Sports
SL retain Sobers-Tissera Trophy
Sri Lanka pick up final wicket just before rain
Rex Clementine in Galle
Sri Lanka retained the Sobers-Tissera trophy after a nail-biting finish in the opening Test against West Indies here in Galle yesterday. The victory margin of 187 runs may suggest that this was a comfortable win but in fact, the hosts were racing against time with rains threatening to come down anytime. Minutes after the final wicket fell, the heavens opened and the post match presentation was forced indoors. It is unlikely that play would have resumed after the rain interruption.
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne was a relieved man. “Weather gods were kind to us I guess. Very funny it was as two minutes after we took the last wicket, it started raining. Very happy that we could finish off just before rain.”
With the win, Sri Lanka collected 12 points in the World Test Championship.
Realistically, Sri Lanka needed four wickets in 98 overs to win the game, but rain and bad light had spoiled day three and four and more wet weather was predicted on the final day. So, Sri Lanka had to knock off the tail soon.
West Indies had got off to a horrendous start in their second innings as they were reduced to 18 for six. From thereon, they put up a remarkable fight back.
Joshua da Silva and Nkrumah Bonner ensured that West Indies did not lose further wickets on day four and they batted for two more hours on the final day to deny Sri Lanka any success. Four dropped catches helped their cause but more importantly their footwork against spin was classy and the top order has much to learn from them.
Da Silva, a 23-year-old from Trinidad was technically brilliant giving West Indies much needed depth at lower down the order while Jamaican Bonner showed maturity and patience during the 100 run partnership.
Both batsmen reached half-centuries and Bonner went onto top score with 68 not out.
Da Silva fell for Embuldeniya 15 minutes to go for lunch as Dhananjaya de Silva completed the catch at slip. That was just the opening Sri Lanka wanted.
After lunch, Sri Lanka invited Rahkeem Cornwall to go over the top bringing mid-on and mid-off up. He took the bait and trying to send Praveen Jayawickrama to the Dutch built Galle Ramparts mistimed the hit and was caught by Suranga Lakmal peddling backwards.
There was not much resistance from number ten and eleven as Embuldeniya polished the tail to finish with a five wicket haul. Ramesh Mendis bowled superbly finishing with four wickets.
Karunaratne with scores of 147 and 83 in the game was named Man of the Match. “I was a bit worried leading into the Test match. I had not played a First Class game for more than six months and even in the few domestic one-day games I played, I couldn’t get going. But something told me that if I get a good start, I will go onto get a big one. It was a nervous start but I gained confidence the more I batted,” he said.
West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite requested his batsmen to put their hands up. “Tremendous fight back by the lower order. Top order batsmen need to learn from them. The first innings total is always important. We did not do well in the first innings and were under pressure from that point. It was important for us to get closer to their score and we let ourselves down there. We need to have clarity on our batting. Not just big shots but we have to defend confidently too. Hopefully, we can work on that area next week in the second Test.”
The teams will remain in Galle as the second Test too will be played here starting next week.
India’s untested lower order played a key role in turning a modest total into a competitive one. Amanjot Kaur added stability, scoring 21 off 18 balls and putting on a 61-run partnership with Harmanpreet for the fifth wicket, helping the innings regain momentum after regular wickets fell.
After her dismissal, Arundhati Reddy – promoted ahead of Sneh Rana – launched a late assault, hitting four fours and a six off 11 balls for an unbeaten 27, guiding India to 175 for 7. The team scored 32 runs in the final two overs.
With Chamari Athapaththu gone in the second over, Perera and Dulhani faced a daunting task. Dulhani, coming in at No. 3 again ahead of Harshitha Samarawickrama, played a confident innings, coming down the track and sweeping as needed, hitting five boundaries inside the powerplay. Perera rotated the strike well, keeping the scoreboard ticking. Aided by the dew, their 79-run second-wicket stand was broken in the 12th over when Amanjot dismissed Dulhani for 50, with her first ball.
Perera carried on, moving from 32 off 23 balls to register her maiden 38-ball fifty in her 89th T20I. Having debuted in 2014 and shuffled around the order, she opened this series for the first time in three years. When the equation came down to 55 off 24 balls, Perera struck a four and a six off Shree Charani before being yorked. Her 42-ball 65 included eight fours and a six.
When Sri Lanka needed 44 off 20 balls, India fought back hard. The visitors lost their key batters at the death, collapsing from 132 for 4 to 140 for 7, eventually falling short and remaining winless in India.
Brief scores:
India Women 175 for 7 in 20 overs (Gunalan Kamalini 12, Harleen Deol 13, Harmanpreet Kaur 68, Amanjot Kaur 21, Arundhati Reddy 27*; Nimasha Meepage 1-25, Kavisha Dilhari 2-11, Rashmika Sewwandi 2-42, Chamari Athapaththu 2-21) beat Sri Lanka Women 160 for 7 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 65, Imesha Dulani 50, Rashmika Sewwamdi 14*; Deepti Sharma 1-28, Arundhati Reddy 1-16, Sneh Rana 1-31, Vaishnavi Sharma 1-33, Shree Charani 1-31, Amanjot Kaur 1-17 ) by 15 runs
[Cricinfo]
Under 19 Cricket
Manitha Rajapaksha collected a match bag of 11 wickets as Mahinda romped to an innings and 25 runs victory over Lumbini in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket encounter at Galle.
Forced to follow on after being bowled out for 173 runs, the visitors managed to last only 33 overs as bowlers used the home advantage to good effect.
In a similar performance, Sri Sumangala reduced Isipatana to just 69 runs in the second innings to record an innings and 96 runs win in the Tier ‘B’ match at Panadura. While Mevindu Kumarasiri excelled once again to claim a match bag of 11 wickets, overnight batsmen Sandeep Wijerathna and Neksha Iddamalgoda went on to score centuries for Sri Sumangala to boost the score to 301 for eight wickets declared.
Meanwhile at DSS ground the home team scored a first innings win over Nalanda.
Match Results
Mahinda in innings win at Galle
Scores
Mahinda 284 all out in 72.2 overs
(Dulsith Darshana 63, Randula Mabarana 28, Manitha Rajapaksha 23, Kaveesha Githmal 43, Kavindu Nimsara 66; Yashod Kavindu 5/100, Dinal Sewmina 2/32)
Lumbini 76 for 4 overnight 173 all out in 53.4 overs
(Kisandu Dulneth 33, Yashod Kavindu 26, Jayanitha Mendis 41, Pasindu Mahisha 38; Manitha Rajapaksha 6/64, Sadev Nethmina 2/27) and 86 all out in 32.4 overs (Nikil Abilash 33; Manitha Rajapaksha 5/25, Gesandu Bisas 2/12, Arosha Udayanga 2/15)
Sri Sumangala in innings win at Panadura
Scores
Isipatana 136 all out in 47.2 overs (Yuveen Keshan 21, Dasith Senal 31; Mevindu Kumarasiri 6/54) and 69 all out in 25.2 overs (Janith Selaka 25; Mevindu Kumarasiri 5/32, Methum Fernando 4/23)
Sri Sumangala 158 for 2 overnight 301 for 8 decl. in 79.4 overs (Sandeep Wijerathna 100, Neksha Iddamalgoda 110, Mevindu Kumarasiri 34; Dasith Senal 2/86, Dimuthu Tharuka 2/34)
First innings win for DSS at DSS ground
Scores
DSS 365 all out in 79 overs (Savain Kalansooriya 54, Bihan Gamage 102, Janindu Ranasinghe 50, Shevan Welgama 73; Osanda Pamuditha 2/69, Dunitha Anusara 4/66, Sahas Godage 3/76) and 144 for 3 in 35.2 overs (Miyuru Bandara 41, Savain Kalansooriya 57, Shanaal Binuksha 34)
Nalanda 28 for 1 overnight 197 all out in 66.1 overs (Nemindu Akmeemana 40, Ranmith Dinuwara 42; Shanaal Binuksha 6/61, Randisha Bandaranayake 2/40)
by Reemus Fernando
India’s opening batter Shafali Verma and swing bowler Renuka Singh have moved up to sixth spots in the ICC’s T20I batting and bowling rankings respectively.
Shafali is the leading scorer in the ongoing bilateral series against Sri Lanka by a distance, her 236 runs nearly twice as many as second-highest scorer Smriti Mandhana’s 120. Renuka is also the leading wicket-taker, her four wickets level with team-mates Deepti Sharma, Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
Shafali went up four places with back-to-back scores of 69*, 79* and 79 in the second, third and fourth T20Is. Renuka, meanwhile, climbed eight places to reach the joint-sixth position along with South Africa’s Nonkululeko Mlaba, particularly through her 4 for 21 in the third game of the series. Deepti leads the bowlers’ rankings after taking that position last week. Both Shafali and Renuka have also bagged one Player-of-the-Match award each in the series that India lead 4-0, with the last match scheduled for Tuesday in Thiruvananthapuram.
If India win today (30), this will be their third 5-0 series win in T20Is. They won by that scoreline in the West Indies in 2019 and in Bangladesh last year. Sri Lanka have, however, never before lost a T20I series 5-0.
(Cricinfo)
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