Sports
Exciting series on the cards
by Rex Clementine
in Galle
Every time Sri Lanka play Pakistan, they introduce a teenage prodigy who has played little First-Class cricket, but the rookie takes up to Test cricket like a duck taking to water. In the 1980s it happened with Saleem Malik and Saleem Yousuf. In 1990s, it was Saqlain Mushtaq and Ijaz Ahmed. Since the dawn of the new millennium there have been champion players like Younis Khan, Mohammad Amir, Fawad Alam, Abid Ali.
Each of the players mentioned above made their Test debuts against Sri Lanka and went onto have a major impact in the game. You wonder what’s in store this time? We will have a better idea on Sunday when the first Test between the teams gets underway in Galle.
Sunday will mark the return of Shaheen Afridi to Test cricket. It was last year around this time, ironically at the same ground, the 23-year-old was fielding in the deep and dived to stop a boundary and hurt his knee. It looked like a minor niggle but not so. Not only did he miss the second Test but has been out of Test cricket for a year. He was on 99 Test wickets and with the new ball due was expected to become the 11th Pakistani quick to the milestone, but it has been a long wait.
There’s no better sight in cricket than to see Shaheen charging in from the Dutch Fort End armed with the new ball. You are in awe at the rate Pakistan are producing quality left-arm quicks. It’s as good as the quality chocolates that Kandos put out all too frequently.
Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan is Pakistan’s vice-captain, but he may not get a game on this tour as Sarfraz Ahmed pipped him as Pakistan’s leading stumper.
Sarfraz of course is no stranger to Sri Lanka. In 2006, he skippered Pakistan to the Undre-19 World Cup tittle at RPS beating arch-rivals India in the final. It was a star-studded Indian side comprising Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja. Pakistan had only made 109 but their quicks bowled a couple of unplayable spells to bowl out India for 71 inside 19 overs.
Sarfraz was also the captain of Pakistan when they won the Champions Trophy in England beating India again in 2017. Pakistan were down and out and were almost knocked out of the competition by Sri Lanka in Cardiff but then Thisara Perera at mid-on dropped a dolly, Sarfraz survived and sealed Sri Lanka’s fate. Like Imran Khan, he didn’t quite say ‘we will fight like cornered tigers’, but he got under the skin of Sri Lankans by saying, ‘I’ll remember that dropped catch for the rest of my life and Thisara will remember it for the rest of his life.’
As for Sri Lanka they are a very settled unit. Test cricket is one form of the game where they have been quite steady and were in with a chance to make it to the finals of the World Test Championship.
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne was contemplating to quit but kudos to the selectors for convincing him to have another go at the World Test Championship.
The absence of Asitha Fernando has opened up a slot. A selection panel headed by Sidath Wettimuny or Aravinda de Silva that aren’t afraid to take bold decisions would have handed someone like Dilshan Madushanka his Test debut. But the current lot are as conventional as the Vatican and they are unlikely to take the new ball away from Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando.
A few questions have been asked about Ramesh Mendis as he struggled with his lines and lengths during the recent Ireland series. Fellow off-spinner Lakshitha Manasinghe, the former Nalanda College player, has done well in recent months and it remains to be seen whether he makes his Test debut.
Sri Lanka (Probable XI)
Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando.
Pakistan (Probable XI)
Babar Azam (Captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Agha Salman, Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Noman Ali or Mohammad Nawaz.
Umpires: Alex Wharf (Eng) and Rod Tucker (Aus)
Television Umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZ)
Match Referee: David Boon (Aus)
Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the ODI series with a tense ten-run win over West Indies, thanks largely to a match-defining performance from Inoka Ranaweera.
After being asked to bat, Sri Lanka posted 240 for 6, built on half-centuries from Hasini Perera (61 off 86) and Harshitha Samarawickrema (66 off 105). Captain Chamari Athapaththu made 27, while useful middle-order contributions from Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari kept the innings moving at a controlled rate. A late cameo from Dewmi Vihanga, who struck 14 off six balls, ensured Sri Lanka pushed towards a competitive total in St George’s in Grenada.
But it was Ranaweera who tilted the contest. The experienced left-arm spinner returned figures of 4 for 44 from her ten overs. She removed the No. 3 Shemaine Campbelle cheaply, dismissed Chinelle Henry soon after, and then returned to break the dangerous stand of 89 between Stefanie Taylor and Jannillea Glasgow in the 40th over, just as West Indies were threatening to surge ahead. Ranaweera also accounted for Shawnisha Hector at the death.
Taylor’s 66 off 83 balls and Glasgow’s 50 off 67 had revived West Indies from early setbacks, and with Aaliyah Alleyne in the middle, the chase remained alive deep into the game. West Indies needed 18 from the last two overs, and 12 from the last six balls. However, Sri Lanka’s spinners held firm, with Dilhari finishing with three wickets, including two in the final over, to complement Ranaweera’s starring role.
West Indies were eventually bowled out for 230 in 49.4 overs. Sri Lanka have now won four of their last five ODIs against West Indies since 2017.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 240 for 6 in 50 overs (Harshitha Samarawickrama 66, Hasini Perera 61; Hayley Matthews 2-46, Karishma Ramharak 2-57) beat West Indies Women 230 in 49.4 overs (Stefanie Taylor 66, Jannillea Glasgow 50; Inoka Ranaweera 4-44, Kavish Dilhari 3-49) by ten runs
[Cricinfo]
Left arm spinner Sharada Jayaratne took bowling honours of the day’s Under 19 cricket encounters as he took six wickets for Ananda to restrict Richmond to 168 runs in the traditional match at Ananda Mawatha.
Richmond were strongly placed at one stage with Risinu Rupasinghe (40) and Senuk Dulneth adding 91 runs for the first wicket. But when skipper Kithma Widanapathirana broke the stand, Richmond collapsed. Kithma and Sharada shared all ten wickets to fall.
In response the home team were 37 for three wickets at stumps with Vihanga Mihiranga inflicting early dammage.
At Darley Road, Wesley had a promising start with openers Shamma Fernando and Rasheed Nahyan putting on 58 runs for the first wicket before Nushan Perera and Sri Lanka Under 19 spinner Vigneswaran Akash shared seven wickets between them to restrict the Campbell Park team to 161 runs.
In reply St. Joseph’s reached 74 for no loss at stumps. The Joes amassed those runs in just 12.1 overs with Aveesha Samash hammering an unbeaten 53 in 38 balls (6x4s, 4x6s).
At De Soysa Stadium, Moratuwa, Mahanama posted 350 for nine wickets declared against Prince of Wales as Dulnith Sigera (74), Eshan Withanage (71n.o.) and Sineth Veerarathne (59) made half centuries.
For the Cambrians Nethul Anuhas took five wickets.
by Reemus Fernando
Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews believes the islanders have unearthed a gem in Pavan Rathnayake, backing the 23-year-old middle-order batter to scale the game’s highest peaks.
Drafted into the World Cup squad at the eleventh hour, Rathnayake has wasted little time in justifying the selectors’ leap of faith. While much of the spotlight has rightly fallen on Pathum Nissanka’s match-winning heroics, the youngster has quietly gone about his business, compiling runs with poise and a range of strokes that suggest he belongs on this stage.
Rathnayake’s inclusion was no shot in the dark. Sri Lanka’s struggles against spin had been laid bare in the lead-up to the tournament and the think tank sought a batter who could milk the tweakers rather than get tied in knots. Rathnayake ticked that box emphatically, earning praise from batting coach Vikram Rathour for the way he used his feet to get to the pitch of the ball and employed soft hands to manoeuvre the field.
Mathews, who has long advocated fast-tracking the youngster into the senior set-up, said the signs were unmistakable.
“We are seeing someone special in Pavan Rathnayake,” Mathews told Telecom Asia Sport.
“I have seen him in close quarters and what impressed me most is his temperament. If he gets a start, he will go on to get a big hundred. I rate him very highly. The manner in which he plays spin is remarkable. He can both use his feet and rock back as well. He is a huge find for Sri Lanka and the world will start talking about him as we move on,” he added.
Mathews reserved special praise for the youngster’s mental steel, a trait he believes separates the run-of-the-mill from the truly elite.
“Pavan has a cool head and is so good to watch when he is on song. He is a man of few words, but mentally a very tough bloke and that’s what separates good players from great ones. I have no doubt he can go on to become a great,” Mathews said.
Sri Lanka became the first side to book their ticket to the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup after a stirring win over Australia, a result that sent fans into raptures and put the former champions back in the reckoning.
They begin their Super Eight campaign on Sunday against England, returning to a contest that promises high voltage and little margin for error.
On paper, Sri Lanka appear to have most bases covered. But the injury list has thrown a spanner in the works. Eshan Malinga, Wanindu Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana have all been ruled out, forcing the selectors into three replacements and leaving the bowling attack short on experience at the business end.
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