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Samarawickrama leads Sri Lanka to their first win of World Cup 2023
Sadeera Samarawickrama’s 91* led a measured run-chase from Sri Lanka in their comfortable five-wicket win over Netherlands in Lucknow. It was the first victory for Sri Lanka in the 2023 World Cup.
At the halfway mark, the Kusal Mendis-led side looked up against it after Netherlands posted 262, mainly thanks to a middle-order rescue act from Sybrand Engelbrecht (70) and Logan van Beek (59) but a run-a-ball fifty from Nissanka at the top of the order meant that defending a par score was always going to be difficult.
For Nissanka, it was his third consecutive World Cup fifty which set the tone for his side at the top of the order. His 52-run stand with Samarawickrama helped Sri Lanka calm nerves after twin strikes of Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis by Aryan Dutt, both batters falling to attacking shots against the spinning ball. Once Nissanka fell caught behind off Paul van Meekeren’s bowling, Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka added 77 crucial runs while fighting through some quality overs from Dutt, the offspinner extracting plenty from the red-soil pitch on offer.
Samarawickrama, who scored 7 boundaries in his 107-ball knock, played with patience on a pitch that demanded it. A 76-run stand for the fifth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva all but sealed the win for Sri Lanka.
Earlier, it wasn’t the best of starts for Netherlands who opted to bat but soon found themselves reeling at 91 for 6. That’s when Engelbrecht and van Beek added 130, which is now the highest partnership for seventh wicket or below in World Cups.
It all started with Kasun Rajitha trapping Vikramjit Singh LBW with an inswinger in the fourth over of the match. The pacer, in his long seven-over opening spell, also added the wickets of Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackermann. Dilshan Madushanka, brought back into the attack after the drinks break, struck in back-to-back overs, making things even worse for Netherlands. While Bas de Leede ramped Madushanka straight to third man, the left-arm pacer needed a review to trap Teja Nidamanuru LBW.
A scoreline of 71/5 became 91/6 when Maheesh Theekshana went through the defences of Scott Edwards and it looked like the side would be bundled out sooner rather than later. That’s when Engelbrecht and van Beek set themselves up for the long haul, picking singles and couples.
There was, in fact, a period in Netherlands’ innings where they didn’t score a boundary for almost 21 overs. Engelbrecht broke off from that dry spell with a sweep against Dushan Hemantha in the 31st over. Both batters went on to score their maiden ODI half-centuries, with Engelbrecht being the more aggressive batter during the partnership.
The breakthrough for Sri Lanka came only in the 46th over, when Engelbrecht missed a scoop against Madushanka’s yorker. From there on, Netherlands’ 221/6 soon turned into 262 all-out with two balls left in the innings. Rajitha added the wicket of van Beek to return match figures of 4 for 50 while Madushanka’s scalp of van der Merwe helped him register figures of 4 for 49.
Brief scores:
Netherlands 262 in 49.4 overs(Sybrand Engelbrecht 70, Logan van Beek 59, Colin Ackermann 29; Dilshan Madushanka 4-49, Kasun Rajitha 4-50) lost to Sri Lanka 263/5 in 48.2 overs (Sadeera Samarawickrama 91*, Pathum Nissanka 54, Charith Asalanka 44, Dhananjya de Silva 30; Aryan Dutt 3-44) by 5 wickets
Chinese President Xi Jinping has met Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur as part of a regional push to shore up Beijing’s trade relationships.
The diplomatic stop on Wednesday marks the second leg of Xi’s three-nation tour, which also includes Vietnam and Cambodia, and comes amid sharp tariffs imposed by the United States that are reshaping the global economic landscape.
Sultan Ibrahim welcomed Xi in a colourful ceremony at the golden-domed Istana Negara palace before his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the administrative capital of Putrajaya.
Xi touted a “new golden era” of Chinese-Malaysian relations, following the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year. The king announced new cooperation between the countries in various fields, including artificial intelligence.
“This is a hugely significant visit,” said Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Putrajaya. “It takes place during this unprecedented trade war that is developing with the United States, with both Malaysia and China finding themselves in the middle.”
Khoo Ying Hooi, an associate professor in the department of international and strategic studies at Malaya University, said the visit offered a chance to “test the waters for regional solidarity” amid the US trade disruptions.
“It’s not just about friendship, it’s about realigning the regional centre of gravity towards Beijing,” she said.
Malaysia is the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, whose members are among the hardest hit by new US tariffs.
ASEAN member Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse, was slapped with 46 percent tariffs, and Cambodia, a significant producer of low-cost clothing for big Western brands, was hit with a 49 percent duty.
Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy, was hit with a lower tariff of 24 percent. Though the measures have been paused for 90 days, President Donald Trump has warned that no country is “off the hook”.
[Aljazeera]
Police urge motorists who intend to use the Ella – Wellawaya Road to use alternative roads as there is a severe vehicle congestion due to inclement weather condition.
The UK Supreme Court has unanimously backed the biological definition of “woman” under the 2010 Equality Act.
It marks the culmination of a long-running legal battle which could have major implications for how sex-based rights apply across Scotland, England and Wales.
Judges sided with campaign group For Women Scotland, which brought a case against the Scottish government arguing that sex-based protections should only apply to people that are born female.
Judge Lord Hodge said the ruling should not be seen as a triumph of one side over the other, and stressed that the law still gives protection against discrimination to transgender people.
The Scottish government argued in court that transgender people with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) are entitled to the same sex-based protections as biological women.
The Supreme Court was asked to decide on the proper interpretation of the 2010 Equality Act, which applies across Britain.
Lord Hodge said the central question was how the words “woman” and “sex” are defined in the legislation.
He told the court: “The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
“But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another, it is not.”
He added that the legislation gives transgender people “protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender”.
Campaigners who brought the case against the Scottish government hugged each other and punched the air as they left the courtroom, with several of them in tears.
The Equality Act provides protection against discrimination on the basis of various characteristics, including “sex” and “gender reassignment”.
Judges at the Supreme Court in London were asked to rule on what that law means by “sex” – whether it means biological sex, or legal, “certificated” sex as defined by the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.
The Scottish government argued the 2004 legislation was clear that obtaining a GRC amounts to a change of sex “for all purposes”.
For Women Scotland argued for a “common sense” interpretation of the words man and woman, telling the court that sex is an “immutable biological state”.
Outside the Supreme Court, For Women Scotland co-founder Susan Smith said: “Today the judges have said what we always believed to be the case, that women are protected by their biological sex.
“Sex is real and women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women and we are enormously grateful to the Supreme Court for this ruling.”
A UK government spokesman said: “This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs.
“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the ruling as a “victory for all of the women who faced personal abuse or lost their jobs for stating the obvious”.
But Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman, a prominent campaigner for trans-rights, said: “This is a deeply concerning ruling for human rights and a huge blow to some of the most marginalised people in our society.
“It could remove important protections and will leave many trans people and their loved ones deeply anxious and worried about how their lives will be affected and about what will come next.”
The Scottish government has not yet commented on the ruling.
[BBC]
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