Sports

T20 heavyweights look to draw first blood ahead of five-round bout

Published

3 hours ago

2025/01/22

Priyan

Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami work together at the nets [Cricinfo]

Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum have many things in common. They were both stellar openers, they were both captain and coach of Kolkata Knight Riders at different times, they’re both known for their “aggressive” mindsets when it comes to approaching the game from the dugout, and, now, they both find themselves trying to shepherd teams in transition.

India’s has been easier, at least in this format, with three superstars calling time on their careers with T20 World Cup medals around their neck, and others fitting in smoothly over the course of wins against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. England’s has been trickier, with one of the most exciting white-ball teams in world cricket struggling in ICC tournaments since their T20 World Cup win in 2022.

This has meant McCullum enters the India T20I series as England’s white-ball coach for the first time, with ambitions of maximising the team’s unfulfilled potential. And for Gambhir, the aim is to show that the T20I team remains unaffected by the poor Test results that have shaken the establishment.

It’s against this backdrop that India and England meet in a five-match series that could testthe limits of the shortest format. And as the lines between T20Is and ODIs keep blurring, there will be opportunities for some T20I specialists to stake their claim for future ODI positions – especially after the Champions Trophy concludes.

Five potentially delectable T20 batting surfaces await the two sides across the next fortnight, and the first salvo in Kolkata will give a glimpse of what to expect.

Very few youngsters right now have the aura of Jacob Bethell. He made blistering international debuts in all three formats at the back end of 2024. He has had a stint with Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, and has an IPL contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru without playing a single game in India. The left-hand batter has developed a reputation of smacking spinners for fun, is a handy left-arm spinner himself, and is considered an electric fielder in the ring and on the boundary line. Could there be a more perfect T20 cricketer in this era? Slotted in at No. 6 for the first T20I against India, Bethell’s stocks have never been higher. England see him as one of their future superstars. Now all he has to do is ace the India challenge.

On the other hand, Mohammad Shami at age 34, is making an international comeback after an ankle surgery and a knee niggle. He hasn’t played international cricket since India’s loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, and despite India trying other fast bowlers in the interim, there’s a feeling that Shami remains India’s second-best seamer behind Jasprit Bumrah. India have gambled by selecting him for next month’s Champions Trophy, and the focus in the T20Is and ODIs against England will be on how his body holds up. It’s also the perfect way for him to come back, at his domestic-cricket home ground.

England captain Jos Buttler said he was especially pleased at having every first-choice T20I player available for this series. They have named their XI already, with Phil Salt taking the gloves and Ben Duckett opening alongside him. Buttler himself will be at No. 3, with England also having the searing pace and fit bodies of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to attack India. While Wood is the only one in the XI without a century in senior cricket, even he can crunch big shots, and that makes England one of the most dangerous batting outfits at the moment.

India have two major decisions to make: how many spinners to play, and how deep their batting should look. Arshdeep Singh, Shami and Hardik Pandya should be be the seamers, while Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel could be the two spin options. That probably leaves India deciding between seam-bowling allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, spin-bowling allrounder Washington Sundar, and an outright wristspinner in Ravi Bishnoi. England are right-hander-heavy, and struggle against fingerspinners, two factors that could decide India’s eventual choice.

England: Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (capt), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

India (probable): Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar/Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.

[Cricinfo]

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Sports

India and Sri Lanka make it two-in-two with one-sided wins

Published

9 hours ago

2025/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

Chamodi Praboda made big inroads in the powerplay. (ICC/Getty Images)

India and Sri Lanka achieved their second wins in Group A of the Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup with easy victories over Malaysia and West Indies, respectively, in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

While Sri Lanka’s win was an all-round show in the first game, India’s left-arm spin duo of Vaishnavi Sharma and Aayushi Shukla set up the victory for India with big hauls, Vaishnavi starring with a hat-trick to complete a five-for.

India chose to field in the second game of the day, as they had in their first game against West Indies, and it took them just 14.3 overs to dismiss the hosts Malaysia for 31. India conceded 11 extras and no Malaysia batter made more than 5.

For India, VJ Joshitha started things off with a wicket in the second over, and Nur Aliya was run out in Joshitha’s next over. Shukla and Vaishnavi got going after that, with Vaishnavi taking 5 for 5 from her four overs, and Shukla 3 for 8 from 3.3 overs.

That target was never going to pose a problem for India, and they got home in just 2.5 overs without losing a wicket, Gongadi Trisha hitting 27 in 12 balls and her opening partner Kamalini G scoring 4 off 5.

India will finish the group stage with a game against Sri Lanka on Thursday, a fixture that will determine the Group A toppers. It’s also a game that will pit an outstanding bowling side – India, who have shot out their opponents for 44 and 31 in their two games – and a high-scoring batting side – Sri Lanka, who have so far hit 162 for 6 and 166 for 5, the top two scores in the tournament so far.

In the first game of the day, it was a slightly improved performance from West Indies after they were beaten by nine wickets by India in their opener, but it was not enough to challenge Sri Lanka, who ran away 81-run victors.

Batting first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka rode on contributions from opener Sanjana Kavindi (39 off 36 balls), captain and No. 3 batter Manudi Nanayakkara (41 off 31) and middle-order bat Dahami Sanethma (31 not out off 25), as well as 36 extras to put up a huge total.

The target of 167 might have been too much for West Indies to get to anyway, and left-arm spinner Chamodi Praboda’s spell in the powerplay, where she accounted for Asabi Callender, Naijanni Cumberbatch and Jahzara Claxton, put the result beyond doubt.

There were pockets of resistance after the initial setbacks, especially from captain Samara Ramnath, who scored a 23-ball 24 opening the innings, but there wasn’t much of note from the other batters – Claxton, Amrita Ramtahal and Kenika Casaar were the only others to just about make it into double digits.

Aseni Thalagune took 2 for 16 to complement Praboda’s 3 for 16, and West Indies, always well behind the asking rate, only got as far as 90. (cricinfo.com)

Sports

Joes keep alive chances of earning top spot in group

Published

9 hours ago

2025/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

Under 19 Division I Cricket

by Reemus Fernando

St. Joseph’s came almost close to recording an outright victory against Lumbini as they kept alive their chances of taking the top spot in their group in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket tournament.

Nushan Perera took five wickets to restrict Lumbini to 93 runs for nine wickets in the second innings at stumps. The Joes were one wicket short of recording an innings win.

The first innings win earned them 11.76 points and their total aggregate after the sixth match was 66.09 points (average 13.218). With three matches to go they have a chance to take the top spot from Mahanama.

Mahanama who commenced their penultimate match yesterday against Richmond lead the points table with 83.50 points. They took first innings lead against Richmond yesterday and will be looking to take maximum points today.

St. Benedict’s are the last placed team in the group ‘X’ points table and need to do well against Prince of Wales who posted 275 for six wickets declared on day one in their match yesterday.

Note:
This is an up-to-date points table prepared by The Island.
Keys:
MP- Matches played, IW- Innings win, IL – Lost by an innings, WO – Won
outright, LO – Lost outright, 1st IW- Won on 1st innings, 1st IL – Lost on first
innings, 1st IT – Tied on 1st innings, MT – Match ended in tie, ND- No decision,
TP- Total points, AVE – Average

Sports

Sahansa, Annaya book semi-final berths

Published

9 hours ago

2025/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sahansa Damsiluni (Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

Sahansa Damsiluni and Annaya Norbert reached the girls’ singles semi-finals of the ITF Asia 14 and Under Development Championship (South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia) week two event at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts on Tuesday.

Sahansa beat Mongolian Adama Macono in her quarter-final while Annaya beat Howladcr Jannat from Bangladesh in her match.

Sohail Hajira of Pakistan and Gurung Shivali of Nepal were the winners of the other two quarter-final matches.