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England will begin the defence of their Women’s World Cup title against Sri Lanka on February 2 at the Wankhede Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2012England will begin the defence of their Women’s World Cup title against Sri Lanka on February 2 at the Wankhede Stadium. The hosts, India, will play on the opening day of the tournament against West Indies at the same venue and the final will be held at the Cricket Club of India ground on February 17.The eight teams that have qualified have been split into two groups of four and the initial stage of the tournament will see one team eliminated from each group with the remaining sides progressing to the Super Six phase. As with the men’s World Twenty20, the teams will retain their seedings from the group stage regardless of the position they finish – so, for example, if England finish third in their group they will still progress as A1.England, Australia, New Zealand and India qualified for the tournament after finishing as the top four in the 2009 competition and will be joined in Mumbai by West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa. West Indies are one of the rapidly improving sides in the women’s game and reached the semi-finals of the recent World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.A total of 25 matches will be played across five venues in Mumbai – Wankhede Stadium, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Cricket Club of India (CCI), Middle Income Group Club Ground (MIG) and DY Patil Stadium. Ten of the matches will be broadcast live.Alan Isaac, the ICC president, said: “This will be the third time that India has staged the Women’s World Cup but this could be by far the most significant. I feel that we are on the verge of a massive sea change in the women’s game and where better for that to take place than in the great city of Mumbai.”Last month the World Cup trophy was detained at Mumbai airport because officials said it had not been brought into India under the correct procedure.For a full fixture list click here

Under-pressure New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum gets a piece of advice from his South African counterpart ahead of the second Test in Port Elizabeth

Firdose Moonda10-Jan-2013Brendon McCullum has been around international cricket for long enough to know when someone is grandstanding for the media. He will know that when Graeme Smith offered him a piece of advice, not voluntarily but, after being asked by a journalist, it was not one of those times.With Smith close to ten years in the job and McCullum only entering his second match as leader of the Test team, the South African stalwart was invited to share his thoughts on what his counterpart may be going through and how he should handle it. “A game like Newlands gets you to ask questions and Brendon might be feeling the heat especially with everything that has gone on,” Smith said, referring to the Ross Taylor debacle.”I’ve been there, you have to try and keep a level head and inner strength of character is crucial; just not get too emotional. When there is a lot of noise around you, you have to focus on how to get your team through that noise,” Smith concluded.The noise around New Zealand has only got louder with news of another injury. Despite a late fitness test, James Franklin was ruled out of the second Test. He is New Zealand’s third major injury of the series with Daniel Vettori and Tim Southee having not even made it to South Africa.It leaves New Zealand needing to debut Colin Munro, who does not have the bowling credentials of Franklin but has batting numbers to back him up. Munro is currently second on the Plunket Shield standings with 623 runs from four matches including three centuries, one of which was an unbeaten 269.”He likes to play the game with a free spirit, and he has earned the right to be in this team,” McCullum said. More importantly, it seems he has some staying power at the crease, something New Zealand are desperate for and McCullum hopes he can play a “counterattacking role” at No.7.Given the performance in the first innings of the Newlands Test, it may turn out to be a positive that New Zealand were forced to tinker with the batting because they were due to stick to the same combination at St George’s. Instead, the area they were going to change was the bowling. Chris Martin’s three wickets in Cape Town, while crucial in forcing the South African declaration, were not deemed enough to keep his spot.New Zealand are looking for aggression, so much so that they asked their bowlers to run in hard at their own batsmen in the nets this week. They believe Neil Wagner will provide that. “When you look at the South African line-up, there is a bit of discrepancy between theirs and ours. The aim at practice was two-fold: to toughen our batsman up and to get the bowlers more positive.”Ironically, it seems New Zealand are looking to answer the question of how to beat South Africa by including South Africans in their team. Munro and BJ Watling were both born in Durban before moving to New Zealand in their early years while Wagner was educated at the same school as AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis before trying to make it in England and then relocating to New Zealand.It’s always a talking point when South Africa play against countrymen who have changed nationalities but McCullum has far bigger things to worry about. After the first session in Cape Town, all his squad’s hard-work from the days before was undone and they do not want to repeat that in Port Elizabeth.New Zealand spent the weekend training and they had full sessions every day in the lead up to the Test, contrasting starkly with their opposition who took three days off, had two practices and one optional session. They are serious about getting better and hopeful that the slow pitch at St Georges will aid them because it may be more like home.”We don’t overlook what happened in that first innings in Cape Town, but we can’t dwell on that kind of stuff otherwise it affects ability and confidence,” McCullum said. “We made some really good adjustments in a short space of time and showed some qualities that we want to be known for as New Zealand cricketers. There were some really tough times that we will never live down but at the same time, we have to learn lessons from that. We’ve got a team that we think is capable of performing in these conditions.”So have they blocked out the screams for the coach to go, the administrators to answer tough questions, Taylor to make a return and the line-up to change dramatically? “What’s going on is going on; we’ve got a job to do,” McCullum said. “We want to play with as much pride and capability as we can. We know people want a fighting performance from us and we want to deliver that.” No grandstanding there either. Just desperate honesty.

England’s first Twenty20 practice match against New Zealand XI was abandoned due to rain after only 9.1 overs were bowled in Whangarei

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2013Match abandoned
ScorecardAnton Devcich scoops the ball over Jos Buttler•Getty Images

England’s first Twenty20 practice match against New Zealand XI was abandoned due to rain after only 9.1 overs were bowled in Whangarei. However, the match will be re-played at 1400 local time tomorrow.Stuart Broad, the England Twenty20 captain, won the toss under grey skies and chose to field first. Hamish Rutherford, the New Zealand XI opener, made an aggressive start and scored 21 out of a 23-run opening stand with Anton Devcich, but he was out to Chris Woakes’ first delivery. It was the only wicket to fall as Devcich and Tom Latham put on a 47-run stand before the rains came.The squads featured two players who were making comebacks into their respective sides – Stuart Broad and Ross Taylor. Broad, playing his first competitive match after a heel injury forced him out of India tour after the Mumbai Test in November, bowled just seven balls in the innings.Taylor, who last played for New Zealand during the Sri Lanka tour in November, did not get a chance to bat on Monday and will not be involved any further with the England warm-ups. Andrew Ellis, the New Zealand XI captain, said that Taylor had only been scheduled to play in the first match, before heading back to Hamilton in advance of the T20 series.”Ross is nipping off back home, to pack some stuff up before the tour starts, and then he’ll join the Black Caps,” Ellis said. “Neil Broom is here, so I imagine he’ll be a direct replacement.”Ellis added that he expected Taylor to slot back into the squad without any issues, after he was removed from the New Zealand captaincy and opted out of the South Africa tour. “It’s always good to have ‘Rosco’ around,” Ellis said. “He’s got a big smile on his face, and he’s a happy character. I think everyone has combined now to move forward and attack this series as a combined unit. I definitely get that feeling.”The teams are scheduled to play another practice match on Wednesday in Whangarei before moving over to Auckland for the first of three matches in the Twenty20 series.

BCB medical staff are not happy with the amount of injuries they have had to contend with, through players pushing themselves in the BPL

Mohammad Isam27-Feb-2013The injury management of Bangladesh cricketers has come under sharp focus after two players who were injured during the BPL had to withdraw from the touring party to Sri Lanka.Chief selector Akram Khan has called for better monitoring of injuries, along with greater communication between the clubs and franchises, and the national board. “In the national team, we can think of a replacement as soon as someone is injured,” Akram said. “It is the opposite in the BPL or for Dhaka club cricket, [because] nobody will listen to the player if he says ‘I am injured’. They will always tell him to play. Everyone has to be accountable, but there are gaps in the system which should be plugged.”Akram also held the players responsible for not giving their injuries enough attention. It is perceived that the local players’ desire to play all BPL matches stems from the pay disputes from the tournament’s first season; none of the local players are willing to take a chance, lest the injuries are used as reasons not to pay, although Mushfiqur Rahim said on Wednesday that BPL franchises are liable to play the players regardless of injuries.”I have not been in such a position as a selector in the last five years, where so many players [have] turned up injured from a domestic tournament.” Akram said. “The physical pain will not go away if you continue to play, [it only] gets worse. Those who had minor injuries have now broken down. There is a proper medical structure in Bangladesh cricket, so the players should take advantage of it.”One of the two players who got injured was Naeem Islam, who hurt his quadriceps while playing for Chittagong Kings just two weeks before the Bangladesh team was scheduled to leave for Sri Lanka. He accidentally stepped on the ball while attempting to stop it, and ended up being stretchered off as a result of the mishap. Chittagong physio Bayezid Ahmed said he did not clear Naeem, but Naeem ended up playing in the second semi-final four days later.”The decision to play with injury was Naeem’s,” Bayezid said. “He said he felt better but I never cleared him as fit. I informed the Bangladesh team physio [Vibhav Singh] of his condition, but four days later he decided to play. After February 20, he was no longer in my hands.”Shakib Al Hasan continued to play in the BPL despite minor injuries, and later had to be sent to Australia in order to reduce pressure on his right shin bone, an injury he has had since November last year. Ziaur Rahman also suffered a shoulder injury during the BPL. Only Tamim Iqbal pulled out of Duronto Rajshahi’s BPL campaign towards the end, after injuring his left wrist.Enamul Haque jr was also ruled out of the Test series in Sri Lanka with a hamstring injury he suffered during the BPL final, but neither Enamul nor Naeem informed Vibhav Singh of their injuries after the BPL.During the domestic Twenty20 competition, the national-team physio asked the franchises to give him player fitness updates, but only a few replied. It left him and the rest of the team management in the dark about the pile-up that landed at their feet just a few days before they were to pick the 15-man Test squad.”Had we known of them [the injuries] before, it would have been different,” Vibhav said. “In the next BPL, the franchises and the medical team need to work together with the national medical staff.”I did send the franchises an email requesting feedback from their medical staff, but I did not get anything. So it made it a bit difficult for us to gauge where players were because we had no control over their medical concerns. We can make recommendations but at the end of the day it’s a separate tournament, so we can just advice.”

A balanced, combined batting effort, led by Ambati Rayudu’s responsible innings of an unbeaten 78, took West Zone to the Deodhar Trophy title with a five-wicket win over North Zone in Guwahati

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA collective batting effort, led by Ambati Rayudu’s unbeaten 78, helped West Zone clinch the Deodhar Trophy with a five-wicket win over North Zone in Guwahati. This was West Zone’s 11th Deodhar Trophy title.Chasing a daunting 290, West Zone lost opener Vijay Zol in the seventh over. But then Manprit Juneja and the captain Parthiv Patel, both of whom scored half-centuries, added 87 runs at 6.21 runs per over to keep the chase on track. The stand was broken when Patel tried to flick legspinner Amit Mishra’s wrong one towards midwicket, providing a simple catch.Two more wickets had fallen after small intervals, and by the 30th over, they were placed at a tricky 175 for 4.Rayudu and Kedhar Jadhav batted together till the 43rd over, sharing a quick 87-run stand that took West Zone to a comfortable 262 for 4. Rayudu and Nayar saw them home with 10 balls remaining.North Zone’s innings, after they were put in to bat, revolved around two knocks of 88 and 67 by Unmukt Chand and Yuvraj Singh, both of whom finished as the leading run-getters in the Deodhar Trophy, with 144 runs.Yuvraj was the more aggressive of the two, scoring seven boundaries and three sixes in his 52-ball knock.Chand fell for a 124-ball 88, which was smartly constructed. He played slowly initially, but after reaching a half-century off 87 deliveries, accelerated, hitting three sixes and two fours, to score 38 runs off the next 37 balls. He perished in the 40th over, mishitting a hoick towards midwicket.Their third-wicket partnership of 120 built a solid platform for acceleration towards the end, which was done via a 13-ball 25 by Manpreet Gony and a 26-ball 32 by Parvez Rasool.

Quinton de Kock and Alviro Peterson scored half-centuries as Lions sealed their place in the final of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2013
ScorecardLions romped into the final of the Ram Slam T20 tournament with a 54-run win over Dolphins. They will take on the winner of the semi-final between Warriors and Titans.Put into bat, Lions piled up a score of 195 for 4. Quinton de Kock led the way with a 61-ball 97 that had three fours and eight sixes, while Alviro Petersen scored an unbeaten 55. The pair shared a stand of 87 runs off 52 balls for the third wicket.In reply, Dolphins never got their chase moving after losing openers Divan van Wyk and Cameron Delport. A 49-run partnership between Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Cody Chetty steadied the innings before their dismissals and David Miller’s wicket in consecutive overs left the Titans reeling at 81 for 5. A 25-ball 41 from captain Daryn Smit helped Dolphins reach 141 for 9 at the end of their 20 overs.
ScorecardWarriors routed Cape Cobras by eight wickets to set up a semi-final clash with Titans. Opener Christiaan Jonker’s unbeaten 64 off 39 balls held the Warriors’ chase together after Ashwell Prince was dismissed for seven. Jonker shared an 82-run stand with Colin Ingram to take his side past the target of 129 with more than six overs to spare.Earlier, Cape Cobras scored 128 runs in their innings as the batsmen fell regularly to the Warriors bowling. Owais Shah was the topscorer for Cobras with an unbeaten 33, while Rusty Theron picked up two wickets for the Warriors.

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root had a gentle limber up for England Lions duty next week adding 231 runs for Yorkshire’s third wicket over a little under four hours

Les Smith at Headlingley01-May-2013
ScorecardJoe Root cashed in on a flat wicket with his highest first-class score•Getty Images

This time next week Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root will be preparing to play for England Lions against New Zealand at Leicester, with Root leading the team. This week they had a gentle limber up at Headingley, adding 231 runs for Yorkshire’s third wicket over a little under four hours during which they utterly dominated Derbyshire’s attack.Derbyshire’s bowling was diminished by the absence of opening bowler Tony Palladino, and the pitch has offered next to no help, but that should not detract from the magnificent display they provided for a Yorkshire crowd which had had to endure seeing their own bowlers taken apart by Chesney Hughes on the first two days.Bairstow joined Root shortly before lunch after Phil Jaques had been run out attempting a single on a misfield by Wayne Madsen. Root was visibly livid about his part in the debacle, no doubt especially because he ran out the same team mate at Durham last week, but it didn’t fluster him. In fact one of the most impressive aspects of his game is that he is always in control of it. He simply got his head down and carried on running Derbyshire ragged. Andrew Gale first got himself set, then got himself out, but that only brought Bairstow onto the stage and the fun was about to begin.Root was nurtured by the same club in Sheffield that produced Michael Vaughan, and there is a lot of Vaughan about him. They have similar builds, and like Vaughan’s, the weight of his runs is built on a sound, orthodox technique. Root’s selection as captain of the Lions has inevitably led to speculation that he is being groomed by the selectors for future leadership. His total of runs in his last three innings, 467, will presumably secure him an extended run in the Test team, if that wasn’t already a done deal. Whether he will emulate Vaughan and progress to Test captaincy remains to be seen. When asked the question at close of play he played a characteristically elegant dead bat.His stroke play was excellent, on both sides of the wicket and on both front and back feet. It was nearly all genuine, orthodox stuff, though a scoop over his shoulder off the front foot for four against Tim Groenewald showed that he’s capable of the outrageous as well. In the end Dan Redfern, who had only taken five first class wickets at an average of 56 before today, was too good for Root, bowling him round his legs with an off break.Root was, as you might expect, delighted with his recent form. “It’s nice to get some runs early on,” he said. “Especially in April when it’s not always that easy”. Asked about what he learned from his experience with England in the winter, he cited the importance of being “greedy” when he’s played himself in, and that “nice 60s and 70s don’t win games”. He’s certainly been greedy over the last five days.Bairstow’s innings was more belligerent and he scored more quickly. He was particularly effective in the early stages through the leg side on the front foot, but once really established he played all around the field.With Palladino injured, Jonathan Clare stepped in to share the new ball. At one stage in his second spell he had three fielders on the off side boundary barely 30 yards apart when bowling to Bairstow. Once Root had gone for a career-best 236 Bairstow was joined for the last hour of the day by left-hander Gary Ballance, and there was no letup in the pace.During the last half hour there were routinely seven or eight on the boundary as the pair added 117 runs off 14 overs before Bairstow was caught off Wes Durston in the penultimate over for 186. At the close of play Ballance had scored 50 off 61 balls and Yorkshire had batted themselves into a lead of 122.The brunt of the bowling fell on the spinners. Left-armer David Wainwright, enduring a difficult return to his old county, and offspinner Wes Durston got through 73 overs between them. While both had a thankless task on a flat pitch against two batsmen, and one in particular, in great form they rarely threatened, though in the circumstances Wainwright’s economy rate of 3.5 deserves credit.All the signs suggest that Yorkshire will look to pile on more runs in the first hour tomorrow then, as Joe Root put it, “have a good go at Derbyshire”. The odds must still be on the groundsman and his feather bed.

Australia face a must-win against New Zealand in order to keep their tournament hopes alive in this trans-Tasman clash

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale11-Jun-2013

Match facts

Wednesday, June 12, Edgbaston
Start time 1030 (0930 GMT)

Big Picture

At the last Champions Trophy, Australia beat New Zealand in the final to secure their second consecutive title. This year, the two teams meet with Australia’s tournament all but on the line. A loss in their opening match against England has left the Australians vulnerable and should they lose to New Zealand, they would not only have to beat Sri Lanka next Monday but they would also need England to lose their remaining two matches to have any hope of scraping through to the semi-finals. Even then, it would come down to net run-rate. Should New Zealand win their progression is not certain, although it would take a similarly intricate series of results for them to miss out to England and Sri Lanka on net run-rate. An Australian victory would keep things fairly even throughout the group.However, the Australians will need to overcome New Zealand without their captain Michael Clarke, who has been ruled out due to a back injury that has plagued him since he arrived in England. The more significant long-term worry will be his availability for the Ashes which follow after. David Warner is a real concern as well, having scored ducks in the two warm-up matches, followed by 9 against England. New Zealand’s cordon will be well advised to be on high alert early in Warner’s innings, given the way he has been slashing and edging of late.New Zealand also have an injury concern around a senior player, with Daniel Vettori likely to miss out having had a saline injection in his troublesome left Achilles tendon. “You only have to look at him. He’s limping and is a bit ginger walking around the field,” the New Zealand fast bowler, Kyle Mills, said on Monday. “He’s been doing it since his teenage years at this level and his body is tired. He shows tremendous toughness and hopefully he can rise to the occasion for these next games to get us over the line. He looked jovial getting his toast and cereal at breakfast this morning, but there’s obviously a lot of discomfort.”

Form guide

(most recent first, last five completed games)
New Zealand: WLWWL
Australia: LWWWW

Watch out for…

Less than five years ago, Luke Ronchi made his debut for Australia against West Indies. During that series he scored a 22-ball half-century, the fourth fastest ODI fifty by an Australia player. Now he is about to line up against his former country for the first time, having qualified for his birth nation of New Zealand earlier this year. Ronchi’s initial forays into the New Zealand side have brought few runs, but against familiar Australian bowlers, he will be keen to prove that he can be a long-term force at the top of the order.Since George Bailey made his ODI debut in March last year, only Ian Bell and Tillakaratne Dilshan have scored more one-day international runs than his 819 at an average of 45.50. During the one-day series in England last year, Bailey was the one shining light in Australia’s batting order and again during their loss to Alastair Cook’s men on Saturday he was the top scorer with 55. Bailey is a capable stand-in captain and a reliable presence in the middle order, but he needs significantly greater support if Australia are to progress to the next stage of this tournament.

Team news

If Vettori is put on ice, New Zealand would likely bring in Colin Munro or Grant Elliott, although Elliott’s availability would also depend on how well he has recovered from a calf injury.New Zealand (possible) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Luke Ronchi (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 James Franklin, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 Colin Munro / Grant Elliott, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan.
Clarke will again miss out, but Australia have a few backup options in the batting department, unless they want to give Glenn Maxwell a go in place of fellow allrounder Mitchell Marsh. Xavier Doherty might also come under consideration, although the potential for rain on Wednesday could discourage the selectors from bringing him in.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 David Warner, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh / Glenn Maxwell, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Mitchell Starc / Xavier Doherty, 11 Clint McKay.

Pitch and conditions

Both matches at Edgbaston so far have been won with relative comfort by the team batting first, for scoring appears to become tougher as the matches wear on. There is some rain expected around the Birmingham region on Wednesday and the forecast is for a high of 17°C.

Stats and trivia

• Kyle Mills will be the outright leading wicket-taker in Champions Trophy history if he claims one more victim. Prior to this match, he stands equal with Muttiah Muralitharan on 24 wickets
• New Zealand and Australia have not met in a one-day international since the 2011 World Cup
• Australia have not lost to New Zealand in a world tournament since the 1999 World Cup

Quotes

“All their top order will be feeling the heat a little bit to not only win the game but also hold their spot in the team. If we can take advantage of that I’m sure it will bode well for us in those pressure situations.”

“If it continues to be dry, we need to consider a spinner. We need to get the balance right. We need to get partnerships going.”

England’s bowlers again kept Pakistan in a vice-like grip, after attacking innings from Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor, to secure another comprehensive victory

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2013
ScorecardSarah Taylor held England’s innings together with her ninth T20 half-century•Getty Images

England’s bowlers again kept Pakistan in a vice-like grip, after attacking innings from Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor, to secure another comprehensive victory. Danielle Wyatt claimed 3 for 16 and debutant Tash Farrant took two wickets in her second over as Pakistan were restricted to 75 for 6 from their 20 overs, well short of the 146 required for victory.Edwards opted to open with the spin of Wyatt and she claimed the wicket of Javeria Rauf with her sixth delivery. Wyatt picked up a second wicket in her second over and Farrant’s double-strike left Pakistan on 14 for 4. By the middle of the seventh over it was 23 for 5 before a 22-run stand between top-scorer Nahida Khan and Nida Dar.Wyatt removed Dar for 12 but, with 101 required from less than seven overs, the game was already up. Nahida finished on 28 from 48 balls, putting on 30 with captain Sana Mir.England’s captain, Edwards, had scored half-centuries in the two ODI wins over Pakistan earlier in the week and she set the tone again, with a 33-ball 46. Edwards and Taylor put on 57 for the second wicket and although Pakistan made regular incisions thereafter, Bismah Maroof picking up two wickets in the 16th over, Taylor held the innings together with ninth T20 half-century.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second semi-final between India and Sri Lanka

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran19-Jun-2013

Match Facts

Thursday, June 20
Start time 1030 (0930 GMT)Ravindra Jadeja is having a sensational year•Associated Press

The Big Picture

Even as Clint McKay and Xavier Doherty were doing their darnedest to drive Australia to a sensational victory over Sri Lanka at The Oval, there were plenty of non-Australians cheering them on, just so that the cricket world will be spared yet another India-Sri Lanka ODI. In the last five years, the two sides have met a mind numbing 44 times in ODIs, and will face off again in a tri-series in the Caribbean starting next week. The teams are so familiar with each other and their strategies that MS Dhoni said: “You can also cut the extra 15 minutes of time in a team meeting and keep it simple.”At least unlike a majority of those previous encounters, Thursday’s clash is a high-stakes, high-profile game. Even that could be ruined, though, as the weather forecast is dire. Sri Lanka, whose cricket season at home is regularly blighted by rain, are the only team to have been fortunate to get three full group matches, but that run looks set to come to an end with plenty of showers expected in Cardiff.What’s worse for Sri Lanka is that, in case of a washout, India will go through on account of being winners of Group B. The Champions Trophy is marketed as a “short, sharp” tournament, but not having a reserve day for the knockout matches is stretching that concept a bit too far. The only other times these teams have met in the Champions Trophy was also in a big game, the final in 2002, which was washed out despite the reserve day.A week ago, midway through the league stage, Sri Lanka seemed headed for the exit as Ravi Bopara’s burst in the final over lifted England to 293. Sri Lanka, however, hunted down that total before reeling off an impressive victory over Australia to progress to the semi-finals, a stage they regularly reach in global tournaments. Despite that, they have precious little silverware to show so far, something the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara will be desperate to change.To achieve that, they have to get past the form team of the tournament. There had been a bit of trepidation over how a revamped India would cope with the loss of vastly experienced players like Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan. Their absence hasn’t been felt yet, as India’s new opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have been prolific, and Ravindra Jadeja’s miraculous season continues. A team traditionally filled with slow-coaches has now been transformed to one the normally cautious Dhoni calls “the best fielding side in the world”. In the crunch matches, though, will the inexperience show?

Form guide

(Most recent first, last five completed matches)
India WWWLW
Sri Lanka WWLLW

Watch out for…

Two of Sri Lanka’s batting giants, Sangakkara and Jayawardene, have already played match-winning innings in this tournament. The third, Tillakaratne Dilshan, hasn’t hit the same heights, though he has contributed with the ball, and took an athletic caught-and-bowled that confirmed Sri Lanka’s qualification. Dilshan has top scored in Sri Lanka’s two longest ODI tournaments in recent years, the World Cup and the CB series in 2011-12. Sri Lanka will be looking to him to lift his game when it counts once again.R Ashwin has firmly established himself as India’s lead spinner, and has grown so much in confidence that he even attempted a conventional legspinner in the Pakistan match. India’s bowling has yet to be strenuously tested in this tournament, and with a callow pace attack that is yet to prove itself under serious pressure, Ashwin’s role assumes even more importance.

Team news

India are unlikely to make any changes to the line-up that has served them so well in the league phase.India (probable) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Dinesh Karthik, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh YadavSri Lanka are also likely to retain the same XI. The one change they might consider is bringing in Thisara Perera for Shaminda Eranga.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Lahiru Thirimanne, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Shaminda Eranga/Thisara Perera

Pitch and conditions

Pitches in Cardiff have been of contrasting nature. More than 600 runs were scored in the opening match, and the next was a low-scoring thriller between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in which 19 wickets went down for 277 runs. The semi-final will be played on a fresh surface that hasn’t yet been used in the tournament.More than the pitch, though, the weather will be key – light to heavy rain is expected through the day, which will lead to a curtailed match or, at worst, a washout.

Stats and trivia

• In the last five years, India and Sri Lanka have played 54 matches against each other across formats, the most by any two teams in a five-year span
• Among active players, no batsman has more runs against one team than Kumar Sangakkara has against India – 2435.
• Of Rohit Sharma’s eight ducks, five have come against Sri Lanka.

Quotes

“There’s no room for revenge in sport, but yes, if we can beat the Indians, I think it’ll be a great achievement for the whole team because, you know, there are thoughts about the World Cup final, and the recent history against them is not very good for Sri Lanka.”

“We are used to [Lasith] Malinga. We play him so many times in IPL. He reverses the ball and remains dangerous.”