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Warner, Maxwell one-two knocks Netherlands out cold

Published

3 years ago

2023/10/25

Priyan

Glenn Maxwell could reverse with his eyes closed (Cricinfo)

It was the most brutal of one-twos. First came David Warner with the jab, then Glenn Maxwell with the “lights out” uppercut. A 104 from the opener had the Netherlands weary, but it was Maxwell’s astonishing 106 from just 44 deliveries that administered the most devastating of knock-out blows. Australia posted 399 for 8, standing triumphantly at the halfway stage over floored opponents, who were unable to rise off the canvas, eventually succumbing to a chastening 309-run defeat – the largest in margin in men’s ODI World Cup history.

Just 18 days after Aiden Markram had seized the record for the fastest century in ODI World Cups, against Sri Lanka at this very ground, Maxwell ripped it off him in nine fewer balls, needing just 40 to pass three figures. It was the culmination of an almighty assault on the Dutch bowlers, most notably Bas de Leede The talented allrounder now has the ignominy of the most expensive figures in men’s ODI’s, returning 2 for 115 – 43 of them coming in his last two (including 28 from the last), all courtesy Maxwell.

Beyond saving the blushes of compatriots Mick Lewis and Adam Zampa – previous joint-holders of the most expensive figures in the format – Maxwell’s second World Cup century (and third overall) shifted the complexion of the match against a courageous Netherlands outfit. They had broadly kept Australia in check, even while Warner, coming off the back of 163 against Pakistan in the previous match, marched to a 22nd ODI hundred.

Warner’s main allies were Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, the more dominant partners in stands of 132 and 84 for the second and third wicket, respectively. Had Max O’Dowd not botched a pick-up at midwicket, Warner might have been run-out on 32 when both he and Smith found themselves at the non-striker’s end. Roelof van der Merwe was then adjudged to have grounded a sharp chance at midwicket when Warner had 73, before completing an equally tough grab at backward point to see off Smith for 71.

Labuschagne’s dismissal – de Leede’s first, caught mid-off – was the first of three to fall for just 23 runs, culminating in Warner’s dismissal, paddling Logan van Beek to fine leg, well-taken by Aryan Dutt, two balls after registering a sixth World Cup century off 91. With ten overs to go, Australia were 268 for 5.

Maxwell had come in at the end of the 39th over – the latest an ODI centurion has arrived at the crease – but only faced his first ball midway through the 41st. In retrospect, the back-to-back fours off de Leede to get him off the mark were a sign of things to come.

He was probably culpable for Cameron Green’s run-out, pushing for two only for the allrounder – drafted in for Marcus Stoinis, who had a sore calf – to be found short of his ground with a direct hit. After Teja Nidamanuru failed to get to a difficult chance running back from mid-off when Maxwell was on 24, the carnage began.

From 35 off 21 – already a brisk start – Maxwell got out his reverse sweep for the first time to get Paul van Meekeren away over point, before smashing the follow-up slower ball over square leg for the first of eight sixes. Another reverse over point – this time all the way – brought the fifty up in 27 deliveries, before going over third two balls later, both off de Leede.

A brace of conventional sixes followed in the 48th over, bowled by van Beek, carted over wide mid-on and then sliced over cover point, sandwiching a pull to midwicket by Pat Cummins, possessor of the best seat in the house. Then came de Leede’s chastening final set; bunted down the ground for fours to start, before being launched into the stands at wide mid-on, over square leg and then further behind square after bowling an above-waist full toss as Maxwell stormed through to three figures.

From first six to last, the white-ball phenom struck 66 runs from just 19 deliveries. Maxwell celebrated with a baby-rocking celebration, a nod to his wife and first child, Logan, who was born last month, both of whom arrived in India earlier this week.

The free-hit was uncharacteristically scuffed for a single, de Leede getting out of the over with a dot to Cummins. Though Maxwell was able to begin the final over with a fortuitous boundary off van Beek, his innings ended two balls later courtesy of an excellent catch by Sybrand Engelbrecht at long-off. Mitchell Starc came and went for a golden duck – van Beek’s fourth – leaving Cummins, who had contributed just eight to the seventh-wicket stand of 104, to close out the innings with just his second boundary, smeared through midwicket.

With 400 to get, Netherlands opener Vikramjit was never going to die wondering, racing to 21 from 13 courtesy five fours. And though he would survive a run-out opportunity after O’Dowd left him high and dry with a dodgy call, saved by Josh Hazlewood’s awry throw after fielding in his follow-through, he was less fortunate on 25. A well-timed back-foot punch to mid-off found Maxwell, who had started the chase off the field, and well you know what happened next.

By then, O’Dowd had chopped Starc on to his own stumps. Colin Ackermann then fell lbw to Halzewood, before de Leede’s grim day was compounded with an appeal against Cummins for a similar dismissal that Hawkeye suggested was trimming leg stump. Engelbrecht’s seemingly perfect pull shot off Mitchell Marsh’s second ball nestled into the hands of a leaping Warner just in front of the square-leg sponge, leaving Netherlands 62 for 5 at the first drinks break.

The pause on the wickets lasted just 27 deliveries. Nidamanuru was unfortunate enough to glove Marsh down the leg side, then Zampa snared two-in-two, as van Beek cut to Josh Inglis and van der Merwe was trapped in front by a googly. Dutt survived the hat-trick ball – another googly – with a thick inside edge.

He had no such luck when struck in front while on the back foot in Zampa’s next over. The legspinner then secured a third four-wicket haul in a row when Inglis managed to shovel the ball back on to the stumps after van Meekeren’s back foot had crept in front of the line following an attempted sweep.

With that, Netherlands were 90 all out, their final five batters falling for just six runs. All the while, skipper Scott Edwards cut a forlorn figure at the other end. He will know a defeat of this magnitude will not define his team, though they now occupy an unflattering spot on the wrong side of history.

Brief scores:
Australia 399/8 in 50 overs (Glenn Maxwell 106, David Warner 104, Steven Smith 71, Marnus Labuschagne 62; Logan van Beek 4-74, Bas de Leede 2-115) beat Netherlands 90 in 21 overs (Vikramjit Singh 25; Adam Zampa 4-08, Mitchelle Marsh 2-19) by 309 runs

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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, and Eastern provinces and in Monaragala district during the day time

Published

3 hours ago

2026/04/26

Priyan

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 25 April 2026, valid for 26 April 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on the human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, and Eastern provinces and in Monaragala district during the day time.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.

Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-744649

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued For Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western province

Published

17 hours ago

2026/04/25

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 12.00 noon 25 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 25 April 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya
districts after 1.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning
activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:
The Department of Meteorology advises that
people should:
• Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
• Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
• Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
• For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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Kohli, Padikkal hit fifties as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ace the chase against Gujarat Titans

Published

24 hours ago

2026/04/25

Priyan

Virat Kohli hit eight fours, to go with four sixes [Cricinfo]

An exhibition of clean hitting by Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal ensured Sai Sudarshan’s measured 100 off 58 balls ended in a losing cause as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

After winning the toss, RCB captain Rajat Patidar had no hesitation in putting GT in. Sudharsan laid a strong foundation on a pitch he described as “two-paced and sticky to start with”. But even when the surface became easier to bat on, GT could not get into overdrive. They scored only 35 in the last four overs and finished on 205 for 3.

In response, Kohli, who was dropped on zero, smashed 81 off 44 balls and Padikkal blasted 55 off just 27. They put on 115 in 9.5 overs for the second wicket, and despite a bit of wobble towards the end, RCB romped home with seven balls to spare.

The GT openers prefer to take as few risks as possible and it was no different on Friday. Sudharsan was circumspect at the start and was on 17 off 16 after three overs. But he found his timing after that and moved to 41 off 27 by the end of the fifth. Gill had faced just three balls till then. GT finished the powerplay on 57 for no loss.

Sudharsan went inventive after the powerplay, scooping Romario Shepherd for a six. When Krunal Pandya bowled a bouncer, he uppercut him over deep third. Later in the over, he slog-swept the spinner for another six, reaching 2000 runs in the IPL. Taking 47 innings, he was the fastest to get there, bettering Chris Gayle’s record by one.

He and Gill added 128 in 12.4 overs, with Gill contributing 32 off 24 balls. The GT captain was starved of strike throughout his stay and holed out to long-on off Suyash Sharma. Sudharsan brought up his hundred off 57 balls, the slowest of the six so far this season. There was no cutting loose after reaching the milestone either. He was out on the very next ball he faced.

GT were 170 for 2 after 16 overs but Suyash, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hazlewood gave away only 17 in the next three. At 187 for 3, Rasikh Salam ran in to bowl the final over but he stopped even before he could bowl a delivery. It looked like cramps and despite the physio working on him, he had to walk off the field. Krunal replaced him and was hit for a six by Jason Holder off the first ball. After another ball, Krunal too pulled out of his delivery stride holding his groin. But after a bit of medical attention, he completed the over, but ended up leaking 18 runs.

With Phil Salt injured, Jacob Bethell finally got a chance to play this season. Opening the innings after coming in as Impact Player, he had a close shave in the second over. He got an inside edge to a length ball from Kagiso Rabada but it missed the stumps and beat Buttler for four. In the next over, he shuffled across and hit Mohammed Siraj for a four on either side of the wicket. But when he tried the same trick later in the over, he hit it straight to the backward point. He made 14 off ten.

Kohli was dropped off the first ball he faced. It was a length delivery from Siraj that he flicked uppishly towards short midwicket but Washington Sundar grassed a regulation chance. Kohli made his intentions clear in the following over when he hit Rabada over mid-on for a four.

Padikkal was even more ruthless. He opened his account with a first-ball six, picking up a 153.6kph length ball from Rabada over square leg. The GT bowlers didn’t help themselves by bowling onto his pads, and he kept flicking them fine for boundaries.

Rashid Khan wasn’t spared either. He dropped one short to Kohli and the batter duly pulled it over deep midwicket for a six before cutting the following delivery for four. In the spinner’s second over, Padikkal hit him for two sixes, the second one taking him to his fifty off just 20 balls. It made Kohli’s 30-ball fifty look pedestrian.

Rashid bowled Padikkal with a googly from around the wicket, and Kohli played Holder on but not before hitting the allrounder for back-to-back sixes.

Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma kept the attack going. They hit a six each off Rashid but fell in quick succession. Suddenly, RCB were five down with 31 required from four overs. Krunal, though, bashed Manav Suthar for two fours and a six in the 18th over, bringing the equation down to seven needed from 12. In the penultimate over, he swatted Holder through midwicket for four before wrapping up the game with a gentle pull to fine leg.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206 for 5 in 18.5 overs (Jacob Bethell 14, Virat Kohli 81, Devdutt Padikkal 55, Jitesh Sharma 10, Tim David 10*, Krunal Pandya 23*; Mohammed Siraj 1-25, Jason Holder 1-35, Rashid Khan 2-49, Manav Suther 1-19) beat Gujarat Titans 205 for 3 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 100, Shubman Gill 32, Jos Buttler 25, Washington Sundar 19*,Jason Holder 23*; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-31, Josh Hazelwood 40, Suyash Sharma 1-36) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]