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Stephen Fleming battled through searing heat and sappinghumidity to score 274 not out, the second-highest score by aNew Zealander in Test cricket. It was a patient marathonspanning nearly ten hours, and it left New Zealand in acommanding position against Sri Lanka at the close of play onday two.After four sessions of plodding Test cricket, the game turneddecisively as Fleming pressed down on the accelerator in thesecond afternoon. He added 157 in 272 balls with Scott Styris,playing as a specialist batsman after injuring his shoulder in thewarm-up games, and then 72 in 108 with Jacob Oram.New Zealand piled up a massive 515 for seven before declaring -the third-highest total against Sri Lanka by New Zealand -twenty minutes before the scheduled close. Fleming selflesslydenied himself the chance to surpass the 299 scored by MartinCrowe against Sri Lanka in 1990-1, the highest score by a NewZealander in Test cricket.Left with a tricky six overs before the close of play, withthunderclouds gathering around the ground for the first time inthe match, Marvan Atapattu was trapped lbw for a duck byDarryl Tuffey. It was a poor decision by Darryl Harper – the ballwas slanting down the leg side. Fortunately for Sri Lanka, furtherdamage was prevented as bad light forced the players from thefield in the second over.Sri Lanka’s hopes of a tenth consecutive Test win on home soilwere thus extinguished. Their objective now was to avoid defeat- and before that, to avoid the follow on.Fleming admitted that he could not read Muttiah Muralitharan,Sri Lanka’s star offspinner, but he grew more dominant againsthim as the day progressed. After hours of reaching forward andsmothering the spin with bat or pad, he started to attack: acrisp cover-drive in the first over after lunch was followed by astraight six in Muralitharan’s next over.He enjoyed his fair share of good fortune. Sri Lanka’s fielding wasatrocious, with a total of eight clear catches being floored in theinnings. Mahela Jayawardene, considered one of the safest pairof hands in the side, was the chief offender, spilling three in theday and four in the innings.Had Jayawardene held on to his juggling effort runningbackwards from gully when Fleming was on 121, Sri Lanka’spredicament might not have been so gloomy. He missed out on achance to redeem himself, failing to hold onto a tougher chanceat slip when Fleming had made 141.Fleming found a willing partner in Styris, who raised the tempowell. Actively searching out opportunities to score, he used hisfeet well to the spinners, hitting two straight sixes. He made 63from 139 balls before lofting a catch to Chaminda Vaas on thelong-on boundary (392 for 4).Muralitharan, exasperated on Friday after three catches weredropped off his bowling, claimed his first wicket in his 55th over,when Oram, looking to score quick runs before the declaration,top-edged a sweep and was caught at deep square leg (471 for5).Muralitharan then mopped up Robbie Hart, who was caught by adiving Jayawardene at short leg, to finish with two for 140 from58.5 overs. His fellow offspinner, Kumar Dharmasena, chipped inwith the wicket of Daniel Vettori to finish with 3 for 132 from 40overs – the best figures among the Sri Lankan bowlers.The only wicket to fall during the morning session had been thatof Matthew Sinclair, who looked uncomfortable against Vaas.Armed with a new ball just seven overs old, Vaas had an edgefall short of Romesh Kaluwitharana, and then watched in horroras Sinclair squirted a low catch to gully only for SanathJayasuriya to do a Jayawardene. Finally, as Tillakaratne turnedback to his spinners, Sinclair offered a dolly catch to short leg(235 for three).

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has presented some of his cricketingmemorabilia to the Cricket Association of Bengal’s museum which willexhibit items gifted by star cricketers past and present.The Ganguly contribution, consisting of caps, bats, balls and shirtsused during the 1997 Sahara Cup limited overs series against Pakistanin Toronto was handed over to the CAB by his family members in Kolkataon Wednesday. The elegant left hander had earned four man-of-the-matchawards in the five match series that year.The CAB joint secretary, Debdas Banerjee told reporters that theIndian captain had also gifted one of his shirts used during the 1999World Cup held in England. He said Ganguly had sent a communication tothe CAB regretting that he could not personally hand over the itemsfor the CAB’s museum.Ganguly is currently leading the Indian team in the ongoing Coca-ColaCup tri-series in Sri Lanka.The CAB museum, exhibiting cricket memorabilia of past andcomtemporary cricketers, will be formally opened for the generalpublic on Thursday though no inaugural function has been planned.

French reports claim Tottenham have entered the race to sign Adrien Rabiot, but fans are completely split on a move for the PSG midfielder.

According to France Football (via Sport Witness), Spurs have “entered the race” to sign Rabiot, and Mauricio Pochettino sees him as a Mousa Dembele replacement.

While PSG are not expected to face Financial Fair Play sanctions this summer, the French media do expect them to offload one or two first team players, and Rabiot could be one of them.

Dembele is of course expected to leave North London this summer. The Belgian beast is entering the last 12 months of his contract, and it’s probably better for all parties involved to cash in on the fan favourite midfielder now.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255896″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Tottenham’s opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season”]

Rabiot is a defensive midfielder like Dembele, but they are certainly not identical players. Rabiot is less athletic than the Belgian but far more technically gifted and a truly excellent passer.

The 23 year-old rose through the youth ranks with the French champions, and already has six France caps. He is sort of press resistant in a way, using his incredible composure and coolness on the ball to work his way out of tight situations in midfield.

Valued at £45m by Transfermarkt, the midfielder is reportedly out of contract next summer, so Spurs could get an excellent deal if they move now.

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Fans can’t decide on the links though, with some absolutely loving the idea of signing the 6-cap star, while others don’t think he’s good enough to fill Dembele’s boots.

Either way, you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Scorecard3:52

‘Knew I could break the world record once I reached 500’

Pranav Dhanawade, a 15-year-old cricketer from Mumbai, smashed an unbeaten 1009 not out off 327 deliveries to notch up the highest individual score in minor cricket, breaking a 117-year-old record. His team, Smt KC Gandhi School, Kalyan, declared soon after at a mammoth 1465 for 3 and then wrapped up an overwhelmingly one-sided game against Arya Gurukul – bowled out for 31 and 52 – by an innings and 1382 runs.Dhanawade began the second day of the two-day game – part of the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament – on 652 not out. By then, he had already surpassed the score of 628 not out scored by Arthur Collins in 1899, and had also broken the record for the highest individual score by an Indian cricketer in minor cricket, previously held by Prithvi Shaw, who scored 546 in the Harris Shield in 2013-14.

Dhanawade to receive five year scholarship from MCA

The Mumbai Cricket Association on Wednesday announced a monthly scholarship of Rs. 10,000 for Pranav Dhanawade, a day after the 15-year-old amassed 1009* in the HT Bhandari Cup inter-school tournament, an Under-16 MCA tournament. The scholarship will be paid for a period of five years from January 2016 to December 2021, during which the MCA will monitor Dhanawade’s educational and cricket activities.

Dhanawade said that once he had crossed 500, he was confident of breaking Shaw’s record and beating Collins’ score of 628. The wicketkeeper-batsman admitted it took time for his record-breaking achievement to sink in on Monday, but he began the second day with a clear goal of getting to the 1000-run mark.”I couldn’t believe it last evening that I had scored 652 runs. When I went home, I took a bath and slept. But today I set myself a target of 1000 runs,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Dhanawade – whose previous highest score in recognised cricket was 80-odd – had raced to 921 by lunch and went past the 1000-run mark in the second session. His knock, which spanned almost seven hours, included 129 fours and 59 sixes.His scoring was probably helped by the size of the ground in the northern suburb of Mumbai. Nestled between two housing complexes, the ground – with a typically muddy Mumbai pitch – is rectangular with extremely short, walled-in square boundaries. Abhishek Karane, a BCCI umpire who was at the match, said it was 110 metres in breadth and 135 metres long but the straight boundaries had been pulled in. Dhanawade targeted the shorter square boundaries, especially on leg side. His school coach, Harish Sharma, however, wasn’t willing to concede even a little bit when talking about his student’s monumental effort. “I don’t think the ground mattered. He hit all over the ground and his technique is built on straight hitting.”The scoreboard at the Kalyan ground displaying Pranav Dhanawade’s record score•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Arya Gurukul’s Ayush Dubey conceded the most runs – 350 runs in 23 overs. Two other bowlers – Sarth Salunke and Harshal Jadhav – conceded 284 and 281 respectively. Dubey picked up two wickets but rued his side having missed out on a chance, off his bowling, which Dhanawade had offered during his innings. He said Dhanawade had struggled against deliveries outside off but as his innings grew, he was able to steer the bowlers to the smaller square boundaries on either side of the wicket.”He was struggling to play balls on the off side. When we kept bowling off side to him, he would get into position and hit through leg,” Dubey said.Pranav who was in attacking mode throughout his colossal effort, gave a few stray chances. About that drop off his bowling, Dubey said: “I was so angry that he [the fielder] dropped the catch of such a main player. I was really angry, but I did not tell him anything.”Dhanawade’s temperament and fitness were praised by officiating umpire Sunimal Sen. “I would say he was 101% fit [temperamentally], and even after scoring so much he was not tired,” Sen said. “Many times we see that batsmen, after scoring a hundred, say ‘Sir we want water’, but he did not create this type of disturbance. He was very fit.”The innings got plenty of attention on social media and was even mentioned by television commentators in the ongoing Test between South Africa and England. Dhanawade, who idolises former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, received praise from Sachin Tendulkar and Ajinkya Rahane, while India’s limited-overs captain MS Dhoni had some advice for the teenager.”Often you may find people talking about where [ground, tournament, etc] the individual played and all. But it is a serious business,” Dhoni said, when asked about Dhanawade’s innings at India’s pre-departure press conference in Mumbai. “To score like that anywhere in the world, in those conditions, is very difficult. Not to forget the age of the individual. We need to nurture him, guide him, because all of a sudden the limelight will be on him. He will be compared with a lot of individuals who have been very successful. It is important for the individuals who are close to him – his coach, his parents – to guide him to move in the right direction.”Definitely he has got talent. What is important is to see how he keeps improving because from now on, every game, every year that passes by, he will be competing against individuals who keep getting better and better.”Rahane urged Dhanawade to keep working hard on his game: “As a Mumbaikar, I am really proud of it. [It’s quite a mouthful to say 1009]. Two years, ago I think a school team made these many runs, but today an individual managed it. These many runs are usually scored in a season.”I hope he continues to concentrate on his game. I am sure he will work hard on his game and come and play with us. I want to wish him good luck.”

Virender Sehwag has utilised his time away from the Indian team to prepare for the ICC World Twenty20 © AFP

Indian batsman Virender Sehwag has said that teams can consistently post over 200 in Twenty20 matches if they are prepared to bat out 20 overs. Speaking ahead of the Indian team’s departure for the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa, Sehwag said that teams tend to get the strategy wrong by going for quick runs early, often getting bowled out before the allotted quota of overs.”The plan should be to play out the full 20 overs,” Sehwag told PTI. “A score of 200 is on the cards if a team plays out the full quota. I have seen this happen often in England where I have played this format.”Sehwag was ignored for the tour of England owing to a loss of form. He spoke about how he had been preparing himself for the tournament, simulating the conditions the Indians would expect in South Africa, in terms of the pace and bounce of the wickets.”I have been doing yoga,” he said. “I want to control my game and aggression during the match days and hopefully I will do well. I have been practicing with synthetic balls on cement courts to get used to the bounce. I have also practiced against yorker-length balls as bowlers tend to get thrashed to all parts of the park. Therefore they are bound to resort to bowling yorkers and bouncers.”Sehwag added that the spinners will have an important role to play, taking the pace off the ball to make the batsmen check their strokes. “Hitting slower balls would not be easy and spinners have been successful in this game. I would also like to contribute with my offbreaks.”Commenting on the team composition, Sehwag said India’s lack of experience at the Twenty20 level shouldn’t count against them as a few members of India’s young squad had been exposed to the format in England. He captained India in its only Twenty20 international, against South Africa in Johannesburg last December and won.”Only five or six of us have not been playing but at this level one should be able to play in the tournament straightaway,” he said. “It’s good that youngsters are getting chances which will stand them in good stead when they have to assume bigger responsibilities.”

Steve Rixon would like to replace Allan Border on the national panel © Getty Images

In seven years and two stints as a national selector Allan Border made many difficult decisions. Yesterday he reportedly chose between two beer companies as he stepped down suddenly from Andrew Hilditch’s panel only four months after being re-appointed.Border denies the brewing link to XXXX forced him to walk away and stressed it was his overall business commitments that would have prevented him from doing the job properly. He has kept his place on Cricket Australia’s board and will continue the search for John Buchanan’s replacement as national coach.”It had nothing to do with this decision,” Border said in . “I just had so much on my plate I felt I couldn’t do it justice because I wouldn’t have been able to do it 100 percent. I felt I owed it to the panel to make up my mind early. It was as simple as that.”XXXX, which is owned by Lion Nathan, has been a personal sponsor of Border’s since his playing days and one of his many summer appearances will be alongside Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in a beach cricket series. The matches, which also involve England and West Indies in an ambush marketing exercise, will be played at the Gold Coast, Perth and Sydney in January and February, meaning Border could not fulfil his selector’s duties at two Pura Cup fixtures.Border’s apparent commercial conflict of interest occurred due to Cricket Australia’s deal with the Foster’s Group, which has supported the organisation since 1996-97. The brewing company secured a new deal with Cricket Australia in March but did not keep the naming rights for the annual tri-series.”We think ambush marketing is fairly un-Australian,” Geoff Donohue, a corporate affairs spokesman for the Foster’s Group, told the . “I will leave you to decide whether what they [XXXX] are doing with their current advertising campaigns is ambush marketing. I guess Allan has [resigned as a national selector] in pursuit of his own commercial interests.”Border is also a member of the Queensland Cricket board and a commentator for the television network . Cricket Australia will begin looking for a fourth selector this week with Steve Rixon, the former New Zealand and New South Wales coach, putting his hand up for the position. Two other wicketkeepers, Rod Marsh and Ian Healy, said they were not interested.

Mohammad Sami: One of ten players in the A squad with Test experience © Getty Images

Ten players with Test experience have been included in a strong Pakistan A squad to take on Australia A in the first four-day match to be played at the Pindi Cricket Ground, which starts on September 11.Experienced players such as Mohammad Sami, Asim Kamal, Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed and Shoaib Malik find a place in the 15-man squad. A further eight players who have Test experience are among the 12 reserves picked for the series, including Arshad Khan and Imran Farhat.For the Pakistani selectors, the series is crucial as it allows them not only an opportunity to test promising young players but also to provide established players with some vital match practice as preparation for the series against England from October.Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer is in charge of the A squad and he will be assisted by former national team manager Haroon Rashid. The national team trainers Grant Compton and Daryl Lifson are also working with the team.The second and final four-day match will be played from September 17 at the same venue, before the two teams move to Lahore for four one-day internationals.Pakistan A squad 1Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 2 Salman Butt, 3 Yasir Hameed, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Bazid Khan, 6 Asim Kamal, 7 Zulqarnain Haider (wk), 8 Imran Tahir, 9 Muhammad Sami, 10 Muhammad Asif, 11 Umar Gul, 12 Asher Zaidi, 13 Yasir Arafat, 14 Faisal Iqbal, 15 Muhammad Irshad.Reserves 1 Shahid Nazir, 2 Nomanullah, 3 Imran Farhat, 4 Mansoor Amjad, 5 Shahid Yousuf, 6 Yasir Ali, 7 Najaf Shah, 8 Muhammad Khalil, 9 Hasan Raza, 10 Taufeeq Umar, 11 Arshad Khan, 12 Rao Iftikhar Anjum.

Much to their disappointment, Sri Lanka may not have Marvan Atapattu available to lead them in the final match of this truimphant series© AFP

Sri Lanka could well be missing Marvan Atapattu, their captain, for the secondsuccessive game as they bid to finish on a high against South Africa, andcomplete a series whitewash on August 31 at the Sinhalese Sports Club.Atapattu’s young daughter, Sanjali, has been hospitalised with dengue fever,and Atapattu missed practice on Monday to be at her bedside.A late decision will be made on his inclusion in the side on Tuesday, but heis considered unlikely to play. His absence will be a major blow forhis team-mates, who would have wanted him to be there to complete a winning run in which his fresh and strong leadership had played a major part. MahelaJayawardene will captain, for the fourth time, if Atapattu does pull out.With or without their leader, Sri Lanka’s confidence is sky-high going intothe final game. Their selection, though, has been complicated by twindesires: to give as much exposure as possible to their back-up seamers beforethe ICC Champions Trophy, and to complete an emphatic clean sweep, maintaining momentum for the tournament in England.”The boys are very keen to finish it off on a winning note because we havedone so much of hard work,” Mahela Jayawardene told journalists afterpractice. “The Champions Trophy is very important for us but we are alsolooking to win all the matches to keep the confidence on a high.”The bowlers have put up their hands and been counted in the absence ofMurali [who will be back in the dressing room watching after his return fromAustralia], the fielding has been brilliant, and during tough situations theguys have dug deep,” said Jayawardene. “The challenge now is to maintain themomentum that has been created.”Sri Lanka will go into the game with three fast bowlers and their twospecialist legspinners. Nuwan Zoysa, rested for the last match in Dambulla,will come back into the team in place of Lasith Malinga, who proved waywardand expensive in Dambulla, especially during the final over of the innings,in which 15 runs were conceded.South Africa, meanwhile, could be forgiven for secretly looking forward tothe plane out of Sri Lanka. Just a few weeks into a new season, the coachand captain are facing increased criticism from back home after an abysmalrun that has now extended to nine successive defeats.Graeme Smith, as usual, spoke frankly about the team and his position atpre-match press. “The harder you try to get out of quicksand the further yousink,” he said of the team’s attempts to turn things around. He was equally philosophical about the growing personal criticism that he recieved. “At the top of the tree the wind always blows the strongest.”But Smith remains defiant and positive. He called a crisis meeting with thesenior players on Sunday and said that “stern words were had between players”.The onus, he believes, is now on the most experienced players to lead fromthe front and dig the side out of the hole before they equal the worstlosing run (10 matches under Keppler Wessels in 1994) in South Africa’shistory.”We decided to address a few issues again, especially within the seniorgroup,” Smith said after training. “The senior group have to take responsibility now. Their [Sri Lanka’s] senior players are outperforming ours, and that is the difference at the moment. The preparation and practice has been fine – it is about digging really deep to get ourselves out of this hole and putting in a performance for 100 overs.”South Africa are set to revert back to their pace-based attack on the moreseamer-friendly Sinhalese Sports Club pitch. Robin Peterson, expensive inDambulla, his first game of the tour, could be replaced by either AlanDawson or Charl Langeveldt, the fast bowler who was rushed over fromZimbabwe after Andre Nel flew home with a back injury.Probable teams
South Africa 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Jacques Rudolph, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Shaun Pollock, 6 Jean-Paul Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher, 8 Lance Klusener, 9 Nicky Boje, 10 Charl Langeveldt, 11 Makhaya Ntini.Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Avishka Gunawardene 3 Saman Jayantha, 4 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 5 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Upul Chandana, 8 Farveez Maharoof, 9 Kaushal Lokuarachchi, 10 Dilhara Fernando,11 Nuwan Zoysa.

The World Cup plot begins to thicken as the pool phase ends and the SuperSixes begins. Like Australia did four years ago, this is when you want tobegin peaking.There are only two changes to this Super Six from the last one. Sri Lankaand Kenya come in at the expense of South Africa and Pakistan. Pakistan miss out on qualifying for the next phase of the tournament for the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1975.Kenya may be present due to the beneficiaries of circumstances outside theircontrol but in their next three games they have the chance to prove they arethere on bona fide grounds.Kenya are the Zimbabwe of four years ago. The surprise packet of thetournament and like Zimbabwe of four years ago they only require one victoryto advance to the semi finals.Notwithstanding the controversy and politics, Zimbabwe will be ecstatic theyhave made it to their second consecutive Super Sixes, proving that the lastone was no fluke.Australia are the red hot favourites. Like true champions, they are winningeven when they are not playing well or look like they are up to their necksin trouble. Their flexibility and versatility is the key. Which other teamin world cricket could be without players the calibre of Warne, the twoWaughs and Gillespie and find such wonderful replacements that you don’teven know they are gone?The Australians are playing like the West Indians of the first two WorldCups where the Calypso cricketers were on a different dimension. They wereuntouchable and defeating them was an impossible task. In the first WorldCup, Pakistan set the West Indies a challenging 267 runs to score from 60overs. At 166 for eight and later 203 for nine, it looked like a Pakistani victory, butDeryck Murray and Andy Roberts combined for a last wicket partnership of 64to steer the West Indies home with just two balls to spare.Australia’s victory against England at Port Elizabeth was reminiscent ofthis game.Advancing to the Super Sixes from Pool B was a struggle and it doesn’t getany easier for Pool B teams wishing to make it through to the final four.New Zealand and Sri Lanka have to play the two form teams of the tournament;Australia and India while Zimbabwe can make some ground on New Zealand andSri Lanka as they get to play Kenya.For New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka to qualify they basically need towin every one of their Super Six games.There is a lot to play for. Australia don’t just want to qualify for thesemi-finals, they want to finish first (or fourth) so they play in the daysemi-final at Port Elizabeth and avoid the crapshoot which faces the teamsin the day/night semi-final at Durban.After some confusion about the format four years ago when it was firstintroduced, the Super Sixes is now being embraced.It is a great system asit forces the top teams to play each other at least once. It also means thateach of the next nine games is an ‘eight point game’ and a must win one atthat. All this should mean for fantastic cricket as the remaining sixnations fight it out for cricket’s glittering prize.

The Sri Lankan selectors have made four changes to the one-day squadthat won the ARY Gold Trophy in Sharjah in April and have revealed achange of strategy for the forthcoming triangular series against Indiaand New Zealand.Five fast bowlers and only two specialist spinners have been picked inthe 15-man squad, an unusual combination on Sri Lanka pitches. Thefinal team is expected to include three fast bowlers.The new look squad, the first selected by the new five-man panel ofselectors, confirms that the team management and selectors are nowfocusing their attention on the 2003 World Cup, where it is felt thatSri Lanka will need the services of fast bowling all rounders.Suresh Perera and Dulip Liyanage have been marked out as fast bowlerscapable of scoring valuable runs in the lower middle order and theyhave been included in the squad in place of Akalanka Ganegama andThilan Samaraweera. The recall of 23-year-old Perera is based uponpotential, rather than hard statistics. In his last 11 ODIs heaverages just 10.6 and has only scored two half centuries in his 36match first class career. Nevertheless, he is clearly an excitingprospect, possessing the priceless potential to change the course of amatch with both bat or ball.Dulip Liyanage, no youngster at 29 years of age, is recalled after animpressive first class season for Colts CC, in which he averaged 22.7with the bat and claimed 38 wickets. He made his ODI and Test debutway back in 1992/3 before suffering from a debilitating ankle injury.Dilhara Fernando, Chaminda Vaas, and Nuwan Zoysa, subject to hisexpected recovery from an ankle injury, all retain their places in thesquad.All the fast bowlers can look forward to helpful conditions in thetournament, especially when they play India, as the curators have beenasked to leave more grass on the pitches. Slower pitches are, however,expected in the New Zealand games.Avishka Gunawardene and Chamara Silva are recalled after impressiveperformances against Pakistan A, in place of Tillakaratne Dilshan andIndika de Saram, both of whom have failed to grasp the opportunitiesgiven to them by previous selection committees.Tillakaratne Dilshan stormed onto the international scene 18 monthsago with an unbeaten Test century in his second game, but hasdisappointed thereafter, especially in the Test arena. In one-daycricket he has played 14 games, but has not batted in the top six onsix occasions and has never been given an opportunity to bat higher upthe order than number six.Indika de Saram, nearly 28, has now played in 15 ODIs, but has failedto pass fifty once and boasts a highest score of just 38 and anaverage of 16.63. He too, however, has often suffered from a lowlyposition in the batting order.Kumar Sangakkara retains his place in the squad though he has been inpoor form recently. With Romesh Kaluwitharan likely to take thegloves, Sangakkara will be forced to compete with Gunawardene andSilva for the final batting places.Should Sri Lanka opt to play seven batsmen and four bowlers, then bothGunawardene and Sangakkara will probably play ahead of Silva. However,they may well play six batsmen and ask Kumar Dharmasena, retaining hisplace despite a stiff challenge from Thilan Samaraweera, to bat atnumber seven. This would leave room for just one of the three.The squad:Sanath Jayasuriya (Capt), Marvan Atapattu (Vice Capt), RomeshKaluwitharana, Russel Arnold, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sanagakkara,Avishka Gunawardene, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Dulip Liyanage,Suresh Perera, Nuwan Zoysa, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan,Dilhara Fernando