Sports
Zimbabwe seal Sylhet thriller to complete first away Test win since 2021
Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh by three wickets in an exciting finish on the fourth day of the first Test in Sylhet to go 1-0 up in the two-match series. It was Zimbabwe’s fifth overseas Test victory, which came after they completed their highest successful chasein the fourth innings. It was also their first win in the last 11 Tests and with this one, each of their last three wins have come away from home.
Blessing Muzarabani was the architect of the victory with a nine-wicket match haul, but it needed Wessley Madheve and No. 9 Richard Ngarava to push Zimbabwe over the line after they collapsed while needing less than 50 runs in their chase. It was Mehidy Hasan Miraz who orchestrated a collapse when he picked up his second five-wicket haul in the Test. He took his 200th Test wicket on the way to a ten-for, but it was in vain. Madhevere reverse-swept him to the boundary to get Zimbabwe to their 174-run target.
Openers Brian Bennett and Ben Curran got Zimbabwe off to a rollicking start with a 95-run stand in just 21 overs. Curran, who struck seven fours in his 44 off 75 balls, was out to Mehidy, skying him to mid-off. No. 3 batter Nick Welch fell lbw to Taijul Islam for 10, before Sean Williams misread the bounce against Mehidy in the 31st over. He top-edged a simple catch to Najmul Hossain Shanto at cover for 9. That’s when trouble started, at 127 for 3.
In the next over, Bennett was done in by the spin and was caught by Mushfiqur Rahim at deep mid-on. The big shot he attempted was a risky move against Mehidy in that situation as he was batting well on 54. He struck seven fours and a six in his 81-ball stay.
Taijul next struck when he had Craig Ervine caught behind off a delivery that was sliding down the leg side. Mehidy convinced captain Shanto to take the review, Ultra-Edge showed a spike and Ervine walked off for ten. Mehidy struck first ball next over when he clean bowled Nyasha Mayavo for 1. Zimbabwe were now 145 for 6.
Wellington Masakadza, however, settled Zimbabwe’s nerves with boundaries in consecutive overs from Taijul. He struck a big six down the ground soon after he arrived at the crease, before slamming him past mid-off for a four. But his innings was ended by a Mehidy beauty – pitching on a length around off stump from around the wicket and turning away ever so slightly to bowl him for 12.
After defending his first two balls, Ngarava slammed Mehidy for a boundary over wide mid-on to reduce the target to nine runs. Madhevere hit Taijul for another four off the first ball of the next over. He repeated the dose against Mehidy before sealing the win that would go into Zimbabwe cricket folklore.
The Test win will, however, be most remembered for Muzarabani’s bowling excellence. He has now taken five-wicket hauls in his last three Tests, which has helped him equal Heath Streak’s record for the fastest to 50 Test wickets for Zimbabwe. His match figures of 9 for 122 are the best by a Zimbabwean in Bangladesh. Muzarabani also found great support at the other end with left-arm quick Ngarava, quick Victor Nyauchi and left-arm spinner Masakadza taking the remaining four wickets.
Rain gave Bangladesh a bit of reprieve as the fourth day began 75 minutes late. Zimbabwe, though, attacked from the get-go, taking three wickets in the first 5.3 overs of the morning session. Bangladesh were eventually bowled out for 255, having lost 6 for 62 on the day.
Muzarabani struck with the second ball of the day, dismissing Shanto on the pull. Nyauchi dived forward at fine leg to catch the top edge, ending Shanto’s innings at 60 off 105 balls. Mehidy followed his captain back to the pavilion soon after, edging Muzarabani to gully. Bennett took a simple catch as Muzarabani completed his five-for. Ngrava got into the act from the other end, removing Taijul in the next over.
Hasan Mahmud’s rearguard action – 12 off 58 balls – stemmed the batting collapse. He added 35 runs for the eighth wicket with Jaker Ali, before holing out to mid-off where Muzarabani took an easy catch. Khaled Ahmed gave Ervine a catch next ball, as Masakadza again proved lethal for the Bangladesh tail.
Muzarabani completed Zimbabwe’s dominant morning with Jaker’s wicket, when he top-edged a slog to deep midwicket. Jaker had been farming the strike for the previous hour, before opening up with just one wicket left. He had hit one six among his five boundaries and was eventually out for 58 off 111 balls.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 273 in 80.2 overs (Sean Williams 59, Brian Bennett 57, Mehidy hasan Miraz 5-52) and 174 for 7 in 50.1 overs (Brian Bennett 54, Ben Curran 44, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 5-50) beat Bangladesh 191 in 61 overs (Mominul Haque 56, Najmul Hossain Shanto 40; Wellington Masakadza 3-21, Blessing Muzarabani 3-50) and 255in 79.2 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 60, Jaker Ali 58, Mominul Haque 47; Blessing Muzarabani 6-72) by three wickets
[Cricinfo]
A quick glance at the head to head record is enough to show the gulf between India and Sri Lanka in women’s T20Is. Despite that, the manner in which India have swept Sri Lanka aside two games in a row would have surprised watchers and the hosts alike. The story in the second T20I followed a similar script to the first. Once again, India’s spinners squeezed Sri Lanka’s middle order before one of their top-order batters made easy work of the chase.
Left-arm spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and N Shree Charani picked up two wickets apiece after Sneh Rana, in the XI in place of the indisposed Deepti Sharma, sucked out the momentum from Sri Lanka’s batting. If it was Jemimah Rodrigues’ half-century in the first game, Shafali Verma was at her brutal best in the second, finishing on an unbeaten 69 in just 34 balls, to help India get to the 129-run target at a run-rate close to 11 an over with 49 balls to spare.
India went 2-0 up at the end of the Visakhapatnam leg, with the next three games to be played in Thiruvananthapuram.
Sri Lanka were jolted in the opening over after being asked to bat. Vishmi Gunaratne’s uppish drive was caught by Kranti Gaud in her follow-through. Chamari Athapaththu then started the charge. After the defeat in the first game, she asked her batters to step up and find ways of scoring. She was intent on leading from the front. She used her feet against Gaud to slash her in front of point. Two balls later, Gaud almost got back at the Sri Lanka captain.
Charani, who dropped two simple catches on Sunday, misjudged Athapaththu’s slash and conceded a six. She charged in from the boundary line and then ran back, missed the ball completely despite a leap. Athapaththu blazed away with the field restrictions on, scoring 31 off 24 balls out of Sri Lanka’s 38 in 5.3 overs at that stage.
After her dismissal, Hasini Perera and Harshitha Samarawickrama continued to bat with high intent. They primarily scored square of the wicket and added 28 in the three-and-a-half overs. And then came the squeeze from India.
On a day she was newly crowned the No. 1 T20I bowler in the ICC rankings, Deepti missed a T20I for the first time since 2019 – after 92 straight games – because of a mild fever. Harmanpreet Kaur has often turned to her when in search of control, but on Tuesday, Rana fit into the role with ease.
Playing her first T20I in India since 2016 – she played 15 away from home in between – Rana’s first task was to stop a belligerent Athapaththu, and she delivered. She kept the Sri Lanka captain guessing with flight and dip before dismissing her. With Athapaththu itching to cut loose, Rana generously flighted one. It landed slightly shorter than Athapaththu expected because of the dip, and she ended up miscuing it to long-off.
Rana then returned with Perera and Samarawickrama scoring at a good tempo, bowled a maiden and that turned the tide. It allowed left-arm spinner Charani to slip in a few quiet overs, which resulted in Perera’s dismissal. Vaishnavi also returned to pick up her first international wicket, with Charani, who denied her in the first T20I by dropping a dolly at short fine leg, taking a simple catch at the same spot after Nilakshika Silva top-edged a sweep.
Sri Lanka hit 11 boundaries in the first nine overs, but could hit only two fours in the rest of their innings. They lost six for 24 to be restricted to a below-par total for the second game in a row, which was never going to challenge the hosts. Three run-outs for a second game in a row did not help matters either.
If Sunday was an opportunity missed by Shafali, she more than made up for it on Tuesday. She was happy to bide her time at the start, with Smriti Mandhana being the aggressor. Once Mandhana fell, caught at point in a bid to hit Kavisha Dilhari’s offspin inside out over the off side, Shafali took centrestage. Inoka Ranaweera’s left-arm spin with the field restrictions in place was just the tonic she needed.
Shafali hit Ranaweera for successive fours in the penultimate over of the powerplay – both by dancing down the track and lofting her over cover. She then took apart Athapaththu’s offspin, hitting here for 4, 6, 4 in the sixth over of the chase: first sweeping a short ball through backward square leg, then thumping a full ball straight into the sight-screen and then lifting one over extra cover.
With the in-form Rodrigues for company, there was no respite for Sri Lanka’s bowlers. Rodrigues also tore into Ranaweera, hitting her for two fours and a six as the left-arm spinner was taken for 31 in her two overs.
In an attempt to maintain the high tempo, Rodrigues holed out to long-on. Shafali soon completed her fifty from just 27 balls. She picked Shashini Gimhani’s left-arm wristspin from the hand and thumped her for back-to-back boundaries in a 12-run over that put India on the brink.
Sri Lanka earned a consolation when Malki Madara’s dipping yorker deceived Harmanpreet. But they knew, as Athapaththu conceded after the game, that the batters failed to make the helpful conditions count in successive games.
Brief scores:
India Women 129 for 3 in 11.5 overs (Smriti Mandhana 14, Shafali Verma 69*, Jemimah Rodrigues 26, Harmanpreet Kaur 10; Malki Madara 1-22, Kavya Kavindi 1-3, Kavisha Dilhari 1-15) beat Sri Lanka Women 128 for 9 in 20 overs ( Chamari Athapaththu 31, Hasini Perera 22,Harshitha Samarawickrama 33, Kavisha Dilhari 14, Kaushini Nuthyangana 11; Kranti Goud 1-31, Sneh Rana 1-11, Shree Charani 2-23, Vaishnavi Sharma 2-32) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
Stripped of the captaincy on the eve of a World Cup, Charith Asalanka finds himself skating on thin ice. Suddenly, runs are not just runs; they are legal tender. In a game that is brutally transactional, weight of runs is the only currency that guarantees a seat on the flight. The soft will curse their luck and sulk in the corner. The tough roll up their sleeves, take guard, and play the long innings.
History, as ever, offers a handy cue card. Take Arjuna Ranatunga. Axed as captain after the controversial 1991 tour of New Zealand, he was reduced to a mere batter for the 1992 World Cup. What followed was one of the great redemption arcs. A backs-to-the-wall knock at the Basin Reserve against South Africa, with Allan Donald huffing and puffing fire and then that audacious chase against Zimbabwe that rewrote the laws of possibility with the game’s first successful 300-plus pursuit. By the time the confetti settled, Ranatunga was back at the helm, having dragged Sri Lanka to glory almost single-handedly. Asalanka, a fellow left-hander, could do worse than study that script.
When Asalanka took charge of the white-ball sides last year, the sense was that destiny had tapped him on the shoulder. This was a leader in the making, groomed patiently by Sri Lanka Cricket for over a decade. An Under-19 captain, exposed through development squads and domestic leadership roles, he appeared primed to become an all-format captain in due course.
With the bat, particularly in ODIs, he often played the role of the fireman, dousing flames after collapses or steering run chases with a cool head. As a leader, he spoke well, kept the dressing room together and was generous with praise. But just as the talk turned to a long reign, the wheels began to wobble and then, slowly but surely, came off.
Asalanka began treating First-Class cricket like a contagious disease, scarcely turning out for SSC. That absence hurt. The country’s premier club slipped into Division Two, losing First-Class status for the first time in its storied history and his name was firmly in the dock.
Then came murmurs of a clique, largely made up of his Richmond College schoolmates, a charge that rarely ends well in any dressing room. The Asia Cup only deepened the scrutiny. His bowling changes were pedestrian, with holding Dunith Wellalage back for the final over against Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi standing out as a tactical misread. The feeling grew that he wasn’t squeezing the most out of his resources.
Pakistan was worse. He looked out of shape, which is never a good look for a captain and the runs dried up in T20 internationals.
When Dasun Shanaka, the man he had replaced, was installed as his deputy, the writing was on the wall in bold capitals. Asalanka, though, failed to read the signs. His brinkmanship in Pakistan, including threats to pull out of the tour, proved to be the final straw.
At 28, Asalanka is still young and this episode may yet prove a necessary dressing down. He is no villain. By all accounts, he is a humble bloke who has momentarily lost his bearings. It happens, particularly to young athletes thrust into leadership before they fully understand the traps that come with it. Right now, he needs support, a steady arm around the shoulder and the chance to rediscover his game.
There is little doubt about his value. Asalanka remains the country’s best finisher, not the sort who clears the ropes four times an over, but the kind who finds gaps, runs hard, rotates strike and before the opposition realises it, has them gasping for air. These are not the fireworks merchants who hog the highlights, but they are the players who win you matches quietly and consistently.
If he is to reclaim his place and perhaps the T20 armband again, the path is simple and unforgiving. Bat first, talk later. In cricket, as in life, nothing silences critics quite like runs on the board.
by Rex Clementine
The Kelaniya Dharmaloka Central College swimming team won the Overall Championship at the swimming meet organised by the Biyagama Swimming, Diving and Life Saving Association and held at the Kiribathgoda Vihara Maha Devi Balika Vidyalaya Swimming pool recently.
The boys school championship was won by Mahara President College while the girls championship was won by Kadawatha Mahamaya Balika Vidyalaya. The mixed school championship was won by Kelaniya Dharmaloka Central College. The Club championship was won by Yakkala Wave Runners Swimming Academy.
Text and pics by DELGODA W.D.VITHANA
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