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Dilhari and Gunaratne sparkle as Sri Lanka take unassailable 2-0 lead

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Vishmi Guneratne’s half century and Kavisha Dilhari’s star turn with bat and ball secured a five-wicket win for Sri Lanka in the second ODI against West Indies in Hambantota, and with it a series victory as they went 2-0 up with a game to go. It is Sri Lanka’s first series win against the West Indies since 2008.

After Sri Lanka were set a target of just 93, Gunaratne’s run-a-ball 50 broke the spine of the chase on a sluggish Sooriyawewa surface. It was particularly impressive as it followed the early dismissals of both Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama inside the first 10 overs.

With Dilhari (28 off 38) for company, Gunaratne made it seem as if she was batting on a different surface to the rest, plundering nine fours and a six in her innings – West Indies as a whole had hit only 13 boundaries.

When Gunaratne fell, mistiming a full-toss to mid-off, Sri Lanka needed just 14 more for victory. Karishma Ramharack grabbed the wickets of Hasini Perera and Dilhari shortly after, to finish with innings best figures of 2 for 29, but there would be no late jitters as Sri Lanka sauntered to victory with 172 balls to spare.

It was a win set up by the bowlers, particularly the spinners. Dilhari’s figures of 4 for 20 were the best of the innings, but she was ably supported by the left-arm orthodox pairing of Sachini Nisansala and Sugandika Kumari, who kept up the pressure from the other end.

The visitors for their part struggled to turn over the strike effectively, with an alarming number of dots played out through the innings. Of their total, 52 runs came in boundaries and just 40 from running between wickets, despite their batting out 31 overs.

Rashada Williams showed patience at the top of the order with a 62-ball 24 but was cleaned up by a Kumari arm ball. The pace pairing of Udeshika Prabodhani and Achini Kulasuriya were also miserly at the start of the innings, with the latter rewarded for a seven-over opening spell with the two wickets – the pinpoint yorker arrowed in on leg stump to Shermaine Campbelle a particular highlight.

After West Indies stumbled to 54 for 6, Aaliyah Alleyne and Afy Fletcher opted for an aggressive approach, and it worked briefly. Their 28-run seventh-wicket stand came at better than run-a-ball but was snuffed out when Alleyne missed a straight one from Aththapathu. Fletcher was the penultimate wicket to fall, lbw off Dilhari, who wrapped up the innings a ball later.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 93 for 5 in 21.2 overs (Vishmi Gunaratne 50, Kavisha Dilhari 28; Shamila Connell 1-13, Aaliyah Alleyne 1-15,  Karishma Ramharack 2-29, Zaida James 1-12) beat West Indies Women 92 in  31 overs (Rashada Williams 24; Kavisha Dilhari 4-20, Chamari Athapaththu 2-8, Achini Kulasuriya 2-16, Sugandika Kumari 1-16) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]



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Trump announces Russian diesel deal amid soaring US fuel prices

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Trump's announcement comes a week after a similar deal with G7 countries last week [Aljazeera]

United States President Donald Trump said that Russia has agreed to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to global markets amid discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The president added that Russia would deliver an additional 3 million tonnes of fuel “within a short period of time”. He said that the country would supply 500,000 tonnes in November.

An envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, praised cooperation between Russia and the United States on diesel and energy in a post on X shortly after.

“Russia-US cooperation on diesel and energy will benefit the world,” Dmitriev wrote on X.

Petrol price pressures

The deal comes despite Ukrainian air strikes, which have taken more than half of the country’s oil refining capacity offline, according to claims made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence on Sunday.

The latest announcement comes a week after the G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels amid pressure from the White House.

Diesel prices have been elevated in recent months but have started to decline. The average price for a gallon is $6.27 ($1.66 per litre), according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. That’s down $0.10 from this time last week, but up $5.94 from this time one month ago.

[Aljazeera]

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Tsunami warnings across Latin America after 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits

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An aerial view of Panama Bay in Panama City after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit country's south [[Aljazeeera]

A magnitude 7.7 earthquake has hit southern Panama, triggering tsunami warnings across Central and South America.

The US National Weather Service issued tsunami warnings for Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala on Friday following the quake.

Chile’s naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service also issued a tsunami warning.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centred about 10km (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba along the Pacific Ocean coast.

Residents of Panama City reported feeling tremors, with buildings shaking and people evacuating into the streets.

“We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared,” 60-year-old Rosendo Dominguez, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press news agency by phone.

“Everyone is outside, scared,” Dominguez added.

Videos shared by newspaper La Prensa showed the tower of a historic building had collapsed along with several balconies of a residential building in Penonome, a city about halfway between the epicenter and Panama City.

Panama’s ministry of ⁠education ordered schools closed.

There have been several destructive earthquakes in the region this year.

In June, twin quakes hit northern Venezuela, causing widespread devastation and killing at least 6,500 people.

In August, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit Colombia, killing at least 289 people.

[Aljazwwea]

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Farhan, Sadaqat help Pakistan ace 183 chase to go 1-0 up

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Sahibzada Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat shared a 92-run stand [Cricinfo]

Sahibzada Farhan celebrated his ascension to the captaincy in grand style, smashing a 53-ball 89 that blazed his side to a comprehensive win in the first T20I against Sri Lanka . After Sri Lanka won the toss in Rawalpindi and somewhat curiously opted to set a target, the 182 they put up was made to look inadequate by a bellicose Pakistan’s  showing up top that put up 70 in the powerplay and scarcely slowed down after. Maaz Sadaqat,  who needed just 28 balls to bring up his half-century, put up a 92-run stand with Farhan after Fakhar Zaman’s cameo up top, flaying a lacklustre bowling attack.

Pakistan’s efforts with the ball were altogether more impressive, if sullied by bursts of untidiness that saw a whopping 29 extras conceded. But they reined Sri Lanka in from time to time, stifling their momentum and keeping the score within chasing range. Mohammad Imran’s 2-21 on debut was the pick of the bowling efforts, and while Lahiru Udara kept Sri Lanka afloat almost single-handedly with 91 off 55, the support he needed from the other end never quite came.

When Sri Lanka batted after winning the toss, it took Kamil Mishara nine deliveries to get off the mark. By the end of the fourth over, Sri Lanka were scoring at a run-a-ball, and had lost two wickets. Pakistan, by contrast, took just 2.2 overs to match that score; by the end of the sixth, they had powered through at dazzling speed thanks to Farhan and Zaman’s onslaught.

Sri Lanka took far too long to begin taking advantage of the powerplay. They struggled to find their timing, the powerplay littered with multiple plays and misses, and extravagant, low-percentage shots that bore no fruit. While they did launch a bit of a recovery in the final two overs, the slow start would end up proving costly as Sri Lanka left runs on the table.

To say  Mohammad Imran wasn’t the most exciting debutant from Pakistan this game would be stating the obvious. That title belonged to Razaullah – the fast-bowling, six-hitting, sharp-jawed Edgbaston slayer Razaullah – who appears to have parlayed his stunning Test debut into white-ball call-ups. Imran, who also made his Test debut in that game and ended up being a footnote, instead found his feet in T20I cricket in Rawalpindi today.

Opening the bowling alongside Naseem Shah, he was the more effective bowler, utilizing sideways movement that more than made up for a lack of pace. He conceded just the one run in his opening over and 19 in three powerplay overs. As Sri Lanka found their feet at the halfway stage of the innings, Farhan turned back to him and Imran did not disappoint his captain. He struck with his first delivery upon return and allowed just two in the over, halting Sri Lanka’s momentum once more and capping a stellar debut.

Sri Lanka will want to move quickly on from this game, but to wipe it completely from the record would be a disservice to their opener. Confronted with a decent bowling attack on an off-day for his fellow batters, Udara almost batted through the Sri Lankan innings, playing just about every role a batter can in T20 innings.

He was the flashy starter, before shepherding his side through the early stages of the powerplay. He became an anchor for a bit before churning through the gears in the latter half of the powerplay. At times, he did so with strokes so classical they could be set to music, especially pleasing when he made some room and cleared extra cover off both pace and spin.

While support from Kamindu Mendis and Dasun Shanaka existed, it was fleeting. Soon enough, those wickets would fall, leaving Udara with the delicate dance of keeping the run rate up without letting the innings implode. That was especially true – and shown to be crucial at the death – because Sri Lanka were arguably playing a batter too light. When he finally holed out in the penultimate over, Sri Lanka ended up losing three wickets in five balls, the innings petering out on a surface where batting inadequacy was always going to be punished.

Scores:
Pakistan 187 for 6 in 18.5 overs  (Sahibzada Farhan 89, Fakhar Zaman 21, Maaz Sadaqat 50, Khawaja Nafay 12*; Nuwan Thushara 1-32, Dushmantha Chameera 1-40, Eshan Malinga 2-33, Maheesh Theekshanan 2-36) beat  Sri Lanka 182 for 8 in 20 overs (Lahiru Udara 91, Kamindu Mendis 23, Dasun Shanaka 18; Naseem Shah 3-36, Mphammad  Imran 2-21, Rasaullah 1-29, Shadab Khan 1-33, Saim Ayub 1-17) by 4 wickets

[Cricinfo]

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