Sports

Harry Brook’s third century secures slender lead after spinners turn screw

Published

4 years ago

2022/12/19

Harry Brook made the third hundred of his extraordinary series as England took a 50-run first-innings lead on the second day of their third and final Test against Pakistan. Nauman Ali and Abrar Ahmed shared eight wickets between them but were made to toil on a slow, dry pitch, bowling 64.4 out of the 81.4 overs in England’s innings.

Pakistan’s openers, Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood, had cut the deficit to 29 runs by the close, seeing out nine overs of spin. On Monday, they will look to set England a challenging fourth-innings target as they attempt to avoid being whitewashed on home soil for the first time.

Brook reached three figures in the afternoon session with a back-foot punch through the covers off Abrar, prompting a standing ovation from Karachi’s National Stadium and the England balcony. He added 117 in a vital sixth-wicket stand with Ben Foakes, who made a watchful 64 in his first innings of the tour.

Brook’s afternoon had started in calamity as he ran out his captain, Ben Stokes, in the second over after lunch. Brook worked Mohammad Wasim into the leg side and initially started coming back for a third run when Azhar Ali prepared to throw the ball in from deep midwicket, but scurried back to the keeper’s end with Stokes already charging down towards him.

As Wasim whipped the bails off at the other end, Brook managed to sneak his bat over the popping crease just before Stokes, who responded by throwing his head back before giving Brook a calm thumbs up, as if to exonerate him for his role in the mix-up. At that stage, England were 145 for 5 and still trailing by 159 runs on first innings.

But Brook pressed on unfazed, rifling a pull through the leg side off Abrar to get his innings back up and running and reaching a 73-ball half-century with a top-edged sweep. He found an able partner in Foakes, who overturned an early decision that went against him and calmly rotated the strike through the afternoon session.

Foakes was given out on 9 when struck on the pad by Abrar’s wrong’un, as the ball popped up to short leg. He was unsure whether he had been given out caught or leg-before, but in the event, he survived on both fronts: there was no inside edge, and ball-tracking technology predicted the ball would have missed his leg stump.

By the second drinks break, Pakistan had gone flat in the field and Brook recognised he had the opportunity to cash in. He pumped Abrar back over his head for a straight six and looked at ease against both spinners, reaching a fluent hundred off 133 balls by standing tall and crunching Abrar through extra cover.

Brook’s hundred was his third of his nascent Test career, in only his sixth innings. When he passed 94, Brook also broke Alastair Cook’s record (450 runs in 2015/16) for the most runs by an Englishman in an overseas Test series against Pakistan. He eventually fell for 111, trapped lbw by Wasim as the ball began to reverse.

England lost another wicket shortly after, as Rehan Ahmed hacked his third ball to short midwicket, but Mark Wood made a handy 35 in a 51-run stand with Foakes and a last-wicket partnership worth 30 between Jack Leach and Ollie Robinson meant Pakistan faced a significant deficit.

Earlier, with the pitch showing more signs of variable bounce on the second day, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope had looked comfortable in bringing up a 50-run stand for the second wicket. Wasim, on debut, conceded three early boundaries and was whisked out of the attack by Mohammad Rizwan, who stood in as captain for the first hour with Babar suffering from a headache.

Faheem Ashraf, the other seamer in the Pakistan line-up, bowled a solitary over in the day. Pope was busy, nudging singles and punching either side of the wicket, while Duckett continued to sweep regularly as he has throughout the tour and brought up a 50 partnership when skipping down to loft Abrar back over his head for a straight six.

It was Nauman, the left-arm spinner, who made the breakthrough. He found sharp spin from outside Duckett’s off stump, trapping him on the pad as he hung back rather than coming forward to a full ball. He was given out and reviewed the on-field decision in the hope that the ball had struck him outside the line of off stump, but ball-tracking technology gave an ‘umpire’s call’ verdict on impact.

And Nauman struck again with his next ball to continue Joe Root’s lean run on this tour. Bowling from around the wicket, he drew Root forwards with a full ball that turned away from the bat, and Root’s tentative push flew to Salman Ali Agha at slip. He held onto a sharp, low chance just above the turf, leaving England 58 for 3.

That brought Brook to the crease, who calmly worked the hat-trick ball into the off side and made his intentions clear by skipping down the pitch to the sixth delivery he faced, swinging Abrar high and mighty back over his head for six.

Brook survived a review for lbw when trapped on the crease by Abrar – with Babar back on the field to send it upstairs – but Pakistan’s legspinner was undeterred. No sooner had Pope reached his third half-century of the tour by slashing Nauman through point, he lost his off stump. Hanging back to combat the low bounce, he was beaten by Abrar’s fizzing legbreak and could only shake his head in disbelief.

Brook swung Abrar back over his head for six more later in the same over, bringing up another milestone for Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s team. It was England’s 88th six in men’s Tests in 2022, breaking India’s 2021 record for the most sixes by a team in a calendar year (where data is available).

(cricinfo)

Scores:

Pakistan 304 all out (Babar Azam 78, Agha Salman 56; Jack Leach 4-140) and 21 for0

England 354 (Harry Brook 111, Ben Foakes 64, Ollie Pope 51; Nauman Ali 4-126, Abrar Ahmed 4-150)

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Sri Lanka lose Women’s Champions Trophy hosting rights

Published

23 mins ago

2026/08/31

Priyan

The change in venue could significantly impact the Sri Lanka side (Cricinfo)

The inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy, scheduled for February 2027, will be moved out of Sri Lanka with the SLC set to be stripped of hosting rights. Cricinfo has confirmed that the six-team event will be played at a different venue in the same window, and it is likely to be held in India. The new hosts will be confirmed at the next ICC board meeting in October.

Sri Lanka have lost the right to stage the tournament, which was due to be their second ICC event in a year after they also co-hosted the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, because of government interference in their board. The SLC has an interim administration, called the Transformation Committee, which was put in place by the Sri Lankan government and will oversee major board changes including to the constitution.

The ICC does not recognise politically appointed administrations and SLC representatives have not been at ICC board meetings since the Transformation Committee was put in place.

The change in venue could significantly impact the Sri Lanka side, who only qualified for the event by virtue of it being held in their country. The competition is limited to the top six teams on the ICC rankings and, as of the rankings update on Saturday, Sri Lanka are currently seventh. Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa make up the top five. West Indies are sixth and would have originally missed out but if Sri Lanka do not qualify, then the Caribbean could sneak in.

This will be the second time in three years that Sri Lanka have lost out on an ICC event. In 2023, the 2024 men’s Under-19 World Cup was taken away from them for the same reasons and moved to South Africa.

In any case, while the Transformation Committee is in charge, SLC’s electoral processes stand suspended. The Transformation Committee’s official task is to reform that very electoral system, and the Sri Lanka Cricket constitution in general. According to the country’s laws, this can only be done through parliament.

The Transformation Committee has said it has produced a fresh constitution which is expected to be taken up in parliament over the next few weeks. Members of that Transformation Committee told Cricinfo that it expects for SLC elections to take place before the end of 2026, so long as the parliamentary process runs smoothly.

(Cricinfo)

Sports

Sri Lanka kickstart Asia Cup campaign with record win

Published

10 hours ago

2026/08/31

Thilina Walpola

Mithali Ayodhya returned figures of 3 for 14. (Getty)

Sri Lanka began their Women’s Asia Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, cruising to a nine-wicket win over the UAE after bowling them out for just 79. Mithali Ayodhya and Chethana Vimukthi led the way with three wickets apiece, while Sugandika Kumari took two, before Chamari Athapaththu’s unbeaten 48 off 25 balls and Imesha Dulani’s 25 off 18 powered the defending champions to the target in just 7.5 overs. The victory, completed with 73 balls to spare, was Sri Lanka’s biggest in T20Is in terms of balls remaining.

‎Sri Lanka made an ideal start after opting to bowl, with Mithali Ayodhya striking in the fourth ball of the innings to bowl Theertha Satish for a duck. Chethana Vimukthi then joined in, bowling a disciplined spell and removing Lavanya Keny in the fourth over to leave UAE at 8 for 2. Esha Oza and Heena Hotchandani tried to rebuild, but scoring remained difficult, with Sri Lanka’s bowlers giving little away. Oza’s first boundary, which was also the first of the innings, did not come until the 4.1 over, and UAE reached only 16 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.

‎The pressure continued after the field spread, and Oza was eventually dismissed for 18 off 24 by Sugandika Kumari. By the halfway stage, they had crawled to 31 for 3, having played out 37 dot balls. Hotchandani fell for 10 off 18 to Chamari Athapaththu soon after, and although Rinitha Rajith provided some impetus with 15 off 16, wickets kept falling around her. Samaira Dharnidharka made 17 off 25 before Kavisha Dilhari had her caught and bowled in the 15th over, and Rajith followed in the 19th over. Ayodhya then returned to remove the final two batters, bowling UAE out for under 80.

‎In contrast to the first innings, Sri Lanka made a flying start to the chase, with Dulani and Athapaththu dealing in regular boundaries. Dulani was particularly fluent, striking five fours in her 18-ball 25, while Athapaththu became the first to reach 500 runs in Women’s Asia Cups, with a six off Esha Oza in the fourth over.

‎‎The pair raised a half-century stand inside the Powerplay before Dulani was run out for 25 when a drive from Athapaththu ricocheted off the bowler and hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Athapaththu, though, continued the assault with Sanjana Kavindi for company. Having struck two boundaries off Athige Silva, she hit a six off Oza before finishing off the chase with a couple as Sri Lanka began their Asia Cup campaign with a facile win.

‎‎Brief scores:

‎UAE 79 in 19.5 overs (Esha Oza 18; Mithali Ayodhya 3-14, Chethana Vimukthi 3-16, Sugandika Kumari 2-18)

‎Sri Lanka 80/1 in 7.5 overs

(Chamari Athapaththu 48, Imesha Dulani 25) (Cricbuzz)

Sports

Sri Lanka complete vital win over Kyrgyzstan in FIBA Asia pre-qualifiers

Published

10 hours ago

2026/08/31

Thilina Walpola

The Sri Lanka Men’s National Basketball Team delivered a composed performance to defeat Kyrgyzstan 72-65 yesterday at the Baluan Sholak Sport Palace in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers Group B.

In a tightly contested first half, Sri Lanka trailed narrowly at the break 31-33. Team Sri Lanka regrouped in the second half, outscoring Kyrgyzstan 20-16 in the third quarter and 21-16 in the fourth quarter to secure a crucial two points in the group standings.

Simron Yogananthan led the way with a game high 27 points and was instrumental in the fourth quarter comeback.

Praneeth Udumalagala also supported well with 22 points and a last moment match winning three pointer.

With this win, Sri Lanka took a massive step towards qualification for the next round of the FIBA Asia Cup Pre-Qualifiers.