SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS

(DECEMBER 2017)
Compiled by Victor Melder

The third Test between the touring Sri Lankans and India, played at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi, Delhi, ended in a draw. Scores:
India – 1st Innings – 536/7 dec (Kohli 243, Vijay 155, Sharma 65, Ashwin 38, Sandakan 4/167, Gamage 2/95, Perera 1/145)
Sri Lanka – 1st Innings – 373 (Chandimal 164, Mathews 111, Perera 42, Samarawickrama 33, Ashwin 3/90, Sharma 3/98, Shami 2/85, Jadeja 2/86)
India – 2nd Innings – 246/5 dec (Dhawan 67, Kohli 50, Sharma 50no, Pujara 49, de Silva 1/31, Gamage 1/48, Sandakan 1/50, Perera 1/54)
Sri Lanka – 2nd Innings – 299/5 (de Silva 119 ret hurt, Silva 74no, Dickwella 44no, Chandimal 36, Jadeja 3/81, Shami 1/50, Ashwin 1/126)
Player of the match: Virat Kohli (India)
Player of the series: Virat Kohli (India)
Test debut: A.R. S. Silva (Sri Lanka)

India won the 3-match series 1-0.
Sri Lanka Friday named Chandika Hathurusingha as their new head coach with the mission of ending the national team’s crisis run in international cricket. The Sri Lankan resigned in October as Bangladesh’s coach after guiding the national team through their most successful period in his three years in charge, masterminding Test wins over England and Australia. He takes over a side that was hammered in Tests by India in home and away series this year and has played poorly in one-day games. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said Hathurusingha, 49, will take over the national side from December 20. That means he will take charge of the team for the T20 games that end their current tour in India. The Sri Lanka post has been vacant since South African Graham Ford quit in June. Nic Pothas has been the interim coach. Under Hathurusingha, Bangladesh made rapid strides in world cricket, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy tournament in England this year. He was only criticised after Bangladesh’s recent tour of South Africa, where the team failed to register a single win. His contract with the Bangladesh Cricket Board was supposed to run until the 2019 World Cup and reportedly made him one of the highest-paid cricket coaches, on $40,000 a month. Hathurusingha, a batsman, played 26 Tests and 35 one-day internationals for Sri Lanka before becoming the team’s assistant coach under Trevor Bayliss, a job he lost in 2010. He went on to coach New South Wales in Australia before moving to Bangladesh in May 2014. (Daily Island, 9.12.2017)
The touring Sri Lankans beat India by 7 wickets to win the first One Day International played at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala. Scores:
India – 112 in 38.2 Overs (Dhoni 65, Yadav 19, Lakmal 4/13, Fernando 2/37, Dananjaya 1/7, Mathews 1/8, Pathirana 1/16, Perera 1/29)
Sri Lanka – 114/3 in 20.4 Overs (Tharanga 49, Dickwella 26no, Mathews 25no, Bumrah 1/32, Pandya 1/39, Kumar 1/42)
Player of the match: Suranga Lakmal (Sri Lanka).
ODI debut: S.S.Iyer (India)

India beat the touring Sri Lankans by 3 wickets (D/L method) to win the second One Day International played at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh. Scores:
India – 392/4 in 50 Overs (Sharma 208no, Iyer 88, Dhawan 68, Perera 3/80, Pathirana 1/63)
Sri Lanka – 251/8 in 50 Overs (Mathews 111no, Gunaratne 34, Dickwella 22, Thirimanne 21, Chahal 3/60, Bumrah 2/43, Pandya 1/39)
Player of the match: Rohit Sharma (India)
ODI debut: Washington Sundar (India)

India beat the touring Sri Lankans by 8 wickets to win the third One Day International played at the Dr.Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. Scores:
Sri Lanka – 215 in 44.4 Overs (Tharanga 95, Mathews 17, Gunaratne 17, Yadav 3/42, Chahal 3/46, Pandya 2/49, Kumar 1/35, Bumrah 1/39)
India – 219/2 in 32.1 Overs (Dhawan 100no, Iyer 65, Karthik 26no, Perera 1/25, Dananjaya 1/53)
India won the 3-match series 2-1.
Player of the match: Kuldeep Yadav (India)
Player of the series: Shikhar Dhawan (India)

India beat the touring Sri Lankans by 93 runs to win the first T20 International played at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. Scores:
India – 180/3 in 20 Overs (Rahul 61, Dhoni 39no, Pandey 32no, Fernando 1/38, Mathews 1/19, Perera 1/37)
Sri Lanka – 87 in 16 Overs (Tharanga 23, Perera 19, Dickwella 13, Chahal 4/23, Pandya 3/29, Yadav 2/18, Unadkat 1/7)
Player of the match: Yuzvendra Chahal (India)
T20 debut: M.V.T.Fernando (Sri Lanka)

India beat the touring Sri Lankans by 88 runs to win the second T20 International played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indorek. Scores:
India – 260/5 in 20 Overs (Sharma 118, Rahul 89, Dhoni 28, Perera 2/49, Pradeep 2/61, Chameera 1/45)
Sri Lanka – 172 in 17.2 Overs (Perera 77, Tharanga 47, Dickwella 25, Chahal 4/ 52, Yadav 3/52, Unadkat 1/22, Pandya 1/23)
Player of the match: Rohit Sharma (India)

India beat the touring Sri Lankans by 5 wickets to win the third and final T20 International played at the Wanhkede Stadium, Mumbai. Scores:
Sri Lanka – 135/7 in 20 Overs (Gunaratne 36, Samarawickrama 21, Unadkat 2/15, Pandya 2/25, Sundar 1/22, Yadav 1/26, Siraj 1/45)
India – 139/5 in 19.2 Overs (Pandey 32, Iyer 30, Sharma 27, Chameera 2/22, Shanaka 2/27)
India won the 3-match series 3-0.
Player of the match: Jaydev Unadkat (India)
Player of the series: Jaydev Unadkat (India)
T20 debut: Washington Sundar (India)

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has hired an Australian psychologist for the National Team, according to reliable sources. The psychologist will arrive in Sri Lanka early next week and will motivate the players until the team leaves for the Bangladesh tour. However, this psychologist will not travel with the National Team to Bangladesh according to the sources. The Sri Lankan Team is scheduled to play a Tri-Nation Series also involving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in addition to two Test matches and two Twenty20 internationals in Bangladesh. The new Coach Chandika Hathurusingha may not have recommended his name but he may have been aware about his skills as the coach was in Australia for quite some time. The source didn’t reveal the name, but he is reported to be Phil Jauncey. In the past, SLC had utilised the services of Sandy Gordon. The Board did hire Gordon to motivate the players in the past. The new psychologist’s main task is to motivate the depleted Sri Lankan Team which had suffered some heavy defeats in all formats of the game in recent times.(Daily Island 30.12.2017

Former Observer Schoolboy Cricketer main Award winner turned ICC Elite Panel umpire Kumar Dharmasena reached another great milestone in his distinguish career, this time as an international umpire. The 46-year-old former Sri Lanka Test all-rounder, who officiated in the fourth Ashes Test between England and Australia concluded in Melbourne yesterday with Indian Sundaram Ravi, has now officiated in 50 Tests as an umpire. Following his retirement from international cricket in November 2006, Dharmasena took to umpiring. Having made his international debut as an umpire in 2009, officiating in an ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Dambulla, Dharmasena became the youngest ever Sri Lankan to umpire in any form of international match. He umpired at the 2011 ICC World Cup and in the same year, he had the honour of being appointed to the ICC’s Elite Panel of Umpires. But the greatest achievement in his career as an international umpire was witnessed in 2012 when he was adjudged the ICC’s Umpire of the Year to receive the David Shepherd Trophy. By officiating at the 2015 ICC World Cup tournament, including the final, Dharmasena became the first person to play and umpire in an ICC World Cup final. As a player, Dharmasena played a notable role in Sri Lanka’s World Cup victory in 1996. After ending his school cricket career, Dharmasena became a permanent member of Bloomfield in the domestic inter-club premier league season. Merely three years after winning the ‘Observer Schoolboy Cricketer’ of the Year title, young Dharmasena made his Test debut in Sri Lanka’s second Test against South Africa at SSC grounds in September, 1993. He made his Sri Lanka ODI debut on August 24, 1994 in the fifth ODI against Pakistan at Premadasa Stadium capturing 2 for 34 off nine overs. He has aggregated 868 runs in 31 Tests with three half centuries and captured 69 wickets with 6 for 72 as his best innings analysis. Dharmasena had represented Sri Lanka in 141 ODIs, aggregating 1,222 runs with four half centuries. Dharmasena has captured 138 wickets in ODIs with his of breaks, delivered with a slightly unorthodox action that had been a blessing to the Lankan team in many ODIs. (Sunday Observer 31.12.2017)