England shatter Pakistan dream to prevail in gripping T20 World Cup final – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports editor)  England skipper Jos Buttler marshalled his troops with the command of a cool ,calm, battle hardened veteran to contain an established Pakistan batting line-up. He then led his men to an emphatic T20 World Cup victory in front of over 80 thousand fans at the MCG.  As I said in my preview,  winning the toss was paramount. It gave England the platform to play to their strengths by putting Pakistan in and trying to strangle a free scoring team in an endeavour to chase down a reasonable target.  Man-of- match,  and the series, Sam Curran, provided that impetus with a devastating spell of seam bowling on an MCG track that was rwo paced and with plenty of swing off it. Curran and leg spinner Adil Rashid ripped through Pakistan ...

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India’s castle blown down by a mighty England huff and puff. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.     England huffed and puffed and blew India’s house down, much to the dismay of the ICC, the rest of all experts, and all expectations.  So, Asia in the form of Pakistan, take on England, and I would be a optimist to even venture on predicting a winner with two teams not really a popular choice who have made this World Cup final, and are capable of winning against anyone on their day.  Skipper Jos Buttler and Alex Hales smashed unbeaten 80 and 86 in whirlwind fashion to lead England on a romp to the final chasing 170. They achieved a par total with four overs to spare after an incredible run chase.  India provided the early fireworks led by prolific batters Virat Kohli 50 0ff40 balls, and Hardik Pandiya whose brutal ...

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Australia crush England by nine-wickets take 1-0 lead in the 5 test ashes series at Gabba stadium in Brisbane – by Sunil Thenabadu (sports editor – eLanka) Nathan Lyon finally claimed his 400th Test wicket as another catastrophic collapse from the visitors handed the hosts a comfortable win  Chief Scores  Australia 425 and 1 for 20 (Harris 9*, Robinson 1-13) beat England 147 and 297 (Root 89, Malan 82, Lyon 4-91) by nine wickets  Play was curtailed for a few minutes owing to a power failure at Gabba and England went down with it as Nathan Lyon finally claimed his 400th Test wicket who had been  stuck on 399 wickets for nearly an year to be precise 326 days.Lyon was the third Australian behind Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath was the 17th in all time bowlers to this feat. Australia claimed a one-nil series lead after another catastrophic fall which even the most ardent Australian ...

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Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga De Silva makes Sri Lanka proud been elected to the ICC’s most valuable team – by Sunil Thenabadu (Sports editor – eLanka)   After  the conclusion of every International world cup tournament the governing body of cricket ,The International Cricket Council (ICC)  announced on the 15th Monday the probable team in the T 20 tournament  concluded on Sunday in Dubai UAE. It is heartening to note that Batsmen Charith Asalanka and all-rounder ,worlds No 1 bowler/No 3 all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva have been included in this exclusive honoured X1…Players from other countries included are from Australia,England,Pakistan and New Zealand.It is pity that no Indian player had gained selection.  . The list includes three Australian players, two each from Pakistan, South Africa and England as well as one player from New Zealand. The ICC has named Pakistan captain Babar Azam as the skipper of the side with ...

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Spinners skittle Sri Lanka before Sibley and Buttler wrap up series for England   Source:-theguardian A remarkable day of fast-forward cricket ended with the simplest of jogged singles under a setting sun, as Dom Sibley casually tucked the ball into the leg side and called Jos Buttler through to seal a six-wicket win for England and 2-0 series clean sweep. It was a low-key but satisfying conclusion to a barnstorming fourth day from Joe Root’s tourists. They had spent the first three days of the match simply trying to stay in the contest but suddenly found themselves set 164 to win, after Jack Leach and Dom Bess had met expectations by gutting Sri Lanka’s batting lineup for a mere 126 all out. The two sons of Somerset’s oft-maligned Ciderabad shared eight of the 15 wickets to fall across three electric sessions of Test cricket and though England’s chase wobbled slightly ...

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England tour to Sri Lanka 2021: When the Test series starts, dates, squad and how to watch live on TV by Chris Stocks An undercooked England face a Sri Lanka side who are coming straight off a two-Test series in South Africa By Chris Stocks January 8, 2021 6:32 pm Updated January 8, 2021 6:58 pm Source:-inews England will head into the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle not only undercooked but positively rare after less than two full days’ match practice. It is a concern given their last Test against Pakistan in August was almost six months ago. But a combination of Covid and a packed winter that sees Joe Root’s team head to India for four Tests immediately after this two-match series means just a sole two-day intra-squad warm-up match was scheduled at the start of this tour. Day one took place on Friday, with Team Root facing off against Team Buttler in Hambantota. ...

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