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Nalanda break the deadlock to beat Ananda

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92nd Battle of the Maroons

Nalanda College captained by Dineth Samaraweera registered their first win against arch rivals Ananda in more than six decades when they registered a historic nine wicket win at the 92nd Battle of the Maroons Big Match at the SSC on Monday.

Nalanda came to the match as favourites and their Sri Lanka Under 19 pair Vinuja Ranpul and Raveen de Silva lived up to their reputation accounting for 13 wickets in the match.

In reply to Nalanda’s 289 for nine wickets, Ananda who commenced the day at 69 for five, were dismissed for 139. Iruth Gimshan was the only Ananda batsman to resist as he made an unbeaten 70.

Forced to follow on opener Lakshitha Kularatne and Hansaja Jayasinghe contributed with back to the wall knocks to delay the outcome. Kularatne made 32 facing 124 balls and Jayasinghe anchored the middle order with a knock of 48 runs which came in 85 balls.

Nalanda needed just 32 balls to knock off the win need of 31 runs. They lost a solitary wicket.

It was the first time that Nalanda won the Big Match since 1953.

Raveen de Silva who was the deputy skipper at the last Youth World Cup bagged seven wickets in the match, while former Prince of Wales player Ranpul collected a match bag of six wickets.

Put to bat on day one, the entire top order clicked for Nalanda with Chanul Athukorala scoring almost run-a-ball 88 inclusive of ten fours and three sixes. While de Silva made 40 runs (4x4s), Samaraweera cracked 33 runs in 27 balls (5x4s). Rusiru Vilochana, Yasiru Samarakoon, Eranga Jayakody and Vinuja Ranpul contributed with valuable 20s.

For Ananda left arm spinner Shakthi Udara took five wickets.

Raveen de Silva won the Man of the Match award for his all round performances while Chanul Athukorala and Vinuja Ranpul were presented the Best Batsman and Best Bowler awards respectively. Ananda’s Nushal Dharmaratne won the Best Fielder award.



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Reddy, Patil and Harmanpreet help India overcome Pakistan

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Harmanpreet Kaur was back at No. 4, stroking a crucial 29 [Cricinfo]

India’s net run rate (NRR) ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 game against Pakistan was -2.90. They had to win and win big against Pakistan for that to become positive and move up in the points table.  On a hot afternoon in Dubai, though, India achieved only one of those tasks – beating Pakistan by six wickets to earn two points and open the account with a sluggish chase.

The win was set up by Arudhati Reddy and Shreyanka Patil who combined for five of the eight wickets Pakistan lost. Pakistan huffed and puffed to 105 on the back of Nida Dar’s 28. But on a slow, spin-friendly surface, Pakistan also used their spinners well and denied India the launchpad: they eventually got home in the 19th over with only five fours hit – three by Shafali Verma and one each by Harmanpreet Kaur and S Sajana, playing for the injured Pooja Vastrakar. Back at her familiar No. 4 spot after being promoted to one-down in the opening game, Harmanpreet was the only India batter with a strike rate over 100, in the top six.

On the eve of the contest, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana spoke about using the power game to hit hard at their rivals. The openers tried to use their feet in a bid to walk the talk after Pakistan opted to bat. Gull Feroza tried to use her feet to counter Renuka Singh’s swing but was undone in the opening over. Muneeba Ali also used the crease so much that the runs hardly justify those. She used even the slightest of width to go over the in-field, like she did twice against Renuka inside the powerplay.

In the absence of Vastrakar, who was out with a niggle, Reddy had to shoulder additional seam-bowling responsibility and was brought on in the fourth over of the game. Immediately she induced a false stroke, with Sidra Amin chipping one towards mid-off. In her next over, Reddy delivered the perfect blow, getting Muneeba to scoop one straight to short fine leg only for S Asha to grass a sitter. A couple of balls later, though, Reddy struck by having Omaima Sohail miscue one to mid-off.

A few quiet overs saw Muneeba being stifled, and Patil pounced on the chance to get among the wickets. Anticipating a charge from the Pakistan opener, she threw one wider outside off, past which Muneeba walked and Richa Ghosh did the rest. Dar found it slightly tough to keep the scorecard ticking on her own and losing partners regularly did not help.

Reddy first trapped Aliya Riaz in front – the DRS not coming to the Pakistan allrounder’s aid after Hawk-Eye showed it to be clipping leg – before Patil dismissed Tuba Hassan for a three-ball duck. Sana showed a bit of intent and struck successive fours off Asha but fell to a terrific catch by Ghosh. She looked to slog the legspinner out of the ground but Ghosh dived to her right to pluck a one-handed stunner. Reddy then bowled Dar to pick up her third.

For India to get their NRR in the positive, they had to overhaul the 106-run target in 11.2 overs. However, India endured a boundary-less powerplay, with Shafali and Smriti Mandhana struggling to put away spin. Mandhana hit some crisp strokes but found the fielders in nine of the ten balls leading to her dismissal. In a bid to break free, she chipped one tamely to backward point.

On cue, Sana kept spin on for 13 of the first 15 overs. They frustrated Shafali with lack of speed, as a result of which, she missed putting some of the juicy full tosses away. India ended their boundary drought in the eighth over when Shafali welcomed Tuba with a pull through midwicket. She hit a couple of more fours before holing out to long-on.

At the other end, Jemimah Rodrigues – batting at No. 3 ahead of Harmanpreet – kept manoeuvring the field and helping India inch closer. However, boundaries were hard to come by and, when India lost her and Ghosh off successive balls, it seemed Pakistan could do the unthinkable. Harmanpreet then almost saw India home in the company of Deepti Sharma. However, she sprained her neck while turning awkwardly to avoid being stumped and walked back retired hurt. Sajana then came out to hit the winning four that helped India maintain their upper hand over Pakistan in women’s T20Is.

Brief scores:
India Women 108 for 4 in 18.5 overs (Shafali Verma 32, Harmanpreet Kaur  29*, Jemima Rodrigues 23;  Fatima Sana 2-23, Sadia Iqbal 1-23, Omaima Sohail 1-17) beat Pakistan Women 105 for 8 in 20 overs  (Nida Dar 28; Renuka Singh 1-23, Deepti Sharma 1-24, Arundhati  Reddy 3-19, Shreyanka Patil 2-12, Asha Sobhana 1-24) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Pakistan opt to bat with Baig unfit; Vastrakar out with niggle for India

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Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana got together at the toss [Cricinfo]

On a hot afternoon in Dubai, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana called it right and opted to bat against India in their Group A encounter of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Both teams made one change apiece owing to injuries. Diana Baig pulled up with what seemed like a calf injury against Sri Lanka, and was replaced by legspinner Syeda Aroob Shah. As a result, they have Sana and Aliya Riaz to rely on for seam bowling with as many as six spinners in the XI.

For India, Pooja Vastrakar had a niggle and hence, S Sajana was brought in the XI. The move slightly lengthens their batting but at the cost of a seam bowler. Sajana rose to prominence with a last-ball six for Mumbai Indians in the WPL 2024 opener.

The weather was 37 degrees and the fresh pitch the match was going to be played on was almost equidistant from the square boundaries – 61m and 60m either sides. The longest hit was straight down the ground, with 73m.

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma,  Harmanpreet Kaur (capt),  Jemimah Rodrigues,  Richa Ghosh (wk),  Deepti Sharma,  S Sajana,  Arundhati Reddy,  Shreyanka Patil,  Asha Sobhana,  Renuka Singh

Pakistan:  Muneeba Ali (wk),  Gull Feroza,  Sidra Amin,  Omaima Sohail,  Nida Dar,  Tuba Hassan,  Fatima Sana (capt),  Aliya Riaz,  Syeda Aroob Shah,  Nashra Sandhu,  Sadiq Iqbal

[Cricinfo]

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There’s a Lot to Like About Dimuth Karunaratne

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Dimuth Karunaratne

by Rex Clementine

Fame and popularity often have a way of inflating egos, turning the humble into the arrogant. Cricketers are no exception to this rule. In fact, school cricket can be a crystal ball for spotting future stars, and some of them, as they rise through the ranks, become like distant planets—hard to reach, encased in layers of agents, protocols, and red tape.

But Sri Lankan players, to their credit, have largely kept their feet on the ground. They haven’t let stardom sweep them off course. Dimuth Karunaratne is a prime example—a man so rooted that he’ll stop to ask photographers toiling under the scorching sun if they need a bottle of water. It’s rare to find a cricketer who doesn’t let the game go to his head, but Dimuth is that man—a diamond in a game full of rough edges.

He’s the kind of role model parents hope their kids look up to—never rattled, never caught up in the ugly business of sledging or bad language, never called up to the Match Referee for disciplinary action, and never involved in bitter pay disputes. Dimuth is as honest as the day is long, and with a middle name like Frank, it’s no wonder he always speaks his mind.

But even the calmest waters have their storms. Last week, during the second Test in Galle, for the first time in his career, Dimuth let the emotions get better of him.

After missing out on a hundred in the first Test, where he played a vital knock of 83 to pull Sri Lanka out of a deep hole, Dimuth looked set for a century in the second Test. The Galle heat was the only thorn in his side as he moved fluently to 46 on a flat pitch. He hadn’t raised his bat for a century all year, and you could feel it coming.

Then came the moment that lit the fuse. Pushing the ball to mid-wicket, Dimuth called for a single. His partner, Dinesh Chandimal, stood frozen to the spot. It was a misfield, yes, and the golden rule is: ‘never run on a misfield unless there’s a run and a half on offer’. In this case though, there was, a run. Dimuth nearly made it back to his crease before the bails were whipped off.

What followed was something you’d never seen from the normally composed Karunaratne. He turned to Chandimal, fire in his eyes, and let him know, in no uncertain terms, that it was his call to make. When the ball’s in front of the wicket, the striker calls the shots, and Dimuth had made the right call. But the damage was done.

As Dimuth stormed off the field, frustration etched on his face, it was clear that even the best of friends can have a spat. Watching two former captains clash mid-pitch isn’t a pretty sight, but to their credit, by evening, the storm had passed, and the hatchet was buried.

Chandimal wasn’t blameless; he’d left his partner high and dry. But to his credit, the first thing he did when he walked into the dressing room was to apologize to Dimuth.

Some were quick to crucify Chandimal, branding him a traitor, but there’s always more to a story than meets the eye. Apparently, Dimuth had told Chandimal he was cramping and didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. What he meant was “no twos,” but Chandimal had taken it to mean “no runs on misfields.” So, when the call for the run came, Chandimal, true to his decision, stayed rooted. Like a true gentleman, Chandimal held up his hand and admitted his mistake, and like another true gentleman, Dimuth accepted it without a second thought.

Dimuth, however, is no ordinary cricketer. He’s cut from a different cloth. He doesn’t always get the praise he deserves for leading Sri Lanka to an improbable series win in South Africa—a feat no other Asian captain has achieved. Even cricketing giants like India and Pakistan, with their potent pace attacks, haven’t managed to win a series on South African soil.

Dimuth’s secret? It’s not about outthinking the opposition with tactical brilliance. He leads by bringing people together. Under his stewardship, the dressing room is a place of calm, where players are trusted as professionals, and the relaxed atmosphere allows them to flourish.

His popularity after that South African triumph was such that players clamored for him to lead Sri Lanka into the 2019 World Cup, despite him not having played an ODI in four years. Imagine that—a man who wasn’t even part of the squad being asked to lead the team at cricket’s greatest stage. That’s the kind of trust Dimuth inspires.

Most captains, when they’re riding high, are reluctant to give up the reins. But Dimuth, always a man of integrity, knew when to step aside. After Sri Lanka’s World Test Championship campaign ended last year, he expressed his desire to step down. The selectors persuaded him to stay a little longer, but once a new selection panel came in, Dimuth made his intentions clear again, and his wish was granted.

We have had the privilege of following Dimuth’s career closely from the start. His first overseas tour with Sri Lanka was to England in 2011. Ironically, he was overlooked for the Test matches and included only for the ODIs. Back then, he was seen as an ODI prospect, but he has since carved out a career as Sri Lanka’s most successful Test opener.

There’s a major milestone on the horizon—Dimuth is set to play his 100th Test in February next year at Galle. Let’s hope he takes fresh guard and goes on for a few dozen more. Cricket needs more characters like him—the steadying forces who bring calm amid the chaos.

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