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Ian Bell backs batters to come good

Published

1 year ago

2024/08/24

Priyan

Kamindu Mendis playing his first Test match in England looked confident and made an unbeaten 56 in the second innings

BY REX CLEMENTINE at Old Trafford

It has been a tough tour of England for the Sri Lankan side with the batters struggling to cope with the moving ball. Sri Lanka were reduced to 92 for six in the first innings after electing to bat first and then again in the second innings were collapsed to 95 for four and then recovered thanks to a partnership between Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis

They finished day three on 204 for six and lead by 82 runs with four wickets in hand. The tourists are down to the last recognized pair and with doubts over Mark Wood’s availability for the remainder of the Test, if Sri Lanka can push the lead close to 200 runs, they can travel back to London unscathed.

“Firstly, with the bat we have seen lot of courage and the team has dug in. It wasn’t a great start in both innings. You expect that in England against a quality attack. We want to improve on our first hour’s batting. The courage the middle order and lower order showed was outstanding,” Ian Bell, the team’s Batting Coach told journalists.

The partnership between Mathews and Kamindu was exciting. Mathews, the team’s senior-most has come on several tours to England while Kamindu is on his maiden visit.

“It is important to have a balance between youth and experience. Angelo was superb today. That’s what we want to see from seniors. Obviously as the series goes on that confidence will get better,” Bell added.

When the partnership was on, Sri Lanka were beginning to have hope. But England complained about the ball and managed to change it and suddenly the new cherry started darting around and soon Mathews departed for 65.

“The seam looked pretty awful on that last ball. When the ball is changed it can swing around. The lights did come on. Clouds rolled over and that’s the beauty of playing in England. You have to adapt to conditions. It’s unfortunate but the team is in good spirits. I don’t think we worried too much about it and started moaning. We need to put many runs on the board to put England under pressure.”

“Sri Lanka is a team that I have admired so much. To know the players and working with them is great. I am enjoying every minute of spending time in the Sri Lankan dressing room. The passion in the Sri Lankan dressing room for Test cricket is great and they want more of it.”

SCORECARD

Sri Lanka first innings 236 all out

England first innings 358 all out

Sri Lanka second innings

Nishan Madushka b Woakes 00

Dimuth Karunaratne c Brooks b Wood 27

Kusal Mendis c Smith b b Atkinson 00

Angelo Mathews c Potts b Woakes 65

Dinesh Chandimal not out 20

Dhananjaya de Silva lbw b Potts 11

Kamindu Mendis not out 56

Milan Ratnayake ct Duckett b Root 10

Extras: (lb 8, nb 1, w 6) 15

Total: (for six wickets) 204

Overs: 60

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Madushka), 2-2 (Kusal), 3-52 (Karunaratne), 4-95 (de Silva), 5-173 (Mathews), 6-190 (Ratnayake).

Bowling: Chris Woakes 12-3-34-2, Gus Atkinson 10-1-38-1, Shoaib Bashir 16-0-61-0 (nb 1), Mark Wood 10.2-1-36-1, Matthew Potts 11-4-26-1 (w 6), Joe Root 0.4-0-1-1.

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Zadran, Nabi star as Afghanistan bow out with a big win

Published

10 mins ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

Ibrahim Zadran smashed an unbeaten 95 in his team's win over Canada [Cricbuzz]

Having reached the semifinals of the previous edition, Afghanistan will have harboured loftier ambitions, and a group stage exit from the 2026 T20 World Cup will undoubtedly sting. There is some consolation, however: Jonathan Trott ends his tenure as Afghanistan coach with two wins on the bounce, an 82-run demolition of Canada at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai rounding out a campaign that will ultimately be defined by the ‘what ifs’ of that afternoon in Ahmedabad against South Africa.

Against Canada, though, Afghanistan were ruthlessly professional. The man who set the tone was Ibrahim Zadran, who stroked an unbeaten 95 to simultaneously hold the highest individual score by an Afghan batter across all three ICC white-ball tournaments viz. the ODI World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and now the T20 World Cup. His blazing 56-ball knock powered Afghanistan to 200/4 – their highest total in T20 World Cup history – a score that always seemed beyond Canada’s reach before it was rubber-stamped by Mohammad Nabi’s 4 for 7 in what might just be the veteran 41-year-old’s last game in this competition.

Canada asked their opposition to take first strike and themselves took until the final over of the PowerPlay to strike. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dropped at the wicket by Shreyas Movva off Dilon Heyliger’s bowling in the second over. Gurbaz punished the reprieve, racing to 30 off 20 balls before Jaskaran Singh had him slashing to deep point in the sixth over. Three balls later, Gulbadin Naib was trapped in front and Jaskaran had the on-field not-out decision overturned on review, and Afghanistan were suddenly 49 for 2.

Zadran held firm. He found an ideal foil in Sediqullah Atal, and the pair put on 95 runs for the third wicket, a partnership that steadily, then emphatically, wrested control. Atal was busy and inventive, playing his shots freely on both sides of the wicket, before being caught at long-on off Jaskaran for 44 (32). By then, Afghanistan were 144 for 3 with five overs remaining and Zadran fully into his stride. Azmatullah Omarzai contributed a breezy 13 off 7 before holing out to long-on, but it mattered little as Afghanistan plundered 69 off the final five overs, crossing 200 off the last ball with Zadran stranded agonisingly five runs short of a deserved century. In all, he found the ropes seven times and cleared it five times.

The chase never threatened to be competitive. Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck in the second over, rocking Dilpreet Bajwa’s leg stump for 13 after the Canadian captain had launched two early sixes, and the game was effectively settled when Azmatullah Omarzai had the veteran Navneet Dhaliwal caught at backward point for a duck in the fourth over. Dhaliwal, 37 years old and playing his final international innings, had received a guard of honour alongside Ravinderpal Singh before the match. A warm embrace from Rashid Khan at the boundary as he walked off was a fitting send-off for Canada’s leading T20I run-scorer.

Yuvraj Samra, who had dazzled with a century against New Zealand at this very ground two nights ago, managed only 17 before Nabi got one to turn sharply and find a leading edge to point. Nabi produced a vintage spell that included Kirton skying to long-on, Harsh Thaker top-edging a sweep to short fine leg after a dogged 30, and Heyliger perishing in the deep.

Nabi could have had a fifth, too, but Gurbaz shelled a catch even with no other fielder challenging for it, as had been the case when Gurbaz and Abdullah Ahmadzai nearly ran into each other for Heyliger’s catch. Rashid Khan took care of Movva and Bin Zafar, the latter bowled through the gate attempting an airy mow. Canada finished at 118 for 8 in a just reflection of the chasm between the two sides.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 200/4 in 20 overs (Rahmanulah Gurbaz 30, Ibrahim Zadran 95*, Sediqullah Atal 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 13; Dillon Heyliger 1-41,Jaskaran Singh 3-52) beat Canada 118/8 in 20 overs (Yuraj Sharma 17, Dilpreet Bajwa 13, Harsh Thaker 30, Nicholas Kirton 10, Saad Bin Zafar 28; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1-23, Azmatullah Omarzai 1-18, Mohammad Nabi 4-07, Rashid Khan 2-19) by 82 runs.

[Cricbuzz]

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Zimbabwe stun Sri Lanka to enter Super Eight unbeaten

Published

9 hours ago

2026/02/19

Priyan

Sikandar Raza counterattacked to release the pressure [Cricinfo]

One time is a shock. Two times, and the second to beat hosts Sri Lanka at their own game, is Zimbabwe. Led by their canny bowling, Zimbabwe pulled Sri Lanka back from a flying start to keep them to 178 on a sluggish Premadasa track. Their opener Brian Benett, quickest scorer in their history, dropped anchor, stayed unbeaten like his team, and Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani did all the damage from the other end to seal their second-highest successful T20I chase.

Sri Lanka’s innings had three neat divisions: first 29 balls for 54 for 0, next 72 for 82 for 4 and then a finishing kick of 42 for 3 off the last 19 balls. Zimbabwe went Bennett and non-Bennett. Bennett scored 63 off 48; the other three combined for 102 off 64 balls. Raza was the decisive hand: 45 off 26 after the asking rate had gone past 11.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 182 for 4 in 19.3 overs (Brian Bennett 63*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 34, Ryan Burl 23, Sikandar Raza 45; Dasun Shanaka 1-26, Dushan Hemantha 2-36, Dunith Wellalage 1-27) beat Sri Lanka 178 for 7 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 62, Kusal Perera 22, Kusal Mendis 14, Pavan Rathnayake 44, Dunith Wellalage 15*; Blessing Muzarabani 2-38, Graeme Cremer 2-27, Brad Evans 2-35) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Ex-UK Prince Andrew arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office

Published

12 hours ago

2026/02/19

Priyan

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the former United Kingdom royal, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, according to UK media reports.

A statement from Thames Valley police was released Thursday which said, “As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.

“The man remains in police custody at this time.”

“We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance. Please also remember that this case is now active so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court, ” the statement added.

“Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said: “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.

“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”

Andrew, the former British prince, who was stripped of his title last year over his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, should cooperate with the US authorities in their investigation, the UK Prime Minister Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

[Aljazeera]