Sports
Selectors bite the bullet and call up Mathews
by Rex Clementine
Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews was called up to India as a desperate measure to address the national cricket team’s batting woes in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup. Along with Mathews, fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera was also called up and the pair were expected to reach north Indian city of Lucknow this morning.
The two players have been called up only as travelling reserves. While Chameera could be drafted into the World Cup squad immediately, with Matheesha Pathirana struggling with a shoulder niggle, Mathews could come in only if one of the batters got injured and ruled out.
Sri Lanka’s middle order has been awful not only in this campaign but for quite some time now and the selectors’ choices for the finisher’s role have been rather puzzling. They had been trying square pegs in round holes and the results have been devastating.
In Hyderabad, where they conceded the biggest run chase ever in the World Cup history to Pakistan, although the bowling received the flak, the middle batters didn’t cover themselves in glory either making only 61 runs in the last ten overs. Most teams tend to score in excess of 100 runs in the last ten overs.
Mathews along with half a dozen seniors were overlooked from white ball teams as the selectors launched their disastrous youth policy that saw the national cricket team playing three ICC Qualifying Tournaments inside three years.
In March this year, Mathews was recalled to the ODI side, but his comeback was short lived as he was axed again after three games in which he managed just 30 runs.
Many have questioned Mathews’ exclusion from the white ball format, especially ODI cricket, but those arguments have fallen on the selectors’ deaf ears. Many can question the selectors’ knowledge and that’s fair enough. But no one will question former captain Mahela Jayawardene’s cricket reasoning for he is one of the finest brains in the game. With MJ having so much clout in cricket it remains a mystery as to why he didn’t push for Mathews’ inclusion. The only conclusion that you can arrive at is that he had an axe to grind. Small minds at big places!
It was not only irrational to overlook Mathews’ experience and finishing ability for an event of the magnitude of World Cup but questioned the think tank’s credibility especially with the middle order carrying no momentum whatsoever for the sport’s showpiece event.
Mathews is Sri Lanka’s most experienced current ODI cricketer having featured in 221 games. He is Sri Lanka’s ninth all time highest scorer in ODIs with 5865 runs to his name. With an average of 41 and strike rate of 83, it was insane to leave out someone of his caliber.
Mathews’ bowling is very underrated. His 120 wickets in ODIs, is in fact higher than the ODI wickets Chairman of Selectors Pramodya Wickramasinghe took in his entire career – 109.
Sri Lanka completed their fourth highest successful run chase in women’s ODIs and subjected South Africa to a second successive defeat in the tri-series in Colombo. A record fourth wicket stand of 128 between Kavisha Dilhari and Harshitha Samarawickrema, both of whom scored half-centuries, ensured Sri Lanka controlled proceedings against a South African side that struggled with the slowness of the pitch and problems with personnel.
Seventeen-year-old wicket-keeper Karabo Meso had to leave the field after 14 overs of the Sri Lankan innings with a heat-related illness and was replaced by Sinalo Jafta while Sune Luus who bowled eight overs and took 1 for 34, jammed her knee into the turf and suffered bruising, forcing her off the field. Ultimately neither of those things hampered South Africa as much as their inability to take wickets on a surface that Sri Lanka’s attack mastered. Debutant offspinner Dewmi Vihanga became the second Sri Lankan to take three wickets on ODI debut while Malki Madara, playing in just her second game, picked up 4 for 50.
South Africa’s total of 235, built largely on Annerine Dercksen’s first ODI half-century, looked competitive at the halfway stage but when Sri Lanka lost Chamari Athapaththu in the third over, it seemed it could be match-winning. Vishmi Gunaratne and Hasini Perera rebuilt steadily for a second-wicket stand of 69 before Dilhari and Samarawickrama kept the required run-rate in control to seal victory with 21 balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 237 for 5 in 50 overs (Harshitha Samarawickrama 77, Kavisha Dilhari 61, Hasini Perera 42, Vishmi Guneratne 29; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-44) beat South Africa Women (Annerie Dercksen 61*, Lara Goodall 46, Sunee Luus 31, Chloe Tryon 35; Malki Madara 4-50, Dewmi Vihanga 3-41) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
Just before their five match T20I tour of Pakistan, Bangladesh will play two T20Is against UAE in Sharjah, on May 17 and May 19. This will be their second bilateral T20I series against UAE in the last three years. In 2022, the two teams played a two-match series in Dubai, which Bangladesh won 2-0.
“In the last three years, we have hosted ICC Full Members New Zealand, West Indies and Afghanistan while Bangladesh’s T20I series tour is their second bilateral tour of the UAE in three years,” Emirates Cricket Board COO Subhan Ahmad said. “The two-match Bangladesh series will provide an ideal preparation opportunity for UAE ahead of this year’s T20 Asia Cup.”
For Bangladesh, this is the start of a long T20I season. After the Pakistan tour, they will travel to Sri Lanka for two Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is. In August, they will host India for three ODIs and three T20Is. All this ahead of the Asia Cup.
“We appreciate the initiative of the Emirates Cricket Board in arranging this T20I series,” BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said. “These matches will serve as an important part of our team’s preparations ahead of a packed international calendar, including the upcoming Asia Cup.
“We are confident that these two games will further strengthen the cricketing ties between the BCB and ECB and provide quality entertainment to the cricket fans.”
UAE are currently playing in the World Cup League 2 in the Netherlands. At the moment, they are at the bottom of the eight-team table with two wins from 11 games.
[Cricinfo]
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IPL 2025: Clinical Mumbai’s sixth straight win gives them top position and knocks out Rajasthan Royals
Mumbai Indians (MI) came into this game having never won in Jaipur since 2012. They must not have liked that very much because first, they posted the joint-highest IPL total at this ground, then trounced Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 100 runs and finally got back up on their perch on top of the points table RR, meanwhile, were knocked out of the playoffs race
The first three overs were eerily quiet. Just 16 runs came off them and Rohit Sharma survived an lbw dismissal thanks to a very late call for DRS. “Ooooooh YESSSS,” he said, throwing his head back and smiling as he saw green instead of red on ball-tracking.
A switch must have flicked because the last three overs of the powerplay went for 42. Rohit’s runs were almost secondary to the way he was batting. He figured out what Jofra Archer was trying to do with both his boundary riders on the leg side. Bowl straight. So he made room and immediately a ball on top of leg stump became cuttable. He cut it for four.
RR tried taking pace off but Maheesh Theekshana and Fazalhaq Farooqi were both too full. Once again, Rohit moved to leg and opened up unguarded parts of the off side. Clear methods. Lovely timing. Smooth progress. He went past 6000 runs for MI.
At the other end, RR tried to take away Ryan Rickelton’s arms, cramping him with their lines. But he one-upped them with his short-arm pulls. Then they tried their slower balls into the pitch, but the batter held his shape nicely and swung through. He was being asked to hit to the long leg-side boundary. He took up the challenge and cleared it. Rickelton made 34 of his first 51 runs on the leg side in just nine balls.
The opening partnership broke at a good time for MI because it still left 8.1 overs for Suryakumar Yadav to have an influence. His team had set him up – 116 runs were already on the board – so he wasted no time. Suryakumar attacked six of the first seven balls he faced. The one he didn’t was one he couldn’t. It was wide, a mistake that he invites from the bowlers as they try to keep it off his hitting arc.
Suryakumar finished with 48 not out, an IPL record considering it was his 11 consecutive score of 25 or more. In an innings full of intent – he tried to hit a boundary off every other ball he faced – 13 attempts in 23 deliveries – there was always going to be jaw-dropping moments and one of those happened in the 19th over when he nailed a full-speed Archer attempted yorker which became a full toss for four over short fine. He was rolling around on the floor, bat out of his hands, but he had done the job.
Hardik Pandya was just as destructive. His methods involve staying deep in the crease and exploiting the balls that miss the blockhole. He hit Farooqi for three fours and a six in the 18th over, over the course of a third-wicket partnership that yielded 94 runs in 44 balls. This was the first time four MI batters had made 40-plus in the same innings in the IPL.
Cricket had the chance to avoid a cliche tonight. But it didn’t even try. The last time RR had to chase down a 200-plus total, IPL history was made with 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi scoring a 35-ball century. Here, the first time he goes for a big shot, he got out for a duck. This game just can’t help but be a leveller.
A measure of the lasting impact of that innings was the Jaipur crowd having their hands on their heads and the MI coach punching the air in the dugout. Men celebrating a boy’s downfall but he is no ordinary boy.
Trent Boult began his work getting hit for sixes. It didn’t faze him. He has 115 games’ worth of experience and 68 distinct moments that prove just how good he is with the new ball in the IPL. He added Yashasvi Jaiswal to his ever-growing list of powerplay wickets and enjoyed it so much he indulged in a one-handed, finger-gun send-off.
At the other end, Jasprit Bumrah came on and peppered Riyan Parag with bouncers. When the batter tried to take him on, he couldn’t get his hands high enough to control the pull shot. Even as the ball was still up in the air, Parag shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “did I even have a chance?” Bumrah bowled nine short balls and conceded just one run.
This was the third time this season that MI had picked up four or more wickets in the first six overs. (KKR home, SRH away, RR away). They had only taken five in their other eight games.
RR came out of the field restrictions with a score of 47 for 5. At the timeout, Hardik stood in the middle of an MI huddle and some amateur lip-reading was enough to see him say “finish them”. His bowlers took those words to heart. RR were bowled out for 117 in 16.1 overs. Archer was their top-scorer and their highest partnership came for the 10th wicket.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 217 for 2 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 61, Rohit Sharma 53, Suryakumar Yadav 48*, Hardik Pandya 48*; Maheesh Theekshana 1-47, Riyan Parag 1-12) beat Rajasthan Royals 117 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 13, Riyan Parag 16, Druv Jurel 11, Shubhan Dubey 15, Jofra Archer 30; Deepak Chahar 1-13, Trent Boult 3-28, Karn Sharma 3-23, Jasprit Bumrah 2-15, Hardik Pandya 1-02) by 100 runs
[Cricinfo]
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