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Attacking Dhananjaya leads Sri Lanka recovery after Naseem’s strikes
For the third time in the series, Sri Lanka have lost their top order cheaply, and Dhananjaya de Silva has had to perform his rescue act. Sri Lanka were left floundering on 79 for 4 at lunch on the opening day of the second Test at SSC. Dhananjaya, unbeaten on 33, has Dinesh Chandimal, on 9, for company.
After a wet outfield courtesy overnight rain had delayed the start of play by 30 minutes, Karunaratne had been confident in his decision to bat first. While there was some moisture expected to be in the surface early on, that had been anticipated to dry up soon – and so it has – to make it easier for the batters, though only Dhananjaya has seen fit to follow script thus far.
Naseem Shah was the pick of the bowlers in the morning session, grabbing the key scalps of Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews, while Shaheen Shah Afridi accounted for Kusal Mendis.
The mini collapse was catalysed courtesy another spectacular bit of fielding from the visitors, as Shan Masood effected a one-hand pick-up-and-release from short extra cover to throw down the stumps and find Nishan Madushka well short. The attempted single itself was indicative of the muddled thinking behind Sri Lanka’s process, as Karunaratne ushered his partner for a push-and-run single that was never on. Why such a tight run was being attempted in the third over of the first innings, on what for all purposes looked a pretty good batting surface, is anyone’s guess.
If that wicket was borne out of part Sri Lankan brain-fade and part Pakistani excellence, the next one was wholesale the former, with Mendis slashing one that was full and wide straight to point.
Pakistan up to that point had been prone to the odd loose delivery, but Naseem produced a searing spell and Mathews in particular was finding proceedings uncomfortable. Eventually, having poked and prodded at several deliveries in the channel outside off from Naseem, he nicked one through. Naseem then got one to just seam in a fraction to catch the inside edge of Karunaratne’s bat, as the Sri Lanka captain looked to drive one on the up
.At 36 for 4 this was Sri Lanka’s worst start this series – a considerable feat seeing as their previous two innings had seen them at 99 for 4 and 58 for 4. But if the other Sri Lankan batters were making mountains out of molehills, Dhananjaya was building highways; in their 43-run stand, Dhananjaya accounted for 33 off just 40 deliveries, while Chandimal’s 9 came off 36.
At times it did indeed seem like Dhananjaya was batting on an altogether different surface, frequently skipping down the track and lofting the spinners down the ground or over the covers. Even as lunch approached, and his rate of scoring slowed, the bad balls were put away. But with conditions quite comfortable for batting, Sri Lanka can scarcely afford any more slip-ups.
Brief scores: (at lunch)
Four persons including a Budhist monk died and 32 others were injured when two SLTB buses collided head on at Weerawila at arond 12 noon today (18).
Three of the deceased were women. 22 of the injured were admitted to the Hambanthota Hospital while 10 others have been admitted to the Debarawewa hospital.
Families have gathered outside a drug treatment centre in the Afghan capital, Kabul, looking for their loved ones after it was hit in a Pakistan air strike, which Taliban authorities said killed 408 people.
The attack on Kabul’s Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital took place at about 9pm local time (16:30 GMT) on Monday.
[Aljazeera]
African football’s governing body has stripped Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title they won in a chaotic final two months ago and declared Morocco the champions.
In a stunning decision, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Tuesday that its appeals board ruled that Senegal is “declared to have forfeited” the match, a 1-0 victory. The result, it said, was now “being officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of host nation Morocco.
At the January 18 final in Rabat, Senegal’s players walked off the pitch, led by coach Pape Thiaw, in protest against a penalty awarded late in regulation time to Morocco.
When play resumed after a delay of about 15 minutes, Morocco forward Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved. In extra time, Pape Gueye scored the decisive goal that saw Senegal become champions of Africa for the second time.
The heated final also saw supporters trying to storm the field, players scuffling on the sidelines, reporters from the two countries fighting in media areas, and a bizarre sequence in which Moroccan ball boys tried to seize a towel being used by Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy – in an apparent bid to distract him and help their team win the continental title.
At a disciplinary hearing in January, CAF imposed fines of more than $1m as well as bans for Senegal and Morocco players and officials, but it had left the result untouched.
The case could go to a further appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
[Aljazeera]
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Cabinet nod to amend Central Cultural Fund Act No. 57 of 1980
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