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Hope conquers Dhaka as West Indies prevail in Super Over
West Indies prevailed over Bangladesh in the Super Over, beating the home side in Dhaka by one run. Akeal Hosein delivered an imperfect final over in extra time, defending ten runs, but he kept Bangladesh in check with several dots mixed with wides and no-balls. Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar and Najmul Hossain Shanto couldn’t do the job for Bangladesh, and so, the series is now 1-1.
West Indies had earlier scored ten runs in their Super Over, with captain Shai Hope getting a boundary off the last ball, after Mustafizur Rahman had removed Sherfane Rutherford with his second ball.
This was Bangladesh’s first tie in 814 men’s international matches.
Hope carried West Indies in regulation time, getting the only half-century of the game. West Indies needed five runs off the 50th over to complete a chase of 214. Saif Hassan bowled two dot balls before conceding a single. Hope got on strike and even though he only had Hosein at the other end – the No. 10 batter playing his first game on tour – he chose to take another single.
Saif punished Hope for that, bowling Hosein between his legs. Khary Pierre, the last man in, needed to get three off the final ball, but his top edge spun towards square leg. Wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan ran for the catch, but he dropped the chance. He also couldn’t pass the ball on in time to Mustafizur, who was stood by the stumps, as Pierre and Hope completed two runs, tying the match.
West Indies became the first team to bowl spin for all 50 overs of an ODI. The visitors overhauled a record that had stood since 2004, when Sri Lanka plied Australia with 44 overs of slow bowling. Bangladesh topped that tally up with 42 overs from their own spinners, pushing the match aggregate to 92 overs of spin – another record in this format.
When West Indies’ chase began, Nasum Ahmed removed Brandon King in the first over. Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty batted solidly during the powerplay, with Athanaze hitting Mehidy Hasan Miraz over covers, followed by a straight drive off Nasum. He also struck two more fours, before Rishad Hossain trapped him lbw. Athanze missed with a sweep after connecting with one earlier in the over.
Carty was Rishad’s next victim when he missed his reverse sweep, and the ball snuck through and hit his back leg. Debutant Ackeem Auguste swept Tanvir Islam straight to Rishad at square leg, falling for 17. Sherfane Rutherford was given out lbw next, in the 27th over, as West Indies lost half their side with 103 on the board.
Gudakesh Motie and Hope tried to keep West Indies afloat, but they were separated six overs later. Rishad struck with a full ball that Motie went after with a wild slog, falling for 15. Roston Chase, batting at No. 8, followed soon after, caught behind off Nasum.
From 133 for 7, Hope added 44 runs for the eighth wicket with Justin Greaves. The latter got run out trying to take a quick single, with Mehidy effecting a direct hit to get the crucial wicket. Hope handled most of the strike but Hosein struck a six, to take West Indies closer. Needing just 14 off 12 balls, it looked unlikely that they would let the game go into a Super Over.
Earlier, Bangladesh struggled to get going for most of their innings after deciding to bat first. Saif was dismissed after hitting a six, while Towhid Hridoy and Shanto got out to poor shots. Hridoy top-edged a slog, while Shanto got caught at short midwicket, unable to time Athanaze’s long hop.
Sarkar played some gorgeous shots in between a lot of dot balls. He made 45 off 89 balls with three fours and a six, before holing out in the deep in the 31st over. Bangladesh were 103 for 5, and looked in danger, until Nurul slammed a six and two fours for his 23, leaving Rishad to do the finishing. He struck three fours and as many sixes in his unbeaten 14-ball 39, all of which came in the last 2.1 overs of the Bangladesh innings.
Athanaze was West Indies’ best bowler with figures of 2 for 14 from his ten overs, while Hosein, who flew into Dhaka on the day before the match, also picked up two wickets. Motie took 3 for 65, his figures spoiled by Rishad’s last burst of boundaries.
Brief scores:
West Indies 213 for 9 in 50 overs (Brandon King 35, Keacy Carty 35, Shai Hope 53*; Nasum Ahmed 2-38, Tanvir Islam 2-42, Rishad Hossain 3-42) tied with Bangladesh 213 for 7 in 50 overs (Soumya Sarkar 45, Mehidy hasan Miraz 32*, Rishad Hossain 39*; Akeal hossein 2-41, Gudakesh Motie 3-65, Alick Athanaze 2-14) West Indies won the Super Over
[Cricinfo]
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Prasidh and Suthar share six to keep India in driver’s seat
Sonal Dinusha was fighting a lone battle unbeaten on 85 as play came to a close on day three, Sri Lanka still 238 runs behind India’s 503 for 9 declared, with just two wickets in hand. At the crease alongside him was Lahiru Kumara, who had done well to hold his own during a 50-ball vigil for eight runs.
Dinusha’s fifty was his third such score in this series as he showcased the resolve that had been sorely lacking across Sri Lanka’s innings – he was one of only five batters to face at least than 50 deliveries in the innings, of which two of them were certified tailenders in Kumara and Keshara Nuwantha.
For India, it was Prasih Krishna and Manav Suthar that did a majority of the damage with both picking up three wickets apiece.
But what would be even more frustrating for the hosts, is that India’s bowlers had for the most part not really done enough to merit such a batting capitulation.
Kamil Mishara received a spicy bouncer from Krishna, one he could only fend through to Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps, while on the second evening both Lahiru Udara and Prabath Jayasuriya can claim bad light had impaired them.
But the rest of Sri Lanka’s batters fell almost exclusively against the run of play. Kamindu Mendis looked excellent until he swatted a pull straight to midwicket, Pasindu Sooriyabandara chopped on a non-threatening quicker one from Ravindra Jadeja, while Niroshan Dickwella tickled one down leg to Jurel for a three-ball duck.
Even Keshara, who had done so well to hang with Dinusha, lofted an ambitious inside out drive of Suthar to mid-off.
Scores:
Sri Lanka 265 for 8 in 83.4 overs (Pasindu Sooriyabandara 80, Sonal Dinusha 85*; Prasidh Krishna 3-47, Manav Suthar 3-83) trail India 503 for 9 dec by 238 runs
[Cricinfo]
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Jayasuriya reprimanded for hitting boundary wedges with bat after dismissal
Prabath Jayasuriya has been handed an official reprimand and had a demerit point added to his disciplinary record for smacking “the boundary wedges with his bat” on his way back after being dismissed on the second day of Sri Lanka’s ongoing second Test against India in Colombo. The demerit point is Jayasuriya’s first in a 24-month period.
The offence is a breach of Level 1 of the ICC’s code of conduct for players and player support personnel, which relates to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match”.
The incident took place when Jayasuriya, the nightwatcher batting at No. 3, was headed back for the pavilion after being dismissed lbw by Manav Suthar off what turned out to be the last ball of the day’s play – the broadcast also showed him throwing his gloves in the dressing room.
Jayasuriya became the third player to earn the match referee’s ire during the Colombo Test after Yashaswi Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando were pulled up for an incident on the first day. Both were fined 25% of their match fees for “inappropriate physical contact” and also had a demerit point added to their respective disciplinary records.
The incident in question, which an ICC statement described as “a confrontation”, took place after Asitha dismissed Jaiswal off the last ball of the 17th over on the first morning. Jaiswal had been on his way to the dressing room when he appeared to change direction and moved towards Asitha, presumably in response to words that came out of the celebratory Sri Lanka huddle, in which Asitha was the central figure.
“Jaiswal walked towards Fernando and the two exchanged words, following which Fernando moved his head towards Jaiswal,” the statement described. “In response, Jaiswal leant in, resulting in their heads making contact.”
Video evidence, however, showed that Jaiswal initiated the physical contact. Jaiswal had turned and walked towards Asitha, who also took a small step towards the dismissed batter. That was when Jaiswal leaned his helmeted head towards Asitha, who did not back away in that moment.
India are 1-0 up in the two-Test series after winning the first Test in Galle by 165 runs.
[Cricinfo]
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WFP Reaffirms Commitment to Strengthening School Nutrition Programmes in Sri Lanka
Representatives of the World Food Programme (WFP) met with the Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, on Monday [24 August] at Temple Trees.
During the meeting, the WFP representatives expressed their readiness to continue their partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka and reaffirmed their commitment to supporting government efforts to strengthen school nutrition programmes.
The WFP representatives noted the positive changes already taking place and expressed their interest in working closely with the Government and relevant stakeholders to further strengthen and advance nutrition interventions within the school system.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya emphasised that nutrition remains a major concern and highlighted the importance of promoting healthier eating habits alongside strengthening primary and preventive healthcare.
She noted that the Government’s school nutrition programme is currently being implemented in targeted schools and among identified families, while nutrition interventions have also been introduced at the early childhood level.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the growing concern over non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and stressed the need to examine the underlying factors contributing to their continued prevalence.
She emphasised that the Government’s approach to school nutrition should extend beyond providing free meals to targeted communities. It should also promote healthier eating habits, improved nutritional awareness and better dietary practices across the school system as a whole.
The WFP delegation emphasised the importance of strengthening collaboration among universities, the Ministry of Education, United Nations agencies and other relevant stakeholders to improve the effectiveness and impact of nutrition-related interventions.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya underscored the importance of research- and evidence-based decision-making, stressing that policies and programmes relating to nutrition and health should be informed by reliable evidence, research and a clear understanding of the underlying causes of nutritional challenges and NCDs.
The meeting was attended by WFP Representative and Country Director Philip Ward; Deputy Country Director and Head of Programmes Robert Oliver; Professor Jayashree Arcot, Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney; representatives of the WFP; and officials from the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
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