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Virender Sehwag, who missed the first two Tests of the England tour, has landed in England and is en route to join the Indian team later on Wednesday. Sehwag, who was ruled out for the first fortnight of the England series when the Indian selectors announced the Test squad on July 2, is expected to be available for the last two Tests. The Indians play a two-day tour match against Northants starting this Friday ahead of the third Test which starts in Birmingham next week.India would be optimistic about opening with their regular pair of Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in Northampton and then in the third Test at Edgbaston. Gambhir has recovered from the left-shoulder injury he picked while fielding in England’s second innings at Lord’s. “He is sure for the next Test,” MS Dhoni said.Sehwag’s return would definitely be a shot in the arm for India, who have been completely outplayed in the series so far and are 2-0 down. It was in England that he scored his first century as an opener, at Trent Bridge in 2002, though he missed the 2007 tour.India lost their premier fast bowler Zaheer Khan to a hamstring injury on the first afternoon of the Lord’s Test, and England’s bowlers have completely dominated their batsmen, most of whom with the exception of Rahul Dravid have struggled to find their touch, form and at times even stand their ground.Sehwag had opted for a shoulder surgery after playing the IPL in May and was ruled out for at least two months including the tour of West Indies. When the selectors picked the squad, it came with a rider that Sehwag was given an additional two weeks rest to allow him to rest his shoulder. In Taunton, ahead of India’s first tour match against Somerset, Indian coach Duncan Fletcher indicated that he was not sure but predicted Sehwag could be back in time for the third Test.In Sehwag’s absence, India fielded three different opening combinations. The Tamil Nadu pair of M Vijay and Abhinav Mukund opened in the three-Test series in the Caribbean that India won 1-0. Gambhir had suffered a shoulder injury during the final round of the IPL, exacerbating an existing injury he claimed he originally picked during the World Cup final in April. Vijay, who was the third-choice opener in the past, struggled and got a tally of 72 runs in the three Tests against West Indies, a series where Abhinav made his debut and impressed scoring 147 runs.At Lord’s, Abhinav joined Gambhir, who was hit on the elbow while fielding in the second innings and batted down the order. Gambhir was then declared unfit to play in the second Test forcing Rahul Dravid to face the new ball in Abhinav’s company.

ScorecardMurali Kartik hit his highest score for title-chasing Somerset after theirdepleted batting line-up had folded tamely but it was bottom side Hampshire incontrol following the opening day of the County Championship Division Oneclash at Taunton.Coming in at 86 for 7, the Indian left-arm spinner scored an unbeaten 59 tohelp Somerset to an unlikely batting bonus point before they were bowled out for204. James Tomlinson took three for 40 from 16 overs at the ground where he recordedcareer-best figures of 8 for 46 in 2008.In reply, Hampshire reached 124 for 1 by the close to complete a highlysatisfactory day. Acting-captain Jimmy Adams, who had won the toss, was unbeatenon 57 and Michael Carberry 65 not out. Somerset were without skipper Marcus Trescothick and Nick Compton through injury, while Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler were away on England Twenty20 duty.Teenager Alex Barrow took advantage of an opportunity to open by hitting ahighly promising 36. But James Hildreth, with 32, was the only other top sevenbatsman to reach double figures. Tomlinson started the rot by scattering Arul Suppiah’s stumps when he had made only three and went on to dismiss Hildreth and substitute wicketkeeper SteveSnell, who is due to be replaced by the returning Buttler for tomorrow’s play.There were two wickets each for Chris Wood, Dimitri Mascarenhas and ImranTahir, but Somerset’s demise owed more to poor shots than any assistance theHampshire bowlers found from the pitch.That was proved when Kartik and Alfonso Thomas (27) added 64 for the eighthwicket after lunch. Kartik went on to face 83 balls, hitting sixes off Tomlinsonand Mascarenhas, as well as five fours. His previous best score for Somerset was 52 not out, made against Essex at Colchester last season.The Hampshire reply got off to a bad start when Liam Dawson fell leg-before toCharl Willoughby in the opening over. Adams and Carberry then had to survivesome testing deliveries from Willoughby and Steve Kirby.But as the shine went off the ball the two batsmen began to prosper, playingwith increasing freedom. Adams survived a confident appeal for a catch behindoff Kirby shortly before reaching his half-century off 95 balls, with sevenfours. Carberry’s fifty soon followed, off 99 balls with nine fours, and together thepair’s century stand in 32 overs gave the visitors a stranglehold on the game.During the morning Trescothick received the results of a scan on his injuredankle. They showed tears to two tendons and he will begin a rehabilitationprogramme on Friday, not knowing whether he will be able to play again thisseason.

Shaun Marsh, who will make his Test debut in Pallekele, can press Phil Hughes and Usman Khawaja for a place in the Australia XI, with captain Michael Clarke saying there were “no guarantees” for batting berths once Ricky Ponting returns.Hughes and Khawaja were preferred to Marsh for the first Test in Galle. Neither could produce a standout score – though both showed signs of promise on a poor pitch – keeping the Australian batting order in a state of some flux despite the 125-run victory.Clarke said Ponting was guaranteed to resume at No. 3 once he returns from Australia following the birth of his second child, but beyond that there is less certainty.”This is a great problem to have,” Clarke said. “Hopefully all three of them do well and we go scissors, paper, rock. It’s pressure, [but it is] good pressure. It’s what the team needs. There’s not one bloke in our team that can look at the first game and feel 100% the job’s done and I don’t need to improve from the last game.”I think every one of us needs to perform better, especially our batters. We need to make more runs. If we bat first then a good score on the board in the first innings is crucial. Our first batting innings is crucial, so every one of us puts our hand up, and if you make a start go on and get a good score.”As a newly-anointed selector, Clarke said his philosophy was to allow players to settle in, but also to ensure they were being pushed for their spots. A strong debut by Marsh would create that kind of pressure.”We’ve got a group of players in Test and one-day cricket that we think is our core group,” Clarke said. “It’s got a combination of experienced players and some youth. I think it’s really important once you select certain players that you do give them a chance. It’s hard to walk straight in and perform.”I believe these guys do deserve an opportunity, no doubt, but in saying that the player is responsible as well. The player needs to grab it with both hands. The great players that I’ve been lucky to play with, it doesn’t really matter how they got their opportunity – whether someone got injured, someone got suspended, someone got rested – generally the guy that came in made the most of that opportunity.”What we’re trying to do with Australian cricket now is to continue to keep our domestic competition as strong as we possibly can, so there is pressure on the international players – there’s someone back home that will take your spot. Shaun is dying for his opportunity, now he gets his chance.”Marsh has only made six first-class centuries since making his start as a teenager with Western Australia. However Clarke was adamant that Marsh’s natural flair for shots had been increasingly allied to knowledge of the hard graft required to succeed.”The key for Shaun is to give himself a chance,” Clarke said. “Once he gets in he’s got every shot in the book and he can destroy an opposition team because he’s got the talent to take the game away from them. For the team’s sake I’d love to see Shaun spend a bit of time in the middle.”I just think it’s really special to see someone who has worked really hard since he’s been involved in the Australian one-day team. The way he’s improved his training, the discipline he’s shown, how he’s lost a lot of weight and become fit and strong, it’s a great reward for him. I hope he just enjoys it, doesn’t worry too much and enjoys the moment. If he does that I’ve got a funny feeling he’s going to make a big score.”Australia’s bowling attack excelled in helpful conditions in the first Test, but will likely face a greater challenge to restrict and dismiss Sri Lanka’s batsmen on a Pallekele pitch that shows none of the dusty tendencies of the Galle strip. Helping the visitors is the fact that none of the bowlers were over-extended as the hosts’ first innings folded for 105.”I think the extra day off probably helped both teams, but it has definitely helped us, it’s allowed our quicks to have another couple of days off,” Clarke said. “A lot of the guys did their bowling yesterday so I don’t know if they will go there today so they can freshen up going into the Test.”On these wickets generally it’s [likely to be] long days. To take 20 wickets means long, long days in the field. I know we rolled them for 105 the other day but I would be very surprised if that happens again in this series. We have to be prepared because to bowl Sri Lanka out will take a lot of time.”

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt denied ever asking Mohammad Asif or Mohammad Amir to cheat and bowl pre-planned no-balls, a court heard on Friday during the eighth day of the alleged spot-fixing trial in London.”There’s no way I could tell Amir or Asif (to cheat),” Butt said in a police interview played to the court. “They are the two players that most teams would want to have. When we pick our team those are the first two names that we have to write.”The jury at Southwark Crown Court heard a transcript of police interviews with Butt in September last year, shortly after the publication of an undercover investigation into alleged corruption by the Pakistan cricketers and Majeed, released in the .The transcript was read out in role play format between policeman at the time Detective Constable John Massey and Sarah Whitehouse for the prosecution. Butt sat in the dock, wearing a dark grey jacket and royal blue shirt, following a printed transcript of the interview. He was sandwiched by Asif and a female interpreter.In the first police interview, in which Butt attributed Majeed’s predictions of the no-balls coming true as “a freak occurrence”, he denied ever accepting money for corrupt purposes. Butt also said Majeed had no influence over him as the agent had boasted during the investigation.”I don’t think anybody could influence me to cheat my country,” Butt said. “I play this game for the love of the game and for the love of my country.”He added: “I have played at all levels for Pakistan and in ten years of playing for Pakistan I have never had any charge against me. This is the first time I have had a charge (against me).” He also denied knowing of a culture of cheating in the Pakistan team.Butt said he had been happy with Majeed as his agent because he brought him generous earnings from endorsements outside of his cricket duties. These included payments of £16,000 and £30,000 for endorsing Majeed companies Blue Sky and Capital Cricket.Butt also was heard to say on the tapes that Majeed arranged a sportswear and cricket equipment deal for him with Adidas that earned him £800 per international match plus bonuses. “He brought me things like the Adidas contract,” Butt said, “which was a big thing to me as no other Pakistani had that.”The opening batsman also revealed how Majeed had “talked about” a potential sponsorship agreement with Tag Heur watches, in which he would received a new £3,000 watched every three months, plus money after six months. A contract with a shoe company was also discussed that would see his name sewn into the shoes.Butt and Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-determined no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.The case continues.

Group A

Kerala and Services were involved in a thrilling draw at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi, where the hosts clung on to a draw with one wicket left. Kerala had the upper hand for much of the day, and were in an excellent position to win the game but ended up taking away just one point while Services took three. Seamer Sony Cheruvathur bagged four wickets and was backed up Prasanth Parameswaran, Unnikrishnan Manukrishnan and Padmanabhan Prasanth, who took two each, to bowl out Services for 148. Kerala had conceded a first-innings lead of four runs, but bounced back to reach a winning position.However, they faltered in their chase of 153 in 63 overs. They top order failed, with the team being reduced to 17 for 3 at one stage. Rohan Prem, Sachin Baby and Karimutthathu Rakesh scored 20s but couldn’t push on and at 103 for 9 in the 43rd over, Kerala were staring at defeat. For Services, Yashpal Singh starred with five wickets. However, Manukrishnan and Parameswaran, the last-wicket pair, not unlike James Anderson and Monty Panesar in Cardiff two years ago, saw off 125 deliveries, adding 27, to save the game for Kerala.Andhra Pradesh were made to wait and work hard but they eventually found success, beating Tripura by 124 runs in Visakhapatnam. They had reduced Tripura to 24 for 5 in a chase of 233 at the end of the third day, and left them in further trouble at 76 for 7. But wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant and the explosive duo of Manisankar Murasingh and Udit Patel put up a fight. Samant fell on 42 with the score on 109 but No.9 and 10 provided plenty of entertainment. Both Murasingh and Udit faced 39 balls, struck eight fours and three sixes. Murasingh made 52, Udit made 59 but soon enough, AP struck to seal victory. Seamet Tekkami Atchuti Rao took four wickets, supported by Syed Sahabuddin who took three.

Group B

Goa took three points from their draw against Assam in Guwahati, having gained a first-innings lead. On the fourth day, the tenth-wicket pair of Amit Yadav (68) and captain Robin D’Souza (35) continued their good work, extending their score to 306 before the last-wicket pair added a further 30. There wasn’t much to play for in the second innings as an outright result would take a miracle, and Assam batted out 68.3 overs to make 190 for 3. Opener Dheeraj Jadhav helped himself to a century.There was finally a fair amount of play in the game between Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand in Srinagar. Openers Adil Rishi and Ian Dev Singh shone for J&K, adding 171. Ian scored a century while Adil made 88. In 75 overs, J&K scored 270 before declaring. Jharkhand were left to face only 20 overs, but it was for enough for Manish Vardhan to make an unbeaten 58 in quick time.

Numerous payment problems, questions about their lack of funds and repeated demands to include a Pakistan series are some of the factors the BCCI considered before it decided to terminate its contract with Nimbus Communications, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The decision was taken by the board’s working committee at a meeting held in Delhi on Monday.”The board president [N Srinivasan] was worried about the capital of Nimbus and the fact that there is not much liquidity and this is a serious concern going forward,” a senior BCCI official said. India are not scheduled to play any further international cricket at home until September 2012, and the official pointed out that the board was not confident Nimbus could sustain itself as a going concern in the long run. Nimbus had renewed its contract with the BCCI in 2010, negotiating a four-year deal worth about Rs 2000 crores ($379.5 million).The board was equally concerned by what they claim were Nimbus’ regular defaults on payments. According to the contract, Nimbus were supposed to pay 50% of the amount before a series began and the remainder at the end. The board official claimed that Nimbus failed to do so on many occasions, including the last two home series played by India: the five-match ODI series against England followed by the recently concluded tour by West Indies that included three Tests and five ODIs.Nimbus had asked the BCCI to give them a week’s time to clear their dues after the West Indies series. It is understood that Nimbus had to make a payment of Rs 125 crores ($23.7 million), having already paid Rs 75 crore ($14.23 million). Reportedly, the BCCI had even booked rooms for Nimbus officials in Delhi, including for its head, Harish Thawani, to attend the working committee meeting. But to Nimbus officials’ surprise, they started receiving calls from the media about the board’s termination of their contract.”They just terminated [the agreement] without even talking to us,” a Nimbus official said.However, the board official said the BCCI had lost its patience. “Though the default amount at the moment stands at below Rs 100 crores [$18.98 million], it is going to balloon to up to Rs 300 crores [$56.93 million] by February,” the official said. According to him, that amount involves the combined payments for the home series against England and West Indies. “Nimbus can say that they had requested for a few days to clear the default. How much can we wait? We have been doing so for five years.”According to another official privy to discussions, another key reason for BCCI’s decision was Nimbus’ insistence that as part of the contract there had to be an India-Pakistan tour. “Of late they started to point out the Pakistan tour,” the official said. “‘You have to confirm to us that you are doing it. If not we have the right to claim something because we are paying the same money for a West Indies match and a Pakistan match’ is what they kept telling the board.”This official claimed that Nimbus told the BCCI that they could make a substantial amount of money if the Pakistan series took place. But the official pointed out that a Pakistan tour was not in the hands of the BCCI as it is a political decision more than a cricketing one.As a point of comparison, the first official cited the example of Multi Screen Media (MSM), which owns the broadcasting rights for the IPL. “MSM have never given us any cause for concern and have submitted the dues on their own. As far as the BCCI is concerned, Nimbus is history.”Another issue that came up was Nimbus’ promotion of World Series Hockey, for which it has broadcasting rights, during the West Indies series. “Without our permission, Nimbus was promoting World Series Hockey,’ the official said. “How can they do that, especially using us?”On Thursday, the Bombay High Court ruled that the BCCI could not invoke bank guarantees worth Rs 1600 crores (approximately $300 million) given by Nimbus and the board is reported to be discussing how to recover that money with its legal team. The BCCI is also likely to hold a special working committee meeting where bids for a fresh broadcasting contract can be discussed.

MS Dhoni believes that this challenging period, during which India have slumped to six straight loss in away Tests, will help him and the team as a whole build character. “In sport you are not destined to only win,” he said when asked of how difficult it has been to cope with the trough, especially following his early success as captain. “You’ll lose at times. You will face difficult times. That improves you as an individual, and as a skipper.”If everything comes easily to you, then you don’t really appreciate the kind of hard work that goes into it [winning]. This is a phase where I think the team will get stronger. Of course it won’t reflect in the result right now, but overall it will really help us know [recognise] the importance of winning and what needs to be done to keep the winning phase going.”There is nothing to hide behind now. India came to Australia with fit players, the best 17 available to do the job – Praveen Kumar’s absence being an exception – and had time to acclimatise, but they have lost the first two Tests. They competed for three days in the first Test, but were always behind in the game after the first session in Sydney. Dhoni reiterated the obvious fact that both the batting and bowling departments had failed.MS Dhoni goes philosophical: “You’ll lose at times. You will face difficult times. That improves you as an individual.”•Getty Images

“If you see the last two series, including this one in Australia, we didn’t score enough,” he said. “We didn’t put enough runs on the board. Of course, to win Tests taking 20 wickets is very important but also we need to give that cushion of extra runs on the board, so that the bowlers can plan the opposition out.”It is a bit of a worry, but the good thing is we saw the batsmen score runs in the second innings. Of course it was not good enough to save the Test, but we have seen in the last couple of Tests, everybody has scored at least a fifty. That gives us an indication that we need to convert those [starts] into big innings.”It needs mention here that four of those fifties came in Sydney when pitch had flattened out, and when the bowlers’ intensity was obviously down since they had a 468-run lead behind them. If anything was going to save India, it was big hundreds. The big hundreds were all scored by Australia, which has brought Dhoni’s captaincy under immense scrutiny. Especially criticised is his almost formulaic spreading of the field in Melbourne, at the first sight of the Australian lower order. Dhoni spoke about it.”Usually, when you come out of India, there comes a phase where the ball doesn’t do much, and there is not much for the bowlers,” he said. “That’s the time where we need to improve. Not only as a skipper for me, [but] the plans need to be executed really well. Because you have a few fields in mind, if the bowlers stick to that plan and execute well, it looks very good. But once it starts going wrong, it looks very difficult to manage.”What could have been done is, bowl a line where you attack a particular target, a particular area, so we force the batsman to go through the covers, and invite him for a drive. If he commits a mistake we will have slip fielders to catch him. If it starts to reverse then change the plan a bit, look to have fielders on the leg side, try to bowl as straight as possible. It’s about execution also. With more exposure that’s what the bowlers must have learned in the last couple of games. We have looked to attack a bit more with Zaheer [Khan] because he is our main wicket-taking bowler. We don’t want him to look to contain any batsmen as such.”When told that Zaheer’s economy-rate was actually the best among the Indian bowlers, and asked if attacking and taking wickets wasn’t the best way to slow the runs down, he said: “You have to back it up with good bowling. He [Zaheer] is someone who bowls very well according to the field. It’s something that can’t go just one way. You can’t have four or five slips throughout the Test match. Ultimately you have to score what the opposition scores too. It’s a combination of both. You have to come up with strategies, what works the best. It’s a balance between getting wickets and what kind of partnership the opposition is getting. If they score very quickly you may have an attacking field but it will be difficult to get the amount of runs they score.”It’s all stacked up against Dhoni the captain, Dhoni the batsman, and his team. The series can’t be won. The Border-Gavaskar trophy can technically be retained. Looking at how things stand now, though, avoiding a whitewash will be an achievement. Dhoni said the team needed to take some time off cricket. On that account the team has done well to lose inside four days, giving them extra time away from the cricket.”They [the players] have got a fair amount of exposure to the Australian bowlers in the last two Test matches,” Dhoni said. “What is important is to switch off from the game. You don’t really want to overdo it. There may be a few individuals who want to spend a bit more time on the field, but I feel it’s always important to switch off from the cricket. That really helps you de-stress a bit, and come back in a positive state of mind. I feel that rather than spending more and more time practising, what we need to do is spend some time off the field with some recreational activity and get some time off cricket.”

South Africa batsman Colin Ingram and offspinner Simon Harmer led the Warriors to a139-run victory over the Cape Cobras in a low-scoring encounter in Paarl. Ingram made a first-innings century and an unbeaten 92 in the second, while Harmer took a career best 11 for 149, including 8 for 72 in the second innings to wrap up the match and hand Warriors their second victory of the year.Having chosen to bat, the Warriors slipped to 51 for 3 before Ingram and Arno Jacobs steadied the ship with a 95-run partnership. After Jacobs fell for 28, Wayne Parnell battled for two hours and 22 minutes for 33 in the process of adding 102 with Ingram as they took the score to 248 for 5. Ingram pushed on to 140, easily the highest-score in the game, before the Warriors were bowled out for 320 in the first session of the second day. Beuran Hendricks and Robin Peterson took four wickets each for the Cobras.The Warriors made early inroad into the Cobra’s top order before 68 from Justin Ontong and 62 from JP Duminy revived the innings. However, their departures triggered a collapse and it took No. 9 Rory Kleinveldt, who made 42, to push past 200 to 239.Having taken an 81-run lead, Warriors slipped to 106 for 6 and it was left to Ingram to once again prop up the side. He battled for over three hours for his 92 as Warriors managed 211 to leave Cobras needing 293 for the win. Peterson took another four wicket to finish with eight for the match.The Cobras began the final day needing 273 for victory but lost opener Andrew Puttick in the second over of the day, when he edged one to the keeper of Andrew Birch. Harmer then took over, taking the next four wickets, including that of JP Duminy for 7, as the Cobras slid to 75 for 5 at lunch. Justin Kemp, who laboured to 22 from 88, and Dane Vilas, who made 57, provided some resistance but Harmer was in irressistable form. He had Kemp lbw and then removed Robin Peterson in the same over for a duck to take his side to the brink of their second victory.He wrapped up the win by ending Vilas’ stay for 57 to finish with 11 for 149 in the match.Half-centuries from Jonathan Vandiar and Stephen Cook carried the Lions to nine-wicket win after the Titans could only manage 210 in their second-innings at Benoni. The Titans won the toss and chose to bat. Martin van Jaarsveld and Faf du Plessis made 80 each, while Henry David made 71, to set up their total of 354. Legspinner Eddie Leie was the pick of the bowlers for the Lions, taking 5 for 93.Openers Stephen Cook and Alviro Peterson led the Lions reply, adding 181 before Peterson was caught behind for 115. The rest of the top order, however, failed to stick around as they slipped to 266 for 5. When Cook fell for 109 to leave them 296 for 7, it looked like the Titans would claim the first-innings lead. But No. 8 Thami Tsolekile made 61 and No. 10 Chris Morris made 27 to push their side to 407 and take a 53-run lead.Heino Kuhn was solid at the top of the order in making 59, but Lions made regular inroads as Leie picked up a second five-for to finish with 10 for 146 for the match.Peterson fail in the first over for a duck, but Vandiar made 81 and Cook completed a fine match with an unbeaten 71 to seal the win.Knights maintained their unbeaten run and position at the top of the table, drawing their encounter with Dolphins at Bloemfontein. The Dolphins were set a target of 319 but managed to hang in there with 245 for 7.The Dolphins put the opposition in and they responded with 340. Morne van Wyk was the top scorer with 340, while the wickets were shared between the seam duo of Mthokozisi Shezi and Robert Frylinck. Quinton Friend, the right-arm seamer, took a five-wicket haul to give the Knights a 100-run lead. One of his wickets was the top scorer Daryn Smit, who missed his century by five runs. None of the others passed fifty.van Wyk was amongst the runs again as he struck 53 and added quick runs with Dillon du Preez to build on the Knights lead to 318 before the declaration. Dolphins’ Imraan Khan and Divan van Wyk began steadily, adding 109 for the first wicket. However, they were set back by three quick strikes, two of which were courtesy du Preez. Smit carried on his good touch from the first innings with a patient unbeaten 56 to ensure his team survived. The Dolphins were at the bottom of the table with three defeats and no outright win.

The battle for top spot between the two forces, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Army, continued with the former taking the lead on the third weekend of matches in the Premier League Tier B.Navy thrashed Police SC by an innings, the key features of the match being the legspin bowling of Dulanjana Mendis (he bagged nine wickets in the match) and a maiden first-class hundred from Chanaka Ruwansiri that enabled Navy to recover from a shaky 99 for 4 to 309.Army were held to a draw by Panadura, who took a first innings lead of 142.Burgher RC moved to third place with their first win of the season. They beat Saracens by seven wickets with left-arm spinner Malan Madusanka picking up nine wickets in the match.Gayan Manesha, the former Maliyadeva College left-hand batsman, narrowly missed scoring a century in each innings of a match, making 115 (his maiden first-class century) and 94 in Kurunegala Youth CC‘s drawn encounter against Sri Lanka Air Force at the Welegedara Stadium.

ScorecardEd Cowan scored his third hundred of the Shield season•Getty Images

Ed Cowan and Ricky Ponting both scored centuries to put Tasmania in a strong position to push for victory after two days against Western Australia. Should the Tigers beat the Warriors they would almost certainly earn a place in the Sheffield Shield final, and at stumps on day two in Hobart they led by 188 runs, with Western Australia at 1 for 33 in their second innings.The Warriors had already lost Liam Davis, the tournament’s leading run scorer this season, who was bowled by the in-form Jackson Bird for 9. Wes Robinson was at the crease on 9 and Shaun Marsh was on 12 but plenty of work remained for Western Australia, who entered the last round of games leading the Shield table but have now found themselves in danger of missing out on the final.After they were skittled for 142 on the opening day, the Warriors failed to match Tasmania’s impact with the ball as Cowan and Ponting compiled a 205-run partnership. Cowan continued his excellent season with his third hundred of the Shield campaign, while Ponting’s return to state ranks has now brought scores of 75 not out in the Ryobi Cup final, 130 in the Shield last week and 111 in this game.But Ponting’s departure, bowled by Michael Hogan, sparked a collapse of sorts as five wickets fell for 23 runs. Cowan was caught at gully for 143 off the bowling of Jason Behrendorff, who in his fourth first-class appearance was impressive with 4 for 85. But the Tigers pushed on to 363 and it seemed that Western Australia needed something special to avoid defeat.