Mumbai Indians end their dream run with title

Mumbai Indians 139 (Franklin 41, Bhatkal 3-21, Vettori 2-30) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 108 (Dilshan 27, Harbhajan 3-20, Chahal 2-9, Malinga 2-23) beat by 31 runs

	Harbhajan Singh got the key wicket of Chris Gayle© Associated Press

On a night of mediocre cricket, Mumbai Indians kept their surprise run going to win the biggest prize, in financial terms, in non-international cricket. James Franklin was the only man to keep his head in a suicidal Mumbai Innings, which helped them reach 139, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore once again choked in a big final to lose despite a start of 38 for 0 in four overs. For the vanquished this was a painful repeat of their IPL final in Johannesburg where they froze while chasing 144. The victors, though, can claim they once again won the big moments: through Franklin's sober innings, through Lasith Malinga's two sixes amid a collapse, and through an extra over given to Malinga that produced a wicket, which started the turnaround.

Be that as it may, for a majority of the match the teams seemed to be in a contest for ordinary cricket. There were three run-outs, there were unsavoury slogs resulting in exposed stumps, the winning side bowled 10 out of a total of 13 wides, and Mumbai Indians' keeper kept letting through byes. If Franklin's smart 41 off 29 suggested he was the only sober man in a Paris Hilton party, the Royal Challengers clearly outdid their opponents for rashness. Yes the pitch was slow and it took turn, but no amount of slowness and turn could justify their bizarre and spectacular collapse, which featured minimal attempts to take singles with the asking-rate around seven an over.

MI didn't even know there was turn in the pitch for them. As Dilshan hit the ground running in the chase, they made a necessary departure from their usual ways of bowling Malinga for only two overs at the top. Dilshan's 27 until then had come off shots either through the line or through the covers, and he would have known how desperately MI would have wanted a wicket off what then seemed like a last roll of the dice. As it turned out, he swung across the line of a full first delivery, losing his off stump.

Kumar Dharmasena then made a potentially match-turning call. He had already got two lbw calls wrong in MI's innings, first reprieving Harbhajan Singh when he was plumb, then ruling him out when he wasn't. But his most consequential mistake was during the chase and again involved Harbhajan, who fired in quick offbreaks in his first over. The last ball of the over, in which he had conceded just a wide, was tossed up, and Chris Gayle got a big stride in. The offbreak didn't turn as much as expected, hit him in front of off, and he was ruled out. The ball had a massive distance to travel, and the ball-tracking predicted it would have hit the outside of off stump. Conventional wisdom would have ruled it in the batsman's favour, and even Gayle lost his cool when he saw the finger come up.

With an unreliable batting order, pampered by the true Bangalore surface and short boundaries, to follow, it was down to the only survivor of the Royal Challengers' 2009 choke, Virat Kohli, to shepherd the rest through. However, he found himself batting with a trigger-happy Mayank Agarwal, who despite all his attempts at power hitting managed 14 off 19 before holing out to long-off. Even when the desperate Agarwal got out, the Royal Challengers needed a manageable 73 off 57.

Kohli felt the pinch too. Perhaps it was the presence of Malinga in the end, perhaps it was just the shock of having to work hard for the runs after Bangalore, but even he didn't show the willingness to take the game to the deep end. In the next over he holed out to deep midwicket. Everybody knew it was game over there and then.

The rest were just a blurry procession of catching and stumping practice. A complete contrast to how Franklin managed a strike-rate of close to 150 without a shot hit in anger. There was no dearth of madness around him either. Sarul Kanwar first ran Aiden Bliazzard out before slogging around a full delivery. Ambati Rayudu struggled to find singles in the middle, and a positive 40-run stand with Suryakumar Yadav ended with a run-out.

Franklin soon caught on with the times, stopping and running in his second to complete the third run-out. Kieron Pollard's massive leading edge travelled as far as long-off, and MI were in a tailspin after looking good for a repeat of their 160 from the semi-final. Although it didn't look enough at the moment, Malinga's two sixes in the end turned out to be surplus. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Ganga loses gamble on safety-first

The fifth bowler continues to be a problem for Trinidad and Tobago

Yuzvendra Chahal did the job with the bat © Associated Press

For the second game in a row at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it went down to the last ball. For the second game in a row, it was two needed off the final delivery. For the second game in a row, the fielding captain chose to keep the field spread out, and the chasing side won.

On Friday, Wayne Parnell broke Royal Challengers Bangalore's hearts with a scuffed two to long-on. In that game, the defensive field for the final ball could have been explained by the high scores in the match and the fact that Parnell, a player with international experience and one accustomed to high-pressure situations, was at the crease and had just muscled his first ball for a boundary.

On Monday, in a game where both T&T and Mumbai Indians found run-scoring exceedingly difficult, the final ball was to be faced by Yuzvendra Chahal, who at 21 has little exposure on the big stage and shown modest batting capability. Even as late as three deliveries into the last over, the No.11 Chahal wouldn't have expected to be needed in the middle, only forced to stride out after run-outs on the fourth and fifth ball of the over.

The T&T captain, Daren Ganga, had attacked with helmeted close-in fielders for significant parts of the innings, but decided to keep a deep-set field for the last delivery to be bowled by his brother, the offspinner Sherwin. On the leg side, only short fine leg was in the circle, with three men patrolling the boundary. On the off side, there were three fielders in the ring, and a sweeper and long-off deep.

Perhaps the decision to not crowd the in-field and push for a win was a result of a lack of confidence in Sherwin Ganga. The fifth bowler has proved problematic for T&T so far in the tournament, with Ganga and Lendl Simmons going at nearly 12 an over in the two matches in the qualifying phase.

The strategy nearly paid off as well, despite Ganga sending down a poor final delivery. It was a low full toss that was flailed toward midwicket. Adrian Barath had to come in from deep midwicket nearly all the way to the circle, but even as he collected the ball the batsmen had just taken off for the second. Even though Barath's throw was several yards off the mark, wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin had the time to effect the run-out that would have prompted the super over T&T aimed for, but his underarm throw missed the stumps.

Most of the T&T fielders sank to their knees in despair, and the others barely moved, still digesting the fact that their valiant attempts to defend the seemingly indefensible total of 98 had left them with nothing to show on the points table. Only Daren Ganga shuffled around, patting his team-mates on the back and lauding their efforts.

After the match, Daren Ganga explained why he went for the tactic. "Whenever a team has got two runs to win, you first and foremost ensure that you at least get a draw," he said. "Judging from the way we were bowling and the way we were fielding, it was very difficult for us to defend one run, we tried to have another bite at the cherry, so to speak, and play the super over."

There should be little criticism of Daren Ganga for the strategy, though T&T lost a match that Harbhajan Singh said Mumbai didn't deserve to win. Given the fiendish difficulty in stopping the single even with the field brought in, the safety-first approach was probably the sensible option. It would have been fun, though, to see if Chahal would have batted for the super over if all the fielders were positioned in the circle or if he would have gone for glory by hitting over the top. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Malinga's cameo outdoes Hussey's hard work

Mumbai Indians 159 for 7 (Malinga 37*, Ashwin 2-23, Raina 2-6) beat Chennai Super Kings 158 for 4 (Hussey 81, Dhoni 22*) by three wickets

	Lasith Malinga's late surge with the bat outdid Michael Hussey's solid knock earlier in the day © AFP

It is not raining, it is absolutely pouring for MS Dhoni. On a night that everything was going to script for Dhoni's side - the toss was won on a slow track, Michael Hussey had scored 81 to set up a more-than-competitive total, the slower bowlers had choked the Mumbai Indians innings off, Dhoni had himself pulled off two good stumpings and a dodgy catch - he missed a fairly simple chance to stump Lasith Malinga. Malinga had come in to bat with 53 required in 4.4 overs with three wickets in hand, but with nothing to lose he swung hard. When he connected clean he hit sixes, when he edged he got fours, when he missed he got byes. With 37 off 18, he completed an improbable win with one ball to go.

It was a classical Twenty20 case of four overs outweighing the hard work done over 36 overs. It all began with the profusely sweating Hussey. He had lost four kilos over September 16 and 17 in Colombo when scoring the century that earned him the third of three Man-of-the-Match awards in the three-Test series. A week later, in similar humid conditions but a completely different format, he seemed like he had never stopped playing Indian leagues on slow and low pitches.

Seamlessly he went from playing dabs and nudges for ones and twos to pulling out the big hits, helping Chennai double their 12-over score of 79. He even got the better of Malinga, scoring 13 off the bowler's third over, but Malinga came back well to concede just eight of his last. Little did Malinga know then that he would be doing similar things with the bat at a similar stage of the next innings.

Mumbai's openers knew a majority of their scoring would have to be done against the hard ball, and came out swinging accordingly. However, the approach was not going to work against the spinners. Hussey played 22 dots in his innings of 81; Aiden Blizzard, though he hit attractive shots, failed to score off ten balls in his 28. R Ashwin came on to accentuate the dots. Almost inevitably he got Jacobs stumped down the leg side. Dhoni's no-reverse-follow-through stumping worked a treat here.

Dhoni introduced Raina before the specialist spinner, Shadab Jakati, and was rewarded with another stumping to send T Suman back. That followed a low catch to dismiss Ambati Rayudu, a piece of action that didn't meet the scrutiny it deserved. Once again it was all down to Pollard, who flattered, promised, and as has so often happened, deceived by top-edging a slower one from Albie Morkel. Then came Malinga.

He began with a pulled four off Morkel, but his innings reached a crescendo when he hit successive deliveries from Jakati for near-parallel straight sixes into both dugouts. Chennai were not panicking quite yet. Later in the over Malinga ran past a flat one from Jakati. This time Dhoni had enough time to collect it cleanly, but his instinctive no-reverse-follow-through method caused the ball to spill. He rarely misses those. He did today with 31 still required off three overs.

In the next over Malinga edged a Bollinger yorker fine for four. The curse of the batsmen with nothing to lose was working. Bollinger came back with four slower deliveries that went for just one run. Morkel tried slower balls too, but bowled two of them wide. The one quick one he bowled Malinga sent for another flat six over long-off. Still at 13 required off seven, Chennai were the favourites.

Morkel finished his night deceiving Malinga with a slower ball. The ball bounced halfway through to Dhoni, took a vicious bad bounce towards his face, and went for two byes. The second delivery of the last over Malinga absolutely slapped with no idea where he was hitting. It went flying over point for four, and Mumbai were now the favourites with six required off four. Captain Harbhajan Singh provided the finishing touches with a clipped four off a slower one and a single off the fifth ball of the over. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Mumbai win edges Pune closer to exit

Mumbai Indians 160 for 7 (Suman 36, Pollard 30, Rahul 2-7) beat Pune Warriors 139 for 7 (Pandey 59, Malinga 3-25)

	Kieron Pollard's assault on Alfonso Thomas was the game's biggest turning point © AFP

Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians are geographically the two closest IPL franchises but they couldn't get any further in the points table. Mumbai proved they are the best team in the tournament and reclaimed their position at the summit of the table by battering Pune at the DY Patil Stadium, whose freefall continued with a seventh successive loss that kept them firmly at the bottom.

Mumbai gave another demonstration of the depth of their batting talent, as two men who have who have had little batting time this season, T Suman and Kieron Pollard, fired them to a competitive total after Pune's spinners had initially shackled them.

Yuvraj Singh, who has under-bowled himself in the IPL, removed the rocks at the top of the Mumbai batting, Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu, and legspinner Rahul Sharma prised out two important wickets with the most economical spell of the season (4-0-7-2) to leave Mumbai at an insufficient 114 for 5 after 15 overs. Suman and Pollard, however, got stuck into the erratic Alfonso Thomas to lift Mumbai to a competitive score.

Mumbai had briskly moved to 56 for 1 after seven overs, before Rahul and Yuvraj pulled them back. Rahul's combination of quick legbreaks and topspinners proved hard to get away, before Yuvraj made the big breakthrough in the ninth over, getting Tendulkar to hole out to short extra cover. Yuvraj and Rahul choked the innings in a four-over passage of play that yielded only 13 runs. That forced Rayudu to attempt the big hit, but he holed out to long-off.

Suman was surprisingly promoted ahead of Andrew Symonds and Pollard for his first proper hit this season, and he provided Mumbai the momentum they desperately needed. In an innings where everyone else had struggled to score at a run-a-ball till then, Suman came out blazing, racing to 19 off seven with a couple of stylish sixes.

Rahul returned and removed the struggling Rohit Sharma and Suman in two overs, but in between those strikes Suman showed off his timing with a four and a six to long-off off Thomas. Pollard then provided the final flourish, unleashing his brand of brutal straight-hitting. Thomas bore the brunt as he was whipped for 27 in the penultimate over, and Pollard's quickfire 30 made sure Pune's batsmen had a challenge on their hands.

Pune's reply got off to a horror start as Jesse Ryder sliced the first ball to backward point. Graeme Smith has not been in the best touch with the bat for quite a while now, and that spell continued today. Manish Pandey's timing was completely awry, and the decision to promote Abhishek Jhunjhunwala meant the big guns, Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa, were pushed too low in the order.

The most expensive over in the first ten overs of the chase fetched only nine runs, and the asking-rate soared past 11 by the halfway stage. Lasith Malinga then harried Yuvraj with a series of bouncers, the last of which was awkwardly popped towards third man where Munaf Patel took a tumbling catch. It was the knockout blow, and Yuvraj was left on the floor.

The big news ahead of the match was that Pune had bought former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. Even if that does prompt a dramatic turnaround, it might be too late with Pune, as even winning all their remaining matches may not be enough to make the semi-finals. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Players can't ignore IPL lure - Law

"India, they are the big brother, we've got to look after them, we don't want to upset them." © Getty Images

Stuart Law, Sri Lanka's interim coach, has expressed sympathy with Lasith Malinga's decision to quit Test cricket due to a knee condition, but has also acknowledged that the lure of the IPL - with its bumper signings and opportunities to secure oneself financially in quick time - makes it difficult for players to continue playing international cricket. He added it was important to keep India "sweet", as that's where a significant part of the revenue for several cricket boards lies.

Malinga made himself unavailable for Sri Lanka's upcoming tour of England and announced his decision to quit Tests because of a "long-standing degenerative condition in the right knee". While the condition made it difficult for him to play in the longest format, he intends to continue playing limited-overs cricket, and is currently the leading wicket-taker in the IPL, where he represents Mumbai Indians.

"'It's disappointing that he doesn't want to play [the] longer [format cricket] but you can't make [force] a guy who goes through hell every time he bowls a cricket ball," Law told The Age. "I can sympathise with him. I would love him to play every game for us but that's impossible, no one does that these days.

''It's a tough one for the players because we're not talking about $10,000 here and there. We're talking about a million dollars and Malinga, when he bowls, he puts his body through hell, so … two more years of IPL cricket and he can put his feet up and not go through that pain again."

Apart from Malinga, there are three other prominent Sri Lanka players participating in the IPL - Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. The tour of England clashes with the latter stages of the IPL, and there's been confusion in Dilshan's case about when he'll join the Sri Lanka squad. He had said he wanted to join as early as May 10, ahead of the first warm-up game, but the BCCI and the Sri Lanka board are negotiating his release date. Sangakkara and Jayawardene, meanwhile, will join their squad ahead of the second warm-up fixture.

''The IPL situation - we've got to be smart with that,'' Law said. ''India, they are big brother, we've got to look after them, we don't want to upset them. It's where a lot of the world cricket boards make a lot of their money, so we've got to keep India sweet.''

The financial incentive of the IPL was a major temptation for players, Law said. ''You want the best for your players and the best Sri Lanka can supply to the players at this stage is nowhere near what other international players are getting.

''I think [better pay] will arrive one day but right now it is difficult to attract the players to continue to play international cricket when they can go to the IPL for six weeks and earn five years' money.''

Sri Lanka have undergone a change in leadership since finishing runners-up in the 2011 World Cup, with Sangakkara and Jayawardene stepping down as captain and vice-captain respectively - decisions Law could "totally respect and understand" - and their selection committee resigning. Dilshan has been named the new captain and Law has taken over from Trevor Bayliss, who he worked with as assistant coach.

''Sri Lanka will go through a rebuilding phase now," Law said. "But the amount of talent that is yet to play international cricket at this stage is amazing." © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Rohit, Malinga lead Mumbai to impressive win

Mumbai Indians 172 for 4 (Rohit 56*, Symonds 44*, Mishra 2-14) beat Deccan Chargers 135 for 8 (Sangakkara 34, Malinga 3-9) by 37 runs

	Rohit Sharma continued to operate in the elevated plane he finds during the IPL © AFP

Deccan Chargers had the chance to retain Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds, but let both of them go, and paid the price on Sunday. The pair came together with Mumbai wobbling at 70 for 4 in the 10th over, having lost three wickets for the addition of no run in six balls, and proceeded to pulverise their former side in a 102-run stand that came off just 65 balls. Mumbai followed the pyrotechnics of their Deccan imports with a typically clinical show in the field, to surge to a four-point lead at the top of the IPL table.

Match Meter MI Jacobs opens well: Davy Jacobs begins with a series of innovative blows against the new ball DC Deccan surge through spin: Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha snare three wickets in six balls for no run MI Rohit and Symonds blaze away:Mumbai's Deccan imports plunder 40 runs off the last 2 overs to put their side on course MI Malinga murders the stumps: Malinga produces a yorker to send back Dhawan, a direct hit to dismiss White, and a full toss to end Sangakkara's stay. Game Mumbai Advantage Honours even

Having galloped to a strong score, Mumbai seized control with three pieces of brilliance, all of which involved Lasith Malinga slinging the stumps down. The first was a stunning yorker that the aggressive Shikhar Dhawan did well to save his toes from, though his leg stump was not so fortunate. Cameron White came in at Dhawan's fall and sucked the momentum out of the chase after struggling to get bat on ball in his short stay. It ended when he pushed his seventh ball to mid-off and set off on an ambitious single. Malinga swooped on the ball and fired in a throw that clattered into the stumps at the non-striker's end to catch White short. Kumar Sangakkara fought hard against the tide, before Malinga returned to blow his middle and off pegs out with a superfast, low full toss. The chase was as good as over when Davy Jacobs stumped Daniel Christian while standing up to Munaf Patel.

In reality, Deccan never recovered from the Rohit-Symonds show, especially the last two overs that bled 40 runs. Symonds began the closing brutality by smashing Dale Steyn's length bowling for two fours and a six in the penultimate over. Rohit then took over, flaying Christian for three sixes and a four in the 20th. Christian invited trouble by serving up two full tosses and two length balls at a hittable pace. Rohit, who finds a new plane when he is batting in the IPL, tucked in with huge blows down the ground, the last of which left Christian floored in his follow through.

Mumbai's innings followed three distinct phases. The first was guided by Jacobs' enterprise against the new ball, while Sachin Tendulkar played the support role. It's not easy to take the spotlight off Tendulkar, especially so on his birthday, but Jacobs managed it for the first five overs. He began with a reverse slap off Amit Mishra in the opening over, before thumping Pragyan Ojha for a straight six. He proceeded to shred Ishant Sharma's shoddy lines for fours on either side of the wicket, and scrambled Christian's lengths with quick feet to loot two more boundaries.

Tendulkar survived a close shout for lbw in the first over before trotting inside the line to Steyn's first ball to whip him through midwicket. Thereafter, Tendulkar seemed almost over-eager to impose himself by charging out to Ishant and Steyn, who both hit speeds around 145 kph and gave him nothing to drive. Still, Mumbai managed to reach 47 in the first five overs, before Deccan hit back.

Jacobs fell attempting an ambitious heave off Ishant, but Tendulkar counter-punched with two boundaries in the same over. However, the advent of spin with spread-out fields stalled Mumbai's progress. Mishra struck twice in three balls, beating Tendulkar in the flight and enticing Ambati Rayudu to hole out. Soon after, Kieron Pollard miscued an against-the-turn paddle off his first ball, to leave Mumbai reeling. It was time for their middle-order muscle to rescue them.

Symonds and Rohit checked in cautiously as Mumbai went boundary-less for 40 balls, but switched gears rapidly thereafter. Rohit began the assault by sweeping Ojha for four before Symonds forehanded a short ball from Christian through long-off. With Rohit timing his drives particularly well, Ishant kept trying to tuck him up, but Rohit responded with a couple of strong pulls. Around that time, the owners of the Deccan Chargers franchise must have begun wondering if they had got it horribly wrong at the auction. By the end of the game, they must have been kicking themselves. © ESPN EMEA Ltd

Lasith Malinga gives up Test cricket

No more whites for Lasith Malinga © AFP

Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, has given up Test cricket because of a "long-standing degenerative condition in the right knee". He intends to continue playing the shorter formats, though, and hopes to play in the 2012 World Twenty20 and the 2015 World Cup.

Malinga, 27, made himself unavailable for the upcoming Test tour of England citing his fitness problems, but has been playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Sri Lanka Cricket asked him to return home and undergo a rehabilitation programme, but Malinga has now clarified that his condition stops him from playing only the longest format.

"Although I am sufficiently fit to play both ODI and T20 cricket, I have a long-standing degenerative condition in my right knee that needs to be carefully managed," Malinga's statement read. "The condition relates directly to the chronic knee injury I sustained playing for Sri Lanka in Australia back in February 2008, an injury that prevented me from playing ODI cricket for 16 months.

"The injury was a career-threatening injury and my orthopaedic surgeon was of the opinion that given his experience with other professional athletes in Australia I was very fortunate to play again. I have since been advised by the national team physiotherapist and my orthopaedic consultant that my condition will deteriorate when fielding or bowling for prolonged periods.

"I did try to return to Test cricket after a three-year absence last year [against India] following requests from the team management and the selectors, but it left me unfit nursing severe knee pain for two months.

"I have realised that the heavy workload of Test cricket, which requires a fast bowler to be able to bowl more than 15 overs, sometimes on consecutive days, could lead to permanent injury. I have carefully considered my options and have decided that not playing Test cricket will help me achieve my goal of representing Sri Lanka in the 2012 World Twenty20 and the 2015 World Cup."

Malinga said he was available for all limited-overs internationals, and planned to travel to Sri Lanka soon to discuss his plans with the selectors.

Since his debut in July 2004, Malinga has played only 30 Tests and 84 ODIs. His slingshot round-arm action and focus on pace put a lot of strain on his body, and he was forced to miss several games. His career seemed to have stalled after the Galle Test against England in December 2007, but he returned for the series against India mid-2010. It was, however, a false dawn on his stop-start Test career. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Sri Lanka board to ask Malinga to return from IPL

Sri Lanka Cricket will ask fast bowler Lasith Malinga to return from the IPL and undergo a rehabilitation programme after he made himself unavailable for the upcoming Test series in England. Malinga had stated that he is suffering from an injury, but continues to play for Mumbai Indians in the Twenty20 tournament. Malinga did not figure in the Sri Lanka squad of 16 players named for the three-Test series against England starting on May 26 in Cardiff.

"It looks a bit awkward when someone says he is injured and continues to play cricket," Sri Lanka's new chairman of selectors Duleep Mendis said. "That is the reason why we have decided to write to Malinga and ask him to return home and undergo a rehabilitation programme. Malinga has specifically mentioned in a letter that he is not available for Test matches right now because he has a nagging knee problem.

"When the player says that he is injured and he has to undergo a rehab programme what we can do is to tell him to undergo it immediately without continuing to play cricket in the IPL, and then get ready for cricket in Sri Lanka if he is interested in playing for his country."

Mendis said they would have to wait and see what Malinga's response was before deciding on the next course of action.

Nishantha Ranatunga, the SLC secretary, also expressed concerns over Malinga's absence from the Test team. "We are very much concerned about Malinga because he is an important product in the team," Ranatunga said. "He should be up and running to play in all three formats of the game. In that sense getting him fit and ready to play at full strength is very important."

Malinga has shown a reluctance to play Test cricket since he sustained a long-term knee injury more than two years ago. Since December 2007, he has played only two Tests - against India at home last year - and has confined himself to playing in limited overs and Twenty20 cricket, where he has been very successful. He has, however, not officially stated that he is unavailable to play Test cricket for Sri Lanka. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Malinga, Mathews not in SL Test squad for England

Lasith Malinga won't be turning out in whites for Sri Lanka in England © AFP

Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews are not part of the Sri Lanka Test squad announced today for the tour of England. Mathews is still recovering from a quad muscle injury that kept him out of the World Cup final and also the ongoing IPL.

Malinga's ability to last a five-day match has been doubtful for some time now. He last played a Test against India in the three-match home series last year, and even then he was rested for the second match. He has played only 30 Tests in a seven-year span, and has been sparingly used by Sri Lanka to keep him fresh for the shorter formats where he has proved far more effective.

The 16-member squad has four fast bowlers in Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welegedara, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep. Seamer Nuwan Kulasekara, who played in Sri Lanka's previous Test series, against West Indies, is not part of the squad. While Lakmal impressed in his debut Test series against West Indies, uncapped Pradeep is known to have a slinging action resembling Malinga's. Thisara Perera is the bowling allrounder in the squad.

Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal have also received call-ups. Both are considered to be among the most promising Sri Lankan batsmen, and have already played ODIs. Chandimal debuted in the ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe last year as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

A vice-captain to Tillakaratne Dilshan, the newly-appointed captain, is yet to be announced. This will be Dilshan's first assignment as captain and will also be Sri Lanka's first overseas Test tour since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan.

The timing of the team's departure for the tour has been a subject of controversy as eleven Sri Lankan players, including former captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, are currently playing in the IPL and seven of them are in the squad for England. They were earlier asked by Sri Lanka Cricket to report to Colombo by May 5 five days before the team's departure for England. The move was criticised by Muralitharan, who said that the players had earlier expected to play in the IPL till May 20.

Sri Lanka squad: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 2 Tharanga Paranavitana, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Mahela Jayawardene, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Dinesh Chandimal, 8 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 9 Thisara Perera, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Ajantha Mendis, 12 Rangana Herath, 13 Dilhara Fernando, 14 Chanaka Welegedara, 15 Suranga Lakmal, 16 Nuwan Pradeep © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Malinga's five sets up comfortable Mumbai win

Mumbai Indians 99 for 2 (Tendulkar 46*) beat Delhi Daredevils 95 (Malinga 5-13) by eight wickets

	Lasith Malinga left carnage in his wake at the Kotla © AFP

When batsmen face Lasith Malinga, they know what's coming at them: several yorkers, some low full tosses, the odd slower ball. Some might not swing but everything will be aimed at the stumps. Knowledge wasn't power for Delhi Daredevils' batsmen, though, as Malinga ripped through them in two spells, claiming the third-best figures in the IPL. His five-wicket haul helped shoot out Delhi for 95, their second-lowest total, and ruin the contest before the sun had set at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Match Meter MI In the second over, Lasith Malinga unleashes his first yorker and bowls David Warner. Delhi are 11 for 1 MI In the fifth over, Sachin Tendulkar runs out Virender Sehwag with a direct hit from short fine leg. Delhi are 27 for 3 MI Naman Ojha's brief resistance ends when he holes out to Malinga at long-off. Delhi are 82 for 5. MI Malinga returns for his second spell and in the 16th over bowls Venugopal Rao with another yorker. Delhi are 88 for 7 and the end is near MI In the fourth over, Sachin Tendulkar edges Morne Morkel towards first slip where Sehwag can't hold on to the tough chance. He is six then, and goes on to score an unbeaten 46. Advantage Honours even

Malinga's performance allowed the Mumbai batsmen to chase in comfortable gear. Davy Jacobs' first stint as Sachin Tendulkar's opening partner was ended early by Morne Morkel and Roelof van der Merwe ran out Ambati Rayudu with a scintillating intercept, slide, turnaround and direct hit from extra cover, but that was it for Delhi. Tendulkar could not be dismissed and without the pressure of a high asking-rate he steered Mumbai to an eight-wicket victory with 19 balls to spare. In a format engineered to produce the exciting finish, this was a mismatch from the fifth over.

Delhi's strength was their top order and in Virender Sehwag and David Warner they possessed the most explosive openers of the tournament. Sehwag began aggressively by launching his first delivery, off Harbhajan Singh, miles in the air only for the ball to fall short of the straight boundary and plug in the outfield. He improved on that attempt the next ball, clearing long-off by a considerable distance, forcing Harbhajan to bowl quicker and flatter.

Enter Malinga, who had been retained by Mumbai, and he re-emphasised his value in no time at all. With his second ball, a pinpoint yorker, Malinga breached Warner's defences. With his fourth, a fast and straight delivery, he hit Unmukt Chand's middle stump.

Chand made the novice error of playing across the line to a Malinga arrow, a mistake Sehwag had committed in the World Cup final. Today Sehwag was watchful, defending Malinga with a straight bat when the line demanded it, but opening the face to guide to the third-man boundary when the width allowed it. He played out the 2011 IPL's first maiden over, seeing off Malinga's second without damage, and set himself to take on the rest of the bowlers.

That did not come to pass, though, for in the fifth over Aaron Finch came down the pitch to Ali Murtaza's left-arm spin, worked the ball off his pads towards short fine leg, and continued running. Sehwag hesitated and then responded, but was beaten by Tendulkar's direct hit. He had swooped on the ball with the agility of a much younger man. It was the decisive moment of the game. Finch did not last long either, slog-sweeping Harbhajan to deep-backward square leg, leaving Delhi on 40 for 4.

Naman Ojha, whose 29 was Delhi's top score, showed a semblance of resistance but his dismissal - caught on the long-off boundary - hastened the end of the innings. Irfan Pathan, bought for $1.9 million and playing his first competitive match in a year, was run out first ball.

And then Malinga returned, and inevitably the yorkers followed. He bowled Venugopal Rao with one, broke Morne Morkel's bat with another before dismissing him with a third next ball. Malinga finished with 5 for 13 - the fifth came with a slower ball - leaving his team with a straightforward chase. © ESPN EMEA Ltd.