Sports

Highest wicket-taker Wellalage, only SL player in the ICC Most Valuable team

Published

4 years ago

2022/02/7

Dunith Wellalage is the only Sri Lankan player named in the ICC Most Valuable team of the Under 19 World Cup after the Sri Lankan skipper finished as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker.

Despite taking only a single wicket in the in his last two matches, Wellalage finished as the Under 19 World Cup’s highest wicket taker. His closest rival in that list was England’s Joshua Boyden who finished with just 15 wickets after taking a couple of wickets in the final against India.

Pakistan’s Awais Ali too finished with 15 wickets, while Bangladesh’s Ripon Mondol finished the tournament as the fourth highest wicket taker (14). All top four bowlers in that list are selected in the 12-strong line up as champions India lead the way with three players included.

The ICC announced the Upstox Most Valuable Team of the Tournament yesterday with Yash Dhull, the captain of the victorious team chosen to skipper a line-up of future stars.

Overall, eight nations are represented in the team.

Pace is provided by the likes of Josh Boyden, Awais Ali and Ripon Mondol.

All-rounders Tom Prest and Dunith Wellalage provide the spin options alongside Vicky Ostwal.

Wellalage had an aggregate of 264 runs from the tournament which included a century. In the list if highest scorers Wellalage’s 264 runs is ranked seventh.

Wellalage captained Sri Lanka to the sixth place, their best result in three editions, and he was the only bowler to take two fivefers, doing so against Scotland and Australia.

South Africa’s Dewald Brevis was announced as the Player of the Tournament for the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in West Indies for his record-breaking run haul.

The side was pulled together by a selection panel including commentators Samuel Badree, Natalie Germanos, ICC Match Referee Graeme Labrooy and journalist Sandipan Banerjee.

Yash Dhull, who captained India to the title at the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022, takes up his place at number four having hit 229 runs in the competition, including one century, and his deployment of his bowlers was crucial in leading his side to overall victory in the tournament.

His opposite number in the final, England’s Tom Prest, sits one place below them in the batting order of the Upstox Most Valuable Team of the Tournament having hit 292 runs in six games, the third most of the competition.

Dewald Brevis, a right-handed batter, received the accolade of Player of the Tournament after crashing 506 runs across six matches to become only the second player to hit over 500 runs at an Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

In doing so, the 18-year-old passed Indian legend Shikhar Dhawan’s total for the most runs in a single tournament, hitting one more run than Dhawan managed in 2004.

Brevis also took seven wickets in the competition returning best figures of 2-18 against Uganda during the group stages.

Haseebullah Khan from Pakistan is named as one of the openers after scoring 380 runs across the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, his high score of 136 one of two centuries he made in the tournament, Brevis was the only other batter to make two centuries.

Haseebullah is also selected as the wicketkeeper having taken eight catches and two stumpings, the fourth best return of the competition.

His opening partner is Australia’s Teague Wyllie who tied with Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 278 runs, the joint fourth-most of the tournament.

Wyllie hit 39 fours, the second most, including eight in his 101 not out against Scotland, one of three fifty-plus scores in the tournament.

Raj Bawa is another all-rounder who has impressed throughout the World Cup, hitting a tournament-high 162 not out against Uganda, on his way to 252 runs for the competition.

Bawa was Player of the Match in the final against England taking five for 31 to put India in a strong position and take his wicket tally to nine.

Just below him in the line-up is teammate Vicky Ostwal who took 12 wickets across his six matches with his left-arm orthodox including five for 28 against South Africa.

Bangladesh’s representative in the team comes in the form of right-arm seamer Ripon Mondol, who took wickets in all but one of Bangladesh’s games.

And, against Canada and India he took four-fers to end the tournament on 14 wickets, the joint third-highest of the 2022 competition.

The other bowler who sits above him in the wicket standings is Awais Ali of Pakistan who claimed 15 wickets in his six matches, including six for 56, one of only two six-fers in the tournament.

The right-arm medium pacer opened up the tournament with those six wickets against Zimbabwe and was consistent as Pakistan finished in the top five for the fifth consecutive competition.

England’s Josh Boyden earns his place for his extremely economical bowling, chalking up 15 wickets in the tournament with an economy of 3.21 and an average of 9.86, the best in the tournament for any bowler with seven wickets or more.

The final name on the team sheet is Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad. The all-rounder took wickets in every World Cup game on his way to 10 wickets, with best figures of two for 18 against Papua New Guinea.

With the bat, Ahmad made three scores over 24 to provide useful runs in the lower order as Afghanistan finished fourth, their joint-highest finish at an ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022.

The team of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 (in batting order) is:

Haseebullah Khan (WK, Pakistan)

Teague Wyllie (Australia)

Dewald Brevis (South Africa)

Yash Dhull (Captain, India)

Tom Prest (England)

Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka)

Raj Bawa (India)

Vicky Ostwal (India)

Ripon Mondol (Bangladesh)

Awais Ali (Pakistan)

Josh Boyden (England)

Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan)

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Sports

Brook, Bethell receive warnings from Cricket Regulator after Wellington incident

Published

7 hours ago

2026/04/2

Priyan

Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook have escaped further censure after their incident in Wellington (Cricinfo)

Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell have escaped with a slap on the wrist from England’s Cricket Regulator after they were found to have brought the game into disrepute for their late night antics in Wellington last year.

Brook was disciplined by the ECB after admitting that he had been out drinking the night before he captained England in their third ODI against New Zealand on November 1 and that he was “clocked” by a bouncer when trying to gain access to a late-night venue. England considered stripping him of the captaincy but instead opted to fine him in a process that was not made public.

The incident only came to light shortly after England’s defeat in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney, over two months later, via a report in the Telegraph. Brook initially insisted that he had been on his own but later admitted that he had been accompanied by Bethell and Josh Tongue and that he had lied to protect his team mates.

The case was referred to the Cricket Regulator – an independent body which enforces the game’s regulations in England and Wales, and is ring-fenced from the rest of the ECB – which found that Bethell and Brook were both in breach of Regulation 3.2 of the ECB’s Professional Conduct Regulations.

The regulation reads: “No Participant may conduct themself in a manner, do any act or make any omission at any time which is improper or which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute.”

Bethell and Brook have both accepted the ‘caution notices’ issued to them, which effectively places them on a final warning. They will not be issued with a ‘charge letter’ but the notice will remain on their disciplinary record for the next three years.

Tongue, who said this week that he had “learned from” the incident, has had no further action taken against him.

Rob Key said in December that England had encountered “none of these issues” since he became managing director, when asked about footage that showed players out drinking on the night in question. He also denied that any formal disciplinary action had been taken, though he has since claimed he meant specifically as a result of the footage.

Key admitted after the ECB’s post-Ashes review – which focused in part on England’s culture and environment – that he was concerned by some players’ drinking. “Like a lot of teams, there’s two or three players that can be irresponsible with alcohol given the opportunity,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is try to find that happy medium.”

England introduced a midnight curfew ahead of their tour to Sri Lanka and the T20 World Cup earlier this year, which is expected to remain in place this summer.

Brook, England’s Test vice-captain, is expected to play some County Championship cricket for Yorkshire before England’s three-match series against New Zealand in June. Bethell, who is also Brook’s de facto vice-captain in white-ball cricket, is at the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

(Cricinfo)

Latest News

Sameer Rizvi arrives in the IPL to guide Delhi Capitals home in low-scoring chase

Published

16 hours ago

2026/04/2

Priyan

Sameer Rizvi dominated the back-end of the innings [BCCI]

An unbeaten 70 from Sameer Rizvi proved decisive in a low-scoring contest in Lucknow, where Delhi Capitals (DC) became the first away team to win a match in IPL 2026. Coming in as Impact Player, Rizvi joined forces with Tristan Stubbs to haul DC out of trouble, after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had reduced them to 26 for 4 in a chase of 142.

That target proved far too small in the end, but for a while, it looked imposing as LSG’s fast bowlers swung the ball for an unusually extended length of time for a T20 contest. A red-soil surface, which seemed to quicken up in the second innings, offered seam movement too. Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan kept tying DC’s batters in knots.

But the seamers couldn’t keep bowling forever, and the introduction of spin turned the match decisively. LSG bowled only 2.1 overs of spin, but they went for 35 runs, with Rizvi hitting four fours and two sixes in them. That included the winning hit off the first ball of the 18th over.

DC’s other heroes on the night were their bowlers, who kept LSG to a sub-par total on a surface that played differently in the two halves of the match. If it was quick and skiddy during the second innings, it was two-paced and grippy in the first. DC’s bowlers made excellent, collective use of it. The highlight of their performance was a dipping slower ball from Lungi Ngidi,, which comprehensively bowled the dangerous Nicholas Pooran: that moment alone may have been shaved 20 or 30 runs off the target DC eventually chased.

Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram were one of the best opening partnerships of IPL 2025, but LSG decided to mix things up to start the new season, with their captain Rishabh Pant walking out alongside Marsh.

Their association was short-lived, with a deflection off Mukesh Kumar’s hand turning what could have been the caught-and-bowled dismissal of Marsh into the run-out dismissal of Pant at the non-striker’s end in the third over.

That moment came in the middle of a skillful display from Mukesh, who moved the ball around, tied Marsh down by denying him width or anything short, and conceded just 17 runs in three powerplay overs.

Axar Patel came on right after Pant’s dismissal and bowled two powerplay overs himself; this surely wouldn’t have happened if LSG had sent in Pooran to replace the left-handed Pant. Instead, they sent in Markram, and Axar bowled him in his second over, beating an attempted cut with his skid and angle.

LSG lost a third wicket soon after the powerplay, with Ayush Badoni – who walked in ahead of Pooran at No. 4 – nicking off to T Natarajan. LSG were 49 for 3.

After Ngidi sneaked his slower ball through Pooran, Marsh continued to struggle for fluency. He got into the 30s with a slog-swept six off Kuldeep Yadav in the 10th over, but he was beaten in flight while attempting another big hit later in the over, and holed out for 35 off 28.

From there, LSG’s innings was a slow slide to an early finish, with the constant loss of wickets forcing them into a tactical compromise. Shahbaz Ahmed, the left-arm-spin-bowling allrounder, walked in as their Impact Player, and put on the longest partnership of the innings – 26 balls, producing 33 runs – with top-scorer Abdul Samad. While it helped extend the LSG innings, it meant there would be no role in the match for mystery spinner Digvesh Rathi.

LSG were bowled out with eight balls unused, with Ngidi finishing the innings with back-to-back slower-ball wickets in the 19th over.

One of the biggest factors behind LSG’s disappointing 2025 season was a spate of injuries to their fast bowlers. This time around, they began with all their quicks fit, and their resources stretched far enough for them to leave out Mayank Yadav.

The three Indian fast bowlers who played ahead of him all got the new ball to move prodigiously. Shami sent back KL Rahul first ball, caught at deep backward point off a wide outswinger, Mohsin produced seam movement and bounce to have Nitish Rana jabbing to slip, and Prince ripped out Pathum Nissanka and Axar Patel off back-to-back legal deliveries.

Those two wicket balls came in an over that also included three wides, and that was another measure of how much the ball was swinging, in its fifth over. It continued to swing right through the first 10 overs of DC’s chase.

The bowling and conditions put Rizvi – preferred as Impact Player over Karun Nair and Ashutosh Sharma – through the wringer initially. He took 10 balls to get off strike, and was on 5 off 13 when he played his first stroke of any confidence, a ramped six off an Anrich Nortje bouncer.

The smallness of DC’s target allowed Rizvi and Stubbs to just keep batting without needing to take risks. And they knew LSG would have to bowl spin at some point – and that they didn’t have their first-choice spinner, Rathi.

Shahbaz came on in the 10th over, and Rizvi took full control, helped by some poor bowling. Shahbaz strayed down the leg side twice and bowled one long-hop, and Rizvi hit all three balls for four. With 16 coming off that over, DC only needed 65 off the last 10.

Runs continued to come slowly off the fast bowlers – Mohsin, at one stage, had figures of 3-1-6-1 – but DC knew there would be more overs of spin to come. With 49 needed off the last seven overs, LSG brought on Markram, and again Rizvi took charge, launching him for a six down the ground before back-cutting him for four.

With only one possible way back into the game, LSG’s quicks became desperate for wickets. In response, Rizvi and Stubbs put away a series of short balls from Mohsin and Nortje in the 16th and 17th overs to all but seal the game. When Samad came on to bowl the 18th, DC only needed three runs.

Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 145 for 4 in 17.1 overs (Nitish Rana 15, Sameer Rizvi 70*, Tristan Stubbs 39*; Mohammed Shami 1-28, Prince Yadav 2-20, Mohsin Khan 1-19) beat Lucknow Super Giants 141 in 18.4 overs (Abdul Samad 36, Mitchell Marsh 35, Aiden Markram 11, Mukul Choudhary 14, Shabnaz Ahmed 15*; Lungi Ngidi 3-27, Axar Patel 1-17, Thangarasu Natarajan 3-29, Kuldeep Yadav 2-31) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Colts win First Class title

Published

18 hours ago

2026/04/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

Major Club 3-Day League 2025 - Champions - Colts CC

Colombo Colts Cricket Club finished off the First Class season with flying colours with their unbeaten run enabling them to win the title. Colts played seven games in the Super Eight segment and won one and drew seven games. Ace Capital gave them stiff competition and finished second.

Former Sri Lanka Under-19 cricketer Wanuja Sahan capped off a sensational season as he was Player of the Tournament. Sahan captured 54 wickets in ten games with his left-arm spin and produced 484 runs with the bat.

Major Club 3-Day League 2025 – Most Valuable Player – Wanuja Sahan, Ace Capital

NCC’s Lahiru Udara continued to top run charts amassing 908 runs in ten matches averaging 60 in ten games with one double hundred and three centuries.

Dilum Sudeera of Police was named Best Bowler after finishing wth 61 wickets.

SSC meanwhile having lost First Class status the last season fought their way back to regain top status and their campaign was spearheaded by Nipun Dhananjaya, who was named Best Batsman in Tier ‘B’