Emboldened Sri Lanka keep their cool

It may have been tempting for Sri Lanka to hide Sachithra Senanayake in this match, in hope the furore would blow over. But emboldened by the added pressure instead, they made his role in the match more prominent

As the Edgbaston crowd's displeasure eddied around the ground late in England's innings, Sri Lanka were still, at the centre of the whirlpool. Spectators had been incensed by Sachithra Senanayake's run out of Jos Buttler - a Mankad which, upon the umpire's inquiry, Angelo Mathews did not hesitate to uphold. The England innings was already creaking at 199 for 7, but as the boos rang around the ground, Sri Lanka did not delay delivering the final blows. With 220 to chase, this would be their game to lose.

It was a brief passage of play, but one which illustrated an unwavering focus that has become a theme of this Sri Lanka team's cricket, particularly in 2014. They had had one horror day at Sharjah in January, but quickly shed the trauma of that defeat to trounce Bangladesh across all formats.

An unbeaten Asia Cup campaign came as the annual contracts tussle with the board began to bubble up. That saga erupted before the World T20, which was won with contracts unsigned, and administrators engaged in disputes with senior players. Mahela Jayawardene, the man who was most visibly shaken by the heated exchanges with SLC, was the team's lead scorer in that campaign.

Before the deciding ODI in Birmingham, Sachithra Senanayake had his action reported. "We are like family," Mathews had said earlier in the series, and even if things are not quite as rosy as that cliché makes out, this Sri Lanka team is knit tighter than most international sides. The doubt cast over a team-mate's bowling action will have reverberated around the dressing room.

Here, the players had support from the establishment back home. SLC expressed surprise in their response to the match officials' report on Senanayake, and the implications of that release were clear; "Why has he been reported only now, just before a must-win match in England?" Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya also lent his support to Senanayake in public. At the toss, Mathews hinted at the collective sense of frustration in the camp. "When we travel to certain parts of the world, it happens," he said.

It may have been tempting for Sri Lanka to hide Senanayake in this match, in hope the furore would blow over. But emboldened by the added pressure instead, they made his role in the match more prominent. He came on in the sixth over of the innings - earlier than he had been on at any stage in the series - and delivered parsimony and menace, taking the wicket of Alastair Cook and conceding 36 from his ten overs. The picture of Arjuna Ranatunga shaking his finger at the umpires, when Murali was called for throwing in 1999, made the rounds on Twitter.

"The report was a big motivational factor for us," Jayawardene said. "Sachi is a fantastic young player in the group. He's very cheerful and keeps everyone happy. So we had a special meeting for Sach last night. We had a good dinner out, just for him. We wanted to make sure that he feels comfortable with all of us and as a team we'll walk through."

Small wonder then, that Senanayake had the moxie to be the man who removed the bails when Buttler took an unfair head-start on a run - however unintentionally. Mathews and Jayawardene said they had observed Buttler's walking start at Lord's as well, and were compelled to take action after repeated warnings.

Sri Lanka may be among the younger teams in top-flight cricket, but they know they play a highly competitive, professional sport. The ECB left the team in no doubt of that fact, when they lured their head coach to swap sides, weeks ahead of this tour.

Sri Lanka had a less convincing outing with the bat, but as has so often been the case, their bowlers had done enough to make victory manageable. Several England players, led by Buttler, spoke heated words to Mathews, during his time at the crease, and Mathews let the spray fall flat to the turf. His characteristically unruffled 42 sealed the series.

Sri Lanka move to the Tests now, unfancied and outgunned, but buoyed by confidence and propelled by the fire of grievance. As Kumar Sangakkara said after the World T20 win, perhaps upheaval suits this team. England players, like many of their supporters, made their indignation known to Sri Lanka at Edgbaston, but perhaps they would be wise not to irk the visitors further.

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Florida non-committal till USACA pays for venue

The USA Cricket Association risks losing the booking at Lauderhill's Central Broward Regional Park for its USACA National Championship until the deposit is paid, the director of the stadium has told ESPNcricinfo. USACA, which in its announcement on Monday confirmed the Florida facility as the venue for the event, has lost out on bookings in the past for not putting down a deposit at the facility and the possibility exists that it could happen again if another party who is willing to pay steps up.

"I can send them an invoice and if they don't pay any money towards that for August, they're not going to get the stadium for August for their championships. We're a business," said Duncan Finch, Parks and Recreation Manager at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida. "Am I holding my breath that they'll pay promptly for the national championships? They just requested the dates."

Finch said he first received contact from USACA on Thursday about stadium availability in anticipation of the city of Indianapolis' announcement on Friday that they were terminating their hosting agreement for the championship. On Monday, USACA reached out only to request the dates but Finch revealed that USACA has already lost out on hosting dates for the traditional Auty Cup rivalry against Canada. Former USACA chief executive Darren Beazley had announced in December that this year's matches would be held in Florida this October, but Finch said the stadium eventually chose to give the dates to another group after USACA refused to pay.

"That was supposed to be in September," Finch said. "It was going to be in October [16-19] but we didn't have any time for it. Darren had talked to us about it last October and we held the date but we were waiting for a deposit and never received a deposit from USACA. So it is not scheduled here at the stadium. Darren had shifted it in agreement with Canada to September 11-14. We asked for a deposit for the last seven months now and we didn't receive it. So it's been canceled here at the stadium."

Finch also stated that the reason why the event is being held from Thursday, August 14 to Saturday, August 16 - as opposed to the four-day event from Thursday, August 21 to Sunday, August 24 in Indianapolis - is that the facility has been booked for use by a local soccer league for Sundays this summer. Finch says the facility has started to focus its efforts more on soccer due to the historic lack of cricket bookings.

"We're becoming a soccer stadium. The writing's on the wall," Finch said. "This year on my book for people that have paid, FC Barcelona Academy has rented 210 dates in the stadium starting with their summer camp in July. Other soccer activities, we're up to about 30 other soccer dates."

According to Finch, there have only been two cricket events held at the stadium this year: the US Open T20 from December 5-8 and the American College Cricket championship from March 12-17. The last high profile, revenue-generating cricket event to be held at the stadium was in 2012 when the West Indies and New Zealand played a pair of T20s at the ground.

The park was hoping to build off that successful event by having Pakistan and West Indies play a pair of T20s during Pakistan's tour last summer. Instead, negotiations with USACA broke down and the two T20 matches for Pakistan's tour of the West Indies were held in Jamaica. Finch says the Caribbean Premier League also showed interest to stage games there this summer but an agreement couldn't be reached.

"There were discussions about the CPL playing here and that fell apart," Finch said. "We talked with the CPL in December and the next step was to get sanctioning from USACA and Cricket Holdings America and it fell apart."

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Smith promises Northants shake-up

Northamptonshire chief executive David Smith has promised a shake-up at Wantage Road after the county's fifth loss in six matches left them adrift at the foot of the Division One table but insisted head coach David Ripley's position is safe.

Smith was at the helm when Ripley's predecessor David Capel was sacked in mid-season two years ago but, speaking after the 271-run defeat by Yorkshire, Smith said that responsibility lay with the players for Northamptonshire's poor start following promotion last season.

"That's our fifth loss in six games and it is clearly not good enough," Smith said. "The level of performance is not good enough. There is a huge difference between the standard of cricket in Divisions One and Two and clearly at the moment we are well adrift but it is not a coaching issue, it is a playing issue and we have to address that.

"We rely on our senior players but there are some senior batsmen who are not getting runs. We have not got a single hundred yet in the Championship.

"Based on the evidence so far some of our players have found the step up to be one too far. But we knew there was a gap and that shouldn't surprise anyone. We want the kind of players who relish the opportunity and relish the fight.

"We can't be picking the same team and making the same mistakes, therefore we have to look to make changes, and so the side we pick against Sri Lanka this week will provide the opportunity for other players to put their names forward."

Smith said Ripley retained his full support in what he described as "a project" aimed at putting this club back on its feet.

"David is under no pressure whatsoever. We have a project at this club, David and I will work together and over the next three to four years we will get this club back on its feet.

"He and the coaches are working tirelessly to put things right. In terms of accountability and responsibility the players have to put their hands up. They are letting themselves down at the moment because they are better than that.

"Derbyshire got to grips with the first division but too late and we want to avoid that happening to us. We have 10 games left and we have to ensure that our level of performance is far more competitive than it has been.

"We won promotion on merit and earned the right to be here. Now we have to earn the right to stay in the first division."

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Jayawardene defends Buttler Mankading

Mahela Jayawardene has defended the Sri Lanka team after England's captain, Alastair Cook, suggested "a line had been crossed" in the deciding ODI of the series between England and Sri Lanka.

Jayawardene insisted that Sri Lanka were left with little option but to run out Jos Buttler in the 44th over after the batsman, at the non-striker's end, repeatedly backed-up too far. While it was the spinner Sachithra Senanayake who removed the bails midway through his bowling action, the umpires offered Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, the opportunity to withdraw the appeal before they gave Buttler out. It was the first instance of 'Mankading' in international cricket since 1992.

Alastair Cook, the England captain, denounced the incident as "a pretty poor act" and suggested he would not have behaved in the same manner.

"I thought it was disappointing," Cook said. "There's a line and that line was crossed here. I've never seen it before in the game and I was pretty disappointed by it. As captain of your country, there are certain ways you want your team to operate. And obviously he is fine with it. He has said he will do it again.

"You don't know what you would do if you were put in that situation, in the heat of the moment, until you are. I'd like to think I wouldn't do it, but I suppose you just don't know.

"I haven't been in the situation, as captain of England, where I have had to make a 'spirit of cricket' call. Paul Collingwood had one a few years ago and admitted afterwards that, in the heat of the moment, he probably made a mistake.

"If he was properly trying to steal a single, I could possibly understand it. But he was half a yard out of his crease. It's pretty disappointing."

But Jayawardene, defending his captain and his team, revealed that Sri Lanka had warned Buttler twice before the incident and felt he had been claiming an unfair advantage by leaving his ground early.

"We gave him a fair chance," Jayawardene said. "Twice. Before the first warning, we told the umpires that he was taking too much of a lead and then he was warned again. We had to do that, because they kept doing it.

"We analysed our game after Lord's. They took 22 twos in the last 12 overs. Ravi Bopara and him ran riot. And most of the time they were taking starts that are not legal by the written laws. We just wanted to make sure we got a fair chance. We warned them and we warned the umpires, but they didn't listen to us, so we had to take the right steps.

"We always try to play in the right spirit, but if the other team is not playing in the right spirit and not going with the law, then unfortunately we had to take the law into our hands. It was the third time. It is fair enough, I think. We all need to play by the rules.

"If the other sides are not going by the rules, then they're not playing by the spirit, so what can you do?"

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Narine's worst, and highest scores in defeats

Key numbers from the IPL 2014 final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab

200 - Kolkata Knight Riders' score, the highest by a team chasing a target in the final of any Twenty20 tournament. The previous highest was 198, by Wayamba against Ruhuna in Sri Lanka's Inter-Provincial Twenty20 tournament in 2011. Wayamba's score tied the game, which Ruhuna later won in the one-over eliminator. In the IPL, the previous highest in a final was also by Knight Riders, when they scored 192 against Chennai Super Kings in the 2012 final.

115* - Wriddhiman Saha's score, the highest by a batsman in the final of a Twenty20 tournament. There's only been one other century in the final of a Twenty20 tournament: Brad Hodge scored 106 for Victoria against New South Wales in the final of the Australian Twenty20 Competition in 2005-06. The previous highest in an IPL final was M Vijay's 95 for Chennai Super Kings against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011.

1 - The number of scores higher than 115 in a losing effort in an IPL game: Andrew Symonds scored an unbeaten 117 for Deccan Chargers against Rajasthan Royals in 2008, a match in which Chargers scored 214 but lost by three wickets; the highest score for Royals in that game was 71, by Graeme Smith. In any Twenty20 match, this is the seventh highest in a loss; the highest is 141 not out, by Somerset's Cameron White against Worcestershire in 2006.

46 - Runs conceded by Sunil Narine in his four overs, which equals the most runs he has ever conceded in a Twenty20 match. There have been two other instances of him conceding 46 - off 3.4 overs against Barbados in the 2013 Caribbean Premier League, when the batting team was bowled out for 122; and in a Twenty20 international against New Zealand earlier this year in Auckland, when New Zealand made 189.

19 - Runs conceded by Narine in his second over, the second highest he has conceded in an IPL match. His highest is 23, also against Kings XI Punjab, in 2013 in Mohali. After conceding only ten in his first three overs of that game, his fourth went for 23 as Manpreet Gony hit him for two sixes and a four.

99 - The number of runs Kings XI scored in the middle overs, from the seventh to the 15th. It was the fifth highest of the tournament by any team. Of the 11 instances when teams scored 90 or more runs in the middle overs in IPL 2014, seven were by Kings XI.

4 for 54 - The bowling figures for Karanveer Singh, the most expensive four-for in all Twenty20 cricket. The previous highest number of runs conceded for a four-wicket haul was 50, by Hammad Azam of Rawalpindi Rams against Sialkot Stallions in 2010.

8 - The number of dots played by Knight Riders during their Powerplay, the least by any team in IPL 2014. Kings XI had played nine dots in their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad during the league stage.

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Madsen made to regret toss decision

Hampshire 332 for 7 (Wheater 87, Smith 82, Palladino 4-83) v Derbyshire
Scorecard

Hampshire openers Jimmy Adams and Will Smith took full advantage of being given first use of their own pitch as Derbyshire's miserable season continued.

Visiting captain Wayne Madsen was immediately left to regret asking the Division Two leaders to bat first as Adams and Smith rattled off a century stand before Adam Wheater and Sean Ervine continued the punishment later in the day.

Having seen off the early threat present on the opening morning of the game Hampshire's top two made good progress.

Adams just beat his partner to his half-century but 110 without loss at lunch quickly became 118 for 3 as Adams, on 60, nicked Tony Palladino's first ball of the afternoon session and was soon followed back by Joe Gatting and James Vince.

But Derbyshire, bottom of the table without a win in either competition this summer, could not capitalise as Smith and Wheater put on 109 in 24 overs.

Palladino returned to trap Smith leg before for 82, his highest score for Hampshire having joined over the winter, and even when Wheater departed for 87 to a catch at cover just after tea Ervine ensured there was no loss of momentum.

Ervine shared a sixth wicket stand of 62 with Michael Bates before Tim Groenewald removed him for 47 and then quickly accounted for Matt Coles.

But Bates' steady 27 not out off 64 balls guided the hosts to 332 for 7 at the close despite the best efforts of a persevering Palladini, who finished the day with 4 for 83.

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Moeen plays down Test chances after century

Worcestershire 329 for 4 (Moeen 138*, Mitchell 62) v Surrey
Scorecard

Ultimately, it was nothing more than a perfunctory publicity deed but a short hop across the capital for the Sri Lankans, when all is said and done, may just prove to be a Sunday afternoon well spent. Their fleeting visit to The Oval for a meet-and-greet session transpired into a far more productive scouting exercise.

While many of the players were preoccupied with off-field duties, Marvan Atapattu - the Sri Lankan coach - will have equally been fixated with proceedings in the middle. After all, there is a good chance, come Thursday week, that his side will encounter Moeen Ali at Lord's.

On the day that another blotch on Monty Panesar's application form appeared, Ali seized the opportunity to etch his name onto Peter Moore's team sheet with an unbeaten century that put his Worcestershire side firmly in the ascendancy of this Division Two fixture. Perhaps only Samit Patel is a persuasive rival now?

It was another reminder to the selectors - if one was required - of his propensity and temperament for the longer format but that has never really been in doubt. If the Worcestershire allrounder is to make that spinner's berth his own, however, there is still work for him to do with the ball in this game. After all, that will be his primary role if England do come calling.

"Of course it would be nice to play for England but I'm not thinking about that," He reaffirmed at the close. "I'd do any job they ask me to do, I'd bat at No 11 if needs be. But I've shown I can excel at both disciplines for Worcestershire over the past few years so there is no reason why not.

"I'm just taking one day at a time, helping Worcester win and hopefully get promotion. If I don't get selected it doesn't worry me as I'll just play for Worcester and I'm happy doing that. There are some good players out there playing well so I'm easy to be honest."

Naturally, Surrey produced a pitch - tinged with green - that would go someway to nullifying the threat of Worcestershire's slower bowlers; not least Saeed Ajmal. However, that ploy afforded the Worcestershire batsmen - after Daryl Mitchell had no hesitation to bat first under clear blue skies - the luxury of playing freely on an otherwise sterile surface against an attack with little strength in depth.

That said, nothing can be taken from the way Worcestershire went about their business from the outset. Michael Pardoe set the tone with a brisk fifty - his first of the season - until gifting his wicket to Gareth Batty: an ugly heave across the line resulted in his downfall. Moeen took up the baton thereafter.

He was perfectly poised from the moment he arrived in the middle and played with all the panache and swagger of a Test wannabe. He launched three sixes off Batty to get himself up and running before lunch as he and Mitchell formed an unshakeable alliance.

Both were rarely troubled despite Gary Wilson's best efforts to rotate his bowlers, more in necessity than choice. Jade Dernbach and Chris Tremlett bowled well in spurts but never found any sort of consistent line and length on a surface that proved to be a batsman's paradise.

Tremlett returned after lunch to have Mitchell - Division Two's highest rungetter this term - bowled shouldering arms for 65 but that was as good as it got for Surrey until late in the day. Having raced into the 40s, Moeen was forced to be patient and watchful in the afternoon as Surrey rallied but it proved only to be a temporary reprieve. Once he passed fifty, Moeen accelerated through the gears and looked unmoveable.

A couple of wickets with the new ball saw Surrey haul themselves somewhat back into the contest but this was Moeen's day: he finished with a towering six into the pavilion

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Sunrisers chase gave us belief - Gambhir

Halfway through the league phase, Kolkata Knight Riders had only won two matches out of seven. Few would have imagined they would pick themselves up, win nine in a row and go on to lift their second IPL title in three seasons. After Knight Riders chased down 200 to win the final against Kings XI Punjab, their captain Gautam Gambhir credited his players for being able to absorb pressure and come up with crucial individual performances whenever called upon.

"A lot of credit needs to go to the entire team," Gambhir said. "I think they were ready to absorb a lot of pressure, and where we were after the first seven games, not a lot of people must have given us that chance that we're going to be here, lifting the cup. It's been unbelievable belief and contribution from everyone. Guys really chipped in when they needed to."

Asked what the mood in Knight Riders' dressing room was like after Kings XI had posted 199, Gambhir said he always felt they could chase it down. Knight Riders had extra belief, he said, after their chase of 161 in 14.2 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad to seal a top-two finish in the league phase.

"This is such a ground where it's difficult to defend," he said. "You always have that belief, if we can get the target to five overs, 50 or 60, we can always win the game, and I think Manish [Pandey] played an unbelievable knock, supported by Yusuf [Pathan], and then guys chipped in, someone like Piyush [Chawla] hitting that very important six. I think 199, we always had the belief we're going to chase that down, especially after what we did against Sunrisers."

Pandey, batting on his home ground, smashed 94 off 50 balls to take Knight Riders to the cusp of victory. Having received the Man-of-the-Match award for his effort, Pandey said the IPL was a fitting end to a superb domestic season for him - he had been part of the Karnataka side that had won the Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

"We have got four achievements, and IPL is the cherry on the cake," he said. "I thought this was an opportunity to get runs. I've been playing here for a very long time, I think it was great scoring in the final game."

George Bailey, the Kings XI captain, was magnanimous in his praise for the winning team and for Pandey. "That was certainly a game worthy of being called a final. It was outstanding," Bailey said. "Hats off to Kolkata and in particular Manish. That was a hell of an innings. The amount of times we took a wicket and he hit the next ball for six, it was ballsy batting and it really paid off. Full congratulations to them, they really deserved it."

Kings XI had topped the league table on their way to reaching their first final in seven seasons, and Bailey said he was proud of his team's achievement.

"It's been an amazing ride," he said. "We've got a very, very special bunch of guys. We've got a wonderful feeling. We have had a wonderful tournament, and another great game tonight, so our boys can really hold their heads up very, very high."

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Sri Lanka's other power couple

While Kumar Sangakkara has developed into a dominating one-day batsman, Tillakaratne Dilshan has become a reformed dasher. Together they are one-day cricket's form pairing

Through the course of life, people move in and out of each others' grasp. They forge alliances, break them, move together and then drift apart. Lifelong bonds are most rewarding, but rare. More often, people make temporary associations, built on a coincidence of interests or desires.

In the Sri Lanka team, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene share an elemental connection. On the field, on tour and in the public imagination, they are inseparable. In both ODI and Test partnership lists, they are the only non-openers in the top five.

But in recent years, they are not the pair who have brought most success for Sri Lanka in ODIs. Not even close. As reflexes, techniques and temperaments change in the twilight of their careers, Sangakkara has come to a confluence with Tillakaratne Dilshan. They are an odd couple, but strangely good together. The nature of their association has been even more surprising than its success.

At 36, Sangakkara has never been a better ODI batsman. Some sportsmen are said to age like a fine red wine, but in cricket, few have lived that maxim out more emphatically than Sangakkara. He has hit more than 1000 runs in each of the past three calendar years, and is more than halfway to that target again in 2014. In the first decade of his career, he managed it only twice.

There are more arrows in his quiver now: lap-scoops to the fine-leg boundary and uppercuts over third man. Since 2013, he dominates attacks, when he used to wear them down. Not many batsmen in the game are in better shape.

A year older, Dilshan seems to be on an inexorable decline. At Lord's, he had four attempts at crashing wide balls through the covers in the Powerplay, and mistimed the stroke each time. That shot was once his most productive. Yet, through a combination of will and wit, he is now the best ODI batsman he has ever been as well. In his last 16 innings, Dilshan has failed to reach thirty only four times. Of the 12 successful innings, he struck at over 90 runs per 100 balls only once.

Sri Lanka's 172-run second-wicket stand on Saturday seemed like a role-reversal to some but, in reality, it is the new order of things: Sangakkara the bold aggressor with Dilshan's steady support in tow. They have made prolific progress this way.

Since 2012, they have hit 2044 runs in each others' company, at an average of 56.77. No other pair has scored more than 1500, and that average is easily the highest among pairs to have hit 1000 together. It is odd to think that while Sangakkara has become an out-and-out matchwinner, Dilshan has become the more consistent batsman. Since 2012, Dilshan has also made 1081 alongside Mahela Jayawardene - the fourth duo on the list.

Like all good partnerships, Dilshan and Sangakkara are counterpoints to the other's weakness. Sangakkara is unsteady early in his innings, poking at the ball with hard hands, but Dilshan is a more effortless starter, regularly finding the square boundary on either side of the pitch. At Lord's, Sangakkara was in visible strife in the Powerplay but Dilshan eased their burden with two scoops for four off James Anderson. Sangakkara would not climb out of his rut until his score was 8 off 26 deliveries.

As the field goes out and Dilshan's scoring dips, Sangakkara moves to even out the run rate, picking gaps powerfully, forcing field changes, then mocking the new arrangements with a spate of calculated strikes. Dilshan had been on 35 before Sangakkara went into double figures, but Sangakkara would reach fifty first, by one ball. They had had a nearly equal share of the first 100 runs of their partnership, but as Sangakkara grew more fluent, he hit 46 of the last 72 runs, and Dilshan only 21.

Beyond the challenges their right-hand/left-hand combination poses for fielding captains, contrasting styles prevents bowlers from finding rhythm in the middle overs. Sangakkara likes to play spin from the crease, but Dilshan charges forward or slides right back. Sangakkara hits to traditional parts of the ground, but Dilshan puts the ball in strange spaces. Alaistair Cook tried all his bowlers and a variety of fields during the partnership, but only the artificial urgency brought on by the batting Powerplay could shake the pair's grip on the innings.

When Dilshan departed for 71 in the 36th over, Sri Lanka were already well-placed to push for 300. Typically, Sangakkara would forge ahead to triple figures. Of his 19 ODI tons, more than 40% have come since 2012. As their careers twist in different directions, he and Dilshan have found sudden room for each other. Pushed to the brink of defeat in the series, their happy meeting of the ways kept Sri Lanka alive for the final game.

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Seehwag ball, hit ball

Big game. Doesn't get bigger than this. Except when it does, on Sunday evening. But that's not going to stop Ravi Shastri from bellowing into your living rooms when it's toss time.

What do you call it when the Kings take on the Kings?

The league games between these two teams had all been about one man. What was it going to be about today? According to Chennai fans, it wasn't going to be so much about that man.

Forget Maxwell, the early exchanges were dominated by Virender Sehwag who rolled back the years with a murderous assault in the Powerplay.

The spinners weren't spared either. Sehwag scorched his way to 50 off 21 balls.

CSK dismissed Manan Vohra after a blistering opening partnership of 110 in 10.4 overs.

Sehwag's blitz had set it up nicely for the most anticipated battle of the day.

Ashwin moved over the stumps as he'd threatened. Maxwell thumped a six before holing out. Ashwin gave him a send-off.

Sehwag slowed down as the 100 approached, but still got there off 50 balls.

With the milestone out of the way, Sehwag kept hitting them out of the ground. David Miller joined in the rampage as 200 came up in the 18th over.

He fell eventually for a breath-taking 122 off 58.

Sehwag played some shots in the mid-game break as well.

Punjab only got 15 off the last 2 overs. Would that prove costly? Chennai lost Faf du Plessis early, but their best batsman set upon the chase in earnest

Raina's striking went into overdrive after he got to 50.

Raina looked set to chase the target down with time to spare when he was run out for 87 off 25, following a minor mix-up with Brendon McCullum.

Ravindra Jadeja counter-punched, but Punjab hit back with the wickets of McCullum, Jadeja and David Hussey in quick succession.

That was one too many blows to recover from, despite MS Dhoni hanging in there till the end - and getting a lucky break after being bowled by a big Mitchell Johnson no-ball. Punjab stormed into their first IPL final. And Chennai missed the decider for only the second time in seven years.

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Buttler not ready for Tests - Cook

Alastair Cook called Jos Buttler's record hundred "one of the best innings I've seen" as he just failed to carry England to victory at Lord's but then virtually ruled him out of having a chance of making a Test debut back at the same ground in a couple of weeks.

Buttler's 74-ball 121 transformed a floundering England chase in the fourth one-day international and they were still in with a chance of an incredible victory until he was run out in the final over.

With Matt Prior's potential Test recall still under a fitness cloud - he has been named in the Sussex squad for their Championship match against Nottinghamshire, but it will be his first four-day match since the opening week of the season - it was the sort of timing from Buttler that will increase the clamour for him to be elevated to the Test side.

Cook, however, believes Buttler still needs more time to refine his red-ball game and gave a strong indication England will look elsewhere if Prior is not considered.

"He's certainly found his method in one-day cricket," Cook said. "He knows what he's doing. I think he's yet to find that in four-day cricket.

"I think he'll be honest with himself, he needs more time to do that. But a guy who is as talented as that, there's no reason why he can't.

"I think he will become a very good Test player at some stage for England. Talented people find ways to do that, but I don't think he's quite ready yet for that role."

As a one-day player, Buttler continues to take the game by storm, making his maiden hundred having narrowly missed on the milestone when he fell for 99 against West Indies, in Antigua, during March. England needed approaching 10-an-over when he came to the crease and he kept up that required tempo with a mixture of power, placement and quick running.

"It's a hell of an innings," Cook said. "He doesn't deserve to be on the losing side, playing like that. It's one of the best innings I've seen. I don't know where he gets his power from. It is an incredible talent. Having him coming in, you're never out of the game."

Cook defended the performance of the top order after he and Ian Bell had fallen early to Lasith Malinga, leaving Joe Root and Gary Ballance to rebuild cautiously.

"When you lose wickets at the top of the order, you do have to rebuild and give yourself that chance to take the game deep," he said. "You know you can catch up. It's not the ideal way of playing it - because when you score 120 odd off 70 balls, you should win games of cricket."

Angelo Mathews was relieved to come out with a victory to keep the series alive and while he had Lasith Malinga up his sleeve retained the belief that his team would hold on at the death.

"Jos played an unbelievable innings, that's one of the best I've seen. He played the innings of his life," he said. "He nearly took us apart and the game away from us. But it was a great effort by the whole team

"The spinners bowled pretty well but you save the best for the last and Lasith had those overs in hand and it was pretty pleasing the way he bowled."

Cook also acknowledged that Sri Lanka had held their nerve skilfully in the closing overs after England had gone into the final two needing 20 to steal the win.

"You have to give Kulasekara and Malinga credit for those last two overs," he said. "They were brilliant, kept it very simple, and hit the hole nine out of 10 out of the last 12. Under that pressure - Kulasekara especially, after getting pumped three or four overs earlier - to come back like that, you have to give credit."

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Emburey reveals skin cancer

John Emburey, the former Middlesex and England spinner, has revealed that he is suffering from a form of skin cancer and has undergone surgery on the condition. He believes being exposed to the sun during his career contributed to the disease developing.

"It's the result of playing cricket for so many years, not wearing a hat and not wearing sun cream,'' he said. "When I played, there wasn't the same awareness of how much damage the sun can cause as there is now.''

Emburey, 61, told the Sun that he had surgery on an area of his forehead on Tuesday to remove a basal cell carcinoma, which he became aware of four years ago. He attended an England practice session at Lord's during the week sporting a black eye and stitches to his forehead.

"It isn't the most aggressive form or life-threatening," he said of the cancer. "They say it can be eliminated through surgery and there might not be a scar.''

Emburey played 64 Tests and 61 ODIs for England, collecting more than 200 wickets between 1978 and 1995. He went on to coach Middlesex after his retirement and is still involved with the ECB as an occasional spin consultant.

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