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Silverwood promises to address dot ball issue

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Rex Clementine
at Suriyawewa

Leading up to the World Cup Qualifiers starting in less than two weeks’ time in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Chris Silverwood promised to address the team’s dot-ball woes.

In the first ODI against Afghanistan which the hosts lost by six wickets here on Friday, there were 158 dot balls with the batters struggling to rotate the strike. That is a huge amount coming up to more than 25 overs. Although the number was cut down to 128 in the second game, Sri Lanka would like to do better than that.

“The dot ball issue is something that we are addressing. A lot of people are talking about it I know. We need to rotate the strike better and put the pressure back on the bowlers. The boundary percentage went up in the last game. Getting a balance between the two will help us to score above 300,” Silverwood told journalists.

Silverwood, the former England Head Coach, also welcomed the return of seniors Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne back into the side bringing more stability to the batting unit. Mathews was left out for game two, but that appears to be part of the team’s strategy to give everyone in the squad a go.

“Angelo was brought into the squad to boost the batting lineup and bring confidence into the side. He has experience of playing big matches. The fact is we must prepare the whole squad to cover ourselves to face any situation.

“Dimuth is making a comeback into the ODI side and he played superbly. He had a good Test series against Ireland. His tempo is very good. He gave us something to build on. The openers added 80 plus for the first wicket. Every partnership after that was scored at less than run a ball. It shows what we can do when we have a good start,” noted Silverwood.

Dhananjaya de Silva came up with a match-winning effort in the second game bowling his off-spin so well picking up three wickets that included the prize scalp of Ibrahim Zadran and earlier his less than run a ball 29 had helped Sri Lanka to a match-winning total of 323 for six.

“Dhananjaya is at six and has to adapt to situations whether it be setting a target or chasing one. The first game he played a superb inning. Today we saw him capitalizing after we had a great start. He kept the momentum going. Obviously scored quickly which is exactly what we need to get over 300. We want to keep pushing the barriers. When it comes to his bowling, he has been threatening to do it for a while.”



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Spinners set up historic series win for India Women

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Radha Yadav was named the Player of the Match [Cricinfo]

After their 3-0 ODI series sweep in 2022, India Women achieved another milestone with their first T20I series victory on English soil. The result is especially significant, coming less than a year before they return to these shores in pursuit of their maiden T20 World Cup title.

Wednesday’s victory at Old Trafford was shaped by India’s spinners – Radha Yadav and Shree Charani – who picked up a combined 4 for 45 in eight overs to restrict England to 126 for 7 after they chose to bat for the second match in a row.

Four overs are all it took for India’s openers – Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana – to prove those runs were hardly adequate. Where England hit all of eight fours in their innings, they conceded nine in four overs alone. India’s openers put on 56 in seven overs to set the tone for a dominating win.

India applied early pressure with spin, removing both England openers inside the powerplay. After being struck for a four and a six by Sophia Dunkley in her first three deliveries, Charani hit back in the same over, as Danni Wyatt-Hodge miscued a slog to long-on.

Dunkley, looking in fine touch, fell in the sixth over as she was lured into an uppish drive by Deepti Sharma, who cleverly deceived her in flight with Radha completing a sharp diving catch at point. The wicket was a significant one, taking Deepti past Nida Dar’s tally to become the leading wicket-taker among spinners in Women’s T20Is. Overall, Deepti is now only six behind Megan Schutt’s tally of 151.

Tammy Beaumont showed glimpses of a revival, as she took the attack to Sneh Rana in hitting her for two well-placed cuts to split a packed off-side ring in the eighth over. But her counterattack was short-lived; she holed out to long-on attempting to go big off Radha. India soon had a double-strike five balls later when Alice Capsey was lbw attempting a reverse sweep off the hugely impressive Charani. England slumped from 68 for 2 to 93 for 5 by the 15th over.

The innings stagnated through the middle overs, with no boundaries coming off the bat from the middle of the 10th over until the end of the 19th, for 56 deliveries. Poor running between the wickets added to England’s struggles, including a costly mix-up that led to Charlie Dean’s run-out from backward point. India’s ground fielding, catching and cutting off angles was massively impressive. Arundhati Reddy proved pivotal in the deep, taking three well-judged catches at long-on during this dry spell.

Right towards the end, marking her 100th T20I in front of a home crowd, Sophie Ecclestone finally broke the boundary drought in the 19th over, shoveling Amanjot Kaur to the midwicket fence. She topped that off with two slog sweeps for sixes off Deepti, taking advantage of the wind, to give England a late surge. They closed on 126, the final over producing 16.

Shafali came out firing, matching England’s short-pitched attack with fearless aggression. Hard lengths and deliveries dug into the pitch posed no threat as she simply backed away to swing, shovel and slap her way to three fours and 14 runs in the second over off Lauren Filer, setting the tone for India’s chase. Coming off two low scores at the start of the series and left out of the ODI squad, this was a crucial knock for her confidence.

Not to be overshadowed, Mandhana joined the charge as she took the attack to Dean with a clean strike over mid-on. The pair raised the half-century of their partnership in the seventh over to keep the pressure on England. Ecclestone fell just short of catching Shafali on 29, running back from mid-off at the end of the powerplay. But England didn’t have to pay for it, as Shafali hacked one to deep square on 31.

India soon lost Mandhana too as she sliced a catch to short third, and the visitors went boundary-less for 40 balls from overs 7.2 to 13.6, Jemimah Rodrigues breaking the drought with a lofted hit off Lauren Bell. Harmanpreet Kaur too struggled for timing, and was nearly worked over on a number of occasions by Ecclestone, as she teased her in flight, loop and guide in a terrific exhibition of spin bowling – her figures reading 3-0-11-1 at one stage.

It wasn’t until India needed 27 off 34 that Harmanpreet managed a boundary, off her 20th delivery – a lofted hit over extra cover off Dean. The struggle was over as she put the next ball away to the deep square leg fence. Victory wasn’t far away from there on.

Harmanpreet and Rodrigues put on 48 off 42, along the way ensuring India didn’t slip up like they did earlier in the week. While Harmanpreet wasn’t around to see her team home, Rodrigues remained unbeaten on 24, bringing up the winning runs with a paddle as India cruised home with 18 balls to spare.

Brief scores:
India 127 for 4 in 17 overs (Smriti Mandhana 32, Shafali Verma 31,Jemimah  Rodrigues 24*, Harmanpreet Kaur 26; Charlie Dean 1-29, Sophie Ecclestone 1-20, Issy Wong 1-18) beat England Women 126 for 7 in 20 overs  (Sophia Dunkley 22, Alice Capsey 18, Tammy Beaumont 20, Paige Scholfield 16, Sophie Ecclestone 16*, Issy Wong 11*;  Amanjot Kaur 1-20, Deepti Sharma 1-29,  Radha Yadav  2-15, Shree Charani 2-30) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Sri Lanka eye T20 climb as Bangladesh series begins

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Dasun Shanaka is set to feature in the Sri Lankan side after almost a year in the first T20 International against Bangladesh that gets underway today at Pallekele.

Having turned the corner in One-Day Internationals with seven series wins out of nine since the Champions Trophy heartbreak, Sri Lanka now shift focus to the shortest format where their progress has been more of a stop-start affair.

Ranked seventh in T20 Internationals, Sri Lanka begin their three-match series against Bangladesh at Pallekele today aiming to tighten screws ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup, which they will co-host with India.

“We’ve made headway in ODIs, but T20s still remain a work in progress,” skipper Charith Asalanka told reporters on the eve of the game. “Our target is to get into the top five. The key is consistency and for that we need to get our combination right.”

Sri Lanka have done changes to the middle order. Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Chamindu Wickramasinghe were given a go, but both have been sidelined for the series. In their place return the seasoned campaigners: Chamika Karunaratne and former captain Dasun Shanaka.

Shanaka is expected to bat at number six, but may float up the order depending on the situation, while Karunaratne slots in at number seven.

“We’re trying to be flexible. Shanaka can be used as a floater if we need early acceleration,” Asalanka explained.

Sri Lanka have about 15 games left to fine-tune their plans before the World Cup and Asalanka stressed the need to back players with extended runs rather than short-term trials.

“With seven months to go, we have time on our side. Managing workloads and keeping players in form is vital,” he said. “If the LPL goes ahead before the World Cup, that will give us another window to assess options.”

Among the key tactical moves is a role change for Avishka Fernando, who has been moved down the order after years at the top.

“Avishka batted at number four for Jaffna in the LPL and did a good job. We’ve earmarked that role for him. He’s no longer just an opener,” Asalanka revealed.

Sri Lanka, however, have been dealt a blow with the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga. The talismanic leg-spinner suffered a hamstring injury in the final ODI and has been ruled out of the series.

“Wanindu is our white-ball superstar, so missing him is a big setback,” Asalanka admitted. “But Jeffrey Vandersay has been quietly effective in recent years, and this is his chance to step up.”

The three-match series will be played across three venues – Pallekele, Dambulla and RPS – which Asalanka believes is a good thing.

“World Cups don’t happen at one ground. Playing across three different venues helps us adapt. It’s good preparation,” he said.

Rex Clementine at Pallekele

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Hasaranga ruled out of Bangladesh T20Is with hamstring injury

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Wanindu Hasaranga has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh with a hamstring injury

Sri Lanka legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh, scheduled to begin on today (July 10), with a hamstring injury.

Hasaranga sustained the hamstring injury on his right leg while batting during the final ODI against the visitors in the just concluded three-match series that the hosts won by a 2-1 margin.

Captain Charith Asalanka confirmed that Jeffrey Vandersay will replace Hasaranga in the squad for the three-match series. “He( Hasaranga) will be a huge loss for us. He is our superstar in white-ball cricket,” Asalanka said on Wednesday.

[Cricbuzz]

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