A 1-1 scoreline between England and Sri Lanka is an unexpected turn of events after the home side cruised to victory in the opening match. But England managed to exploit bowling second, which is clearly becoming a crucial factor, and draw level by 65 runs. With the monsoon rains arriving in Colombo, where the final two matches will be played, the third encounter of the series is shaping as a possible decider.But while it was England’s quick bowlers who put them on course for a win on Thursday, spin also played a role with Graeme Swann taking 2 for 27 to follow his important contribution of 34. And Swann’s impressive form means Monty Panesar, who began the tour as England’s No. 1 spinner in ODIs, is going to face more time on the sidelines unless the series throws up a pitch expected to be a raging turner.Captain Paul Collingwood has been full of praise for Swann, who is back in the international arena more than seven years after making his debut against South Africa in January 2000. But success for Swann means a frustrating time for Panesar, who hasn’t been able to force is way into the starting XI despite playing six of the seven matches against India when England won the series 4-3.”We all know what Monty can do but Graeme Swann is performing well and that’s what we’ve asked him to do and that’s what he’s been selected for – his contribution in all three dimensions of cricket is crucial to the team,” said Collingwood. “He’s been very good. He changes his pace very well and just his overall contribution has been pretty special.”To come in at number eight and perform with the bat as well is a big contribution, especially on wickets like this. His fielding is pretty good and to bowl his 10 overs for not many runs and take crucial wickets is a really good all-round performance.”It is Swann’s three-dimensional role in the side which is proving attractive to Collingwood and Peter Moores. Without the services of Andrew Flintoff, it is allowing them to play three frontline fast bowlers – James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad – while also adding extra depth to the batting. His offspin has also provided a wicket-taking option for Collingwood and he produced a perfect delivery to remove Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was bowled through the gate trying to drive.Sri Lanka are considering strengthening their spin attack with the inclusion of legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi after England milked the part-time offerings of Dilshan and Sanath Jaysuriya in the second match to begin their recovery. In an attempt to adjust to conditions under lights, should they be asked to chase again, Sri Lanka switched their practice session to the evening and coach Trevor Bayliss said he was surprised that all five matches were day/night fixtures.”We’ve still got to be confident playing at home, but the one thing I’ve found a little bit strange coming from Australia to here was that we’re actually playing five matches at night,” said Bayliss. “I can see the point of having one or two at night, but I thought that if there is a home-ground advantage, we’ve probably lost that by playing at night.”He said life would have been tougher for England if some day games had been included in the series. “If we’d have played in the middle of the day when it’s a bit warmer for the English guys, it might have been a bit more interesting. But that’s the sort of thing you have to put up with and that’s the decision that’s been made and we’ve got to work out a way to play in the conditions that we’re given.”Sri Lanka (probable) Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Jehan Mubarak, Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara FernandoEngland (probable) Alastair Cook, Phil Mustard (wk), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood (capt), Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson

Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder, has opted out of the Test series against South Africa, indicating he did not want to play while fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector confirmed that Afridi had asked to be rested for the Test series and his request had been accepted. “Afridi asked the board to give him a rest because he wanted to fast during the remaining part of Ramadan,” Salahuddin said. “We have decided to accept his request and allowed him a rest. He will be in consideration for the one-day series.””I asked the Pakistan board to allow me to skip the two Tests against South Africa because it would be difficult to fast and play in Ramadan,” Afridi told .Afridi dismissed suggestions that he had withdrawn because of his poor show in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 against India. “We lost the final due to poor batting and I apologised to the fans for not doing my part in the final but that did not influence my decision of not playing Tests.”Afridi was named Player of the Tournament in South Africa with 91 runs at a strike rate of 197.82 and 12 wickets at an economy rate of 6.71.Pakistan’s squad for the first Test against South Africa is scheduled to be announced on Friday.

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Graham Manou was unbeaten on 99 at stumps, pushing South Australia to 7 for 303 after Brett Geeves rattled the top order with his first Pura Cup five-wicket haul. Geeves did his damage either side of the lunch break as the Redbacks lost 6 for 31 before Manou built two fighting partnerships, first with Ryan Harris and then with Jason Gillespie.After a demoralising 2006-07 in which he lost his wicketkeeping spot due to his lack of runs, Manou is set to reclaim his position permanently with what should become his second first-class century. Harris made a valuable 60 and with Manou added 112 for the seventh wicket, while Gillespie was 48 not out at the close.But South Australia’s fragile top order remained a major concern, with only Matthew Elliott (55) troubling Tasmania’s bowlers. Geeves finished with a career-best 5 for 49 and his first four victims came in a five-over spell that helped reduce the Redbacks to 6 for 92.Geeves broke the 61-run opening stand by removing Shane Deitz for 18, then had Nathan Adcock lbw and Mark Cosgrove caught behind within the space of three balls. He ended his destructive period with the crucial dismissals of Darren Lehmann and Elliott, while Ben Hilfenhaus chipped in with 2 for 99.

New South Wales 7 for 512 dec beat Tasmania 214 and 263 (Butterworth 116, Birt 77, Bollinger 6-63, Bracken 4-53) by an innings and 35 runs
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Doug Bollinger picked up his second six-wicket haul to complete an emphatic victory for New South Wales by an innings and 35 runs. He had reached a career-best 6 for 68 in the first innings, but improved on that again in the second, with 6 for 63.Nathan Bracken also added four, all taken on the final day, to press his Test claims as Tasmania subsided in the morning and were wrapped up before lunch. They began the day 157 behind with six wickets remaining, but were pushing for parity as Luke Butterworth converted his overnight 62 to a century.He finally fell on 116, bowled by Bracken, who had earlier picked up Brett Geeves. Bracken then went on to clean up Brendan Drew and had Ben Hilfenhaus caught at second slip to close out the match.But the main excitement came early on with Bollinger’s double strike earning him the first 12-wicket haul by a New South Wales player at the SCG since Richie Benaud in 1959-60. Travis Birt was Bollinger’s first wicket of the day, leaving one that clattered into his stumps on 77. Sean Clingeleffer followed soon after, edging to second slip, and the writing was soon on the wall for Tasmania.Bollinger’s haul comes amid a rich vein of form that started in Pakistan in August on Australia’s A tour. This season he has taken 26 first-class wickets at 12.50, just behind the leading wicket-taker Ashley Noffke, who has played one extra match with five. Bollinger, however, has the most wickets in the Pura Cup so far.New South Wales once tried calling him Bubbles because of his surname. That may not have stuck, but it’s a fair bet there will plenty of champagne tonight.

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Twenty wickets fell on a dramatic opening day in Siliguri as Sourav Sarkar, the medium-pacer, helped Bengal sneak ahead by eight runs in the first innings. Orissa, who chose to field first, had a near-perfect bowling session, bundling Bengal out for 107 but their batsmen surrendered the advantage, collapsing for 99 in 38.4 overs. Basanth Mohanty, the debutant medium-pacer for Orissa, stole the show with 6 for 28 in just 8.3 overs, but he was overshadowed by Sarkar’s maiden five-wicket haul. Bengal’s openers played out the final 1.2 overs without any further loss.
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A 201-run stand between Karan Goel and Ravi Inder put Punjab in firm control on the first day of their match against Baroda at the Gandhi Sports Complex Ground in Amritsar. Baroda’s decision to field first was followed by an early wicket, when Ravneet Ricky fell in the eighth over, but Goel and Inder ensured it was only a false dawn. Goel notched up his maiden first-class hundred, with the help of 16 fours, while Inder gave him good company by carting 13 hits to the boundary.
ScorecardIt was a bowlers day out in Uppal as Andhra gained the upperhand in their derby against Hyderabad. Choosing to bat first, Andhra managed only 159 but their bowlers, led by medium-pacer P Vijay Kumar, reduced Hyderabad to a perilous 52 for 5 by the end of the day. Hemal Watekar and Gnaneshwara Rao boosted the Andhra innings before Bodapati Sumanth eked out some runs with the tail. Kumar and Kalyankrishna, the new-ball bowlers, then responded splendidly to rattle Hyderabad’s top order, reducing them to 18 for 4. Arjun Yadav, the captain, warded off further trouble and ground out a 78-ball 15 to keep Hyderabad in the hunt.
ScorecardMumbai’s decision to bat first backfired as Pankaj Singh’s five-wicket haul restricted them to 290 for 9 at the end of the first day in Jhalawar. Pankaj, the tall fast bowler who has been a consistent domestic performer over the years, snapped up his fourth five-wicket haul to break the backbone of the Mumbai middle order. He struck with the wicket of Sahil Kukreja early and went on to dismiss Amol Muzumdar, the captain, Ramesh Powar, the centurion in the previous game, Vinayak Samant and Iqbal Abdulla. It was mainly thanks to a fighting 90 from Ajinkya Rahane, the opener, and 62 from Rohit Sharma that Mumbai stayed afloat.
ScorecardS Badrinath’s 111 propped up Tamil Nadu on the opening day in Chennai but it was Ashok Thakur, with 6 for 34, who seized the initiative for Himachal Pradesh. Tamil Nadu seemed to be making the most of winning the toss as Badrinath and K Vasudevadas added 97 for the third wicket but Thakur, the medium-pacer, got stuck into the middle order. Tamil Nadu lost their last eight wickets for 89 runs with Badrinath the last man to fall after reaching his 14th first-class hundred.Delhi 23 for 1 trail Maharashtra 219 (Kanitkar 67, Bhatia 5-) by 196 runs
Scorecard Rajat Bhatia grabbed his maiden first-class five-for to dismiss Maharashtra to 219 on the first day in Nagothane. After Maharashtra had recovered from the loss of their first wicket in the second over of the day, Bhatia exploited the inconsistent bounce on the track and got five middle-order batsmen to edge to the waiting slips. Only a stodgy half-century from Hrishikesh Kanitkar and handy contributions from Vishal Bhilare and Kedar Jadhav got Maharashtra past 200. (Click here to read the full report.)
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Medium-pacer R Vinay Kumar grabbed his fifth five-wicket haul, which included his 100th first-class wicket, as Karnataka kept Saurashtra down to 229 for 8 on the opening day of the fifth-round clash in Mysore. Karnataka’s decision to field first paid off as their bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals. Almost all the Saurashtra batsmen got starts but none went on to score a half-century. Kumar and his opening partner NC Aiyappa accounted for seven of the eight wickets to fall, with left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi claiming the other.

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No play was possible on the second day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final between Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) due to rain and subsequently a wet outfield.A total of 25 overs were lost yesterday due to bad light and as players took the field for warm-up, heavy rain lashed the entire city forcing the square to be covered. Although the covers did come off post-lunch, rain water had seeped through onto the pitch and the square forcing the umpires to call off play at 3.15pm local time.Keeping the inclement weather forecast in mind, the Pakistan board has already kept areserve day in order to obtain a result providing a winner is not declared on first-innings lead over the span of five days.