Sports
Malan, Moeen headline England’s series-clinching win
After Dawid Malan’s 114-ball 127 had set England up towards a competitive score, Moeen Ali (4-50) led a strong bowling performance from the hosts as they recorded a comfortable 100-run win against New Zealand in the final game of the four-match ODI series. By virtue of this result, England sealed the series 3-1 with a remarkable turnaround, having been 0-1 down in the series initially.
The target of 312 was always going to be difficult on a slowing Lord’s surface and New Zealand needed a strong start in the first PowerPlay to be in the hunt. Unfortunately, Devon Conway had another failure, falling to a clumsy run out and Will Young failed to convert yet another start in the series. England’s bowlers were disciplined and stuck to the basics by bowling nagging lines and lengths. Henry NIcholls was the only top order batter to get some rhythm into his innings but the pressure mounted from the other end with his partners unable to get the scoreboard ticking.
Once the ball got older, Moeen along with Liam Livingstone put the squeeze on the scoring rate. The former was eventually rewarded with the big scalps of New Zealand skipper Tom Latham and Nicholls. Glenn Phillips fell soon and the chase went downward from there. At no point did New Zealand seem like they had any control in the chase and as the wickets kept falling, the result was a foregone conclusion long before the game officially ended. Rachin Ravindra, who earlier took a four-fer with the ball, threw his bat around for his maiden fifty but that only served to reduce the margin of defeat.
Earlier in the day, Malan’s century shone bright amidst an otherwise inconsistent batting performance from England. The southpaw opener seemed the most comfortable batter from the hosts line-up on a two-paced surface and his knock held the innings together even as his partners failed to kick on with their starts. Joe Root and Jos Buttler supported Malan in valuable partnerships but neither were at their fluent best. Root, in particular, looked unusually edgy in the middle and his wicket came at a time when he was just starting to find his tempo. Buttler also fell at a critical juncture when England were set to hit top gear.
New Zealand were dented very early in the innings with a spate of injuries in the opening hour and Tim Southee was the biggest of the casualties. The veteran pacer didn’t return to bowl after the initial four-over burst while Daryl Mitchell and Ben Lister also got injured later on. The left-arm seamer also was unable to finish his full quota as the visitors grappled with their support bowlers to get through the innings. Latham used his resources well and a slowing surface allowed him to bowl more of Mitchell who scalped a couple of wickets as well.
England were never able to get that final flurry to the innings as they kept losing wickets and even the set batters like Liam Livingstone were unable to force the pace. To their credit, New Zealand’s bowlers stuck to their guns despite limited resources and Ravindra’s four-fer was the most crucial spell of them all.
After having suffered a beating in the previous game, the youngster showed admirable resolve in his spell and used the conditions to good effect. Once Malan fell, England lost the plot and if not for the David Willey-Brydon Carse cameos, would have finished under the 300-run mark. As it turned out, the score proved to be more than enough.
Brief scores:
England 311/9 in 50 overs (Dawid Malan 127; Rachin Ravindra 4-60) beat New Zealand 211 in 38.2 overs (Rachin Ravindra 61, Henry Nicholls 41; Moeen Ali 4-50) by 100 runs
(Cricbuzz)
No Riyan Parag? No Ravindra Jadeja? No fast start for Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi? No problem for Rajasthan Royals (RR) as they hunted down 221 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and moved up to No.4 on the points table. If RR also win their final league game against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, they will firm up their playoffs spot, irrespective of other results.
In RR’s chase of 221, Sooryavanshi got off to an unusually slow start – he was on 11 off 12 balls at one point. After watching his opening partner and RR stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal dominate the powerplay, Sooryavanshi cranked up to top gear when he lined up left-arm seamer Akash Singh for two sixes and three fours in the ninth over. He then went on a more familiar six-hitting spree and by the time he was dismissed for 93 off 38 balls in the 14th over, he extended his sixes tally in IPL 2026 to 53. Only Chris Gayle has smashed more sixes in an IPL season, back in 2012 when Sooryavanshi was a year old.
Dhruv Jurel sealed the chase for RR with a calm fifty in the company of Donnovan Ferreira.
Jofra Archer ran in hard and hit the Jaipur deck harder, but even his extreme pace and bounce wasn’t going to bother Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis, the Western Australia boys. In the first over, Marsh advanced down the track, manufactured swinging room and flayed Archer for a four and a six over the covers.
Inglis was more fluent square of the wicket or behind square. He scooped Archer over short fine leg for four in the third over and by the end of the powerplay, LSG racked up 83 for 0. Four of LSG’s top-five powerplay scores in the IPL have come in this season. RR’s attack, meanwhile, went wicketless in the powerplay for a fourth successive game.
Wristspinner Yash Raj Punja bowled the first boundary-less over in the first innings. In the 13th over, he conceded only seven runs to go with the wicket of Nicholas Pooran (16). That over triggered a passage of play where LSG went 22 without a boundary. Earlier, he had stopped LSG’s opening stand at 109 in the ninth over when he tossed up a wrong’un on an in-between length and bowled Inglis for 60 off 29 balls. Punja returned figures of 4-0-35-2, demonstrating why RR trusted him and promoted him into their main squad after he was a net bowler with the side in the previous season.
Marsh brought up his fifty off 25 balls, but could manage only 43 off his last 32 balls on the day. The lack of pace from Punja, Sandeep Sharma and Dasun Shanaka slowed him down. “To be honest, felt like torture out there,” Marsh summed up the back-end of his innings. He suggested that he may have left a few boundaries out there.
Marsh, Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni all departed in the final over of the innings, bowled by Archer, which cost RR only five runs.
RR came out swinging in the powerplay in the chase, but it was Jaiswal, and not Sooryavanshi, who was doing most of the swinging during that phase. He was responsible for 39 of the 71 runs RR scored in the powerplay. Jaiswal latched onto anything that was remotely wide of off. His four fours off Akash in a 23-run first over, bowled by Akash, set the tone for the chase.
By the end of the powerplay, Sooryavanshi was on 25 off 16 balls, which was measured by his standards. All of 15, he had the maturity that he could catch up on a pitch where the ball came onto the bat nicely. He reached his half-century off 23 balls with a reverse-sweep and threatened to convert it into a century until Mohsin Khan stopped him. He finished with a strike rate of almost 245.
Prince Yadav, who had earned a call-up to India’s ODI squad earlier in the day, was pumped for back-to-back sixes. The other Yadav – Mayank – wasn’t spared either, with the teenage phenom launching him for back-to-back sixes in the next over.
Sooryavanshi holed out while attempting his 11th six, but by then he had snatched the Orange Cap from Marsh. Jurel then anchored the chase while Ferreira applied the finishing touches.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 225 for 3 in 19.1 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 43, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 93, Dhruv Jurel 53*, Donovan Fereira 16*; Akash Singh 1-54, Mohsin Khan 1-31) beat Lucknow Super Giants 220 for 5 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 96, Josh Inglis 60, Nicholas Pooran 16, Rishabh Pant 35; Jofra Archer 1-39, Yash Raj Punja 2-35) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
The Sri Lanka women’s volleyball team, powered by Dialog Axiata is set to depart the country today to compete in the 2026 Central Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship, which will be held from 22 to 29 May with the participation of eight nations from across the region.
The tournament will be played in two preliminary groups, with the Sri Lankan side, captained by Ashani Chamodika, drawn in Group ‘B’ alongside Kazakhstan, Iran and Bangladesh. Group ‘A’ will feature India, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives and hosts Nepal.
Sri Lanka Head Coach Amila Wijepala believes the team is well prepared to face the challenge despite being drawn in a highly competitive group.
“Our group is comparatively more challenging than Group ‘A’. Kazakhstan recently secured third place at the Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship after defeating China, making them our toughest challenge. We are confident of overcoming Bangladesh, while I also believe our players possess the ability to defeat Iran. Our objective is to win at least two matches and qualify for the semi-finals,” he said.
Vice President of the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation, Mahinda Bandara, expressed confidence in the squad and praised the players for their commitment during the preparation period.
“We are fielding a very strong side for this tournament. The players have undergone close to two months of residential training at the Watupitiwala Indoor Stadium. We are grateful to the Ministry of Sports for its invaluable assistance in facilitating this tour. We also sincerely appreciate the continued sponsorship and commitment shown by Dialog Axiata towards Sri Lanka’s national sport and this international campaign,” he said.
The Sri Lanka squad for the Central Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship includes high-ball hitters Dilukshi Harshani, Nimeshika Sewwandi, Preethika Pramodani, Timi Mary, Arana Sanjeewani and Shalu Thilakshana. Short-ball hitters are Sanjeewani Karunaratne, Dilki Nethsara, Sesandi Ruwanya and Piumi Bhashini.
Naduni Nimansala and Kavindi Asanthika will serve as liberos, while captain Ashani Chamodika and Dilki Charuka have been named as setters.
The support staff includes Head Coach Amila Wijepala, Assistant Coach Udaya Rukmal, Trainer Upendra Perera, Women’s Team Officer Renuka Nilmini and Team Manager Mahesh Kariyawasam.
15TH STAFFORD MOTORS – MCA G DIVISION T20 LEAGUE CRICKET TOURNAMENT
Dayan Indunil starred with both bat and ball [86 off 48 balls and 4-10 in 4 overs] to power Brandix Apparel to a 70 run win over Stafford Motors at the Nalanda College grounds on Sunday [17] and qualify for the final of the Stafford Motors sponsored MCA G division T20 cricket tournament.
Invited to bat first on a cloudy day, Brandix were 108/1 at the halfway stage of their innings but were unable to keep up the run rate after the fall of the second wicket and were bowled out for 151. Chasing 152 to qualify for the final, Stafford Motors fell victim to the Brandix bowlers led by Dayan Indunil and Sampath Jayalath and were bowled out for 81 runs in 14.3 overs.
Brandix will meet Maliban Biscuits ‘B’ at the MCA ground next Sunday for the final.
Brief scores:
Brandix Apparel
151/10 in 19.1 overs [Dayan Indunil 86, Sampath Jayalath 14, Sasitha Ashan 13; Janith Maduwantha 3-29, Shanaka Sampath 2-25, Vihanga Malith 1-36, Sanjaya Fernando 1-17, Asanka Kumarage 3-20]
Stafford Motors
81/10 in 14.3 overs [Gajindu Yasas 24, Vihanga Malith 10, Vishwa Rajapaksha 27; Janaka Weerapokuna 1-20, Dayan Indunil 4-10, Sampath Jayalath 3-18, Akila Dhanuddara 2-14]
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