suhrawadi Shuvo were both unbeaten on 15 at the close of play.

Scorecard

For two sides possessing such hulking heavyweights as Graham Napier and Justin Kemp, the final of the Friends Provident Trophy appeared destined to offer big runs and lavish hundreds. And yet for all the power contained Essex’s lineup, it was left to Grant Flower to guide them home with a pitch-perfect 70, beating Kent by five wickets.It was the second occasion this season that Kent have reached a final yet finished as losers. Middlesex beat them in the Twenty20 Cup, a result which deflated the usually indefatigable Robert Key, and again today they were outplayed from the outset at a packed Lord’s.Six years ago, the domestic 50-over final was the peak of a county cricketers’ season. And although Twenty20’s attitude has seeped into batsmen’s mindset in 50-over cricket on occasion, the 2008 final was as much a throwback to the dusty old days of low-scoring one-dayers. And no bad thing that was, either.With Essex chasing what appeared to be a straightforward 215, Kent had fought back impressively to leave them on 161 for 5, still needing 54. The catalyst for this comeback was Robbie Joseph, the young Antiguan-born fast bowler in whom Kent have invested so much time, who produced the sort of blistering spell his supporters know he is capable of. Reintroduced into the attack after a wayward first over conceded seven, he trapped Ravi Bopara leg-before with a quick off-cutter and then caused Alastair Cook embarrassing indecision trying to pull, and then cut. The result was a bottom edge to short extra cover, and Essex had lost two of their big guns.At last, however, Flower found a similarly determined team-mate in James Foster to keep things under control, and the pair put on a patient 68 for the fifth wicket. With Azhar Mahmood and Yasir Arafat out of the attack, Key turned to Darren Stevens and Ryan McLaren who both bowled tidily enough, but their lack of venom allowed Foster and, in particular Flower, to keep the scoreboard ticking. Nurdles through midwicket, cheeky paddles down to fine-leg and a sweetly timed four off Stevens’ gentle drifters kept Essex and they never needed more than a vaguely-testing five-an-over.Foster, to his own outrage, fell to a loose flap outside his off stump – Joseph’s third wicket – but Flower soon stepped up another gear, reaching 50 from 73 balls and lofting Joseph over extra cover. Ryan ten Doeschate played a vital and infuriating role at the other end, running Kent ragged with daring singles out to cover, and he was typically elegant to anything minutely straight, turning them through midwicket with ease. Yet it was Flower who appropriately sealed Essex’s win with a clout over midwicket, and Kent’s 30-year wait to win a Lord’s final continued.”That was the epitome of a team performance,” Mark Pettini, the Essex captain, said. “Grant Flower stood out in the run chase, but the rest of the day was all down to the fight from the team. It turned out to be a nice toss to lose. My team were absolutely fantastic. We knew Kent would come hard at us, and the guys rose to the challenge really well.”If Flower sealed the win, then it was Essex’s bowlers who set up the victory-charge. Renowned as a frighteningly powerful striker this season, Napier has been more consistent with the ball than in years gone by, and bowled a fine opening spell alongside David Masters to upset Joe Denly and Key’s natural free-flowing partnership.On 7, Key tried to force Masters off the back foot but could only edge him behind to Foster, standing up to the stumps, who took an effortless snaffle – as is now expected of him. Martin van Jaarsveld, evergreen at 34 and the tournament’s highest run-scorer, nearly fell for nought lbw, but the same bowler found one to cut back sharply on Denly and bowl him through the gate.Essex were in business and had restricted Kent to a distinctly tepid 31 for 2 after 10 tight overs. Nevertheless, van Jaarsveld had his fellow South African for company, Kemp, and the pair set about calming Kent’s evident nerves with a patient, nurdling partnership of 39. It couldn’t last, however, and an equally frantic cut off Masters, whose unerring line outside off was a testament to the underrated control he has offered Essex this season, sent an inside edge cannoning into his stumps. Kent had slipped to 58 for 3.Panic set in, aptly demonstrated by Stevens’ fraught swipe off Chris Wright. Geraint Jones, meanwhile, threatened briefly with two crunching cuts before he was trapped by Danish Kaneria. Essex were on top through a disciplined bowling performance, but the shot selection from Kent was much less restrained.van Jaarsveld brought up yet another fifty from 68 balls – his third this season, in addition to four hundreds – but fell shortly afterwards to an outstanding catch by Cook, sprinting back from midwicket. And it was left to McLaren to salvage something for Kent, working balls through midwicket; back-cutting to the wider deliveries offered by ten Doeschate and nudging through the gaps with a coolness of temperament that his top-order team-mates lacked. His 63 was too little, much too late.As a hefty contingent of Essex fans roared their side on with victory in sight, Flower lofted the winning runs to seal their first Lord’s final since the B&H Cup in 1998. The 50-over lark may lack Modi’s millions, but Essex’s triumph was no less sweet.

One month ago international cricket was both a distant memory and a seemingly unreachable goal for Shane Watson. His only outing for Australia in the previous 12 months had been a single match at the ICC World Twenty20 and yet another hamstring injury had plagued his Australian summer, severely denting his hopes of quickly regaining his spot in the ODI side.But timing is everything in cricket and Watson’s naming as Player of the Series in the Indian Premier League came just a few days before Australia needed to decide on a replacement for the injured Matthew Hayden for the one-day series in the West Indies. Three matches into his comeback Watson has fully justified the call-up by scoring his first ODI century at better than a run a ball to set up a seven-wicket win for Australia.”Things are progressing well,” Watson said after the game. “A year or so ago things weren’t looking that great. To be able to come out and get through some games and perform with the bat especially is a lot of fun.”Watson was not surprisingly named Man of the Match for his 126 and 1 for 23 and it was a pleasing turnaround after he was out for a duck in the first over of Friday’s match at the same venue. But Watson was desperate to impress having been given the chance to open and he hopes he can make the position his own in the long-term.”I normally bat three or four in the longer version of the game,” Watson said. “So I enjoy coming in when the ball is new, with a few more gaps and taking on the quicks.”Ricky Ponting batted with Watson through most of the innings as they built up an imposing 190-run partnership and he said it was pleasing to see Watson play such a great hand after six years in and out of the ODI side. “It was a magnificent innings today,” Ponting said. “He controlled the tempo of the innings very, very well.”He’s a big strong lad and I think we saw today just how effective he can be at the top of the order. His bowling spell in the middle of our bowling innings today was pretty impressive as well, so he’s a very, very good all-round cricketer for us.”Ponting was also glad to find some form himself having struggled in the first two games, although he battled with a hand injury and needed treatment from the physio after reaching his half-century. There is a chance he could be rested when the series continues in St Kitts on Friday as Australia have already taken an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match contest.

And to think the format started out as a gimmick. When Surrey won the inaugural Twenty20 Cup in the summer of 2003, they did so as reigning County Champions, and though they enjoyed their big day out at Trent Bridge, there was no question that the four-day format was their over-riding priority. Now, however, things are not so clear-cut. After a seismic six months, in which Twenty20 cricket has taken over as the driving force of the world game, the 2008 tournament could quite possibly turn out to be the most important competition in England this summer.That was already set to be the case, but now that the £2.5 million Champions League has been dangled in front of the counties’ eyes, the stakes have got even higher. “I know it’s going to change the whole landscape of how people look at Twenty20 cricket, and indeed the way we react to it,” Surrey’s chief executive, Paul Sheldon, told Cricinfo. “I just hope very much it doesn’t change the variety of cricket and the whole issue of County Championship and Test cricket that the ECB have rightly set out to protect.”On Sunday, the ECB moved quickly to buttress the pre-eminence of England’s Test team – and appease those players whose Twenty20 opportunities have been limited by international appearances – by announcing a £2 million performance-related bonus pool. But to judge by the reactions of the Surrey players who gathered at The Oval on Monday for the launch of their 2008 campaign, it’s going to be hard to halt the momentum of the newest form of the game.”I think it’s fantastic and it’s what cricketers need,” said the former England Test batsman, Usman Afzaal, who joined Surrey from Northamptonshire at the end of 2007. “We’re a sport that gives a hell of a lot, for six months we work from eight in the morning to seven in the evening, and it’s great to see cricketers getting the recognition they are deserving. That’s what the entertainment business does to you. If you start filling seats you have a serious business, and it’s nice to see that cricket is starting to do that.”Afzaal has been a professional cricketer since his Nottinghamshire debut in 1995, and his attitude to Twenty20 cricket has moved with the times. “When it first started I also thought it was a bit of fun, but the most important thing was all the kids around the grounds,” he said. “It was like carnival cricket for three weeks, but then when we went back to the 40 and 50-over games, and the crowds vanished. It was clear we had hit on something special, so it’s nice to see we are now being recognised as entertainers.”For the players at the beginning of their careers, the possibilities currently seem endless. “It is scary yet exciting at the same time,” said Jade Dernbach, who – at the age of 22 – has just been awarded a three-year extension to his Surrey contract. “Just think where cricket might be in four or five years’ time. This is a shop window for everything that’s out there, so all I’m looking to do is do as well as possible. If I do well for Surrey it opens a lot of doors.”At Whitgift School last week, Dernbach broke into Surrey’s Championship side for the first time this season, although it is his limited-overs form that earned him his new contract. For all the determination of the ECB to preserve the pre-eminence of first-class cricket, Dernbach speaks for a new breed of cricketer who sense a shifting of priorities.”There is a very real possibility of that,” said Dernbach, when asked if Twenty20 cricket would eclipse the four-day game. “It’s a massive competition now, with all the publicity around it, and I think everything is just being geared around Twenty20. When you see the amount of money going into it, the danger is the kids of 12 or 13 years old, when they go to the nets are they going to practice technique, or are they going to see how far they want to hit the ball? I think through the younger levels, there needs to be an understanding that four-day cricket is the top of the game. We mustn’t lose sight of that.”All of which adds up to something of a headache for Surrey’s director of cricket, Alan Butcher, whose task it is to weigh up the competing priorities in this most seismic of seasons. “Twenty20 cricket has taken off incredibly after the initial scepticism in the first year,” said Butcher. “The players like it, the public like it and the finance people certainly like it. It’s been the flavour of the last six months, and it’s very apparent it’s not going to go away.”Butcher’s problems have been exacerbated by the row over the participation of ICL players, which could force Surrey to make do without the services of their star spinner, Saqlain Mushtaq. But, he insisted, such political issues would be as far as possible from his squad’s thoughts. “The danger is that people will start looking for the pot of gold before they’ve spotted the rainbow,” said Butcher. “We’ve got to pick the best side to win each game and then we see what happens. You can think as far ahead as you like, but if you don’t win those initial games, you aren’t going to get to the Champions League.”

New Zealand 96 for 6 (Anderson 6-42) trail England 364 (Pietersen 115, Ambrose 67, Broad 64) by 268 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

James Anderson produced his best Test figures with both bat and ball, and Stuart Broad recorded his maiden Test half-century, as England seized control of the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge with a day of unstinting dominance. By the time bad light had brought a premature end to the day, the Kiwis were floundering on 96 for 6 in reply to England’s 364, and their deficit of 268 seemed insurmountable in the face of Anderson’s hostile and high quality swing-bowling assault.Throughout his international career, Anderson has been like the girl with the curl from the children’s nursery rhyme – at times in this series, his performances have been horrid, but today, he was back to being very, very good indeed. He located a full, fast and outswinging length from the very first over of his spell, and in claiming all six of the New Zealand wickets to fall, he finished the day with half an eye on history. Only two players – Jim Laker and Anil Kumble – have managed ten in an innings, but if Anderson can replicate the same form he showed today, his opponents – and team-mates – may not have much say in the matter.Ultimately, Anderson is a mood bowler, and there’s nothing quite like an early wicket to set his juices pumping. With his third ball of the day, he turned Aaron Redmond inside out with a wickedly jagging outswinger that detonated his off stump, and New Zealand’s foreboding was tangible. Out strode their kingpin, Brendon McCullum – relieved of the gloves and promoted to No. 3 – but his talents were wasted in such hostile conditions. He had made only 9 when Anderson flattened his stumps with a carbon copy of the Redmond delivery, and at 14 for 2, the innings was in freefall.Ross Taylor counterattacked with the sort of confident recklessness that befits a man with two 150s to his name on this tour, and together with the low-key Jamie How, he guided New Zealand to tea at 57 for 2. But after the break, and armed with a changed and fractionally shinier ball, Anderson picked up where he had left off. Taylor squirted a fat edge to gully and departed for 21, and three balls later the hapless Daniel Flynn – whom Anderson maimed with that tooth-shattering bouncer at Old Trafford – was pinned on the crease and sent on his way for a duck.At 62 for 4, How was New Zealand’s last obdurate presence, but he was the next to go, and in a disappointing fashion. He hung a limp bat outside off stump, and Anderson’s natural outswing curved perfectly off the edge and carried through low to Tim Ambrose behind the stumps. Then, only five balls before the umpires offered the light, Jacob Oram followed in similar fashion for 7. At 96 for 6, with only Daniel Vettori of the recognised batsmen remaining, the hopes of New Zealand snatching a share of the series had receded over the horizon.It was quite a contrast to the Kiwis’ mood on the first day, when England slumped to 86 for 5 after lunch, but since then they have been subjugated by a succession of impressive performances. And though Anderson stole the limelight with his bowling, his first role of the day came with the bat, as he and Broad compiled an improbable and important eighth-wicket stand of 76. When New Zealand took the field under slate-grey skies, with England evenly poised on their overnight 273 for 7, they doubtless envisaged a swift denouement. Instead they were made to toil lucklessly and with mounting frustration.For Broad, it was yet another demonstration of his rich promise as an allrounder. Since his batting breakthrough in partnership with Kevin Pietersen at Napier in March, he has reached at least 25 in each of his last five innings, and his shot selection and patience has borne all the hallmarks of a pedigree cricketer. It was especially appropriate that his best innings to date should come at his new county home of Trent Bridge, where his father Chris made his name as a batsman in the mid-1980s.His poise and balance at the crease was exemplary, and any international cricketer would be proud of his back-foot driving, which earned him three more boundaries in the morning session. He did require one massive, and tone-setting, moment of good fortune in the third over of the day when, on 21, he edged Chris Martin firmly to second slip, only for McCullum – unaccustomed to the angles at second slip – to fumble the opportunity.After that, Broad’s performance was plain-sailing, until he reached the threshold of his half-century. On 49, he was made to sweat as Vettori and Oram pinned him down for 25 balls either side of lunch. But crucially, Broad refused to succumb to a rash slog, and sure enough the loose delivery eventually arrived. Vettori strayed onto his pads, and Broad flicked him away through midwicket for a hugely cathartic boundary.Anderson’s own career-best was scarcely less impressive, and his disappointment was clear when he finally feathered a nick to the keeper off Oram to give New Zealand their only breakthrough of the morning session. Up until that point he had produced some shots that belied his lowly reputation, including a crunching cover-drive and a confident slog sweep in consecutive overs from Iain O’Brien and Vettori. But his true role was still to come, and by the time his day’s work was done, New Zealand’s stout resistance in this series had been all but broken.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced a provisional squad of 30 players for the ICC Cricket World Cup, which begins on Sunday 9 February in Cape Town, South Africa.A final England squad of 15 players will be announced by Tuesday 31 December.England 30-man squad:1. Nasser Hussain (Essex)2. Marcus Trescothick (Somerset)3. Nick Knight (Warwickshire)4. Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire)5. Owais Shah (Middlesex)6. Alec Stewart (Surrey)7. Ronnie Irani (Essex)8. Paul Collingwood (Durham)9. Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire)10. Craig White (Yorkshire)11. Ian Blackwell (Somerset)12. Jeremy Snape (Leicestershire)13. Ashley Giles (Warwickshire)14. Andrew Caddick (Somerset)15. Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)16. James Kirtley (Sussex)17. Robert Key (Kent)18. Darren Stevens (Leicestershire)19. Vikram Solanki (Worcestershire)20. Anthony McGrath (Yorkshire)21. Matthew Maynard (Glamorgan)22. Adam Hollioake (Surrey)23. Chris Read (Nottinghamshire)24. Richard Dawson (Yorkshire)25. Martin Saggers (Kent)26. Kyle Hogg (Lancashire)27. Kabir Ali (Worcestershire)28. Stephen Harmison (Durham)29. Ryan Sidebottom (Yorkshire)30. James Anderson (Lancashire)

A district cricket match between Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu scheduled for this weekend has proven quite timely for the Central Districts’ selectors.The two teams contain a significant proportion of the members of the CD squad and the traditionally hard-fought match will be a welcome chance to assess the form of players, only a week out from the opening of the State Championship.CD play the first match of the competition against Otago at Wanganui, starting on November 23.New CD coach Mark Greatbatch said it had not been ideal not being able to work with the players for six weeks while they were on strike.The players still in New Zealand had been getting together every fortnight since mid-winter which was something that hadn’t been done before and it had been working well.However, he was confident that getting the players back together and playing cricket, and making them the better players they want to be, would see them pick up where they left off very quickly.There was some competition for places in the side, and Greatbatch was expecting the four members of the New Zealand Under-19 side from last summer, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Ian Sandbrook and Richard Sherlock to all push for places in the side.The side will have to do without bowler Andrew Schwass for the first match. Last year’s most successful bowler for CD, he took 45 wickets at 14.73, dislocated his thumb while batting in Nelson last week. He put it back in himself, continued batting, bowled and then the next day complained of soreness.A check with a specialist showed that he had ruptured a ligament and he has the thumb in a cast for two weeks.Craig Spearman lends a factor to the top of the order that was missing last summer for the side and after his experience in county cricket with Gloucestershire during the winter, he can be expected to be in good shape.”If he is playing well, and it is his day, other sides know what can happen,” Greatbatch said.”He’ll give us experience whoever he is opening with.”Mathew Sinclair had been working hard in Marlborough, where he is playing this year. That has given him a head start over other players because the competition starts a little earlier in the sunshine capital of New Zealand.He scored 90 runs in club cricket last Saturday and had a century the weekend before.”It looks like he is progressing well there,” Greatbatch said.Michael Mason, after a full off-season in which to put the injuries of his past behind him, is looking very fit and Greatbatch is expecting him to be a dangerous bowler this year.Jacob Oram, who is looking to clinch a place in the World Cup side, has already made an impression on Greatbatch with his bowling this year and he is expecting Oram to take his batting to another level this summer.One player who will be watched in Napier over the weekend will be Greg Loveridge who has started the season well with the bat but who hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to bowl yet.CD will name their team for the opening match on Monday.

India’s Test captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane missed the three-day warm-up against County Select XI in Chester-le-Street because of a stiff back and swelling in the left hamstring respectively.The niggles are unlikely to hamper the availability of the senior pair for the first Test against England, which starts at Trent Bridge from August 4.In Kohli’s absence, Rohit Sharma led the Indians in the warm-up match, which has been classified as a first-class game. BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in the media release that Kohli, who was at the ground, “felt some stiffness in his back late Monday evening” and consequently was prescribed rest by the board’s medical team. However, the Indian team management would be more concerned by Rahane’s fitness, considering the first Test is about two weeks away.According to Shah, Rahane, too, was being “monitored” after he reported “mild swelling around his left upper hamstring” which “has been addressed by an injection.” Shah, however, said that Rahane “is expected to fully recover well in time” for the first Test.Related

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There would be further concerns in the Indian camp after fast bowler Avesh Khan was sent for a scan after hurting his left thumb in the afternoon session. Khan, along with allrounder Washington Sundar, had been allowed by the Indian team management to turn up for the County Select XI after the pair of James Bracey and Zak Chappell were not available for different reasons. Bracey, as reported on Monday, was identified as contact of a Covid-19 positive case and had to be pulled out of the squad while Chappell suffered an injury on Tuesday morning.Khan, who was picked for the tour as a reserve bowler, hurt his thumb after successfully intercepting a punchy straight drive from Hanuma Vihari. Immediately he signaled to the Indian dressing room left the field wincing in pain, alongside the physio, with a strapped thumb.

Pakistan head coach Misbah ul Haq indicated the form of several players in PSL 2021 “is tempting” to consider for national selection but their performances at the international level was a major concern. Pakistan’s squads for the tours of England and West Indies series were announced earlier this month without consideration of the performances in the ongoing PSL in Abu Dhabi, which Misbah said was a result of logistical challenges due to the pandemic.”Ideally, we could have waited for the PSL but then there are logistical challenges during Covid-19,” Misbah said. “A few of the players’ form is tempting and it appears like we are missing out but the major concern is their international performances. They all have had their chances and were picked up last year for their domestic performances but unfortunately, they couldn’t translate it to the top level. It’s all about international cricket and how they do things here, and we have given them enough chances.”I know it’s hard to ignore but we aren’t overlooking either. It’s just the timing of the tournament and the England tour dates [that we needed to consider]. There are still a few important games left in PSL and we will have more clarity on all players. We are keeping them in check and, if needed, we may explore them for future series. At the moment, we have our resources and want to focus on the selected lot and prepare them. They are very good and I am confident that we can manage to get the best of them.”The focus of Misbah’s argument has been the performances of Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed. Both batters have been repeatedly picked for the national team after strong performances on the domestic circuit but have failed to translate that form on the international stage. Both batters have also been in sublime form in the PSL, helping their franchise, Islamabad United, finish at the top of the table.Azam Khan has been called up to the T20I squad for the first time in his career after finding a powerful combination of consistency and a high strike rate in T20s over the last year. Haider Ali has also been retained in the white-ball squads despite a lean patch of international form last year. Imad Wasim was brought back to bring in experience and bolster Pakistan’s middle order.Related

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Another issue for Pakistan has been the sudden dip in form for one of their most experienced batters, Mohammad Hafeez. Towards the end of 2020, Hafeez had reinvented himself in a year of unparalleled form – he scored the most runs in T20Is last year, with a tally of 415 at an average of 83.Across T20s in the period between February 2020 and the end of February this year, Hafeez scored 1102 runs at an average of 50.09 and a strike rate of 147.32. Since then, he has scored just 155 runs in 13 matches at an average of 14.09 and a strike rate of 99.35.”There is a worry that most of the players are seen collectively out of form other than Babar (Azam) and (Mohammad) Rizwan but it’s just a matter of one good game,” Misbah said. “In franchise cricket, players playing every day against different teams but in the international arena, there is a different mindset. The best factor for us is that they are coming up playing hard cricket and they are charged up.”Players like Hafeez whose bad patch has extended a bit longer – and it happens – but he is an experienced player. He scored heavily and he has a tendency to come out of the bad patch. England has been good for him last year and I am very optimistic that he can deliver well for us.”Our top order is responding well and our bowling unit is a strong unit and only focus is to quickly work on for Nos. 5 and 6. We have got the experienced batsman Haris Sohail in ODIs and another solid prospect is Saud Shakeel, so we are hopeful they can offer us the required stability. In T20 cricket we are still figuring out with all the resources we have. Haider and Azam are both young and we have time to prepare them for the role and they have the potential to give us what we need,” Misbah said.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDhananjaya de Silva’s 143-run stand with Upul Tharanga helped Sri Lanka fight back from 112 for 4•Getty Images

It took Upul Tharanga multiple stints and close to 11 years after his first Test century to bring up his second. A week on, he looked set to add to that tally. He had progressed serenely to 79 during the course of a 143-run fifth-wicket stand with Dhananjaya De Silva and revived Sri Lanka after a top order wobble, before fading light brought about a slightly more circumspect approach that may have contributed to his dismissal. At the other end, Dhananjaya calmly waded through the 90s to bring up his second Test century as Sri Lanka nudged ahead on a see-saw opening day, ending it 290 for 5.Things could have been much better for Zimbabwe had they fielded and caught better. In the penultimate over of the day, Brian Chari’s underarm flick at the bowler’s end missed the stumps and reprieved Asela Gunaratne, who was on 10. Before that came a costlier miss, Peter Moor fluffing a chance down the leg side off Graeme Cremer to let Dhananjaya off on 64. That was the only uncertain moment in Dhananjaya’s innings, which showcased his ability to tailor his tactics to Sri Lanka’s situation.Happy to hit through the line against the seamers, he eliminated drives against Cremer’s legspin as the day wore on. That wasn’t to say he was completely guarded, for the bad balls were punished, at times with a touch of disdain.If Tharanga was an accumulator, Dhananjaya was the artist during the course of Sri Lanka’s highest fifth-wicket stand against Zimbabwe – they surpassed the previous best of 114 between Asanka Gurusinha and Hashan Tillakaratne at Sinhalese Sports Club (Colombo) in 1996. The pair batted through 50.3 overs on a surface that offered plenty of lateral movement.As the day progressed, there was even a hint of turn and inconsistent bounce, which further underlined the importance of the partnership. Dhananjaya, who walked in to bat with Sri Lanka 112 for 4, hit 11 fours and was batting on 100 at stumps.Zimbabwe, who were on the wrong side of several decisions in the first Test, were beneficiaries of the Decision Review System that was introduced for the first time in the country. Tharanga, initially given not out by umpire Simon Fry, had to walk back when replays suggested he had nicked the ball while driving away from his body at Cremer, before the ball bounced to slip off the wicketkeeper’s pads.Zimbabwe’s relief was palpable, and continued to attack with the seamers, taking the second new ball as soon as it became available, but Dhananjaya and Gunaratne saw out the rest of the day’s play.Choosing to bowl first, Zimbabwe were dealt an early blow when Carl Mumba, one of their three frontline seamers, left the field with knee trouble after bowling his first over. His absence, coupled with the waywardness of Christopher Mpofu, helped Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva to rattle off 60 in the first hour.Hamilton Masakadza led Zimbabwe’s revival with his part-time seam after being summoned up to give Mpofu and Donald Tiripano a breather. It took him just 10 balls to break the 62-run opening stand, Dimuth Karunarate gliding an away-going delivery into the hands of Sean Williams at gully. In Masakadza’s next over, Kusal Perera swiped a full-length delivery to Mumba at long-on.The pressure Zimbabwe maintained thereon played a part in their next breakthrough, Mpofu trapping Kaushal Silva lbw with an in-dipper in the penultimate over before lunch. It was a dramatic dismissal. Given out by umpire Fry, Kaushal was denied a review by his own indecision – he took more than the prescribed 15 seconds before asking for it. Replays suggested Zimbabwe were lucky, with ball-tracking showing the angle taking the ball past leg stump.Two overs after lunch, Sri Lanka lost Kusal Mendis and were a precarious 112 for 4. Tharanga, who walked in at No 5, laced the first two balls he faced to the cover boundary and glanced his fourth ball for another four. Having gotten off to that turbocharged start, he progressed steadily. Early in his innings, Dhananjaya marked his arrival, splitting midwicket and mid-on with a whiplash flick off Mpofu. That was just one of several moments of class in his effort to lead Sri Lanka’s revival.