Sports
Headaches for selectors lead up to Old Trafford Test
Rex Clementine
in Manchester
Sri Lankans will always love Old Trafford. This is where they played their first ever international game. Invited to play the inaugural ICC World Cup in 1975, the Sri Lankans found themselves pitted against eventual world champions West Indies in their opening encounter. It was indeed a baptism by fire as Sri Lanka were shot out for 86 by the West Indies brutal pace attack.
Four years later though at the same Old Trafford, they were making merry. Taking on an Indian side that comprised several seasoned campaigners, Sri Lanka created a major upset in the tournament by beating them. This win was instrumental in helping Sri Lanka gain Test status less than two years later.
One of England’s northernmost cricket grounds, Old Trafford is colder than London and tests visiting teams, especially the ones from Asia. But in recent years, the pitch here has favored spin bowling.
No doubt Prabath Jayasuriya and Dhananjaya de Silva will enjoy any assistance for spinners, but there are a few question marks against the options Sri Lankan batters take against spin in recent years. The sweep seems to be their bed and butter and while with fielding restrictions on in ODIs it can pay off, in Test match cricket it’s a high risk shot. Any cross bat shot for that matter involves high amount of risk, particularly early in the innings. That’s why batters are better off trusting their defense, their wrists, knock off singles and twos and play the waiting game before cutting loose.
Little known Farhan Ahmed, a 16-year-old off-spinner made his First Class debut against Sri Lanka in Worcester in the four day game last week and claimed three big wickets in the second innings.
The headache is not on how to play spin, but the composition of the side. In the squad is Pathum Nissanka, who has hit a purple patch this year in white ball cricket. Can he break into the Test side? Nissanka hasn’t featured in a Test match in more than two years and the selectors have shown some keenness to bring him in.
There was some indication for this when Dinesh Chandimal was made to keep wickets in Worcester. It seemed that Chandimal will keep wickets instead of Kusal Mendis and Nissanka will be drafted into the squad in place of Mendis. But it all changed on the final day in Worcester when Mendis was having the gloves again. Then it hit you that Mendis is also the vice-captain of the side. So, they have not actually ruled him out.
Mendis’ recent Test record isn’t that great. He was almost axed before the Tests in Bangladesh but managed to hang on as wicketkeeper. He did make a 93 in his last Test match and may have enough runs to argue his case, at least for the first Test.
It is no secret that Mendis has been a huge disappointment for all of us who so passionately follow Sri Lankan cricket. In 2019 when he drove Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada to all parts of St. George’s Park in Port Elizabeth to help secure Sri Lanka a famous series win, you thought that he had turned a huge corner. Because not even the great Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar or Young Khan have been able to win a Test series in South Africa. Kusal Mendis has. That’s why selectors keep backing him. There are many others who keep hoping that Mendis goes on to prove them all wrong for the sake of the national cricket team.
India capped off a dominant tri-series campaign in Colombo with a resounding win over Sri Lanka, posting their highest-ever women’s ODI total on Sri Lankan soil—344 for five —before bowling the hosts out for 245.
Smriti Mandhana led the charge with a superb 11th ODI hundred—her first against Sri Lanka—anchoring partnerships of 70 with Pratika Rawal and 120 with Harleen Deol.
Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Jemimah Rodrigues chipped in with brisk 40s, while India smashed 90 runs in the last 10 overs.
Despite a spirited effort, Sri Lanka’s daunting chase faltered. Chamari Atapattu’s 50 and a few half-century stands weren’t enough to close the gap. Seamer Amanjot Kaur struck early, removing two of the top three, while offspinner Sneh Rana starred with four for 38, finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
India’s batting wasn’t without drama—Rawal survived an early chance, and Mandhana was twice let off before unleashing her full range of strokes. She was especially brutal on Atapattu, sweeping her repeatedly through square leg and cover en route to a 92-ball century.
Amanjot’s return in the middle overs derailed the chase further, bowling Gunaratne and setting up Rana’s match-turning spell. Atapattu, despite reaching her 19th ODI fifty, was undone by Rana, who later removed three more to slam the door shut.
Late resistance from Sanjeewani and Kumari delayed the inevitable, but a run-out and two quick Rana strikes wrapped up the win.
India’s comprehensive display sent a strong message ahead of the Women’s World Cup, reaffirming their title credentials.
Brief scores:
India
342 for seven (Mandhana 116, Rodrigues 44, Kumari 2-59) beat Sri Lanka 245 (Atapattu 51, Rana 4-38, Amanjot 3-54) by 97 runs.
Apna Perera and Dinara de Silvaemerged as the men’s and women’s singles champions respectively at the 110th Colombo Championships continued at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts.
In the men’s singles final, Apna beat Ashen Silva 7-6, 6-1. Dinara registered convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over Venuli Jayasinghe in the women’s final.
In the boys’ Under 18 semi-finals, Ashlin de Silva beat Nethmika Wickramasinghe 6-2, 6-1 while Mayooran Kubheran beat Aahil Kaleel 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
National champion Chamod Yodasinghe secured a creditable second place rank for an impressive performace of 10.27 seconds as he out did a strong field in the 100 metres at the Dubai Grand Prix on Friday.
Yodasinghe who was entered only for the 4x100m relay received a golden opportunity in Dubai when his request to run the 100 metres there was granted by the organisers. The athlete trained by sprint coach Sanjeewa Weerakkody equalled his personal best (10.27 seconds) in winning his race.
Incidentally, his winning time was second only to the winner of the first race where top ranked athletes including Yupun Abeykoon competed.
Oman’s Ali Al Balooshi was the fastest as he clocked 10.19 seconds while Abeykoon finished fifth with a time of 10.39 seconds.
Abeykoon who was making his first 100 metres appearance of the year was ranked sixth overall.
In the 4×100 metres relay Sri Lanka’s quartet finished third in a time of 39.41 seconds.
Yodasinghe will next compete at the Asian Athletics Championships later this month.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s 4×400 metres mixed relay team finished last in their heat at the World Relays in China yesterday.
by Reemus Fernando
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