Sports
Court agrees for amending SLC constitution
by Rex Clementine
The Appeal Court yesterday agreed for amendments to be made to Sri Lanka Cricket constitution paving the way for much needed checks and balances and an equal playing field for stakeholders of the sport.
Several leading stakeholders of cricket like S. Skandakumar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rienzie Wijetilleke, late Vijaya Malalasekara, Sidath Wettimuny, Kusil Gunasekara and Dinal Phillips petitioned the court asking for fair governance for cricket with several cricket playing countries doing much needed reforms to their cricket structure in the last few years.
Accordingly, India now has 38 votes while Pakistan has 18 votes at their cricket AGMs. In England there are 28 votes while Australia has only six votes. In Sri Lanka, meanwhile, there are 147 votes at the cricket AGM. This means controlling clubs like SSC, NCC, Tamil Union, CCC and Colts have two votes each while some of the paper clubs also enjoy two votes. What the landmark judgment means is that Sri Lanka can now adopt a system that is in line with the rest of the world.
The case was filed two years ago and although the Sports Ministry had vehemently opposed for changes to be made to the constitution the arrival of new Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe saw that stance being completely changed.
Minister Ranasinghe informed the courts that he had no objections for changes being made to the constitution of SLC. There was further controversy as the Minister’s letter claiming no objections were not presented to the court by the Attorney General’s Department for two settings and finally the document was forwarded on Friday paving the way for the historic judgment.
The Sports Minister is the Chief Respondent in the case. He is certain to become the cynosure of all eyes in cricket circles as there had been several attempts made to make amendments to SLC constitution previously but there was little political will on those occasions.
Now the Minister of Sports will form an independent committee to bring the changes to SLC constitution. These changes will be made after consultation with the International Cricket Council.
Sports
Nitish Kumar Reddy makes an all-round splash as India seal the series
India pounced on poor bowling from the Bangladesh spinners to get out of jail on a Delhi surface that started off as tacky but kept on improving for batting as the night progressed. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh took India from 41 for 3 in the sixth over to 221, with a finishing kick provided by Hardik Pandya. In better batting conditions, the India bowling still proved too good for Bangladesh, sealing the series win.
The Bangladesh spinners suffered on both comparisons. Their fast bowlers bowled 12 overs for 102 runs, but the spinners conceded 116 in their eight. And then the India spinners rubbed it in for them with nine overs for just 49 runs and five wickets.
After a toss that didn’t seem to matter – Bangladesh said they wanted to use the dew coming in later to their advantage and chase, India said they wanted to bat first to test their bowlers in dew – Bangladesh opened the bowling with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, whose arm balls were either too full or short and taken apart by Sanju Samson. On a tacky surface, the fast bowlers managed to draw misbehaviour though. Samson and Suryakumar Yadav fell to checked shots because of the slowness of the pitch, and Abhishek Sharma played on trying to slog Tanzim Hasan.
Rinku was the only one able to play smoothly from the start. Reddy got away twice in the early phase of his innings. When Litton Das dropped him down the leg side of Tanzim, Reddy moved to 6 off 4, and he was 19 off 14 when he survived an extremely close lbw – umpire’s call on impact on a reverse-sweep. That 19 included a six off a free-hit thanks to a no-ball by Mahmudullah.
Rishad Hossain is a legspinner full of promise, especially in T20 cricket. However, against a Rinku intent on all kinds of sweeps, he bowled his fifth ball too full and was slog-swept for six. And then Mahmudulllah offered the free-hit. In his second over, Rishad erred on length on both sides. Reddy took him for two sixes down the ground before Rinku pulled him for one. That 24-run over took India past 100 in 10 overs.
After that, only Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman managed an over without a boundary. Mehidy suffered the worst punishment as he couldn’t get Reddy off strike and kept bowling in his wheelhouse for 26 runs in the 13th over. A hundred in just his second match looked on but a slower ball from Mustafizur got the better of him to dismiss him for 74 off 34.
This was the right time for Bangladesh to squeeze in an over of spin but Hardik Pandya offered no concessions to Rishad’s errors in length. Rinku might have looked like the silent partner in the carnage but he got to his fifty at almost two a ball.
As India kept losing wickets looking for quick runs, Rishad managed some respite and got to bowl the last over for just eight runs. Bangladesh were still being asked to score their highest T20I total to stay alive in the series.
There’s a reason Bangladesh have never scored more than 215 in T20Is’ their batters don’t seem to have the game for it. Looking for the unprecedented, the batters took too many risks and got off to a quick start but it was a matter of time before the risks caught up with them. Parvez Hossain played Arshdeep on, Washington Sundar got Najmul Hossain Shanto twice in two games, Litton Das was all at sea against Varun Chakravarthy, Towhid Hridoy was done in by an Abhishek Sharma arm ball, and the game was all but done at 46 for 4 in the seventh over.
The rest was mere formalities, which involved a wicket for Riyan Parag, a stunning catch by Pandya, and a wicket at least for each of the seven bowlers India tried.
Brief scores:
India 221 for 9 in 20 overs (Nitish Kumar Reddy 74, Rinku Singh 53, Hardik Pandya 32; Taskin Ahmed 2-16, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 2-50, Mustafizur Rahman 2-36, Rishad Hossain 3-55) beat Bangladesh 135 for 9 in 20 overs (Mahmudullah 41; Arshdeep Singh 1-26, Varun Chakrawarthy 2-19, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-23, Washington Sundar 1-04, Abhishek Sharma 1-10, Mayank Yadav 1-30, Riyan Parag 1-16 ) by 86 runs
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
Harmanpreet, bowlers demolish Sri Lanka to hand India big NRR boost
On a slightly cooler evening in Dubai, with semi-final qualification hopes in the balance, India brought their A-game to the fore to thrash Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2024. They put on their best batting show – perhaps the best among all teams in the tournament so far – and then were clinical with the ball and on the field to send the Asia Cup champions packing from the tournament.
Batting first, India rode on half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur to post 172 for 3, the highest total in this T20 World Cup. They then skittled Sri Lanka out for 90 to register an 82-run win, India’s biggest in T20 World Cups, with Arundhati Reddy and Asha Sobhana picking up three wickets apiece. As a result of their massive win, their net run rate (NRR) jumped to 0.576, better than Pakistan’s and only behind Australia’s. This is notable as their NRR had taken a beating following the 58-run defeat to New Zealand in their opening match.
Before Wednesday, India’s opening stands against Pakistan and New Zealand were 18 and 11 respectively. In a tournament where batting first seemed to give teams an advantage, India batted second in both their matches. India got to bat first after Harmanpreet won her first toss and the openers set about their task steadily.
Sri Lanka pressed their spinners into service and both Shafali Verma and Mandhana found it tough to break free. Shafali took the aerial route for India’s first four in the third over and did so again in the fourth and the fifth. She was on 24 off 20 in the fifth over; at that point Mandhana was on 6 off 10. But in a pattern different from the previous game, she was not being impatient or trying too hard.
Mandhana finally got going with a smack over the left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari’s head as India ended the powerplay on 41 for 0. She also slogged another left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera for a six over wide long-on in the next year to signal the gear change. India managed to hit at least one four in each over between the third and the ninth. Chamari Athapaththu kept India guessing by giving her bowlers one-over spells till the 13th over, by then Mandhana overtook Shafali to get to a fourth T20 World Cup half-century.
It took a run-out to end India’s opening partnership at 98, their third-highest in T20 World Cups, when Athapaththu and Ama Kanchana – brought in for Hasini Perera – combined to catch Mandhana short on 50. On the very next ball, Athapaththu had Shafali miscuing a heave to cover. That over meant Athapaththu ended the one-spell strategy and bowled a second over in the spell – the 13th and the 15th overs.
Having batted at No. 4 against Pakistan, Harmanpreet came in at No. 3 and was soon joined by Jemimah Rodrigues before she even faced a ball. Few batters in the Indian line-up are at ease against spin than Rodrigues. She used the sweep to first put Ranaweera away and then moved in her crease to pull Athapaththu to the deep square leg boundary.
At the other end, Harmanpreet hit Kumari for a four and a six to ensure the openers’ platform did not go to waste. Rodrigues soon fell for 16 off 10 – she was given a life at 13 when Kavisha Dilhari dropped a dolly at deep midwicket – but played a vital role in injecting momentum after two quick wickets.
By then, Harmanpreet, with a cushion of a long batting line-up to follow, cut loose. She first paddled Kanchana past short fine leg before hitting two fours to spoil Athapaththu’s figures. Ranaweera could not hang on to a powerful hit at cover when Harmanpreet was on 22. She hit Kanchana and Prabodhani for two fours each in the last two overs to bring up only her third half-century in T20Is since the 2023 T20 World Cup. That blitz – 52 not out off just 27 balls – helped India take 46 off the last four overs, the most by any team in this T20 World Cup.
She had retired hurt against Pakistan due to a neck injury, and had come for the toss with a pain-relief patch on the right side of her neck but was termed fit for this game. However, she did not take the field in the chase, with Mandhana captaining the team
Sports
Rajapaksa makes a comeback
by Rex Clementine
Sri Lanka have thrown open the doors for Bhanuka Rajapaksa, recalling him to the squad after more than 20 months in the wilderness. The hard-hitting southpaw was benched post the Indian tour in early 2023, and despite being on the radar for the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies, he missed out, relegated to the role of traveling reserve.
Rajapaksa’s ability to clear the ropes in crunch time swayed the national selectors to pull him back into the fray. With former skipper Dasun Shanaka shown the door, a vacancy has opened up, calling for the firepower only a seasoned hitter can bring.
At 32, Rajapaksa remains hot property in franchise leagues across the globe, most recently turning out for St. Lucia in the Caribbean Premier League. The memory of his blistering, unbeaten 71 that paved the way for Sri Lanka’s 2022 Asia Cup triumph over Pakistan in Dubai still lingers – proof that he knows how to steal the show when the stakes are high.
Though Rajapaksa’s batting skills have never been in doubt since his school days at Royal College, his fitness – or rather lack of it – has been the proverbial thorn in his side. Passing the two-kilometer run, once a non-negotiable for national selection, has been a steep mountain for him. Nowadays, players face hefty fines for failing fitness tests, a rule Rajapaksa will need to toe.
Fielding has been another Achilles’ heel for Rajapaksa. With Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya prioritizing fielding brilliance, the big question remains: can Rajapaksa rise to the challenge and cement his spot?
The national team has been licking its wounds after an early exit from this year’s T20 World Cup and a rough series against India. However, with gaps being patched and players finding their groove, hopes are high for a rebound against the West Indies.
Sri Lanka sit at a lowly eighth in T20 rankings – a bitter pill to swallow as their lowest standing across formats – while the West Indies boast the third spot. This upcoming series presents a golden opportunity for Sri Lanka to climb the ranks.
West Indies, however, are playing without their full arsenal, with heavyweights like Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, and Akeal Hosein opting out for personal reasons.
The Sri Lankan squad reached Dambulla on Tuesday, hit the nets yesterday, and are set for a warm-up game today. The first T20 International kicks off on Sunday. After the T-20s, both teams will head to Pallekele for the three-match ODI series.
It’s shaping up to be a showdown where Sri Lanka’s resilience meets the Caribbean flair – and Rajapaksa’s return adds just the right spice.
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