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Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes the lack of “big ticket players and game changers” will hamper Pakistan’s progress at the 2015 World Cup. Dravid was speaking on Contenders, ESPNcricinfo’s build-up show to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Dravid’s co-panelist on the show, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, said Pakistan’s batting was “a real weakness” and the failure of their younger generation of batsmen to perform consistently has been holding the team back.”Other than [Shahid] Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq and maybe Younis Khan, I don’t think any of these players would have played ODIs in Australia,” Dravid said. “This gives me the impression that they lack experience. They have got young exciting players, and players with skill as well, but it lacks those big-ticket players or game-changers which you would associate the Pakistan teams of the past.”The loss of offspinner Saeed Ajmal, who withdrew from the tournament because his remodelled bowling action needed further work before it was re-tested, will also be a huge setback to Pakistan’s chances. Before he was banned, Ajmal was Pakistan’s go-to bowler in all formats. “Every batsman in every team is breathing a sigh of relief that Ajmal is not around anymore,” Smith said. “Believe me, I wish I could go play a Pakistan team without Ajmal in it. They have lost a bowler who bowled in pressure situations, and in games where they didn’t even deserve to win. He had that ability you know, so it’s a big loss for them and how they replace that is extremely challenging for them.”Though the odds are loaded against them after a poor year in limited-overs cricket, Pakistan will be inspired by the fact that their only World Cup win came in Australia and New Zealand in 1992 under the captaincy of Imran Khan. According to Dravid, one of Pakistan’s biggest challenges will be to find the right “balance” in the playing XI.”They don’t have that all-round player, with questions over whether Mohammed Hafeez can bowl or not. That’s a big blow for them,” Dravid said. “They’ll always have a good bowling attack, they have some exciting bowlers. Afridi has become a more dependable legspinner than a batsman. He can’t bat anywhere higher than 8. And then you’ve got a wicketkeeper, so it’s a hard one for them to mix and match. Their batting just looks really light for me at the moment.”The key for them is to try and find their best 11. When you go back to ’92, charismatic captain, who can forget Wasim Akram in the final of the tournament, and they had some x-factor,” Smith said. “That’s what they need to find now, early in the tournament find their best eleven, hopefully get some of the younger players performing well, and who knows as the tournament goes on they may grow in confidence. That’s their challenge.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Darren Bravo had to wait 10 Tests to reach his maiden Test ton•AFP

West Indies consolidated their hold over the second Test, moving from a position of control to complete dominance by extending their lead to 331 with Darren Bravo, who reached his maiden international ton in his 10th Test off the last ball of the day, and Kirk Edwards laying the platform to shut Bangladesh out of contention through a stand worth 151. On a track where spinners found some turn and bite, the Bangladesh bowlers let themselves down, were not backed up by their fielders and appeared to be beating a retreat with spread-out fields when the need of the hour was quick wickets and a strong comeback.The spin-strong hosts would have been encouraged by the assistance the pitch offered Devendra Bishoo and Marlon Samuels in the morning session; West Indies took little over an hour to polish off the last three wickets of the Bangladesh innings. There were rough patches on either side of the crease that the slow bowlers targeted, and they promised a tougher outing for the batsmen in the second innings. The run-out of Kraigg Brathwaite in the first over and the needless, and failed, attempt by Kieran Powell to clear mid-on after a solid start gave Bangladesh hope of limiting the damage to manageable proportions. But Bravo’s counter-attack, Edwards’ unshakeable determination that only slipped shortly before stumps and a failure to put the pair under pressure cost the home team.Starting with a packed in-field and catchers close in, the Bangladesh spinners tempted Bravo with flight, aiming at the rough, but were caught off-guard as he responded with aggression. Off his second ball, he smashed Shakib over his head and launched him over the long-on boundary in his next over. Shakib slipped his sliders and Nasir Hossain got some turn but their efforts were inadequate against a calculated Bravo onslaught that put Bangladesh quickly on the defensive. He struck Nasir over mid-on, drove him through the covers and pulled him over midwicket, all in the same over. Soon enough, the field was pushed back, triggering a routine flow of runs to those stationed at long-on and long-off.His quest for runs prompted Bravo to nick Shakib to Mushfiqur Rahim and then Imrul Kayes at first slip – both chances were spilled, drawing a smile of resignation on Shakib’s face. Edwards was content to cede the floor to his partner and rotated the strike comfortably, driving through the V, using the sweep and gradually laying the stage for his second century of the game. He was the recipient of a spate of low full tosses from the Bangladesh slow bowlers but also dealt soundly with those that turned; he drove Shakib twice through the extra cover for four and was equally assured on the back foot, punching him to the boundary despite there being a deep cover. Though not one to take unnecessary risks, he surprised a few when he took on Shahadat Hossain, thumping him over mid-on and clearing the ropes.Barring a mistimed pull that landed inches short of Shakib at midwicket, Edwards experienced no major hiccups and looked to become the first West Indies batsman in 10 years to score a century in each innings. His pursuit was cut short by a momentary lapse in concentration when he flicked too early against a full delivery from Suhrawadi Shuvo – who hardly spun the ball – and was bowled.Bravo toned down in the final session, the stream of singles continuing uninterrupted however. Only two fours came off his bat post tea, one a streaky edge off Rubel Hossain – who bowled too short in his return spell – and the other a punch off Shakib past cover. As nightwatchman Kemar Roach kept Bravo nervous company on the day’s dying stages, Shuvo gave him an anxious moment when he scraped past the outside edge in the final over but a cut through point off that last ball that fetched him two drew a roar, an animated celebration and eventually tears, summing up the relief of having reached a most cherished milestone.The reckless top-order approach on the second day, and missed opportunities and lack of effectiveness with the ball on the third, have left Bangladesh facing a formidable challenge of saving the Test, let alone winning it, on a pitch that could get trickier.

Josh Hazlewood, the New South Wales fast bowler, feels ready to step up to Test level if he gets the chance this summer. Hazlewood is only 19 but has already made his one-day international debut, taking 1 for 41 against England in June, and has spent time with Craig McDermott at the Centre of Excellence during the off-season.With 17 wickets in six first-class games, there is still a lot for him to learn, but McDermott says he has “a truckload of ability”. Hazlewood, who is 196cm, is trying not to get too carried away, but can’t stop thinking about the Ashes.”The way fast bowling is, guys go down with injuries and you can jump up a few places pretty quickly,” Hazlewood said in the Sunday Telegraph. “I’ll get a few opportunities at the start of the Shield season to put my hand up. I’d definitely feel ready if I got a chance during the Ashes. I’ve worked hard in the off-season.”The Ashes is the top of international cricket, it’s in Australia this summer and to think you could be a part of it, it’s pretty exciting, but you try not to think about it too much. You try not to get carried away but you can’t ignore the chance might be there.”McDermott, who made his Test debut as a 19-year-old, has been impressed. “There’s a tremendous future for him, but he’s a big boy who has to take a lot of care with keeping his body fit,” he said. “I’m not going to comment on pecking orders or selections but bowling-wise, with that pace and bounce, it’s all there.”Before Hazlewood gets a chance to play for Australia he has to secure a regular spot at New South Wales, who have Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken available following their reduction in international game time. Doug Bollinger and Shane Watson will also be around for at least a couple of Sheffield Shield games early in the summer, and then there is the promising next rung of Mitchell Starc, Trent Copeland and Burt Cockley.Brad Haddin, the New South Wales wicketkeeper, sees a place for all of them in the various competitions. “New South Wales has some great bowlers at the back-end of their careers, but on the same scale we have some young bowlers just starting out,” he said in the Sun-Herald. “And what tends to happen with the younger guys is their bodies don’t quite stand up to the demands of Shield, one-dayers and the other forms of cricket they need to play.”So to have a Stuart Clark, a Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken around is great because they can feed off them for a year. They get enough information from their bowling coaches, so rather than talking to them it’s more a case of learning from watching how those blokes prepare.”

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was unsurprisingly full of praise for his team after they wrapped up their first ever series victory on Australian soil with a 29-run win in the second one-dayer at the Sydney Cricket Ground.”There’s a lot to be taken out of the way we played these games,” he said. “It’s fantastic. We played the way we believed we could coming here. It was just a case of us fighting to convert every opportunity and tonight I thought it was a great all-round performance.”The last time Sri Lanka were in Australia, in 2007-08, they were beaten 2-0 in the Test series and failed to reach the final of the CB series, which also included India. This time, they met an Australian side struggling for form, having lost five consecutive games across all formats going into this series. But Sangakkara insisted that Australia’s struggles didn’t take the gloss off a maiden series win down under.”It means a lot,” he said. “This is a stage we always wanted to get to where everyone does what is asked of them and you can’t ask any more of the players. They have grown in stature and self-belief. Sri Lankan cricket seems to be in really good hands going forward.”While Sri Lanka’s new generation of players, such as opening batsman Upul Tharanga and allrounders Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews, played a major role in the team’s victory, Sangakkara also made special mention of Muttiah Muralitharan, who is on his final tour of the country.”What more can he do?” Sangakkara said of Muralitharan. “To win the series in Australia on his last tour here. We are thankful to have a champion like him in the side.”

Steven Finn knows he faces a tough fight to regain his Test spot after losing his place during the Ashes and watching a host of quick bowlers stake a claim for selection as England’s pace stocks swelled. Finn began the series against Australia as a first-choice option in the four-man attack alongside James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann but was dropped after the third Test in Perth.Despite taking 14 wickets, including a career-best 6 for 125 at the Gabba, Finn conceded 4.30 runs an over which left Andrew Strauss short of control. Tim Bresnan was recalled for the Melbourne Test and played a key role there and in Sydney as England took the series 3-1.With Chris Tremlett having also returned to the Test team with impressive results, Broad to slot back in after injury ended his Ashes after two matches, Ajmal Shahzad also pushing for a spot and a clutch of young quicks in the wings, Finn realises he’ll have to work hard for a recall.”I don’t think anyone has ever gone through international cricket without being dropped or left out of a team so hopefully it’s something that will benefit me in the long run,” Finn told ESPNcricinfo. “If it takes me a year or two to get back into the international team then so be it, but I’d back myself to be a better bowler when I get into the team.”I’m not looking too far ahead, I’m just trying to be a key player for Middlesex and then see where that gets me,” he said. “I’m not going to say I want to take millions of wickets early season and get picked in the Test squad, I just want to perform consistently and put my name into the hat.”However, although Finn didn’t complete the Ashes series, he still played a key part during the early battles especially in Brisbane and Adelaide. By bursting through Australia’s lower order at the Gabba he gave England a timely boost, having watched Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin add 307, and from there the visitors began the fightback which saw them reach a record-breaking 517 for 1 to save the Test.Then, in Adelaide, with Broad unable to bowl on the final day due to the abdominal injury that ended his series, Finn extracted some extra bounce from a flat surface which resulted in Hussey splicing a pull to midwicket to ensure England would have time to beat the weather and take a 1-0 series lead.”To take 14 Ashes wickets in three Tests was a great feeling but I’m well aware that I went for too many runs and it’s the reason I got left out of the team,” Finn said in an honest assessment. “It’s important that I learn from what I did wrong in the Ashes series and make myself a better player.”They were an amazing five or six weeks, having never seen an England team win in Australia and hear about how much of a formidable place it is, to win was amazing but that’s been and gone now. It’s important we don’t look back in the past. Yes, we won the Ashes this winter and it was amazing, but there’s going to be a lot hard work now that will make me a better cricketer.”Finn, though, has time on his side. It’s his 22nd birthday on Monday and he has already shown potential to be a fine Test bowler with a long career ahead of him despite the disappointment of losing his spot during the winter. Having been a surprise selection in Bangladesh last winter, he went onto play his 11 Tests consecutively and a strong start in the County Championship will keep the selectors interested.”I’ve benefited from spending time around the international set up, and to have played 11 Tests before my 22nd birthday, I feel very privileged to have done that,” he said. “Only time will tell if I’ve learnt from my mistakes on the pitch, but mentally I’ve learnt from them and hopefully I can become a better player for it.”

ScorecardMiddlesex’s hopes of qualifying from Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A were dealt a severe blow as Kent chased down 264 under the Canterbury floodlights to win by two wickets with three balls to spare.Dawid Malan scored 107 from 113 balls in Middlesex’s total of 263 all out, but it proved not to be enough as Darren Stevens (65), Azhar Mahmood (49) and Sam Northeast (57) led Kent to victory.Kent cannot qualify for the semi-finals, even as the best second-placed team from the three groups, but Middlesex were in a good position to progress before this defeat. It is still mathematically possible for them to go through, but now unlikely. Their defeat was can largely be traced back to a failure to score enough runs from the last five overs of their innings after Malan had spearheaded a drive to 239 for two from 35 overs.But then, from the first ball of the 36th over, Malan was dismissed and Middlesex could make only another 24 runs as wickets tumbled in dramatic fashion to Pakistan duo Wahab Riaz and Mahmood. Kent, however, knew they still had to bat well and they were given a solid start by Joe Denly and 18-year-old Daniel Bell-Drummond, who put on 51 for the first wicket.Three wickets fell in 13 balls, with Denly perhaps unlucky to be given out lbw for 28, but Stevens then added 90 with Mahmood, who hit 49 from 43 balls with a six and four fours before he was leg-before sweeping at Malan’s leg-breaks.Stevens hit Toby Roland-Jones over extra cover for six and also Malan for a straight six, but when he fell having faced 54 balls for his runs, caught at long on mis-hitting a full toss, it seemed as if Middlesex might be riding the storm.Northeast, though, batted with great composure, despite seeing Geraint Jones go for just five, and in partnerships with Adam Ball and the hard-hitting Riaz he hit 57 from 46 balls to see Kent home.The key moment in an exciting finish when Kent needed 43 from their last five overs was when Northeast was dropped on 48 by Tom Smith on the deep mid-wicket boundary off Tim Murtagh – the ball bouncing out of the fielder’s hands to go for six. Fourteen runs from 11 balls were required when Northeast hit the shot.Northeast was eventually out to the last ball of the 39th over, but by then only four runs were needed and Riaz and James Tredwell made sure of them with no further alarms. In the Middlesex innings Malan added 107 and 109 respectively with Paul Stirling and Neil Dexter for the second and third wickets.Stirling hit five crisp fours in a 41-ball 45 and Middlesex skipper Dexter hit seven boundaries in his 58 from 52 balls. Stirling had the misfortune to be stumped by Jones off a wide from Simon Cook’s first ball, when the seamer was brought on to bowl the 22nd over, and Dexter’s well-paced knock was ended by a fine low catch at long on by substitute fielder Matt Coles.Dexter was part of a remarkable Middlesex middle and lower order slide against Riaz and Mahmood which saw their last eight wickets go down for just 24 runs in 27 balls.From 239 for 2, and starting with Malan’s dismissal to a Riaz inswinging yorker, Middlesex slid to 263 all out – even failing to use up the last three balls of their 40-over allocation. Riaz finished with figures of 5 for 46 and Mahmood ended up with 4 for 52.

Ehsan Mani, the former ICC president, has urged cricket boards to take responsibility to curb corruption in the sport by engaging with their governments and law enforcement agencies to punish the perpetrators they find. Mani said while the role of the ICC was limited, India’s role in this exercise could be “significant” if it found a way to monitor and regulate the illegal betting industry in the country.”Every time it is the players who are under the radar. The ones who corrupt the cricketers are somehow never punished,” Mani told ESPNcricinfo. “One was hoping that the conviction of three Pakistanis and one English cricketer would send out a strong message and frighten players, but this I think is not going to work. In the long run, it is the root-cause that has to be dealt with.”An undercover operation by the stated that two Indian bookmakers had claimed they remained undeterred by the recent prosecutions of professional cricketers, the game continued to offer plenty of opportunities for spot-fixing and that professional cricketers could be easily be lured in all forms of the game. In the report the bookies had said that they had recruited players from several countries to throw part or all of international matches, including the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan. The ICC denied there had been evidence to “prompt an investigation into the match.”Mani defended the ICC’s actions in the current environment, saying its role was limited as the influence of the illegal betting industry was hard to control. “They don’t have the authority to set up the sting operations in any country so the responsibility [should be] laid on the individual boards to follow up. The problem is the illegal bookies in the subcontinent – most of them are from India and some are in Pakistan. They work in a grey area where there is no control and monitoring.”The reported the bookmaker’s laundry list of fixing ‘rates’ offered. “Tens of thousands of pounds are on offer to fix matches, typically £44,000 ($70,000) to batsmen for slow scoring; £50,000 ($80,000) for bowlers who concede runs; and as much as £750,000 ($1.2m) to players or officials who can guarantee the outcome of a match,” the newspaper reported the bookmaker’s claims.The figures did not surprise Mani who said players could be easily tempted when they were offered large sums of money for little effort. “I’m afraid there will be some $600m involved in the upcoming one match between India and Pakistan on March 18. So for them [illegal bookmakers] investing $5 to 10m on a player is nothing. These days fixing a whole team isn’t possible but controlling individual player is viable and it could be common.”The ECB, Mani said, had been proactive in the Westfield case, asking players to come forward to reveal what they knew. They board responded robustly to concerns that the county circuit was as vulnerable to the influence of illegal bookies as the international game. The Indian board, however, Mani said, needed to take cognisance of the newspaper report. Even the BCCI had declined to respond, with the IPL governing council chairman Rajeev Shukla saying, “Newspapers can publish anything, unless we get something concrete from an agency or ICC, I don’t think it would be appropriate to react to it.”Mani said India could play a significant role by making betting legal. “These problems will never finish until the Indian government finds a way to regulate illegal book-making. I have seen the ECB showing concern, asking players to come and tell them what they know after Westfield’s sentencing. I think it’s the member boards who have to step up to engage the law enforcement agencies to work with them to clean up cricket.”

Scorecard
Paul Stirling smashed a career-best 177 off 134 deliveries•Getty Images

Paul Stirling, the 20-year-old Ireland opener, played the innings of his life, smashing 177 from 134 deliveries to set up an easy win over Canada and tie the two-match ODI series in Toronto.Put in to bat, Ireland were given a strong start by Stirling and Andre Botha who added 91 in 12.4 overs. Stirling began hitting out in the third over, lofting and driving Harvir Baidwan for fours. He took medium-pacer Khurram Chohan’s fourth over for 14 runs, smashing him over long-on for six and then pulling and steering him for consecutive fours. He reached his fifty off 38 balls in the 12th over, guiding Balaji Rao behind point for four. Botha was dismissed in the next over for 28 and Canada managed to briefly rein in the scoring.Andrew Poynter and Stirling added 73 in 18.2 overs and by the time Poynter was dismissed, Stirling had moved to 96 off 90. A single off Chohan in the 34th over brought up his maiden List A hundred off 97 balls.Stirling warmed up for the Batting Powerplay by taking 14 runs in an over off left-arm spinner Parth Desai. Fifty-three runs came in the Powerplay, 38 of those from Stirling. Desai, who had bowled well in taking 1 for 31 in seven overs, went for 46 runs in his next three. With Stirling on 174 at the end of the 44th over, Sachin Tendulkar’s record ODI score was in some danger. However, Stirling hit a Baidwan full toss straight to point in the 45th over, after having struck 21 fours and five sixes. John Mooney’s late hitting took Ireland to an imposing 325.Canada rarely looked like keeping up with the asking rate, especially after being reduced to 34 for 2 in the eighth over. Despite a 79-run third-wicket stand between Ruvindu Gunasekera and captain Ashish Bagai, the run-rate hovered around five throughout the innings. Gunasekera top-scored again with 59 off 60 but he fell in the 24th over. Bagai followed in the 30th to make it 142 for 5, after which Canada needed a miracle.It wasn’t happening though, as offspinner Albert van der Merwe came up with a career-best performance of 5 for 49 and Canada were bowled out in the 47th over. Stirling was the deserving Player of the Match.

Scorecard
Alex Wakely came within a whisker of a century on the second day of Northamptonshire’s finely-poised County Championship match against Leicestershire at Wantage Road. After the league leaders slumped to 70 for 5, Wakely made 98 off 165 balls as his side were bowled out for 312 – one run short of their opponents’ first innings total.Wayne White and Australia international Andrew McDonald took three wickets each before Leicestershire closed on 52 for 0 with the match very much in the balance.Northants began the day 281 runs behind their opponents, with their openers, Stephen Peters and Ben Howgego, resuming on 26 and 6 respectively. But Peters was to last just two balls before he was well caught at third slip by Matthew Boyce off the bowling of Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard.And Howgego was removed on 10 when he edged White (3 for 92) to wicketkeeper Paul Dixey and Rob White soon followed when he nudged Nadeem Malik to the same player. McDonald (3 for 51) then took the wicket of David Sales (15) with his first over of the day when he was slashed to Will Jefferson at second slip.Northants captain Andrew Hall made just five before going cheaply by nudging McDonald’s wide delivery to Dixey to leave the hosts reeling. James Middlebrook survived a huge scare when he was dropped at mid-off by Malik off White, but went two balls later after cracking 42 off 48 balls by edging the same bowler to Dixey.But Wakely stuck around to complete his half-century off 92 balls as he and Chaminda Vaas stabilised their side’s innings with a seventh-wicket stand of 96. Wakely was to agonisingly fall two runs short of a deserved century when McDonald’s delivery went through his defences and took out his leg stump in the third over before tea.Hoggard took the second new ball as soon as it became available and with the second delivery, he forced Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy (22) to edge to Jefferson at second slip. Vaas was to depart on 46 in the next over when he launched White to Hoggard at midwicket before Malik ended the innings by taking out David Lucas’ (24) off stump.Leicestershire managed to get off to a better start in their second innings than they did with their first, where they were reduced to 15 for 3. Their openers, Jefferson and Boyce, comfortably survived 18 overs and will resume on 15 and 36 respectively.

The big question after the XIs were announced was how India would fare with four specialist bowlers, given that their attack had been expensive in the previous three games when they had played five. After the part-time bowlers took 5 for 112 in 22 overs, though, most were left shaking their heads at the ridiculousness.Sri Lanka had allowed Manoj Tiwary, a batsman bowling steady legbreaks, to take his best List A figures of 4 for 61 while Virender Sehwag got a wicket in eight economical overs of loopy offbreaks. The hosts made 251 for 8 after an opening partnership of 91, and Mahela Jayawardene was left to rue his side’s seventh loss in eight ODI series since the 2011 World Cup after yet another Virat Kohli century.India’s three medium-pacers bowled just six overs each as Sri Lanka struggled against Tiwary and Sehwag, who bowled 12 straight overs from the 31st to the 42nd for a combined return of 3 for 50. Jayawardene said the pitch and the part-timers were both slow and that Sri Lanka lost too many wickets to be able to accelerate.”[It was] probably a 280-290 wicket [so we were] maybe 30 runs short because of the way we batted,” Jayawardene said. “But no excuses, we never handled certain situations well and created a hole which was tough for us to get out of. The plan was to take on the fifth bowler. But it is tough to do that when we were losing wickets. We never had the momentum. We lost wickets in the Powerplays and didn’t have any control.”[We were] trying to build partnerships so that we could have a platform which we didn’t. We had to accelerate as well, we knew the score we were going to post wasn’t going to be enough on this wicket. Trying to take risk didn’t work. We didn’t execute the plan well and credit to the Indians they kept putting a lot of pressure on our guys.”Kohli also commented on the lack of pace in the pitch and praised Tiwary’s performance in his first ODI since December 2011. “It is a slow wicket so even if the part-timers land the ball in the right areas they can do the job if you want to play seven batsmen,” Kohli said. “And it was good for Manoj as well because he hadn’t got a game for a while and he got to play again. It’s all about giving the challenge to the guy who has been sitting on the bench and seeing how he reacts to it. I think he did a brilliant job for us with ball. Couldn’t capitalise with the bat [although] he got a good start. But as I said, the part-timers can be effective if bowled at the right time and if they bowl in the right areas so it was worth taking a chance and it paid off for us today.”Sri Lanka had India at 109 for 4 during the chase but Suresh Raina survived a close shout for caught-behind on 2 and was dropped by Jayawardene on 19, the same score on which he had been put down in the third game. Raina went on to make an unbeaten 58 in a match-winning partnership of 146 with Kohli, who was also dropped, on 100. Jayawardene credited India for handling the pressure better.”They handled those situations better than us. We needed a couple more wickets when they were four down. I thought we got Suresh caught behind but I don’t know how the others felt about it. But that is how the game goes. Things could have probably been different but we move on.”Jayawardene was asked what it would take for Sri Lanka to beat India, against whom they have just two wins from their previous ten meetings. “They have got a good batting line-up. In the last two-three years what we found is to control them we need to pick up wickets and that is what we have been trying to do with five bowlers all the time. I think they win matches with their batting [and] not so much with their bowling so for us to beat them we need to control their batting line-up.”That hasn’t been happening as Sri Lanka have taken just six, five and four India wickets in the three losses in this series. Jayawardene acknowledged the need for an improved showing in the final ODI in Pallekele near Kandy.”The bowling obviously didn’t look penetrative enough and obviously not a good fielding performance in the last four games,” Jayawardene said. “I know a couple of guys are really struggling with fatigue. [We will] see what the options are and try and motivate them to go out and take-up the challenge. Kandy is going to be a different challenge altogether. We need to try and put a decent performance together and see where we are at with India because we haven’t played to our potential in this series.”