Sports
Sanity after storm as Sri Lanka abandon Dhananjaya experiment
When a man’s house was flattened by a falling tree, the case was taken before King Kekille. In his wisdom, Kekille ruled that the owner of the tree was not at fault, but the man who planted it. He then went further down the rabbit hole, blaming the seller of the seed, producing a chain of logic so absurd it has lived on in folklore. Sri Lanka’s national selection panel has now offered a modern-day re-enactment of that farce.
Barely a fortnight ago, Dhananjaya de Silva could do no wrong in the eyes of the selectors. He was hailed as the solution to Sri Lanka’s T20 troubles, the man to plug the leaks in the shortest format. Yet on the very day the World Cup squad had to be submitted to the ICC, he was deemed surplus to requirements. Such last-minute somersaults demand an explanation. Instead, the selectors have left the public guessing while accountability remains conspicuously absent.
This game of musical chairs has done little to inspire confidence within the squad. On the contrary, Sri Lanka might have been better off without the self-inflicted drama at a time when clarity and calm should have been the order of the day.
The confusion was laid bare in the first T20I against England. Dhananjaya did not bowl a single over and his agonising stay at the crease ended tamely when he was caught at square leg. Tasked with batting through the innings, his early departure triggered yet another collapse as Sri Lanka failed to bat out their full quota of overs.
Sanity, thankfully, has now prevailed, with the selectors abandoning the Dhananjaya experiment. If Sri Lanka play to their true potential, there is no reason why they can not push on to the semi-finals of the 20-nation showpiece event.
The top order has largely done its job, providing brisk, sometimes blazing starts inside the Power Play. The bowling, as showcased in the opening game against England, has the teeth to test opponents and defend modest totals. The soft underbelly, however, remains the middle order.
Too often, Sri Lanka’s middle-order batters have perished chasing glory shots, neglecting the basics of rotating the strike and running hard between the wickets. That is where the think tank must seriously consider whether Pavan Rathnayake can be trusted to settle in.
Pavan appears the best player of spin in the current set-up and batting him at number four could go some way towards addressing Sri Lanka’s long-standing issues against spin, particularly wrist spin. It is a problem that should have been identified six months ago, giving Pavan time to bed in and grow into the role.
That opportunity was missed. But with a World Cup looming, it may still be a case of better late than never.
by Rex Clementine
Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things ‘differently”, after Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran him out in controversial circumstances in the second ODI in Dhaka.
Agha, who made 64 from 62 balls, had been backing up at the non-striker’s end when Mohammad Rizwan drove the ball back towards him. He was still out of his ground as Mehidy swooped round behind him in an attempt to gather, and Agha had appeared ready to pass the ball back to the bowler before Mehidy reached down to grab it first and throw down the stumps.
Agha reacted furiously to the dismissal, throwing his gloves and helmet down in disgust at the decision. However, he later came to the post-match press conference, ahead of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and player of the match Maaz Sadaqat, to clear the air.
“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”
Agha explained that he had been trying to pick up the ball to give to Miraz, thinking it was likely to have been called dead. “Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.
“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”
Agha however regretted his angry reaction. “It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”
He was also involved in a robust exchange with Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, though he didn’t divulge many of the details.
“I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.
Asked if he had patched things up with Mehidy, Agha said: “I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”
Pakistan won the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.
[Cricinfo]
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix that were scheduled for next month are set to be cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East.
A formal decision to call off the races has not yet been made but is expected before the end of the weekend.
Freight would need to start being shipped to the Middle East in the coming days. With no sign of the conflict between the US/Israel and Iran coming to a conclusion, holding the races would put personnel at too great a risk.
Neither event will be replaced, with the season being cut to 22 grands prix and F1 taking a commercial hit of more than £100m, given Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay two of the highest hosting fees.
The race in Bahrain was scheduled to be on 12 April with Jeddah the following weekend.
Consideration was given to holding events at Portimao in Portugal, Imola in Italy or Istanbul Park in Turkey.
But it was accepted that the time to organise a race at any of those locations was too short, and there was little chance of securing a hosting fee.
The decision will mean there is a five-week break between the Japanese Grand Prix on 29 March and Miami on 3 May.
(BBC)
Royal College made steady progress in reply to their arch rivals’ first innings total as skipper Rehan Peiris and Ramiru Perera guided them to 175 for four wickets at stumps on day two of the 147th Battle of the Blues at the SSC ground on Friday.
Royal needed only 51 overs to reach their end-of-day total after S. Thomas’ College had earlier adopted a cautious approach before being bowled out for 302 runs.
Royal suffered an early setback when open batsman Hirun Liyanarachchi was dismissed for naught in the very first over, caught behind by Aaron Kodituwakku off the bowling of Gimhan Mendis.
Skipper Rehan Peiris then steadied the innings, repairing the early damage with two useful partnerships. He first added 41 runs for the second wicket with Udantha Gangewatta and followed it up with a 34-run stand for the third wicket alongside Sri Lanka Under-19 skipper Vimath Dinsara.
Dinsara struggled to find fluency during his stay at the crease, managing 11 runs off 30 balls before being trapped leg-before by Gimhan Mendis, who finished the day with two wickets.
Rehan continued to anchor the innings and produced the most productive stand of the Royal innings when he combined with Ramiru Perera for a vital 78-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The Royal skipper’s determined knock finally ended on 63 when he was dismissed by Ludeesha Matarage.
From there, Ramiru Perera and Yasindu Dissanayake ensured there were no further setbacks, batting cautiously until bad light forced the umpires to call off play.
Perera remained unbeaten on 70, an attractive innings that included ten boundaries, while Dissanayake provided solid support at the other end as Royal closed the day strongly.
Earlier in the day, resuming from their overnight score, the Thomians continued with their ultra-cautious approach, scoring at just over two runs per over. Reshon Solomon top-scored with 66 runs, while Ludeesha Matarage and Raphael Hettige chipped in with useful contributions in the twenties.
S. Thomas’ were eventually bowled out for 302 just before the lunch interval on the second day, having consumed 124 overs during their four-session first innings.
Gagan Gamage was the pick of the Royal bowlers with impressive figures of four wickets for 49 runs. He received good support from Sehandu Sooriyaarachchi, who claimed three wickets for 64 runs, while Himaru Deshan picked up two wickets for 43. Ramiru Perera also chipped in with a wicket to complete the Thomian innings.
Agha calls for ‘sportsman spirit’ after controversial dismissal
US embassy in Baghdad hit by strike as Trump says military targets ‘obliterated’ on Iran’s key oil island
Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western and Uva provinces and in Galle, Matara, Mannar and Anuradhapura districts after 2.00 pm.
Bahrain & Saudi Arabia Grands Prix to be cancelled
Pink Floyd guitar sold for record-breaking $14.6m
Promoting Local Industries is a key priority of the Government – PM
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News5 days agoRepatriation of Iranian naval personnel Sri Lanka’s call: Washington
-
Features5 days agoWinds of Change:Geopolitics at the crossroads of South and Southeast Asia
-
News4 days agoProf. Dunusinghe warns Lanka at serious risk due to ME war
-
Sports3 days agoRoyal start favourites in historic Battle of the Blues
-
Sports2 days agoThe 147th Royal–Thomian and 175 Years of the School by the Sea
-
News2 days agoHistoric address by BASL President at the Supreme Court of India
-
News3 days agoCEBEU warns of operational disruptions amid uncertainty over CEB restructuring
-
Business6 days agoSeven decades of sartorial excellence: The legacy of Linton Master Tailors in Kandy