Sports
Irish struggling against accurate Sri Lankan spin
Beaten inside three days by an innings and 280 runs in the first Test, Ireland will be using the extra couple of days to prepare well for Sri Lanka’s spin threat lead up to the second Test in Galle starting next week.
After Sri Lanka posted a mammoth 591 for six declared, the Irish faced stiff challenge as Vishwa Fernando claimed two wickets in his first over before Prabath Jayasuriya took over and bowled superbly to claim career-best figures of seven for 52 in the first innings. The left-arm spinner finished with a match bag of ten wickets as Sri Lanka enforced the follow on.
Off-spinner Ramesh Mendis too claimed five wickets and became the joint-fastest Sri Lankan to take 50 wickets in Test match cricket. Both Dilruwan Perera and Ramesh Mendis had achieved the milestone in their 11th Test match.
Although Mendis was among wickets, he wasn’t bowling at his best offering too many loose balls and against a quality opposition he would have paid the price. But Jayasuriya was quite the contrast. There were hardly any bad balls from him, and he got the better of most Irish batsmen sticking to his basics bowling to attacking fields.
“Sri Lanka’s spinners bowled so well. They were very accurate, and we struggled against them. That’s what we have got to deal with. Some balls turn and some don’t, and we need to read them well,” Irish skipper Andy Balbirnie told journalists.
“We fought in stages but not good enough. We are learning what it means to play Test cricket. Hopefully, we’ll learn quickly and put up a better fight in the next game. We have a few extra days to prepare and hope to use that to good effect. It is important to put big scores in the first innings and that’s something that we have failed to do both here and in Dhaka in our last Test match,” he added.
No Irishman managed a half-century in the entire game and that was some disappointment. However, Harry Tector showed plenty of character batting at number four and was unlucky to be run out in the second innings. “One huge disappointment is nobody scoring a half-century in this game. In Dhaka at least, we had a couple of guys making decent scores.”
“Very happy with the character shown by Harry Tector in both innings. He’s a young guy and a superb find for us. He was very unlucky to get out in the fashion he did. I thought he batted sensibly, particularly in the second innings,” the Irish skipper said.
Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa won the toss and asked South Africa to bat in their World Cup opener in Ahmedabad.
South Africa have opted for a pace-heavy attack. Keshav Maharaj slots in as their only spinner, alongside the speedy quartet of Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi. Tristan Stubbs also begins the tournament at the No. 6 spot – a position Jason Smith had occupied in their last T20I, while Stubbs had slid down to No. 7. Smith is in the World Cup squad but did not find a spot in South Africa’s starting eleven.
South Africa’s pace is expected to get the most out of a characteristically flat Ahmedabad black-soil pitch. But first, their batters will have a hit in a game they begin as overwhelming favourites against Canada, who are their second World Cup.
Canada’s new captain, Bajwa, will lead the side at a global tournament for the first time. He also slots in at the top of the order, alongside Yuvraj Samra, and their batting power will be key to their hopes of causing a massive upset.
Canada have lost both their warm-up games – to Italy and Nepal – but should their batters come off on a friendly pitch, South Africa will look to have the added insurance of a few more runs in the bank before dew takes over when Canada begin their chase at night.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Aiden Markram (capt), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
Canada: Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva, Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel
(Cricinfo)
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza decided to field first against Oman in the men’s T20 World Cup match at the SSC in Colombo. Both teams were pleased to arrive in Sri Lanka early to get themselves attuned to the conditions.
Zimbabwe have Blessing Muzarabani back in the squad after he missed the tri-series in Pakistan in November.
Oman, meanwhile, include 44-year-old Aaamir Kaleem the oldest player in the tournament – after he came into the side in place of Hasnain Shah, who was injured after the squad was named.
Zimbabwe return to the tournament after missing out on the previous edition in West Indies and the United States of America. They had made it to the Super 12s of the 2022 T20 World Cup but failed to progress through the qualifiers for the 2024 tournament. They completed qualification alongside Namibia; Brian Bennett was the tournament’s top run-scorer, while Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava were among the leading wicket-takers.
Zimbabwe are bolstered by the return of Graeme Cremer, whose November 2025 comeback marked the longest gap between T20I appearances.
Oman are one of three qualifiers from the Asia-Pacific region, alongside Nepal and the UAE. They have previously appeared in the 2016, 2021, and 2024 editions of the T20 World Cup.
Oman: Jatinder Singh (capt), Aamir Kaleem, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonavale, Jiten Ramanandi, Vinayak Shukla (wk), Sufyan Mehmood, Nadeem Khan, Shah Faisal, Shakeel Ahmad
Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Dion Myers, Brendan Taylor (wk), Sikandar Raza (capt), Ryan Burl, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani
Scotland may have suffered a blip the last time they faced Italy in a T20I but ensured they picked up the first points of their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign after a dominant performance at Eden Gardens. George Munsey’s 54-ball 84, supported by cameos from Brandon McMullen and Michael Leask, followed by Leask’s four-wicket haul helped Scotland spoil Italy’s debut in the tournament. The 73-run win gave Scotland two points after their defeat to West Indies in Kolkata two days ago.
Brief scores:
Scotland 207 for 4 in 20 overs (George Munsey 84, Michael Jones 37, Brandon McMullen 41, Richie Berrington 15, Michael Leask 22*; Ali Hasan 1-21, Grant Stewart 1-44, Thomas Draca 1-37, JJ Smuts 1-38) beat Italy 134 in 16.4 overs (Anthony Mosca 13, JJ Smutts 22, Harry Manenti 52; Michael Leask 4-17, Brad Currie 1-12, Brad Wheal 1-29, Mark Watt 2-24, Oliver Davidson 1-33 ) by 73 runs
(Cricinfo)
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