Sports
Sri Lanka’s costly wake-up call in Pakistan
The three-week tour of Pakistan may not have delivered the results Sri Lanka desperately wanted, but it certainly dished out a basket of valuable lessons. Over the last two years, white-ball cricket had taken a promising upward swing, only for the last three months, Asia Cup included, to unravel much of that hard graft.
The reaction after the Asia Cup was as knee-jerk as they come. The coaching staff was swept aside. Charith Asalanka, already carrying the weight of captaincy, found himself further under the pump when former skipper Dasun Shanaka was appointed his deputy in T20s — a move that dripped with insecurity.
Granted, Sri Lanka didn’t cover themselves in glory during the Asia Cup. But the margins of defeat were wafer-thin and crucially, every loss came after a proper scrap. Asalanka’s bowling changes misfired, his batting deserted him and he ended up tightening the noose around his own neck.
Then came Pakistan, where the captain performed cricketing hara-kiri. How he failed to read the signs remains baffling. But when swagger overtakes sense, cricket has a habit of slapping you back to earth.
The ODI series was a sore point — Sri Lanka repeatedly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
The tri-nation series, however, was the real bitter pill. Having fought back admirably to reach the final, they unravelled on Saturday, paying a steep price for misreading the surface. Yes, it was a tricky pitch. But at 84 for one at the halfway stage, Kusal Mendis — with all his experience — should have known it wasn’t a 160 wicket. Instead of knocking it around and running hard, he hurled the kitchen sink and handed the opposition a gift.
The other Kusal fared no better. The most experienced batter in the side managed just one double-figure score all tour. Calls for both Kusals axing will grow louder, but Sri Lanka must play the long game. Having invested heavily in Kusals, you cannot toss them aside with a World Cup on the horizon. They must be backed, not banished.
This tour also underlined Sri Lanka’s growing dependence on Pathum Nissanka. When he fires, Sri Lanka cruise. When he misfires, the whole side looks like a wagon with a missing wheel.
Kamil Mishara was the find of the tour, producing back-to-back half-centuries and showcasing maturity beyond his years.
Veteran speedster Dushmantha Chameera was equally instrumental — striking with the new ball and delivering ice-cold overs at the death. With the World Cup looming, he must be preserved like fine china, not dragged through every fixture.
Fielding, once Sri Lanka’s brightest improvement, also took a dip. They were the standout unit at the Asia Cup, effecting run-outs and plucking catches that shifted the tide of matches. In Pakistan, that edge dulled. They must quickly figure out why the wheels came off.
by Rex Clementine ✍️
Chamari Athapaththu’s all-round show helped Sri Lanka level the ODI series against Bangladesh in Rajshahi. The visitors won by four wickets after chasing down the home side’s sub-par 165 all out in 45.5 overs.
Athapaththu, who had missed the first match due to a finger injury, roared back into action with three wickets. She started off with Sarmin Sultana’s wicket in the 16th over, although the batter expressed her disbelief at the umpire’s lbw decision against her. Athapaththu then removed Sobhana Mostary in her next over by having her caught at square leg.
Nilakshika Silva then took a brilliant catch at mid-off to help Athapaththu take her third wicket when Ritu Moni had mistimed a cover drive in the 31st over. Sharmin Akhter, Bangladesh’s top-scorer from the first ODI, fell for a duck to Malki Madara in the fifth over.
Captain Nigar Sultana top-scored on Wednesday with 58 off 101 balls with four boundaries. She had little support at the other end, before Nimesha Meepage had her caught behind in the 41st over.
Madara, Meepage and Inoka Ranaweera took two wickets each while Kavisha Dilhari picked up one.
During the chase, Athapaththu dominated the Bangladesh attack despite little support from her top order. She made 40 off 39 balls with eight fours, before falling to left-arm spinner Nahida Akhter in the 17th over. Nahida gave her a send-off, with Athapaththu staring back at her for several seconds before walking off.
Harshitha Samarawickrema and Hansima Karunaratne then added 79 runs for the fourth wicket to get Sri Lanka close to the 166-run target. Samarawickrama made 50 off 76 balls with seven fours, while Karunaratne struck six fours in her 40 off 64 balls.
Nahida removed both batters, before getting Kaushini Nuthyangana to complete her four-wicket haul. Sultana Khatun and Moni, meanwhile, took one wicket each.
The third and final ODI of the three-match series will also be held in Rajshahi, on April 25.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 166 for 6 in 38.2 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 40, Harshitha Samarawickrama 50, Hansima Karunaratne 40; Sultana Khatun 1-36, Ritu Moni 1-27, Nahida Akter 4-21) beat Bangladesh Women 165 in 45.5 overs (Sarmin Sultana 25, Nigar Sultana 58, Nahider Akter 20; Malki Madara 2-30, Nimesha Meepage 2-29, Inoka Ranaweera 2-28, Chamari Athapaththu 3-36, ) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
The Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026 will be held from 10th July to 5 August 2026.
The sixth edition of the much-anticipated T20 league will be played across four venues: SSC, Colombo; RPICS, Colombo; PICS, Pallekele; and RDICS, Dambulla.
The online portal for foreign player registration will open on 4th May 2026.
The tournament will be conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the owner of the LPL, in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder of the tournament.
The Lanka Premier League, Sri Lanka’s premier domestic T20 tournament with an international flavor, was launched in 2020.
Samantha Dodanwela, who is an Executive Committee Member of the SLC, will continue to function as the Tournament Director.
Wasim Khan will step down as the ICC’s general manager, cricket after four years in the role.
Wasim took over from Geoff Allardice in May 2022, after Allardice assumed the CEO role at the ICC. Wasim had arrived at the ICC after nearly three years as the PCB’s CEO.
Wasim was the first British-born Muslim to play county cricket, turning out for Warwickshire in the mid-to-late 90s. A left-handed batter, he played 58 first-class matches and 30 List A matches for Warwickshire, Sussex and Derbyshire. He was part of Warwickshire’s county title-winning campaign in 1995, averaging nearly 50 through the season.
He has since built an impressive administrative career, including a stint as CEO at Leicestershire county and before that at Cricket Foundation where he helped transform Chance to Shine into a leading national cricket charity in the UK.
One of the main challenges during Wasim’s stint at the ICC was an increasingly cramped cricket schedule with more T20 and T10 leagues eating into the space for international cricket. But in the last Future Tours Programme (2023-27) which was finalised during his time, there was actually an increase in the amount of international cricket. The first ever Women’s FTP was also unveiled in this period.
Wasim will finish at the end of June and is set to take up another role from July. His impending exit follows the departure of several senior ICC officials over the last two years, including Allardice – replaced by Sanjog Gupta as CEO – Chris Tetley (head of evens) and Alex Marshall, who led the anti-corruption unit. Tetley has been replaced by Gaurav Saxena and Marshall by Andrew Ephgrave.
[Cricinfo]
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