Sri Lanka

News Athapaththu plays key role in victory as Sri Lanka knock out Bangladesh Sri Lanka won’t be going to the 50-overs World Cup in New Zealand in March, but at least assured themselves of an opportunity to compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to be played in Birmingham this July-August. Incidentally, Bangladesh, who pipped them

Report Vandersay picks up 4 for 10 in 7.4 overs as hosts bowlers run rampant Sri Lanka 254 for 9 (Nissanka 55, Asalanka 52, Ngarava 2-46) beat Zimbabwe 70 (Kaitano 19, Vandersay 4-10) by 184 runs Sri Lanka’s bowlers ran rampant in the early overs of Zimbabwe’s chase reducing the opposition to 20 for 3,

Preview Sri Lanka looked a batter short in the second ODI, with the Zimbabwe quicks triggering a collapse Big picture On Tuesday, two significant weaknesses in Sri Lanka’s XI were exposed. On flat tracks, even with Dushmantha Chameera in the side, the bowling attack lacked for penetration through the early and middle overs, with only

Zimbabwe 302 for 8 (Ervine 91, Raza 56, Vandersay 3-51) beat Sri Lanka 280 for 9 (Shanaka 102, Kamindu 57, Chatara 3-52, Muzarabani 3-56) by 22 runs Regis Chakabva provided the innings’ early impetus, Craig Ervine hit 91 and put on 106 with Sean Williams, and Sikandar Raza struck a half-century late in the piece

Preview Zimbabwe, who gave a good account of themselves in the first ODI, might consider beefing up their spin attack Big picture Zimbabwe will reflect on what could have been. They didn’t close their innings as well as they could have in the first ODI, but on Sri Lankan tracks, 296 for 9 is usually

Report The hosts chased down Zimbabwe’s total with eight balls to spare thanks to several contributions with the bat Sri Lanka (Nissanka 75, Chandimal 75) 300 for 5 beat Zimbabwe 296 for 9 (Ervine 100) by five wickets Zimbabwe’s batters gave their side a healthy chance. On a flat Pallekele track, the openers put on

Big picture Where not so long ago, bilateral ODI series in T20 World Cup years lacked context, the ODI Super League has helped bring some importance to these fixtures. Neither Sri Lanka nor Zimbabwe are particularly well-placed on the table. Sri Lanka have 42 points, which puts them at seventh and could easily be pushed

News Kusal Mendis and Jeffrey Vandersay return; Kusal Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Avishka Fernando among big names to miss out After much chopping and changing, Sri Lanka have finally announced their 17-man squad for the upcoming home ODI series against Zimbabwe, with eight changes from their last outing against South Africa – though even more had

News Rajapaksa had cited “familial obligations” as a key reason behind his resignation in the first week of January A little over a week after announcing his retirement from international cricket, Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa has withdrawn his resignation and proclaimed his desire to represent the country for “years to come”. His decision comes

News The ODIs against Zimbabwe are set to begin on January 16 Avishka Fernando is likely to be ruled out of the forthcoming ODIs against Zimbabwe after testing positive for Covid-19. Sri Lanka’s likely squad were expected to enter the bio-secure bubble on Sunday, but Fernando – whose positive test arrived before the bubble was

News The decision comes in the wake of Danushka Gunathilaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa announcing their retirements recently Sri Lanka Cricket has released a set of guidelines for players choosing to retire from international cricket, namely a requirement to provide SLC with three months’ notice of their intention to retire, a six-month waiting period post-retirement in

News The 30-year-old batter hasn’t been a regular in the longest format, having played the last of his eight Tests in December 2018 Gunathilaka’s call to quit the longest format is unsurprising. He hasn’t played a Test since 2018, with his eight appearances bringing him 299 runs. He hit two half-centuries, with a best of

News SLC says if the trio ends up with a disciplinary breach within the next two years, the remainder of the suspension would also kick in The trio of Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella have had their one-year bans on playing international cricket lifted less than six months into the suspension period. The

News Batter cities “familial obligations” in a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket Sri Lankan batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 30, has announced his intention to retire from international cricket. He handed in a letter of resignation to Sri Lanka Cricket, citing “familial obligations”. Rajapaksa for his part is yet speak on the matter. “I have very carefully

News Ratnayake will be assisted by former first-class batter Ruwin Peiris, who will be with the team as interim batting coach Former fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake has been appointed the Sri Lanka men’s national side’s interim coach for their three-ODI series against Zimbabwe, later this month. Sri Lanka have been without a head coach since

Report Spinners Ostwal, Tambe and opener Raghuvanshi shine as India beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets in rain-hit final India Under-19 104 for 1 (Raghuvanshi 56*, Rasheed 31*) beat Sri Lanka Under-19 106 for 9 (Ostwal 3-11, Tambe 2-23) by nine wickets via DLS method India ended 2021 with a memorable feat, winning a record eighth

News The three games will all be day-night fixtures as part of the Super League, and will be held in Kandy Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka are set to begin 2022 with three ODIs as part of the ICC Super League, with Sri Lanka hosting the series. The three games will be day-night fixtures scheduled for

Big picture So, after 20 group-stage matches, an Eliminator and two Qualifiers, we’ve finally arrived at the culmination of this year’s Lanka Premier League. And it’s once again those two, Galle Gladiators and Jaffna Kings, vying for top spot, in a repeat of last year’s final. En route, Kings have pretty much trounced nearly every

News The current deal is for a year, and will also see the former captain provide “strategic support” at SLC’s high-performance centre Mahela Jayawardene has been appointed consultant coach of the Sri Lanka men’s senior team, as well as the men’s Under-19 team and the Sri Lanka A team for a period of one year,

News Attack believed to have taken place on Tuesday night near Sooriyawewa Stadium in Hambantota Two Sri Lanka Cricket groundstaff at the Sooriyawewa Stadium in Hambantota have died in what is believed to have been an elephant attack, the board confirmed. Not many details have been released with regard to the attacks, though it is

News “I’m going to get emotional when we eventually say farewell, because the characters who are in that dressing room are remarkable.” Ramesh Mendis kept Sri Lanka in the hunt with first-innings returns of 6 for 70. Dhananjaya de Silva turned the game emphatically in Sri Lanka with his second innings 155 not out. These

News SLC confident they can keep the bubble secure with the tournament being staged in different venues unlike last edition The SLC has confirmed that spectators will be allowed up to 50% of stadium capacity for the second edition of the Lanka Premier League, starting on Sunday. Fans entering the stadium will need to be

News Sri Lanka Cricket doctors have suggested the injury is more serious than initially thought Mathews himself hoped that he would miss only the first few days of the tournament, or between three and four matches. But Sri Lanka Cricket doctors have suggested that the strain could be more serious, and that Mathews could end

Report Ramesh Mendis got Bonner leg before, but Brathwaite stayed firm at the other end Lunch West Indies 145 for 2 (Brathwaite 62*, Bonner 35, Mendis 1-34) trail Sri Lanka 204 by 59 runs West Indies sought to strengthen their grip on the game on the third morning in Galle, negotiating Sri Lanka’s spinners with

News The former captain was expected to bowl in this game, but that now appears unlikely Angelo Mathews‘ role in the ongoing second Test against West Indies in Galle could be substantially restricted after he picked up a thigh strain on the second morning. He sustained the injury while running a single in Sri Lanka’s

Report Pathum Nissanka top-scored with 73, before hosts lost Angelo Mathews to injury The West Indian ploy to bombard Sri Lanka’s batters with left-arm spin reaped rich dividends on the second morning in Galle, as the pair of Jomel Warrican and Veerasammy Permaul picked up nine wickets between them – including career-best figures of 5

Report Sri Lanka bat after delayed start due to rain Toss Sri Lanka elected to bat vs West Indies Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and the rest of the Sri Lanka side wait for the weather to clear  AFP/Getty Images Sri Lanka won the toss and – unsurprisingly – chose to bat first, after the toss

News The players had taken part in the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe; unclear whether the positive tests were for the new Omicron variant Six Sri Lanka women cricketers who took part in the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe have tested positive for Covid-19, the SLC said on Sunday. The ICC had called off the

News Having received a lifeline due to Dickwella’s suspension, he hopes to make the opportunities count Dinesh Chandimal has had an unusual Test career. He has 11 Test hundreds, which in this side is equal to Angelo Mathews’ tally, and fewer only than Dimuth Karunaratne’s 13, and yet he had been left out of the

Preview Some West Indies batters showed signs that they can handle such conditions in the big first-Test defeat, but they will need plenty of application and determination Big Picture How do you solve a problem like Galle? Well, winning the toss and batting first would be a start. But what else can you do? The