Sri Lanka thrash England to enter semis along with West Indies

October 2, 2012

Sri_Linga

Lasith Malinga blew away the England top-order by dismissing three batsmen in a single over as Sri Lanka defeated the defending champions by 19 runs in their last Super Eight match to qualify for the semifinals of the World Twenty20 along with the West Indies, here today.

England needed to chase the 170-run target in less than 13 overs to qualify for the semifinals but paceman Malinga's performance (5/31) made it a lop-sided affair.
England ended 150 for nine through a fighting 67-run knock from Samit Patel and and his 51-run stand for the eighth wicket with Greame Swann (34).

Sri Lanka's win pushed England out of the tournament since they had just one win from three Super Eight matches in Group I while the Caribbean side had two.

The West Indies had edged past New Zealand in a thrilling match early in the day to keep themselves in the hunt.

None of the Sri Lanka batsmen played a big knock but they rode on a collective batting effort to reach a competitive 169 for six.


Mahela Jayawardene (42), Angelo Mathews (28) and Jeevan Mendis (18) got good starts but could not convert those into big innings after the hosts were sent in to bat.

Thisra Perera (25 not out) and Lahiru Thirimanne (13) blasted some big shots towards the end to lift the side to a fighting total.

But Malinga's sensational over -- third of the innings -- in which he scalped Luke Wright (13), Jonny Bairstow (2) and Alex Hales (3), took it away from them.

England were reeling at 18 for three in three overs and never recovered from that shock start.

Malinga added wickets of Jos Butler and Patel later in the innings while spinner Akila Dananjaya contributed in the win of his side by dismissing Eoin Morgan (10) and Broad (1).

Broad (3/32) and Swann (2/26) did well for England in the second half of the Lankan innings as both of them got wickets in successive balls to keep the side in hunt.


Interestingly, Kumar Sangakkara led Sri Lanka today in place of regular skipper Jayawardene.

Earlier, of the two pacemen, who opened England's attack, Steven Finn (1/23) was very effective as he swung the ball impressively and had Tillakaratane Dilshan (16) trapped early.

The strip offered bounce to the pacers and Finn, who has bowled the most dot balls in the tournament, did trouble the Sri Lankan openers.

Dilshan and Jayawardene though adjusted well, hitting a six each off Jade Dernbach in the fourth over. He though, was unlucky as Swann had dropped Dilshan in his very first over.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara carried forward the good start but England were not taking the chances their bowlers created as now Bairstow grassed a Sangakkara catch off Swann.


The hosts reached a comfortable 74 for one at half-way mark with Jayawardene contributing 42 of them.

Swann though turned it around for England by dismissing both Jayawarderne and Sangakkara in successive balls.

Eoin Morgan pulled off a splendid catch to send back Jayawardene, whose low and flat shot was well taken in the in midwicket region and Sangakkara was caught behind next ball.


New-man in Jeevan though was hardly perturbed as he swept and then reverse-swept Swann for two consecutive boundaries in the same over. Mathews too started off well by scoring two boundaries of Broad.

The two batsmen hit a six each off Samit Patel as Sri Lanka reached 121 for three in 15 overs.

Broad removed Mendis and Mathews off successive balls to yet again tilt the issue in the favour of his side. But Perera's 16-ball cameo brought Sri Lanka to a respectable total.



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News Network
June 9,2020

Jun 9: Former West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has released a video, alleging racism within the SunRisers Hyderabad camp. Last week, Sammy had lost his cool after learning the meaning of the word "Kalu", which he alleged was directed at him during his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the SunRisers Hyderabad. The T20 World Cup-winning Windies skipper had said that he along with Sri Lanka player Thisara Perera were sometimes called that word when they played for SunRisers Hyderabad. However, Sammy did not specify as to who directed these slurs at him, but now the player has released a video, saying he will message all those who called him that word.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn''t know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

"Now, I realise it was degrading, I will be texting you guys and I will ask you as to when you called me with that name, did you all mean it in any bad way or form? I have had great memories in all my dressing rooms, so all those who used to you call me with that word, think about it, let's have a conversation, if it was in a bad way then I would be really disappointed," he added.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: Grappler Divya Kakran on Thursday became the second Indian woman to win a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship.

Divya, a bronze medallist at Asian Games 2018, earned her first gold by winning all her four bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Her final bout against Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was the closest one but she managed to outclass her opponent 6-4 to seal her name on the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only five wrestlers were in the fray.

India is likely to add some more medals to its tally when Nirmala Devi, Pinki, and Sarita go out to grapple for the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

Three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) first defeated Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.

In the semi-finals, Nirmala got the better of Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 and will play against 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan for the gold medal.

Pinki (55 kg) started her day on a winning note against Shokhida Akhmedova of Uzbekistan by 12-4 in round 3 and lost to Kana Higashikawa of Japan to enter the semis where she defeated Marina Zuyeva of Kazakistan by a score of 6-0.

Pinki will play in the gold medal bout against Dulguun Bolormaa of Mongolia.

Sarita (59 kg) will now face Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the gold medal bout after winning against her opponents in the qualifiers, quarterfinals and semi-final by a score of 10-0, 11-0 and 10-3, respectively.

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Agencies
May 26,2020

Some of the ICC guidelines on resumption of cricket border on the impractical and will need a review when the cricketing world is closer to action, feel former players Aakash Chopra, Irfan Pathan and Monty Panesar.

Last week, the International Cricket Council recommended a host of "back to cricket" guidelines including 14-day pre-match isolation training camps to ensure the teams are free from COVID-19.

The world body issued training as well as playing guidelines which will drastically change the way the game is played.

Among them are regular hand sanitising when in contact with the ball, no loo or shower breaks while training, minimising time spent in the changing room before and after a game, no use of saliva on ball and no handing over of personal items (cap, sunglasses, towels) to fellow teammates or the on-field umpires.

"Social distancing is very doable in individual sport but very tough in a team sport like cricket and football. If you need a slip during the game, would you not employ it?

"If the team is going through a 14-day quarantine and is being tested for COVID-19, I am fine with that process. Now, after that, if we have more guidelines for the players during the game, then you are making things complicated. Then there is no point of a quarantine period," former India pacer Pathan told PTI.

Safety cannot be compromised but regularly sanitising hands during the game will be too much to ask from the players.

"Safety is paramount but we should not make the game complicated. If a bowler or fielder has to sanitise hands every time he touches the ball, then it would be very difficult.

"You can shorten the process of giving the ball to the bowler. Instead of the usual chain (wicket-keeper to cover fielder to bowler), the keeper can straight away give the ball to the bowler but even then the bowler will have to sanitise hands six times in an over," said Pathan seeking more clarity on the guidelines.

Former India opener Chopra said it is still pre-mature to prepare a fixed set of guidelines for resumption of cricket as the situation is evolving "every day".

"That (regular hand sanitisation after contact with ball) is obviously impractical but my big question is when the game happens in a bio secure environment and everyone is quarantined and tested, do these additional measures make a difference?

"On the field, I can still understand but what happens when you go back into the dressing room? How do you practice social distancing there? So it becomes quite complicated.

"To be honest it is all very premature. Once they get closer to resumption, which will take some time, there will be more clarity," said Chopra.

International cricket is likely to resume in July with England hosting West Indies and then Pakistan.

Bundesliga football league has already begun in Germany behind closed doors and by the time cricket resumes, more sporting competitions would have restarted and Chopra feels that will help cricket decide the way forward in post COVID-19 times.

"By the time cricket resumes, more football would have started after Bundesliga. Cricket can take lessons from there, collect data and ideas and see what is practical and what is not."

Former England spinner Panesar foresees the start of the England-West Indies series making things a lot clearer for the entire fraternity than they are at the moment.

"The 14 day quarantine is very much needed and well done to the ICC for including that. I think we will see resumption of international cricket with England hosting West Indies in July. We might have some practical ideas then, the other countries would also be watching keenly and will learn how to go about it.

"But measures like regular hand sanitising is not going to be practical. May be you could sanitise every one hour but it can't be regular during the game," said Panesar.

While Pathan feels the on-field safety measures will make managing over-rate a bigger challenge for teams, Chopra said no loo or shower breaks during training won't be that much of an issue.

"Training is still controllable. You don't have to be there for a long time but you would still have to use the restroom at some stage. You may avoid taking a shower but you will have to use the restroom.

"I think the idea of these guidelines is to make cricketers more aware that you have to take care of yourself and inculcate habits which are in everyone's interest in the current scenario," added Chopra.

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