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Can New Zealand out-spin Sri Lanka in Galle?
A lot has happened since New Zealand last toured Sri Lanka. Back then, in 2019, the world was yet to be introduced to Covid-19, while the Lankans were only just recovering from Rangana Herath’s retirement. Fast forward to the present, the pandemic is firmly in the rear view while Herath is gearing up to for duty as New Zealand’s spin-bowling coach.
That said, similarities also abound from that last tour. For one, like then, Sri Lanka enter buoyed by a historic result overseas – then it was a momentous series win in South Africa, and in 2024 it’s a consolatory Test win in England to cap off a hard-fought tour. The 2019 series was also held in a presidential election year, though that one was not nearly as imminent as the one set to interrupt the first Test with a rest day.
This is also still, largely, that same New Zealand outfit – barring a few retirements, a few new faces and a bit more grey hair. It’s also one that might be a little under cooked in terms of where they might like to be in preparation for their run at this cycle of the World Test Championship.
A washed-out Test against Afghanistan earlier this month means the last time New Zealand played a Test was in March, while they haven’t had a competitive fixture since the World Cup in June.
They’re still nominally well-placed in the WTC standings in third place, with three wins and three losses, but two Tests in spin-friendly Galle – where they’ve never won – followed by three more in India reads a fairly tall task.
As for Sri Lanka, they’ve had a fairly roller coaster year. Good performances in the early part of the year against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were juxtaposed by a horror T20 World Cup showing, which was then followed by a quite excellent ODI series win against India at home. In England too, they were in danger of being embarrassed but a splendid display in the third Test ensured they would come into this home series with that winning bounce.
That last win could still prove pivotal in their quest for an unlikely WTC final berth, with four of their next six Tests at home. The weather, however, might be following the visitors over from Greater Noida in India, with rain expected across the first Test.
When it comes to Galle-related threats, there’s nowhere else to start than Prabath Jayasuriya. Of his eight home Tests, six have been at Galle, where he boasts a preposterous record of 53 wickets across 12 innings. In half of those innings, he’s grabbed at least five wickets, while only once has he picked up less than a three-for. Jayasuriya was sidelined for the tour of England, not even playing in the final Test, and he’ll be keen to seize the spotlight once more.
Rachin Ravindra has already made his mark in white-ball cricket but his Test career is still fledgling. Even so, with a double-ton to his name and batting in that crucial number four position, he is undoubtedly an integral cog in New Zealand’s setup – for the present and the future – but where he might be of particular use is in the subcontinent. Five of his seven Tests have been played at home, and so he is relatively untested on Asian tracks, but his combination of left-arm orthodox spin and strong batting fundamentals means he has all the ingredients to translate that strong home form into away returns.
Oshada Fernando is back in the Test squad for the first time in over the year, but Sri Lanka have opted not to change up a winning combination, at least in terms of the batting. Kusal Mendis will take the gloves but as a result, will not bat at no.3. This will see Dinesh Chandimal pushed up the order, while Mendis will move lower down the order to no.7. Spin will be front and centre, so Ramesh Mendis will offer support to Prabath Jayasuriya.
Sri Lanka (probable): Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kusal Mendis (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara
Much of New Zealand’s playing XI picks itself, with part-time spin options aplenty to support Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel. There are only question marks over the second seam option alongside Tim Southee.
New Zealand (probable): Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (capt), Matt Henry/Ben Sears/Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel.
[Cricinfo]
Donald Trump has urged the UK and other nations to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help secure the key shipping route out of the Middle East.
The US president said he hoped China, France, Japan and South Korea would also send ships to the passage, where a number of tankers are said to have been attacked since the US and Israel mounted their war against Iran a fortnight ago.
Responding to Trump’s comments, the UK Ministry of Defence said it was discussing “a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region” with allies.
Tehran has said it will keep blocking the strait – the world’s busiest oil shipping channel through which about 20% of world oil supplies usually pass.
Its effective closure, as well as strikes on shipping and energy infrastructure since the war started, has led to huge rise in global oil prices.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday that “many countries” would be sending warships in conjunction with the US to help keep the strait “open and safe”.
He claimed “100% of Iran’s military capability” had already been destroyed, but that Tehran could still “send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close-range missile somewhere along, or in, this waterway”.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated.”
He added: “In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!”
Trump repeated his appeal in a post later on Saturday – extending it to all “the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait” – and said the US would provide “a lot” of support to those who participated.
The president has separately threatened to target Iran’s vital oil infrastructure on Kharg Island if its leadership were to “interfere” with ships seeking to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
He said the US had ‘obliterated” military targets on the small island off Iran’s coast on Friday, calling it “one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East”.
Iran’s military said oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms working with the US would “immediately be destroyed” should the island’s oil infrastructure be attacked.
Tehran has been stepping up such attacks on energy targets in the Gulf, which have become a key element of its response to US and Israeli strikes. It warned on Thursday that any tanker bound for the US, Israel or its partners was a legitimate target.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in its latest update on 12 March that 16 ships were reported to have been attacked in and around the strait since the war began on 28 February.
Currently, not even the US Navy is escorting tankers through the narrow shipping lane.
Trump’s message came a week after he said the US did not need the UK to send aircraft carriers to the region and accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of seeking to ‘join wars after we’ve already won”.
He also told the BBC’s US partner CBS that he “couldn’t care less” whether allies could do more to assist with the war, adding: “It’s a little bit late to be sending ships, right? A little bit late.”
He had already criticised Sir Keir for not joining the initial strikes on Iran and refusing at first to allow the US to use UK bases for its joint offensive with Israel – calling him ‘no Winston Churchill”.
The prime minister later approved “defensive” US action on Iranian missile sites from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, saying Iran’s response had become a threat to Britain.
The UK’s first and only warship set to be present in the region – the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon – departed for Cyprus on Tuesday, where it will bolster RAF Akrotiri after it was hit by drone strikes.
The Royal Navy used to keep minesweepers based in Bahrain, but no longer has that capability after it withdrew HMS Middleton.
Ministers have insisted the UK built up an RAF presence in the region before the conflict, with the aim of protecting British military personnel.
[BBC]
Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things ‘differently”, after Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran him out in controversial circumstances in the second ODI in Dhaka.
Agha, who made 64 from 62 balls, had been backing up at the non-striker’s end when Mohammad Rizwan drove the ball back towards him. He was still out of his ground as Mehidy swooped round behind him in an attempt to gather, and Agha had appeared ready to pass the ball back to the bowler before Mehidy reached down to grab it first and throw down the stumps.
Agha reacted furiously to the dismissal, throwing his gloves and helmet down in disgust at the decision. However, he later came to the post-match press conference, ahead of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and player of the match Maaz Sadaqat, to clear the air.
“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”
Agha explained that he had been trying to pick up the ball to give to Miraz, thinking it was likely to have been called dead. “Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.
“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”
Agha however regretted his angry reaction. “It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”
He was also involved in a robust exchange with Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, though he didn’t divulge many of the details.
“I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.
Asked if he had patched things up with Mehidy, Agha said: “I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”
Pakistan won the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
US embassy in Baghdad hit by strike as Trump says military targets ‘obliterated’ on Iran’s key oil island
The US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, has been hit by a missile – video shows fire and smoke rising in the aftermath.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says “every military target” on Iran’s key oil island has been “totally obliterated”, but there was no damage to oil infrastructure.
Kharg Island is a tiny but strategic terminal in the northern Gulf, 22 miles off the coast of Iran In response, Tehran warns oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that co-operate with the US will be “turned into a pile of ashes” if Iran’s energy facilities are attacked
Elsewhere in the Middle East: Israel and Iran both warn of fresh attacks, and at least 12 medical staff have been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon
Meanwhile, more US Marines and warships are expected to be deployed to the Middle East, two officials tell BBC’s partner CBS News
[BBC]
Trump urges UK and other nations to send warships to Strait of Hormuz
Addressing the drug issue in the country must be treated as a national priority – PM
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Bodies of 84 Iranian sailors flown home
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