Graeme Smith has asked for more consistency in granting permission for runners, Andrew Strauss felt Smith could have done without one

With a perfect square-cut, an epic is sealed

MS Dhoni wanted nothing to do with the hype that surrounds these games, eager not to put undue pressure on a side that will be missing three stalwarts from the first-choice XI

India return to the scene of their World Twenty20 triumph but will have to cope with the burden of being favourites

Apart from a brief passage of play when Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott batted with something approaching fluency, this was South Africa's match from start to finish

While South Africa reeled from the 55-run loss to Sri Lanka, Daniel Vettori insisted the result would have no bearing on how they approached the game

The Champions Trophy was supposed to be the perfect stage for South Africa; perhaps hosting a tournament isn't conducive to them performing strongly

Shahid Afridi has gone from being the young teenager who spanked a 37-ball century to being the senior statesman entrusted with shepherding a young side

Led by Murali and Thushara, Sri Lanka made light work of New Zealand's resistance, romping to a 202-run win

There was no case of second-time-unlucky for Tillakaratne Dilshan, and a blazing century pushed a tummy-bug-hit New Zealand to the brink as the Galle Test entered its climactic phase

Thilan Thushara and Muttiah Muralitharan were Sri Lanka's bowling heroes, while Tim McIntosh, who faced 226 balls for his 69, led the resistance

Having seen Thilan Samaraweera strike a magnificent 159 and take Sri Lanka to 452, New Zealand responded strongly in the final session

A wonderfully composed 26th Test century from Mahela Jayawardene and a thrill-a-minute 92 from Tillakaratne Dilshan allowed Sri Lanka to dominate the opening day's play

An imperious century from Mahela Jayawardene was central to a commanding six-wicket victory for Sri Lanka which clinched the series with two games to spare

Pakistan got rid of Sri Lanka's batting luminaries without too much trouble, but found Chamara Kapugedera and Thilan Samaraweera impossible to dislodge as the home side eased to a comfortable six-wicket victory

After Angelo Mathews and Muttiah Muralitharan had combined to devastating effect with the bat, Sri Lanka's pace bowlers scythed through Pakistan's top order to lead them to a 36-run victory on a blustery day in Dambulla

In the end, neither team wanted it badly enough. Sri Lanka couldn't quite summon up the courage for one final dash, and Pakistan spent much of the afternoon merely going through the motions

Set a massive 492 for victory, or more realistically 150 overs to survive, Sri Lanka made steady progress to 183 for 3 by the end of the penultimate day's play

At 67 for 4, with both Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf back in the pavilion, Pakistan were in danger of subsiding to another defeat, but two century partnerships utterly transformed the game in the final two sessions on the third day

Pakistan's tail offered no resistance at all, but with Danish Kaneria at the forefront of a superb bowling performance, they still managed a 66-run first-innings lead