SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS – MARCH 2023 – by Victor Melder
The Opening two-day match, between the touring Sri Lankans & a New Zealand XI, played at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, NZ, ended in a draw, with rain interrupting play Scores:
Sri Lanka – 276/4 dec (K. Mendis 95, O. Fernando 78, Mathews 38, Chandimal 35, Braak 1/36, Hartshorn 1/41, Davey 1/48)
New Zealand XI – 141/1 (Boyle 73no, Bhula 37no, Cumming 27, Kumara 1/16)
New Zealand defeated the touring Sri Lankans by 2 wickets, to win the first Test, played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Scores:
Sri Lanka – 1st Innings – 355 (Mendis 87, Karunaratne 50, Mathews 47, de Silva 46, Chandimal 39, Southee 5/64, Henry 4/80)
New Zealand – 1st Innings – 373 (Mitchell 102, Henry 72, Latham 67, Fernando 4/85, Kumara 3/76, Rajitha 2/104)
Sri Lanka – 2nd Innings – 302 (Mathews 115, de Silva 47, Chandimal 42, Tickner 4/100, Southee 2/57)
New Zealand – 2nd Innings – 285/8 (Williamson 121, Mitchell 81, Fernando 3/63, Jayasuriya 2/92)
Points: New Zealand 12, Sri Lanka 0.
The Ireland men’s national team will tour Sri Lanka next month for a two-match Test series, the Sri Lanka Cricket said. The Ireland team is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on April 9, 2023. The SLC said that both games would be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium. The decision to play two Test matches instead of one and two ODIs, as planned earlier, was taken mutually following discussions held between Sri Lanka Cricket and Cricket Ireland. (Daily Mirror, 14.3.2023)
New Zealand defeated the touring Sri Lankans by an Innings and 58 runs, to win the second and final Test played at Basin reserve, Wellington. Scores:
New Zealand, 1s t Innings – 580/4 dec (Williamson 215, Nicolls 200no, Conway 78, Rajitha 2/126, de Silva 1/75, Jayasuriya 1/80)
Sri Lanka, 1st Innings – 164 (Karunaratne 89, Chandimal 37, Henry 3/44, Bracewell 3/50, Tickner 1/21, Southee 1/22)
Sri Lanka, 2nd Innings – 358 (de Silva 98, Chandimal 62, Karunaratne 51, Mendis 50, Madushaka 39, Southee 3/61, Tickner 3/84, Bracewell 2/100)
Player of the Match: Henry Nicolls (New Zealand)
Player of the Series: Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
New Zealand won the 2-match series, 2-0.
Points: New Zealand 12, Sri Lanka 0.
Test Debut: Nishan Madushaka (Sri Lanka)
Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand)
Sri Lanka Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne said that he had asked national team selectors to relieve him from the role after the upcoming Ireland Test series. Karunaratne was appointed as Test captain in 2019, taking over from Dinesh Chandimal, and brought Sri Lanka within the cusp of a place in the World Test Chanpionship final before the 2-0 series defeat to New Zealand ended those chances. “I think it’s good if we can have a new captain take over ahead of the next World Test series cycle, instead of me stepping down in the middle of it,” Karunaratne said after Sri Lanka innings and 58 run defeat to New Zealand on Monday. “I still haven’t got a response, but in my mind, I think it’s good if we have a new captain appointed ahead of the next cycle,” he added. He also excelled more as batsman since taking on the captaincy role, averaging 47.70 in those 26 Tests, and was named in the ICC’s Test Team of the Year for 2021. (Daily Mirror, 21.3.2023)
New Zealand beat the touring Sri Lankans by 198 runs to win the first One-Day International played at Eden Park, Auckland. Scores:
New Zealand – 274 in 49.3 Overs (Allen 51, Ravindra 49, Phillips 39, Karunarate 4/43, Rajitha 2/35, Kumara 2/46)
Sri Lanka – 76 in 19.5 Overs (Mathews 18, Kumara 11, Shipley 5/31, Mitchell 2/12, Tickner 2/20)
Player of the Match: Henry Shipley (New Zealand)
One-Day Debut: Chad Bowes (New Zealand) & Rachin Ravindra (Sri Lanka)
Points: New Zealand 10, Sri Lanka 0.
The second One-Day International between the touring Sri Lankans and New Zealand, played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch was abandoned due to rain, without a ball being bowled. Points: Sri Lanka 5, New Zealand 5.
New Zealand beat the touring Sri Lankans by 6 wickets to win the third One-Day International played at Seddon Park, Hamilton. Scores:
Sri Lanka – 157 in 41.3 Ov4rs (Nissanka 57, Shanaka 32, Karunaratne 24, Henry 3/14, Mitchell 3/32, Shipley 3/32)
New Zealand – 159/4 in 32.5 Overs (Young 86no, Nicolls 44no, Kumara 2/39, Shanaka 1/25)
Player of the Match: Will Young (New Zealand)
Points: new Zealand 10, Sri Lanka 0.
