India received good news on the fitness of captain Harmanpreet Kaur,  who is available to play today’s game after spraining her neck and retiring hurt in the last over of India’s chase against Pakistan. Pooja Vastrakar though, is unlikely to take part having missed Sunday’s match due to a niggle, with S Sajana replacing her.

India hold the advantage by a 19-5 margin in T20Is against Sri Lanka. But one of those five defeats was as recent as this July at the Asia Cup final. India will be keen on exacting revenge. They need a big win to bolster their NRR, something that they did not manage in their victory against Pakistan despite restricting them to 105. A defeat for Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will make their chances of moving to the next round almost nil. Dew has not had much of an effect in the games in Dubai so far, with the sticky nature of the surface and long boundaries also not making run-scoring easy.

India squad:
Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, S Sajana

Sri Lanka squad:
Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilshari, Nilakshika Silva, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera, Shashini Gimhani, Ama Kanchana, Sugandika Kumari

Tournament form guide:
India suffered a big 58-run loss against New Zealand in their opening game, but managed to get past Pakistan in Dubai by six wickets on Sunday. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are currently bottom of the group A points table, and are yet to win a game. They lost their opening match against lower ranked Pakistan by 31 runs, and then went down to Australia by six wickets on Saturday.

Player to watch:
Smriti Mandhana does not have the greatest of records in T20Is against Sri Lanka: 379 runs in 19 innings at 22.29 with two fifties. But in a crunch game, India will bank on their experienced batter to give them a grand start, something that has not happened so far in the tournament.

[Cricinfo]

There are no major injury concerns in either camp, though it remains to be seen how South Africa manage the players’ workload considering a less-than-48 hours turnaround time after their game against England was a day-night affair in Sharjah on Monday. Scotland are bottom placed on the group B points table, and with an NRR of -1.897, a loss against South Africa will most certainly end their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals. South Africa, on the other hand, can leapfrog England and secure top spot with a big win in Dubai. This is the first time South Africa and Scotland will face-off in any format in women’s cricket. Heat is once again going to be a factor in the day game in Dubai, with temperatures likely to touch 38 degrees Celsius.

Scotland squad:
Kathryn Bryce (capt), Chloe Abel, Abbi Aitken-Drummond, Olivia Bell, Sarah Bryce (wk), Darcey Carter, Priyanaz Chatterji, Katherine Fraser, Saskia Horley, Lorna Jack, Ailsa Lister, Abtaha Maqsood, Megan McColl, Hannah Rainey, Rachel Slater

South Africa squad:
Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Mieke de Ridder, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Sune Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Seshnie Naidu, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloe Tryon

Tournament form guide:
Scotland’s maiden T20 World Cup appearance hasn’t gone to plan so far with two back-to-back losses. They started their tournament with a 16-run defeat gainst Bangladesh, before going down heavily to West Indies by six wickets and 50 balls to spare. South Africa are also coming into this game on the back of a seven wicket loss against England which saw them slip to third on the points table. Their ten wicket win  against West Indies, though, has kept their net run rate (NRR) relatively healthy.

by Reemus Fernando

The men’s and women’s 400 metres have been Sri Lanka’s most productive medal winning discipline at regional track and field championships during the last few decades. Sri Lanka’s schools structure has been providing a steady supply of talented sprinters to national level to improve the profile of this discipline. This year, sprinters Shashintha Silva and Jithma Wijetunga have been the fastest in the junior boys’ and girls’ categories respectively and are showing great promise.

The St. Sebastian’s College, Kandana sprinter Shashintha produced a remarkable feat at the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championship at the Sugathadasa Stadium last week. Shashintha, who also won the silver medal at the South Asian Junior Athletics Championship in September clocked a stunning 47.10 seconds feat to win the Under 18 boys’ 400 metres at the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championship. It is a new National Youth record as he produced his personal best. His feat is faster than those competing in the Under 20 age category this year.

In the girls’ category, Wijetunga clocked 54.94 seconds to win the Under 20 400 metres. Incidentally, she was faster at the Sugathadasa Stadium than at the South Asian Junior Championships in India last month where she finished outside the podium. She turned tables on SAJAC bronze medallist Takshima Nuhasna to win here.

Such performances are crucial for Sri Lanka if it is to continue the medal winning form at Asian circuit.

However many promising sprinters have gone out of the radar after performing exceptionally well at junior level. It is incumbent upon authorities to keep these athletes interested in track and field events after leaving school if the country is to win medals at international level.