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Essex, who secured a spot in the final four of the Friends Provident t20 by beating Lancashire at Chelmsford on Tuesday, have strengthened their squad by signing West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo. Bravo is currently representing Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament, but will be available for selection for Finals day on August 14, pending his visa approval.”Obviously Dwayne is a world class allrounder, and we have lost the services of other big hitters such as Graham Napier and Ryan ten Doeschate,” said Paul Grayson, Essex first XI Head Coach.”We see Dwayne as a like for like replacement for Scott Styris. He is a high quality cricketer, we feel we are short of another allrounder with injuries to Napier and Tendo [ten Doeschate], he is a top class player and we hope he can make a major impact on Finals Day”.Essex were struck by two major injury blows earlier this season, as Napier suffered a stress fracture of the back, and ten Doeschate tore a calf muscle during Essex’s win over Somerset on June 16.”Ryan has been doing all he can with the support of the back-room staff, if Ryan continues to progress well over the next couple of weeks we can only hope that he has a chance to play his part in Finals Day,” explained Grayson. “We will give him every chance of playing at the Rose Bowl for Finals Day.”

M&M has been the theme of India’s last two tours of Sri Lanka. In 2008 it was Murali and Mendis, in 2010’s first Test India were demolished by Murali and Malinga. By the second Test of the series, one of the Ms has retired, the other has broken down.Thankfully for Sri Lanka, it doesn’t seem to be a serious injury. Not enough, it seems, to make the fast bowler wonder whether coming back to Test cricket was the right move. “It is just some stiffness in the knee,” Champaka Ramanayake, the bowling coach, said, “Nothing to do with the old injury. If all goes right he should be back by the third Test.”The selectors have a tough choice to make with Malinga. “After what he has gone through – people thought that he might not be able to play cricket again, some even thought he might not be able to walk – when you come out of that state, you have to respect what his body is saying,” said Ranjit Fernando, one of the national selectors. “And that’s what we are doing because we can’t take one day at a time. We have to look at the World Cup. He is going to play a very important role during the World Cup.”So that’s where it stands right now. If he says that he is ready by the time the third Test comes and also if the physio certifies it, he may feature in the third Test. We have no clue as to how a body is behaving, so we have to look up to people who know it the best.”Until he does come back, the third M, Ajantha Mendis, who himself is making a comeback after a rather indifferent second year in Test cricket, has a big job to do. If his debut was hugely anticipated, this comeback will also be keenly watched. Not the least because he will be the only man in the attack with an average under 30. Or because he has been treated rather shabbily by the Indian and Pakistani batsmen after that magical debut series.Saman Hervavitharana, Mendis’ first coach, at Army Sports Club, believes technical flaws had crept into Mendis’ bowling over the last two years. He had started rushing through his run-up, and more importantly he had stopped getting close enough to the stumps while delivering. That, Hervavitharana says, took away his accuracy and made the variations less effective.On his comeback trail, a few days after being left out of the squad for the first Test, Mendis did make an emphatic statement. He took 6 for 67 in the tour game against the Indians, including the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir. He was lucky to get Tendulkar out lbw, but he had also managed to beat him with a carrom ball. He troubled Laxman for a longer period before getting his wicket.Hervavitharana didn’t see the tour game, but believes Mendis is bowling better. “A bit better, but not at his best.” He hasn’t worked with Mendis, who is with the national team, much of late, though Mendis called him today before going for his first net session back with the national team.Mendis will know that with all the technical analysis of his bowling, given the flat pitch at the SSC and the inexperience of the whole attack, “a bit better” might not be enough.

ScorecardTom Smith anchored Lancashire’s chase with a calm half century•Getty Images

Gareth Cross smashed a six off the penultimate ball to give Lancashire Lightning a dramatic Friends Provident t20 victory over Warwickshire Bears at Old Trafford.Despite a half-century from Tom Smith Lancashire still needed 12 from seven balls chasing the visitors’ 126 for six when the wicketkeeper strode to the middle. He despatched the first delivery for four and after Keith Barker conceded just two off the first four balls of the final over, Cross sent the second ball he faced sailing over the boundary to wrap up a five-wicket win and condemn the Bears to only their second North Division defeat.Lightning had struggled to chase totals during defeats to Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and although Imran Tahir claimed three for 18 they were always up with the rate. Paul Horton (23) shook off a blow to the chin from Neil Carter to smash a six and a four in three balls off Chris Woakes in the second over.He and Smith worked the spinners well and put on 48 before Horton was bowled trying to sweep Tahir in the spinner’s first over. The leg-spinner then struck with the last ball of his next two overs as Stephen Moore was stumped by Tim Ambrose for three and Steven Croft holed out to Darren Maddy for five.But Smith kept his head with his fifth score over 40 in seven matches. He and Simon Katich took Lancashire to the verge of victory before the Australian holed out to Maddy for 17 at the end of the 18th over with 14 still needed.But when Smith was trapped lbw by Carter off the last ball of the following over Lancashire were 115 for five and needed Cross’ last-ditch heroics to see them over the line. Only Jim Troughton had any significant impact with the bat for the Bears making an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls.Having decided to bat they were put under pressure with some tight bowling from Nathan McCullum and Smith – restricting them to just 12 runs off the first three overs. Sajid Mahmood then struck with the second ball of the fourth over and Katich took the first of three catches as Jonathan Trott went for just four.Carter and Maddy tried to up the rate, with Maddy hitting McCullum for the only six of the innings. But spin proved the undoing of the pair as Stephen Parry first bowled Carter for 20 in his first over and then Simon Kerrigan struck twice in two balls.The 21-year-old got Maddy with his second ball thanks to a great full-length diving catch by Katich at backward point. He then trapped Varun Chopra lbw first ball as Warwickshire slumped to 63 for 4. Croft continued an impressive display in the field for Lancashire as he took a tough catch to dismiss Rikki Clarke off Glen Chapple. And Katich claimed the last of his victims to get Ambrose off the first ball of the final over, leaving Mahmood with 2 for 27.

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has questioned the batsmen’s mindset following his team’s one-run defeat in the second Twenty20 international against South Africa in Antigua. Gayle said they “have to look into themselves and try and redeem themselves as quickly as possible” after losing the series 2-0.”It is a pressure situation,” Gayle said. “The mindset is just not right. They’re maybe a bit too worried about the position.”South Africa finished with a modest 120 for 7 but West Indies struggled from the start, losing Gayle for a duck, and the rest of the batsmen never quite got going. With 15 needed from the final over, Darren Sammy managed two boundaries, including an all-run four thanks to some loose fielding, but Ryan McLaren held his nerve to leave West Indies a run short.”It’s blatant,” Gayle said. “It’s not right. We need to have discussions on it. The guys need to free up and go out there with a free mind to play some good cricket. We should have won that game…no doubt about it. To chase 120 runs, I don’t see why we shouldn’t get it, but we didn’t get it.”It was the second straight game in which the West Indies batsmen failed to perform. On Wednesday, they lost by 13 runs chasing 137 to win.”It’s very disappointing but credit must go to the bowlers. I thought they bowled well on an on-and-off pitch,” Gayle said. “In the end we allowed the run-rate to climb up a bit too much. We should have tried to take a few more chances.”He denied experience was the problem, saying, “We have quite a few experienced guys in the team, guys who have been in big situations before. Experience is not a problem.”The problem, according to him, lay with individual players, who need to start taking responsibility for their performances. “It’s up to the individual. They have to look into themselves and try and redeem themselves as quickly as possible. I can’t do it for them. I have a lot to think about as well. It is up to the individuals to try and get over these situations as quickly as possible.”In contrast, South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith was full of praise for his team’s ability to keep calm in the clutch, although he couldn’t resist a wry comment on the team’s history of coming up short in high pressure situations.”It was a bit tense at the end so we had to find somebody to remain calm, and Ryan kept a good sensible head, although we had a few guys running all over the place. It was an exciting finish, and nice again to get over the line,” he said. “We have performed well enough in tense situations like this before, although our record in such situations in competition play is quite poor, but we have performed really well again under pressure in a game that we probably shouldn’t have won, so it’s to our credit, and the confidence is definitely growing.”

ScorecardBangladesh A gained a very slender four-run lead on what was a slow third day where only 176 runs were scored in nearly 80 overs. Faisal Hossain’s exact 100 took the hosts to 272, before Omar Phillips led West Indies A to a lead of 105 with seven second-innings wickets in hand.Resuming on 205 for 5, Bangladesh lost their last five wickets for 67 runs, with only Faisal offering resistance. The offspinner Shane Shillingford struck in quick succession to get rid of Saghir Hossain and Suhrawadi Shuvo. Faisal reached his century off 197 balls before he was caught by the wicketkeeper Chadwick Walton off Gavin Tonge. Shillingford and Odean Brown took three wickets apiece to wrap up the innings.The Bangladesh seamers, Syed Rasel and Nazmul Hossain, took two early wickets to set West Indies back, but Phillips and Brendan Nash steadied the innings with an unbeaten stand of 52 for the third wicket.West Indies will look to accelerate on the final day and put up a competitive score, but it remains to be seen if there’s enough time in this match to enforce a result.

ScorecardIreland suffered a setback in their preparations for the World Twenty20 as they slumped to a nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago. Ireland fell to 90 all out and the home side raced to their target in just 7.1 overs ten days before the start of the tournament.Gary Wilson top-scored for Ireland with 37 in a poor batting display, but the next best was Trent Johnston’s 16 as the spinners proved too much to handle. Legspinner Samuel Badree opened the bowling as he often does in Twenty20 and removed Paul Stirling, while Sherwin Ganga’s offspin collected three lower-order scalps as the innings fell away with 17 ball unused.Trinidad and Tobago wasted no time in knocking off the runs as William Perkins and Lendl Simmons sped to an opening stand of 88. Boyd Rankin, feeling his way back after injury, was dispatched for 40 from his two overs as the openers cleared the boundary seven times between them.Ireland will have a chance to make amends when the two teams meet again on Friday. Their first match of the World Twenty20 is on the opening day of the tournament against West Indies in Guyana.

David Warner, the Australian batsman, will join Adam Gilchrist at Middlesex for this season’s Twenty20 Cup.Warner, 23, is currently with Delhi Daredevils in the IPL where his explosive batting has been one of the highlights of the tournament. He has made an unbeaten 107 from 69 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders in Delhi and averaged close to 50 during his first six outings in the event.Despite having played only four first-class games he is one of the world’s most sought-after Twenty20 cricketers and was included in Australia’s squad for the Twenty20 World Cup.He is looking forward to joining Middlesex, who won the tournament in 2008 but disappointed last year. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to play at Lord’s. Hopefully, I can help Middlesex win,” he said.His signing gives the Middlesex line-up a glamorous shine with Warner and Gilchrist being followed by fellow IPL players Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan. No other county can boast such glut of stars and the MCC hope they will attract big crowds to Lord’s for this summer’s competition.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outYusuf Pathan hauled Rajasthan close to a win, though they needed 143 off 57 at one stage (file photo)•AFP

The second-fastest Twenty20 hundred, a 37-ball assault from Yusuf Pathan, as delicate as it was brutal, wasn’t enough on a day in which precious little was contributed by the other Rajasthan Royals players. Despite Mumbai Indians piling on their biggest score in the IPL, it required special death bowling from Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga to deny Rajasthan 19 runs in the last two overs.Yusuf’s onslaught came after Mumbai’s youngsters Ambati Rayudu, considered unlucky to have not played for India yet, and Saurabh Tiwary powered the home side to what seemed a massive total, but it turned out to be one that just about dodged the Yusuf-shaped bullet.The it’s-good-to-be-back ad campaign of the IPL could well have been meant exclusively for Yusuf. In his first innings back in India, he shook a dying match up and gave Mumbai a right scare. The Yusuf show began when Rajasthan needed 143 off 57. He scored 54 off the next 11 balls he faced, 26 other deliveries got him 46, and when he finally got out he left Rajasthan 40 to get off 17 deliveries.Of the nine fours and eight sixes he hit in a frenetic period of play, three shots stood out – and they were not sixes. The length deliveries and full tosses were all murdered, but in the 13th over – he was 57 off 22 by then – Ryan McLaren bowled a decent enough yorker to him. Yusuf opened the face late, beautifully late, and guided it for four. The next ball was not more than a couple of inches short of being a yorker, but on the stumps, and he managed to get under it, and still hit it to long-off for four. The third yorker of the over was neither wide nor straight, in between, and he leaned back to make space and steered it even later than the one before. More brutal hits preceded a moment of inspiration for Mumbai.Arguably the best fielder in India, R Satish, returning from ICL, followed up his direct-hit run-out and a terrific caught-and-bowled with Yusuf’s dismissal. He bowled full and straight to Paras Dogra, the other batsman, then dived in his follow through to field the ball, and reverse-flicked to catch a backing-up Yusuf short.Dogra, who had scored 18 off 20 in the 107-run stand until then, opened up in the same over, and hit two fours and two sixes to bring down the target to 19 off 12.Zaheer and Malinga, though, with Harbhajan Singh injured and not available to bowl, performed like champs. Eleven near-yorkers from the duo in the last two overs meant even the two wides they bowled were not enough for Rajasthan.It was fitting for Mumbai that Indian cricketers helped them come back at crucial times: they had become the first team in the three seasons of IPL to play with only three overseas players. Kapil Dev and friends could afford a wee smile too. Rayudu, Sathish and Ali Murtaza – who took a wicket with his first ball – are all returning from the ICL.Rayudu and Tiwary added 110 runs in 63 balls to help Mumbai Indians recover from a triple-strike in the first third of the innings. Shane Warne didn’t have to wait too long to find out if Tendulkar “will open and face [Shaun] Tait”, with Tendulkar walking out to open with Sanath Jayasuriya.Jayasuriya took apart Dimitri Mascarenhas, and Tendulkar did the honours for Tait, taking 10 runs from the four balls that Tait bowled to him. Mascarenhas hit back with two wickets in one over, and at 70 for 3 in 6.3 overs, the onus was on the Indian batsmen.Rayudu immediately showed glimpses of what made observers talk of him as a potential international. He wristily flicked the first ball he faced for four, lest anybody forget he’s from Hyderabad.It was just as well that Tendulkar didn’t survive long enough to give the viewers the much-awaited contest against Warne: the latter was off colour, going for 29 runs in three overs. There was no turn for Warne, and he bowled too many half-volleys. Tiwary took full toll, and hit him down the ground for two fours and a six. By the time Warne took himself off, Mumbai had reached 121 in 12 overs. Tiwary had reached 26, and Rayudu 23, off 17 balls each.Part-time offbreaks from Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Yusuf went for full-time hitting. Rayudu hit three successive Jhunjhunwala deliveries for a huge six and fours either side of long-on. When he next smacked a six off Yusuf, he had reached 53 off just 30 deliveries, and Mumbai had rocketed to 166 in 16.3.Tiwary reached his fifty by hitting Amit Uniyal, whose change-up delivery was the quicker one, to the long-on boundary. In fact it was all clean hitting down the ground from the two: out of the 108 they scored between them, only 16 came behind square.Rayudu and Tiwary didn’t see the innings to the close, but Harbhajan Singh and Ryan McLaren contributed to Tait’s horror day, taking 22 off his last two overs. Each one of those runs mattered in the end.

Match Facts

In the mood: Ricky Ponting finished Tuesday’s win in Adelaide with 57 not out•Getty Images

Friday, February 12, SCG
Start time 1325 (0325 GMT)

The Big Picture

At the start of the series Chris Gayle tipped a 4-1 win for West Indies, but given their predicament he would probably settle for 1-4. Calling the tourists out-classed in the opening exchanges is being polite to guests and if they lose in Sydney on Friday the five-game contest will be decided with two matches spare.After West Indies’ fight in the Test series earlier in the season, the follow-up campaign has been hugely disappointing, although Gayle hasn’t been helped by a batch of injuries which kept many of his best men at home. Batting has been the most serious problem, with the tourists managing 143 on the way to a 113-run loss in Melbourne, and 170 in Adelaide after being 4 for 16. The second game, which was watched by only 8378 spectators, was finished in the 27th over of the chase.Australia have been outstanding throughout the limited-overs segment of the summer and are on a 10-match winning streak. With a 2-0 lead, the hosts have been able to rest key players in Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, but there won’t be any relief for West Indies as the locals pursue an undefeated summer.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia WWWWW
West Indies LLLLL

Watch out for…

Everything for West Indies currently revolves around Chris Gayle. The match in Adelaide was basically over after Gayle’s first-ball departure and he must find a way to escape from the restrictions Australia have placed on him. Over the past week Gayle has remained cheery and upbeat in public but in his private moments he must feel like a one-man band. He is so important that at the moment the scenario is Gayle out, game over.Ricky Ponting has run into some good form with scores of 55, 49 and 57 not out in his past three games, but will be wanting more. With his developing team doing incredibly well, he can relax at the crease, which isn’t a good thing for the opposition bowlers. He pulled Kemar Roach in Adelaide, showing he is not haunted by the fast man’s short balls which got him in the Perth Test, and will look to sign off with a century to seal the series.

Team news

The wicketkeeper Tim Paine and Adam Voges come into the squad for Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, who are resting. Paine has opened in 14 of his 15 ODIs and will slot in with Shaun Marsh at the top. With Watson out, Australia could play all four fast men and Nathan Hauritz, which would leave James Hopes and Voges to miss out.Australia (possible) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Mitchell Johnson, 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Doug Bollinger.West Indies were unchanged in the second game but after two horrible defeats will have to do something to spruce up the side. Gayle has talked about needing some substance in the middle order, which could give Brendan Nash an opening, while Wavell Hinds is another option, possibly for the struggling Runako Morton.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 Narsingh Deonarine, 5 Brendan Nash, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Dwayne Smith, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach.

Pitch and conditions

Pakistan chose to bowl first at the SCG last month and were rolled for 127 in their chase as the bowlers took advantage of seaming conditions. It has been another wet lead-up and there are storms predicted for Friday afternoon, along with a maximum of 31C. If that happens the bowlers will be happy again.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies’ top six batsmen have scored 150 runs in the past two games while Australia’s top four have managed 310
• Only one game at the SCG has been won by the batting side from the final ball of the 50th over. That came in 1995-96 when Michael Bevan starred against West Indies
• West Indies have twice scored fewer than 100 at the SCG, with 87 in 1992-93 and 91 in 2000-01
  

  Quotes

  “At 2-0 down in a five-match series, this is the time for some of our players to come of age.”
  
  “Every time we start a series that’s our goal, to go undefeated. It’s no different in this series. We played really well against Pakistan. We gave them nothing and we’ll be doing that against the West Indies.”

A month ago, India would have gone into this series as favourites. While they hammered Sri Lanka at home, South Africa were finding it hard to put away an English side that had stunned many by romping to victory in Durban. Then, South Africa squared the series at the Wanderers, and India lost Rahul Dravid to injury. With uncertainty prevailing over the availability of VVS Laxman – he was having his fitness assessed by the physio after a net session in the morning – India suddenly faced that prospect of going into a Test against the best pace attack in the world with a middle order shorn of two pivotal performers.As things stand, Murali Vijay and S Badrinath will certainly play, with three Test caps between them. Should Laxman also be ruled out, Rohit Sharma too will join Badrinath in making a debut. For Graeme Smith, still smarting after the squandered opportunities against England, it represents an experience-chink that South Africa will be more than happy to exploit. “Guys like Dravid and Laxman are quality players with a huge amount of experience,” he said. “They also bring a lot of calmness to the Indian team. It does put pressure on Gambhir and Sehwag up front to maybe take a little bit more responsibility. They no longer have a guy with 10,000 runs at No. 3, who’s really the rock of the line-up. The responsibility on Sehwag especially is crucial.”MS Dhoni was philosophical about the injury crisis, suggesting that one man’s absence was another’s chance to shine. “We’ll miss Rahul, but at the end of the day somebody needs to step up and do the work for the team,” he said. “International cricket is a challenge, but our openers have done well everywhere. No reason why we can’t do it over and over again. We’re a team that relies on a good start. After that, we go on to dominate.”The pitch was absolutely devoid of any grassy stubble, and both captains expected a typically Indian surface with the spinners becoming increasingly influential as the game wore on. In such batsmen-friendly conditions, reverse swing is perhaps the quick bowler’s most potent weapon, and despite a lush outfield, Dhoni expected both sets of bowlers to use it effectively on a dry and abrasive pitch.And though there was expected to be no dramatic bounce in the surface, Dhoni suggested that the bouncer would also have immense shock value. “In slow and low conditions, it’s difficult to leave the bouncer because you don’t know how high it will get,” he said. “It’s also not easy to play the pull.”India’s chances will hinge mainly on how well the two slow bowlers exploit the weaknesses that Graeme Swann found in the southern cape a couple of months ago. Harbhajan Singh is a certain starter, but there are two schools of thought on who will join him. Pragyan Ojha played the final two Tests against Sri Lanka, and the Dhaka game against Bangladesh, but when Sehwag led the side in Chittagong, it was Amit Mishra that got the nod.Either way, Smith is quietly confident that his batsmen can negotiate the threat. “You have to give credit to Graeme [Swann],” he said. “He bowled really well throughout the series. He’s a very different type of bowler to some of the Indian spinners. We were still able to post decent totals throughout that tour back home. I’m happy with the quality we’ve got. Each player has refined their game plans. Any time you come to India, you expect certain types of pitches, and you expect spin bowling.”The South Africans are certainly a more athletic outfit, though Dhoni insisted that India had a “safe” fielding team. “We’re a good catching side, that’s what really matters in Test cricket,” he said. “When it comes to saving singles, they’re definitely a better fielding side though.”Smith spoke of the difficulties involved in preparing for such an abbreviated tour, while Dhoni was just thankful to get some more five-day cricket. “We’re happy with what we’ve got,” he said, pointing out that the original schedule hadn’t involved any Tests.Neither man was unduly bothered by the Test rankings, and Dhoni laughed at the idea that this was a battle for supremacy between two young leaders who have done their reputations no harm since taking over the reins. “I’m a better keeper, and he’s a better opener,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s not about the captains. It’s a team sport.”India won easily enough in their only previous outing at this splendid new venue, squeezing the life out of Australia’s challenge in 2008, but the raw pace of the South African new-ball duo could pose some uncomfortable questions for a line-up that might experience more than a few debut butterflies. Smith doesn’t do mental disintegration the Steve Waugh way, but he couldn’t resist a neat little jab before heading to the nets and a final tune-up. “We’ve got everything to gain on this tour,” he said, “and India’s got everything to lose.”