President Ranil Wickremesinghe is firmly of the opinion that the term of the President is 5 years, and the Election Commission is correct in taking steps to hold the Presidential Election in 2024.

It has been brought to the attention of the Government that one Chamindra Dayan Lenawa has filed an Application in the Supreme Court under and in terms of Articles 126 read with Articles 12(1), 82(6), 3, 4, 118 and 125 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka praying, inter alia, for a declaration that Article 30(2) should not be interpreted to be amended ab initio by Section 3 of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and accordingly the Election Commission shall hold the next presidential election taking into account that the term of the office of the President is 6 years and for an interim order restraining the members of the Election Commission from taking any further steps in conducting a Presidential Election in 2024 until the Supreme Court determines this Application.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe states that the said Chamindra Dayan Lenawa has not consulted the President or his lawyers prior to filing this Application in the Supreme Court.

Nat Sciver Brunt’s unbeaten 76 and Lauren Bell’s five-wicket haul ensured England’s 3-0 sweep of the ODI series against New Zealand despite a vastly more spirited performance by the White Ferns.

Amelia Kerr led the tourists with her half-century and England’s batting depth was called upon for the first time in the series as Hannah Rowe and Molly Pensfold made early inroads in Bristol. The hosts had lost three wickets across the first two matches but today were 33 for 3 inside the powerplay, reduced to eight overs when rain delayed the start by 95 minutes and cut the match to 42 overs per side.

Player of the series Maia Bouchier couldn’t push on from her unbeaten century in Worcester on Sunday but Sciver-Brunt, who had facilitated that milestone, produced a typically cool-headed innings to lead England out of danger and ultimately to victory. She and Amy Jones rescued England from 72 for 4 with a fifth-wicket stand worth 90 off 86 balls, Jones posting a run-a-ball fifty as the duo lifted their side 50 runs shy of the 212 target.

Tammy Beaumont was put down by wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze off the first ball of the run-chase, a full delivery from Rowe, which swung away and caught the edge of Beaumont’s attempted drive. But then fortune swung New Zealand’s way just four balls later when Beaumont was given out lbw and declined to review with replays showing that the ball would have missed leg stump.

When Heather Knight sent a leading edge straight back to the same bowler, England were 29 for 2 and Bouchier fell on the penultimate ball of the powerplay with an aborted pull shot off Penfold that ballooned to the keeper.

Her dismissal brought Sophia Dunkley to the crease, back in the starting XI for the first time since a disappointing tour of New Zealand earlier this year as England shook up their team for this dead rubber. It was a nervy start for Dunkley, who faced six balls to get off the mark then overturned an lbw decision off Kerr’s fourth ball of the innings, a wrong’un which brushed her back leg high up as she lunged forward and was ultimately shown to be going over the stumps.

Two balls later, Dunkley managed to steer Kerr for four past short third and, settling into a rhythm, she then punched down the ground for another, more authoritative, boundary off Kerr’s next over when Sciver-Brunt also chimed in through midwicket. But Kerr curtailed Dunkley’s comeback via an inside edge as the batter shaped to cut and was caught behind for 15 off 24 balls.

Sciver-Brunt brought up her 21st ODI fifty with a glorious drive down the ground for four off Rowe and Jones raised hers with a chipped single off Kerr towards point. Moments after Jones fell edging Brooke Halliday behind, Sciver-Brunt was dropped on 63 by Georgia Plimmer at cover. By that stage, England needed 49 from 69 balls and Sciver-Brunt and Alice Capsey eased their way home.

Earlier, Bell’s five-wicket haul and Kerr’s fighting half-century gave a more even complexion to the contest than in the first two games, when New Zealand had struggled to string significant partnerships together and batters made starts without converting them to impactful innings.

Kerr struck 59 and shared partnerships with Sophie Devine and Halliday worth 68 and 65 runs respectively to push the White Ferns to a good total, by far New Zealand’s best of the tour after they had been bowled out for 156 and 141 previously. But Bell’s 5 for 35 from nine overs kept the target manageable, especially in light of England’s current batting form, or so it seemed before the top-order collapse.

In New Zealand’s innings, a sublime throw by Charlie Dean, firing the ball in from backward point, removed Plimmer and, though Kate Cross was expensive early, she made it 46 for 2 when Jones took an excellent catch off Suzie Bates.

With Sophie Ecclestone rested for this match, Devine stepped up the rate against the home side’s other two spinners. She struck Sarah Glenn for two fours in three balls, through the covers to bring up the fifty stand with Kerr and to deep midwicket, then crunched Dean through the covers for another boundary in the next over.

But Devine’s reaction said it all when Bell returned to the attack and struck with her second ball back, one that angled in from a full length as Devine shaped to cut and chopped onto her stumps, dropping her bat and throwing her head back in exasperation as a promising innings ended on 43.

With Maddy Green having fallen to a marginal lbw decision to Cross while the DRS was unavailable, Kerr forged another partnership with Halliday, who made 51 in the series opener and 31 here.

But Kerr and Halliday both fell within three balls of one Bell over, Kerr pinned lbw and Halliday caught behind down the leg side as the White Ferns went from 181 for 4 to 182 for 6. Bell and Sciver-Brunt then teamed up twice to remove Gaze and Lauren Down, Sciver-Brunt’s safe hands helping Bell to her maiden international five-for.

Encouragingly for England, Sciver-Brunt sent down eight overs and, even though she went wicketless, it was her heaviest workload so far this series, having been restricted to spells of four and five overs in the previous two games as she manages her recovery from a knee problem.

Brief scores:
England Women 212 for 5 in 38.4 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 76*, Amy Jones 50, Alice Capsey 35*; Hannah Rowe 2-38) beat New Zealand Women 211 for 8 in 42 overs (Suzie Bates 24, Amelia Kerr 59, Sophie Devine 43, Brooke Halliday 31; Kate Cross 2-46, Lauren Bell 5-37) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]

Skipper Luc Benkenstein’s century and a disciplined bowling performance helped England Men’s U19s clinch their three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka with a four-run victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method in the decider at Hove.

The Essex batter made 102 in England’s 268 for 9 in a contest reduced to 45 overs because of rain. In gloomy conditions Gayana Weerasinghe led Sri Lanka’s reply with a polished 80 off 76 balls and Mahith Perera’s half-century threatened to take his side to victory. But Perera was run out by Freddie McCann’s direct hit in the 43rd over and the Sri Lankan tail were left with too much to do.

England had won the toss and Nottinghamshire’s McCann, who made 174 in Monday’s win on the same pitch, looked in the mood to make Sri Lanka pay when wicketkeeper Sharujan Shanmuganathan dropped a simple catch in the second over when he had yet to score. McCann took three boundaries in an over off Hivun Kenula but then gave off-spinner Vihas Thewmika a simple return catch in the eighth over.

It was one of three wickets to fall before the rain arrived in the 16th over but when play resumed Benkenstein, who made 51 in the first match of the series at Chelmsford last Friday, and Essex team-mate Charlie Allison started to prosper.

Benkenstein’s first 50 runs came off 69 balls and his partner was only slightly quicker (62 balls) to his half-century before both pressed the accelerator. Benkenstein needed just 29 more deliveries to reach his hundred, which included seven fours and five sixes, as he played aggressive shots on both sides of the wicket.

Allison contributed an impressive 87 off 85 balls to a stand of 184 in 29 overs, with seven fours and two sixes, before he played on to Thewmika trying to hit him over mid-wicket in the 37th over. Benkenstein flayed a widish delivery from Dinura Kalupahana to deep backward point for 102 in the next over and England lost momentum.

Sri Lanka’s bowlers dragged it back well in the closing overs, taking 6 for 44 in 7.2 overs with Thewmika finishing with 4 for 33. It left them needing 269 at 5.9 runs an over.

England’s seamers chipped away when Sri Lanka replied. Harry Moore broke through by bowling Hiran Jayasundara through the gate and McCann picked up the first of two wickets with his off breaks when Pulindu Perera reverse-swept straight to gully.

Debutant Alex Green had left-hander Shanmuganathan well caught by Allison, diving forward at deep mid-wicket, and when Noah Thain’s gentle away-swing accounted for captain Dinura Kalupahana with his first ball, Sri Lanka needed 144 in 21 overs.

Weerasinghe and Mahith Perera kept them in the hunt, putting on 64 for the fifth wicket in nine overs, but England maintained a happy knack of striking when they needed to and Weerasinghe drove Dom Kelly’s slower ball to mid-off where Benkenstein held a good catch.

Sri Lanka hopes now rested with the wristy Perera whose stand with Diniru Abeywickramasingha looked to be taking them over the line. But Abeywickramasingha mis-timed a scoop after they had added 46 for the seventh wicket and Perera (53 off 54 balls) was brilliantly run out by McCann’s direct hit from backward point as England held their nerve.

Brief scores:
England U19 268 for 9 in 45 overs  (Freddie McCann 28, Charlie Allison 87, Luc Benkenstein 102; Dinura Kalupahana 3-58, Vihas Thewmika 4-33) beat Sri Lanka U19 260 in 44.4 overs  (Pulindu Perera 38, Gayana Weerasinghe 80, Mahith Perera 53; Harry Moore 2-42, Freddie McCann 2-39) by four runs – DLS

[Cricinfo]