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Injured Chameera and Hasaranga miss out, Shanaka to lead Sri Lanka at the World Cup
It’s official – Sri Lanka will be without Dushmantha Chameera and Wanidu Hasaranga at the ODI World Cup. Dasun Shanaka, whose role as captain had been under much speculation over the past few weeks, will lead the side in India through October and November.
The rest of the 15-member squad has formed up as expected, with the only changes from the side that reached the final of the Asia Cup being the inclusion of Dilshan Madhushanaka and Lahiru Kumara.
Making way are quick bowlers Pramod Madushan and Binura Fernando. Chamika Karunaratne has been named as a travelling reserve.
Of those who have missed out, Chameera’s absence will likely be felt the most. Chameera, the 31-year-old quick, last played for Sri Lanka in June against Afghanistan and in the warm-ups of the World Cup qualifier. After that, he was initially out with a torn pectoral muscle, which he suffered ahead of the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe. And, after recovering from that, he injured himself again in the Lanka Premier League in August. He had also missed the T20 World Cup in Australia last year with an ankle injury.
There had been some degree of optimism that he would be fit for at least a part of this World Cup, but despite having started bowling in the nets, he has not been able to do so consistently without discomfort.
As for Hasaranga, the SLC had been less optimistic. But there had been murmurs that he might have been included with the hope that he would be fit to play during the latter stages of the tournament – such is the importance of his all-round talents to team balance.
“Wanindu Hasaranga has not been included in the 15-member squad as the player is still in the process of recovering from an injury,” an SLC statement said. “His recovery will be monitored, and if he is declared fit to play, he will be considered as a replacement in the event of an injury to a squad member during the tournament.”
Injury concerns are a theme right through Sri Lanka’s bowling unit at present, with the inclusion of no less than three frontline bowlers who are just returning from injury. Spinner Maheesh Theekshana is returning from a hamstring injury he suffered at the Asia Cup, while Madushanka is just back from a torn oblique muscle. Kumara, meanwhile, missed the entire Asia Cup with a side strain. He also has a worrying history of being ruled out mid-game with the same recurring injury.
This means there might be game time not only for the other quicks in the squad – Matheesha Pathirana and Kasun Rajitha – but also the travelling reserve, seam-bowling allrounder Karunaratne.
Fortunately for Sri Lanka, their batters are in fairly rude health by comparison, though their form and consistency are causes for concern, especially following their dismal performance in the Asia Cup final, where India shot them out for 50.
It’s likely that Kusal Perea will keep Dimuth Karunaratne out of the starting XI, and open alongside Pathum Nissanka. Perera is one of three wicketkeeping options in the squad alongside Sadeera Samarawickrama and Kusal Mendis – who kept for the entirety of the Asia Cup – with all three expected to start.
Sri Lanka’s middle order, too, picks itself with Samarawickrama coming in at four, followed by Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva at five and six respectively.
This leaves Shanaka to occupy the No. 7 position. Head coach Chris Silverwood had given Shanaka unequivocal backing in the immediate aftermath of the Asia Cup final, in the hope being that one good innings would be enough to get him out of his rut.
Sri Lanka’s selectors, too, opted to take a more holistic view of Shanaka’s performance as captain. A special meeting held after the Asia Cup involving the top brass of SLC as well as Silverwood, consultant coach Mahela Jayawardene, team manager Mahinda Halangoda, and members of the selection committee including chief selector Pramodya Wickramasinghe, gave the present make-up of the team their vote of confidence.
“The selectors, during the meeting, explained the intended composition of the World Cup squad and also possible contingency plans in place for replacements if such a measure is needed,” he board had said in a media statement at the time. “During the meeting, all in attendance were in agreement that the national team is going in the right direction towards making further progress.”
Sri Lanka will begin their World Cup with warm-up games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan on September 29 and October 3 in Guwahati, before their first official match of the tournament against South Africa on October 7 in Delhi.
Sri Lanka ODI World Cup squad:
Dasun Shanaka (capt), Kusal Mendis (vice capt), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera (wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara
Travelling reserve: Chamika Karunaratne
(Cricinfo)
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
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]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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