Latest News

Gill and Theekshana are the new No. 1s in ODI rankings

Published

2 months ago

2025/02/19

Priyan

Maheesh Theekshana became the seventh Sri Lanka bowler to bag an ODI hat-trick during the Australia series [Cricinfo]

Shubman Gill and Maheesh Theekshana have become the new No. 1 men’s ODI batter and bowler respectively in the ICC rankings update released on the opening day of the Champions Trophy. Gill has gone past Babar Azam on his list, while Theekshana has gone past Rashid Khan on his.

Gill had an excellent time of it in the home ODI series against England, which India won 3-0, with scores of 87, 60 and 112, which made him the top run-getter in the series, his 259 runs coming at an average of 86.33 and a strike rate of 103.60. The next highest scorer, Shreyas Iyer, was 78 behind Gill with 181 runs.

This is the second time Gill has gone to the top of the pile in ODI cricket – the previous occasion was during the ODI World Cup in 2023.

Gill’s rise has pushed Babar to second place. Gill has 796 rating points, while Babar has 773.

They are followed in the top five by Rohit Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Daryl Mitchell, who has moved up two places after the tri-series in Pakistan where he scored 81, 10 and 57.

Following the two-ODI series against England, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka has moved up eight spots to No. 8, while Mohammad Rizwan, the Pakistan captain, has reached 15th place.

Sri Lanka are not a part of the Champions Trophy, having missed out on qualification, but along with Asalanka, Theekshana made the most of the two-ODI series at home against Australia, returning 4 for 40 and none for 11.

Rashid, who hasn’t played an ODI since last December, has slipped to the second spot, but isn’t too far behind Theekshana – he has 669 ratings points to the table-topper’s 680, and a good Champions Trophy campaign can take him back to the top.

Behind Theekshana and Rashid on the bowlers’ table is Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz followed by India’s Kuldeep Yadav and Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi in the top five. Mitchell Santner the New Zealand captain, has made big moves too, his five wickets in the three ODIs in the Pakistan tri-series giving him a five-spot boost and putting him at No. 7.

[Cricinfo]

All News Advertisement

Latest News

“School Nutrition Programme’’to continue, without interruption

Published

8 hours ago

2025/04/24

Priyan

The Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake stated that the government has taken a policy decision to continue, without interruption, “School Nutrition Programme’’ aimed at reducing anemia among schoolchildren, which is being implemented with the assistance of the World Food Programme.

He made these remarks on Wednesday (23), during a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat with representatives from relevant Ministries and government institutions involved in the programme, along with officials from the World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation.

The school meal programme, aligned with the government’s initiative to provide nutritious lunch to primary school students in districts identified as having high levels of malnutrition, specifically targets the reduction of iron deficiency among schoolchildren. The initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Provincial Councils, the Food Promotion Board and the Partnership Secretariat for the World Food Programme Cooperation. The government has allocated Rs. 32 billion for this programme for the current year.

A pilot project is currently being implemented in four selected districts. Based on a formal health and nutrition study assessing the outcomes of this pilot project, there are plans to expand the programme island-wide. The study aims to determine the extent to which iron deficiency among schoolchildren can be reduced through this initiative.

As part of the programme, fortified rice enriched with iron and folic acid will be included in the school meals to specifically address anemia among students.

The World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gateway Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation have pledged their continued support for this effort.

Present at the occasion were Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media Dr. Anil Jasinghe, and Secretary to the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Malarmathy Gangatharan, along with other government officials and representatives from partner organizations.

[PMD]

Latest News

Heat index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts

Published

8 hours ago

2025/04/24

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. 23 April 2025, valid for 24 April 2025

The public are warned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED

Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated. Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

Latest News

IPL 2025: Red-hot Mumbai Indians go third as Boult and Rohit blow Sunrisers Hyderabad away

Published

9 hours ago

2025/04/24

Priyan

Rohit Sharma started his boundary hitting with a sweetly-timed six [Cricinfo]

Last week, Mumbai Indians (MI) had straightjacketed Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) batters on an atypically slow surface at the Wankhede Stadium. On Wednesday, they did the same in the reverse fixture at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, cantering to a seven-wicket win after restricting SRH to 143 for 8.

Getting to that total was an achievement for SRH after they had slumped to 35 for 5, with Heinrich Klassen hauling them to something like respectability with a superb 71 off 44 balls. Respectable as the total may have been, it was far from enough to put pressure on MI, who raced to victory with 26 balls remaining, with Rohit Sharma continuing his return to form with a second successive half-century.

The defining performances of the match came from Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar who picked up two new-ball wickets each as SRH slumped to the lowest powerplay score of the season, 24 for 4. They were in danger of collapsing to a double-digit total when they lost their fifth wicket in the ninth over, but Klaasen and Impact Player Abhinav Manohar ensured that didn’t happen, putting on 99 for the sixth wicket in 63 balls.

SRH, meanwhile, are second from bottom with just two wins in eight games. They took a net run rate hit too; theirs is now -1.361, only marginally better than bottom-placed Chennai Super Kings’ -1.392.

The early exchanges set the tone, with both Chahar and Boult swinging the new ball while also benefitting from the ball stopping on the surface. Conditions still weren’t as tricky as SRH’s top-order slump made them look, though; both Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were caught while going hard at the ball, slicing shots they were early on, while Nitish Kumar Reddy chipped a drive to mid-on.

The defining moment of SRH’s top-order collapse, however, was the wicket of Ishan Kishan, who was out to a leg-side strangle for the second time this season. He began walking even though no MI player made a genuine appeal, and Ultra Edge proceeded to rub more salt in SRH’s wounds, showing no spike as ball passed bat.

When Hardik Pandya made it 35 for 5 with an offcutter-bouncer that got big on Aniket Verma, SRH had no option but to make early use of their Impact Player and bring on an extra batter, Manohar.

It was Klaasen who did all the heavy lifting, though, particularly early in the sixth-wicket partnership. Left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur helped him spark the innings to life with a series of long-hops in the 10th over, and Klaasen helped himself to a six and two fours. Fifteen came off that over, and 16 off the next, bowled by Hardik.

Klaasen went on to play a number of sensational shots – none better than a reverse-scooped six off Jasprit Bumrah in the 19th over – but thanks to SRH’s circumstances, his innings was necessarily one of restraint, as a control percentage of 86 suggested. The risks he took were measured ones, off marginal errors in line and length from MI’s bowlers. That he still finished with a 160-plus strike rate was a testament to his quality, with Manohar’s 43 off 37 balls and the scores of SRH’s other batters putting his innings in context.

Mitchell Santner, varying his pace and seam orientation cleverly while keeping the stumps in play as much as possible, made the best of SRH’s self-imposed restraint, conceding just 19 runs – and just one four – in his four overs.

Klaasen and Manohar gave SRH the push they needed at the death, as 35 came from overs 17 to 19. But the finish was muted. Bumrah dismissed Klaasen with a full-toss off the last ball of the 19th, and Boult came back to end the innings with a double-wicket 20th.

One of them was another unusual dismissal, a rare hit-wicket. He sneaked a yorker past Manohar and hit the stumps, but the batter, sitting deep in his crease, had already disturbed the stumps while trying to bring his bat down to keep the ball out.

SRH had replaced Mohammed Shami – who had endured a difficult season, picking up just five wickets in seven games at 52.20 while conceding 10.87 runs per over – with Jaydev Unadkat, and the left-arm quick marked his return with an early wicket, getting Ryan Rickelton caught-and-bowled in the second over of MI’s chase with another ball that stopped on the surface.

But whether because of dew or other reasons, the ball in general seemed to come on to the bat much better during the second innings. Even Pat Cummins’ offcutter into the pitch, such a potent weapon on slow surfaces, sat up to be hit here, with Rohit and Will Jacks pulling him for a six each in a 17-run third over.

That set the tone for the rest of the powerplay, with MI scoring 56 for 1 in this phase, the highlight an effortless six over long-off from Rohit off Unadkat, with arms at full extension.

Rohit came into this game having improved his scores with each innings, his first seven visits to the crease bringing him 0, 8, 13, 17, 18, 26 and 76*. He seemed on course to keep that sequence going, but fell against the run of play on 70, chipping an Eshan Malinga yorker to midwicket in the 15th over.

MI only needed 14 off 32 at that point, though, and Suryakumar Yadav was already batting on 26, picking his spots and targeting them clinically. He finished the game with a flurry of boundaries, to end it unbeaten on 40 off just 19 balls. The final act of the match summed up the contest: a flat Suryakumar pull off Zeeshan Ansari could have been caught at deep square leg, only for Reddy to overrun the ball and let it run away to the boundary.

Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 146 for 3 in 15.4 overs (Rohit Sharma 70, Suryakumar Yadav 40*, Ryan Rickelton 11, Will Jacks 22; Jaydev Unadkat 1-25, Eshan Malinga 1-33, Zeeshan Ansari 1-36) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 143 for 8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 71, Aniket Verma 12, Abhinav Manohar 43; Trent Boult 4-26, Deepak Chahar 2-12, Jasprit Bumrah 1-39, Hardik Pandya 1-31 ) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]