Sports
Can Sri Lanka fix their horror record against Pakistan in World Cups?
Rex Clementine
in Hyderabad
Their recent record against Pakistan maybe excellent, but the fact of the matter is that Sri Lanka have never won a World Cup game against Pakistan. The record books say that they have met eight times with Pakistan winning seven and one game being washed out. It remains to be seen whether Sri Lanka can put an end to the losing trend today as these teams meet in Hyderabad.
Sri Lanka’s bowling that was found wanting in their opening World Cup fixture against South Africa in Delhi will try to bounce back today.
The good news from the Sri Lankan camp is that spinner Maheesh Theekshana has recovered sufficiently having been sidelined for three weeks with a hamstring injury. His return will be a huge relief for the former champions who are already missing Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera due to injuries.
It remains to be seen who will be left out with Theekshana returning. With Dhananjaya de Silva as the backup spinner Sri Lanka could opt to drop Dunith Wellalage.
Fast bowler Lahiru Kumara did not feature in the opening game and Sri Lanka will be looking at him too. They could play him instead of Matheesha Pathirana, whose ten overs cost 95 runs including 13 wides.
If that happens, it will be a harsh call on both the 20-year-olds, who had a tough baptism in their opening fixture in the World Cup.
No such problems for Pakistan who recorded a big 81 run win in their opening game against Netherlands also in Hyderabad. The Pakistan team has been based in this city of the Telangana State since their arrival in India. Pakistan’s movement across India during the World Cup is limited and they are restricted largely between the cities of Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Their game against India has been slotted at Ahmedabad, a stadium that has a capacity of over 130,000.
Sri Lanka will be looking to get their act together after the poor show in Delhi. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in an Asia Cup game, which literally turned out to be a semi-final. The hopes of Sri Lanka being able to match Pakistan are high.
The 1996 champions will fancy their chances against teams like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Netherlands, but if they were to have any hopes of going through to the semis, they need to beat some of the stronger teams and Pakistan will be one of those sides.
Against South Africa too they were expected to do well as the Proteas are suspect against spin. But a depleted bowling attack and short square boundaries had their work cut out.
Sri Lanka Squad:
Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Kumara, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka and Dushan Hemantha.
Pakistan squad:
Babar Azam (Captain), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
Umpires:
Chris Gaffaney (NZ) and Alex Wharf (ENG)
Third Umpire:
Nitin Menon (IND)
Match Referee:
Andrew Pycroft (ZIM)
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka will field three athletes including sprinter Chamod Yodasinghe and hurdler Kaveesha Bandara for next week’s World Indoor Athletics Championship which will be held in Nanjing, China.
Sprinters Chamod Yodasinghe and Kalinga Kumarage and hurdler Kaveesha Bandara are the only Sri Lankan athletes to have reached qualifying standards for the global event according to Sri Lanka Athletics.
It is the first time all three athletes are competing at a global event at senior level. While sprint veteran Kumarage has competed at major international events including the Asian Game, the Indoor World Championship is the first major international senior level event at which both Bandara and Yodasinghe are taking part.
Yodasinghe who has the 2028 Olympics as his long term goal had this year’s Asian Championship as his major goal for the year but his impressive 6.63 seconds finish in the 60 metres at last month’s National Short Track Championship has positioned him in the 36th place in the World Athletics’ Road to Nanjing rankings to be eligible for the event.
Hurdler Bandara is ranked 31st in the World Athletics’ Road to Nanjing rankings by virtue of his 7.80 seconds performance at the National Short Track Championship held in February.
Of the three athletes Kalinga Kumarage is the highest ranked Sri Lankan in the ‘Road to Nanjing rankings’. In the 400 metres Kumarage is ranked 17th for his 45.93 seconds feat achieved at a championship in Japan last year.
Sri Lanka has not been a regular participant at these championships. The country had to skip major athletics events in the recent past due to the difficulty in obtaining visas for events taking place in Europe and the USA.
With the Indoor World Championship taking place in China the three athletes will be eager to produce their best in a bid to improve their world rankings in a world championship year.
Junior Davis Cup Asia Oceania Pre Qualifying Tournament
Sri Lanka boys reached the semi-finals of the Junior Davis Cup Asia Oceania Pre Qualifying Tournament as an unbeaten team. They are set to meet Indonesia today in the semi-final in the tournament conducted in Kunchi Malaysia.
Sri Lanka team booked their semi-final spot with a convincing 2-0 win over Mongolia in the quarter-final where Aahil Kaleel (beat Zolbadar Urnukh 6-4, 6-1) and Saha Kapilasena (beat Zolbayar Ganbold 6-0, 7-5) emerged victorious.
In the other encounters Sri Lanka recorded dominant victories. They beat Bhutan 3-0 and Maldives 3-0.
In the encounter against Bhutan, Mayooran Kubheran (beat Jurmi Khedrup 6-1, 6-2) and Saha Kapilasena (beat Dorj Tshering 6-0, 6-0) won the singles before Aahil Kaleel and Mayooran Kubheran joined to win the doubles with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Dorj Tshering and Urmi Khedrup.
In the matches against Maldives, Mayooran Kubherane (beat Mohamed Salaam 6-0, 6-1) and Aahil Kaleel (beat Neyaz Adam Aal 6-0, 6-0) won the singles before the latter was joined by Saha Kapilasena (beat Mohamed Salaam and Neyaz Adam Aal) to register victory in the doubles.
ITF Junior Circuit J30 Week 1 Tournament
Dinara de Silva reached the quarter-final stage of the ITF Junior Circuit J30 week 1 tournament with a 6-3, 6-0 win over India’s Sanmita Lokesh at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Thursday.
Earlier in the tournament Dinara beat Eyu Yoshida of Japan 6-1, 6-0.
The tournament which commenced on Monday is set to conclude in Sunday.
(Pic by Kamal Wanniarachchi)
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