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Smith leads Australia’s day out with the bat
A solid platform provided by David Warner’s 66 was capitalised upon by Steve Smith, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne as Australia finished with 339/5 at the end of Day 1 of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s. Smith was the common denominator in two century partnerships – 102 off 155 with Labuschagne and 118 off 122 with Head – as Australia amassed 266 runs after Lunch on Wednesday (June 28). Joe Root’s strikes late in the day gave England something to cheer about but they still have Smith, unbeaten on 85, to contend with on Day 2.
Smith arrived at the crease shortly into the second session, after Warner was bowled by a nip-backer from Josh Tongue. Smith started off positively, striking two successive fours off Stuart Broad through the cover region and also got a caught-behind decision reversed in the same over. Labuschagne, who was circumspect at the start of his innings which began soon after Lunch, got going with three fours in an over off Broad. He used a review in a Broad over successfully after being given out leg-before offering no shot, and survived an England review a short while later.
Skipper Ben Stokes brought himself on but clearly lacked rhythm as he overstepped multiple times and leaked boundaries. Smith crossed 9000 Test runs with a four off Stokes, becoming the second fastest in terms of innings (174) to reach the landmark. With not much working for England, they even tried Root for a couple of overs but he too didn’t make an impact as Australia finished the second session having added 117 runs for the loss of only one wicket.
Smith and Labuschagne extended their partnership past 100 before Ollie Robinson struck in the final session, getting Labuschagne to edge to the ‘keeper. This brought Head to the crease and the left-hander dealt in a flurry of boundaries to help Australia make good progress. Robinson was at the receiving end, guilty of bowling short on the off stump. Tongue and Broad too erred with their lines and were made to pay by Head, who had raced away to 35 off 32 when the half-century stand was raised off 54 deliveries.
It took a while for England before they resorted to short-ball tactics against Head, who was ready to take it on as he pulled Tongue for a four to bring up a 48-ball fifty shortly after Smith played a straight drive for a boundary. Two fours off Broad followed for Head as the fourth wicket pair maintained a good run-rate to power Australia. Even luck was favouring Australia. Smith was rapped on his pad after walking too far across to a Tongue delivery and was given not out. England didn’t opt for the review, with replays revealing that it was umpire’s call.
A century partnership was raised off 104 deliveries as Australia went past 300 in the 72nd over. Root’s re-introduction proved a masterstroke for England as he had Head stumped and Cameron Green caught off a pull in the same over. England opted for the new ball after the 81st over and Smith got a thick edge past the vacant gully region for a four off Robinson. Alex Carey saw off the final over, bowled by Broad, as Australia dominated the day despite conditions being helpful for the bowlers throughout. The final session was the most profitable one for Australia in terms of runs, with the visitors getting 149 in only 33 overs.
Earlier in the morning session, after England opted to bowl, their pacers persisted with outside-off lines as they tried to put the Australian openers under pressure. But Warner was solid, scoring at a good clip despite a few jittery play-and-misses. Usman Khawaja, on the other hand, wasn’t looking fluent and was troubled by the England pacers, being beaten multiple times. He even edged an Anderson delivery but Root failed to hold on to a tough chance.
There were also a couple of interruptions in the first session. The first was when ‘Just stop oil’ protesters invaded the ground and sprinkled orange powder, with one of them being lifted off the field by Jonny Bairstow who then had to head off for a change of dress. After a short rain break nine overs into the day’s play, Warner played some confident shots, including two fours in an over off Tongue, having earlier been dropped by Ollie Pope off Broad. Warner brought up his fifty with a six while Khawaja was beginning to play his strokes. But the partnership, worth 73, ended just before Lunch when Khawaja’s decision to shoulder arms to a Tongue delivery proved costly.
Brief scores:
Australia 339/5 (Steve Smith 85*, Travis Head 77, David Warner 66; Joe Root 2-19, Josh Tongue 2-88) vs England
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Heat index, is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Eastern and North-central provinces and Mullaitivu and Vavuniya districts
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology at 3.30 p.m. 27 April 2025, valid for 28 April 2025
The public are warned that the Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Eastern and North-central provinces and Mullaitivu and Vavuniya districts.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated. Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.
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People have now started to think of themselves as Sri Lankans sans ethnic or religious divisions- PM
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that for the first time in history, mosques in Kandy had opened their doors to accommodate the needs of devotees visiting the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic and that people have now started to think of themselves as Sri Lankans beyond dividing into ethnicities and religions.
The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing a public gathering held in the Paragahadeniya area in Kurunegala.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya further stated:
“This country is undergoing a transformation we expected,so accordingly, we must operate in new ways. People are beginning to feel that we must work towards a new transformation. We can see this change even within our ministries. These days, sometimes when we visit ministries even after 5 PM, and ask if it is possible to have discussions, the officials are always open. Today, public officials are willing to work late into the night, until 9 or 10 PM. Officials have now started working without fear.
Remarkably, for the first time in history, Muslim mosques in Kandy remained open throughout the night to accommodate pilgrims visiting the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. They even provided space for devotees to rest. There were no ethnic or religious tensions. What we saw was respect for other ethnicities and religions. This is happening because there is now a sense of a government that represents all Sri Lankan people, not just Sinhalese, Muslims, or Tamils”.
The event was attended by the candidates for the local government election including the residents of the area.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
A sensational all-round display from Krunal Pandya led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the top of the IPL 2025 table as they outbowled and outbatted Delhi Capitals in a tense clash on a tricky, two-paced surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
A strong display with the ball set things up, as RCB sent DC in and restricted them to 162 for 8, with Bhuveneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazelwood picking up five wickets between them, and Suvash Sharma and Krunal strangling with spin through the middle overs. The chase was never going to be straightforward, though, given the conditions and DC’s attack, and RCB duly slipped to 26 for 3 after four overs.
Krunal, though, hauled RCB out of the mire and put them in front, over the course of a 119-run fourth-wicket stand with Virat Kohli, who made his sixth half-century of the season, and his fourth in a chase.
The recovery came in two phases. By the 10-over mark, Kohli and Krunal had put on 40 in 36 balls, and neither batter was looking fluent. But Krunal found his hitting range, and took off. Having been on 17 off 21 balls at one stage, he hit 56 off his last 26 balls. Kohli fell for 51 off 47 with RCB needing 18 off 13. There was no late twist, though, as Tim David finished with a flurry of boundaries, sealing victory with nine balls remaining.
Abhishek Porel struck the ball sweetly at the start of DC’s innings to score 28 off 11 balls, and Tristan Stubbs made an innovative 34 off 18 at the finish, but DC’s other batters struggled, scoring just 96 off 92 balls between them.
Faf du Plesis, returning from a groin injury and playing his first game since April 10, and KL Rahul struggled for fluency in particular, scoring 22 off 26 and 41 off 39 respectively.
The surface was partly responsible for this, with the ball gripping and occasionally staying low too, and RCB’s bowling played its part too, with Suyash and Krunal especially suffocating through the middle overs, bowling at high pace into the pitch and keeping width to a minimum.
And DC suffered two crucial jolts.
First, just when Axzr Patel was beginning to look dangerous, having slogged Krunal for a six in the previous over, Hazlewood came back and bowled DC’s captain in the 14th. This took some pressure off Suyash and Krunal – who may not have relished bowling to the left-handed Axar – and they finished their quotas by conceding a combined 13 runs across the 15th and 16th overs, against Rahul and a new-to-the-crease Stubbs.
Then, when Bhuvneshwar dismissed Rahul in the 17th, DC sent in Ashutosh Sharma as their Impact Player. They had named a bowler-heavy XI despite batting first, with the hope that they could bring in the extra bowler if their top order enjoyed a good day. As it happened, they were forced to bring in a batter, and he was out third ball, bowled by a legcutter from Bhuvneshwar.
Stubbs and Vinrai Nigam then provided the spark that DC had sorely lacked up to then, using the V behind the wicket smartly to collect a combined 36 runs across the 18th and 19th overs. Bhuvneshwar, though, cut short the fireworks with a superb 20th over, dismissing Stubbs and only conceding six runs (one of them off a leg-bye) despite bowling with an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle with RCB having run into an over-rate penalty.
Replacing Phil Salt, who was out with fever, Jacob Bethell played a short and exciting innings on IPL debut. He flicked Mitchell Starc for a six and a four off successive balls in the second over, before being done in by the slowness of the pitch, miscuing a pull off Axar to deep midwicket in the third over.
Despite the presence of the left-handed Bethell, Axar had bowled the first and the third overs. He ended up dismissing not one but two left-handers, with Devdutt Padikkal, RCB’s Impact Player, chopping on while attempting a cut two balls later.
Karun Nair had taken an excellent catch in the deep to send Bethell back, and he was soon in play once again when Kohli clipped one in his direction at midwicket and seemed to take off for a single before coming to an abrupt stop. Rajpat Patidar hared out of his crease at the other end, and it was too late by the time he turned back and dived, with Nair’s direct hit finding him well short.
The first part of RCB’s recovery wasn’t pretty. The pitch was still a tricky one for run-scoring, and one moment summed it up perfectly. A short ball from Nigam seemed ripe for pulling, but it lost so much pace off the pitch that it was on its way down by the time Kohli met it with his inside edge.
For all their lack of fluency, though, Kohli and Krunal were ensuring RCB had wickets at the back end, and at the halfway mark they needed 99 off 60 balls.
It was Krunal who switched gears, and he did it dramatically, whipping Dushmantha Chameera for a leg-side six in the 11th over and clearing the boundary twice off Mukesh Kumar in the 13th: the last of these hits, a length ball launched over long-off with a full extension of the arms, showed just how much Krunal had got to grips with the conditions.
And in the next over he showed he could do it against spin too, going over extra-cover off Kuldeep Yadav when he floated one into his arc.
DC’s last chance to get back in the game came in the 16th over, when Starc forced Krunal to miscue a pull with a sharp short ball angled across the left-hander from left-arm around. Running in from deep midwicket, Porel put down a sitter. Before this ball, RCB needed 40 off 25 balls.
By the time Chameera broke the partnership with a slower legcutter to Kohli in the 18th, DC were almost out of it. David then hurried RCB over the line, going 6, 4 (plus no-ball), 4, 4 as Mukesh’s attempted yorkers in the 19th over ended up as a succession of full-tosses and half-volleys.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73*, Virat Kohli 51, Jacob Bethel 12, Tim David 19*; Axar Patel 2-19, Dushmantha Chameera 1-24) beat Delhi Capitals 162 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Porel 28, Faf du Plesis 22, KL Rahul 41, Axar Patel 15, Tristan Stubbs 34, Vipraj Nigam 12; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-33, Yash Dayal 1-42, Josh Hazlewood 2-36, Krunal Pandya 1-28) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
Heat index, is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in Eastern and North-central provinces and Mullaitivu and Vavuniya districts
People have now started to think of themselves as Sri Lankans sans ethnic or religious divisions- PM
Heavy showers about 100 mm are likely at some places in Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Eastern and North-central provinces and in Vavuniya, Mullaittivu and Kurunegala districts.
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