Sports
First-Class cricket back in the spotlight
There’s a fresh buzz in the domestic circuit as First-Class cricket in Sri Lanka has found its competitive edge once more. The coaching staff of the national team, together with the selection panel, have put their heads together and encouraged top cricketers to roll up their sleeves and return to the grind of red-ball cricket. The result? A season brimming with tight contests, spirited performances, and no shortage of drama.
With T20 leagues mushrooming across the globe and luring players with lucrative paydays, the traditional longer format had taken a back seat in recent times. But in a bid to sharpen skills and build temperament, Sri Lanka Cricket’s think tank has drawn a line in the sand – urging players to embrace the hard yards of First-Class cricket.
Leading the charge is young Dunith Wellalage, who has embraced the challenge with both arms. Prior to the ongoing season, the 22-year-old left-arm spinner had ironically donned the Sri Lankan cap in more international games than he had appearances in First-Class matches. But this season, he’s made up for lost time in style.
Last week, he played the starring role for Galle, who squared off against Dambulla in a fiery contest. Chasing a modest 255, Dambulla’s innings imploded like a house of cards, reduced to a nightmarish 23 for six. Though there was some resistance down the order, the writing was on the wall. Wellalage ran through the line-up like a hot knife through butter, finishing with figures of six wickets in the innings. His haul not only sealed a thumping 145-run win for Galle but also brought him to the brink of a significant milestone – just two shy of 100 First-Class wickets.
Galle, under the leadership of former Royalist Pasindu Suriyabandara, now sit pretty at the top of the points table, with momentum firmly in their corner.
Another notable returnee to the First-Class fold is white-ball skipper Charith Asalanka. A household name in Sri Lanka’s limited-overs set-up, Asalanka had become something of a stranger to the long format. In a career spanning nine years, he had played only 48 First-Class games, while already featuring in 134 internationals. That imbalance has finally begun to even out this season.
Leading Colombo, Asalanka found himself in the thick of things during a rollercoaster of a game in Hambantota against Kandy. Kandy piled on a mammoth 460 in their first innings, and Colombo, in reply, crumbled to a paltry 106. Asked to chase an Everest-like target of 599, Colombo’s fate looked sealed with seven wickets down heading into the final session.
But cricket, as they say, is a game of glorious uncertainties. Enter Kasun Rajitha and Sheahan Fernando – unlikely heroes who dug in their heels and stonewalled the Kandy attack for two hours. The great escape ensured Colombo clung on for a draw from the jaws of defeat.
As the tournament gathers steam, the upcoming fixtures promise more fireworks. This Thursday, the action shifts to Dambulla and RPS. Dambulla host Colombo, while Kandy lock horns with Jaffna. Galle, the team to beat so far, get a week’s breather.
by Rex Clementine
Sri Lanka women’s team beat their Indian counterparts for the first time in seven years as Harshitha Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva with vital half centuries and the eighth wicket pair of Anushka Sanjeewani and Sugandika Kumari with a valuable partnership excelled for the hosts in the Tri Nation tournament match on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 276 runs to win Sri Lanka were seven wickets down for 238 runs but the eighth wicket pair of Anushka Sanjeewani and Sugandika Kumari kept their cool to reach the target with five balls to spare.
Put to bat, India made 275 for nine on the back of a 48-ball 58 from Richa Ghosh.
In their essay Sri Lanka’s batting clicked together as they recorded their second-highest successful chase. It was also their third win over India in the format.
Vishmi Gunaratne contributed with 33 runs. Dilhari made a quick fire 35. Anushka Sanjeewani and Sugandika Kumari put on an unfinished partnership. Kumari was the more impressive of the two, as she breezed her way to 19 not out off 20 – her highest international score. Sanjeewani made 23 not out off 28, and hit the winning runs.
Chief among the big performers was Silva, who produced arguably the innings of her career so far. She signalled her intentions early – fourth ball, she leapt down the track to Sneh Rana, India’s form bowler, and muscled her
over long-on for six. This was only one of three big hits, as she motored her way to a 28-ball 50, hitting five fours as well, targeting the square boundaries either side of the wicket, though she also hit two fours through fine leg. Her best six came off left-arm spinner Shree Charani, whom she ran at and thumped over long-on. No other Sri Lanka batter cleared the rope.
When Silva arrived at the crease at Athapaththu’s dismissal, Sri Lanka needed 124 off 107 deliveries. When she was dismissed, they needed 38 off 44. India still had the opportunity to charge back into the game at this point, but Kumari’s early boundaries kept Sri Lanka surging, and Sanjeewani added heft to that final partnership.
Dinara de Silva won the second consecutive ITF Junior Circuit J30 girls’ singles title when she beat India’s Aleena Farid at the week 2 tournament final at the SSC courts on Saturday.
Dinara beat Aleena Farid 6-3, 6-1 in the final.
In the boys’ final Mahit Mekala (India) beat compatriot Pratyush Loganathan 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to win the title.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) are marching towards a spot in the playoffs, moving up to No. 2 on the table. They dispatched one of their main rivals Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with a power-packed batting performance, scoring 236 for 5, and winning by 37 runs. Shreyas Iyer actually wanted to bowl at the toss. But he said he was “up for the competition”, and it seemed so was his team.
They hit 34 boundaries in the innings – 16 fours and 18 sixes – en route to their 11th total of 200-plus in the IPL. Only Mumbai Indians have more. Prabhsimran Singh was the architect of this chaos. He attacked nine of his first 15 deliveries, and in that time he could’ve been dismissed for 22 off 11 balls. But Nicholas Pooran put down a skier. When a similar ball came down just seconds later, Prabhsimran played the same shot and found the straight boundary. He’s an intent machine with a very short memory. He made his third fifty on the trot, having come into this season with only four fifty-plus scores in his IPL career.There was a small period when Prabhsimran stalled. He got to 45 off 24 balls. Then made only 8 from 11 balls. but made up for that hitting 38 off his last 13 deliveries.
The batters at the other end matched Prabhsimran’s fire. In fact, every time LSG took a wicket, the new partnership began with a boundary within two deliveries, leaving the visitors with no place to hide. Shreyas once again showed he’s a changed man. Until IPL 2024, he was striking at 125. Since then, he has been striking at 163. That has not come at the cost of his productivity. He averaged 32 before. Now it’s 44.
Shashnak Singh played the perfect cameo, 33* off 15 balls which included a six off Mayank Yadav that legit tried to scale up to one of the Dharamsala mountain tops.
Mayank went for 60 runs in his four overs, the joint-worst figures by an LSG bowler in IPL. Avesh Khan leaked 26 runs in the 19th over, which included three fours and two sixes. Digvesh Rathi went for 40-plus in only one of his first nine matches. In his last two, he has gone for 48 and 46. At a time when they need to be peaking, LSG were floundering. Their best hope was that their top order fired.
Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Pooran had made 63% of all their team’s runs coming into this game. Arshdeep Singh knocked two of them out in the third over, and returned for the last man standing. LSG were reduced to 38 for 3, their lowest powerplay score this season. Rishabh Pant fell for 18 off 17 balls, his ninth score below 25 in 11 innings. His dismissal was a spectacle. He swung so hard at the ball that he lost control of the bat, which flew out to midwicket while the catch was taken at deep cover.
There was more than half the innings left to play when ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster suggested that LSG’s chances of winning was down at 0.13%. Guess being 73 for 5 is bad chasing 237. The last specialist batting pair they had – Ayush Badoni (74 off 40 deliveries) and Abdul Samad – delayed the inevitable by putting on a partnership of 81 in 41 balls.
Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 236 for 5 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 91, Josh Inglish 30, Shreyas Iyer 45, Nehal Wadhera 16, Shashnak Singh 33*, Marcus Stoinis 15*; Akash Singh 2-30, Digvesh Rathi 2-46, Prince Yadav 1-43) beat Lucknow Super Giants 199 for 7 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 13, Rishabh Pant 18, Ayush Badoni 74, David Miller 11, Abdul Samad 45, Avesh Khan 19*; Arshdeep Singh 3-16, Marco Jansen 1-31, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-33, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-50) by 37 runs
[Cricinfo]
Heat index is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Eastern, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala and Kurunegala districts.
Showers expected in most provinces during the afternoon or night today
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