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Pakistan complete record run chase to dim Sri Lanka’s semi hopes
REX CLEMENTINE in Hyderabad
Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign is in shambles. Their bowlers have run out of ideas to contain teams and this could be a painful tournament for the former champions. On Saturday, in Delhi, Sri Lanka won the toss and put South Africa in and conceded the most runs in a World Cup game. On Tuesday, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first and then saw Pakistan completing the highest successful run chase in World Cup history.
Given the fact that they will be playing New Zealand, England and India in the smaller grounds of Bangalore and Bombay, this could be a tough a campaign for their bowlers.
Abdullah Shaifuqe always scores big against Sri Lanka and making his debut, the opening batsman posted 113 off 103 balls but the day belonged to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who battled cramps to post an unbeaten 131 off 121 balls, his career best score.
At 37 for two, with Babar Azam back in the pavilion, it looked to be Sri Lanka’s game, but Abdullah and Babar were unstoppable adding 176 runs for the third wicket that took the game away from them.
Matheesha Pathirana was short on confidence and conceded 90 runs that included 18 wides.
Earlier, a stunning knock by Kusal Mendis enabled Sri Lanka to post their third highest total in World Cups – 344.
No team had successfully chased that many in the history of World Cup with Ireland’s 329 for seven against England in Bangalore being the highest.
It was Sri Lanka’s highest total in World Cups against a full member country. They had posted 398 for five against Kenya in 1996 and 363 for nine against Scotland in 2015 in Hobart.
It was some maniac hitting by Mendis and he’s now the second highest run scorer in this World Cup with 198 runs with Mohammad Rizwan ahead with 199 runs. Sri Lanka would be hoping that he keeps firing in a bid to have a chance to make it to the semis.
In the process, Mendis broke Kumar Sangakkara’s Sri Lankan record for the fastest century in World Cups. Sanga scored a hundred off 70 balls against England in 2015 in Wellington. Mendis reached the milestone in 65 balls.
Mendis’ 122 came off 77 balls with 14 fours and six sixes.
Sadeera Samarawickrama too scored a maiden ODI hundred, but his effort was overshadowed by Mendis.
Nevertheless, it was a crucial knock. Mendis was dismissed in the 29th over and Charith Asalanka soon followed in the 31st. With so many overs left, Sri Lanka were facing the danger of getting bowled out inside 50 overs as it had happened time and again given their long tail.
Sadeera brought up Sri Lanka’s 300 with a superb inside out shot for six off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. His hundred came off 82 balls with 11 fours and a six.
SCORECARD
| Sri Lanka innings Pathum Nissanka c Abdullah b Shadab 51 Kusal Perera c Rizwan b Hasan 0 Kusal Mendis c Imam b Hasan 122 Sadeera Samarawickrama c Rizwan b Hasan 108 Charith Asalanka c Rizwan b Hasan 1 Dhananjaya de Silva c Shaheen b Nawaz 25 Dasun Shanaka c Babar b Afridi 12 Dunith Wellalage c Shafique b Rauf 10 Maheesh Theekshana b Rauf 0 Matheesha Pathirana not out 1 Extras: (b 2, lb 2, nb 1, w 9) 14 Total: (for nine wickets) 344 Overs: 50 Did not bat: Dilshan Madushanka. Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Perera), 2-107 (Nissanka), 3-218 (Mendis), 4-229 (Asalanka), 5-294 (de Silva), 6-324 (Shanaka), 7-335 (Samarawickrama), 8-343 (Theekshana), 9-344 (Wellalage). Bowling: Shaheen Afridi 9-0-66-1 (w 4), Hasan Ali 10-0-71-4 (w 3), (nb 1), Mohammad Nawaz 9-0-62-1, Haris Rauf 10-0-64-2 (w 1), Shadab Khan 8-0-55-1, Ifthikar Ahmed 4-0-22-0 (w 1).
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Pakistan innings Abdullah Shafique c sub b Pathirana 113 Imam-ul-Haq c Perera b Madushanka 12 Babar Azam c Samarawickrama b Madushanka 10 Mohammad Rizwan not out 131 Saud Shakeel c Wellalage b Theekshana 31 Iftikar Ahmed not out 22 Extras: (w 25, nb 1) 26 Total: (for four wickets) 345 Overs: 48.2 Did not bat: Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasah Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf. Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Imam), 2-37 (Babar), 3-213 (Abdullah), 4-308 (Shakeel). Bowling: Maheesh Theekshana 10-0-59-1 (w 5), Dilshan Madushanka 9.2-0-60-2 (nb 1) (w 2), Dasun Shanaka 5-0-28-0, Matheesha Pathirana 9-0-90-1 (w 18), Dunith Wellalage 10-0-62-0, Dhananjaya de Silva 4-0-36-0, Charith Asalanka 1-0-10-0.
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The Rose Bowl, which has been awarded to the winner of ODI series between the women’s teams of Australia and New Zealand since 1985, has now been expanded to include T20Is as well.
New Zealand’s three match T20I tour of Australia, which begins on Sunday at the North Sydney Oval, will be the first T20I edition of the Rose Bowl. The teams will get to face off again for the trophy in March 2027 when they meet again for three ODIs, also in Australia.
For Rose Bowl series that include matches in both white-ball formats, the trophy will go to the team with the most wins overall. In case of a drawn series, the current holder will retain the trophy.
“The Rose Bowl is a prestigious trophy that holds a lot of meaning to current and past players, and it’s a series we’ve always taken a lot of pride in competing in,”Catherine Campbell, NZC’s chief cricket operations officer and a former New Zealand player, said. “With so much T20I cricket now being played, this is a brilliant opportunity to keep the Rose Bowl relevant and to build on the history between us and our Australian rivals.”
New Zealand captain Melie Kerr was excited by the broadening of opportunities to compete for the Rose Bowl.
“We’re all aware of what the Rose Bowl represents and the importance it holds in the White Ferns whakapapa [genealogy],” said Kerr. “Great players and teams have fought for it over the years and we’d love the opportunity to claim our own piece of that history.”
Australia have held the Rose Bowl continuously since wresting it back from New Zealand in 2000. Since that 3-0 win, Australia have won 18 times with one series – in 2008-09 – shared 2-2. Overall, Australia have won 26 of the 31 ODI series played for the Rose Bowl, with New Zealand winning three times and three series drawn.
North Sydney will host all three T20Is of the upcoming Rose Bowl series, on October 18, 20 and 22.
[Cricinfo]
US President Donald Trump claims the US Navy’s “effective” blockade has stopped all Iranian ships from crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy says a supertanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil has struck a sea mine while attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz through an “unauthorised” route.
The collision caused a huge explosion and a major fire on board the vessel, the IRGC said in a statement reported by semi-official Tasnim news agency.
It alleged that the tanker had turned off all tracking and radar systems, attempting to pass through the strait using deception and with US military support.
‘The Strait of Hormuz is closed’, the IRGC navy warned, adding that vessels violating Iranian regulations would face severe consequences for relying on US backing.
[Aljazeera]
Squad for the first three ODIs: Shubman Gill [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer [VC], KL Rahul [WK], Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan [WK], Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna*, Kuldeep Yadav
Squad for fourth and fifth ODIs: Shreyas Iyer [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan [WK, VC], Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra [WK], Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav
[Cricbuzz]
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