England win will give team lot of confidence: Mahela

Agencies
June 22, 2019

Leeds, Jun 22: Sri Lankan's shock win over England should change things for the better, feels batting great Mahela Jayawardene, after a run of matches in which they seemed to have "played with a little bit of fear".

Defending a relatively modest target of 233, Sri Lanka bowled out favourites England for 212 for a 20-run win at the Headingley on Friday.

"I hope this game will give Sri Lanka a lot of confidence in this ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. They have beaten one of the best teams in the world, and they need to believe in themselves," Jayawardene wrote in his column for the ICC.

"At times it feels like they have played with a little bit of fear and have not been able to really express themselves. This win should change that."

The former skipper praised Lasith Malinga's match-winning spells, during which he picked up four big English wickets.

"It's not about the six pack, it's about the skill and Lasith Malinga showed that in spades in Sri Lanka’s win over England.

"He has done it so many times for Sri Lanka over the years but it was great to see him at his best," Jayawardene said.

The Lankans needed a Malinga special and the veteran obliged the team with his fine exhibition of fast bowling.

"He was on a mission with the new ball, taking two crucial early wickets which Sri Lanka needed to defend a total like 232.

"Then when Joe Root looked like he was playing one of those innings where he just takes the game away from you, Dimuth Karunaratne turned to Mali and threw him the ball. He told him that he needed him and Mali delivered," said Jayawardene.

"Big players perform in big games and that is what he did, removing Root and then Jos Buttler who could have won the game for England as well."

The batting legend also lavished praise on the Lankan skipper.

"I was really impressed with Dimuth's captaincy, trusting his players, bringing on the off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva at an important time and getting rewarded for that.

"Even after they had batted, I felt that it was a competitive total because the wicket was fairly slow."

He was happy to see Angelo Mathews among the runs.

"It was great to see Angelo Mathews scoring some runs. He still isn't quite in top form and you could tell that he really needed a score.

"At times I wanted him to be more aggressive, but with wickets falling around him, he produced a great innings and was the rock of that batting line-up. A word also for Avishka Fernando. His performance should give Sri Lankan fans a lot of hope for the future."

Jayawardene said the unexpected result will open up the tournament.

"It's a great win for Sri Lanka, but also for the World Cup and it opens things up a little.

"The top four so far have a lot of matches against each other coming up, so they will inevitably drop some points. You look at New Zealand, Australia and England who all have to play each other which does make it interesting.

"That leaves Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the West Indies with a chance to close the gap if they can pick up a few more wins."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.