Sports
Nissanka’s ton puts Sri Lanka in box seat at SSC
Sri Lanka tightened their grip on the second Test against Bangladesh, reaching 290 for two at stumps on day two at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds, carving out a 43-run lead with eight wickets still intact.
On a featherbed of a pitch where run-making has historically been a stroll in the park – the same ground that witnessed the record-breaking 624-run stand between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara – Bangladesh failed to cash in on ideal batting conditions, folding meekly for 247. No batter reached a half-century, and the hosts made them pay the price, brick by brick.
Pathum Nissanka, carrying the baton from his career-best 187 in Galle, produced another masterclass in restraint and timing, stroking an unbeaten 146 off 238 balls with 18 crisply struck boundaries. It was his fourth Test hundred and second on the bounce – a knock of high class marked by poise and precision.
He found an able partner in former skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who looked fluent during his 93 before a lapse in judgement saw him fall to the reverse sweep minutes before close. Attempting to outfox Nayeem Hasan, Chandimal only succeeded in feathering the ball off his gloves, gifting a catch to the wicketkeeper and throwing away a well-deserved century.
Their 194-run second-wicket stand laid the foundation for what looks like a mountain of runs. If Sri Lanka have one foot on Bangladesh’s throat, it’s largely thanks to that partnership.
Nissanka was a treat to watch – threading the gaps with finesse, especially through the covers, where one back-foot punch off Naid Rana to bring up his century was a shot straight out of the textbook. Bangladesh tried to bounce him out, packing the leg-side with three fielders behind square, but the right-hander showed ice in his veins. Even after copping a blow to the helmet, he stood firm, unflustered and unbowed.
With Sri Lanka’s run-rate climbing, Bangladesh resorted to negative lines and spread fields. Chandimal and Nissanka answered with a flurry of reverse sweeps, countering spin with innovation, before the risk finally consumed Chandimal.
Earlier, opener Lahiru Udara – still finding his feet in the cauldron of Test cricket – flattered to deceive again. After a start that promised more, he was undone for 40 by a Taijul Islam delivery that held its line. Originally given not out, the decision was overturned on review, much to Bangladesh’s relief.
Resuming on 220 for eight, Bangladesh added just 27 to their overnight score before being bundled out. Asitha Fernando led the attack with 3 for 51 – though his figures might have sparkled more if not for Sri Lanka’s butter-fingered fielding.
On debut, 24-year-old Sonal Dinusha continued to make headlines. The left-arm spinner wrapped up the innings with his third wicket – Taijul Islam holing out to mid-wicket – finishing with an impressive three for 22. Having already snared the prized scalps of Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das on day one, Dinusha’s dream debut shows no signs of slowing down.
With the hosts already in the driver’s seat, and a docile pitch offering little to the bowlers, Bangladesh face an uphill battle to claw their way back.
By Rex Clementine ✍️
Young Pramod Madushan has become the talk in cricket circles after he scored 42 runs in an over for Mercantile Services Cricket Academy against Sigi Cricket Academy at Ambalangoda recently.
In an over that contained nine deliveries, including two no-balls and a wide, Madushan cut loose hitting three fours and five sixes. In all, the over bowled by Bihandu Sandiv went for 45 runs.
The young cricketer from D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo shares the same name as Sri Lanka fast bowler Pramod Madushan. However, the 19-year-old is a wicketkeeper batter.
His knock of 103 came in just 38 deliveries and contained eight fours and ten sixes.
Australia batter Usman Khawaja will retire from international cricket following the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney this week.
The 39-year-old will play his 88th and final Test on the ground where he made his debut against the same opponents in January 2011.
Khawaja was born in Pakistan and became the first Muslim to play for Australia when he took the place of Ricky Ponting at the end of England’s 3-1 series win 15 years ago.
The left-hander has made 6,206 Test runs at an average of 43.39, with 16 hundreds.
He has played in six Ashes series – winning two, losing two and drawing two.
He was also part of the Australia team that won the World Test Championship in 2023.
The final Test at the SCG starts on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday).
Alongside Steve Smith, Khawaja is one of two remaining members of the Australia team beaten by England in their most recent series win in this country in 2010-11.
He needs 30 runs in his final Test to go above Mike Hussey and into 14th on Australia’s all-time run-scorers list, behind the great Donald Bradman in 13th.
Khawaja played the last of his 40 one-day internationals in 2019, having scored 1,554 runs at 42. He played in nine T20 internationals, scoring 241 runs at 26.77.
Now playing domestically for Queensland, Khawaja will end his career on the ground that was his home when he first played professional cricket for New South Wales in 2008.
Often in and out of the Australia team during his Test career, he found a home at the top of the order during the previous home Ashes in 2021-22.
However, his place has come under scrutiny during this series after he suffered back spasms in the first Test that prevented him from opening.
Travis Head took Khawaja’s place in the second innings and made a swashbuckling century to lead Australia to an eight-wicket win.
Khawaja subsequently missed the second Test with the back problem and was due to be left out of the third, only to receive a late call-up when Steve Smith fell ill.
He made 82 and 40 in Adelaide to retain his place for the fourth Test. Australia lead the series 3-1.
After the Ashes Australia will not play another Test until August, by which time Khawaja will be almost 40.
[BBC]
India were pushed more than they had been at any point in this series but still ran home victors in the final T20I at Trivandrum to complete a 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka – the first time they have swept a bilateral T20I series of this length at home. Besides a stronger performance from their opponents, the hosts faced sterner challenges – the rare failure of their top order, a dewy ball in defence but managed to overcome them all as they ran home winners by 15 runs.
The win was set up by the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hadn’t crossed 21 in the four previous innings of this series but come a tricky situation, she stepped up with a 43-ball 68. After being put in to bat, India found themselves in early trouble at 27 for 2, with debutant G Kamalini, coming in for the rested Smriti Mandhana, following the in-form Shafali Verma back to the hut. Inside the 10th over, India also lost Harleen Deol and Richa Ghosh and were struggling for any kind of momentum.
But Harmanpreet rose to the moment with a commanding knock that mixed caution with aggression. She hit nine fours and a six and was particularly effective playing the field against the left-arm spinners. Even with Harmanpreet providing the backbone of the innings, India needed a late push from Arundhati Reddy and Amanjot Kaur, who scored a pair of useful 20s to push the score forward. Arundhati, in particular, smashed 27 off 11 balls as India found 66 runs in the final five overs to get to 175.
Chasing 176, Sri Lanka produced their best batting performance of the series, built around an excellent 79-run partnership off just 56 balls between Hasini Perera and Imesha Dulani for the second wicket. Perera, playing her 81st T20I, finally brought up her maiden half-century in the format, while Dulani also reached the milestone as the visitors raced to stay within touching distance of the target.
The momentum shifted dramatically when Amanjot Kaur struck with her very first delivery to dismiss Dulani, breaking the dangerous stand. Perera continued to fight, threatening to pull off an unlikely heist. But after clubbing a four and a six off Sree Charani, she was cleaned up by the left-arm spinner with a full delivery that slipped under Perera’s bat to knock out the stumps. Between that, Deepti Sharma trapped Nilakshi Silva to pass Megan Schutt as the format’s leading wicket-taker.
Those late wickets meant, Sri Lanka were left needing 34 runs from the final two overs. They got close, but ultimately not close enough to cause India enough jitters on the night.
Brief scores:
India Women 175 for 7 in 20 overs
(Gunalan Kamalini 12, Harleen Deol 13, Harmanpreet Kaur 68, Amanjot Kaur 21, Arundhati Reddy 27*; Nimasha Meepage 1-25, Kavisha Dilhari 2-11, Rashmika Sewwandi 2-42, Chamari Athapaththu 2-21) beat Sri Lanka Women 160 for 7 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 65, Imesha Dulani 50, Rashmika Sewwamdi 14*; Deepti Sharma 1-28, Arundhati Reddy 1-16, Sneh Rana 1-31, Vaishnavi Sharma 1-33, Shree Charani 1-31, Amanjot Kaur 1-17 ) by 15 runs
[Cricbuzz]
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