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India were declared winners of the Tri-Nation Under-19s Tournament in South Africa after the final against South Africa was washed out in Johannesburg. This was the second match between the two teams that was abandoned due to rain after the last league match met a watery grave on Sunday.India dominated the tournament from the outset having gone undefeated in the league phase. The hosts got off to a winning start against Sri Lanka but lost the momentum, crashing to defeats against them and India.Paceman Saurabh Netravalkar was adjudged Player of the Series for his excellent returns. Netravalkar picked eight wickets including a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka, making him one of the players to watch out for in the upcoming Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Buddika from Sri Lanka and Colin Ackermann for the hosts gave good accounts of themselves with the bat and will take confidence into the tournament.

New Zealand are likely to pull out of their rescheduled tour of Zimbabwe following the collapse of public health system in the African nation. Major Western governments have advised against non-essential travel to Zimbabwe, and the foreign ministries of Australia, New Zealand and the UK have warned that public hospitals there were experiencing shortages of staff, water, power, medicines and equipment.New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan and the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association boss Heath Mills expressed their concerns about the proposed trip, which has already been delayed once.”The pragmatist in me suggests that there’s still another two years to go in the current international playing programme and we could look to postpone again,” Vaughan told the . “Medical facilities are a concern. You can go to countries and protect yourself against infectious diseases and the like as long as you’ve got a decent standard of hygiene and healthcare services available to you.”We’re not in possession of all the facts quite yet, but it appears that [health] could be quite a significant concern. Certainly, NZC is non-negotiable on the matter of putting our team at risk at any time.”Mills said he feared for player safety if the medical situation didn’t improve in Zimbabwe. “I’d be very concerned about them going in the existing circumstances,” he said. “I fail to see how you can put the team into a country which is effectively third world, and when there’s so little confidence in the health infrastructure.”We need to be confident our players can get the appropriate standard of medical care. If you can’t get those assurances, I’d be very uncomfortable about the team going.”New Zealand postponed the tour – originally scheduled to be held in July this year – for a year after a decision was made in February with the New Zealand government vetoing the trip on political grounds, a decision which protected NZC from being fined for breaching a touring contract.Under the ICC rules, a team may only withdraw from a sanctioned tour for health and safety reasons, but is immune from penalty if prevented from touring by a government order.Despite Zimbabwe’s shaky political situation, Murray McCully, a spokesman for the foreign minister said no decision had yet been made about the tour. “We’re keeping a watching brief on the situation in Zimbabwe as things are still relatively fluid, politically and security-wise, and the situation could easily change significantly before the tour is scheduled to begin.”Vaughan said a government decree against touring Zimbabwe would make things easier but such decisions couldn’t be made lightly. “They [the New Zealand government] stepped in to cause the postponement of this year’s visit … so we pushed the tour forward 12 months,” Vaughan said. “And that’s what we might do again.”

After a ten-wicket win in the first round of matches, Northern Districts (ND) beat Central Districts (CD) by nine wickets in Whangarei. Set a modest target of 126 on the third day, thanks in no small part to the seamer Graeme Aldridge’s match haul of 11 for 145, ND were eased home by Michael Parlane’s unbeaten 66. With this win ND remained top of the pile with maximum points after two rounds.CD had resumed the third day trailing at 178 for 5, and soon slipped when the overnight pair of Mathew Sinclair and Bevan Griggs was removed. Aldridge got Griggs to nick one behind early in the day, giving Peter McGlashan his record 12th catch. Aldridge picked up 5 for 96 as CD were bowled out for 310. That achievement, after he took 6 for 49 earlier to shoot CD out for just 94, made his the best bowling performance of all time against this opposition – surpassing DB Clarke’s 10 for 78 record set in Whangarei in 1967-68.ND made 279 in their first innings, with Anton Devcich and fellow rookie Jono Boult making important half-centuries, before Aldridge enjoyed a second outing against CD.Peter Fulton’s important runs for Canterbury in Rangoria helped in a 115-run win over Otago as well as earn him a recall to New Zealand’s Test side. Fulton made 172 in the first innings to help Canterbury post 440 and then hit 77 as they declared on 265 for 5 in the second, setting Otago a massive 471 to win. They were bowled out for 355.The impetus for the win was Canterbury’s first innings total. Fulton’s century was a massive contribution, after the openers Rob Nicol (75) and Michael Papps (51) launched a strong start. The next highest score was 35 as Sam Wells took five wickets. Shane Bond enjoyed a return to the four-day format with 4 for 63 to help keep Otago to 235, after which Canterbury posted 265 for 5 in 73 overs.At the Basin Reserve, Wellington’s Cameron Merchant converted an unplanned promotion into his maiden first-class century to help the hosts beat Auckland by 99 runs. A week after he was dismissed for 99, Merchant hit 108 for 128 balls on a flat track to put Wellington in a winning position heading into the final day.Wellington, who declared at 280 for 5 in their second innings with a 362-run lead and after already securing two first-innings points, their first of the season, achieved the win by bowling out Auckland for 263.Auckland, having opted to field, lost ground when Wellington made 356 with Mathew Bell (91) and Josh Brodie (103) adding 151 for the opening wickets. Auckland then declared their first innings at 274 for 9, conceding first-innings points. The opener Richard Jones hit a century while Jeetan Patel took 4 for 73.

Match facts

Thursday, November 5
Start time 1430 (0900GMT)That leaves us, and 10 more•AFP

Big Picture

Australia have no business being 2-2 in this series. Seven first-choice men out, followed by two of their replacements (Moises Henriques being the latest). Foreign conditions. Back-to-back matches, spread across the length and breadth of India, suggesting more a sightseeing tour than one of the cricketing variety. Bowlers struggling at the death. Big hitters absent. Horror of horrors, Andrew Symonds is being discussed again by the fans. Conventional wisdom suggests that cannot be a good sign for the Australian team. Look at the scoreline, though – Two wins each. Who told Australia they could compete once their players started going down one by one after the first ODI?Two-all doesn’t mean this becomes a fresh three-match series, as MS Dhoni would suggest. Australia have simply lost too many players, which has made India the favourites though the Mohali loss puts the pressure back on the hosts. They will know losing the series in home conditions against an under-strength Australia will be an embarrassment; a 4-3 result won’t be much better received. All of which gives Australia added incentive to win on Thursday and take a step closer to the grand heist.India have had their share of injury troubles, with Zaheer Khan out for the series and Gautam Gambhir missing the fourth ODI. But the selectors’ retaining the existing XV for the final three games suggests Gambhir’s injury is not serious, nor is Virender Sehwag’s. India need a win in Hyderabad to start their march towards 5-2, anything less than which should disappoint them. By the look of things right now, there are no excuses in sight either.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia – WLLWW
India – LWWLW

Watch out for…

Virender Sehwag: Two fours off first two balls in Vadodara, three in the first over in Nagpur, and a first-ball boundary in Mohali. Despite a sedate 11 off 25 in Delhi, Sehwag’s strike-rate for the series is 109.3, but he has faced only 86 balls in four matches. He needs to face 86 balls in one innings – and preferably utilise the third Powerplay.Ricky Ponting has been exemplary through the series both as captain and in scoring 197 runs at 49.25. What’s missing so far is the definitive Ponting knock, one during which he lets go of all restraint and wins the match on his own. The law of averages suggests it could be just around the corner.

Team news

Gambhir has been cleared to play and is likely to replace Virat Kohli, and it would be a surprise if India split Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar at the top.India(probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt./wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashish Nehra.It’s an easy selection for Australia – with 13 fit men, they have only to decide which two to keep out. Clint McKay has arrived in India, but he and Jon Holland are likely to sit out.Australia (probable): 1 Shane Watson, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt.), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Cameron White, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Graham Manou (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Doug Bollinger.

Pitch and conditions

Everyone who played the Champions League matches in Hyderabad loved the pitch: true and flat. And being in the southern part of India, Hyderabad should be relatively dew-free. The toss shouldn’t put any team at a major disadvantage.

Stats and trivia

• Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, a relatively new addition to Hyderabad, hasn’t been kind to teams who call themselves hosts. Deccan Chargers have gone through a season each of IPL and Champions League without registering a win. India have lost both the ODIs they have played here: to South Africa in 2005-06 and to Australia in 2007-08. Hyderabad, who call this their home ground, have lost six out of seven List A games they have played here, and won three and lost four first-class games.
• Yuvraj Singh has scored two centuries in those two lost matches: 103 off 122 balls against South Africa, and 121 off 115 balls against Australia.
• MS Dhoni and Michael Hussey have been the most consistent batsmen in the series. Dhoni has scored 255 runs at 85 and is the only centurion in the series on either side. Hussey has managed 247 at 82.33, his lowest score being 40, in Mohali.

Quotes

“It’s disappointing to see these guys go down, because you know how much they want to play and be a part of the series. So it’s more disappointing for them more so than anything. I’m sure everyone who’s returned back home would much rather be here with the series as it is at the moment, but we’ve got what we’ve got.”
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Mohammad Sami is confident of staging a comeback to the Pakistan team, following his ICL stint, through his performances for Karachi Blues in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.”I feel there is still cricket left in me and that is why I am playing on the domestic circuit for Karachi Blues – to win back my place in the team,” Sami told . “Though I bowled really well in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, I managed just 13 wickets. I am really working hard to excel and get the attention of selectors.”The 28-year-old fast bowler joined the unofficial league after 33 Test and 83 ODIs for Pakistan. He has taken 81 Tests wickets at an expensive 51.37, including eight on his debut against New Zealand. He also has 118 ODI wickets at 26.49.”I will shortly be presenting my NOC to PCB,” Sami said. “But I am waiting for my third installment of payments from ICL. Representing Pakistan had always been a great honor for me. I am fully focused on producing my best in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.”Sami praised his new-ball partner Tanvir Ahmed for his outstanding performance in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy so far. Tanvir leads the bowling charts with 39 wickets from four matches at 13.97, and has been key to Karachi’s domination at the top of Group B. “Due to his [Tanvir’s] excellent bowling we recorded three victories,” Sami said.

Division Two

Mark Wallace was one of four century-makers for Glamorgan as they piled up a huge total at The Oval•PA Photos

Northamptonshire will now have their attention firmly fixed on events at Derby after they completed a crushing innings-and-196-run victory against Leicestershire at Wantage Road to move into the second promotion place. However, if Essex manage to conjure a victory from their match against Derbyshire it is them who will go up. Still, Northamptonshire couldn’t do any more than this crushing win which was completed mid-way through the afternoon session. David Lucas, who had the two overnight wickets, finished with 7 for 45. He removed Paul Nixon and Greg Smith early on and when Leicestershire slumped to 45 for 6 it didn’t seem as though they would make it to lunch. However, James Benning opened his shoulders with 72 off 64 balls and James Taylor showed some defiance as the pair added 86 before Benning fell to Nicky Boje. Claude Henderson offered a few lusty blows, but the end wasn’t far off coming. Lucas removed Henderson and Wayne White then Johan van der Wath bowled Harry Gurney to leave Northamptonshire watching the television, hoping Derbyshire do them a favour.Sam Northeast carried his bat for an unbeaten career-best 128, his maiden century, but Kent ended the season with an innings-and-23-run defeat against Gloucestershire at Bristol. Even though the home side’s hopes of promotion vanished with Northamptonshire’s win, they continued to dominant this game as they had done for the majority of the time. Kent began their second innings 288 runs behind, after Stephen Adshead completed his century, and their strongest period of defiance came as Northeast and Robert Key opened with 101 in 17 overs. But when Key was bowled by Steve Kirby the innings started to unravel. Alex Blake fell for a duck and Hamish Marshall chipped out two with his medium pace before Anthony Ireland – who was drafted in to replace James Franklin after his call-up to the Champions Trophy – claimed a brace for himself. Northeast’s hundred came from 133 balls and the lower order hit hard until Jon Lewis claimed the final wicket with Geraint Jones unable to bat due to a neck problem.Glamorgan’s batsmen continued to gorge themselves at The Oval as they amassed 702 for 8 against Surrey, just 16 short of their all-time highest total. Mark Cosgrove and Gareth Rees carried their opening stand to 314 before Cosgrove was run out for 175. Rees continued to a career-best 154 then Surrey enjoyed their best period with the ball as four wickets fell for 37 to Chris Jordan and Richard Logan. However, if they thought their toil would be ended they were proved very wrong as Mark Wallace and Jim Allenby added a club-record 240. Wallace eased to his second hundred of the season as the lead swelled and Allenby joined him as the fourth century-maker of the innings. When the declaration finally came, Garnett Kruger rubbed salt in Surrey’s wounds by removing Michael Brown for 17.Essex have been left needing some magic from Danish Kaneria against Derbyshire or will have to chase whatever they are set to snatch promotion off Northamptonshire. Andrew McGlashan watched the action.

Division One

Gary Keedy spun out Warwickshire with season-best 6 for 50 as Lancashire finished their Championship season with a 10-wicket victory at Old Trafford. Keedy’s haul ensured a day off for the players before their final Pro40 match as he removed Warwickshire a lead of just three. The visitors’ top order had gone to pace as Sajid Mahmood claimed two and Kyle Hogg trapped Ian Bell lbw for 9. Then it was over to Keedy who began by removing Jonathan Trott leg before to end a stand of 50 with Jim Troughton. Most of the middle order got starts, and Tim Ambrose pushed onto 55, but Keedy kept chipping away. It then took Tom Smith two balls to hit the winning runs.Nottinghamshire batted themselves into control for second place and a useful pay-day against relegated Sussex. Jon Culley reports from Trent Bridge.Yorkshire and Hampshire are both secure in Division One as there final game continues. John Ward watched the action at Headingley.Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit a double century as Durham passed 600 against Worcestershire. George Dobell was at New Road.

The planets are aligning for Matthew Wade. Despite being Victoria’s Sheffield Shield wicketkeeper last summer, Wade remained behind Adam Crosthwaite in the Twenty20 pecking order but Crosthwaite’s post-season move to Sydney means the gloves have been tossed to Wade for the upcoming US$6 million Champions League in India.And then there’s the wider picture. After a decade in which the national selectors rarely needed to look beyond Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin, the Australians have used five wicketkeepers in 2009 alone. Graham Manou played the Edgbaston Test when Haddin was injured, Chris Hartley filled in during an Ashes tour match, Tim Paine is now the backup for ODIs and Luke Ronchi took the gloves in a Twenty20 in January.There is no better time to be a young Australian wicketkeeper, as Paine discovered when he was plucked from Tasmania to replace Haddin for the one-dayers in England and the Champions Trophy. As an excellent batsman and improving gloveman Wade, 21, knows there could be chances for national representation sooner than expected, particularly now that he is Victoria’s wicketkeeper in all forms of the game.”I was no chance of getting picked for the Champions Trophy over there, purely because of the fact that I wasn’t playing one-day cricket as a keeper,” Wade said. “You have to be playing all three forms of the game if you want to play for Australia.”They’ve picked Painey, which is fine with me, he’s a very good one-day player and four-day player, and he’s got the runs on the board in all three forms. If I keep doing the right things in domestic cricket and try to put some scores together in one-day cricket, and obviously get a few in this tournament in India and you never ever know.”Wade’s 2008-09 form certainly suggests he will be in contention for future top-level vacancies. He scored 545 Sheffield Shield runs at 49.54 – fourth on Victoria’s list of averages for the summer – and led the competition’s glovemen with a Victorian record 57 dismissals.That form prompted Crosthwaite, the first-choice in 50-over and Twenty20 cricket, to surmise that his opportunities at Victoria would remain limited, so he headed north to try his luck in Sydney. Wade’s success has justified two decisions he made early in his career: to give up Australian Rules football – he played for Tasmania in the VFL and was a potential AFL draftee – and to move to Victoria at 19.”I love keeping. The reason I came to Victoria was to be a keeper. I could have stayed in Tassie and played as a bat. I see my future as being a keeper and Victoria do, hopefully, too,” Wade said. “I was pretty happy with my glovework last year. I think from the season before it improved a lot. If I can keep improving a little bit each year I’ll be very happy. It’s the best I’ve kept for a while.”He will be seriously tested when he has to keep to Muttiah Muralitharan, one of Victoria’s two overseas signings, for next season’s Twenty20. But first on the agenda is the Champions League, where Victoria and New South Wales will be the two Australian teams in a 12-side competition.One of the most fascinating stories of the competition will concern Wade’s Victoria team-mate Dirk Nannes, who will play with his IPL team Delhi Daredevils rather than the Bushrangers. Victoria’s first game is against Delhi, but Wade predicted Nannes would be given a friendly reception by his state colleagues.”It’s Twenty20 stuff, I’m not sure if you get too much time to have a little sledge out there,” Wade said. “I think it’ll be pretty good spirits out there. We’re out there to do a job and so is he now for Delhi. There won’t be too much I wouldn’t have thought.”Victoria begin their preparations for the Champions League with some practice matches against New South Wales and Tasmania in Lismore in the coming weeks, before flying out in early October. All 12 teams have named preliminary squads and must trim their groups to 15 by Monday.

Kent’s opening batsmen, Joe Denly, has been called up to replace the injured Kevin Pietersen in England’s one-day squad for their seven ODI series against Australia, plus the subsequent Champions Trophy in South Africa. Denly, 23, is the only uncapped player in a 15-man squad, and will also travel to Old Trafford for the two Twenty20 internationals on August 30 and September 1.”Joe Denly has impressed the selectors for a while with some excellent performances in one-day cricket and with Kevin Pietersen unavailable through injury, this is an excellent opportunity for Joe to step up to the next level and show what he is capable of,” said the ECB’s national selector, Geoff Miller, who added that the selectors had kept faith with the bulk of the squad which was successful in the ODIs against West Indies earlier in the summer.”It is a dream come true for me,” said Denly, who averaged 51.85 in the Friends Provident Trophy this season, and who made 66 and 36 for England Lions against the Australians at Worcester in July. “As a youngster, I dreamt about representing Kent and now I have the honour of hopefully playing for my country. I’ve always had ambitions of playing for England; whether it be at one-day or Test match level. I feel very proud and hope to forge a long international career.”I won’t look to change too much. I’m confident that I’ve got the game to step up to the next level and I cannot wait to represent England. I’ve played for the Lions but stepping up into the main side is great for me. I did pretty well against the Aussies for the Lions and will hope to carry that on for the rest of the summer.”Hopefully I will get a go in a few of the one-dayers and Twenty20 matches and you never know where that will lead. If I continue my form in the County Championship then hopefully they will consider me, for Test match cricket too, although I realise that could be a while off as there are a few players ahead of me. I just need to keep performing for Kent and now hopefully for England too. I cannot wait to link-up with the group.”Andrew Strauss will once again lead England in their major ODI campaigns, although not in the two Twenty20s where Paul Collingwood continues in the role he assumed for the ICC World Twenty20 in June. Collingwood will also take charge for the one-off ODI against Ireland in Belfast on August 27 that serves as a warm-up for the main events that follow.”Andrew Strauss has led the side extremely well in both forms of cricket this summer,” said Miller, “but the selectors felt it would be beneficial for him to have a short break from international cricket following the conclusion of the npower Ashes Test series and Paul Collingwood will lead the side in Ireland and in The NatWest International Twenty20s. “As expected Ravi Bopara, who was axed from England’s Test squad for Thursday’s Ashes decider, is included for all formats, alongside Andrew Flintoff, who will retire from Test cricket this week, but who will remain available to England in the limited-overs format for the foreseeable. Jonathan Trott, Bopara’s replacement in the Test side, has been named in the squad for the two T20Is at Old Trafford, having previously played two such matches for England in 2007.Luke Wright and Adil Rashid, who impressed for England during the World Twenty20, have been rewarded with places in the ODI squads, but four other squad members from that tournament have not been retained. Denly’s Kent captain and opening partner, Robert Key, is back on the sidelines, along with Essex’s specialist wicketkeeper, James Foster, who has been superseded by an in-form Matt Prior, and Dimitri Mascarenhas, who has been discarded from all formats. Graham Napier, who was selected in the World Twenty20 squad but did not play a match, is also out of the reckoning.Squad for ODIs v Australia & Champions Trophy: Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Andrew Flintoff, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.Squad for ODI v Ireland: Paul Collingwood (capt), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Joe Denly, Andrew Flintoff, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.Squad for Twenty20 internationals v Australia: Paul Collingwood (capt), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Joe Denly, Andrew Flintoff, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright.

ScorecardRob Key smacked 30 from 24 balls•Getty Images

The largest crowd at Canterbury since 1993 witnessed a skilful and deeply impressive bowling performance from the home side as Kent brushed Durham aside in a manner befitting a team who have reached Twenty20 finals day for the third year in a row.What made their performance today all the more impressive, however, was that they themselves struggled with the bat, throwing away another fine start by Joe Denly and Robert Key to reach an underwhelming 149 for 7. Yet they fought back superbly with the ball, firstly through Wayne Parnell, cutting a sizeable hole in Durham’s top-order, and then James Tredwell. Durham didn’t have an answer.Parnell cuts a wonderfully aggressive figure as an opening bowler, resembling a youthful Jason Gillespie in beard and brawn, and is no less skillful. His excellence with the new ball continued, removing Phil Mustard with the first ball of Durham’s chase when the wicketkeeper slapped ungainly to mid-off. A mouth-watering battle promised: Parnell versus David Warner, the young and outrageously uninhibited Australian, but Parnell won that battle comfortably, luring him into a loose drive outside off. Parnell had 2 for 8 off his first two overs.Simon Cook replaced him and immediately bowled a full length – too full for Geraint Jones, who let through four byes – but England’s former wicketkeeper reminded everyone of his sporadic brilliance with the gloves to produce a sublime stumping a few balls later, whipping off the bails to remove Kyle Coetzer for 12. With the wickets came panic. What should have been an easy single on the leg-side turned into a horrible, jittery run that left Ian Blackwell short of his ground, as Cook at short fine-leg threw down the stumps. Durham were in disarray.All eyes on their captain, Will Smith, to assert some semblance of calm on proceedings, but his desperate slice was cleanly taken by Denly, running backwards from point, while Gareth Breese holed out to Tredwell in the spinner’s first over. Durham weren’t simply facing defeat, but an outright rout at 39 for 6.Like a wizened sage, Dale Benkenstein offered the visitors the vaguest of chances with several meaty blows, including a savage pull into the burger van at midwicket, but these were the last smouldering embers of an innings which never truly caught fire. Tredwell’s full length and quick change of pace castled Harmison, and Benkenstein was left stranded, a little bemused at his team-mates’ ineptitude, and ultimately gutted.Durham were on the money with the ball earlier, however. But where the two innings differed lay in the Kentish openers’ initial glitzy success, and the ugly lower-order heavies of Justin Kemp and Ryan McLaren. Denly and Key have done it so often for Kent and have that inherent, unspoken understanding that successful opening partnerships rely upon, and that was again obvious today with frequent stolen singles in addition to classy boundaries down the ground.Key dispatched Liam Plunkett’s fourth delivery into the burger and chips fraternity at midwicket for the day’s cleanest maximum, as he and Denly scorched 50 in six overs of clean-hitting. Durham fought back gainly through Mitchell Claydon – not his bowling, but his catching. Square of jaw, and squarer of build, he doesn’t resemble one of Australia’s most natural athletes, but pulled off three highly impressive snaffles, two of which were taken diving forward and to his right at long-on to dismiss both openers.Ben Harmison impressed in the absence of his brother, Steve, picking up 3 for 24 in a controlled spell, but Kemp used his long levers to muscle vital lower-order runs while McLaren slice-smashed Neil Killeen for four, in between scampering singles like a frightened whippet. With 21 from 13, he heaved Kent to what was an underwhelming total for a team of such talents, but ultimately it was enough for one with such a potent bowling attack.For the third year in a row, Kent have reached Twenty20 finals day. It’s nothing less than they deserve.

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain, has hinted at picking four seamers for the final Test against Pakistan which means the out-of-form spinner Ajantha Mendis could sit out the match starting Monday. Left-arm medium-pacer Chaminda Vaas will be returning to the side for the Test, which he announced will be his last.”Playing four seamers is a very good possibility, the combinations are endless with the quality we have,” Sangakkara said. “The best balance is always seven batsmen and four bowlers depending on who the bowlers are. We’ve played cricket at the SSC with six batsmen and five bowlers, one of them being an allrounder. Those two conditions sit very well with us.”Since his debut in July 2008, Mendis has only missed one out of nine Tests Sri Lanka played – against Bangladesh, when he twisted his ankle. But in his last four Tests, all against Pakistan, Mendis has taken just six wickets at 65.83, compared to his first four in which he took 33 at 18.36.Sri Lanka have already won the series 2-0 going into this Test and Sangakkara said they would aim to bat Pakistan out of the match, having failed to do so in the previous ones. “If we really buckle down and play positively and look to score runs that opportunity will come to more than one of our batsmen.” No Sri Lankan batsman has scored a century in the two Tests.”It’s always a tough thing to make a clean sweep,” Sangakkara said. “You want to have a clean sweep but the key towards achieving that is hard work, training and making sure on the match day you go out there and execute everything that was discussed, all the game plans, individual responsibility etc. Just wanting to win and expecting to win doesn’t really work without the effort.”Sangakkara ruled out the possibility of any complacency from his side in the dead rubber. “Pakistan has played patchy cricket so have we. Unfortunately their patches have been more disastrous than ours. We’ve had opportunities where we could have won Test matches at a canter but we didn’t convert it. Pakistan had the same opportunities and they didn’t convert and managed to give us wins.”Younis Khan, the Pakistan captain, was worried by his side’s batting collapses. In the first Test in Galle, Pakistan lost their last eight wickets for 46 while chasing 168. At the P Sara, they were bowled out for 90 in the first innings and lost their last eight wickets for 26 in the second.”In the last two Tests there were 15 sessions and we dominated 12 of them and lost the Tests in the remaining three sessions,” Younis said. “It’s amazing what’s happening to us. We have to do well in the final Test because after that we have five ODIs and one Twenty20. The guys will be more focused on partnerships. Maybe we should play some games when wickets are falling or chat amongst ourselves to handle the pressure better. This is a personal thing. In international cricket you need to have more focus and motivation. We can handle that. At the moment we need more partnerships.”Younis said despite the series loss, the players were motivated and the criticism from former players would spur them on further. “The mental state is very simple, everybody wants to win. It is a good time for the senior guys to come forward and deliver. The Test series is lost but we still have the ODI series and Twenty20 if we can win them it will be good for Pakistan cricket.” Younis said it was difficult to succeed in Tests after not playing any since December 2007. However, he added, international cricket was about adapting to different conditions. “We need to focus more and deliver.”