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Khawaja, middle-order turn the tables on England
Usman Khawaja’s century, backed up by fifties from Travis Head and Alex Carey, has allowed Australia to stage a fightback on Day 2 of the first Ashes Test in Edgbaston, on Saturday. Khawaja, who stroked his maiden ton in England, went to stumps unbeaten on 124 – having batted through the day. He had the company of Carey, who was unbeaten on 52, and had added a 91-run stand before the end of the day’s play.
For much of the day though, England were on the front foot after Stuart Broad had struck twice in the seventh over of the morning. First, he dismissed David Warner (14th time in the Ashes) when the southpaw dragged a length delivery outside the off on to his stumps. And then, had Marnus Labuschagne caught behind with an outswinger.
England were on the offensive, with Ben Stokes being unconventional and proactive with his field changes. Steve Smith and Khawaja nullified the attack for an hour with a dour 38-run partnership before the former was trapped leg-before with a Stokes delivery that jagged back in – in what was only his second over of the innings. Smith took a review but to no avail. With three wickets down, for only 64 runs, England had owned the morning session and seized control of the contest.
However, after Tea, the momentum started to shift. The in-form Travis Head took charge of the counter-attack, of which Moeen Ali was largely at the receiving end. It had started out with Khawaja, who danced down the track and hit the offspinner for a six in only the third over of the post-lunch session. However, Khawaja was kept in control by England’s short-ball tactic, which had the opener in a bit of an uncomfortable space. Head, however, didn’t hold back on the cuts and the pulls.
He departed soon after bringing up his 14th Test fifty, chipping Moeen Ali’s flattish delivery to midwicket, handing the offspinner his maiden scalp on Test comeback. Moeen could’ve had another wicket to his name only two deliveries later when Cameron Green stepped out and attempted a big shot, only to be deceived by the turn. However, Jonny Bairstow missed a regulation stumping opportunity.
Green was subdued thereafter and helped Australia head to Tea without any further damage. His only attack came against Joe Root in the last over before Tea when he hit the part-timer for two boundaries through the offside. However, soon after the Tea break, Moeen eventually had his man – beating him in flight, with drift, dip and turn to knock over his stumps. Green, by then, had scored 38 runs and stitched a valuable 72-run partnership with Khawaja.
Nonetheless, that happened to be the only dismissal of the last session. England could’ve had another when Stuart Broad knocked over Khawaja’s stumps only two balls after the second new ball was taken. However, the third umpire noted that he had overstepped, offering Khawaja a life when he was batting on 112. The opener shut shop and went on to add only 12 runs thereafter in the last hour of play when Carey had taken the mantle of attacking the English bowlers.
The ‘keeper-batter was always on a lookout for scoring opportunities, hitting on the up, over the in-field and at times, even just short of fielders. He brought up his fifty with a lucky boundary after getting an outside edge for a boundary while looking to attack Moeen Ali, only to be deceived by the spinner.
England used seven bowling options on the day, but the bulk of the work was handed to Moeen, who got some assistance from the wicket but was also on the line of attack of the Australian batters. He picked two wickets in 29 overs, but ended up conceding 124 runs.
Brief scores:
England 393/8 decl. (Joe Root 112*, Jonny Bairstow 78, Zak Crawley 61; Nathan Lyon 4-149, Josh Hazlewood 2-61) lead Australia 311/5 (Usman Khawaja 124*, Alex Carey 52*, Travis Head 50; Stuart Broad 2-49, Moeen Ali 2-124) by 82 runs
Rumesh Tharanga will head to the Doha Diamond League as the athlete to beat following a commanding victory at the Ostrava Golden Spike on Tuesday.
Fresh from his recent record-breaking exploits, Tharanga once again stamped his authority on the world stage, dominating the competition with three throws beyond the 85-metre mark. Remarkably, any one of those efforts would have been enough to secure victory.
The 23-year-old produced his best throw of 86.57 metres in the third round to claim top honours ahead of two-time world champion Anderson Peters, who finished second with a best effort of 84.27 metres.
Tharanga’s consistency throughout the competition underlined his status as one of the world’s leading javelin throwers. His latest triumph further strengthens his credentials ahead of the Doha Diamond League, where he is expected to be among the favourites alongside World champion Keshorn Walcott, two-time world champion Anderson Peters and world bronze medallist Curtis Thompson.
Tuesday’s victory continues a remarkable season for the former Peterite, who has emerged as a genuine contender on the international circuit with a string of world-class performances. [RF]
In the recent past, factors such as population growth, expansion of development activities, and deforestation in Sri Lanka have resulted in the loss of traditional migratory routes and the destruction of habitats of wild elephants.
Consequently, a continuous and rapid escalation of the human-elephant conflict has been observed over a long period, spanning 19 out of the 25 districts and 134 out of the 341 Divisional Secretariat Divisions in the country.
According to the wild elephant census conducted in 2024, the wild elephant population in the country is estimated to be approximately 7,450. It is reported that the human-elephant
conflict accounts for a significant number of human fatalities and wild elephant deaths annually.
Furthermore, over a thousand incidents of property damage caused by wild elephants are recorded each year.
Although a ‘National Action Plan to Mitigate Human-Elephant Conflict in Sri Lanka’ was formulated in 2020, the dynamics of the current human-elephant conflict have evolved substantially since then, necessitating the formulation of a new national action plan.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Environment to take the necessary steps to draft a new National Action Plan for Human-Elephant Conflict Management.
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Cabinet green light to host 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum – Asia and Pacific Regions from 23 – 26 June in Sri Lanka
Hosting the 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum – Asia and Pacific Regions in Sri Lanka
An invitation has been extended to Sri Lanka to host two major regional aviation security summits: the 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific (CASP-AP) and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum (RASCF).
The Steering Committee of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific serves as the primary decision-making body for the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) cooperative aviation security program in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sri Lanka is scheduled to assume the chairmanship of the said Steering Committee for the 2026-2027 term during this summit.
The Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum for the Asia and Pacific regions serves as a regional platform to deliberate on emerging threats, the implementation of ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), capacity-building activities, and coordination among member states and international
organizations.
Approximately 80 delegates, including representatives from 41 member states, international organizations, and observers, are expected to participate in these two summits.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation to host the 21st Steering Committee Meeting of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific on the 23rd and 24th of June 2026, and the 14th Regional Aviation Security Coordination Forum – Asia and Pacific Regions on the 25th and 26th of June 2026 in Sri Lanka.
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts.
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