Sports
Kerr and Devine tons lead New Zealand fightback to draw level
After a loss in the first ODI, New Zealand fought back with vengeance in the second via centuries from Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine to beat Sri Lanka by 116 runs and draw level in the three-match series in Galle.
Kerr and Devine added 229 for the third wicket, the third-most for New Zealand for any wicket and the best in a women’s ODI in Sri Lanka. While Kerr scored 108, Devine finished with 137 off just 121 balls, hitting 17 fours – the joint-most by a batter in an ODI innings in Sri Lanka – and two sixes.
Opting to bat first again, New Zealand lost Suzie Bates early but were back on track when Kerr added 50 for the second wicket with Bernadine Bezuidenhout. At 57 for 2 after ten overs, Devine joined Kerr in the middle and the pair ran the Sri Lankan bowlers ragged. Kerr slammed her second century at No. 3 off just 98 balls while Devine took 108 to get to hers a few balls later.
Offspinner Oshadi Ranasinghe, who finished with three wickets, broke the partnership with the wicket of Kerr and experienced left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani then dismissed Devine in the next over. New Zealand then added only 35 off the last 34 balls to finish on 329 for 7.
Sri Lanka’s challenge in the chase was nipped in the bud as seamer Lea Tahuhu, who finished with 4 for 31, picked up three wickets inside first eight overs. Only allrounder Kavisha Dilhari stood to be counted for Sri Lanka with her maiden international half-century. She finished on 84 and was the second last batter out for the hosts. But the damage actually was done way earlier.
The last ODI of the series will be played on July 3.
Brief scores :
New Zealand 329 for 7 (Sophie Devine 137, Amelia Kerr 108, Oshadi Ranasinghe 3-68) beat Sri Lanka 213 (Kavisha Dilhari 84, Lea Tahuhu 4-31) by 116 runs
by Reemus Fernando
All three Sri Lankan sprinters qualified for the finals of their respective disciplines to give country’s track and field campaign a positive start at the Asian Games on Friday.While Kalinga Kumarage and Aruna Dharshana qualified for the men’s 400 metres final, Asian Championship gold medallist Nadeesha Ramanayake reached the finals of the women’s 400metres.
Ramanayake clocked the third fastest time in the heats to qualify for the finals where Bahrain’s Oluwakemi Kujidat and Salwa Nesar are the strongest contenders for the gold medal.
Competing in the third heat Ramanayake clocked 52.67 seconds to finish second behind Oluwakemi Kujidat. Ramanayake’s time was the third fastest in the heats in the final analysis. While former world champion Salwa Nesar was the winner in the second heat, Shereen Samson of Malaysia won the first heat in a time of 52.89 seconds.
Both Salwa and Oluwakemi Kujidat were not in the fray when Ramanayake won Sri Lanka the gold medal at the recently held Asian Athletics Championship. Ramanayake will have a tough ask today when she competes for Asian Games glory.
In the men’s category 400 metres, Kumarage clocked 45.57 seconds to win his heat, while Aruna Dharshana finished third in his heat in a time of 46.07 seconds.\Kumarage’s 45.54 seconds is the third fastest time in the heats, while Dharshana enters final as the eighth fastest from the heats.
All three sprinters will be eager to create history when they compete in the 400 metres finals. Sri Lanka has not won a medal of any colour in track and field at these Games since 2006.
Sri Lanka won two bronze medals at the Asian Games in Doha. Susanthika Jayasinghe in the women’s 200 metres and the men’s 4×400 metres team of Sugath Thilakaratne, Rohan Pradeep Kumara, Prasanna Amarasekara and Ranga Wimalawansa were the last medallist for Sri Lanka in track and field at these Games.
Superb New Zealand scored an incredible 14 tries and hit 96 points against Italy in Pool A to move to the cusp of the World Cup quarter-finals.
Knowing a defeat would see them eliminated, the All Blacks raced into a pulsating 49-3 half-time lead. They ultimately ran out 96-17 victors with scrum-half Aaron Smith scoring a hat-trick after just 33 minutes.
The All Blacks will guarantee a spot in the knockouts with a win over Uruguay in their final pool match on Thursday. Italy must beat hosts France in their next match to reach a first World Cup quarter-final.
The All Blacks’ win sees them jump up to second in Pool A, level on points with Italy who they now have a superior head-to-head record over.
(BBC)
Kane Williamson’s return to action headlined New Zealand’s first official warmup match of the 2023 World Cup as they hit the right notes with the bat in a high-scoring game in Hyderabad. Mohammad Rizwan (103) and Babar Azam (80) provided a good platform and the middle order got amongst the runs to help Pakistan post 345. The total, however, proved insufficient as New Zealand, led by Rachin Ravindra’s 97 and three other half-century scores, including that of Williamson, pulled off the chase with 6.2 overs to spare
After Devon Conway was dismissed by Hasan Ali for a golden duck, Ravindra and Williamson got together and added 179 runs in just 22 overs to power New Zealand’s chase. Williamson decided to retire after crossing fifty while Ravindra was dismissed by Agha Salman before he could get a ton. Usama Mir then picked up the wickets of Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips in quick succession but fifties from Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell, and an important 33 from James Neesham, helped New Zealand over the line in the 44th over.
Earlier, After opting to bat, Pakistan lost Imam-ul-Haq in the second over to Matt Henry while Mitch Santner had Abdullah Shafique out stumped. Babar, who started watchfully, found his groove while Rizwan also scored at a steady rate as they raised a century partnership to set things up nicely for Pakistan. Babar, however, missed a hundred while Rizwan retired after reaching three figures, giving Pakistan’s lower middle order some time out in the middle. Saud Shakeel (75) and Agha Salman (33*) came up with handy contributions to propel Pakistan past 340.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 345/5 in 50 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 103, Babar Azam 80; Mitch Santner 2-39) lost to New Zealand 346/5 in 43.4 overs (Rachin Ravindra 97, Mark Chapman 65; Usama Mir 2-68) by 5 wickets
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