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Shardul and spinners dismantle Royal Challengers Bangalore

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Eleven-and-a-half overs into Kolkata Knight Riders’ return to Eden Gardens, it seemed they were looking at a long, painful IPL ahead. Having lost the first match, they were 89 for 5. Andre Russell had got out for a golden duck. Shardul Thakur nearly became Karn Sharma’s hat-trick victim, but then fashioned one of the remarkable IPL turnarounds.

Thakur’s 68 off 29 – second-highest score for a No. 7 in the IPL – took KKR to 204 – the highest total for a team five down for less than 100. It was still probably just a par score with small boundaries and a quick outfield. It looked so when Faf du Plesis and Virat Kohli gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a flying start, but the two mystery spinners, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy ran through their batting to give them a reality check in an IPL they start as one of the favourites.

Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 204 for 7 (Thakur 68, Gurbaz 57, Willey 2-16) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 123 (du Plessis 23, Varun 4-15, Suyash 3-30) by 81 runs


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Asalanka’s ton and Theekshana’s four, down Australia

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Charith Asalanka scored 127 out of Sri Lanka's 214 [Cricinfo]

A captain’s innings of 127 off 126 balls by Charith Aslanka and a four wicket haul by Maheesh Theekshana helped Sri Lanka to defeat Australia in the first ODI played at the Ranasinghe Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 214 in 46 overs [Charith Aslanka 127, Dunith Wellalage 30, Kusal Mendis 19; Spencer Johnson 2-44, Aaron Hardie 2-13, Sean Abott 3-61, Nathan Ellis 2-23] beat Australia 165 in 33.5 overs [Alex Careyb 41, Aaron Hardie 32, Sean Abott 20; Asitha Fernando 2-23, Maheesh Theekshana 4-40, Dunith Wellalage 2-33] by 49 runs

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Sri Lanka elect to bat in first ODI

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Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first in the first ODI against Australia

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (c), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando

Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cooper Connolly, Steve Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson

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Shanaka in trouble with SLC after two matches in two countries in one day

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The board's chargesheet to Shanaka includes the allegation that first-class match referee Wendell Labrooy had been led to believe Shanaka had a concussion, in order to approve a substitute [Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka Cricket will conduct an inquiry over allegations that Dasun Shanaka left a first-class match in Colombo hours early, in order to play for the Dubai Capitals in the UAE that same evening  on February 2.

The board’s chargesheet to Shanaka includes the allegation that first-class match referee Wendell Labrooy had been led to believe Shanaka had a concussion, in order to approve a substitute. This is according to SLC CEO Ashley de Silva, who told ESPNcricinfo “SSC [Shanaka’s first-class club] would probably be conducting their own inquiry as well”.

Shanaka, however, told ESPNcricinfo that de Silva and others had been aware that he would have to leave the first-class match early. According to Shanaka, he had left the ground soon after being dismissed on the third morning of the the three-day match. He said he visited a doctor at a nearby hospital first, to inspect a blow to the neck he had sustained while playing a sweep shot that morning, and then headed off to Dubai to play that evening’s T20, after a separate physiotherapist had cleared him to play.

“SLC and the club knew I had to leave,” Shanaka said. “I only came back because there was a request from the SSC to play this first-class match. But my other team wanted me back, as I’d helped win two games for them earlier in the tournament.”

For SLC, however, exiting a league game early, particularly with suspect reasons, is problematic, not that it has yet been established if there actually was any pretense involved. The board CEO de Silva explained that while Lasith Malinga had also famously played a Mumbai Indians match and then broken records in a domestic match in a match at Pallekele the next day, Malinga had played until both those matches reached their conclusion.

On the surface, though, Shanaka’s looks like a spectacular cricketing feat. He had been among the three players called back from the ILT20 by the SSC for their fixture against Moors Sports Club in the Major League Tournament, as SSC strove to avoid relegation. Shanaka had played the first two days of this three-dayer, bowling 21 overs and taking a wicket in Moors’ innings, before finishing on 39 not out at the end of day two.

Day three is when the absconding is alleged to have occurred, but before he left, Shanaka crashed a further 84, hitting 123 off 87 balls in total, 88 of those runs coming in boundaries. Though SSC’s innings ended not long after he got out, Shanaka did not bowl an over in the next Moors innings (the third of the match), and played no further part in the game.

What is clear is that several hours later, he appeared for the Capitals in Dubai, and struck 34 off 12 at No. 5, helping his team to 217 against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. He didn’t bowl in the Knight Riders’ innings either, however.

Capitals would go on to win the ILT20,  Shanaka playing three further games for them. He has not appeared for SSC since February 2.

[Cricinfo]

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