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While the West Indies were enjoying a day off taking in Africa’sbountiful wildlife on a tour of a game park outside Harare, India didthem a favour at the Queen’s Club yesterday.Their hard-fought victory over Zimbabwe, with four wickets and onlyfour balls to spare, ensured their place in the final of thetriangular Coca-Cola Cup series and all but guaranteed that the WestIndies would be their opponents come July 7.Zimbabwe’s third successive defeat left their hopes of stillqualifying resting on an unlikely sequence of events and furthercompounded the problems they have faced over the past week, on and offthe field.The West Indies would have to lose their two remaining matches againstIndia on Saturday and Wednesday and the other against Zimbabwe here onSunday to be level on two points with the home team.The finalists would then be determined on run-rate, and Zimbabwe wouldneed a massive victory on Sunday to erase what is now a considerabledeficit.Zimbabwean cricket is going through difficult times at present.The euphoria of an admirable victory over India in the second Testnine days ago to square the series has quickly evaporated through aprotest by senior players against the Zimbabwe Cricket Union’s (ZCU)selection policy and injuries that have sidelined Andy Flower andHeath Streak, their two finest players.Streak stepped down as captain prior to the opening match against theWest Indies last Saturday because he was upset that his opinions werenot being respected by a selection panel of six that did not includeeither him or the coach, the former Australian fast bowler, CarlRackemann.An accommodation was reached after an animated meeting between theparties that added captain and coach to the panel, increasing it to anunwieldy eight.There have also been squabbles over pay levels, notably in Englandlast year, that led to the emigration of two key players, MurrayGoodwin and Neil Johnson, to English county cricket. These have notyet been adequately solved, as the Zimbabwean dollar continues itsplunge in value and the game becomes more expensive to run.As in South Africa, the debate over the pace of selection purely onmerit against that based on the encouragement of the emerging blackcricketers the so-called affirmative action has also tended to divideplayers and administrators.Peter Chingkoka, the respected and very able black Zimbabwean whoheads the ZCU, has to lead with all the tact of a Kofi Annan to keepmatters on an even keel. The recent defeats would not have helped.With a pool of no more than 300 players to chose from, Zimbabwe havedone well to hold their own at Test and One-Day International level.But the game was previously restricted to the minority white and Asianpopulations and these are now dwindling through emigration in the wakeof political, social and economic turmoil.Development programmes aimed at carrying the game to the majorityblack population have been in place for some time and more blackplayers have made their way into the Zimbabwe team than into SouthAfrica’s since 1992 when they both gained Test status, South Africafor the second time.Several have come through the well-appointed academy and havebenefited from the excellent facilties in the main centres. Five ofthe Zimbabwe A team in the practice match against the West Indies onTuesday were black.Henry Olonga, the personable, articulate and successful fast bowler,was Zimbabwe’s first real black star cricketer. But he has drifted outof the limelight through injury. In Tatenda Taibu, the tiny, livewire,18-year-old wicket-keeper, they have an obvious personality who shouldbe a role model and inspiration for the hundreds of those youngschoolchildren now being introduced to the game.But what Zimbabwe cricket needs most of all right now is moreconsistent success on the field and patience, unity and understandingoff it. The two are intertwined.

Reece Topley, the left-arm pace bowler, is to leave Essex and join Hampshire on a two-year deal. Paul Grayson, the coach, is also leaving the club, while the future of the captain, James Foster, is uncertain.Topley, 21, who made his England debut in the T20 against Australia in Cardiff, rejected the offer of a new contract from Essex and was the subject of interest from eight other counties. It is understood that Hampshire did not offer the most money, but Topley was impressed by the plans of chairman Rod Bransgrove and the coach Giles White and felt the environment at the club would help him fulfil his potential.His signing in the face of so much competition – Surrey, Warwickshire and Worcestershire were among the other interested counties – represents something of a coup for Hampshire. Topley, a tall left-arm swing bowler, has outstanding red and white ball statistics for his age. He was the standout bowler at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup in Australia, is currently the leading wicket taker in this year’s Royal London Cup with 20 wickets and has 125 first-class victims at a cost of 25.78.Topley, who burst onto the professional scene in 2011 with successive five wicket hauls when just 17 and still at school, has said his ultimate ambition is to become the first left-arm pace bowler to claim 100 Test wickets for England.Leaving Essex will be a major wrench, though. Not only has he progressed through the club’s system – he has been there since he was nine – but his father, Don Topley, also represented the club for a decade as a bustling seam bowler and still commentates on the club for local radio.”I am extremely sad to be leaving Essex having played for the county since the age of nine and have thoroughly enjoyed my time in a great dressing room,” Topley said. “I would like to publicly thank all the players for their huge support and firm friendships.”In particular, I must also thank the two 1st XI coaches: Paul Grayson for the fantastic opportunity he has given me and to Chris Silverwood, who I have great admiration for and enjoyed working with.”It is understood Reece was unsettled by changes at the club. Since the return of Ronnie Irani as chairman of the cricket committee, the future of the coach, Grayson, has looked especially uncertain – ESPNcricinfo understands he is no longer working with the team while a severance package is agreed – with Irani his probable replacement.Grayson was appointed coach in July 2007. While Essex won the Friends Provident Trophy in 2008, they have not made the progress some expected since and currently sit mid-table in Division Two. Grayson’s supporters would argue, however, that he has never held much real power and was not given the authority to sign new players or agree contract terms.The future of the captain, Foster, is also unclear with the former England keeper understood to have received offers of employment from outside the game, including a role at a local private school. Topley remains close and appreciative of Grayson and Essex bowling coach, Chris Silverwood, but has a less obvious rapport with Irani. It could well be that Topley joins Hampshire on loan before the end of this season.It continues a worrying trend for Essex. While the club – perhaps as a result of its densely populated catchment area – has a fine record of producing talented players, Topley joins a list that includes Varun Chopra, Ben Foakes, Adam Wheater, Tony Palladino, Billy Godleman, Chris Wright and Tymal Mills as talented players who have recently left the club to pursue their county careers elsewhere.They are likely to sign another seamer – Surrey’s Tim Linely – as replacement for Topley, but losing a 21-year-old and gaining a 33-year-old – whatever his merits – is unlikely to impress Essex supporters.

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side head into Thursday’s Europa Conference League play-off second-leg knowing that they require something of a miracle if they are to secure passage through to the next round of the tournament, with the Bhoys having been on the receiving end of a rather convincing 3-1 defeat against Bodo/Glimt at Parkhead last week.

However, with the 56-year-old Hoops boss springing something of a surprise in his team selection for the first leg of the tie, namely starting Tom Rogic alongside Matt O’Riley in the two more advanced roles within his three-man midfield, there would appear to be a very clear solution to the Greek-Australian manager affording his side a greater level of control in the middle of the park in Norway this week – starting Reo Hatate.

Postecoglou must unleash Hatate

Indeed, following the Japan international’s £1.4m signing in the January transfer window, Hatate has immediately proven to be something of a revelation in the Bhoys midfield over his seven Premiership appearances, with the 24-year-old having already scored three goals, registered two assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.1 shots and making one key pass per game.

The £1.08m-rated central midfielder has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 0.9 interceptions, 0.7 tackles, completing 34 passes and winning 2.9 duels per fixture.

These returns have seen the player who Liverpool’s Andy Robertson dubbed a “serious player” and Aston Villa’s John McGinn labelled “outrageous” average a quite astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.24, already ranking him as the tenth-best player in the top flight of Scottish football.

As such, while Rogic is undeniably a fine option in the Premiership, considering the fact that Hatate contributed a great deal more for Celtic over his 31 minutes on the pitch than the Australia international did over 59 minutes in the first leg against the Norwegian champions, Postecoglou simply must learn from his mistake and unleash the tireless Japanese sensation from the off this time around – as the 24-year-old could well prove to be a game-changer in the middle of the park.

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In other news: Celtic’s £12.5k-p/w Kante wannabe has seen his value drop 60%, Lennon had a nightmare

Scorecard and ball-by-balldetails
How they wereout

	Misbah-ul-Haq made an unbeaten 87 – the highest score by a Pakistan batsman in a Twenty20 international © Getty Images

Misbah-ul-Haq turned in another spectacular performance in the game’s shortest format, smashing an unbeaten 87 to set up a massive 102-run victory in Pakistan’s one-off Twenty20 match against Bangladesh in Karachi. The visitors were comprehensively outplayed yet again as they finished their miserable tour with another abject performance, conceding 203 runs in the field and managing just 101 in reply.In the first Twenty20 international to be held in Pakistan, Shoaib Malik’s decision to bat first seemed to have gone awry when in-form openers Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal were both dismissed in the first over. Bangladesh’s joy was shortlived, however, as Younis Khan and Misbah made light of the loss of wickets to propel Pakistan to 84 for 2 by the end of the ninth over.Both batsmen used their feet well to unsettle the bowlers and complemented their big hits with superb running between the wickets to keep Pakistan on course for a big total. Younis was the more aggressive of the two, racing along to 47 with the help of some effortless cuts and drives before falling to the first ball from Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s best performer through the series.Even that wicket couldn’t stem the scoring rate as Malik biffed some huge sixes before being stumped off Abdur Razzaq for a quickfire 35. It’s not often that the fall of the home side’s captain is greeted by a huge roar, but it was this time as local boy Shahid Afridi walked out. However, much to the fans’ disappointment, his stay was a short one, bowled by Shahadat Hossain as he looked to clobber the ball over midwicket.The star of the innings, though, was Misbah, who again demonstrated how Twenty20 isn’t all about power-hitting as he combined impeccably-timed hits with brisk running. With the ropes pulled in, the boundaries were short and Misbah capitalised with five sixes, all on the leg side. This was the highest score by a Pakistan batsman in a Twenty20 international and it took the hosts to 203, their biggest total in this format. The Bangladesh attack was innocuous and their fielding, despite a few spectacular efforts, was generally below par.Pakistan’s new-ball bowlers, Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir, who were so impressive during the World Twenty20 last year, throttled the runs by effectively mixing up both their length and pace. Bangladesh’s openers led a chancy existence: two of Tamim Iqbal’s mishits were spilled by Afridi, while Nazimuddin was fortunate to see his attempted pull fly off the top edge for six.After Tanvir foxed Tamim with a high full toss, Mohammad Ashraful, with a handy career strike-rate around 180, strode out but his forgettable tour continued as he holed out to long-on for 13. The visitors still had an outside chance at 85 for 2 with Nazimuddin going strong but an abject collapse followed.Eight wickets fell for 16 runs as they slid to an embarrassing defeat in a format they were expected to be far more competitive in. The collapse was triggered off by a tight spell from Afridi which caused the already-steep asking-rate to climb even more, prompting some injudicious strokes and running between the wickets from the visitors. By the time Afridi completed his quota Bangladesh were out of the game, having slid to 95 for 6.Mansoor Amjad, the debutant legspinner who was a spectator for much of the match, had a dream start to complete the formalities: brought on in the 15th over, he took 3 for 3 in six balls as Bangladesh fluffed their last chance to salvage some pride in this series.

Justin Langer has been in terrific touch in both forms of the game © Getty Images

Justin Langer continued his outstanding county season with 145 at nearly a run a ball in Somerset’s 87-run one-day victory over Middlesex on Sunday. Langer was well supported by Cameron White, who made 61 as the visitors piled on 332 at Lord’s.It was Langer’s second limited-overs century in the tournament and he is now second on the county one-day run tally for 2007, and third in the first-class list. His effort against Middlesex took 149 balls and he shared in a 136-run stand with White.Just when the home side appeared to be setting a platform to launch the big chase through a 52-run partnership between Eoin Morgan and David Nash, White became the hero with the ball, removing both batsmen and finishing with 3 for 37.On the same day at Worcester, Phil Jaques turned his poor form around to register his second hundred of the season. Jaques made 102 but was overshadowed by Vikram Solanki as they added 223 for the first wicket. Solanki remained unbeaten on 144 as Worcestershire cruised to 2 for 307 from 46 overs, easily overhauling Warwickshire’s 6 for 303.It was not such a memorable match for Doug Bollinger, however, whose first season with Worcestershire has not gone to plan so far. Bollinger took 1 for 63 from his ten overs, two days after he was taken for 75 from eight overs against Durham at Chester-le-Street. Kabir Ali, who has played Test cricket for England, also struggled and cost 94 from ten overs as Durham’s batsmen – including Michael Di Venuto with 49 – blasted their way to 4 for 332. Jaques and Solanki could not save the day and Worcestershire lost by 143 runs.Hampshire confirmed the value of having two of Australia’s best bowlers as they skittled Glamorgan for 146 to win by 137 runs at Swansea. Shane Warne – who earlier had enjoyed a cameo of 18 from nine balls – claimed 2 for 32 but it was Stuart Clark’s devastating opening spell that did for Glamorgan. Clark, who finished with 4 for 25, took three early wickets as the home side spiralled to 7 for 49. Glamorgan only climbed to 146 through some late hitting from Simon Jones and Dean Cosker.Clark and Warne were also effective in the four-day match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston earlier in the week but Hampshire’s batsmen let them down. Clark collected 3 for 65 and Warne 2 for 47 as they dismissed the home team for 262 in reply to Hampshire’s 169. Hampshire eventually escaped with a draw but found themselves sixth on the County Championship table for Division One.Marcus North signed off from his impressive stint with Gloucestershire, scoring his third first-class century from five games. North’s 109 helped his side to 394 against Northamptonshire at Gloucester and he followed up with 2 for 23 as the visitors struggled to 223. North, who is Gloucestershire’s leading run-scorer in first-class and one-day cricket this season, will be replaced next week by his Western Australia team-mate Ben Edmondson.At Hove, Stuart Law compiled his second century of 2007 as his team, Lancashire, finished with a slight edge over Sussex. Law made 119 and Brad Hodge scored 43 as Lancashire posted 330 in the first innings.Both batsmen failed in the second, however, and despite a nine-wicket match from Lancashire’s star bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, the match ended in a draw. Although nine players in their squad boast Test or ODI experience – Law, Hodge, Muralitharan, Andrew Flintoff, Sajid Mahmood, James Anderson, Dominic Cork, Mal Loye and Glen Chapple – Lancashire are third-last on the Division One table.A bold declaration by Langer backfired spectacularly at Lord’s. He called Somerset’s innings closed at 8 for 50, in an effort to expose Middlesex on a damp pitch. However, the home side clearly had not read the script and ploughed along to 252. That left Somerset with a hefty first-innings deficit and despite a better effort on the third day – White chipped in with 77 – Middlesex took the points and leapfrogged Somerset into second place on the Division Two table.In first place are Nottinghamshire, who narrowly missed another victory against Leicestershire at Oakham. Set 377 to win, Nottinghamshire were on course thanks in part to David Hussey, who continued his prolific form with 79 off 65 balls.But Hussey, who made his name leading enormous chases at Victoria, was caught behind and the visitors soon had little option but to play out a draw. Hussey now has 737 runs at 81.88 this season and is second only to Mark Ramprakash on the county run-tally.

Umar Gul is looking to follow in Waqar Younis’s footsteps by signing for Glamorgan © AFP

Umar Gul is hoping to land a one-month stint with Glamorgan during the ongoing county season and before the start of Pakistan’s tour to England in the summer.Gul said he would play for the club if the deal is negotiated successfully and he gets clearance from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). “I have been approached by Glamorgan for this season and if I get permission from the PCB then I would be delighted to play in the English season,” Gul told AFP.Gul only recently returned to international cricket, during the ODI series against India in February, having been out injured since March 2004. In his last Test appearance before a serious stress fracture of the back almost ended his career, Gul took five wickets against India at Lahore, helping his side to a famous win.Understandably, Gul has been inconsistent since his comeback, though he has produced a couple of impressive spells against India and in Sri Lanka. In his time away, others such as Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Asif have emerged as pace bowling options.Gul added, “I spoke to Bob Woolmer who has suggested that I play for one month for the county and join the Pakistan team if I am required for the England tour.” If he does sign up, Gul will join fellow countrymen Asif, Rana and Mushtaq Ahmed, the leg-spinner, on the circuit. And he will hope to emulate Waqar Younis, who enjoyed a successful stint with the county in the late nineties.Pakistan tour England between June and September for four Tests and five one-day games and a preliminary squad for the pre-tour training camp is due to be announced on Wednesday.

Ehsan Mani: ‘It is a tribute to the ICC Development Program that new members are being accepted into the ICC family on a regular basis.’ © Getty Images

The ICC today announced the outcomes of the ICC Executive Board meeting and ICC Annual Conference that took place on 27 and 28 June at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

New members approved

The ICC Annual Conference approved applications from Jersey, Guernsey, Mali and Slovenia as Affiliate members, and upgraded Belgium, Botswana, Japan, Kuwait and Thailand from Affiliate to Associate status. This takes the total membership of the ICC to 96 countries.Welcoming the approval of the new member countries, ICC’s president, Ehsan Mani, said: “It is a tribute to the ICC Development Program that new members are being accepted into the ICC family on a regular basis. For Jersey, Guernsey, Mali and Slovenia the reward is newly-acquired status as Affiliate members while Belgium, Botswana, Japan, Kuwait and Thailand have all demonstrated to our other members they have the necessary structures in place to take the step up to Associate member status.”

Review of the structure of cricket

The ICC Executive Board approved a proposal for the staging of a Scheduling Summit to explore the detailed and practical implications of moving the Future Tours Programme from its current five-year cycle to a longer cycle of home and away international fixtures.The Summit will be held at the ICC offices in Dubai on 25 and 26 August and will be attended by representatives of all 10 Full Member countries, together with a representative of the top six Associate Members, a player representative and a delegate from the Asian Cricket Council.

Appeal process

The Board of Control for Cricket in India notified the ICC Executive Board that it intends to dispute the process that was used to deal with the appeal of India’s captain, Sourav Ganguly, under the ICC Code of Conduct.The ICC, through its president, Ehsan Mani, has agreed that should the BCCI wish to take this matter further it must write to the ICC which would then refer this to the ICC Disputes Resolution Committee.The ICC Executive Board comprises the presidents/chairmen or designated nominees of the 10 Test-playing nations and three representatives from ICC Associate Member countries:

Ehsan Mani (Chairman)	ICC President
Percy Sonn	ICC Vice-President
Malcolm Speed	ICC Chief Executive Officer
Bob Merriman AM	Australia
Mohammad Ali Asghar MP	Bangladesh
David Morgan	England
Jagmohan Dalmiya	India
Sir John Anderson KBE	New Zealand
Shaharyar Khan	Pakistan
Jayantha Dharmadasa	Sri Lanka
Ray Mali	South Africa
Edward Griffith	West Indies
Peter Chingoka	Zimbabwe
Stanley Perlman	Israel
HRH Tunku Imran	Malaysia
Mazhar Khan	United Arab Emirates

The ICC Executive Board is the ultimate policy-making body within the ICC. Commercial matters are dealt with by the IDI Board which will meet on Wednesday, June 29, in Dublin. The composition of the IDI Board is currently the same as the composition of the ICC Executive Board.

Brett Lee: an ankle injury could foil his chances for the 1st Test© Getty Images

Brett Lee may be losing his race to be fit in time for the opening Testagainst Sri Lanka, which starts on Monday. Lee, who injured his left ankleduring Australia’s practice match against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI, satout training on Saturday and Sunday.Lee’s ankle, the same one from which bone spurs were removed last year, sufferedsoreness and swelling during the warm-up game. Hospital x-rays revealed nostructural damage, but the prospect of a heavy workload on a spinner’s pitchwould make his inclusion a gamble.”Brett is continuing to receive treatment and stayed back at the teamhotel,” Jonathan Rose, the Australian media manager, said. “A decision will be made tomorrow [Monday] on his availability.”The pitch may be loaded in favour of the spinners, but Ricky Ponting insisted that Lee could still be a huge factor. “We are hoping that he will come up fit and we will be giving him until the last minute. We just have to keep a real close eye on him and keep our fingers crossed because he could be very dangerous in these conditions.”On Saturday, John Buchanan, Australia’s coach, said that Lee was still in contention, saying that he would be given every possible chance to regain his fitnessbefore the final XI was chosen by the selectors. “There is obviously concern there, but that is the reason why he is not out here today,” said Buchanan. “In a bowling sense he does not actually need to bowl so we are trying to give him an opportunity to get right for Monday.””We will make our final decision tomorrow and that will be as much based onhim and his feelings as Alex’s [Kontouri], the physio, as well as thecaptain and selectors.”Buchanan said that Lee’s availability could influence the final decision onthe balance of the attack. He kept his cards close to his chest atthe team’s practice though, saying that there would be either three fast bowlersand one spinner or two pacemen and two spinners.”If he is deemed fit enough to play then that might swing us either way,”said Buchanan. “We need to take that it account and I think it is fair tosay that there are a few schools of thought.”Buchanan expected the ball to turn square on a dry, grassless Galle pitch:”There is no doubt that the wicket is what we expected. There is no grass onit and it will certainly turn, virtually from ball one. Given that there isno grass on it, there is a question as to how long it will actually last.”One would expect it to offer quite a lot to spin bowlers. Having said that, itcould give something to the quick bowlers as well, with reverse swing andpossibly a variation in height and pace.”

The farcical run out of Sanath Jayasuriya for 99 proved to be the turning point as England won their crucial triangular series match with Sri Lanka by 19 runs. England’s bowlers kept their nerve to apply irresistible pressure on the remaining Sri Lankan batsmen and win a compelling encounter.England’s triumph in defending their total of 279 owed much to Andrew Caddick, who took two early wickets and two more coming back to bowl his last two overs at a crucial stage of the innings. Michael Vaughan and Ian Blackwell also played telling roles with the ball, keeping the scoring rate down when Sri Lanka desperately needed to accelerate.The fly in the ointment for England was an injury to Steve Harmison, who after being taken out of the attack for costing 27 runs in just two overs, was forced off the ground after turning an ankle in the field.Jayasuriya, once again, was magical to watch. Most of his runs came on the off-side, with his trademark cover drive to the fore. He lost Marvan Atapattu (12) playing on to Caddick in the third over after an explosive start, and Hashan Tillakaratne (9) brilliantly caught off Caddick by Alec Stewart, leaping like a spring salmon to hold an edge high to his left with both hands.Aravinda de Silva was also the victim of fine wicket-keeping, as Stewart, standing up to Paul Collingwood, clung on to a thick outside edge. That was 119 for three, but with 31 overs still remaining Sri Lanka were still very much in the hunt.Mahela Jayawardene looked in no trouble at all until, on 19, he played an inexplicable paddle to leg off Ronnie Irani and the ball looped up for Vaughan at mid-wicket. Disaster followed as Jayasuriya, having reached 99 off just 83 balls, called Kumar Sangakkara for a straightforward single to mid-off. Sangakkara somehow managed to get in his captain’s way, and Jayasuriya was left short of his ground as Nasser Hussain hit the stumps direct.Sangakkara attempted to atone for his glaring error by settling down to build a partnership with Russel Arnold that revived Sri Lanka’s hopes of victory. Boundaries were hard to come by, however, and Blackwell and Vaughan managed to apply relentless pressure.It took the return of Caddick to open the floodgates. First Sangakkara (56) lashed to Blackwell at mid-wicket. Chaminda Vaas then swung Vaughan hard and high for Collingwood to take a fine catch in the deep. When Arnold followed for 35 in the next over the game was effectively over. It took another excellent catch to do it – Blackwell at deep mid-wicket hanging on to the ball as he fell on his back.England’s total was set up by another weighty contribution from Nick Knight, who featured in successive half-century partnerships with Marcus Trescothick and Vaughan. Knight kept his position as Trescothick’s opening partner, while for Sri Lanka Chamila Gamage replaced the injured Muttiah Muralitharan.It was Gamage who made the first breakthrough after Hussain chose to bat first in extreme afternoon heat. Trescothick (39), who produced a booming cover drive to post England’s 50, lost his off stump looking for a leg-side boundary.Vaughan was missed on one by wicket-keeper Sangakkara, who couldn’t hold on to what would have been a fine one-handed catch to his right off Gamage. Vaughan looked to pick up from where he left off in the Ashes series, with boundaries off de Silva and Dilhara Fernando, but when he had reached 28 he skied a pull at Fernando to Vaas at mid-wicket.Much as they had done in Sydney, Jayasuriya and de Silva kept the run rate within reasonable bounds before Hussain (18) was bowled via inside edge and pad by Jayasuriya.Knight soldiered on, providing some relief with a swept six off de Silva, but on 88 he played loosely at Vaas for Sangakkara to hold on to the resultant edge. Knight has made 440 funs in his last seven one-day innings for England. Blackwell was then lbw first ball to leave England teetering at 206 for five.As he has so often done before, Stewart recharged the innings. He and Collingwood added 54 in eight overs to revitalise England, taking 16 off one over from Fernando, including a Collingwood six over square-leg. By the time Stewart (51) and Collingwood (18) were dismissed, England had scored enough.England will now go through to the finals unless they lose to Australia in Adelaide on Sunday without claiming a bonus point, and Sri Lanka take all six points from their final match against the hosts.

Somerset coach Kevin Shine confirmed that it was likely that he would take a squad of 12 to The Oval on Wednesday for the four day CricInfo Championship match against Surrey.The final selection would be down to Jamie Cox the captain, and would depend upon the fitness tests that Richard Johnson is undergoing over the next two days.It was likely to be a “different” selection from the Leicestershire game and the final team on the day could depend upon whether a new or used pitch was used for the match.Despite missing Saqlain Mushtaq and their England players Surrey are still able to field a strong side and will provide a stern test for the Cidermen.