Sports

Sri Lanka outsmarted us – Rohit

Published

2 years ago

2024/08/9

Rohit Sharma praised Sri Lanka’s planning and execution after his side was comprehensively beaten in the three match ODI series at RPS.

by Rex Clementine

India skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that Sri Lanka outplayed his side in the three match ODI series that ended on Wednesday ending Sri Lanka’s 27 year drought without a bilateral series win in ODIs against India.

India, world’s number one ranked team were the overwhelming favourites to win the series against seventh ranked Sri Lanka. The tourists were at full strength as well whereas Sri Lanka missed half a dozen of their leading bowlers due to injury and illness. But Sri Lanka outplayed India with clever planning and good execution.

“I don’t think they did anything specific. They were consistent with sweeps, taking their chances. Not a lot of runs were scored down the ground. They didn’t use their feet as much as we expected. It was about using sweeps and piercing that deep square leg and midwicket field. That is something we failed to do as a batting unit. We didn’t play enough sweeps, reverse sweeps or paddle and use our feet too much. That was the difference,” Rohit told journalists in the post -match media briefing.

“Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando, they scored a lot of runs square of the wicket. They were using the turn, going down the track and sweeping making the fielder move left and right. They were smart with how they batted and we were not,” he explained.

India have dominated Sri Lanka in bilateral outings in recent years. There was little hope for Charith Asalanka’s side as they had been bowled out for 50 and 55 in the last two ODIs they had played against India; – Asia Cup final at RPS and World Cup fixture in Bombay. But the Sri Lankans were unbeaten in the three ODIs and India were stunned.

“You have to give credit where it’s due. They played conditions better than us, batted and bowled better than us. We as a team, accept we weren’t good enough and there is no shame in accepting that. We played some good and fascinating cricket in the last few years but series like this can happen. Lot of credit to Sri Lanka. They were in the fight throughout and wanted to make a difference.”

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LPL 2026 Opening Game between Jaffna and Galle

Published

5 hours ago

2026/05/15

Priyan

The inaugural game of the Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played between the Jaffna and Galle teams, who emerged as the Champions and Runners-up respectively in the 2024 season.

The opening game is scheduled to be played on 17th July at the SSC Grounds, commencing at 7.30 p.m.

Prior to the start of the tournament opener, a spectacular opening ceremony will be held at the SSC Grounds in Colombo.

The Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played from 17th July to 8th August across four venues: SSC, Colombo; RDICS, Dambulla; PICS, Pallekele; and RPICS, Colombo.

The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the owner of the LPL, in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder.

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Kuldip Yadav in for Khaleel; Gleeson for Thushara

Published

7 hours ago

2026/05/15

Priyan

Gleeson has previously played for CSK and MI [Cricbuzz]

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have each picked injury replacements for Khaleel Ahmed and Nuwan Thushara respectively.

Kuldip Yadav joins CSK as a replacement for Khaleel, who was ruled out of the tournament mid-April due to a quad injury. Kuldip joins them for INR 30 lakh. The 29-year-old medium pacer has previously featured for Rajasthan Royals, playing three games for them across 2021 and 2023. Those are the only T20s he has played so far.

Khaleel played five games for CSK this season, picking up two wickets, but got injured in a game against Kolkata Knight Riders, failing to bowl the last ball of his spell. CSK have endured a barrage of injuries this season, with Jamie Overton being the recent most victim.

RCB have replaced Nuwan Thushara, also out of the competition, with England seamer Richard Gleeson. He joins the defending champions for a fee of INR 1.6 crore.

Thushara, who played one game for RCB last year, did not feature in IPL 2026 before he was ruled out.

The 38-year-old Gleeson debuted for England in 2022, and played six T20Is for them, taking nine wickets. He has taken 170 wickets in 145 T20s, and also featured in two seasons of the IPL. In 2024, he turned out for CSK, taking one wicket in two games. Last year, he was with MI, picking one wicket in a solitary appearance.

[Cricbuzz]

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Eyman Fatima powers Pakistan to series victory

Published

7 hours ago

2026/05/15

Priyan

Eyman Fatima's innings included 10 fours and 4 sixes [Cricbuzz]

Pakistan clinched a comprehensive 67-run win over Zimbabwe in the 2nd T20I on Thursday to seal the three-match series 2-0. Opting to bat first, Pakistan were off to a slow start, managing just 34 runs in the Powerplay while losing the wicket of Gull Feroza.

They slipped into further trouble after two quick wickets reduced them to 46/3. A partnership worth 46 between Muneeba Ali and Eyman Fatima revived the innings before a defining 78-run partnership between Fatima and Natalia Pervaiz put Pakistan into the ascendancy.

While Muneeba’s 36 at the top of the order was crucial in arresting a potential collapse, Fatima’s unbeaten 79* ensured that they recovered to post a daunting 170/4 in their 20 overs. Pakistan were particularly stern on the bowling in the final five overs of their innings which yielded 58 runs.

In pursuit, Zimbabwe never got going. They were reduced to 29/3 inside the Powerplay before Nashra Sandhu struck twice in the same over. Another wicket in the 9th over left Zimbabwe reeling at 51/6. It was only thanks to a few inconsequential contributions down the order that Zimbabwe’s scorecard didn’t look any worse. They crawled past 100 and avoided getting all-out while falling 67-runs short.

Brief Scores:
Pakistan Women 170/4 in 20 overs (Eyman Fatima 79*, Muneeba Ali 36, Natalie Pervaiz 24; Mitchell Mavunga1-38, Precious Marange 1-33, Lindokuhle Mabhero 1-20) beat Zimbabwe Women 103/8 in 20 overs (Beloved Biza 11, Natasha Mtomba 10, Adel Zimunu 12, Nomvelo Sibanda 18*, Lindokuhle Mabhero 12, Kudzai Chigora 14*; Fatima Sana 1-22, Nashra Sandhu 2-18, Sadia Iqbal 1-10, Tuba Hassan 1-17, Ayesha Zafar 1-10, Natalie Pervaiz 1-09) by 67 runs.

[Cricbuzz]