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Sri Lanka reduce Pakistan to 130 for five before rain intervenes

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Pramod Madushan cleaned up Fakhar Zaman early in the innings having come into the side in place of Kasun Rajitha.

Sri Lanka were off to a solid start in the virtual Asia Cup semi-final reducing Pakistan to 130 for five in their last second round game of the tournament at RPS on Thursday.Both teams had beaten Bangladesh in the Super Four stage but had lost to India and whoever wins this contest will go through to Sunday’s final. India are already through to the finals.

Pramod Madushan replaced Kasun Rajitha and tasted immediate success cleaning up Fakhar Zaman with an inswinging yorker. Babar Azam was superbly stumped by Kusal Mendis as Dunith Wellalage continued his habit of taking big wickets. The left-arm spinner had claimed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in successive overs in Sri Lanka’s earlier game on Tuesday.

Asad Shafique posted a half-century but was dismissed when he tried to put Matheesha Pathirana away for a boundary but failed to clear the mid-wicket fielder.

Pathirana claimed a second wicket when he took a return catch to dismiss Mohammad Haris. Maheesh Theekshana joined the party when he cleaned up Mohammad Nawaz and play was stopped with Pakistan on 130 for five in 27.4 overs due to rain.

The game was delayed due to rain and although match officials decided to play a 45 over game, there was a threat of regular rain interruptions.

Sri Lanka would not be complaining as a no result would give them a slot in the final. Although both teams have the same points in the Super Four stage, Sri Lanka’s Net Run Rate is far superior than Pakistan’s who had suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of India.

Apart from Rajitha, Sri Lanak also left out the experienced Dimuth Karunaratne in place of Kusal Perera, who is making a return to the ODI side after a considerable break due to injury.Pakistan were forced to make five changes due to injuries to players.



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Australia tighten their grip on second Test

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Dhananjaya de Silva looked to have run out of ideas as Australia batted themselves into a commanding position on day two of the second Test in Galle.

Rex Clementine in Galle

Australia are well and truly in the driver’s seat in the second Test against Sri Lanka after commanding centuries from skipper Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Alex Carey. At stumps on day two, the visitors were 330 for three, leading by 73 runs, and poised to post a mammoth first-innings total, heaping pressure on the hosts.

The duo stitched together an unbroken 239 run stand for the fourth wicket, frustrating the Sri Lankan bowlers, who were left searching for answers. The hosts had their moments early on, but once the ball lost its bite, the spinners struggled to get the same fizz off the surface, and Australia capitalized in style.

Smith, fresh from a big hundred in the first Test, had a jittery start, negotiating a few testing deliveries. He was given out leg-before on 24, but the decision was overturned on review. Once he settled in, it was vintage Smith on display. With cover drives that oozed elegance and pull shots executed with precision, he stamped his authority. He took a few calculated risks, and with Sri Lanka lacking a substantial total to defend, the field was soon spread out to cut off boundaries rather than hunt for wickets. That didn’t deter the Aussie captain, who pierced the gaps with ease, dispatching nine fours and a six. He brought up his 36th Test hundred in style, pulling part-timer Kamindu Mendis to the mid-wicket boundary.

Carey, promoted to number five in place of Josh Inglis – who was off the field nursing a sore back – grabbed his chance with both hands. The left-hander outpaced his captain, racing to his half-century in just 68 deliveries. His hundred came in emphatic fashion, a well-timed sweep racing to the boundary. He needed just 118 balls to reach the milestone, finishing with a career-best 139 off 156 balls with 13 fours and two sixes.

Sri Lanka began promisingly, reducing Australia to 37 for two before prising out the key wicket of Usman Khawaja at 91. But that was as good as it got for the hosts. Once Smith and Carey joined forces, they wrested control, dictating terms and pushing Sri Lanka onto the back foot.

With a 2-0 series sweep in their sights, Australia are on course to seal the deal, having already inflicted Sri Lanka’s worst-ever Test defeat in the series opener – a crushing innings-and-242-run humiliation. The home side now face an uphill battle to turn the tide, but with Australia tightening the screws, the writing appears to be on the wall.

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Malintha bags ten wickets as St. Sebastian’s book semi-final ticket 

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Malintha Silva

Under 19 Division I Cricket 

by Reemus Fernando 

A painstaking knock of 49 runs by Kaveesha Perera and a valuable half century by Navod Fernando helped St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa pull off an exciting four wicket victory over St. Anthony’s College Katugastota in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket quarter-final at Gajaba Regiment Ground Saliyapura, Anuradhapura on Friday.

It was a huge turnaround for the Sebs after conceding a first innings deficit of 51 runs. Tournament’s highest wicket taker, Malintha Silva’s six wicket haul in the second innings was the turning point as Sebs dismissed St. Anthony’s for 103 runs. Malintha collected a match bag of ten wickets.

Chasing 149 runs for victory St. Sebastian’s lost three wickets for 40 runs but Navod Fernando’s 58 runs and Kaveesha’s 131-ball 49 helped them ease nerves and reach the target with a session to spare.

Now St. Sebastian’s will meet the winners of the match between St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s in the semi-final on 12, 13 and 14 at Samadi Ground Anuradhapura.

In the other quarter-final, first innings points were enough for Royal to advance to the semi-final.

Despite having a huge first innings lead, Royal decided not to enforce the follow-on. They posted 248 runs thanks to an unbeaten 122 runs by Vimath Dinsara. In their second essay S. Thomas’ were 186 for three wickets at close.

Now Royal will wait for a decision by a SLSCA committee to see who would be their semi-final opponents from the Mahanama-Trinity match. The quarter-final between Mahanama and Trinity did not last the full distance after Mahanama disputed a move by the ground staff to roll the wicket earlier than the scheduled time and pulled out. Trinity were ahead in the first innings. The committee were scheduled to meet in the morning on Saturday (8) to take a decision.

Match Details 

At Gajaba Regiment Ground Saliyapura, Anuradhapura 

Scores

St. Anthony’s 204 all out in 70 overs

(Sanuka Kalpana 41, Charuka Ekanayake 24, Kevan Fernando 89n.o.; Risinu Prabesh 2/21, Malintha Silva 4/60) and 103 all out in 35.4 overs (Okitha Fernando 29, Charuka Ekanayake 21, Kevan Fernando 28; Malintha Silva 6/54, Shenas Hashein 3/23)

St. Sebastian’s 159 all out in 67 overs

(Ushen Silva 33, Ryan Dissanayake 33, Navod Fernando 34; Charuka Ekanayake 3/66, Dinura Ganegoda 3/20, Kevan Fernando 2/09) and 00 for 1 overnight 149 for 6 in 51.1 overs (Kaveesha Perera 49, Navod Fernando 58; Charuka Ekanayake 2/33, Ryan Gregory 2/24, Sadew Amarakoon 2/22)

At Samadi Ground Anuradhapura 

Scores 

Royal 301 all out in 102.4 overs

(Hirun Liyanarachchi 22, Rehan Peiris 82, Ramiru Perera 81, Yasindu Dissanayake 58; Kavindu Dias 2/69, Abheeth Paranawidana 2/66, Minon Warnasuriya 2/37) and 50 for 2 overnight 248 all out in 63.5 overs (Isula Geeganage 47, Vimath Dinsara 122n.o, Ramiru Perera 25; Abheeth Paranawidana 3/63, Aaron de Silva 3/48)

S. Thomas’ 120 all out in 58.2 overs

(Dineth Goonewardene 28, Sachitha Gunasinghe 33; Sehandu Sooriyaarachchi 5/31, Ranuka Malaviarachchi 2/39) and 186 for 3 in 39 overs  (Sadew Soysa 57, Jaden Amaraweera 46,  Dineth Gunawardana 44n.o., Mithila Charles 34n.o.)

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Sandas, Venuli Under 18 singles champs

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CL Synergy SSC Open Tennis Championship

Sandas Usgodaarachchi and Venuli Jayasinghe emerged Under 18 boys’ and girls’ singles champions of the CL Synergy SSC Open Tennis Championship continued in Colombo on Friday.

Usgodaarachchi beat Ganuka Fernando 6-0, 6-1 in the final to clinch the title.

In the girls’ singles title fight, Venuli Jayasinghe beat Sandithi Usgodaarachchi 1-6, 7-6, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Revan Amarasinghe and Avin Diad beat Sanithu Samaraweera and Chirath Subasinghe 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 to win the Under 14 boys’ doubles title.

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