SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS (SEPTEMBER 2022)
Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 2 wickets to win the 5th Match in the Asia Cup Twenty20 Tournament, Group B, played at Dubai International cricket Stadium. Scores:
Bangladesh – 183/7 in 20 Overs (A. Hossain 39, Miraz 38, Mahmudullah 27,M. Hossain 24no, Karunaratne 2/32, Hasaranga 2/41, Theekshana 1/23)
Sri Lanka – 184/8 in 19.2 Overs (Mendis 60, Shanaka 45, Nissanka 20, E.Hossain 3/51, Ahmad 2/34, Hasan 1/30)
Player of the Match: Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka)
T20 Debut: Asitha Fernando (Sri Lanka) & Ebodat Hossain (Bangladesh)
Points: Sri Lanka 2, Bangladesh 0.
Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by 4 wickets to win the 7th Match in the Asia Cup Twenty20 Tournament, Super Four, played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Scores:
Afghanistan –175/6 in 20 Overs (Gurbaz 80, Zadran 40, Madushanka 2/36, Theekshana 1/20, Fernando 1/34)
Sri Lanka – 179/6 in 19.1 Overs (Mendis 36, Nissanka 35, Gunathilaka 33, Rajapaksha 31, Rahman 2/30, ul-Haq 2/40)
Player of the Match: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan)
Points: Sri Lanka 2, Afghanistan 0.
Sri Lanka beat India by 6 wickets to win the 9th Match in the Asia Cup Tournament, Super Four, played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Scores:
India – 173/8 in 20 Overs (Sharma 72, Yadav 34, Madushanka 3/24, Shanaka 2/26, Karunaratne 2/27)
Sri Lanka – 174/4 in 19.5 Overs (Mendis 57, Nissanka 52, Shanaka 33no, Rajkapaksha 25no, Chahal 3/34, Ashwin 1/32)
Player of the Match: Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka)
Match Points: Sri Lanka 2, India 0.
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets to win the 12th Match in the Asia Cup Tournament, Super Four, played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Scores:
Pakistan – 121. in 19.1 Overs (Azam 30, Nawaz 26, H. de Silva 3/21, Madusanka 2/21,Theekshana 2/27)
Sri Lanka – 124/5 in 17 Overs (Nissanka 55, Rajapaksha 24, Shanaka 21, Rauf 2/19, Hasnan 2/21, Qadir 1/34)
Player of the Match: Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (Sri Lanka)
T20- Debut: Pramod Madushan (Sri Lanka)
Points: Sri Lanka 2, Pakistan 0.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will part ways with Tom Moody, its high profile Director of Cricket, just one-and-a-half years into his three-year deal, but will retain Mahela Jayawardena, Consultant Coach, despite the former Sri Lanka skipper this week accepting a broader responsibility with Mumbai Indians. Moody was hired for a three year stint by a Technical Advisory Committee led by Aravinda de Silva at the start of March last year. He had a wide purview, spanning the women’s and men’s game, and domestic and international cricket. Among his priorities was restructuring Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket, which he did by introducing a five-team provincial tournament on top of the 26-club first class tournament. However, the Board now feels that, with Jayawardena heavily involved in shaping the future of cricket in the island, it could do without Moody now. Thus, it has reached an amicable exit plan with the former Australian cricketer-turned-coach. He will be paid US$ 45,000 as compensation. His three-year contract mandates Moody to spend at least 300 days in Sri Lanka focusing on “analysis of the future tour programme, focusing on the domestic tournament structure, player welfare, education and skill development, coaching and support staff structure, high performance, and data analytics”. He was paid a fee of US$ 2,000 for each day he spent in Sri Lanka, in addition to all other perks including five-star accommodation. “We will have to compensate him for early termination but even that’s a better option than keeping him for further one-and-a-half years,” sources said, on the condition of anonymity. Moody had been Sri Lanka’s coach between 2005 and 2007, the years in which Sri Lanka tasted considerable success in the Test format, and became World Cup runners-up. However, his latest stint with SLC attracted more brickbats than praise, with many questioning the need to hire an Australian to restructure country’s domestic cricket when it had enough and more qualified cricketers within the country to do so. Meanwhile, SLC credited Mahela Jayawardena with the resurgence of national cricket team and of other age group teams. “As the consultant coach, he is doing a fantastic job behind the scene. A lot of credit should go to him for the work. Today, it’s not only the national team that is performing but also all other teams at various age group levels,” said Silva when asked whether Jayawardena will keep his position despite his latest job with Mumbai Indians. After years of inconsistent performance, national teams, both red and white-ball, have shown steady progress across three formats (Test, ODI and T20) in all age groups. This week, Sri Lanka won its first major title in eight year, the Asia Cup, and Jayawardena, according to Silva, was involved with strategising the team’s ascent. (Sunday Times, 18.9.2022)
