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ScorecardTom Cooper made 72 off 69•Getty Images

South Australia earned a consolatory win at the end of their Matador Cup campaign with a 37-run victory over Tasmania, but still ended at the bottom of the table. Their win was set up by fifties from Andrew McDonald and Tom Cooper and a four-for from Kane Richardson, which put Ben Dunk’s 92 in vain.The Redbacks were given a strong foundation after they were put in to bat. McDonald (53) and Travis Head (44) put on 98 for the opening stand but both were dismissed in successive overs. Cooper, 72 off 69, had Alex Ross for company for the fourth-wicket stand of 80 runs that took the score past 200. But once the stand was broken, the Tigers didn’t allow any partnership to flourish till the end. Hamish Kingston and Evan Gulbis troubled the middle and lower order with three wickets each before a late attack from Richardson and Adam Zampa took the side to 295. The Redbacks scored 6 for 83 in the last 15 overs, and Xavier Doherty finished with 3 for 50.The Tigers got a solid contribution from their in-form opener Dunk. He hardly got any support from the other end as his first four partners fell before reaching 20. Jonathan Wells and Dunk then put on 60 for the fifth wicket, before the latter was run-out in the 39th over. The Tigers needed 123 from 10 overs which soon became 100 from five. Wells hammered six consecutive fours in the 48th over off Gary Putland but it wasn’t enough.

Alastair Cook’s future as England ODI captain appears to be in the balance after another series loss left coach, Peter Moores, unable to guarantee his place in the World Cup side.England succumbed to a 90-run defeat in the sixth ODI of the series in Pallekele giving Sri Lanka an unassailable 4-2 lead with one match to play. It means England have lost six of their last seven ODI series and nine of their last 12 ODIs.Cook endured another miserable match, failing once again with the bat – he has now scored one half-century in his in his last 21 ODI innings. He also dropped a straightforward catch offered by Kumar Sangakkara when the batsman had 41. Sangakkara went on to score a match-defining century.It left Moores unable to offer anything but equivocal support after the match. Admitting Cook “needs runs” he also stated that, as one of four selectors, it would be presumptuous for him to offer a definite opinion and that, as usual, the management will “review everything” after the series.Asked by whether Cook would be captain at the World Cup, Moores replied: “We review everything at the end of every series, we’ve always said that.”We’ve had many things happen on this series and we’ve got a very new batting line-up with people like Moeen Ali and James Taylor coming in and doing well.”We make no bones that we’re passionate to try and get our best side to go out and win a World Cup. Cook needs runs but he’s also had some great times as an England player. He’s in a tough patch at the moment but that’s something he’s working hard to get out of.”Cook was more confident about his future, however. Asked afterwards if he believed he would be the man leading England at the World Cup, Cook said: “Yes.””It’s clearly been a tough day,” he said. “We came in with high hopes, especially with the way we played at the same ground two days ago. So it’s been a frustrating day all round and it doesn’t make the job any easier.”I’m not scoring the runs I would like, it’s not a great place to be as a captain, you want to lead from the front and when it’s not happening for you it’s frustrating. I’m a better player than I’m showing at the moment and I’ve just got to keep going.”Despite their abject run of form over the last 18 months, Cook said he felt the side had made improvements but that another series defeat was a “reality check”.”I think we’ve actually made some good strides on this tour in one-day cricket,” he said. “The way the lads have gone about it has been fantastic. Today is a really tough day for everyone involved in an England shirt. We played so well last game and to play nowhere near as well as that is incredibly frustrating because we need to be consistent. We’ve always struggled a bit with our one-day and hopefully we’re making steps to get better at it. But this is obviously a reality check.”While Moores celebrated the opening spells of Chris Woakes and Steven Finn, he admitted that England’s death bowling allowed Sri Lanka to “get away” from them.”It’s disappointing,” he said. “We came here thinking we could draw the series level, but we were outplayed in probably all three departments. We dropped catches and we lost too many wickets early despite being up with the rate.”Bowling, we did well in the first 10 overs, but towards the end of the innings we need to make sure our plans are a bit clearer, a bit simpler. We also didn’t choose the right lengths with the ball at times. We did some good things at times, but some costly errors let them get away from us.”

Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris is likely to miss the tour of the West Indies in June this year, as it will coincide with the birth of his first child. Harris said during a radio interview on Monday that coach Darren Lehmann had urged him to stay home with his family.”I spoke to Darren about it. Before I did he spoke to me and told me I would stay at home,” Harris told . “The West Indies is the furthest place to get home from. Darren wants to make sure I am here and spending time with my wife.”Harris’ likely absence means that he will not play for Australia until the side travels to England to defend the Ashes in July. Harris missed out on a spot in Australia’s World Cup squad as the selectors chose to focus on keeping him fit for the series in England, where Harris had finished as Australia’s Player of the Series during the 2013 tour.Harris, who played the last of his 21 ODIs in February 2012, said he was disappointed with the omission but admitted it would have been challenging for him to stay fit over the duration of the tournament. The bowler has struggled with a chronic knee problem in his career and underwent surgery last year, months after bowling through pain to steer Australia to a last-gasp win over South Africa in Cape Town. He played three Tests against India recently, missing out on the game in Brisbane due to a quadriceps strain.”I want to say it would’ve been able to, but I have just come out of a Test series and could only manage three Tests because I had a bit of a niggle,” he said. “My knee’s really sore and it’s pulled up quite sore after each game.”I would have tried but when you’re in a World Cup and you have a small squad of 15 guys you can’t rely on 14 of them and see how I am feeling after every game, when every game is a big game. You pick 15 for a reason they have to be up and going every game.”Darren and the selectors, and hopefully Michael (Clarke), can’t be relying on asking ‘how are you going this game and how you going that game’. It’s too much stress to worry about on one player and you shouldn’t have to worry about that in the World Cup.”Harris will return to the Sheffield Shield where he will play a few matches for Queensland before beginning training for the Ashes.”Basically, my programme when we get through these Shield games, we will work back from the first tour game over in England and then work back to where I am and where I need to start and where I need to be at certain times and how many balls I’ve bowled,” he said. “The big thing for me will be my strength. My right knee is not great so I have to get a lot of strength in my right leg and both my legs.”I didn’t have a great build up going into this Test series and I felt that at times in third and fourth spells but If I have the build-up before I had going into the England (series) over in England I’ll be fit and strong.”The allrounder Shane Watson and his wife Lee are also expecting their second child in June, although there is no news on his availability for the tour yet. Watson left the 2013 tour of India to be home in Sydney for the birth of his son, Will.

Nikita Miller, the left-arm spinner, has the task of filling Sunil Narine’s shoes at the World Cup after he was chosen as the replacement in West Indies’ squad.Narine withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday, little more than 48 hours after taking 6 for 9 in the Nagico Super50 final against Guyana, saying that his action still required more work after it was reported during last year’s Champions League T20.Miller, 32, has played 45 ODIs, the last of which came against England in March 2014 and has taken 40 wickets at 36.52. He is the second left-arm spinner in West Indies’ squad alongside Sulieman Benn. His call-up was approved by the ICC’s event technical committee, which has to rule on all replacement players which normally happen due to injury, and it was termed an “exceptional circumstance.”In the Nagico Super50, Miller claimed six wickets in four matches, along with a frugal economy rate of 2.32 across his 40 overs, but there were other spin options above him in the wicket-taker’s list which was topped by Narine. Veerasammy Permaul, another left-armer, claimed 11 wickets at 13.36 with an outstanding economy rate of 3.12.West Indies completed their tour of South Africa on Wednesday when they were heavily beaten in the final ODI at Supersport Park. Their opening World Cup match is against Ireland in Nelson on February 16.

The IPL player auction will be held on February 16 in Bangalore. There is no clarity on the number of players in the auction pool because the deadline for franchises to prune the original list has been deferred to February 4.Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen and Dinesh Karthik along with South Africa Test captain Hashim Amla have attracted the highest base price of Rs 20,000,000. An additional purse of INR 30,000,000 will be available to each franchise over and above the balance accrued from the INR 600,000,000 last year along with the amount generated from the release of players.Unlike last year, when the auction was a two-day event containing all players barring those retained by the teams, this auction will be shorter but will still be significant for a few franchises. Having released big-name players, Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore are likely to be the big spenders this time. Daredevils, who managed just two wins last season to finish as the bottom-ranked team, carried out a complete overhaul by releasing 13 players. Without Pietersen, Karthik, M Vijay and Ross Taylor, Daredevils have the maximum purse available this time with INR 400,000,000.Royal Challengers have INR 210,000,000 in their purse, having released Yuvraj who was the most expensive player last year with a bid of INR 140,000,000. Though Yuvraj finished as the team’s second highest run-scorer, Royal Challengers were just above Daredevils with five wins.Sunrisers Hyderabad have INR 208,500,000 after releasing Aaron Finch, Darren Sammy and India legspinner Amit Mishra. Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals have INR 130,000,000 each; Kings XI Punjab have INR 118,000,000, Mumbai Indians have INR 100,000,000 while Chennai Super Kings have INR 50,000,000.In the long list of 724 names accessed by ESPNcricinfo, are England one-day captain Eoin Morgan, Indian allrounder Irfan Pathan, former Australian batsman Michael Hussey, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka batsman Tillkaratne Dilshan, West Indies allrounder Marlon Samuels, and Australia batsman Cameron White, all of whom have a base price of INR 15,000,000.England allrounder Ravi Bopara, Australia’s Twenty20 captain Finch, India seamer Zaheer Khan fall in the INR 10,000,000 bracket. Vijay opted for a base price of INR 5,000,000.3:10

‘Yuvraj not the only big player released’

There were 86,876 punters who flocked into the colossal MCG to watch two heavyweights slug it out. However, for a few hours at least, the real story of the day was unfolding 2,200 km away in the much more humble surrounding of University Oval in Dunedin were 2711 dotted themselves around the grass banks.As people made their way into the ground during the morning, small flags of the two teams were being handed out. For those without an association to either side, the Afghanistan flag was by far the most popular.Those waving them came close to witnessing a piece of history. Sri Lanka were worried. Very worried. Sloppy in the field, their top order was then blown away by the pace trio of Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan – a combination of bowlers who are capable of troubling the best batting line-ups – the latter downgraded to “medium pace” by the ground announcer when the evidence was anything but.The highlight of the early exchanges was Hamid’s removal of Kumar Sangakkara with a wicked inswinger which left the stumps spread-eagled and the bowler celebrating with a cartwheel that would have sent shudders through the Afghanistan physio. “He didn’t understand it,” Samiullah Shenwari said of Sangakkara’s reaction, presumably to the delivery rather than the cartwheel.At 51 for 4 the force was with Afghanistan, then the game looked to have gone as Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews added 126, benefiting from a third missed run out. But back they came. A run out engineered by the captain Mohammad Nabi and a third wicket for the energetic Hamid. And that, too, of the man with 100 to his name. With 55 still needed, one more wicket within 20 runs and, goodness, something special was on the cards.Ultimately, though, it was the middle (and thick edge) of Thisara Perera’s bat that won the day, if not the hearts. Their final chance went with the DRS, overturning a caught behind decision against Jeevan Mendis with 14 left to score.”It’s very disappointing,” Shenwari said. “We had them four down but then Jayawardene and Mathews, two very experienced players, took the game away from us and we missed three run outs.”We were looking for dot balls and wanted one more wicket, as we knew there was only Mendis and Perera to come but they played very well. We knew Perera is a big hitter and knew Sri Lanka would be under pressure if we got him out. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”However, it was not the late onslaught by Thisara, or even the defining stand between Jayawardene and Mathews, that left Afghanistan with their biggest regret. It was the last 20 overs of their innings – following a stand of 88 between Shenwari and Asghar Stanikzai – where just 92 runs were scored including 10 off the five-over Powerplay. But they are not the first to find Lasith Malinga a tough prospect.”Two-sixty would have been very tough for Sri Lanka,” Shenwari said. “We got early wickets and there would have been more pressure on them. Sri Lanka bowled very well and we lost some wickets. We had a good partnership in the middle but we both [him and Stanikzai] got out close together – that’s the main reason we didn’t make another 30-40 runs.”The margin against Bangladesh, a team they are expected to compete with on closer terms, was much wider. They have narrowed it against a side who, despite having struggled in New Zealand, enjoyed a stellar 2014 and possess two of the greatest ODI batsmen to play the game. They could not get past one of them in time. But it was so close. Another competitive game at this World Cup involving an Associate.”We need some more matches to get more experience,” Shenwari said, “We need ICC to give us more matches against the Test nations.”Is anyone listening, or are they drowned out by the noise from the MCG?

The World Cup is now in the knockout stage and Darren Sammy chose to pull out a boxing analogy as he built up West Indies ahead of their quarter-final against New Zealand, insisting all the pressure was on the home side.Sammy referenced the historic 1990 boxing bout between James ‘Buster’ Douglas and Mike Tyson in Tokyo, where Tyson, the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion, had been a clear favourite only for the unfancied Douglas to prevail via a knockout.”I remember some guy called Douglas beating Mike Tyson and it’s a case of that on Saturday,” Sammy said. “We always believed from the time the tournament started, the first goal was to reach the quarter-finals. After that you’re two games away from a World Cup final. We’ve won two, it’s been a long time, but New Zealand have not won any.

‘No animosity between Jason and I’ – Sammy

Darren Sammy has said there are no issues between him and Jason Holder following the public disagreement the pair had against UAE when Sammy was pulled out of the attack after one over.
The two shared a few words before Sammy was sent into the deep for an over to calm down and he said there had always been a strong bond with Holder.
“No, there is no animosity between Jason and I. These things happen on a cricket field when you’re not too happy. It’s surprising it involves me because people don’t see me behaving that way. I was not really happy about the decision but he’s the captain and we don’t dwell on these things.
“I know you guys would like a lovely story but Jason and I go way back since he came into the team and we’re like brothers. I was one of the first guys who came out and gave my support and made sure the team rallied behind Jason.”

“I just watched the guys warm-up today and it’s a different feel. It’s the business end. You could win all your games then coming into the knockout there’s no guarantee you’re going to win. The guys know what’s at stake and we’re going to do everything in our powers to beat Mike Tyson.”Expectations were low for West Indies after they suffered an opening-game defeat to Ireland in Nelson before back-to-back wins against Pakistan and Zimbabwe lifted them up the group table. That was followed by resounding defeats against South Africa and India, meaning they had to beat UAE while also improving their net run-rate.”As you guys put it, we were not supposed to be here,” Sammy said. “Here we are, a knockout game, so the pressure is on the home team. They are the favourites to win, so the question is, what are they going to do when they play West Indies in a knockout. We’re not too bad in knockout games. We’re just going to enjoy it. The pressure is not on us.”The last time the two sides met in a one-day series it ended 2-2 during the 2013-14 season, but Sammy was keen to recall the previous meeting when tournament progression was on the line at the World T20 in 2012. The teams were tied after 20 overs in the Super Eight clash in Pallekele before West Indies prevailed in the Super Over when Tim Southee could not defend 16.Darren Sammy referenced the 2012 World T20 clash between the two teams as a measure of West Indies’ bottle in knockouts: “When it came down to crunch time, we won”•Getty Images

“When it came down to crunch time, we won. Same set of players,” Sammy said, invoking a little artistic license as only six West Indian players and four New Zealanders from that match are likely to appear in Wellington.”This time around it won’t be any different. A full house will be rooting for New Zealand but we know within our group once we do the basics, the things we know we can do well, we are unstoppable. We’ve been very inconsistent but it’s a knockout game and if we put together all the good things we know we can do right then no team can beat us. I know the other teams know that as well.”Sammy acknowledged how well Southee and Trent Boult have been performing at the World Cup and picked out the first 10 overs of West Indies’ batting innings as a pivotal period of the match. And, with a powerful jab to the solar plexus, he went as far as to say that New Zealand “didn’t have an answer” in the death overs against Bangladesh.It was the first time they had been severely tested late in an innings in their six group matches and the final 10 overs cost 104 with Brendon McCullum using up his frontline resources in the search for wickets, which meant Grant Elliott bowled two of the final three overs.”When we bat Boult and Southee have been bowling very well with the new ball. Once we don’t let them get wickets up front, as you watched in the game against Bangladesh coming down to the end they didn’t have an answer. You saw Grant Elliott bowling in the last four overs. That’s something where they have not been put under and they didn’t respond well against Bangladesh.”New Zealand’s players have said very little in the build-up, but for all Sammy’s chest-thumping words it was all shadow-boxing. The telling blows come later. That 1990 win for Douglas was also his last hurrah. It remains to seen how many punches West Indies have left to throw.

ScorecardFile Photo – Kusal Perera continued his good form with the bat in the longer format too•AFP

Kusal Perera’s outstanding limited-overs form continued into the four-dayers against Pakistan A, as he hit an unbeaten 119 from 140 balls to help rescue the hosts on a curtailed third day in Colombo. Sri Lanka had been 115 for 5 after Pakistan A hit 401, but Perera combined with Asela Gunaratne to put on an 198-run partnership that remained unbroken at stumps.Perera had had a mediocre domestic season, but has now revived his game ahead of a busy home season for the national side. His century in Colombo is his third triple-figure score in four innings, across formats. The other innings had brought him 87. He struck 16 fours and two sixes as he batted alongside the more sedate Gunaratne, who hit 64 not out from 138 balls. Sri Lanka A are now 88 runs short of Pakistan A’s score, but with only one day to play, a result seems unlikely.Mir Hamza and Zia-ul-Haq had dismissed the overnight pair of Kithuruwan Vithanage and Ashan Priyanjan between them, in the early overs of the day.

ScorecardTom Westley struck his first hundred of the season to help revive Essex•Getty Images

Tom Westley struck an unbeaten 164 and shared in an unbroken partnership of 216 with Jesse Ryder as Essex fought back on day three against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.Ryder contributed an unbeaten 90 to the stand for his second half-century of the match as Essex closed on 300 for three and a lead of 132.After Northants extended their first innings advantage to 168, despite losing their final four wickets for 40 in the morning, Essex were still 84 runs behind when Westley and Ryder came together shortly after lunch.Westley was the main aggressor, reaching three figures for the first time in a year off 122 balls, and went on to hit 25 boundaries, while Ryder played the supporting role, following his first innings 87.Northants had resumed on 397 for 6, but after bringing up maximum batting points with the fourth delivery of the day, Steven Crook fell to the ninth, top-edging a hook off Graham Napier to be caught in the deep for 39.Richard Levi could only add 11 before he went for 168, caught behind off Napier, and four balls later Rory Kleinveldt was caught at deep point off Reece Topley.Olly Stone added 20 for the last wicket with Azharullah but became Napier’s third victim of the morning as Essex wrapped up the innings inside the first hour with Northants making 444.Essex lost Jaik Mickleburgh in the third over of their reply without score, trapped lbw by Kleinveldt, but Westley was quickly in his stride reaching 26 as the visitors went to lunch on 48 for one.The runs continued to flow after lunch until Kleinveldt struck twice in two overs. Nick Browne got a thin edge off the South African to be caught by keeper Ben Duckett for the second time in the game, while Ravi Bopara could only make a single before being bowled by Kleinveldt.At 84 for 3, Northants might even have held hopes of a three day victory, but Westley and Ryder would go on to dominate the rest of the day on a pitch which proved fruitful for batting with the exception of Essex’s first evening collapse.Westley, who hit 97 against Leicestershire in his comeback from a broken thumb last week, drove Rob Keogh for his 18th boundary to reach three figures in the Championship for the first time in a year and a day. The same over also saw Essex go into the lead shortly before the tea interval.As in the first innings, Ryder reigned in his natural aggressive tendencies to play the perfect foil for Westley, bringing up his 50 from 115 balls as the 150 stand was reached, the pair sharing Essex’s highest fourth-wicket stand in over four years.Westley passed 150 in 187 balls shortly before the close, while Ryder will resume the final day 10 short of what would be a first century of the season.

Peter Petherick, the former offspinner who became the first New Zealand player to take a Test hat-trick, has died in Perth aged 72.Petherick was one of only three bowlers – Maurice Allom and Damien Fleming being the others – to take a hat-trick on Test debut, against Pakistan in 1976. He also remains one of only two New Zealand bowlers to take a Test hat-trick, along with James Franklin.Making his Test debut at the age of 34, with only one first-class season behind him, Petherick claimed his hat-trick in the first innings in Lahore. He had Javed Miandad – who was also on debut – caught top-edging a pull shot, before Wasim Raja send Petherick a return catch and Intikhab Alam was caught at silly point to complete the feat.Petherick finished with a match haul of five wickets, but New Zealand lost the Test by six wickets. His brief Test career lasted six games in which he took 16 wickets at an average of 42.56. Only one of those Tests came at home – against Australia in Auckland – while the others were played in Pakistan and India.It was not only Petherick’s hat-trick that made his story remarkable, for he had not played first-class cricket until the age of 33. He was working as a mechanic when he was called up for his Otago debut in the summer of 1975-76, and his debut season brought 42 first-class wickets at 20.16, including 9 for 93 in an innings against Northern Districts in a Shell Cup match.He was part of an Otago team that won the Shell Trophy in 1976-77, before his transfer to Wellington in 1978. Petherick’s first-class career ended in 1981, after 52 matches and 189 wickets. He played two List A games in the 1978-79 and 1980-81 seasons.”Most of his bowling was flight and guile and he had a wee bit of outswing with his slower arm ball,” Petherick’s former team-mate and New Zealand wicketkeeper Warren Lees told the . “There was minimal effort in his run-up, it was a three-metre shuffle to the wicket.”After his retirement from cricket, Petherick became a successful lawn bowls player who competed at the national championships in 2006.