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ADELAIDE, Dec 20 AAP – Justin Langer finally capitalised on what he believes is his career-best form to score his first first-class century of the season, handing Western Australia first innings points and control of its Pura Cup match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval today.At the end of day two, the Warriors were 2-299 in their first innings, with Murray Goodwin on 108 and Mike Hussey on nine, holding a first innings lead of 73 after SA was dismissed for 226 in its first innings on day one.The highlight of the day was WA skipper and Australian Test opener Langer’s 164, which included 16 fours and two sixes from 263 balls, and ensures he will head into the fourth Ashes Test, starting at the MCG on Thursday, in absolute top form.While Langer’s performances have been overshadowed by his run-guzzling Test opening partner Matthew Hayden this summer, he said he had been batting better than ever, despite failing to notch a hundred until today.”I’ve got a lot of starts and I’ve been batting probably as well as I have in my whole career,” Langer told reporters.”I said a number of times for the last three or four weeks ‘someone’s going to pay soon’ because I felt like I was due for a really big score.”Batting’s about getting momentum and it doesn’t matter whether you play in a grade game, a Pura Cup game, or a one-day game, if you’re scoring runs the momentum usually goes with you, so I’ll be looking to take that momentum into Boxing Day.”Langer and Goodwin shared a 247-run second-wicket stand, dominated by Langer, which carried WA past SA’s total and was only one run short of the highest second-wicket partnership for WA against SA, scored by Greg Shipperd and Mike Veletta here in 1984/85.It was eventually broken by Paul Rofe in the third over with the second new ball, when Langer got a thin inside edge to keeper Shane Deitz with the total on 267.But by then WA was in command, and Langer said he expected SA would find it difficult to get back into the match on a pitch that is likely to get tougher to bat on.He said young left arm spinner Beau Casson, who took six wickets in the first innings in just his second first-class match, was likely to pose an even bigger threat in the second innings.”We’re in a great position now, I imagine it’s going to get harder and harder to bat on,” Langer said.”We saw it spin in the first innings, so young Beau Casson will be confident and for our other guys it will be a bit up and down, it will be tough to bat on.”In the one bright spot for the Redbacks, 19-year-old debutant paceman Shaun Tait showed promise and captured the wicket of WA opener Chris Rogers for six in the 10th over of the day.The fiery teenager also struck Langer on the shoulder with a short ball during his opening spell.

Northern Districts won an extraordinary and sometimes bizarre match by three Duckworth/Lewis runs at Blake Park, Mount Maunganui, leaving Wellington angry and disappointed at the end.With 14 still needed, six overs and two balls to bowl and the last pair at the wicket, the umpires offered Northern the light. Knowing that they were ahead on Duckworth/Lewis calculations, the offer was gleefully accepted.With two spinners bowling (as demanded by umpire Bowden as a condition for play continuing in the gloom) there was no danger to the batsmen. Indeed, it could be argued that they were in less danger than anybody else in the ground.Wellington were obviously disgusted at the decision, with hats being thrown on the ground and the players remaining in the middle for some five minutes, debating the issue with umpires Wright and Bowden before reluctantly accepting their fate.That was not all. Earlier a rain interruption had been extended by an unnecessary 90 minutes because the covers had come apart at the seams, like the two teams at various stages of the day. Without this interruption a full, fifty over match might have been completed.All this overshadowed a magnificent performance from Wellington quickie Andrew Penn. He finished with figures of 8-1-28-7, the second best ever in domestic limited overs cricket (Willie Watson holds the record with 7-23 for Auckland against Otago in 1984/85). Penn now holds the best bowling records for Central Districts and Wellington, both against Northern.He finished with figures of 8-1-28-7, the second best figures ever domestic limited overs cricket (Willie Watson holds the record with 7-23 for Auckland against Otago in 1984/5) Penn now holds the best bowling records for Central Districts and Wellington, both against Northern.It was an outstanding piece of bowling, with movement and extra bounce on a consistent off stump line. It was also one of those days when the edges were found and carried to the fielders, but Penn deserved any good fortune that came his way. With the ODI squad being announced tomorrow, he could not have picked a better day to stake his claim.Wellington began well, having won the toss and chosen to bat. Nevin hit three fours off Tuffey in the sixth over, taking his side to 47-2 when he was out.Thereafter it was a struggle, as Wellington crept to 119-7 from 40 overs when the rain fell and the covers leaked. Bradburn, as usual, was Northern’s best bowler, finishing with 10-1-25-1.The numbers having been crunched, Northern were left with a target of 144 in forty overs. They began appearing to think that it would all be a bit of a breeze, Hamish Marshall and Simon Doull appearing to be aiming to finish it all in less than 20 overs, never mind 40.Then, thanks to Penn, it all turned to dust, with a spectacular collapse reducing the home team to 47-6. Hart and James Marshall worked quietly and carefully to bring Northern back into it (the required rate was always around three an over and was never an issue).The return of Penn disposed of both of them. Tait and Tuffey continued the good work, Tuffey hitting a six over mid-wicket off Jefferson, a sign that the light was not an impenetrable problem for the batsmen.The last few balls were, in some ways, the strangest of the lot. Roger Twose bowled them, his first spell of the season. His first four balls were all wides, with another following later in the over. However, he got the wicket of Tait, caught by a skyer at mid off.It was then that the umpires took the decision to offer the light. Common sense said that the game should be played to a conclusion, but when has that had much to do with events on a cricket field?The win puts Northern equal on points with Otago at the top of the table. Wellington are bottom and need to win against CD on Sunday if they are not to lose touch.

Wolves’ midfield could look completely different next season, with both Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho possibly leaving the club at the end of the season.

Youngster Luke Cundle is expected to feature more for the first team next season after impressing in the limited appearances he has made so far, while fans will be hoping Morgan Gibbs-White is given a chance next campaign after impressing on-loan at Sheffield United in the Championship.

Meanwhile, Leander Dendoncker could be the club’s most senior midfielder – having been a regular at the club since 2018, when he initially joined on-loan from Anderlecht, before signing permanently for £12.42m the summer afterwards.

However, Bruno Lage might be nervous about deploying the Belgian in place of Ruben Neves, given he has averaged just a 6.79 match rating this season, compared to the 7.20 match rating that the Portuguese star has averaged in the Premier League this season.

If the West Midlands club went down an alternate route back in 2018, they could have had Cameroon international Andre-Franck Zambo-Anguissa already in place to step up and replace Neves – and have had him to start alongside the Barcelona target.

According to French news outlet Espoirs du Foot, via Get French Football News, Wolves were interested in bringing  Zambo-Anguissa to Molineux for their first season back in the Premier League, back in 2018. However, he joined Fulham instead for £22.3m.

The Cottagers star, currently on-loan with Serie A giants Napoli, was labelled “first-class” by former manager Scott Parker during the club’s Premier League campaign back in the 2018/19 season, and he has gone from strength-to-strength in Italy – with his value increasing to £27m according to Transfermarkt.

His manager in Italy, Luciano Spalletti, has admitted he is a huge fan of the former Stade Reims and Marseille youngster, saying earlier in the season: “He always comes into the locker room and talks about what happened in the first half, what was going on around his position, paying close attention to the movements that the opposition do. He is very tactically intelligent.”

The 26-year-old has proven himself as not just a physical brute in the defensive third to get past, but also a progressive midfielder like Neves, ranking among players in his position across Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions in the top 3% for both dribbles completed per 90 (1.77) and tackles in the attacking third per 90 (0.56), as well as ranking in the top 8% for carries into the final third per 90 (2.42).

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Described as a “machine” by Joachim Andersen, his development since first arriving in England four years ago has been significant, having spent time on loan at La Liga giants Villarreal too – and he is now proving Wolves wrong for not taking a chance on him.

Chairman Jeff Shi will likely rue that decision in the summer if they do lose Moutinho and Neves.

In other news: Lage can find Wolves’ next Traore in rarely-seen teen who does “things out of nothing”

Scorecard

	Kumar Sangakkara was declared the Man-of-the-Tournament for his 264 runs © AFP

Rain was the ultimate winner in the Inter-Provincial Limited-Overs Tournament final between Kandurata and Wayamba which ended in a no result with only 35.3 overs being bowled in the entire match. The teams were declared joint champions and picked up prize money worth Rs 1.7 million (US$15,700) each.The weather has not been at its best for the past fortnight and Sri Lanka Cricket, who organised the tournament, were keeping their fingers crossed that it would clear away on Sunday and allow a full day’s play at the SSC. However it was not to be. Heavy rain on the previous night left the pitch and the outfield with a great deal of moisture which pushed back the start by one-and-a-half hours.The match was reduced to a 43 overs-a-side and Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene had no hesitation in inviting Kandurata to bat. It proved a good move as Wayamba captured two wickets including the prize one of Kandurata captain Kumar Sangakkara in the opening ten overs.Sajith Fernando and tailender Suraj Mohamed, surprisingly promoted in the order, mended the innings with a partnership of 67 off 62 balls. Fernando scored 44 off 58 deliveries and Mohamed 42 off 69. Fernando’s dismissal at 98 sparked off another mini-collapse as Kandurata lost a further two wickets for the addition of seven runs before the rain arrived with Kandurata 131 for 5 off 29.3 overs. The innings ended on that total and when play recommenced at 4pm Wayamba were set the task of chasing 143 runs from 25 overs under the Duckworth/Lewis method.Michael Vandort and Mahela Udawatte gave them a flying start posting 37 runs off six overs before the rains returned to bring an end to the game.Sangakkara with 264 runs at 66 and the scorer of the only century in the tournament (109 v Basnahira South) won the Man-of-the-Tournament award of Rs 100,000 (US$923).

Indian cricketers’ annual contracts, which were scheduled to be finalised by the end of September, have been further delayed and will now be signed when the players return to India after the World Cup.Niranjan Shah, honorary secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said in Mumbai that the decision to postpone the signing of the contracts with the top players, up to 20, was agreed upon during a meeting with captain Rahul Dravid.”After a meeting between the board officials and Dravid, it was mutually agreed that the players’ contract would be implemented after the return of the team from World Cup,” Shah said in a short statement. “At the meeting the draft agreement was discussed in detail and the views of the board and players were also exchanged.”The final draft of the BCCI players’ contracts was to be ready in mid-January. The board was to then pass on the draft to individual players. Players are likely to receive a flat fee for each Test and one-day international, and a bonus if the team wins. There will not be rewards for individual performances – runs scored or wickets taken.

Former Essex batsman Gordon Barker has died at the age of 74 after a long illness.Barker scored 21,895 first-class runs for the county in a career which stretched from 1954 to 1971. He passed 1000 runs 16 times, with a best of 1742 in 1960.He was born near Leeds and was playing in the Bradford League when he was spotted by Doug Insole, the Essex captain, in an army game. Insole persuaded Essex to sign him, and he went on to become the sixth-highest run-scorer in the county’s history.”Gordon was a wonderfully gritty opening batsman who in his early days formed a highly entertaining and slightly bizarre partnership with Dickie Dodds,” insole, now the county’s president, told the Essex website. “He went on to become one of county cricket’s best opening batsmen and one of its most engaging characters.”After retiring, Barker became cricket coach at Felsted where he produced players such as Nick Knight, Derek Pringle and John Stephenson.

Moin Khan
We hadn’t made much of an impression on the batting till then – they were 150-odd for 2 and Dravid looked set and comfortable. Then, right after a drinks break, Shoaib produced this amazing yorker which took Dravid’s leg stump.I remember those two balls really well, particularly the second one, which got Sachin. When he walked in, the crowd had gone wild and given him a standing ovation.Shoaib was bowling really well at that period in the game, and he had found some good rhythm in that spell. For a brief while he looked as if he was going to get a wicket with almost every ball. The way he was charging in, his attitude, it was phenomenal. He just wanted to impose himself on the game and do something; you could really see it.The ball that got Sachin looked the better of the two to me – middle stump and fuller. Both the deliveries were quick obviously, but it was more the swing that did it, and the lateness of the swing. I had seen some Wasim and Waqar specials but these two weren’t far off. When Sachin was bowled, the crowd went completely quiet and you could only hear Shoaib and some of the other players going ballistic.Rahul Dravid
I was batting with Sadagoppan Ramesh and we had been in for a while. Shoaib had come on to bowl and had completed a few overs when we had a drinks break.He was bowling sharp but not with much venom. I told Ramesh, “We’ve got a good partnership here. Let’s keep it going. Shoaib generally bowls three or four good overs and after that we can cash in.” The ball had just started to reverse swing a little bit.First ball after drinks, bang! I saw it clearly as it left his hand – it looked like it was going to be overpitched. It started from outside off stump and came back in a long way. The ball was too good for me on the day.I walked back to thunderous applause. Having scored only 24 runs, I found this a bit strange, till I realised it was for Sachin, who was coming out.I had hardly settled down in the dressing room when there was a roar and then pin-drop silence. I looked up at the television screen in the dressing room, but I needn’t have. You could sense what had happened. Because the television pictures are slightly delayed, I saw Sachin being bowled.It was too good a ball to receive first up. I was set for a while and yet he got me. Sachin had no chance. Those two balls turned the Test match around.

Dinusha Fernando selected for 1st Test © Getty Images

Sri Lanka’s selectors have included Dinusha and Dilhara Fernando in a 15-man squad for the opening Test against England, which starts next week.The two pace bowlers will be competing for one place as Sri Lanka are set to play only two quicks on a surface that is expected to offer bountiful assistance to the slow bowlers.Sri Lanka included three specialist spinners – Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana and Kumar Dharmasena – in the squad, as well as offspinning allrounder Thilan Samaraweera.Chandana is tipped to edge out Dharmasena and play his first Test for 16 months, although Sri Lanka also have the option of playing all three spinners and batting Romesh Kaluwitharana at number six.That appears unlikely though considering Sri Lanka’s recent vulnerability in the middle order so Tillakaratne Dilshan, Michael Vandort and Thilan Samaraweera are effectively competing for the final batting slot.Russel Arnold, who captains a Board President’s XI against England on Wednesday, misses out on a recall, as does Nuwan Zoysa, who was pushing for a return to the squad.Sri Lanka, now captained by Hashan Tillakaratne, have not won their last three series but have fond memories of Galle, where they trounced England by an innings when the two sides last met in 2001. They have won six out of the eight Tests played at the south coast venue, losing only to Pakistan in 2000.Squad Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Dharmasena, Upul Chandan, Chaminda Vaas, Dinusha Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Michael Vandort

An unbeaten 96 from No. 3 Amay Khurasiya guided Central Zone to a comprehensive 91-run win over East Zone in the Deodhar Trophy tie played at Burlton Park, Jalandhar.Central Zone skipper Mohammad Kaif won the toss in the morning and had no hesitation in taking first strike. Jyoti P Yadav made a belligerent start which saw him make 23 off 26 balls with four fours. But fall of regular wickets prevented Central Zone from fully capitalising on it. Their run-rate would have fallen further had it not been for Khurasiya’s steady presence in the middle. The veteran Madhya Pradesh batsman shared useful partnerships with S Raza Ali (55 runs for the fifth wicket) and with D Bundela (67 for the sixth wicket) as Central Zone put up a useful 239 for nine in their 50 overs.When East Zone replied, none of their batsmen could play a similar hand. Skipper Rohan Gavaskar, who made 45, played the only meaningful innings but it was far too brief to be of any significance. Medium-pacer Harvinder Singh and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, who claimed three wickets each, were the most successful bowlers for Central Zone who claimed five points from the match.

Bloomfield SC beat Antonians by 80 runs in a Duckworth Lewis affected match. However, the win was not enough to secure a place in the semi finals as both Tamil Union and SSC won their games.Antonians, initially chasing a victory target of 220, after the encounter was reduced to 42 overs due to delay start, had their target revised to 203 from 34 overs, after rain interrupted in the 8th over of their run chase.Pacemen Darshana Gamage(2/22) and Hemantha Alles(2/24) took early wickets before Duminda Perera(3/39) struck twice to leave them on 41 for six and squash any lingering hopes of victory. They eventually finished on 123 for 9 from 34 overs.Only Charles Silva (26) and Chandana Samarasighe(38)scored runs for Antonians.Bloomfield SC, who batted first, suffered an early shock when both their openers, Chaminda Ruwan(08) and Pubudu Dassanayake(11), were dismissed early on to leave Bloomfield on 36 for two.Thereafter, Sajeeka Abeynaike(73)and skipper, Kumara Dharmasena(34), rescued the innings with a 102 run partnership for the third wicket. With some quick runs from the tail and 27 extras they finished on 219.Reflecting on the tournament Kumar Dharmasena said: “We had a set back at the start of the tournament, but we managed to recover and improvee as the tournament progressed.”Bloomfield’s new coach, Oshadi Weerasinghe, was impressed with the performance of Dharmasena: “The leadership of Kumara Dharmasena has really encouraged the others in the team and I am surprised that his all round performances this season have not been rewarded.”