Match facts

Saturday, September 11
Start time 1330 (1130 GMT)

Big Picture

The Champions League, for some reason, has grouped all the champion sides in one group, and the runners-up in another. The best sides from India, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand make up Group A, while Guyana are the only champion team in Group B. On the face of it, Group A should produce cricket of a higher quality. Wayamba Elevens and Eastern Cape Warriors begin the fun in this competitive group on Saturday.

The two sides have taken different routes to qualification. Wayamba are easily the most dominant T20 side in Sri Lanka, with a wealth of talent in Mahela Jayawardene, Thisara Perera, Farveez Maharoof, Ajantha Mendis and Chanaka Welegedara. After having bossed the league stages of the SLC Inter-provincial Twenty20, they thrashed Ruhuna by a whopping 95 runs in the final. Jayawardene alone scored 91, which was only 22 less than the opposition’s total.

Warriors, on the other hand, were the last of the six franchises in South Africa to win any trophy, despite the occasional presence of big players like Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Ashwell Prince, Makhaya Ntini, Nicky Boje and Rusty Theron. When they did win one, though, there was no stopping them. Less than two months after they won their first 40-over title, they sealed the domestic 20-over crown too. Six months later, they are vying for the big one.

Watch out for…

Mark Boucher struck a hurricane eight-ball 27 in the domestic final against the Lions at the same venue. Unlike Kallis, he has not been poached by their IPL side, Royal Challengers Bangalore, for this Champions League.

Ajantha Mendis might not be the mystery he was in 2008, but he is still a terror for batsmen who haven’t faced him before. Especially if those batsmen are not traditionally good against spin.

Key contests

Mahela Jayawardene v Makhaya Ntini Jayawardene is relishing his new role of opening the innings, both in Twenty20s and ODIs. He has scored centuries in the World Twenty20 and the IPL, and missed out on one in the Sri Lankan domestic final. Ntini, no longer in favour for the national side, should be more than a handful in home conditions, setting up a good contest at the top of the innings.

Stats and trivia

• Jeevantha Kalatunga’s unbeaten 62-ball 104 against Kandurata is the highest individual Twenty20 score in Sri Lanka, and the fastest century in the country.

• Nicky Boje has the joint-highest number of lbw dismissals, 13 in a career tally of 57, to his credit in all Twenty20 matches. Muttiah Muralitharan and Shahid Afridi, also on 13 lbws, have taken 83 and 88 Twenty20 wickets respectively

Quotes

“We have seen a lot of footage of them. But then again it’s Twent20 cricket. It’s about individuals turning up on the day and performing.”
Mahela Jayawardene says Wayamba have done their homework on the Warriors

“We are one of the few teams that has played CLT20 before, and that experience will be to our benefit.”
Jehan Mubarak believes past experience in the Champions League can be useful

Andrew Strauss is very comfortable with England’s decision to change their opening batsman and wicketkeeper with the World Cup less than six months away, after Steve Davies, the latest man to take the gloves and slot in alongside the captain, hit 87 off 67 balls in the first one-day international against Pakistan at Chester-le-Street.

It had looked as though the selectors had committed themselves to Craig Kieswetter after rushing him into the one-day side in Bangladesh earlier this year, then rewarding his World Twenty20 form with the gloves against Australia and Bangladesh this season. However, despite hitting a hundred in his third game in Chittagong, Kieswetter failed to take the chances offered to him, and his form faded alarmingly during the one-dayers in mid-summer.

Struggling against Shaun Tait’s 95mph outswingers is one thing, but the alarm bells began ringing when he also struggled against the friendlier offerings of Mashrafe Mortaza and Rubel Hossain. Although he was retained for the two Twenty20s against Pakistan, a pair of skittish innings suggested he was still a long way from top form despite returning to Somerset and hitting 80 against Lancashire.

“We felt it needed to be done,” Strauss said of the change. “Steve has been in outstanding form for Surrey, and Craig Kieswetter will tell you himself he did not bat as well as he would have liked in the one-day series against Australia and Bangladesh. We made a change, and at the moment we’re quite happy with that decision.”

Davies also fell cheaply in the Twenty20s, twice picking out fielders on the leg side, but in Durham he took his chance to make an impression with a confident innings which set England on their way to 274 for 6 in 41 overs. With just 11 more ODIs between now and the World Cup England don’t have much time to make up their minds over such a key position, but Strauss isn’t concerned.

“There are a lot of things that give me headaches. But one of our guys getting 80 off 60 balls is not one of them,” he said. “It was an outstanding innings. He’s been chomping at the bit to get a chance to play, and has had to wait very patiently.

“He took his chance with both hands today. He’s got shots all round the ground – which is important in one-day cricket – and he seems to equally play seam and spin pretty well. It was a great start. He’s obviously got a lot to learn at this level, but he’s taken a big step forward today.”

Davies knows that his latest England selection will allow him a run of matches at least until the end of the season to prove himself compared to the one-off appearances in a Twenty20 against West Indies in Trinidad, and the Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia last year when Matt Prior was ill.

“The two games I played previously, one was when Matty was out and the other was just a one-off Twenty20,” he said. “But I feel this is now my time. It’s a great chance for me, and I’m really happy with the way things went today.”

It highlights the depths to which this tour as sunk, and the gulf between the two sides during the Twenty20 matches in Cardiff, that everyone was relishing the ‘contest’ on offer in Durham even though England were always well placed for victory as they defended their total. However, it was an improved display from Pakistan as Shoaib Akhtar bowled quickly and without luck, Kamran Akmal hit a half-century and there was some lusty hitting from Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq.

“It was a definite improvement from the Twenty20 and we looked a much better unit,” said Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach. “The boys really batted well which is what we’ve been struggling with. Asad Shafiq has just flown in from Sri Lanka and looked pretty good so there are definite positives out of this game. We could probably have managed to keep 275 down to 250 but that’s the way the game is. It was superb cricket from England, they batted superbly up the order and 270 was maybe a touch too many.”

And Waqar admitted it will be a challenge for his team to overcome a confident home side. “England, no doubt, are playing superb cricket in Twenty20 as well as one-day cricket,” he said. “They’re a much better unit. It will take a special performance to beat them, but we looked pretty good and close to beating them. We just need a bit of momentum to go our way and hopefully in the next couple of ODIs if things fall right we can manage to beat them.”

Wolves winger Matt Jarvis has signed a new five-year deal, committing him to Molineux until 2015.

Jarvis, 22, had two years left on his remaining contract but the club have sought to tie him up following a debut season in the top flight which saw him make 34 Premier League appearances.

“We’ve been talking to Matt and his representative for a long period of time,” said Wolves chief executive Jez Moxey. “He was very keen to commit to us and we were very keen to commit to him.”

Moxey added: “Matt is highly talented and fits in with our policy of developing good young players and aiming to keep them at Molineux. He had less than two years remaining on his contract, and it was the right time to do something.

“There was a lot of speculation linking him to a possible England call-up for the recent qualifiers, which shows the progress he has been making. And we are confident he still has more improvement to come.”

Jarvis signed for Wolves from Gillingham in June, 2007.

Harry Redknapp is ready to hand William Gallas and Rafael van der Vaart their Tottenham Hotspur debuts against West Brom on Saturday as he prepares to rotate his squad ahead of a busy fixture list.

Defoe out for three months

Spurs make their Champions League debut next week and boss Redknapp admits he may have blundered in not making changes for the shock 1-0 defeat to Wigan last time out following the club’s historic European qualifier against Young Boys.

Redknapp said: “Obviously, we play Saturday; then we play Champions League Tuesday; then in the league on Saturday; then we play Arsenal in the Carling Cup; then the league and another Champions League. We’ve got a busy schedule.

“The one thing I did learn – a lesson – last week was maybe I should’ve changed the team that played against Wigan.

“We went to Stoke and had a great result on the Saturday, came back, won the Champions League qualifier with Young Boys. And then I really went with the same team, more or less, on the Saturday against Wigan.

“Maybe I should’ve rested one or two and changed a few around, and it might have worked better for us. It’s easy, in hindsight, to look back on those things.”

Gallas appears certain to start at the heart of defence following Michael Dawson’s injury playing for England. And Redknapp has no qualms about throwing the former Arsenal captain in at the deep end on Saturday.

He said: “You don’t play in teams that win championships, like he did at Chelsea, you don’t play for your country as many times as he has – been there and done it all – unless you’re a top player. He’s got a bit of pace, he’s a great defender, and he’ll be a big asset. I think he’ll be a great signing for us.”

With Luka Modric now fit, Redknapp could choose between the Croatian and Van der Vaart. Or he might field both and play a lone striker, especially as his forward options have been depleted by the loss of Jermain Defoe for around three months.

Sep 10 2010 – 19:31:00

England held their nerve to eke out a 24-run win against a spirited Pakistan at Chester-le-Street and go 1-0 up in the NatWest Series.

Dignified defeat was perhaps a step in the right direction for tourists still beset by the stresses of the spot-fixing controversy, while a competitive match was a comparative triumph for cricket too as it tries to recover from two weeks of crisis.

England’s 274 for six, in a contest reduced to 41 overs per side after overnight rain, was a tough target – thanks to half-centuries from Steve Davies (87) and Jonathan Trott (69) and despite Saeed Ajmal’s four for 58. The equations then gradually narrowed against an always improbable chase, which threatened well into the final 10 overs but petered out to 250 for nine.

After Pakistan had won the toss and chosen to bowl first, England openers Davies and Andrew Strauss put on 78 in under 12 overs – handing out some conspicuous punishment for Umar Gul and debutant Mohammad Irfan.

Ajmal at last provided the breakthrough when he got one to slide on and bowl Strauss as he attempted an ambitious sweep. But Davies deflected his eighth four down to fine leg off the returning Gul to bring up his 50 from only 37 balls.

He counted 13 fours from 67 by the time he was out, edging a cut behind off Ajmal. Trott needed 55 balls before he managed the only four in his 64-ball half-century, chopping to third man off Shoaib in a batting powerplay which brought 34 in four overs. The Warwickshire batsman, eventually bowled off an under-edge sweeping at Ajmal, upped the tempo enough to help Ravi Bopara (35 not out) cash in with 85 runs in the last 10 overs.

Openers Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez provided a solid start, but Strauss deployed his pace attack to bowl tight lines and dry up the boundaries in powerplay, with spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy lying in wait. And Swann duly delivered his party piece of a wicket in his first over when Hafeez’s mistimed sweep was well-held by a tumbling Tim Bresnan at deep square-leg to end a stand of 62 with Akmal (53).

With Mohammad Yousuf also soon gone, lbw when he failed to get his leg outside off-stump to Yardy, Pakistan reached a ‘Twenty20′ equation of 167 runs required and eight wickets remaining.

But after a 56-ball 50 containing seven fours, the wicketkeeper-batsman did hole out at long-on off Swann. Bresnan returned to have Fawad Alam clubbing a catch to mid-on, and Kamran Akmal contrived to go caught behind as he tried to engineer more runs from the last ball of an otherwise productive Stuart Broad over.

Shahid Afridi and late tour replacement Asad Shafiq kept Pakistan and a near sell-out crowd interested. But wickets and overs always looked sure to ebb away a little too quickly, and so it eventually proved.

Serie A has been thrown into crisis after the Italian Professional Players’ Association (AIC) voted to go on strike on the weekend of September 25-26 and bring the league to a halt.

The players are protesting against the failure to agree a new collective-bargaining agreement between AIC and the Lega Calcio which would guarantee players’ rights.

The club owners of Serie A had said they would propose a new collective deal this Monday but their attempts to “impose new contractual rules” was met with resistance by the players, who also feel aggrieved at a clubs trying to force players to move teams in the last year of their contracts.

Milan full-back Massimo Oddo read out the following statement: “The association, in accordance with the players of Serie A, has decided that they will not take to the pitch for the fifth round of matches of the Serie A championship on September 25 and 26 in protest against requests to impose new contractual rules.”

Oddo added: “The players are fed up with being treated like objects and not like people. We are dealing with human rights here.”

The strike will take place on a weekend scheduled to host a full programme of Serie A games, including a high-profile clash between Roma and Inter.

A meeting will take place on Monday between Italy’s football federation president Giancarlo Abete and his Serie A and AIC counterparts to discuss the way forward.

“The strike is likely to take place regardless of the decision that could come out of Monday’s meeting,” added Oddo.

Manchester United defender Gary Neville has launched a thinly-veiled attack on Manchester City, saying he even prefers arch-rivals Liverpool to the Premier League’s nouveau riche club.

Neville, who has a long and well documented history of clashes with Liverpool fans and players, provoked the fury of City supporters last season by criticising Carlos Tevez and celebrating wildly in front of the visiting fans after a derby win at Old Trafford.

City have spent in the region of 350 million on new players since the arrival of owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan in September 2008, but Neville prefers a club with history, even if it’s Liverpool.

“I have more respect for them [Liverpool] as a club, in a sense of their tradition and their history, than I would do some of the other clubs that have been coming on the scene in the last few years, throwing a load of money at it,” Neville told MUTV.

“They have a good history – you have to hand it to them for that. They have been successful.”

However, Neville admitted he would be overjoyed if United could secure a 19th league title this season with the club currently tied with Liverpool for the record.

Neville said: “To beat Liverpool would be fantastic. It would be massive for this club. We want to be the most successful club.”

Sep 10 2010 – 14:30:39

Kevin Pietersen failed again on his LV= County Championship debut for Surrey as Glamorgan took a giant step towards securing promotion from Division Two.

The England batsman was dropped for the current one-day international series against Pakistan and sent on loan to Surrey in the hope of rediscovering his form ahead of the Ashes tour. But Pietersen, who fell for a second-ball duck in the first innings, made just one from 23 balls before he was trapped lbw by James Harris.

Surrey had started their second innings with a lead of 104 after dismissing Glamorgan for 276 – but they lost five wickets for six runs in a spectacular top-order collapse. Harris reached lunch with figures of four for 18 from 10 overs as Surrey limped to 41 for five, a lead of 145.

A Glamorgan victory on Friday would seal their promotion to the top flight along with Sussex.

Essex are heading in the opposite direction, having had their relegation confirmed this week, but were looking to end the season on a positive note. Durham were restricted to 127 for four at lunch in their pursuit of an unlikely victory target of 459 at Chelmsford.

At Canterbury, Hampshire gave themselves the chance of a vital victory over fellow relegation strugglers Kent after declaring their second innings on 355 for nine.

With a lead of 387, Hampshire then reduced Kent to 32 for two by lunch with Dominic Cork and Danny Briggs taking a wicket each.

Back in the Division Two, Middlesex were reduced to 33 for three by Worcestershire after being set 178 to win.

Worcestershire had earlier put on 112 for their last three wickets, with Gareth Andrew making 73, before Middlesex finally bowled them out for 256. Toby Roland-Jones claimed five for 83.

Leicestershire were on the brink of completing a comprehensive victory over Gloucestershire, having restricted the visitors to 116 for six. Greg Smith’s unbeaten 158 on Thursday. had helped Leicestershire post a second-innings total of 352 for four declared – a commanding lead of 487.

Sep 10 2010 – 13:00:37

England’s opening NatWest Series match against Pakistan has been reduced to 41-overs-a-side due to the heavy overnight and morning rain that delayed the start.

After the umpires confirmed that play would get under way at 12.30pm, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first.

As previously reported, they selected 7ft tall left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Irfan for his debut in a team also containing rookie batsman Asad Shafiq. However, there was no place for all-rounder Abdul Razzaq.

England wicketkeeper Steve Davies will make just his second ODI appearance in a team featuring two spinners.

Sep 10 2010 – 08:00:40

Andrew Strauss remains wary of Pakistan’s cricketers, for the right reasons.

The England captain is confident the NatWest Series, starting on Friday at the Emirates Durham ICG, can help cricket begin its recovery from the spot-fixing crisis. Strauss noted with regret the poor attendances for England’s Twenty20 wins over Pakistan in Cardiff but expects a hard-fought five-match one-day international series to deliver a competitive spectacle.

“I would argue that this Pakistan side are a very dangerous side and are likely to play some very good cricket over the course of this ODI series.” said Strauss.

Much has been made of the disappointing attendances for the two fixtures at the SWALEC Stadium, with less than 6,000 people turning out for Tuesday’s second match.

However, there is obvious mitigation in the controversy which has seen three Pakistanis – Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif – charged and suspended by the International Cricket Council.

“The allegations that have been out there have overshadowed the cricket, to a certain extent,” added Strauss.

“We realise that, as players, our responsibility is to get out there on the pitch and play well – because that’s the only way of getting cricket back in the headlines for the right reasons.

“It would be wrong to write Pakistan off through those two games. But it’s been a difficult time for Pakistan cricket, and the team.”

Only 800 of the 15,000 tickets for Chester-le-Street were still unsold on Thursday afternoon.

“We want to play in front of full houses in every game we play in,” said Strauss. “I hope we will see two cricket teams going tooth and nail to try to win cricket matches.”