Sports

Next generation has stood up

Published

2 years ago

2024/09/15

Thilina Walpola

Pathum Nissanka

Rex Clementine in London

Test match wins overseas have been rare for Sri Lanka. Extremely rare that other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, they recorded a Test win against any other nation way back in 2019. It came in South Africa when the team won back to back Test matches in Durban and Port Elizabeth to become the first Asian side to win a series in South Africa.

That is why the recent win at The Oval was special. It indeed came against many odds with many predicting a 3-0 whitewash to the hosts, whose new style of batting has earned the admiration of fans.

England’s strategy seems that there should be no more draws. That’s fine. But when you disrespect the basics of the game it comes back to haunt you. England can get away with this style of play against Sri Lanka and West Indies, whom they beat this summer. But when they play their bigger brothers Australia and India, they will face harsher realities and with that public condemnation.

England batters, even those who are out of form charging down the track to seamers and Ollie Pope not willing to give up his attacking field set even when the target was down to double figures were bizarre indeed.

Take nothing away from the manner Sri Lanka played. They assessed the conditions well, changed the composition of the side and more importantly believed in their skill set.

Kamindu Mendis had already cemented his place in the Test side but for someone who was playing in England for the first time to play with the confidence he did, is proof that we are going to see greater things from him.

The selectors resisted the move to push him up the order but next week against New Zealand, he is likely to move up higher in the order to number five and once Angelo Mathews moves on, should own that number four slot where many of our stars from Aravinda de Silva to Mahela Jayawardene have batted.

The reason for Pathum Nissanka to be sidelined from Test match cricket was a recurring back injury. With two World Cups coming up in October 2003 and May 2024, they wanted him to focus only on white ball cricket. Now that both events are over, he is back in the fold again. Bat pad is the fielding position for any player who is trying to find his feet in the side and the selectors will be discussing whether it is worthwhile to let Pathum field there.

While the reasoning for him to be kept away from Test cricket for two years are understandable, he should have played in England from the first Test. The quicks simply had no answers to his batting. The ball always does something in England and even when you are on 80, there are some balls that make the batsman look like not set yet. Which is why Pathum was looking for runs always, and it paid off. It was not just brutal bashing. He played straight drives earlier on and the cross batted shots came on only after he had spent an hour in the crease.

Lahiru Kumara needs just four wickets to claim 100 wickets in Tests and he bowled so well in the second innings at The Oval and he has come a long way from overcoming fitness issues. He had copped hefty fines for having high levels of skinfolds and he has responded well.

Kumara is the senior seamer, but Asitha Fernando has certainly emerged as the leader of the attack on this tour. Chris Woakes in these conditions is a prime contender to emerge as the leading wicket taker but Asitha with his 17 wickets showcased his skill test and became the first bowler since Rumesh Ratnayake in 1991 to take a five wicket haul at Lord’s.

Milan Ratnayake is another player who stood out with the bat and the ball and on the field. An all-rounder with immense potential, the selectors should see whether he could fit into the T-20 side.

All in all, it was a satisfying series and with a bit more luck, Sri Lanka could have won this sereis. They had their moments at Old Trafford but fell about 50 runs short.

The manner in which the fast bowling unit performed and young players contributed on their first tour to England are all indications that this team will go on to do something special moving forward.

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Taijul takes six as Bangladesh complete 2-0 sweep

Published

6 hours ago

2026/05/20

Priyan

Taijul Islam is pumped [Cricinfo]

Bangladesh overcame one hour of nerves on the fifth morning to beat Pakistan by 78 runs in the Sylhet Test and complete a consecutive 2-0 sweep over them. For the first time in their history, Bangladesh have won four successive Test series. Taijul Islam led the way with a six-wicket haul in the fourth innings, but the credit will also go to Litton Das for his 126, which resurrected Bangladesh from the dead on the first day.

It is a landmark moment for Bangladesh cricket. They played solid cricket across ten days in the Test series. While their pace attack got rave reviews, their spinners too stepped up as the experienced Taijul took two of the last three wickets on the final morning.

Before that, Mohammad Rizwan held Bangladesh at bay for nearly an hour, until Sajid Khan edged Taijul for 28. In the next over, Rizwan guided Shoriful Islam to Mehidy Hasan Miraz at gully for 94. Mehidy had earlier dropped a tough chance at gully when Rizwan had tried a similar shot in the day’s first over, while a Sajid top edge had dropped in front of wicketkeeper Litton.

Taijul took the final wicket when Khurram Shahzad swung him towards deep midwicket, where debutant Tanzid Hasan held a high catch.

Chasing 437, Pakistan started the day on 316 for 7. It was a spirited response from the under-fire visitors, who were bumped by two decent partnerships. Shan Masood and Babar Azam added 92 for the third wicket, which mitigated their early losses of openers Azan Awais and Abdullah Fazal. The partnership ended when Mehidy nabbed Babar down the leg side for 47. Masood scored 71 before Taijul had him caught at short leg.

Rizwan and Salman Agha staved off any further batting collapse with a 134-run partnership for the sixth wicket. The pair batted at a fair clip, frustrating the home side who, in their attacking mindset, hardly bowled a maiden over during that period.

With the second new ball, Taijul finally breached Agha’s defence with an arm-ball. The batter made 71. Rizwan kept the fight on but the task proved to be too monumental.

Brief scores:
Bangladesh 278 in 77 overs (Litton Das 126; Mohammed Abbas 3-45, Khurram Shahzad 4-81) and 390 in 102.2 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 137, Litton Das 69; Khurram Shahzad 4-86, Sajid Khan 3-126) beat Pakistan 232 in 57.4 overs (Babar Azam 68; Nahid Rana 3-60, Taijul Islam 3-67) and 358 in 97.2 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 94, Shan Masood 71, Salman Agha 71; Taijul Islam 6-120) by 78 runs

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Sooryavanshi’s stunning 93 takes Rajasthan Royals closer to IPL playoffs

Published

12 hours ago

2026/05/20

Priyan

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi brought out a new celebration, after reaching fifty [Cricinfo]

No Riyan Parag? No Ravindra Jadeja? No fast start for Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi? No problem for Rajasthan Royals (RR) as they hunted down 221 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and moved up to No.4 on the points table. If RR also win their final league game against Mumbai Indians on Sunday, they will firm up their playoffs spot, irrespective of other results.

In RR’s chase of 221, Sooryavanshi got off to an unusually slow start – he was on 11 off 12 balls at one point. After watching his opening partner and RR stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal dominate the powerplay, Sooryavanshi cranked up to top gear when he lined up left-arm seamer Akash Singh for two sixes and three fours in the ninth over. He then went on a more familiar six-hitting spree and by the time he was dismissed for 93 off 38 balls in the 14th over, he extended his sixes tally in IPL 2026 to 53. Only Chris Gayle has smashed more sixes in an IPL season, back in 2012 when Sooryavanshi was a year old.

Dhruv Jurel sealed the chase for RR with a calm fifty in the company of Donnovan Ferreira.

Jofra Archer ran in hard and hit the Jaipur deck harder, but even his extreme pace and bounce wasn’t going to bother Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis, the Western Australia boys. In the first over, Marsh advanced down the track, manufactured swinging room and flayed Archer for a four and a six over the covers.

Inglis was more fluent square of the wicket or behind square. He scooped Archer over short fine leg for four in the third over and by the end of the powerplay, LSG racked up 83 for 0. Four of LSG’s top-five powerplay scores in the IPL have come in this season. RR’s attack, meanwhile, went wicketless in the powerplay for a fourth successive game.

Wristspinner Yash Raj Punja bowled the first boundary-less over in the first innings. In the 13th over, he conceded only seven runs to go with the wicket of Nicholas Pooran (16). That over triggered a passage of play where LSG went 22 without a boundary. Earlier, he had stopped LSG’s opening stand at 109 in the ninth over when he tossed up a wrong’un on an in-between length and bowled Inglis for 60 off 29 balls. Punja returned figures of 4-0-35-2, demonstrating why RR trusted him and promoted him into their main squad after he was a net bowler with the side in the previous season.

Marsh brought up his fifty off 25 balls, but could manage only 43 off his last 32 balls on the day. The lack of pace from Punja, Sandeep Sharma and Dasun Shanaka slowed him down. “To be honest, felt like torture out there,” Marsh summed up the back-end of his innings. He suggested that he may have left a few boundaries out there.

Marsh, Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni all departed in the final over of the innings, bowled by Archer, which cost RR only five runs.

RR came out swinging in the powerplay in the chase, but it was Jaiswal, and not Sooryavanshi, who was doing most of the swinging during that phase. He was responsible for 39 of the 71 runs RR scored in the powerplay. Jaiswal latched onto anything that was remotely wide of off. His four fours off Akash in a 23-run first over, bowled by Akash, set the tone for the chase.

By the end of the powerplay, Sooryavanshi was on 25 off 16 balls, which was measured by his standards. All of 15, he had the maturity that he could catch up on a pitch where the ball came onto the bat nicely. He reached his half-century off 23 balls with a reverse-sweep and threatened to convert it into a century until Mohsin Khan stopped him. He finished with a strike rate of almost 245.

Prince Yadav, who had earned a call-up to India’s ODI squad earlier in the day, was pumped for back-to-back sixes. The other Yadav – Mayank – wasn’t spared either, with the teenage phenom launching him for back-to-back sixes in the next over.

Sooryavanshi holed out while attempting his 11th six, but by then he had snatched the Orange Cap from Marsh. Jurel then anchored the chase while Ferreira applied the finishing touches.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 225 for 3 in 19.1 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 43, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 93, Dhruv Jurel 53*, Donovan Fereira 16*; Akash Singh 1-54, Mohsin Khan 1-31) beat Lucknow Super Giants 220 for 5 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 96, Josh Inglis 60, Nicholas Pooran 16, Rishabh Pant 35; Jofra Archer 1-39, Yash Raj Punja 2-35) by seven wickets

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Sri Lanka women’s volleyball team ready for Central Asian challenge

Published

13 hours ago

2026/05/20

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka women’s volleyball team will leave for Central Asian Volleyball Championship today.

The Sri Lanka women’s volleyball team, powered by Dialog Axiata is set to depart the country today to compete in the 2026 Central Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship, which will be held from 22 to 29 May with the participation of eight nations from across the region.

The tournament will be played in two preliminary groups, with the Sri Lankan side, captained by Ashani Chamodika, drawn in Group ‘B’ alongside Kazakhstan, Iran and Bangladesh. Group ‘A’ will feature India, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives and hosts Nepal.

Sri Lanka Head Coach Amila Wijepala believes the team is well prepared to face the challenge despite being drawn in a highly competitive group.

“Our group is comparatively more challenging than Group ‘A’. Kazakhstan recently secured third place at the Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship after defeating China, making them our toughest challenge. We are confident of overcoming Bangladesh, while I also believe our players possess the ability to defeat Iran. Our objective is to win at least two matches and qualify for the semi-finals,” he said.

Vice President of the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation, Mahinda Bandara, expressed confidence in the squad and praised the players for their commitment during the preparation period.

“We are fielding a very strong side for this tournament. The players have undergone close to two months of residential training at the Watupitiwala Indoor Stadium. We are grateful to the Ministry of Sports for its invaluable assistance in facilitating this tour. We also sincerely appreciate the continued sponsorship and commitment shown by Dialog Axiata towards Sri Lanka’s national sport and this international campaign,” he said.

The Sri Lanka squad for the Central Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship includes high-ball hitters Dilukshi Harshani, Nimeshika Sewwandi, Preethika Pramodani, Timi Mary, Arana Sanjeewani and Shalu Thilakshana. Short-ball hitters are Sanjeewani Karunaratne, Dilki Nethsara, Sesandi Ruwanya and Piumi Bhashini.

Naduni Nimansala and Kavindi Asanthika will serve as liberos, while captain Ashani Chamodika and Dilki Charuka have been named as setters.

The support staff includes Head Coach Amila Wijepala, Assistant Coach Udaya Rukmal, Trainer Upendra Perera, Women’s Team Officer Renuka Nilmini and Team Manager Mahesh Kariyawasam.