Sports
Silverwood wants first innings improvements

by Rex Clementine
Sri Lanka have made significant improvements since Chris Silverwood took over as Head Coach in February this year and speaking to journalists after the two match Test series against Pakistan he said an area that he wanted the team to do well was first innings batting. Often, Sri Lanka have collapsed in the first innings when conditions were ideal for batting. They have been bailed out constantly by the tail or some spectacular knock in the second innings.
“I am pleased with the performance in the series. There are certain areas for improvement too. I’ve spoken about consistency in the bowling attack keeping to good lines and lengths more often and creating pressure. One thing that if we are honest that we really need to improve on is our first innings batting,” Silverwood said.
Sri Lanka nearly won the first Test against Pakistan as well having set a challenging target of 342 but Abdullah Shafique came up with a stunning eight and half hour marathon to take the game away from Sri Lanka.
“First game it would have been nice to have won but cricket is like that you have to accept it their batsmen played exceptionally well.”
One definite improvement during Silverwood’s tenure is the lower order putting up a genuine effort to contribute crucial runs.
“Lower order contributions is crucial. Its something that we have worked extremely hard in the nets and we make sure that the bowlers in the lower order get plenty of batting practice. We put emphasis on them to play and think like a batsman and emphasis on creating partnerships when the guys are in. It seems to be working although it doesn’t pay off all the time.”
One of Silverwood’s concerns is that Sri Lanka’s next Test series is eight months down the line in New Zealand.
“It’s a long break we need to play some cricket so that when we go to New Zealand we are well prepared, that’s something we have been planning.”
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Yamanishi breaks world 20km race walk record in Kobe

Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi clocked 1:16:10* to break the men’s world 20km race walk record at the Japanese 20km Race Walking Championships, a World Athletics Race Walking Tour Bronze event, in Kobe on Sunday (16).
With that performance the two-time world champion improved the previous world record of 1:16:36 set by his compatriot Yusuke Suzuki in Nomi in 2015 by 26 seconds.
On his own from 13km, Yamanishi – who had a previous best of 1:17:15 set in 2019 – sped up slightly over the second half of the race, with Satoshi Maruo also finishing under 1:17.
[*Subject to the usual ratification procedure]
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All-round Campher, Stirling help Ireland draw level

Curtis Campher produced another brilliant all-round display to lay the platform for Ireland’s series-levelling win in Harare. His three-wicket burst sucked the momentum out of Zimbabwe’s innings and restricted them to a total well below par and his 144-run stand with Paul Stirling, who scored an excellent 89, ensured Ireland were always comfortable in the chase.
Ireland had fallen short in their chase in the first ODI, but Stirling was happy to bowl first once again on a greener pitch. Despite half-centuries from Wesley Madhevere and Sikander Raza. Ireland never let Zimbabwe get away from them.
Mark Adair finished with a four-wicket haul, but it was Campher’s spell that broke a 74-run stand between Madhevere and Raza and pegged the hosts back significantly just as they were getting into a position of strength.
And despite an early wicket, Stirling and Campher ensured Ireland stayed above the asking rate, and by the time the two departed, it was too late for Zimbabwe to mount a comeback.
With Ireland chasing 246, Andy Balbirnie got them underway with an elegant drive through cover point in the first over. The second over saw Stirling thrash Blessing Muzarabani through the covers for a boundary first ball. Muzarabani lost his radar as he ended up bowling a ten-ball over, which cost Zimbabwe 14 runs.
However, Muzarabani came back strongly and had Balbirnie caught at slip with a well-directed short ball in the sixth over. He even beat Campher’s outside edge a couple of times.
But Campher and Stirling saw out the new ball and kept Ireland on track, with the skipper still cashing in on the fielding restrictions with a few more boundaries, including the first six of the match in the ninth over off Trevor Gwandu.
The fifty-run stand came up in just 51 balls, with the batters happy to rotate strike amid the occasional boundary. Ireland were also helped by Zimbabwe being generous with extras – 23 in all.
Stirling brought up his half-century in the 24th over, and the century stand with Campher came up soon after.
Campher’s fifty came up in the 30th over and he celebrated by pulling Gwandu into the stands in front of square leg. The stand was finally broken when a length ball from Gwandu stayed deceptively low to beat Campher’s attempted pull and pin him in front.
Harry Tector, who made a sluggish 39 off 78 in the first ODI, was more enterprising, pulling away the third ball he faced for a boundary. In the last game, it took him 77 deliveries to hit one.
But his stay was short-lived as he looked to cut a short and wide delivery only to edge it behind, with Tadiwanashe Marumani taking a good catch. Stirling, though, ensured Ireland didn’t get bogged down, launching Ngarava over long-on.
Ngarava finally got a breakthrough when Stirling went after a short ball and ended up miscuing it to cover, 11 short of a century. Lorcan Tucker then took charge and hit Gwandu for three consecutive boundaries. Ireland wiped out the rest of the target without fuss, with Tucker hitting the winning runs in the penultimate over.
Earlier, Zimbabwe’s openers got off to a watchful start before Brian Bennett got going with a flurry of boundaries off Adair and Graham Hume. Five of his six boundaries came on the off side, and he hit two of them in succession off Adair, only for the quick to snag him with a wide delivery that he edged to slip.
Ireland were able to slow things down after Bennett’s dismissal. Curran and Craig Ervine could add only nine runs off 25 balls before Josh Little got a full delivery to seam past Ervine’s inside edge and uproot his middle stump. Curran’s frustrating knock came to an end when he chopped on in Andy McBrine’s first over for 18 off 36.
Raza played out McBrine for four dots to start off with, handing the spinner a wicket maiden, before getting off the mark with a boundary off him in his next over. Madhevere, who looked positive from the get-go, and Raza ensured Zimbabwe kept ticking along with regular boundaries, with Madhevere bringing up a run-a-ball half-century in the 27th over.
However, an inspired bowling change got the momentum right back with Ireland. Campher was introduced in the 30th over and in his second over, he set Madhevere up beautifully. Bowling a series of outswingers, he had Madhevere moving across his stumps before firing in a straight one to trap him lbw.
In his next over, he bowled a length ball across Johnathan Campbell and there was a noise, prompting the umpire to give it caught behind. Replays, however, suggested that the ball had brushed the pad. There was little doubt about Campher’s next wicket when he pinged Marumani plumb in front two balls later.
Raza and Masakadza then arrested the collapse, with Raza scoring 27 off 24 in a 50-run stand, bringing up his half-century in the process. Raza holed out at deep midwicket trying to up the tempo as he miscued a pull off Adair. Tector took a good catch running in from the ropes and diving in front.
Masakadza and Ngarava tried to drag Zimbabwe past 250, but Ireland made short work of the tail, with Adair picking two of the last three wickets.
Brief scores:
Ireland 249 for 4 in 48.4 overs (Paul Stirling 89, Curtis Campher 63, Lorcan tucker 36*, George Dockrell 20*; Richard Ngarava 1-53, Blessing Muzarabani 1-51, Trevor Gwandu 2-50) beat Zimbabwe 245 in 49 overs (Brian Benett 30, Wessly Madhevere 61, Sikandar Raza 58,Wellington Masakadza 35; Mark Adair 4-54, Curtis Campher 3-13, Graham Hume 1-47, Josh Little 1-56, Andy McBrine 1-36) by six wickets
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Priya Mishra sets up easy win for Gujarat Giants

Gujarat Giants were inspired by Priya Mishra’s three-wicket haul and captain Ashleigh Gardner’s breezy 52 to post a comprehensive six-wicket win over UP Warriorz in their second home game of the WPL 2025. Giants were a much-improved outfit with the ball and on the field, and followed it up with a clinical batting effort where the likes of Harleen Deol and Deandra Dottin also chipped in, to chase down a modest 144 in Vadodara with 12 balls remaining.
With the injured Alyssa Healy not available and Chamari Athapaththu making way for Alana King, Warriorz lacked power up front. New captain Deepti Sharma’s 39 and Sophie Ecclestone’s excellent bowling performance went in vain as Giants bounced back from the opening-day loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru to get off the mark early in the tournament.
Gardner carried on from where she left off, scoring yet another crucial fifty to lift Giants from 2 for 2. After her unbeaten 79 in the opener against RCB, Gardner came in to bat as early as the second over after Giants lost Beth Mooney and D Hemalatha early. She got going by scoring back-to-back fours off the debutant fast bowling-allrounder Kranti Goud in the third over.
She was particularly brutal against Saima Thakor, who conceded 20 runs in the fifth over. Two of the three sixes of the over were hit by Gardner, one over long-on and another over deep midwicket. She used her feet well to charge down the ground when necessary and converted full tosses into fours or sixes. With Laura Wolvaardt, she stitched a crucial 55-run stand for the third wicket.
She brought up her fifty off 28 balls, with a humongous six over deep square leg off Alana King after flicking away the previous ball to deep backward square leg for four. Overall, she hit five fours and three sixes.
With 131 runs in two matches at an impressive strike rate of 195.52, Gardner is the leading run-scorer of the tournament as of now.
After Tahlia McGrath dismissed Gardner in the 12th over, Giants needed 58 off 49 balls. But Dottin came in and swung her bat straightaway over midwicket to collect her first six, off King. Putting her power game to use, she punished McGrath for two more fours in the next over and released pressure off Giants.
The dew factor and a few dropped catches didn’t help Warriorz either as Deol also played the role of anchor to keep the chase at a healthy run-rate. Deol made an unbeaten 34 off 30 balls while Dottin hit a quickfire 33 that included three fours and two sixes.
Earlier, with the ball, Dottin struck in the second over, dismissing Kiran Navgire with an inswinger and then knocked off Uma Chetry with a short ball in the tenth over when Warriorz were just trying to steady the ship after a few early wickets.
Warriorz were 73 for 3 after 10 overs, and with McGrath and Grace Harris yet to come, they would have hoped for a lift-off. But Mishra landed a big blow by removing both the Australians in the span of three deliveries. For McGrath, she bowled a googly that skidded on in line of middle and off and scrapped past the batter’s inside edge and hit the pad first, and then off the bat and onto the pads. McGrath reviewed the lbw decision but it was struck down.
A ball later, Mishra bowled another googly, a flighted delivery on off, and Harris went for a big slog across the line only to be beaten on the inside edge as the ball crashed onto the stumps. Mishra let out a loud roar after producing a statement performance.
After being asked to bat, Warriorz decided to open with Kiran Navgire and Vrinda Dinesh, who had suffered a shoulder injury last season after playing four matches. But neither of them made an impact with Dottin and Gardner striking inside the powerplay.
Uma Chetry, at No.3, also toiled to middle a lot of deliveries but utilised her strong bottom hand to smash four boundaries in her 27-ball 24. With Deepti at the other end, the duo produced a 51-run partnership to rescue Warriorz from early jitters. Deepti, who had hit an unbeaten 88 against Giants last year while batting at No.4 the only other time before Sunday, was the positive of the lot and smashed 39 off 27. She used her trademark sweep shots to good effect and also kept the scorecard ticking in the middle overs with pull shots and punches off the backfoot. Eventually, Deepti was also dismissed by Mishra in the 15th over.
Despite the late flourish at the end of the innings thanks to Thakor and King, Warriorz finished with an under-par total.
Wolvaardt shimmied down and smashed one down the ground for four after missing Ecclestone’s first ball of the fourth over. Four dot balls followed. Eventually, Wolvaardt fell to Ecclestone for 22 off 24 balls. In a moment of indecision that left her neither playing forward nor back, she was beaten on pace in the ninth over. Overall, Wolvaardt scored six runs off Ecclestone’s ten balls with only three scoring shots in it. Ecclestone finished with figures of 2 for 16 but that wasn’t enough for Warriorz.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Giants Women 144 for 4 in 18 overs (Ashleigh Gardner 52, Laura Wolvaardt 22, Harleen Deol 34*, Deandra Dottin 33*; Sophie Ecclestone 2-16, Grace Harris 1-01, Tahlia McGrath 1-21) beat UP Warriorz Women 143 for 9 in 20 overs (Deepti Sharma 39,Uma Chetry 24, Alana King 19*; Priya Mishra 3-25, Deandra Dottin 2-34, Ashleigh Gardner 2-3, Kashvee Gautam 1-15) by six wickets
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