Sri Lanka’s experiment with Dasun Shanaka as T-20 captain has ended far sooner than many expected. In truth, the only men fully convinced by Shanaka’s leadership credentials appeared to be the previous selection panel headed by Pramodya Wickramasinghe. That chapter has now been shut with Kusal Mendis appointed captain of both the ODI and T-20 sides.

Although a new selection panel headed by Kapila Wijegunawardene is officially in place, there is a strong sense that the squad for the upcoming West Indies tour had largely been shaped by the outgoing committee before they packed their bags.

Charith Asalanka, once viewed as Sri Lanka’s long-term leadership investment, has now been stripped of captaincy duties altogether. First removed from the T-20 leadership, he has now lost the ODI captaincy as well. To make matters worse, he has also been dropped from the T-20 squad and unless he delivers with the bat in the Caribbean during the 50-over series, his place in the ODI side could soon come under threat too.

Many, including us, argued that Charith was a captain Sri Lanka had groomed patiently for the future and deserved a longer rope. But it appears his shortcomings extended beyond a lean run with the bat. There have been whispers for some time regarding concerns over his attitude. The cracks reportedly began to show during last year’s Pakistan tour when, despite assurances from both governments regarding high-level security, he was keen to return home. It has also emerged that he was fined during the NSL final following an altercation with match officials.

Once the selectors decided to move on from both Dasun and Charith, there were hardly any obvious candidates left standing. Kusal Mendis became, in many ways, Hobson’s choice.

That said, the wicketkeeper-batter has been one of Sri Lanka’s most consistent performers in white-ball cricket over the last two years. Ranked 16th in ODIs and 22nd in T-20 Internationals, Mendis has been among the few batters who has managed to keep his head above water while others have sunk without trace. The concern, however, is whether the selectors have loaded too much onto his shoulders. He already carries the burden of opening the batting and keeping wickets across formats.

Kamindu Mendis was confirmed as vice-captain in all three formats, while Dhananjaya de Silva retains the Test captaincy.

Opening batter Nishan Madushka has earned a recall to the Test side alongside prolific middle-order batter Pasindu Sooriyabandara, whose domestic returns have been impossible to ignore.

Off-spinner Ramesh Mendis also returns to the squad despite underwhelming returns in recent Test outings. Left-arm quick Isitha Wijesundara has been rewarded for an impressive run with Sri Lanka ‘A’, with the Sri Jayewardenepura graduate finally receiving his maiden call-up.

Wanindu Hasaranga features in the white-ball squads after recovering from a hamstring injury, while all eyes will be on Eshan Malinga following his eye-catching exploits in the IPL. The young quick has bowled with serious wheels and swagger, and Sri Lanka will hope some of that firepower translates onto the international stage.

by Rex Clementine

A blistering century by Maneth Induwara and a devastating six-wicket haul by Induwara Senevirathne powered Wickramashila National School, Giriulla to a crushing 150-run victory over Vidyartha College, Kandy in their Under 17 Division I limited overs first round cricket encounter played in Kandy on Tuesday.

‎Asked to take first lease of the wicket, Wickramashila NS suffered an early setback after losing their first wicket for just six runs. However, opener Maneth Induwara steadied the innings with an attacking century to guide his team to a formidable total of 257 for eight in their allotted 50 overs.

‎Maneth was the chief architect of the innings, hammering 116 runs off 105 deliveries with 16 fours and three sixes. He received valuable support from Supeshala Sithil, who struck a composed 54 in 96 balls inclusive of seven boundaries. The pair combined for a match-defining 133-run partnership for the fourth wicket that laid the foundation for Wickramashila’s imposing total.

‎Induwara Senevirathne also made a useful contribution with the bat, scoring 35 runs, while Mewul Ganegoda (4 for 46) and Sathsara Weerasekara (3 for 37) were the pick of the Vidyartha bowlers.

‎In reply, Vidyartha College never recovered after losing wickets at regular intervals as Senevirathne ripped through the batting line-up with a superb spell of 6 for 16 in seven overs, including two maidens.

‎Only Teshan Niwarthana offered resistance with a brisk 34 off 23 balls, while Lakindu Kodikara chipped in with 17 as the hosts were bowled out for 107 in 23.4 overs. Hirun Mansana (2 for 28) and Dinuka Dananjaya (2 for 8) provided excellent support with the ball.

‎Scores:

‎Wickramashila NS

– 257 for 8 in 50 overs (Maneth Induwara 116, Induwara Senevirathne 35, Supeshala Sithil 54; Mewul Ganegoda 4/46, Sathsara Weerasekara 3/37)

‎Vidyartha College

– 107 all out in 23.4 overs (Teshan Niwarthana 34, Lakindu Kodikara 17; Induwara Senevirathne 6/16, Hirun Mansana 2/28, Dinuka Dananjaya 2/08) (RF)

Rajat Patidar led defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) into the final with the quickest innings of 90 or more in the IPL, scoring a delightful unbeaten 93 off 33 to take his team to 254 for 5, the highest total in an IPL playoff, against the best attack of the tournament, Gujarat Titans (GT). Having finished in the top two, GT still have a chance to make the final at their home ground in Ahmedabad in Qualifier 2 as they await the winner of the Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals. The last eight IPLs have been won by the side winning this fixture: Qualifier 1.

Asked to bat first in chase-friendly Dharamsala, RCB came out full of intent and skill despite missing the injured Phil Salt, but GT nearly snuck back in with a period of 22 balls, 18 runs and two wickets of set batters in a single Jason Holder over. In the time that Patidar scored 93 off 33, the other end, including extras, produced 68 off 37 legal deliveries.

Having never scored more than 233, GT needed something special, and only Jos Buttler came close to that with 29 off 11. The RCB fast bowlers ran riot and took out half the side within the powerplay.

RCB would have dearly loved to have Salt back, but his absence allowed them to play Jacob Duffy as the fourth overseas player. Venkatesh Iyer started the innings with two fours off the first two balls, moving around in the crease to try to mess with the lengths of the GT fast bowlers. It took Virat Kohli four balls to lay bat on Kagiso Rabada’s hard lengths, but Venkatesh ramped him for a six first ball even though he got into a tangle.

Even though Rabada came back immediately with the wicket of Venkatesh, the makeshift opener had done his job with 19 off seven. Immediately after the wicket, Kohli charged at Siraj and drove him over mid-off. Some classic batting – a flick off the hip, a late cut and a square cut – from Devdutt Padikkal consigned Rabada to 18 in his second over and brought up the team fifty in just four overs.

Rattled, GT had to move away from bowling Siraj and Rabada through the powerplay for the first time in eight matches.

Holder and Rashid Khan combined to bring GT back into the contest. Holder kept hitting the hard lengths, and Rashid bowled his first two overs for no boundary. In between, Holder managed to remove Kohli and Padikkal for 43 off 25 and 30 off 19. Not big innings but ones that understood the assignment.

Having gone funky with their selection – no Romario Shepherd in the batting-first XI so they could play an extra bowler if Shepherd was not needed – RCB promoted Krunal Pandya to likely maintain ideal points of entry for Tim David and Jitesh Sharma. While Krunal did his job with 43 off 28, it was the other batter that led to dropping jaws.

Patidar broke the spell off 22 quiet balls with a pulled six off a Holder ball that wasn’t quite short enough. After a boundary-free first over from Kulwant Khejroliya, playing his first game of T20 cricket since last April, Prasidh Krishna created two opportunities in the 14th over. The first one, a leading edge, fell between the converging wicketkeeper and deep third. The second one went straight to Rabada at deep square leg, but was dropped with Patidar on 26 off 20. At the end of the 14th over, RCB were an even 140 for 3, the last time you could say the match was even.

Starting with no-balls from Khejroliya in the 15th over, the flood gates opened for 114 runs in the last six overs. Two of his nine sixes were bona fide highlights reels for the year. The first an extra-cover drive off Rashid from the crease, and then a back-foot drive over cover off Rabada, who by now had the purple cap. That shot off Rabada left even Kohli awestruck.

The GT bowlers didn’t quite try a quick bouncer at him, but Patidar nicely steered a slow bouncer over short fine with a delayed hook. At one point, even a century seemed likely, but he didn’t quite get enough strike.

For the first time ever, both innings of an IPL match started with two fours as B Sai Sudharsan hit Duffy for fours, but the GT openers were not as successful as the RCB top order at upsetting the bowlers’ lengths. Both Shubman Gill and Sudharsan tried charging at Bhuvneshwar, but got only two runs from his first over.

The pressure was mounting, but the first wicket came in an unconventional manner, with Sudharsan losing his bat as he cut Duffy away for four. The bat ricocheted onto the leg stump before the ball could reach the fence. Bhuvneshwar then extended his dominance over Gill with a wobble-seam delivery that got his leg stump. Now Bhuvneshwar leads the head-to-head with six wickets in 79 balls for just 80 runs.

No option left, Buttler came out swinging, looked dangerous, but Josh Hazlewood got the better of him with a knuckle-ball legcutter. The rest was always going to be a formality but RCB carried it out in style. Rasikh Salam bowled a double-wicket maiden to get Nishant Sindhu and Jason Holder to leave GT five down within the powerplay. Duffy ended up with three wickets, Bhuvneshwar reclaimed the purple cap, and only some late damage control from Rahul Tewatiya prevented this from becoming the biggest defeat in an IPL playoff match.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 254 for 5 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 19, Virat Kohli 43, Devdutt Padikkal 30, Rajat Patidar 93*,  Krunal Pandya 43, Jitesh Sharma 15*; Kagiso Rabada 2-54, Jason Holder 2-39, Prasidh Krishna 1-53) beat Gujarat Titans 162 in 19.3 overs (Sai Sudarshan 14, Jos Buttler 29, RahulTewatia 68; Jacob Duffy 3-39, Bhuvenshwar Kumar 2-28, Josh Hazelwood 1-39, Rasik Salam 2-24, Krunal Pandya 2-16)  by 92 runs

[Cricinfo]