Sports

Dhananjaya de Silva-Kusal Mendis stand gives Sri Lanka outside chance

Published

2 years ago

2024/12/9

Priyan

Kusal Mendis kept Sri Lanka in it [Cricinfo]

South Africa took major strides towards wrapping up a series whitewash on day four in Gqeberha, dismissing Sri Lanka’s top five after setting a mammoth 348 to win.

An unbroken 83-run stand between Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis has given Sri Lanka mild hope going into the final day. But they are still 143 runs shy, and are the last batters are shielding a particularly inept tail – Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, and Asitha Fernando all having been No. 11s in other Sri Lanka sides. To win, Sri Lanka would not only have to defy South Africa’s bowling with the second new ball (due in 28 overs), they’d also have to contend with morning conditions, which have tended to be trickier than afternoon or evening ones so far this Test.

Sri Lanka will perhaps, take some heart from their previous chase in Gqeberha , however, which came in 2019. On that occasion they had needed 137 to win overnight, with eight wickets in hand, and got to the target without losing a wicket the following morning. It had been Kusal who had led that chase. He and de Silva were both 39 not out at stumps here.

Keshav Maharaj, working now with a pitch that was taking some turn on the fourth afternoon, made the most critical strikes to the Sri Lanka chase. Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis had struck up a 53-run stand, and had appeared to see off the worst of the seam-bowlers’ spells. But Maharaj slipped a straighter, flatter ball under Mathews’ big slog sweep to end the partnership, before, in his following over, he had Kamindu caught bat-pad by wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne, who dived desperately to get his glove under the dying chance. That double-strike had left Sri Lanka at a near-hopeless 122 for 5, until de Silva and Kusal defibrillated the innings.

Earlier, the quicks had dismissed Sri Lanka’s top three with the new ball. In the third over, Rabada rapped Dimuth Karunaratne in front of the stumps to dismiss him cheaply for the fourth time in the series. Pathum Nissanka, who had previously overturned an lbw call against him, nicked off driving at a full, wide, swinging delivery from Paterson, in the 13th over. Paterson would also dismiss Chandimal with an inducker, which Chandimal’s review suggested would have just grazed leg stump. He’d made 29 at that point.

Before that, it had been largely Sri Lanka’s day, as they claimed the seven remaining South Africa wickets for 126 runs. That they hung in the game was down largely to Prabath Jayasuriya, who racked up his 10th five-wicket haul, and his first overseas, in the morning session. He had tangoed with the rough outside the right-hander’s leg stump during many of his 14 day-four overs, and for his excellent control and variety, claimed three wickets to finish with figures of 5 for 129. The frontline seamers took one day-four wicket apiece.

The most dramatic dismissal of the day was the first. Tristan Stubbs and overnight partner Temba Bavuma had begun the day brightly, and had extended their fourth-wicket stand to 103, when Bavuma clubbed a Lahiru Kumara ball to deep midwicket and took off for a tight two. Stubbs hesitated upon turning for the second however, and attempted to turn Bavuma back but did so too late. The pair were caught mid-pitch for long enough that Kumara could get back to the non-striker’s stumps and run Stubbs out with ease. He was out for 47.

Bavuma, who early in the day completed his fourth half-century of the series (one of these had also been a hundred), then put on a 41-run stand with David Bedingham, whom Sri Lanka tested with the short ball with a stacked legside field (he had been dropped twice trying to pull in the first innings). South Africa got through that period, but Bavuma could not defy Jayasuriya forever. He was bowled trying to sweep the spinner, the ball leaping out of the rough. With this 66, Bavuma has 327 runs for the series.

Bedingham batted with much more caution than he had displayed in the first innings but edged Jayasuriya to slip on 35, the ball once again kicking off the surface to take the outside edge. Jansen attempted to hit out against Jayasuriya, and was caught on the deep midwicket boundary.

South Africa’s tail made what may turn out to be crucial runs after lunch though, with Maharaj, Rabada and Paterson clubbing two sixes and five fours between them. The last two wickets had also been costly for Sri Lanka in the first innings, when the ninth and tenth-wicket partnerships were worth 89 put together.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 328 and 205 for 5 (Dhananjaya de Silva 39*, Kusal Mendis 39*; Dane Paterson 2-33, Keshav Maharaj 2-62) need143 runs to beat South Africa 358 and 317 (Temba Bavuma 66, Aiden Markram 55; Prabath Jayasuriya 5-129)

[Cricinfo]

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Sports

Gone with the wind

Published

7 hours ago

2026/10/9

Thilina Walpola

Dhananjaya de Silva has stepped down as Test captain

by Rex Clementine

Sri Lanka’s Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva has done an Ian Botham. No, not by pulling off a miraculous victory against Australia at Headingley, but by resigning a minute before he was sacked.

The writing had been on the wall for DDS after he got his sums horribly wrong during the recent home Test series against India. His defensive approach from day one left Sri Lanka chasing the game rather than dictating terms and the hosts eventually surrendered the series.

There had also been growing criticism of DDS’s inability to lift the side when the chips were down. His laid back attitude, particularly the sight of him cracking jokes with team mates in the SSC dressing room balcony while Sri Lanka were following on, did not go down well with the cricket establishment.

Not that DDS was doing anything out of character. By nature, he is a relaxed, easy going individual who loves his video games and rarely seems to have a worry in the world. The mistake was made by those who handed such a character the Test captaincy and then expected him to turn into a fire breathing leader overnight.

DDS was so chilled out that even SLC’s photographers had reason to complain during the India Test series when the official team photograph was being taken.

Sri Lanka have been guilty of failing to groom leaders and in recent years the captaincy has too often fallen into someone’s lap by default rather than through careful planning. The result has been a revolving door of captains, with little thought given to succession.

DDS’s successor, Kusal Mendis, is no Mike Brearley or Ian Chappell when it comes to tactical nous, but to his credit, he has worked hard in recent years to shed his bad boy image and become a more responsible cricketer.

More than anything, Mendis has discovered consistency with the bat. Equally impressive in the eyes of the authorities has been his willingness to shoulder responsibility. He has never been one to duck a challenge, even when the workload has threatened to become overwhelming.

Currently, Mendis keeps wicket in both white ball formats while batting at the top of the order. With the additional burden of becoming Sri Lanka’s all format captain, he is set to be relieved of wicketkeeping duties in Test cricket.

The selectors are now on the lookout for a replacement ahead of the Pakistan assignment, although they are unlikely to turn to Niroshan Dickwella again. That particular chapter, it seems, has been closed.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Selectors Kapila Wijegunawardene has broken his silence over Wanindu Hasaranga’s omission, confirming that the star leg-spinner had indeed been dropped rather than sidelined through injury.

Wijegunawardene made little attempt to sugar coat the selectors’ disappointment with a player whose immense talent has not always translated into performances befitting his reputation.

“Hasaranga has not lived up to expectations, to be frank,” Wijegunawardene said.

“The player understands that too. We had expected a lot of him. His knowledge of the game is immense and he has much more to offer, and we are confident he will stage a comeback,” Wijegunawardene added.

Sports

Bens record fourth win, St. Joseph Vaz bounce back with consecutive wins

Published

7 hours ago

2026/10/9

Thilina Walpola

by Reemus Fernando

‎St. Benedict’s College Kotahena completed their group stage matches with a crushing ten wickets win over St. Sebastian’s College Katuneriya while St. Joseph Vaz College Wennappuwa bounced back from their initial defeat with back to back victories to stay alive in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ tournament.

‎For Bens it was their fourth victory in the tournament on Wednesday. Their only blemish this season was against Dharmaraja. The Bens recorded victories against De Mazenod Kandana (by 140 runs), St. Aloysius’ Galle (by three wickets) and Taxila Horana (by 162 runs ) before cruising to a ten wicket win aganst St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya. Manikya Deshapriya with a four wicket haul (4 for 8 in six overs) and Vihanga Rathnayaka taking three wickets rattled their opponents for 64 runs in their final group ‘A’ match.

‎Group ‘C’ became wide open on Wednesday when St. Joseph Vaz beat Ananda College by 89 runs at Ananda Mawatha.

‎Batting first, St Joseph Vaz College posted 225 for eight wickets in their alloted 50 overs, with Damesh Mathisan leading the way with a valuable 124-ball knock of 88, his most notable batting performance this season. His patient innings included eight fours and a six. Amal Denuwan added 31 off 69 balls, while Savio Fernando contributed 24.

‎In reply, Ananda were bowled out for just 136 run with Danindu Sellaperuma’s 41 being the highest contribution.

‎Amal Denuwan took four wickets for 20 runs in an outstanding spell of 8.3 overs, including two maidens. Damesh Mathisan completed an impressive all-round display taking two wickets for 28 runs.

‎Thathnula Liyanage took one, while Oshen Binara claimed two for 19.

‎In their season opening encounter St. Joseph Vaz conceeded a 66 run defeat at the hands of Maliyadeva College Kurunegala. They were bowled out for 107 runs at Kadirana.

‎In their second encounter they bounced back as their bowlers dominated reducing Devapathiraja to 79 runs. Oshen Binara (4.5-1-14-4), Mayon Fernando (4-0-16-3) and Lowthuru Dilpahan (6-0-23-2) returned notable bowling figures. Isuru Induwara (31n.o.) and Savio Fernando (23n.o.) then guided them to victory putting up an unbroken third wicket stand of 48 runs.

‎Back to back victories now has helped the school keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage. They will meet Lyceum International Wattala and Sri Dharmaloka College Kelaniya in their next two matches.

‎The victory has wide opened group ‘C’ with three teams registering two wins each. Ananda and Devapathiraja College Ratgama are the other teams to have recorded two wins.

Sports

Kiyara to meet Risindi in the girls final

Published

7 hours ago

2026/10/9

Thilina Walpola

Kiyara Jayamanne

ATF 16 & Under Tennis

Kiyara Jayamanne is set to meet Risindi Hewawasam in the girls’ singles final after they won their semi finals of the ATF 16 & Under Colombo 2026 Week 1 tournament continued at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts.

‎Kiyara Jayamanne defeated fellow Sri Lankan Disini Samaraweera 6-3, 6-3 to book her place in the final. Risindi Hewawasam also secured a straight-set victory, overcoming Methuli Naotunna 6-2, 6-3.

‎The boys’ semi-finals saw Anthony Castigador of the Philippines dominate Sri Lanka’s Damsath Peiris, winning 6-0, 6-0. India’s Gurshaan Chahal completed the finalists’ line-up with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sri Lankan Yonal Dankubura.