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Fast-bowling allrounder returned 4 for 21 before a fighting innings from Athapaththu confined TKR to a runners-up finish

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2024A four-wicket haul from fast-bowling allrounder Aaliyah Alleyne paved the way for Barbados Royals’ second Women’s Caribbean Premier League title. In a low-scoring final, Royals restricted Trinbago Knight Riders to 93 for 8 before overhauling the target with five overs to spare. Royals were the defending champions and finished runners-up in the inaugural WCPL in 2022.After being asked to bat, TKR started on the right note with captain Deandra Dottin – back in West Indies’ squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 after reversing her international retirement – smacking a six off Chinelle Henry in the opening over. But things went down south for them after Royals’ skipper Hayley Matthews got one to sneak in through Dottin in the second over. Henry then dismissed Jemimah Rodrigues, who ensured TKR’s qualification with a half-century in the previous outing, caught and bowled for just two.Related

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Opening the batting in place of Harshitha Samarawickrama, who was left out, Jannillea Glasgow then added 43 for the third with Shikha Pandey, who was promoted to No. 4. The introduction of Alleyne in the 12th over changed the course of the game. She struck on her first ball to have Glasgow miscue one to mid-off before cleaning up Pandey in her next over.Alleyne’s double-wicket 16th over, where she dismissed Chedean Nation and Zaida James within four balls, brought TKR to a screeching halt. Three of her four wickets broke the batters’ stumps, and she achieved that by constantly keeping the stumps in play.Chasing 94 for back-to-back titles, Royals raced off inside the powerplay with Chamari Athapaththu being the aggressor. She struck three consecutive fours off Jess Jonassen in the fourth over and then a further three off Shamilia Connell in the penultimate over of the powerplay, at the end of which, Royals were 48 for 0.Offspinner Samara Ramnath, TKR’s leading wicket-taker in WCPL 2024, then dismissed Matthews – caught by a diving Dottin at backward point. A few overs later, Connell pulled off an athletic catch at long-on to get rid of Qiana Joseph for Ramnath’s second wicket. A couple of balls after taking a catch to dismiss Alleyne at long-on, though, Connell landed on the boundary cushion in an attempt to catch a Laura Harris hit and hurt her ankle. She had to be stretchered off, and the West Indies management will be monitoring her recovery since she is part of the T20 World Cup squad.Despite losing three wickets for two runs in the middle, Athapaththu kept at it and sealed Royals’ win in the 15th over to set the celebrations off. The result was fitting for Royals, who lost only one match this season. Matthews was the Player of the Tournament, thanks to a chart-topping 11 wickets and the second-most runs in WCPL 2024.

The fast bowler returned home for the birth of his child and is likely to rejoin the side for the Super Fours

Deivarayan Muthu03-Sep-20233:28

Jaffer: Shami the obvious replacement for Bumrah

Big picture: Rain in the air once again

Rain ruined the India-Pakistan game, the first in ODI cricket between the two teams since the 2019 World Cup, on Saturday in Pallekele. A similar rain threat hangs over the India-Nepal game at the same venue on Monday, with chances of precipitation up to 80%. If Monday’s fixture in Pallekele is also washed out, India will join their arch-rivals Pakistan in the Super Fours from Group A.Nepal will not want to return home without testing themselves against India’s superstars. If the weather clears up, this could be their biggest match yet, with millions tuning into it. Just two months back, in Colombo, a Rohit Paudel-led Nepal team came up against an India A team filled with IPL players, and suffered a drubbing.Nepal suffered a similar drubbing at the hands of Babar Azam’s Pakistan on their Asia Cup debut in Multan, but there were some passages of play where they showed that they could compete with top teams. Like when Karan KC and Sompal Kami operated with discipline and purpose in the early exchanges. When Paudel swooped in on the ball and nailed a direct hit to run Imam-ul-Haq out. However, at the same time, they also botched a number of chances in the field.They can’t afford any such clumsy errors – or no team for that matter – against an India side that is almost back to full strength. Shreyas Iyer looked fluent against Pakistan before his stay was cut short by Haris Rauf. But they will be without Jasprit Bumrah, who has returned home* for the birth of his first child to miss just one game. It was Ishan Kishan, who made the biggest splash on Saturday, with 82 off 81 balls at No. 5 against a fearsome pace attack on a two-paced track.Going into the match as overwhelming favourites, will India give Suryakumar Yadav or Tilak Varma a chance before they announce their World Cup squad?

Form guide

India WLWLL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Nepal LLWLL

In the spotlight: Kuldeep Yadav and Lalit Rajbanshi

Since his return to the ODI side in January, Kuldeep Yadav has established himself as India’s premier spinner in the format. Among bowlers from Full-Member nations, only Wanindu Hasaranga, Mark Adair and Maheesh Theekshana have more wickets than Kuldeep’s 22 in 11 innings in ODI cricket this year. On Monday, Kuldeep can handsomely add to his tally against an opposition that perhaps isn’t used to facing high-quality left-arm wristspin.Lalit Rajbanshi bowls the less glamorous variety of spin – left-arm fingerspin – and has spent much of his career in the shadow of legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane. But he has played his part in Nepal’s recent success with his defensive skills. Those skills were on bright display against Pakistan in Multan, where he strung together 33 dots. In a match where Pakistan rattled up 342, Rajbanshi gave away just 48 from his ten overs. Earlier, against West Indies in the ODI World Cup Qualifier in Harare, he even fronted up to bowl at the death and got rid of Rovman Powell, Shai Hope and Keemo Paul.0:48

Nepal captain: Kohli is an inspiration for all of us

Team news: Shami could replace Bumrah

Kishan seemingly struggled while running between the wickets against Pakistan, but he was ready to keep wicket before persistent rain had the final say. Bumrah went back home for the birth of his first child – he will likely be back for the Super Fours stage – but for now, his absence will open up a spot for Mohammed Shami or Prasidh Krishna. India have no reason to make any changes on the batting front unless they want to throw in Suryakumar or Tilak, who was particularly impressive during the T20I series against West Indies.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Ishan Kishan (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami/Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mohammed SirajBhim Sharki is part of the squad as a reserve batter, but Nepal might stick to the same XI.Nepal (probable): 1 Kushal Bhurtel, 2 Aasif Sheikh (wk), 3 Rohit Paudel (capt), 4 Aarif Sheikh, 5 Sompal Kami, 6 Dipendra Singh Airee, 7 Gulsan Jha, 8 Kushal Malla, 9 Karan KC, 10 Sandeep Lamichhane, 11 Lalit Rajbanshi

Pitch and conditions: All eyes on the skies

The conditions – both overhead and underfoot – in Pallekele challenged batters on Saturday. There could be some juice for the seamers on Monday too, but all eyes will be on the skies once again.

Stats and trivia: Nepal’s first outing vs India

• This will be Nepal’s first international game against India and only fifth ODI against a Full-Member nation.
• Kushal Bhurtel is six runs away from becoming the third Nepal player, after Paudel and Aasif Sheikh, to 1000 runs in ODI cricket.
• Virat Kohli is 98 runs away from becoming the second Indian – and fifth batter overall – to 13,000 ODI runs.

Quotes

“We never imagined that we would get a chance to play two back-to-back matches against Pakistan and India. We want to make such opportunities count so that the cricketing world can take notice of us.”
*

Glamorgan captain makes hay on dank day as home attack suffer uncomfortable return to second tier

Andrew Miller05-Apr-2024Glamorgan 370 for 3 (Northeast 186*, Carlson 77, Root 67) vs MiddlesexIn a dank start to the year, few would be able to state with any confidence that they’ve yet heard their first cuckoo of spring. But cock an ear to the shires on this cold grey day in April, and you’d hear loud and clear the mocking laugh of the Kookaburra – an invasive species in these parts, and one that’s been flown in direct from the Antipodes to disrupt the habitat of county cricket’s native seamers.By the close, Glamorgan’s own man from the south east, Sam Northeast, was laughing longest and loudest. Ashford in Kent is not quite so far flung as the Eucalypt forests of Queensland, but for Middlesex’s toiling bowlers, Northeast might as well have been Ricky Ponting at the Gabba in 2002-03, for all the effortless dominance he exerted after being handed first use of a characteristically flat Lord’s deck.For it was a case of four washouts and one wipeout on the opening day of the 2024 County Championship. The legendary status of the Lord’s drainage meant that London’s morning downpours were never likely to cause the issues encountered at Derby or Old Trafford, but when Toby Roland-Jones won the toss for Middlesex and chose to bowl first, he could not have envisaged a first-day scoreline of 370 for 3 grinning back at him, or that his incorrectly calling counterpart would be sitting pretty on 186 not out from 266 balls.Perhaps, like Nasser Hussain in that fateful Brisbane Test 20 years ago, TRJ’s was an instinctively defensive decision, borne of his team’s memories – almost exactly a year ago to the day – of being reduced to 4 for 4 by Essex’s Jamie Porter and Sam Cook. More likely, though, it was an unthinking assumption that the ball, any ball, would do enough talking to fast-track Middlesex’s bid for an instant return to the top flight.Not so fast. Although the impact was more apparent at Lord’s than elsewhere, if you squinted through the clouds that enveloped this first day of county action, a common theme emerged, with many of the contests reflecting precisely the type of clear-skied Ashes scoreline that this ball-switching experiment has been designed to do away with – a smattering of breakthroughs within the first 15 or so overs, including Ethan Bamber’s snicking-off of Zain-ul-Hassan for this year’s maiden Championship wicket, then scant reward and a lot of hard yakka thereafter.Billy Root notched a fifty after moving up to open the batting•PA Photos/Getty Images

Both Billy Root and Kiran Carlson might have had designs on centuries of their own when each fell to a glaring misjudgement – with Root’s waft across the line to a decent deck-hitting delivery from Henry Brookes giving Middlesex’s new signing his first and only scalp in 12 energetic but under-threatening overs.Northeast did had a moment of luck on 11, when Max Holden spilled him at backward point off Bamber, but he could hardly have made it count with more aplomb. With a short boundary down the hill to the Mound Stand, he peppered his drives as the shine went off the ball and the Kookaburra’s more slender seam resolutely refused to grip.Notwithstanding a schoolboy hundred for Harrow versus Eton in 2007 (when Gary Ballance, no less, had been a team-mate), in three previous Championship matches at Lord’s, dating back to his first-ball duck for Kent as a 21-year-old in 2011, Northeast had mustered a total of 50 runs at 10.00. Now, en route to what he later described as a “bucket-list” century, he rushed past that total from just 51 balls in a joyous spring offensive. At the other end, Root was scarcely any more sluggish in getting to his fifty from 63 balls, in a second-wicket stand of 129.And, in a direct rebuttal of one of the most pervasive pre-season narratives, by mid-afternoon, the home attack was being carried by the unlikely spin twins of Josh De Caires and Leus du Plooy, a man who might already be feeling a touch of buyer’s remorse after his high-profile move from Derbyshire. Du Plooy even found some purchase in his six exploratory overs, including a snorter that bit past the outside edge to clip the back pad, but it wasn’t enough to dislodge a free-flowing Glamorgan captain.By the time he’d flicked the under-used Ryan Higgins off his toes for the 26th and final four, Northeast had romped along to 179 from 241 balls, and with almost an hour of the day still remaining, he seemed odds-on to rack up a remarkable first-day double-hundred.Instead, with the second Kookaburra offering perhaps just a fraction more assistance than the first, he took his foot off the throttle as the close approached – as is the wont of a man who, two seasons ago, racked up the Championship’s most recent quadruple-century. At the rate this innings has progressed, and with the new ball already primed for its mid-life crisis at the age of 16 overs, there’ll be plenty more where those have already come from.”I plan to be very greedy on day two,” Northeast said at the close. “It’s been a fantastic day and I’m not sure we could have dreamt of it this morning. I want to lead from the front, so it is a nice way to start that, but I’d like to be walking away from here with a victory, that’s the most important thing.”It’s been a good toss to lose at the minute. I would have had a bowl as well, but that’s the way things go. We’ll see what it’s like when our bowlers get on it. We were expecting the wicket to do a little bit more, maybe that is the Kookaburra ball. We may have to get a bit imaginative with how we go about things.”Brookes added: “The Kookaburra is different. You don’t get as much movement and the ball doesn’t stay as hard for as long, but it’s here to stay for a few games this year so we have to work hard with it, see what movement we can get and do things a little bit differently.”

Pakistan’s six-hitting has seen plenty of growth over recent months thanks to an increased focus on range-hitting under coach Mohammad Wasim

Shashank Kishore05-Oct-2024Fatima Sana, Pakistan’s captain, doesn’t want to her team to feel any pressure ahead of their match against India, but believes it’s inevitable given the magnitude of the occasion.Pakistan opened the tournament with a resounding win over Sri Lanka, and are riding a recent wave of success in terms of development, not just results.For example: Pakistan posted 181, their highest T20I total, during their recent series at home against South Africa. In that innings, they hit as many as six sixes, significantly higher than their average of one every 19 overs between the 2023 and 2024 T20 World Cups.Related

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Mohammad Wasim, their current coach, has incorporated some best practices from the Pakistan Super League, such as the influx of data wherever available, as well as an improved focus on range-hitting that was on full view in that match against South Africa, with Sana at the center of it herself.Six-hitting comes with a certain mindset that Sana believes is slowly being ingrained into Pakistan’s batting DNA. She believes it wasn’t always that way.”If you look at the last series of South Africa, a lot of our girls have improved in power hitting,” Sana said. “In the last South Africa series, our team hit six sixes in one match.”I think the girls believe that even if the fielders are standing behind, if they hit, they can go for six. It’s a good thing that all the girls are confident in this. Personally, I used to bat a lot before, but I didn’t know if I could hit or not. But with that belief now it’s become a lot easier.”Fatima Sana scored 30 off 20 in Pakistan’s win over Sri Lanka•ICC/Getty Images

Wasim has had the support of Hanif Malik, whom he worked with at Islamabad United, to help with the range-hitting. Sana believes that adopting different methods to try and improve – irrespective of results – is a good starting point.”First of all, we always wanted to play attacking cricket,” Sana said. “I have been watching that whichever team we played against – we’ve [tried to play] attacking cricket. As a bowler, I used to feel that whoever used to bowl against us, used to hit us from the first ball. I wanted our team to have batters who can punish the bowler from the first ball. We have worked a lot on this and you will see the result soon hopefully.”Sana believes the best way to bring about this change on the batting front is to lead by example herself. On Thursday, Sana’s crucial 20-ball 30 provided Pakistan the late impetus they needed to apply the squeeze on Sri Lanka.Ahead of the India match, Sana was among the first in for range-hitting with the coaching staff, spending considerable time on her backswing and head position while striking the ball. These improvements come from a deep desire to be the “number one allrounder.””I always wanted to be the number one all-rounder – because obviously bowling is a team sport, but the team wins when you are good at it all – even when you are good on the field,” she said. “So that’s why I was trying to prove myself always in helping the team win. So, I think that was the only challenge for me.”That I should take my batting along. Sir [Wasim] has played a big role in this. He has helped me a lot. Our power-hitting coach, he has helped a lot of girls. I think all the credit goes to him because he has given us the belief that you can become an all-rounder. So he gets the credit for this.”

Galle had it all – the return of an ace speedster, a thrilling fightback and a wicket off the last ball

Madushka Balasuriya16-Jul-2023Rain took out large chunks of play on the first day in Galle, but either side of each of those stoppages Pakistan and Sri Lanka engaged in an intriguing tug of war, one that saw the visitors streak ahead courtesy a Shaheen Shah Afridi three-wicket burst, before the hosts reeled them back with a 131-run fifth wicket stand between Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva.While Mathews, who had looked imperious during his 109-ball 64, fell on the stroke of tea Dhananjaya stitched another crucial partnership with Sadeera Samarawickrama (36 off 57), before Pakistan struck one final blow on the stroke of stumps, as Samarawickrama was caught brilliantly at short leg by Imam-ul-Haq. Sri Lanka have 242 for 6 on the board.Those last two wickets arguably made it Pakistan’s day, with Ramesh Mendis, now the last recognised batter alongside Dhananjaya, set to come in next. But with Dhananjaya still unbeaten on 94 off 157 deliveries, Pakistan won’t be getting ahead of themselves, especially after he spent most of the day showcasing his increasingly uncanny knack of delivering when Sri Lanka needed him most.This time he came to the crease with his side 54 for 4. This was during the hour’s play in the morning session between an 85-minute rain break and a late lunch. Afridi had already dispatched Nishan Madushka to grab his 100th Test wicket in the little over five overs of play before rain intervened, but he really took things up a notch following the break, squaring up Kusal Mendis to have him caught at second slip and then strangling the set Dimuth Karunaratne down the leg side.When Dinesh Chandimal wafted at a fullish delivery outside off stump from Naseem Shah to be gobbled up expertly by Babar Azam at third slip, Sri Lanka might have been fearing the worst. But Dhananjaya and Mathews weathered that storm and made it through to lunch.After the break however, with the sun having come out, any movement the seamers had seen earlier in the day was all but gone. This was when Mathews and Dhananjaya got to work, negating whatever Pakistan threw at them. One hundred and twenty runs came in this session.Mathews was in rich form, playing a couple of sumptuous straight drives. Babar Azam briefly flirted with a short-ball strategy, but gave up on it within the span of an over after both Mathews and Dhananjaya showed they were unfazed – possibly down to the ball holding up in the surface whenever it was dug in.Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva brought Sri Lanka right back in the contest with a 131-run stand•AFP/Getty Images

As such, a majority of the middle session was bowled by spinners Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali. However, with it still being day one in Galle, there was hardly any turn on offer and it was difficult for either of them to build any sort of concerted pressure. Mathews found it fairly easy to rotate strike, while Dhananjaya took it upon himself to take on the role of aggressor. Noman was the unlucky recipient of most of this aggression, being taken for four fours and a pair of sixes – the most memorable an elegant inside-out drive over long-off.Then, as the session wound to a close, the run rate quickened as Mathews joined in on the act, taking Agha Salman for back-to-back boundaries through midwicket; in all, he would score nine boundaries. He was looking well set for what would have been his 16th Test century when he feathered a cut through to the keeper off Abrar.It was at this point where Sri Lanka probably struggled the most aside from that early Afridi spell, with Samarawickrama unable to read Abrar’s variations. Figuring out the direction of the turn off the pitch didn’t work all that well either considering he was beaten several times on both the inside and the outside edge. But whatever pressure that was being built would consistently be released by the odd loose ball.At the other end, with Noman largely ineffective, Babar opted to go with Naseem, where once more the short ball strategy, as well a variety of different field placements such as catching mid-ons and mid-offs, were trialled to little effect.But once rain halted play again midway through the final session, Pakistan picked up a second wind and produced a fascinating seven-over period before the end of play.While Afridi operated from one end, once more finding lateral movement off the deck when earlier there seemed to be none, Abrar was troubling Samarawickrama. It was however Salman, who had been largely ineffective, who made the crucial breakthrough, called in to bowl the final over of the day – his fifth in total – getting Samarawickrama to pop one off bat and pad to the right of Imam, who dived full length to his right and somehow held on, as Pakistan ended the day the happier of the two sides.

Ghulam and Rizwan added 81, but Pakistan were eventually out for 211 on opening day

Danyal Rasool26-Dec-2024South Africa did to Pakistan what they always do to Pakistan at Centurion, blitzing them with the ball in the second hour of the first session before skittling them out for 209. Corbin Bosch and Dane Paterson cashed in after a superb opening hour of bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, which openers Shan Masood and Saim Ayub rode their luck to survive. A couple of partnerships for Pakistan were more than offset by the wickets Paterson, who ended up with five, and Bosch, took in clumps, and just after the third session began, Pakistan had folded for 209, Kamran Ghulam’s half-century the only real source of resistance. Pakistan responded gamely with the ball in hand, puncturing South Africa with three wickets, but having added 82, South Africa will feel they have had the better of the day.The story of the opening session changed the moment Temba Bavuma through the ball to debutant Bosch. He began with a loosener well outside off stump. Masood, who had been forced to deal with an unerring fourth stump all of the first hour, had his eyes light up as he slashed at it, with a thick outside edge carrying to Marco Jansen at third slip to give him a first-ball wicket.All of a sudden, the good balls that kept missing edges started to find them. Paterson nipped one away to Ayub, who was uncharacteristically defensive, accumulating a painstaking 14 off 35 balls. It kissed the outside edge, and both openers were back in the pavilion. Paterson wasn’t done, because Babar Azam, returning to the side, also had a prod at one well outside off stump, the tentativeness of his stroke revealing his lack of confidence; it was meat and drink for the slips again.Related

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With Pakistani defenses going haywire, Saud Shakeel went for the other extreme, looking to take every ball on, but it was just six deliveries before that strategy ran out of road. He gloved a hook through to the keeper, with South Africa successfully reviewing to send him on his way.It will be all the more frustrating for Pakistan after a magnificent first hour of South African bowling went unrewarded. With Kagiso Rabada and Jansen nipping it around, it was obvious why Bavuma had opted to put Pakistan in, but somehow, they had gritted out a way to see off the two leading bowlers.An 81-run stand between Ghulam, who scored an entertaining half-century, and Mohammad Rizwan looked to have dragged Pakistan out of the hole they were put in during the morning session. Rizwan and Ghulam had been building up the partnership the other side of lunch, and continued in similar vein. But with the clouds menacingly moving right overhead, the luckless Rabada was brought in for another excellent but fruitless spell. It produced the most engaging cricket of the day, with both KGs locking horns on more than one occasion; Rabada grew increasingly frustrated with Kamran Ghulam’s stubborn resistance and got close enough to tell him, with Ghulam responding in less than family-friendly terms to go back to the bowling crease.Kamran Ghulam was out for 54 off 71•AFP/Getty Images

With the crowd engaged, Ghulam edged one to the slips that Jansen shelled, and brought up his half-century, but South Africa would not be denied. Ghulam slogged Paterson, only to top-edge him to fine leg, where none other than Rabada stood to take the catch that sent a full SuperSport Park into a frenzy.
One wicket brought more for South Africa before lunch, and so it proved again. Rizwan nicked off in the next Bosch over before Salman Ali Agha and Aamer Jamal set about another rebuild. With ten minutes to tea, the duo was closing in on another 50-partnership, but one more South African burst would prove the knockout blow.South Africa had put down a couple of chances in the slips off the outside edge, so Bosch found the inside edge of Jamal as he chopped on, before a surprise bouncer from Paterson saw the back of Agha.Once Pakistan had wrapped up, there was enough time for the story of the day to be rewritten, and Khurram Shahzad threatened to do precisely that when he cut Tony de Zorzi in half with perhaps the ball of the day. Constantly threatening both edges of the bat, he found Ryan Rickleton’s outside edge to reduce South Africa to 24 for 2, and wrest momentum back to take into the second day.His peers, however, couldn’t sustain that quality, and South Africa settled. Aiden Markram has been under fire lately for getting out after getting in, and was brave enough to be positive all the same, never letting Pakistan put too much pressure on the batters. That was crucial, especially with Tristan Stubbs looking less than assured at the crease. His manner of dismissal, though was unfortunate, as one appeared to hit a crack and make a beeline for his front shin, giving Pakistan encouragement to take from a day that, thanks to Paterson and Bosch, South Africa will claim as theirs.

The medal matches will be played on July 20 and 29, with all games to be held at the Fairgrounds Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2025Cricket’s return to the LA Olympics 2028 will begin on July 12, with the medal matches scheduled to be played on July 20 and 29. All the matches will be held at the Fairgrounds Stadium, a temporary, purpose-built venue in the city of Pomona, about 50km from Los Angeles.Six teams each in the men’s and women’s sections, and a total of 180 players, will compete in the T20 format. Each team can name a 15-member squad for the competition.Most match days will be double-headers, while there are no matches slotted on July 14 and 21. The matches will begin at 9am and 6.30pm local time. It will be the same for the medal matches as well.Related

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The Fairgrounds Stadium, officially known as Fairplex, is a nearly 500-acre complex that has hosted the LA County Fair since 1922 and regularly serves as a venue for concerts, trade shows, sporting events, and cultural gatherings.”When the world comes here for these Games, we will highlight every neighbourhood as we host a Games for all and work to ensure it leaves a monumental legacy,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “We are already delivering that legacy as we announce there have been more than one million enrollments in PlayLA.”I want to thank LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for making these programs possible and for their continued work to host the greatest Games yet.”This is the first time that cricket will feature in the Olympics since 1900. Then, only two teams, Great Britain and France, had competed in a two-day match, with Great Britain winning the gold medal.Cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics further propels the growing stature of the sport. Women’s cricket made its CWG debut in Birmingham in 2022, while both the men’s and women’s games have been part of the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023. Recently, Grand Prairie, Lauderhill, and New York hosted a number of matches at the 2024 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies.

Revised schedule finally released with less than two months to go before the start of the tournament on October 5

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2023Nine matches in the upcoming ODI World Cup have had their dates or start times changed, the ICC has finally confirmed, including the India-Pakistan fixture in Ahmedabad, which will now be played – as reported earlier by ESPNcricinfo – on October 14 instead of October 15. The changes were confirmed by the ICC with less than two months to go before the start of the game’s showpiece event.Pakistan, Bangladesh and England are the most affected: while three games of Pakistan have been shifted, Bangladesh and England have had two changes each in their schedule, aside from having their originally-planned day-night fixture on October 10 converted to a day game. As a result of the change in the India-Pakistan game, Pakistan’s match against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has been moved from October 12 to October 10, to give them an adequate gap leading into their India match.But the Australia-South Africa match in Lucknow has also been brought forward a day and will take place on October 12 instead of October 13. The England-Afghanistan game in Delhi, which was originally scheduled for October 14, will be played on October 15. New Zealand’s match against Bangladesh in Chennai has been changed from a day game on October 14 to a day-night fixture on October 13.The double-header scheduled for November 12 – Australia vs Bangladesh in Pune and England vs Pakistan in Kolkata – will now be played on November 11, following concerns raised by Kolkata police to the Cricket Association of Bengal about holding a match on the same day as the Hindu festival of Kali Puja.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The league stage of the World Cup will now end with India playing Netherlands in Bengaluru on November 12, instead of November 11.
The World Cup starts on October 5 with defending champions England taking on New Zealand in Ahmedabad, and culminates in the final on November 18, also in Ahmedabad. The semi-finals will be played in Mumbai and Kolkata on November 15 and 16 respectively. The ICC also announced that tickets for the event will go online from August 25.The schedule of the 2023 ODI World Cup was released after a long delay on June 27, just 100 days before the start of the tournament on October 5 in Ahmedabad, whereas the schedules for the last two tournaments in Australia and New Zealand (2015) and England and Wales (2019) were out more than 12 months in advance.It later emerged that the local police in Ahmedabad had raised concerns over providing adequate security on October 15, the original date of the India vs Pakistan game, which is also the first day of Navaratri, a major, nine-day Hindu festival.Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, had, however, dismissed that as the reason. “If security was an issue then why would the match go there [to Ahmedabad] – 14-15 is not the problem,” he had said after a BCCI meeting on July 27. “Two or three boards have written in, asking to change based on the logistical challenges. There are some matches where there is only a two-day gap, so it will be difficult to play and then travel next day [and then play again].”

India scored 357 for 8 and then their fast bowlers routed Sri Lanka for 55 in 19.4 overs

Deivarayan Muthu02-Nov-20232:20

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Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah razed Sri Lanka for 55 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, sealing India’s seventh successive win of the World Cup and their spot in the semi-finals.India’s fast-bowling trio was so sensational with the new ball that the scores of Sri Lanka’s top five read like a line of binary code: 0, 0, 1, 0, 1. When Shami also had Nos. 7 and 8 for ducks with the score on 29, Sri Lanka were in serious danger of folding for the lowest total in ODI cricket. They were eventually bundled out in 19.4 overs as India completed the fourth-biggest win in the format, and Shami’s 5 for 18 made him India’s highest wicket-taker in World Cups. It was the third time that India had dismissed Sri Lanka for less than 100 in ODIs in 2023, and their second 300-plus-run victory against them this year.Related

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The very first ball from Bumrah was a portent for the carnage that was to follow. He went wide of the crease, got a full ball to angle in and then swing away late to thump Pathum Nissanka’s back pad. Siraj also struck with his first ball, pinning Dimuth Karunaratne lbw. Four balls later, with a reinforced cordon, Siraj had the in-form Sadeera Samarawickrama caught at third slip.But it was the dismissal of captain Kusal Mendis that stood out. Coaches often instruct bowlers to hit that bail-trimming length – too short to drive nor short enough to pull or cut. Siraj not only hit that bail-trimming length to beat Mendis’ outside edge, he also broke the bails. At 3 for 4, with just one of those runs off the bat, Sri Lanka’s batting line-up was also broken.Angelo Mathews and the lower order tried to fix it, but all they could do was to drag Sri Lanka to 55 – five runs more than what they had managed in the Asia Cup final at the Premadasa in September earlier this year.The performance of India’s fast bowlers overshadowed that of their batters and Dilshan Madushanka’s maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket.2:05

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Madushanka had hushed the Wankhede with his second ball – a Mustafizur Rahman-esque cutter that sent Rohit Sharma’s off stump cartwheeling. Four of Madushanka’s five wickets were down to his ability to roll his fingers across the ball. But the rest of Sri Lanka’s attack continued to leak runs, as has been the case throughout this tournament.Virat Kohli threatened to join Sachin Tendulkar at the top of this list with 49 ODI hundreds at a venue where a statue of Tendulkar was unveiled on the eve of this game. The Wankhede waited expectantly, but Madushanka had other ideas, dismissing Kohli 12 short of the landmark. Sri Lanka could have cut Kohli’s innings short on 10 had Dushmantha Chameera hung on to a return catch in the sixth over.Shubman Gill was also reprieved in the powerplay when Charith Asalanka dropped him on 8 at cover-point. Gill then combined with Kohli to punish Sri Lanka with a 189-run partnership on a hot afternoon.1:10

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Kohli got cracking with his trademark cover-drives while Gill often stepped out of his crease to manufacture scoring opportunities. Then, when Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers shortened their lengths to Gill, he put them away with his rasping short-arm pulls. Legspin-bowling allrounder Dushan Hemantha, who is essentially a like-for-like replacement for the injured Wanindu Hasaranga, couldn’t stem the flow of runs either.When Kohli and Gill matched each other shot for shot and moved close to three figures, India’s fans were probably entertaining thoughts of double-hundreds from both batters. But Madushanka returned to the attack and didn’t even let the batters reach triple figures. The left-arm seamer then showed that he’s no one-trick pony. He bounced Suryakumar Yadav out with an on-pace bouncer.Shreyas Iyer then hit full throttle, but he, too, fell agonisingly short of a hundred. He latched on to anything that was remotely full and sent it disappearing from his sight. When Kasun Rajitha pitched one in the slot outside off, Iyer launched it over long-on for a 106-metre six – the biggest in the tournament so far. Iyer brought up his half-century off 36 balls and later lined up even Sri Lanka’s best bowlers on the day – Madushanka and Chameera. Iyer took Madushanka for 18 off nine balls before holing out.Iyer’s assault was central to India racking up 93 off their last ten overs. Ravindra Jadeja also did his bit with the bat in those slog overs, but he was barely needed with the ball on a night that belonged to India’s quicks.

He produced a knock for the ages in conditions favouring the fast bowlers but fell five short of what would have been a maiden ODI century

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Jan-2024In only his second ODI, Janith Liyanage produced a match-defining performance, one that took his side to a thrilling win against Zimbabwe in Colombo on Monday. His 95 off 127 balls was by far the highest individual score for Sri Lanka in the second ODI, the next-best score being 21 as the hosts sneaked home by two wickets.Liyanage did, however, fall five runs short of a maiden international ton, when he attempted to thump Blessing Muzarabani down the ground for six in the 43rd over, and was caught at mid-off instead. On the surface, it appeared an unnecessary stroke as Muzarabani was one of Zimbabwe’s most threatening bowlers, and Sri Lanka still had 46 balls in which to get the 37 runs they needed. What’s more, Liyanage’s departure left Sri Lanka with only two wickets remaining and put Zimbabwe again into the ascendancy.The hosts would hobble to their target of 209 eventually, as rainfall intensified in the roughly half hour of play. Liyanage explained that it was the rain – rather than the scoreline, or the desire to reach a century – that forced him to take the risk in the 43rd over.Related

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“More than the century, what I wanted was to get the team to victory,” he said. “At that time, we were about five runs behind the DLS score. So I thought if I hit a six in that over, we’d be able to win even if the match stopped because of rain. All I thought of was winning the match, and I’m glad we were able to get there.”Liyanage had also earlier put on a 56-run seventh-wicket stand alongside Maheesh Theekshana, to lift Sri Lanka from a scoreline of 112 for 6. Theekshana contributed only 18 to this partnership, which saw Liyanage bat more aggressively than he had earlier in the innings. But he chose his targets carefully.”When Maheesh and I were batting, they [Zimbabwe] were bowling their best bowlers, and they only had a few overs left,” Liyanage said. “So our plan was to get two or three runs an over off their best bowlers, then take the game into the last five or six overs, and score our runs there. “The rain had been in the air for much of the chase, with it forcing a long delay 13 overs into Sri Lanka’s innings. The moisture had assisted Zimbabwe’s quicks, according to Liyanage.”We lost two wickets at the start, and with the rain, the ball started to move a bit. So I thought at time that they’ve got two fast bowlers, so I’ll defend against them and if I bat for a while and get set, I could bat till the end. Their tall quicks got a bit extra out of the conditions with the rain.”