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Chaminda Vaas

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– A role model par excellence

By Hemaka Amarasuriya

When David Sakar, a professional bowling coach and a state player in Sheffield Shield for Victoria of the past decades, who could not quite make it to his national side, decamped at the 11th hour from Sri Lanka’s tour to West Indies, the team was left high and dry. As the team was without a bowling coach, veteran Chaminda Vaas, who has represtned the country in over 100 Test matches, was co -opted to fill the role hurriedly, sans any negotiations.

Chaminda is the best left-arm pace bowler of our times with 761 internatioanl wickets to his name and easily the most successful fast bowler the country has produced. Having ended his playing career with an exemplary record of achievements and discipline, he is an ideal role model for our youth. Since retirement, his services have been highly sought after as he had worked with the New Zealand cricket team as a Consultant Fast Bowling Coach.

Perhaps his boyhood desire to join the clergy may have served the  community and himself better than  to b e a professional cricketer, vilified in the twilight of an outstanding career for no fault of his own, other than what he stood for. 

I see this as a principled decision to turn down an offer on behalf of all our home born coaches. Just because you are emerging from our own national grid should our coaches monetary value be only 37 percent of those who are employed from overseas? I do not agree with that.

I appeal to our cricket authorities to treat our home grown coaches with the same value proposition and respect as an overseas coach. If they do not see the writing on the wall, strongly emerging countries such as Ireland and USA with the best expertise and investment behind them will soon oust us from the top ten. 

(This writer is a former Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket. He was also the Chairman of Singer for several years and generously sponsored the national cricket team in 1990s when support for the game was few and rare.  Singer were sponsors when Sri Lanka won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1996. It was also during Amarasuriya’s tenure as country’s cricket chief, Sri Lanka successfully conducted their first ever global sports event  – the inaugural ICC Champions  Trophy in 2002.)



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Deepti digs deep to deliver India’s four-wicket win

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Deepti Sharma launched into a remarkable one-handed six over midwicket [Cricinfo]

Deepti Sharma gave India the upper hand against England again, although in a more conventional style this time, with a match-winning half-century at Southampton for a 1-0 lead in their three-match ODI series.

The last time these sides met in an ODI in England, in 2022, Deepti scored an unbeaten fifty to rescue her side from an early stumble then ran out Charlie Dean while backing up on the last ball to seal a 3-0 ODI series sweep at Lord’s.

On Wednesday night, Deepti’s unbeaten 62 off 64 balls allowed India to chase down 259 to win by four wickets with 10 balls to spare. Her 90-run partnership for the fifth wicket off 86 balls with  Lemimah Rodrigues trumped the corresponding century stand between Sophia Dunkley and Alice Davidson–Richards,  who both passed fifty to take England to 258 for 6.

Both sides made a scrappier start than they might have liked to their build-up for the World Cup, which starts in India and Sri Lanka in 11 weeks’ time. India missed chances in the field and made hard work of their pursuit early, while England were forced to defend a modest total after suffering an early batting collapse and ultimately couldn’t take the wickets they needed.

India’s top order made starts but could not convert. Lauren Bell removed the threat of Smriti Mandhana, the leading run-scorer by some way on the T20I leg of the tour, via a faint edge to wicketkeeper Amy Jones for a 24-ball 28 in the eighth over.

Fellow opener Pratika Rawal faced 51 deliveries for her 36 before she was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone to make it 94 for 2 in the 19th.

When Harleen Deol was unnecessarily run out via a direct hit from Davidson-Richards because she left her bat hovering off the ground well beyond the crease while her foot was short of the crease, England were in the contest.

And Dean bettered the hosts’ position when she got one to grip from outside off and strike Harmanpreet Kaur on the knee-roll, England’s review bearing fruit when the ball was shown to be hitting middle stump. At that point, India needed 135 runs at just under a run a ball.

Deepti took control, striking the only six of the match when she launched Bell over deep midwicket to move into the 30s.

She was on 40 when Bell beat her attempted pull and hit the pad, the ball racing away for four leg byes when replays suggested she would have been given out lbw had England reviewed.

Rodrigues was on 48 when she messed up an attempted scoop of Lauren Filer, gloving the ball to Jones to give England another opening.

Deepti brought up her fifty off 52 balls sweeping Dean to deep square leg.

When Dean had Richa Ghosh stumped advancing down the pitch in her final over, India needed 30 runs off 33 balls but Deepti and Amanjot Kaur saw them home.

Dunkley, reprieved on 23 and 43, reached 83 off 92 deliveries before she fell on the final ball of the innings. She shared a 106-run stand for the fifth wicket with Davidson-Richards, who scored 53, to rescue England from 97 for 4.

It could have been worse for the hosts had India held their chances. Davidson-Richards was on 16 when Kranti Goud fumbled an attempted return catch and Nat Sciver-Brunt, England’s captain back from a groin injury which kept her out of the last three T20Is, was put down by Mandhana at midwicket off Sneh Rana before going on to score 41.

Off-spinner Rana went wicketless from seven overs across her four appearances in the T20Is in her comeback to the format after more than two years. But she took 2 for 31 from 10 overs to be the pick of India’s bowlers in this match, Goud the other multiple wicket-taker with 2 for 55 from nine.

Unable to reprise the success of their opening partnership which yielded 424 runs in two matches against West Indies earlier this summer, Jones and Tammy Beaumont both fell cheaply as England slumped to 20 for 1 in the first four overs.

That was thanks to Goud, the 21-year-old right-arm seamer making just her third international appearance. She started inauspiciously with a dot ball then three consecutive wides before sending down an absolute gem that nipped back off the seam, beat Jones’s bat and crashed into the top of off stump.

It took an India review to give Goud her second when she rapped Beaumont on the front pad as she strode across her stumps, with ball-tracking confirming impact on the top of middle and off.

Sciver-Brunt and Emma Lamb repaired the damage with a 71-run partnership for the third wicket. They struggled to find the boundary through overs 13-17, however, as India mixed up their bowling options and it was Rana who removed both in the space of 12 deliveries.

Lamb tried to break the shackles and picked out Harmanpreet at mid-off, and a wonderful catch by Rodrigues at short midwicket sent Sciver-Brunt on her way.

Shree Charani, Player of the Series with 10 wickets in the T20Is, broke the union between Dunkley and Davison-Richards when she had the latter stumped, despite a fumble from wicketkeeper Ghosh.

Dunkley fell on the last ball, bowled by Amanjot’s full-length cutter, a neat cameo of 23 not out from 19 balls by Sophie Ecclestone adding valuable runs but it wasn’t enough.

Brief scores:
India Women  262 for 6 in 48.2 overs  (Pratika Rawal 36, Smriti Mandhana 28, Harlene Deol 27, Deepti Sharma  62*, Jemimah Rodrigues 48, Amanjot Kaur 20*; Charlie Dean 2-52) beat England Women 258 for 6 in 50 overs (Emma Lamb 39, Nat Sciver-Brunt 41, Sophia Dunkley 83, Alice Davidson-Richards 53, Sophie Ecclestone 23*; Kranti Goud 2-55, Sneh Rana 2-31) by four wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Italy through to semis with a dramatic win over Norway

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Cristiana Girelli [BBC]

Italy captain Cristiana Girelli scored a dramatic 90th-minute winner as they beat Norway to set up a potential Euro 2025 semi-final against reigning champions England.

After a dominant first-half performance, Girelli opened the scoring in the 50th minute before Norway captain Ada Hegerberg recovered from missing a penalty to level the match.

However, with the game heading towards extra time, Girelli headed home Sofia Cantore’s cross to send her side through to the last four for the first time since 1997, where they will face Sweden or England, who play their quarter-final on Thursday.

“It’s a dream that becomes a reality,” Girelli said after the game. “It’s amazing.

“I felt something different, something special. I have seen in the eyes of my team-mates a special light.

“I just believe to fight until the end and to believe until the end until the referee’s whistle. If you have a flame you have to continue to live. We suffered a lot but we fought until the end.”

Italy were the better side throughout the opening 45 minutes and were left to rue missed opportunities at the break, with Arianna Caruso, Girelli, Emma Severini and Lucia di Guglielmo all going close.

Girelli broke the deadlock shortly after half-time, touching in Cantore’s cross with her left foot from close range, and Italy thought they had doubled their lead a few minutes later when Severini scrambled the ball over the line. However, it was ruled out for offside against Caruso.

Norway were handed a golden opportunity to level in the 60th minute when Hegerberg was awarded a penalty after being hauled to the floor by Elena Linari, but for the second time in this tournament she sent her spot-kick wide.

However, she made amends six minutes later, coolly slotting the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Laura Giuliani.

Momentum swung in Norway’s favour following the equaliser, with the best chance for a winner falling to Ingrid Engen, whose curled effort from the edge of the box went just wide, before Girelli popped up in the box late on to spark Italian celebrations.

While the headlines should be about Italy and their first appearance in the last four of a Women’s Euros for 28 years, an unfortunate spotlight has fallen on Norway captain Hegerberg.

Having sent a penalty wide in her side’s opening game against Switzerland, her nerves would have been jangling when the referee pointed to the spot on the hour mark.

There was a lengthy delay before she lined up to take the penalty, with a couple of team-mates gathered by the ball and plenty of gardening around the spot.

After the pause, she walked up to the ball and planted her penalty well wide of the right post before putting her head in her hands. Italy goalkeeper Giuliani had gone the right way.

Although she made amends six minutes later, the missed penalty was the latest blemish in an underwhelming tournament from a star-studded Norway side.

Despite topping Group A with three wins from three, their performances have left many fans underwhelmed, with their side benefitting from an own goal to beat Switzerland, needing an 84th-minute winner against Finland, and conceding two late goals to Iceland.

A common criticism has been their inability to get the best out of their superstars – and it was the case once against in Geneva.

Guro Reiten struggled as a makeshift left-back, finding herself hemmed back by a counter-attacking Italy, while Barcelona forward Caroline Graham Hansen was curiously absent throughout.

Norway have now not reached the semi-finals of a Women’s Euros since 2013.

[BBC Sports]

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Sri Lanka bat first at RPS as Chandimal, Kamindu return for series decider

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Dinesh Chandimal returned to the side featuring in his first T-20I in more than three years when he was picked ahead of the struggling Avishka Fernando.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat in the winner-takes-all third and final Twenty20 International against Bangladesh at R. Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday, ringing in two key changes to the XI that crashed and burned at Dambulla.

Veteran campaigner Dinesh Chandimal and the versatile Kamindu Mendis returned to the side in place of the misfiring Avishka Fernando and all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne, as the hosts looked to shore up a brittle middle order that folded for a paltry 94 in the previous outing — their lowest T20I total at home.

Chandimal, playing his first T20I in over three years, was recalled to bring some steel and experience to the top order. The former skipper was seen as a steady head in a dressing room searching for answers after the Dambulla drubbing.

Kamindu, a left-hander known for his adaptability and calm under pressure, was brought in to plug the middle-order hole, with Sri Lanka’s think tank opting for extra batting depth in the crunch clash.

Karunaratne’s comeback after nearly two years never got out of first gear as he failed to make an impact with either bat or ball in the first two matches and was duly left out.

Notably, there was still no room for IPL darling Matheesha Pathirana, whose absence throughout the series raised eyebrows. The slingy speedster remained on the bench, despite his star power and cult following.

Sri Lanka also mulled handing a game to Dunith Wellalage but stuck with leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who was unlucky at Dambulla with two chances off his bowling grassed in the field.

Having drawn first blood with a convincing seven-wicket win at Pallekele, Sri Lanka came crashing down to earth in the second T20I, where despite limiting Bangladesh to 177, they collapsed like a house of cards once Kusal Mendis was run out early. The eventual 83-run defeat was their heaviest against Bangladesh in the shortest format.

Bangladesh, stung by defeats in both the Test and ODI legs of the tour, shuffled their pack for the decider, axing all-rounders Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mohammad Saifuddin in favour of Tanzim Hasan and Mahedi Hasan, bolstering their bowling arsenal.

A full house of 35,000 was expected under the lights at RPS, with tickets for the decider snapped up a week in advance.

by Rex Clementine

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