Latest News
India seal T20I series 2-1 after Brisbane washout
India claimed a 2-1 series victory over Australia in an anti-climax after the fifth and final T20I was abandoned due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in Brisbane.
After being sent in to bat, there had been intrigue over how India’s top-order would fare on a Gabba surface with plenty of bounce and carry. But with their nemesis Josh Hazlewood in Ashes prep mode and again not in the line-up, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill plundered 52 runs before play came to a halt after 4.5 overs.
Abhishek did have luck having been dropped twice, but Gill was in sweet touch as he smacked 29 off 16 balls.
The series ended the same way it began after rain ruined the opening T20I in Canberra. Australia dominated game two in front of 82,000 fans at the MCG, largely thanks to a rampant Hazlewood but India ultimately prevailed in the series after their spinners gained a stranglehold on slower surfaces in Hobart and the Gold Coast.
India will head home well pleased ahead of their T20 World Cup title defence on home soil.
“The way everyone chipped in every game, it was a complete team effort with the bat, ball and in the field,” India captain Suryakumar Yadav said.
“I saw what happened with the women’s team winning the World Cup in India, having unbelievable support. When you play at home there is pressure but at the same there is a lot of excitement.”
In their final hit-out in the format before the T20 World Cup, Australia’s aggressive batting approach against high-quality spin attacks has come under scrutiny although recriminations are unlikely amid Ashes hysteria.
“I don’t think I can remember the last time we had so many rain interruptions,” Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said. “I think there are a lot of learnings to take forward, a lot of positives. The flexibility of our group and the squad that we’re trying to build in a World Cup year has been amazing.”
Earlier, a grinning Marsh once again won the toss but his mood soon soured after the start India’s openers got.
There was no settling in for left-arm quick Ben Dwarshuis as Abhishek bludgeoned a trademark boundary over mid-off on the fourth delivery of the match.
He tried to repeat the dose on the next ball only to miscue high into the air where Glenn Maxwell nestled under having trudged back from mid-off. A resigned Abhishek had already begun walking off only for the unthinkable to happen, with Maxwell spilling a straightforward catch.
While Abhishek lived dangerously, Gill was in sublime touch as he stroked four boundaries off Dwarshuis’ second over with the best being a gorgeous cover drive. Gill was in the type of commanding form that had eluded him during a tough tour – which started with an ODI series defeat in his captaincy debut in the format – and he looked determined to finish on a high.
Abhishek, on 11, received another life when he was dropped by Dwarshuis who ran in from fine-leg before compounding Nathan Ellis’ misery by smashing him over midwicket for six.
Typical for Brisbane this time for year, bad weather loomed large and the players went off due to lightning before heavy rain cascaded onto the ground in a major disappointment for the sold-out crowd.
Scores: No result
India 52 for 0 in 4.5 overs (Shubman Gill 29*, Abhishek Sharma 23*) vs Australia
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
It has been decided to establish a BIMSTEC technology transfer facility in Sri Lanka by entering into a Host Country Agreement at the second leaders’ summit of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) held in New Delhi, India, in 2008, with the objective of enhancing regional cooperation.
The relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the member countries at the 5th BIMSTEC summit on 30-03-2022 in Colombo.
The prime objective of this technology transfer facility is to provide technology, capacity building, and management of intellectual property for the micro, small, and medium-scale
enterprises of the BIMSTEC member countries.
According to the cooperation agreement, an agreement should be entered into between Sri Lanka, as the host country, and BIMSTEC Secretariat for formalizing the legal status, privileges, and immunities of the technology transfer facility.
The drafted agreement has received the relevant institutional approval and legal clearance.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Science and Technology to sign the proposed agreement.
Misbah ul Haq has offered his resignation from the Pak7stan men’s national selection committee the day after the PCB made wholesalw changes to the Teat squad and team management midway through the ongoing tour of England. Misbah has also decided to step down from his role as a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
After going 2-0 down in the three-match series by losing at Lord’s by 194 runs, the PCB removed seven players from the Test squad and also released Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul as head coach and bowling coach ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad were the seven players released. Five uncapped players – Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah – will join the Test squad along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke – the head coach and bowling coach of the white-ball set-up – have joined the Test coaching staff.
Cricinfo understands the PCB served a notice to members of the selection committee following the Lord’s defeat seeking a written explanation regarding the selections of Rizwan and Imam in the squads for the tours of West Indies and England.
The notice was sent on Monday, the same day the board announced its decision to send home the seven players and two coaches, ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9. The notice asked for a written explanation outlining the reasons for their selections and the process through which it was arrived at, within 24 hours of the receipt of notice. From the start of 2024 until the West Indies tour, Rizwan was Pakistan’s top Test run-scorer with the highest average. Imam had only played two Tests in that period but was a heavy domestic run-scorer.
Since retiring as Pakistan’s most successful Test captain in 2017, Misbah has served in various capacities in the PCB. He was appointed in the dual role of head coach and chief selector in 2019. He served in both roles until October 2020, when he resigned as the chief selector to focus entirely on the head coaching responsibilities, from which he ultimately resigned the next year.
Two years later, he was brought in as an advisor by the then chief of ad-hoc management committee Zaka Ashraf and had since remained involved with the PCB. He was announced as one of five mentors for the now-defunct men’s Champions Cup after the current management took over in 2024, and he also mentored women’s teams in domestic competitions. He was the coach of the Pakistan Gold side which won the 50-over National Champions Cup in Multan last month under Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy.
Misbah was made part of the four-member selection committee which includes Aaqib Javed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Asad Shafiq in March this year and had also been on a 180-days-a-year contract with the PCB as a batting consultant.
(Cricinfo)
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President to make a donation of United States Dollars One million as humanitarian and economic relief to the government of Nepal
Cabinet aporives recruitment of Nursing Instructors for Nursing Schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media on Contract Basis
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
The cabinet approves agreement on mutual legal cooperation in criminal matters between the Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea
Misbah-ul-Haq resigns as Pakistan selector after Test squad upheaval
Amendment of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No. 3 of 1897
Cabinet approves donation of USD One Million to the Government of Nepal
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News5 days agoEight politicians in drug kingpin probe
-
Features3 days ago“Wrap Me Up in My Blazer”— A Gentlemanly Bradby Reminiscence
-
Business5 days agoSri Lanka opens up: A new season of direct connectivity
-
Features7 days agoInsights from Chieftains of Uva: Genealogy of two Kandyan Families – Part II
-
Features5 days agoRedefining ageing in Sri Lanka
-
Latest News6 days agoNepal-Tibet floods: What happened, what caused them and who is missing?
-
Editorial7 days agoWarning of power cuts: El Niño and corruption
-
Features7 days agoExport diversification: Missing the wood for the trees – Part I