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Rain wrecks game after Ben Duckett’s maiden ODI ton

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Ben Duckett notched his maiden ODI hundred before heavy rain set in (Cricinfo)

England claimed a 1-0 ODI series win against Ireland in farcical circumstances after the third ODI at Bristol was abandoned 31 overs into the first innings due to rain, with water also getting onto the pitch.

England had reached 280 for 4, with Ben Duckett striking a maiden ODI ton to build on a fast start by Phil Salt, who blitzed 61 off 28 at the top of the order, before the rain arrived during the drinks break at 2.48pm. After a brief pause to see if it would pass, the umpires decided to call on the groundstaff.

There was a further issue when the covers were caught in the wind leaving the pitch exposed, before the three mobile covers came on from Ashley Down Road End. The tractor dragging the covers ended up driving down what would have been just outside off stump for a right-hander batting from the Pavilion End. There was also a delay in closing the gaps between the covers allowing the rain to get onto the playing surface.

Members of the groundstaff then had to squeeze under the covers where they were passed mats to towel down the damaged areas at both ends. Standing umpire Paul Reiffel and third umpire Rod Tucker emerged with reserve umpire David Millns at around 3.15pm to survey the damage. After looking under the covers, and assessing the standing water on the square, the decision was made to call off the match at 3.21pm. The rain relented five minutes later.

An overnight deluge had saturated the outfield, but although play did get underway on time at 12.30pm, fears the ground could not take any more rain were eventually realised.

“It caught everyone by surprise,” Zak Crawley, England’s captain for this series, said. “The ground was already a bit wet this morning after the rain that happened last night, so it didn’t need a lot more rain to get abandoned like that. And obviously a lot of rain fell in not a long space of time.

“I went on the outfield just now and it was soaking wet as well. I think it was all unfit.”

Ireland skipper Paul Stirling echoed those sentiments, having initially hoped the delay would allow his side to turn their fortunes around after a chastening start in the field.

“I think we were all pretty happy when the rain came, but we weren’t quite expecting it to end the game,” he said. “We thought we might get a bit of a break or a bit of a rest and try and regroup and come out there and change it up a little bit. But no, we weren’t expecting the game to be called off.

“We were having a bit of a joke in the dressing room, I think we’re more used to it in Ireland because there is more rain probably. We haven’t really come across that in England where it was so sudden. We wanted to get out there.”

This was the fourth consecutive men’s ODI abandoned at Bristol, following a 2021 no-result against Sri Lanka and two of their three 2019 World Cup matches (Pakistan versus Sri Lanka and Bangladesh versus Sri Lanka) washed out without a ball being bowled. Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown lamented what he regarded as an unavoidable situation given the volume of rain in the last 24 hours.

“We always had the sense that if we had something similar to last night, 20-30 minutes of rain could be what killed it off. You can see all along the bottom of the square the water is running off in big puddles.

“It is just gutting. We’ve had our fair share of rain offs such as in World Cups and you wonder if we give it a bit longer maybe it can dry out, but it is what it is. The umpires and the match ref know what they are doing, the ground staff are working their backsides off to get it right.”

Brown defended the response from the ground staff, who struggled to fully cover the pitch and surrounding areas in challenging conditions.

“It was hard conditions for them. You could see by how the covers were moving that it was pretty tough for them. It is one thing getting the covers on speedily, but in those conditions it is a different ball game altogether. They were certainly heavy and wet from this morning.

“No one wants to see a match end in that way and we are just collectively gutted for a season-ender for English cricket like that and a season-ender for Gloucestershire in Bristol.

“The conditions last night were shocking. The covers were heavy and wet, and they were trying to move them in tough conditions. It was blowing a hooley, which makes it a lot harder to move. I think they did and admirable job in difficult circumstances.”

In what play was possible, England had been given a bumper start by Salt on his way to his country’s fourth-fastest half-century in the format, from 22 deliveries. He crashed three fours and a six off Mark Adair in the first four balls of the match, with 19 off the first over and, thanks to his 87-run stand with Will Jacks, 100 up after eight overs – both England records in this format.

Duckett had brought up three figures with a six over wide long-off from his 72nd delivery, the penultimate ball of the 30th over. And though Sam Hain fell to Craig Young –  the most impressive Irish bowler on show with 3 for 31 – at the end of the next over, Duckett had a shot at becoming England’s first double-centurion and, in turn, the team an outside chance of beating their world-record ODI score of 498 for 8, made against Netherlands last year. Neither got the chance to play out.

It was a tough debut for Ireland’s left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom, who conceded 47 runs in his four overs. That included having his last four balls hit for 16 by Duckett to bring up England’s 250 after 27 overs. Van Woerkom did at least emerge from the wreckage with a maiden wicket when Crawley scythed a wide delivery to third after bringing up his maiden ODI fifty.

However, for the second time in the series the rain curtailed any prospects of a result. With more than 30 overs of play achieved, spectators were not entitled to a refund.

“It worries me greatly that this is a sign of things to come,” Brown said, looking ahead to next summer with Bristol due to host an ODI between England and Australia on September 29.

“We’ve got a lot of cricket being played in September next year and with climate change we’ve seen heavy rain in June and July, and I think the game needs to be thinking innovatively about how we get games on or prepare pitches and surfaces using different things to get cricket away.”

Brief scores:
England 280 for 4 in 31 overs (Ben Duckett 107*, Phil Salt 61, Zak Crawley 51; Craig Young 3-31) vs Ireland Match abandoned

(Cricinfo)



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Australia tighten their grip on second Test

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Dhananjaya de Silva looked to have run out of ideas as Australia batted themselves into a commanding position on day two of the second Test in Galle.

Rex Clementine in Galle

Australia are well and truly in the driver’s seat in the second Test against Sri Lanka after commanding centuries from skipper Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Alex Carey. At stumps on day two, the visitors were 330 for three, leading by 73 runs, and poised to post a mammoth first-innings total, heaping pressure on the hosts.

The duo stitched together an unbroken 239 run stand for the fourth wicket, frustrating the Sri Lankan bowlers, who were left searching for answers. The hosts had their moments early on, but once the ball lost its bite, the spinners struggled to get the same fizz off the surface, and Australia capitalized in style.

Smith, fresh from a big hundred in the first Test, had a jittery start, negotiating a few testing deliveries. He was given out leg-before on 24, but the decision was overturned on review. Once he settled in, it was vintage Smith on display. With cover drives that oozed elegance and pull shots executed with precision, he stamped his authority. He took a few calculated risks, and with Sri Lanka lacking a substantial total to defend, the field was soon spread out to cut off boundaries rather than hunt for wickets. That didn’t deter the Aussie captain, who pierced the gaps with ease, dispatching nine fours and a six. He brought up his 36th Test hundred in style, pulling part-timer Kamindu Mendis to the mid-wicket boundary.

Carey, promoted to number five in place of Josh Inglis – who was off the field nursing a sore back – grabbed his chance with both hands. The left-hander outpaced his captain, racing to his half-century in just 68 deliveries. His hundred came in emphatic fashion, a well-timed sweep racing to the boundary. He needed just 118 balls to reach the milestone, finishing with a career-best 139 off 156 balls with 13 fours and two sixes.

Sri Lanka began promisingly, reducing Australia to 37 for two before prising out the key wicket of Usman Khawaja at 91. But that was as good as it got for the hosts. Once Smith and Carey joined forces, they wrested control, dictating terms and pushing Sri Lanka onto the back foot.

With a 2-0 series sweep in their sights, Australia are on course to seal the deal, having already inflicted Sri Lanka’s worst-ever Test defeat in the series opener – a crushing innings-and-242-run humiliation. The home side now face an uphill battle to turn the tide, but with Australia tightening the screws, the writing appears to be on the wall.

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Malintha bags ten wickets as St. Sebastian’s book semi-final ticket 

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Malintha Silva

Under 19 Division I Cricket 

by Reemus Fernando 

A painstaking knock of 49 runs by Kaveesha Perera and a valuable half century by Navod Fernando helped St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa pull off an exciting four wicket victory over St. Anthony’s College Katugastota in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket quarter-final at Gajaba Regiment Ground Saliyapura, Anuradhapura on Friday.

It was a huge turnaround for the Sebs after conceding a first innings deficit of 51 runs. Tournament’s highest wicket taker, Malintha Silva’s six wicket haul in the second innings was the turning point as Sebs dismissed St. Anthony’s for 103 runs. Malintha collected a match bag of ten wickets.

Chasing 149 runs for victory St. Sebastian’s lost three wickets for 40 runs but Navod Fernando’s 58 runs and Kaveesha’s 131-ball 49 helped them ease nerves and reach the target with a session to spare.

Now St. Sebastian’s will meet the winners of the match between St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s in the semi-final on 12, 13 and 14 at Samadi Ground Anuradhapura.

In the other quarter-final, first innings points were enough for Royal to advance to the semi-final.

Despite having a huge first innings lead, Royal decided not to enforce the follow-on. They posted 248 runs thanks to an unbeaten 122 runs by Vimath Dinsara. In their second essay S. Thomas’ were 186 for three wickets at close.

Now Royal will wait for a decision by a SLSCA committee to see who would be their semi-final opponents from the Mahanama-Trinity match. The quarter-final between Mahanama and Trinity did not last the full distance after Mahanama disputed a move by the ground staff to roll the wicket earlier than the scheduled time and pulled out. Trinity were ahead in the first innings. The committee were scheduled to meet in the morning on Saturday (8) to take a decision.

Match Details 

At Gajaba Regiment Ground Saliyapura, Anuradhapura 

Scores

St. Anthony’s 204 all out in 70 overs

(Sanuka Kalpana 41, Charuka Ekanayake 24, Kevan Fernando 89n.o.; Risinu Prabesh 2/21, Malintha Silva 4/60) and 103 all out in 35.4 overs (Okitha Fernando 29, Charuka Ekanayake 21, Kevan Fernando 28; Malintha Silva 6/54, Shenas Hashein 3/23)

St. Sebastian’s 159 all out in 67 overs

(Ushen Silva 33, Ryan Dissanayake 33, Navod Fernando 34; Charuka Ekanayake 3/66, Dinura Ganegoda 3/20, Kevan Fernando 2/09) and 00 for 1 overnight 149 for 6 in 51.1 overs (Kaveesha Perera 49, Navod Fernando 58; Charuka Ekanayake 2/33, Ryan Gregory 2/24, Sadew Amarakoon 2/22)

At Samadi Ground Anuradhapura 

Scores 

Royal 301 all out in 102.4 overs

(Hirun Liyanarachchi 22, Rehan Peiris 82, Ramiru Perera 81, Yasindu Dissanayake 58; Kavindu Dias 2/69, Abheeth Paranawidana 2/66, Minon Warnasuriya 2/37) and 50 for 2 overnight 248 all out in 63.5 overs (Isula Geeganage 47, Vimath Dinsara 122n.o, Ramiru Perera 25; Abheeth Paranawidana 3/63, Aaron de Silva 3/48)

S. Thomas’ 120 all out in 58.2 overs

(Dineth Goonewardene 28, Sachitha Gunasinghe 33; Sehandu Sooriyaarachchi 5/31, Ranuka Malaviarachchi 2/39) and 186 for 3 in 39 overs  (Sadew Soysa 57, Jaden Amaraweera 46,  Dineth Gunawardana 44n.o., Mithila Charles 34n.o.)

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Sandas, Venuli Under 18 singles champs

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CL Synergy SSC Open Tennis Championship

Sandas Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe emerged Under 18 boys’ and girls’ singles champions of the CL Synergy SSC Open Tennis Championship continued in Colombo on Friday.

Usgodaarachchi beat Ganuka Fernando 6-0, 6-1 in the final to clinch the title.

In the girls’ singles title fight, Venuli Jayasinghe beat Sandithi Usgodaarachchi 1-6, 7-6, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Revan Amarasinghe and Avin Diad beat Sanithu Samaraweera and Chirath Subasinghe 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 to win the Under 14 boys’ doubles title.

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