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Fitness failures to be axed for West Indies  

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Those players who had failed fitness tests will not be  considered for the tour of West Indies.

by Rex Clementine  

Sri Lanka Cricket will be requesting the national team management and the selection panel to strictly implement fitness guidelines for contracted players, a board official told Sunday Island. Accordingly, the four prominent players who failed the fitness test will be axed for the tour of West Indies that will take place later this month.

Of the 32 players who were tested on Friday, four failed the two kilometer run that they had to finish in eight minutes and 35 seconds.

While Kusal Janith Perera is the most high profile casualty as he features in all three formats of the game, eyebrows have been raised at the poor standards shown by opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka. Dilruwan Perera at the age of 38 has been treated with some sort of sympathy while there have been suspicions about the fitness standards of Bhanuka Rajapaksa.

Gunathilaka had a prolific LPL and was expected to make it to Sri Lanka’s ODI and T-20 squads but now those plans will be held back. 

Avishka Fernando who had emerged as Sri Lanka’s leading opening batsman since the 2019 World Cup had skipped the fitness test due to an ankle strain and he will have to go through the fitness test again in order to be eligible for selections. Earlier, he had failed two fitness tests in the space of ten days.

Once the new selection panel is finalized, they will hold discussions with the coaching staff with the way forward on fitness issues but SLC is under pressure to show no leniency. Earlier, the board had threatened to cut down on salaries of players who fail fitness tests.

The initial idea was to test players every 40 days and repeated fitness test failures were to result in players becoming ineligible for selections.

Head Coach Mickey Arthur wasn’t present when the fitness test took place as he was recovering after testing positive for COVID-19. He is expected to rejoin training next week. While being overall happy with the outcome, Arthur is expected to be tough on those who failed the test.

“I will be having very tough conversations with the guys who are not up to scratch and won’t tolerate it,” Arthur told Sunday Island.

Arthur is credited for raising fitness standards of Pakistan players during his time with them and Grant Luden who worked as Strength and Conditioning Coach in Pakistan was roped in to SLC last month to oversee physical fitness of players.

The two kilometer run under eight minutes and 35 seconds was Luden’s brainchild and most players responded remarkably well for the challenge despite being made to do self quarantine after attending Sadeera Samarawickrama’s wedding.



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Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup: Australia begin with huge win against Scotland

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Caoimhe Bray finished with barely believable figures of 3.2-2-1-3 [Cricinfo]

Australia opened their Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup with a dominating nine-wicket win over Scotland in the Group D game in Bangi, Malaysia.

Fast bowler Caoimhe Bray starred with figures of 3 for 1 in 3.2 overs while left-arm quick Eleanor Larosa and left-arm legspinner Hasrat Gill shared five wickets among them to help Australia skittle Scotland for a mere 48 in 15.1 overs. Australia chased down the target in 6.4 overs with opener Katy Pelle remaining unbeaten on 29 off 18 balls.

In Kuching, rain played spoilsport with the match between Samoa and Nigeria abandoned without a single ball bowled. The PakistanUSA fixture also ended similarly in Johor, with the match abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Meanwhile, in the IrelandEngland match in Johor, England rode wicketkeeper-batter Jemima Spence’s 37 not out off 27 balls and Charlotte Lambert’s 14-ball 25 to post a competitive 144 for 7. Ireland were put under pressure when they lost two early wickets inside four overs, however, rain forced the game to end in no result.

Scores:
Australia crushed Scotland by
Scotland Women Under 19s 48 in 15.5 overs [Emma Walsingham 12, Charlotte Nevard 10; Elenaor Larosa 3-07, Caoimhe Bray 3-01, Hasrat Gill 2-10, Tegan Williamson 1-06, Julliet Morton 1-08] lost to  Australia Women Under 19s 49/1 in 6.4 overs [Kate Pelle 29*, Innes Mckeon 12; Naymah Sheikh 1-02] by nine wickets

England vs Ireland ends without a result
England Women Under 19s 144/7 in 20 overs [Davina Perrin 26, Charlotte Stubs 31, Jemima Spence 37, Charloett Lambert 25; Freya Sargent 1-41, Kia McCartney 1-09, Lara McBride 1-19, Ellie McGee 2-20] vs  Ireland Women Under 19s 28.2 in 3.5 overs [Alice Walsh 10, Rebecca Lowe14*]

Bangladesh overcome Nepal by 5 wickets
Nepal Women Under 19s 52 in 18.2 overs [Sana Praveen 19, Seemana KC 10; Nishita Akter Nishi 1-13, Faominda Choya 1-07, Anita Akter Soba 1-06, Jannatul Maoua 2-11] lost to  Bangladesh Women Under 19s 53/5 in13.2 overs [ Sadia Islam 16, Sumaiya Akter 12; Rachana Chaudhary 1-16, Riya Sharma 1-10, Seemana KC 1-10, Puja Mahato 1-11] by five wickets 

South Africa beat New Zealand in 11 overs per side game
South Africa Women Under 19s 91/7 in 11 overs [Jemma Botha 32, Simone Laurens 21, Karabo Meso 25; Tash Wakelin  2-18, Rishika Jaswal 1-21, Anika Todd 1-12, Ayaan Lambat 3-06] beat New Zealand Women Under 19s 69/5 in 11 overs [Emma McLeod 34, Eve Wolland 12*; Kayla Reneke 2-15, Monalisa Legodi 2-08] by 22 runs

 

 

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Noman, Sajid share nine West Indies wickets as Pakistan dominate day two

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Noman Ali picked up his seventh five-for in Test cricket [PCB]

Noman Ali and Sajid Khan put on a spin-bowling masterclass on a surface they found to their tastes, taking nine of the ten wickets to skittle West Indies out for 137 in less than a session. Either side of that, Pakistan fared better with the bat, putting up 230 in the first innings despite a collapse after Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan’s 141-run stand was broken.

But they pulled away from the visitors in the final session with a commanding second-innings show with the bat. That was spearheaded by their captain Shan Masood,  whose half-century drove Pakistan’s lead to 202 with seven wickets still in hand. The dominant story of a day when 19 wickets fell, though, came in the middle session, where West Indies had little answer to Noman and Sajid, who bowled all but 14 deliveries of their innings.

Sajid started the dismantling in just his second over when he dismissed Mikyle Louis and Keacy Carty off successive balls, even as Carty fell thanks to a superb slip catch from Mohammad Hurraira. By the end of his third over, Sajid had four wickets as West Indies floundered, unable to either defend or attack against an unerringly accurate spin duo.

Noman joined the fun, getting drift and turn to clip the edge of Justin Greaves’ off stump. It was the first of five wickets for the left-armer, who was beginning to get huge rip off the barely formed footmarks.

As the innings proceeded, West Indies began to adopt a more bellicose outlook, trying to swindle some runs along the way. But there was limited success as multiple batters dragged it on to their stumps, before the final two partnerships flourished. Gudakesh Motie and Jomel Warrican began to play belligerent shots, with Warrican utilising the back of the bat while playing the reverse sweeps a handful of times.

From 66 for 8 at one stage, West Indies added 71 for the last two wickets. After Motie and Warrican had a partnership of 25, it was only during the last-wicket stand between Warrican and Jayden Seales when West Indies dominated the spinners. Both batters connected cleanly as they hit the spinners over cow corner for multiple sixes.

That forced Pakistan into bringing on Abrar Ahmed for the first time. Eventually, Abrar did end the partnership, but only after the pair had plundered 46 runs off 21 balls. Seales failed to pick up a googly and miscued it straight up, as Rizwan took the catch and ended the punchy counterattack.

If West Indies thought that their collapse against spin meant they too would be among the wickets in the final session, Masood and Hurraira soon disabused them off that notion. Seales, whose pace and seam movement had made him the surprise pick of the bowlers on the first day, reprised his potent threat but without the wickets that would reflect this in the scorecard.

Masood, meanwhile, was proactive in his use of the feet, and adept against spin bowling, eager to attack and expand the lead even further before the day was done. Some untidiness crept into the bowling; there were 12 byes as the spin became as tricky to handle for the bowlers as it was for the batters. But Warrican was dangerous with the one that carried on with the arm, and got both his wickets that way – Hurraira at first, before Babar Azam played for the spin and found himself rapped in front of middle.

West Indies were unfortunate not to snare Kamran Ghulam too when a miscued sweep struck him on the arm as he got down low. The umpire raised the finger, although HawkEye, incongruously, projected the ball to be rising well above the stumps.

As if to compensate, West Indies were gifted the wicket of Masood. He called for a run and didn’t quite realise that Ghulam was well down the pitch in response, and found himself stranded in the middle of the pitch. Thus, Masood was left with little chance of getting to the non-striker’s end, before Warrican whipped the bails off.

Earlier, during the morning session, West Indies took four wickets for 13 runs to trigger a Pakistan collapse. That started by breaking the stand between Shakeel and Rizwan, leaving West Indies two wickets away from wrapping the hosts up. Shakeel and Rizwan had begun with the same authority with which they had ended the first day. But once Kevin Sinclair snared Shakeel 16 short of what would have been his fifth Test hundred, Pakistan’s resistance melted away.

Only a punchy rearguard partnership between Sajid and Khurram Shahzad prevented West Indies from running through the innings even sooner, but Pakistan were still bowled out for 230 on the stroke of lunch.

West Indies had begun the day by sticking to disciplined and tight lines, at one point conceding six runs in seven overs as Seales and Warrican locked in. But neither batter offered up chances during this time, and when Pakistan negotiated the first hour without loss, West Indies were in danger of being shut out of the game.

But the first ball after drinks brought joy for West Indies. Sinclair lured Shakeel forward before getting the ball to grip, and then taking his edge. As if it had been forgotten, the pitch suddenly began to remind everyone how hostile it could be to batters against quality spin, as the ball hissed and spat off the surface.

Salman Ali Agha was deceived in the flight from Warrican to drag on before Pakistan imploded. A bizarre mix-up between Rizwan and Noman saw the former turn his back on Noman to leave him unsuccessfully scrambling to return to the non-striker’s end. But an attempted reverse sweep off the next delivery ended Rizwan’s own innings, as a sharp review from West Indies finished Rizwan’s innings on 71.

It was only an entertaining stand from Sajid and Shahzad that saw a few more runs flow for Pakistan, before the innings petered out. Sajid launched Sinclair over cow corner for six amid a little flurry as Pakistan added 25 quickfire runs. But Warrican returned to fold the innings, making short work of both, as West Indies took the last six wickets for 43 runs in a session of two halves. It was a harbinger for the rest of the day, when the wicket-taking continued unabated.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 230 in 68.5 overs  (Saud Shakeel 84, Mohammad Rizwan 71;  Jayden Seales 3-27, Kevin Sinclair 2-61, Jomel Warrican 3-69) and 109 for 3 in 31 overs  (Shan Masood 52, Muhammad Hurraira 29; Jomel  Warrican 2-17) lead West Indies 137 in 25.2 overs (Jomel Warrican 31*, Jayden Seales 22; Noman Ali 5-39, Sajid Khan  4-65)by 202 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Kithma takes all ten wickets in T. B. Jayah trophy encounter

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Kithma Withanapathirana

Under 19 Cricket 

by Reemus Fernando 

Off spinner Kithma Withanapathirana achieved the rare feat of taking all ten wickets in an innings as Ananda dismissed Zahira for 131 runs on day one of the T.B. Jayah Trophy traditional cricket encounter at Maradana on Friday.

Introduced to the attack as the fifth bowler Withanapathirana broke the opening stand (66) between Ranidu Malith and Zayan Ismath in the 18 th over before taking three wickets in the 24th over to trigger a collapse.

Apart from the top three batsman no one reached double figures as the home team were bowled out in the 56th over.

Withanapathirana has played vital roles in both the batting and bowling departments. Incidentally, his absence was felt greatly in the match against St. Thomas’ which Ananda lost by five wickets.

Scores

Zahira 131 all out in 55.2 overs (Ranidu Malith 41, Zayan Ismath 31, Maswooth Mohideen 25; Kithma Withanapathirana 10/29)

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