Niroshan Dickwella’s return to form secured a thrilling nine-run win for his side

Madushka Balasuriya05-Dec-2020How the game played outThe Dambulla Viiking withstood game-changing innings from Danushka Gunathilaka and Azam Khan, as well as a host of dropped catches, to eventually secure a hard-fought nine run win – their fourth win of the tournament – and with it a place in the semi-finals of the Lanka Premier League.Having been set an imposing target of 208, at 47 for 2 in the sixth over, the Gladiators were in danger of falling behind a required rate that was already quite steep.Enter Azam Khan, whose 24-ball 55 would transform the entire innings, as the Gladiators, who had been second-favourites for much of the game, were all of a sudden looking the side likelier to pull off a win.Khan and Gunathilaka would put on 94 together, though it wasn’t a stand without its moments of peril, with Gunathilaka and Azam dropped twice and once respectively. Had those catches been taken at the first time of asking though, the game would not have been nearly as close an affair.For the Gladiators, the result, which is their fifth consecutive defeat and one which sees them rooted to the bottom of the table, will be particularly worrying in the context of their seeming inability to impact the game with the ball.At no point in the Viiking innings were they put under any sort of pressure by the Gladiators’ bowlers, with the 110-run opening stand between Niroshan Dickwella and Upul Tharanga coming with neither batsman required to undertake any real risk.And by the time Dickwella fell, midway through the 13th over, the platform was set for Dasun Shanaka – who rarely needs an invitation to attack – to have free rein. Shanaka would continue his rich vein of form, smashing a 21-ball 37 to propel the Viiking past 200.Niroshan Dickwella clobbers one away•LPL

Stars of the dayWhile his team remains rooted to the bottom of the table, captain Gunathilaka is peaking the heady heights at the top of the tournament top-scorer charts. The most distinctive feature of Gunathilaka’s batting is his uncanny ability to split the field; while other batsmen focus on clearing the fielders in the deep, Gunathilaka takes pleasure in dissecting them with forensic precision.The big difference for the Gladiators from their previous games was that Gunathilaka was finally provided substantial support at the other end. Azam’s 55 came at a rate comfortably beyond 200, as he utilised a combination of his powerful frame and deft wristwork to grab the momentum – that had until that point been firmly in the Viiking camp – and, more importantly, give Gunathilaka the freedom to play at his own pace.For the Viiking, the big positive would have been the return to form of Dickwella. With several of his national team-mates having already cashed in with big scores, it wouldn’t be surprising if Dickwella’s 50 runs across four games had left him with a minor case of FOMO. A 37-ball 60 later however, he will be feeling much better about himself, though it owed as much to the Gladiators’ lack of penetration as it did to Dickwella hunkering down and playing more percentage cricket – he attempted, uncharacteristically, just one scoop all innings. But seeing how effective this new approach proved, the Viiking will be hoping for more of the same for the rest of the tournament.Turning pointAnwar Ali bowling the penultimate over of the Gladiators chase. With 21 required of 12 balls, and Gunathilaka at the crease, the odds were in the Gladiators’ favour. But Ali would call upon every ounce of experience to give away just four runs, while picking up the crucial wicket of Gunathilaka – despite having dropped him once already in the over.The big missGunathilaka was dropped thrice, once each at the start of the 11th and 13th overs, and then incredibly once more in the penultimate over of the game. While the first was an admittedly tough chance, smacked flat and hard to Ashen Bandara at deep midwicket, the second was not as easy to forgive, as Ramesh Mendis running in from deep square leg spilled a slog-sweep that was miscued high into the air. The final drop though looked to have been the most painful of the lot, Ali missing a skied return catch in the penultimate over of the game, but he would get his man two balls later to ensure the Viiking would ultimately not pay for their lax efforts in the field.Where the teams standWith the Viiking joining the Jaffna Stallions on eight points, and bottom side Gladiators now only able to get a maximum of six points, both the Viiking and Stallions have become the first side to qualify for the semi-finals. For the Gladiators, they need to start winning and also hope results go their way, with their game against the Kandy Tuskers likely to be a play-off of sorts.

CSA is working to reassure Sri Lanka Cricket that its bio-bubble arrangements are secure

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Dec-2020Cricket South Africa (CSA) is working to reassure Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that its bio-bubble arrangements are secure, as SLC reconsider the forthcoming tour to South Africa over Covid-19 concerns. As things stand, SLC is considering withdrawing from the tour, or offering to host South Africa at home instead of going to South Africa.SLC’s concerns over the tour’s safety were sparked by England’s withdrawal from their tour of South Africa. It is largely the Sri Lanka board, however, rather than the players, for whom CSA’s Covid-19 protocols are a worry. Essentially, SLC cannot afford for players to come back unwell, because Sri Lanka are due to play England in a Test in Galle ten days after their scheduled return from South Africa. The England Test series, which was already postponed once, is vital to the health of SLC’s finances following a tough 2020. SLC is unwilling to risk that home series for the South Africa tour.Sri Lanka’s medical team were in touch with South Africa’s medical officers on Tuesday, in order to ascertain whether the bio-bubble arrangements in South Africa were sufficient. Sri Lanka’s team physician Dr Daminda Attanayake said that SLC’s medical staff were insisting on stricter protocols than CSA had initially planned. Medical officers from both teams spoke on Tuesday.”I have to bring the [Sri Lankan] players back from South Africa without a single positive case,” Dr Attanayake said. “We’ve requested [South Africa’s] protocols be identical to the bio-bubble protocols we have been using for the LPL (Lanka Premier League). We’ve been successful with those. Players have tested positive but they’ve been isolated. We’re requesting these protocols be followed not just by our team, but theirs as well.”In addition, Dr Attanayake said, SLC’s medical staff will ask that even the cleaning staff in the hotels the teams are staying at be placed in the bubble, so that the virus cannot be brought in from outside. In any case, even before England’s withdrawal, SLC had asked for tougher health protocols than the ECB had.SLC’s medical staff will also speak to the ECB’s medical staff on Wednesday afternoon, in order to gain a clearer picture on the nature of CSA’s protocols. SLC’s medical officers will make their recommendations on the South Africa tour to the SLC following that meeting. The board has largely been led by medical opinion during the pandemic, and have been among the more reticent in the world to resume international cricket. If Dr Attanayake and her colleagues are satisfied that CSA’s arrangements are sufficient, the tour is likely to go ahead as scheduled.On Tuesday, CSA’s acting CEO Kugandrie Govender had confirmed the boards were in touch over health arrangements: “I’ve spoken to the SLC CEO today as planned. We are obviously providing them with information to give all their stakeholders, including their health authorities, the reassurances they need,” she said.South Africa are due to host Australia and Pakistan later in the summer, and cannot themselves afford for England’s withdrawal to spiral into a string of cancellations.

Both openers failed to reach double figures in either innings of first Test

Valkerie Baynes20-Jan-2021Joe Root is backing his young openers to come through the tough initiation of a maiden Test tour of Asia stronger for the experience.Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley both failed to reach double figures in either innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle and both fell to spin, the same spinner in fact, each time.Sibley got a faint edge to a ball from left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya which drifted in and spun away slightly for a slips catch while on 4 in the first innings before Crawley chipped to mid-off for 9. On 2 in the second innings, Sibley appeared stunned by Embuldeniya’s arm ball which took the top of off stump, and Crawley fell for 8 to an ill-conceived drive taken at gully.Related

• With Root at the helm, have England fans ever had it so good?

• Mendis dropped, Karunaratne ruled out with injury

• England mull changes to pace attack

• Mathews: 'Felt like I was playing Broad in England'

• Olly Stone admits previous career doubts as he hopes for recall

But Root believed Sibley and Crawley, who are 13 and nine matches respectively into their Test careers, were in the best position to learn fast.”They are doing all the right things in practice and giving themselves the best opportunity when they walk out to play,” Root said. “It didn’t quite fall for them this time but they are quick and smart learners who will be looking to turn things round in the next game.”It is very exciting that the work ethic is there and it is a great chance for them to adjust quickly to these conditions and show everyone that they’ve got the game to perform out here. At times in these conditions out here, opening the batting can be the best time to bat. On that wicket in the second innings, it was probably the trickiest time to bat. It is very rare that is the case and they will have to learn from that.”With regular opener Rory Burns headed to India after paternity leave as England begin the second Test, also in Galle, on Friday, Crawley, who scored a warm-up match century on the aborted tour of Sri Lanka early last year, can return to his “favoured position” at No. 3 when that swing of the tour begins. But a solid performance at the very top of the order beforehand would be a welcome confidence boost.Likewise, Sibley will be keen to turn things around before facing sterner opposition in India.”I see it as an opportunity to show that they can play in these conditions and I also see it as being part and parcel of Test cricket,” Root added. “You need to know how to play in these conditions and not only will it benefit them long term playing in Asia but also in matches where pitches do deteriorate late on anywhere in the world and start spinning drastically. You’ve got to have a game for it.”These tours and these games are all about winning but the experience you get can really benefit you further in your career if you have the right attitude and go about it in the right manner. I feel like they are doing that and that is the best thing they can do, keep wanting to get better, keep wanting to learn and take as much from the experience as they can.”Sri Lanka plead for the wicket of Dom Sibley•SLC

Root will expect ruthlessness from his side in the second Test against Sri Lanka.England won the first Test by seven wickets early on the last day but, by Root’s own admission, it was by no means a perfect performance. Having skittled Sri Lanka for 135 in the first innings and then put on 421 in response, built on Root’s 228 and supported by debutant Dan Lawrence’s 73 at No. 5, they were made to work considerably harder as Sri Lanka posted a second-innings 359.”You look at the best teams in the world who are winning consistently and that’s a trait you see over and over again and that is something we want, to be associated with being a side who – when they get on top – can see it through,” Root said.England secured victory comfortably in the end and Root wants to see more of the same when the sides return to Galle, especially ahead of four Tests against India, who vanquished Australia at the Gabba to seal a thrilling 2-1 series triumph.”India have got tremendous depth in all departments,” Root said. “They’re a side with resilience and character and we know we will have to be at our best when we go out there.”We’ve certainly played some good cricket and are shaping up very nicely, now it’s a question of whether we can carry on in the manner we are and continue to improve.Root was at pains not to look much beyond the match at hand, however, where England will contemplate picking Olly Stone to make only his second Test appearance as they look to rotate their seamers.”It’s certainly an option,”. Root said. “We couldn’t be more impressed with how he’s gone about his business. He looks fit, strong, he’s bowling quick and he’s given a very good account of himself.”There might be an opportunity for him to play on this tour, whether that’s this week or further down the line. Of course it would be nice to see him play more Test cricket and all he can do is make sure he’s ready to go if that’s the right call.”Root hinted that spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess will hold their places, despite the England squad having three more reserve spinners on tour.”With the little cricket that both of them had played, I thought they grew as the game went on and got better and better,” Root said. “I expect that to be the same here as the practice days go on and the game goes on. The more they bowl and the more they find themselves in the pressure situations on the field then the better they will be for it and we will see them get better as the week unfolds.”The fact they came out of the game with a lot of wickets between them is really pleasing and will give them a lot of confidence to hopefully speed that process up.”

Short finished 80 not out with Harry Conway taking 3 for 31

Alex Malcolm25-Feb-2021Victoria batsman Matthew Short made a fighting unbeaten 80 on a rain-interrupted day that was dominated by the New South Wales bowlers at Bankstown Oval.The players endured multiple interruptions as the rain came and went at regular intervals in Sydney with only 61 overs bowled, but Short stood firm to guide Victoria to stumps having entered at 2 for 16.Harry Conway picked up three wickets for the Blues as the seamers caused problems on a dark and gloomy day. Pat Cummins and Trent Copeland made the early breakthroughs before Conway took the wickets of Marcus Harris, Jake Fraser-McGurk, and Seb Gotch to leave Victoria struggling at 5 for 94.Conway did benefit from some loose shots. Harris faced 70 balls for 29 before slicing a catch to gully while Fraser-McGurk hit a half-tracker straight to point.Short remained patient absorbing 164 balls and striking 10 boundaries on a surface that was difficult to score on. He formed a useful partnership with Will Sutherland late in the day to frustrate the Blues and deny them a chance to wrap up the innings prior to the 7pm finish.

“We were all satisfied with how we went about our planning. It just comes down to an execution thing”

Alex Malcolm23-Feb-2021Jhye Richardson said Australia’s bowlers will be looking to improve their execution in the death overs after missing their lengths in the heavy defeat to New Zealand at Hagley Oval in the first T20I of the five-match series.New Zealand had slumped to 19 for 3 in the Powerplay after being sent in to bat, with Daniel Sams and Richardson bowling superbly upfront.However, Australia’s bowlers conceded 76 runs in the last six overs of the innings and 33 off the last two, as Devon Conway produced a stunning 99 not out to lift New Zealand to a winning total of 184 for 5.Richardson was the pick of Australia’s quicks claiming 2 for 31 on his return to the T20I side. He only bowled one over in the last four, picking up the wicket of James Neesham, but he did admit he didn’t quite hit his lengths, conceding a six each to Conway and Glenn Phillips in his four overs.”I think from a personal point of view I certainly missed my length,” Richardson said. “I think they batted really well. The outfield was exceptionally fast. It got a little bit dewy at the end so we found the ball was probably skidding on a little bit more at the end as to the start of the innings which probably helped them a little bit, just in terms of slower balls not sticking into the wicket as much as they were earlier.”If we missed our length we got punished. I think the planning and everything from that aspect was fine. We were all satisfied with how we went about our planning and the decisions made out there. It just comes down to an execution thing.”Australia were then surprised that the ball swung as prodigiously as it did for New Zealand under lights after the dew had settled in with Trent Boult and Tim Southee ripping through the top order to leave them 19 for 4.”They just kept it really simple, didn’t they?” Richardson said. “How often do you see three slips in a T20? We probably didn’t expect the ball to swing for that long and that much, to be honest. [It] didn’t really swing too much in our innings.”It was a little bit of a surprise but knowing that now, it’s something we’ll keep in the back of our mind going into the next game. [Boult and Southee are] two class bowlers and we saw them keep it really simple while the ball was swinging, just bowling a really nice line and length and making us make mistakes.”Richardson was pleased to be back playing at the international level. It was just his second appearance for Australia since his shoulder injury in 2019, and his first in 12 months after missing Australia’s tour to England and the ODI and T20I series against India before Christmas.
He spoke in the build-up about trying to take some pressure off himself after struggling with the weight of his own expectations at the end of the BBL.”I think I had plenty of time between the end of the Big Bash and now to think about how I was going about my last few Big Bash games, putting myself under a lot of pressure,” Richardson said.”I had a lot of time to think and reflect on that and went into the game really wanting to enjoy myself and not put myself under so much pressure because I know what I’ve done to get to this point. I can trust that.”I just went out there yesterday with the sole focus of just trying to enjoy myself and certainly did.”

Competing in events of “national interest” will be one of the criteria used to judge eligibility

Reuters and ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2021New Zealand’s cricketers could be eligible for early Covid-19 vaccines after the government laid out its priority list with competing in events of “national significance” among the criteria.The process will begin on March 31, so it will come too late for the players heading to the IPL but is likely to include those in the squad to tour England from late May.Chris Hipkins, the minister responsible for New Zealand’s response to the global health crisis, said people would be eligible to jump the queue for the vaccine on compassionate grounds or to compete in major global events.The latter category would include Olympians, Paralympians and the cricketers, who will be travelling to the UK to play India in the final of the World Test Championship in June along with two other Tests against England.”The key yardstick here is people travelling in an official capacity and ensuring their participation is in our national interest,” Hipkins told reporters in Wellington. “They will have to make an application and it will depend on what sort of events they are participating in, to whether they fit the national interest criteria.”But certainly, your expectation is that the Olympians would be eligible under the national interest criteria and a national sports team participating in a significant event would also meet those criteria.”There was some controversy earlier this month when Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the Director-General of Health attended the final T20I between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington, where he spoke with NZC officials and spent time in the dressing room after the match.David White, the NZC chief executive, raised the issue of vaccines for players before upcoming travel and Bloomfield said he would take the conversation back to the government for consideration but both parties insisted there was no direct lobbying.However, Bloomfield later donated the value of the tickets to a Wellington charity. “It is important that I avoid any potential for perception of a conflict of interest or personal benefit,” he said.New Zealand has been one of the most successful countries at containing the virus and started the second round of its vaccine rollout for border and quarantine workers last week.International matches throughout the season have mostly been played in front of crowds except for a set of games in Wellington earlier this month involving Australia and the England women’s team when the alert level around the country was raised.

Updates, colour and analysis with ESPNcricinfo’s match-day blog

Saurabh Somani18-Apr-2021In Sunday’s second game we have Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals facing off against KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings. We’ll have the likes of R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Shikhar Dhawan and Anrich Nortje against the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan and Nicholas Pooran. If the blog doesn’t load for you, click here. For our ball-by-ball commentary, click here