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Mathews on Sri Lanka’s exit: ‘We’ve let the entire nation down’
Angelo Mathews issued an apology to Sri Lanka on behalf of his team-mates on Saturday, saying they were “heartbroken” to have “let the entire nation down”. Their group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup 2024 was confirmed when Bangladesh beat Netherlands in St Vincent on Thursday.
Sri Lanka lost both of their completed matches at the T20 World Cup, against South Africa in New York and Bangladesh in Dallas, and had their fixture against Nepal washed out in Florida on Tuesday. Their early elimination means it is now a decade since they have reached the semi-finals of a men’s T20 World Cup.
Their tournament has been characterized by logistical challenges. Along with Netherlands, they were one of two teams scheduled to play their group games at four different venues, leading their spinner Maheesh Theekshana to complain the fixture list was “so unfair”. But Mathews, the most senior player in Sri Lanka’s squad played down their impact.
“We’ve let the entire nation down and we are really sorry because we’ve let ourselves down. We never expected this,” Mathews said. “We came across a lot of challenges but those are not something to worry about. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t make the second round.”
Sri Lanka face Netherlands in St Lucia on Sunday night in a match that is a dead-rubber for them. Netherlands can still qualify for the Super Eight but are reliant on Nepal securing their first-ever win against a full-member team in Bangladesh, and also need to leapfrog Bangladesh on net run rate.
“We can’t take any given team lightly,” Mathews said ahead of Sunday’s match. “We saw Nepal almost beat South Africa yesterday. It’s unfortunate that our Nepal game was washed out, but it is what it is. We have just one more game in the tournament and we’ll play for our pride.
“We haven’t done justice to ourselves, especially the way we played in the first two games, so it’s very unfortunate. We are heartbroken, and we are hurting so much within ourselves. But it’s another day tomorrow and then we have to come up against the Netherlands, and the Netherlands are a very, very dangerous team. So, we hope to play well and beat them.”
Sri Lanka came into the T20 World Cup after three consecutive T20I series wins since December and Mathews said it was frustrating to have unperformed. “That’s something we regret because the way we played Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh in Bangladesh, I thought we didn’t do justice to our capabilities in this tournament.
“When you come into a World Cup, you can’t take any team lightly but unfortunately, the way we played against those teams just before the World Cup, and then once we came back here and the way we played, obviously the wickets were quite different but we didn’t do justice to ourselves.”
Mathews, now 37, also said that on the personal front, he had made no hard decisions on his white-ball future. He has been a consistent presence in the Test side over the past few years, but had been dropped from the limited-overs teams until the current selection committee brought him back.
It is possible he will be available for the next T20 World Cup in 2026, which Sri Lanka will co-host. But it is also possible this match against Netherlands will be his last in T20 World Cups.
“I play every game as if its my last game,” Mathews said. “Nothing in life is certain. I’m trying to do whatever I can for the team. I don’t have big hopes about the next game, or the next series. I have some time to think about all those things and make a decision. From my side I haven’t settled on anything. The selectors’ opinions are needed, more than mine. I’m playing because of the love I have for the sport – whether that’s for the national team or my club team.”
[Cricinfo]
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) biggest port and oil storage facility, Fujairah, and Dubai’s international airport have come under further drone attacks as Iran continues to target Gulf transport and oil infrastructure.
Flights were temporarily suspended on Monday after a fire broke out near the airport after a “drone-related incident”.
A fire also raged after a drone attack on the strategically important port and industrial zone at Fujairah, one of the largest oil storage facilities in the region.
And a rocket attack on a car killed a Palestinian national on the outskirts of the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, the city’s Media Office reported.
The attack occurred in the Al Bahia area, it said.
UAE air defence systems intercepted six ballistic missiles and 21 drones on Monday, the Defence Ministry said. Iran has launched over 1,900 missiles and drones at the UAE since the war between the US and Israel, and Iran, began.
Monday’s drone strike was the third incident since the start of the war near Dubai’s airport, which is the world’s busiest for international passengers.
Some flights were delayed, while others were cancelled altogether, in another hit to the UAE’s image of safety and stability.
The country’s energy sector came under attack as a drone hit an oil storage tanker on Saturday, and another drone hit the oil facilities on Monday, causing a fire.
Oil loading activities at the port were halted for a time while damage assessments were carried out.
Fujairah sits on the UAE’s eastern coast, on the Gulf of Oman – rather than the Persian Gulf – and so vessels do not need to navigate the Strait of Hormuz to reach it.
The location means the port plays a “crucial” role in “helping keep global supplies moving” when the Strait of Hormuz is blocked by Iran, Dubai-based Justin Harper, editor of CEO Middle East – who regularly speaks to Dubai’s oil industry executives – told the BBC.
“If tensions with Iran disrupt the chokepoint, the UAE can still export oil through Fujairah via pipelines from the oilfields in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
The port city is “ideally placed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz”, said Dubai-based oil analyst Matt Stanley, who works for commodities data provider Kpler.
“The UAE’s state oil company Adnoc have their oil tankers there, it is crude grade oil which is what the Asian buyers want.”
Iran hitting a storage tanker and oil facilities at Fujairah “shows the vulnerability of Gulf infrastructure”, Stanley told the BBC.
“Iran wants to disrupt the flow of energy”.
The port city is close to India and the “first stop out of the Middle East on the way to Singapore and China”, Stanley said.
“Fujairah is on the old Silk Road, the maritime route, and it picked up a lot of business bunkering – that is providing fuel, food, water – for container ships that have been at sea for 25 or 30 days.”
Fujairah is like a “huge vending machine” for ships, Stanley added.
Despite the attacks on Dubai, Harper says the business community there is “resilient”. Restaurants have been offering deals to get people back into restaurants and “the malls still seem to be busy”. People “underestimate Dubai and its ability to survive a downturn”, he added.
Last week the UAE’s Minister of State Lana Nusseibeh vowed in a BBC interview that her country would bounce back from the conflict, insisting that its economy was “resilient”.
(BBC)
As a key frontline stakeholder in the national mission, ‘A Nation United,’ the Navy continues to conduct maritime operations in the waters surrounding the island, in coordination with other law enforcement agencies.
During a recent successful operation on the high seas south of Sri Lanka, the Navy intercepted a local multi-day fishing trawler and apprehended five suspects (05) in connection with the smuggling of a stock of suspected drugs.
During a special inspection at the Dickowita fisheries harbour today (16 Mar26), the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) confirmed the presence of over one hundred and thirty-three (133)
kilograms of heroin.
The Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd), accompanied by the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda, was present in Dickowita to inspect the seized items.
Addressing the media, the Deputy Minister stated that the tri-forces, particularly the Navy, along with the Coast Guard, Police, and other law enforcement agencies, are executing the
government’s vision for national security. He noted that the recent naval operation in the southern seas, which seized a large consignment of narcotics and weapons, demonstrates the government’s success in combating criminal networks involved in narcotics, arms and human trafficking.
He added that such successful outcomes result from the Navy’s meticulous planning, surveillance, intelligence analysis, and inter-agency coordination. He affirmed that no leniency will be shown to drug trafficking networks, and conveyed admiration, on behalf of the President, for the distinctive contribution made by the Sri Lanka Navy, in collaboration with other stakeholders,
towards ensuring public safety and protecting the younger generation from the menace of drugs.
Highlighting the scale of the Navy’s impact, he revealed that naval operations in 2025 seized narcotics valued over Rs. 75 billion, and operations so far in 2026 have seized over Rs. 20 billion worth of drugs.
The Deputy Minister warned that traffickers are increasingly using the guise of legitimate fishing activities to smuggle narcotics. Besides, he emphasized that the responsibility lies not only with law enforcement agencies but with all sectors of society to eradicate the networks associated with drug trafficking. He issued a firm directive to traffickers, dealers, and distributors to “quit,” asserting that there is no loophole, whether by sea or air, that the security forces cannot close. He
further urged drug users to abandon this destructive habit.
He announced plans for legal amendments to impose stricter penalties for drug offenses. Noting that law enforcement agencies have operational autonomy, he appealed to the public to report information on drug trafficking to hotlines 1818 and 1997.
He also commended the media for their responsible reporting in educating the public on the drug menace.
The trawler, the suspects, the communication equipment and the stock of narcotics held in this operation were handed over to the PNB for onward investigation and legal proceedings.
Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been cleared to host IPL 2026 after a government-appointed Expert Committee approved the venue for use on Monday.
The immediate implication is that Chinnaswamy – scheduled to host the season opener between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 28 – will also stage one playoff game and the final, in keeping with the tradition of the defending champions hosting the title clash.
A committee, appointed by Karnataka’s home minister G Parameshwara, conducted a thorough review of the stadium premises on Friday. The day-long audit involved several checks for structural compliance as well as measures taken to enhance crowd control around the venue.
On Monday, the final nod was given following a meeting between the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) officials, RCB’s top brass as well as members of the expert committee, chaired by G Maheshwar Rao.
The Chinnaswamy will host five RCB home games, while two others will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium in Raipur, as per a pre-arranged agreement between the franchise and the Chhattisgarh government.
RCB has committed to engaging with KSCA to roll out digital QR coded tickets as one of several measures to tackle overcrowding around the venue. They have also partnered with the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) to ensure hassle-free travel.
The metro services will be extended until 1am on match days, while ticketing formalities are being worked out. It’s likely those with match tickets can travel free of cost. BMRCL is also likely to increase frequency of trains on all routes to prevent overcrowding.
As for structural measures, the KSCA have increased the number of entry points by constructing six new gates around the Chinnaswamy, while widening existing entry gates. The old NCA premises had also been equipped with ramps and tarpaulin sheets to become a holding area for fans, as they make their way towards their respective stands.
The Bengaluru police and the KSCA are working to ensure Cubbon Road – which runs alongside the main entrance of the venue – will be cleared for vehicular movement at specific intervals on match days.
The IPL has announced the schedule only for the first two weeks of the competition in 2026. In the first leg, KSCA will host one more game (apart from the opener)on April 5, involving RCB and Chennai Super Kings.
Chinnaswamy last hosted a competitive fixture during IPL 2025. Since then, the venue has been mired in controversy following the death of 11 fans during RCB’s victory celebrations on June 3.
All of KSCA’s structural changes to comply with short-term measures recommended by the expert committee have happened in two months, following the December elections where Venkatesh Prasad, the former India fast bowler, assumed office after winning a tense election.
The stadium will now officially be handed over to the IPL franchise and their event management partners, DNA Entertainment. RCB are yet to announce sale of tickets officially. That process is expected to begin later this week.
[Cricinfo]
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