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If you look at the track record of India’s national selection committee over the last few months, it is next to impossible to pick a trend and predict who they will plump for on Tuesday when they pick the team for the Twenty20 World Championship to be played in South Africa in September. Will they pick a squad on policy – youth over experience, Improvisers over orthodox players – or will they stick with the tried and tested players who have performed in Tests and one-dayers?The biggest headache, dealing with massively experienced big stars who have made names for themselves in longer versions of the game but are untried in, and perhaps unsuited to, Twenty20 cricket, has thankfully been taken out of their hands. When Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly ruled themselves out of the long list of 30 probables, they gave Dilip Vengsarkar and his four colleagues a golden chance.On Tuesday we will know how, if at all, this chance has been taken. There are growing signs that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Twenty20 squad, having settled into the vice-captaincy of the team in longer versions of the game. He would be a natural choice for successor.The strongest indicator of the clarity of the selectors’ thinking will come when they decide on Virender Sehwag. He was left out of the Test team to tour England on the back of poor performances in limited-overs cricket, despite having an above average time in Tests. Now, when it comes to picking a team for a version of the game closer to ODIs, where Sehwag’s record has been far from flash, what will they do? Since being dropped from the national side Sehwag has struggled elsewhere, not making a mark in some matches in America, and failing to hit it off in the KSCA invitational tournament in Bangalore, where he is currently representing ONGC.If you look at it logically – and that is not something you can consistently accuse the national selectors of – then Sehwag’s place in the Twenty20 squad may be in doubt. Having said that, there is no sense in proving a point merely for the sake of consistency, and Sehwag should find a place in the squad merely for the brand of cricket he plays.What is not in any doubt, however, is the case of Irfan Pathan. His struggles have continued on India A’s tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya, a level of opposition against whom you would expect him to get wickets by the bagful. But even there he is being overshadowed by lesser lights, such as Tamil Nadu’s Yo Mahesh.Another potential stumbling block is the case of Harbhajan Singh but he has been among the wickets in county cricket in England, and should find a place in at least the Twenty20 squad, if not also the ODI squad.

One of the difficulties India’s selectors face is that they cannot possibly watch all the domestic cricket that happens before picking a team. In the case of the Twenty20, they cannot even proffer that excuse for they did watch the domestic Twenty20 tournament in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. There, they would have seen the clean hitting of S Anirudha, and the all-round showing of Karan Goel. They would have Niraj Patel’s ability to play the percentages and finish games, and Yusuf Pathan’s brand of utility cricket. But will they remember any of this, and pick a squad full of fresh, out-of-the box selections, or will they just run with the usual suspects, some of whom may not even be keen on this form of the game?The selectors, who will meet via a teleconference as Vengsarkar is in England while his four counterparts are in India, have a simpler task when it comes to picking the squad for the seven ODIs against England and the one-off ODI against Scotland in Scotland. The return of the Test specialists – Wasim Jaffer, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, Ranadeb Bose – automatically frees up space for the inclusion of Ajit Agarkar, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. Piyush Chawla was a revelation during the ODIs against Bangladesh, took 3 for 47 against South Africa in Ireland and has continued to pick up wickets for India A. Gautam Gambhir, who is in England but has not got an international game, made a century in the last ODI against Bangladesh and followed it up with an 80 against Ireland. Both will consider themselves desperately unlucky if they fail to make the cut.Once again, though, the selectors will have to jog their memories a bit. For it has been more than a month since India last played an ODI, and the victory in the second Test at Trent Bridge, and the possibility of a Test series win, should not cloud their judgment when they pick the team for the forthcoming ODIs.Twenty20 probablesVirender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Sreesanth, Manoj Tiwary, Ajit Agarkar, Karan Goel, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rajesh Pawar, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Joginder Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Munaf Patel, Niranjan Behara, Praveen Kumar, Anirudha Srikkanth, Ramesh Powar, Robin Uthappa, Niraj Patel.

The county game continues to be tinkered with as the ECB have agreed to reduce the number of overseas players back to one per county from 2008.During a consultation process led by the ECB deputy chief executive, Hugh Morris, it became clear that an overwhelming number of counties supported the reduction from two to one overseas player.Counties reported that it has become increasingly difficult to attract a second overseas player for a full season, overseas boards were recalling players at more frequent intervals and that counties wished to provide more opportunities for talented players qualified for England.The view of the chairmen along with the opinions from the chief executives, cricket directors and the PCA was discussed by the ECB board at their meeting at Lord’s on Tuesday and the proposal for a reduction was passed unanimously.However, although from 2008 counties will be able to register just one overseas player, they will be able to replace that player should he be injured, called up for an overseas tour at short notice or be required to return home by his board.A maximum number of four overseas players could be registered in one season under the new proposals with a minimum three week registration period for each player.

Javed Miandad has lauded the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) intention to appoint paid selectors. The board decided, after a meeting of its ad-hoc committee last month, to treat selectors as full-time paid employees instead of appointing them, as is done currently, on an honorary basis.The former Pakistan captain told he backed the move. “It is a good concept. Nowadays cricket is an industry and you need full-time paid professionals to do certain jobs. The days of having honorary selectors are over.”Meanwhile, the selection committee, headed by chief selector Wasim Bari, met in Lahore to announce squads for the series against Australia `A’ and practice games for the England tour. Bari, along with other selectors like Iqbal Qasim and Ehteshamuddin, are paid employees of different organizations. This has led to concerns at the PCB that due to their professional constraints, they are unable to spend as much time scouring talent on the domestic circuit as they should.The grapevine has it that the composition of the committee might undergo change, but the PCB insist that, if possible, they would like to retain the current selectors and make them full-time employees of the board. However, Miandad also stressed it is equally important to invest selectors with more authority over choice of the final XI. Traditionally, the selectors pick a squad but the composition of the playing XI remains the prerogative of the team captain and coach.Miandad, himself a three-time coach of Pakistan, argued, “We need to follow the example of other countries doing well at present. We need to give the selectors the authority to select the playing teams — obviously with the feedback of the captain and the coach. But the final decision should be made by the selectors.” By letting selectors pick the final XI, Miandad contended that the coach and captain are left free to concentrate on getting the best out of each player on the field.In recent months, there have been murmurs both within the board and outside it that the coach and captain have too much authority over the playing XI and that a stronger selection committee was needed. Former players and journalists have criticized the selection committee’s role as superfluous, a charge that wasn’t helped by reports at the end of Pakistan’s tour to India that some senior PCB officials were unhappy at a perceived lack of gumption within the committee.

ScorecardKent took over from Lancashire at the top of the County Championship, after Mohammad Sami produced another withering spell of hostile fast bowling to seal a 145-run victory over Northampton at Wantage Road.After serving notice of his intent with 4 for 39 in the first innings, Sami followed up with the fine figures of 6 for 99 in 31 overs, to complete his second ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Northampton had resumed on 39 for 2 and never genuinely threatened to reach Kent’s challenging target of 410, despite a gutsy century from Martin van Jaarsveld.van Jaarsveld, who had reached the close on Friday on 18 not out, faced 296 balls for his 114, and was only prised from the crease when he stepped on his own wicket to give Min Patel the third of his three wickets.The dismissal came at an inopportune moment for Northants, however, as they had just lost Graeme Swann, lbw to Sami for a hard-hitting 41. Swann and van Jaarsveld had stemmed the tide with a 76-run stand for the sixth wicket, but their dismissals precipated a collapse of five wickets for 21 runs. Martin Saggers, who had taken the first of the twenty Northants wickets, wrapped up the proceedings by bowling Carl Greenidge for 4.

May 9 down the years1977
The day the world’s top cricketers turned pirate. That was the headline when the Australian TV magnate Kerry Packer’s plans for World Series Cricket were leaked. John Arlott called it “a circus”; EW Swanton ended his friendship with the England captain Tony Greig, Packer’s most significant signing and the man who persuaded a legion of stars to sign up, including Viv and Barry Richards and Dennis Lillee. In the end, World Series Cricket only went on for 17 months before Packer got his wish – the broadcast right for Test cricket in Australia – but the legacy lives on. Coloured clothing and floodlights revolutionised the game, and without Packer, one-day cricket as we know it today would not exist.1932
One of West Indies’ finest openers is born. Conrad Hunte was a fluid, silky batsman, especially off his legs – although he cut out many of the shots at the highest level -and got his Test career off to a storming start. He made 142 on his debut, against Pakistan in Barbados in 1957-58, and added two more hundreds in his next three Tests. That included a mighty 260 in Jamaica, when he and Garry Sobers added 446 and Sobers went on to make 365 not out. Hunte, a dignified and popular character, was crucial to West Indies’ success: he averaged 51 when they won, 27 when they lost. And to average over 45 throughout his career while opening the innings is impressive at the best of times; even more so given that Hunte had no regular opening partner. He later became an ICC match referee, and was knighted shortly before he died, of a heart attack while playing tennis, in Sydney in 1999.1959
A late bloomer is born. Andrew Jones’s unorthodox batsmanship was not seen in the Test arena until he had almost turned 28, when he made his New Zealand debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1986-87. Jones was a purist’s nightmare, but you can’t argue with an average of 44, particularly in a side that won only six of his 39 Tests. Jones loved a scrap, and was ruthless when set: five of his seven hundreds – all of which came in drawn Tests – were in excess of 140. That included his Test-best 186 against Sri Lanka at Wellington in 1990-91, when he and Martin Crowe added 467, at the time a Test record for any wicket.1934
Having started Australia’s tour of England with scores of 206 and 65, Don Bradman met his match when he was bowled for 0 – against Cambridge University. The bowler was offspinner Jack Davies, who went on to have a decent career with Kent and was later president of MCC. For such an unbelievably brilliant batsman, Bradman could be a nervous starter: every one in ten of his Test dismissals was for a duck. For bowlers, the problem was when he got in: Bradman scored an amazing 29 centuries in only 80 Test innings.1907
Birth of the man who led West Indies to their first series victory. Jackie Grant’s last series as a Test player was in 1934-35, when his side famously and surprisingly beat England 2-1 in the Caribbean. Grant, who studied at Cambridge University, was a gutsy batsman and a brilliant fielder. He made 53 and 71 (both not out) on his debut against Australia, at Adelaide in 1930-31, but managed only one other fifty after that. His brother Rolph also captained West Indies. Jackie died in Cambridge in 1978.1901
Birth of the Lancashire and England wicketkeeper George Duckworth, who played 24 Tests between 1924 and 1936. He was best known for his extremely vocal style of appealing, and his dexterous keeping. In an era when wicketkeepers were not expected to deliver with the bat, more often than not Duckworth came in at No. 11. He died in Warrington in 1966.1943
Fourteen Tests for the Jamaican Maurice Foster, who was born today, but West Indies won only one of them, at Lord’s in 1973. Foster was a dogged batsman who never really got going at Test level, though he did make his only Test century on his home ground, against Australia in 1972-73. His flat offspinners were successful at first-class level, less so in Tests, as a strike rate of a wicket every 197 balls testifies.1959
Birth of the man who bowled Sri Lanka’s first ball in Tests. With his brisk outswingers, Ashantha de Mel toiled manfully in his country’s early years, but it was a pretty thankless task: they won only two of the 17 matches he played in. He had a hand in both of those, though, with five wickets against India in Colombo in 1985-86 and six more against Pakistan the same season.Other birthdays1907 Tom Killick (England)
1960 Iain Butchart (Zimbabwe)
1971 Roydon Hayes (New Zealand)

No ‘Dazzler’ in the England squad for India?India might face a depleted England side come November if reportscirculating in the English media are to be believed. Darren ‘Dazzler’Gough and Alec Stewart are both said to be rather keen on staying athome during the Christmas season rather than slogging it out inEngland colours.Gough, who has not had a happy Ashes, does not want to toil on theunrewarding sub-continental pitches where a fast bowler like him, whorelies on movement off the pitch, will have to put with a lot ofdisappointment.For his part, Stewart, though he might not admit it, does not want togo anywhere near the country where Mukesh Gupta, the bookie who blewthe whistle on Mohammed Azharuddin, resides. Gupta had told India’sCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that he had paid Stewart moneyfor information during England’s 1993 tour of India. Though Gupta hassubsequently refused to speak, Stewart reportedly still does not wantto risk a face-to-face meeting with the CBI investigators.Meanwhile, there is increasing speculation that Michael Atherton, thatdogged English soldier who seems to have been around for as long asFather Time, will be doffing his English cap for the last time at theend of the current final Ashes Test at The Oval.* An early flight for SachinLittle master Sachin Tendulkar and his injured toe will be the mostimportant cargo on the 1.30 a.m. South African Airlines Mumbai -Johannesburg flight taking off on August 26. Once there, Tendulkarwill be consulting South African orthopaedic surgeon Mark Fergusson,who will advice him on the further course of treatment. Fergusson,remember, was the man who fixed Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble.* Bangladesh to see ‘More’ of Kiran and PrasThe legendary Indian off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna and former Indianstumper Kiran More will both be heading to nearby Bangladesh inDecember to impart expert advice to the budding Bangla tigers there.The two had previously been to Bangladesh in 2000 when the BangladeshCricket Board borrowed their expertise for a Specialised TrainingProgramme.

Match facts

August 6-10, 2015
Start time 11am local (1000GMT)

Big Picture

England thrust aside Australia in less than three days at Edgbaston to go 2-1 up in the Investec series, but for all that there is no widespread conviction that they are about to settle the job at Trent Bridge. Almost counter-intuitively, it is Australia who are more fancied to bounce back, which would be in keeping with a series of great unpredictability.England’s win in Birmingham came at a heavy cost – an injury to the leader of their attack James Anderson which prevents him from playing at a venue where he has taken 53 wickets in eight Tests at 19.24. Instead, he will be offering advice from the dressing room to an attack which will be led, on is home ground, by Stuart Broad. Much responsibility rests with Broad who will be playing only his fifth Test without Anderson in the side. The identity of his new-ball partner remains to be seen, with both Steven Finn and Mark Wood having different attributes.That presents Australia with an opportunity to find some batting form in a series when, their top three apart, they have batted dismally. Much focus is on Michael Clarke, who has been increasingly feisty in the build-up, but who has struggled against Stuart Broad, in particular, throughout the series. Alastair Cook, his opposiute number, has also had a lean time with the bat – but England are ahead in the series and so after two tough years he is judged to be on the verge of redemption.There remains the feeling that both sides are often on the brink of a batting collapse, although the depth of England’s order – with Moeen Ali at No. 8 – could yet be a deciding factor. Last year the Trent Bridge Test against India was a bore draw, and resulted in a ‘poor’ rating for the surface, but it would be no surprise if this encounter more mirrored what happened in 2013 when wickets fell steadily throughout. And while it would not be good for the nerves, either side would happily take another nail-biting win.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWLW
Australia LWLWW

In the spotlight

Shaun Marsh has a strong claim for an opportunity in an Australian batting line-up that has looked flimsy as soon as the second wicket has fallen. Perhaps only his inexperience in English conditions counted against him at the start of the series, but he has made hundreds in tour games against Kent and Derbyshire. Repelling a Test attack in swinging conditions at Trent Bridge would be a different challenge.Pitching an opening batsman into Test cricket in an Ashes series is a big ask and Adam Lyth has struggled in his first three Tests on home soil to justify England’s faith. He seems to have reverted to the chancy style outside off stump that was apparent in his early Yorkshire seasons. A result perhaps of a rise in quality or an over-eagerness to buy into England’s commitment to attacking cricket. A more methodical approach is needed.

Team news

Wood’s fitness record suggested from the outset that he is not designed for a world of back-to-back Tests, but his problematic ankle has come through training sessions successfully and, barring a last-minute deterioration, he will play. Liam Plunkett and the uncapped left-arm quick Mark Footitt are on standby.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Adam Lyth, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Steven FinnSuch has been the weakness of Australia’s middle order that a switch to six specialist batsmen, with Shaun Marsh replacing his brother Mitchell, is one option that could be considered. Alternatively, he could replace Adam Voges, enabling Western Australia’s brothers to team up in Tests for only the second time.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Chris Rogers, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon

Pitch and conditions

Alastair Cook has predicted “another Edgbaston” and if so it will continue the transformation from the attritional pitches of recent vintage. Trent Bridge dare not risk a boring surface, having been marked “poor” a year ago by the ICC for a slow, low surface for a Test against India in which only 29 wickets fell. The weather is also unsettled enough to fill both bowling attacks with optimism.

Stats and trivia

• Mitchell Johnson became the 12th player to achieve the Test double of 2000 runs and 300 wickets at Edgbaston and Stuart Broad, with 299 wickets to his name, is poised to join the list on his home ground.
• Only Anderson has bowled more deliveries than Broad in international cricket in this decade.
• The Marsh brothers – the sons of former Australia opener Geoff – have appeared in a combined total of 20 Tests, but they have only played together once – against India at Brisbane last December.
• Steven Smith needs 59 runs to reach 3,000 in Tests

Quotes

“The series has been slightly strange in the topsy-turvy nature of the results, but it has been brilliant to be part of it.”
Alastair Cook relishing the unpredictability of the Ashes series“I don’t think you can build it up too much, I think you’ve got to play your best. You want the excitement that comes with a grand final, but you also want the calmness and freedom to go out there and play like you play in any other Test match.”

Australia have called on Michael Hussey as a coaching consultant for the World Twenty20 next year and have also enlisted former India ODI player Sridharan Sriram to help them prepare for the conditions in India. The World T20 is the one major piece of silverware Australia are yet to win and given the spinning conditions in India, breaking through in the 2016 tournament would be a major challenge.Adding to their concerns ahead of the tournament the No.7-ranked T20 bowler in the world, Mitchell Starc, is almost certain to be unavailable due to his recovery from ankle surgery. Twenty20 has very much taken a back seat for Australia this year, with the World Cup having been their key 2015 focus. Remarkably, Australia have played only one T20 in 2015.That will change in the new year with Australia to host India for three T20s in late January, before they travel to South Africa for three more T20s in early March, ahead of the World T20. Hussey will join the squad in India for the first two weeks of the tournament; Australia’s first match is against New Zealand in Dharamsala on March 18.”Mike has been one of our most successful players at transitioning between the different formats and his advice and support in this area will be of great benefit to the players who have played a large amount of Test and ODI cricket in the last 12 months,” Pat Howard, the Cricket Australia executive general manager team performance, said.”He also has significant experience playing in India through the Indian Premier League and will assist in adapting to the unique conditions we will experience.”Hussey said he was excited about the opportunity to work with Australia, having retired as an international player in 2012-13. “As a proud Australian cricketer I am delighted to be involved in Australia’s campaign for the World T20 title,” Hussey said. “I’m really looking forward to working with the boys and assisting in any way possible with their preparation and match day plans.”Sriram, an allrounder who played eight ODIs for India from 2000 to 2004, will work with the Australians in South Africa to help them prepare for what they will face in the Indian conditions. Australia announced in September that Sriram would join them as a coaching consultant for their Test series in Bangladesh, but that tour was ultimately cancelled for security reasons.”We will play three T20 internationals against South Africa prior to arriving in India and Sriram’s focus will be on getting the players as prepared as possible for what they will face in India,” Howard said.”Sriram was a consultant coach with the Australia A side when they travelled to India earlier this year and was due to go to Bangladesh as a consultant prior to the tour being postponed. He has also been working with our National Performance Squad for the past few years.”

Kevin Pietersen has again called for more time off for England’s players as he squeezes in a short break ahead of the India series. He says his poor form during the one-day series against West Indies, 42 runs in three innings, was down to him becoming increasingly tired during the season.He began the summer with a bang, hitting a career-best 226 at Headingley after a century at Lord’s, but his form has slowly tailed off since. His packed schedule led to the ECB chartering a helicopter to fly him straight from the final Test at Chester-le-Street to The Rose Bowl for Hampshire’s Friends Provident quarter-final against Warwickshire.”I’m mentally fatigued – really, really tired. It was a long winter of Champions Trophy, then the Ashes, then the World Cup,” he said. “I rattled into the West Indies series but got progressively worse, more and more tired.”That’s why I have to make the most of these little windows of opportunity for a proper rest. So we’re going out of this country, I’m going to turn my mobile off and enjoy waking up knowing I don’t have to play cricket or do a gym session.”Pietersen had a four-week break during the CB Series after breaking his rib, but won’t have another sustained period away from cricket until mid-October. Three days after England’s final ODI against India the Twenty20 World Championships start in South Africa, from where England fly straight to Sri Lanka for a five-match one-day series.Then there is a month’s break before England return to Sri Lanka for a three-Test series before, following a rare Christmas at home, leaving for New Zealand in late January to play two Twenty20 Internationals, five ODIs and three Tests.

Division One

David Hussey continued his fine form this season with a superb 150, his second successive hundred in Championship matches, as Nottinghamshire amassed 397 in just 98 overs on the first day against Lancashire at Nottingham. The visitors had Notts in all sorts of trouble at 107 for 5 with Dominic Cork and Tom Smith cutting through the top order. Hussey refused to be dictated to and smashed 150 in 177 balls with 22 fours and a six. He was indebted to Mark Ealham (83) who stuck with him for three hours, and together the pair put on 226 for the sixth wicket to hand the momentum back to Nottinghamshire.A superb spell of 6 for 65 from Dimitri Mascarenhas blew away Yorkshire for 195 on the first day against Hampshire at Southampton. Craig White, the Yorkshire captain, was the first to go when Chris Tremlett snuck one through his defence; thereafter it was the Mascarenhas massacre. From 105 for 3 Yorkshire fell to 138 for 7, all wickets falling to Mascarenhas. And though Jason Gillespie played a cheeky cameo, Tremlett mopped up the tail. Gillespie removed James Adams for 29 in Hampshire’s reply, but Michael Carberry (81 not out) led a confident response by the home side, who now trail by just 64 runs.Middlesex were put to the sword by Dale Benkenstein and Gareth Breese, both of whom struck solid hundreds for Durham, on the first day at Lord’s. Jimmy Maher (46) and Gordon Muchall, who spanked a quick-fire 68, put on 104 for the second wicket but Middlesex fought back, leaving Durham wobbling on 131 for 4. Benkenstein and Breese then took over with great authority, putting on 222 for the fifth wicket. Despite Benkenstein (125) falling with Durham on double Nelson, the visitors took the first day’s honours, going to stumps on 379 for 6.

Division Two

On a brisk-scoring opening day at the picturesque ground of Queen’s Park, Derbyshire romped to 351 all out against Worcestershire. After losing two early wickets, Chris Taylor fought back with a quick 40 but it was left to Ant Botha at No.6 to really stabilise Derbyshire’s innings with a fine 87. But after demolishing Gloucestershire last week, Matt Mason was again in fine form for Worcestershire, never letting Derbyshire get away. He ended with the superb figures of 5 for 49.Two magnificent hundreds from Michael Powell and David Hemp put Glamorgan well on top against Gloucestershire on the first day at Cheltenham. Brendon McCullum, playing his last game for Gloucestershire, retired after seven balls when he was hit on the hand by Steve Kirby, which effectively left Glamorgan 27 for 2. But with an attack missing their captain and most accurate bowler, Jon Lewis, Gloucestershire struggled all day as Mike Powell (176 not out) belted the bowling to all parts. It was his third hundred in ten days, and he also passed the milestone of 1000 runs in the season. Hemp fell in the second over after tea, but Glamorgan were handily placed at 346 for 2 going into the second day.Northamptonshire raced to 406 for 4 on a sublime batting track against Essex on the first day at Northampton, thanks to contrasting hundreds from Stephen Peters (178) and David Sales (129 not out). Peters played magnificently, guiding 27 fours in a 277-ball innings lasting just short of six hours. He was joined by his captain, Sales, at the fall of Sourav Ganguly’s wicket, who made just 9, and immediately took charge. While Peters was happy to play the anchor role, Sales was characteristically aggressive, launching three big sixes. Together the pair put on 212 before Peters was fourth man out for 178.