Dilshan eyes cricket series win after Lord's victory

By Julian Guyer | AFP – 2 hrs 7 mins ago

Dinesh Chandimal's (pictured, R) unbeaten 105, the 21-year-old's second hundred in …

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (pictured) believes a one-day series win against …

Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan believes a one-day series win against England is within his side's grasp after a six-wicket victory at Lord's put the tourists 2-1 up with two to play.

Dinesh Chandimal's unbeaten 105, the 21-year-old's second hundred in just six matches at this level, saw Sri Lanka capitalise on a disciplined bowling display after they held England to a sub-standard 246 for seven.

Chandimal won the match for the World Cup finalists with 10 balls to spare by smashing James Anderson for four.

Sri Lanka might have got there sooner had not Angelo Mathews, whose one not out took 21 balls, been so determined to make sure Chandimal got to a hundred.

Sri Lanka may have lost their rain-affected opener at The Oval by 110 runs but their second victory in three days, following their 69-run success at Headingley, has seen them come from behind to take the lead.

"We are playing good cricket, if we play like this we can win the next two matches," Dilshan told reporters.

So determined was Mathews to make sure Chandimal, who eventually reached three figures with a six off medium-pacer Tim Bresnan, got to a hundred he played out a maiden in the 47th over to the visible despair of his captain.

"That disappointed me a little bit but they are youngsters, they are learning every time in the middle," Dilshan said.

"Getting a hundred at Lord's is really special for him (Chandimal).

"He played like an experienced guy and he finished the game. That's a good sign for Sri Lanka," Dilshan added of the man-of-the-match.

Meanwhile veteran opener Mahela Jayawardene followed up his career-best 144 at Headingley with a superb 79 at Lord's.

"They have a very good bowling attack but Mahela is not giving the bowlers anything, he's hitting every loose ball for runs," said Dilshan.

England captain Alastair Cook, who made a career-best 119 at Lord's, was taken aback by the way Mathews refused easy runs.

"It was different, I've never seen that before," Cook said. "They were perfectly entitled to do it if they want, but it was a bit strange and the cricketing gods may look at that in a bit of disgust."

Cook's second century in 29 ODI matches ultimately could not disguise the fact no other England batsman made more than Kevin Pietersen's 41.

"It's nice for a bit of confidence to score runs, but never nice in a losing cause. You want to score runs when you win, it's far more satisfying.. We were 40 runs short."

England's seam bowlers rarely looked like taking wickets on a good pitch, with off-spinner Graeme Swann's two for 32 too late to affect the result.

However, Cook insisted: "We've played on some pretty flat pitches and what we are thinking is the right way and we just need a little luck to go our way."

Stuart Broad, largely ineffectual during England's 2-1 Test series win against Sri Lanka, went wicketless for the third match in a row, the fast-medium bowler conceding 52 runs in 10 overs at Lord's.

Despite being the son of match referee Chris Broad, the former England opening batsman, he arrived at Lord's on the back of being fined 50 percent of his match fee at Headingley.

Broad was punished for "unacceptable and offensive remarks" to New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden regarding a rejected lbw decision.

However, Cook said it would not surprise him if Broad -- England's Twenty20 captain -- came good at the seamer's Trent Bridge home ground in Nottingham, where the fourth match of this series take place on Wednesday.

"At the moment it's not quite going for Broady, a bit like the Tests, but this is what cricket does," said Cook.

"If he gets a five-for next week at his home ground next week it will be worth it.

"He overstepped the mark (at Headingley), he accepts that."

Turnout key as Moroccans vote on king's reforms

By Souhail Karam | Reuters – 3 hrs ago

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RABAT (Reuters) - Moroccans voted on Friday in a referendum on a revised constitution offered by King Mohammed to placate "Arab Spring" street protesters and the "yes" camp was tipped to win despite boycott calls by opponents.

The new charter explicitly grants the government executive powers, but retains the king at the helm of the army, religious authorities and the judiciary and still allows him to dissolve parliament, though not unilaterally as is the case now.

That falls far short of the demands of the "February 20" protest movement, which wants a parliamentary monarchy where the king's powers would be kept in check by elected lawmakers.

However the movement so far has not attracted the mass support of popular uprisings that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt. It urged Moroccans to boycott the vote and said a low turnout would back their calls for more radical reforms.

Turnout stood at 26 percent by midday local time (1100 GMT), according to the interior ministry. Preliminary results were due to be announced late on Friday, a ministry spokesman said.

"I voted 'yes' because we have to obey the Commander of the Faithful," retired agriculture ministry engineer Samira Denguir said in the middle-class Hassan suburb of the capital Rabat, referring to the king's religious role.

"A large 'yes' vote with a high abstention rate or spoiled ballots is not a great result, and the monarchy, Makhzen and (political) parties know it," said Lise Storm, senior lecturer in Middle East politics at the University of Exeter in England.

The Makhzen is the royal court seen by many Moroccans as a largely unaccountable and shadowy political and business elite.

The 47-year-old ruler has had some success in repairing the legacy of human right abuses, high illiteracy and poverty he inherited after his late father's 38-year rule ended in 1999.

WESTERN ALLY

A staunch Western ally, Morocco under King Mohammed has stepped up cooperation against terrorism and illegal migration, notably with the European Union which is keen to avoid the spread of Islamic militancy along its southern shores.

But while his personal popularity is expected to swing many voters in favor of the reforms, the margin of victory could be eroded by resentment at wide disparities between rich and poor, and a sense of alienation from the political elite.

"I'm not voting because I couldn't get my voter card and to be totally honest I couldn't care less. If they really mean good they would have done it years ago," said market trader Younes Driouki, 29, heading to the beach with his surfboard.

Results of an online poll conducted by independent portal Lakome.com showed 52 percent of 51,200 participants saying they would boycott the referendum. The vast bulk of the rest said they would vote in favor, but such a low turnout would raise questions about the credibility of the exercise.

Some 13 million people registered to vote -- more than 6 million fewer than the 19.4 million Moroccans over 19 years old in a 2009 census. Moroccans above 18 are eligible to vote.

Hamid Benchrifa, an analyst from the Social Development Agency, said the disparity may be due either to voters not updating their identity cards after changing address, or a simple lack of interest in politics.

The February 20 movement has brought together Islamists bent on setting up an Islamic caliphate and secular left-wingers focusing on what they see as rising levels of corruption.

They say they will continue their common fight for a system of parliamentary monarchy and more curbs on the king's powers.

(Editing by Mark John and Mark Heinrich)

UK inflation rate remains at 3.1%

Rises in the price of bread, cereals and vegetables helped to keep the inflation rate high

UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation remained unchanged in August at 3.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It means the rate remains well above the Bank of England's 2% target, and it brings to an end a three-month period during which the rate had been falling.

The unexpectedly high rate was boosted by strong rises in air fares, clothing and food. Fuel prices fell.

Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation slowed to 4.7%, down from 4.8% in July.

CPI is used for the Bank of England's target. However, RPI - which includes more housing costs - is important for wage negotiations, and is used to calculate certain benefit increases and mortgage payments.

Economists had forecast lower rates of inflation for August, with CPI expected at 2.9% and RPI at 4.6%.

The news could strengthen the position of Andrew Sentance, the member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee who broke ranks over the summer to vote in favour of an interest rate increase.

The pound jumped 0.6% against the dollar on the news, to $1.544, as markets priced in the probability that UK interest rates may rise sooner than previously expected.

Food prices:

Air fares, which tend to rise during the summer holiday months, jumped 16% in August - their sharpest rise for the month on record.

Clothing and footwear prices rose at their fastest monthly rate for an August since 2001, although prices remain below their level of a year ago.

The news follows a warning from department store Debenhams, who said on Tuesday that the entire UK clothes retail industry faced higher prices, thanks to the rising cost of cotton and the weak pound.

The warning was echoed comments by retailer Primark on Monday that rising costs may eat into its profit margins over the coming year.

Summer sales discounts happened earlier in the year than usual, meaning that discounting had a relatively smaller impact on the August data than usual.

Food costs continued to rise, with bread, cereals and vegetables leading the way.

Wheat prices hit a 22-month high in August after rising more than 50% since the end of June.

Target missed

More worryingly for economists, the core inflation rate rose to 2.8%, from 2.6% in July.

Core inflation strips out volatile food and energy prices, and is used to gauge the underlying longer-term inflation trend.

The CPI inflation rate has now remained above the Bank of England's target for nine months.

Mervyn King, the Bank's governor, is likely to be disappointed that the rate has remained outside the government's 1%-3% tolerance range for another month.

Last month, he had to write a letter to the chancellor of the exchequer explaining why the rate was still more than one percentage point above its 2% target.

He blamed temporary factors, including the return of VAT in January to 17.5%, past rises in oil prices and higher import prices as a result of the depreciation in the pound since the middle of 2007.

However, he said "there remains a significant probability that I will need to write further open letters to you in the coming months".

VAT is set to rise again, to 20%, in January next year, giving a further boost to headline inflation figures.

Eroding savings:

The continuing high rate of inflation will be bad news for savers.

With interest rates at record lows, the real value of savings is being steadily weakened.

"Inflation is a stealthy enemy that quietly erodes the spending power of a saver's hard-earned nest egg," said Darren Cook of the financial information service Moneyfacts.

He points out that a basic rate taxpayer needs to find an account paying 3.88%, while a higher rate tax payer needs to find an account offering 5.17%, in order to maintain the real value of their savings.

"The average instant access savings rate is still at rock bottom at a rate of only 0.77%," said Mr Cook.

"Only 91 out of a possible 1,020 accounts allow a basic rate tax payer to just break even at 3.88%."

The average savings pot of a basic rate tax payer is in effect being eroded by 2.48% per year.

Source: BBC News.