Sports
Nissanka wants to be best batter in the world
Rex Clementine in Dambulla
Having rewritten the record books during the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka’s opening batter Pathum Nissanka says he wants to go on to become the best batsman in the world. Nissanka during the first ODI had become the first Sri Lankan to score a double hundred in ODI cricket and in the process broke Sanath Jayasuriya’s long-standing record for most runs in an ODI innings.
The right-handed batsman during Wednesday’s 3-0 sweep went on to become the fastest Sri Lankan to 2000 ODI runs reaching the milestone in 52 innings. Upul Tharanga had got there in 63 innings.
Nissanka’s tally of 346 runs in the series is also the highest by a Sri Lankan beating Roshan Mahanama’s 267 against Zimbabwe in 1994. It’s the fourth-highest aggregate in a series by a player from any country.
“I would like to be the best batsman in the world. I will do my best to achieve that. I have a few targets but don’t want to reveal them. I will keep it to myself,” Nissanka told journalists after being named Player of the Series.
“I had a dream to score a double hundred one day. Didn’t think I could do that this early in my career. Very pleasing. Great support from the team. I want to minimize my mistakes and keep improving. Thilina Kandamby our batting coach has come up with some fresh ideas that’s helped me.”
With former captain Sanath Jayasuriya holding a key position in cricket administration, a lot of changes have been going on with cricket structure and one of them is playing on good surfaces. Head Coach Chris Silverwood had welcomed the move during the series and Nissanka joined him after the 3-0 sweep.
“These are very good wickets that we are playing on. We didn’t get these kinds of surfaces to bat on previously. It improves the batsmen’s game and bowlers too learn to bowl on these types of wickets and it’s a good thing moving forward.”
Now a permanent fixture in the white ball side, Nissanka wants to earn back his Test slot having lost it to Nishan Madushka. “I prefer Test cricket most. If I get another chance I would like to grab that opportunity from both hands.”
The teams have now moved to Dambulla where the three-match T-20 series will take place.
Substitute wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil had dropped Najmul Hossain Shanto on 21, Mohammad Nabi had put Mehidy Hasan Miraz down on 1, Gulbadin Naib had seen the ball slip through his hands with Mehidy on 4, and Afghanistan had burned both their reviews. At the halfway mark of their chase, Bangladesh were 118 away from their target of 236 and had eight wickets in hand.
What followed was chaos, as AM Ghanzafar sent back one Bangladesh batter after another. From 120 for 2 in the 26th over, Bangladesh lost 8 for 23 to get bowled out inside the 35th over and lost by 92 runs. Ghazanfar finished with a career-best 6 for 26, while Rashid Khan bagged two wickets, as Afghanistan’s spinners ran through Bangladesh.
It was Mohammad Nabi though, who started the slide. In a field change that turned out to be a moment of brilliance, he kept square leg vacant and added a second slip for Shanto. Bangladesh’s captain was tempted immediately, and went sweeping at a length ball slightly wide of off stump. He reached out to paddle sweep, and the top edge popped up for Hashmatullah Shahidi to catch on the fourth attempt at short fine leg.
That broke a 55-run stand between Shanto, who made 47, and Mehidy. The wicket slowed Bangladesh down, and five overs later, in the 31st, Mehidy fell to a terrific catch from Azmatullah Omarzai, again at short fine leg, running across to his left before diving to complete the take. That was Ghazanfar’s second wicket – he had earlier bowled Tanzid Hasan in the fourth over – and that almost flicked a switch in him.
Come the 33rd over, he had Mushfiqur Rahim stumped, Rishad Hossain lbw, and Taskin Ahmed bowled – all off carrom balls. In the over before that, Rashid’s googly had cleaned Mahmudullah up. By this stage, the only matter of interest was if Ghazanfar would complete his hat-trick after having got Rishad and Tasking off successive deliveries to end the over. Bangladesh had two wickets standing, and Rashid cleaned Towhid Hridoy up with another googly.
Ghazanfar couldn’t get the hat-trick at the start of the 35th over, but two balls later had Shoriful Islam bowled to wrap up a dramatic win.
Afghanistan’s victory was set up by two contrasting knocks after they were 71 for 5 in 20 overs. While Shahidi played second fiddle in an innings of 52 from 92 balls, Nabi cracked 84 off 79 deliveries. Their partnership of 104 gave Afghanistan a platform to build on, after Mustafizur Rahman had struck three times and Taskin twice.
While Shahidi was happy to be patient and accumulate singles, Nabi started with a lot more purpose. He dispatched his sixth ball, off Rishad, for a massive six over deep midwicket – a shot he repeated off the same bowler with the same result in the 27th over. In between, Bangladesh lost a review when Rishad and Mushfiqur thought Shahidi had edged behind, only for replays to show a big gap between bat and ball.
The fifty stand between Shahidi and Nabi came up in the 30th over. Then Nabi enjoyed a spate of of luck. First, when on 37 in the 34th over, he went sweeping at Rishad but was struck on his front pad, with neither the umpire giving it out nor Bangladesh opting to review, when DRS would have sent Nabi back. In the 37th, shortly after bringing up his fifty, Nabi slogged Rishad but mistimed, the ball landing just short of the man at long-off who was running forward. In the next over, Nabi went jabbing at a ball from Mahmudullah and got an outside edge that streaked away through the vacant slip region.
Shahidi, meanwhile, took 87 deliveries to get to fifty, remaining content to push for singles and twos. He survived a tight run-out chance at the start of the 40th over, when he pushed the ball to point and the two batters took off for a run. But Shahidi, who was halfway down, was sent back by Nabi, and barely made it before Mushfiqur whipped the bails off.
However, he chopped on off Mustafizur in the 41st, and Rashid swatted one to midwicket off Shoriful, soon after. But Nabi was unmoved. He took Afghanistan to 200 with four overs remaining, and heaved Mustafizur for six over midwicket in the 47th over. Nangeyalia Kharote, who arrived after Rashid’s dismissal, contributed an unbeaten 27, with two fours and a six in the death overs, even as Taskin struck off back-to-back balls in the 48th.
by Rex Clementine
The flamboyant top-order batter, Kusal Janith Perera, is back in the Sri Lankan ODI squad, making his return exactly a year after his last appearance. KJP’s final ODI outing was during the ICC World Cup in India last November, where he left a lasting impression with a lightning-quick half-century off just 21 balls against New Zealand in Bangalore. However, a string of injuries and inconsistent form in T20s kept him out of the 50-over format for much of this year.
KJP has clawed his way back to the team on the back of his standout performances in the T20 series against the West Indies. Despite this, he might have to wait his turn to break into the starting lineup, as Sri Lanka’s batting order is currently a well-oiled machine, having clinched back-to-back series wins against India and the West Indies on home turf.
There was some talk of sending Kusal Mendis, Kamindu Mendis, and Pathum Nissanka ahead to South Africa to get a head start acclimatizing to the conditions for the upcoming Test series, especially with Sri Lanka setting their sights on the World Test Championship final. But the lure of a potential ODI series win over New Zealand—which would catapult Sri Lanka to a coveted fifth place in ODI rankings—was too good to pass up, and the plan was shelved. It’s been a golden year for the national team, which has been going from strength to strength across all formats.
Making his mark on the squad is fast bowler Mohamed Shiraz, who has earned his stripes in domestic cricket. With selectors keen to manage the workload of Asitha Fernando, Shiraz might find himself in the fray should Fernando be given a breather. Fernando will be a crucial cog in the wheel during the Test series in South Africa.
As for the T20 squad, it’s largely a case of “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” The team has stuck with the same set of players that pulled off a thrilling comeback to topple the third-ranked West Indies in Dambulla last month before sealing the ODI series with a game to spare.
The teams are already in Dambulla, gearing up for the first T20 International on Saturday. Dambulla will also host the first ODI before the teams head to Kandy for the remainder of the series.
Sri Lanka T20I Squad:
Charith Asalanka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (Wicketkeeper), Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana, Binura Fernando and Asitha Fernando.
Sri Lanka ODI Squad:
Charith Asalanka (Captain), Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (Wicketkeeper), Kusal Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Nishan Madushka, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka and Mohamed Shiraz.
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Rison Jansen completed an unbeaten century for Thurstan before Thanuga Palihawadana (4/37), Sethru Fernando (3/22) and Sanvidu Sevin (3/27) combined to force Tissa Central to follow on in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ cricket encounter at Kalutara.
Following on, the home team batted for 41 overs to force a draw. Nethsara Yasmitha anchored the middle order with an unbeaten 29 which came in 72 balls.
It was a baptism of fire for Kalutara lads against formidable Thurstan who restricted the home team to 137 in the first innings. The home team were playing their first match of the Division I tournament after earning their promotion to the Division last season.
Jansen was the standout batsman for both teams his unbeaten century held Thurstan batting together. His 103 came in 198 balls and included seven fours and four sixes.
Meanwhile in Negombo, Maris Stella scored first innings points against St. Peter’s.
Tissa force a draw at Kalutara
Scores:
Thurstan
207 for 7 overnight 248 for 9 decl. in 80.2 overs (Rachitha de Silva 26, Rison Jansen 103n.o., Pathum Dananjaya 35; Ajith de Silva 3/35)
Tissa
137 all out in 46.4 overs (Mindew Hansana 29; Thanuga Palihawadana 4/37, Sethru Fernando 3/22, Sanvidu Sevin 3/27) and 94 for 5 in 41 overs (Sadew Dilshan 27, Nethsara Yasmitha 29n.o.)
Maris Stella on first innings at Negombo
Scores:
St. Peter’s
133 all out in 36 overs (Oveen Salgado 39, Joshua Sebastian 31; Oshadha Gunasinghe 4/30, Nilesh Perera 2/31, Hasindu Perera 2/03, Ramith Bandara 2/27) and 288 for 9 decl. in 72 overs (Asadisa de Silva 27, Nathan David 46, Lashmika Perera 61, Thareen Sanketh 52n.o., Enosh Peterson 40; Oshadha Gunasinghe 2/92, Ameesha Fernando 2/57, Hasindu Perera 4/53)
Maris Stella
128 for four overnight 194 all out in 59.2 overs (Hasindu Perera 54, Ramith Bandara 62; Lashmika Perera 6/70, Dilana Damsara 2/58) and 17 for 1 in 4.1 overs
34th IMBL meeting concludes on successful note
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Northern, North-Central, Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern Provinces and in Puttalam and Trincomalee districts
Bangladesh lose 8 for 23 as Ghazanfar spins Afghanistan to victory
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