Persistent rain in Potchefstroom has led to the cancellation of Australia’s scheduled warm-up match against a South African Invitation XI that was due to start on Wednesday

Firdose Moonda03-Feb-2014Persistent rain in Potchefstroom has led to the cancellation of Australia’s scheduled warm-up match against a South African Invitation XI that was due to start on Wednesday. Instead, the tourists will train at the indoor centre in Centurion, which is also the venue of the first Test, and hope the weather clears so they can get some outdoor practice as well.Australia arrived in South Africa last Wednesday and went straight to Potchefstroom, their preferred practice venue on every visit to the country, but rain has played havoc with their plans. Their first practice session last Friday was moved indoors because of wet weather. They managed outdoor training on both Saturday and Sunday but with downpours forecast for the rest of the week, decided not to risk staying in the university town with the possibility of no cricket.The team will move to Johannesburg today and will use the facilities at SuperSport Park from Tuesday. South Africa have also assembled in the city and their planned three-day game against a composite XI will go ahead at the Wanderers, despite the rain.”Unfortunately, with persistent heavy rain forecast for Potchefstroom we have had to look at alternative arrangements to ensure the team gets the best preparation possible ahead of the first Test,” Gavin Dovey, Australia’s team manager, said. “CSA have been very accommodating in assisting us relocate to Johannesburg, providing us with more flexibility with our training options, specifically adequate indoor training facilities to counter any the bad weather.”Although showers are predicted for every day this week, South Africa will stick to their plan of getting match-time to combat what was described as a penchant for starting slowly in Test series. They have the advantage of the Wanderers drainage, which displayed its quality just three days’ ago.On Friday, heavy rain throughout the day made it seem unlikely the domestic T20 match between the Lions and the Cobras would take place. But, the skies closed as the start neared, the game began on time and a full fixture was possible.The new arrangements mean only South Africa will have match time under their belt ahead of the three Test series, which starts next Wednesday, although their break from the whites has been longer. South Africa last played Test cricket five weeks ago against India while Australia’s Ashes ended less than a month ago.This is the second time this summer a touring team’s practice match has been cancelled in South Africa. In December, India’s two-day fixture had to be called off because of a soaked outfield at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. Although there was no rain on the day of the match and the pitch was heavy, an unusually high water table meant the playing surface was not ready in time.

تحدث إريك تين هاج، المدير الفني لفريق مانشستر يونايتد، عن النجم الإنجليزي هاري كين واقتراب رحيله عن توتنهام وانضمامه إلى بايرن ميونخ.

وكان توتنهام قد وافق أخيرًا على انتقال نجم الفريق، صاحب الـ30 عامًا، إلى بطل الدوري الألماني بعد مفاوضات طويلة بين الطرفين.

وسبق أن ذكرت تقارير صحفية أن مانشستر يونايتد كان لديه رغبة في الظفر بخدمات هاري كين هذا الصيف.

وعن ذلك، قال تين هاج في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “بي بي سي” العالمية: “لقد اخترنا مهاجمًا ونحن سعداء حقًا بخيارنا (هويلوند)”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. مدرب توتنهام: هاري كين لم يكن مترددًا بشأن الذهاب إلى بايرن ميونخ

وأضاف: “ولكن من الواضح أن هاري كين مهاجم رائع، لديه كل القدرات التي تريدها، سنفتقده في الدوري الإنجليزي بكل تأكيد”.

وعما إذا كان مانشستر يونايتد قد رغب في ضم هاري كين، في أي وقت، أجاب الهولندي: “لست مضطرًا للدخول في هذا النقاش وإبداء الرأي”.

وأوضح: “نحن نفكر في الكثير من الأشياء ولا نتخذ قرارات بين عشية وضحاها، نحن سعداء بالفريق الذي لدينا الآن”.

David Saker, the England bowling coach, has admitted his job could be in jeopardy as a result of England’s wretched performance in Australia.

George Dobell23-Jan-2014

David Saker, the England bowling coach, has admitted his job could be in jeopardy as a result of England’s wretched performance in Australia.Saker, who signed a new three-year contract in October, accepted he had to take some responsibility for the disappointing form of fast bowler Steven Finn and for the failure of the bowlers to close out the ODI in Brisbane where James Faulkner thrashed Australia to a miraculous victory.”I’ll be the first to say that anyone on this tour should be worried about their job,” Saker said. “We haven’t performed well enough unfortunately and we’re in the business of winning games of cricket. This has been a poor performance from everyone involved.”I’ve had pretty much a fairy tale run until this tour and it has been a reality check for me. It is something that everyone in our group has to think about. I’m sure they will review everyone’s position and if they see fit to change me, well that is their position, but I’m very much committed to trying to change things around.”The performance of Finn has caused particular debate. 18-months or so ago, it appeared England had unearthed a bowler of impressive pace and hostility who would serve them well for several years. But, under the guidance of the England coaching set-up, Finn has lost pace, control and confidence to such a degree that he was recently deemed “not selectable” by England’s limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, and sent home early from the tour for a complete break from the game. It meant Finn had not played a single international game on the tour.”It’s disappointing,” Saker said. “And I take quite a bit of responsibility because my job is to get him playing well for England and that hasn’t worked the way we would have liked.Buttler calls for England confidence

Jos Buttler, the England wicketkeeper, said England must remain confident in their ability as they attempt to stave off a 10th straight defeat in Perth.
Another loss for England in the fourth ODI would see them equal their worst losing run – set in 1993 and matched in 2001 – and Buttler said England needed to play positively to avoid it.
“One day cricket is a tough game to play when your confidence is knocked,” Buttler said. “You need to play with a free open mind and that’s something we need to do. We can’t worry about consequences – if you want to play certain shots you can’t worry about getting out. We need to take that mentality and real positive enforcement.
“Everyone is feeling refreshed and we’ve got to play with confidence. It’s a very tough thing to do when you’re losing games, to not worry about outcomes of getting out or these kinds of things. It’s something we all have to do, to lose that worry, and know what good players we are and be confident in that.
Test selection and the upcoming World T20 are potential targets for Buttler but he is focussed on ensuring England do not leave Australia without a victory.
“If you perform well, the right sort of things happen as a result of that,” Buttler said. “Everyone wants to win a game – no one wants to leave Australia having not won a game of cricket. Personal pride for every player, including myself, comes from knowing you’re putting in those performances and the right things can come from that.
“We talked about remaining tight as a group. Sydney was a very disappointing performance; we should have been there at 1-1 but we missed the chance to win the game at Brisbane. We’ve got to try and move on from that. We’ve had a couple of good days and everyone is feeling refreshed and looking to get back into it.”

“We’ve tried different things; he has worked extremely hard in the nets, as he always does. Some weeks we moved a long way forward and some weeks we moved a long way backwards. That was pretty much the story of the whole trip.”We always want bowlers to be accurate and dry up runs but more than anything we just want him to run in and bowl the way he did when he first broke into the side.”We’ve tried to tinker with certain things but we don’t do any major overhauls of actions. We did shorten his run up in New Zealand and it did work quite well but he didn’t feel comfortable with it and he went back to his long run. That was his decision.”We keep working on different things but at the end of the day he has to decide what he wants. He has to sift through advice and see what is best for him. I’m sure he will bounce back and I’m sure it will be quickly. We want him to get better and are all trying to help him. You’ve got to trust your action and I don’t think he trusts it. Our job is to make sure he gets an action he trusts.”But Finn’s experience was not unique. England selected two other giant fast bowlers for the Ashes but both Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett played peripheral parts in the series. In the first Test of the series, Tremlett bowled exactly as he had done in the 2013 county season for Surrey – with skill and accuracy but without any of the menace that rendered him such a dangerous proposition in 2010-11 – before being dropped, while Rankin failed to do himself justice in the final Test of the series with a timid performance. Clearly the England set-up was unable to coax the best out of any of them.”After the results we’ve had, you could say the selection was wrong,” Saker said. “It’s disappointing that one of the tall bowlers didn’t have a big impact. They didn’t put it together.”People are looking for runs and wickets and looking for wrong things instead of just looking for how you played in the back yard with your mum and dad. That’s the way you want to play.”Sometimes it’s not easy to say just run up and bowl; they do read things into it. The game is played a lot of time between the ears and you have to think really strongly about what is going into your mind.”Saker also expressed his disappointment over the “death” bowling in Brisbane, confessing that it was the lowest point in a career as England’s bowling coach that began in April 2010.”It was a hell of an innings from Faulkner, but we handed a lot of those shots to him,” Saker said. “We could have bowled a lot better and I’ll put my hand up straight away. It was a poor finish to an ODI game and in a sense it has to be brought onto me because we should be able to finish an innings off like that and we should be able to close off the last two overs for less than 30, but we didn’t.”That was as devastated as I’ve been since I’ve worked in this job because it was a game we should have won. We’ve been away for a long time and we haven’t won a game and that was a game no doubt we should have won and that really hurt. Not just the bowling group but the whole team. When you’re in the position I’m in you feel a lot of responsibility for that.”

Led by a century from their captain Sami Aslam and a fifty from Kamran Ghulam, Pakistan Under-19s held their nerve to secure a two-wicket win over India Under-19s. The win puts them on top of Group A, sealing a spot in the semi-finals. Faced with a target of 251, Aslam kept the chase under control with a well-paced 108 off 119 balls. Once he fell, Ghulam took over, guiding the lower order even as India pulled back with wickets. Two wickets in the 49th and 50th over put some pressure on Pakistan, who were seeking six runs off the last over, but Zafar Gohar hit two fours to seal the victory.Earlier, Ricky Bhui’s 64 helped India post 250 for 7 after regular strikes from the Pakistan bowlers prevented India’s top-order from making good on their starts. Bhui’s knock off 66 balls with three fours and two sixes.Riding on a hundred from Kusal Mendis and an unbeaten 62 from Priyamal Perera, Sri Lanka Under-19s stumbled to a two-wicket win over Bangladesh Under-19s in Abu Dhabi. The win helped them qualify for the semi-finals where they will play India. Set a target of 204, the 108-run fourth-wicket stand between Mendis and Perera put Sri Lanka in a comfortable position at 180 for 3. However, Sri Lanka lost their next five wickets for 13 runs, sliding to 193 for 8, before Perera and AK Tyronne got the required runs. Earlier, a fifty from Nazmul Hossain Shanto, and useful contributions from Mosaddek Hossain and Yasir Ali helped Bangladesh put up 203 for 6.Afghanistan Under-19s needed a total of just 26.4 overs to thump Malaysia Under-19s by 10 wickets in Abu Dhabi. Malaysia, who were bundled out for 50 and 32 in their previous two games, collapsed once again for 40 as medium-pacer Sayed Shirzad spearheaded an incisive bowling performance from Afghanistan. Malaysia’s captain Muhammad Ramli was the team’s top-scorer with 12, while their other 10 batsmen collectively contributed just 22 runs between them. Shirzad finished with 4 for 10, and Abdullah Adil picked up three scalps. to bowl Malaysia in 23.2 overs.Afghanistan’s openers Shahidullah and Ihsanullah completed the paltry chase in just 20 balls, hitting five fours and a six between them. Afghanistan will now play Pakistan in the semi-finals.A four-for from left-arm spinner Sushan Bhari and a knock of 48 from Aarif Sheikh helped Nepal Under-19s seal a four-wicket win over United Arab Emirates Under-19s in Sharjah. Nepal were struggling at 49 for 3 before Sheikh anchored the chase with useful partnerships. After Sheikh was out, Siddhant Lohani and Rahul Pratap Singh ensured Nepal ended up on the winning side, finishing the game in 33 overs. Earlier, Bhari and left-arm pacer Lalit Bhandari kept chipping away with wickets to restrict UAE to 159. Dan D’Souza was the top-scorer for UAE with 32, in an innings where a few other batsmen got starts but couldn’t play on. Bhari finished with 4 for 34, while Bhandari took 3 for 43.

MatériaMais Notícias

Cuca costuma dizer que prefere desempenho a resultado nas primeiras rodadas do Brasileirão. Jogando bem, o time provavelmente somará pontos suficientes para se manter no pelotão de frente e, mais importante, ganhará corpo e confiança para os momentos mais agudos da competição, quando, aí sim, pode ser preciso vencer partidas “na marra”. Neste contexto, o empate sem gols com o Bahia na manhã deste domingo até poderia ser aceitável, desde que o time tivesse feito um bom jogo. Não foi o caso.

Essa foi, sem dúvida, a pior atuação do São Paulo em cinco rodadas de Brasileirão. Isso se não tiver sido a pior atuação desde a chegada de Cuca, que está à frente da equipe há oito partidas. E com os dois jogadores de quem a torcida mais espera, Pato e Hernanes, começando juntos pela primeira vez.

O primeiro tempo do São Paulo se resumiu a um chute mascado de Antony que bateu na trave direita do goleiro Douglas. Hernanes e Pato se posicionavam entre os zagueiros e se revezavam na tentativa de buscar jogo com Tchê Tchê e Liziero, em uma estratégia que não deu certo diante de um adversário muito fechado e muito disciplinado taticamente. Para piorar, Liziero torceu o tornozelo e saiu logo aos 13 minutos. Luan, que entrou em seu lugar, quase nunca aparece como um armador, o que deixou o time um pouco mais travado. Era preciso mais Pato, mais Hernanes, mais Antony, mais Toró… Mas nenhum deles conseguia entrar no jogo. As individualidades não funcionavam.

Cuca mudou no intervalo. Tirou Pato (talvez fosse melhor mantê-lo em campo e afastá-lo da área, onde rende mais), passou Toró da esquerda para o comando de ataque, colocou Helinho aberto pela direita (depois pela esquerda) e inverteu Antony para a esquerda (depois de novo para a direita). Hernanes passou a buscar mais a bola, como armador, e consequentemente a participar mais do jogo. Mas, tecnicamente, não foi o dia do Profeta. Ele errou demais, não conseguiu fazer associações com Tchê Tchê – que invertia com Hudson e ia para a lateral em diversos momentos, tentando dar mais jogo ao time pelo lado, também sem eficácia.

A última cartada foi a entrada de Nenê no lugar de Hernanes, possivelmente uma aposta na capacidade do camisa 10 de cair também pelas beiradas, abrindo a defesa baiana (talvez Igor Gomes tivesse sido uma opção melhor, por ser mais dinâmico e até mais incisivo). Mas logo o VAR entrou em ação para expulsar Toró por um pisão aparentemente involuntário no ombro do goleiro Douglas, e o São Paulo se desmantelou de vez.

A partir da expulsão, o Tricolor não teve organização nenhuma para atacar e viu o Bahia ficar mais perto da vitória. Até a saída de bola perdeu a lógica, com chutões de Volpi e algumas bolas na fogueira dos jogadores de defesa. O Morumbi se calou até o apito final, quando voltou a subir o volume para vaiar o time com justiça.

São Paulo e Bahia voltam a se enfrentar na quarta-feira, às 21h30, novamente no Morumbi, dessa vez pelas oitavas de final da Copa do Brasil. O time de Cuca precisará de muito mais alternativas para superar os comandados de Roger Machado, que provavelmente apostarão de novo no ferrolho à frente da área.

Nigeria landed in Colombo on Sunday for a nine-day tour during which they will play four Twenty20s

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2014

Nigeria landed in Colombo on Sunday for a nine-day tour during which they will play four Twenty20s. Sri Lanka Cricket said it was hosting the Nigeria national team to “uplift the standard of cricket of the Associate Members of ICC”.The tour by Nigeria comes three months after Kenya had played seven Twenty20s in Sri Lanka. The opposition for Kenya had been a strong Sri Lanka A team which included the likes of Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Shaminda Eranga.Over the last month, Sri Lanka had also hosted Afghanistan’s training camp for the Asia Cup.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKumar Sangakkara became only the second batsman after Graham Gooch to score a triple hundred and a hundred in a Test•AFP

Kumar Sangakkara eased, almost casually, to a 35th career hundred in a Test match already heaving with his runs, completing a feat only Graham Gooch had achieved before him. A whip over the midwicket ropes took him over 100 in almost the same fashion he had brought up his triple century in the first innings, and raised his match-tally to 424 – the third highest in Tests. Thanks in large part to his epic labours, Sri Lanka have almost certainly made themselves safe in the Test, with one full day remaining to chase a 2-0 result.A resurgent Dinesh Chandimal registered a measured ton of his own, to stretch Sri Lanka’s advantage on the fourth afternoon and evening. The declaration, at 305 for 4, came upon his entry to triple figures, leaving Bangladesh with one day and 25 minutes to bat out. They went to stumps unscathed after eight tense overs, 455 runs adrift of the visitors.Sangakkara’s numbers against Bangladesh have now moved into a superhuman realm. In his last eight innings against them, he has hit 994 runs, never failing in that stretch to cross 50. In fact, only six times in 21 trips to the crease against Bangladesh, has Sangakkara failed to notch a half-century. An average of 95.57 is unsurprisingly his highest against any team.On this occasion, Bangladesh can blame their torment on a fielding error. On 36, Sangakkara attempted to blast over the deep midwicket rope, but mis-hit a ball from Shakib Al Hasan to Nasir Hossain, who only had to run a few metres to his left. Shakib had built significant pressure alongside Mahmudullah to provoke the stroke and, upon seeing the catch grassed, he scratched his head in extreme frustration, holding back fury.Sangakkara’s progress took an irritatingly familiar form for Bangladesh, who employed various fields against him but could not stem the effortless flow of runs. With Sri Lanka having lost three relatively cheap wickets, Sangakkara only pursued the poor balls with aggression – sliding back to slam the short deliveries with particular disdain. Mostly, he busied himself with strike rotation, giving constant nuggets of advice to Chandimal, who was fighting for form. It wasn’t until he neared his ton that he began to assert himself. Until then, he had collected his runs almost on the sly.Chandimal was similarly averse to belligerence, and just as efficient at risk-free accumulation. He hit only four fours in nearly three hours at the crease, yet scored his runs at a strike rate of 63. Shakib had troubled him in doses throughout the innings, spinning some past his blade and striking him on the pad, but the grit that had been absent from his game returned. His 145-run stand with Sangakkara was the flesh of Sri Lanka’s second innings, after the two had been joined at 78 for 3.Perhaps aware Chandimal was short of some self-confidence ahead of two months of less-favoured limited-overs cricket, Angelo Mathews delayed the declaration until the batsman had reached his third Test century – all of which have come against Bangladesh. Chandimal may now look with more enthusiasm at the task of leading his team in the World Twenty20 in six weeks.The hosts’ only breakthrough in the middle-session had been Mahela Jayawardene’s wicket for 11. Shakib pitched one on off and got it to straighten, striking Jayawardene on the front pad in front of middle. Jayawardene felt the ball had not turned sharply enough to hit leg stump, but replays did not offer a conclusive answer. Again the most aggressive among the hosts’ spinners, Shakib would have felt he bowled better than figures of 1 for 80 suggest.The morning session had belonged to Mahmudullah, however, even after he had hit the fourth ball of the day straight to short leg, when his side would have hoped to whittle their first-innings deficit down to 150. After the Sri Lanka openers had begun tentatively against Al-Amin Hossain, who delivered a spell of seaming deliveries that generated surprising bounce, Mahmudullah arrived to dismiss both of them. Dimuth Karunaratne ended a frustrating series by edging a cut shot to slip, and Silva underestimated the turn Mahmudullah would generate with one of his few aggressive balls of the day.Suranga Lakmal also got the ball moving in the afternoon, and although Shamsur Rahman followed him with his hands more than any batting coach would advise, the opener managed to account for the movement through hand-eye co-ordination. Shamsur and Tamim Iqbal survived close shouts before stumps were drawn, with the team score on 12.

انتهت مساء الإثنين منافسات الجولة الثانية من الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز بفوز آرسنال الصعب ضد كريستال بالاس بهدف دون رد.

وشهدت الجولة فوز ليفربول على بورنموث بثلاثة أهداف مقابل هدف، بينما فاز مانشستر سيتي بهدف نظيف ضد نيوكاسل.

وتعرض مانشستر يونايتد، في الجولة نفسها، للخسارة أمام توتنهام بهدفين دون رد، أما تشيلسي فقد سقط بثلاثة أهداف لهدف أمام وست هام. ترتيب الدوري الإنجليزي بعد نهاية الجولة الثانية

1 برايتون، 6 نقاط.

2 مانشستر سيتي، 6 نقاط.

3 آرسنال، 6 نقاط.

4 برينتفورد، 4 نقاط.

5 ليفربول، 4 نقاط.

6 توتنهام، 4 نقاط.

7 وست هام، 4 نقاط.

8 نيوكاسل يونايتد، 3 نقاط.

9 أستون فيلا، 3 نقاط.

10 نوتينجهام فورست، 3 نقاط.

11 كريستال بالاس، 3 نقاط.

12 مانشستر يونايتد، 3 نقاط.

13 فولهام، 3 نقاط.

14 بورنموث، نقطة.

15 تشيلسي، نقطة.

16 شيفيلد يونايتد، بلا نقاط.

17 لوتون تاون، بلا نقاط.

18 بيرنلي، بلا نقاط.

19 ولفرهامبتون، بلا نقاط.

20 إيفرتون، بلا نقاط.

ويمكن متابعة ترتيب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، موسم 2023/24، محدث بشكل مستمر من هنا.

Mark Boucher has called on the ICC to think about “what’s important to the game and what isn’t” when they sanction players for breaching the code of conduct

Firdose Moonda01-Mar-2014Mark Boucher, South Africa’s former wicketkeeper, has called on the ICC to think about “what’s important to the game and what isn’t” when they sanction players for breaching the code of conduct. Boucher was referencing the discrepancies in the sanctions handed out to Faf du Plessis and David Warner during the ongoing series.In ‘s television build-up to the third Test match in Cape Town, Boucher said the ICC should “get its ducks in a row,” when it comes to applying discipline.David Warner was fined 15% of his match fee for making what match referee Roshan Mahanama called “disrespectful,” comments which “publicly denigrated an opponent,” when he suggested to an Australian radio station that South Africa had achieved reverse swing in Port Elizabeth through dubious means.Contrastingly, Faf du Plessis had to hand over 50% of his match fee for a second clothing violation within the last 12 months. Du Plessis took to the field in Port Elizabeth with green shoelaces instead of the white ones which are stipulated as the acceptable gear for Test matches. In November 2013, du Plessis wore shoes with a red tongue instead of a white one.Both those are in contravention with clause 2.1.1 of the ICC’s code of conduct for players and player support personnel. Because they occurred within a 12-month period, the minimum fine of half the player’s match fee, was imposed. Boucher said he thought du Plessis’ offence was not in the same vein as Warner’s and he could not understand why the South African was so harshly punished.

Alex Hales had no doubt that his match-winning hundred against Sri Lanka was the most important contribution of his international career to date.

Alan Gardner in Chittagong27-Mar-2014Alex Hales had no doubt that his match-winning hundred against Sri Lanka, the first time an England batsman had reached three figures in a T20 international, was the most important contribution of his international career to date. Hales’ stunning innings led England to their highest chase in the format to reignite a smouldering World T20 campaign.”It’s an amazing feeling. It still hasn’t sunk in what’s happened,” Hales said afterwards, looking remarkably cool despite having just launched an enormous six to win the match with four balls to spare. Twice out in the 90s previously, Hales broke the three-figure barrier by clearing the boundary off Nuwan Kulasekara’s penultimate over, from which 16 runs came in total to bring England’s target of 190 within reach.”I always had the confidence I would get the chance again,” he said. “Hundreds don’t come around very often in the short format so I’m buzzing I got it today and in a huge fixture for our country.”Alex Hales made England’s first hundred in a T20•Getty ImagesAfter a shambolic performance in the field, when England dropped four catches and missed a run-out, they flopped out of the blocks at the start of the chase, Kulasekara removing Michael Lumb and Moeen Ali in a double-wicket maiden. Hales and Eoin Morgan, slowly at first and then with increasing assurance, rebuilt the innings and by the time their 152-run partnership was broken, the pendulum was beginning to swing England’s way.”It wasn’t an ideal start but we saw by the way they batted it was an excellent wicket and the way Morgy came in straight away and took the game back to them made my job a lot easier,” Hales said. “We had plans to stay in the game as long as we could, get a partnership and reassess at the halfway stage. It paid off.”Morgan and Jos Buttler fell in the same over but Ravi Bopara deftly glided his first two balls from Lasith Malinga for four to keep England up with the asking rate. Although they had needed to score two runs a ball for around half the innings, Hales said that he began to feel the victory was possible “with six or seven overs left”.”We needed about 12 an over so we always knew it would be a tough ask,” he said. “But Morgy played brilliantly and then Ravi came in against the danger man Malinga and hit the first two balls for four. It was brilliant to see.”The win, against the No. 1-ranked side and one of the favourites for the competition, pushes England back into contention into what is turning into a close-fought group. A difficult winter in Australia has been followed by stop-start limited-overs form, a young and experimental squad disrupted by injuries while uncertainty remains about the currently vacant head coach’s position. Reaching the knockout stages in Bangladesh would an unexpected, and welcome, success”It would be massive for us, we are underdogs in this tournament, playing in the subcontinent historically we haven’t gone too well,” Hales said. “This win will help us build momentum for the next two games, we’ve still got to play Holland and SA. I think if we perform to the best of our ability we’ll get two wins.”Hales was dropped by Mahela Jayawardene on 55, small change after England donated four similar straightforward misses during the Sri Lanka innings but ultimately of great importance. Two overs later, Hales targeted Ajantha Mendis repeatedly through the leg side, hitting three sixes in an over that cost 25. In 2014, Hales had previously made 125 runs in seven innings for England; he almost equalled that in one dramatic fusillade here. A celebratory glass of wine has been well earned.”It hasn’t been a great winter personally, I probably didn’t do as well in the Big Bash as I’d have liked,” Hales said. “But I’ve still felt confident, I’ve been hitting the ball well in the nets and felt a big score was close. I’m pleased it came today in a winning side.”