Sports
Mendis, Shanaka and Asitha put Sri Lanka in the Super 4s
The sound of the no-ball siren was sweet music in Sri Lanka’s ears in Dubai. As soon as Asitha Fernando and Maheesh Theekshana ran two off the third ball of the last over, the TV umpire adjudged that offspinner Mahedi Hasan had overstepped, fatally, for the second time in the match. Sri Lanka had beaten Bangladesh by two wickets, to advance to the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup.
It sparked huge celebrations in the Sri Lanka dressing room and rounds of laughter as they couldn’t believe their string of luck in this crunch game. Asitha, on T20I debut, struck two fours in what turned out to be the last four balls of the match, before hitting the ball into long-on for the two that sealed the deal.
Bangladesh had hope when Mahedi removed Dasun Shanaka in the 18th over after the Sri Lanka captain struck a 33-ball 45 with three fours and two sixes. Then came a seesawing 19th over, bowled by another debutant in Ebadot Hossain, in which Sri Lanka scored 17 runs but also lost the dangerous Chamika Karunaratne, run out by a Shakib Al Hasan direct hit.
But it was Sri Lanka’s day, and it seemed fated to be so when Kusal Mendis survived four lives while scoring a 37-ball 60. He struck seven boundaries including three sixes, and Bangladesh were left ruing a dropped catch, a wicket chalked off when Mahedi bowled a no-ball, a missed run-out, and a review not taken.
Bangladesh had a good outing with the bat, with Afif Hossain hitting 39 off 22 balls after Mehidy Hasan Miraz, playing his first T20I in four years, rocked Sri Lanka with a brisk start.
Bangladesh sent out Sabbir Rahman and Mehidy Hasan Miraz after exhausting six different opening pairs this year. Sabbir was opening for the first time in international cricket, while Mehidy had never opened in T20Is and only once in international cricket, in the Asia Cup final four years ago, when the tournament was an ODI event.
With this backdrop, Sabbir scooped the first ball he faced, after three years of absence from the top level, to the fine-leg boundary. Mehidy rode out Sabbir’s dismissal in the third over, hitting two sixes soon after, one down the ground and one ramped behind the wicket while swinging around on his toes. He hit two fours in the first six overs too, and Bangladesh rushed to 55 for 1 in the Powerplay. Mehidy fell soon after, bowled while trying to slog Wanindu Hasaranga. But he had done what he was sent out to do, and a Bangladesh opener had scored at a 140-plus strike rate in an innings spanning more than 25 balls for only the third time this year.
Bangladesh got off to one of their best starts, but Sri Lanka kept on picking up wickets. Mehidy’s dismissal in the seventh over was followed by Mushfiqur Rahim’s in the next over, as Chamika Karunaratne got one to rear into his face, and his attempted glide towards third-man took the shoulder of the bat and only went as far as wicketkeeper Mendis.
Shakib tried to keep the run-rate going at the other end, hitting three fours off Karunaratne in the 10th over. One of them took him to 6,000 T20 runs, making him only the second cricketer to score this many runs and take more than 400 wickets in the format. But Maheesh Theekshana removed him in his last over, the 11th, again cutting down Bangladesh’s momentum just when they looked to be going strong.
Mahmudullah and Afif Hossain put on 59 for the fifth wicket, hitting five fours and three sixes between them. Afif struck Hasaranga for a four and a slog-swept six in the 13th over, before Mahmudullah pasted the same bowler in his next over, for another slog-swept six and a hit inside-out, high over extra-cover. Afif hammered Fernando for his second six in the next over, before scooping him for four.
The pair fell within four balls of each other, both trying to slog the ball into the deep leg-side field. But Mosaddek Hossain hit two fours immediately after walking in, before adding two more fours in a 17-run last over bowled by Asitha, which also included a scythed six over long-off from Taskin Ahmed.
Sri Lanka’s openers began slowly, scoring just 13 off the first three overs of the chase, before exploding to life in the fourth and fifth overs, highlighted by Mendis slog-sweeping and sweeping Shakib for two sixes and a four off successive balls. Just when Sri Lanka seemed to be running away, though, Ebadot Hossain salvaged Bangladesh’s powerplay, removing Pathum Nissanka and Charith Asalanka in his first over in T20Is. Both were off short balls. Nissanka, who had struck a six and two fours, only managed to lob-pull a catch to midwicket, while Asalanka’s attempt to clear mid-off found the fielder.
In his next over, the eighth of the innings, Ebadot removed Danushka Gunathilaka, as Taskin ran hard from the deep fine-leg boundary and dived forward to complete a brilliant catch. Inspired by the catch, Taskin then removed Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the next over, caught at deep third off an attempted ramp gone wrong.
Just how many lives can a batter fit into a T20I innings? Ask Mendis. He got away with four lives in his 37-ball stay. When he was on 2, keeper Mushfiqur dropped him off Taskin. Then, in the seventh over, he was caught behind off Mahedi, only for the no-ball siren to blare around the ground, allowing Mendis to continue his innings at 29. In the next over, he swung at an Ebadot delivery that took a bit of glove. Neither the bowler nor wicketkeeper Mushfiqur were sure of it, and Bangladesh missed out on sending it up for review.
Sabbir had another chance when Mendis, on 44, and Shanaka got into a mix-up, but he missed the stumps with Mendis at least a foot short of the crease. Finally, Taskin took a diving catch at third to send Mendis back for 60. Taskin had a fine day, finishing with 2 for 24 from four overs apart from taking those two catches, but his energy didn’t quite rub off on the rest of his team.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 183/7 in 20 overs (Afif Hossain 39, Mehidy Hasan 38; Chamika Karunaratne 2-32) lost to Sri Lanka184/8 in 19.2 overs (Kusal Mendis 60, Dasun Shanaka 45; Ebadot Hossain 3-51) by two wickets
(Cricinfo)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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