Sri Lanka stutter in warm up games but may still provide some fireworks. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports editor) Sri Lanka made an inauspicious start to the World Cup losing both warm-up games to Bangladesh and Afghanistan and the writing on the wall about their chances of success seems dismal to say the least. Just recently they overcame both these teams in the Asia Cup before making the final against India. But the preparation since has see both Asian neighbours step up their campaigns while Sri Lanka’s course appears at this stage to be heading backwards. Both losses were convincing, by seven wickets to Bangladesh and six wickets to Afghanistan, and throws up concerns about the composition of the team that has failed to deliver with and without Skipper Dasun Shanaka who seems to be the focus of attention rather than the team’s overall performance. Apart from ...
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Watch Asia Cup Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Highlights – Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets to get into the Finals against India Pakistan: 252/7 Sri Lanka: 252/8 Result: Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets (with 0 balls remaining) (DLS method) PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Kusal Mendis 91 runs. ...
Sri Lanka scramble into Asia Cup super fours but skipper Shanaka’s form slump is concerning. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (Elanka Sports Editor) Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka finds himself in a serious predicament unless he is able to extricate himself from a form slump that questions his place in the team, albeit in winning form. Shanaka’s return from the last few games have been mediocre to say the least, but his leadership qualities appear to have saved him so far. How long that prevails will be dependant on the next games in the Asia Cup. His axing at this stage, with the World Cup in India just around the corner, will not be an ideal scenario. Whether the team will gel under a different leader in the World Cup will be closely scrutinised by the country’s cricket administrators. Either way he can take the pressure off himself with ...
Pathirana and Theeksheena lay the platform for a sensational Sri Lanka triumph over Bangladesh – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (Elanka Sports Editor) If early indications count for anything, Sri Lanka showed pride and poise of it’s symbolic Lion as they cruised past Bangladesh with a clinical five- wicket victory at Pallekelle. Hamstrung with a number of injuries, and perhaps resting some players for the upcoming World Cup, Sri Lanka showed some promise with available stocks, particularly Matheesha Pathirana who teamed up with Maheesh Theeksheena to rip through a respected Bangladesh batting line-up and bowl them out for 164 in 42.4 overs making the task for the batters a relatively easy task . Sri Lanka strolled to the target in 39 overs losing five wickets thanks to fighting knocks from Sadeera Samarawickrema 54 off 77 balls, and Charith Asalanka 62 off 92 balls after a top order stutter. Sri Lanka’s ...
Injury ridden Sri Lanka’s gamble on sacrifice in Asia Cup with plans for World Cup is up fordebate? – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (Elanka Sports Editor) Sri Lanka go into today’s Asia Cup game against Bangladesh with no illusions of the task ahead. Understrength in bowling, and the omission of experience, perhaps for long term plans, the Lankans risk of performing well in this tournament seems bleak. It does have some merit though, for uncovering depth from a different perspective for the bigger event, as long as the end result is not disastrous. With the World Cup around the corner, Sri Lanka needs to be aware of the consequences of an overcautious plan that will backfire if they perform poorly in Asia. Momentum counts for everything when the All important World Cup is ahead, so careful strategy will determine whether the Asia Cup and World Cup preparations are on track for ...
All the squads for 2023 Asia Cup Source : dailymirror The squads are starting to be revealed for the 2023 Asia Cup, which will take place in Pakistan and Sri Lanka between August 30 and September 17. Co-host Pakistan were the first team to announce their squad and Babar Azam’s side are placed in Group A alongside India and Nepal. Group A Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir (travelling reserve). India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumraj, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling reserve). Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Bhim ...
India vs Pakistan match at Pallekele: VIP tickets sell out within minutes Source:Dailymirror Tickets for the much anticipated India-Pakistan Asia Cup match at the Pallekele International Stadium on September 2 have virtually sold out, with organisers charging Rs. 9600 for entry into the two grass embarkment. Tickets for the Asia Cup went on sale last afternoon, and as expected the first of potentially three showdowns between India and Pakistan garnered the most interest. Tickets for the main pavilion and it’s four seated areas were sold out despite a significantly marked up price — tickets for the Grand Stand Top Level going for Rs 96000 each, and “A” and “B” lower going for Rs. 40000 each. ...
ACC confirms Asia Cup schedule, final on Sept. 17 at R. Premadasa Source:Dailymirror The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Wednesday confirmed the schedule for the Asia Cup starting in August, with Sri Lanka hosting a majority of its games at the R Premadasa. The tournament, which is being played in a hybrid-model with games split between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, will kick off in Multan with Pakistan taking on Nepal on August 30, and Sri Lanka opening their campaign on August 31 against Bangladesh at Pallekele. Sri Lanka will travel to Lahore for their second game, against Afghanistan, the last of the group stage matches scheduled to be played in Pakistan. ...
Political interference: ICC visits Sri Lanka Source:Dailymirror The Deputy Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Imran Khwaja arrived in the island yesterday as part of a ‘fact-finding mission’ into allegations of political interference in the administration of Sri Lankan cricket. Khwaja is part of a three-member committee that was appointed by the ICC in March to look into complaints made by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials to the sports’ world governing body against Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe. “As part of his ‘Fact Finding Mission’ Khwaja held discussions with the President of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Mr. Shammi Silva, and the Executive Committee of the SLC. During discussions with the SLC, Mr. Khwaja inquired about issues faced by Sri Lanka Cricket owing to political interferences and the impact it has on administering the game,” a media release from SLC read. ...
Disappointing Sri Lanka succumb to Indian second string – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka started 2023 with an embarrassing loss to India’s second string side in Mumbai. The Asia Cup triumph seems a long time ago as the struggling Lankans were made to look less than second rate throwing growing concerns about the country’s progress since the T20 World Cup in Australia where they were booted out of the competition before the quarter finals. India, without skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, K.L Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shammi and Arshdeep Singh, exposed the Sri Lankan frailties and lack of consistency to rout the hapless visitors without too much effort. It also underlined India’s tremendous depth to keep them among the forerunners of the game while the minnows find emerging talent hard to unravel. New pace sensation Shivam Mavi dismantled Sri Lanka’s experienced batting claiming a sensational ...
