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Misbah-ul-Haq’s impressive performances in the World Twenty20 have earned him a recall to Pakistan’s squad for the first Test against South Africa in Karachi on Monday. But there was no place in the 15-man lineup for either Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former captain, or Shoaib Akhtar.Misbah was the third-highest run-scorer in South Africa, helping Pakistanreach the final and was also the highest run-scorer in the Quaid-e-AzamTrophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament. He played the last of his five Tests four years ago against Bangladesh. Joining him in the middle order is Mohammad Yousuf, whoyesterday agreed to represent Pakistan, after having initially signed upfor the Indian Cricket League (ICL).But there was no place in the squad for Inzamam, another ICL signatory.Inzamam has retired from ODIs, though insists he wants to play Test cricket.Salahuddin Ahmed, Pakistan’s chief selector, said that Inzamam had been consideredfor the squad but had declared himself unavailable for the first Test.”I spoke to Inzamam and though he didn’t specify the reasons, he said hewas unavailable for the first Test,” said Salahuddin. “If he is availablefor the second Test [in Lahore], he will be considered.”Shoaib’s exclusion was also expected, as he is currently the subject of adisciplinary inquiry into his altercation with Mohammad Asif in SouthAfrica. “Shoaib’s is a policy decision,” said Salahuddin. “The disciplinary inquiry isongoing and only when their decision has come will we take a decision.”Rao Iftikhar Anjum took the third fast bowler’s spot, edging out SohailTanvir, the left-arm, wrong-foot bowler who did so well in the Twenty20World Cup. “Sohail is a very talented all-rounder but we feel he still hassome time before he is ready for the longer version of the game,” addedSalahuddin.Pakistan will field yet another new opening pair when the first Testbegins from October 1. One of Taufeeq Umar, who averages 74 in four Testsagainst South Africa, or Mohammad Hafeez will partner Salman Butt, thevice-captain.Pakistan squad: Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez,Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal (wk), MohammadAsif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal, YasirHameed, Taufeeq Umar, Abdur Rehman

Joey Carew, convenor of the West Indies selection panel, says “a different spirit that emanated from the players” was the key to Brian Lara’s team winning the five-match one-day international series against favourites India. And he has described Lara, now leading the side for an unprecedented third time, as being “very much committed” and “more mature” at the age of 37.After narrowly losing the opening match in Jamaica on May 18, West Indies bounced back to capture the series 4-1. “I have enjoyed the series, of course, being the winner of the series encourages me for that,” Carew said on the CMC CricketPlus programme. “But, more so, I find that there was a different spirit that emanated from the players and I think that was the secret of their success. It proved in every game and I am looking forward to more improvement as we go into the Test [series].”Carew, a former West Indies opening batsman, reckoned that the 5-0 triumph in the preceding seven-match home series against minnows Zimbabwe (two matches were abandoned because of rain) was a solid foundation for the resurgent West Indies to build on. “Most definitely, but also the match practice that we got. It’s a bit different outside there than in the nets and we got the match practice that we needed. So we didn’t come into the India series stale as such. We came in fresh and victorious and I think that helped a lot,” he said.With regard to Lara, Carew remarked: “He is very committed but Brian has always been committed. But somewhere along the line, maybe at 37, he is more mature and the players have matured themselves and I think the team is led properly and they are all pulling their weight. I don’t see much of a difference in Brian Lara’s tactical approach yesteryear to what it is now,” Carew added.Prior to the series, India were ranked No.3 in the world behind Australia and South Africa, compared to West Indies at No 8. But Rahul Dravid’s men have now slipped to No.5. West Indies have remained in eighth place but have gained seven rating points because of the 4-1 series win. It means they are now just five points behind seventh-placed England.The first match in the four-Test series starts on Friday at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

For the scores of cricket fans packed onto the London Underground this morning, there was a special message as the train arrived at their destination. “Our next stop is Oval,” announced the driver over the tannoy, “where I regret to inform you the forecast is for sun.” It was a droll reminder of how futile England’s predicament had become. On Friday their series prospects were marmalised by an Indian batting performance of stunning totality, and now all that remained was a three-day face-saving exercise.Even so, for professional batsmen – a selfish bunch by nature – the idea of batting for three days in perfect sun-blessed conditions should not really have been the chore that England’s top order made it out to be today. Their coach, Peter Moores, had even dangled the carrot in his comments on the previous evening. “Help yourselves,” was the gist of his message as he exhorted them to bat, bat and then bat some more. If they put their own interests first, he reasoned, those of the team would follow soon enough. If Brian Lara was an Englishman in this situation, he would have had designs on a third world record.Instead England’s response was nervy, motley and self-destructive. Massive totals can have that effect on opposing sides – every run that is scored sinks into the requirement like a footstep up a sand-dune – but it could not mitigate the culpability of so many of England’s dismissals. Andrew Strauss’s hook to deep square leg on Friday evening might have been excusable after two days of hard toil, but it was not intended to be a template for what followed.England were limp, as limp as they had been in Lahore two winters ago in a similarly hopeless situation. Alastair Cook, dropped twice while clipping off his pads to leg slip, made it third time unlucky by spooning a return catch to Anil Kumble off the back of his over-eager blade. Kevin Pietersen allowed his more watchful persona to dominate the first 106 balls of his innings, before his hubristic Mr Hyde let rip at Sachin Tendulkar’s very first delivery, and even Ian Bell, a man whose appetite for easy runs is unsurpassed in this side, could not resist a wild slash at a wide one from Zaheer Khan.The flashiness of their downfall made Tendulkar’s sheet-anchor single-mindedness on the first two days all the more admirable. He took no risks whatsoever at a stage of the game when many onlookers were questioning the value of such stodginess. England’s batsmen, by contrast, had been granted a rare opportunity to be lauded for a lack of aesthetic appeal, much as happened to Michael Atherton at Johannesburg in 1995-96. None of them showed much desire to do things the ugly way.Only Michael Vaughan, who was genuinely deceived by an excellent googly from Kumble, and Paul Collingwood – the latest victim of Ian Howell’s ignoble series – could be excused for the manner of their dismissals. But even Collingwood admitted a measure of culpability in the shot that got him out. Talking of England’s approach to such a towering total, he said: “You have to stick to the gameplan of picking on your strengths, which for me was the straight ball on the pads, hitting it to the leg side.” The fact that he missed out on his money shot was all the excuse that Howell needed.

India’s bowlers were good but far from excellent – they did not need to be. It was not until they took the new ball with England already ruptured at 288 for 5 that they finally found the same consistency and aggression that had carried them to victory in the last Test at Trent Bridge. Up until that point their swing – though prodigious – had been misdirected, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni lining himself up a foot to the right of the return crease. The uncertainty they created, however, was enough to break England’s resolve.”Generally you know exactly what the ball is going to do as it comes down, but it’s very hard to line bowlers up when they are swinging it both ways,” said Collingwood, who made it sound rather as if he had spent his summer facing Wasim Akram. “The control that they’ve shown has been excellent, but being brought up on Indian wickets, you have to have that variety. “Though the series is lost, Collingwood insisted that the match is not yet all over for England. “I think everyone in the dressing room thinks it can be saved,” he said. “Whether we can win it or not is a different matter, but there’s plenty of fight in there, and we’ve got two days to show that fight.” History suggests that it is not entirely out of the question. In 1990, England were baked by India’s batsmen to the tune of 606 runs, folded for 340 in their first innings, then batted to the close with David Gower leading the way. Gower, however, was playing for his career. England’s current incumbents cannot even play for themselves at the moment.

Even on his big day, someone who wasn’t even playing grabbed much of the attention.It just seems so typical of the understated career of Shivnarine Chanderpaul that as he walked onto the field in Multan yesterday for his 100th Test match for West Indies, many eyes were focused on the dressing room, where vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan sat after being dropped for the second Test against Pakistan.Yet that might have been just the way Chanderpaul would have liked it, because there are few cricketers of such longevity who shun the spotlight as much as him.From the time he first fell in love with the game playing it in the fields of Unity Village, all Chanderpaul has ever wanted to do was bat. It doesn’t matter if the bowler is a pre-teen schoolboy or Shane Warne, if the field is shared by cows and goats or surrounded by towering stands packed to the rafters. The attitude is essentially the same: to bat and bat and bat – and then bat some more.As just the eighth West Indian to reach the plateau of 100 Tests, he has broken the mould, not merely as the first of East Indian descent to reach that landmark, but for the fact that his demeanour and stature in the global context of the game is so very different from the others who have completed three figures wearing the burgundy cap.The previous seven – Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Carl Hooper – are all players fashioned from a template that is so typically West Indian: exciting, brilliant, spectacular, domineering and devastating. Then there is Chanderpaul. He has filled out quite a bit in the nearly 13 years since he made his Test debut as a scrawny 19-year-old, but he is still physically frail, as evidenced by the frequency with which he has been struck down by any number of ailments, ranging from injury to cramps to food poisoning.Unlike the others in the 100-Test club from the Caribbean, his is not a physically commanding presence, nor does he breathe fire and brimstone in the general direction of his immediate opponent in the heat of battle. No sir, for him it is about getting out there and getting the job done with a minimum of gallerying, something he has been quite effective at as his impressive tally of 6617 runs (average 44.70) with 14 hundreds and 39 fifties confirms.It is known that he hates the description of his batting style as “crab-like”, but what else can you say about someone who shuffles across the crease the way he does? Only recently has he reversed a process of becoming exaggeratingly square-on in his batting stance, and heading into this 100th Test, he hadn’t raised his bat in acknowledgement of a hundred for 14 matches.

Yet there is little chance of the 32-year-old Chanderpaul being dropped on form in the near future as there are very few of his kind in contemporary West Indies cricket, the kind who are prepared to do whatever is necessary for the cause of the team.He is not a natural leader, but did not shirk the responsibility of captaincy last year in the midst of the destabilising sponsorship row, even if it contributed to a dramatic decline in his batting form. At the start of the current Asian campaign, he admitted to not being too comfortable opening the batting in one-dayers. However his partnership with Chris Gayle at the top of the order in ODIs has proven so productive that there is really no chance of it being broken up heading into the 2007 World Cup.As quiet and reserved as he appears, Chanderpaul is no shrinking Ti-Marie when a contest is at its most intense. It was on his first tour of Australia in 1996-97, at the age of 22, that he took on the challenge of the number three spot in the batting order as Lara laboured against the threat of Glenn McGrath. The Aussies love to get under the skin of their opponents, but most know they are wasting their time when it comes to Chanderpaul, simply because he is hardly ever put-off by their insults.Their respect for the Guyanese batsman is understandable. On that debut tour Down Under, he tore into Warne and company on a turning pitch in Sydney and got to 71 on the last morning before being conquered by an outrageous delivery from Warne. On his home ground at Bourda three years ago, he plundered the third fastest Test hundred – off 69 balls – of all time and then closed off the series with another century that helped West Indies reach a world record target of 418 in Antigua and avoid the humiliation of a series whitewash.Their careers have followed very different paths, but he will forever be associated with Brian Lara for his role in partnering him to his first world Test record of 375 at the ARG in 1994.No doubt the captaincy issue and sponsorship rift must have created some tension between them, but at the end of the day, Lara would be among the first to acknowledge that hardly anyone has shown the level of commitment to the cause of West Indies cricket at this very difficult time than the “Tiger” from Unity.

It should have been the dodo among dead rubbers. On Saturday West Indies, who havealready qualified for the semifinals of the Champions Trophy, take onEngland, who have no chance of qualifying to the next round. The onlything to consider was what position West Indies would qualify in, but nowthe game, which will be played at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium inMotera has piqued interest, as there’s a chancethe Andrew Flintoff will bowl for the first time since he suffered anankle injury.”There is a possibility, yes,” said Flintoff at a pre-match pressconference after a practice session, when asked whether he intended tobowl in the forthcoming match. “I have bowled in the nets over the pasttwo weeks or so, and the ankle has responded well to it. I have just done15-20 minutes, and if I don’t react to anything and I am fine, the chancesare I will bowl.”Flintoff the bowler has been one of the most imaginative and powerfulbowlers in the world in recent times. His deceptively quick deliveries,rearing into the rib-cage have posed problems for all sorts of batsmen,including the Australians. And so, whentalk of him returning to bowling does the rounds the excitement isunderstandable, and perhaps it got to one journalist, who asked ifFlintoff would go the whole hog and bowl ten overs if he picked up fivewickets in his first few overs. “I have no intentions of bowling my fullquota,” came the speedy reply, “under any circumstances.”Often, in recent times, you’ve heard the word pride being bandied aboutwhenever the West Indies come to town. For once, though, it was theopposition who had to think along those lines, as West Indies come intothe game with not just solid wins under their belt, but virtually everyplayer in good form. “We know this is a team that can fight back. AgainstPakistan in the summer in England, we came back from 2-0 down to draw2-2,” said Flintoff. “So the team does fight and has got lot of character.They also have a lot of pride and we will trying our damndest to win thegame, and take a win out of this tournament.”We obviously want to finish the tournament with a win,” Flintoffcontinued. “We have been beaten twice and we are playing for pride, andpride is a strong thing to play for. We want to win a game of cricket inIndia. The West Indies may be through and we may be going home, but westill want to put up a good show. We want to perform and want to go homewith a win.”When they do go home, though, don’t expect the English public to burneffigies of Flintoff and Duncan Fletcher and tar their homes just becausethey failed completely in a one-day tournament. That sort of thing happensonly in India and Pakistan. For most of England, little matters but theAshes, and naturally, that came up for discussion. “We have got a gameagainst the West Indies, which we are taking as an important game for usin our development,” said Flintoff, pausing for a moment at the presentbefore turning his attention back to the future. “Then we will make surewe go home and spend time with our families. Then when we get on the plane[to Australia], then obviously my attention will be focused on Australia.”The talk then shifted from England to West Indies, and inevitably it wentto Brian Lara. “He is up there, isn’t he? He is a fantastic player. Wehave been at the wrong end of Lara a couple of times,” said Flintoff. “Hedoes things that us mortals can’t. When he gets 400 at Antigua, makes mewish I could actually bat like him. He is one of the greats that the gamehas produced along with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh andobviously going back to the days gone by. He is someone we respect becausehe is a fine player.”Who knows, with his back still nowhere near 100% strong, Lara might justchoose to sit out the game against England. If he does, it will be adisappointment for the fans, but England won’t mind at all. The last timethese two teams played each other in a one-dayer, it was in the final ofthis very tournament, two years ago at The Oval, and in the dying light ona gloomy September evening, the horns of Brixton trilled in unbridled joyas Courtney Brown and Ian Bradshaw steered West Indies to a stunning win.And now here we go again, on a lesser stage, almost certainly without thesame ambience, but it’s the same two teams, and who knows, we could be infor another cracker.

Ehsan Mani, the ICC president, has welcomed the Indian government’s decision to grant tax exemption for major sporting events in the country, saying that it removes any hurdles that might have come between India hosting ICC events in future. The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held in India in 2006, and Indian officials are also contemplating a bid for the 2011 World Cup, possibly in conjunction with the three other Test-playing nations in the region.”The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the ICC worked very closely to obtain the tax exemption,” said Mani, in an interview to Indo-Asian News Service. “It would have been unfortunate, to say the least, if India had not been able to host the Champions Trophy. I am very grateful to the Prime Minister of India for personally intervening in this matter; this demonstrates the importance of cricket to the people of India.”With Australia and New Zealand considering a joint bid for the 2011 World Cup, Mani added that an Asian bid – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had hosted the event together in 1996 – would have a strong chance of success. Saying that the decision would only be made over the next year and a half, Mani insisted that he agreed in principle with the Asian Cricket Council’s request to allot every third World Cup to the region.”The request – not a demand – of the ACC is reasonable,” he said. “After all, four of the (ICC) 10 full member countries are from Asia. On the principle of rotation, due weightage has to be given to this; I do not think that this will be a major issue.”With venues like Sharjah, Dubai and Singapore now struggling to attract matches, Mani suggested that they could also be part an ICC event held elsewhere in Asia. “The World Cup requires at least eight venues to host the matches,” he said. “There is no reason for these venues not to work closely with the subcontinent to host ICC events.”

Peter Chingoka is set to be re-elected as chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket at the end of the month, despite serious allegations made against him over the last year by some of the country’s most senior stakeholders.Under a controversial new constitution, sport minister Aeneas Chigwedere will hand-pick seven of the 12 board members, with the remaining five being nominated by the 10 newly-created provincial associations.Chigwedere has not hinted on his choices yet, but the Zimbabwe-based Independent said Chingoka was “very much in the picture”.Chingoka, who has headed ZC since 1992, has been at the helm throughout the chaos of the last three years which has seen the game in the country brought to its knees. Despite this, he retains considerable support among the ICC’s executive board, where he has established powerful allies and he is also believed to be close to Percy Sonn, the new ICC president. Those connections have been crucial in enabling him and his board to weather a series of internal crises.It is, however, rumoured that Chingoka’s role as head of the Africa Cricket Association could be in jeopardy, with senior figures in the body of the view that his presence is not necessarily helpful to it. Other African administrators are understood to have been approached with a view to replacing him.Lovemore Banda, ZC’s media manager, told the newspaper that Chingoka would be “honoured to accept the call” if he was reappointed. “We are reluctant to pre-judge how the minister will use his prerogative but suffice it to say that should he see it fit to appoint him onto the new ZC board, Mr Chingoka, indeed like any other Zimbabwean called up for national duty, will be honoured to accept the call, and put to the continued benefit of the sport all the experience and contacts he has garnered over the years.”Chingoka, if reappointed, will have far less internal opposition than of late. All those who challenged his position last year have been removed from office, and the new constitution makes it impossible for any stakeholders to oppose the board. Like much of Zimbabwe, it is democracy in name only.

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) soared to the top of the Group B table as they defeated Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by an emphatic margin of nine wickets on the final day of their Patron’s Trophy match at the Iqbal Stadium at Faisalabad.Having gained a first-innings lead of 120, PTCL downed ZTBL for 252 in their second innings after they had resumed yesterday morning at 104 for 2, still 16 runs adrift. PTCL were thus left with 133 to get, which they achieved in style by reaching 137 for 1. PTCL now have 15 points from their first two matches in the five-team pool. ZTBL have lost twice in as many appearances and have failed to collect any points so far.Riaz Afridi, Peshawar’s fast bowler who has played in a Test match for Pakistan, captured 4 for 34 in 18 overs for PTCL yesterday. He was ably assisted by Babar Naeem, the Rawalpindi left-arm spinner, with figures of 3 for 30 in 11 overs. Mohammad Khalil, another Pakistan player, picked up 2-70 with his left-arm pace to go with his first-innings 4 for 76. Faisal Naved top-scored for ZTBL with 49 off 124 balls that included five fours. During the 79-run seventh-wicket partnership, Zahoor Elahi, a former Pakistan batsman, and Adnan Akmal, the wicketkeeper, appeared to have tamed the PTCL bowling but this did not last very long.ZTBL, who have won the Patron’s Trophy title four times, were beaten by their 2003-04 runners-up Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in the first round. PTCL, however, took six points from their win over Service Industries in their opening game. PTCL will now play their third-round match against National Bank — who beat Service Industries with a day to spare on Sunday — at the Sheikhupura Stadium from Thursday. ZTBL have a period of rest until the fourth round.Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) claimed the three first-innings points after a draw in their Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match against Pakistan Customs at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex Ground No.1 at Karachi. Customs, however, remained in second position in the five-team group – after Habib Bank – with six points from two matches. SNGPL have so far made one only appearance in the tournament, but they are at No.3 in the table.Customs resumed their chase of SNGPL’s big first-innings score of 498 yesterday at 237 for 6, still needing another 111 to avert the follow-on. They did so with credit by reaching a total of 375, which however placed them 123 runs in deficit. With no result in sight, SNGPL preferred to gain some batting practice after they had been assured the three points from a draw. They were 100 for 2 in their second innings when the match was called off.Fawad Alam, the teenaged left-handed batsman, unbeaten at 45 overnight, managed to add only two more runs, his 47 coming off 150 balls in just short of three-and-a-quarter hours with five fours. Customs needed to get to a score of 348 to save themselves from following-on. The eighth-wicket stand of 68 served them well in this pursuit. Murtaza Hussain, the offspinner, stuck to his crease for a little over three hours while scoring 58. He found able partners until the end, with 31 runs made for the ninth wicket and another 32 for the last. Azam Hussain, Alam’s partner in the eighth-wicket stand, hit a career-best 49 at a run a ball that included seven fours. Imran Khalid, SNGPL’s slow left-arm bowler, took 4 for 96 runs in 43 overs.In their first-round match of the tournament, Customs had started by beating Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) although they collected only six points instead of the full nine as they had earlier surrendered the first-innings lead. SNGPL did not have a match to play in the previous round, and will now play their third-round four-day match against Group A table leaders Habib Bank at Karachi beginning December 22. Pakistan Customs will have a break until the fourth round.Habib Bank drew with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in their first-round fixture and then beat KRL on Sunday inside three days of their second-round game. They now have a total of 12 points to their credit. KRL’s next match is coming up against PIA, also from Thursday, at the National Stadium. KRL have been beaten in both the matches they have played upto now.

Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini were among five players named as South Africa’s Cricketers of the Year at a function in Gauteng on Monday. The other three chosen were fast bowler Andre Nel, so honoured for the second time, and batsmen Boeta Dippenaar and AB de Villiers, who were first-time nominees.Kallis and Ntini joined Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Ken McEwan and Clive Rice in being named a Cricketer of the Year for the fourth time.Colin Bryden, the editor of the , said both players were automatic choices following outstanding performances. Kallis has moved to the top of the South African all-time lists of Test runs and centuries scored. Ntini recently returned 13 for 132 against the West Indies in Trinidad, the best match figures by a South African in Test cricket.Nel, with his aggression and wicket-taking ability, had been able to complement Ntini and Pollock well. De Villiers, one of the most promising newcomers to Test cricket anywhere in the world, averaged 53.72 in his first season at the highest level.Dippenaar, who has been a member of the national team since the 1999-2000 season, finished the season on a high note when he was Man of the Series in the one-day games against the West Indies. Bryden confided that narrowing the candidates down to five was particularly difficult because many players had impressive performances.Among previous nominees, South African captain Graeme Smith finished the season strongly, while wicketkeeper Mark Boucher made a stirring comeback to the national side after being dropped early in the season.Ashwell Prince, Justin Kemp and Charl Langeveldt weren’t too far behind in terms of performances. At the domestic level Lance Klusener, Hashim Amla, Tyron Henderson and Adam Bacher had displayed fluent form.

A fine all round performance by national cap, Romesh Kaluwitharana, ensured Colts CC a 58 run victory over Panadura Sports Clubin a key Premier League Limited Overs encounter at Colts cricket grounds today. The victory means that Colts become the group leaders and now look certain to qualify for the semi-finals.Kaluwitharana, coming into bat at number two, scored a well compiled 122 runs, which included nine boundaries and two sixes to erase the bitter memories of the day before, when he was run out without facing a ball. This was his second century in consecutive weeks.Then, when he took the field, he couldn’t stay out of the action. He decided not to keep wicket but held onto a brilliant diving catch at first slip in the seventh over to dismiss opener Anjula Perera.Chaminda Vaas, who captained Colts today, then decided to try his hand at bowling in the 47th over of the innings. Kaluwithrana, clearly delighted to have an opportunity to turn his arm over, took a wicket with his fifth delivery and another in his second over.Panadura SC who were chasing a target of 295 runs to win, batted doggedly but found it difficult to accelerate the scoring. Chamara Silva was the pick of the batsmen. He scored 55 and when he was at the crease Panadura had a theoretical chance. However, Dinuka Hettiarachchi (3/44) bowled him to leave Panadura 187 for three in the 43rd over.Panadura skipper, Sham Liyanage, was not too disappointed by the batting performance and remained upbeat about the remaining two matches two matches against NCC and CCC.”This was our highest total in the tournament so far, out batsmen did well, only thing we gave away too many in the last few overs that was also due to drizzling conditions,” explained Liyanage.Asked to bat first, Colts piled up a massive 294 runs despite the pitch being difficult to bat on the outfield having been slowed by the drizzle.Openers Chaminda Mendis(14) and Kaluwitharana put on 54 runs for the first wicket before Mendis was out in the 14th over. Then Jeevantha Kulatunge(49) joined Kaluwitharana to put up 105 runs for the second wicket and Kulantuge was the next to go in the 37th over.Kaluwitharana was joined by Sajith Fernando(77)and the pair put up 85 runs before Kalu was out in the 47th over. Sajith Fernando hammered the bowlers all around the ground in the final overs. He scored his 77 runs from just 41 balls and hit four sixes. 83 runs were scored from the last five overs.