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Rain could force Asia Cup matches out of Colombo

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The India-Pakistan washout has raised concerns over their next possible meeting in Colombo (pic Cricinfo)

Wet weather could further impact the Asia Cup schedule with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) considering moving games in the Super Four round away from Colombo. Officials from Sri Lanka Cricket and the PCB have confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that they are looking at alternative venues in Sri Lanka where relatively drier weather is forecast.

Although this is not the monsoon season in Sri Lanka, Colombo has had heavy rain in the last few days, leading to flooding in parts of the northern reaches of the city, not far from where the Khettarama Stadium is located.

This, plus the washout of the Pakistan – India match in Pallekele on Saturday, has prompted fresh conversations between the ACC and the broadcasters Disney Star*.

September is often not an especially rainy month in Colombo as the northeast monsoon generally starts in October. Since 2015, the Khettarama ground, which is scheduled to host five Super Four games and the final between the 6th and 17th, has staged five men’s T20Is and four men’s ODIs in the month of September. All of those matches were completed and only two were rain-reduced.

It is not clear to what extent tournament organisers have consulted with Sri Lanka’s meteorologists. Officials ESPNcricinfo talked to could not give specifics as to what kind of weather was expected in Colombo over the coming weeks. It is instead the washing out of the marquee India-Pakistan match that has raised alarm.

If matches are moved out of Colombo, an alternative venue is also an issue. Dambulla had been suggested as an option, but it is understood India have not been satisfied with hotel and accommodation facilities there, while SLC officials claim there is work ongoing on the stadium floodlights – a long-standing issue the board has apparently not appropriately fixed. Dambulla lies in Sri Lanka’s “dry zone” and as such receives substantially less rainfall than both Kandy and Colombo at this time of year.

Hambantota, which is also on the border of the dry and wet zones, could be another option. But that stadium is essentially located on the edges of a jungle and there are no close-by accommodation options. It would be a logistical hassle for SLC if matches are moved there.

Broadcasters are also understood to be reluctant to split the remaining games across two venues, because it would either involve transporting equipment back and forth by road, or maintaining broadcasting infrastructure at two separate locations in Sri Lanka.

If some or all matches are moved away from Colombo, it will further impact a tournament already beset by scheduling challenges. Pakistan are the tournament’s official hosts, but India’s refusal to play there has meant several teams shuttling back and forth between the two countries.

ESPNcricinfo and Disney Star are part of the Walt Disney Company.


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IPL 2025: Chennai Super Kings suffer fifth loss on the trot as Kolkata Knight Riders register monster win

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Sunil Narine capturedthree wickets and scored 44 runs for KKR

So that’s what happens when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) get the kind of pitch their spinners like. Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Moeen Ali (12-1-55-6) went into Chepauk and burgled wickets away from the five-time IPL champions until they were a pale, weak shadow of themselves. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) crumbled to 103 for 9, their lowest IPL total at home, suffered a fifth successive defeat, which had never happened before in their entire history, and are marooned in ninth place on the points table. Welcome back to captaincy, MS Dhoni.

The major characteristic of a black-soil pitch is that it is slow and it grips. It felt like home, which is ironic because home hasn’t felt like home for them this season. KKR would prefer to play most of their matches in conditions like this but their efforts to procure them at the Eden Gardens hasn’t gone well. Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t even want to talk about it now. He did, however, spearhead a phenomenal bowling performance. He brought Moeen into the XI and set him loose on CSK’s two left-hand openers. Devon Conway couldn’t overcome the handicap. The KKR offspinner pocketed a wicket maiden. In the next over, Rachin Ravindra was gone. CSK were bleeding by the end of the powerplay, their 31 for 2 only slightly better than the season low of 30 for 3 that they themselves had set, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Exposing this CSK team’s middle order is the only thing their oppositions need to do to win against them. Rahul Tripathi was brought in as Ruturaj Gaikwad’s replacement but he couldn’t figure out whether he wanted to hit out or play through and that indecision was reflected in his final score – 16 off 22. Vijay Shankar could have been dismissed for a duck, or for 20, had KKR held onto their catches. Even with those two lives he couldn’t push on to make a big score. Shivam Dube walked out with CSK at 59 for 3. He had faced only 13 balls and that was still enough time for the score to slip to 75 for 8, at which point his team was in danger of recording their lowest total in IPL history.

For the 16th time in his IPL career, Narine bowled his four overs without conceding a boundary. No one, having got through their full quota, has done it more times. He also knocked off Tripathi, who didn’t know which way the ball would turn, and Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni, who didn’t know which way the ball would spin. There was some doubt over the Dhonii lbw, though. UltraEdge showed what looked like faint murmurs as the ball passed the bat.

CSK were being smothered. They had to wait 63 balls between boundaries – only two teams have ever been that emphatically silenced in this tournament – and hit just three after the eighth over (one of them off a top edge). They had to bring in Deepak Hooda as Impact Player, accepting the risk of going in with a bowler short when they would have to defend this total. But even that gamble backfired. Hooda fell for a duck and one of their key players, Matheesha Pathirana, could not take part in the game.

Defending 103 is a thankless job because bowlers tend to go hard searching for wickets and in that process they leak runs. After under-performing in their batting powerplay, CSK underwhelmed with their bowling powerplay. KKR ransacked 71 runs in the first six overs. This game was no contest.

Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 107 for 2 in 10.1 overs  (Sunil Narine 44, Quinton de Kock 23, Ajinkaya Rahane 20*, Rinku Singh 15*; Anshul Kamboj 1-19, Noor Ahmad 1-08) beat Chennai Super Kings 103 for 9 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 12, Rahul Tripathi 16, Vijay Shankar 29, Shivam Dube 31; Sunil  Narine 3-13, Varun Chakravarthy 2-22, Harshit Rana 2-16, Moeen Ali 1-20, Vaibhav Arora 1-31) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]

 

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Dharshana and co win invitational relay

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Sri Lanka ‘A’ team inclusive of Olympian Aruna Dharshana, Sadew Rajakaruna, R. Madushan and Kalinga Kumarage won the invitational 4×400 metres relay ahead of Sri Lanka ‘B’ and India at Diyagama a little while ago.
They returned a time of 3:05.60 seconds( not the official time) to win.
They remained unchallanged from the gun to finish as Dharshana provided a solid start for the others to maintain. Their only challange came from the Sri Lanka ‘B’ team who beat India to the third place.
India did not field their best team.
Kalinga Kumarage did the anchor leg for Sri Lanka.
The Maldives and the Phillippine teams were well behind the winners.
Sri Lanka Athletics conducted the event in a bid to provide the country’s 4×400 metres team a chance to produce a top timing.
(RF)
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Mohamed Salah signs new two-year contract with Liverpool

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Mohamed Salah has scored 243 goals in 394 games for Liverpool [BBC]

Egypt forward Mohamed Salah has signed a new two-year contract with Liverpool.

The 32-year-old’s previous deal was scheduled to run out in the summer and there had been doubts he would stay with the Reds following comments from him during the season and speculation linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia.

However, he is staying and will have the chance to add to his 243 goals and 109 assists for the club in 393 appearances.

“Of course I’m very excited – we have a great team now,” said Salah.

“Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.

“I have played eight years here, hopefully it’s going to be 10. I’m enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I have had the best years of my career here.”

Salah has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season, including 27 in the Premier League as the Reds chase a 20th top-flight title. Liverpool are 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with seven games remaining.

Salah, who joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Fifa Club World Cup with the Reds.

He was one of three key Liverpool players who will be out of contract this summer, along with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

Netherlands defender Van Dijk has said there has been progress on talks over a new deal but Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.

[BBC]

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