Sri Lanka

8:00 AM GMT Lunch Zimbabwe 358 and 120 for 3 (Williams 39*, Taylor 38*, Lakmal 3-13) trail Sri Lanka 515 for 9 dec (Mathews 200*, Mendis 80, Raza 3-62, Nyauchi 3-69) by 37 runs Suranga Lakmal knocked out Zimbabwe’s top three inside the first six overs of day five, but an unbeaten 79-run stand between

Jan 18, 2020 Big Picture The last time these two teams met, Zimbabwe gave Sri Lanka an almighty scare. Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza struck hundreds, captain Graeme Cremer took nine wickets, and Sri Lanka were made to chase 388 for victory at Khettarama. Had a very tight stumping decision gone Zimbabwe’s way in the

8:00 AM GMT Sri Lanka 370 for 5 (Mathews 129*, Mendis 80, Nyauchi 3-56) lead Zimbabwe 358 (Ervine 85, Embuldeniya 5-114) by 12 runs For the fifth time in as many sessions, Sri Lanka lost just one wicket and made steady progress in Harare. Through the course of the fourth morning, Angelo Mathews also completed

Jan 20, 2020 Sri Lanka 42 for 1 (Oshada 21, Karunaratne 12*, Tiripano 1-5) trail Zimbabwe 358 (Ervine 85, Kasuza 63, Masvaure 55, Embuldeniya 5-114) by 316 runs Lasith Embuldeniya completed a second five-wicket haul in Test cricket, and Sri Lanka’s attack finally made headway, but Zimbabwe still ended day two in a position of

8:00 AM GMT Lunch Zimbabwe 260 for 5 (Chakabva 7*, Raza 6*, Lakmal 2-42) v Sri Lanka Having been stalled for most of day one by a flat surface and Zimbabwe’s diligent batting, Sri Lanka finally made headway in Harare, claiming three wickets before lunch. Thanks to day one’s hard work, however, Zimbabwe can still

Sean Williams crunches one through the off side © AFP Toss: Zimbabwe chose to bat against Sri Lanka Zimbabwe have won the toss and chosen to bat, in their first Test in over a year, at the Harare Sports Club. The hosts have three debutants in their XI – opener Kevin Kasuza, seam bowler Victor

11:21 AM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando Suranga Lakmal returned to Sri Lanka’s Test squad after missing the tour of Pakistan due to dengue fever, while Kusal Perera has been dropped. Despite having lost 1-0 in Pakistan, Sri Lanka made no other changes to the 15 that toured Rawalpindi and Karachi in December. This means that

6:19 AM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to terminate Chandika Hathurusingha‘s contract as head coach, while Hathurusingha has moved for compensation through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), following months of deadlock. Although SLC had suspended Hathurusingha as far back as August last year, they had continued to pay him

11:21 AM GMT Deivarayan Muthu in Pune Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur, who is part of the ICC cricket committee that will consider making four-day Tests mandatory as part of the World Test Championship from 2023, has shot down the proposal. Arthur has joined the likes of Virat Kohli, Ben Stokes and Vernon Philander in

6:26 AM GMT Both Sri Lanka and their new coach Mickey Arthur weren’t supposed to be facing the tough questions from the press in Indore on Tuesday night. Zimbabwe had been slated to tour India and Arthur was in line to coach defending champions Central Stags in the ongoing Super Smash T20 competition in New

10:46 AM GMT Deivarayan Muthu Sri Lanka allrounder Isuru Udana has been sidelined from the team’s must-win third T20I against India in Pune on Friday with a back injury. The 31-year had injured himself during India’s chase in the second T20I on Tuesday night, while attempting to stop the ball at short third man. Udana

3:54 PM GMT April 6, 2014, Dhaka: Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulsekara combine to straitjacket India’s batting line-up. Kumar Sangakkara says he has never seen anything like it. Sri Lanka seal the World T20 title under Malinga. Nearly six years later, Kulasekara is no longer active in international cricket, but Malinga, now 36, is still

12:36 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Angelo Mathews has been named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the T20I series against India starting from January 5, and could play his first T20I in nearly 16 months if picked in the XI. Mathews last played in this format for Sri Lanka as captain, in a one-off match against

11:20 AM GMT Senior players failed to take responsibility. The bowlers were impatient in the second innings. And Sri Lanka gave up their good match position too readily. These were Dimuth Karunaratne‘s verdicts following Sri Lanka’s 263-run defeat in Karachi. The visitors had had a first-innings lead of 80, but allowed openers Abid Ali and

8:00 AM GMT Pakistan 191 (Shafiq 63, Babar 60, Kumara 4-49, Embuldeniya 4-71, Vishwa 2-31) and 395 for 2 (Abid 174, Masood 135, Azhar 57*, Kumara 2-88) lead Sri Lanka 271 (Chandimal 74, Afridi 5-77, Abbas 4-55) by 315 runs This is what you’re supposed to do to an opposition at home. In Rawalpindi, Pakistan

© AFP Big Picture Before the series began, you suspected these were well-matched sides. Both have been blown away in Australia this year. They live in the same neighbourhood on the Test rankings: Sri Lanka sitting sixth, Pakistan at eighth. Both have captains appointed this year, new coaches, and a reputation for failing to develop

11:13 AM GMT On the last day in Rawalpindi, the partnership between Abid Ali and Babar Azam skipped along at 4.2 runs an over. Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur would like his bowlers to contain the Pakistan batsmen a little better in the second Test in Karachi. Rawalpindi’s surface offered little to the bowlers on

11:02 AM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando Fast bowler Kasun Rajitha has been ruled out of the second Test against Pakistan due to a hamstring strain. Rajitha had bowled only six overs on day five in Rawalpindi, owing to the injury he had picked up during his new-ball spell. He took the wicket of Shan Masood,

2:49 PM GMT Dhananjaya de Silva has rated his 102 not out in Rawalpindi the second-best of his six centuries, behind his maiden ton, against Australia in 2016. Having arrived at the crease on the first afternoon, with Sri Lanka losing four wickets for 31 runs, de Silva steadied the innings alongside Angelo Mathews, Niroshan

8:00 AM GMT Sri Lanka 282 for 6 (de Silva 87*) v Pakistan Thirty-two deliveries. That’s all the cricket Rawalpindi saw on yet another frustrating, weather-affected day. Overnight rain and a delay in removing the covers wiped out the entire first session of play – the one-hour lunch break for Friday prayers unfortunately falling during

3:46 PM GMT Sri Lanka had sailed through the first session in Rawalpindi, a century opening stand in sight, but at the end of the day were left ruing the post-lunch session in which they lost four wickets for 31 runs. Dimuth Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando had seemed settled, with Karunaratne hitting a fluent fifty,

12:23 PM GMT Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne, who has a strong side at his disposal in Pakistan, feels it is a “great pleasure to play a part” in the revival of Test cricket in the country. When Sri Lanka toured Pakistan for a white-ball series recently, as many as ten of their premier players

2:59 PM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff On the day Sri Lanka were leaving for Pakistan to play a two-Test series, they revealed that Suranga Lakmal was down with dengue fever and will not be travelling with the team. His spot has been taken by Asitha Fernando, who has spent the last few months playing for Sri

6:44 PM GMT Mickey Arthur is set to take over as Sri Lanka’s head coach. SLC has agreed a two-year contract with Arthur, the former South Africa, Australia and Pakistan coach, with a formal announcement to be made shortly. Joining his backroom staff will be Grant Flower as batting coach, David Saker as bowling coach,

5:42 PM GMT Barny Read Lasith Malinga has his sights set on captaining his country at the T20 World Cup in Australia next year, and possibly beyond, firm in the belief that his body has two more years of cricket left in the tank. It is somewhat of a change in tune from the 36-year-old,

11:20 AM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando Mickey Arthur is likely to become Sri Lanka’s next head coach, despite Chandika Hathurusingha not having been officially been fired yet. Arthur has not signed a contract with Sri Lanka Cricket so far, but board officials have expressed confidence that Arthur will take up the role before Sri Lanka’s

7:37 AM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando Sri Lanka’s parliament criminalised a wide swathe of corruption-related activity in sports on Monday. This was in the wake of the ICC anti-corruption unit’s investigation into the country’s cricket over the past two years. Below is a rough guideline to the punishments, and a list of many of the

2:33 PM GMT Andrew Fidel Fernando Sri Lanka has become the first South Asian nation to criminalise several offences related to match-fixing, after its parliament passed all three readings of a bill entitled “Prevention of Offences Related to Sports” on Monday. Offences related to corruption in sports will carry a prison term of up to

3:10 AM GMT Alex Malcolm Interim coach Rumesh Ratnayake believes Sri Lanka must have better preparation on fast pitches prior to next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia if they are to be competitive in the tournament. Sri Lanka were beaten out of sight by Australia in the three-match T20I series that concluded on Friday

7:00 AM GMT Toss Australia chose to bowl v Sri Lanka Aaron Finch won the toss and Australia opted to bowl first in the third and final T20I at the MCG. Finch believed the surface wouldn’t play a big part but wanted to make first use of it with the ball. Australia made two changes.