The 39-year-old fifth in the list of all-time Test run scorers averaging more than 57 runs in 134 Tests, making 11 double centuries is still in prime form having scored two centuries for Surrey in their match with Middlesex which finished on Monday.

However, Sangakkara also one of the all-time great limited overs batsmen and a member of the Sri Lanka side that reached both the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals (losing to Australia and India respectively) said he could sense the time was right to retire.

“You try to fight the inevitable but you need to get out while you’re ahead,” Sangakkara, who was a pivotal member of the Sri Lanka team that lifted the 2014 World Twenty20 trophy and lost in both the 2009 and 2012 finals, told the BBC.

“It’s the last time I’ll play a four-day game here. I’ll be 40 in a few months, this is about the end of my time in county cricket.”

Sangakkara, who formed a swashbuckling partnership on many occasions with fellow Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene, said he didn’t want to make the error of overstaying his welcome.

“The biggest mistake that sometimes you can make is that you think you’re better than you really are,” he said.

“Cricketers, or any sort of sportsperson, have an expiry date and you need to walk away.

“I have been very lucky to play for as long as I did so but there’s a lot more life to be lived away from the game.” AFP

English county scores

on Monday: First Division

* At Old Trafford: Lancashire (10pts) drew with Yorkshire (9pts)

Yorkshire 448-8 dec (J Leaning 118, J Brooks 109 no, G Ballance 74, T Bailey 4-116) & 177-1 (P Handscomb 101 no, A Lees 62 no) v Lancashire 432 (S Chanderpaul 106, R McLaren 84, S C Kerrigan 59)

* At Lord’s: Middlesex (13pts) drew with Surrey (11pts)

Surrey 313 (K Sangakkara 114, D Sibley 54, J Franklin 4-40) & 339 (K Sangakkara 120, B Foakes 67 no, S Curran 51, T Roland-Jones 4-76) v Middlesex 411 (D Malan 115, J Franklin 112, S Eskinazi 67, S Meaker 4-92) & 92-2

* At Taunton: Somerset (8pts) drew with Warwickshire (12pts)

Warwickshire 413 (J Trott 175, T Ambrose 63, R Clarke 57) v Somerset 230 (M Trescothick 106, P Trego 52, G Thornton 4-34) & 86-1

Second Division (second day of four)

* At Hove

Durham 287 (P Coughlin 73, R Pringle 60, J Archer 5-76) v Sussex 452-4 (L Wells 258, S van Zyl 141 no)

* At Derby: Worcestershire (24pts) beat Derbyshire (5pts) by an innings and 42 runs

Derbyshire 275 (L Reece 54, A Hughes 53, J Leach 4-50) & 98 (J Leach 5-32) v Worcestershire 415-9 dec (B D’Oliveira 150, D Mitchell 120, S Thakor 4-45, B Mendis 4-98)

* At the SWALEC Stadium: Glamorgan (7pts) drew with Nottinghamshire (12pts)

Nottinghamshire 448 (M Wessels 120, J Libby 109, C Read 88, B Hutton 61, T van der Gugten 5-101) v Glamorgan 187 (A Donald 53) & 420-5 (C Ingram 155 no, C Cooke 113 no)

* At Grace Road: Leicestershire (13pts) drew with Kent (13pts)

Leicestershire 420 (C Ackermann 89, C McKay 66) & 61-1 dec v Kent 462-9 dec (D Stevens 100, A Rouse 60, M Coles 56 no, J Tredwell 55, D Klein 4-108)

Sanath Jayasuriya couldn’t do it. Aravinda De Silva and Mahela Jayawardene couldn’t do it. Even the great Kumar Sangakkara couldn’t do it.

But Dinesh Chandimal might.

The 26-year-old Sri Lankan, his team’s highest-scorer in their three-wicket loss to Australia in Colombo on Sunday, is just one half-century away from becoming the first man from the island nation – and just the seventh in history – to score 50 or more in six consecutive One-Day International innings.

Report & Highlights: Australia grab 1-0 series lead

The right-hander’s unbeaten 80 at the Premadasa Stadium on Sunday, which came on the back of his seventh Test century last week, was his fifth in consecutive ODIs stretching back to his innings of 52 in the second match against England at Edgbaston in June.
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Chandimal goes big as Australia rue dropped catch

Having finished the series in the UK with scores of 62, 63 and 53, Chandimal’s performance against the Australians on Sunday put him alongside Jayasuriya, Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan as the only Sri Lankans to pass 50 in five consecutive ODI innings.

Surprisingly, none of Chandimal’s five half-centuries have come in victories, with Sri Lanka losing four matches (three against England, one against Australia) while the third ODI in Bristol was washed out early in England’s run chase.

As impressive as his feat is, it’s far from unprecedented. Chandimal is the 25th man in history to do so and the second this year after England’s Alex Hales notched scores of 57, 99, 65, 50 and 112 against South Africa earlier this year.
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Australia hit back with opening ODI win

But a half-century in Chandimal’s next match will elevate him into a very elite group.

Only five men have scored 50 or more in six consecutive ODI innings; West Indies opener Gordon Greenidge (in 1979-80), New Zealand’s Andrew Jones (1988-89), Australia’s Mark Waugh (1999), Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf (2003 when he was known as Yousuf Youhana) and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson (2015).

Both Yousuf and Williamson fell just short of making it seven consecutive scores of 50 or more; the Pakistani scored 49 in the innings before his run of six began, while Williamson’s streak of six was bookended by scores of 45 and 47.
Javed Miandad during his streak of nin e consecutive fifties in 1987 // Getty
Javed Miandad during his streak of nine consecutive fifties in 1987 // Getty

The exclusive group of five, which Chandimal could join with a fifty in his next match, trails the all-time record of Pakistan legend Javed Miandad, who posted an incredible nine consecutive 50+ scores between March and October 1987.

While history beckons for Chandimal, he may have to wait before he gets his chance to break the Sri Lankan record due to a rib injury that has him in doubt for the second ODI against Australia on Wednesday.

The right-hander was struck in the ribs in the 42nd over of Sri Lanka’s innings on Sunday when an off-cutter Moises Henriques leapt off the dry surface and hit him in the chest, resulting in a delay of several minutes while he was assessed by the team’s medical staff.

While Chandimal was able to finish his innings, the injury prevented him from wicketkeeping in the run chase and skipper Angelo Mathews confirmed after the match his vice-captain is no guarantee to play on Wednesday.

“We’ll see how Chandi goes in the next couple of days and we’ll make a decision on that,” Mathews said.
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Pitch was hard work for batters: Mathews

Fifties in consecutive ODI innings

9 – Javed Miandad (Pakistan, 1987)
(78, 78*, 74*, 60, 52*, 113, 71*, 68, 103)

6 – Gordon Greenidge (West Indies, 1979-80)
(85*, 50, 80, 98*, 103, 78)

6 – Andrew Jones (New Zealand, 1988-89)
(57, 55*, 62*, 67, 82, 63*)

6 – Mark Waugh (Australia, 1999)
(63, 83*, 85, 65, 57, 65)

6 – Yousuf Youhana (Pakistan, 2003)
(106, 65, 94*, 52, 68, 65)

6 – Kane Williamson (New Zealand, 2015)
(93, 118, 90, 50, 97, 90)

Jayawardene made a delightful unbeaten 117 in 111 balls to help Somerset to 214-1 chasing Worcestershire’s total of 210.

With Jim Allenby who made 81, Jayawardene posted an opening stand of 188 off 33.1 overs to set the county on course for victory.

Jayawardene has had a largely unproductive spell at Somerset this season – his previous best since joining the county for the NatWest T20 Blast being 55 – but a selection of easeful glides and a couple of gentle straight sixes against the spinners were a reminder of his class. Presented with a chance to depart with smiles all round, he took it. It would have been rude not to.

Somerset now faces the prospect of having to play their semi-final without Jayawardene. “I think the semi is going to be tight,” he said. “I have already moved a few things around to play today, but prior commitments at home mean I have to go back now. Even this match was a bit of an extension but I have had a great time here and if they get to the final I might be able to make the trip.”

It was Somerset’s seventh win in the competition this season after waltzing through their group.

Scores: Worcestershire 210 in 42.5 overs (Moeen Ali 81, D Mitchell 64, P Trego 3/33)

Somerset 214-1 in 36.5 overs (M Jayawardene 117 n.o., J Allenby 81)

Jayawardene made a delightful unbeaten 117 in 111 balls to help Somerset to 214-1 chasing Worcestershire’s total of 210.

With Jim Allenby who made 81, Jayawardene posted an opening stand of 188 off 33.1 overs to set the county on course for victory.

Jayawardene has had a largely unproductive spell at Somerset this season – his previous best since joining the county for the NatWest T20 Blast being 55 – but a selection of easeful glides and a couple of gentle straight sixes against the spinners were a reminder of his class. Presented with a chance to depart with smiles all round, he took it. It would have been rude not to.

Somerset now faces the prospect of having to play their semi-final without Jayawardene. “I think the semi is going to be tight,” he said. “I have already moved a few things around to play today, but prior commitments at home mean I have to go back now. Even this match was a bit of an extension but I have had a great time here and if they get to the final I might be able to make the trip.”

It was Somerset’s seventh win in the competition this season after waltzing through their group.

Scores: Worcestershire 210 in 42.5 overs (Moeen Ali 81, D Mitchell 64, P Trego 3/33)

Somerset 214-1 in 36.5 overs (M Jayawardene 117 n.o., J Allenby 81)

“We are a young team and not much experience. The way the guys fought facing Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad in challenging conditions was good to see,” said Mathews at the end of the series on Monday.

“The way they batted they showed a lot of guts. It was brilliant. If we play together as a unit we can improve further. We played pretty well in the second innings in Durham. Here too we were sitting pretty and then lost a heap of wickets on day three,” he said.

The third and final Test at Lord’s was drawn after rain interrupted play several times on the fifth and final day.

Sri Lanka chasing a target of 362 runs began the day requiring a further 330 off 98 overs with all ten second innings wickets in hand.

“It was a sporting declaration by Alastair (Cook). We were going to go for it. We would rather lose a game trying to win it,” said Mathews. “But the weather intervened and we couldn’t get enough play. It would have been an interesting chase and a result was possible either way.

“The wicket was playing up and down, but still a good wicket. We had lost the series 2-0 and what more to lose. We wanted to try and win the game. That was the right way to go. The way guys batted they wanted to go for it.”

Talking of the positives Sri Lanka got out of the series Mathews said “there were lots of them”.

“The fast bowlers were extremely good. True conditions were good for them, but they had to do a good job. (Rangana) Herath was superb. He is 38 and he has backed the team with his all-round ability. He is even throwing himself all over the field. It was good to see the oldest man diving around and stopping boundaries,” said Mathews.

“Kusal Mendis was another huge positive for us in the series. (Dinesh) Chandimal came good in the second Test. Then Kaushal (Silva) and Dimuth (Karunaratne) gave us some good starts in this Test. All were hitting the ball pretty well and it was unfortunate that no one went onto get a big score except Chandimal. We didn’t win the series, but there were a lot of positives.”

With young Kusal Mendis vying for the number three slot vacated by Kumar Sangakkara with some consistent scores, the number four slot that was occupied by Mahela Jayawardene has now become an issue.

“We haven’t decided on a number four as yet. We need to find who is best and we will give it to the person we have picked,” said Mathews.

“If we pick someone, we need to give him a fair opportunity. Be patient with him. We don’t want to chop and change people. We need to find the best possible combination. When you identify a guy with skill and talent you need to persevere with him,” he said.

Sri Lanka will next move onto the ODI series starting with two against Ireland on June 16 and 18 before taking on England in five matches.

“England have been playing good cricket in the last six to seven months and they have been winning a lot of games. They play positive cricket and you have got to be on your toes and really good to beat them in the ODI series that’s coming up. We are looking forward for the challenge,” said Mathews.

Unfortunately for them Kulasekara with 21 Test caps and 48 Test wickets behind him announced his retirement from the longer version of the game at the beginning of the month to focus his attention on the sport’s shorter formats in which he is considered a greater threat with the ball.

It was at Lord’s that Kulasekara made his highest Test score of 64 – the only half-century he scored in that format, and helped Sri Lanka earn a honourable draw against England after being made to follow-on 359 runs in arrears.

That remarkable rearguard action took place on the 2006 tour when Sri Lanka shot out for 192 in their first innings in reply to England’s mammoth total of 551-6 declared made a tremendous fight back to deprive the host of a likely victory. Sri Lanka eventually ended on a handsome 537 for nine wickets having batted a marathon 199 overs and keeping England on the field for two and a half days.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene played a captain’s knock of 119 in six hours, but after his dismissal at 371 Sri Lanka were still not safe from defeat. It was here that Sri Lanka’s late order and the tail showed guts and gumption.

Tillakaratne Dilshan batting at number seven scored 69 off 145 balls, but after his dismissal at 421-8 Sri Lanka were not out of danger yet.

It was at this point that Kulasekara joined Chaminda Vaas to frustrate England and earn Sri Lanka a creditable draw. The pair put on 105 for ninth wicket with Kulasekara’s share in the partnership being a gallant 64 off 133 balls.

He defied the England bowlers comprising Hoggard, Flintoff, Mahmood, Plunkett, Collingwood and Panesar for 189 minutes.

When Kulasekara was finally dismissed Vaas left unbeaten on 50.

The Cricinfo match report stated: “When England enforced the follow-on nobody expected them to need a third new ball; even this was repelled by the lower-order. Panesar was introduced with a relatively hard ball and Kulasekara twice lofted him over midwicket, the second of which brought up a maiden Test fifty off 92 balls and also carried Sri Lanka past 500.

In the first innings Kulasekara’s 29 was nothing more than an annoyance, his second effort turned into one of the more memorable rearguards and the highest score by a Sri Lankan No. 10.”

Kulasekara’s final Test appearance for Sri Lanka was also against England at Lord’s two years ago.

What Test cricket will be missing is Kulasekara’s lovely smooth action which helps him to hurl the ball at a lively pace, getting enough seam movement both ways to trouble the batsman. His skills lie in his ability to produce inswing and he is well known for his moderate nature to the batsmen, seldom being overly aggressive. He is regarded as one of the best swing bowler’s currently playing cricket.

Kulasekara came of age in the year 2008, when he took 47 wickets – which propelled him to the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers in March 2009. The retirement of Vaas and the inconsistency of Lasith Malinga proved to be a boon for Kulasekara as he leapfrogged them to emerge as the strike bowler of his side.

Despite lacking express pace Kulasekara made the most of his ability to swing the new ball and has been a standout performer in ODIs as his 186 wickets from 173 matches prove.

So it is no surprise that the 33-year-old fast bowler has decided to continue to play for Sri Lanka in the two shorter formats – 50 overs and T20.

In the present context of what the team is undergoing in England, Sri Lanka would dearly love to have someone of Kulasekara’s ability in the side not only to boost their bowling line up but also the tail which the current lot apart from Rangana Herath have fallen short of delivering.

The full list of players short-listed for the auctions has been released. It includes 130 capped players, 219 uncapped players and two from Associate Nations.

Out of these, 230 are Indians and 121 foreigners. The list was trimmed down from the original list of 714 cricketers who had given their names for the IPL auctions.

29 Australian capped cricketers have been short-listed for the auction. They are followed by players from India (26), West Indies (20), South Africa (18), Sri Lanka (16), New Zealand, (9), England (7) and Bangladesh (5).

Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen, Ashish Nehra, Shane Watson, Ishant Sharma, Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny and Dhawal Kulkarni are among the cricketers who have been listed with a base price of Rs 2 Crore (the highest base price bracket).

Yuvraj, who was left out of Delhi Daredevils, had fetched the highest price in the last two IPL auctions. Having returned to the national fold ahead of the ICC World T20, he is likely to attract a high bid in the upcoming auction.

Delhi Daredevils, who have released some of their biggest buys from the previous season – Yuvraj Singh and Angelo Mathews have the heaviest purse going into the auction – Rs 37.15 crore. They are followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have Rs 30.15 crore going into the auction. The two new franchises – Rising Pune Super Giants and Rajkot are joint-third on the list with Rs 27 crore each in their kitty.

Kings XI Punjab (Rs 23 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 21.625 crore) and Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 17.95 crore) follow them on the list. Defending champions Mumbai Indians, seem settled with the unit that played last year. They released 10 players from the contract list and have Rs 14.405 crore going into the auction.

T20 captain Lasith Malinga is the only Sri Lankan retained by a franchise (Mumbai Indians) in the IPL.

Sri Lanka players –

Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Sachitra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Isuru Udana, Dilshan Munaweera, Seekkuge Prasanna

Three wickets in two overs after tea rocked Sri Lanka just as captain Angelo Mathews and Milinda Siriwardana were looking solid with a record fifth-wicket partnership.

When rain halted play 23 overs short of the day’s scheduled 90, Mathews was unbeaten on 63 with Dushmantha Chameera yet to score.

Siriwardana, in only his fourth Test, was out for 62 after joining Mathews for Sri Lanka’s record fifth-wicket partnership against New Zealand of 138, eclipsing the 133 set by Mahela Jayawardene and Hashan Tillakaratne in 2003.

On a day in which fortunes ebbed and flowed, the valuable Mathews-Siriwardana pairing began when Sri Lanka were heading for trouble at 121-4.

Siriwardana was caught at first slip by Ross Taylor off the bowling of Boult, who claimed his second wicket three balls later when Kithuruwan Vithanage was caught by a diving Brendon McCullum at mid-off without scoring.

Just before the rain came down, Rangana Herath was run out for four by a fine throw from Kane Williamson in the gully.

With three wickets after tea, New Zealand enjoyed their most productive session after winning the toss and making Sri Lanka bat on a green pitch expected to be a bowler’s paradise.

They could only manage two wickets in each of the first two sessions as Sri Lanka fought to atone for their 122-run loss in the first Test in Dunedin.

In part the tourists were helped by New Zealand’s inconsistency with line and length, but they also played an aggressive game.

“I don’t think we executed to our liking in the first couple of hours. Went past the bat a little bit but didn’t create enough pressure in first session,” quick Tim Southee said.

“They would probably be sitting pretty at lunchtime but the last couple of sessions we created pressure and last half hour swung back our way.”

Sri Lanka have so far produced six sixes, double their entire first Test total. Three of them have been belted by Mathews including one to bring up his 23rd Test 50 by driving Mitchell Santner over the rope.

Siriwardana, who also hit three sixes, was particularly tough on the bowlers after tea when he smacked a rapid 36 before being caught by Taylor who started the day dropping Kusal Mendis before Sri Lanka had any runs on the board.

Siriwardana, who scored his 62 off 81 deliveries, said Sri Lanka’s aggression was deliberate after conservative batting backfired in Dunedin.

“In the previous match we tried to stay at the crease and lost wickets. So we talked about attacking a bit more in this game. That worked when myself and Angelo Mathews were batting,” he said.

“We batted through very well in the first two sessions. We had a collapse in the last few overs.” Sri Lanka had a couple of shaky early overs but by lunch were 108-2 after Southee had removed Dimuth Karunaratne for 12 and the aggressive Mendis for 31 off 42 balls.

Both were caught behind by wicketkeeper BJ Watling who also featured in New Zealand’s second two-wicket burst soon after lunch.

Udara Jayasundera was run out for 26 when he was sent back by Dinesh Chandimal but was not quick enough to beat Santner’s throw to Watling who whipped off the bails.

Three overs later, Chandimal on 47 was caught behind off Doug Bracewell. Boult took two for 43 and Southee two for 51. AFP

Sri Lanka are among New Zealand’s current sequence of 11 unbeaten Tests at home having suffered two comprehensive defeats at the start of last summer, despite having the redoubtable Kumar Sangakkara to anchor the batting order.
Sangakkara then followed Mahela Jayawardene into retirement in August leaving an array of former discards, debutants and largely untested newcomers to support captain Angelo Mathews, opener Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal as the chief source of runs.

While McCullum’s involvement in the Cairns perjury trial and English umpire Llong’s appointment despite a game-changing blunder in Adelaide last month were naturally storylines leading into the first home Test of the summer, Sri Lanka’s preparations have also been dogged by dramas.

Dhammika Prasad’s tour-ending back injury in the warm-up game in Queenstown and first-choice wicket keeper Kusal Perera’s exile after testing positive to a banned substance has made a tough assignment even more daunting for a squad that has played their last eight Tests in Colombo, Galle or Pallekele.
Mathews alluded to the change of climate on Wednesday, yet losing Prasad and Perera are bigger concerns.
“Kusal’s news was shocking. I can’t really comment on that. We hope Sri Lankan cricket, Kusal and his lawyers will do their best to get him on the park ASAP,” he said.

Recalled opener Kaushal Silva was due to arrive on Wednesday as Perera’s replacement, a timeframe that meant he was highly unlikely to feature so the uncapped Udara Jayawardena is in line to blunt the new ball with Karunaratne.
“We don’t have greats in the team anymore, so it’s up to us. We’ve got to pass on what we know,” said Karunaratne, who is one of just three specialist batsmen with previous Test experience in New Zealand – he made 152 in last year’s Boxing Day Test in Christchurch.

Kithuruwan Vithanage finds himself reinstated to the top order after an impressive A tour in Christchurch in October, while 20-year-old Kusal Mendis, who has one Test and only 11 first-class games on his resume, retains his place despite twin failures in Queenstown.
Milinda Siriwardana, who is just two Tests into his career, rounds out the capable batsmen and will also offer a second spin bowling option behind Rangana Herath who is likely to be confined to a containment role until the pitch wears.
In contrast to Mathews, McCullum has few concerns – Cairns is apparently not among them – as the Black Caps seek to build on the momentum they built in Australia after being outplayed in Brisbane.
Other than Martin Guptill’s continuing under-performance at Test level the Black Caps appear set to bounce back from the 2-0 series loss across the Tasman.

Spinner Mark Craig also struggled but could retain his place subject to a final pitch appraisal before the toss. He has been bracketed with left arm quick Neil Wagner.
Although the pitch presented seam-friendly on Wednesday McCullum realized prolonged sunlight could take some sting out of the surface.
“You’ve got to make sure the team is not picked for the first day, you’re picking for the full five days,” said McCullum, before offering both options hope.
“Neil Wagner’s a guy who’s going to bowl long spells so it allows you to rotate your seamers in shorter spells for a little bit more high impact.”
And then the rider: “If it [the wicket] does dry out [before the toss] and if we think it’s going to dry out later in the game then Mark Craig certainly comes into play.”
The Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand will be shown live on Channel Eye as well as on satellite channel Dialog Now from 3 AM (Dec 10). (Agencies)