Ponting and Johnson see off New Zealand

June 2, 2009

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Australia 151 for 3 (Ponting 56, Clarke 49*) beat New Zealand 147 (Styris 42, Johnson 4-20) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

	Ricky Ponting swings over midwicket during his fifty© Getty Images

Australia executed a perfectly-paced chase to brush aside New Zealand by seven wickets in their warm-up match at The Oval. Ponting led the way with a brisk half-century and received support from his deputy Michael Clarke who remained unbeaten to ensure victory was secured in the final over.

There was good news on the bowling front too with Mitchell Johnson taking 4 for 20 while Brett Lee bowled with hostility and took 1 for 9 off 3.5 overs. Their new-ball partnership left New Zealand's top-order in shreds at 21 for 5 and it needed a feisty recovery from Scott Styris and Peter McGlashan, who was playing Australia for the first time, to set a respectable target.

Australia made a near-perfect start, with Lee and Johnson snaring the New Zealand openers in consecutive overs. There were an astonishing number of dot balls as both bowlers passed the bat with regularity. The New Zealand batsmen's efforts to break free failed - Martin Guptill holed out after striking one boundary, as did Ross Taylor after hitting three fours in a row. Jacob Oram's dismissal - run out without facing a ball - hurt New Zealand further but they recovered to 147 thanks to the depth of their batting line-up.

Australia also bat deep - Lee is slotted at No. 10 - but their lower order wasn't tested on the day. They too suffered a minor hiccup at the start, losing both Shane Watson and David Warner within the space of five balls to James Franklin, but Ponting and Clarke prevented any further damage. They planned the chase masterfully, picking up singles and twos with regularity, chipping away at the asking-rate and then reducing it dramatically with the odd boundary.

Tim Nielsen, the Australia coach, was pleased with his team's effort and said that they were improving with every game.

"Brett and Mitchell almost put the game to sleep in the first six overs. Then we chased the score down sensibly," he said. "It is nice to turn the competitive juices on in a game situation.

"You can never replicate that in training no matter how hard you do it, so to play against another country gets the adrenaline going and some good stuff happened because of the competitive environment."

He reserved special praise for Johnson, whose four economical wickets cut through New Zealand. "He is just starting to get some condition about him," Nielsen said. "He has just come off a month in Perth, where he has been doing some work in the gym. He was beaming last night because of the fact he thought his rhythm was there and the ball was coming out fast without him trying hard.

"That's always a good indication. It is always about three or four runs in that he bowls at his best and he is only two runs in at the moment."

Sri Lanka women upbeat despite concerns

June 3, 2009

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	Sri Lanka women have plenty of concerns going into the World Twenty20 © TigerCricket.com

Sri Lanka women enter the ICC Women's World Twenty20 as underdogs, and have more concerns than they did when they participated in the Women's World Cup in Australia, where they failed to get past the first stage. They take on Pakistan women in their first game in Taunton on June 12 - a contest that can be termed a grudge battle.

Sri Lanka's 57-run defeat to Pakistan in the World Cup in Canberra cost them a place in the Super Six. For a large part, Sri Lanka had only themselves to blame for that stunning loss because they allowed Pakistan off the hook with some indisciplined bowling, conceding 18 wides. They faltered in their batting too, with three batsmen succumbing to run-outs.

"Despite our disappointing performances in the Women's World Cup, the morale of the girls is very high. They are very keen to make amends when they meet Pakistan again in the Twenty20 version. You need to depend on luck also to win this type of game," coach Chitral Mendis said during the team's final practice session at the NCC grounds.

The team leaves for London Thursday to take part in the ICC Women's World Twenty20 at Taunton from June 11-21 where they are grouped with the same teams as in the World Cup in Australia- Pakistan, England and India.

"I am sure these girls will put up a better performance than they did in the World Cup. Our bowling and fielding is brilliant, it is the batting which is a concern," Mendis said.

	Shashikala Siriwardene was the captain of the Sri Lanka women's team for the World Cup earlier in the year, but was subsequently dropped for disciplinary reasons© Getty Images

Sri Lanka will be greatly handicapped in this department with the absence of three of their experienced players - former captain Sashikala Siriwardene, opening batsman Dedunu Silva and all-rounder Suwini de Alwis who have been left out on disciplinary grounds. These players topped Sri Lanka's batting averages in the recently concluded World Cup.

"We will definitely miss them, they have been our top performers in the past three series including the World Cup. Without their experience our batting is bound to struggle but we will have to play with what we have. Others will have to take on the responsibility to put the runs on the board. I am banking a lot on opening bat Chamari Polgampola who is also the captain, vice captain Eshani Kaushalya and newcomer Chamari Atapattu. I am sure they will make up for the loss," he said.

The three new replacements are Atapattu who was a member of the Asia Cup squad but didn't get an opportunity to play, Chamika Bandara who played one match against West Indies and Sandamali Dolawatte, a former captain. The squad has trained hard for the past one month, trying to iron out the faults that have cost them matches they ought to have won.

Mendis said one of the main reasons for so many run outs in the World Cup (ten run-outs in four matches) was due to lack of practice facilities on centre wickets and erratic calling.

"There is no communication between them when running between the wickets," he said. Lack of experience is one reason because they have played very few international games. They try to take a run off every ball which you can't do against good sides. We have rectified this shortcoming to a great degree."

Mendis pointed out Sri Lanka's disadvantage relative to countries like England and India, as the two have far more exposure to domestic cricket at the professional level. Particularly in England, where players tend to take up the sport at the age of 13.

"So they are far ahead of us," Mendis said. "Our girls start their careers from club level at the age of about 19-20 years which is a distinct disadvantage. Even our club standard is very low compared to other countries. We need to organise more tournaments for our girls to raise their standard. We must start playing at least softball cricket at school level."