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Bangladesh will get more matches to fine-tune their World Twenty20 preparations after it was announced that they will play two Twenty20s in Netherlands next month. One match will be against the home side, and the other against Scotland during a five-day stay in Netherlands following their tour of Ireland. The matches will be played at Voorburg Cricket Club near The Hague, on 24 and 25 July.There has been no international cricket in Netherlands since a couple of ODIs against Kenya last September, and no Test-playing nation has played there since Sri Lanka visited in 2006. “We are delighted to have secured the opportunity to host a Full Member country on home soil as it has been some time since this last happened,” Cricket Netherlands CEO Richard Cox said.Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim also welcomed the extra matches. “The Twenty20 game is a great leveller and our matches against Netherlands and Scotland should be very interesting,” he said. “Netherlands have beaten England in a World Twenty20 game and Scotland have some fine players.”

ScorecardSri Lanka Women put up a strong performance on the field to win the fourth Twenty20 game against West Indies Women by 14 runs, their first in the five match series which West Indies lead 3-1.Chasing Sri Lanka’s total, West Indies opener Juliana Nero built a solid foundation with 32 runs and took West Indies past 50 for the loss of one wicket. However, Sri Lanka turned the tables with aggressive fielding which led to four run-outs and Maduri Samuddika, playing her first Twenty20 on this tour, bowled a stifling spell of 4-0-11-3. West Indies lost their last seven wickets for only 23 runs to fritter away a good start as no one apart from Nero was able to get to a double-digit score.Sri Lanka’s innings had followed a similar pattern as they were reduced from 51 for one to 62 for seven in three overs. However, an unbeaten 32-run partnership between Dilani Manodara and Sripali Weerakkody helped Sri Lanka reach 94, which in the end proved to be enough.The last match of the series will be played in Port of Spain on Wednesday.

Matt Coles picked up his third five-wicket haul in first-class cricket•Getty Images

Matt Coles took six wickets as Kent cruised to an innings victory inside three days against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Coles took career-best figures of 6 for 51 as Northamptonshire capitulated to be bowled out for 116 before lunch in a match the visitors dominated from the start. Kent’s victory margin was an innings and 120 runs.Only three batsmen made it to double figures in Northamptonshire’s second innings, with captain David Sales top-scoring with 42 in what was an abject team batting display.Northamptonshire began the day on 50 for 4, 186 runs behind their opponents, with Sales resuming on 31 and Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien on 5. Sales survived an early scare when he wildly missed a drive off Coles and he was relieved to see the ball miss the outside edge of his bat. But he was to perish on 42 when he missed his attempted square cut off the same bowler in the ninth over of the day and his off stump was sent tumbling.James Middlebrook was next to the crease but he could only make 9 off 39 balls before he departed when he edged Mark Davies to former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones. A second consecutive heavy defeat for Northamptonshire had become inevitable and the sorry procession continued when former Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas was trapped lbw for a single. That gave England spinner James Tredwell his first wicket of the match.At one point, the hosts went 27 overs without hitting a boundary before O’Brien clipped one through third man off Coles in the 48th over.Coles then picked up his fourth wicket when David Willey edged his delivery and was superbly caught by Jones, diving low to his right. He then completed the third five-wicket haul of his first-class career when Jones easily caught Jack Brooks, who faced six balls without scoring.With nine wickets down, Kent chose to take the extra half-hour that was available to them before lunch. And they wrapped up a comprehensive victory when Jones took his fifth catch of the innings to remove Lee Daggett, who made 15, off the bowling of Coles.O’Brien was left unbeaten on a painfully slow 25 from 115 balls as the home side picked up just two points from the fixture, with dominant Kent coming away with 23.

Since Virat Kohli made his debut in 2008, he and India have played just four ODIs against Pakistan. The Champions Trophy game in Centurion when Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf took the game away from India, the 2010 Asia Cup match in Dambulla where Harbhajan Singh sealed it with a penultimate-ball six, the World Cup semi-final in Mohali, and today’s encounter. Before today, Kohli’s scores against India’s fiercest rivals were 16, 18 and 9. He was thrilled that his Mirpur masterclass has cleared that blot on his CV.”I hadn’t done too well against Pakistan, played thrice before. Even in the World Cup semi-final, I got out and I was really disappointed. Playing against them is always a high-pressure game, all eyes are on that game. It is really satisfying to chase down a big score in a crunch game for us.”Still only 23, Kohli already has so many big innings that he was asked to rate where this stood among his best knocks. “I rate this (equal) with Hobart but yes this is special because of the game today, to get a hundred against a good opposition.” The Hobart demolition job had given India a chance of reaching the final of the Commonwealth Bank series if Sri Lanka lost their final match. The 183 today gives India a chance of reaching the final if Sri Lanka win their final match.Kohli’s innings really skyrocketed once the batting Powerplay was taken after 35 overs. At that stage he was on 110, and India needed 115 to win. Eleven overs and a spree of Kohli boundaries later, he was on 177 and India needed 23 more, raising an outside chance of a third one-day double-century.Virat Kohli’s made 183, his highest ODI score, to lead India’s highest ever successful chase in one-dayers•AFP

Did the thought ever cross his mind? “I don’t know, I was just looking at the ball and hitting it,” he said. “It did cross my mind once and I was like, this can’t be real and I decided to focus on the game and react to the ball. It sort of crossed my mind but it was about keep batting, keep hitting the ball.”Another offshoot of the lack of matches against Pakistan is the lack of chances to learn how to read the variations of their top-quality spinners, particularly Saeed Ajmal. “Well I have seen him bowl earlier as well but I can tell you that is not easy to pick him,” Kohli said. “You can watch the videos but still to play him is tough because he can turn it both ways. We had a plan against him, me and Rohit, it kind of worked for us. He is a world class bowler, perhaps the best spinner in the world right now.”While the headlines will belong to Kohli, it was a big day for another young India batsman as well. Rohit Sharma hit a rough patch in the one-dayers in Australia, and had been deprived of opportunities so far in the tournament. He responded with a half-century, and the 172-run stand with Kohli put India on the brink of a memorable victory. “I am a big fan of Rohit Sharma’s batting,” Kohli said. “When he plays a long innings, he is a treat to watch. It is an absolute pleasure to bat alongside him.”Their efforts silenced a largely pro-Pakistan crowd. If Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh on Tuesday, Kohli will get a chance on Thursday to improve his Pakistan record once more.

The fast bowler Pat Cummins will not play for Australia until the one-day tour of England in June at the earliest, after suffering a setback in his recovery from a foot injury. Cummins has been ruled out of Australia’s Test tour of the West Indies and Shaun Marsh has also been told by the selectors he won’t be considered for the Test squad due to his ongoing form slump.Cummins, 18, made an outstanding start to his Test career in November, when he took seven wickets and was Man of the Match on debut in Australia’s victory over South Africa in Johannesburg. However, he hasn’t played a match since then and was ruled out of Australia’s entire home summer of internationals due to a bone stress heel injury.He was thought to be making progress in his recovery and had been bowling in the nets but suffered a recurrence of the soreness last week. Australia’s national selector John Inverarity said the selection panel had originally hoped to name Cummins in the limited-overs squad for the Caribbean tour, which was announced on Wednesday, but they were not willing to play him until he was 100% fit.”No he won’t [be in the Test squad either],” Inverarity said. “For a fast bowler to be fit for a Test match there are workload issues, so you can’t go into a Test match unless you’ve had the proper build-up of workloads, and he’s not going to make it.”In his Test debut he was outstanding and he’s 18 years of age. We look forward to him coming back as soon as possible, whether it’s the ODIs in England – and we’re hopeful of that – but we’re certainly not going to rush him. He fractured a bone in his heel and we want him to be 100% fit before we contemplate him. That’s why we’re not taking him to the West Indies, to give him full time to become 100% fit and not rush him at all.”The cautious approach to player fitness echoes how the selectors handled the vice-captain Shane Watson during the home summer. Watson was initially ruled out with a hamstring injury and then picked up a calf problem, and Inverarity was not willing to risk him in the Tests against India or the early stages of the Commonwealth Bank Series.Australia’s fast-bowling stocks showed enough depth during the clean-sweep over India that the absence of Cummins should not be a major issue in the West Indies. Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Pattinson and Ryan Harris are expected to form the core of the pace attack, while Mitchell Starc could also be named in the Test squad.The selectors must also decide on at least one backup batsman after the decision to rule a line through Marsh’s name following his awful series against India. Peter Forrest and George Bailey are the front-runners, having enjoyed productive Sheffield Shield campaigns and gained selection in Australia’s limited-overs squads for the tour.Marsh has been told to start from scratch after he made scores of 0, 3, 0, 11, 3 and 0 against India, and he has managed only one half-century in five innings for Western Australia since his axing. Inverarity said Marsh might benefit from some time in county cricket over the winter, but whatever he decides to do, he won’t be in Australia’s plans in the immediate future.”I’ve had that conversation with Shaun and said he won’t come in contention for the tour of the West Indies,” Inverarity said. “Shaun, as we’re all aware, has had rather a traumatic time. I was speaking to Shaun just the other day and he needs to rebuild himself. It’s not going to happen overnight. He had a really deep trough there.”He needs to go back to interstate cricket and during the winter months maybe the prospect of playing something in England. But it’s not an overnight rebuild with Shaun. We hope he comes back as good as ever, in form, but it’s not going to be in the next month or two.”

New captain, new format, same attitude. Australia’s new Twenty20 captain, George Bailey, has set himself the marker of ensuring the high standards reached by the Test team against India do not slacken in the game’s shortest format.Bailey has been passed the leadership baton from Test captain Michael Clarke and is leading a much-changed side in the first Twenty20 at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium. He is intent on making sure India are again pressed to their limits and beyond by a team that works harder and more assiduously at the game’s fundamentals, irrespective of the difference in format and personnel. Bailey also wants to keep the sense of happiness and clear objectives maintained under Clarke, mindful his group has only six fixtures between now and the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September.”It’s important we continue the momentum of the Test team, not just in the cricket they played, but in the standards they’re setting in the Test team at their training and the great feel around the group as well,” Bailey said. “We’ve spoken about that and about the great energy they’ve provided, and the great start and the great feeling among that group, and how they feel like they’ve set a real standard.”We’ve talked about that as a T20 group as well, continuing that, allowing the one-day side to have that feeling when they get together as well, and knowing you don’t get the T20 group together that often, so up until the World Cup in six months time we’ve got six games. Every opportunity we get to hit the ground running and make a big impression, we have to take.”As the first Australian since Dave Gregory in the first Test match of all to make his international debut as captain, Bailey is poised to create rare history. The other side of this achievement, of course, are the sniggers about whether or not Bailey is worth his place in the XI, having been elevated to the role as much for his leadership as his feisty middle-order batting.”It wasn’t me who picked the team. I’m just excited to be here and be leading it and hopefully continuing on the great form and the great start to the summer that Australia have had,” Bailey said. “I’m nervous about both [captaincy and debut], from the playing aspect you’re anxious to get out there and perform really well, and the captaining side of things I’m really comfortable with that, it’s more getting to know the players as quickly as I can. We’ve had some great training sessions, really hard sessions … once I get my head around knowing the players as well as I can, that’ll fall into place nicely.”At the opposite end of the scale to Bailey in terms of international experience are Brett Lee and Brad Hogg, two well-travelled bowlers likely to play a significant role for the new captain at the top and tail of the Indian innings. Bailey said Lee’s leadership of the bowling attack would be critical.”That experience is going to be really important and something that we’ll tap into,” he said. “I think his numbers in the recent Big Bash were outstanding, particularly for someone who bowls in your key periods at the top and also at the death. Lee embraces that role as the leading fast bowler in our team, and his experience is outstanding, and the thing I love about him is just how competitive he is.”

With 251 not out next to his name, and a match-defining partnership of 288 alongside Ricky Ponting in his pocket, Michael Clarke was given a moment to savour at the press conference after a landmark day for his Australian team. Standing to one side in the room was a columnist who had written derisively of Clarke in the past. His criticism of Clarke peaked in late 2009 with the following line: “His problem is a little more delicate. Michael Clarke is a tosser. Or, to give him an out clause, he to be a tosser.”When the juncture arrived for the author of that line to pose a question, he asked Clarke about what an innings like this would do for him in the “big picture”. A voracious reader of the press and now a columnist himself, Clarke knew whom he was speaking to. His response carried a pointed word.”Hopefully, it helps me continue to earn ,” Clarke said. “That’s all I can do, and most importantly that helps me put this team in a position to win another Test match. That’s our goal; that’s my goal – to help Australia win as many games as we can.”One of the things Punter [Ricky Ponting] taught me before I got the captaincy was as a leader you need to make sure you’re standing up on the field; make sure you’re leading from the front and scoring runs, and that’s what I’ve tried to do since taking over the captaincy.”Respect is something Clarke has had to battle hard to gain, but he is now earning it in vast swathes with nimble captaincy and batting of increasing presence. He began the second day at the SCG as the recipient of ‘s Alan McGilvray award for Australia’s cricketer of the year. The honour came as no surprise to anyone who had seen him lead a young team through its regeneration after Ponting gave up the captaincy following failed Ashes and World Cup campaigns.The SCG crowd stood to applaud Michael Clarke’s hundred•Getty Images

“We’re a team that’s learning,” Clarke said. “Young guys are getting a bit of experience and working out that winning Test matches is hard work. There’s a really good feeling within the team but that’s obviously because we’re getting a bit of success.”Our preparation couldn’t be better, we just need to keep building on that consistency, continuing to do our work; and when you get chances in a game you’ve got to grab them with both hands. If India get on top of you, they’re a really hard team to stop, so we’ve got to make sure that when we’ve got momentum we keep the ball rolling.”So far in Sydney, Clarke’s team have demonstrated how much they are learning, against an Indian side that can only hope for a merciful declaration on the third day. Mindful of how the pitch had evolved from sporting on the first day to friendly on the second, Clarke said he would focus on getting quick runs and giving his bowlers maximum time to bowl the visitors out a second time.”The track has flattened out a lot compared to day one, so the most important thing for us is making sure there’s enough time left in the game to give ourselves a chance to bowl India out. I think we need to bat well tomorrow morning to set the game up. We’re a long way from being 2-0 up, a lot of hard work needs to go in, but we’re in a really good position.”As befits a captain in the middle of a Test, Clarke was more reticent to speak about his own unfinished innings, coruscating as it has been. He has the painful memory of Cape Town last year, when a sparkling innings was overshadowed by a harrowing defeat, to remind him against triumphalism.”It’s my highest score ever, I don’t really know [if it is my best innings],” he said. “I was really proud of the 151 against South Africa; it came in really tough circumstances and that pitch did a lot more than this pitch did. But what makes me proud is I batted the whole day today.”That’s something I’ve always tried to do and haven’t done very often, so that’s very satisfying to bat a full day. It’s fantastic to have a score beside my name like I do, but as I’ve seen in the past if you don’t win the Test match, it means nothing.”At 251, Clarke has a galaxy of further batting milestones ahead to chase, but he is not thinking too much about them. On debut in Bangalore in 2004 he had been so concerned with mythology that he called for his baggy green cap to reach three figures in, even though India’s fast bowlers were on. This time, he said, there would be no such request if he went past 300.”I think I was a bit silly back then as a kid. I’ll be keeping my helmet on if the fast bowlers are on.”Respected and respectful, Clarke has come a long way. He can rightly expect to never again be the subject of words so unkind.

Joginder Sharma, the Haryana and Chennai Super Kings allrounder, was in a road accident in Delhi this morning but is now stable. He had sustained a head injury in the accident, which required surgery.Anirudh Chaudhry, the Haryana Cricket Association secretary, confirmed on Twitter that Joginder was on the mend. “He [Joginder] is out of danger and our [HCA’s] physio met him and spoke to him post-surgery,” he tweeted.Joginder was on the way back from a session with acupuncture specialist Jatin Chaudhry, when a vehicle rammed into his car. He is currently admitted at the Balaji Action Hospital in Paschim Vihar, Delhi.An allrounder, Joginder was part of India’s 2007 World Twenty20-winning team. Bowling the last over in the final, he claimed the wicket of Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq to seal a five-run win for India. He has also played four one-dayers for India, but has not been in the national XI since 2007. He has played 59 first-class games for Haryana and Tripura so far, averaging 27.58 with the bat and 20.64 the ball.

Shahid Afridi is expecting England to be a “real test” for Pakistan when they arrive in UAE next month although Pakistan’s recent form against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will leave them in good heart ahead of the opening Test in Dubai on January 17.On the eve of their Test series against Bangladesh, Pakistan have won every trophy that has been available to them since sharing the Tests against West Indies, in the Caribbean, last May. However, that has included success against lower-ranked opponents including Ireland, Zimbabwe and now a struggling Bangladesh.Afridi won’t be part of the Test team having retired from the format but is back as a key member of the limited-overs outfits and is aware that the visit of England will be step up from their recent opposition. England are ranked No. 1 in both Tests and Twenty20 although remain mid-table in 50-over cricket following their 5-0 whitewash against India.”Winning (throughout the year) gave us a momentum and moral is high,” Afridi told reporters at airport on his return from Dhaka. “We have developed a winning unit but it will be exciting when we face England and that would be a real test. Playing against team like England or Australia is very exciting and then we will see where we stand.”Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistan coach, also believes the winning momentum will serve Pakistan well. “We are coming in with a lot of victories under our belt and every player is laden with confidence,” Alam told ESPNcricinfo. “But we have to be wary about our upcoming series against England. We definitely need to work harder in various departments.”Spin-bowling is likely to play a major role in the series and Pakistan are well stocked in that department with Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez having all made an impact in recent months.”We have two outstanding spinners and that’s could make a clear difference. With the bowling unit we can bowl out any team in the world twice,” Alam said. “But I again insist that fitness and fielding are the vital aspect and you can’t even afford to miss the half chances against a team like England. We are not a bad side if we make an analysis between our players and theirs we have got fair chance of beating them.”