Pakistan were bowled out for 55, their lowest total in T20I cricke.  A collapse where they lost six wickets for eight runs in 29 balls set them so far back that they couldn’t even bat out 20 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur, who broke new ground by becoming the first player – male or female – to lead her team 150 times in T20Is, had the time of her life celebrating each wicket and eventually scoring the winning runs as well.

Shree Charani shines

Old-fashioned left-arm spin is having a resurgence. India men have found Manav Suthar. India  women already had N Shree Charanin. The No. 1-ranked T20I bowler in the world picked up two wickets in her first over on Saturday.

The flight on the ball drew Gull Feroza out of her crease. The drift in had her looking leg side. The dip and the turn resulted in a leading edge and a simple catch to point. The bowler did everything right. The batter did everything wrong. Shawaal Zulfiqar was the only Pakistan batter to put any kind of pressure on India. Charani had her lbw for 14 off 14 and from there it was a procession.

Pakistan’s batting troubles

Playing their 200th T20I, Pakistan went from 27 for 0 to 35 for 6 before the innings was halfway done. They could not find a risk-free way to score runs, absorbing long periods of dot balls and trying to get out of it by playing low-percentage shots, often against the turn, on a Dubai pitch that was offering plenty of it. Only the openers got to double digits and only Zulfiqar was able to score a run a ball.

Rawat’s support act

Prema Rawat finished with figures of 4-0-9-3. Nineteen of her 24 balls were dots. All of that is remarkable considering she is a legspinner, whose release points tend to be just shy of the perpendicular. Like Shane Warne. From there, they turn their wrist over and it can either be awesome or awful. Rawat’s release point is perpendicular, maybe even beyond it, like Rashid Khan’s. And she doesn’t turn her wrist. For the most part, she just flicks the ball out the front of her hand. This gives her better control at the cost of big turn and in T20Is, that trade-off is well worth it. Nobody could hit Rawat off her line and length and when Sadaf Shamas tried, she got bowled off her pads.

Scores:

India Women 57 for 3 in 8.4 overs  (Shafali Verma 12, Harmanpreet Kaur 18*, Deepti Sharma 12*; Fatima  Sana 3-17) beat Pakistan Women in 18.1 overs  55 (Muneesha Ali 13, Shawal Zulfiqar 14, Shafali Verma 1-10,   Shree Charani 3-07,  Deepti Sharma 2-05, Prema Rawat 3-09)  by seven wickets

(Cricinfo)

The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from  28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.

The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is
overhead today (06) are Bentota, Thiniyawala, Iththakanda, Udawalawe, and Kataragama about 12.08 noon

‎Rumesh Tharanga created history in emphatic fashion, winning the men’s javelin at the Diamond League Final in Brussels to become the country’s first Diamond League champion.

‎The recently crowned Commonwealth champion sealed the prestigious Diamond Trophy with a superb third-round throw of 89.04 metres, producing yet another major performance on the biggest stage.

Tharanga became the first Sri Lakan to win a top position at a global competition conducted under the auspice of World Athletics.

‎The victory also extended Tharanga’s extraordinary run of form, giving him his 12th victory in his last 13 competitions. His only defeat during that sequence came earlier in the season, underlining the consistency that has made him one of the outstanding performers in world javelin this year.

‎Tharanga’s winning effort was enough to keep a determined international field at bay, with Poland’s Dawid Wegner producing a lifetime best of 87.47m to take the silver medal. Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott completed the podium in third place.