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Sri Lanka collapse and play catch up in Galle

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Left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul making a return to Test cricket after five years finished with career best figures of five for 35 as Sri Lanka collapsed from 113 for one to 204 all out in Galle yesterday. Image courtesy: SLC.

Rex Clementine in Galle

A sensational collapse on day two of the second Test saw Sri Lanka play catch up against West Indies here in Galle yesterday. Resuming from the overnight total f 113 for one, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 204, losing six wickets for 35 runs at one stage. West Indies in reply were 69 for one, trailing by 135 runs, when rain stopped play before tea and there was no resumption.

After the openers had added 106 runs on day one, Sri Lanka were in a position to dictate terms to the West Indies. However, they gave the tourists a sniff and now are playing catch up.

There’s been always a concern as to how Sri Lanka will fare against spin when skipper Dimuth Karunaratne doesn’t fire. Most Sri Lankan batsmen seem to rely on the sweep to score off spinners but that could backfire as well. Dimuth has a variety of strokes when tacking spin like the drive, cut, pull and dancing down the track and playing those lofted shots.

Maybe had Dimuth been around for the England series in January, there wouldn’t have been those bitter defeats and a five wicket haul for the little heard Dom Boss. Apparently, he lost his place in Somerset as well.

Dimuth’s dismissal on day one was massive for the West Indies and they kept picking wickets at regular intervals on day two although Pathum Nissanka played well for his 73.

Veerasammy Permaul (not Perumal) had a dream comeback. The left-arm orthodox spinner had last played a Test match six years ago ended with a maiden five wicket haul and career best figures. Fellow left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican claimed four for 50 as all nine Sri Lankan wickets to fall on day two went for left-arm spinners. Roston Chase’s off-spin got rid of captain Dimuth and it was only the fourth instance in West Indies cricket that the spinners had accounted for all ten wickets.

The first two occasions it happened was when ‘those two little pals of mine’ Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin were around in 1950s. The third occasion was early this year in Bangladesh. We all know what happened in between as West Indies dominated world cricket often using five quicks to devastating advantage. Nowadays, they are just down to two quicks. How times have changed.

Not that the Sri Lankan innings was without any spark. Charith Asalanka produced that. Veerasammy had dismissed Nissanka and Dhananjaya de Silva in one over and in walked the debutant and he opened his account in Test cricket with a reverse sweep and even Veerasammy had wry smile on his face.

Angelo Mathews retired with a hamstring injury but came back when the eighth wicket fell. He was struggling to run between the wickets and was dealing with boundaries. He brought up Sri Lanka’s 200 with consecutive sixes off Warrican and was last man out for 29.



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India ponder extra spinner for Boxing Day Test

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Reports suggest Rohit might even return to the opening slot [Cricbuzz]

And then, Travis Head walked out to bat at the MCG on Christmas morning. Pretty late on Christmas morning at that. The entire media pack had been waiting for him to do so. That was after all the final piece of the Australian team puzzle. Sam Konstas had already been revealed as a teenaged Test debutant for Boxing Day. Scott Boland had already been revealed to be Josh Hazlewood’s replacement at the MCG.

But following Andrew McDonald’s admission that the key batter in the Australian ranks was being bothered by a quad strain a day earlier, all eyes were on whether Head would get into the net for a hit. And a sigh of relief when he did, even if he looked more than bemused by all the attention. Once Head was done making an appearance, before Pat Cummins cleared the air about his availability for the fourth Test, the mood around the MCG went back to soaking in the Christmas spirit, with kids and families making the most of the vast expanse of the outfield at the ‘G.

It was a kid, all of 19, who stole all the attention a day earlier with every movement he made around the MCG, as he will on Boxing Day. Konstas’ first outing in a Baggy Green will go down as probably the most anticipated debut in Australian cricket for many a year. And Cummins couldn’t stop talking up the teenaged opener while revealing his own feelings when he made his Test debut at 18, some 13 years ago.

“I remember as an 18-year-old I was thinking, ‘I’ve got a lot more leeway because I was young’, almost publicly, so I almost felt like, if I didn’t have a great game, it wasn’t my fault, it was the selectors’ fault for picking me. I was like, ‘well, they’re the idiots that picked an 18 year old!'”

“You’re so young starting out your career – it’s Boxing Day, it doesn’t get any better than this. So just enjoy the moment.”

Great advice that should stand true not just for the young New South Welshman but for everyone who’ll take the field in front of 92,000 people on a 40-degree day at the MCG. It doesn’t get better than this, not just in terms of the setting, but also where the series stands, level currently at 1-1. A loss for Australia will mean their drought with regards to winning the Border Gavaskar Trophy will extend to at least 13 years, with the next battle between these two teams scheduled only in early 2027, that too on Indian soil. An Indian loss will not just make this series even more scintillating, but could also deliver a painful blow to the visitors’ chances of making the World Test Championship final.

It could well be the hottest Boxing Day in recent memory, but the heat will add an intriguing element to how the toss goes, and what decisions get made with regards to team composition as well. Worry about the weather and bat first on a pitch that has been the friendliest for seam bowling since 2021, when Scotty Boland ran through England? Or back your fast bowlers to make the most of the surface conditions and roll over the opposition batting line-up to give yourself the early advantage. Either way, with no rain really forecast over the five days, it’ll be interesting to see how long the Test really lasts. Oh, the MCG will be packed, noisy, with the energy levels around the iconic venue at fever-pitch.

Australia Probable XI:Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India Probable XI:Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj

[Cricbuzz]

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Bumrah attains highest-ever rating points for an India bowler after Brisbane exploits

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Jasprit Bumrah is the current highest wicket-taker in BGT 2024-25 [Cricinfo]

Jasprit Bumrah has attained the joint-highest rating points ever for an Indian bowler on the rankings chart after his 9 for 94 in the third Test against Australia in Brisbane.

The Indian spearhead, who already heads the rankings list for bowlers, further consolidated his position at the top by adding 14 points to his tally taking it to 904 rating points, 48 clear of second-placed Kagiso Rabada (856). The only other Indian bowler to achieve this tally is the recently retired R Ashwin who got there after the fourth Test against England in Mumbai in December 2016.

Bumrah, who is currently the highest wicket taker in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Series with 21 scalps in six innings at 10.90, now has a chance to break Ashwin’s record when the two teams meet in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test with the series locked 1-1.

Meanwhile, Travis Head’s 152 in the first innings of the Brisbane Test on the back of a century in Adelaide has seen him overtake Yashasvi Jaiswal and move to fourth on the batters’ list which is led by Joe Root. Steven Smith also made his way into the top ten of the charts after his 101 in Brisbane, entering at the tenth position, while Rishabh Pant has moved out of the top ten.

On the ODI front, Heinrich Klassen’s three back-to-back fifties against Pakistan have seen him rise eight spots – from 13th to fifth on the batting table. Opener Saim Ayub  who had a breakthrough series against South Africa, with scores of 109, 25 and 101 as Pakistan clean swept the series 3-0, advanced 57 slots to a career-best 23rd position.

Babar Azam continues to lead the ODI batting list, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in second and third place, respectively.

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Deol maiden hundred outshines Matthews’ as India take series

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Harleen Deol notched up her maiden ODI hundred [BCCI]

The game witnessed two majestic hundreds, from Harleen Deol and Hayley Matthews.  Where Deol had support of three other half-centurions in the Indian innings, Matthews had none. And that in a monumental chase of 359 was simply not good enough.

The end result was another one-sided fare that gave India the ODI series with one match remaining, but it was also one where West Indies showed a lot more fight than they did two nights ago.  They nearly batted out the 50 overs to take away something from a contest they never looked like bossing at any point.

West Indies’ response to India’s 358 for 5 – their joint highest ODI total – was circumspect. They batted out three maidens in the first seven overs, two of those to Renuka Singh, who had wrecked their top order with in-swing to finish with a five-for in the first ODI. It underlined West Indies’ approach for large parts of their innings – survival over flamboyance that they’re known for.

As the innings progressed, it became evident how big the gulf was between Matthews and the rest of their batters, who hardly seemed to trust their defense and bat long enough against an Indian attack that boasted of some variety that will give them a welcome headache as they go forward in a World Cup year. Only Deandra Dottin can claim to have received a pearler that she had no answers to as Renuka ripped past her inside edge to flatten the stumps with a superb in-ducker.

Mathews aside, the only other semblance of a fight from the West Indies came from wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle, who made 38 in a fifth-wicket stand that was worth 112. Matthews was brutal in her onslaught against India’s spinners, especially legspinner Priya Mishra whom she read from the hand and off the pitch. Against pace, she was quick to pounce on anything short or wide. Yet, it wasn’t until she had crossed 70 that she began to show off her full range of strokes, eventually getting to her seventh ODI hundred off 99 balls. But Matthews’ century only served to merely reduce the margin of defeat.

The story of the day, though, was Deol. Having been on crutches, recovering from a knee injury until five months ago, she repaid the faith the team management had in her by hitting a maiden international hundred from No.3. Dropped on 20 by Dottin at square leg, Deol made them pay. She built slowly to a half-century, reaching there in 62 balls, but shifted gears seamlessly in the end overs to raise her century off 98 balls.

In Jemimah Rodrigues, she found an able ally as the pair put on a quick-fire 116-run stand off just 71 deliveries for the fourth wicket in a partnership where they attempted a shot every ball. Rodrigues was outstanding against spin, lofting inside-out over cover, paddling fired-in deliveries past short fine leg, or rocking back to pull. Along the way, she showed her versatility to accelerate as comfortably as she had built the innings. The reward was a half-century off 34 deliveries, before she was out attempting to hit out a waist-high full toss.

Deol fed off that energy, in addition to the confidence from spending time at the crease. In all, India scored 184 in the last 20 overs, compared to the 160 they hit two nights ago. That they achieved this with Richa Ghosh contributing just an unbeaten 13 should give them much encouragement.

Deol’s knock was preceded by a second straight century opening stand from Smriti Mandhana and rookie Pratika Rawal,  who looked anything like the nervous version from her debut on Sunday. She came out looking to score quickly. There wasn’t much swing on offer, and Rawal impressed with her intent and strokeplay to set the base of India’s innings after they elected to bat.

At the other end, Mandhana, who became the highest run-getter in women’s ODI this year, simply carried on from where she left off in the series opener. She displayed more than just traces of brute force in muscling spinners. Rawal was comfortably outscoring Mandhana until the eighth over, but it didn’t take long for the India vice-captain to catch up, before overtaking her to raise a 29th half-century and her second straight of the series off just 44 balls. One ball later, the opening pair raised their century stand.

Rawal soon caught up to get to her maiden half-century but missed out on a great chance of converting it to a maiden international hundred, when she was out to a soft dismissal on 76. But in taking two wickets and sending down a few tight overs, and taking an excellent catch inside the ring, Rawal had a day neither she nor the team management will forget in a hurry, not even after having had a role in running out Mandhana, who instead of fuming gave her a pat of encouragement as she walked back.

Brief scores:
India Women 358 for 5 in 50 overs (Harlene Deol 115, Pratika Rawal 76, Smriti Mandhana 53, Jemimmah Rodrigues 52; Oiana Joseph 1-27) beat West Indies Women 243 in 46.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 106, Shemaine Campbelle 38;  Priya Mishra 3-49, Rawal 2-37, Deepti Sharma 2-40, Titas Sadhu 2-42) by 115 runs

[Cricinfo]

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