Sports

Daryl Mitchell 102, Blair Tickner triple-strike hand New Zealand advantage

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/11

Priyan

Daryl Mitchell gestures after bringing up his century (pic Cricinfo)

A Daryl Mitchell ton followed by a Mat Henry blitz put the hosts in pole position for the first time in the Christchurch Test, as New Zealand’s lower order wrestled control away from Sri Lanka on a riveting third day of play at the Hagley Oval. Blair Tickner further pressed home the advantage, picking up three wickets in the final session, as the visitors ended 65 runs ahead with seven wickets in hand; but the momentum still lay with the hosts.

Much of the damage was down to the efforts of Henry, whose 72 off only 75 balls from No. 9 knocked the wind out of Sri Lanka’s sails at a point when they might have been entertaining thoughts of obtaining a considerable a first-innings lead. And like any good onslaught, Henry’s destructive cameo came about unexpectedly and brutally.

Seemingly catalysed by the wicket of Mitchell – who had fought his way to 102 from 193 deliveries – over the course of a subdued if not attritional day of cricket barring a brief period prior to lunch, Henry, having trundled to 20 off his first 45 deliveries, produced 52 off his next 30.

Dhananjaya de Silva’s offbreaks were the first to get the treatment, as two slogs over cow corner for six were followed by a back-foot scythe through cover. That was just the entree, before Henry feasted off Kasun Rajitha a few overs later, taking the until-that-point miserly seamer for 24 in an over, which included five consecutive boundary blows – including a monumental straight six.

By the time Henry fell – courtesy a yorker from Asitha Fernando – New Zealand’s deficit had instead transformed into a five-run lead. Henry’s heroics almost obscured Neil Wagner at the other end, who scored 27 off 24 balls in the process. To add to all of that, Tim Southee’s quickfire 25 from 20 deliveries meant New Zealand’s last four added a decisive 126 runs off 124 balls after they were 188 for 6 at one stage, still 167 behind Sri Lanka’s first-innings total.

And prior to Henry’s devastating intervention, New Zealand’s gains had been steady if not exactly express. Leading the way was Mitchell. The first hour of play saw the Sri Lankan seamers being unable to replicate the consistency of the previous day, perhaps guilty of trying to force the issue; and Mitchell had a large role to play in this.

His frequent shifts in the crease – either by shuffling down the track or taking guard a foot in front of the crease – made it particularly difficult for Rajitha and Asitha to maintain consistent lengths. Over the course of his innings, Mitchell accumulated runs without really pressing the issue. And by the time he fell, he had brought his side within 64 runs of Sri Lanka’s score, before Henry took hold of the game.

All in all, New Zealand scored 211 runs in a little under two sessions, 82 of which would come in that extraordinary hour before tea. Even though that would see New Zealand’s lead stretch to just 18, by the time Sri Lanka’s openers came out to the middle, the shift in momentum between the two camps was palpable.

New Zealand’s bowlers, reinvigorated by their tail-end exploits, were unerring in their lines and lengths; the Sri Lanka batters, by contrast, never looked settled, something highlighted by each of their dismissals: Dimuth Karunaratne was once more caught after edging a drive, Oshada Fernando feathered an ill-advised cut through to the wicket-keeper, and Kusal Mendis was caught in the slips lashing at one outside off barely 20 minutes before stumps.

Angelo Mathews was left holding fort alongside nightwatcher Prabath Jayasuriya, and while Sri Lanka certainly have a lot of batting left, New Zealand remain on the verge of landing a knockout blow.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka 355 and 83 for 3 (Oshada Fernando 28,Angelo Mathews 20*, Blair Tickner 3-28) lead New Zealand 373 (Daryl Mitchell 102, Matt Henry 72, Asitha Fernando 4-85) by 65 runs

All News Advertisement

Sports

India to host inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in February

Published

3 hours ago

2026/09/3

Priyan

The Brabourne Stadium hasn't hosted an international game since December 2022 [BCCI]

The inaugural six-team Women’s Champions Trophy has been moved from Sri Lanka to India, and will be played in Mumbai and Vadodara from February 14 to 28 next year.

The Brabourne Stadium and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium will host the T20 tournament. Despite losing the hosting rights because of government interference in their cricket board, Sri Lanka will still be part of the tournament, having qualified after being in the top six of the T20I rankings on the July 6 qualification cut-off date. Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa are the other teams.

According to a media release, the ICC assessed three candidates – Bangladesh, India and South Africa – against its established host evaluation criteria before recommending India as the replacement host on Wednesday.

The Brabourne Stadium hasn’t hosted an international game since December 2022, when India women hosted Australia for a T20I series. It hosted the first-ever season of the WPL in 2023 and also a few matches in 2025. Vadodara, meanwhile, has hosted WPL matches in 2025 and 2026.

The Champions Trophy was due to be Sri Lanka’s second ICC event in two years after they also co-hosted the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup with India. The six participating teams will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two sides advancing to the final on February 28.

The SLC is under interim administration, called the Transformation Committee, which was put in place by the Sri Lankan government and will oversee major board changes including those to its constitution. The ICC does not recognise politically appointed administrations and SLC representatives have not been at ICC board meetings since the Transformation Committee was put in place.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Mendis, Nissanka return for England white ball series

Published

13 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka return to the side after missing India Tests due to injuries.

by Rex Clementine

Prolific batsman Pathum Nissanka and white-ball captain Kusal Mendis are back in the fold after being named in Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20 squads for the six-match tour of England later this month.

Both Mendis and Nissanka missed the recent Test series against India through injury. Nissanka was recovering from wrist surgery, while Mendis suffered a hamstring injury during the LPL. It was the first major injury setback for the wicketkeeper batter, who has been a fixture in the Sri Lankan side for more than a decade.

Interestingly, Charith Asalanka has returned to the leadership group as vice-captain. Asalanka was stripped of the captaincy in both white ball formats earlier this year and subsequently fell out of favour with the selectors. His elevation suggests that the experiment of grooming Kamindu Mendis as the all-format vice-captain has, for the moment at least, been shelved.

There are, however, a few concerns heading into the tour. Kusal Mendis and Dushmantha Chameera have not featured in the ongoing domestic tournament, leaving them short of competitive cricket. Chameera’s lack of preparation will be particularly concerning given the fast bowler’s lengthy history of injuries. Pathum Nissanka did turn up for NCC though during this week’s T-20 competition but didn’t make an impact.

The inclusion of 28-year-old leg-spinner Sachindu Colombage in the ODI squad has also raised a few eyebrows.

While Sri Lanka’s T20 game remains a work in progress, their ODI fortunes have taken a significant turn for the better. The side has found consistency and made rapid strides, underlined by automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in South Africa. It is a marked contrast to the build-up to the 2023 edition, when Sri Lanka were forced to travel to Zimbabwe and negotiate the qualifying tournament to earn their place at the World Cup.

Sri Lanka will begin the tour with the T20 series, with Southampton hosting the opener on September 15. The teams then travel to Cardiff and Manchester before the ODI leg gets underway at Chester-le-Street. Headingley will stage the second ODI, with the tour concluding at The Oval.

The Sri Lankan squad will leave for London on Saturday, September 5, giving them ten days to prepare for the six-match white-ball assignment.

ODI squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Kusal Mendis (captain), Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Sachindu Colombage, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.

T20 squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Lahiru Udara, Kusal Mendis (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Tharindu Rathnayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Nuwan Thushara and Binura Fernando.

Sports

Sampath, bowlers steer Golden Green Plantations to title

Published

13 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

MCA Premier League Champions 2026 Golden Green Plantations

MCA – ABANS PREMIER LEAGUE 2026

A skipper’s innings of 70 runs off 89 balls by T M Sampath and a four fer by Hesham Madushanaka and two wickets by Upul Hettiarachchi helped new comers to the MCA cricket arena Golden Green Plantations defeat David Pieris Group of Companies by four wickets in the final of the MCA-Abans Premier League 2026 and become the first winners of the ‘Abans Challenge Trophy’.

Electing to bat first David Pieris Group of Companies were restricted to 147 runs in 39.3 overs. Santhush Gunathilake who opened innings topped the score card with a fluent 53 off 50 balls with seven fours and a six. Asitha Wanninayake chipped in with 31 off 59 balls. Heshan Madushanka captured four wickets for 11 runs.

Chasing 148 to win, skipper T M Sampath scored 70 runs off 89 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes before being stumped off the bowling of Dilanka Auwardt, with score on 122/5. Shammu Ashan and Mohamed Shamaz shared a 25 run partnership to equal the scores at 147/6 and Shammu Ashan scored the winning runs with a four.

The Golden Green Plantation Team led by T M Samapth comprised, Heshn Madushanka, Malith Mihiranga, Mohamed Shamaz, Randika Mihiranga, Upul Httiarachchi, Dhanuja Induwara, Gimadu Malkam, Sammu Ashan , Vikum Sanjaya and Johan Pathirana

With only four teams entering the prestigious MCA Premier Leaguethis year, DFCC Bank secured third spot having a slightly better run rate over Nawaloka Hospitals and were unlucky that the opportunity for securing a spot in the final was washed away as qualifier 2 was abandoned on two consuecutive days due to rain.

Player of the Final T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations receives his trophy from Sajith Athapaththu Chairman of the MCA Social, Bar and Restaurant Committee

Special Awards:

Best fielder of the Final :

Dhanuja Induwara of Golden Green Plantations [3 catches and 1 runout]

Best bowler of the Final:

Heshan Madushanka of Golden Green Plantations [4 wickets for 11 runs]

Best batsman of the Final:

Santhush Gunathilake of David Pieris Group of Companies [53 runs off 50 balls]

Player of the Final ;

T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations [70 runs and 1 wicket]

Best bowler of the Tournament:

Tharinda Nirmal of David Pieris Group of Companies [13 wickets in 4 innings]

Best batsman of the Tournament: