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Inspired Sri Lanka humble the holders in Bengaluru
In another chapter of the ever increasing set of surprise results in this World Cup, Sri Lanka hammered England by eight wickets in Bangalore on Thursday (October 26). A one-sided result wasn’t totally unexpected but it was a role-reversal of sorts as the defending champions crashed to their fourth defeat of the tournament, leaving their title defence on the ropes.
Technically, it isn’t an upset, given that Sri Lanka had been winning this duel since the previous four editions. The game was done at the halfway mark itself once England collapsed to a low total of 156 after opting to bat. From there on, it was only a matter of Sri Lanka holding their nerves and they did that quite well.
David Willey did ignite a glimmer of hope in the English camp with his twin strikes in the first Powerplay. The left-arm pacer got rid of Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis to put some pressure on Sri Lanka. However, Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama conjured unbeaten fifties in a 137-run stand to see the side through without further hiccups. With such a low total to defend, it was always going to be an uphill task for the English bowlers on a pitch that got increasingly easier to bat on as the game progressed. The Nissanka-Samarawickrama stand was a masterclass in eye-catching strokeplay as they put the bowling to the sword.
That the target was achieved with approximately half the allotted overs left should tell a story in itself. However, it’s hard to overtly criticize England’s bowlers, given that they barely had any runs to play with. Another batting disaster earlier in the afternoon is what proved critical to England’s fortunes. It’s one thing to know the generic conditions of a venue and quite another to adapt when the tracks at that particular place behave differently. Today’s Chinnaswamy surface wasn’t the usual slam-bang-wallop kind of track where power-hitters usually make merry. The deck was on the slower side and the odd ball did stop a bit too.
England were too late to realise this fact and by then, they had just the tail left. From the get-go, indications were clear that the reigning champions would go hard in their bid to post a big score. Australia in their previous game and South Africa frequently had done this in the tournament. Given England’s explosive brand of cricket, it was a surprise that they hadn’t produced even a single performance of such menace. The batting unit wanted today to be that day where their turnaround started and blindly trusted the Chinnaswamy surface to be their ally. Unfortunately for them, this wasn’t that kind of a track.
The first five overs of the England innings was the only time in the entire game where they seemed to have some confidence. Dawid Malan stroked a few boundaries upfront, as did Jonny Bairstow but once comeback man Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana were introduced, the tables turned. The veteran started the fightback with the key breakthrough of Malan and then was influential in the run out of Joe Root as England started to stutter. Theekshana continued to keep it tight while the pace duo of Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha then sliced through the rest of the English batting line-up. Ben Stokes was the only one to show some resistance but even he lacked his usual tempo. It was the sort of batting implosion that leaves teams with no way back.
Brief scores:
England 156 in 33.2 overs (Jonny Bairstow 30, Dawid Malan 28, Ben Stokes 43; Kasun Rajitha 2-36, Lahiru Kumara 3-35, Angelo Mathews 2-14) lost to Sri Lanka 160/2 in 25.4 overs (Pathum Nissanka 77*, Sadeera Samarawickrama 65*) by eight wickets
An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France today to protest against teaching conditions in schools, rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
Marches were largely peaceful and took place in several major French cities, including Paris, where 110,000 people attended.
“We just want to study, we just want a future” one student taking part in the protest in the capital told BBC News, while another said they were ” just trying to make things change”.
But French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said some groups “at the margins of these protests” caused the situation to “degenerate”.
According to the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 1200 people were arrested. Officials also reported looting in cities such as Marseille, where masked 8ntruders also entered the city hall. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire and shops were damaged.
French President Emmanuel Macron said any vandals and looters would be “prosecuted and punished”, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said demonstrations had been calmly mobilised.
Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze at Limoges City Hall after a reported break-in and arson inside the 19th-century building during protests there.
(BBC)
A large fire near a Canadian military base in Alberta has killed and injured some people, the defence minister said, without confirming the number of casualties.
The Canadian Armed Forces were working with local authorities to manage the fire and were looking into what caused it, David McGuinty said, describing the situation as “very, very active and delicate”.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that a “serious incident creating a major fire” had occurred, adding his “thoughts are with all the brave women and men affected”.
Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, where the fire broke out, is one of the country’s busiest military training bases.
The blaze “spread rapidly due to high winds” and had torn through the fences of the base, the Municipal District of Wainwright said.
McGuinty told reporters he “cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory”.
It is unclear when the fire broke out, but the district first posted about the incident at about 17:30 local time.
Local authorities have urged residents to avoid the area and give all emergency vehicles right of way.
(BBC)
The Asian Youth Games gold medallist who has run sub four minutes previously returned a time of 3:55.97 seconds to become the first athlete in his age category at these championships to run the distance under four minutes.
Achintha who has a personal best of 3:53.05 from last year was representing Prince College Ratnapura today.
In another impressive 1,500 m feat Tharushi Abhisheka of Lyceum International School, Wattala established a new meet record in the Under-20 Girls’ 1,500m as she returned a time of 4:34.59 seconds to win.
By the end of the second day of the meet seven new meet records had been established.
D. V. C. de Soysa (of Galewela Central College) Under-16 Boys’ Discus Throw – 55.83m.
D. G. Lahiru Achintha (of Ratnapura Kumara Vidyalaya) Under-18 Boys’ 1,500m – 3:55.97 secs.
W. P. Nethula Induwara (Rahula College, Matara) Under-14 Boys’ 100m – 11.70 seconds
K. V. R. Gayesha (Ira Handa Kotuwa Wewa Maha Vidyalaya, Polonnaruwa) Under-16 Girls’ High Jump – 1.70m
H. M. D. S. Herath (Maris Stella College, Thimbirigaskatuwa) Under-20 Boys’ Long Jump – 7.65m
P. M. Amaya Semindi (Vijitha Central College, Dikwella) Under-14 Girls’ High Jump – 1.58m
Record 1,600 students take Russian Classical Ballet examination in Sri Lanka
Half a million people join protests in France, but some turn violent
Deadly fire breaks out at Canada military base
Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island after 1.00 p.m.
Buddhist hierarchy demands prison perks for monk convicts
Debate on NCM against Speaker postponed indefinitely
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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