Sri Lanka crash out of T20 World Cup taking Australia with them – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.  Sri Lanka flattered, then flopped, to exit the T20 World Cup with a bitter sweet taste in their mouth and the realisation that winning the Asia Cup and competing with the best in the world was two completely different leagues. Playing a game that was crucial to Australia’s chance to make the semi finals, Sri Lanka’s batting showed early promise then folded like a deck of cards as the middle order continued their dismal form with the bat to give England easy access to the semis.  Openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis started like a house on fire smashing the feared England attack for 39 runs off the first three and a half overs before England stemmed the tide by removing Mendis and the steady procession continued thereafter.  Nissanka, 67 with ...

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Chris Silverwood will be key for Sri Lankan upset –  BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports Editor) Sri Lanka will bank on coach Chris Silverwood’s innermost knowledge of England’s batting weaknesses in a bid to upset the favourites at the SCG.  Silverwood was the former England coach until the disastrous Ashes tour last summer in Australia, where he was relieved of his duties after returning home with very little happy stories to write about. At the helm of a younger, relatively inexperienced Sri Lanka side who are currently gaining a reputation as a dangerous proposition to anyone on their day, his direction could be crucial to a Lankan upset. From a personal perspective,  he has a point to prove to his former employers that the hiccup against Australia was not the end all of his ability to handle the reins. Sri Lanka has a mathematical chance of qualifying for ...

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Sri Lanka cruise past Afganistan and dare to dream – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka sports editor)  Wanindu Hasarsnga De Silva and Dhananjaya De Silva gave Sri Lanka a Silver lining,  and the daring hope of delivering Skipper Dasun Shanaka’s bold prediction that the Asia Cup champions can make the T20 World Cup semi finals.  Not mission impossible, but still a realistic possibility, Shanaka’s dream has to align with beating one of the favourites England,  in their final commitment which is a tough ask . But not impossible in this unpredictable format.  Sri Lanka recovered from a New Zealand hiding to strangle Afghanistan’s batting before chasing down an under par 145 to cruise to a six wicket win with 9 balls to spare. Afganistan gave the Sri Lankans a worrying period when their batsmen appeared to be in control and heading to build a unbeatable run chase. But Sri Lanka ...

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Watch: Mendis fires Sri Lanka past Netherlands into T20 World Cup Super 12 Source:Dailymirror Opener Kusal Mendis slammed a 44-ball 79 as Asian champions Sri Lanka beat the Netherlands by 16 runs to sweep into the Super 12 stage of the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday. The world’s eighth-ranked team plundered 162-6, blasting 102 of them off the final 10 overs to set up a big target which the Dutch were unable to reach, finishing on 146-9. In which Super 12 group they play will be determined after the later game in Geelong between Namibia and United Arab Emirates. A win for the African side will knock out the Dutch and send them through, as they already have a superior net run rate. If the UAE upset Namibia, the Dutch will progress. ...

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SRI LANKA WIPE THE SMILE OFF THE IRISH – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE Sri Lanka’s bowlers stifled a dangerous Ireland batting line-up and then the familiar picture of an in-form Kusal Mendis stepped in, bludgeoning a hapless Irish attack, smashing an unbeaten 68 off 43 deliveries to give them a glimmer of hope of surprising many in this edition of the T20 World Cup.  A backup pace attack did an incredible job to restrict and bamboozle the Irishmen before the big guns, Wanindu Hasarsnga De Silva and Maheesh Theeksheena strangled the run flow while picking up wickets at random to give the batsmen the relief of an achievable target.  There was no panic, as the Sri Lankans plotted a cool calm and calculated chase. With little terrors in the Irish attack to deal with, there was no disorientation like in the game against Namabia. Missing explosive Pathum Nissanka, Sri Lanka ...

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Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup Preliminary Matches –by Michael Roberts In forecast to myself I thought that the Sri Lankan Squad that had snaffled the Asia Cup in the Gulf arena would face a difficult situation in Australia notwithstanding the lower-placed teams in their initial round of matches. For one, the Australian playing conditions would be quite different, both in terms of climate, pitch conditions and the size of the playing fields. For another, the Namibian team is made up of tough outback country Boer-types who do not take a backward step; while the Dutch have many experienced campaigners. The Sri Lankans have not been helped by injuries to the promising medium-pacer Madushan and then to Chameera and, now, possibly Pathum Nissanka. This meant that Lahiru Kumara was playing today, the 20thOctober. Bowling the last over with Netherlands last wicket-pair in and the injured Van der Merwe batting, ...

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Watch: Mendis fires Sri Lanka past Netherlands into T20 World Cup Super 12 Image Source : sports.ndtv Source : dailymirror Opener Kusal Mendis slammed a 44-ball 79 as Asian champions Sri Lanka beat the Netherlands by 16 runs to sweep into the Super 12 stage of the Twenty20 World Cup on Thursday. The world’s eighth-ranked team plundered 162-6, blasting 102 of them off the final 10 overs to set up a big target which the Dutch were unable to reach, finishing on 146-9. In which Super 12 group they play will be determined after the later game in Geelong between Namibia and United Arab Emirates. A win for the African side will knock out the Dutch and send them through, as they already have a superior net run rate. If the UAE upset Namibia, the Dutch will progress. It is the third successive time Sri Lanka have reached the Super 12 and ...

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Sri Lanka clip the wings of flying Dutchmen to enter Super 12’s. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports Editor) It was a game not for the faint hearted as Sri Lanka made heavy work of an assignment meant to be a formality before advancing to the Super 12’s against a spirited Netherlands.  The highly rated Lankans did nothing to let the rest of the world sit up and take notice and be excited of what to expect from  them as their batters struggled to come to grips with the two paced wicket at Kardinia Park before scrambling to safety and finally able to post a defendable score. The Papare band blared, the fans were over exuberant as the norm, but the early mood in the air was one of trepidation and anxiety about the unknown as they scratched and struggled to 36 for 2 off the first 6.4 overs. ...

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Sri Lanka crush UAE at T20 World Cup despite Meiyappan hat-trick Source:Dailymirror Karthik Meiyappan lit up the Twenty20 World Cup with a hat-trick Tuesday but it was in vain as Sri Lanka dismissed the United Arab Emirates for just 73 to get their campaign back on track. The Asian champions were stunned by Namibia in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday, a crushing 55-run defeat that left no room for error against the UAE. They responded with a convincing 79-run victory, but not before some drama. Sri Lanka were cruising at 117-2 at Geelong when spin bowler Meiyappan derailed their plans in the 15th over, removing Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Charith Asalanka and skipper Dasun Shanaka in successive balls. ...

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Pride of the Lion’s in main frame for some fireworks at T20 World Cup – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports editor) Sri Lanka warmed up to a beautiful Melbourne spring day at the MCG and soon sounded out their intentions for the upcoming World Cup T20 tournament in Australia with a convincing 33-run win over Zimbabwe.  Fresh from a successful Asia Cup triumph, the Lankans showed no signs of letting up in different conditions by quickly adapting to the bouncier and quicker wickets here, as they rev up preparations to get through the qualifiers before the big event commencing on October 16. Early indications suggest that the flighty Lankans will trouble some of the top teams and although it seems far fetched at this stage, they certainly can emulate their previously seemingly improbable Asia Cup success.  Although warm up games don’t usually carry the same significance,  it gives some indication ...

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