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Labuschagne, Marsh lead Australia’s fightback on rain-curtailed day
As expected, rain had a major say on the fourth day at Old Trafford with two sessions fully washed out. After a long wait, play finally had gotten underway during what would normally be the second hour of the post-lunch session. When play resumed, the odds were heavily stacked against Australia, more so the overnight pair of Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Marsh. To their credit, the duo weathered the storm rather solidly, negotiating whatever England threw at them with calm.
A lot of the initial phase was about defiance but Marsh did surprise some with an attacking shot early, a nonchalant drop-kick that wasn’t all that far away from Moeen Ali who ran to his left from deep square leg. That apart, the partnership was mostly compact in their shot selection and gave England very few chances when together. Labuschagne gradually started flowing in terms of run-scoring even as Marsh dug deep at the other end.
A moral victory of sorts came for the pair when, after about 90 minutes of play, the umpires told Ben Stokes that England couldn’t operate their pacers anymore due to fading light. It meant that spin had to be bowled from both ends and Moeen came in, as did Joe Root. It allowed Labuschagne to up a gear as he eased towards a well-deserved Test ton, his second overseas. However, it was spin that would eventually break the partnership.
Shortly after completing his century, Labuschagne appeared to be a tad lazy against Root who was getting some bite off the dry Old Trafford surface, constantly threatening the outside and inside edges. His arm-ball in particular had a bit of fizz about it and that’s what got Labuschagne, whose half-hearted late cut ended up as a bottom-edge which Jonny Bairstow pouched on the rebound. It wasn’t given on-field but Bairstow egged Stokes to review and was proven right.
Cameron Green appeared a bit shaky, particularly against spin, and also survived a review at the stroke of Tea. Meanwhile, Marsh has looked quite flawless at the other end although spin is starting to have a say on this tired surface. England would have fancied to have a few more overs of spin in the final session but that wasn’t to be as the rain returned to wash out the remainder of the day.
The weather forecast for the final day is just as ominous as it was for the fourth day, if not worse. England will hope that they get at least a session like they did today or more as they seek to gun down the remaining five wickets. As for Australia, they showed a lot of fight today in the 30 overs that they had to face but will need to do a lot more of that on a wearing surface, if weather and light permits.
Brief scores:
Australia 317 (Mitchell Marsh 51, Marnus Labuschagne 51; Chris Woakes 5-62) and 214/5 (Marnus Labuschagne 111, Mitchell Marsh 31*; Mark Wood 3-27) trail England 592 (Zak Crawley 189, Jonny Bairstow 99*, Joe Root 84; Josh Hazlewood 5-126) by 61 runs
In the recent past, factors such as population growth, expansion of development activities, and deforestation in Sri Lanka have resulted in the loss of traditional migratory routes and the destruction of habitats of wild elephants.
Consequently, a continuous and rapid escalation of the human-elephant conflict has been observed over a long period, spanning 19 out of the 25 districts and 134 out of the 341 Divisional Secretariat Divisions in the country.
According to the wild elephant census conducted in 2024, the wild elephant population in the country is estimated to be approximately 7,450. It is reported that the human-elephant
conflict accounts for a significant number of human fatalities and wild elephant deaths annually.
Furthermore, over a thousand incidents of property damage caused by wild elephants are recorded each year.
Although a ‘National Action Plan to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict in Sri Lanka’ was formulated in 2020, the dynamics of the current human-elephant conflict have evolved substantially since then, necessitating the formulation of a new national action plan.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Environment to take the necessary steps to draft a new National Action Plan for Human-Elephant Conflict Management.
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Cabinet green light to host 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum – Asia and Pacific Regions from 23 – 26 June in Sri Lanka
Hosting the 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum – Asia and Pacific Regions in Sri Lanka
An invitation has been extended to Sri Lanka to host two major regional aviation security summits: the 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific (CASP-AP) and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum (RASCF).
The Steering Committee of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific serves as the primary decision-making body for the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) cooperative aviation security program in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sri Lanka is scheduled to assume the chairmanship of the said Steering Committee for the 2026-2027 term during this summit.
The Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum for the Asia and Pacific regions serves as a regional platform to deliberate on emerging threats, the implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), capacity-building activities, and coordination among member states and international
organizations.
Approximately 80 delegates, including representatives from 41 member states, international organizations, and observers, are expected to participate in these two summits.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation to host the 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific on the 23rd and 24th of June 2026, and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum – Asia and Pacific Regions on the 25th and 26th of June 2026 in Sri Lanka.
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Committee to examine the feasibility of operating all functions related to the Employees’ Provident Fund and the Employees’ Trust Fund under an integrated governance framework
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Labour to appoint a Committee comprising Senior Officials to examine the feasibility and submit recommendations on bringing all operations of the Employees’
Provident Fund and the Employees’ Trust Fund under an integrated governance framework managed by a tripartite board representing the Government, employers, and employees.
This initiative aims to align with international best practices while ensuring comprehensive legal and financial security for the assets of the members
Complaint of custodial deaths and torture submitted to UN
India provides military stores worth USD 5.5 mn to SL
India promotes INR-LKR settlement mechanism
UK Trade Envoy here for high-level trade and investment engagements
Govt. failure to fill top two courts’ vacancies leaves Judiciary in a conundrum
UNDP, Central Bank deepen financial literacy drive to build economic resilience
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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