Sports
A gloomy end to Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign
Rex Clementine in Miami
Sri Lanka crashed out of the ICC T-20 World Cup with a game to spare after their match against Nepal in Miami was washed out by rain. The former champions had made things difficult for themselves after losing back-to-back games against South Africa and Bangladesh, but still had an outside chance of making it to the second round depending on decisions of other games going in their favour. But after Tuesday’s washout, even if they win their next game against Netherlands they will be left with only three points and that’s not good enough to go through.
It rained the whole day in Miami on Tuesday. Although the rains cleared by 6:00 pm, there were hopes of a delayed start with overs shortened. The match officials did an inspection at 8:30pm local time and decided to abandon the game. There were two puddles in long off and long-on and playing the game would have been too risky. The ground staff did an excellent job to clear the water, but their effort wasn’t good enough.
The players left the ground half an hour after the match was abandoned and it started raining again.
Sri Lanka will now travel to St. Lucia where they will play their remaining group game against Netherlands later this week.
It’s been a disappointing campaign for Sri Lanka no doubt. The same team had beaten Afghanistan at home and Bangladesh away from home in T-20 series and there were high hopes of Sri Lanka doing well.
However, the team had little momentum during their campaign from the moment they won the toss against South Africa and decided to bat first on an unknown wicket. Sri Lanka were shot out for 77 in New York, their lowest total ever in T-20 cricket.
Sri Lanka were poor in handling game situations and playing under pressure as several batters perished trying to attack whereas picking up singles would have been the wiser choice on two paced tracks.
“It has been a disappointing campaign for us. Our batting didn’t click and although our bowlers and fielders fought hard, we didn’t simply have enough runs on the board to fight back,” spin bowler Maheesh Theekshana told journalists after the game was abandoned.
“We were poor in assessing the conditions. It’s been a tough campaign for us. I don’t think we deserve a place in the second round. We know we are out of the tournament but we have one more game and realistically we need to finish that game off in a good manner.”
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza decided to field first against Oman in the men’s T20 World Cup match at the SSC in Colombo. Both teams were pleased to arrive in Sri Lanka early to get themselves attuned to the conditions.
Zimbabwe have Blessing Muzarabani back in the squad after he missed the tri-series in Pakistan in November.
Oman, meanwhile, include 44-year-old Aaamir Kaleem the oldest player in the tournament – after he came into the side in place of Hasnain Shah, who was injured after the squad was named.
Zimbabwe return to the tournament after missing out on the previous edition in West Indies and the United States of America. They had made it to the Super 12s of the 2022 T20 World Cup but failed to progress through the qualifiers for the 2024 tournament. They completed qualification alongside Namibia; Brian Bennett was the tournament’s top run-scorer, while Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava were among the leading wicket-takers.
Zimbabwe are bolstered by the return of Graeme Cremer, whose November 2025 comeback marked the longest gap between T20I appearances.
Oman are one of three qualifiers from the Asia-Pacific region, alongside Nepal and the UAE. They have previously appeared in the 2016, 2021, and 2024 editions of the T20 World Cup.
Oman: Jatinder Singh (capt), Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Sufyan Mehmood, Nadeem Khan, Shah Faisal, Shakeel Ahmad
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Dion Myers, Brendan Taylor (wk), Sikandar Raza (capt), Ryan Burl, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani
Scotland may have suffered a blip the last time they faced Italy in a T20I but ensured they picked up the first points of their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign after a dominant performance at Eden Gardens. George Munsey’s 54-ball 84, supported by cameos from Brandon McMullen and Michael Leask, followed by Leask’s four-wicket haul helped Scotland spoil Italy’s debut in the tournament. The 73-run win gave Scotland two points after their defeat to West Indies in Kolkata two days ago.
Brief scores:
Scotland 207 for 4 in 20 overs (George Munsey 84, Michael Jones 37, Brandon McMullen 41, Richie Berrington 15, Michael Leask 22*; Ali Hasan 1-21, Grant Stewart 1-44, Thomas Draca 1-37, JJ Smuts 1-38) beat Italy 134 in 16.4 overs (Anthony Mosca 13, JJ Smutts 22, Harry Manenti 52; Michael Leask 4-17, Brad Currie 1-12, Brad Wheal 1-29, Mark Watt 2-24, Oliver Davidson 1-33 ) by 73 runs
(Cricinfo)
In an inauspicious start to Italy’s maiden T20 World Cup campaign, their captain Wayne Madsen dislocated his shoulder in the fourth over of Scotland’s innings at #den Gardens. He was later ruled out of any further participation in the match.
Madsen was fielding at midwicket when he tried to stop a pull from George Munsey. He unsuccessfully dived to his left and rolled over on the practice pitches and immediately asked for medical attention. He soon left the ground using a towel as a sling for his left arm.
Madsen, by far Italy’s most experienced cricketer at age 42, is playing his maiden T20 World Cup and was taken for X-rays right away at the venue. A typical shoulder dislocation can take anywhere between seven to 21 days for full recovery while more serious cases can take three to four months.
In Madsen’s absence, Italy were captained by Harry Manenti for the remainder of Scotland’s innings. Scotland went on to score 207 for 4 after they were sent in to bat.
While serious injury replacements are being trialled by cricket boards in India and Australia in domestic cricket, there are no injury replacements in the playing XI allowed in international cricket. At the moment, replacements are allowed only if players suffer concussion.
Madsen was appointed Italy captain for the 2026 T20 World Cup after Joe Burns was not selected for the tournament. This World Cup is his second across sports; he also represented South Africa in the men’s hockey in the 2006 World Cup.
After the game against Scotland in Kolkata on February 9, Italy play Nepal in Mumbai on February 12, and then travel back to Kolkata to play England on February 16 and West Indies on February 19.
( Cricinfo)
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