Sports
Mendis and Embuldeniya seal big win for Sri Lanka
Rex Clementine in Galle
In Test cricket, no Sri Lankan bowler has had such an early impact as those with the surname of Mendis, not even the great Muttiah Muralitharan or his partner in crime Chaminda Vaas. First it was Ajantha Mendis and now it is Ramesh Mendis. These are very early days for this Dharmashoka lad but he could go onto become a prominent Test cricketer as he showcased with a match bag of 11 wickets yesterday as Sri Lanka completed a 164 run rout of West Indies in Galle.
Playing just his fourth Test match, Mendis complemented his career best figures of six for 70 in the first innings by claiming five for 66 in the second essay to finish with a match bag of 11 wickets. Ambalangoda is the home for many prominent Sri Lankans like CWW Kannangara, General Sarath Fonseka, Mahinda Deshapriya and Mendis could be the next big name from the coastal town popular for biling achcharu, ambul thiyal, masks and cinnamon.
Former great Michael Tissera hands over the Sobers-Tissera Trophy to Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne following Sri Lanka’s series win over West Indies in Galle yesterday.
It was a fantastic display of spin bowling. Mendis kept bowling to an impeccable line and length playing the waiting game and then when wickets started falling, they were falling in clusters.
West Indies had done well to reach lunch at 65 for two and looked set to fight out a draw. But after lunch, Mendis broke the 27 run stand between Shape Hope and Nkrumah Bonner that had lasted for 48 minutes and soon found himself taking two more wickets in the same over as Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers were dismissed without troubling scorer Tushara Corray.
He had claimed 16 wickets in the two Tests and was named Player of the Series.
Lasith Embuldeniya, one year younger to Mendis and from Royal College, kept the pressure from the other end to also finish with a five wicket haul. He had started off by dismissing Jermaine Blackwood in the last over before lunch and then polished through the tail. It was his fifth five wicket haul in Test cricket.
West Indies collapse was quite dramatic as they lost eight wickets for 40 runs. None of their batsmen managed a half-century.
Former Ceylon captain Michael Tissera was present to hand the Sobers-Tissera Trophy. Sri Lanka moved up to number seven in the ICC Rankings for teams in Test cricket while West Indies slipped down to number seven.
Sri Lanka also collected 24 points from the ICC World Test Championship. They had won the first Test by 187 runs.
Sharjah, 2pm local time
Sri Lanka broke a 12 match losing streak against New Zealand by posting their first-ever T20I win against the opponents last year. In the third T20I in Colombo in July 2023, Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama helped crush New Zealand by 10 wickets to seal a historic win. While Sri Lanka will be looking for a consolation win, New Zealand will want to win big to strengthen their semi-final chances and boost their net run rate.
New Zealand squad:
Sophie Devine (capt), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Isabella Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Fran Jonas, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu
Sri Lanka squad:
Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilshari, Nilakshika Silva, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera, Shashini Gimhani, Ama Kanchana, Sugandika Kumari
Tournament form guide:
After beating India comprehensively in their opener, New Zealand were handed a thrashing by defending champions Australia, crumbling to 88 all out in the 149 chase. Sri Lanka have lost all three matches they’ve played so far in the tournament, with the loss against India putting them out of semi-final contention.
Player to watch:
Legspinning-allrounder Amelia Kerr is one of the most reliable players for New Zealand. Against Australia, she waged a lone fight, taking four wickets and top-scoring with 29 in the chase. She took three wickets in five balls, with Australian batters struggling to read her googlies on the Sharjah pitch. She is once again expected to be key for New Zealand at the same venue against the shaky Sri Lankan batting order.
An Australian side struck by two injuries marched to a third massive win over a depleted Pakistan team, who slumped to the lowest total of the tournament so far. The result leaves Pakistan all but out of knockout contention while Australia are now almost certain to qualify into the final four.
Pakistan were without their captain Fatima Sana, after the passing of her father, and senior seamer Diana Baig, who has not recovered from the leg injury that saw her leave the field after bowling one ball in their tournament opener, and they missed the pair’s enthusiasm and experience. Only one of their batters, Aliya Riyaz scored more than 20, while there were five scores of single figures, two ducks and no partnerships worth more than 19.
All that happened after Australia lost their quickest bowler, Tayla Vlaeminck – who was playing her first T20 World Cup match since 2018 – before she had even bowled a ball Vlaemink dislocated her shoulder while tumbling at short third in the first over of the game trying to cut off a boundary, and there’s a cloud over her participation in the remainder of the tournament.
Her absence did not stop Australia from making run-scoring difficult for Pakistan. They found the other six bowlers tough to get away, only scored their first boundary of the innings in the ninth over, and hit just four fours in all. Australia had struck that many by the third over of their innings.Alyssa Healey was responsible for five of them and seemed set to take Australia to victory but retired hurt in the 10th over, as she hobbled to complete a second run off Aroob Shah. Healy gingerly headed to the dressing room with a foot injury.
Elysse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner polished off the total in 11 overs, which has taken Australia’s net run-rate up to 2.786, leaving them almost assured of a final-four place. Their last group match is against India in Sharjah on Sunday. Pakistan face New Zealand on Monday.
Schutt shoots to the top
Megan Schutt had an exceptional first two matches in Sharjah, where she established herself as the most economical bowler of the tournament so far, but was also able to take wickets on a surface that offered very little assistance. She’d have been delighted to get to more helpful conditions in Dubai and started with two testing overs as she shaped the ball away from Muneeba Ali and into Sidra Amin. Schutt was given a third over in the powerplay, where she played with her lengths, and eventually drew Sadaf Shamas into a drive and Healy was convinced Shamas had hit it. She reviewed, successfully, to give Schutt her 144th T20I wicket – which took her to the top of the overall T20I wicket takers list. Schutt overtook one of the players in the opposition, Nida Dar, who had to come to the crease with Shamas’ dismissal. Pakistan were 18 for 2 after five overs and 23 for 2 at the end of six.
Awesome Ash Gardner
Pakistan were starting to rebuild – but only slightly – between the 10th and 16th over courtesy a 19-run stand between Iram Javed and Aliya Riaz though they always looked close to being separated. Gardner should have had Javed stumped on 10 when she came down the track and swung at a length delivery but Healy missed the chance.
It didn’t take too long for Gardner to get her own back. In her next over, she tossed one up and Iram could not resist going for a big one. She skied it towards deep mid-wicket where Georgia Wareham was completely unfussed by the ring of fire and took a good catch. Gardner’s final over was the innings’ penultimate and Pakistan had to go in search of runs. Off the second ball, Healy made no mistake when Tuba Hassan came down the track, swung, missed and was stumped. Aroob Shah hit Gardner’s second-last ball to Beth Mooney at mid-wicket and Nashra Sandhu was given out lbw off the last ball which turned past her inside-edge to hit her on the pad. Gardner finished with 4 for 21, her second-best figures in T20Is.
Healy, Mooney race away
Australia started their reply with eight runs off their first 11 balls, none of them boundaries. That was all they needed to see and began to cash in thereafter. Healy drove Dar through the covers to register Australia’s first boundary and the fours kept coming. Beth Mooney hit three off Sadia Iqbal’s opening over, demonstrating her strength through the offside and Healy followed up with two more off Sadaf Shamas. Australia were 36 without loss in the fifth over when Mooney hit Iqbal to Aliya Riaz on the edge of the inner ring at mid-off but the horse had bolted. They won with 54 balls remaining, and their excellent NRR means they’d have to lose by 61 or more runs against India to be displaced from No. 1.
Brief scores:
Australia Women 83 for 1 in 11 overs (Alyssa Healy 37, Ellyse Perry 22*; Sadia Iqbql 1-17) beat Pakistan Women 82 in 19.5 overs (Aliya Riaz 26; Megan Schutt 1-07, Sophie Molineux 1-19, Ashleigh Gardner 4-21, Annabel Sutherland 2-15, Georgia Wareham 2-16) by nine wickets
Police SC and CH & FC will lock horns in the inaugural match of the Sri Lanka Premier League Hockey Championship at 6.00 pm at the Astroturf at Reid Avenue today.
The inaugural match will be preceded by an opening ceremony attended by all participating teams.
The tournament is organised to provide the experience of a top-level competition and thereby pave the way for the next generation to be competitive at international level.
Eight local teams are taking part in this inaugural premier league tournament. They are Sri Lanka Army SC, Navy SC, Air Force SC, Police SC, BRC, Old Senanayaka SC, CR & FC and CH & FC.
The league is introduced by the ‘Next Generation Development Hockey Society’ inclusive of players who have represented Sri Lanka National team, Sri Lanka Junior National team and Sri Lanka Schools teams.
The event is conducted under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation.
Nearly 200 local players who have national and international exposure are expected to join a number of foreign players of international repute. They are inclusive of players who have led their national teams.
All matches of the tournament will be played at the Astroturf at Reid Avenue.
The winners of the tournament will receive a handsome cash award. The best player of the tournament, highest goal scorer and the best goalkeeper of the tournament will also be rewarded.
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