The 35 year old Samaraweera became the 7th Sri Lankan to score 5,000 test runs as he finished not out on 115, but after a stand with Angelo Matthews, he ran out of partners as the Lankan second innings folded up for 342.

South Africa, needing two runs to win the series, won without facing a single ball as Dhammika Prasad overstepped and Alviro Petersen knocked off the runs from the illegal delivery.

Matthews and Samaraweera went through the opening session unbeaten, but things changed after the break when South Africa took the new ball. Once again, Vernon Philander was the hero for South Africa as he trapped Matthews in front for 63.

Dinesh Chandimal, who had acquitted himself so well in Durban, fell for just one, again off Philander’s bowling, but the Lankan tail wagged to enable Samaraweera to reach three figures. Philander, Imran Tahir and Man of the Match Jacques Kallis all finished with three each as Sri Lanka finished with 342, thus enabling the Proteas to avenge their Kingsmead thrashing.

The Indians, batting first, made 304 thanks to a century from Virat Kohli and half centuries from Rahul Dravid and skipper MS Dhoni. Dhoni scored at nearly two runs a ball and ensured that India made the maximum use of their power play overs after the dismissals of Kohli and Dravid in quick succession by Graeme Swann had threatened to derail the Indian innings.

The match was affected by rain not once, but twice, and England were finally set a target of 241 to win in 34 overs. Jonathan Trott hit his first ODI six and in the company of Alaistair Cook, added a solid stand after Kieswetter had gone for 21. Ian Bell chipped in with 26 but the task looked beyond England’s reach when Bopara and Bairstow came together with 75 odd required in eight overs.

Bairstow however showed great composure on his debut and hammered three sixes to change the momentum England’s way. Bopara, after a few nervy moments, got into his stride as India, without the injured Munaf Patel in the powerplay overs, lost control of a game that they looked likely to win.

Bairstow’s efforts earned him the Man of the Match Award.

Kieswetter top scored with 61 and was ably supported by Morgan (45) and Kevin Pietersen (26). Some lusty hitting from Tim Bresnan in the last couple of overs took the score over 200 and gave Sri Lanka a stiff target of 230 to chase in 32 overs.

Sri Lanka’s chase started on the worst possible note as James Anderson ripped through the top order. Anderson picked up three of Sri Lanka’s top four, while Sanath Jayasuriya, playing his last Sri Lankan innings, fell to his favourite cut shot off the bowling of Bresnan.

At 17/4, Sri Lanka were always going to find things tough and at one stage they were reduced to 69/8, sparking fears that the World Cup finalists would crumble for under 100. However Suraj Randiv and Lasith Malinga took them over the 100 mark, but they still fell a 110 runs short as they were eventually bowled out for 121.

Some fabulous bowling from S.Aravind and another quickfire half century for Chris Gayle saw Royal Challengers Bangalore thrash Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium today.

Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli, standing in for the injured Daniel Vettori, opted to put Rajasthan in. Shane Watson and Rahul Dravid got off to an excellent start, picking up 70 in the first nine odd overs before Aravind sent both of them back to the pavilion in the same over.
Just as Johan Botha and Ajinkya Rahane were steadying the innings, an unfortunate mix up saw Rahane being run out and from there on, the Royals were simply unable to accelerate in the last six odd overs. They had to settle for 146/6 in their quota of 20.

Tillekaratne Dilshan and Chris Gayle came all out guns blazing for Bangalore and by the time Dilshan departed in the 7th over off Warne’s bowling, the asking rate had already been reduced to less than six an over.

Gayle smashed four sixes as he finished on 70 off just 44 balls as Bangalore cruised home with three overs and nine wickets to spare.
With the win, Bangalore now move to second spot with 15 points, while the Royals, who were playing their last home game of IPL 4, are now in serious danger of missing out on the playoffs.

Ten Doeschate, whose exploits with Essex in the English domestic county are well known to observers, smashed 119 off 110 balls before holing out to Bopara at square leg at the beginning of the 49th over.
Doeschate was ably supported by the two Toms in the Dutch lineup- hero for Holland’s famous T20 triumph over England Tom de Grooth, and Tom Cooper. Peter Borren then smashed a quickfire 35 off 24 balls to propel the Dutch to 292/6 in their quota of fifty, the highest by an associate nation against a full time member at the World Cup.

England started off well, keen to avoid a repeat of their famous Lords defeat two years ago. Andrew Strauss led from the front with a well compiled 88, and the rest of the batsmen chipped in, with Pietersen making 39, Jonathan Trott continuing his excellent run of form with 62, and Ian Bell making 32.

When Bell fell in the 43rd over, England needed a little over seven a over to chase, but Bopara and Collingwood used their experience to take them home with eight balls to spare.

Small consolation though it was for the brave Dutch, but Doeschate got the MoM award for his fine 119 and 2/47 bowling figures.

Sreesanth has a poor record for India in ODI’s and has never quite managed to seal a permanent spot in the squad. He has an economy rate of over 6 and has only played 50 odd ODI’s since his debut for the country in 2005.

Sreesanth joins Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra as the other fast bowlers in India’s fifteen member squad.

The most likely venue for the India vs England game is now the southern city of Bangalore.

The India vs England game was the only one featuring the hosts supposed to be played in cricket crazy Kolkata, which was also the venue for the 1996 World Cup semifinal between India and Sri Lanka.

The biggest names without any takers on the first day of the auction were undoubtedly former Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly, West Indies opener Chris Gayle and legendary southpaw Brian Lara.

Ganguly and Chris Gayle didn’t exactly fire on all cylinders for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three seasons of the IPL while Lara’s poor performances for Mumbai Champs in the rebel Indian Cricket League seems to have gone against him.

Joining Ganguly and Gayle as unsold players were their KKR team mates Murali Kartik and Ajanta Mendis.

England’s T20 World Cup winning trio of Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Luke Wright also found no takers, with teams also choosing to give wicket keepers Matt Prior, Graham Manou and Mark Boucher the thumbs down.

There were no bids for both Jesse Ryder and Herschelle Gibbs, perhaps keeping in mind disciplinary issues regarding the duo. None of the ten teams also bid for the Sri Lankan duo of Chamara Kapugedera and Dilhara Fernando and the hard hitting Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal.

Notable names in the Dutch squad include all rounder Ryan ten Doeschate, who had a fabulous 2010 for Essex, and Worcestershire batsman Alexei Kervezee.

Holland are in Group B of the World Cup along with England, West Indies, South Africa, India, Bangladesh and Ireland, and will start their campaign against England at the VCA Stadium in the central Indian city of Nagpur on February 22.

Holland 15 member World Cup squad:-

Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Baressi, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Adeel Raja, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Swarczynski, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent

Australia, who began the day at 119/3, extended their lead to 390 thanks to another fine performance from Mike Hussey. Playing on his home ground, the 35 year old scored 116 to help his side cross the 300 mark. Shane Watson though agonizingly fell five short of a century when he was trapped leg before by Chris Tremlett.

Tremlett took 5/87 as Australia suffered a late collapse to slump from 271/5 to 309 all out. Supporting Tremlett ably was Steven Finn, who took 3/97 from 21 overs.

A fourth innings ask of 391 did not look all that daunting for England, given that South Africa had successfully chased down 414 a couple of years ago at the same venue. However Johnson and Harris turned the screws on England as Australia’s policy of playing four seamers paid off.

Cook was first to go for 13, and he was soon followed by skipper Strauss. Kevin Pietersen did not really trouble the scorers as he went for three. Trott and Collingwood steadied the boat a bit before Australia snatched back the initiative in the final two overs. Trott edged one off the bowling of Johnson, while Collingwood, whose request for a single on the penultimate ball of the day had been turned down by night watchman James Anderson, edged Ryan Harris to Steven Smith at third slip on the final ball of the day.

The in form Ian Bell is yet to come for England, but even with him available, the visitors’ chances of avoiding defeat look incredibly slim.