Sports
Cricket announces its complete line-up for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022
Cricket is the first discipline to announce its complete line-up for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games after Sri Lanka was confirmed as the eighth team in the women’s T20 tournament.
The announcement was made jointly by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Tuesday following Sri Lanka’s victory in the ICC Commonwealth Games Qualifier 2022 in Kuala Lumpur last week and the subsequent CGF ratification of Sri Lanka’s entry.
Australia, Barbados, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan had already qualified as women’s cricket makes its first entry into the Commonwealth Games. It will only be the second time that cricket features in the multi-discipline event after a men’s competition was part of the Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and is considered a massive opportunity to bring the game to new audiences.
Shaun Pollock-led South Africa had won the gold on that occasion, beating Steve Waugh’s Australia side by four wickets in the final. ICC Hall of Famers Sachin Tendulkar of India, Jacques Kallis of South Africa and Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka were among the many stars part of the Games then.
The league-cum-knockout tournament this time kicks off with a match between ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 finalists Australia and India on 29 July, with the bronze and gold medal matches scheduled for 7 August. Barbados and Pakistan are in Group A along with Australia and India while England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka form Group B.
The ICC, CGF and Commonwealth Games Sri Lanka congratulated Sri Lanka for their qualification and looked forward to an exciting tournament.
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said: “It’s good to have finalised the identity of the teams participating in the Commonwealth Games and congratulations to Sri Lanka for making it after playing so well in the qualifier. We will have eight of the best teams competing for the gold and I am sure we will get to watch a highly competitive tournament.
“The Commonwealth Games are an important part of the women’s cricket calendar over the next year. It is a huge opportunity for us to take cricket beyond the traditional strongholds and give more people around the world the chance to enjoy the game, whilst the players are very much looking forward to being part of multi-sport games.
“I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the Commonwealth Games Federation for their support and hope to see some top-quality cricket at Edgbaston.”
CGF President Dame Louise Martin said: “Congratulations to the eight outstanding teams who have qualified for the women’s T20 cricket tournament at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“I must pay particular tribute to Sri Lanka, who secured the eighth and final spot by winning such an exciting qualifying tournament in Malaysia last week.”
“They will head to the iconic Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham with an elite lineup featuring England, Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Barbados and New Zealand.
“Cricket is a sport synonymous with the Commonwealth. We are so excited to have it back in the Games for the first time since the men’s 50 over competition at Kuala Lumpur in 1998. The debut of women’s T20 cricket will be a historic moment and a wonderful showcase of women’s sport across the world.”
Commonwealth Games Sri Lanka Secretary General Maxwell de Silva said: “We are delighted to have qualified for the Commonwealth Games women’s T20 cricket tournament.
“Our team put on a fantastic display as they won all four matches at the qualification tournament to secure the final spot at Birmingham 2022.
“I would like to congratulate Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu and the entire team as they join a world-class lineup in Birmingham for what will be a special moment for cricket and the Commonwealth Games.”
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu said: “It’s a great feeling to have qualified for the Commonwealth Games and all of us are really excited to be part of the multi-sport extravaganza. I’m sure it’s going to be a different experience for all of us.
“We had a memorable Qualifying tournament in Kuala Lumpur and now look forward to doing well in Birmingham against the best.
“I would like to thank Sri Lanka Cricket, the ICC, Commonwealth Games Sri Lanka and the CGF for all their support.”
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, being held from 28 July to 8 August, will see 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories compete across the 11 spectacular days of sport. Birmingham 2022 will be the first major multi-sport event in history to award more medals to women than men.
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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