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Foulkes and Wickramasinghe on debut as New Zealand bat first in third ODI
New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first in the final ODI in Pallekele. Sri Lanka have already secured the series win having won the first two games.
Both sides have made changes, with Sri Lanka in particular seeking to test their bench strength. For the visitors, there’s a debut for seamer Zakary Foulkes, who had impressed in the T20 leg, while fellow seamer Adam Milne also gets a first game on tour. They come in for Nathan Smith and Jacob Duffy.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have made no less than five changes, with Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage and Asitha Fernando all making way. In come batters Nishan Madushka and Nuwanidu Fernando, seamers Dilshan Madushanka and Mohamed Shiraz, while there will also be a debut for seam-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickremasinghe. Seamer Eshan Malinga, who has been impressing with the A team, was also a new inclusion in the squad but does not make the playing XI.
The weather forecast in Pallekele isn’t great, with rain expected at some point, however, to start conditions are hot and humid. The pitch is a new one and as such has more grass on it than in the first two ODIs. This means it will be better for the batter, something Santner alluded to at the toss as his reason for batting first. There will however likely be dew to contend with later in the evening.
Sri Lanka: Nishan Madushka, Avishka Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka (capt.), Janith Liyanage, Chamindu Wickramasinghe Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Dilshan Madushanka Mohamed Shiraz
New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (capt.), Zakary Foulkes, Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne
[Cricinfo]
India’s opening batter Shafali Verma and swing bowler Renuka Singh have moved up to sixth spots in the ICC’s T20I batting and bowling rankings respectively.
Shafali is the leading scorer in the ongoing bilateral series against Sri Lanka by a distance, her 236 runs nearly twice as many as second-highest scorer Smriti Mandhana’s 120. Renuka is also the leading wicket-taker, her four wickets level with team-mates Deepti Sharma, Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
Shafali went up four places with back-to-back scores of 69*, 79* and 79 in the second, third and fourth T20Is. Renuka, meanwhile, climbed eight places to reach the joint-sixth position along with South Africa’s Nonkululeko Mlaba, particularly through her 4 for 21 in the third game of the series. Deepti leads the bowlers’ rankings after taking that position last week. Both Shafali and Renuka have also bagged one Player-of-the-Match award each in the series that India lead 4-0, with the last match scheduled for Tuesday in Thiruvananthapuram.
If India win today (30), this will be their third 5-0 series win in T20Is. They won by that scoreline in the West Indies in 2019 and in Bangladesh last year. Sri Lanka have, however, never before lost a T20I series 5-0.
(Cricinfo)
The Cabinet of Ministers granted their concurrence to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Youth Affairs to appoint S. Achchudan of Special Grade of Sri Lanka Administrative Service, who is currently serving as an Additional Commissioner of Elections at the Elections Commission who is
recommended by the panel of interviewers to the post of Director General of the Sports Development Department with effect form 01.01.2026.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal furnished by the Minister of Environment to publish the draft bill of the National Environment (Amended) Act in the government gazette notification and subsequently to submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Shafali, Renuka close in on top five in ICC T20I rankings
S. Achchudan appointed as Director General of the Sports Development Department.
Amendment of the National Environment Act No. 47 of 1980
Tax relief for Dates received as donations or gifts for Ramadan
Cabinet nod to establish the Sri Lanka Industrial Transformation and innovation Authority
Temporary employment of Sri Lankan labour in the State of Israel
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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