Dasun Shanaka will be Sri Lanka’s T20I captain until the end of the forthcoming T20 World Cup. The move to replace Charith Asalanka as captain in the format had been bloated by the previous selection committee under Upul Tharanga, whose term expired this month. But new chief selector Pramodya Wickramasinghe confirmed that Shanaka would lead the team as he announced the preliminary squad for the tournament.

“We decided that Dasun Shanaka should be captain until the end of the World Cup, after talking to head coach Sanath Jayasuriya as well,” Wickramasinghe said on Friday. “The previous committee had chosen a list of 25 players. We spoke to Jerome Jayaratne, the head of the high performance, as well as Sanath Jayasuriya. We decided to announce that same 25 as a preliminary squad for the World Cup.”

“We are looking at Dasun as an allrounder. We’ll have to talk to Sanath Jayasuriya and work out what is required of him.”

Shanaka had been made stand-in captain for the tri-series in Pakistan last month, after Asalanka was sent home from that tour to recover from an illness, although standard protocol is to keep unwell players within the team for a minor illness of the kind Asalanka had. Sri Lanka had lost to Zimbabwe through the course of that tournament, but managed to earn qualification for the final, in which they were comfortably defeated by Pakistan.

“For now we’ve got to continue with what the previous committee was doing,” Wickramasinghe said. “They had been following a plan. If I were to come in and change a lot of things, that would not be ideal. My plan is to keep this team together for the World Cup, and then see how best we can build after that.”

Although sacked as captain, a job he had been doing since the last World Cup in mid-2024, Asalanka remains in the squad. It has been his modest form in the format that had helped prompt his ouster. Asalanka had hit 156 runs at a strike rate of 122 from 12 innings this year, and he has not had a history of being an outstanding T20I batter, with his overall strike rate at 126. He remains among the new selectors plans, according to Wickramasinghe.

The preliminary squad also opened the door for the return of Niroshan Dickwella, who last played for Sri Lanka back in March 2023, and that in Tests. But Wickramasinghe said the wider squad wanted for a top order batter who could keep wickets, which has seen Dickwella come back into contention.

Sri Lanka preliminary World Cup squad:
Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Janith Liyanage, Charith Asalanka, Kamindu Mendis, Pavan Rathnayake, Sahan Arachchige, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Milan Rathnayake, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Pramod Madushan, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushan Hemantha, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Traveen Mathew.

[Cricinfo]

Devon Conway brought up a double-century and pushed New Zealand into such a strong position in Mount Maunganui that they actually got carried away with it.

With their fifth-highest Test total at home – 575 for 8 declared – on their back, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes and Michael Rae ran in expecting wickets to tumble. They bowled far too full and were taken for far too many and, as a result, both teams have now wasted the new ball on a green pitch.

West Indies were flying – 88 in 15 overs – with 13 fours coming in that time. That’s not including ten wides. Brandon King and Johm Campbell did not bat like they had been weighed down by 155 overs in the field or the 500-plus deficit. They focused on playing late, playing straight and were still alert enough to punish an overly enthusiastic New Zealand attack.

West Indies go into the third day still trailing by 465 but in games like these you can’t look at the scoreboard too much. You just put your head down and keep going. That’s what King and Campbell did to produce their first century partnership as an opening pair, and only the sixth in the last 11 years for West Indies. King even had time to bring up a fifty, his second in Test cricket.

Such treats were on offer on day one too, only New Zealand were at the other end now. Twenty-four hours has produced a sea change with the visitors also finding their discipline with the ball.

Justin Greaves set up Kane Williamson beautifully to dismiss one of the best batters in the world for just 31 and Roston Chase bowled 25 overs unchanged from morning drinks to cover for the loss of Kemar Roach to a hamstring injury. Shai Hope is of more pertinent concern because he spent the entire day at the hotel unwell and might not be allowed to bat at his usual No. 4 spot.

Ojay Shields and Tagenarine Chanderpaul were carrying niggles as well so when Greaves had to step away for a bit in the second session, West Indies had no subs left and had to rope in local Tauranga boy, 19-year-old Sebastian Heath, who is also registered with the Denmark cricket team, to field for them.

Given all these handicaps, the seven wickets West Indies took on Friday, the composure that followed with the bat, and the fact that they have all their run-scoring resources in hand for when the pitch flattens out were unlikely but hard-earned outcomes.

Greaves may just have heralded that with his extraction of Williamson, where he beat the outside edge several times, the batter struggling to come to terms with the pace of his own home ground. With the pressure sufficiently built, Greaves dangled the bait wide outside off stump and Williamson couldn’t resist having a go. He threw his head back – but dared not look back – when he heard the nick go through to the keeper. This was what was missing from West Indies on day one when Conway and Tom Latham cruised to 323 for 0. The ability to hold a line and length and build up to a wicket.

West Indies allowed only one man to score more than fifty runs on the second day – Rachin Ravindra making 72 not out. It was a much more appropriate outcome given the conditions. Balls on a good length continued to misbehave. Jayden Seales hitting more or less that area against Conway, batting on a double-century, had the batter recoiling as one kicked up alarmingly.

The opening batter’s wicket – for 227 – was the result of another ball nipping in and keeping low to trap him lbw. There is still help for the bowlers out there, just that their margin of error is small. When they focus outside the 6m length, the pitch speeding up has made hitting through the line easy.

Conway was tiring at the end of his 508-minute innings. West Indies’ bowlers were right there with him. Seales had roused himself to go one-on-one against Daryl Mitchell. He was emotional enough to curse so loud it was caught on the stump mic when Greaves put down a straightforward catch off Mitchell at second slip in the 127th over. He has six wickets at an average of 50.33 on this tour. He’s bowled better than that.

Day three will bring different challenges. Chase’s offbreaks were already getting grip and turn and bounce. Ajaz Patel will have a lot to say and this match remains interestingly poised, not to mention one of a kind – the first in New Zealand history to include two century opening stands in the first innings.

Brief scores: [Day 2 Stumps]
West Indies 110 for 0 in 23 overs (Brandon King 55*, John Campbell 45*) trail New Zealand 575 for 8 dec in 155 overs (Devon Conway 227, Tom Latham 137, Rachin Ravindra 72*; Jayden Seales 2-100, Anderson Phillip 2-154,  Justin Greaves 2-83) by 465 runs

[Cricinfo]