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Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka’s batting coach, has said his team’s batsmen have been lacking in confidence on the tour of the UAE. Sri Lanka were beaten 0-1 in the Tests and were skittled out for 131 in the first ODI in Dubai.”I really think it is nothing to do with the technique and application but its about the confidence which they are lacking,” Atapattu said. “We have played so much cricket and if it happens at a stretch then it’s important you get out of it. When you get out for low scores, when you are not doing well as a batting unit, then it’s a matter of confidence.”The tracks have been quite flat for the bulk of the tour so far and Sri Lanka’s batting, barring Kumar Sangakkara, has been below-par. “You cannot justify (failures) after looking at the personalities in the dressing room, its just that they come out thinking that its a brand new game and we are not continuing what we did on Friday or maybe two months ago,” Atapattu said.Atapattu, a former Sri Lanka opener, praised the Pakistan team, saying it’s among the best he’s seen from the country in the recent past. “They looked very fresh from the start and they are a very good side, having lots of allrounders and have options. This Pakistan side is one of the best I have seen in the recent past having played against their best teams in my days.”He also complimented Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain. “Misbah is a very cool and calm character and what I saw in the Tests was very impressive, he handles things well and is somewhat like [Arjuna] Ranatunga and he has the patience to wait until he achieves what he wants to.”The teams play five ODIs in all. The second one takes place in Dubai on November 14.

Karachi Blues strode towards their first win of the season by taking nine wickets on the third day against Zarai Taraqiati Bank at the National Stadium. ZTBL were at a precarious 128 for 7 overnight, and despite Sohail Tanvir’s 72 they could only manage 192 before being bowled out. Karachi Blues enforced the follow-on, and the ZTBL top order again folded cheaply. From 32 to 4, half-centuries from their captain Imran Nazir and Zohaib Khan helped ZTBL push the match to the fourth day, though they were still 34 runs behind Karachi with only four wickets in hand.Habib Bank Limited were left to chase 367 against Abbottabad at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium after Danish Karenia’s five-for restricted Abbottabad to 250 in their second innings. The major contributions came from Rameez Ahmed and Riaz Kail who both made 58, the latter unbeaten, while opener Fawad Khan made 48. Ahmed was Kaneria’s first victim, and he added two more to have Abbottabad in some trouble at 154 for 6, but Mir Azam (33) and Kail added 69 for the seventh wicket to set up a challenging total. HBL were 43 for no loss at the close of play.It was slow progress for Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground but they finished the day at a solid 305 for 9, ahead of National Bank of Pakistan by 292. The first innings for both teams had been low-scoring affairs but Islamabad built on the platform provided on Thursday by the top order. The overnight batsmen, Umair Khan and Zeeshan Mushtaq, both went on to make half-centuries before cameos from Umair Mir and Shehzad Azam pushed the total beyond 300. The most effective of the NBP bowlers was medium-pacer Uzair-ul-Haq who took four wickets.Water and Power Development Authority were in sight of victory after Faisalabad collapsed in their second innings in Sargodha. Fast bowler Imran Khan and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar ran through the Faisalabad line-up after they were in a strong position at 145 for 3, an overall lead of 229. Faisalabad lost seven wickets for 29 runs to set WAPDA a target of 259. Imran finished with 5 for 37 while Babar took 3 for 44. WAPDA’s top three failed to convert starts and they were 102 for 3 at one stage before unbeaten fifties from Aamer Sajjad and captain Naved-ul-Hasan took them to 205, 54 short of a win.Pakistan International Airlines consolidated their position against Rawalpindi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, bowling them out for 224 for a first-innings lead of 124 before cantering to 185 for 2 in their second innings. Babar Naeem’s half-century carried Rawalpindi past 200 from their overnight score of 168 for 6 before Ali Imran took 5 for 54 to wrap up the innings. PIA had a strong start with Kamran Sajid (63) and Agha Sabir (34) putting on 65 upfront. Sheharyar Ghani was unbeaten on a brisk 58 with Faisal Iqbal for company as PIA ended the day 309 in front.Sialkot ensured they will get first-innings points as their match against State Bank of Pakistan at the Jinnah Stadium headed for a draw. Sialkot consolidated on their strong overnight position of 187 for 2 – their captain Mansoor Amjad top-scored with 91 to lead them to 316 for 3, just 26 short of SBP’s first-innings score. Sialkot then collapsed dramatically, losing their final seven wickets for 42. Fast bowler Waqas Ahmed finished with five wickets for SBP, though with three days completed and the third innings of the match having just commenced an outright result is unlikely.

Australia’s captain, Michael Clarke, hopes he will have some input into who replaces Tim Nielsen as the team’s coach. Clarke arrived back home in Sydney on Wednesday night after leading Australia to a 1-0 Test series victory in Sri Lanka, where Nielsen finished the tour by announcing his decision to step down from the coaching role.That means Australia will have an interim coach for next month’s tour of South Africa – probably one of the assistants, Steve Rixon or Justin Langer – while the search goes on for a full-time replacement. Clarke is believed to have a very high regard for his former New South Wales coach, Rixon, and while he did not name any preferred names, he said he hoped his opinions would be considered as Cricket Australia looked for their new man.”I hope I will [have some input],” Clarke said. “I have a really good relationship with James Sutherland, the CEO, and I’m pretty sure it is important the captain and coach have a strong bond. I would imagine I would have some sort of impact and I’ll be communicating with James over however long, to try and work out who they think the best person for the role is.”There’s a lot of successful coaches around the world, and I think the priority, as the review has made very clear, is they are going to try and get the best person for the job. I think Tim Nielsen has done an amazing job for Australia. He’s been fantastic for me, not only as a captain, but as a player and he’s certainly going to be missed.”Leading candidates to replace Nielsen will include Rixon, who has a successful track record having coached New Zealand as well as New South Wales, and Mickey Arthur, the former South Africa mentor. Arthur is preparing for his second season as coach of Western Australia.Nielsen’s resignation came after the release of the Argus review, which recommended a more wide-ranging brief for the head coach. Whoever gets the new job will not only guide the national team, he will also direct the coaching style that will filter down to state and academy level, and with Clarke will be one of Australia’s five-man selection panel.

Pakistan umpire Aleem Dar has won the David Shepherd trophy for the Umpire of the Year for the third consecutive year at the ICC Awards ceremony in London. He beat competition from Steve Davis, Ian Gould and five-time winner Simon Taufel.Dar, 43, officiated in five Tests and 13 ODIs during the voting period – August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011 – including the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka.Widely regarded for his umpiring standards, Dar was voted to the award by the 10 Full Member captains as well as the eight-man elite panel of match referees.”It’s a great honour and I’m thankful to everyone at the ICC and also my colleagues on the Elite Panel of ICC umpires along with the Pakistan Cricket Board,” Dar said. “I’d like to also thank all my family for all their support since I’m away nearly eight months of the year umpiring.”

South Africa’s domestic limited-overs competition has been changed to bring it in line with international one-day cricket. The tournament, which was a 40-over event for the last two seasons, will now be a 50-over competition in a bid to prepare for the 2015 World Cup. The decision was taken at Cricket South Africa’s annual general meeting in Port Elizabeth on Saturday on the advice of the cricket committee.”The conditions will be identical to those for ODIs to prepare our players better for international competition,” Gerald Majola, CSA chief executive said. “That should help us to win that elusive ICC limited overs trophy.”In April, after South Africa crashed out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage, convenor of selectors, Andrew Hudson indicated to ESPNcricinfo that the domestic structure would be changed in order to better prepare the national team for major tournaments. Two months later, CSA announced that the competition would revert back to a 45-over game, as it had been from the 1995-6 season until 2009-10. Now, CSA have decided to replicate the ODI format exactly, in an attempt to win a first World Cup trophy.South Africa’s limited-overs competition had undergone many changes in the past two decades, often with the view to copy innovations in the international game. In the 2005-06 season, when the ICC was experimenting with the use of a “super-sub” and Powerplays, South Africa followed suit. With thoughts of 50-over cricket becoming a thing of the past, the competition was reduced to 40 overs and three Powerplays were added. With the anticipated change in ODIs coming to nothing, CSA are going back to the traditional limited-overs form of the game.The new competition is without a sponsor after mobile telephone operator MTN, who backed the tournament from the 2006-07 season, pulled out of cricket. A sponsor is expected to be announced in the next month.

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A fired-up Katherine Brunt bowled England to victory with a career-best 5 for 18•Getty Images

Katherine Brunt bowled England to a 34-run win in the final of the NatWest Women’s Quadrangular series with a career-best 5 for 18 – her third five-wicket haul in one-day internationals – as England continued their successful run this summer.Australia had been impressive with the ball too, with Sarah Coyte picking up four top-order wickets, but England eventually reached 230 mainly thanks to Lydia Greenway’s fluent fifty and a rapid 43 from wicketkeeper-batsman Sarah Taylor.Brunt started Australia’s slide early, nipping out Meg Lanning and Leah Poulton in quick succession as their chase got off to a faltering start. Shelley Nitschke, playing in her final match for Australia, was denied a grand finish as she had her stumps rattled by Brunt, the third wicket falling with just 33 on the board.Alex Blackwell and the in-form Jess Cameron sparked something of a recovery, but when Isa Guha bowled Blackwell for 34 and left-arm spinner Holly Colvin picked up the big wicket of allrounder Lisa Sthalekar soon after, Australia were 80 for 5 and England in control.Cameron responded with some brutal batting that gave Australia hope, slamming eight fours and two sixes in a 77-ball 75. She took her team to within 80 runs of their target before Brunt returned and had her caught by Guha as England seized the ascendancy once again. Brunt had her fifth wicket when Coyte holed out to Arran Brindle, and England stormed to the win soon after.They hadn’t been quite so dominant with the bat, however, and needed to rebuild after Coyte got past both Danielle Wyatt and Laura Marsh to reduce England to 19 for 2 after they had lost the toss and been inserted in bowler-friendly conditions.Captain Charlotte Edwards and the experienced Claire Taylor slowly repaired the damage, grinding their way to a 36-run partnership before Edwards was trapped in front of her stumps by Sthalekar’s offspin for 31. England slipped once again when Taylor cut Nitschke to point with the score at 88, but Greenway and Sarah Taylor immediately set about the bowling with some enterprising batting.Greenway used the sweep to good effect and also cracked the only six of the innings over long-off as she and Taylor added 82 for the fifth wicket. Taylor fell before she reached fifty, and Greenway was eventually dismissed to give Coyte her fourth wicket, but Brindle slammed 27 from just 18 balls to boost England to what was ultimately a match-winning total.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTanvir Ahmed kept West Indies in the field far longer than they would have liked•Associated Press

Tanvir Ahmed and Pakistan’s phalanx of spinners put the tourists in control of the second Test against West Indies on the second day in Basseterre. With Saeed Ajmal, Ahmed first put together a rousing, defiant last-wicket stand of 78 to not only prevent Pakistan’s first innings from going to total waste, but actually make it a little imposing.Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez then shared six wickets between them as West Indies slumped to 184 for eight on a still decent surface for batting; proof of that was in an elegant fifty from Marlon Samuels. The two sides are among the weakest batting-wise in cricket which is no bad thing for it makes for compelling cricket.More than anything, Pakistan’s spinners were persistent, working their way patiently through the bulk of the batting. Occasionally a partnership lingered or resistance emerged, an obstacle appeared; each time they found a way through.Ahmed had struck first in a spell which made up in control what it lacked in pace. Off the second ball of the innings, Lendl Simmons was sucked into a needless drive. Taufeeq Umar, once among the best slippers in Pakistan, took the first of three good catches. Another loose drive brought the wicket of debutante Kraigg Brathwaite, though the beneficiary Wahab Riaz was poor. He had nearly given away the initiative when Ramnaresh Sarwan took him for three boundaries in an over, but the arrival of spin halted progress.Rehman slotted in immediately, stopping runs, but it was Ajmal who caused strife. It wasn’t so much the succession of off-breaks, but what each subsequent one hid: the threat of the doosra. Pleasingly, not many came and it was to an off-break that Sarwan fell, another needless rush out of the crease.Mohammad Hafeez, more bowler than batsman this series, then chipped in. Darren Bravo, initially lost among Brathwaite’s debut and Sarwan’s blitz, fought neatly with Samuels till he edged Hafeez on the stroke of tea. Soon after the break, Hafeez struck again to remove Brendan Nash.Hafeez used, it was Rehman’s turn. Carlton Baugh wasn’t much of an issue, but the key breakthrough was the dismissal of Darren Sammy. Another promising partnership was building when Sammy tried to repeat a straight six from the previous Rehman over. He struck it well, only to see Umar Akmal running along the boundary to take an outstanding catch inches from the rope.The one obstacle that proved more durable than others was Samuels. Only in the XI because of Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s late withdrawal, Samuels at first looked precisely like a man playing his first Test in over three years. But a loose, brief second spell from Riaz in the run-up to tea allowed him to unfurl a couple of sweet square drives and settle down.After tea he looked better, secure in defence, surer in attack. He didn’t always read Ajmal, choosing to play him off the surface but it hardly mattered when he was driving him elegantly over extra cover for four and six. Rehman had already been dispatched over long-on.In between those strokes, he was patient and measured. But he took on Ajmal once too often. Having already hit him straight, there was little need for another and next ball, Taufeeq took his third, excellent catch of the innings, diving forward at long-off.That was fitting reward for a day that had been Pakistan’s, the first hour apart. In that, they lost three swift wickets and looked set to be rolled over for under 200. Only when Ahmed and Ajmal came together was the innings given unexpected solidity.Ahmed was his usual self, mixing muscular boundaries with those unique whips, Caribbean style. One such, over midwicket off Devendra Bishoo, brought up the fifty partnership half an hour before lunch. In the next over came two more, a punch through covers and a dainty clip wide of mid-on. And as lunch neared, a streaky edge brought an accomplished maiden fifty. He celebrated immediately, cutting for another boundary.Ajmal gave obdurate support, mixing fortune with pluck. He regularly and comically pulled, once going fine for four and once top-edging for six over slips. Other than that he stuck around, adding the odd run, frustrating the bowling.West Indies slumped swiftly, alarmingly. The second new ball was wasted, Kemar Roach either too full or short and Ravi Rampaul lacking the energy of earlier bursts. Sammy toiled, but Bishoo floundered as defensive fields were employed. Bishoo finally ended the stand, ten minutes before lunch trapping Ahmed in front but the tide had turned.

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Nick Compton played plenty of stylish shots in his career-best innings•Getty Images

Nick Compton finished on 254 not out as Somerset continued their rapid improvement as they dominated Durham in their County Championship match at Chester-le-Street. Somerset had lost their first two games of the season but they declared on 610 for 6 before reducing their hosts to 182 for 4.Compton, whose preHvious best of 190 for Middlesex at Lord’s five years ago was also against Durham, equalled the second highest score made at the Emirates Durham ground. Michael Di Venuto made the same score against Sussex two years ago and the only higher one was also by an Australian for Durham, Martin Love scoring 273 against Hampshire in 2003.Somerset’s total was also the second highest on the ground behind Durham’s 648 for 5 against Nottinghamshire two years ago. For the second successive day Durham took an early wicket and were unable to follow it up as Peter Trego contributed 98 off 100 balls to a stand of 191.Jos Buttler departed to the seventh ball of the day, edging a back-foot shot off Callum Thorp to the wicketkeeper. Compton’s vigil lasted just over nine hours after he went in to face the eighth ball of the innings. He faced 434 balls and hit 24 fours and one six.He batted better on the first day in reaching 149 and after being dropped off the last ball of the day at first slip he almost edged Graham Onions to second slip in today’s first over. On 159 he ducked into a ball from Onions which struck him fiercely on the helmet, but he was as unruffled by that as he was by two confident appeals for caught behind on 151 and 217.Compton completed his double hundred by hitting a Scott Borthwick full toss over mid-wicket for his 21st four. While he was never fluent, Compton didn’t need to be as there was always someone scoring quickly at the other end.Trego hit 12 fours and two sixes before leg-spinner Borthwick hurried one on to him just above ankle height to gain an lbw verdict.Durham’s reply began with a stand of 71, but Will Smith was never comfortable and made only 13 before edging a checked drive to third slip, where Trego dived to hold an excellent catch. Steve Kirby also took the next wicket when Gordon Muchall pushed forward and edged to James Hildreth at first slip.Ben Stokes made his way confidently to 21 before he was undone by extra bounce from the 6ft 5in Gemaal Hussain. The left-hander flashed at a ball he could have left alone he edged a head high catch to Hildreth.Di Venuto had looked in complete command but he was fourth out for 86 with the total on 139. He had stroked 13 fours, but in trying to attack the accurate seam bowling of 18-year-old Devonian Lewis Gregory he sliced a drive to Compton at point. Dale Benkenstein and Phil Mustard added 43 runs in the final 11 overs.

Michael Clarke enjoyed plenty of firsts as Australia’s full-time captain in Bangladesh. First tour, first century, first win, first series win and first world record (Shane Watson). In the third match he confronted a first of a different kind – the first time a match appeared, for a handful of overs at least, to be slipping away from him.While it was never likely that a previously timid Bangladesh would be able to find the shots and the belief to sustain a chase of 362, there was an unmistakable sense around the 27th over that something was building. At that point the home side were a mere 21 runs behind Australia, with two more wickets in hand, and Clarke had brought himself on to bowl.That alone demonstrated a trace of worry, and so it was valuable for Clarke to find a way of constricting the flow of runs, quietening the biggest and most vocal Mirpur crowd of the series, and ultimately closing in on victory with the capture of regular wickets. It was telling to note that at this time Clarke called freely on Ricky Ponting for advice, doing as he had said he would during times of on-field stress. Ponting was seen to direct a fielder or two, pointing and gesturing in that familiar way for the first time almost all week.”I would’ve liked a couple more early wickets, it would’ve made life a lot easier, but credit to the Bangladesh top order, I thought they batted really well and took it to us,” Clarke said. “We had to hang in there and fight hard to get over the line and get a couple of wickets through that middle period which brought momentum back our way.”The marriage of experience and youth, new leadership and old, was illustrated by the bowlers Clarke relied upon to swing the direction of the evening. Steve Smith’s first four overs of legspin went for a slim 17 at just the time Bangladesh needed more than that, while the breakthrough wicket arrived via the fresh-faced source of the pace debutant James Pattinson. Imrul Kayes’ thin edge behind the wicket was roundly and justly celebrated, but it deserved to be credited as much to Smith and Clarke as it did to the bowler.”I think on wickets like that you have to bowl in partnerships, you have to work out who the batsman is you’re trying to attack and which batsman, if someone’s going well, you’re trying to defend,” he said. “It’s about keeping the bloke who’s going well off strike and I thought young James and Smithy did that really well.”I thought Smithy bowled very well without too much luck to be honest, he changed his pace really well and probably could’ve had two or three wickets. So very exciting to see young Patto come in and do well, and I’m stoked with the result in the series.”Later in the innings, after the danger had been neutralised, Clarke added the most unwelcome of his firsts – a straightforward dropped catch. If he can be forgiven one grassed chance it is only out of grace for a beginner. Sri Lanka and South Africa will not be anywhere near as accommodating, as Clarke readily acknowledged.”We’ve got to get ready for another big 12 months coming up,” he said. “Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka for Tests and one-dayers, South Africa in South Africa, and New Zealand and India back in Australia, so we’ve got some tough cricket ahead of us. We know we have a lot of improvement left, both individually and as a team.”

In what turned out to be a low-scoring semi-final round, Tamil Nadu imploded for 59 to hand Bengal a 55-run win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.Chosing to bat, Bengal began poorly, being reduced to 8 for 2 in the fifth over. Coming in at No.4, captain Manoj Tiwary counterattacked, stroking five massive sixes in an innings of 69 off 44 balls. He did not find a reliable partner though, as wickets continued to tumble at the other end. The second highest contribution of the innings came from wicketkeeper, Wriddhiman Saha, with 19. Lakshmipathy Balaji was the pick of the Tamil Nadu bowlers, picking up two wickets at 4.50 runs an over.Chasing a target that required them to score at less than a run a ball, Tamil Nadu fell behind right away. Ashok Dinda was on a hat-trick in the first over of the innings, after bowling Anirudha Srikkanth and getting Ganapathi Vignesh to edge to the keeper for a golden duck. Tamil Nadu never recovered, losing three wickets with the score on 11, to be reduced to 11 for 6 in the seventh over. The only sizable contribution came from Arun Karthik, who was unbeaten on 35 off 26 balls when the innings folded on 59. Medium-pacer Sayan Mondal wrecked the middle order with four wickets and a run out.Bengal will meet Madhya Pradesh in the final at the same venue on March 16.Madhya Pradesh set up the final clash with Bengal, defeating Haryana by two wickets with one ball to spare in a thrilling second match of the day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.Being asked to bowl, Madhya Pradesh knocked over the top half of the Haryana line-up in a hurry, to leave them 23 for 5 in the seventh over. Cameos from Nitin Saini, Joginder Sharma and Amit Mishra made sure Haryana played out their 20 overs though, finishing with 115 for 9. Madhya Pradesh’s pace trio of TP Sudhindra, Anand Rajan and Amarjeet Singh shared the wickets around.Madhya Pradesh’s reply was built around a 47-run fourth-wicket partnership between Udit Birla and Harpreet Singh, after Sharma and Kuldeep Hooda made early inroads. There was no much resistance otherwise, but Madhya Pradesh did just enough to edge out Haryana in a nail-biting last over that included Birla’s wicket, a run-out and a first-ball boundary from No. 10 batsman Sudhindra to seal the victory.