Bailey quiet as a T20 captain Australia

George Bailey has stood down as Australia's Twenty20 captain to focus on his World Cup preparation and increase his chances of a Test recall by playing more first-class cricket for Tasmania.

Bailey has also made himself unavailable for Australia's upcoming T20s against Pakistan in the UAE and at home against South Africa, although he has not retired from the format. Australia are expected to announce their squads for the UAE tour on Monday and a new T20 captain will be required after Bailey held the job for the past two and a half years.

The unusual Australian schedule for this summer would have meant that had Bailey remained in the T20 side, he could have had as few as two Sheffield Shield games this season to press his case for a Test comeback. Instead, he should now be available for four of Tasmania's five pre-Christmas Shield games; his likely presence at the World Cup will mean he will not play Shield cricket post-Christmas.

"It just made me reflect a little bit on where my priorities lay for the next three or four years and what I want to get out of my career," Bailey said of his reaction when he first saw this summer's fixture. "It's only going to buy me another couple of Shield games this year but longer term it just was something that I wanted to do in terms of working harder on my four-day cricket.

"I know I was picked out of one-day cricket for my last opportunity to play Test cricket and I don't think that would happen again. I think the only way is through Sheffield Shield or first-class runs. The best chance for me to do that is to play as many Shield games as I can."

Bailey, 32, was one of the beneficiaries of Australia's change of selectors in 2011-12, when the new chairman John Inverarity named him as the new T20 captain despite having never played an international match. His tactical nous was viewed as a key asset by Inverarity, who was keen for Australia to push up the T20 rankings from their place at No.5.

His emergence as an international player led to him becoming a key ODI batsman for Australia and making his Test debut during last summer's home Ashes, when he played all five Tests in Australia's clean-sweep. However, although he made useful Ashes contributions he did not manage a century and was dropped for the tour of South Africa that followed.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed the responsibility and honour of leading Australia in T20 internationals," Bailey said. "Over the last couple of months I have had the opportunity to reflect on my role as T20 captain and the direction I want to take my cricket over the next few years. Personally, I want to focus on my one-day cricket as well as becoming the best long-form player I can."

Bailey will leave the captaincy with Australia still at No.5, having won exactly half of the 28 T20s in which he has led the side. He captained Australia to two World T20 campaigns but they were unable to reach a final in either of them, although that had more to do with Australia's struggles in the spinning conditions of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh than Bailey's leadership.

Just as Australia's first T20 squad during Inverarity's tenure as chairman of selectors installed Bailey as captain, the first T20 squad named by new chairman Rod Marsh will need to include a different captain. Aaron Finch, Shane Watson and David Warner could be candidates to lead Australia in their one-off game against Pakistan, although going back to Bailey's predecessor, Cameron White, is another option.

"George is a fine leader and will certainly leave big shoes to fill as Australia's T20 captain," James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia CEO, said. "I'd like to thank him for his efforts in captaining the country in the shortest form of the game. He is an excellent ambassador for Australian cricket, displaying great leadership and setting a positive example for younger players around the country.

"He should be very proud of these achievements. We fully respect his decision to step aside from the international T20 captaincy and look forward to seeing him continue his one-day international career as well as playing more first-class cricket. We also wish him all the best in his endeavours to play more Test cricket."

In his 28 Twenty20s for his country, Bailey has scored 470 runs at 26.11. He remains an important ODI player for Australia and should feature at the World Cup, having been Australia's leading ODI run scorer since the end of the 2011 World Cup with 1772 runs at 49.22.

Ref: http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/778695.html

Srilanka's Experience Taking the game away from india

Kumar Sangakkara Experienced an under-pressure 83-ball century, the quickest of his ODI career, to steer Sri Lanka to their second straight win and to the brink of a place in the Asia Cup finals. After India had posted what seemed an insufficient total, Ravindra Jadeja and the other spinners sparked an unlikely comeback midway through the Sri Lankan chase, but with Sangakkara making light of a tricky surface, India were never really favourites.

Sangakkara needed only 83 balls to score a century on a
 surface plenty of others struggled on

India's age-old problems with death bowling were exacerbated by the dew, and Sangakkara captialised on a series of full tosses and seemingly put India beyond the game, caning 32 off three overs to boil it down to 12 off the final two overs. When Shikhar Dhawan misfielded in the 49th over at deep square leg after another full toss, it brought up Sangakkara's 18th ODI century and victory seemed a formality. Sangakkara allowed himself a fist pump to mark the milestone. Yet another full toss spiced up the game, though, as Sangakkara miscued a waist-high delivery from Mohammed Shami to leave Thisara Perera andAjantha Mendis needing seven off nine deliveries.

There was more low-quality cricket in the finale, as Ajantha Mendis levelled the scores with a thick outside edge past the keeper for four. With one needed in the final over, and two wickets in hand, Thisara chipped the first ball to Dhawan at mid-off, and was delighted to see a straightforward chance put down. A panicky single followed on the next delivery to finally confirm Sri Lanka's win.

Such anxious moments weren't on the cards when Sri Lanka's openers began brightly and with starkly contrasting styles - Kusal Perera all brute force with an everything-must-go mindset and Lahiru Thirmanne more of an old-fashioned stylist, thriving on precision strokes. They put on 80 before R Ashwin, switching between his new-fangled Narine-style action and his conventional one, had Thirimanne lbw for 38.

That only brought together Kusal and Sangakkara, who coolly put together a half-century stand. The score was 141 for 2 when Dinesh Karthik failed to take off the bails on the first attempt after a leg-side take to reprieve Sangakkara. It was a miss, but with Sri Lanka coasting, and India looking listless, it didn't seem like it would matter much.

Instead, Jayawardene chipped a catch straight to extra cover, and Jadeja produced a ripping turner next ball to knock back Dinesh Chandimal's off stump and hand him a golden duck. With the spinners, including part-timer Rohit, finding some rhythm, the middle-order collapsed, but Sangakkara remained immoveable, placing the ball perfectly and rarely needing to slog as he orchestrated the chase.

India's middle-order had floundered against the spinners as well, its first serious test in the absence of vastly experienced trio of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh. The stutter came after India's best phase of the innings, with Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan putting on 97 for the second wicket on a surface where the ball was staying low and not coming easily onto the bat. Dhawan was uncharacteristically subdued, hitting only seven fours and a six in his 94 - far fewer boundaries than you would expect from a naturally aggressive batsman.

The stand was broken by Mendis, who continued his love affair with the Asia Cup by grabbing four wickets to take his tally to 21 at an average of 9.76 in six matches. It was his zipping carrom ball that sent back India's best batsman Kohli for 48, and later Dhawan for 94 in the 40th over, just as India were getting set for a final onslaught.

Ajinkya Rahane had plenty of time to get his eye in, but holed out for 22 attempting his favourite shot, the loft over extra cover. Dhawan's exit put the responsibility on Ambati Rayudu and Karthik, neither of whom are certainties in the XI, had to shepherd the team in the final ten. Both fluffed it: Karthik lasting only three balls as he miscued to mid-off, and Rayudu picking out the man at long-off as he chipped Chaturanga de Silva.

Sri Lanka backed up the bowlers with some top fielding, throwing themselves around in the deep to make several sliding stops and also hitting the stumps several times from close-in. Lasith Malinga fired in his yorkers towards the death, and though a couple of mighty hits from No. 11 Shami took India to 264, it ultimately wasn't enough in the face of a Sangakkara masterclass.

The result also added more pressure on India ahead of the marquee clash against Pakistan on Sunday.

Ref: http://www.espncricinfo.com/asia-cup-2014/content/current/story/723817.html