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Charith Asalanka 91, Dhananjaya de Silva fifty set Afghanistan 269 in first ODI

Published

4 months ago

2023/06/2

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Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva added 99 for the fifth wicket (Cricinfo)

Afghanistan’s seamers struck with the new ball, and closed out the innings efficiently with the old one, but Charith Asalanka’s 91 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 51 pushed Sri Lanka to a competitive total. Their 268 all out left one ball unused, as four wickets fell in the last two overs of the innings.

Fazalhaq Farooqi made the first incisions, dismissing opener Dimuth Karunaratne and No. 3 Kusal Mendis inside the first nine overs, though he would go on to bowl some expensive spells later, finishing with an economy rate of 6.44. Fareed Ahmad also took two wickets – that of Angelo Mathews in the 15th over, and of debutant Dushan Hemantha at the death.

Everyone else – Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi, and Azmatullah Omarzai – took one wicket apiece. While Noor went for runs, Mujeeb and Nabi kept a lid on the scoring through Sri Lanka’s middle overs. Omarzai bowled the last over, in which Sri Lanka mustered only four runs but lost three wickets – two of them to run-outs.

Having come to the crease at 61 for 3, Asalanka had a jittery start. He survived a caught-behind review off the sixth ball he faced, before getting into his work, hitting three fours off successive overs. Asalanka was proactive – though not quite aggressive – by picking up singles as he awaited Afghanistan’s errors.

When Dhananjaya joined him at the other end, he too batted at a similar tempo. The early fall of wickets – Sri Lanka had been 84 for 4 when these two came together – did not allow either batter to free his arms. They progressed without any fuss through the middle overs – Asalanka prospered through midwicket and cover, while Dhananjaya found boundaries behind square on the off side, though he also played the legside flick effectively.

Asalanka got to his fifty with consecutive fours off Mujeeb in the 36th over, reaching the milestone off the 57th ball he faced. Dhananjaya got there next over, off his 56th ball. But he was soon bowled by the canny Nabi, who slid one quickly underneath the batter’s attempted sweep shot.

The pair’s 99-run stand had delivered Sri Lanka to the doorstep of the death overs, but Asalanka had only stinting support once Dhananjaya fell at the start of the 38th over. Dasun Shanaka managed only 17, before Noor – his Gujarat Titans team-mate at the IPL – sneaked one into his off stump. Hemantha then struck the only six of the innings – that came as late as the penultimate over – high over cow corner, but was out for 22 off 20 balls.

Two overs out, Sri Lanka were 256 for 6, with a total of 280 not out of reach. But they fell meekly after that, Asalanka getting himself run-out attempting to take a bye to start the final over, after Hemantha had holed out to mid-off three balls earlier.

Brief scores (Innings break) :

Sri Lanka 268 (Asalanka 91, Dhananjaya 51, Fareed 2-43) vs Afghanistan

(Cricinfo)

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Ministerial Consultative Committee unanimously consent to canceling the nominations submitted for the Local Government Elections

Published

11 hours ago

2023/09/21

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The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils & Local Government chaired by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena as well as the Minister of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government unanimously consented to cancel the nominations submitted for the Local Government Elections given that those who have submitted nominations have faced great difficulties due to the postponement of the elections.

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India set to approve historic women’s quota bill

Published

12 hours ago

2023/09/21

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Sonia Gandhi called for the bill's immediate implementation (pic BBC)

The lower house of the Indian parliament has passed a bill guaranteeing a third of seats for women in the parliament and state assemblies.

First proposed in 1996, the bill had been pending for decades amid opposition from some political parties.

On Wednesday, the Lok Sabha passed it with near unanimity after hours of fierce debate. The bill will now require the approval of lawmakers in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. If passed here, it will be sent to the Indian president for approval and become law.

But it is still some way from being implemented as that would depend on the completion of India’s census. The exercise, conducted every 10 years, was set to be held in 2021 but was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and is now expected to take place in 2025. Reported plans to redraw boundaries of assembly seats to increase the overall number of constituencies, known as delimitation, could further complicate the bill’s implementation.

The passing of the bill is expected to boost the fortunes of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general elections next year.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked MPs who voted for the bill in Lok Sabha. He called it a “historic legislation” that will enable greater participation of women in the political process. The bill was passed after 454 MPs from across party lines voted in its favour with only two against it.

The Lok Sabha debated the legislation for nearly eight hours, with several members of the Opposition raising concerns about its implementation even as they voiced their support. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the party supported the proposed legislation but demanded its immediate implementation. “How many years will they have to wait, two, four, eight?” Ms Gandhi asked. “Delaying this would be doing gross injustice to women.”

Several opposition MPs have also demanded a separate quota for women belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Hinduism’s caste system puts Brahmins or priests at the top, and Dalits (formerly untouchables) and Adivasis (tribespeople) at the bottom. In between are a multitude of lower and intermediate castes, which are roughly believed to constitute about 52% of the population, and are recognised as Other Backward Classes or OBCs. While India’s census has always recorded the population of Dalits and Adivasis, it has never counted the OBCs.

The proposed bill provides for one-third of the seats, which are already reserved for Dalits and tribespeople, to be reserved for women. But it excludes a similar sub-quota for women who belong to OBCs.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Ms Gandhi said the government should conduct a caste census – or a count of OBCs – and extend the benefits of the proposed law to women from those groups as well. Some other opposition MPs called the move an eyewash by the ruling party.

MP Asaduddin Owaisi, one of the two votes against the bill, said the current bill would only benefit upper caste women.

(BBC)

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Kerala cannabis with a street value of over Rs.132 million held by Navy in Negombo

Published

16 hours ago

2023/09/21

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A special search operation conducted by the Navy in the Mankuliya Lagoon of Negombo today (21st September 2023) led to the apprehension of a dinghy loaded with over 400kg of Kerala cannabis with an estimated street value of over Rs. 132 million

The seized consignment of Kerala cannabis and the dinghy were handed over to the Negombo Excise Station for onward legal action