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Jaffna look to break Galle hoodoo in final showdown

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Lanka Premier League 2021 – Final 

By Roscoe Thattil Reporting from Suriyawewa 

Jaffna Kings finished the league phase at the top of the table, they have seemed to be the most consistent team throughout LPL 2021 and they definitely look the best all-round team on paper. But for some reason they haven’t been able to get past the Galle Gladiators in each of their three previous encounters in this edition. However, it all comes down to who plays the better cricket in the final 40 overs of the competition to be crowed the champions of the LPL 2021.

The Afghanistan pocket rocket Rahmanullah Gurbaz has found his mojo in the latter part of the tournament and will be a threat to the Gladiators at the top of the order, while his opening partner Avishka Fernado hit a memorable century in the second qualifier on Tuesday(21). Fernando’s century is also the only time a batter reached the three figure mark this season.

The Kings have a devastating batting line up to follow in the likes of Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shoaib Malik, Thisara Perera and Wanindu Hasaranga, while the less known soldier Ashan Randika could be devastating and win a game on his own with the bat too.

There seemed to be plenty of life for the fast bowlers at the Sooriyawewa Stadium in the second Qualifier and the Kings might be tempted to replace Chathuranga de Silva with youngster Chamika Gunasekara who is a decent right arm quick bowler. Jayden Seales seems to be a handful on this pitches and the Kings missed a trick by not playing him in the first Qualifier.

The ever reliable Wanindu Hasaranga has gone under the radar a bit during the past couple of games and is due a performance while Maheesh Theekshana’s stocks continue to rise with continuous impressive performances and will be a man to watch out for in the final.

The Galle Gladiators had their ups and downs during the league phase but a smooth game in the first Qualifier meant they reached the final without breaking a sweat thanks to a stunning century opening stand between the returning duo of Danushka Gunathilake and Kusal Mendis. These two will hold the key once again in the batting department for the boys from the south while the likes of skipper Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mohammad Hafeez and Samit Patel will need to step up with the bat.

Nuwan Thusara also known as “podi Mali” had a dream game in the first Qualifier capturing five Kings’ wicket and will once again be a threat to the same opposition. He has the experienced Mohammad Amir as his opening bowling partner who will look to swing the new ball to breakthrough early while also be the key for the Gladiators at the death.

Patel has been the star spinner for the Gladiators and skipper Rajapaksa has plenty of other spin options too in the likes of Hafeez, Pulina Tharanga and Sahan Arachchige. Isuru Udana has gone under the radar but he has been very smart with the ball for the Gladiators and his variations will be a key once again in the final.

Interestingly, this is also a repeat of the final of the 2020 Lanka Premier League, where the Jaffna Kings went on to clinch the inaugural LPL title.

Probable XIs

Jaffna Kings:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Avishka Fernando, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shoaib Malik, Ashan Randika, Thisara Perera(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chathuranga de Silva/Chamika Gunasekara, Jayden Seales, Suranga Lakmal, Maheesha Theekshana

Galle Gladiators:

Kusal Mendis(wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa(c), Mohammad Hafeez, Sahan Arachchige, Samit Patel, Anwar Ali, Pulina Tharanga, Isuru Udana, Mohammad Amir, Nuwan Thushara 



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South Africa receive heroes’ welcome home

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The victorious South African team return home with the WTC mace (Cricinfo)

Everyone loves a winner, as was clear at Johannesburg’s  Tambo International Airport where South Africa returned as World Test Champions on Wednesday morning.

The squad were received by the country’s sports minister, Gayton McKenzie, and swathes of people from across South African society. In attendance were groups of children from the KFC’s Mini Cricket programme – the largest grassroots development initiative in the country – students from some of the players’ former schools, such as Aiden Markram’s Pretoria Boys High School, and family members like Wiaan Mulder’s brother.

The players signed autographs, received flowers and hugs and strutted around in custom made “champions” t-shirts before making their way to Cricket South Africa’s offices in the north of the city where they were welcomed with a brass band and a red carpet. Almost 96 hours after their five-wicket triumph over Australia in the WTC final, the magnitude of what they have achieved is starting to sink in.

“It is quite overwhelming. We haven’t seen people like that at the airport before,” Temba Bavuma , South Africa’s captain said at a press conference afterwards. “As players, you don’t really realise what you’ve done but when you start to interact with people and see the emotion, it gives you a proper insight into what we’ve done. We are proud as a team but we are even more happy and proud that we’ve made our people proud. If you look at this team and the guys at the helm, we have done it the proper South African way. That’s unique to this group. We have embraced everything that it means to be South African.”

With a home grown coach in Shukri Conrad and a largely unheralded group of players, Bavuma’s words spoke to the way the South African team pulled together throughout the cycle and in the final. They had nine different Players of the Match in 2023-25 and 15 different players either scored a century or took a five-for in what has been hailed as a true team effort and a unified showing after years of underperformance. For Bavuma, it showed that there is always a way, not just for sportspeople but for everyone.

“What we’ve achieved speaks to all budding cricketers out there, and individuals within South Africa,” he said. “As a team, we’ve got a story. It hasn’t been a simple or easy one. We’ve come through a lot but we managed to get to where we are. So similarly for them (ordinary people) on their quest and journey, for what they want to achieve: as long as they keep having that passion and keep pushing they can also achieve what people think is unachievable.”

For 27 years, South Africa have been without an ICC trophy and in that time regularly slipped at the semi-final hurdle. The 1999 ODI World Cup,   where South Africa tied the game but could not advance to the final because Australia finished higher on the Super Six points table, has long been a sore point but the 2015 and 2023 ODI World Cup semis and 2024 T20 World Cup final  also stung. It’s because of those failures that the WTC win is magnified, as one of South Africa’s greatest sporting achievements. “This is huge for South African cricket,” Enoch Nkwe, Director of National Teams and High Performance said. “This is huge for South African cricket and the impact it will have for generations to come. We’ve taken a lot of punches but we’ve never bent our backs. We stayed strong.”

Nkwe, who was appointed in July 2022, put in place the coaching structure which included Conrad, who in turn appointed Bavuma as captain. Conrad will now also take over the white-ball sides until the end of the ODI World Cup in 2027. There is particular expectation around that tournament, not least because of the history documented above, but also because the event will be hosted in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Bavuma is also South Africa’s ODI captain and has already spoken of his hope for the event to come.

“We want to carry on with the momentum we’ve gained,” he said. “We are quietly optimistic as to what can happen in the white-ball space. We see no reason as to why we can’t emulate what we’ve done here. We are more optimistic than anything. We had a little conversation about it. Shukri’s mind is always ticking. He lets you know that there’s always some sort of work you need to do.”

That tournament is more than two years away, in which time there will be an entire WTC cycle and a T20 World Cup. Eyes will be on South Africa for all of them, especially as their next Tests include matches in Pakistan and India and home series against England and Australia in 2026. They believe they’ve laid the foundation to be successful in these contests but no-one can begrudge them celebrating the first world title for a little bit longer, as Bavuma suggested they would.

“For now, it’s for us to embrace what we’ve done, to take it all in, understand what led us to this point and live in that moment for a little bit longer,” Bavuma said. “Then, I think the beauty of international cricket is that there’s always something else waiting. Once we get over our emotions, it will be what is the next thing? There’s the Zimbabwe tour, and the start of the new Test cycle. We will be setting our eyes on what we want to achieve over there. There is always something we are working towards. It’s a legacy we want to put together as a team. It’s not done now, but for now it’s for us to enjoy what the moment has brought us.”

South Africa will have several fan engagements in the next few days before a two-Test series against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, which starts on June 28. The series is not part of the WTC.

(Cricinfo)
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Nissanka leads SL’s strong start in response to Bangladesh’s 495

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Pathum Nissanka pulls to the leg side [Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka took a shade under 15 minutes to wrap up the Bamgladesh innings on the third morning in Galle, and then made a brisk start in running down the visitors’ total of 495. Sri Lanka did that by keeping a run rate of touch under four.

Pathum Nissanka (46) and Dinesh Chandimal (22) had put on unbeaten stand of 53 by the lunch break, while the deficit had been trimmed down to 395. The only blip for the hosts was the loss of  Lahiru Udara for a 34-ball 29, after he had chipped a leading edge back to Taijul Islam. The 31-year-old had impressed on his debut up until that point, scoring six boundaries in his brief stay.

Sri Lanka set the tone for their innings from the off, with neither pacer safe in the early exchanges. Both Hasan Mahmud and express Nahid Rana – his pace was consistently in the low to mid 140s – being punished for any errors in line and length. Udara’s drives on the up were a particular highlight, and he will be kicking himself at not making more of this opportunity.

Nissanka, who had taken a back seat during the early exchanges, became more proactive following Udara’s dismissal, though Bangladesh will feel like they gave a few too many loose deliveries.

For instance, Nissanka’s three boundaries off Taijul all came against ones that had been dropped shorter. It served as a pressure release valve, one Sri Lanka would have been grateful for with Taijul otherwise doing well in varying his pace on a surface that had begun to show starting signs of assistance for spin.

The six-foot off spinner Nayeem Hasan, meanwhile, was the most expensive of the bowlers going for 16 in his three overs, though his extra height – and the bounce he derived from that – had caused some issues to the batters.

Off just his third delivery he got one to spit back past Nissanka’s inside edge on to his back pad, and then later on had Chandimal edging a drive past slip. But chances like that were few and far between, as Sri Lanka’s batters had it mostly their own way.

Earlier in the day, Asitha had got Rana to glove a loose ball down leg side as Bangladesh’s innings was brought to a swift close. The visitors had added 11 runs to their overnight total. Asitha finished with innings best figures of 4 for 86.

Brief scores: Day 3 Lunch
Sri Lanka 100 for 1 (Pathum Nissanka 46*, Lahiru Udra 29, Dinesh Chandimal 22*, Taijul Islam 1-34) trail Bangladesh 495 in 153.4 overs (Monimul Haque 29, Mushfiqur  Rahim 163, Najmul Hossain Shanto 148, Litton Das 90, Asitha Fernando 4-86, Milan Rathnayake 3-39, Tharindu Rathnayake 3-196) by 395 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Sri Lanka strike back after tea in first Test

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Asitha Fernando, who was down with viral fever and recovered just in time for the Test match, bowled his heart out and claimed the big wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto hammered authoritative centuries as Bangladesh piled on the runs in the first Test against Sri Lanka, finishing day two on a commanding 484 for nine, despite a few late breakthroughs by the hosts at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

The tourists resumed on their overnight score of 292 for three and turned the screws on a wilting Sri Lankan attack on a docile surface tailor-made for batting, with their fourth-wicket pair grinding the bowlers into submission in a record stand.

Shanto, elegant and unflustered, reached a majestic 148 before falling against the run of play – deceived in the air and driving early, only to be spectacularly plucked out of thin air by Angelo Mathews diving full-stretch at mid-off. That dismissal broke a monumental 264-run partnership with Mushfiqur, a stand that turned the tide after Bangladesh had slumped to 45 for three in the opening session on Tuesday.

While Shanto drove fluently and pierced the infield with precision – his innings peppered with 15 boundaries and a six – Mushfiqur dropped anchor with a masterclass in attritional batting. Stonewalled for nearly nine hours, the veteran soaked up 350 balls for his 163, nudging and nurdling his way while keeping the scoreboard ticking and the bowlers gasping for breath.

His dismissal – adjudged leg-before to Asitha Fernando – was reviewed in vain, a marginal call that stayed with the on-field umpire. Asitha, who recovered after being down with viral fever just before the Test, was low on pace, but gave his best bowling his bouncers and yorkers with precision.

Wicketkeeper Litton Das added further gloss to the Bangladesh innings with a brisk 90 off 123 deliveries, cashing in on tired bowlers and some charitable fielding. He was particularly severe on the spinners, using his feet to good effect and lifting the ball cleanly over the infield.

But Das survived some anxious moments. On 14, Pathum Nissanka grassed a catch at short mid-wicket. Moments earlier, a mix-up left both batters stranded at the striker’s end – only for Sri Lanka to botch the run-out with the throw aimed at the wrong end and Kusal Mendis fumbling the take.

Das eventually perished attempting an audacious reverse sweep off debutant Tharindu Ratnayake, gloving it to Mendis behind the stumps.

With rain interrupting play shortly after lunch, only 61 overs were bowled on day two, as persistent drizzle forced an early tea and fading light ended proceedings prematurely. Play will resume 15 minutes early on Thursday to compensate for the lost time.

Rex Clementine in Galle

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