West Indies batsmen stable after spin duo Permaul, Warrican ran through formidable Sri Lanka batting line up been 113 for 1 wicket O/V – by Sunil Thenabadu (sports editor – eLanka) Photo Source:newsday.co.tt   Chief Scores”   West Indies 69 for 1 (Blackwood 44, Brathwaite 22*, Bonner 1*, Jayawickrama 1-11) trail Sri Lanka 204 (Nissanka 73, Karunaratne 42, Permaul 5-35, Warrican 4-50) by 135 runs    Rain permitted for barely half a day’s play on the second day of the second and final Test in Galle, but West Indies took big steps in the direction of squaring the series in that short time. Following a morning session that produced nine Sri Lankan wickets for just 91 runs, West Indies came up with a solid batting display after lunch, bringing the disparity to 135 runs for the loss of only Jermaine Blackwood’s wicket before the rain came. Kraig Brathwaite was unbeaten on 22 off 77 ...

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Dimuth to lead Sri Lanka in Test Series against West Indies – Sunil Thenabadu (Sports editor – eLanka) Opener Dimuth Karunaratne  sans any surprise has been preserved as the captain to lead Sri Lanka for the two-test series against West Indies which is scheduled to begin from November 21 at the Galle Cricket Stadium.Both Tests are scheduled to be played at The Galle International Cricket Stadium  The national selectors who are strongly contemplating on young talent have elected newcomers in dashing batsmen Charith Asalanka, Kamil Mishara, and leg spinner Suminda Lakshan and seamer Chamika Gunesekara based on their domestic performance to reinforce the team which was not performing well in the recent past. The other highlight of this squad is that there are ten specialised batsmen, two all-rounders and four spin bowlers while six fast bowlers are drafted in to keep the options wide open for selection.  The batting department is spearheaded ...

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Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga De Silva makes Sri Lanka proud been elected to the ICC’s most valuable team – by Sunil Thenabadu (Sports editor – eLanka)   After  the conclusion of every International world cup tournament the governing body of cricket ,The International Cricket Council (ICC)  announced on the 15th Monday the probable team in the T 20 tournament  concluded on Sunday in Dubai UAE. It is heartening to note that Batsmen Charith Asalanka and all-rounder ,worlds No 1 bowler/No 3 all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva have been included in this exclusive honoured X1…Players from other countries included are from Australia,England,Pakistan and New Zealand.It is pity that no Indian player had gained selection.  . The list includes three Australian players, two each from Pakistan, South Africa and England as well as one player from New Zealand. The ICC has named Pakistan captain Babar Azam as the skipper of the side with ...

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Dickwella, Gunathilake and Mendis given a pardon, permitted to play in domestic cricket- Lanka Premier League to commence on 5th December  By sunil Thenabadu (sports editor-eLanka) Banned Sri Lanka cricketers  for misconduct for breaking the Bio-Bubble while touring England with SL team Niroshan Dickwella, Dhanushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis in June this year have got a reprieve  before their one year ban period expired have been granted permission to play in the Lanka Premier League (LPL) that will have top players both overseas and local in action when it begins on December 5 in Sri Lanka.  The three players were banned from both international and domestic cricket and fined Rs.10 million each at a time they were also involved in a pay dispute with Sri Lanka Cricket.  The squads:  Jaffna Kings: Faf du Plessis, Thisara Perera, Wahab Riaz, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Avishka Fernando, Upul Tharanga, Chaturanga de Silva, ...

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Sanga confers Asalanka as his successor – By Sunil Thenabadu (Sports editor – eLanka) After the heroics of new find Charith Asalanka lately at the ICC T 20 WC and previously in the recently concluded one day internationals when the selectors persisted with him after a number of failures in the tour of England, when he kept the trust conferred on him by the selectors with a flurry of half centuries.  It is learnt that Sri Lanka with the retirement of left-handed number three batsman Asanka Gurusinghe had to stay for nearly three years to find his replacement Kumar Sangakkara in year 2000 as his successor. Kumar reigned for one and half decades when he contributed immensely towards Sri Lanka’s success.It was during his tenure that Sri Lanka had the distinction of been runners up in two ICC World Cups and winners in the ICC T 20 WC in year ...

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All national cricketers need to learn English to speak fearlessly on Podiums – by Sunil Thenabadu (Sports editor – eLanka) Cricket was begun by the English remains a sport since the 17th century, where the language in use is of course was English. Countries like England, Australia, South Africa,West Indies,Zimbabwe( formerly Rhodesia) had no problem with the English language where everything connected to the game was in English .Lately with the advent of Asian countries viz India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh the players ,administrators had to be versed in English jargon which most did up to the end of the 1990 decade. All our past cricketers were able to converse well in the English which was the accepted language at international matches particularly for speaking at previews by the skippers, post- match presentations at press conferences when one is adjudicated as “the player of the match” had to answer to questions posed by the presenter at the podium. From the ...

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An inspirational campaign with piles of positives by our young T 20 team – By Sunil Thenabadu (Sports editor – eLanka) The national cricket team journeyed back home on Friday night having been away for approximately a calendar month and their showing during the seventh edition of the ICC T-20 World Cup held successfully in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai organised to precision which even the pessimistic fans commended and endorsed the performance by beating the formidable West Indians the reigning champions in the sixth edition with so many famous names. Sri Lanka former champions in year 2014 and twice runners up of course had little impetus behind them when they left the island having been whitewashed by touring South Africa 3-0 at our own backyard. home. It is pertinent to quote that more than half the members in the tour party had played less than a handful of T-20 Internationals and there ...

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Sri Lanka thump West Indies with a crisp all-round exhibit in final Group 1 match – by Sunil Thenabadu (eLanka Sports editor)  Asalanka, Nissanka fifties surpassed Hetmyer’s unbeaten 81 in high-scoring clash to take fourth position in Group 1 points table  Chief Scores  Sri Lanka 189 for 3 (Asalanka 68, Nissanka 51 Shanaka 25 n.o) beat West Indies 169 for 8 (Hetmyer 81*, Pooran 46, Hararanga 2-19, Fernando 2-24) by 20 runs . In a game featuring some of T20s greatest names – Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard ,Jason Holder, Russell etc -against Sri Lanka’s average group of players under 27 that really shone.. West Indies is classified as a very formidable side having clinched the T20 plum twice the latest was in the 6th edition against England three years ago. All players in addition have had plenty of experience and knowledge in T 20 format having participated in many tournaments like IPL, Caribbean ...

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SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS (OCTOBER 2021) Compiled by Victor Melder Minod Bhanuka, Ramesh Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Lakshan Sandakan and Ashen Bandara have been added to Sri Lanka’s original squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup – announced mid-September. Lahiru Madhushanka, who was named in the original squad will not travel with the team as he is recovering from an injury. Reserve-keeper Minod Bhanuka and the two batsmen – Ramesh Mendis and Pathum Nissanka – were part of Sri Lanka’s recent home series defeat to South Africa in August. They came away with underwhelming performances and were omitted from the initial squad. Ashen Bandara last played a month before at home in the series win against India, while Lakshan Sandakan’s previous outing for the national side came in July in England. Neither made a big enough mark to be considered initially, but Sri Lanka have now added to their squad, which ...

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Sri Lanka’s fortunes are on the rise despite limited success – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE Photo source: CricketAddictor ( https://cricketaddictor.com/icc-t20-wc-2021/icc-t20-world-cup-2021-sri-lanka-announces-15-member-squad-for-the-tournament/ ) Sri Lanka’s attempt to resurrect its dying image as a force in international cricket hit a vital stumbling block when they squandered a chance to topple South Africa in the T20 World Cup in Sharjah. But all is not lost as a mostly inexperienced outfit showed grit in a last over disaster to warn the rest of the world that they are well on the way back to being respected and feared as they were during the reign of Arjuna Ranatunge, Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda De Silva, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillekeratne Dilshan and a few others who had them riding the crest of a wave during their time with the Island nation. Sliding down to the embarrassing depths of having to qualify for the Super 12’s, the Lankans romped ...

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