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Twin tons sink England in World Cup opener

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Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra were involved in an unbroken 273-run stand (Cricbuzz)

New Zealand made a statement on the opening day of the 2023 ODI World Cup by smashing the defending champions England in Ahamedabad.  Chasing 283 for victory, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra sent the England bowlers on a leather hunt by hammering centuries to pick up the win with 82 balls still left in the chase.

Conway wasted little time to get going and started off the chase with a couple of boundaries in the very first over. But at the other end, Will Young nicked one down the leg side off Sam Curran to depart for a golden duck. England’s joy was short-lived thereafter as the game quickly turned into an one-sided affair.

World Cup debutant Ravindra took on Woakes and hammered him out of the attack by smashing him for four boundaries and showed no fear whatsoever against the pace of Mark Wood to race to 34 off just 22 balls. The boundary spree continued as New Zealand knocked off 81 runs in the powerplay in quite stunning fashion. Even the introduction of spin in the form of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid didn’t help England as Ravindra continued to hammer the bowlers to bring up a 36-ball fifty. Conway reached his landmark in the very next over before teeing off further.

At the end of the 20th over, New Zealand were well and truly on top forcing England to pray for a miracle to bail them out. That just didn’t happen as both the batters continued their rampage. In the process, Conway registered the first hundred of this year’s World Cup and Ravindra, too, made his promotion count in Kane Williamson’s absence by bringing up his maiden international ton. Conway then brought a swift end to England’s misery by launching into the attack to get the job done in the 37th over.

Earlier in the day, a weakened New Zealand bowling outfit did a tremendous job to keep England to 282/9 especially as the defending champions looked all set to finish with a total well beyond 300. Even though New Zealand dominated the middle overs, Jos Buttler and Joe Root led England’s revival and both batters were set to take advantage of a bowling lineup that didn’t have Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee, both missing out due to injuries.

Matt Henry stepped up in their absence with the new ball and troubled Dawid Malan before eventually dismissing him. And even though Jonny Bairstow gave England a fine start in the powerplay, his team did struggle post his departure as none of the batters managed to hang in there alongside Root. Harry Brook, making his World Cup bow in the absence of Ben Stokes, thrilled for a while smashing Ravindra but ended up playing one shot too many and mistiming one off the same bowler. Moeen’s promotion didn’t work either as Glenn Phillips cleaned him up.

Root and Buttler then joined forces to stem the rot, with the skipper initially biding his time, scoring 8 off just 15 balls. Buttler then teed off and hit a six each off Ravindra and Trent Boult before racing to his 40s. With Root also going past fifty, England were well set at 187/4 after 33 overs. A weakened bowling attack for the opponent meant the likes of Root, Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Curran and Woakes could all cause damage at the death.

However, Henry returned to get rid of the big fish as Buttler edged behind. Livingstone didn’t last long before Phillips returned to land the killer blow as Root failed to connect a reverse sweep to lose his leg stump. New Zealand really went for the kill and kept picking wickets to leave England reeling at 252/9. But for the first time in ODI history, all 11 batters managed to touch double digits as Mark Wood and Adil Rashid dragged their side to 282/9 – a total that wasn’t good enough by any stretch to challenge the centurions.

Brief scores:
England
282/9 in 50 overs (Joe Root 77, Jos Buttler 43; Matt Henry 3/48, Glenn Phillips 2/17) lost to New Zealand 283/1 in 36.2 overs (Devon Conway 152*, Rachin Ravindra 123*) by 9 wickets



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Eran Wickeamaratne named new Sri Lanka Cricket chief

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Former Member of Parliament, Eran Wickeamaratne has been named the chairman of  the Interim Committee appointed to run Sri Lanka Cricket by Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage today [29]

The other Members of the Interim Committee include Roshan Mahanama, Kumar Sangakkara, Sidath Wettimuny. Prakash Schaffter, Dinal Phillips, Thusira Radella, Upul Kumarapperuma and Ms. Avanthi Colombage

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President and Exco of Sri Lanka Cricket step down

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Sri Lanka Cricket has announced today (29) that the President of Sri Lanka Cricket and members of the Executive Committee have tendered their resignations.

The decision has been formaly communicated to  President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.

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Ferreira, Shubham, Rajasthan Royals openers hand Punjab Kings their first defeat

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Donovan Ferreira played a blitzing cameo at the death [BCCI]

Shubham Dubey underlined the importance of an Impact Player, Donovan Ferreira proved why Rajasthan Royals were keen to have him traded in, while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi  continued their stellar run as RR handed Punjab kings their first defeat of IPL 2026. In another run-fest in New Chandigarh, where 222 played 228, Ferreira and Dubey added 77 runs off 32 balls for the fifth wicket to turn what looked like a tricky chase at one point into a cakewalk and secured victory with four balls to spare.

Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 3 for 36, while Marcus Stoinis bludgeoned an unbeaten 62 off 22 balls but their returns weren’t enough as RR moved to third place on the points table.

Priyansh Arya was coming into the game with a powerplay strike rate of 260.27. Within his first five balls, he showed why he is one of the most fearless batters going around. He started with a spliced pull off Nandre Burger, before flat-batting him through midwicket and then following up with two of the most audacious strokes. Burger bowled a back-of-a-length ball outside off stump and Arya stood tall and played a nonchalant on-the-up aerial back-foot punch over covers for a clean six. The next ball was carved over backward point, before some luck got him another four. RR had raced to 29 for 0 after two.

At the other end was Jofra Archer. He started the third over with a hard length outswinger, which Arya edged to the vacant slip area. Archer nearly yelled at his captain for not having a slip, but soon got his reward as Arya sliced a 150kph thunderbolt for mid-on. Prabhsimran Singh took on Burger but wasn’t his fluent self. Despite that, PBKS raced to 65 in the powerplay.

Cooper Connolly was off quickly, scoring 30 off 14 balls but he misread a Yash Raj Punja googly and shanked him straight up. Prabhsimran, meanwhile, reached his fifty off 35 balls, but the RR bowlers controlled the middle overs, majorly through their two spinners, Punja and Ravindra Jadeja. Through overs seven to 16, PBKS scored 95 runs, while losing Connolly and Prabhsimran.

Coming into this game, Stoinis had faced 26 balls this IPL. But he showed off once he got his chance. He smashed Archer for two sixes in the 19th over, but reserved his best for the last. Fast bowler Brijesh Sharma had gone for just 18 runs off his first three overs, his slower balls were gripping and hard to hit. But Stoinis smashed the bowler for 24 to power PBKS past 220 as they scored 62 in the last four overs.

Sooryavanshi was quick off the blocks (again), smashing 43 off just 16 balls. After jamming two yorkers, he went 6, 4, 4 against Arshdeep Singh to close the opening over in style. Lockie Ferguson, playing his first match of the season, took time to find his rhythm. Sooryavanshi wasn’t giving him the time. He got a thick outside edge over slip before whipping a 145.1kph scorcher over deep midwicket and then going straight down the ground for six more. RR crossed 50 in just 19 balls but Arshdeep’s around-the-wicket worked as Sooryavanshi sliced him straight up and Shreyas Iyer ran back from mid-off to take a comfortable catch.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was all this while the silent spectator. As soon as Sooryavanshi departed, he went on the offensive against Arshdeep as RR raced to 66 for 1 after four overs. Harpreet Brar, the Impact Player, bowled a two-run fifth over, but Ferguson was taken for runs again with RR racing to 84 for 1 after six.

With the early punches in, PBKS fought back with the help of their spinners. Brar’s four overs cost just 25 runs, which included just one four and one six. Chahal removed Dhruv Jurel with a juicy full toss that was mistimed only as far as wide long-on. Jaiswal reached his fifty off 26 balls but soon sliced Chahal straight to long-off. Riyan Parag also started well but also holed out off Chahal for 29 off 16.

The required rate was exactly 12 when Parag holed out, with RR needing 72 off 36. But the PBKS spinners were done after conceding just 61 off 48 balls, and Dubey and Ferreira cashed in. After Arshdeep’s opening two overs went for 37, his final two went for 31. Dubey crashed Jansen for a four and six in the 16th, Ferguson was smoked for 16 in the 19th and the game had turned in five overs. Ferreira hit the winning runs with a six over long-on to bring up his second IPL fifty and help RR secure two important points. The PBKS fast bowlers leaked 166 off 68 balls, an issue that has been plaguing them for a while.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 228 for 4 in 19.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 51, Vaibhav Sooriyawanshi 43, Dhruv Jurel 16, Riyan Parag 29, Donovan Ferreira 52*,  Shubham Dubey 31*; Arshdeep Singh 1-68, Yuzvendra Chahal 3-36) beat Punjab Kings 222 for 4 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 59, Priyansh Arya 29, Cooper Conolly 30, Shreyas Iyer 30, Marcus Stoinis 62*; Jofra Archer 1-40, Mandre Burger 1-59, Yash Raj  Punja 2-41) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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