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Thurstan recover thanks to sixth wicket stand, Shevan scores second century

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Shevan Menusha scored his second century of the season for De Mazenod.

Under 19 Division I Cricket 

by Reemus Fernando 

Table leaders St. Thomas’ College Matara rocked Thurstan top order batting line up (14/4 and 52/5) before the sixth wicket pair of Rachintha de Silva (70) and Pathum Dananjaya (66) put on a stand of 117 runs to revive the innings in the Under 19 Division I  Tier ‘B’ tournament match at Thurstan ground on Thursday.

The St. Thomas’ new ball bowlers did well to take advantage of the conditions as they rattled the top four batsmen for 14 runs before the sixth wicket pair repaired the damage for the home team to post 229 runs.

At Campbell Park, Arosha Sithumina anchored  the top order with an unbeaten 70 for Devapathiraja to reach 149 for two wickets at stumps in reply to Wesley’s 258.

In a traditional match between De Mazenod and Gurukula at Kandana, the home team posted 214 runs thanks largely to a captain’s knock of 123 runs by Shevan Menusha. The wicketkeeper batsman scored 20 fours in his 205-ball knock. It is the second century scored by Menusha this season.

At Wattala, St. Anthony’s reached 225 for seven wickets before bad light forced an early end to the day’s play in the match against Dharmaraja.

Match details 

Thurstan 229, St. Thomas’ 56/2 at Thurstan ground 

Scores

Thurstan

229 all out in 78 overs (Rachintha de Silva 70, Pathum Dananjaya 66, Thanuga Palihawadana 39; Shashindu Methpahan 2/31, Senura Gihan 4/43)

St. Thomas’

56 for 2 in 16 overs  (Senura Gihan 31n.o.)

Wesley 258, Devapathiraja 140/2 at Campbell Park 

Scores

Wesley

258 all out in 69.6 overs (Shehandu Athauda 43, Anuga Pahansara 32, Lithum Senuja 58, Deneth Sigera 22, Rukshan Tharanga 29, Denuwan Nethmal 24; Sandaru Malshan 4/86, Arosha Sithumina 3/22)

Devapathiraja

140 for 2 in 37 overs (Arosha Sithumina 70n.o., Darshaka Sandeep 20, Yasiru Lakshan 40)

St. Anthony’s reach 225 for seven wickets  before bad light stops play at Wattala 

Scores:

St. Anthony’s

225 for 7 in 87 overs (Kavindu Senadi 55, Kavindu Vihanga 27, Shehara Pinto 47, Chamod Sandeepa 42n.o.; Lakvin Abeysinghe 2/52, Onija Sesath 2/50, Jayodya Kadigawa 2/31)

Traditional match 

Shevan scores century at Kandana 

Scores 

De Mazenod

214 all out in 67 overs (Shevan Menusha 123, Dinosh Jelon 23, Savinu Chanthula 21; Tharusha Kodikara 2/53, Daham Vimukthi 3/35, Poorna Kalhara 4/48)

Gurukula

50 for 3 at stumps in 24 overs (Poorna Kalhara 29n.o.)



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Zimbabwe, Ireland look to enhance their ODI cred as road to 2027 World Cup begins

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Ireland will have a settled top six, with Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie up the order [Cricinfo]

Zimbabwe and Ireland are set to play three ODIs starting on February 14. The series is not wrapped in a larger context but is working towards the 2027 ODI World Cup – a converging goal for both teams. ESPNcricinfo looks ahead to what the teams can do to align themselves towards their goals in Harare.

Zimbabwe’s summer of 2024-25 is galloping towards its finish, and while they were able to snatch an ODI win each against Afghanistan and Pakistan, they are yet to win a series. In fact, they are yet to win a series across formats. They have three ODIs and three T20Is to change that before heading to England for a Test in three months.

Ireland came out of the cold to seal a hat-trick of Test wins, and they now have the opportunity to whet their appetite in white-ball cricket before their home summer, which also starts in three months.

Both teams did not qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup, so they were not in contention to make the upcoming Champions Trophy. But they do have a carrot to run towards.

Zimbabwe will co-host the 2027 ODI World Cup along with South Africa. Ireland, who were unable to qualify for the last two editions despite ODIs being the format that helped them break into the international stage, have a chance to make a comeback.

On the flipside, the absence of high stakes can free the teams to test out tactics and players if they wish to do so.

The first ever ODI between these two teams, which took place in the 2007 World Cup, ended in a tie, and since then, Ireland have won ten of the 21 ODIs that have been played. The extent of their dominance is magnified in their last ten completed games, out of which they have won eight.  They have won five of the 11 games in Harare, but are coming in with a streak of three wins at the venue.

Zimbabwe will be boosted by the return of Craig Ervine, who missed the Test due to a family emergency, and Sikandar Raza, who was with Dubai Capitals – the winners of the third edition of the ILT20. Their top-seven batters, who have averaged 16.69 since the start of 2024, will need to step up for the team to go through an upward trajectory.

In that period, Ireland have played five ODIs, compared to Zimbabwe’s nine. So, time in the middle will be significant in and of itself. They have a settled top-six, with captain Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie at the top, and a seasoned bowling line-up, led by Craig Young and Mark Adair.

Only three ODIs have been played in Harare in the past 12 months. But in the 19 games it has hosted in the last two – including the ODI World Cup Qualifiers in 2023 – the pacers have picked up 144 wickets at an average of 30.38 and economy of 5.37, while the spinners have taken 94 wickets at an average of 36.08 and an economy of 5.10 . However, those numbers could be a result of the fact that all 19 games have been played during the day, where the new ball assisted bowlers in the powerplay before conditions eased out in the middle overs.

So, top-order runs and early wickets in the first innings are likely to carry a premium, as will good defensive spin bowling in the middle overs.

[Cricinfo]

 

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Vandersay wins ESPNcricinfo 2024 men’s ODI bowling award

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Two of Vandersay's wickets came in the same over - Shivam Dube and Shubman Gill. And he got Virat Kohli in his next [Cricinfo]

Jeffrey Vandersay has won the ESPNcricinfo 2024 men’s bowling award for his feat of 6 for 33 in the second ODI against India in Colombo.

Sri Lanka hadn’t won a bilateral ODI series against India since August 1987. They came into this one having lost each of their last six ODIs against India. They came in on the back of losing two unloseable games in a 3-0 T20I defeat.

This Sri Lanka side had finished ninth out of ten teams at the 2023 World Cup, and had missed out on qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

In the soil of Khettarama, however, lay a possible route to redemption. Spin. The first ODI, a classic that finished in a tie that shouldn’t have been, showed the way.

But Sri Lanka’s chances of bettering that effort in the second ODI took a blow when a hamstring injury ruled out the talismanic Wanindu Hasaranga. In his place came Vandersay, a perennial understudy who had played only 22 of Sri Lanka’s 158 ODIs since his debut in December 2015.

By the time of Vandersay’s introduction with the ball, Sri Lanka were struggling to stay in the game. India, chasing 241, were 80 for no loss in 11 overs. Rohit Sharma was batting on 53 off 34 balls. Sri Lanka had packed five spinners into their attack, but the three who had bowled till then had gone for 57 in seven overs.

Onto this stage strode the unlikeliest of heroes. From his second over to his seventh, Vandersay struck six times as India slumped from 97 for no loss to 147 for 6, scything through a star-studded top order on a pitch that, albeit helpful, wasn’t bringing his spin colleagues any success. Vandersay’s removal from the attack contributed to an India fightback, but he’d done enough damage by then, and Sri Lanka eventually wrapped up a 32-run win. They went on to win the third ODI too, and seal a most unexpected series triumph.

What did Vandersay do differently to Sri Lanka’s other spinners? He came on after the first powerplay, and spread-out fields allowed him to settle into a rhythm. He bowled legspin, and got the wristspinner’s natural bounce to go with generous amounts of turn – this widened the extent of natural variation he was able to extract from the surface. And above all, his line and length heightened the natural variation’s venom; releasing his legbreaks with subtle adjustments of wrist and seam orientation, he got the ball to test both edges of the bat from off roughly the same area of the pitch while relentlessly keeping the stumps in play.

The lbws of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer summed up Vandersay’s menace; both batters stretched out to defend, and both times the ball hurried past the inside edge to strike the front pad, straightening a touch but turning far less than expected.

It wasn’t a classic legspinner’s dismissal, but it sowed the seeds of everything that followed: Rohit caught at backward point for 64 off 44 balls, failing to keep a reverse sweep down. That wicket broke open the floodgates, and the way that ball turned and bounced also contributed to future dismissals, putting the threat of the big legbreak in the batters’ minds and leaving them particularly vulnerable to the skidder.

The ones apart from Vandersay to pick six or more wickets in an ODI against India are Muthiah Muralidaran, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews and Akila Dananjaya .

[Cricinfo]

 

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Pakistan vs New Zealand in a title clash and a dress rehearsal

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Pakistan come into the final on a high, but their death bowling remains a concern [Cricinfo]

It’s rare for a tournament final to be a dry run, but that’s almost what this Pakistan vs New Zealand game will be. There’s a trophy on the line in Karachi, five days before another Pakistan vs New Zealand game in Karachi – that is the big one, the opening game of the Champions Trophy. In that sense, when this tri-series was planned, this was the final that would have made the most sense, if you’d asked anyone bar, perhaps, South Africa.

New Zealand have comfortably been the team of the tournament so far, but Pakistan arguably come in on a bigger high, riding a wave after coming back from the dead to steal the second place on the table after an epic ODI chase against South Africa. The execution of the win was more satisfying than the fact that it happened. Two men in Pakistan’s middle order stringing together Pakistan’s third-highest ODI partnership – Mohammed Rizwan and Salman Agha put on a whopping 260 for the fourth wicket, masterfully pacing a chase while seemingly not playing a single shot in anger. Most notably, it will allay fears of an over-dependence on Fakhar Zaman up top if the middle order can find a way to stand up for itself more regularly, balancing Pakistan’s batting line-up ahead of the Champions Trophy.

But Pakistan’s death bowling remains a cause for concern. They conceded 98 in the final six overs against New Zealand and 87 in the final seven on Wednesday against South Africa. On both occasions, one man in a purple patch took the attack to them – the fast bowlers in particular. It was Glenn Phillips one day, Heinrich Klaasen the next. It keeps New Zealand in the game till late, knowing they can catch up against a bowling line up that has revealed it it vulnerable.

New Zealand have just about played two perfect games, with control the key feature of their performances. There is a calm this side exudes when it appears a passage of play is going against them. They didn’t panic when they weren’t quite at the run rate they wanted to be against Pakistan until deep in the innings, keeping their ammunition dry until the opportunity to use it presented itself. When Matthew Breetzke took them on at the death, they retained their composure, aware the target was still below par, and then made short work of it with a near faultless chase.

Most notably, New Zealand have shown how to use spin as a leash for the opposition on these surfaces, and possess more experienced, more varied and, frankly, superior slower bowlers. Mitchell Santner has been in the middle of special run the last few months, and stifled Pakistan alongside Michael Bracewell, Phillips and Rachin Ravindra last week. They bowled 26 of the 47.5 overs through that innings, and while Pakistan’s spinners bowled a similar amount, they weren’t nearly as effective.

It is a game with silverware up for grabs, and the group-stage rubber between the two next week inflates its importance rather than diminishing it.

Kane Williamson  followed up a half-century against Pakistan with an unbeaten hundred to vanquish South Africa. New Zealand haven’t played too many ODIs since the 2023 World Cup, but he appears to have picked up where he left off, on surfaces that are perfectly suited to his immense ability. He showed in the first game he could grind it out on a “tackier wicket”, as he put it, while picking the pace up on the flatter surface against South Africa. His legendary unflappability has handled far bigger occasions, with his current form not just a warning sign for Pakistan, but every side he comes up against in the next few days.

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