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Ian Bell backs batters to come good

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Kamindu Mendis playing his first Test match in England looked confident and made an unbeaten 56 in the second innings

BY REX CLEMENTINE at Old Trafford

It has been a tough tour of England for the Sri Lankan side with the batters struggling to cope with the moving ball. Sri Lanka were reduced to 92 for six in the first innings after electing to bat first and then again in the second innings were collapsed to 95 for four and then recovered thanks to a partnership between Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis

They finished day three on 204 for six and lead by 82 runs with four wickets in hand. The tourists are down to the last recognized pair and with doubts over Mark Wood’s availability for the remainder of the Test, if Sri Lanka can push the lead close to 200 runs, they can travel back to London unscathed.

“Firstly, with the bat we have seen lot of courage and the team has dug in. It wasn’t a great start in both innings. You expect that in England against a quality attack. We want to improve on our first hour’s batting. The courage the middle order and lower order showed was outstanding,” Ian Bell, the team’s Batting Coach told journalists.

The partnership between Mathews and Kamindu was exciting. Mathews, the team’s senior-most has come on several tours to England while Kamindu is on his maiden visit.

“It is important to have a balance between youth and experience. Angelo was superb today. That’s what we want to see from seniors. Obviously as the series goes on that confidence will get better,” Bell added.

When the partnership was on, Sri Lanka were beginning to have hope. But England complained about the ball and managed to change it and suddenly the new cherry started darting around and soon Mathews departed for 65.

“The seam looked pretty awful on that last ball. When the ball is changed it can swing around. The lights did come on. Clouds rolled over and that’s the beauty of playing in England. You have to adapt to conditions. It’s unfortunate but the team is in good spirits. I don’t think we worried too much about it and started moaning. We need to put many runs on the board to put England under pressure.”

“Sri Lanka is a team that I have admired so much. To know the players and working with them is great. I am enjoying every minute of spending time in the Sri Lankan dressing room. The passion in the Sri Lankan dressing room for Test cricket is great and they want more of it.”

SCORECARD
Sri Lanka first innings 236 all out
England first innings 358 all out
Sri Lanka second innings
Nishan Madushka b Woakes                   00
Dimuth Karunaratne c Brooks b Wood   27
Kusal Mendis c Smith b b Atkinson        00
Angelo Mathews c Potts b Woakes        65
Dinesh Chandimal not out                       20
Dhananjaya de Silva lbw b Potts            11
Kamindu Mendis not out                         56
Milan Ratnayake ct Duckett b Root       10
Extras: (lb 8, nb 1, w 6)                           15
Total: (for six wickets)                          204
Overs: 60
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Madushka), 2-2 (Kusal), 3-52 (Karunaratne), 4-95 (de Silva), 5-173 (Mathews), 6-190 (Ratnayake).
Bowling: Chris Woakes 12-3-34-2, Gus Atkinson 10-1-38-1, Shoaib Bashir 16-0-61-0 (nb 1), Mark Wood 10.2-1-36-1, Matthew Potts 11-4-26-1 (w 6), Joe Root 0.4-0-1-1.


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Zimbabwe stun Sri Lanka to enter Super Eight unbeaten

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Sikandar Raza counterattacked to release the pressure [Cricinfo]

One time is a shock. Two times, and the second to beat hosts Sri Lanka at their own game, is Zimbabwe. Led by their canny bowling, Zimbabwe pulled Sri Lanka back from a flying start to keep them to 178 on a sluggish Premadasa track. Their opener Brian Benett, quickest scorer in their history, dropped anchor, stayed unbeaten like his team, and Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani did all the damage from the other end to seal their second-highest successful T20I chase.

Sri Lanka’s innings had three neat divisions: first 29 balls for 54 for 0, next 72 for 82 for 4 and then a finishing kick of 42 for 3 off the last 19 balls. Zimbabwe went Bennett and non-Bennett. Bennett scored 63 off 48; the other three combined for 102 off 64 balls. Raza was the decisive hand: 45 off 26 after the asking rate had gone past 11.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 182 for 4 in 19.3 overs (Brian Bennett 63*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 34, Ryan Burl 23, Sikandar Raza 45; Dasun Shanaka 1-26, Dushan Hemantha 2-36, Dunith Wellalage 1-27) beat Sri Lanka 178 for 7  in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 62, Kusal Perera 22, Kusal Mendis 14, Pavan  Rathnayake 44, Dunith Wellalage 15*; Blessing Muzarabani 2-38, Graeme Cremer 2-27, Brad  Evans 2-35) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Ex-UK Prince Andrew arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the former United Kingdom royal, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, according to UK media reports.

A statement from Thames Valley police was released Thursday which said, “As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.

“The man remains in police custody at this time.”

“We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance. Please also remember that this case is now active so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court, ” the statement added.

“Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said: “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.

“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”

Andrew, the former British prince, who was stripped of his title last year over his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, should cooperate with the US authorities in their investigation, the UK Prime Minister Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

[Aljazeera]

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued to the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts

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Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre  at 12.00 noon 19 February 2026 valid for the period until 11.00 p.m. 19 February 2026

The public are warned that thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur at some places in in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts after 2.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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