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New York, new challenges as Sri Lanka begin a long road
Puff of dust. Not on the pitch but on the outfield. That’s the first thing you notice about cricket at the Nassau County International Cricket Ground just outside New York City. The next thing you see is that the ball plugs in it. It doesn’t zip off like we are used to seeing in pretty standard conditions in cricket on TV these days. It is a sandy outfield where fielders won’t be queuing up to dive.
Then there is the drop-in pitch. In the warm-up game between India and Bangladesh held two days before the ground hosts its first World Cup match, the ball seamed around and also sat in the surface. Yet again, these are anything but standard conditions. And because of reasons not explained to the South Africa and Sri Lanka teams, they go into the match without any training session at the actual venue.
This is precisely why South Africa requested for at least a fielding session on the actual outfield after they were done with their nets at the Cantiague Park, another facility outside New York City. Even during the India-Bangladesh match, their coach Rob Walter and bowling coach Eric Simons made it a point to come to the venue and check the conditions out.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will visit the venue for the first time when they come in for the match. They even cancelled their nets session at the Cantiague Park. They have decided what they saw of the warm-up game on the TV is all they need to know. That is not as dramatic as it sounds because conditions are a little similar to Sri Lanka: sticky pitch, heavy outfield. That is what they have seen in their other practice sessions as well.
“First of all, we prepared really well,” Sri Lanka’s captain Wanidu Hasaranga said. “We came two weeks early to North Carolina, and we had practice sessions there. And we played two practice matches in Florida. And I think as a team, we prepared really well. And conditions are similar to Sri Lanka. So, I think as a team we have prepared really well.”
You can detect some sulkiness with Sri Lanka, though. Firstly, their flight into New York was delayed by seven hours. Then, unlike India and South Africa, they are staying in downtown Brooklyn, which makes it quite a trek to the ground. In fact when asked about adjusting to early-morning starts this World Cup – to cater to the TV audience in India – Hasaranga didn’t omit to mention the travel to the ground.
“No, if we played under lights, then we have to prepare, with the field and everything under the lights,” Hasaranga said when asked if they needed to make adjustments to early starts. “Then the only concern is we have to come early to the ground. We have to come at 7.30 in the morning because we are so far from the ground. It will take like one-and-a-half hours to the ground. That’s the only concern we have.”
Hasaranga is not incorrect. During the warm-up match, almost everyone had trouble getting to the ground with the police closing down the entrances to Eisenhower Park, which houses the stadium. Everyone is hopeful there is better co-ordination between the police and the ICC come match day when the roads will be closed at 7.30am for everyone except the team buses.
And then there is the frequent travel for them. Along with Netherlands, Sri Lanka are one of the only two teams that will play all their four first-round matches in four different venues. So they will be in a loop of match-travel-train-optional train-match through then first round.
We can sometimes not appreciate the small little challenges that can accumulate with these daily things. For example, when you are asked to train at another venue a day before the match, this is what happens: you load the cricket kits in the hotel at the team bus, then you unload them at the training facility, then you load again and go to your hotel, then you unload in the morning at the ground and load again because you have to travel immediately and don’t have the luxury of playing another match at the same venue.
South Africa were more philosophical with the logistical challenges that are part of coming to a new country, which on top of that is not used to hosting cricket, but they do get to play three matches in New York. Even they were bemused they had to train elsewhere. They didn’t know a reason why. Asked if they would have rather they trained at the venue of the match, their captain Aiden Markram said: “It’s hard to say because I’m not sure what [training facility] is there [at the venue of the match], because I haven’t been there. This facility is incredible to be honest, so we don’t mind training here either.”
[Cricinfo]
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself. Harry Brook, England’s captain, took matters into his own hands in Pallekele, promoting himself to No. 3 and blazing his maiden T20 international hundred to drag his team past Pakistan and into the semi-finals of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a game to spare, almost single-handedly.
Brook started the tournament, his first as captain, with 53 against Nepal but had been dismissed by spin for less than 20 for four innings in a row. His response was to move up two spots from No. 5 in order to bat in the powerplay, and he found himself walking out to face the second ball after Shaheen Shah Afridi – recalled by Pakistan – struck with the first ball of England’s chase.
Afridi took three wickets in the powerplay to check England’s progress, and Usman Tariq struck twice in the middle overs to reduce them to 58 for 4 and then 103 for 5. But Brook continued to flay Pakistan’s attack to all parts, reaching a 50-ball hundred by launching Afridi over cover for six and then over mid-off for four.
He was cleaned up one ball later by Afridi’s pinpoint yorker, but walked off to a standing ovation with England needing only 10 to win. They made hard work of it, gifting two wickets to Mohammad Nawaz to take the game into the 20th over, but Jofra Archer smeared Salman Mirza through midwicket as England’s dugout breathed a sigh of relief.
England’s win sealed their qualification for the semi-finals with a match to spare, and they will top the group if they can beat New Zealand in Colombo on Friday. They are yet to put a complete performance together and were shoddy in the field against Pakistan, but have now reached the semi-finals for a fifth men’s T20 World Cup in a row.
Pakistan, meanwhile, must beat Sri Lanka in their final group game and rely on other results falling their way. Despite Shahibzada Farhan’s impressive 63, they always look short on runs after they were bogged down by spin in the middle overs, with Liam Dawson’s 3 for 24 the outstanding performance among England’s attack.
Brief scores:
England 166 for 8 in 19.1 overs (Harry Brook 100, Sam Curran 16, Will Jacks 28; Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-30, Mohammad Nawaz 2-26, Usman Tarique 2-31) beat Pakistan 164 for 9 in 20 overs (Shahibzada Farhan 63, Babar Azam 25, Fakhar Zaman 25, Shadab Khan 23; Jofra Archer 2-32, Jamie Overton 2-26, Liam Dawson 3-24, Adil Rashid 1-31) by two wickets
(Cricinfo)
A major storm hit the US east coast on Monday, bringing record-breaking snow that caused disruptions for millions and thousands of flight cancellations.
Parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts have seen nearly 37in (94cm) of snowfall, with more than 19in in New York City’s Central Park, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Weather warnings stretched from North Carolina to northern Maine, with some in place further north in parts of eastern Canada.
More than 600,000 properties on the US east coast endured power outages, while the Boston Globe – a major US newspaper – said it will not go to print for the first time in its 153-year history due to the storm.
(BBC)
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Fair weather will prevail except for showers in the Southern province and in Rathnapura, Monaragala and Kaluthara districts after 2.00 p.m
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