India in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka piled on ton after ton until they finally declared at 610-6 after debutant Thilan Samaraweera achieved his maiden ton off the last ball. All the Indians could do on the third day was take the wicket of another centurion Mahela Jayawardene (139) while the home team added on 287 runs. India began their second innings facing a mammoth deficit of 376 runs and were 28-0 at stumps.

Asian Test Championships (ATC)

The agony of the Bangladesh cricket team finally came to an end just after lunch on the third day when Pakistan handed them their biggest ever loss in Test cricket so far defeating them by an innings and 264 runs. Overnight 55-3 the hapless visitors could not hold out for long against the leg-spin of Danish Kaneria and the pace of skipper Waqar Younis and collapsed for 148. Young Kaneria came up with match figures of 12-94.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) has decided to open its gates and allow free admission to cricket lovers for the second Asian Test Championship match to be played between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo from September 6-10. This will be the first match to be played between these two countries.

Asian Test Championships schedule

Miscellaneous

Sachin Tendulkar who is at present undergoing treatment with famed orthopaedician Mark Ferguson in South Africa says he does not want to predict a time frame for his return. Tendulkar has been advised by the South African surgeon to wear specially designed shoes. Tendulkar said his injury does not really need treatment, but needs rest. India begins an important tour of South Africa in early October and also has England waiting for them back home when they return in December.

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Former Australian cricketer and CEO of the Sussex Cricket County David Gilbert has said that Steve Waugh's comments that county matches were a waste of time were totally unwarranted and uncalled for. He reminded the elder Waugh of the times that he was a young New South Wales player dying to make his mark and said he would have been absolutely disappointed if a South African, West Indian or an English side made statements that playing state teams was a waste of time. He also felt Waugh's comments were off target regarding the length of tour as this was one of the shortest Ashes tours to have been made.

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Heath Streak will lead a revitalised Zimbabwe team against the touring South Africans this month. South Africa play two Tests and three one-dayers in a short tour. Wicketkeeper Andy Flower and seam bowler Brighton Watambwa make their come back into the side after missing out the previous series against the West Indies due to injuries. The team also includes 17-year-old Hamilton Masakadza, who had became the youngest player in history to make a Test century on debut when he scored 119 against West Indies at Harare recently. The only new face in the side is 22-year-old seam bowler Douglas Hondo, who is from the Zimbabwe's CFX Academy.

The full team and itinerary is as follows:
Zimbabwe squad:
H Streak (H Streak (Capt), A Flower (WK),G Whittall, A Blignaut, A Campbell, S Carlisle, D Ebrahim, G Flower, T Friend, D Hondo, H Masakadza, D Mutendera, H Olonga, R Price, T Taibu, B Watambwa, C Wishart.

Sept 7-11	1st Test	Harare
Sept 14-18	2nd Test	Bulawayo
Sept 21	vs Zimbabwe A	Bulawayo
Sept 23	1st ODI	Bulawayo
Sept 29	2nd OD	Harare
Sept 30	3rd ODI	Harare

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The former Hon. Secretary of the BCCI and later the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Jagmohan Dalmiya is looking to contest for the post of president of the BCCI during the forthcoming AGM. AC Muthiah has held this position for the past two years. Muthiah who completes his term in September is reportedly keen on extending his term for a year as he feels he still has some more work that he started to be completed. It seems Dalmiya is not happy with the way Muthiah has gone about his job, specially with the latter's handling of the Indo-Pakistan cricketing ties. In the meanwhile there is a rumour that the Mumbai Cricket Association president Sharad Pawar and the Union Law minister Arun Jaitley, currently the president of the Delhi and District Association, are also in the fray for the position.

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Dashing Pakistani opener Shahid Afridi could the one factor that would take his team Leicestershire to victory in the final of the C&G final against Somerset to be played at Lord's today. Afridi who came into the side as a replacement for Australian Daniel Marsh has dished out some spectacular performances for the county. He smashed a 67 off 44 balls against Worcestershire and a 95 from 58 deliveries in the semi-final against Lancashire. Afridi has been nicknamed "free spirit" by his county coach Jack Birkenshaw, who says every thing Afridi does, he does with speed be it batting or bowling. He added that if Afridi could just calm himself down a bit he would become a sensational cricketer.

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The Pakistan cricket Board have appointed a one man judicial commission to probe two of Pakistan's matches (against Bangladesh & India) during the 1999 World Cup. The then captain Wasim Akram denied all the allegations and Pakistan's Accountability Bureau cleared the team saying they had investigated the matter with the help of their own sources. The PCB has also formed a three-member review panel to keep a close watch on match fixing.

SCORES AT A GLANCE

India v Sri Lanka(3rd Test)
at Colombo (3rd day)
Toss: India

India:
234 (SS Das 59, S Ramesh 46, R Dravid 36, H Badani 38; Muralitharan 8-87)
28-0 (SS Das 22 not out, S Ramesh 4 not out)

Sri Lanka:
610-6 (M Atapattu 108, K Sangakkara 47, M Jayawardene 139, H Tillekaratne 136 not out, T Samaraweera 103 not out; V Prasad 3-101)

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1st MATCH - ASIAN TEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
Pakistan v Bangladesh
at Multan, Pakistan (3rd day)
Toss: Bangladesh

Bangladesh:
134 (Mehrab Hossain 19; D Kaneria 6-42)
148 (Habibul Bashar 56 not out, Hasibul Hossain 31; D Kaneria 6-52, Waqar Younis 4-19)

Pakistan:
546-3 decl (S Anwar 101, Taufeeq Umar 104, Inzamamul Haq 105 retd. hurt., Yousuf Youhana 105 not out, Abdur Razzaq 110 not out)

Result: Pakistan won by an innings & 264 runs.
Man of the match: D Kaneria (Pak)

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