Sri Lanka had gone through a horrendous run in the ongoing Test series being bowled out for totals less than 120 in their first three innings. But after being asked to follow-on for the second successive time in the series and facing the prospect of another innings thrashing, the Lankan batsmen put their heads down to make everyone sit up and take notice of them by producing a noteworthy display in the second innings at Durham.

Although the batting revival came a shade too late for Mathews’ men to save the series it has somewhat brought back the confidence that was missing in the dressing room and on the field. Despite Sri Lanka’s tremendous fightback England won the second Test by nine wickets to take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

“Especially in the first innings, not scoring more than 100 was very disappointing. We talked about bringing back the fight – the Sri Lankan fight that we’ve not had in the last couple of weeks,” said Mathews.

“The boys showed a lot of resilience after the last five weeks, to come back and score 475 runs was very pleasing. The way (Dinesh) Chandimal batted and also Kaushal Silva and Rangana Herath – they batted well and fought really hard. The English bowlers bowled really well.”

Reflecting on what inspired them to come out of their shell Mathews said, ““We’ve talked about everything possible to get everything back. It’s just the character we talked about. We talked about our character and the fight. We’ve been talking a lot about it, but unfortunately we didn’t show it on the field.

“I thought we started showing it in the second innings while we were batting. We had a brilliant first day. We caught all our catches. But unfortunately we started off day two by letting Moeen (Ali) and Chris Woakes off the hook. Then we had a really bad day towards the end of the second day – almost getting bowled out. We had to fight really hard. All the batters worked really hard in the nets every single day before the start. We worked hard with the coaches and that was pleasing.”

Mathews said the way Herath batted the other batsmen could take a leaf out of his notebook.

“Rangana’s become a proper no. 8 for us over the past one-and-a-half years,” said Mathews.

He’s been scoring and hanging in there. If I recall a couple of years ago at Headingley he batted with me and got 49. He’s been giving his best with the bat and ball for us over the last couple of years. Every day he’s been trying to get better. Hopefully he can continue that.”

Mathews said that he was disappointed with the batting in the first innings because the wicket was much better than they got at Headingley.

“That’s why I was very disappointed. It wasn’t a 100-run wicket. There was much less grass than Headingley. It was not spinning much. It had a little bit of lateral movement, but there were no demons in the wicket. We could have got at least 250 on that wicket to give ourselves a chance in this game.”

Following Sri Lanka’s magnificent fight back England captain and coach both expressed the same views and said that Sri Lanka cannot be taken for granted.

“It’s hard for the Sri Lankan batters in one sense, but they are very good players, and most of the time on flat wickets you have to work very hard against them,” said England captain Alastair Cook.

“Credit to Sri Lanka, the way they batted in the second innings, and it shows how hard you have to work for Test match wins. It was only two years ago that they beat us at Headingley, so we shouldn’t take anything for granted.”

England coach Trevor Bayliss said: “Any time you can win two Tests in a row and win a series, wrapping it up after two matches, is a fantastic effort. The wicket flattened out and the Sri Lankans showed some of the fight that they’re quite capable of. They’ve got some very good players in their team. Yes, they’ve got some young players but we certainly can’t take it for granted in the third match.”

It took England only 80 minutes to take South Africa’s remaining six wickets for the addition of 38 runs, with man-of-the-match Moeen Ali setting the tone by dismissing batting kingpin AB de Villiers with the third ball of the day. He followed up with two more wickets and had match figures of seven for 116.

Cook said a key factor had been batting solidly in bowler-friendly overhead conditions on the first day after being sent in.

“It was an interesting toss, the overheads were suggesting you want to bowl first but the pitch was quite dry,” said Cook. “We would also have bowled first.

It was a matter of getting through that first day. The way Nick (Compton) played really set up the first innings. From that moment on, the guys bowled particularly well to take 20 wickets and we scored enough runs in the second innings.”

Cook said a convincing win against a strong South Africa A team in the build-up to the Test had given the players a lot of confidence. “It was particularly pleasing to back up our form under pressure in a Boxing Day Test match.”

With only a two-day turnaround before the second Test starts in Cape Town on Saturday, Cook said it was important to recover well and to avoid complacency. “It can turn very quickly. They have world-class players so we can’t get too carried away. But it would be nice to get our noses ahead again and to continue to put pressure on South Africa.”

Despite his fifth-ranked side defeating the current Test number ones, Cook said it was too early to predict a period of ascendancy for England. But he said: “The guys have taken big strides forward as a team over the last eight months or so. It’s a good side to captain, there’s a good balance, the guys are happy and they seem really hungry.

“Potentially this team can do some really good things. There’s so much talent in this side. But it will take relentless hard work and good results over a long period of time.”

South African captain Hashim Amla, meanwhile, admitted that his team’s batting had been “most disappointing”, especially following a poor performance on a similarly good batting pitch in the final Test in Delhi earlier this month during a losing series in India.

Amla said his team’s lack of batting form was “a confidence thing” and acknowledged that his own lack of runs was a concern. “As captain you want to lead from the front not being in the runs is most disappointing from me. It’s a developing team but certainly from my perspective getting runs on the board is most important.”

The 41-year-old said the series against England “could be my last”.
“I haven’t taken a final decision,” Misbah told media on the sidelines of a training camp in Lahore, adding that he was considering his options.

Misbah retired from Twenty20 cricket in 2012 and left the one-day international game after Pakistan’s quarter-final finish in the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in March.
He said he wanted to leave Test cricket with “good memories”.
“People remember your final performance,” he said.

The unassuming middle-order batsman will be remembered for his admirable leadership of Pakistan in the aftermath of the 2010 spot-fixing scandal which resulted in five-year bans for Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
Last month Misbah had announced he will retire after an upcoming series against India, but the December-January contest is in serious doubt due to tensions between the arch-rivals.
Pakistan take on the Ashes-winning England team in a three-Test series in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting in Abu Dhabi from October 13.

Misbah warned the conditions in the UAE will be challenging for England.
“This English team has done well in the Ashes,” he said.
“But they do not have experience of UAE conditions and that will be a big challenge for them.”
He refused to be drawn on the prospect of another 3-0 rout of the Lions, such as the one in the UAE under his captaincy three years ago.

“We have to take it match by match, session by session and once you win sessions you go towards the bigger goals.
“We are not thinking of 3-0, England is a top team and we have to play well and think how to tackle them.”
When asked if Pakistan would miss Saeed Ajmal — one of the architects of the 2012 rout with 24 wickets — Misbah said Pakistan have replacements in leg-spinner Yasir Shah and left-armer Zulfiqar Babar.
“Shah and Babar are doing extraordinarily well and that’s a big plus, so they haven’t made us feel anyone’s absence,” said Misbah.
Ajmal was not selected for the series after he struggled with a remodelled bowling action required to overcome suspension.
He was suspended for illegal action by the International Cricket Council last year.

At tea on the second day, Australia — already in their second innings — were 73 for two, a deficit of 72 runs, with opener Warner 56 not out.

Playing in typically aggressive fashion, he took the attack to England’s bowlers with a 35-ball fifty including eight fours.

If he hadn’t yet turned the tide of the match, Warner had at least given England something to think about after they dismissed veteran opener Chris Rogers and Steven Smith to leave Australia 62 for two.

Rogers, who had top-scored with 52 in Australia’s meagre first innings 136, was lbw for six to a Stuart Broad delivery that angled in and held its line. Middlesex fast bowler Steven Finn, playing his first Test since 2013, then dismissed Smith for the second time in the match.

Smith, the world’s number one ranked Test batsman skyed an intended pull and was caught by wicket-keeper Jos Buttler for eight, having managed seven in the first innings.

Earlier, number eight Moeen Ali’s quickfire 59 helped England to 281 all out and a first-innings lead of 145.

Together with Broad (31), he put on a valuable 87 for the eighth wicket.

England were 182 for six when Birmingham-born Ali, who began his career with Edgbaston-based Warwickshire before moving to neighbouring Worcestershire, came to the crease.

Ali had been bounced out by Mitchell Johnson during the second innings of Australia’s crushing 405-run victory in the second Test at Lord’s. But he faced down the left-arm paceman with a flurry of fours after lunch, including two well-controlled pulls, a couple of wristy straight drives and a lofted shot over cover. Ali had struck 11 fours in all when an uppercut off Josh Hazlewood flew straight to Warner at third man.

His exit left England 278 for nine and Hazlewood soon wrapped up the innings by having last man Anderson caught behind.

Prior to Ali’s spirited effort, Johnson had given Australia a foothold in the match with two wickets — including his 300th in Tests — for no runs in three balls during his first over on Thursday after England had resumed on their overnight 133 for three

Jonny Bairstow, recalled after England dropped his Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance following their humiliation at Lord’s, exited for just five as he gloved a brute of a rising ball from Johnson to wicket-keeper Peter Nevill.

It was a fitting way for spearhead quick Johnson to become the fifth Australian after Dennis Lillee, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, to take 300 Test wickets.

Prior gave his first interview since the announcement to Sky Sports at the Oval.

“It’s a bit strange, a bit surreal coming to the ground on an international game day and being the other side of the camera,” said Prior.

“There is a bit of relief having known about the decision and wanting to let everyone else know.

“There have been a lot of questions about when I’m coming back, if I’m coming back, so as I say it’s a big weight off my shoulders and I’m excited what the future brings.”

Prior underwent surgery in September for what was expected to be a routine Achilles operation when the surgeon found a three-inch tear to his tendon.

“From the minute I had the operation and they found out it was a lot worse than first thought, not being able to play was a reality,” he said.

“I’ve committed everything to my rehab and trying to get fit. When I went into that operation, the plan was to come back and was to play for Sussex again and to push on the door and play for England again.

“But unfortunately after quite a long tiresome effort, I’ve not been able to come through that the injury has proved too bad.
“It was a sad day, of course, for any professional sportsman you want to be in the middle, that’s where you want to be, competing.

“It’s not to be and I’m hugely proud and feel very fortunate that I had the chance to play for England and Sussex for as many times as I have and I’m looking forward to what the future brings.”

Prior admitted he was “blown away” by all the goodwill messages for the future, including one from former England team-mate Kevin Pietersen, who singled him out for stinging criticism in his autobiography.

“It was a really nice touch from Kevin,” added Prior, who has great hopes for England’s future.

“How can you not be optimistic, the amount of talent and ability that is in that England dressing room now.

“We saw a completely new look England team take the field in a one-day international against the second-best one-day team in the world right now New Zealand and beat them by 200 runs, amassing 400 in 50 overs, it’s incredible.”

Prior has also backed former England captain Andrew Strauss in his new role as director of cricket.

“It’s certainly a challenge, I think it makes a change for him than playing his days out at Sunningdale on the golf course.
“But I personally think there is no better man for the job.

New Zealand stormed to an improbable 199-run victory over England on the last day of the second test to level the series 1-1 at Headingley on Tuesday.
Earlier, New Zealand prized out three more wickets to move to the brink of a series-levelling victory as England scrambled to 206 for eight at tea.
The hosts, chasing a record 455 to win, lost five wickets in the morning and only a defiant 56 from captain Alastair Cook held up the ruthless New Zealanders who are bidding for their fifth test triumph in England.
Cook’s innings, lasting nearly four hours, ended when he was trapped lbw by part-time spinner Kane Williamson before Moeen Ali was bowled for two, shouldering arms to a ball from Matt Henry that struck his off stump.
Stuart Broad made a breezy 23 before he was bowled by Williamson.
Jos Buttler battled through the afternoon session to finish unbeaten on 40 with Mark Wood on 10.
England had resumed on 44 for no wicket and Adam Lyth failed to add to his overnight 24, feathering a swinging ball from paceman Trent Boult through to wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi.
Gary Ballance unconvincingly negotiated 25 deliveries for six runs before Boult produced a venomous full delivery that crashed into the left-hander’s stumps.
Ian Bell, on one, turned a bouncing ball from spinner Mark Craig straight into the hands of Williamson at leg-slip and Joe Root was brilliantly caught off Craig for a second-ball duck by Tom Latham at short leg.
With England’s slim hopes of victory all but over, Cook and Ben Stokes adopted a cautious approach, although the allrounder produced a couple of trademark crisp boundaries to entertain a sparse crowd on a chilly day at Headingley.
The pair added 40 for the fifth wicket but Stokes was out for 29 just before lunch, caught by Ronchi as he attempted an ambitious cut off Williamson.
England won the first test at Lord’s by 124 runs.

England were set a target of 455 to win when New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum declared on Monday’s fourth morning.

The scale of England’s task could be seen from the fact that no side have made more in the fourth innings to win a Test than the West Indies’ 418 for seven against Australia at St John’s, Antigua, in 2002/03.

But in the 13 overs that were possible in their second innings on Monday they made 44 without loss.

England now need a further 411 runs in a minimum of 98 overs — a run-rate of 4.19 per over.

They will resume with Adam Lyth, who made a maiden Test century on his Yorkshire home ground, 24 not out and England captain Alastair Cook, who in the first innings became England’s all-time leading Test runs scorer, unbeaten on 18.

And Root said England, 1-0 up in the two-match series after their 124-run win in the first Test at Lord’s last week, had no intention of playing for a draw.

“There’s quite a bit of work to do but we’ve got an opportunity to do something special,” Root told reporters after Monday’s close.

“Rain has made it a bit harder, but we’ve got every intention of going out tomorrow with a view to winning the game.”

New Zealand flayed the new ball over Headingley on Monday morning, scoring 116 runs in just 16 overs after resuming on 338 for six, before skipper Brendon McCullum declared with the tourists 454 for eight in their second innings.

BJ Watling, the first New Zealand batsman to score a Test century at Headingley, took his overnight 100 not out to 120 but his exit, which left the Black Caps 368 for seven, was the cue for a run-spree.

Tim Southee struck 40 off just 42 balls and Mark Craig an unbeaten 58 where 42 runs came in boundaries — nine fours and a six.

Stuart Broad’s first over Monday was smashed for 20 runs and when the paceman bowled what turned out to be the last over of the innings, he conceded 19 runs — including three sixes, two struck by tailender Matt Henry.

“Credit to the way they (New Zealand) came out and played (here) — they played really well,” said Root. “Watling played an exceptional knock, and towards the end they probably got a hundred more than we’d have liked really.”

Meanwhile Watling, reflecting on his fifth Test century — made against the backdrop of a knee injury which prevented him keeping wicket at Headingley — said: “I’m very proud but I hope it’s a match-winning one.

“We’ve still got 98 overs tomorrow, and a good 30 with the second new ball, so we are definitely backing ourselves to win the game.”

England often bowled short at New Zealand’s tail but the likes of Southee and Henry had few problems playing the pull shot.

“I guess it’s been a plan to the tail, to scare them with a few bumpers and chuck in some full ones but our boys can generally play the short ball pretty well, pretty aggressively,” said Watling.

One frustration for New Zealand is that this only a two-Test series, withe the chance of more bad weather threatening to deny them a share of the spoils — a poor reward for their efforts at both Lord’s and Headingley.

“I’d like to think we probably deserve maybe one extra game to make it a three-Test match series,” said Watling.

“You are kind of just warming into it with two Tests. If we win and it’s one-all, it’s a bit of an anti-climax. It would be nice to have one more.”

England were set a target of 455 to win when New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum declared on Monday’s fourth morning.

The scale of England’s task could be seen from the fact that no side have made more in the fourth innings to win a Test than the West Indies’ 418 for seven against Australia at St John’s, Antigua, in 2002/03.

But in the 13 overs that were possible in their second innings on Monday they made 44 without loss.

England now need a further 411 runs in a minimum of 98 overs — a run-rate of 4.19 per over.

They will resume with Adam Lyth, who made a maiden Test century on his Yorkshire home ground, 24 not out and England captain Alastair Cook, who in the first innings became England’s all-time leading Test runs scorer, unbeaten on 18.

And Root said England, 1-0 up in the two-match series after their 124-run win in the first Test at Lord’s last week, had no intention of playing for a draw.

“There’s quite a bit of work to do but we’ve got an opportunity to do something special,” Root told reporters after Monday’s close.

“Rain has made it a bit harder, but we’ve got every intention of going out tomorrow with a view to winning the game.”

New Zealand flayed the new ball over Headingley on Monday morning, scoring 116 runs in just 16 overs after resuming on 338 for six, before skipper Brendon McCullum declared with the tourists 454 for eight in their second innings.

BJ Watling, the first New Zealand batsman to score a Test century at Headingley, took his overnight 100 not out to 120 but his exit, which left the Black Caps 368 for seven, was the cue for a run-spree.

Tim Southee struck 40 off just 42 balls and Mark Craig an unbeaten 58 where 42 runs came in boundaries — nine fours and a six.

Stuart Broad’s first over Monday was smashed for 20 runs and when the paceman bowled what turned out to be the last over of the innings, he conceded 19 runs — including three sixes, two struck by tailender Matt Henry.

“Credit to the way they (New Zealand) came out and played (here) — they played really well,” said Root. “Watling played an exceptional knock, and towards the end they probably got a hundred more than we’d have liked really.”

Meanwhile Watling, reflecting on his fifth Test century — made against the backdrop of a knee injury which prevented him keeping wicket at Headingley — said: “I’m very proud but I hope it’s a match-winning one.

“We’ve still got 98 overs tomorrow, and a good 30 with the second new ball, so we are definitely backing ourselves to win the game.”

England often bowled short at New Zealand’s tail but the likes of Southee and Henry had few problems playing the pull shot.

“I guess it’s been a plan to the tail, to scare them with a few bumpers and chuck in some full ones but our boys can generally play the short ball pretty well, pretty aggressively,” said Watling.

One frustration for New Zealand is that this only a two-Test series, withe the chance of more bad weather threatening to deny them a share of the spoils — a poor reward for their efforts at both Lord’s and Headingley.

“I’d like to think we probably deserve maybe one extra game to make it a three-Test match series,” said Watling.

“You are kind of just warming into it with two Tests. If we win and it’s one-all, it’s a bit of an anti-climax. It would be nice to have one more.”

New Zealand, set 345 to win on the fifth and final day, were dismissed for 220 as England won the 100th Test between the two countries to go 1-0 up in this two-match series ahead of the second Test at Headingley on Friday.

For England, without a permanent head coach following the sacking of Peter Moores and coming off the back of a disappointing 1-1 series draw in the West Indies, this was just the morale boost they needed.

New Zealand, who had earlier collapsed to 12 for three, were again in dire straits at 61 for five after man-of-the-match Ben Stokes had taken two wickets in two balls.

But the gritty BJ Watling, whose 59 was his second fifty of the match, and the dashing Corey Anderson (75), kept England at bay during a sixth-wicket stand of 107. However, both batsmen fell in quick succession to leave New Zealand 174 for seven.

New Zealand were rocked from the outset of their second innings, losing both openers for ducks without a run on the board in a match where, for the most part, they had been on top.

The second ball saw Martin Guptill become James Anderson’s 399th Test wicket, caught in the slips by Gary Ballance.

New Zealand were still on nought when Stuart Broad’s first ball of the second over had Tom Latham lbw for a golden duck.

For New Zealand, it was all starting to become horribly reminiscent of their last Test at Lord’s, in 2013, when they slumped to 68 all out chasing 239. The collapse continued when Broad, who took a Test-best seven for 44 against New Zealand at Lord’s two years ago, had Ross Taylor plumb lbw for eight. New Zealand took the score on to 61 before Stokes, who on Sunday scored the fastest Test century at Lord’s, off just 85 balls, struck twice in two balls.

– See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=sports/england-seal-stunning-win-over-new-zealand#sthash.NFBGU7Yq.dpuf

Graves, whose tenure as ECB chairman started Friday, released a statement via the governing body’s website in his first public response to claims from Pietersen that he had received “incredibly deceitful” treatment.

Andrew Strauss, the new ECB director of cricket and Pietersen’s successor as England captain, said Tuesday that a “massive trust issue” prevented the South Africa-born batsman’s return, even though Pietersen is England’s all-time leading run-scorer across all formats.

That appeared to contradict earlier comments from Graves that a return was possible if Pietersen, in international exile since the team’s 5-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia last year, scored enough runs in county cricket.

But shortly after Pietersen made an unbeaten triple century for Surrey against Leicestershire on Monday, Strauss told him to forget about playing for England against New Zealand and Australia this home season.

That in turn led Pietersen to say he’d been “misled”, with the 34-year-old going on to make an unbeaten 355 against Leicestershire.

But former Yorkshire chairman Graves had a different take on events, saying Friday: “In the past few days my integrity has been called into question, something I can’t accept.

“Throughout my business career and my years at Yorkshire, integrity has been my watchword. It governs everything I do and is an important part of what I bring to the ECB.

– No guarantees –
“So it saddens me that what was a private conversation with Kevin in March has been used to do just that.

“I didn’t make any promises, There were no guarantees that if he chose to exit his IPL (Indian Premier League) contract, play county cricket and score runs he would be selected for England — and I said he should make any decision on his future on that basis.”

However, Graves appeared to be defending himself from a charge Pietersen had not made, as the batsman hadn’t said he’d been “promised” anything, but rather that if he did fulfil certain conditions he would at least be considered for England selection.

Graves was prepared to accept there may have been a “misunderstanding”.

“Back then, when we talked on the phone, Kevin asked if I thought his England career had ended in the