Malinga returns to Test squad

	Lasith Malinga is set to play his first Test since December 2007 © AFP
Related Links Players/Officials: Lasith Malinga | Ajantha Mendis Series/Tournaments: India tour of Sri Lanka Teams: Sri Lanka

Fast bowler Lasith Malinga has been named in the 16-member Sri Lanka squad for the three-Test series against India beginning on July 18, setting him up for a return to Tests after two-and-a-half years . However, there was no place for spinner Ajantha Mendis, who tormented India during their previous Test visit two years ago.

Malinga played his last Test against England at Galle in 2007 before a knee injury laid him low and forced him out of cricket for nine months. Malinga was cured by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse's personal physician Dr Eliyantha White and since then his appearances for his country has been only in limited-over internationals and in Twenty20 Internationals.

Malinga's return to Test cricket was slow because the team physio did not want to push him too early to play in the longer version of the game. However selection committee sources stated that they had got the greenlight from physio Tommy Simsek who has been monitoring Malinga's progress carefully that he was now fully fit to play in a five-day Test match.

"Malinga has nine more days before the first Test against India and we are confident he will be fit to play. He has been bowling long spells at the nets and has shown no side effects," a selection committee source said. Since making his Test debut against Australia at Darwin in 2004, Malinga has played in 28 Tests and captured 91 wickets.The other members of the fast-bowling department are Dilhara Fernando, Chanaka Welegedara and Dammika Prasad.

Offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan who is due to retire at the end of Galle Test has also been named in the squad along with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and young off-spinner Suraj Randiv who is likely to take Muralitharan's place for the rest of the series. Mendis, who became a star with 26 wickets in three Tests against India when they visited in 2008, was left out.

The Sri Lanka Board President's team to take on India in a three-day practice match ahead of the Tests was also named. Thilan Samaraweera will lead the side which includes first-choice Test keeper Prasanna Jayawardene and promising batsmen Lahiru Thirimanne, Ashan Priyanjan and Dinesh Chandimal.

Test squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan (vc), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Tharanga Paranavitana, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Angelo Mathews, Prasanna Jayawardene, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Dilhara Fernando, Dammika Prasad, Suraj Randiv, Thilina Kandamby, Chanaka Welegedara, Lahiru Thirimanne.

Sri Lanka Board President's XI: Thilan Samaraweera (capt), Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne, Thilina Kandamby, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Ashan Priyanjana, Kaushal Silva, Chanaka Welegedara, Dilhara Fernando, Chaminda Vidanapathirana, Sachitra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep, Kusal Janith, Dinesh Chandimal

Lasith Malinga, Saurabh Tiwary star in thrilling Mumbai win

Mumbai Indians 164 for 6 (Dhawan 50, Tiwary 31) beat Kings XI Punjab 163 (Marsh 57, Malinga 4-22) by four wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Lasith Malinga's four-for helped Mumbai Indians to their sixth victory in this IPL, and inflicted a sixth defeat on Kings XI Punjab © Indian Premier League
Related Links Players/Officials: Shikhar Dhawan | Lasith Malinga | Shaun Marsh | Rajagopal Sathish | Saurabh Tiwary Matches: Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab at Mumbai (BS) Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India | Kings XI Punjab | Mumbai Indians

A dry slow pitch and the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar, on whom Mumbai Indians tend to depend far too much, combined to produce a thrilling game that concluded in the last over at the Brabourne Stadium. Set a target of 164 after Lasith Malinga had restricted Kings XI Punjab with a four-for, Mumbai stumbled at various points of the chase but found enough vital contributions to clinch the game with three balls to spare. Shikhar Dhawan laid the platform with a half-century, Saurabh Tiwary lifted Mumbai with a breezy 31 just when it seemed they might lose their way, and R Sathish produced the final flourish to push them past the line and take them a step closer towards a semi-final berth .

Mumbai needed 19 from the final two overs but Sathish produced two skillful hits to the ropes - an inside-out shot over covers and a whip-lash square drive - off Ravi Bopara, and Saurabh Tiwary thrashed a straight boundary to leave themselves six to get of the final over. Sathish held his nerves to collect couple of driven two's and Brett Lee fired a wide down the leg side, as Punjab slipped to their sixth defeat in the tournament.

It wasn't quite a quality game, but it made for interesting viewing. Despite a composed fifty from Dhawan, Mumbai dawdled in the chase to reach a situation where they needed 57 from 33 balls. It was at this point that the game started to turn in their favour. Tiwary slog-swept Piyush Chawla for a six and Ambati Rayudu pulled the same bowler to the wide long-on boundary to reduce the equation to 46 from 30 balls. However, Bopara, who bowled medium pace not dissimilar to Chris Harris, slipped in a few tight overs in the company of the equally impressive Shalabh Srivastava.

And when Bopara picked up the vital wicket of Dwayne Bravo with a slower one and Srivastava bowled a few dot balls, the equation read 27 from 15 balls. It was a make or a break moment, and Tiwary forced Mumbai ahead with a fierce flat-batted six over long-off off Srivastava; Sathish settled the issue in the next over with his strikes against Bopara.

Match Meter MI Double-strike: In the 16th over, Malinga induced Irfan to miscue a drive and Harbhajan took an excellent catch. The next ball, Marsh was bowled by a superb yorker and Punjab were kept to 163. KXIP The big scalp: Tendulkar charged out to lift Chawla over the straight boundary but the ball gripped and turned to force him to hole out to long-on. KXIP The fall of Bravo: Bravo did loft Bopara for a six but fell the next ball, fooled by a slower one to hand a catch back to the bowler. Mumbai were five down, needing 31 in three overs. MI The final rush: 27 needed off 15. Tiwary swung the game with a fierce flat-batted six. In the next over, Sathish hit two boundaries followed by Tiwary's bludgeon down the ground, which made it six off the final over. Advantage Honours even

It was a chase that ebbed and flowed right from the start. Dhawan had started it with two boundaries in Lee's first over but Srivastava bowled a tight over to keep Tendulkar quiet. It was the first sign that things might not be so easy for Mumbai. Chawla then struck a big blow, luring Tendulkar to hole out to long-on in the sixth over to push Mumbai to 42 for 1. Dhawan and Kieron Pollard pushed Mumbai forward but Pollard holed out to long-on, and Dhawan to long-off, to leave their team struggling at 91 for 3 from 11.4 overs. But they found enough firepower from the lower middle-order to clinch their sixth win.

Just as they allowed things to drift a touch in the chase, they had earlier allowed Punjab to stretch the target. Malinga had sizzled with three wickets from four balls, which included a perfect yorker to knock out Shaun Marsh, the only batsman who offered some resistance, as Mumbai restricted Punjab to 163. But you couldn't escape the feeling that had Mumbai produced their top game, Punjab would have struggled to get past 125.

Barring Marsh, Punjab's batsmen looked woefully out of touch. With the exception of Sachin Tendulkar, who was visibly agitated with his team-mates on a few occasions, Mumbai's men seemed to lack intensity in the first half of the game. The fielding was largely shoddy, with the irregular keeper Ambati Rayudu setting the tone, but they lifted their game after the first time-out and had enough skill with their bowling to restrict Punjab to a gettable score.

If Punjab got anywhere close to a decent score, they have only Marsh to thank for. This was his first IPL game this season but he looked in good touch right from the start. He collected four boundaries in his first ten balls, with a peachy on-the-up on drive against Ryan McLaren being the highlight. Regular fall of wickets, though, forced him to slow down and drop anchor. As witnessed in the first IPL, he kept things really simple: He stayed still on the leg-stump guard, preferring to stay completely beside the line of the ball, and played his drives. There was one big hit as well, when he went down on his knee to swing a slower one from Pollard from outside off over the long-on boundary; but for the majority of his innings, he drove along the ground.

He didn't find much support from his team-mates, though. Mahela Jayawardene struggled to get the ball off the turf initially and had problems running between the wickets. A run-out seemed inevitable and that's how he went in the end. Bopara missed a full and straight ball from Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh shovelled a slower one from Bravo straight to short fine-leg. Even Irfan Pathan, who has batted really well in this tournament, failed to convert a start. To his credit though, it took a good catch from Harbhajan Singh, running to his right from midwicket, to end his stay. And when Marsh fell next ball, Punjab were tottering at 124 for 6 from 16 overs before Piyush Chawla pushed them past 160, which proved inadequate, but only just.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo