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Kolkata the stage as England, Scotland resume auld rivalry
Scotland vs England. The sense of occasion isn’t lost on Scotland captain Richie Berrington. Earlier this week, Berrington dared to dream of the headlines should his side beat England in Kolkata a matter of hours before the Scotland rugby team face England in the Six Nations with the Calcutta Cup on the line.
Both Scotland teams are underdogs but, unlike their rugby counterparts who are licking their wounds after a poor showing against Italy last weekend, Berrington’s men are coming off the back of a resounding 73 run win over an Italian team making their debut at this tournament and ruffling some feathers along the way.
“That rivalry has always been there between Scotland and England, obviously a long history there between the two nations, it’s there in every sport,” Berrington said. “But yeah, next Saturday’s going to be exciting. We’ve also got the Scotland rugby team taking on England the same day, so it would make quite a nice headline if Scotland has two wins on the Saturday.”
As banana skins go, this should be one England back themselves to avoid. But it will be no easy stroll, especially with another unexpected obstacle down the road in Italy, surprise 10 wicket winners against Nepal, who had themselves pushed England to the max in their opening match of this T20 World Cup.
Both of England’s remaining group-stage opponents pose an element of the unknown, a point noted at the start of the tournament by Mark Watt, Scotland’s veteran left-arm spinner making his fifth World Cup appearance. “Quite funny thinking about the England analysis team trying to find club cricket games of some of our youngsters,” Watt said. “We’ve all had a laugh about that.” England have never played Italy and, in their only previous T20I meeting with Scotland – at the last World Cup in Barbados – George Munsey and Michael Jones staged an unbroken opening partnership worth 90 before the match was washed out.
Only Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid remain from the bowling line-up which took the field that day, the latter going at 13 runs an over from his two overs. And while those figures are reminiscent of Rashid’s three wicketless overs at 14.00 against Nepal, he turned that around against West Indies, where he was easily the pick of England’s bowlers in a losing cause on a turning Wankhede pitch.
If they trip up in their first outing in Kolkata, where Scotland have already played their first two matches of this World Cup, England’s last group encounter with Italy becomes crucial. So too does Scotland’s final clash with Nepal. On paper, England’s progression to the Super 8s should be assured, but they absolutely cannot take their Associate opponents lightly.
So far, this campaign has shown England need more consistency from their enviably deep batting line-up. Half-centuries to Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook still required the back-up of Will Jacks’ 18-ball 39 against Nepal and, even then, it took Sam Curran’s sublime death bowling to let them escape with victory. Against West Indies, it was Curran who ran out of partners and captain Brook believed his charges were too careful chasing. For Scotland, they need more than just the few plucky moments they produced in a 35-run loss to West Indies. They need everything to fire, as it did against Italy, and then some, to be in with a shot.
Three consecutive single-figure scores across this tournament and the Sri Lanka series that preceded it leave Tom Banton searching for runs, particularly amid calls for Harry Brook to leapfrog him into the No. 4 spot. An unbeaten 54 in a Player-of-the-Match performance against Sri Lanka in the second of their three games in the lead-up suggests the touch is there. Now he must rediscover it at a time when his side needs it most.
Having managed just one run against West Indies as Munsey too departed cheaply after a promising start, Michael Jones further highlighted the importance of Scotland’s opening duo with a 30-ball 37 in a 126-run stand – Munsey struck 84 off 54 – that set up victory over Italy. With the quality of the opposition now magnified, it is imperative that he supports his partner with an even bigger contribution to a union that could prove critical in getting enough runs on the board against England.
England confirmed an unchanged XI on the eve of the match, with Jamie Overton preferred to Luke Wood in the attack.
England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (capt), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
Brad Wheal, who replaced Safyaan Sharif for the win over Italy, said Scotland had not made any decisions on their side.
Scotland: (possible) George Munsey, Michael Jones, Brandon McMullen, Richie Berrington (capt), Tom Bruce, Michael Leask, Matthew Cross (wk), Mark Watt, Oliver Davidson, Brad Wheal, Brad Currie
[Cricinfo]
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Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 13 October 2026
Issued at 2.00 p.m. on 12 October 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
A low-pressure area may form over the southeastern Bay of Bengal by 13 October.
Under the influence of this system, an increase in rainfall is expected over the island and the deep and shallow sea areas around the island during the next few days from tomorrow (13).
The general public, as well as the naval and fishing communities, are requested to be attentive to the future forecasts and bulletins issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.
Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces.
Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the other areas of the island. Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in the Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces during the early hours of the morning.
Maaz Sadaqat crashed 96 off 51,Sahibzada Farhan clobbered 73 off 44, and Pakistan scorched their way through the last 12 overs of their innings to mount a fearsome total of 215 for 3. Pakistan reaped 156 runs just in the last 12 overs of their innings, as a 73-run stand between Sadaqat and Farhan was followed by a manic 72-run partnership between Sadaqat and Hasan Nawaz.
Sri Lanka’s batting was woeful in response. They slumped to 64 for 5 by the 11th over, with none of their top seven managing to get to 30. They limped to 133 for 7, having had their hopes of leveling the series wrecked by quicks Mohammad Imran and Salman Mirza, who took five wickets between them.
Sadaqat propels Pakistan into the stratosphere
The openers had laid a decent platform with Pakistan having got to 55 for 1 by the end of the seventh over. But it was Sadaqat who injected the energy that truly set Pakistan on course to their mammoth total. Having gone at less than a run a ball in his first eight balls, Sadaqat unleashed a spectacular lofted square drive off Eshan Malinga to collect his first six, before pumping the same bowler down the ground later in the 10th over.
Sadaqat would go on to clobber six further sixes and five further fours. The big hits tended to come down the ground, while his fours were more square of the wicket. Of the 125 runs Pakistan plundered in the second half of their innings, 79 off 40 came from Sadaqat, who pummeled both pace and spin with equal relish. Off the sixteenth over, bowled by Maheesh Theekshana, Sadaqat thumped three sixes in the arc between long on and midwicket.
Sadaqat, whose previous top score in three T20Is had been 50, could have gone to triple figures off the last ball of the innings, but holed out to deep cover instead, unable to quite find the power to lift a Malinga slower ball over the ropes. He had utterly dominated the middle and late overs, however.
Farhan sets the tone
On another flat Rawalpindi deck, Farhan made the first big charge, although he waited until spin came on to really get into high gear. Theekshana was one of his main victims as well. Farhan’s first six came from a slog sweep off Theekshana in the seventh over, before he launched the same bowler over wide long on and cow corner off successive balls in the ninth over. Getting to his 12th T20I fifty off the 31st ball he faced, Farhan began to aim big blows off the seamers as well. He was caught at deep third off the bowling of Dasun Shanaka, in the 15th over.
Sri Lanka stumble in the powerplay
An excellent Salman Mirza bouncer took the glove of Lahiru Udara in the first over, ending the innings of one of Sri Lanka’s few form batters for a mere five runs. And although Sineth Jayawardena – playing his first international in a full-strength Sri Lanka side – hit three consecutive boundaries in the third over, Sri Lanka were unable to build up any momentum in the powerplay. By the end of the sixth over, they had laboured to 35 for 2.
Imran’s spell lights up the middle overs
A full house in Rawalpindi was treated to some excellent fast bowling by Imran, who finished with the game’s best figures of 3 for 11 from his four overs. Having got Jayawardena to top-edge a desperate pull shot at the end of his second over, Imran had Kusal Mendis caught behind off a slower delivery, before two balls later (a wide in between), he took Sahan Arachchige’s edge with a quick delivery angled across the left-hander. Wicketkeeper Khawaja Nafay made two diving grabs to convert these chances in the eighth over.
All through his unbroken spell, Sri Lanka’s batter struggled to so much as hit Imran off the square, despite the good batting conditions on offer. Imran mixed up his pace, frequently going to slower balls, but his line and length control were also excellent through the spell. When he finished his unbroken spell at the end of the 10th over, Sri Lanka’s required rate had climbed past 15.
Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Theekshana struck some late boundaries, but by the time they came to the crease, Sri Lanka did not have a realistic shot at levelling this series. They lost by 82 runs in the end.
Scores:
Pakistan 215 for 3 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 73, Fakhar Zaman 22, Maaz Sadaqat 96, Hasan Nawaz 19*; Maheesh Theekshana 1-55, Eshan Malinga 1-41,Dasun Shanaka 1-30) beat Sri Lanka 133 for 7 (Sineth Jayawardena 22, Kamnbdu Mendis 23, Chamindu Wickremasinghe 29, Maheesh Theekshana 32*; Salman Mirza 2=28, Mohammad Imran 3-11, Saim Ayub 1-19, Shadab Khan 1-19) by 82 runs
[Cricinfo]
At least 139 people, including 15 children, have died and 84 are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the United Nations migration agency.
In a statement on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) quoted survivors as saying that the incident happened near Guhere off Djibouti’s eastern coast in the Gulf of Aden near the Bab al-Mandeb strait from Thursday night to before dawn on Friday.
The boat was heading from Djibouti to Yemen with more than 300 people on board. More than 80 people – all Ethiopians – survived the shipwreck while Djiboutian search and rescue operations continued.
“Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance,” IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac said, lamenting the “devastating loss of life”.
That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves but they won’t be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the Associated Press.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities,” Coissac added.
[Aljazeera]
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Heavy showers about (100-150) mm are likely at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces
Elephant enrichment programme centred on the Thabbowa Reservoir proves successful
Showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva and North-Western provinces and in Anuradhapura and Mannar districts.
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