Welegedara sent for scans on hamstring

Sri Lanka may be forced to play out the majority of the Boxing Day Test with two key players injured after Chanaka Welegedara left the field early on day two with a suspected hamstring injury. He will undergo scans to assess the extent of the damage, and is not expected to take further part in the morning's play.

Wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene was also off the field on day two, having fractured his right thumb while batting the previous day. Kumar Sangakkara has taken the gloves in his stead.

Welegedara opened the bowling for Sri Lanka on the second morning and was halfway through his fourth over of the day when he pulled up during his approach to the crease. He bent down to stretch his right hamstring, and appeared to be in discomfort as he left the field. Shaminda Eranga completed his over.

Welegedara has had an injury-plagued year, having missed eight months of Test cricket with two separate injuries. He strained his groin in March during the home series against England and though he had recovered from that by June, he tore a shoulder muscle as Sri Lanka prepared to play Pakistan later in the month. The Hobart Test against Australia was his first competitive cricket since March, as his recovery period did not coincide with Sri Lanka's domestic season.

Welegedara is regarded as the leader of Sri Lanka's pace attack, and a bowling unit already under considerable strain as they attempt to restrict Australia's lead on a good batting pitch will be stretched even further if Welegedara cannot bowl again in the match.

The loss of Jayawardene may already have hurt Sri Lanka, with Sangakkara having spilled a difficult chance to retrieve Shane Watson late on day one.

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Warne skips Big Bash in hope of a UK White Christmas

The Big Bash League's marquee player Shane Warne will miss the Melbourne Stars clash with the Adelaide Strikers after travelling to the UK for Christmas.

The Stars sent a press release late on Christmas Eve saying that their captain had "pre-existing commitments in the United Kingdom" and would miss the match scheduled for Thursday December 27.

Warne made no secret of his location announcing on twitter: "Am spending my first Christmas away from Melbourne in 43 years I was hoping for a white Christmas in the UK & build snowmen too - sob !!! X".

It has been widely reported that part of Warne's contract to play in the Big Bash League has been funded directly by Cricket Australia. Neither CA nor the South Australian Cricket Association has commented on Warne missing the match in Adelaide where a large crowd is expected.

Former Stars captain Cameron White will take the reigns for the important clash with the Strikers, in which either side could all but sure up a semi-final berth.

"It was something that was pre-arranged I think," White said about Warne's absence.

"It is something that the team always knew was going to happen. He's actually bowling quite well at the moment. But the team is very comfortable with the situation."

The two teams enter the match in fantastic form. The Strikers thumped the Sixers by nine wickets in Adelaide last Sunday to notch their third win of the tournament. Their attack featured three spinners in Johan Botha, Cameron Boyce and Brad Young, as well as the express pace of Shaun Tait.

The Stars have their own firebrand, the form bowler of the tournament Lasith Malinga. But in Warne's absence the spin duties will be left to the part-timers of White, David Hussey, and Glenn Maxwell, unless they select the inexperienced left-arm orthodox bowler Clive Rose. The Stars will get Luke Wright back from international duties with England.

Shane Warne is scheduled to return for the Stars match with the Brisbane Heat on January 3.

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Progression of the team encouraging - McCullum

Brendon McCullum, the New Zealand captain, has said that although they lost the Twenty20 series to South Africa 2-1, he was pleased with the way his young team responded after the drubbing in Durban. McCullum pointed out to the progression of the young players in the squad as one of the big positives from the series.

"The introduction of the new guys, playing in front of big crowds, is a positive," McCullum said. "We have seen some good performances from the new guys, especially Mitchell McClenaghan, and it is encouraging.

"Although, we didn't get the results, we took significant strides in the series. The key thing is to continue to build the team inside out. We saw some guys step up, and they would now know what's required in international cricket. Progression of where we were a couple of weeks ago and where we are now, it's good."

New Zealand started the tour in a disastrous manner when they collapsed to 86 batting first in Durban and lost by eight wickets. But they turned the tables on South Africa in East London, mainly due to an unbeaten century by Martin Guptill. The deciding match in Port Elizabeth was expected to be an even contest, but it didn't turn out that way.

"We came into this game with high hopes," McCullum said. "We built up some good momentum after the East London game. For few moments today, we competed well, but South Africa grabbed the bigger moments and we were found wanting."

New Zealand, after being asked to field, kept a tight leash on the South African scoring till the 14th over, but gave away 80 runs in the last six overs to cede the advantage. Chasing a big total, they lost Rob Nicol early and though Guptill and McCullum shone for a while, their wickets ended New Zealand's challenge.

Some of the members of the T20 team are headed back to New Zealand and McCullum said that for the rest, the focus quickly needs to change to Test cricket now. "The Test guys that have joined us two days ago, we need to channel our focus towards Tests, to the challenge of taking on the No. 1 Test side in the world."

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Clarke passes record against wounded tourists

Lunch Australia 3 for 238 (Warner 62, Watson 60*, Clarke 56*) lead Sri Lanka 156 by 82 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Michael Clarke surpassed Ricky Ponting's record for the most runs in a calendar year by an Australian batsman as the captain and his deputy Shane Watson sapped the spirit of a wounded Sri Lanka on the second morning of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.

Losing the left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara to an apparent hamstring strain, the visitors did their cause further harm by spurning a stumping chance from Clarke and a slips catch from Watson as the session ticked towards lunch. Both misses arrived as Clarke edged close to the record, which he reached with an unobtrusive single in the penultimate over of the session.

Both Watson and Clarke played with restraint, and the innings shapes as a significant one for the vice-captain as he seeks to prove his worth as a genuine top order batsman after years of scores more handy than hefty. Having beaten a hasmtring strain of his own to play in Melbourne, Clarke will be after further runs to bolster his team's position, and his standing as the supreme batsman of 2012.

Resuming at 3 for 150, Clarke and Watson began cautiously, respecting the early spells of a Sri Lankan attack desperate to capitalise on the modest gains they made late on the second evening. A mere 11 runs were nudged and nodded from the day's first six overs, before the match took another turn away from the visitors.

Having already lost the wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene to a thumb fracture, Sri Lanka now winced at the sight of Chanaka Welegedara clutching his right hamstring and limping from the field. He was sent to hospital for scans while Mehela Jayawardene summoned Shaminda Eranga to complete the over.

Eranga briefly threatened to add further insult to the injury tally when he used his ankle to stop Watson's stinging straight drive, but he recovered sufficiently to keep bowling. Eranga drew nervy moments from both batsmen - Watson jamming down on a yorker that squeezed close to the stumps and Clarke showing his discomfort when trying to duck under a bouncer. But he also gifted four overthrows to Clarke when he threw wildly in the general direction of the stumps following a push down the wicket from Australia's captain.

Helped by the injury and the charity, Clarke and Watson accelerated, and a trio of milestones duly followed. First came Clarke's 50, which has been a common sight in 2012. Next came Watson's half-century, which has not. It was in fact Watson's first score of better than 50 on home soil since the 2010 Boxing Day Ashes Test, a match best forgotten by Australians. Watson then was a makeshift opening batsman; now he is a No. 4 of considerable destructive potential.

Finally, as the clock ticked towards lunch, Clarke passed Ponting's runs record. It was not a mark reached without some palpitations offering Sri Lanka their best chances of the morning. Still needing two runs, he advanced somewhat hazily down the wicket to Rangana Herath, misread the line and the lack of turn, and was fortunate that Kumar Sangakkara was unsighted as the ball passed between Clarke's legs, precluding a clean take and a stumping.

Later in the same over Watson offered a simpler opportunity to Jayawardene at slip, his cut eluding the hands of the Sri Lankan captain. Clarke calmed down sufficiently to push the single that took him past Ponting, acknowledging the warm applause of the day two crowd with a wave of his bat. He will be looking for more after lunch.

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McClenaghan added to New Zealand Test squad

New Zealand and Auckland left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenaghan will stay back in South Africa for the two-match Test series starting January 2. McClenaghan replaces Tim Southee, who was ruled out last week due to a thumb injury.

McClenaghan, 26, played the two Twenty20 internationals on the current tour, picking up a wicket in each game. "With Tim Southee's injury and Mark Gillespie being unavailable due to injury we have taken the opportunity to add Mitchell McClenaghan to the Test squad for the two match series against South Africa," New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. "Mitchell has been an impressive performer over the past couple of domestic seasons and deserves this opportunity following a promising start to International Cricket during the T20 series in South Africa.

"Mitchell is a talented and exciting young fast bowler who has the ability to unsettle batsmen with his pace and bounce. We are confident if the opportunity arises during the tour he will perform well during the Test series."

McClenaghan has played 26 first-class matches, collecting 76 wickets at 39.03. This Plunket Shield season, he's played four matches and taken 14 wickets at 34.85. He said his raw pace was an asset. "I can definitely feel like I can bowl a good spell of heat and hopefully put them on the back foot."

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We were 10-15 runs short - Dhoni

India were 10 to 15 runs short of a "safe" total against Pakistan in the first Twenty20 international, according to their captain MS Dhoni. India's openers put on 77 runs inside 11 overs to give the hosts a solid base but Pakistan struck regularly after that, as India collapsed to finish on 133 for 9.

"We should have got more runs," Dhoni said. "We got a fantastic start from the openers but we couldn't capitalise. We lost regular wickets and that hurt us. We should have got 10-15 runs more, 145 would have been a safe score."

India began superbly with the ball as the debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up three wickets but fifties from the Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik set the platform for the visitors' five-wicket win. India's quick bowlers picked up all five Pakistan wickets to fall, but the part-time bowlers conceded 75 runs in 7.4 overs as Malik's six off Ravindra Jadeja in the final over ended the game. Dhoni used up his fast bowlers by the 19th over, and had to bring on Jadeja for the 20th.

"It was a gamble to finish the pacers early," Dhoni said. "Malik and Hafeez were going well so we needed wickets. They were also going at a very fast pace so we had to take a gamble. The pacers did well, they left 10 runs for the last over which I thought was good."

Malik said Pakistan were struggling when Bhuvneshwar struck early but credited Hafeez for playing a "brilliant innings." Hafeez said once the India spinners came on, Pakistan knew they had a chance. He also praised his bowlers for bringing Pakistan back into the game.

"We wanted to do well at the start of the series," Hafeez said. "[Mohammad] Irfan was the surprise package for us and everybody. We knew we had a good attack. We knew that [Umar] Gul is always good with the old ball. They restricted India where we wanted them to. Once the [India] spinners came on after the new ball, we knew we had a chance, we took a risk at the right time and it worked. It is a gift for the whole nation. It is Quaid day back home."

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Malik and Hafeez guide Pakistan to victory

Pakistan 134 for 5 (Hafeez 61, Malik 57*) beat India 133 for 9 (Gambhir 43, Rahane 42, Gul 3-21) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Two of Pakistan's experienced hands guided them to victory in their first game in almost three months, and their first bilateral tour of India in five years. An early burst from debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who began his international career with a fabulous display of swing bowling, rattled the Pakistan top order but the calm presence of Mohammad Hafeez and some enterprising batting from Shoaib Malik put a chase of 134 back on track.

Pakistan had another scare at the death, losing two in quick time when victory appeared secure, but Malik ultimately saw them through in the final over, sealing the game with a six. The hosts were a specialist bowler short, as the Pakistan pair targeted the non-regulars, but a more significant factor in India's loss was their implosion with the bat, when they lost nine wickets for 47 runs in 46 balls.

A 36,000-strong crowd had been silenced during an impressive display of bowling backed up by some excellent ground fielding that had helped Pakistan fight back after India's openers had laid a strong foundation in an attractive stand of 77 in under 11 overs. The decibel levels at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, however, hit their peak when Bhuvneshwar swung it this way and that, setting up two of this three victims with outswingers before nipping one back in to dismantle the stumps. At 12 for 3, Pakistan were reeling; their rebuilding was steady, and resulted in 24 boundary-less deliveries, but Hafeez and Malik pounced in at the right time.

Virat Kohli was one of the part-timers used by India, and Hafeez slogged him for two boundaries in the 11th over, at the start of which the required-rate had hit almost nine an over. Yuvraj Singh dragged the ball too short on occasion and was heaved for two sixes by the pair and they each stepped out to Ravindra Jadeja to dispatch him for maximums over his head.

The return of India's seamers didn't immediately check Pakistan, as the equation was brought down to 16 off the last three overs, but Ishant Sharma dismissed Hafeez and conceded just two in an over in which he had Malik caught off a no-ball for height. Ashok Dinda was given the penultimate over and he left Pakistan needing 10 off the last, which Malik helped achieve with a straight six off a Jadeja length delivery to win with two balls to spare.

Ajinkya Rahane's supreme timing was the feature of India's opening partnership, as he lofted Pakistan's bowlers over extra cover effortlessly, though they hit back after he fell upper-cutting to third man. Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal were the architects of that comeback, after being struck for sixes in their respective opening overs. Gul was smashed over midwicket by Gambhir, but had Yuvraj Singh caught in the deep off a slower ball in his new spell before removing two in two towards the death. Ajmal was carted over extra cover by Rahane, but returned to dismiss MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina with quicker deliveries at a time when India would have backed themselves to reach a score of around or above 150.

Gambhir had started picking up the pace but was caught short of the crease when attempting a second run in the 13th over. Sohail Tanvir returned a throw on the half-volley to Kamran Akmal, who collected well and dislodged the stumps. Kohli and Yuvraj began well but fell trying to heave the seamers over square leg - left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan got rid of Kohli to bag his first international wicket.

Ajmal's tricks against Dhoni and Raina, and the early run-out of Rohit Sharma, sent back by a direct hit from the deep, transformed India's game from one aimed at an aggressive charge to mere survival. India scored just one boundary in the last six overs, their early advantage was squandered and not even a dream debut that produced a spell of 4-0-9-3 could restore it completely.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s Powerplay 16-20 overs NB/Wides India 48 9 3 37-0 18-5 0/3 Pakistan 57 10 5 22-3 24-2 (19.4) 1/3

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Sangakkara hits 10,000 but Sri Lanka wobble

Lunch Sri Lanka 3 for 79 (Sangakkara 43*, Samaraweera 10*) v Australia
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Kumar Sangakkara became the second Sri Lankan to reach the 10,000-run milestone in Tests but there was little else for Sri Lanka to celebrate in the first session on Boxing Day at the MCG as Australia's fast bowlers all made breakthroughs. Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bat and at lunch Sri Lanka were 3 for 79, and were relying heavily on Sangakkara, who was unbeaten on 40, while Thilan Samaraweera was on 10.

Sangakkara brought up his 10,000th run in the final over before lunch with a square drive for four off Mitchell Johnson and a hug from Samaraweera and a round of applause from the Australian players followed. Sangakkara was the equal fastest to the milestone, reaching it in his 195th Test innings, the same as Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, and one innings quicker than Ricky Ponting.

Sangakkara began cautiously and had 12 from 36 balls when he decided to take on Johnson's fuller deliveries, driving him for three consecutive boundaries. It was an encouraging counter-attack from Sangakkara after Sri Lanka struggled to 3 for 37 in the 13th over.

Australia's debutant Jackson Bird struck in his second over with the new ball when he angled a ball across the left-hander Dimuth Karunaratne (5) and nipped it away off the seam, and the thick edge was snapped up by the wicketkeeper Matthew Wade. Bird was very impressive in his initial Test spells, hitting a nagging line and length and offering few scoring opportunities for the batsmen.

More runs came off Johnson, but he also picked up an important wicket when Tillakaratne Dilshan stood flat-footed and tried to heave a delivery from just outside off stump through the leg side. Dilshan, on 11 at the time, succeeded only in inside-edging the ball back onto his stumps and it was a particularly ugly dismissal for a man who was fresh from a century in the first Test in Hobart.

Peter Siddle also broke through when Jayawardene, who had been tied down, drove at a ball that moved away slightly and edged behind for 3 from 26 balls. It was a fine start for the Australians, who were led by Michael Clarke after he was passed fit having suffered a hamstring injury while batting in the first Test in Hobart.

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Punjab take lead, need 231 to win

Punjab 268 (Uday Kaul 93, Mandeep 66, Sidhana 50) need 231 runs to beat Gujarat 266 and 232 (Juneja 79, Ladda 4-112)
Scorecard

Punjab gave themselves a chance of winning their fifth game of the season - no side has won more than two - but before that, Uday Kaul gave them the first-innings lead as he added 31 with the last man Sarabjit Ladda. Punjab began the day on 227 for 7, still well behind Gujarat's 266. They were 237 for 9 when Ladda, playing his first first-class game in two years, joined Kaul, who pushed Punjab to 268 before falling to Rush Kalaria on 93. Ladda then picked up four wickets as Gujarat, on the lookout for quick runs to try and force a result, were dismissed for 232. Manprit Juneja led the way with 79, but he had little support. It was left to Kalaria's unbeaten 33 to drag Gujarat from 148 for 7 to set Punjab a chase of 231 on the final day.

Mumbai 304 and 192 for 5 (Jaffer 67) lead Madhya Pradesh 244 (Choudhary 76, Harpreet 50) by 252 runs
Scorecard

Mumbai took the first-innings lead in Indore against Madhya Pradesh but slowed down considerably in their second innings despite desperately needing to push for an outright win. Ajit Agarkar struck early in the morning to remove Satyam Choudhary when MP resumed on 191 for 5 but Harpreet Singh and Ankit Sharma resisted. Abhishek Nayar, as he has done through the season, delivered the crucial wicket of Harpreet, bowling him with an inswinger which the batsman left alone. A couple of poor decisions brought the end of the MP innings on 244, giving Mumbai a lead of 60. With Kaustubh Pawar steady at one end, Aditya Tare and then Wasim Jaffer made quick runs, but Mumbai got stuck after the duo fell. Hiken Shah took 75 balls to make 18 and Suryakumar Yadav 28 to make 5. Ishwar Pandey was again among the wickets after his six-for in the first innings.

Hyderabad 337 and 130 for 6 (Karan 3-59) lead Railways 213 (Shinde 5-78) by 254 runs
Scorecard

Fourteen wickets went down in Hyderabad as Railways collapsed from a strong position and Hyderabad limped past 100 in their second innings. Railways, on 145 for 2 at the start of the day, were dealt twin blows by Ashish Reddy, who dismissed the captain Sanjay Bangar and Nitin Bhille. Offspinner Amol Shinde took over after that, taking five of the remaining six wickets as Railways crumbled to 213. Hyderabad had a big lead in the bag, but it was now the turn of the Railways spinners. Karan Sharma and Murali Kartik took five wickets between them after Anureet Singh struck with the second ball of the Hyderabad innings. Hyderabad closed on 130 for 6, but their overall lead was a healthy 254.

Saurashtra 228 (Makvana 54, Jackson 54, Pankaj 5-61) and 11 for 0 need another 295 runs to beat Rajasthan 299 and 234 for 9 dec (Chouhan 76, Saxena 65)
Scorecard

Pankaj Singh's 17th five-wicket haul in 67 first-class games helped Rajasthan take a decent lead against Suarashtra and fifties from Sourabh Chouhan and Vineet Saxena gave the visitors a target of 306 in Jaipur. Saurashtra began on 213 for 7 in reply to Rajasthan's 299 and Pankaj needed less than four overs to dismiss the remaining three batsmen. He bowled Kamlesh Makvana for his overnight score of 54, and did the same to Sandip Maniar. Chouhan retired on 6, and Rajasthan lost the captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar for a duck when he was bowled by Maniar. First-innings centurion Ashok Menaria came in and made a breezy 46. Chouhan returned to join Saxena after Menaria fell and was seventh man out with the score on 220. Rajasthan declared on 234 for 9, and Saurashtra reached 11 for no loss at stumps.

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Famous rivalry resumes after five-year break

Match facts

December 25, 2012
Start time 1900 (1330 GMT)

	Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez speaks to the media ahead of the first T20 in Bangalore

Big Picture

Just the plain fact that this tour is actually happening is a gargantuan achievement for the Pakistan Cricket Board and its chairman Zaka Ashraf. How many diplomatic and political channels must have been traversed, how many meetings arranged and attended, how many people cajoled and persuaded, and how many prayers said in the hope that nothing goes wrong at the last moment. Well, Pakistan are finally here, on Indian soil, for their first bilateral tour in five years. It does not matter that it is apologetically short, it does not matter that it is barely squeezed between the two legs of England's India visit. Thank heavens to Christmas then, for ensuring a gap existed in the first place for the two Twenty20 internationals and three ODIs to be sneaked in.

The rivalry needs no introduction. In the earlier part of the previous decade, the historic Indian tour of Pakistan in 2003-04 - after another five-year break in ties - heralded a surfeit of bilateral series to the extent the rivalry began to feel a bit jaded. Since 2007, or more pertinently, since the Mumbai attacks of 2008, fans have had to rely on crumbs - a Champions Trophy game in 2009, a couple of Asia Cup matches, a World Cup semi-final in 2011, and a World Twenty20 clash in 2012.

MS Dhoni might say it is just another series but it isn't. Privately for the players, and openly for the fans, India v Pakistan will always be a coming together of shared history, culture, language, fear, hopes, love, hatred. India v Pakistan will always convert a neutral venue into a sea of flags of the two countries. India v Pakistan will always do strange things to players; it will drain flair out of those who have it, and it will inject flair into those who haven't had it till then, and won't have it thereafter. India v Pakistan will always make temporary fans out of people who run away from cricket otherwise.

Too much cricket? Underperforming Indian team? No Sachin Tendulkar? All valid concerns and worries. But come the first ball in Bangalore on Tuesday evening, few will be able to resist watching.

Form guide (Completed games, most recent first)

India LWWWL
Pakistan LWLWW

In the spotlight

The last time these sides met, in the World Twenty20 in Colombo, a hesitant Mohammad Hafeez set the stage for a dull performance from Pakistan. The captain, having chosen to bat, made a 28-ball 15, defending and defending without intent. Hafeez's approach continued when Pakistan fielded, diffidence replacing his usual pro-active, snappy self. It had to be the pressure of an India-Pakistan game, for in their next match against Australia, Pakistan were back to playing aggressive, stirring cricket. How will Hafeez cope this time?

Virat Kohli is one young Indian batsman many Pakistani fans admire and despise in equal measure. The man is brash, but he gets the runs. He swears, but he is dependable. He's played a couple of match-winning innings against them already, including the outstanding 183 in the Asia Cup earlier this year in Dhaka.

Stats and Trivia

• This will be the first T20 to be played between the two sides in India.
• Pakistan have played four bilateral limited-overs series in India, and have won two.

Quotes

"We want him to stay at the peak. We don't want to put too much pressure on him. At the same time, other bowlers also have to take wickets to give confidence to him."
Mohammad Hafeez on Saeed Ajmal

"T20 is slightly different. You have to be a bit unorthodox and try a few different things. It is different from the longer format. So I think a few games will give us time to get into the groove."
MS Dhoni

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