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Samarawickrama’s 93 helps Sri Lanka to competitive total
A crucial contribution from Sadeera Samarawickrama helped Sri Lanka finish with 257/9 in the Super Fours game against Bangladesh in Colombo on Saturday (September 9). Sri Lanka had slipped to 164/5 at one stage but Samarawickrama’s 72-ball 93 helped them post in excess of 250, which appears a competitive total on a pitch that hasn’t been easy to bat on.
Sri Lanka got off to a steady start after being asked to bat, with both Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka playing their drives confidently for regular boundaries. But their partnership ended on 34 as Hasan Mahmud, having been driven a couple of times by Karunaratne, pulled back the length a bit and had the batter nicking to the ‘keeper. Kusal Mendis and Nissanka continued in a positive manner, taking on the pacers, which forced Shakib Al Hasan to bring himself on and fellow left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed early in the innings. They kept things tight, minimising the boundaries, although the second wicket pair did score a couple of fours off Shakib.
Nissanka, who had a leg-before decision reversed in the opening over of the game, had a lucky break in the 19th when Rahim put down a catch off Mahmud’s bowling. The half-century stand was raised a short while later but Bangladesh did apply the brakes on the scoring, conceding only two boundaries from overs 11-20. Their catching, however, was a let-down as Towhid Hridoy misjudged the ball at backward square leg after Mendis pulled a Shoriful delivery, with the ball going through the fielder’s hands across the boundary.
Nissanka eventually had to depart, trapped in front by Shoriful for 40 by a delivery that nipped back in, with a review failing to come to the batter’s aid. Mendis then got to fifty by pulling a Shoriful delivery for four. But the pacer hit back with the key wicket Sri Lanka’s No.3, who tried to play the ramp shot but ended up handing a catch to thirdman. Sri Lanka lost their fourth as Taskin Ahmed bowled a slower ball to have Charith Asalanka caught at mid-on.
While wickets well around him, Samarawickrama played a steady hand with good strike rotation and timely boundaries. Sri Lanka lost their fifth when Dhananjaya de Silva fell to Mahmud attempting a backfoot punch. But Samarawickrama powered Sri Lanka’s progress, maintaining a good strike rate as he went past fifty in the 42nd over, with Sri Lanka crossing 200 in the next. Dasun Shanaka, who played second fiddle in a 60-run stand with Samarawickrama, became Mahmud’s third scalp. Samarawickrama entered the 80s by scoring the first six of the innings, off Mahmud, who then had Dunith Wellalage run out by kicking the ball onto the stumps. Taskin accounted for Maheesh Theekshana in the final over but Samarawickrama responded with a four and a six, before getting out.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 257/9 in 50 overs (Sadeera Samarawickrama 93, Kusal Mendis 50; Hasan Mahmud 3-57, Taskin Ahmed 3-62) vs Bangladesh.
And then, Travis Head walked out to bat at the MCG on Christmas morning. Pretty late on Christmas morning at that. The entire media pack had been waiting for him to do so. That was after all the final piece of the Australian team puzzle. Sam Konstas had already been revealed as a teenaged Test debutant for Boxing Day. Scott Boland had already been revealed to be Josh Hazlewood’s replacement at the MCG.
But following Andrew McDonald’s admission that the key batter in the Australian ranks was being bothered by a quad strain a day earlier, all eyes were on whether Head would get into the net for a hit. And a sigh of relief when he did, even if he looked more than bemused by all the attention. Once Head was done making an appearance, before Pat Cummins cleared the air about his availability for the fourth Test, the mood around the MCG went back to soaking in the Christmas spirit, with kids and families making the most of the vast expanse of the outfield at the ‘G.
It was a kid, all of 19, who stole all the attention a day earlier with every movement he made around the MCG, as he will on Boxing Day. Konstas’ first outing in a Baggy Green will go down as probably the most anticipated debut in Australian cricket for many a year. And Cummins couldn’t stop talking up the teenaged opener while revealing his own feelings when he made his Test debut at 18, some 13 years ago.
“I remember as an 18-year-old I was thinking, ‘I’ve got a lot more leeway because I was young’, almost publicly, so I almost felt like, if I didn’t have a great game, it wasn’t my fault, it was the selectors’ fault for picking me. I was like, ‘well, they’re the idiots that picked an 18 year old!'”
“You’re so young starting out your career – it’s Boxing Day, it doesn’t get any better than this. So just enjoy the moment.”
Great advice that should stand true not just for the young New South Welshman but for everyone who’ll take the field in front of 92,000 people on a 40-degree day at the MCG. It doesn’t get better than this, not just in terms of the setting, but also where the series stands, level currently at 1-1. A loss for Australia will mean their drought with regards to winning the Border Gavaskar Trophy will extend to at least 13 years, with the next battle between these two teams scheduled only in early 2027, that too on Indian soil. An Indian loss will not just make this series even more scintillating, but could also deliver a painful blow to the visitors’ chances of making the World Test Championship final.
It could well be the hottest Boxing Day in recent memory, but the heat will add an intriguing element to how the toss goes, and what decisions get made with regards to team composition as well. Worry about the weather and bat first on a pitch that has been the friendliest for seam bowling since 2021, when Scotty Boland ran through England? Or back your fast bowlers to make the most of the surface conditions and roll over the opposition batting line-up to give yourself the early advantage. Either way, with no rain really forecast over the five days, it’ll be interesting to see how long the Test really lasts. Oh, the MCG will be packed, noisy, with the energy levels around the iconic venue at fever-pitch.
Australia Probable XI:Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India Probable XI:Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj
[Cricbuzz]
Jasprit Bumrah has attained the joint-highest rating points ever for an Indian bowler on the rankings chart after his 9 for 94 in the third Test against Australia in Brisbane.
The Indian spearhead, who already heads the rankings list for bowlers, further consolidated his position at the top by adding 14 points to his tally taking it to 904 rating points, 48 clear of second-placed Kagiso Rabada (856). The only other Indian bowler to achieve this tally is the recently retired R Ashwin who got there after the fourth Test against England in Mumbai in December 2016.
Bumrah, who is currently the highest wicket taker in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Series with 21 scalps in six innings at 10.90, now has a chance to break Ashwin’s record when the two teams meet in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test with the series locked 1-1.
Meanwhile, Travis Head’s 152 in the first innings of the Brisbane Test on the back of a century in Adelaide has seen him overtake Yashasvi Jaiswal and move to fourth on the batters’ list which is led by Joe Root. Steven Smith also made his way into the top ten of the charts after his 101 in Brisbane, entering at the tenth position, while Rishabh Pant has moved out of the top ten.
On the ODI front, Heinrich Klassen’s three back-to-back fifties against Pakistan have seen him rise eight spots – from 13th to fifth on the batting table. Opener Saim Ayub who had a breakthrough series against South Africa, with scores of 109, 25 and 101 as Pakistan clean swept the series 3-0, advanced 57 slots to a career-best 23rd position.
Babar Azam continues to lead the ODI batting list, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in second and third place, respectively.
At least three people died when armed men in Haiti opened fire at journalists, police and medical staff during a briefing to announce the reopening of the country’s biggest public hospital.
Two journalists and a police officer were reportedly shot dead, while others were wounded in Tuesday’s attack in the general hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince.
The site had been recaptured by Haiti’s government in July, after being occupied and destroyed by gangs.
The Viv Ansanm gang alliance, which controls much of the city, has owned up to the attack.
Pictures posted online appear to show several people injured or dead inside the building.
Journalists were waiting for the arrival of Health Minister Lorthe Blema when the shooting began. Journalists Markenzy Nathoux and Jimmy Jean were killed during the attack, Robest Dimanche, spokesman for the Online Media Collective, told AFP news agency. Other journalists were wounded, he added.
An officer was also killed, police spokesman Lionel Lazarre told AFP.
“It felt like a terrible movie,” Dieugo André, a photojournalist who witnessed the violence, was quoted as saying by The Haitian Times. “I have the blood of several injured journalists on my clothes.”
In an online video claiming the attack, the Viv Ansanm gang alliance said it had not authorised the reopening of the hospital, which they occupied and destroyed in March.
The head of Haiti’s presidential transitional council, Leslie Voltaire, said: “We express our sympathy to all the victims’ families, in particularly to the Haiti National Police and all the journalists’ associations. “We guarantee them that this act will not remain without consequences.”
People in Haiti continue to suffer with unbearable levels of gang violence, despite the installation of a new transition government in April and the deployment of an international force led by Kenyan police officers six months ago.
Haiti has been engulfed in a wave of gang violence since the assassination in 2021 of the then-president, Jovenel Moïse.
An estimated 85% of Port-au-Prince is still under gang control.
The UN says that as many as 5,000 people have been killed in violence in Haiti this year alone, and the country is now on the verge of collapse.
[BBC]
India ponder extra spinner for Boxing Day Test
Bumrah attains highest-ever rating points for an India bowler after Brisbane exploits
Three shot dead as gunmen attack Haiti hospital
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