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Sri Lanka celebrate turnaround of fortunes, but are they the real deal? – By TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports Editor) Image Source : islandcricket Wannindu Hasarsnga de Silva celebrated his elevation to the Sri Lanka T20 captaincy by leading from the front to steer his home team to an unassailable series triumph over Afghanistan in Dambulla. Sri Lanka continued their dominance over the Afgans with this win,  but the visitors are quickly closing the gap in a format where their raw talent has taken the cricketing world by storm. Lesser teams with better structure often falter when on tour,  but Afghanistan refuse to be overawed by anyone or any situation trusting their natural ability against the best teams in the world with their fighting spirit and inborn determination.  In the first game it was Hasarsnga’s effort, this time with the bat, as Sri Lanka struggled to 160 in their allotted overs. ...

Feb 21, 2024 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , , ,
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India rout Sri Lanka once more sending an ominous warning to the rest in the World Cup. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.  (eLanka Sports editor). India sent tremors through the World Cup with another demolition of a completely out of tune Sri Lanka and duck season would best describe the Islanders pathetic run chase at Wankhede stadium. If there were doubts about the one sided Asia Cup final, India dispelled all of them as their bowlers ran riot to give them five more runs, 50 all out in the Asia Cup, and 55 all out here and a 302 run win. Chasing 357 Sri Lanka were never in with a chance as Mohamed Shami and Mohamed Siraj wreaked havoc on a clueless Sri Lanka batting line-up after Jasprit Bumrah prised out usually consistent Pathum Nissanka in his first ball.  This set the stage for what could be a record five ...

Nov 3, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Return of Angelo Matthews, the man with the Midas touch transforms Sri Lanka’s fortunes. England perish under new look Sri Lanka. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE(eLanka Sports editor). Angelo Matthews turned out to be Sri Lanka’s new good luck charm and Kusal Mendis warmed to his role as skipper leading the Island nation to a convincing 8 -wicket victory over defending World Cup champions England in Bengaluru.  Shell- shocked England, currently languishing at the bottom of this edition, had no answers to a revitalised Sri Lanka, as Matthews provided the Midas touch, after Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat. The bowlers, at long last, hit superb lengths with good line and accuracy to destroy England’s strong batting line-up, dramatically changing the leather hunt they were on in the first three games.  And this made it so much easier for Sri Lanka’s batters to romp to an ...

Oct 27, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Sri Lanka register first win but it certainly wasn’t pretty. – By TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (Elanka Sports Editor)  Sri Lanka wobbled their way to their first World Cup win over the giant killing Netherlands but they made it after after some uncomfortable moments.  Unbeaten so far by the world’s new upstarts in their previous five encounters, Sri Lanka scrambled to a five wicket victory with ten balls to spare and kept that record intact. Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards may have rued his decision to bat first after winning the toss on a grassy Lucknow wicket. Sri Lanka’s seamers Dilshan Madushanka and Kasun Rajitha exploited early movement off the wicket to skittle Netherlands top order and at 91 for 6 it looked like a the game was heading for a lopsided end. Not so,  as Netherlands tail dug in and fought back defiantly, and Sri Lanka’s bowlers lost their grip ...

Oct 22, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , , , ,
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Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrema fireworks count for nothing as the tail let’s Pakistan cruise past. – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.  (eLanka Sports editor) Sri Lanka’s batting continues to flourish on the back of brilliant Kusal Mendis but they were unable to shake off a tenacious Pakistan who overhauled a competitive target to post a six wicket win.  Sri Lanka should have capitalised on a great start set up by Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrema but the lower order buckled once more reaching 344 for 9 wickets in their 50 overs. Pathum Nissanka was back in form while Kusal Perera failed again before Mendis and Samarawickrema took charge racing to centuries suggesting a winnable 400 run target. But the familiar sight of a limp tail resurfaced to see them fall well short of all expectations.  Pakistan were a dominant force allround, underlining why they were ranked number on in ...

Oct 11, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , ,
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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 ...

Oct 4, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Asalanka and Mendis lead Sri Lanka charge to Asia Cup final after heart stopper against Pakistan. – By TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE.(Elanka Sports Editor) Charith Asalanka provided heroics that will be long remembered as Sri Lanka scrambled into the Asia Cup final after a heart stopping last ball victory over Pakistan in Colombo.  The plucky allrounder set Sri Lankan hearts ablazing when he smashed a four and two in the last two balls when all seemed lost, and the country erupted in wild celebration as they beat fancied Pakistan and the odds pre tournament.  Asalanka was 49 not out after edging the last two balls past the wicket keeper for four and to midwicket for two to clinch a place for his country in the final.  Earlier, Pakistan’s batters negotiated the the Sri Lanka quicks with caution. They were in a perilous 130 for 5 in the 28th over. But ...

Sep 15, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
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Sri Lanka dare to dream with comfortable win over Bangladesh – BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (Elanka Sports Editor) Sadeera Samarawickrema smashed a whirlwind 93 off 72 balls with 2 sixers and 7 fours to steer Sri Lanka to a 23 run victory over Bangladesh. The rising star in Sri Lanka’s batting line-up looks to be fine tuning his craft in preparation for the Cricket World Cup in India next month.  The win gives Sri Lanka vital points before facing Asian giants India and Pakistan and the hope of creating an upset to make it to the final.  India and Pakistan have upto now had limited preparation due to inclement weather in Sri Lanka and may just be a little underdone for the crucial final stages of the tournament.  Sadeera’s heroics and Kusal Mendis 50  off 73 and and Pathum Nissanka 40 off 50 helped bolster Sri Lanka to a ...

Sep 10, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , ,
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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 ...

Sep 1, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Trevine Rodrigo Tagged , , , , , , , ,
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SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS – By Victor Melder Complied by Victor Melder   (JUNE 2023)     Experienced batsman Angelo Mathews was omitted from the Sri Lanka squad for the Cricket World Cup qualifiers this month, in an otherwise unchanged squad named for the three-month ODI series against Afghanistan.  Brought in earlier this year to support an otherwise inexperienced ODI batting line up, Mathews managed just scored of 18, 0 and 12 in three matches since his return, and with only 15 players allowed in the squad, the former captain failed to make the cut.  Of the 15 players named for the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, only Chamika Karunaratne did not feature in a single game in the series against Afghanistan, which Sri Lanka won 2-1.  Sri Lanka begin their qualification campaign against the United Arab Emirates on June 19, but are scheduled to play two warm up matches ...

Jul 2, 2023 Posted by In Articles, Victor Melder Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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