Sports
Sri Lanka prevail in Super Over to register first win on the tour
In a game of massive ebbs and flows, it needed a Super Over to settle things between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the first T20I in Auckland on Sunday (April 2). In the end, the visitors held their nerve to get across the line.
The tone for the game was set in the PowerPlay by Sri Lanka after they were put into bat on a fabulous batting surface at Eden Park. Kusal Mendis’ cameo created impetus from the word go as did Dhananjaya de Silva but it was the partnership between Kusal Perera and Charith Asalanka that put the Lankans in pole position.
After a rollicking powerplay that yielded 72 runs, Perera and Asalanka ensured that the momentum wasn’t wasted by stitching a 103-run partnership off just 68 deliveries. Both got fifties and Perera batted through to control the innings from one end, even though it was Asalanka’s knock that really put the visitors in front.
New Zealand did pull things back brilliantly between overs 17-19 with some crafty death bowling but Wanindu Hasaranga’s breezy cameo meant that 18 came off the 20th over to give Sri Lanka the ideal finish to the innings.
It was a par score and the task got even more tougher for the hosts as they lost both their openers within seven deliveries of the run chase. Skipper Tom Latham played a few shots to get the innings going but when he fell, it seemed like New Zealand would slip away, despite a well-set Daryl Mitchell at the other end.
But Mitchell got excellent support from Mark Chapman as the duo went about rebuilding the chase. Slowly but steadily, New Zealand were back in it and a 24-run over from Dilshan Madushanka actually put the hosts in front.
Sri Lanka, though, hung in there with timely strikes through their spin twins, and Pramod Madushan with Dasun Shanaka also nipping a couple. Rachin Ravindra threatened to finish the game off with his audacious cameo but it was not to be. With 13 needed off the last over, Ravindra fell first ball and one more time it appeared like the game was done. Only for the final twist to emerge.
A couple of twos and as many singles later, New Zealand were left with the task of needing seven off the final delivery to win – realistically a six to tie the game. With Ish Sodhi on strike, the chance of that happening was quite low. But, the leg spinner produced an astounding hit under pressure, shuffling across early and then calmly chipping it over deep mid-wicket for a maximum.
The momentum was with New Zealand heading into the Super Over but they ran into Maheesh Theekshana who unleashed a cracking set of six deliveries to go with the outstanding spell he had bowled earlier in the game. Only eight were scored and Asalanka nailed them off with two blows to give Sri Lanka their first win on the tour.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 196/5 (Asalanka 67, Perera 53, Neesham 2-30) beat New Zealand 196/8 (Mitchell 66, Chapman 33, Shanaka 2-2) in the Super Over.
(Cricbuzz)
Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) playoff chances took a serious beating after they lost their fifth game in a row, this time going down to Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets in Dharamsala. They remain fourth on the table with 13 points from 12 games, while the two teams just below them, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, have 12 points each with a game in hand.
MI were without their regular captain Hardik Pandya, who is still recovering from back spasms, and stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, who missed out due to personal reasons. In their absence, Jasprit Bumrah led them for the first time in the IPL and put PBKS in after winning the toss. The hosts rode on Prabhsimran Singh’s chancy 57 off 32 to reach 100 in 11 overs before Shardul Thakur’s four-for derailed them. They were 140 for 7 in the 17th over but Azmatullah Omarzai, Xavier Bartlett and Impact Player Vishnu Vinod ransacked 60 in the last 22 balls to lift them to 200 for 8.
Ryan Rickelton set up the chase for MI with his 23-ball 48. But it was Tilak Verma who played the pivotal role with his unbeaten 75 off 33. With 50 needed from three overs, he, with the help of Will Jacks, took MI over the line on the penultimate ball of the match.
Priyansh Arya opened his account with a second-ball four off Deepak Chahar and Prabhsimran picked up two fours off Bumrah in the following over. In all, the two combined to hit ten fours in the powerplay but there were plenty of dot balls and not a single six. To make things worse for PBKS, Chahar bowled Arya with a knuckleball in the final over of the powerplay, after which PBKS were 55 for 1.
Prabhsimran was on 10 off 11 balls at one point. He was dropped on 5 by Naman Dhir off Bumrah and then on 28 by Corbin Bosch off his own bowling. He made full use of those reprieves and slog-swept Raghu Sharma for back-to-back sixes. He brought up his fifty off 29 balls and took PBKS past 100.
Shardul turned the tide in the 12th over. Bowling cross-seam into the pitch, he had Prabhsimran miscue an aerial hit to deep third. Two balls later, he got another cross-seam delivery to straighten and ping Shreyas Iyer’s off stump. From the other end, Raj Bawa bowled Cooper Connolly for 21 off 22 in the next over. A little later, Shardul removed Suryansh Shedge and Marco Jansen, leaving PBKS on 140 for 7 in 16.2 overs.
PBKS were so down and out that they decided to bring in Vinod as Impact Player, and the move seemed to have paid off. First, Omarzai struck four sixes and two fours in a 17-ball 38. Then Vinod (15 not out off eight) and Bartlett (18 not out off seven) added 34 off just 12 in an unbroken stand for the ninth wicket to take the side to 200.
Arshdeep Singh started the chase with a two-run over, after which Rickelton took over. He showed a preference for the leg side; 34 of his 48 runs and all four sixes came on that side of the wicket. Of the 59 runs MI scored in the powerplay, 47 came from Rickelton’s bat, while Rohit Sharma was struggling on 12 off 15.
PBKS made a comeback after the powerplay. Omarzai removed Rickelton, Dhir fell to Jansen, and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Rohit to leave them 89 for 3 after ten overs.
While Tilak kept finding boundaries and moved to 22 off 11 balls, PBKS kept Sherfane Rutherford quiet. Jansen conceded just five singles in the 14th over and Arshdeep gave away only eight in the 15th, leaving MI with 72 to get from the last five.
Jacks and Tilak hit Jansen for two sixes and two fours in the 18th over. Arshdeep left Bartlett with 14 to defend in the final over but he started with a full toss, which Jacks hit over long-off for a six. A single and a dot brought it down to eight required from three. Tilak showed no nerves and smashed the next two balls for sixes to seal the win.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 205 for 4 in 19.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 25, Tilak Varma 75*, Ryan Rickelton 48, Sherfane Rutherford 20, Will Jacks 25*; Azmatullah Omarzai 2-36, Marco Jansen 1-55, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-32) beat Punjab Kings 200 for 8 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 57, Cooper Connolly 21, Azmatullah Omarazai 38, Vishnu Vinod 15*, Xavier Bartlett 18*; Shardul Thakur 4-39, Deepak Chahar 2-36, Corbin Bosch 1-42, Raj Bawa 1-11) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup-winning team will arrive in Kuala Lumpur today (Friday) for a series of events marking the 30th anniversary of their triumph that stunned the cricketing world. The tour, organised by Tourism Malaysia, Cricket Malaysia and the Royal Selangor Club, will feature several events spread across four days.
The highlight of the visit will be a T20 game involving the World Cup-winning side on Saturday, starting at 11:30 a.m. Sri Lanka time. The match will be telecast live on Dialog TV.
A gala dinner, coaching clinics for underprivileged children conducted by the former world champions and several fan engagement activities are also part of the programme.
Sri Lanka’s dependable number three from the 1996 campaign, Asanka Gurusinha and team physiotherapist Alex Kountouri, both based in Melbourne, had already arrived in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the event, while the rest of the squad were due to leave Colombo on Thursday night.
“I am really excited and looking forward to the event. It’s always fun to get together with the boys and relive the good old days. It’s going to be a cracking few days,” Gurusinha told The Island.
“Without us even realising it, 30 years have gone by since we became world champions. All the boys are still close to each other just like we were back then and as I said, it’s going to be an exciting few days,” he added.
The organisers have secured several sponsors for the occasion and hope the presence of Sri Lanka’s celebrated side will help generate greater interest in cricket in Malaysia.
Malaysia became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1967 and remains an active member of the Asian Cricket Council. Earlier this year, they appointed former Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore as Director of Cricket.
The country has previously hosted ICC events, including the Under-19 World Cup, but the national side has struggled to keep pace with emerging Asian teams such as Nepal, Oman, UAE and Hong Kong.
Badminton remains Malaysia’s most popular sport, accounting for ten of the country’s 15 Olympic medals. Football too enjoys a passionate following, leaving cricket fighting an uphill battle for wider appeal.
Rex Clementine
in Kuala Lumpur
Tilak Varma (c), Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (vc), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Arshad Khan
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