Sports
Test debut for Ratnayake at Old Trafford?
Rex Clementine
in Manchester
After Sri Lanka were beaten by England Lions in Worcester with two sessions to spare in the four day game, there was no packing of bags and getting ready to head to the next location – Manchester. Instead, the entire team was in the middle for a training session that went beyond two hours. One exception was uncapped fast bowler Milan Ratnayake.
Sri Lanka played three quicks for the four day game in Worcester that ended on Saturday. Right-arm seamer Asitha Fernando and his namesake Vishwa Fernando, a left-arm seam bowler, were rested from the warm-up game as they were certainties for Old Trafford. So, from the three quicks who played in Worcester, only one was going to feature in the first Test.
Lahiru Kumara, having bowled so well should be backed as the third seamer ahead of Kasun Rajitha and Milan Ratnayake. However, although both Kumara and Rajitha bowled after the game during the training session, Ratnayake was told to take a breather. That’s because of the three seamers, he was the most impressive in Worcester and he could be in line for his Test debut in three days’ time.
However, having said that, it will be a huge call to make for Kumara is Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler and was the highest wicket taker in Sri Lanka’s last series win.
Ratnayake’s ability to bat and bowl well with the older ball are factors that are in favour of him. Selector on tour Ajantha Mendis has a tough call to make.
Born in Kurunegala, Ratnayake learned his cricket at the far off Sri Sumangala Vidyalaya, Wariyapola. Standing at six feet and one inch, the 28-year-old represented Air Force in domestic cricket before moving to Australia.
Ratnayake played cricket in Australia for a couple of years but things didn’t work out with COVID and he returned home and has forced his way back into the senior side with good performance in domestic cricket.
Sri Lanka’s batting was a flop during the warm-up game. In the first innings, it was damp and overcast and the moving ball had the batters work cut out. But in the second essay, when the sun was out, you expected them to do much better.
In fact, they started off well with the openers adding 105 runs. Nishan Madushka was on course for a hundred that would have done his confidence lot of good ahead of the Test series. But he threw it away taking on the off-spinner.
Angelo Mathews and Sadeera Samarawickrama also gave their wickets away to the off-spinner with the former captain attempting a reverse sweep but was unable to execute it properly.
Captain Dhananjaya de Silva, like Mathews scored a half-century but fell to the second new ball shouldering arms.
In the first innings, Sri Lanka were shot out for 139 but fared much better scoring 306 in the second essay. They could have easily posted over 400 runs in the second innings and that would have tested England Lions.
You should not read too much into these warm-up games. The team usually bring up their best game when Test matches get underway.
Not often Sri Lanka get to play in England in the second half of the summer when the wickets have flattened out and the sun is out. Playing Test matches in May is quite a task when wickets are fresh and it is gloomy, dark and damp.
Old Trafford this season has been spinning a lot and Prabath Jayasuriya could have a major impact in the series. Asitha Fernando is a much improved bowler and has won Sri Lanka a few games. Vishwa Fernando, though, is Sri Lanka’s trump card. He featured for Yorkshire this year and had a good season.
Sri Lanka will be back in London next week for back to back Test matches at Lord’s and The Oval. They have not played a Test match at The Oval for 26 years now. Lord’s is nostalgic yes, but the other London Test ground has its own unique place in cricket having hosted the first ever Test match in England. Traditionally, The Oval also hosts the last Test match of the English season.
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
Noor Ahmad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) left-arm wristspinner, continues to head the Purple Cap table with ten wickets from four games. His spell of 4 for 18 in CSK’s first game against MI, remains his best so far.
DC’s Mitchell Starc who picked up his maiden five-for in T20s, against SRH remains second on the list with nine wickets in three games.
GT’s Mohammed Siraj equalled Starc’s tally on Sunday night with his own IPL best, albeit he has played four games to Starc’s three. Siraj picked up 4 for 17 against SRH to hand them their four successive loss, and was named the Player of the Match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered another batting malfunction, this time on a slow, black-soil surface at home, crashing to their fourth successive defeat in IPL 2025. Having lost Travishek in the powerplay, SRH waited until the 13th over to see the first six of the innings, and managed only one more after that Mohammad Siraj caused irreparable damage right from the start, ending with his career-best IPL figures of 4 for 17.
Pat Cummins’ cameo (22* off nine balls) and then his dismissal of Jos Buttler for a duck in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) chase of 153 gave SRH some hope, but that faded away once Washington Sundar clattered 23 off nine balls in the powerplay. Earlier in the day, GT didn’t need Washington with the ball, but his attacking enterprise at No. 4 settled their chase on a slow pitch. Washington fell agonisingly short of a maiden IPL half-century, but his captain Shubman Gill ushered GT home, with an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls, along with Sherfane Rutherford.
Siraj had sparked the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to life when he gave Travis Head a send-off in Adelaide last December. Four months on, Siraj was bowling to Head for the first time in T20s, and the battle lasted just five balls. After Head scored two fours off Siraj, the fast bowler struck with his trademark wobble-seam delivery, having him chip a catch to midwicket for 8.
Abhishek Sharma hit four fours before Siraj had him miscuing a catch to mid-on in his third over of the powerplay. It was Siraj’s 100th wicket in the IPL and sixth in the powerplay, the most by a bowler in that phase so far this season, with an economy rate of 6.27.
Siraj then returned in the death to york both Aniket Verma, the last recognised batter for SRH, and Simarjeet Singh, their Impact Player.
With both Head and Abhishek gone early,Rashid Khan, who was coming into this game on the back of figures of 4-0-54-0, could afford to ease himself in. He started fairly well by giving away just 10 runs in his first two overs, but when he erred in length, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klassen dispatched him to the fence. Rashid finished with 4-0-31-0, going wicketless for a third successive game, and with tournament figures of 1 for 143 in 14 overs at an economy rate of 10.21
Left-arm fingerspinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, on the other hand, showed remarkable control over his length and variations. He claimed the big wicket of Klaasen by knocking him over with a quick dart, which skidded off the pitch, for 27 off 19 balls. Sai Kishore also had Reddy holing out for 31 off 34 balls and finished with 4-0-24-2.
That SRH passed 150 was down to Cummins’ late blows. He was the only SRH batter in the top eight to have a strike rate of over 160.
It appeared like GT had handed a franchise debut to Washington to primarily match his offspin up with SRH’s left-hander heavy top order. But with Siraj dominating the powerplay and Sai Kishore taking care of the middle overs, GT ended up not using his offspin.
Washington then walked out to bat at No. 4 after his childhood friend B Sai Sudarshan and Buttler fell cheaply in successive overs. Washington took advantage of the last over of the powerplay, smoking Simarjeet for two sixes and two fours. It provided a throwback to Washington of 2016, when he opened the batting, alongside Abhinav Mukund, in the TNPL and showed the intent to hit over the top. Just like that, Washington dumped SRH’s Impact Player out of the attack.
Washington continued to attack even after that. When the ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis darted one on the stumps with his right hand, Washington manufactured swinging room and laced him over extra-cover for four. Washington seemed set for a fifty until he holed out one shy of the landmark in the 14th over.
Gill, who had already crossed 50 by that point, finished the job along with Rutherford, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 16 balls.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 153 for 3 in 16.4 overs (Shubman Gill 61*, Washington Sundar 49, Sherfaine Rutherford 35*; Mohammed Shami 2-28, Pat Cumminss 1-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 152 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 18, Ishan Krishan 17, Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Heinrich Klassen 27, Aniket Verma 18,Pat Cummins 22*; Mohammed Siraj 4-17, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 2-24, Prasidh Krishna 2-25)by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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