Latest News

Prabodhani, Gunaratne help Sri Lanka cruise past Bangladesh

Published

2 years ago

2024/07/21

Priyan

Vishmi Gunaratne top scored with 51 off 48 balls [ACC]

An excellent all-round show from Sri Lanka in the field, backed up by Vishmi Gunaratne’s steady half-century, helped Sri Lanka start their Women’s Asia Cup 2024 in style as they beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in Dambulla.

After Bangladesh elected to bat, everything that could have gone wrong for them did as they lost four wickets inside the powerplay. It needed captain Nigar Sultana playing an anchor role and some lower-order hitting from Shorna Akter who smashed 25 off 14 balls, to take Bangladesh to 111 for 8.

In the chase, Sri Lanka lost their captain Chamari Athapaththu early, but as they have shown time and again this year, they are no longer a one-woman team. Gunaratne, who is having a stellar 2024, continued her excellent form and smashed her third T20I half-century, all three coming this year. She got good support from Harshitha Samarawickrama as Sri Lanka got over the line with 17 balls to spare. That meant Bangladesh’s winless run in T20Is in 2024 extended to nine.

It started on a bright note for Bangladesh with Dilara Akter lofting Udeshika Prabodhani for a straight four first ball. But, it all went downhill from there. Two balls later Prabodhani went fuller, getting the ball to tail back and leaving Dilara’s stumps in a mess. The very next ball she had Rubya Haider chipping a drive meekly to the right of cover-point where Nilakshika Silva took an excellent catch running back and diving sideways.

Ishma Tanjim’s debut lasted all of three balls when she gave a simple catch to backward point off Inoshi Priyadharshani . In just nine balls, Bangladesh had slipped to 8 for 3 which soon became 17 for 4 in the sixth over courtesy of a stunning return catch from Priyadharshani. Ritu Moni jumped down the track and smashed a length ball hard to Priyadharshani’s right. But she stretched her right hand to grab the ball and kept hold of it even when her elbow hit the turf. Moni was left flabbergasted as Bangladesh’s powerplay ended on 18 for 4.

The responsibility to take Bangladesh forward was on Nigar’s shoulders. She started slow, her first 18 balls yielded only six runs. Bangladesh reached 46 for 4 after ten overs and the pressure brought about Shorifa Khatun’s downfall. Athapaththu, sensing her willingness to break the shackles, kept a length ball slow on off stump. Shorifa took the bait eyeing an across-the-line hack only to see her off stump disturbed.

Rabeya Khan got off the mark with a four but was soon sent back trapped plumb in front of the stumps by Sugandika Kumari for 10. At 67 for 6 after 15, Bangladesh’s chances of reaching 100 looked bleak.

Bangladesh finally got the momentum they so dearly required, via 17-year-old Shorna’s blade. She first thrashed Priyadharshani through midwicket before slog-sweeping Athapaththu for four more. Shorna then struck Kavisha Dilhari for three back-to-back fours taking Bangladesh close to 100. Her attempt at a fourth boundary, however, failed with Silva taking another good catch, this time at long-on.

Nigar kept things going at the other end. Bangladesh reached 100 in the 19th over before Nigar struck two fours off Prabodhani in the 20th. Bangladesh added 44 runs in the last five overs, but 111 against an in-form Sri Lanka unit was never going to be enough.

Sri Lanka’s over-reliance on Athapaththu has often cost them dearly in the past. But Gunaratne kept a calm head after her captain fell early. Athapaththu started with a six over deep midwicket but failed to clear long-on soon after against Nahida Akter. .

Gunaratne, however, kept Sri Lanka on track. She got going with a four over mid-off and then whacked Marufa wide of long-on. Gunaratne collected five fours in the three overs after the powerplay as Sri Lanka sped towards the target. The highlight of her innings was her running between the wickets. When the boundaries didn’t come, she tapped and ran.

She got good support from Samarawickrama. The duo added 54 off 48 balls for the second wicket and did not let Bangladesh into the game at any stage. Gunaratne brought up her fifty with a reverse sweep, a shot she played seven times during her innings.

By the time she fell for 51 off 48, cleaned up by Nahida, Sri Lanka needed just 26 from 37 balls. Samarawickrama then took up the mantle and she and Dilhari struck three fours in a Shorna over to bring the target down to single digits before Dilhari finished the chase with a four over mid-off.

For Bangladesh, Nahida picked up all three wickets to fall, ending with 3 for 12 from her four overs.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 114 for 3 in 17.1 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 51, Harshitha Samarawickrama 33; Nahida Akter 3-12) beat Bangladesh Women 111 for 8 in 20 overs (Nigar Sultana 48*, Shorna Akter 25; Inoshi Priyadharshani 2-17, Udeshika Prabodhani 2-20, Sugandie Kumari 1-19, Kavisha Dilhari 1-28, Chamari Athapaththu 1-16) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Molineux, Dunkley enter WPL 2027 auction with top base price of INR 50 lakh

Published

5 hours ago

2026/10/20

Priyan

Sophie Molineux has previously played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the WPL [BCCI]

A total of 146 players will be competing for 27 available slots in the WPL 2027 mini auction on October 28 in Kochi. Of these, England batter Sophia Dunkley and Australia captain Sophie Molineux are the only two players who have listed themselves at the maximum base price of INR 50 lakh.

The auction pool has 119 Indian players, including 22 capped and 97 uncapped players, with 20 slots available for Indian players. The overseas pool has 27 players – 14 capped and 13 uncapped – including six from Associate teams, with seven slots available.

G Kamalini (released by Mumbai Indians), Kiran Navigre (released by U P Warriorz), Heather Graham and Jess Jonassen have registered at the second-highest base price of INR 40 lakh, while a total of 30 players have registered at INR 30 lakh.

Among the notable absentees are West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin, who was released by UPW, and Australia legspinner Alana King, who was released by Delhi Capitals. Lizelle Lee, who was DC’s highest run-scorer last season, has also not listed herself after being released by the franchise.

What the teams look like going into the auction

Only two English players – Dunkley and Kira Chathli (INR 10 lakh) – have registered for the auction, with several others, including Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Alice Capsey, Dani Gibson, Lauren Filer and Linsey Smith opting to skip the WPL next year.

Cricinfo has learned that England are likely to play three T20Is in Sri Lanka in early February, which will clash with the final week of the WPL. While the ECB is likely to allow players to stay in India to complete the tournament, most players have instead chosen to prioritise their international commitments ahead of the Champions Trophy later that month.

The relatively low salaries on offer at the WPL are also understood to be a factor in many English players deciding not to register, with most internationals earning significantly more to play in the Hundred (up to £190,000 last year) than the highest permitted base price in the WPL of INR 50 lakh (£40,000 approx).

Molineux was part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru [RCB] title-winning squad in 2024, and had bagged 12 wickets in ten games at an economy rate of 7.31. She was retained by RCB for the 2025 season but a knee injury ruled her out of the season. Dunkley, meanwhile, played for Gujarat Giants [GT] in 2023 before opting not to register for the 2024 season. She went unsold in the 2025 auction.

Among the premier internationals who have listed themselves for INR 30 lakh are Australia allrounder Grace Harris (released by RCB), Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu, South Africa left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba and South Africa allrounder Chloe Tryon.

UPW, who released nine players, will go into the auction with the biggest purse of INR 3.75 crore.

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Pakistan quicks seal win after Salman Agha ton sets tone

Published

1 day ago

2026/10/19

Priyan

Salman Agha celebrates reaching his fourth ODI hundred [Cricinfo]

Pakistan withstood a middle-order counterattack from Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage to see off Sri Lanka by 37 runs. In the first match of a tri-series that also includes England, the pair appeared to have put Sri Lanka on course with a 119-run fifth wicket partnership, with the visitors well in front and requiring just 55 from the last seven overs. Liyanage’s wicket, however, saw the bottom fall out of the side, with Sri Lanka losing their last five wickets for 15 runs to allow Pakistan to breathe a sigh of relief.

The win had been set up by Salman Agha, who marked his return to the Pakistan side with his fourth ODI hundred to hold off a collapse and steer the hosts past 300. By the 22nd over, Pakistan had lost four wickets, and looked vulnerable with a relatively long tail. However, Salman’s 90-ball 107 navigated Pakistan expertly out of danger with sizeable partnerships with Hasan Nawaz and Arafat Minhas.

Sri Lanka deprived Shaheen Afridi’s side of a big finish, though, with Eshan Malinga and Asitha Fernando striking multiple blows in the death overs to ultimately bowl Pakistan out for 305. Those runs they had left on the table looked set to cost them dear at the climax of the context. The dew had set in, and Rathnayake and Liyanage were beginning to reverse Pakistan’s early dominance that had seen them skittle Sri Lanka’s top four with few dents made to the chase.

Afridi rotated his cast of bowlers, but aside from Naseem Shah, there appeared no remedy to the free flow of runs. Haris Rauf, Minhas, Saim Ayub and Afridi himself were all worked over, particularly by Rathnayake, who was especially methodical in the way he timed his innings to dance in tune to the required rate. Afridi was sensationally blown out of the attack with a pair of pulled sixes off the hips, in stark contrast to Pakistan’s own struggles against the short ball.

A pair of tight overs from Faheem Ashraf finally induced Rathnayake into a false stroke as he spooned one to Salman at short cover, only for Dasun Shanaka to pick up the slack. But with 53 runs to go, Liyanage chipped Rauf to long-on, and Pakistan blew the house down. Afridi prised Shanaka out the following over, and though the tail limped on briefly, it was only a matter of time.

Pakistan will look back fondly at their dominance in the first 25 overs, which closely mirrored Sri Lanka’s own success in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s top order was ineffective in keeping pace with the asking rate, and Naseem bowled a tidy spell up front, which included the wicket of Avishka Fernando. Ashraf took a sharp catch after Saad Baig dropped the skier, the allrounder showing good reflexes to scoop the ball up. It was, all told, a difficult evening behind the stumps for the debutant, and, in truth, a poor day out for Pakistan’s fielders throughout the innings.

Sri Lanka’s fortune with the toss had carried over to the ODI series, and they inserted Pakistan in Rawalpindi. There was early swing on offer, but it was the extra pace from Dilshan Madushanka that accounted for both openers. Ayub and Fakhar Zaman were both undone by the short delivery, leaving Babar Azam and Baig to rebuild.

The duo put on 74 and were beginning to get the asking rate ticking upwards. However, Babar’s frustrating recent knack of giving away auspicious starts reared its familiar head once more. Malinga was Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler through the innings, and he landed one short that rushed onto Babar, who was late on the pull just five shy of a half-century. Soon after Baig, who had shown promise as well as a willingness to pull rather than back away from bouncers, miscued one himself, holing out to deep fine leg.

It was precisely the sort of situation Salman – dropped from both the Test side and T20 captaincy in the last two months – thrives in, rebuilding during the middle overs of an ODI. He did so flawlessly, halting Sri Lanka’s momentum while staying on top of the run rate, keeping the strike ticking along, and adeptly covering for Nawaz, who had made a more sluggish start. He capitalised when Sri Lanka erred by turning prematurely to Kamindu Mendis’ spin, taking 11 off the 25th over to turn momentum around.

Sri Lanka began to look more toothless with the ball through those middle overs as Salman’s comfort grew. He dominated the stand and brought up his half-century off 48 balls. Nawaz had begun to loosen his shoulders too, illustrated by a six off legspinner Sachindu Colombage, but Asitha rooted him out the following over, ending the fifth-wicket stand ay 97. Salman played a similar shepherding role with Minhas for the sixth wicket, the pair putting on 64, with Salman once again taking on the lion’s share.

Twenty-six runs came off the 44th and 45th overs, but just as Pakistan looked for a big finish, Sri Lanka’s bowlers hit back. Minhas and Salman fell trying to hit sixes, and Pakistan’s lower order soon followed, with Malinga getting rid of Ashraf and Naseem off successive balls. A pair of lusty blows from Afridi allowed Pakistan to scratch past 300.

For long stretches of Sri Lanka’s chase, it appeared as if Pakistan’s unproductiveness in those death overs would cost them. Instead, on a dewy early autumn night in Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s pace attack – which shared nine wickets between them – ensured Salman’s efforts would not be wasted.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 305 in 49.5 overs (Babar Azam 45, Salman Agha 107; Eshan Malinga 4-46, Asitha Fernando 3-59, Dilshan Madushanka 2-67) beat Sri Lanka 268 in 48.1 overs (Kamindu Mendis 44, Pavan Rathnayake 79, Janith Liyanage 60; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-55, Naseem Shah 2-43, Haris Rauf 2-48, Faheem Ashraf 2-49) by 37 runs

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Half a million people join protests in France, but some turn violent

Published

2 days ago

2026/10/18

Priyan

An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France today to protest against teaching conditions in schools, rising fuel prices and the cost of living.

Marches were largely peaceful and took place in several major French cities, including Paris, where 110,000 people attended.

“We just want to study, we just want a future” one student taking part in the protest in the capital told BBC News, while another said they were ” just trying to make things change”.

But French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said some groups “at the margins of these protests” caused the situation to “degenerate”.

According to the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 1200 people were arrested. Officials also reported looting in cities such as Marseille, where masked 8ntruders also entered the city hall. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire and shops were damaged.

French President Emmanuel Macron said any vandals and looters would be “prosecuted and punished”, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said demonstrations had been calmly mobilised.

Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze at Limoges City Hall after a reported break-in and arson inside the 19th-century building during protests there.

(BBC)