Sports
Sri Lanka, Pakistan maintain unbeaten streak
Pakistan vs Nepal
In East London, Pakistan beat Nepal by five wickets. Nepal chose to bat first and Bipin Rawal (39) led them to a steady start but Ahmed Hussain’s double strike helped Pakistan regain control. Despite a middle-order collapse which saw them lose three wickets for 16 runs, Nepal’s lower middle-order came to the rescue. Deepak Dumre (26) and Subash Bhandari (26) helped them reach a respectable total of 197 as Arafat Minhas returned three wickets.
Pakistan, in response, had a solid opening stand of 80 runs between Shamyl Hussain and Shahzaib Khan. However, Aakash Chand’s bowling made significant inroads, taking crucial wickets and putting Pakistan in a precarious position at 104/4. Azam Awais (63*) and Hassan then stabilized the innings with a 54-run partnership and set Pakistan on course to victory. Awais remained unbeaten on 63*, guiding his team to the win with 2.2 overs to spare.
Pakistan will face New Zealand in their final game, both having advanced to the Super Six stage whereas Nepal, with two losses, now need a win against Afghanistan to stay in contention.
Sri Lanka vs Namibia
In Kimberley, Sri Lanka beat Namibia by 77 runs in a low-scoring match. Sent in to bat first, Sri Lanka were rolled over for 133 in 37.5 overs. After a run-out sent back opener Pulindu Perera in the seventh over, Namibia had the opening they wanted and Zacheo van Vuuren capitalized on it by taking four wickets for 23 runs while Johannes de Villiers picked three. A resilient half-century from Supun Waduge could only do so much for Sri Lanka but it got them past triple figures which proved enough on the day.
Namibia’s response faced an early setback when they were reduced to 25/8 in the 20th over Vishwa Lahiru and Ruvishan Perera picked three wickets apiece and played key roles in Sri Lanka’s strong bowling performance. Namibia were eventually bowled out for 56 in 27 overs.
With two consecutive losses, Namibia’s are on the cusp of elimination and they next face Zimbabwe who need two wins by massive margins to stand a chance. Sri Lanka with two wins in two games are almost through to the next around due to their superior net run rate.
West Indies vs Scotland
In Potchefstroom, West Indies got the better of Scotland by five wickets. After being put into bat by West Indies, Scotland were off to a solid start, with openers Jamie Dunk and Adi Hegde adding 89 runs. However, Nathan Sealy and Isai Thorne shared a flurry of wickets in reply to keep Scotland to 205/9 in 50 overs.
In the run-chase, Scotland struck three times in the PowerPlay and reduced WI to 45/3. Jordan Johnson and Mavendra Dindyal then added a counterattacking 45 runs for the fourth wicket before Jewel Andrew’s excellent half-century guided West Indies to an easy victory with 14.5 overs to spare.
With a win and a loss in two games, West Indies will face England next. Scotland, with two losses, need to beat South Africa in their final game and boost their net run rate to have a chance of progressing to the Super Six stage.
(Cricbuzz)
It’s taking longer than most expected, but Bangladesh are inevitably moving towards history. Bangladesh and Pakistan will go into a fifth day in Sylhet, with Bangladesh on the cusp of another 2-0 clean sweep of Pakistan. They need just three wickets to get there, with Mohammed Rizwan, unbeaten on 75, the final, valiant point of resistance for a visiting side who still need an improbable 121 for victory.
It was thanks primarily to Rizwan, and his 134-run partnership with Salman Agha in the final session, that kept Bangladesh waiting for so long when they appeared to be on course to finish Pakistan off. But two crucial wickets from Taijul Islam – who bowled more than a third of the overs on Tuesday – in the final half hour saw that partnership broken, and the hosts burrow deep into Pakistan’s tail.
Rizwan and Agha got together off the back of three quick wickets, and a resurgent Bangladesh sniffing for a quick knockout. Instead, they held them at bay for over three hours, counterattacking early on before seeing off wave after wave of spin and seam from Bangladesh. Even as Bangladesh attacked with the field, the duo kept run-scoring front and centre of their survival strategy, using their feet against spin and timing the ball expertly when pace returned.
That the stand had begun to frustrate Bangladesh became evident when tempers flared in the final hour, with Litton Das taking exception to Rizwan slowing play down after disturbances from the sightscreen. The contest took on a distinct edge, but the Pakistan pair did not lose focus, inching their way towards stumps.
No more wickets might have given Bangladesh a sleepless night, but Taijul put them at ease. With Nahid Rana operating with a new ball from the other end, Taijul produced an arm delivery that skidded through Agha’s defences and knocked back his stumps, prompting wild celebrations from the hosts, who understood the importance of the moment. Hasan Ali, whom Rizwan curiously decided against shielding from the strike, posed little resistance, leaving Bangladesh just three wickets adrift.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 232 and 316 for 7 (Shan Masood 71, Babar Azam 47, Salman Agha 71, Mohammad Rizwan 75*; Taijul Islam 4-113, Nahid Rana 2-58) need another 121 runs to beat Bangladesh 278 and 390
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka Cricket’s new transformation committee has had “cordial and constructive” discussions with Imran Khwaja, the ICC’s deputy chair, according to a member of the new SLC committee.
Khwaja had been in Ari Lanka over the last few days to gather information as the ICC decides what its response to the sweeping government-led changes at SLC should be. During the course of that visit, Khwaja not only spoke with members of SLC’s transformation committee, but also met with Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, whose government had installed the committee after ousting the previous board.
Sidath Wettimuny one of the committee’s nine members, said SLC’s new administrators were hopeful the ICC would continue to treat the board as a regular Full Member.
But the ICC has a track record of reprimanding SLC because of perceived government interference. In 2023, SLC was suspended over “extensive government interference” and, in 2015, the ICC had also frozen payments over a previous “interim committee” having been appointed by the then government.
This current committee, however, has said its goals were to replace SLC’s archaic constitution, before making way for a new set of elected officials.
The ICC has so far made no comments on the change of administration at SLC.
The committee, formally unveiled on April 30, has nine members, including Kumar Sangakkara, Wettimuny and Roshan Mahanama. The majority of the members, though, hail from corporate, legal, and political spheres, with former member of parliament Eran Wickramaratne appointed as chair.
“Our immediate priority is a total overhaul of the governance framework at SLC,” Wettimuny had said after the committee members were named. “The cornerstone of this effort will be the implementation of the new constitution, ensuring it serves as a robust, modern foundation for the sport.”
The committee’s second priority would be to ensure “excellence on the field,” Wickramaratne had said. “We will focus on establishing the structures, world-class facilities, and incentive models necessary to empower our national teams. Our goal is to enable our players to consistently deliver world-class performances and elevate Sri Lanka back to the top tier of international rankings.”
[Cricinfo]
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