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Scorecard
A Nottinghamshire collapse left the hosts staring at defeat as Sussex took firm control of their County Championship meeting at Trent Bridge.Beginning the day on 132 for 1, 356 behind the visitors, Nottinghamshire reached 206 for 2 before losing their last eight batsmen for 105, with Monty Panesar and Naved Arif taking three wickets each. Darren Bravo and captain Chris Read both hit half-centuries but Nottinghamshire were still dismissed for 311 and were duly asked to follow on.Panesar picked up two more victims to take his season’s haul to 69 as Nottinghamshire lost three wickets in 11 balls before bad light brought an early end to proceedings, with them still trailing by 74 runs.On a slow and flat Trent Bridge wicket, Nottinghamshire supporters had every reason to think their side could avoid the follow-on having seen Sussex rack up 488 over the first two days. Overnight batsmen Karl Turner and Bravo both progressed with little trouble – Bravo hitting Panesar for a six over long-off – before James Anyon’s worthy opening spell claimed a wicket as Turner played on off the back foot for 64.Bravo reached a patient 50 off 144 balls but then saw Riki Wessels and Steven Mullaney sent back to the pavilion in the space of three balls as Arif removed the off-stump of both batsmen. Sussex skipper Mike Yardy’s inspired decision to begin the afternoon session with the gentle medium-pace of Joe Gatting paid off immediately as Bravo played all around an in-swinging delivery and was plumb lbw for 53.Read and Paul Franks put on 41 for the sixth wicket before Franks feathered a defensive edge off Arif through to wicketkeeper Ben Brown, and the tail swiftly subsided. Amjad Khan bowled Graeme White and had Luke Fletcher caught at second slip, while Panesar ended Read’s resistance for 55 with a Brown stumping and then bowled Andre Adams to wrap up the innings.At that stage there were still 38 overs left in the day but when Notts’ in-form opener Alex Hales ended his season in poor fashion, edging a forcing shot off Khan to first slip in the seventh over, the brittle batting line-up was left exposed.Panesar had Bravo caught behind off a defensive edge and fizzed a quicker ball into Wessels’ off-stump two balls later. At that point a three-day victory for Sussex looked a possibility but despite Chris Nash removing Turner lbw for 42 in the next over, deepening cloud cover ended the day’s play on 103 for 4.

England’s overwhelming success in the Test series against India has been reflected in the latest ICC player rankings. Ian Bell has moved into the top five for the first time in his career following his double-hundred at The Oval while Kevin Pietersen jumped five places to enter the top ten again.Bell, who made 504 runs at 84.00 in the series, gained four places to sit level with England team-mate Alastair Cook at third and with Jonathan Trott in the sixth position England can boast four batsmen in the top ten.The bowling list is also strong with Tim Bresnan climbing five spots to No. 11, meaning that England’s five bowlers used in the series sit in the world’s top 11. Dale Steyn, however, is still some way ahead of James Anderson as the best bowler.Things aren’t so bright for India, unsurprisingly, though Rahul Dravid’s reward for an outstanding series – where he made three centuries against a fine England attack – is a return to the top ten.The news is not so good for his team-mates, though, with Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni all losing ground in a list that has South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis at the top and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara second.Meanwhile in the ODI rankings fast-bowlers Mitchell Johnson, Doug Bollinger and Lasith Malinga have enjoyed spectacular rises following the recent Sri Lanka-Australia series.Johnson, who along with Malinga was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 11, has gained four places to No. 3 while Malinga, who recorded the third one-day hat-trick of his career in Monday’s ODI, jumped 19 places to claim the 11th spot.Bollinger’s nine wickets in the series has helped him return to the top 10, taking seventh position in the list that is still headed by England’s Graeme Swann..

Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outDarren Bravo and Carlton Baugh denied India•Associated Press

Though close to 128 overs of play were lost to the elements, Barbados still managed to produce a dramatic draw. On the final day, India made a bold declaration to bring the Test to life, and Darren Bravo sucked the life right out of it with an innings of application and resolve. India set West Indies 281 to get in 83 overs, Ishant Sharma helped them take early wickets, but Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carlton Baugh thwarted India for 322 deliveries between them.There were two twists in the final session. An ordinary lbw call against Chanderpaul, which was followed by Marlon Samuels’ wicket, would surely have sparked controversy had West Indies lost the match. With a maximum of 36 overs remaining, Bravo and Baugh put up further resistance. Baugh attacked too. At one point the target came down to 102 off 19.3 overs, and he kept India honest with the odd blow after that. Rain intervened, India came back with two quick wickets to turn the equation to three wickets required in 10.4 overs, but quite fittingly bad light brought the match to a premature end.There was a rain break just before the start of the mandatory overs, prior to which Baugh had hit Abhimanyu Mithun for three back-to-back boundaries. The break was instructive as to where the teams stood with regards to the result. While the Indian players hung about, hoping that it would be a passing shower, Bravo and Baugh wasted little time in getting back to the dressing room.It was a huge credit to the quality of the pitch that the match came close to a result. Some of the credit has to go to MS Dhoni too, for declaring 67 minutes into the fifth day. It was a huge departure from the usual for Dhoni. His previous third-innings declarations have left sides chasing 516, 403 and 617 respectively.Credit also has to go to Ishant, who became only the seventh Indian pace bowler to claim a Test 10-wicket haul. He backed up Dhoni’s declaration with aggressive bowling at the start, in the middle, and also in the end. The quality of the pitch and the strength of the opposition’s batting would have played a big role in the declaration, but West Indies showed character in saving the game. Especially pleasing would be that following Marlon Samuels’ impressive 78 not out in the first innings, another flamboyant batsman, Bravo, played with restraint for the larger cause.Bravo came in to bat in the seventh over, after both Lendl Simmons and Ramnaresh Sarwan had fallen to outside edges. Adrian Barath hung around for 64 deliveries, but he was worked over by Ishant. An inswinger was followed by one that left him, after which Ishant produced one that got big on Barath and took the shoulder of the bat.

Smart stats

• Ishant Sharma’s haul of 10 for 108 is the fourth-best figures for an Indian bowler in an away Test. There have been 11 ten-wicket hauls by Indians in away Tests and Ishant’s is the first in the West Indies.

• VVS Laxman became the fourth Indian batsman to score two half-centuries in a Test on three occasions in the West Indies. The other batsmen to do so three times are Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath and Polly Umrigar.

• The 69-run stand between Darren Bravo and Carlton Baugh is the seventh fifty-plus stand for the sixth wicket for West Indies against India in Tests in Barbados.

• Bravo, who has had a very good start to his Test career, has scored five half-centuries in 12 innings at an average of 41.27.

• This is the second draw in India-West Indies Tests in Barbados. West Indies have won seven and lost none.

At that point 65 overs still remained. Ishant and Praveen Kumar worked hard for the next seven overs, but Chanderpaul and Bravo looked solid for the most part. If the situation was right up Chanderpaul’s alley, it was a less familiar experience for Bravo. That showed in how he felt the need to score every now and then. To play the release shot every once in a while. Defending for long durations can get pretty tense, with close-in fielders ready to pounce on any edge. Bravo released that tension at the first sighting of Mithun, driving and glancing him for two boundaries in his first over.Chanderpaul at the other end batted like he was born to do just this: save Test matches for West Indies, batting aggressors into submission. He kept leaving balls even marginally outside off. When he did play he did so with soft hands. He spent 16 balls on 5, and 23 on 9, but India couldn’t draw a false stroke out of him. Bravo, who stayed impressive when defending, played the odd shot in between, including a slog sweep off Harbhajan Singh through midwicket.Soon after tea, though, Chanderpaul was given lbw off an offbreak hitting him outside off, and heading further away. Ishant followed that up with Samuels’ wicket off an inswinger. While Bravo remained solid as ever, India sensed an opportunity with Baugh, who despite a superb series behind the wicket is considered under pressure for want of runs.Harbhajan, who had dismissed Baugh three times previously in the series, attacked him with men all around the bat. Baugh edged the second ball he faced from Harbhajan, but Dhoni dropped it. Baugh had by then realised he might not have the defensive technique suitable for the task, and began to attack in order to get the fielders out of his face. It worked. After slog-sweeping Harbhajan for a six, Baugh went after Mithun, and with the target not beyond West Indies’ reach, India took a step back.Towards the end, Bravo lost concentration and edged a wide delivery from Mithun, ending what has to be his best Test innings so far. Ishant swooped in again, making Sammy his 10th victim, with a yorker, but in fading light that’s all there was time for.

James Anderson’s scheduled fitness test became a victim of the weather when Lancashire’s Friends Life t20 fixture against Worcestershire at New Road was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Recalled to the England squad earlier in the day, the 28-year-old seam bowler was hoping to confirm his recovery from a side strain by bowling four overs for his county.But a steady downpour set in at dawn and with up to an inch of rain forecast for the Worcester area, it was no surprise when umpires Jeff Evans and David Millns called the game off at 2.30pm. Having missed the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka because of his injury, Anderson will now be without competitive match practice before the selectors have to decide on the final XI for the third and final match in the series at the Rose Bowl on Thursday.For Worcestershire the loss of a crowd-pulling fixture was another setback, coming on top of the complete washout a week earlier in the their opening Twenty20 home game against Durham.The only other year in which they lost two home matches in the competition was 2007, when they had to leave New Road in the second half of the summer because of flooding at their headquarters.

Scorecard
Jack Brooks put Northamptonshire firmly on course for victory at Bristol despite Gloucestershire’s Will Gidman having a memorable day in the County Championship Division Two clash. The hosts were bowled out for 288 in their first innings, a deficit of 269,with Brooks taking 4 for 54 and Gidman making 116 not out, his maiden first-class century.The same two players were to the fore when Gloucestershire followed on, Brooksclaiming 3 for 43 and Gidman scoring 76 not out in a total of 248 for 8. Jon Lewis made 59.Despite Gidman’s heroic efforts, his side go into the final day still 21 runs behind and will probably require some assistance from the weather if they are to save the match. Northamptonshire amassed 557 in their first innings.Gloucestershire began day three on 172 for 7 in their first innings, with Gidman unbeaten on 72, and did well to secure two batting points. Lewis (18) and 16-year-old Craig Miles (19) shared in stands of 43 and 59 respectively in support of the left-hander, who reached his hundred off 176balls, with 15 fours.David Lucas finished with 3 for 72, but 26-year-old Brooks caught the eye by getting more bounce than any other bowler out of a placid pitch and was soon impressing again when Gloucestershire followed on. The home team’s top order once more looked fragile as they slumped to 73 for 6. Brooks had Richard Coughtrie and Kane Williamson caught by Andrew Hall at first slip and clean-bowled Alex Gidman with a yorker.Lucas had struck first, trapping opener Ian Cockbain lbw for 7, and later dismissed Jon Batty for his second duck of the match. Lee Daggett weighed in with the important wicket of Chris Taylor and a three-day finish looked likely. But Will Gidman returned to the crease less than two hours of playing time after walking off unbeaten in the first innings and again put his colleagues toshame.Making prolific use of the cut and clip off his toes, the 27-year-old former Durham allrounder eased his way to a half-century off 69 balls, with nine fours, and shared a seventh-wicket stand of 90 with Ian Saxelby (24). It ended when Saxelby was bowled by James Middlebrook with five more overs remaining in the day. Gidman was dropped on 57 by David Sales at backward pointoff Lucas, and when Northamptonshire claimed the extra half-hour, Lewis responded by hitting Middlebrook for six over midwicket.Lewis barely played a defensive shot in breezing to a half-century off just 39 balls, with five fours and two sixes, before being bowled by Andrew Hall, having shared a stand of 80 with Gidman who stood firm to the end.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Brendon McCullum’s aggressive cameo made sure Kochi faced no hiccups•AFP

Five defeats at home have meant the Feroz Shah Kotla faithful have had little to cheer this season, and today was the bleakest day since Delhi Daredevils were routed by Mumbai Indians in their opening game. Two days after a Virender Sehwag special handed Kochi Tuskers Kerala a hiding, it was the turn of Mahela Jayawardene’s men to outclass Delhi, snapping a three-game losing streak by cruising to victory with five overs to go.The Kotla track has been everything from a batting beauty to a square turner this season, but though the pitch was neither of those extremes on Monday, Delhi’s batsmen struggled to a sub-par total, and like generous hosts, their bowlers gave the visitors 18 extras to ease Kochi’s path to victory.Delhi’s batting is hugely reliant on their two lethal hitters at the top of the order, Virender Sehwag and David Warner, and their early exits derailed their innings. Sehwag swatted a couple of fours in the first over, and greeted the debutant Prasanth Parameswaran with a brutal hit for six in the third over. Three balls later, though, Parameswaran had a moment to remember, getting Sehwag caught behind. And when Warner pulled Sreesanth to long-on, Delhi were down to 42 for 2.It wasn’t exactly vintage Twenty20 batting after that as Venugopal Rao and Yogesh Nagar put on the biggest stand of the innings at just over a-run-a-ball. There was a surprise bouncer down the leg side from the left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, and a ball that bounced twice from Vinay Kumar and was swiped for four, but otherwise it was mostly sedate stuff.The arrival of Travis Birt spiced up things as he chipped in with a series of innovative strokes, scoring virtually all his runs behind the wicket. The highlight of the innings was his angled glide for four through third man, after he went down on a knee and initially looked to paddle the ball.Delhi’s chances of winning hinged on keeping in tight and getting rid of the big names at the top of the Kochi batting early. Instead, Irfan Pathan sprayed five wides in the first over, and then gifted a boundary by slipping the ball down the leg side. Brendon McCullum then caned Morne Morkel for three fours in the next over, and the game was as good as over after Umesh Yadav’s first over went for 23. There was a classic McCullum extra cover drive, a chest-high full toss that was unintentionally clipped for six, another short ball that was crashed for six more, before a muscled four through cover-point propelled Kochi to 53 for 0 after four overs.The openers were dismissed soon after, but with the asking rate at 5 and the likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge to come, the next half hour was mostly about completing the formalities. Jayawardene was needlessly run-out, before Parthiv Patel and Hodge killed off any Delhi dreams of a comeback with an unbroken 52-run stand.The result leaves Delhi needing five wins in their remaining matches to reach the final four, and while Kochi moved up to eight points, their route to the semi-finals isn’t straight-forward either.

Match Facts

March 18, Kolkata
Start time 9.30 (0400 GMT)Kevin O’Brien has a few scores to settle against Netherlands•AFP

The Big Picture

The Associate teams have been the subject of major debate this World Cup and opinion remains divided over the ICC’s decision to restrict the number of competing sides to 10 in 2015. Ireland have done the most to justify the Associates’ presence this tournament, consistently challenging top sides with the exception of South Africa. They’ve been the best of the four qualifiers for this World Cup, the best-placed among that group to feature more regularly against the elite teams, and they would want to reinforce that with a clinical performance against Netherlands on Friday in what will be both teams’ last World Cup game.The Netherlands captain Peter Borren has repeatedly stressed the need for Associate teams to play the top sides more often, not just in World Cups. Since pushing England close, Netherlands have declined steadily, their captain admitting they haven’t met their own standards. A winless World Cup would be deflating at the least, and it’s a harsh result for a team that would perhaps feel it is in the wrong group, given how the other two Associates have performed this tournament. A win, however, against an opponent who’ve won the respect of the cricketing world would restore some pride in a team that has, by its own admission, underperformed.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)

Netherlands: LLLLL
Ireland: LLLWL

Watch out for…

Wesley Barresi: He’s got starts in four of his five this World Cup but has then got bogged down, undermining his healthy strike-rate of 74. He was pushed from the middle order to open this World Cup but hasn’t delivered the starts that the promotion was meant to bring about. A familiar opposition in Ireland should prompt him to show lesser restraint.Kevin O’Brien: His stunning century against England will be hard to replicate but O’Brien has since stumbled in his performances with the bat. He was dismissed cheaply against India and threw his wicket at a crucial juncture in what was building up to be a close chase against West Indies. Moreover, he’s had trouble against Netherlands. In seven games against them, he averages just 17.40 with a highest of 34. What better stage to make amends than the World Cup.

Team news

Ireland (possible): 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Ed Joyce, 4 Niall O’Brien (wk), 5 Gary Wilson, 6 Kevin O’Brien, 7 Alex Cusack, 8 John Mooney, 9 Trent Johnston, 10 George Dockrell, 11 Boyd Rankin.Netherlands (possible): 1 Eric Swarczynski, 2 Wesley Baressi (wk), 3 Tom Cooper, 4 Ryan ten Doeschate, 5 Alexei Kerveezee, 6 Bas Zuiderent, 7 Tom de Grooth, 8 Mudassar Bukhari, 9 Peter Borren, 10 Pieter Seelaar, 11 Adeel Raja..

Stats and trivia

Ireland have an excellent record against Netherlands in ODIs, winning five out of seven. They’ve won each of the last five games between the teams.The last time Eden Gardens hosted a day game was in 1991, when South Africa toured India for the first time for a three-match ODI series.

Quotes

“Ireland has done well in the tournament and has been competitive, but if we go out there and win tomorrow, we will be making a statement.”
“We are nowhere near Tests, but we sure can play one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches.”

Match Facts

March 1, Colombo
Start time 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT)
Kenya’s team is significantly weaker than the one that beat Sri Lanka in 2003•AFP

Big Picture

The last time Sri Lanka played Kenya in a World Cup, they did so despite security concerns in the country, choosing not to follow New Zealand, who forfeited their game in Nairobi. No amount of concerns over security would have prepared Sri Lanka for what happened: a shocking 53-run defeat against a spirited home side. It was 2003, and to borrow from the pop-sport anthem, it was time for Africa. Kenya were a seriously good side then, and would have had every right to feel indignant about not being a Test side. Eight years on, their side well and truly reflects the political turmoil the country has gone through, and the general neglect of the sport. Suffice to say, no such upset can be fantasised about this time.Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have gone from strength to strength since 2003. All they will want is for the Colombo rains – which are never too far away any time of the year – to stay away, and then notch up the two points by playing solid cricket. There will be disappointment after Sri Lanka lost to Pakistan. It could result in the hosts having to play a better team in the quarter-final than they would ideally want, but there aren’t many teams who can claim to have faced the ghosts that appear only under the Premadasa floodlights, and lived to tell the tale.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWWL
Kenya LLWLW

Pitch and conditions

Scattered thunderstorms are predicted for Tuesday, but that is hardly unusual for Colombo. The weathermen say chance of precipitation is 60%. Now that becomes slightly gloomy. Be that as it may, the game should become interesting if Kenya get to bat first and set Sri Lanka a fighting target under the lights. The pitch, though, hardly holds any demons otherwise.

Watch out for…

In his 15th year of international cricket, Thomas Odoyo is still going strong. His opening spell against Pakistan was the only positive Kenya could take away from their first game of the World Cup. They will need much more from him to compete against Sri Lanka.Considering how successful Shahid Afridi’s spin was against the Kenya batsmen, Muttiah Muralitharan could be in for a wicket-fest too.

Team news

Sri Lanka, strong favourites to win the World Cup, had one problem area when they started out. They have the class of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene and Nos. 3 and 4, and the hitting prowess of Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera in the lower order. The link between them, though, gets exposed every now and then. Chamara Silva’s fifty against Pakistan, though, might just mean he is the lesser of the evils. The other Chamara, Kapugedera, doesn’t have the results to match the flair he seeks to exhibit. Lasith Malinga is reportedly fit but whether he will play is not yet certain.Sri Lanka: (probable): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Thilan Samaraweera, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Kenya: 1 Maurice Ouma, 2 Seren Waters, 3 Colins Obuya, 4 Steve Tikolo, 5 Tanmay Mishra, 6 Rakep Patel, 7 Jimmy Kamande, 8 Thomas Odoyo, 9 Nehemiah Odhiambo, 10 Shem Ngoche, 11 Elijah Otieno..

Stats and trivia

• This is Steve Tikolo’s fifth World Cup, and he possesses an all-round record that not many from stronger sides will mind – 739 runs and 15 wickets.
• Although Sri Lanka co-hosted the 1996 World Cup, this is only the second World Cup game being played at the Premadasa. Australia and West Indies forfeited their Colombo matches back in 1996 because of security concerns.
• Tikolo is six short of becoming only the second Kenyan to take 100 ODI wickets, after Odoyo.

Quotes

“Sri Lanka look solid up there, but we have nothing to lose. They are the ones who would be under pressure to perform at home, and now obviously having lost to Pakistan, it’s a must win game for them tomorrow.”
.”Lasith bent over to pick up a cricket ball about two weeks ago and strained his back a little. He bowled in the last two practice sessions. He has bowled with a full run-up today and batted and fielded. We have a selection meeting in the evening and will decide what to do then.”

England’s two previous experiences of the World Cup on the subcontinent couldn’t have been more contrasting. Back in 1987, in what was something of a golden age for English one-day cricket, they went all the way to the Eden Gardens final and could conceivably have won it but for stroke from Mike Gatting. Nine years later, they were a useless shower, the worst of the Test nations, losing to New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa before Sanath Jayasuriya and Sri Lanka gave them a kicking in the quarter-final.Somewhere during that intervening decade, England forgot how to play 50-over cricket. Subsequent World Cups have been no better. Pathetic on home turf in 1999, they failed to progress from the group stages in 2003 as well. As for the last campaign in the Caribbean, there were few headlines for on-field excellence, but plenty for off-field Pedalos and Battles of the Bottle.This, though, is not the same side. The 6-1 thrashing that they suffered in Australia has seen many write them off, but a fully fit side with key performers restored could be a very different proposition. Several of them played a huge part in the winning of the World Twenty20 last year, and Andrew Strauss, the captain, reckons that experience will have a big bearing on this six-week odyssey across the subcontinent.”Paul Collingwood [who captained that Twenty20 side] is going to be a good sounding-board for me as he always is,” he said. “It was a massive hurdle to overcome, winning that Twenty20 World Cup. It stands us in good stead for this tournament as well.”In 1987, England finished second in the group, beating mighty West Indies twice, and then ended Kapil Dev’s hopes of retaining the trophy in a dramatic Mumbai semi-final dominated by Graham Gooch’s precise sweeps. It’s worth noting that both subcontinent World Cups were won by sides that didn’t let up in intensity – Australia lost once in ’87, while Sri Lanka were unbeaten in 1996 – and Strauss said that the forgiving format wouldn’t be an excuse for lax displays.”In the group matches, you can afford a slip-up or two, but I don’t think any side will be approaching it in that manner,” he said. “You want to win as many games as possible. Certainly from where we’ve come, the last month or so, the more wins the better. Once the tournament’s underway, there is a bit of a buzz about things and we want to get off to a good start.”England played both warm-up games on a slow, low pitch at Fatullah, and after a narrow victory against Canada, they were extremely impressive in seeing off Pakistan. “It’s all about confidence,” said Strauss. “We gained quite a lot from that Pakistan game, purely because it was going back to a formula that’s worked quite well for us in the past. It was familiar and it felt right. That was the basis of most of our one-day cricket over the last two years or so. We need to build on that and these group matches are an opportunity to do that.”The last time England played in India, they were blanked 5-0 before the Mumbai terror attacks caused the last two matches to be abandoned. Since Andy Flower took over as coach though, they’ve won 24 and lost 22, figures skewed by two 6-1 post-Ashes thrashings by Australia.They are drawn in the tougher of the two groups, with India and South Africa among the favourites and West Indies and Bangladesh dangerous floaters. Strauss, though, isn’t even looking that far ahead. “There are some strong sides in there,” he said. “Ireland and the Netherlands are two strong Associate nations. They’re certainly capable of a couple of upsets. The first thing is to make sure we get through the group and make the quarter-finals.”The route they take to the last eight will most likely tell us whether this team is capable of emulating the boys of ’87, or whether they’ll go the way of the driftwood from ’96.

ScorecardAustralia’s women did what the men spectacularly failed to do by inflicting a series defeat on England as they went 2-0 up with victory in the second one-day international at Perth. An unbeaten 103 from Meg Lanning, her maiden ODI hundred in her second match, ensured the home side made easy work of chasing down of 215 with more than eight overs to spare.England captain Charlotte Edwards hit 90 to lift England’s hopes of levelling the series but their bowling attack couldn’t control the Australia batting. Lanning and Shelly Nitschke (70) put on an opening stand of 151 to do most of the work in the run chase before Leah Poulton helped seal victory.The 18-year-old Lanning hit eight fours and a six during a superbly paced innings which suggested she has a fine career ahead of her. “Meg and Shelley were unbelievable,” said Alex Blackwell, the Australia captain. “Shell has obviously been around the Southern Stars squad for quite a few years now and is one of our key players and she was brilliant again tonight.”Meg is only 18 and playing just her second one-day game, but batted with experience beyond her years tonight and it is a credit to all the hard work she has been doing. She is really benefitting from having the experience of Shelley with her at the top of the order and she’s showing that she could be a very good opener for Australia for a long time.”England had been handily placed during their innings as Edwards and Heather Knight (72) added 107 for the third wicket to take the total to 2 for 159 in the 42nd over. But their hopes of a late onslaught were damaged by four run outs as Australia showed their fielding skills.”I’m pleased to get some runs under my belt and make a good score, but it’s difficult to take as we lost the game,” said Knight. “We’re obviously bitterly disappointed, but we have a lot more cricket to play with another big series ahead and the Ashes Test. We’ll rally round as a team and stick together to come back fighting and look to take some momentum into the games ahead.”The one-day series is followed by five Twenty20 internationals, the first two played ahead of the men’s matches in Adelaide and Melbourne next week, before the one-off Ashes Test in Sydney.