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Athapaththu, Gunaratne and bowlers take dominant Sri Lanka to Asia Cup semi-final
A disciplined bowling effort from Sri Lanka, backed up by Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne’s unbeaten 94-run stand helped Sri Lanka beat Thailand by ten wickets and coast into the semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 .
Batting first, Thailand’s innings never found a high gear as they were restricted to 93 for 7 in their 20 overs. Athapaththu and Gunaratne then made light work of the target, as they romped home with 51 balls to spare. The win meant Sri Lanka topped Group B with three wins on the bounce, and will now face Pakistan in the semi-final on Friday.
Sri Lanka had made as many as four changes from their previous game against Malaysia, bringing back the experienced Hasini Perera, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari and Achini Kulasuriya into the playing XI.
Barring the toss, not much went Thailand’s way. They lost Nattaya Boochatham off the first ball of the game, and it all went downhill from there. Opener Nannapat Konchroenkai was the only Thailand batter who looked settled against the Sri Lankan bowlers as she carried her bat through the innings, finishing on 47 off 53 balls. Only three Thailand batters reached double digits, while five of the Sri Lanka bowlers picked up at least one wicket.
In reply, Athapaththu and Gunaratne were circumspect early on, but opened up their shoulders after the powerplay. Athapaththu remained unbeaten on 49, and during the course of her knock, became the highest run-scorer of the current edition of the Asia Cup, while Gunaratne remained 39 not out.
Sri Lanka couldn’t have asked for a better start, with Achini Kulasuriya, one of the four changes in the Sri Lanka unit, starting with the most perfect yorker that snuck under Boochatham’s bat and crashed into off stump. Aphisara Suwanchonrathi then got back-to-back fours in the first over, but fell soon after mistiming Inoshi Priyadharshani to mid-on.
Koncharoenkai brought out a pristine cover drive against Priyadharshani before sending another classy drive past Udeshika Prabodhani, with Thailand ending the powerplay on 28 for 2. But while Koncharoenkai still got the odd boundary in, Phannita Maya, coming in at No. 4, simply failed to rotate the strike.
Maya took 14 balls to get off the mark, as Thailand’s innings stalled after the powerplay. Her innings came to an end on a painful 18-ball 2 courtesy of a stunning effort from Kavisha Dilhari, who hared across from mid-off, then dived full-stretch to complete the catch inches off the turf.
By the time ten overs were done, Thailand had already faced seven overs of dot balls, and slipped to 42 for 3.
Chanida Sutthiruang started her innings by deftly placing Athapaththu, but fell off her third ball by chipping a simple return catch to Dilhari. Thailand went five overs from 11 to 15 without finding the fence, and lost Suleeporn Laomi and Suwanan Khiaoto in the process as they found themselves stuck on 54 for 6 after 15 overs.
Thipatcha Putthawong and Koncharoenkai’s seventh-wicket stand of 28 turned out to be the highest of the game as Thailand tried to muster a few runs in the back end. They did score 39 in the last five overs, including 13 off the final, but 93 was never going to be enough.
Barring a dropped catch from Hasini Perera, Koncharoenkai’s 47* was largely flawless as she carried the Thailand innings all by herself. But Thailand’s 70 dot balls came back to haunt them.
Sri Lanka required just 16 runs to qualify for the semi-final, and 48 to top group B. They didn’t break much of a sweat to achieve that. Both Athapaththu and Gunaratne took a bit of time to settle in. Sutthiruang, the medium pacer, got loads of swing early on but lacked control, and the openers picked her away.
Athapaththu got going by depositing Boochatham over deep midwicket before going after her again in her next over for a six and four. Gunaratne’s first four came by nurdling a friendly Sutthiruang full toss past short fine leg, before she cut the same bowler through point as Sri Lanka reached 40 for 0 after six overs.
Both batters notched up a gear after the powerplay. Athapaththu thumped Onnicha Kamchomphu over long-on in the ninth over, while Gunaratne struck her for a six and four each. Athapaththu then took on Maya as Sri Lanka raced towards their target. Their win came in the 12th over via a bye. Athapaththu, for her unbeaten 49 and 1 for 15 with the ball, was named Player of the Match.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 94 for 0 (Chamari Athapaththu 49*, Vishmi Gunaratne 39*) beat Thailand Women 93 for 7 in 20 overs (Nannapat Koncharoenkai 47*, Thipatcha Putthawong 13; Achini Kulasuriya 1-20, Sugandika Kumari 1-22, Inoshi Priyadarshani 1-10, Kavisha Dilhari 2-13, Chamari Athapaththu 1-15) by ten wickets
[Cricinfo]
For the longest time, they were inseparable at the top of the order for Pakistan in T20Is. Then, with questions about strike rates and maximising powerplay value cropping up, the team management tried putting some distance between them in the batting order. They found their way back up, together. But now, with just under a year to go for the next T20 World Cup, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are out altogether.
This signifies a shift in approach for Pakistan, perhaps triggered by the failure to make an impact at their own Champions Trophy, though that was an ODI contest.
Pakistan have opted for three dashers at the top. With Saim Ayub still unavailable, Pakistan have a likely top three of Mohammad Haris, Omair Yousuf and the uncapped Hasan Nawaz – all three have a reputation of being aggressive batters.
Salman Agha, Pakistan’s new T20I captain, has emphasised the need to improve their intent and approach and the need to play “fearless” and “high-risk cricket”, saying that the squad has players that have displayed that brand of cricket in domestic games.
The new-look Pakistan line-up will start off facing a difficult test against a strong New Zealand outfit, even though they are missing key players who are away on IPL duty. There is a formidable bowling attack, with Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi and Jacob Duffy all set to test Pakistan’s inexperience.
Key batters are missing, too, in the team led by Michael Bracewell, one of New Zealand’s best performers in their run to the title round at the Champions Trophy. But Finn Allen is back, as are Tim Seifert and Jimmy Neesham. Daryl Mitchell hasn’t gone anywhere. And Mitchell Hay, Mark Chapman and Tim Robinson are hardly pushovers. At home, they will think of themselves as favourites, with or without a Rachin Ravindra or a Devon Conway or a Glenn Phillips. If anything, the changes will give them a better idea of the make-up of the World Cup squad next year.
Since his 137 against Pakistan in January 2024, Finn Allen has failed to cross 50 in nine T20Is. In fact, he crossed 25 only twice in this period, with a high score of 32. He turned out for Perth Scorchers in the BBL, but his form there was also indifferent, as he got just 181 runs from ten innings. Allen, despite not being centrally contracted, wants to play the T20 World Cup next year, but he knows he must turn his form around and marry his explosiveness with consistency. Last year, he scored 275 runs in the five-match T20I series against Pakistan, so there may not be a better team for him to face to get going again.
Omair Yousuf has played just six T20Is – three in the Asian Games and three in Zimbabwe. Hasan Nawaz has only three PSL games under his belt, and didn’t get a game last season. That makes Mohammad Haris the most experienced player in Pakistan’s new-look top three and the onus will be on him to break the shackles and play the new aggressive brand of cricket the team management is aiming for. It’s also a comeback series for Haris, whose last international game was in September 2023.
Neesham, Seifert and Allen are back in New Zealand’s squad, and Neesham and Allen are likely to start. Sears and O’Rourke are expected to lead the fast-bowling attack, along with Jacob Duffy, who was the highest wicket-taker in New Zealand’s last T20I series, against Sri Lanka.
Apart from Nawaz, Pakistan might also hand a debut to Abdul Samad, who was picked despite having no PSL experience. Shadab Khan is back in the side and should lead the spin attack alongside Abrar Ahmed.
New Zealand (probable): Finn Allen, Tim Robinson, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell (capt), Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi, Will O’Rourke, Jacob Duffy
Pakistan (probable): Mohammad Haris (wk), Omair Yousuf, Hasan Nawaz, Salman Agha (capt), Abdul Samad, Irfan Khan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi
[Cricinfo]
Royal College defeated S. Thomas’ College by four wickets in the 48th Mustangs Trophy cricket encounter played at the SSC today [15]
Scores:
S. Thomas’ 220 in 49.1 overs
Royal 223/6 in 46.4 overs
A senior Islamic State (IS) group leader in Iraq and Syria has been killed in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with US-led coalition forces, the Iraqi prime minister has said.
Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, also known as Abu Khadijah, “was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world”, according to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
US President Donald Trump said “he was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters”.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said it conducted a “precision airstrike” in Iraq’s western Al Anbar province, which killed “one of the most important” IS members on Thursday.
Rifai was the head of IS’s most senior decision-making body and was responsible for operations, logistics, and planning conducted by IS globally, the US Central Command said.
He also directed a large portion of finance for the group’s global organisation, Centcom added.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, President Trump said: “His miserable life was terminated, along with another member of ISIS, in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government. PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!”
Rifai was found dead alongside one other IS operative, Centcom said.
“Both terrorists were wearing unexploded ‘suicide vests’ and had multiple weapons,” it added.
Centcom and Iraqi forces were able to identify him through a DNA match from DNA collected on a previous raid where he “narrowly escaped”, it added.
Gen Michael Erik Kurilla said Rifai “was one of the most important IS members in the entire global IS organisation.
“We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and US, allied and partner personnel in the region and beyond.”
IS once held 88,000sq km (34,000sq miles) of territory stretching from north-eastern Syria across northern Iraq and imposed its brutal rule on almost eight million people.
Iraq declared the defeat of IS in December 2017 and the group was driven from its last piece of territory in 2019.
However militants and sleeper cells continue to have a presence in various parts of the country and carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq’s army and police.
[BBC]
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