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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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More than 360 dead, 1,400 missing in Nepal and Tibet after Himalayan floods

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A drone view shows mud covering buildings and property following devastating floods at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal, on August 27, 2026 [Aljazeera]

Some 360 bodies have been recovered and more than 1,400 people are missing across Nepal and China’s Tibet region after a huge collapse of mud and rock into a Himalayan river triggered catastrophic flooding across local towns and valleys, authorities have said.

Rescue teams waded through mud on Thursday searching for the missing, as authorities in Nepal said at least 359 people have been killed there.

At least three people have died in the neighbouring Tibet region.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived at the mudslide site in Tibet on Thursday afternoon to “guide emergency rescue and relief work” a day after the disaster, state media reported.

Nepalese police and tourism officials said that more than 500 foreigners were among 910 people missing in Nepal.

Among the missing are tourists from more than two dozen countries: 177 are from India, 63 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from the United Kingdom, and 25 from Canada.

Beijing’s foreign ministry also said nearly 100 Chinese nationals were among the missing in Nepal.

In Tibet’s Gyirong county, 558 people are reported missing, including 260 foreign nationals, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

Search and rescue operations are proving to be a “massive challenge” as just simply “getting to the affected areas … to try and recover the survivors”, is proving to be extremely difficult as the roads and bridges there have suffered extensive damage, said Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez, reporting from the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

[Aljazeera]

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Unyielding Dinusha, spirited tail hold off India to save Colombo Test

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Dinusha hit his second century of the Test to wear out India [SLC]
Sonal Dinusha put up an impressive resistance to keep the Indian bowlers at bay on the final day, helping Sri Lanka save the second Test in Colombo after they were asked to follow-on. In a seven-hour vigil, Dinusha remained unbeaten on 133 and, with handy lower order support, ensured that India didn’t bat a second time in the Test. This was the first time in nine occasions that India failed to secure a victory after enforcing a follow-on against Sri Lanka.
Needing only four wickets on the final day in order to begin the chase, the Indian bowlers had to toil hard on a surface which offered a bit of turn, but largely predictable pace and bounce. Overnight batters Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha kept the Indians all through the morning session even though the new ball was taken within the first half an hour of play.
The seventh-wicket stand stretched to 88 runs, consuming more than 40 overs, which also ensured Sri Lanka cleared the first innings deficit. The first strike of the day came soon after the lunch break when Manav Suthar got a delivery to spin in sharply and took the outside edge of Nuwantha’s bat to the second slip.
Prabath Jayasuriya continued to remain defiant, resisting for 28 balls before his attempted drive off Ravindra Jadeja took the outside edge to Dhruv Jurel at second slip. Even as the lead swelled past the 150-run mark with only two wickets remaining and nearly a session and a half to play, the Indians had enough incentive to go for the kill.

However, Lahiru Kumara provided much-needed support to Dinusha as the duo put an end to India’s hopes. The southpaw used the sweep to good effect to counter the turn. The duo chewed up 169 deliveries for 47 runs in a period of attritional batting, during which Dinusha brought up his century. Kumara did provide India a chance when he attempted a slog sweep which fell in front of Jurel at deep mid wicket soon after Dinusha reached his century. But that was a rare opportunity.
Kumara eventually departed on 12 when an inside edge was pouched at short leg by Yashasvi Jaiswal. Nonetheless, which the number of overs reducing, Dinusha took Sri Lanka till the end of day without any further trouble and helped avoid a whitewash.
Brief scores:
India 503/9 decl (Devdutt Padikkal 117, Dhruv Jurel 115; Asitha Fernando 4-106, Prabath Jayasuriya 2-132) drew with  Sri Lanka 290 (Sonal Dinusha 103, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 80; Prasidh Krishna 3-52, Manav Suthar 3-85) and  429/9 f/o (Sonal Dinusha 133*, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 92; Ravindra Jadeja 3-94, Manav Suthar 3-121)
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UAE’s Asif Khan handed 15-month ban for using a banned substance

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Asif Khan turned out in 94 internationals for UAE [Cricinfo]

Asif Khan the UAE batter, has been banned for 15 months after admitting to having tested positive for a banned substance – “a metabolite of mesterolone” – in an out-of-competition test conducted in September 2025, the ICC said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement said that Asif, 36, “had admitted the violation” of Article 2.1 of the ICC’s anti-doping code and accepted the period of ineligibility “pursuant to a case resolution agreement entered into with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the ICC”, which means there is no right to appeal on the part of the player.

The sanction is effective from September 8, 2025 and will run until December 7, 2026.

“Asif may return to training with a team or use the facilities of a club or other ICC Member organisation from 8 October 2026 but will only be eligible to play from 8 December,” the statement added. “The player’s individual results from 8 September 2025 until his provisional suspension on 29 December 2025 have been disqualified, along with all resulting consequences, including the loss of any medals, points, prize money or prizes.”

Asif, a former Pakistan Under-19 cricketer, made his UAE debut in March 2022 in an ODI against Oman in the ICC’s Cricket World Cup League 2. He turned out in 38 ODIs and 56 T20Is between then and September 2025.

The last three of those T20Is, against India, Oman and Pakistan in the T20 Asia Cup in 2025, came after September 8, and will be removed from his record.

[Cricinfo]

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