Sports

Babar, Rizwan fifties power Pakistan to third T20 World Cup final

Published

4 years ago

2022/11/10

Half-centuries from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan helped Pakistan enter the T20 World Cup final for the third time

Led by half-centuries from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan powered to the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, at the back of a dominating all-round display against New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket ground, where they registered a seven-wicket win, on Wednesday.

Electing to bat, New Zealand were restricted to 152 for 4 on a slow, turning pitch, despite Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 35-ball 53. Run-scoring was difficult and against a disciplined bowling attack and a spirited fielding performance, New Zealand managed to score only 10 boundaries and two sixes.

In response, Pakistan asserted their dominance early on with a 105-run opening stand between Babar and Rizwan, with both the batters stroking fifties. Even as New Zealand managed to pull Pakistan back slightly towards the end, Babar’s side managed to reach the target with five balls to spare.

Pakistan dominated right from the start. A quintessential Shaheen Afridi first over where Finn Allen’s pads were always under threat with the incoming delivery. An inside edge saved him once but Afridi had the pads hitting the middle of middle stump eventually.

Kane Williamson and Devon Conway’s cautious approach allowed the Pakistan pacers to be on the offensive at all times, and yet escape not have to prove expensive. By the end of the powerplay, they had conceded only 38 runs, losing Conway to a fine throw by Shadab Khan off the last ball, which caught him short of the crease.

Williamson and Mitchell added 68 runs for the fourth wicket but not before losing Glenn Phillips early, offering Mohammad Nawaz an easy return catch. On the used pitch that was slow and low and turned considerably, with the bowlers operating cleverly to the dimensions of the field – ranging from 65 to 80 meters – run scoring wasn’t easy. The harder the batters tried, the more they struggled.

Despite that, Mitchell and Williamson – who combined to stroke only 4 boundaries and 2 sixes in 77 balls – managed to pick 33 runs from Shadab Khan’s spell, the most expensive figures for the leggie in this tournament. While Mitchell kept picking the twos and score at fairly decent pace, Williamson struggled to go too far beyond run-a-ball before eventually falling in the 17th over while looking to play a scoop and getting cleaned up by Afridi.

Neesham and Mitchell picked some quick runs towards the end, adding 35 runs in the last 22 balls, with the latter bringing up his half-century to help New Zealand to a slightly below-par 152 for 4.

Quite unlike New Zealand, Pakistan asserted their dominance with the bat in the powerplay, an approach that Rizwan stated was intentional given that the pitch was expected to slow down. It could have been a different story had Conway pouched the outside edge induced by Boult when Babar was yet to get off the mark. But that opportunity was lost, so was the opportunity to run him off the next ball.

After a couple of quiet overs, Babar and Rizwan cut loose against Lockie Ferguson in the third over, stroking him for three boundaries. While Babar struggled early on, Rizwan kept a healthy scoring rate. By the end of the powerplay, Pakistan had wiped off 55 runs from the target and even Babar had found his groove.

Even as there was turn and the pitch was slow, Babar and Rizwan had adjusted well to the conditions and the pace and went on to stitch a 105-run stand in 76 balls before Babar holed out to long on.

Mohammad Haris was troubled by the slower balls and failed to make adequate connections. Off the first 17 balls, several edged, he managed to score only 17 runs. To complicate matters, Rizwan fell while attempting to free his arms and slash at an angling away delivery from Boult, caught at deep point. It brought the game down to 21 runs in the last three overs, and then fur

ther reduced to 19 in 15 – with a new batter and a struggling Haris in the middle. However, a couple of clean hits from Haris – a drive through extra cover for a boundary and a pull for a six, brought the equation down to 8 runs from the last two overs.

Mitchell Santner bowled a fine penultimate over, created three wicket-taking opportunities – before having Haris dismissed off the final ball, but left Pakistan with needing only two off the last over.

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Sports

Royal to meet St. Joseph’s, St. Peter’s eliminate Cambrians

Published

3 hours ago

2026/07/25

Thilina Walpola

Under 17 Division I Cricket

by Reemus Fernando

A combined bowling effort helped St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya beat Prince of Wales College Moratuwa by 55 runs and reach the pre-quarter finals of the Under 17 Division I cricket tournament on Friday.

‎Of all the knockout stage matches played on Friday, the encounter between the Petes and the Cambrians was the match that lasted the longest distance as the home team found batting resistance from number nine batsman.

‎The Cambrians foughtback after slipping to 59 for seven, on the back of a fighting 64 from Kaveesha Kithmina to bow down gracefully.

‎Batting first, St. Peter’s posted 230 for nine thanks to 76 off 113 balls by Sashidu Silva and a brisk 61 from 49 deliveries by Menura Dissanayake.Sandeepa Dananjaya was the pick of the Prince of Wales bowlers with an impressive five-wicket haul for 33 runs.

‎Most of the other knockout matches were one sided contests.

‎Royal College Colombo bundled out Wariyapola Sri Sumangala College, Kandy for a mere 44 runs to record a crushing 269 runs win and secure a pre-quarter final berth against St. Joseph’s College Darley Road.

‎Gagan Gamage (7-1-16-5) and Mahiru Kodituwakku (7-2-18-4) used the home advantage to good effect as they shared nine wickets between them to rattle the opposition within 18 overs. Batting first the Reid Avenue team amassed 313 runs for five wickets with Savain Gamage (53), Dushen Udawela (50) and Manuth Dasanayake (76) scoring half centuries.

‎Maris Stella College, Negombo, Galahitiyawa Central and St. Aloysius’ College, Galle were the other teams to enter the pre-quarter final stage on Friday.

‎St. Aloysius’ College, Galle booked a pre-quarter final berth against St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa with a crushing seven-wicket victory over Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte.

‎Ananda Sastralaya struggled throughout their innings and were bundled out for 65 runs. Chenuka Dodangoda with a run a ball 27 was the only batsman to make a notable contribution.

‎St. Aloysius’ bowlers shared honours bowling tight spells. Hasitha Dasun produced the standout performance taking four wickets for two runs, while Manindu Pabasara supported well picking up two for seven. Yenul Nethsuka, Chethana Kularathna and Sanuda Imaya picked up a wicket each.

‎In reply, St. Aloysius made light work of the modest target, reaching 67 for 3 in just 9.4 overs. Gimhan Hansaka struck an aggressive 33 off 25 balls with seven fours to lay the foundation for victory.

‎Kavinga Dabare claimed all three wickets for Ananda Sastralaya, finishing with 3 for 9, but his effort could not prevent St. Aloysius’ from sealing the pre-quarter final berth.

‎In the other matches, Maris Stella College, Negombo beat Royal Central Polonnaruwa by five wickets and Galahitiyawa Central beat Taxila Central by six wickets.

Sports

Galle Gallants back to winning ways

Published

3 hours ago

2026/07/25

Thilina Walpola

Sahan Arachchige starred for Galle Gallants

Galle Gallants got back to the winning track after their first loss against Dambulla Sixers on 22 July to make it three wins out of four games as they outclassed Jaffna Kings by 60 runs on Thursday at the Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla.

After all the five teams have played four games each, Galle Gallants sit atop with six points, while Kaps, Sixers and Kings have four points each. Royals have two points only.

After being asked to bat first, Gallants lost Sam Harper and Charith Asalanka early with 16 runs on the board in three overs. At this point, Chris Lynn and Chamika Karunaratne put on 48 runs with the former dominating the stand as he ended up with a 22-ball 46 before departing.

Gallants slipped to 110-6 in 14.2 overs before their top-scorer Sahan Arachchige and Mohammad Nawaz arrested the collapse with a game-changing 68-run stand off 30 balls. Arachchige hit four fours and three sixes in his 36-ball 63, while Nawaz hit two sixes and as many fours in his 27 off 16 balls.

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth hit a six off the two balls he faced as Gallants posted a strong 193-8 in 20 overs. Dilshan Madushanka and Lizaad Williams picked up two wickets each. Shakib Al Hasan, Dunith Wellalage and Mohammad Shiraz had one wicket each to their name.

In reply, Jaffna Kings’ chase never got going as they were rocked by three wickets each from Tharindu Ratnayake and Eshan Malinga. They slipped to 33-4 with Akif Javed and Dasun Shanaka also sharing a wicket each.

Only Wellalage managed to put up some fight with the bat and it was because of his 39-ball 56 that Jaffna Kings managed to salvage some pride and closed in on the loss margin. Wellalage hit four fours and as many sixes in the lost battle that he waged as Kings went from 99-8 in 12.3 overs to 133 all out with Williams unable to walk out to bat due to injury.

David Wiese was the only other batter to cross the 20-run mark as he scored 22 with the help of three fours. Ratnayake finished with three for 19 in four, Malinga with three for 13 in three, while Viyaskanth also picked up a wicket.

Brief Scores

Galle Gallants won by 60 runs

Galle Gallants: 193/8 in 20 overs

]Sahan Arachchige 63 (36), Chris Lynn 46 (22), Mohammad Nawaz 27 (16); Dilshan Madushanka 2/35 (4), Lizaad Williams 2/37 (4)

Jaffna Kings: 133/9 in 17.5 overs

[Dunith Wellalage 56 (39), David Wiese 22 (20); Eshan Malinga 3/13 (3), Tharindu Ratnayake 3/19 (4)]

Sports

Arachchige, Rathnayake and Malinga pump Jaffna

Published

21 hours ago

2026/07/24

Priyan

A 36 ball 63 by Sahan Arachchige and three wickets each by Eshan Malinga [3-13] and Tharindu Rathnayake [3-19] helped Galle Gallants defeat Jaffna Kings by 60 runs in the 10th match of the Lanka Premier League 2026. Galle Gallants lead the points table with three wins from four outings.

Scores:
Galle Gallants 193/8 in 20 overs [Chris Lynn 46, Sahan Arachchige 63, Dasun Shanaka 12, Dinura Kalupahana 10, Mohammad Nawaz 27; Mohamed Shiraz 1-23, Dunith Wellalage 1-13, Shakib Al Hasan 1-27, Dilshan Madushanaka 2-35, Lizaad Williams 2-37]

Jaffna Kings 133 in 17.5 overs [Kamil Mishara 15, Ibrahim Zadran 11, David Weise 22, Dunith Wellalage 56; Dasun Shanaka 1-21, Tharindu Rathnayake 3-19, Akif Javed 1-22, Eshan Malinga 3-13, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 1-32]