Sports
Brydon Carse makes his mark on debut as England power to seven-wicket victory
England’s rejigged T20I team powered out of their mothballs with a crushing seven-wicket victory under the floodlights at Chester-le-Street, as they hunted down a sub-par target of 140 with six full overs to spare.
A fine home-town debut from the seamer Brydon Carse denied New Zealand any momentum despite a misleadingly run-laden first over from Finn Allen, whereupon a brace of forceful knocks from Dawid Malan and the inevitable Harry Brook allowed Jos Buttler to sit back in the dressing-room with his feet up, resting up for more meaningful contests to come.
In their first white-ball outing since the tour of Bangladesh in March, England showed once again that their depth of options is second-to-none in the world game. Despite losing two prospective fast-bowling debutants, Josh Tongue and John Turner, to injury, and resting a third, Gus Atkinson, for later in the series, England’s line was led instead by Carse and the left-armer LukeWood, who claimed three wickets apiece.
In reply England never looked like letting their grip on the contest slip, despite the first-over loss of Jonny Bairstow, and once Malan had anchored the chase with his 17th fifty-plus score in 56 T20I innings, Brook and Liam Livingstone, with a huge blow for six over deep midwicket, closed out the chase in short order.
Allen’s most recent on-field act, in the green of Southern Brave, had been to slam 69 from 38 balls in a riotous (but unsuccessful) opening onslaught in last week’s Hundred Eliminator. And so the die seemed to have been cast when he climbed into a massive yahoo at Wood’s second delivery of the match. He didn’t connect on that occasion, but each of the next three flew out of the park – one down the ground, two high over midwicket – in an apparent signal of another powerplay charge.
What followed, however, was a near-complete lockdown from England’s new-look seam attack. Sam Curran applied the handbrake with a five-run second over before the debutant Carse conceded a solitary run off the bat with his relentless deck-thumping approach.
A switch of ends for Wood then paid early dividends as Devon Conway snicked a drive with no footwork to fall for 3 from 8, and after Carse had burst through Allen’s defence with an 87mph leg-stump-seeker, Wood made it two in three overs as Tim Seifert was suckered by the angle from round the wicket to lose his off stump for 9.
With the introduction of spin in the seventh over, New Zealand’s innings suffered a similar false dawn. Mark Chapman picked Adil Rashid’s first-ball legbreak and smoked him over midwicket for six… but his team managed just five more runs in the next nine before Moeen Ali, a scourge of left-handers, bowled Chapman with a beauty that held its line from round the wicket to take the top of off stump.
At 49 for 4, New Zealand were once again in need of a big performance from Daryl Mitchell, but on this occasion, even his long levers couldn’t turn the tide. Liam Livingstone entered the attack with a startlingly sharp legbreak that leapt past Mitchell’s edge, and – seemingly spooked – Mitchell climbed through the line of his very next ball, but could only pick out Brook on the long-off boundary. Rashid was then rewarded for an unremarkably excellent three-over spell with the soft dismissal of Mitchell Santner, who toe-ended a cut to point.
Thereafter, it was all about the scramble to the bottom of the innings. Glenn Phillips was New Zealand’s best hope of a competitive total, but his subdued 41 from 38 was ended by the sharpest take of the innings, as Curran in the covers read the fade on a sliced drive at a Wood slower ball, and leapt to his left to cling on in both hands.
Adam Milne and Ish Sodhi then landed a six apiece off consecutive balls to at least hoist England’s target past a run a ball, but Carse was on hand to shut down the innings in style. His first ball of the 20th over was an inch-perfect offcutter, on that hard in-between length that skidded past Milne’s wipe to leg; his fifth was fired into the toes, demanding that Sodhi took on the longest boundary, and he duly failed.
Carse had opened his account with 1 for 3 in his first two overs. Now he closed the innings down with 3 for 23 all told, his best in all T20s, and delivered with that familiar pitch-battering poise that Liam Plunkett once brought to England’s white-ball attack. For a man who wasn’t initially picked for this T20I squad, it was quite the way to celebrate becoming England’s 100th cap in the format.
Buttler will doubtless be back to the top of the order come England’s defence of their T20 title in the Caribbean and the USA next June, but his self-demotion to No. 6 was an acknowledgement that others have greater points to prove with the 50-over version looming.
There’s Bairstow for example – Buttler’s intended opening partner in Australia last winter until his horrific leg injury, and the man expected to front up alongside Jason Roy in India in five weeks’ time. His first England white-ball innings in 13 months at least came at a 200 strike-rate: a first-ball pump for four through midwicket, then a second-ball snick to slip off Tim Southee, after a leg-side wide for good measure.
There’s Will Jacks too, a potential travelling reserve in India, and a definite candidate for T20 opening honours, after his trophy-winning exploits (with bat and ball) for Oval Invincibles in the Hundred this month. His lacerating power was on full display once more as he greeted Lockie Ferguson’s first over with two fours and an inside-out carve for six, and having ignited a 61-run powerplay with 22 in 11 balls, he muffed a pull off Sodhi from his very next ball.
With his habitual faith in his own acceleration, Malan turned a doughty innings of 4 from 10 balls into a formidable 40-ball half-century, with five fours and two sixes – each of them mown with awesome power over the leg side off Sodhi and Santner respectively. He looked aghast to give it away at 54 from 42, but at 116 for 3 in the 13th over, he’d already drained the contest of any jeopardy.
And then, inevitably, there was Brook. The most notable absentee from England’s World Cup plans was clinically violent in belting them over the line with 43 not out from 27 balls, including back-to-back blats for six off Sodhi, over cover and midwicket respectively, and a third massive launch over the ropes as Southee served up a slower ball and was made to travel the distance. Whether it’s too late for him to change any minds that matter, only the selectors know for sure. But on this occasion, he barely broke sweat in looking a class apart.
Brief scores:
England 143 for 3 (Malan 54, Brook 43*) beat New Zealand 139 for 9 (Phillips 41, Carse 3-23, Wood 3-37) by seven wickets
The world cup of tennis, the Davis cup Asia/Oceania Group IV 2026 will be held in Sri Lanka from the 20th to the 25th of July 2026 at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts. This tournament is held under the guidance of World Tennis, is the main team event for the male tennis players of the world.
There will be seven nations participating in the event to be held in Colombo. The teams being Iraq, Northern Mariana Islands, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyztan, Kuwait and the host country Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka team for the tournament comprises of Apna Perera, Thehan Wijemanna, Ganuka Fernando and Saha Kapilasena making up the team with a blend of youth and experience with Mineth Navarathna being the stand by player. The team is coached by the experienced Sankha Athukorala with Lakshan Wijerathna being the physio/ Masseur of the team. The manager of the team is Rukmal Cooray.
The seven teams will be divided into two groups. One group of three teams and the other one of four teams. Matches will be played in the round robin format in the initial stages and the top two teams from the two groups will compete in cross over matches. The two winners will be promoted from this event. The third placed teams from the two groups will play a demotion play off match. The loser will be demoted. The team which finishes in the 4th place in the group of four will automatically be demoted. As such two teams will be promoted and two teams will be demoted.
Official practice days are the 20th and the 21st of July and the matches will be held from the 22nd to the 25th of July.
The captain’s meeting and the draw for the tournament will be held at the SLTA on Tuesday the 21st at 10.00 am, while the opening ceremony of the event is expected to be held on Wednesday the 22nd of July at 9 30 am on the Center court.
The balls for the event will be Wilson US Open, with Trident Distributors, the official partner for Wilson sporting goods in Sri Lanka coming on board as the official ball suppliers for the event. Apart from this, Trident Sports under the guidance of Yasser Farook, the managing director has come on board as the official apparel partner for the Sri Lanka team as well.
All teams will be staying at the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel with Cinnamon Lakeside hotel coming on board as the official hospitality partner for this tournament. Dushyantha Tittawella, the General manger of the hotel is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the teams have a comfortable stay whilst they are in Sri Lanka.
Perera and Son bakers limited will be the official food and beverage partner for the tournament and will be in charge of making sure that the players’ needs are met throughout this event.
The tournament Director is Dinith Pathiraja and has S Thevanesan as his assistant.
Wan Xianling of China is the referee for the event and Dharaka Ellawala being his deputy. There are six Chair umpires who have been appointed with two of them being Sri Lankans, namely Anjana De Silva and Chamod Rupassara. Jeyachandirun Saarangan is the Chief of Umpires and Adheesha Paranagama, Prageeth Polgampola, Pasindu Sampath and Yumira Kuruppu rounding up the tournament staff for the event with Mrs Nipuni Maheshika being the safeguarding officer and the UNO official for the tournament.
The SLTA president Iqbal Bin Issack with General Secretary Pradeep Goonasekera have been advising and looking into all the arrangements to make this tournament a success.
From left: Dinith Pathiraja (Tournament Director, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV Event), Iqbal Bin Issack (President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Yasser Farook (Managing Director, Trident Distributors (Wilson Agents in Sri Lanka), Pradeep S. Goonasekera (General Secretary, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Rukmal Cooray (Vice President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA))
From left : Dinith Pathiraja (Tournament Director, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV Event), Iqbal Bin Issack (President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Dushyantha Tittawella (General Manager, Cinnamon Lakeside), Pradeep S. Goonasekera (General Secretary, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Rukmal Cooray (Vice President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA))
(PDES)
Sixty five runs off 38 balls with seven boundaries and three sixes by Charith Asalanka and a four wicket haul by Eshan Malinga helped Galle Gallants defeat Jaafna Kings by 36 rums in the opening game of the Lanka Premier League played at the SSC on Friday (17 July).
Scores:
Galle Gallants 213/6 in 20 overs (Sam Harper 40, Charith Asalanka 65, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 10, Sahan Arachchige 35, Dasun Shanaka 31*, Mohamed Nawaz 21; David Weise 1-45, Dunith Wellalage 1-10, Lizaad Williams 2-28, Piyush Chawla 2-43)
Jaffna Kings 177 in 19.4 overs (Avishka Fernando 34, Kamil Mishara 28, Dunith Wellalage 40, David Weise 15, Chamindu Wickremasinghe 24; Dasun Shanaka 1-28, Akif Javed 2-31, Eshan Malinga 4-26, Charith Asalanka 1-04, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 1-24)
Sir Garry Sobers the legendary West Indies allrounder and one of the sport’s most towering icons, has died at his home in Barbados. He was 89 years old.
Widely regarded by many as the greatest allrounder and most gifted cricketer to have played the game, Sobers excelled as Test batter, could bowl left-arm pace as well as orthodox and wrist-spin, and he was an exceptional fielder and close-in catcher – attributes that once led his fellow all-timer, Sir Donald Bradman, to describe him as a “five-in-one cricketer”.
Sobers played 93 Test matches for West Indies between 1954 and 1974, scoring 8032 runs at an average of 57.78 and took 235 wickets at an average of 34.03. He also captained West Indies in 39 Tests between 1965 and 1972, winning nine and losing 10. The ICC’s premier annual award in men’s cricket – the Sir Garfield Sobers Award – is named in his honour and recognises the most outstanding overall performer in men’s international cricket across all formats.
Sobers made his first-class cricket debut at the age of 16, against the touring India team in January 1953, and excelled with four first-innings wickets to help his side enforce the follow-on. His Test debut followed a year later, against England in Jamaica, where he scored 14 and 26 from No.9 and took 4 for 75 in England’s first innings.
He played his initial Tests as a bowler, but at the age of 23 he scored his maiden Test hundred and also broke Len Hutton’s world record for the highest individual Test score by making 365 against Pakistan at Sabina Park in 1958. It was a record that stood until 1994, when it was broken by Brian Lara, an achievement Sobers was on hand to witness and celebrate.
A decade after that record-breaking innings, Sobers became the first cricketer to hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket – off Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash – while playing for Nottinghamshire in Swansea. His first-class career comprised 383 matches for West Indies, Barbados, Nottinghamshire and South Australia and he amassed 28,314 runs at an average of 54.87 and took 1043 wickets at an average of 27.74.
While Sobers played 95 List A games, his international career had wound down by the advent of ODIs and he played only one international in that format – against England at Headingley in 1973. He was knighted for his services to cricket in 1975, and in 2000, he was named as one of Five Cricketers of the Century by Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, alongside Bradman, Sir Jack Hobbs, Sir Viv Richards and Shane Warne.
Born in Barbados in 1936, Sobers was the fifth of six children, and was raised primarily by his mother after his merchant-seaman father died during the Second World War in 1942. He was born with six fingers on each hand – the extra digits were removed in his childhood – and he excelled in all sports, including basketball, football and golf.
In a statement on behalf of Cricket West Indies, the board president, Dr. The Hon. Kishore Shallow, described Sobers as the “greatest cricketer the world has ever seen”, and offered his “heartfelt condolences to his family, the Government and people of Barbados and all those across the world who mourn his passing.
“There are moments in the story of a people when the life of one individual becomes woven into the hopes, dreams, and identity of generations,” Swallow added. “Today, the Caribbean mourns the passing of such an individual … His mastery of batting, bowling and fielding was unparalleled, but his true significance reached far beyond the boundary ropes.
“He emerged from the Caribbean at a time when our region was finding its voice and asserting its place on the world stage. Through his excellence, he gave millions across our islands and in the diaspora, a renewed belief in what was possible. He showed that greatness was not confined by the size of our nations, the geography of our islands or the circumstances of our beginnings.
“Sir Garfield Sobers became more than a sporting icon. He became a symbol of Caribbean excellence, resilience, and possibility. His achievements brought pride to Barbados, inspiration to the West Indies and admiration from every corner of the cricketing world.”
(Cricinfo)
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