St. Peter’s skipper Enosh Peterson produced his best knock of the season, a valuable 75 runs for the home team to recover from an initial collapse to post 194 runs against St. Aloysius’, Galle on day one in an Under 19 traditional cricket encounter at Bambalapitiya on Thursday.

‎The Petes were struggling at 40 for four wickets at one stage, before the skipper decided to hold the middle order together with his knock.

‎Incidentally, it turned out to be Peterson’s best batting performance of the season, having not done so well during tournament matches.

‎The Petes were playing for the third consecutive day after meeting Thurstan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

‎They conceded first innings points to Thurstan on Wednesday after a below par first innings score (154) at Thurstan ground. Bowlers prevented the home team taking a big advantage restricting them to 204 runs with Sadeesha Silva taking seven wickets.

‎In their second essay, the Petes were better posting 222 for nine wickets declared thanks to an unbeaten 125 from Asadisa de Silva.

‎However, yesterday he was dismissed for eight runs and the Petes needed a rearguard action to prevent a low score. That was when Peterson came up with his top batting feat of the season.

‎In reply, St. Aloysius’ were 13 for one wicket when bad light stopped play.

‎‎Scores

‎St. Peter’s 194 all out in 74.5 overs (Enosh Peterson 75, Sadeesha Silva 27; Chanul Nethmina 3/29, Dulsath Nimviru 4/29)

‎St. Aloysius’ 13 for 1 in 2 overs

‎

by Reemus Fernando

Pakistan will return to the corridors of power if destiny pitches them against arch-rivals India beyond the first round of the T20 World Cup, captain Salman Ali Agha said, admitting the matter remains firmly outside the team’s control.

Islamabad has already ordered the team to forfeit their Group ‘A’ fixture against India, but a potential semi-final or final showdown still lurks on the horizon.

“The India game is not in our control. It was the government’s decision and if we have to play them in the semi-final or the final, we’ll go back to them and act on their advice,” Agha told reporters ahead of the tournament.

The competition has been on a sticky wicket even before the first ball was bowled, with Bangladesh pulling out after refusing to play matches in India.

“It’s sad Bangladesh are not here. They have a very good side. Hopefully they will support us,” Agha added.

Pakistan and India have not locked horns in bilateral cricket for more than a decade, meeting only at global events, and that tradition now hangs by a thread. With the India – Pakistan clash the box office centrepiece of the 20-nation event, its absence threatens to leave massive financial losses.

“We’re excited to play in this tournament. We lost to USA in the last World Cup and we are determined to put that disappointment behind us and put a few things right,” Agha said. Pakistan will also face Namibia and the Netherlands in the group stage apart from USA.

Having conceded the India match, Pakistan have little room for error and even a washout could leave their campaign teetering on a knife edge.

“We know the margin for error is small, but we can’t control the weather. We are here to play good cricket and we’re not bothered about the conditions,” he said.

The 2009 champions arrive with the wind in their sails after a 3-0 whitewash of Australia at home.

“We’ve been playing really good cricket. We haven’t lost a series since the Asia Cup last year. Everything is coming along nicely and we’re confident of doing well,” Agha added.

All of Pakistan’s games will be staged in Sri Lanka, where they toured in January.

“Very happy to play in Sri Lanka – it’s a second home for me. This is my sixth visit, we know the conditions and we get a lot of support.”

by Rex Clementine

Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh insists his side have the tools to make a proper fist of the T20 World Cup, even with a few heavyweight names missing from the engine room.

The Aussies arrived in Colombo without their new-ball spearheads after Mitchell Starc called time on his T20I career and Pat Cummins was ruled out of the 20-nation jamboree with a troublesome back. There are further clouds over Josh Hazlewood, who is racing the clock to be fit for the opening round after tweaking a hamstring.

“We are well prepared for the World Cup and yes we will miss some of our key players, but we are confident that we have all bases covered,” Marsh told reporters at the captains’ briefing.

Australia touched down on the island nursing bruised pride after a 3-0 whitewash in Pakistan, yet Marsh was quick to play a straight bat to suggestions the clean sweep had knocked them off their stride.

“We have a few guys available here who didn’t play in Pakistan and it was all about adapting to conditions. We are confident that we will put up a good show in the World Cup,” he added.

The numbers suggest there is steel beneath the surface. Since the last World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA, Australia have kept the scoreboard ticking nicely, winning 17 of their 21 T20Is and Marsh believes the side still possess enough firepower to go toe-to-toe with the best when the tournament reaches the business end.