Sports
SLC confident England tour will go ahead
Sri Lanka Cricket is confident that international cricket will resume in the country by January next year with SLC set to host England for two Test matches. The two Tests, part of the World Test Championship, were set to be played in March this year but the tour had to be postponed after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. England had been in Sri Lanka for around ten days when they were forced to return home ahead of the opening Test match in Galle.
It was expected that international cricket will return to the island this month as Bangladesh were set to play three Tests. However, there was dispute about the days the tourists would do quarantine and the series was once again postponed.
There is a two week mandatory quarantine period for those who come into the country. While England and Wales Cricket Board is unlikely to agree to this measure, SLC is confident of getting a shorter quarantine period.
“Ideally, what we are looking at is one week’s quarantine and then get the players and support staff into a bubble and let them resume training. I am pretty sure we would be able to work out something like that,’ an official privy to negotiations told The Island.
“We will discuss the matter with Health Ministry when the time is right. This is not the time to approach them for obvious reasons,” he added.
Originally, England were set to play the two Tests in Galle and Colombo but now Dambulla has been earmarked as the venue for both Tests.
SLC will book an entire hotel and accommodate both teams, match officials and others involved in the series putting everyone in a bubble.
This means Dambulla will become Sri Lanka’s latest Test cricket venue. The popular cricket ground has only hosted one-dayers since it was built in in 2001. Incidentally, England played the first game at this venue.
What this also means is that there will be no international cricket played in Sri Lanka in 2020. This year SLC was set to host India, South Africa and Bangladesh apart from England. They were also set to host the Asia Cup. All those tours have now been postponed.
Sri Lanka are set to tour South Africa in December but officials said that it is unlikely this tour will take place.
Sports
Kusal Mendis propels Sri Lanka to commanding 324
Rex Clementine at Dambulla
Top-order batter Kusal Mendis hit top form, notching up a brilliant century to lead Sri Lanka to an imposing 324 for five in the first ODI against New Zealand at Dambulla on Wednesday. Supported by Avishka Fernando, who also reached a century, Mendis was the driving force in Sri Lanka’s dominant display.
The pair stitched together a record-breaking 206-run stand off 215 balls for the second wicket, setting a new benchmark between the two teams in ODIs and surpassing the 170-run partnership Sanath Jayasuriya and Hashan Tillakaratne achieved against New Zealand during the 2003 World Cup. This partnership also stands as the highest for any wicket at Dambulla in ODIs, an achievement led by Mendis’s aggressive batting.
While Avishka’s century was a welcome return to form—his first since 2021—he fell soon after reaching the milestone. A slog sweep attempt against Ish Sodhi saw him miscue to mid-on, concluding his innings at a vital 100. However, it was Kusal who continued to push the boundaries, reaching a career-best 143, marking his fourth ODI century and first of 2024. His innings also set a new individual record for Dambulla, eclipsing Shikhar Dhawan’s previous high of 132 from 2017.
Kusal’s knock was both commanding and elegant, with 17 fours and two sixes, driving Sri Lanka’s innings at a rapid pace. His 53-run flourish with Charith Asalanka off just 33 balls propelled Sri Lanka further. New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy eventually ended Mendis’s onslaught when he holed out at extra cover, but his impressive 143 from 128 balls had already set Sri Lanka up for a formidable total.
Earlier in the innings, after Pathum Nissanka’s early departure for 12, Mendis took charge, leading Sri Lanka through a challenging phase. Following his record-breaking stand with Avishka, Sadeera Samarawickrama was dismissed for five, but Charith Asalanka’s quickfire 40 off 28 balls, laced with three fours and two sixes, kept the momentum in Sri Lanka’s favour.
New Zealand’s spinners struggled to contain Mendis and his fellow batsmen, as Sri Lanka kept the scoreboard ticking at over 6.5 runs per over.
Rain briefly delayed play at the start of Sri Lanka’s innings, pausing the action for 39 minutes. Later, rain returned with four balls left, ending Sri Lanka’s innings at 324 for five in 49.2 overs.
With the T20 series preceding the ODIs ending in a 1-1 draw, the teams now move to Pallekele for the remaining games in what promises to be an intense ODI series.
Sports
Mahanama record ten wickets win over St. Benedict’s
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Left-arm spinner Anuka Wijewardana completed a match bag of 11 wickets as Mahanama cruised to a ten wickets win with more than a session to spare in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket encounter against St. Benedict’s at Bloomfield ground on Wednesday.
Mahanama added just over 40 runs to the overnight total before rattling Bens for 95 runs. Wijewardana and Chamika Heenatigala picked up four wickets each to restrict Bens to their lowest total in a tournament match this season.
Mahanama needed 13 runs for the victory and they reached the target without loosing a wicket.
Heenatigala collected a match bag of seven wickets and top scored with 65 runs.
It was Mahanama’s second outright victory of the season and the first in the tournament proper.
Meanwhile, in reply to Richmond’s massive score of 401 for six wickets declared, D.S. Senanayaka were dismissed for 287 runs. Following on they were one run for no wickets at close.
Scores:
St. Benedict’s
131 all out in 42.5 overs (Akein Perera 43, Didula Eshan 28, Trishane Silva 21n.o.; Anuka Wijewardana 7/39, Chamika Heenatigala 3/20) and 95 all out in 40 overs (Manikya Deshapriya 26, Trishane Silva 23; Anuka Wijewardana 4/28, Chamika Heenatigala 4/31)
Mahanama
171 for 6 overnight 214 all out in 58.2 overs (Dulneth Algawatte 31, Chamika Heenatigala 65, Eshan Withanage 41, Osanda Muthugama 22; Ayesh Gajanayake 2/28, Mevan Dissanayake 4/66, Samindu Peiris 3/32) and 15 for no loss in 2.3 overs
Richmond take first innings honours at Wijerama Mawatha
Scores:
Richmond
401 for 6 decl. in 88.4 overs (Nikil Jayaweera 28, Helitha Edirisinghe 99, Thamindu Pradeeptha 166, Shehan de Zoysa 60; Kiran Janendra 3/90)
DSS
32 for 1 overnight 287 all out in 91.4 overs (Bihan Gamage 32, Dehem Nirmal 36, Malitha Perera 61, Shanal Binuksha 26, Randisha Bandaranayake 81; Tenusha Nimsara 3/95, Minaga Ariyadasa 4/32) and 1 for no loss in 1 over
Sports
Afridi back as No. 1 ODI bowler, Hasaranga second in T20Is
Pakistan quick Shaheen Shah Afridi is back as the No. 1 ODI bowler in the latest ICC rankings, making it a double for Pakistan cricketers at the summit with Babar Azam extending his lead as the top batter in the format.
Afridi’s eight wickets at an average of 12.62 in three outings against Australia took him past Kuldeep Yadav, Rashid Khan and Keshav Maharaj to the top. Rashid remained at No. 2, while Maharaj slipped from first to third and Kuldeep one place down to fourth. This is the second time Afridi has reached top position in ODI rankings after a brief stay there during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Afridi’s seam-bowling partner Haris Rauf moved up 14 places to 13th after bagging 10 wickets in the ODIs against Australia, that had earned him the Player-of-the-Series award. Naseem Shah also climbed 14 spots to a career-best 55th.
Babar’s scores of 37, 15* and 28* increased his lead among ODI batters. He stays well ahead of the Indian trio of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli who remain in second, third and fourth respectively.
There were big gainers among allrounders after the ODI series between Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the UAE. Player of the Series Mohammad Nabi remained as the No. 1 ODI allrounder and Rashid went up a place to third, and Azmatullah Omarzai’s strong showing pushed him two places up to No. 9, making it three Afghan players in the top 10. Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who took three wickets in the series and scored 66 in the third ODI, jumped four places to No. 4.
In T20Is, Wanidu Hasaranga’s series haul of 6 for 37 against New Zealand – despite limping through the second fixture where he claimed 4 for 17 – took him four places up to second spot among the bowlers, only behind England’s Adil Rashid.
Akeal Hosein’s economical performance against England lifted him to third place while Ravi Bishnoi’s four scalps in two games against South Africa took him one spot up to No. 7.
Among batters, the England pair of Phil Salt (second) and Jos Buttler (sixth), alongside West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran (10th) all moved one place up each in the batting rankings after two games in the five-match series in the Caribbean.
From the ongoing South Africa vs India T20I series, Sanju Samson continued his rise in the batting ranks. A second successive T20I century for the India opener, this time a 50-ball 107 in the first game, saw him leapfrog 27 positions to 39th. The South African duo of Reeza Hendricks (up two places to 12th) and Tristan Stubbs (up 12 spots to 26th) also made headway on the T20I batting charts that is still led by Travis Head. Salt and Suryakumar Yadav round off the top three.
[Cricinfo]
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