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ScorecardKumar Sangakkara sustained Surrey until he misjudged a ramp shot•Getty Images

Steven Finn hit a dramatic winning boundary off Ravi Rampaul to earn Middlesex a nerve-shredding one-wicket victory in the NatWest T20 Blast against Surrey before a near sell-out 27,205 London derby crowd at a floodlit Lord’s.A sudden Middlesex collapse left Middlesex needing nine runs from the last three overs but with three wickets still intact. Then Jade Dernbach had Nathan Sowter caught at cover and John Simpson, trying to turn Ravi Rampaul to leg, was caught for 7 off a leading edge. From 133 for 3, chasing 159, Middlesex had staggered to 153 for 9.That left last man Finn coming in to join Tom Helm with six still required. He survived a close lbw appeal from Rampaul before the next ball, also angled into his pads, flew away for four leg byes. Rampaul’s next ball, the fourth of the 19th over, was an attempted slower ball and Finn clipped the resulting full toss to the midwicket ropes amid wild scenes.Surrey captain Gareth Batty had earlier taken 4 for 14 with his off spin, including a double-wicket maiden in the 16th over when he dismissed both Eoin Morgan and Tim Southee, to set in motion the collapse which produced such a thrilling finish on a two-paced pitch.

That Middlesex wobble

133-4 Morgan 15.2
133-5 Southee 15.3
143-6 Higgins 16.3
150-7 Franklin 16.6
153-8 Sowter 17.6
153-9 Simpson 18.1

Only Kumar Sangakkara, with 70 from 42 balls, took the attack to Middlesex’s bowlers for anything other than a brief cameo and Surrey’s eventual 158 for 9 never looked enough.Dawid Malan and Paul Stirling began the chase well, the left-handed Malan hitting two fours in the first over from Dernbach and the stocky Stirling plundering two fours and a remarkable swatted six over wide third man from Sam Curran’s opening over.At 37, and after Malan had driven Rampaul’s first ball high for four, Stirling fell for 23 in that same fourth over as he mishit to mid off. Malan, however, twice swung Rampaul for huge legside sixes in a sixth over which ended with Middlesex well ahead of the required rate at 64 for one.Middlesex T20 captain Brendon McCullum made only 9 before slugging Batty’s second ball high to long on, where 39-year-old Sangakkara took a good tumbling catch to his right, and Surrey’s hopes rose when Malan chipped a low catch to Ollie Pope at extra cover from a ball which seemed to grip the surface.Malan made 41 from 26 balls, and his early aggression allowed Morgan and Franklin time to steady Middlesex’s reply, which they did with a judicious mixture of easy singles and the odd more adventurous stroke in a fourth wicket stand of 53 in six overs.

Captains’ views

Brendon McCullum (Middlesex):
“It was a brilliant game of cricket, and both sides contributed to the spectacle. We want to play an aggressive brand of cricket, and you have to be true to that whatever happens. We sent in Tim Southee to take on Gareth Batty’s off spin and it didn’t come off. So be it.
“But if we get to the final stages of this competition then we want to be comfortable with the way we are playing T20 and, when the pressure is on, we need to be able to cope with that. Thankfully, Finny got us over the line in the end and 27,000 people have been hugely entertained.
Gareth Batty (Surrey):
“I thought we might have pulled it out of the bag after not being at our best for most of the game. But it was not to be and Finny got them home.
“That lbw decision at the end against Finn? It was a close one, but the decision was made and we got on with it. Finny was good enough to get the runs needed after that, so fair play to him.”

That looked to be guiding Middlesex to a comfortable victory, but then Batty returned to have Morgan caught at point for 31, with Southee slogging the next ball into the hands of long off.Ryan Higgins drove his first ball for four, off Tom Curran, and then pulled his next for six. The next, however, was edged behind as Higgins went for 10 and the slide continued when Franklin was bowled later in Curran’s over for 23. Then came the fall of both Sowter and Simpson, and Finn’s late heroics.It was Surrey’s first defeat in the south group, after winning their first two games, while Middlesex added another two points to the one they gained for a thrilling tie against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham last Friday.The match began with Finn’s opening over, the second of the innings, being taken for 17 runs as Aaron Finch followed two legside fours with a pulled six into the Mound Stand. With Finch already having collected a five in the opening over, a direct hit run out attempt by Higgins deflecting off the bowlers’ stumps and racing away for four overthrows, Surrey were off to a flyer.The Lord’s crowd was just 800 below England’s domestic T20 record•Getty Images

Southee tried to stem the early flow of runs, producing a beauty to have Dom Sibley caught behind for 5 in his second over with the new ball, and when Helm replaced him at the Nursery End he bowled Finch for 22 through an attempted heave at his first delivery.Helm’s opening over only cost a single but Sangakkara increased the tempo again by lofting the unhappy Finn high over the covers for six and then taking a couple of steps down the pitch to swing Helm magnificently over long on for another maximum.Sowter’s introduction for the eighth over saw the Australian-born leg-spinner knock back Ben Foakes’ off stump with his first ball, the England Lions wicketkeeper-batsman only briefly firing with 13, but teenager Pope – who also made 13 – then added 23 with Sangakkara before he was bamboozled and bowled by a slower ball from the returning Southee.The Curran brothers did not last long, Stirling’s off spin accounting for them both. Sam was bowled for 5, back when he should have been forward, and Tom was also bowled, for 4, when he tried to force square a ball which seemed to creep through a little low to hit his off stump halfway up.Sangakkara, though, hit Franklin’s left-arm seam high over extra cover for six and also drove and swung fours off the same bowler in a 16th over costing 18. When Finn returned for the 19th over, however, nursing figures of 0 for 40 from his first three overs, the great Sri Lankan left-hander diverted a low full toss into his own stumps as he tried an unconventional flick to leg from outside his off stump.That success also allowed Finn to concede just two singles from his final over and, with Helm also bowling tightly in a 20th over in which Batty hit him straight to extra cover and Rampaul picked out deep square leg to go for ducks, the Surrey innings ended with something of a whimper.Surrey were missing opener Jason Roy, because of a shoulder injury, while Kevin Pietersen is not scheduled to make his T20 Blast comeback until next Wednesday, in the home match against Essex.

West Indies T20 squad

Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Samuel Badree, Ronsford Beaton, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton (wk), Kesrick Williams
In: Chris Gayle
Out: Lendl Simmons

West Indies have recalled Chris Gayle to their 13-man squad for the one-off T20I against India. The match is set to take place in Gayle’s home ground of Sabina Park in Jamaica. Gayle came in at the expense of Lendl Simmons, who scored 6, 17* and 15 in the series against Afghanistan, West Indies’ last T20 assignment. Jason Holder, the Test and ODI captain, who did not feature in that series, has been rested again.Gayle last turned out in West Indies colours in the 2016 World T20 final against England at Eden Gardens. He is West Indies’ highest scorer in the shortest format with 1519 runs at 35.32, including two centuries and a strike rate of 145.49. He has never played a T20I at Sabina Park.”We welcome Chris back to the T20 squad. He is the most prolific batsman in this format and will add value to our team at the top of the order,” Courtney Browne, Cricket West Indies’ chairman of selectors, said. “He will get the chance to play on his home ground and against a top-quality Indian team.”West Indies are currently engaged in a five-match ODI series that India are leading 2-1. They will chase a series-levelling win in the fifth and final match in Jamaica before the two teams clash in the one-off T20I on Sunday.

David Warner admits the incident in which he punched Joe Root in a Birmingham bar four years ago was “pivotal” to his development as a cricketer and a man.Warner, the Australia vice-captain, was fined and suspended after the incident during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, following England’s defeat of Australia. But now, four years to the day since the event and back in Birmingham to play England in a must-win Champions Trophy fixture on Saturday, he reflected on the episode as a key learning experience in a career that has risen to new levels in recent times.”It was a learning curve for myself,” Warner said. “I was young and now I’m old. I’ve two kids and I’m married. There’s a lot of settling down there.”It definitely was [pivotal] to me becoming the person I am today; not just the cricketer. We all go through periods when we’re young and naïve. It’s not about stuffing up and moving on, it’s about learning the ropes of being away on tour for such a long period of time. There are things you have to think about as a youngster: what you can or can’t I do.”I probably didn’t work that out at that stage. But now I have and I have a great balance on and off the field.”A fan’s t-shirt references the David Warner-Joe Root incident from 2013•Getty Images

There’s little disputing that Warner is a more consistent player. As well as being rated No. 2 in the ODI batting rankings – he recentlybecame the third-fastest man in history to 4000 ODI runs – Warner finished the recent IPL season as the top run-scorer and is placed at No. 7 in the ICC’s Test batting rankings. Such is his growing maturity, he has been promoted to vice-captain of the Australia side, been a eloquent critic of Cricket Australia’s plans to abandon the revenue-sharing model and earned the nickname ‘Rev’ – short for The Reverend David Warner – by colleagues who have marvelled at his change in behaviour since he gave up alcohol a couple of years ago. He used to be nicknamed ‘Bull’ for pretty obvious reasons.”The bull can still come out here and there,” he admitted. “It just depends on what day you get me. Most of the time, I’m probably the reverend – as they say – but look, it’s about winning games for Australia and being the best person I can around the team and around people outside cricket.”While Warner said he would be happy to revisit the Walkabout bar where the incident happened and shake Root’s hand, he did hint that he felt his side of the incident wasn’t fully recognised. There was a suggestion at the time that Warner felt Root, who was playing with a wig, was mocking South Africa’s Muslim batsman Hashim Amla. It is a suggestion strongly denied by Root and his colleagues, who insist Root was making fun of himself, his infamously youthful complexion and his inability to grow facial hair.”People didn’t look too far or deep into it to see who was in the right or wrong,” Warner said. “But that’s all gone, it’s in the past and we can tell a happily ever after story at the end of my career.”If they [at Walkabout] give me a couple of free drinks, some diet cokes, and the rest of the boys they can shout them a table. And if I see Joe I’ll give him a handshake.”

The ECB has confirmed that Jason Roy will cut short his IPL stint with Gujarat Lions, and will instead turn out for Surrey in two Royal London One-Day Cup fixtures later this month, following the completion of this week’s ODI series against Ireland.Roy, who was picked up by Gujarat in the second round of bidding at the IPL auction in February, had originally been expected to return to India to complete his stint with the franchise following the completion of the second ODI at Lord’s on Sunday.However, he has played a peripheral role for Gujarat in his maiden IPL stint, with just three outings and a top-score of 31 from 21 balls to date, and having indicated last month that an early return to county cricket was on the cards, he has now been released by the ECB to play in two RLODC matches against Essex on May 12 and Hampshire on May 14.Roy’s presence in Surrey’s ranks will be a significant boost to the club’s hopes of qualifying for the competition’s knockouts, following a stunning defeat in their opening fixture at Taunton last week, in which Roelof van der Merwe’s unbeaten century rescued Somerset from a scoreline of 22 for 5.The majority of England’s 14-man squad will be made available to their counties after the Ireland series, as the selectors look to squeeze as much white-ball practice into their players ahead of the Champions Trophy which gets underway on June 1.Durham’s Mark Wood is due to face Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales, Stuart Broad and Jake Ball in the televised match at Trent Bridge next Wednesday, while Moeen Ali is in line to face his former club Warwickshire in the midlands derby at New Road on May 12.Yorkshire Vikings will have Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Adil Rashid available for Wednesday’s home game against Durham, although the England seamers from both counties – Liam Plunkett, David Willey and Wood – have been advised to rest ahead of England’s first match against Ireland in Bristol on Friday.Further afield, England’s Test specialists – Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson, Alastair Cook, Haseeb Hameed, Keaton Jennings and Gary Balance – will be available for the majority of matches in the next block of County Championship fixtures up until the end of June, which will include a round of floodlit pink-ball matches that will be used as practice for the day-night Test again West Indies at Edgbaston on August 17-21.”This was always going to be a difficult summer in terms of managing the workload on our England players,” Andrew Strauss, the director, England cricket, said, “with such a hectic schedule including the Champions Trophy as well as seven Tests, followed by an equally busy winter in Australia and New Zealand.”All these decisions are taken after consultation with the players, and I know they will be pleased to have the opportunity to play in some important Royal London One-Day Cup matches next week, and then in the Specsavers County Championship later in May and June.”

Faf du Plessis was fed a spoonful of his own medicine when he fell to a superb catch – the likes of which he would have been proud of taking himself – by Tom Latham.Du Plessis had premeditated a paddle sweep against Mitchell Santner, who held his length back a touch. The South African captain could not get to the pitch of the ball, and instead of playing it along the ground, lobbed it to the right of Latham at short leg. Almost all short-leg catchers begin to take evasive action when a batsman shapes up like du Plessis did, but Latham moved to his right instead and snatched it one-handed.”It was a good catch, good athleticism, and reading the game really well,” Neil McKenzie, South Africa’s batting coach said after the second day’s play. “That’s one of Faf’s go-to shots, and if you get out in your game plan, or with a shot that you play that gives you a lot of runs, you’ve got to pack up and wait for the next innings. Latham took some good catches, and it looked like it sparked something and he batted beautifully in the late evening. We’d like to see him get 40 and out.”Later on in South Africa’s innings, Latham took a low catch with both hands at second slip to dismiss Vernon Philander. And after the visitors were all out, Latham made his highest score of the series, not out on 42 at stumps. After struggling in the first two Tests – 24 runs in three innings and dropped chances in Dunedin and Wellington – Latham has regained confidence, and it is showing.”Tom has worked really hard. He had quite a few sessions working on some specific things and got some confidence even with his fielding,” Shane Jurgensen, New Zealand’s bowling coach said. “His slip catching was excellent. He was aggressive and vocal, and I think he took that into his batting today. Those things are important in international cricket. He’s walked into the dressing room tonight after a great partnership and there was a lot of support for him.”

ScorecardVirat Singh delivered East Zone the title with his unbeaten 58•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Virat Singh and Ishank Jaggi zoomed to half-centuries as East Zone chased down 150 in just 13.4 overs against West Zone to clinch an eight-wicket win and the 2016-17 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Inter Zonal title. East Zone ended their tournament with a spotless record, winning all four of their matches to finish with 16 points, four ahead of second-placed Central Zone.The duo’s efforts came after right-arm pacer Pritam Das snared 2 for 25 to restrict West Zone to 149 for 5 after they were asked to bat at the Wankhede Stadium.Jaggi walked out with East Zone having made a blistering start to the chase through an opening stand of 61 in just 5.2 overs. Shardul Thakur ended the burst when he had Karthik caught behind for a 14-ball 24. Virat and Jaggi then slammed 80 runs off just 44 balls to shut the doors on a West Zone fightback. Jaggi took over as the dominant partner, scoring 56 of them himself, off 30 balls and with the help of three fours and six sixes.Thakur returned to take out Jaggi in the 13th over, but East Zone were only nine short of the target. They required only six more balls to close out the game, with captain Manoj Tiwary hitting two quick boundaries, while Virat stayed not out on 58 off 34 balls, having struck five fours and three sixes.Thakur took two wickets, but was expensive, giving away 31 runs in three overs, as were all of West Zone’s six remaining bowlers, who ended wicketless.When West Zone batted, Sheldon Jackson tried to hold the innings together with a half-century, but West Zone lost frequent wickets and made slow progress. Deppak Hooda helped Jackson add 40 for the third wicket to lift them from 36 for 2, but their stand came at only a run a ball. When Jackson fell at the start of the 15th over, caught off the left-arm spin of Pragyan Ojha, West Zone only had 92 on the board. That they got to 149 was down to Rujul Bhatt, who struck an unbeaten 36 off 20 balls.East Zone’s bowlers shared the wickets around, with Pritam Das returning 2 for 25, while Suryakant Pradhan, Sayan Ghosh and Ojha took a wicket apiece.
ScorecardFile photo – Harpreet Singh’s 92 made the difference for Central Zone in a tense chase•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the second match of the day, Central Zone scraped through by two wickets in a high-scoring clash against South Zone.After being inserted, South Zone rode on solid contributions from their middle order to post 181 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. Harpreet Singh led Central Zone’s reply with a career-best 92 off 51 balls that included 10 fours and four sixes.After Vishnu Vinod set the tone for South Zone’s innings with a 15-ball 31 at the top, the trio of Dinesh Karthik (35), captain Vijay Shankar (40) and Pavan Deshpande (33 not out) formed the bulwark of the innings. Their efforts ensured South Zone finished with a strong total in spite of late strikes.Ankit Rajpoot, Aniket Choudhary and Karn Sharma took two wickets each, although Rajpoot was the most economical, giving away just 28 in four overs.Central Zone lost Naman Ojha in the second ball of the chase, before Harpreet and Amandeep Khare steadied them with a 67-run second-wicket stand. Following Khare’s dismissal for 39, the onus fell on Harpreet as none of the other batsmen made an impression. Harpreet nearly saw the team through, and though he fell at the start of the final over, Amit Mishra and Rajpoot fought nerves to knock off the remaining four runs.South Zone used six bowlers, all of whom were among the wickets, but Rahil Shah and Swaroop Kumar impressed the most with returns of 2 for 20 and 1 for 20 respectively.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has been ruled out of the Test series against Bangladesh as the hamstring injury that has ailed him since January 22 continues to pose problems. Sri Lanka’s selectors are expected to name the Test squad on Tuesday, and with it, the replacement captain.This will be the second Test series Mathews has missed over a six-month span, with multiple leg injuries also having prevented him from touring Zimbabwe in October and November. He had played a substantial amount of cricket in the two years leading up to this period, representing Sri Lanka in all three formats, as well as leading the team in the 2015 World Cup, in last year’s World T20, and in Tests.Rangana Herath had filled in as captain during the Zimbabwe Test series, and it is possible he will be picked for the role again. However, regular vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal – who had also missed the Zimbabwe tour through injury – may also be considered for the captaincy in this series. Upul Tharanga, who led Sri Lanka in the recent ODIs against South Africa and the T20s in Australia, represents a third option. Neither Chandimal or Tharanga have previously led Sri Lanka in a Test.The first Test starts in Galle from March 7, before the action moves to the P Sara Oval, from March 15.A Sri Lanka Cricket release said Mathews was “likely” to be available for the ODI and T20 series that follow the Tests.

Ireland have selected a full-strength squad for their Intercontinental Cup fixture with Afghanistan in March, with legspinner Jacob Mulder in line for a first-class debut. Ed Joyce, Niall O’Brien and Tim Murtagh are also included, having missed the Desert T20 – where Ireland lost to Afghanistan in the final – earlier this month.Ireland are currently top of the Intercontinental Cup table with four wins from four, leading Afghanistan by 19 points. The Intercontinental Cup is expected to provide a pathway into Test cricket, with the winner facing a play-off with the lowest-ranked Test nation in 2018.Ahead of the four-day match, Ireland and Afghanistan will play three T20s and five ODIs; all of the fixtures will take place in Greater Noida, India. Two ODIs have also been arranged against UAE on March 2 and 4 as part of Ireland’s training camp.”It’s great to have such a wealth of experience to choose from,” Ireland’s head coach, John Bracewell, said. “We had a full squad available which hasn’t been the case with injuries in recent times but it’s great to have everyone back with such a busy programme in March.”While we haven’t been at our best in limited-overs cricket in recent times we have a great record in the Intercontinental Cup where we’ve won all our four games taking full points.”The players are all fully focused on winning the competition for a fifth time, especially with the chance of playing Test cricket on offer. Ed Joyce has been in supreme form in the tournament with two double hundreds and he clearly looks like a man on a mission.”Young Jacob Mulder was the stand-out bowler in the T20 and the selectors felt he deserved his opportunity in the longer format. With the conditions in India likely to be spin-friendly his legspin gives us added variety which could be so important.”Boyd Rankin will be rested for the matches in the UAE, but will join up with Ireland during the 10-day training camp to prepare for the Afghanistan games.Australia-born batsman Nick Larkin, who played twice for Ireland in 2014, has however ruled himself out of involvement for the time being.”After a lengthy period of discussion between Cricket Ireland and Nick Larkin, the player has finally clarified that his focus right now is on advancing his career with the NSW Blues in Australia,” Cricket Ireland’s performance director, Richard Holdsworth, said. “He is contracted there until 2018 and is not therefore available for Ireland during that period.”Ireland Intercontinental Cup squad: William Porterfield, John Anderson, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Jacob Mulder, Tim Murtagh, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson, Craig YoungIreland ODI squad v UAE: William Porterfield, Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Jacob Mulder, Tim Murtagh, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig YoungIreland ODI squad v Afghanistan: William Porterfield, Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Jacob Mulder, Tim Murtagh, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.T20I squad v Afghanistan: William Porterfield, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Jacob Mulder, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Greg Thompson, Stuart Thompson, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.

At the Gabba five years ago, Mitchell Starc and Mickey Arthur made their Australia Test debuts together: Starc as a player, Arthur as coach. A new era was beginning. The Argus review was complete, the fiasco of the 2010-11 Ashes was in the past. That year’s Gabba Test also marked David Warner’s debut, Nathan Lyon’s first home Test, and Michael Clarke’s first home Test as full-time captain.Now, Arthur is back at the Gabba as coach – but not of Australia; his tenure famously ended on the eve of the 2013 Ashes in England with a surprise sacking and the installation of Darren Lehmann as his replacement. And so, just as Starc, Warner, Lyon and Usman Khawaja entered the Brisbane Test of 2011 with Arthur their mentor, now they approach the Gabba with Arthur in charge of their opposition: Pakistan.It is not a unique situation in international cricket and not even for Arthur, who had coached South Africa and then in 2012-13 coached Australia against them. Starc remembered Arthur as “a nice guy”, but said the Australians had moved on from his tenure, and described the group as “a lot closer” under Lehmann.”He has been a coach of an Australian cricket team, he spent some time in domestic cricket in Australia, he’ll have a bit of knowledge around the Gabba and some of our players,” Starc said of Arthur. “But our team has changed immensely since he has been put out of the job… we’re a lot closer.”Boof’s [Lehmann] obviously brought his own coaching theories and concepts into the group, so the group has obviously changed personnel-wise as well. We’ve developed massively as a squad since the time of Mickey Arthur, and I think all for the better.”Starc’s own Test career has taken off since Lehmann joined the squad. Under Arthur, Starc was in and out of the side and collected 30 wickets at 34.03. Under Lehmann, he has picked up 99 wickets at 25.73 and become one of the most effective bowlers in world cricket. This is not to suggest a correlation, for Starc was young and still developing his game during Arthur’s reign, but Starc said there were clear differences between the two coaches.”One probably rode the game a little bit more and I think at times found it hard to watch,” Starc said. “Whereas Boof instils a lot of confidence in you, he has got that laid back old-school attitude but doesn’t sugar coat anything. I think that’s what this young group needs as well, with some hard truths sometimes.”Obviously over the last couple of months we haven’t played our best cricket but having a nice win in Adelaide and a good amount of cricket in the last 10 days to win that series against New Zealand pretty solidly. So I think we’ve got a bit of momentum behind us and Boof has been great to contribute to that.”Pakistan enter this series ranked fourth in Test cricket while Australia are third, but notably both sides have spent time at No. 1 this year. Australia are searching for their first series win since the tour of New Zealand in February, having lost away to Sri Lanka and at home to South Africa, while Pakistan are coming off a series defeat in New Zealand.”They’ve played some really good cricket over the last year-and-a-half to fight to the top of the world rankings in the last couple of months,” Starc said of Pakistan. “They’ve struggled in New Zealand and probably struggle a little more away from home – they’re really comfortable in the UAE.”So it’s a good opportunity for us in this Test match in Brisbane to assert our dominance first up, make an impression in the first Test of the series, which we all know goes a long way to working out the final result.”

ScorecardSteve O’Keefe picked up his eighth first-class five-wicket haul•AFP

Steve O’Keefe has bounced back from a tough few months by claiming five wickets as New South Wales dismissed Western Australia for 216 on the first day of their Sheffield Shield clash at the SCG. It was O’Keefe’s first match in any format since the Pallekele Test against Sri Lanka in July, during which he suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the rest of the tour.After returning home from that trip, O’Keefe was fined $10,000 by Cricket Australia for a drunken incident at a Sydney hotel, after which he said he would stay off alcohol for the whole Australian summer. However, a finger injury ruled him out of the Matador Cup and the opening Sheffield Shield round last week.His 5 for 65 was the perfect comeback, and he was ably supported by fellow spinner William Somerville, who collected 4 for 61 after Western Australia won the toss and chose to bat. The Warriors had wobbled to 6 for 99 before a 90-run stand between Hilton Cartwright (59) and Ashton Turner (81) rescued the innings.In reply, New South Wales had reached 1 for 24 at stumps, with Daniel Hughes on 16 and Kurtis Patterson on 1. Opener Ed Cowan had fallen to the spin of Ashton Agar for 7.