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Mathew Sinclair might be starting to think about the task that awaits him in Pakistan next month, but his Yorkshire league club Cleethorpes will be looking for one more big performance from him before the end of their summer.Since returning from the Sri Lankan Coca-Cola Cup tournament earlier this month, Sinclair has struggled to regain the touch which saw him make an outstanding start to the summer, but he started to get his game back together during Cleethorpe’s three victories over the Bank Holiday weekend.His last game will be on Saturday for an important clash with York.On Saturday Cleethorpes scored 156/9 against Hull. But when defending that total left-arm slow bowler Nick White took six for 33 in a 19-over spell. Sinclair picked up a couple of late wickets as Cleethorpes took a 40-run win.Sunday proved a great day for Cleethorpes. It turned the form book on its head and Sheffield Collegiate were eliminated from the Yorkshire League Cup.Collegiate were hot favourites in the semi-final but the reigning league champions and current league leaders were met with a performance full of character and skill which took Cleethorpes through to a September final.The Meggies batted first in the 50-over contest and there was a welcome return to form for Sinclair who made 60 in a solid opening stand with Mike Smith who made 27. Cleethorpes scored 199/7.Some tight bowling resulted in Cleethorpes taking a seven run win with Sinclair again picking up wickets to take two for 41 from his 10 overs.Cleethorpes now advance to a September final against Hull or the Yorkshire Academy but Sinclair will miss the final.An outstanding weekend for the club was completed when a 74-run win was achieved over top club Scarborough.Sinclair scored 35 as his side reached 184/9.In reply, Scarborough were in trouble at 28/4 and were eventually all out for 110.Meanwhile, in the Lancashire league Tana Canning continued a late run of form with the Accrington club. On Sunday, the his club’s 24-run win over Enfield he scored 65 and then took five for 55.On Saturday, Burnley proved too good for Accrington. But of his side’s 119 runs, Canning scored 48 and took three for 53 in Burnley’s 163/8.On the previous weekend in the rain-affected game against Church he scored 47 of 155/9 and on the day before in another rain-affected match he scored 51 of Accrington’s 92 against Colne.

Bangladesh Women’s team captain Salma Khatun has said that the team had readily agreed to tour Pakistan after the BCB had asked them for their approval earlier this month. She said the team is focused on playing cricket in Pakistan rather than the security concerns off the field.”We were not put under any pressure to play in Pakistan,” Salma said. “We are going according to our wishes. We will be given the highest level of security. We are going there to play cricket, so we are not concerned about what is happening anywhere else in the country.”

Bangladesh Women’s tour of Pakistan schedule

September 30 – 1st T20
October 2 – 2nd T20
October 4 – 1st ODI
October 6 – 2nd ODI

Salma also stressed that they have been assured the highest level of security during the nine-day visit, and that their lack of international cricket in the last 12 months meant they were keen to play the series.”The board wanted to know our decision, whether we want to or don’t want to go. We wanted to tour any country to play cricket, since we haven’t played any matches since the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. There is no fear among us. We know that there won’t be any trouble in the area where we will be playing.”The team will leave Dhaka for Karachi at 1.35pm on Monday afternoon and will stay at the Southend Cricket Club in Karachi. Bangladesh Women will take on Pakistan Women there in two T20s on September 30 and October 2, before playing two one-day matches on October 4 and 6. The team will return home on October 7.In addition to BCB vice-president Mahbubul Anam and women’s wing chairman MA Awal, former Bangladesh captain Shafiq-ul-Haq will accompany the team in what is seen as a high-profile tour.Haq had been the manager on the men’s tour on a number of occasions, most notably their last tour to Pakistan. He said that if the team members want, they can even venture outside the Southend Club with adequate security measures.

The battle for top spot between the two forces, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Army, continued with the former taking the lead on the third weekend of matches in the Premier League Tier B.Navy thrashed Police SC by an innings, the key features of the match being the legspin bowling of Dulanjana Mendis (he bagged nine wickets in the match) and a maiden first-class hundred from Chanaka Ruwansiri that enabled Navy to recover from a shaky 99 for 4 to 309.Army were held to a draw by Panadura, who took a first innings lead of 142.Burgher RC moved to third place with their first win of the season. They beat Saracens by seven wickets with left-arm spinner Malan Madusanka picking up nine wickets in the match.Gayan Manesha, the former Maliyadeva College left-hand batsman, narrowly missed scoring a century in each innings of a match, making 115 (his maiden first-class century) and 94 in Kurunegala Youth CC‘s drawn encounter against Sri Lanka Air Force at the Welegedara Stadium.

Matara Sports Club defeated Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club a by 12 runs in their Premier Limited Overs match which was held at NCC Grounds today. In a tense, low scoring affair Matara scored just 140 but then bundled out Kurunegala for just 128.Kurunegala had won the toss and elected to field first. The decision looked to have been justified as the opening bowlers exploited the moisture that remained in the wicket after heavy rains during the previous night.Kumara, the opening bowler, proved to be a real handful. He struck two early blows by dismissing Lokuge and Ravin to leave Matara 30 for 2. The batting side slipped to 109 for 7 before being rescued by Ramzan, who top scored with 40 runs. He added a valuable 30 runs with Buddika (30). When the pair were separated, Matara lost their remaining wickets for just 1 run.Kurunegala started the run chase in positive fashion. The openers, Kariyawasam (11) and Rajapaksa (22) added 29 runs for the first wicket. Jayawardana (11) took the score to 49 before he was stumped. The Kurunegalan innings then went into freefall as three wickets fell for just 9 runs.When 24 runs were added for the fifth wicket and 28 for the 6th the batting looked to have recovered sufficiently. However they lost 5 wickets for just 18 runs to give Matara a dramatic victory in the 48th over of the match.

Match facts

Tuesday, August 4, 2015, Harare
Start time 09.00 local (07.00 GMT)3:27

‘We will look to improve on certain areas with the bat’ – Williamson

Big Picture

Zimbabwe’s rollicking chase in Sunday’s first ODI was the ideal start to the series. It heaped pressure on the favourites, New Zealand, and showed that the gap between the two sides, particularly in Zimbabwean conditions, wasn’t as wide as originally perceived.For New Zealand, the defeat revealed a possible lack of depth in bowling resources. While Tim Southee and Trent Boult are world-class new-ball operators in most parts of the world, Sunday’s second-string seam attack looked a little one-note and lacking in guile on a surface without too much help for the quicks. They will have learned a few things from the loss, though, and the second ODI is an opportunity for them to reveal a couple of new tricks.Otherwise, there isn’t too much wrong with this New Zealand side. Their batting is full of class and experience, and will test Zimbabwe’s bowlers again.Zimbabwe’s performance with the ball on Sunday – a good start with the new ball, a struggle for wickets in the middle overs, and a complete loss of control at the death – was a repeat of the pattern that has troubled them all year, and solutions still remain elusive. If anything, the exploits of Craig Ervine and Hamilton Masakadza deflected attention away from the issue.But the win validated the statement the team management has made on multiple occasions recently, that Zimbabwe are only a couple of steps from translating their potential into more consistent performances. On Sunday, their batsmen kept their heads, trusted their methods, and handled the crunch moments brilliantly. Zimbabwe’s fans will hope they can do all those things a lot more often.

Form guide

Zimbabwe: WLLLL
New Zealand: LLLWW

Players to watch

Having sat out the last two ODIs and the one-off T20 against India, Tinashe Panyangara slotted back into the Zimbabwe side and bowled with impressive control on Sunday. He moved the new ball, and bowled intelligent lines at the death even while the other bowlers leaked plenty. In a bowling attack that often lets teams off the hook after strong starts, there will be pressure on Panyangara to maintain his level of performance and keep New Zealand in check.Nathan McCullum was New Zealand’s only wicket-taker in the first ODI, and his dismissals of the Zimbabwe openers showed off his craft and guile perfectly. He will want more support from the rest of the attack, but he will continue to shoulder a large part of the wicket-taking burden on a Harare surface that always has something in it for the spinners.

Team news

Christopher Mpofu went for 84 from his 10 overs in the first ODI, and his place in the Zimbabwe attack might be under threat from Neville Madziva, who picked up six wickets in two ODIs against India.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Chamu Chibhabha, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 5 Sean Williams, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Regis Chakabva, 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya , 10 Tinashe Panyangara, 11 Christopher Mpofu/Neville MadzivaJames Neesham’s seam-up looked ineffective in the first ODI, and while his batting is his primary skill, New Zealand might be tempted to go with an extra spin option and choose George Worker ahead of him. Matt Henry looked out of rhythm too, and Adam Milne could take his place.New Zealand (probable): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 James Neesham/George Worker, 7 Luke Ronchi, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Matt Henry/Adam Milne, 11 Ish Sodhi

Stats and trivia

• Martin Guptill needs 56 runs to become the tenth New Zealander to make 4000 ODI runs
• Four Zimbabwe batsmen likely to play the second ODI – Chamu Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine – have 40-plus averages this year. Of the four, only Chibhabha has a strike rate below 100
• Elton Chigumbura is three big hits away from becoming the first Zimbabwe batsman to 100 ODI sixes

Match facts

Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Start time 1100 local (2200 GMT, previous day)

Big Picture

The Sri Lanka and New Zealand teams see so much rain between them, they could travel around the more arid regions of the world to provide drought relief. Auckland’s only rains in two weeks of glorious sunshine coincided with match-day, and apart from Martin Guptill, who hit a half-century, and Angelo Mathews, who claimed three scalps, the teams took only some wet uniforms away from the 28.5 overs in the field on Saturday.New Zealand will feel the top-order issues that troubled them in Christchurch and Hamilton were dealt with at Eden Park, but while Guptill’s 99-run stand with Tom Latham was promising, there were two mitigating factors. The pitch had not offered much in the way of seam or spin, and once the rain began to fall, Sri Lanka’s attack had to contend with a wet ball as well.Mathews squeezed out three wickets for Sri Lanka through his economy, but their seam attack still feels a little light on penetration. Lasith Malinga’s introduction will still take some time, and the visitors may rely heavily on their spinners for breakthroughs in the interim. With Sachithra Senanayake, Rangana Herath, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jeevan Mendis all having contributed encouraging spells in the past 10 days, Sri Lanka will hope for a Nelson surface that offers something for the slow bowlers.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

New Zealand LWWWL
Sri Lanka WLWWL

In the spotlight

Brendon McCullum‘s all-format ballistics have served him beautifully in the early summer months, but with a World Cup ahead, he must now sustain that form for another 10 weeks. Sri Lanka have attempted all manner of bowling plans to him, from peppering him with short stuff, to starving him of the strike, but he has bashed his way out of those gauntlets, and remains the series’ top run-scorer. He was out for 28 at Eden Park, and Sri Lanka will hope that innings marks McCullum’s descent from the stratosphere. McCullum, though, has arguably never batted more confidently, though his tossing leaves plenty to be desired.Lahiru Thirimanne has had a number of starts on tour, but as his only fifty-plus score came when Sri Lanka had virtually lost the second Test, he is yet to make a meaningful contribution to the side. He has expanded his ODI batting in the last 18 months, and has an unflappable temperament to boot, but he will be desperate to string a few strong innings together, to make his No.6 spot safe.

Team news

Grant Elliott is available for Tuesday’s game, meaning he will likely reclaim his No. 5 spot from Daniel Vettori. The team will make a call on Kane Williamson on match-day, and Kyle Mills may also be in the mix.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Tom Latham/Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum/ Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Matt Henry/Trent BoultSri Lanka will not hesitate to play four spinners (including two allrounders) if the conditions suit, but will more likely play an extra seamer. They have flown in leg-spinning allrounder Seekkuge Prasanna and quick Dushmantha Chameera as cover for Suranga Lakmal and Rangana Herath, who had been in doubt with a groin strain and muscle soreness respectively. But as both frontliners now appear to have recovered, neither of the new entrants are likely to play on Tuesday.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Thisara Perara, 8 Jeevan Mendis, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Suranga Lakmal/Rangana Herath

Pitch and conditions

If there is one venue in the country that can be relied upon for a full match it is Nelson. The South-Island town has a reputation for blue skies and bright sunshine, and the forecast for Tuesday keeps true to that image. Only one ODI has been played at the venue, and as such, the nature of the surface is difficult to predict.

Stats and trivia

• Martin Guptill’s unbeaten 66 on Saturday took him past 3000 ODI runs. He achieved the milestone in 90 innings – the quickest for a New Zealand batsman
• Tim Southee has not yet bowled in an ODI in 2015, but his 2014 average of 38.90 is his worst since 2009
• Kumar Sangakkara needs 17 more runs to become Sri Lanka’s most prolific ODI batsman. His tally of 13414 runs is just behind that of Sanath Jayasuriya, who presently sits third on the all-time list

Quotes

“You never like missing games, but with the workload these days you have to manage the body – not only of the bowlers, but the batters as well. There has been a lot of cricket, and there is a lot of cricket to come. It’s common sense. You can’t physically play every game. You need to miss one or two here or there to prolong your period without injury.”

ScorecardFile photo: Adam Voges’ unbeaten 54 took Western Australia home in 52 overs•Getty Images

Western Australia cruised to a seven-wicket win at the No 1 Sports Ground after New South Wales were bundled out for 97 in their second innings. New South Wales, who began the day precariously placed at 5 for 65, failed to capitalise on their first-innings advantage, as they added only 32 more runs on the final day, with none of their lower-order batsmen putting up a resistance. Ashton Agar was the pick of the bowlers, collecting 4 for 22, while David Moody chipped in with 3 for 22.It meant Western Australia needed just 143 for victory, and despite losing two early wickets, a 98-run partnership between Michael Klinger (46) and Adam Voges (54*) guided the team home in 52 overs.

ScorecardAlex Hales batted throughout the opening day to end with a career-best double century•Getty Images

On the day when cricket writers hightailed it to Cardiff to assess a batsman who would seem to have little prospect of playing for England again, Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales made a persuasive case that those scribes would have been better advised motoring up the M1 and watching him instead.Batting against champions Yorkshire, whose thumping innings victory against his side to clinch the title last September still fires him up, Hales made a career-best 222 not out off 250 balls as Chris Read’s batsmen piled up 393 runs in 95.1 overs. And Hales’ pleasure may, if anything, have been increased by the fact that his team had been asked to have first knock on a Trent Bridge pitch which offered early help but not too much more. Yorkshire’s bowlers paid dearly for their failure take only two wickets in a first session when the ball was new and the cloud cover so pronounced that the floodlights were pressed into service.There were other respects in which Hales’ double-century was quite as well timed as many of his cover drives. Last week he admitted to feeling that he had never had “a proper crack” at international cricket; on the opening day of the County Championship season at Trent Bridge he played an innings whose dominance suggested he might yet be worth a try in the longer form of the game, let alone the shorter versions in which he has established his reputation.Coming to the wicket after Steven Mullaney was lbw to Steven Patterson for 27 in the 12th over of the morning, Hales took time to assess the conditions and gauge the potency of Yorkshire’s bowlers. This was no sort of 20-over thrash on a drop-in pitch with boundaries brought in and the fielding side hobbled by the rules. Rather, Hales watched carefully from the other end as 17-year-old Matthew Fisher took a wicket with his seventh ball in Championship cricket when Brendan Taylor’s careless drive only edged the ball to the very safe hands of Alex Lees at slip.That wicket fell with the home side on 77 but any impression that the morning’s rewards had been shared when Nottinghamshire lunched on 105 for 2 were misleading. Andrew Gale’s attack had already been given their best chance of doing serious damage but neither Tim Bresnan nor Jack Brooks had pitched the ball up in the devastating fashion they had managed at New Road only five days previously.In the afternoon session the Nottinghamshire batsmen gained the rewards for their caution. Hales went to his fifty with a perfectly-executed back foot cover-drive off Patterson and Taylor cut Brooks for another fine boundary. When Jack Leaning’s offspin was tried, Hales milked it for a couple of boundaries and whacked his only six over long off. Gale was soon forced to bring back the seamers.It made little difference. Taylor notched his fifty and then Hales reached his century off 131 balls, the second fifty runs being scored off only 38 balls. When Fisher bowled a fine outswinger he got inside the line and clipped through wide mid-on. Suddenly the young man was receiving a rather rough introduction to top-level domestic cricket.Late in the second session Yorkshire gained relief from their torment when Brooks brought one back off the seam to have Taylor lbw for 59 and then immediately had Samit Patel taken by Lees, who is developing into one of the safest slips on the circuit. These successes will have buoyed Yorkshire’s bowlers but the course of the day’s cricket had been set by that third-wicket stand of 171 in 35 overs. You don’t generally regard a score of 252 for 4 as an adequate reward when you have put the opposition in.The final session of the day saw Hales continue his progress in pleasingly ruthless fashion and it will have been greatly enjoyed by the crowd which had filled much of the Radcliffe Road Stand at least half an hour before play began. Fleeced and Playfaired, they resumed conversations which they had merely suspended seven months previously. Those home spectators remembered last September’s annihilation, too.Hales added 81 runs in the evening and reached his 200 off 234 balls but he also lost three of his partners as Yorkshire’s bowlers discovered accuracy with the second new ball they had rarely shown with the first. Riki Wessels, Chris Read and Will Gidman were all dismissed relatively cheaply, reinforcing the impression that Nottinghamshire are well ahead in this game.The last wicket, that of Gidman, was claimed by Patterson who finished with 2 for 58 from 22.1 overs. The Beverley seamer was the best of Gale’s bowlers on this first day, for he achieved a prudent economy which contrasted with the prodigality of some of his colleagues.Indeed, it comes as no great shock to discover that the accurate Patterson would choose a career in finance were he not to be a cricketer. One can rather imagine him celebrating Yorkshire’s Championship last September with an extra session of double-entry book-keeping.Steven Patterson, you see, does not frivol. But neither, clearly, does Alex Hales. Asked whether he hoped that his innings would send a message to the England selectors, he remarked succinctly: “I hope it does”. He can probably relax on the first evening of this game, secure in the knowledge that his communication has been received, even by those negotiating traffic-jams on the M4.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Sri Lanka couldn’t get Virender Sehwag out, but Ajantha Mendis found a way around him, dismissing most of the others cheaply, before Harbhajan Singh enacted a similar turnaround to restore the balance at the end of day two in Galle.It was an eventful three sessions: Sehwag was imperious as he scored his fifth double-century even as he lost partners at the other end; Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara threatened to run away with the match, but Harbhajan pulled Sri Lanka back with a four-wicket burst in the final session.Sri Lanka dismissed the last six Indian batsmen for 51 runs; India repliedby taking four of their batsmen for 55. WhenSangakkara and Warnapura were going hell for leather, it seemed they wouldtake Sri Lanka’s second innings out of the equation, but then Harbhajan cameup with one of his best spells in recent times.Warnapura, especially, showed he had learned a lesson or two from Sehwag. Hesaw his opening partner, Michael Vandort, get out in the first over, andthen played at and missed a few times against Zaheer. But all along he keptpunishing even the smallest errors of length. Zaheer’s fourth over was themost expensive of the series: Warnapura took four successive boundaries toreach 24 off 18 balls.The Indian bowlers looked helpless in the face of Sangakkara’s determination to set right a minor dip in his form. Sri Lanka raced to 50 in 8.5 overs, and by the time spin was introduced Sri Lanka had scored 60 for 1 in 11 overs. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan brought in some control, but their fortunes were not changing just as yet: just before tea, Dinesh Karthik made a mess of a regulation stumping chance off Harbhajan when he couldn’t even collect the ball with Sangakkara way down the wicket.When India came back from tea, they continued with the pressure tactics, and Warnapura yielded, giving Gautam Gambhir a difficult low catch at short cover. The ten overs preceding that dismissal had yielded 15 runs. Harbhajan took heart from that wicket and got a leading edge from Sangakkara, which he caught himself, just in case. Two new batsmen were in, and Kumble and Harbhajan were finally being treated with the sort of respect they have been used to.Harbhajan went round the stumps and trapped Thilan Samaraweera with aslider. In the same over, he got Tillakaratne Dilshan with one that bounced and turned in sharply.In thefinal overs Harbhajan twice came close to getting his fifth: first he beatMahela Jayawardene with a sharp offbreak from round the stumps; thefield umpire thought it would have gone down the leg side, and the reviewsaid no different. Prasanna Jayawardene offered Gambhir a sharp chance atforward short leg, but Gambhir couldn’t cap the good day he had had in thefield with another catch.

The collapse that Sri Lanka faced paled in comparison with the two India hadendured. India went from 167 for 0 to 178 for 4, and then from 278 for 5 to 327all out, and both collapses were triggered by Mendis, who was facing thefirst big test of his short career. Sehwag read him and went after him,taking 70 runs off the 77 deliveries he faced from him. But that failed tointimidate Mendis, who stayed accurate, made the batsmen play almost everyball, and earned his first five-for in Tests.After the wicket of VVS Laxman, who took his overnight stand of 36 with Sehwag to 100 before hitting a long hop from Mendis straight to midwicket, Mendis began to toy with the tail. Karthik seemed in no mental shape to play high-quality spin bowling; his lack of confidence showed when he didn’t ask for the review after he was eventually given out: replays indicated the topspinner from Mendis would just have brushed off stump.Mendis then repeated the now-famous carrom ball that got Rahul Dravid in thefirst Test to Harbhajan Singh: it broke away at a rapid pace and took thetop of off.The story of the day, though, remained Sehwag, who scored 61.09% of India’s runs. This was the 11th consecutive hundred he had converted into a 150-plus score. He also became the second Indian to carry his bat through, and passed 5000 Test runs.It is a shame that some of Sehwag’s best innings have come when histeam-mates have been struggling for form. Only two of his 15 centuries – allscored at a maddening pace – have resulted in victories for India. Aftermany a quick Sehwag hundred, the other batsmen have either folded or slowedthe pace down so much as to deprive the bowlers of sufficient time in whichto force a result. Something similar seemed on the cards here, but thedifference this time was that Sehwag was around for the duration to makeamends for the collapses.Muttiah Muralitharan, surprisingly ineffective in the innings, began bowlingwith an in-and-out field. Sehwag smartly resorted to opening the face of his batand finding twos. Mendis, back for a new spell, was welcomed with a six; theoff stump at the non-striker’s end prevented another certain boundary in thesame over.As the wickets fell, Murali at the other end started to rip his doosras, ending Anil Kumble’s resolute innings, and Zaheer Khan’s brief one. When Zaheer, the No. 10, launched into an irresponsible sweep off Murali, Sehwag was on 195. At 199, with just two overs to lunch, Sehwag refused the single twice, preferring to shield Ishant Sharma rather than get to the mark. Off the last ball of the over, he then nonchalantly flicked to deep square leg for a single.The rest of his team owed him an apology for the lack of support – 307 oftheir 326 runs were scored by three batsmen – and Harbhajan went some waytowards doing so. Whether it was enough remained to be seen.

Michael Slater and Michael Bevan have steered New South Wales to a resounding victory over the touring England XI at the Sydney Cricket Ground today by eight wickets after England set NSW a target of 206.At the start of his innings Slater was a lost man on the stage of Australian cricket, but he restored some pride to his dented one-day career. When he held his bat aloft to the ecstatic Sydney crowd, his year and half in exile appeared no more than an unpleasant memory.Slater played some extraordinary shots with confidence and exuberance. He crafted his innings, taking on Andrew Caddick, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison – and winning. He eventually fell to Flintoff for 115, flicking the ball to Marcus Trescothick at mid-wicket. But after a 134-run partnership, England looked deflated instead of joyous at the wicket.Briefly tied down in the first few overs with Corey Richards, Slater soon went on to the attack. But Richards was left behind with Slater dominating the strike, and soon fell for seven to Harmison, giving a simple catch to Andrew Flintoff at mid-on.Bevan entered the arena but even this great one-day player was overshadowed by the brilliance of Slater. But the left-hander still showed what a talent he is, with a half-century off 70 balls, not matching the tempo of Slater but enough to defeat England.Steve Waugh promoted himself to number four ahead of Michael Clarke as the innings came to an end. Omitted from the final 30 for the World Cup squad and not in the selectors’ minds for the forthcoming one-day series, which begins next Friday, Waugh rattled out a reminder to the selectors with 24 runs from just 12 balls.With only 25 runs needed and the bulk of the work done, Waugh slashed Ronnie Irani three times into the stands. The first six went to the back of the Members’ stand and the second and third to the M.A Noble stand.With only one run needed Waugh decided to dismiss Irani one more time, and before the next six even reached the fence he began the walk back to the pavilion. The Steve Waugh chant echoed around the stadium, emphasising the Aussie captain’s popularity.