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Sure, batsmen have sped their way to doom, and of course, they have played too many loose shots, but switching to all-out defence is not necessarily the answer either, Angelo Mathews said ahead of the third Test.Aside from opener Kaushal Silva, and perhaps Dimuth Karunaratne as well, each of the other batsmen in Sri Lanka’s top order is of an attacking bent. Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva all strike at more than 60 in domestic cricket. And though Angelo Mathews and Upul Tharanga are capable of defending (Mathews in particular), they have generally fared better when they have attacked.The Sri Lanka top order knows that they must pare back some of those attacking instincts, but Mathews is also wary that his men don’t trim so much from their natural game that there is not much of it left.”You’ve got to play on merit,” Mathews said. “When the bowler is bowling well you’ve got to respect him, and whenever you get the loose ball, you try and capitalise on it. It’s a bit of a balance of both. You can’t go negative, you can’t go over-positive. Cricket is a game where you have to score runs. Whether you score 100 off 300 balls or whether you score 100 off 70 balls it doesn’t matter, as long as you work your game out. You just need to score runs.”Yes, we have been repeating the same mistakes, which is frustrating. But we’ve got a set of players who are looking to score runs and I always encourage that. And yes, by looking to score runs in these conditions maybe you can get a good ball. Even if the ball is not good enough, you can still get out because of the conditions.”Sri Lanka’s batsmen have employed varying approaches to this Test series, none of which have worked•Associated Press

The prescription that Mathews has repeated this series is increased concentration. All but two batsmen had starts in the second innings at Newlands, and yet, none could cross 50, and the team total fell short of 225.”In these conditions, when you get a 20 and a 30 you suddenly feel that you’re set, you can still get a good ball,” Mathews said. “We need to try and push hard and concentrate hard. Whoever gets a start needs to convert that into a big innings.”Mathews suggested that Sri Lanka would retain the same XI from the Newlands Test, and also that Kusal Mendis and de Silva will remain at No. 3 and No. 4. Mendis has had more success at second drop, and de Silva has been good in the lower middle order, but a vacuum in the no. 3 position has forced both batsmen up.”The selectors are looking long-term,” Mathews said. “Yes, they are two of the best batsmen we have. They are young and fearless and they want to score runs. Dhananjaya is quite matured – he has played a lot of first-class games, but Kusal Mendis hasn’t. These are extremely talented guys and they are still learning the game. As they play more Tests, they will definitely keep learning.”All Sri Lanka’s batsmen will have to have done plenty of learning in the break between Tests. The Wanderers track is reputed to be one of the quickest and bounciest in the world, and though perhaps not as green for this Test as it has often been, still retains a covering of grass.”It looks a lot greener than the previous two wickets, so obviously there will be swing seam and bounce right throughout the Test match, which we kind of expect,” Mathews said. “We’ve always expected a greentop when we tour South Africa. We’ve got to play on whatever we get. We will not complain or make a fuss about it.”

Sri Lanka chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya has expressed dismay in the batsmen on tour, and called top order to read match situations better in the third Test in Johannesburg. Sri Lanka have failed to reach 300 in their four innings in South Africa so far, and were dismissed for 110 and 224 in the Newlands Test.”We selected a side which is a blend of youth and experience,” Jayasuriya told . “Besides, even the younger ones have had their own share of exposure in the recent past. Maybe we can excuse misreading the game in the first Test because for most of the players it was their first time out in South Africa. But, I can’t understand why they failed in the same way in the second Test also.”I feel that at least one batsman should have risen to occasion and held on to it, but, sadly that did not happen.”Jayasuriya was especially critical of Sri Lanka’s failure in the second innings in Port Elizabeth, after the openers had put on 87, and other promising top-order partnerships had begun to take root. The last seven wickets had fallen for 88 runs, however, and Sri Lanka were all out for 281.”In that innings most of the top-order batsmen failed to come up with a commanding innings in spite of four batsmen getting in to positions that they could have capitalised on,” Jayasuriya said. “Now, at least, in the final Test, it’s up to the batters to come up with the much-anticipated satisfactory performance.”More had been expected of the batsmen in this series following their encouraging performances against Australia at home, and in Zimbabwe over October and November. This is in contrast to what was expected of the attack, which appeared by a distance Sri Lanka’s weaker suit on pitches expected to neutralise Rangana Herath’s spin to some extent.”The same can’t be said about the bowlers,” Jayasuriya said. “They’ve bowled with a lot of purpose and never let the totals rise up to unmanageable levels. The batsmen they have let the side down”.

The Wanderers will look like the Wanderers on Saturday, which is hardly startling news except if you saw it two weeks ago during the second T20 between South Africa and Sri Lanka. The surface was dry, cracked and took turn, the hosts criticised it for resembling Colombo, Sri Lanka had them in the spin and levelled the three-match series.There will be none of that again.Even if groundsman Bethuel Buthelezi has not been given any instructions, he would have heard stand-in T20 skipper Farhaan Behardien wonder what happened to the pitch that is reputed for its bounce and carry. “We haven’t quite got to the bottom of it,” Behardien said, when asked if he was given an explanation for the conditions. “But it wasn’t a traditional Wanderers wicket.”For the ODI it should be after captain AB de Villiers stressed the importance of making the most of local conditions. “Everywhere you play around the world teams try and cash in on home ground advantage. It’s important for us to – not make it ridiculous – but to play to our strengths,” he said. “That’s why touring is so difficult, especially to the subcontinent and there’s nothing wrong with that. They make pitches the way that they feel they’ve got the best chance to win. We’ve probably haven’t got it right in that last T20 and one or two of the ODIs but this wicket looks really good.”A Johannesburg ODI is usually a run-fest, especially since South Africa started playing there in pink as part of a breast-cancer awareness project. In the four pink games since 2013, South Africa have averaged 351 and won all of them.Specifically, de Villiers himself has taken to the change of kit. He has scored two centuries, including the fastest hundred in ODIs off 31 balls against West Indies, to average 97.50 and admits there’s something about the occasion that gets him going. “I enjoy big crowds and big moments and there’s a bit of hype and a lot of noise around this game.” he said. “I love playing at the Bullring. Once I get going and I get to 50 or so and the crowd gets a bit louder, it gets me going as well.”A sell-out is expected on Saturday, which means more than 30,000 people will pack into the venue in anticipation of a series win. South Africa could secure the trophy with two games to play, not only to give them the opportunity for a second series whitewash at home but as part of a strategy to learn to string together victories as they would need to do at an ICC event.”If we are going to win big tournaments, you’ve got to win five or six games in a row sometimes. We’ve got to get that habit going of winning series 4-1, 5-0, instead of 3-2 like we’ve done in the past because when you get to a World Cup, 3-2 is not good enough,” de Villiers said.With the Champions Trophy less than five months and only 11 matches away, de Villiers wants South Africa to start getting into good habits now and to maintain them until the 2019 World Cup. As has often been the case, de Villiers is confident South Africa have what it takes to break their trophy drought but knows the proof will only come with a cup. “The culture is stronger than ever. The guys seem to have a lot of direction and a lot of feel for where we are going as a team but our true test will be at the Champions Trophy.”

The Australian players may have enough time to reflect on the missed opportunities that – barring a miraculous performance on Tuesday morning- will likely cost them a series victory.The game seemed finely balanced when Australia began their second innings, trailing India by 32 runs, but the batting line-up crumbled under a sustained assault of both short-pitched bowling and spin. Steven Smith’s dismissal – he misjudged the length of a Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery and was bowled – was the catalyst for a collapse that gave Australia a meagre lead of 105 to defend.There was hope when Glenn Maxwell counter-attacked to score 45, but Australia lost five for 31, including his dismissal, with Matthew Wade running out of partners. By stumps, India had all 10 wickets in hand and now require a mere 87 runs to clinch the series and regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”Just stating the obvious, you could hear a pin drop in the dressing room,” Australia batting coach Graeme Hick said. “A very disappointing day. There is always a chance until the final ball is bowled. But yeah, a hard day today. The boys are pretty down but they will give it a good crack in the morning and you never know. But it is a tough ask.”You know when you come here, there is the danger of losing wickets in clumps. The hardest part is getting yourself in, getting that first half hour out of the way and then making sure you do the job. I think if I look back over this game and one or two others in the series, I will say we missed an opportunity and left some runs there in the first innings.”From a 130 for 1 on the first day to only put 300 on the board… if we had another 100 runs, 150 runs in that first innings, then we are in the game tomorrow. So while today was very disappointing, it’s not the only reason why we find ourselves in this position.”Australia stuttered right at the start in their second innings when David Warner, after being dropped for the second time in the match by Karun Nair at third slip, drove hard at Umesh Yadav in the fourth over and edged to Wriddhiman Saha. It capped off a disappointing tour for the opener – he has averaged 24.12 for the series, compared to his overall average of 47.42. He did little to change a growing perception that he struggles away from home.”Obviously David will be very disappointed with his aggregate on tour,” Hick said. “He is a very aggressive player, that’s the way he likes to play and the way we like to him play. He was desperate to have a very big tour and to have a very big influence here.”Whether he put himself under a bit too much pressure to do so, only he can answer that. He will reflect on it, as champions do, and feel and assess it himself. But without a doubt, he is one of our major players and you would have hoped for a little bit more from him but he was challenged.”It is tough up front, [Ravindra] Jadeja into the rough, [R] Ashwin bowls really well at him. [They] certainly questioned him. That’s the beauty of the game, it puts these challenges up between great players and makes it very interesting to watch. David will obviously be very disappointed with the way things have gone.”But the critical blow was the loss of Smith’s wicket. The Australian captain has accumulated 499 runs in the series – more than anyone else – and his outstanding form has arguably papered over any weaknesses in Australia’s relatively new-look top six. He had just dispatched consecutive Bhuvneshwar deliveries to the boundary before his dismissal and there was no middle-order stand to provide a Ranchi-style rearguard action.”You’ll look back, and in hindsight in this series, and say that we have been a bit reliant on him, but there again, you’ve had some great contributions and performances,” Hick said. “Saving the game in the last Test, with [Peter] Handscomb and [Shaun] Marsh was as good as any hundred that Steve Smith scored, in those conditions and that pressure. Yeah, the scorecards will show that Steve Smith has had an amazing series and it has looked that way.”He’s just playing wonderful cricket at the moment. He asked me in the dressing room and I just said I think you’re just playing too well. You’re seeing the ball like a football and hitting it to all parts of the grounds. He’s just playing beautifully.”Steve Smith is a huge wicket for us, especially in the form he’s in. Yeah, he’ll be disappointed, as would anyone else. But yeah, very unfortunate for us because he’s had a very good series. He’s got seven hundreds in the last eight Tests against India. He’s got a lot of runs against them. In some respect, you think they haven’t worked out how to bowl to him yet. So that was a bit unfortunate.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMisbah-ul-Haq made an unbeaten 99 as he ran out of partners•AFP

Pakistan ended the fourth day well in control of the first Test, thanks to an unbeaten 99 from Misbah-ul-Haq and four wickets from Yasir Shah, leaving West Indies at 93 for 4 and still 28 runs short of making Pakistan bat again.After the drama of Misbah becoming the first Pakistan batsman to be stranded on 99 – Mohammad Abbas failing in an attempt to review a marginal lbw decision – West Indies began their reply solidly after tea. But just as the session was drifting off, Misbah turned to Yasir. The ball had spun considerably earlier in the day for his West Indies counterpart Devendra Bishoo, and with the cracks on the pitch beginning to open up, it was a natural decision.

A target of less than 100 should be easy – Sarfraz

With the cracks on the pitch widening on the fourth day, Pakistan will step out on the fifth day with the aim of ensuring they do not face a steep fourth-innings target, says their wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. A target of less than 100, Sarfraz believes, can be easily chased down by the side.
“We will try and keep the target to the lowest possible that we can manage,” Sarfraz said. “It’s a fifth day pitch and a fourth-innings chase is not easy. But now we still have a lead of 40 [28] and with this, even if we get one or two wickets early then things will get easier. I believe we can achieve a target of less than 100 easily.
“The cracks on one side of the track are widening, and there are patches for Yasir to exploit against left-handed batsmen. The pitch will get difficult – it is slowing there are cracks and some uneven bounce. Batting is not easy so if our bowlers hit the right areas, then we will get them out soon.”

What wasn’t quite as natural was the speed with which the bowling change paid off. Yasir pitched the first ball of his spell on an off-stump line. The length was perfect for a legspinner, and Kraigg Brathwaite appeared to have no choice but to get on the back foot and watch for the turn. The ball skidded on, however, at flipper-like pace, and the attempt to cut was doomed. Two balls later, Yasir found the debutant Shimron Hetmyer’s glove, who was fortunate to see it drop short of slip. Suddenly, new life was breathed into Pakistan’s efforts.Wahab Riaz was also introduced soon after, but he served as a pressure release valve for the West Indies batsmen, if anything. All the action was happening at the other end, and as the shadows lengthened, every single Yasir delivery became a must-watch event. When Hetmyer smashed Yasir impressively, dismissively down the ground for six, you almost expected Yasir to come back with a vengeance. The legspinner didn’t disappoint, getting Shane Warne-esque turn the very next ball as Hetmyer went back and attempted to keep it out, only to end up dragging it on to his stumps.Yasir wasn’t nearly done yet, as four overs later he trapped Shai Hope plumb in front with a quicker delivery that skidded on to his front pad. There was still time for one final blow to the solar plexus of the West Indies line-up, as opener Kieran Powell, who had watched all the carnage unfold from the other end, edged to first slip on 49. Younis Khan was standing there to complete the dismissal, as West Indies headed for stumps dazed, dispirited, and, in all likelihood, defeated.West Indies’ second innings had started off uneventfully, as the openers came out looking like they had made survival their priority, at least for the session. Mohammad Amir generated a bit of swing while Abbas was his usual disciplined self, but Powell and Brathwaite were intent on not allowing Pakistan to make early inroads this time, and looked to see off the new ball with as little fuss as possible. The only chance for the faster bowlers came in Abbas’s first over, as Powell chipped straight back to the bowler’s left, who couldn’t hang on despite getting a good hand to the ball.Pakistan had earlier posted 407, thanks to a quickfire half-century from Sarfraz Ahmed to go with Misbah’s efforts. Even though West Indies struck back in the afternoon session with regular wickets, a 10th-wicket partnership of 34 between Misbah and Abbas dashed their hopes of keeping Pakistan’s lead to under 100, and therefore keeping alive the possibility – however remote – of the hosts charting a course to victory.The Pakistan batsmen had looked wobbly in the opening session, but poor fielding by West Indies – a catch and a stumping were missed – ensured they were able to establish a position of dominance and stretch their lead.Shannon Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph extracted sharp bounce off the surface, clearly discomfiting both Asad Shafiq and Misbah, neither of whom looked confident in dealing with the shorter length. Shafiq’s eventual dismissal brought Sarfraz to the crease, and along with him came a sense of urgency to an innings that had stalled somewhat.He was particularly severe on Bishoo, striking a four and six off his first two overs, and picking off the loose deliveries to ensure the spinner could never get into his rhythm and start building pressure on the batsmen as Pakistan edged closer to West Indies’ total. His strike rate of 138 against the legspinner was indicative of his intentions, and he scored a half-century, as well as bringing up 2000 Tests runs, in a productive session.Misbah, meanwhile, ticked along at the other end, looking curiously reticent to even attempt scoring shots at a juncture of the game when his side could be expected to drive home their advantage. He gradually found fluency as the innings went on and looked to set for an 11th Test hundred when Abbas, who had hung around for more than ten overs to keep his captain company, was struck on the pads by Roston Chase; Richard Illingworth’s lbw decision upheld by the ball-tracker, despite the suggestion of a possible outside edge.A win to break six successive losses in a row would likely take some of the edge off Misbah’s disappointment and, to that end, Yasir appears to have his captain, and indeed his country, covered.

ScorecardThree days of engaging cricket from both sides ended, depressingly, with handshakes at 5.25pm. But whatever sorrow filled the air was engulfed by a deeper dismay when Kumar Sangakkara, with a century in each innings, announced that this would be his final season in the County Championship.He has a couple of contracts to honour this year, including a stint in the Caribbean Premier League with Jamaica Tallawahs. “The mercenary in me is still alive,” he joked, when pressed on whether he might be around for a T20 gig or two. “No one wants an old dog just playing for the sake of it. All in all, I’ll have a few more months but that’ll be it.” So begins the farewell tour.”You need to get out while you are ahead,” was Sangakkara’s response when he was implored to reconsider – by the press, no less. What world is this where a man can become the fourth Surrey batsman to score four centuries in four consecutive innings (Ian Ward was the last to do it in 2002), pass 20,000 first-class runs with two centuries in a match and sit pretty on 592 in just four Championship games this season and think he’s done? Sport and indeed life, as it happens. “This really is it. Look – I’m 39. I’ll be 40 in a few months. I think this is about the end of county cricket [for me] in the four-day and any sense, really.”The biggest mistake you can make is to think you are better than you are and you try to fight the inevitable. When you start a season like this, there is a long way to go. You have to enjoy the good times. All good things come to an end. Cricketers and any other sportsperson have an expiry date. I’ve been very lucky to plays as much as I have and I’m not taking anything for granted, but and there’s a lot of life to be lived away from the game.”He has a young family: two children who have reached ages when a settled home life will do them the world of good. They have seen dad play all around the world. Now is time for dad to take a load off his feet and watch them flourish.That is not to say their stay in south London has been unenjoyable. Surrey, as a county and a base, has been good to Sangakkara, even if his original move – spawned over a beer with his then Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford, who was leaving for the county – was met with a degree of trepidation from himself and those who know he prefers warmer climes. They also worried that the longest form of the game might enhance the streaks of grey that have crept into his sideburns.Turns out there was nothing to worry about. In fact, he took to the city so quickly that he was even looking into canal boats and mooring spots along the Thames during his first year at the club. “Seriously, he won’t stop going on about it,” groaned a team-mate at the time. Last year he signed a one-year extension.”A lot of friends asked me: ‘Why four day cricket? It’s long, it’s tough in England, it’s cold. It’s a long hard grind.’ I thought the same when I came in to be honest. Had I made the right decision? But I really, thoroughly enjoyed my time at Surrey. They’ve been a wonderful club to play for. They take care of their players very well.”James Franklin removed Kumar Sangakkara for 120 but his side opted not to chase a fourth-innings target•Getty Images

If this really is to be it, then it has been some way to bow out. As a man with very little memorabilia at home, he watched on as MCC unveiled his portrait in the days leading up to this fixture. “It’s a great honour and I think Anthony, the artist, has actually made me look a bit better than I actually am!”Look at all the other portraits of great cricketers and you feel a bit funny, thinking you don’t belong in that environment but the fact the MCC wanted my portrait was very humbling.”He says he was unnerved and slightly embarrassed when he walked past it on his way to the middle, twice, before making centuries in both innings. To think, for the longest time, his lack of a red-ball century at Lord’s weighed heavy on his mind.”I sat here in my last Test at Lord’s hoping to get a hundred,” he said. It was only in the first innings of that match in 2014, after six previous innings that amounted to just 140 runs, that he got his name on the honours board. “But also, at that time, I was thinking ‘wouldn’t it be funny if I got a duck?’ It was nice to go through the processes and bat again at Lord’s. It’s probably the last time I’ll play a four-day game here.”For the second time in the match, though, Sangakkara was unable to go on the morning after the century before, meaning Middlesex had an end open. And while they were able to pick away at that end, eventually bowling out Surrey, it was Ben Foakes, batting for more than six hours for his 67 not out, who dragged Surrey away from danger.Ollie Rayner accounted for the Currans either side of lunch, before Dawid Malan bowled Stuart Meaker and then had Mark Footitt caught at midwicket to leave Middlesex with a chase of 242 off 39 overs. What happened next did not reflect well on the defending champions.Even with all the caveats – a red ball, no fielding restrictions, the fall in the pound – this was a chase to be undertaken: just over six an over needed, a small boundary away to the Grandstand that had been peppered regularly over the last three days. This is also a Middlesex batting line-up that went to Taunton last year and successfully chased 302 in 45.4 overs. The cornerstone of their title win was positivity and yet here, on a pitch that was still playing true, they opted for caution.Nick Gubbins and Nick Compton opened the second innings and it became apparent after the third over, which Compton played out as a maiden, that the champions were not going to go out of their way to get the runs. Gubbins was caught behind swiping in an attempt to get things going and with him seemed to go the impetus.Compton – who had 2 off 16 balls at one point – hit a couple of fours before being caught on the square-leg boundary off Footitt. Even Malan, who did not play with any particular urgency, finished with 37 off 44 balls when the game was put out of its misery. Middlesex’s captain, James Franklin, while accepting that the chase entered their minds, felt that ultimately a docile fourth-day surface would have prevented them from really going hell for leather.

ScorecardFile photo – Richard Levi was taken to hospital after being hit on the head•Getty Images

Daryl Mitchell led Worcestershire to a fourth straight Specsavers County Championship victory with a second-innings 78 not out as they comfortably chased 148 to beat Northamptonshire by eight wickets at Wantage Road but there was a serious footnote to the day after Richard Levi was struck on the head while batting.Levi ducked into a well-directer bouncer from Josh Tongue in the over before lunch and there was immediate concern for the South African, who received treatment at the wicket. He was helped from the field and was taken to hospital in an ambulance but later tweeted to say he had not suffered a fracture but was diagnosed with mild concussion.Levi had been playing well, making 28, and being forced to retire hurt was a blow to Northants’ chance of setting a testing fourth-innings target.As it was, 148 was never likely to be too taxing. Rory Kleinveldt did take two wickets, including extending Tom Fell’s poor run having him caught at midwicket for 11, but Worcestershire again had Mitchell to steer them along; he followed up his first-innings 161 with a 68-ball half-century, as he and Joe Clarke secured victory without needing to go into the fourth day.Northants did at least make their opposition work harder, having been outplayed over the first two days. They applied themselves a little better in their second innings to make 343, chiefly through Rob Keogh’s 88 not out – his best effort this season – but were again hindered in setting a larger target by some soft dismissals.Ben Duckett was among those left to regret their shot selection. Duckett had only gone past fifty twice this season in both red- and white-ball cricket before this innings and was looking for a score ahead of the England Lions series against South Africa A that starts on Thursday.He resumed 25 not out and survived two top-edged hooks that just evaded long leg and deep square respectively. He found his touch with three boundaries in an over against Jack Shantry, including a fierce pull over midwicket, and passed fifty in 72 balls with nine fours.But to the third ball of Nathan Lyon’s first over of the day, Duckett went to paddle sweep a ball drifting towards off stump, missed, and was given out by umpire Patrick Gustard. Duckett walked off in great frustration in front of the England national selector James Whittaker.His was one of only two wickets to fall in the morning session after nightwatchman Nathan Buck, having played a short-ball barrage very competently, chipped Shantry’s third ball of the day to mid-off. But after lunch Northants failed to get a significant partnership together. Adam Rossington never settled against Lyon and slapped a ball only just over the head of mid-off. He then overbalanced to a ball that turned down the leg side and Ben Cox effected a very sharp stumping.Kleinveldt provided a bright flurry including two sixes – one that cleared the perimeter wall of the ground into the houses along the Clarke Road – before he lifted Lyon to long-on. In between those dismissals, Steven Crook played perhaps the worst shot of the match, chipping Shantry straight to mid-on.It meant Keogh ran out of partners. Dropped on 28 by Fell at silly mid-on, he went through to his first Championship fifty of the season in 95 balls and with seven boundaries, the pick of them a perfect straight drive against Joe Leach. He was the one Northants player who showed the application for the situation and, had a partner stayed with him, Worcestershire may have had a stiffer task in the fourth innings.