Sports
Tom Latham, Devon Conway lead fight after New Zealand made to follow on
New Zealand produced their best top-order batting performance of the series to push England back after being asked to follow on at Basin Reserve. Tom Latham and Devon Conway scored half-centuries during a 149-run opening stand, but Jack Leach made important breakthroughs to keep England on top as the Wellington Test settled into a more traditional rhythm.
There were signs of some overdue New Zealand defiance during the morning, as Tim Southee climbed into the all-time top ten for Test-match six-hitting during a belligerent innings of 73 from 49 balls. His efforts weren’t enough to save the follow-on, but it perhaps provided a spark for the hosts as they were invited to bat again 226 runs in arrears.
Latham and Conway then batted through the afternoon session to transfer further pressure on to England. An overcast start to the day steadily gave way to watery sunshine, and as conditions eased so New Zealand were able to begin plotting a route back into the contest.
Although the pitch had settled down, there was still a hint of turn for Leach, who made the breakthrough shortly after tea when he had Conway snapped up at short leg via an inside edge on to pad. Joe Root’s offspin then accounted for Latham, whose lbw sweeping was upheld on review, and when Leach pegged back Will Young’s off stump with a precise piece of SLA geometry from round the wicket, New Zealand had lost 3 for 18 in short order.
They were guided to the close by an unbroken stand between Kane Williamson, who was inching ever closer to Ross Taylor’s New Zealand Test run-scoring record, and Henry Nicholls. Williamson survived an England review when Root got one to turn sharply past his glove, and Nicholls at times lived dangerously, a sharp bat-pad chance off Leach evading Ollie Pope at short leg.
England had three overs with the second new ball and, despite being unable to make further inroads, will feel they remain in a position of strength with two days left in which to push for a series-clinching win.
The bulk of the good work for New Zealand was done by the openers, who were rarely flustered on the way to a century stand. Latham was the more fluent, becoming the seventh New Zealander to pass 5000 runs in Test cricket. He was typically strong square of the wicket and picked off regular boundaries, although might have been dismissed on 62 had Leach managed to close his fingers around a sharp caught-and-bowled chance.
Conway had needed to dig in at the start of his innings, with Ollie Robinson troubling him around off stump and short leg interested whenever he closed the face. Leach did find his inside edge, the ball evading Ben Stokes at leg slip, but he battled through a testing examination up to lunch and began to find his range thereafter, driving Stuart Broad for fours either side of mid-off in the same over.
Leach was lofted down the ground for six, before the returning James Anderson had Conway fencing an outside edge, only for the ball to dip beneath the fingertips of Zak Crawley at second slip.
Latham was the first to fifty, Conway emulating him an over later, with the pair beginning to play more expansively as New Zealand cut the deficit to double-figures. Such was their apparent comfort that Stokes elected to bring himself on after tea, but England’s captain delivered just two overs, in which he was twice no-balled for exceeding the permitted number of short deliveries above shoulder height and once for overstepping.
The fight shown by Latham and Conway was of a different stripe to Southee’s cavalry charge during the morning, a fusillade of boundaries lifting home spirits before Broad claimed the last three wickets to enable England to enforce the follow-on midway through the session. Conditions remained favourable for seam bowling and the potential for the pitch to continue to improve for batting encouraged Stokes to have another crack.
New Zealand’s first innings had an anaemic look, resuming at 138 for 7, but Southee duly showcased his six-hitter’s eye before falling four runs short of equalling his Test best score. His intent was clear as he charged at his second ball from Leach and just about got away with a toe-ended slog that cleared Stokes running back from mid-on.
Another full-blooded mow down the ground brought four more in the same over, before Robinson was slapped through the covers. Leach then felt the full force of Southee’s world-class ability to hit sixes, three times going the journey in a single over as New Zealand’s captain raced to a 39-ball half-century.
A Robinson was bumper was swatted for Test six No. 82, drawing Southee level with Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hayden, and another boundary off Broad brought him within sight of the 77 not out he made against England at Napier on debut in 2008. He was dropped at fine leg next ball, but immediately offered up another chance to midwicket as Broad ended the stand at 98.
Tom Blundell still had designs on averting the prospect of the follow-on, but miscued an advance in Broad’s next over to be held by Leach at mid-on. Henry then spliced a catch to backward point to give England the option to enforce. The jury is still out on whether it was a wise move.
(cricinfo)
Scores :
England
435 for 8 wkts decl.
New Zealand 209 all out (Tim Southee 73, Stuart Broad 4-61, James Anderson 3-37) and 202 for 3 (Tom Latham 83, Devvon Conway 61; Jack Leach 2/59)
First-season champions Mumbai Indians (MI) finished the league stage second behind Delhi Capitals for the third year in a row, after failing to chase down 200 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Brabourne Stadium. Needing a win to top the table and seal a direct final berth, MI put on a shoddy fielding display that gave RCB a competitive total. In their reply Nat Sciver-Brunt was the only batter to cross 23 as the hosts fell to their first loss at Brabourne in six games.
RCB’s 11-run win was the third victory in a row for the team batting first at WPL 2025 after the early trend was heavily in favour of teams chasing. Their win that helped them off the bottom of the table was set up by a half-century from Smriti Mandhana, free-flowing strokeplay from S Meghana. Ellyse Perry’s anchoring role, and boundary-laden cameos from Richa Ghosh and Georgia Wareham.
For MI, Sciver-Brunt did the heavy lifting after the losses of Hayley Matthews and Harmanpreet Kaur, but once she fell for a stunning 69 off 35 in the 15th over, MI had too much to score (71 runs) in too little time (31 balls) with no big names to follow.
With nothing to lose in this campaign, RCB came out all guns blazing in their last game and they did it audaciously by targeting MI’s best bowlers. Meghana clubbed Sciver-Brunt for two fours in the second over before seeing Mandhana end the third over with a four followed by a glorious straight six against Shabnim Ismail. Meghana then welcomed Matthews with 4, 6 and 4 but Matthews’ riposte came in the form of a 102.8kmh bouncer which she top-edged to short fine leg for 26 off 13.
RCB finished the powerplay on 53 for 1, and Perry made MI pay for gifting her three lives. The next bowler to be carted all around was Amelia Kerr. Once her first ball – a long hop – was pulled for four by Perry, Mandhana swept her for six, flicked for four and swung her down the ground for a 22-run over. Briefly after MI pulled the run rate down from 9.62 to under 8.50 an over, Mandhana collected two consecutive aerial fours to reach her fifty off 35 balls.
Kerr’s second over was even more dramatic. She gave Perry a life on 16 when she failed to hold on to the ball that was smashed back to her. Two balls later, Mandhana, on 52, skied a sweep but Sanskriti Gupta put down a sitter at midwicket. That didn’t cost MI much as Mandhana found long-off on her next ball.
What did cost MI was Perry’s life. She gloriously lofted Ismail for a six next over and drilled Parunika Sisodia for four after Ghosh had already collected two fours in the 14th over. Ghosh was also living dangerously. She miscued a couple of swings before tearing Ismail apart. A reverse-scoop edged for four, a mighty straight six and a scoop right over the keeper fetched 15 from the over to give Ismail figures of 0 for 41. Ghosh miscued Matthews for 36 off 22 next over but Perry and Wareham piled on more boundaries.
The duo went after Amanjot Kaur – whose tight lines saw her concede just nine off her first three overs – for four fours all around, which included the reliable Sciver-Brunt putting down a dolly at deep midwicket after being distracted by the spidercam. Perry was dropped on the first ball of the last over, bowled by Kerr, that went for four. Wareham swept and reverse-swept Kerr for 4, 2, 4 and 6 to give RCB 199 with her scintillating 31 not out off 10 that helped them collect 65 off the last four.
MI’s opening woes continued as Kerr again failed to put on a decent score. While Matthews got going with spectacular hits off Perry, Kerr faced just nine balls in the first 30. Sneh Rana snared the two openers in consecutive overs when she had Matthews hole out to deep square leg and Kerr sky one towards cover for 9.
MI needed a big lift from 45 for 2 in the powerplay. Harmanpreet survived an lbw appeal and review from WPL debutant Heather Graham and found the gaps with two confident boundaries. But Mandhana brought back the wily Kim Garth and she foxed the MI captain with a back-of-the-hand legcutter that drew an edge which was pouched nicely by Ghosh.
Needing 71 to get from 31 from there was a tall ask for MI but their lower order didn’t give up. The charge was led by the hard-hitting Sajeevan Sanjana mainly at the end after the wickets of Yastika Bhatia, Amanjot and G Kamalini. With 44 to win from 12, Sajana packed some power against Garth’s slower ones and then with 24 to get from five, she hammered Perry in the ‘V’ down the ground for two sixes. She missed the next ball and then miscued one to be dismissed for 23 off 12 and MI fell short.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women 199 for 3 in 20 overs (Sabbhineni Meghana 26, Smriti Mandhana 53, Ellyse Perry 49*, Richa Ghosh 36, Georgia Wareham 31*; Hayley Matthews 2-37, Amelia Kerr 1-47) beat Mumbai Indians Women 188 for 9 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 69, Hayley Mathtews 19, Harmanpreet Kaur 20, Amanjot Kaur 17, Sajeevan Sajana 23, Sanskriti Gupta 10; Kim Garth 2-33, Ellyse Perry 2-53, Sneh Rana 3-26, Heather Graham 1-47, Georgia Wareham 1-49) by 11 runs
[Cricinfo]
Bloomfield stormed to the pinnacle of Sri Lanka’s First-Class cricket, clinching their first title in 15 years with a commanding victory over the star-studded NCC in the final last week. With a half-dozen Sri Lanka internationals in their ranks, NCC entered the contest as outright favourites, but one man turned the game on its head with a marathon innings that will be talked about for years to come.
Left-handed opener Ron Kashyapa Chandraguptha batted for two full days under the sweltering Colombo sun, crafting a career-best 237 – his maiden First-Class double hundred. His monumental knock propelled Bloomfield to a mammoth 508 all out in the first innings, virtually shutting the door on NCC. While time ran out for an outright win, Bloomfield only needed the crucial first-innings lead, and they wrapped it up in style, bundling out NCC for 312.
“It was my maiden double hundred, and to score it in a final was extra special. They had a top-class attack, probably the best pace unit in domestic cricket, so getting a big knock against them felt really satisfying,” Chandraguptha told Telecom Asia Sport.
NCC, at least on paper, had all the firepower, but cricket is played on turf, not team sheets. Chandraguptha knew that to take the wind out of their sails, he had to bat long and anchor the innings.
“They were the favourites coming into the final, but I was determined to take responsibility. If I could weather the storm against their quicks, I knew partnerships would flow. Our plan was simple – pile on a big first-innings score and make life difficult for them,” he explained.
The final was played at the R. Premadasa Stadium, where Colombo’s relentless heat tests even the fittest cricketers. But Chandraguptha, a man on a mission, batted through six grueling sessions without breaking down.
“It was brutally hot out there, but I had worked hard on my fitness. Thankfully, I never cramped up, and credit goes to our trainer for keeping me hydrated throughout the innings,” he added.
Unlike some of their more glamorous rivals, Bloomfield had no big names in their lineup. However, their biggest advantage was consistency – no players missing due to international or franchise commitments, allowing them to gel as a unit. Chandraguptha himself had moved to Bloomfield this season after stints with Tamil Union and Colombo Cricket Club, and he made an immediate impact.
His opening partner, Hasitha Boyagoda, a schoolmate from Trinity College, Kandy, provided the perfect foil. The duo laid the foundation with a 119-run opening stand, before Chandraguptha stitched together a match-defining 200-run partnership for the second wicket with Asitha Wanninayake.
“Boyagoda is one of the finest openers we have. He’s had his share of injury setbacks, but he was solid in the final, handling extra pace brilliantly. As for Wanninayake, I just told him to enjoy the occasion. You don’t get to face such quality attacks in a final too often, and he made the most of it,” Chandraguptha said.
Wanninayake, a product of St. Anthony’s College, Kandy, fell agonizingly short of a century in the first innings, run out for 96. However, he made amends in the second innings, crafting an unbeaten 104 to drive the final nail in NCC’s coffin.
With such a commanding performance in a title clash, will Chandraguptha’s knock force the selectors to sit up and take notice? He remains unfazed, keeping his feet firmly on the ground.
“The NSL tournament is coming up, and all I want to do is keep performing there. That’s my focus right now,” he said.
For now, Bloomfield are basking in the glory of their long-awaited triumph, and at the heart of it is a gritty left-hander who stood tall when it mattered most. If Chandraguptha continues to pile on the runs, it won’t be long before a national call-up beckons.
(Telecom Asia Sport)
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Kandy Sports Club have proved their might this season with their irresistible style of rugby. They have crowned themselves undisputable rugby champions by bagging the ‘Cup Championship’ in the domestic league tournament which was contested by eight other teams. Skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara and his teammates have restored some of the pride they lost during the 2023/24 season at the hands of CR&FC, which bagged the league title last year.
Most importantly Kandy has rebuilt their side with new blood. Given the brutal and physical nature of rugby, there are now many young players who have proven that they are ready to take over after the senior brigade call it a day. Players in the likes of Thilina Bandara, Chathura Soysa, Dahan Wickremaarachchi, Wewala Panditha, Heshan Jansen, Shahid Zumri, Asiri Senevirathne, Kudalige Chathuranga and Diluksha Dange have complemented the playing of the seniors with their contributions on the field. Mention must also be made of front row forwards Malitha Wijesundara, Dilshan Fareed, Milan Weerasinghe and lock forward Nalan Premanath.
Fly half and playmaker Tharinda Ratwatte had an outstanding season with the boot and also in the ‘loose’. He is one player who can scan the field and initiate a try; especially at difficult times when no one can score. There is much for the juniors to watch and learn from him.
His cousin Nigel is a smart player who knows the value of teamwork. He has been amazing as a centre three quarter and initiated many try scoring moves this season. The other players who made Kandy proud this season were Dhanushka Ranjan, Dinal Ekanayake, Kavindu Perera and Sooriyabandara, who was a tower of strength at the last line of defense. Mention must also be made about head coach Fazil Marija and forwards coach Terrance Henry for molding the players.
The winning of a prestigious rugby tournament like this means much to the hill country folk who otherwise have less than a handful of crowd-pulling events taking place in Kandy. The Dalada Perahera (pageant) is one and for a selected few there is the Brady Shield, which is played between Royal and Trinity. Kandy rugby has general overall appeal as a spectator sport and can give the people of the Central Hills the feeling that ‘they too belong’ in the rugby crowds that flock to Nittawela to see the men clad in red, blue and white jerseys pummel the opposition.
There is one more prestige game for Kandy this Sunday against Havelocks, scheduled to take place in Nittawela. There is no bearing on the title fight even if Kandy SC loses this game. But hats off to the Park Club side for giving a run to the best sides this season. In all probability Havelocks Sports Club should finish as runners up in the Cup Championship.
The other teams in the tournament, Sri Lions, Army, Navy, CH and Police did well, recording outstanding performances. CH and Army have done exceptionally well this season and are contenders for the Plate Championship.
The tournament is organized by Sri Lanka Rugby and sponsored by Dialog.
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