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Test in the balance after Brathwaite’s marathon innings

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A century from Kraigg Brathwaite proved the backbone of a strong first innings for the West Indies but Sri Lanka are firmly in the contest after another fifty from Lahiru Thirimanne.

Sri Lanka reached stumps at 136/3 trailing by 218 after bowling the West Indies out for 354 earlier in the day.

With Dinesh Chandimal (34*) and Dhanajaya de Silva (23*) both well set, the Sri Lankans will be hoping to take a key first-innings lead.

Having played within himself with plenty of success in the first Test, Thirimanne started his innings in the second Test more positivity. He opened his account with a drive through mid-off for four in the innings’ first over from Roach.

With his captain and opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne struggling at the other end, Thirimanne looked to keep the pressure on the West Indies’ attack, hitting another boundary in the sixth over off Shannon Gabriel.

While Thirimanne was seeing them well, Karunaratne was struggling to get going. Having scored a single off the first ball he faced, he had since been kept scoreless for 15 balls. On the 16th he edged Alzarri Joseph to the cordon, where he was caught spectacularly. Diving full length to his right at third slip, Nkrumah Bonner pulled in the catch with his right hand at full stretch.

Despite the loss of Karunaratne, Sri Lanka reached the tea break in the reasonably strong position of 60/1, with Thirimanne closing in on a half-century following a flurry of boundaries towards the end of the session.

It had been an eventful start to the innings for Oshada Fernando, who survived two lbw reviews from the West Indies before the tea break. Both reviews had come back ‘umpire’s call’. On 18 his time was up, trapped in front by Kyle Mayers.

And the hosts were soon celebrating a double-strike as Thirimanne played one shot too many, chopping on against Roach for 55 to leave Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 77/3. It was Thirimanne’s third consecutive half-century for the series.

His fall meant two new batsmen were out in the middle but that did not prove the opening the West Indies had hoped, with Chandimal and Dhananjaya reaching stumps with relative ease – the latter surviving a caught behind appeal from Cornwall in the final over of the day.

Earlier, the day started on a positive note for the West Indies as Brathwaite brought up his first Test century as captain on the second ball of the morning session.

It was a welcome return to form for the opener, who had not scored a century since 2018.

Having gone to sleep on 99, he put any nerves to bed at the start of the day by nudging Suranga Lakmal down to fine leg for a single to reach the milestone in 241 deliveries. The 28-year-old has now scored nine Test centuries and he is the only West Indies opener to have scored a hundred in the format since Chris Gayle in 2013.

In the very next over the Sri Lankans thought they had their man as Brathwaite edged Vishwa Fernando to second slip. However, umpire Joel Wilson suspected it was a bump-ball and the third umpire quickly confirmed as much.

The West Indies were soon celebrating another milestone as Cornwall raised his second consecutive half-century with an edged four behind point. Another edge for four through the same region took Cornwall past his previous Test best of 61. His next boundary was far more convincing – a backfoot cut for four that took the eighth-wicket stand past 100.

But Cornwall’s luck would soon run out as he miscued a drive against Lakmal straight into the hands of mid-off to perish for a 92-ball 73 featuring 10 fours and one six.

With his team at 325/8 and only the tail for company, Brathwaite started to play his strokes, punching Lakmal down the ground for one boundary before smoking Dushmantha Chameera through the covers for another.

Unfortunately for the hosts, the fireworks did not last too long.  Roach came and went, caught behind off Chameera, and soon after Brathwaite’s 311-ball, 514-minute vigil came to an end.

The captain dragged a good length ball from Chameera onto his stumps, perishing for 126 having lifted his side to a commendable 354 after it was 185/6 at one point. (ICC)



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Kusal Mendis propels Sri Lanka to commanding 324

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Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando posted centuries and added a record 206 runs for the second wicket in the first ODI against New Zealand at Dambulla on Wednesday.

Rex Clementine at Dambulla

Top-order batter Kusal Mendis hit top form, notching up a brilliant century to lead Sri Lanka to an imposing 324 for five in the first ODI against New Zealand at Dambulla on Wednesday. Supported by Avishka Fernando, who also reached a century, Mendis was the driving force in Sri Lanka’s dominant display.

The pair stitched together a record-breaking 206-run stand off 215 balls for the second wicket, setting a new benchmark between the two teams in ODIs and surpassing the 170-run partnership Sanath Jayasuriya and Hashan Tillakaratne achieved against New Zealand during the 2003 World Cup. This partnership also stands as the highest for any wicket at Dambulla in ODIs, an achievement led by Mendis’s aggressive batting.

While Avishka’s century was a welcome return to form—his first since 2021—he fell soon after reaching the milestone. A slog sweep attempt against Ish Sodhi saw him miscue to mid-on, concluding his innings at a vital 100. However, it was Kusal who continued to push the boundaries, reaching a career-best 143, marking his fourth ODI century and first of 2024. His innings also set a new individual record for Dambulla, eclipsing Shikhar Dhawan’s previous high of 132 from 2017.

Kusal’s knock was both commanding and elegant, with 17 fours and two sixes, driving Sri Lanka’s innings at a rapid pace. His 53-run flourish with Charith Asalanka off just 33 balls propelled Sri Lanka further. New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy eventually ended Mendis’s onslaught when he holed out at extra cover, but his impressive 143 from 128 balls had already set Sri Lanka up for a formidable total.

Earlier in the innings, after Pathum Nissanka’s early departure for 12, Mendis took charge, leading Sri Lanka through a challenging phase. Following his record-breaking stand with Avishka, Sadeera Samarawickrama was dismissed for five, but Charith Asalanka’s quickfire 40 off 28 balls, laced with three fours and two sixes, kept the momentum in Sri Lanka’s favour.

New Zealand’s spinners struggled to contain Mendis and his fellow batsmen, as Sri Lanka kept the scoreboard ticking at over 6.5 runs per over.

Rain briefly delayed play at the start of Sri Lanka’s innings, pausing the action for 39 minutes. Later, rain returned with four balls left, ending Sri Lanka’s innings at 324 for five in 49.2 overs.

With the T20 series preceding the ODIs ending in a 1-1 draw, the teams now move to Pallekele for the remaining games in what promises to be an intense ODI series.

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Mahanama record ten wickets win over St. Benedict’s

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Anuka Wijewardana and Chamika Heenatigala

Under 19 Cricket

by Reemus Fernando

Left-arm spinner Anuka Wijewardana completed a match bag of 11 wickets as Mahanama cruised to a ten wickets win with more than a session to spare in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket encounter against St. Benedict’s at Bloomfield ground on Wednesday.

Mahanama added just over 40 runs to the overnight total before rattling Bens for 95 runs. Wijewardana and Chamika Heenatigala picked up four wickets each to restrict Bens to their lowest total in a tournament match this season.

Mahanama needed 13 runs for the victory and they reached the target without loosing a wicket.

Heenatigala collected a match bag of seven wickets and top scored with 65 runs.

It was Mahanama’s second outright victory of the season and the first in the tournament proper.

Meanwhile, in reply to Richmond’s massive score of 401 for six wickets declared, D.S. Senanayaka were dismissed for 287 runs. Following on they were one run for no wickets at close.

Scores:

St. Benedict’s

131 all out in 42.5 overs (Akein Perera 43, Didula Eshan 28, Trishane Silva 21n.o.; Anuka Wijewardana 7/39, Chamika Heenatigala 3/20) and 95 all out in 40 overs (Manikya Deshapriya 26, Trishane Silva 23; Anuka Wijewardana 4/28, Chamika Heenatigala 4/31)

Mahanama

171 for 6 overnight 214 all out in 58.2 overs (Dulneth Algawatte 31, Chamika Heenatigala 65, Eshan Withanage 41, Osanda Muthugama 22; Ayesh Gajanayake 2/28, Mevan Dissanayake 4/66, Samindu Peiris 3/32) and 15 for no loss in 2.3 overs

Richmond take first innings honours at Wijerama Mawatha

Scores:

Richmond

401 for 6 decl. in 88.4 overs (Nikil Jayaweera 28, Helitha Edirisinghe 99, Thamindu Pradeeptha 166, Shehan de Zoysa 60; Kiran Janendra 3/90)

DSS

32 for 1 overnight 287 all out in 91.4 overs (Bihan Gamage 32, Dehem Nirmal 36, Malitha Perera 61, Shanal Binuksha 26, Randisha Bandaranayake 81; Tenusha Nimsara 3/95, Minaga Ariyadasa 4/32) and 1 for no loss in 1 over

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Afridi back as No. 1 ODI bowler, Hasaranga second in T20Is

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Wanindu Hasaranga rattled New Zealand in Dambulla

Pakistan quick Shaheen Shah Afridi is back as the No. 1 ODI bowler in the latest ICC rankings, making it a double for Pakistan cricketers at the summit with Babar Azam extending his lead as the top batter in the format.

Afridi’s eight wickets at an average of 12.62 in three outings against Australia took him past Kuldeep Yadav, Rashid Khan and Keshav Maharaj to the top. Rashid remained at No. 2, while Maharaj slipped from first to third and Kuldeep one place down to fourth. This is the second time Afridi has reached top position in ODI rankings after a brief stay there during the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Afridi’s seam-bowling partner Haris Rauf moved up 14 places to 13th after bagging 10 wickets in the ODIs against Australia, that had earned him the Player-of-the-Series award. Naseem Shah also climbed 14 spots to a career-best 55th.

Babar’s scores of 37, 15* and 28* increased his lead among ODI batters. He stays well ahead of the Indian trio of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli who remain in second, third and fourth respectively.

There were big gainers among allrounders after the ODI series between Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the UAE. Player of the Series Mohammad Nabi remained as the No. 1 ODI allrounder and Rashid went up a place to third, and Azmatullah Omarzai’s strong showing pushed him two places up to No. 9, making it three Afghan players in the top 10. Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who took three wickets in the series and scored 66 in the third ODI, jumped four places to No. 4.

Shaheen took eight wickets at an average of 12.62 in the Australia ODIs

In T20Is, Wanidu Hasaranga’s series haul of 6 for 37 against New Zealand – despite limping through the second fixture where he claimed 4 for 17 – took him four places up to second spot among the bowlers, only behind England’s Adil Rashid.

Akeal Hosein’s economical performance against England lifted him to third place while Ravi Bishnoi’s four scalps in two games against South Africa took him one spot up to No. 7.

Among batters, the England pair of Phil Salt (second) and Jos Buttler (sixth), alongside West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran (10th) all moved one place up each in the batting rankings after two games in the five-match series in the Caribbean.

From the ongoing South Africa vs India T20I series, Sanju Samson continued his rise in the batting ranks. A second successive T20I century for the India opener, this time a 50-ball 107 in the first game, saw him leapfrog 27 positions to 39th. The South African duo of Reeza Hendricks (up two places to 12th) and Tristan Stubbs (up 12 spots to 26th) also made headway on the T20I batting charts that is still led by Travis Head. Salt and Suryakumar Yadav round off the top three.

[Cricinfo]

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