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Andrew Strauss’s first senior hundred in Australia ensured that England began their Ashes campaign with a win against Western Australia, but he chose to focus on the achievements of his bowlers in getting the team back into the game after their opponents had started the day in the strong position of 1 for 109.”We’re very pleased, especially because of the position of the game at start of play,” he said. “It was looking like a tough ask to force a result from there. But we had two choices. We could have come here and gone through the motions today – but what we did was come in and hit the ground running.”Steven Finn’s early dismissal of Michael Swart exposed Western Australia’s middle order and sparked their collapse to Graeme Swann’s spin and Stuart Broad’s seam, and Strauss credited the young bowler’s turnaround after he had struggled to find the right length in the first innings.”Steven bowled an outstanding spell right from the start, and we got some momentum. We’re delighted with the way the bowlers bowled, and it was a good effort from the batters to chase down that score. Steven was rusty in the first innings, but got better as it went on.”Anderson and Broad were spot on in that first innings, but Finny really set the tone today. He was consistent length-wise and caused all the batsmen some trouble. That was really encouraging, as was the way the bowlers bowled in partnerships and applied pressure. That’s what you’ve got to do out here.”At one stage of their second-innings capitulation, Western Australia lost four wickets for 12 runs and one of those dismissals – that of captain Marcus North – arrived via an inspired piece of fielding from Eoin Morgan. Morgan had only been on the field for one over so that Strauss could take a bathroom break, and the England captain joked after the game: “I was in the loo actually. It was an inspired bit of captaincy on my part.”Even more inspired was Strauss’s aggressive ton, as he did more than simply anchor England’s pursuit of 243 in 52 overs. Strauss insisted that time at the crease was vital to his batsmen’s acclimatisation, but conceded that they were likely to face much sterner challenges from Australia’s Test attack.”It’s important we play well and win as many of these games as possible. It’s also important that batsmen get used to the conditions. The best way to do that is by spending a lot of time in the middle. It was satisfying to get a hundred and see the guys home. But I’m sure there are sterner tests ahead. It’s always good to get runs early in the tour, but it doesn’t count for anything come the first Test match.”Strauss was particularly pleased with England’s increasing intensity in the field as the match wore on. “None of us have played any cricket for a few weeks,” he added. “In the first innings, I thought we got stuck in net mode a little bit and probably didn’t react as well to the conditions as we could have done.”We were better second time round, and I hope we should get better with every innings we play. These conditions are different to England, so your shot selection has to be slightly different and the balls you score off are slightly different. There are times you’ve got to be patient, probably more so than in England.”

Mohammad Sami, the Pakistan fast bowler, is targeting a return to the national team for the series against South Africa in the UAE in October, and the World Cup early next year. Sami last made an international appearance in May, during the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, and has been out of reckoning since. However, with the uncertainty over the availability of fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif following the spot-fixing controversy, Sami could be in the frame for a comeback.”I’ve not taken much time off during the off season and have been working hard on my game at the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy, as well as training on my own,” Sami told . “I want to ensure that I am 100% ready when the new season starts. I am hopeful that the hard work will pay off and I can be given another chance for Pakistan.”Sami began his international career on a high, grabbing eight wickets on Test debut in 2001, against New Zealand in Auckland, and a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in Lahore in his third game. He formed a promising opening bowling combination with Shoaib Akhtar, and was tipped for a bright future, but failed to meet expectations, averaging 50.73 in 34 Tests to date.”Sometimes statistics don’t always tell the full story,” Sami said. “I don’t want to offer excuses, but those that have followed my career will appreciate that I have not had the best of luck. I am a better bowler than my statistics suggest and I will prove that in the coming months and years if given the opportunity.Sami was dropped from the national team in 2007 and he went on to participate in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League before returning to the official fold. Since his return, he has played just one Test, the controversial defeat against Australia in Sydney in January. “I was given one opportunity in Australia and took three wickets in the first innings. I removed the top three Australian batsmen and felt in good shape, but then I never played in the next match. I’m desperate to be given another chance and to show what I can do, if given a decent run in the side.”Sami, currently the captain of the domestic team Karachi Blues, has a significantly better ODI record, averaging 28.44 for his 118 wickets. Selection to the 2011 World Cup squad means more to him than just making an international comeback. “The memory of the 2007 World Cup still haunts all of the squad,” he said. The tournament itself was a disaster for Pakistan cricket and of course Bob Woolmer’s death was heart-breaking for all of us. I want to put that terrible tournament behind me and to make the 2011 World Cup a success for Pakistan.”

Rashid Latif has explained that his aim during his tenure as Afghanistan’s coach will be to take the national team towards Test status “within the next two years”. Latif’s turbulent relationship with Afghanistan cricket took a new twist after he returned to a coaching role with the national team days after stepping down as the Pakistan national academy’s wicketkeeping coach, and barely a month after resigning as Afghanistan’s batting coach.”Cricket is now more popular than the bullet in Afghanistan and I am moved by the interest and the available talent in Afghanistan,” Latif told AFP after confirming that discussions with the Afghan cricket authorities had led to his coaching placement. “Some of the Afghanistan players are so talented that they can break into any international team and my target will be to guide them to Test status within the next two years.”Latif resigned as the PCB’s wicketkeeping coach after being issued a showcause notice by the board for remarks the former captain made about the ongoing spot-fixing scandal on a TV show. Latif had also worked with the Afghanistan national side as batting coach but he stepped down after a month in the post in August following coach Kabir Khan’s sacking, citing irreconcilable differences with officials in the Afghan board.”They are an exciting team and my thinking and mentality, as a straightforward person, matches that of the Afghan players. They, like me, cannot tolerate wrongdoing. I will leave if my chemistry doesn’t work there.”Afghanistan needs cricket to heal the scars of more than 30 years at war. It is my experience that with more and more cricket, the scars of war will be healed. A lot of people tried to dissuade me from travelling to Afghanistan but it is just like Karachi and I had no fear in Kabul or Jalalabad.”

Match facts

August 6, 2010, Edgbaston
Start time 11.00 (1000GMT)No mistakes: England’s catching was a feature of their impressive performance at Trent Bridge•Getty Images

Big picture

England couldn’t really have hoped for a better start to the series after their massive 354-run victory at Trent Bridge, but one thing that Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower have become good at is keeping the players’ feet firmly on the ground. All logic would suggest the gap between the teams is so vast that a turnaround is unthinkable, yet logic tends to go out the window when Pakistan are involved.They have already shown their ability to bounce back from defeat when they levelled the series against Australia and any side with the fast-bowling skills of Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul can never be underestimated. That trio caused England a heap of problems at Trent Bridge, but at crucial times they were let down in the field and were given precious little back-up by Danish Kaneria, who suffered a shocking match.Kaneria has been shipped back to county cricket (although can’t play for Essex until he is re-registered) and the chief villain in the field – wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal – has been replaced by the uncapped Zulqarnain Haider but Pakistan’s major problem is their batting. Despite the insistence of Salman Butt that he would back youth it was only a matter of time before an SOS went out for reinforcements and Mohammad Yousuf has duly been drafted into the squad.After a race against time to reach Birmingham, Yousuf had been considered for a comeback in the second Test but ruled himself out through tiredness, leaving the way open for a recall for Yasir Hameed. It is debatable whether one man who has barely played cricket of late – regardless of his undoubted class – could have revived Pakistan on his own, and it may even have been a backward step for the team, as Yousuf’s return could have revived memories of the terrible Australia tour which began Pakistan’s latest crisis.England are in bullish mood, and rightly so, with little concern over which players they face this week. The bowling was impressive in the opening match – led by James Anderson’s career-best 11 wickets – while Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior delivered fine centuries under pressure. There are concerns over Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen, who both need runs, but they are minor problems compared to Pakistan’s.

Form guide (last five completed matches)

England WWWWW
Pakistan LWLLL

Watch out for…

Most of the talk surrounding England’s batting hasn’t been about the century-makers, but rather Kevin Pietersen’s form. Yet, Alastair Cook shouldn’t escape the spotlight after three disappointing Tests this season. He may have been captain five months ago, but the race for England batting spots is so intense that nobody can afford a barren run. In fairness it was a tough Test for top-order batsmen at Trent Bridge, but the concern was the ease with which Cook was predictably worked over by Asif and Amir. He showed in South Africa that he can combat top-quality pace bowling but he’s at that stage again where he needs a few runs.Mohammad Asif had the ball on a string for most of the first Test until England pulled away in the second innings. His languid, almost lazy run-up, doesn’t hint at the threat he poses once he lets the ball go and even though he rarely exceeds 80mph his late movement can leave batsmen in knots. It is, therefore, soul-destroying to see chances go begging and then watch his own batsmen throw their wickets away. But Asif will keep running in and he, along with Amir, remain Pakistan’s best chance of getting back onto the series

Team news

Barring late injuries England won’t make any changes, especially after such a comprehensive victory. Graeme Swann should expect some more work in this Test, but he has said he won’t mind another Test standing at second slip.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Eoin Morgan, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven FinnYousuf made it to Birmingham in time but thanks to his jet-lag and general lack of match practice, Umar Amin keeps his place, although there may be a temptation to move Shoaib Malik up the order. Kamran Akmal has been dropped, with his deputy Zulqarnain Haider coming in to make his Test debut, while offspinner Saeed Ajmal will replace Kaneria and will have a vital role in easing the workload on the quick bowlers.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt (capt), 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Umar Amin, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Zulqarnain Haider (wk), 8 Mohammad Amir, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad Asif

Pitch and conditions

There has been some rain around Birmingham in the build-up to the Test and the forecast suggests further showers can be expected at various stages during the game. Cloudy skies will keep the swing bowlers happy and Stuart Broad recently showed what was on offer in the surface with 8 for 52 playing for Nottinghamshire against Warwickshire. However, if batsmen get in at Edgbaston runs can also flow quickly. It should be another fast-moving game.

Stats and Trivia

• The first Test provided only the third occasion in history when all the top scores came from No. 6 and below in the order.
• England and Pakistan have met six times at Edgbaston and the visitors have never won here. The last occasion was in 1992 in what became a rain-ruined and bat-dominated draw.
• James Anderson, fresh from his 11-wicket haul, will play his 50th Test.

Quotes

“We all go through it, you’re not human if you don’t go through a poor run of form at some time, but players of the quality of KP always come back and he will.”
“Everybody knows that this is the type of show that has been coming out of Pakistan previously as well as recently. This is something that can change.”

Match Facts

Tuesday, July 13, Lord’s
Start time 10:30am (0930 GMT)Can Shahid Afridi inspire Pakistan to something special at Lord’s?•Associated Press

The Big Picture

Six months after their disastrous tour of Australia, Pakistan have a chance to redeem themselves against Ricky Ponting’s men. Things are a little different for Pakistan now: Shahid Afridi is in charge, Mohammad Yousuf is gone and the series is being played on neutral territory at Lord’s and Headingley. Pakistan’s batting looks thin, with Umar Akmal the only man in the top six who averages over 40, but their strong attack might thrive in the English conditions. There should be swing for Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul, but in order to snap Australia’s winning streak of 12 consecutive Tests against Pakistan, the bowlers will need support.Australia’s stretch of victories against Pakistan goes all the way back to Brisbane in November 1999. It’s a joint record winning run for any nation over any other nation, equalling the 12-game streak Sri Lanka currently hold over Bangladesh, and victory at Lord’s will give Australia the outright all-time high. Not since November 1995 at the SCG have Pakistan beaten Australia in a Test, and although Afridi might provide them with a spark, the Australians remain strong favourites.Australia will have two debutants, the wicketkeeper Tim Paine and the legspinning allrounder Steven Smith, but the core of their side remains the same. As much as the Australians will talk of being focused on this series, each of their four Tests between now and November also provides them with a chance to fine-tune their Ashes preparations. One move they will make in this series is Michael Clarke up to the No. 4 position, which reflects his importance as the team’s leading run scorer over the past year, while Michael Hussey will drop down to No. 5.Then there’s also the chance to play a Test at Lord’s, which is an opportunity that usually comes around only once every four years. Clarke is the only man from either side with his name on the honour board at Lord’s and this might be the final chance for Ponting to earn such a place in history. On the eve of the match he didn’t close the door on the possibility of being back for the 2013 Ashes, but nor did he rule out this being his last Lord’s Test. “It would be nice to have been up there in an Ashes Test match,” Ponting said of the honour board. “That might happen – we’ll wait and see what happens there.”

Form guide

Australia WWWWW
Pakistan LLLDW

Watch out for…

There is much excitement about Australia’s debutant Steven Smith, although nobody quite knows what to expect from him. Smith is being played as the primary spinner but Ponting thinks he has a lot of work to do in that aspect of his game. On the other hand, Pakistan have had a habit in recent years of gifting wickets to Australian spinners. Smith will also be one of the strongest No. 8 batsmen Australia have had in recent memory.Shahid Afridi hasn’t played a Test in four years, but as the new captain he will be the pulse of the Pakistan team. He brings energy to any match he plays and Ponting is keen to nullify his influence as quickly as possible. Ponting believes the younger Pakistan players will run off Afridi’s spark but as the No. 6 batsman, second spinner and general in the field, he will have quite a workload.Steve Smith will make his Test debut and give Australia great batting depth•Getty Images

Team news

There is no doubt over the make-up of Australia’s XI and only a last-minute injury will allow Usman Khawaja, Steve O’Keefe or Peter George to win a baggy green. There will be three changes from the team that Pakistan met in Hobart, with Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz and Peter Siddle all out through injury. Ben Hilfenhaus is making his comeback from a long-term bout of knee tendonitis and should be useful in the swinging conditions. It is a side that bats deep; Mitchell Johnson at No. 9 is a luxury and Smith at No. 8 has four first-class centuries to his name.Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Marcus North, 7 Tim Paine (wk), 8 Steven Smith, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Doug Bollinger.Pakistan’s top order remains something of a mystery, with Umar Amin, Azhar Ali, Yasir Hameed and Shoaib Malik potentially vying for two spots. There was talk that Pakistan were keen to try out some new faces, which would open the door for Amin and Azhar to make their Test debuts. From the side that lost in Hobart, Khurram Manzoor, Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Yousuf are gone, with Afridi recalled and Kamran Akmal back in favour with the gloves.Pakistan (possible) 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Salman Butt, 3 Umar Amin, 4 Azhar Ali, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shahid Afridi (capt), 7 Kamran Akmal (wk), 8 Mohammad Aamer, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Danish Kaneria, 11 Mohammad Asif.

Pitch and conditions

The famous slope at Lord’s can make things difficult for bowlers to adjust their lines, and if there is cloud around expect the ball to swing early. The pitch was under cover on the day before the Test, with the possibility of rain, and showers were also on the cards for Tuesday.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan have not beaten Australia in a Test since November 1995
• This is the first neutral Test in England since 1912
• Ricky Ponting’s record at Lord’s is poor – he has 109 runs at 18.16 with a highest score of 42. It is his worst average at any venue where he has played at least three Tests
  

  Quotes

  “The communication problem is not there any more now. We are all sitting together and talking to each other. If they have problems, they are coming to me or the coach and sharing their problems”
  Shahid Afridi on the increased unity within his team”He’s probably got to bat at six in their side, so if we get some early wickets and get him in there against the newer ball and our quicks are still nice and fresh I think we’ll test him out.”Ricky Ponting on Afridi

As was widely expected Salman Butt has been appointed Pakistan’s Test captain for the rest of the summer in England, including the second Test against Australia in Headingley. Butt becomes the fifth man to lead the Test side since January 2009 and the 28th man to lead Pakistan, taking over from Shahid Afridi who announced a sudden retirement from Test cricket on Friday. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal will be his deputy.The decision came early on Saturday after a meeting between the PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, the team management and a group of senior players including Shoaib Malik, Akmal, Umar Gul and Salman. “We have appointed Salman as the captain for the rest of the Tests and we are confident that he will be able to do a good job with it,” Ijaz told Cricinfo. “Everybody who was involved in the decision gave their approval.”At the time of Afridi’s appointment, in May this year, Salman’s name had come up in discussions though, as the administration was keen to unify the leadership of all formats under one man, they plumped for Afridi. Salman was appointed his deputy and though it seemed that he would take over yesterday, the PCB chairman had said that it wasn’t an “automatic” decision.However, steadily over the last six months, Salman has become one of Pakistan’s most reliable batsmen across all formats; he’s averaging over 40 in his last seven Tests with one hundred and four fifties and reinvented his entire game to shine at the World T20 in the Caribbean, a format in which he had previously struggled. In the Lord’s Test, he was comfortably Pakistan’s best batsman, top-scoring in each innings with 63 and 92.There had been talk in the aftermath of the Lord’s defeat that one of Mohammad Yousuf or Younis Khan – or both – might be called up to bolster an inexperienced middle order but for now the situation remains unchanged and unresolved. Yousuf is officially retired from international cricket and Younis and the PCB chairman are at odds despite the former’s indefinite ban having been lifted.”We did discuss both Yousuf and Younis in the meeting but we decided to defer the matter,” Ijaz said, acknowledging also that the option to call them up at some point during the summer remains open. “I think we should appreciate that both the youngsters Azhar Ali and Umar Amin did very well given it was their debuts and my own feeling is that they should be persisted with,” he added.One person who will not be playing in the second Test is Afridi. Though he cited his temperamental unsuitability to the format, Afridi was also suffering from a side strain he picked up during the Asia Cup. “I worked out in the gym in the morning and I don’t feel comfortable at all still. I will not be playing next week,” Afridi told Cricinfo.

ScorecardEngland batsman Ian Bell steered the Warwickshire Bears to a tense three wicket victory over the Derbyshire Falcons in a low scoring Friends Provident t20 game at Derby. Despite Bell’s 66 off 56 balls the Bears stumbled chasing the Falcons’ 120 for 4 on a damp, misty night, and there were only four balls to spare when Chris Woakes struck the winning runs.Woakes had earlier conceded only nine runs in his four overs as the Falcons found scoring difficult on a sluggish surface and they needed a late surge from Robin Peterson, who was unbeaten on 35 from 27 balls, to give them a shot at defending their total.Derbyshire were looking for another explosive innings from Loots Bosman but the South African was bowled first ball by Woakes in the first over and the batsmen struggled all night to get the ball away on a slow, low pitch. Chesney Hughes, dropped at deep midwicket on 13, was in for nine overs for his 24, and at the half-way stage of the innings the home side were 47 for 3.Tight bowling and sharp fielding from the Bears kept the brakes on until the 15th over when Peterson launched Darren Maddy over long on for the first six of the night. Greg Smith repeated the shot as 18 came from the over, the most expensive of the innings, but his dismissal for 38 in the next over pegged Derbyshire back again, although Peterson’s late charge gave the bowlers something to defend.The South African reverse swept Ant Botha for six and four as 17 came from the last over, and those runs looked increasingly valuable when the Bears lost Jonathan Trott to the third ball of their reply. The England batsman lofted Steffan Jones to third man and when Neil Carter got a leading edge to extra cover, the visitors were 4 for 2.Bell drove Tim Groenewald for two successive fours but the former Warwickshire seamer had Jim Troughton caught at mid-off for two trying to hit over the top. At 25 for 3, the Falcons were well in the game but Bell and Darren Maddy put the visitors back on course with a stand of 58 in eight overs.Bell was dropped by wicketkeeper Lee Goddard off Garry Park on 41 with the score on 56, and he looked like taking the Bears to victory before a late wobble gave the game a final twist.Maddy clipped Smith to mid on, Bell skied a slog-sweep at the off-spinner and former Derbyshire skipper Rikki Clarke was yorked by Jones to leave the Bears needing 16 off the last three overs. When Ian Westood was unluckily run out for 12 the game was back in the balance, but Woakes hit Smith over the top to seal the Bears second win and send the Falcons crashing to their first defeat.

Less than a year ago Cameron White wasn’t considered among the best 15 Twenty20 cricketers in Australia. Now he can quite comfortably stand among the best 15 in the world. His career-best, unbeaten 85 against Sri Lanka was easily the highest score by a No. 6 in this format of the game and transformed a match that threatened to go wrong for his team into as comfortable a Twenty20 win as there is.Looking from the outside it is strange that White hasn’t always been one of the first picks in the Twenty20 outfit, however a closer look shows his average for Victoria is a modest 22.36. His two hundreds came while playing for Somerset (and he will return there for the English Twenty20 Cup this summer) so he wasn’t always picking his moments to impress. Few players, though, hit the ball as hard and a recall was only a matter of time.White did eventually earn a place at the World Twenty20 in England, but only after Andrew Symonds’ final indiscretion led to him being jettisoned from the trip in a move that ended his international career. This time White is here by rights, and is so well entrenched that he is the team’s vice-captain. Symonds’ departure may just have eased the path slightly.He returned to the side in the post-Ashes Twenty20 series against England began with 55 at Old Trafford while continuing to establish himself in the 50-over team. Then, in February, he produced a brutal 26-ball 64 as Australia tied a run chase of 214 against New Zealand before losing on the Super Over. This innings, though, was in a world tournament and the pressure doesn’t come much greater.Nothing better sums up the depth in this Twenty20 outfit than having White and Michael Hussey coming in at six and seven and their stand of 101 was a record for the sixth wicket. Few teams would recover from 67 for 5, but Australia did it with ease having produced a similar fightback against Bangladesh when they were 65 for 6.”With the strength of our squad we believe whatever position we get into we can win,” Michael Clarke said. “It didn’t matter how many runs we got today we were confident in those conditions that if we bowled well and held out catches that we would definitely win the game.”On one hand two similar collapses in the space of three matches might cause concern in a tournament where the games come thick and fast, but on the other it allows different players to produce match-winning roles. White often has to come in and swing from ball one in the closing overs but this time he walked in during the fifth over and, in terms of Twenty20, had time to build an innings. Shane Watson and David Warner had their moment against India, but they won’t always come off. For this Australia team that isn’t a problem.”One of the benefits of losing a few wickets early from my point of view is that you have time to get yourself in,” White said. “It was nice to contribute the win and I’m glad we got to a good score and were able to put them under pressure. Our bowlers did a great job after that and it was a good all-round result.”Ajantha Mendis joined the list if players to drop costly chances in recent days as he missed White at short fine-leg on 23 and although he removed Clarke in the same over Sri Lanka’s grip on the match was loosened from that moment. After 28 deliveries he’d made 39, an impressive rate considering the trouble he faced at 30 for 4, then in the next 21 he added another 46.”Even under pressure the guys have still played their natural games,” Clarke said. “Whitey has come out and backed himself and when he’s in good nick there’s no one better in the game.”A word, too, for Hussey, who has bailed Australia out of many Test and ODI holes and is now doing the same in Twenty20. When he was left out of the squad for the matches in New Zealand before this tournament it looked like the end for him in this format but he was given a reprieve, and how grateful Australia have been.”It’s the side we thought would do best in this tournament and it gives players above Mike Hussey freedom to play,” Clarke said. “He doesn’t bat seven every game but I think it’s the strength of our team that we have a lot of part-timers who can bat and bowl which allows us to have a specialist batsman at seven and we’ve seen how important that is.”However, this was White’s day and just to prove it he flung himself low and left at backward point to take a stunner that removed Tillakaratne Dilshan. He was never going to drop it.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outSaurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu revived Mumbai with a 67-run stand•Indian Premier League

Everything changed in the last five overs of the Mumbai Indians’ innings. The game was in a deadlock at the end of 15 overs with Mumbai on 107 for 4 – some might have even felt that Royal Challengers Bangalore held the edge – but things took a dramatic turn from there on. Saurabh Tiwary hit an enterprising half-century and Kieron Pollard played a delightful cameo to charge Mumbai to 184 for 5 at the DY Patil Stadium. It was a bridge too far even for the batting-heavy Bangalore and they never really threatened to get anywhere close to the target. The 35-run win took Mumbai to the final, and sealed their qualification for the Champions League Twenty20 to be held in September.It was always going to be a difficult chase and things got really tough for Bangalore in the tenth over with the fall of Robin Uthappa and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries. Bangalore had reached 80 for 2 from nine overs and had already lost Kevin Pietersen to a smart leg-side stumping by Ambati Rayudu off Harbhajan Singh; they then suffered the twin blows that effectively killed the contest. Uthappa was in hot form, collecting 18 runs from Harbhajan’s over with the help of two thumping sixes, but he dragged a slower one from Pollard straight to deep midwicket.Before Bangalore could recover from that asphyxiating blow, they lost Dravid, who had played a fluent knock, to a run-out resulting from a misunderstanding with Ross Taylor. Pollard removed both Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey and though Taylor hung around for a while, he couldn’t produce any miracle tonight. Bangalore were left to rue their ordinary effort in the field in the last five overs where they lost the game.The game actually changed in character twice during Mumbai’s innings: first after the first time-out was taken at the end of seven overs, and second from the 15th over onwards. Mumbai had recovered after the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar, courtesy an impish knock from Rayudu who counter-attacked initially before settling down, to reach 62 for 2 in seven overs, but were gradually choked by the slower bowlers. In the next six overs, before the second time-out was taken, only 31 runs came with the addition of two wickets.Things looked desperate for Mumbai but Tiwary looted 17 runs from the 16th over bowled by Jacques Kallis to turn things around. The first delivery, a slower one, was swung over the midwicket boundary; the fourth was bludgeoned to midwicket for a four; and the fifth ran away to fine-leg boundary via an inside-edge. Mumbai had broken free and continued to indulge themselves in the end overs.Anil Kumble, who, before then, had combined well with Pietersen, handed back the initiative as he conceded 17 runs in the 17th over. It was Tiwary, again, who did the damage. He made use of a freehit to collect a boundary to backward square-leg before flat-batting a six to the straight boundary, as Kumble’s visage grew angrier. It was the image of the night.Pollard joined in the fun right in the end, with his big lofted drives, to further boost Mumbai. Pollard pinged the long-off boundary with two sixes against Vinay Kumar and slugged Dale Steyn over long-on for another six as Mumbai finished off in style. And so, after 41 days of non-stop action, Mumbai entered their first final in the three years of IPL.

Brent Arnel couldn’t have wished for a more immediate impact on Test cricket. On debut, Arnel picked up his first wicket with his fifth ball, when Phillip Hughes edged to slip. The only problem is that half his family and friends were in the air, on their way from Hamilton thanks to his late call-up.”A lot of people were waiting to see if I was in, they were jumping on the quickest flight,” Arnel said. “Hopefully my wife is here. I haven’t actually seen if she is. I know my mother and stepfather is, and my dad was coming down.”I was ecstatic [with the wicket]. Dream come true, especially to get it so early. It was probably more a batsman error than my bowling, but I’ll take it. [Daniel Vettori] showed his faith in me and I was quite happy to get the ball quite early. He just said after Timmy [Tim Southee] had bowled two, he said BA you’re down that end, and just gave me a little smile.”Vettori’s smile grew when Arnel returned for a later spell and collected the vital wicket of Simon Katich, who was anchoring Australia’s innings with 79. Katich was trapped lbw to Arnel, who enjoyed nibbling the ball around off the green-tinged Wellington pitch and finished with the best figures of 2 for 70.The Katich dismissal left Australia at 176 for 4 but by stumps they had reached 316 for 4, guided by a 140-run stand from Michael Clarke and Marcus North. Arnel said it was a disappointing end to the day after a positive start that featured a sharp run-out from BJ Watling to remove RIcky Ponting.”We let ourselves down quite a lot,” he said. “We knew going in to the third session what we had to do and we didn’t execute the plans. We needed to put the pressure on and Clarke and North came out quite positive. They wanted momentum before the next new ball and they got it.”