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Mathews 141, Chandimal 107 put Sri Lanka 212 ahead
Angelo Mathews amassed 141, Dinesh Chandimal struck a 15th Test century, and together the pair put on 232 for the fourth wicket, as Sri Lanka surged to a 212-run lead on a flat SSC surface. A thoroughly inexperienced Afghanistan attack were doughty through parts of the day, picking up six wickets, but were up against batters intent on driving home Sri Lanka’s advantage.
Debutant Naveed Zadran and legspinner Oais Ahmad picked up two wickets each, with Ahmed dismissing Mathews hit wicket off what turned out to be the last ball of the day. Mathews had gone deep in the crease to smack a legside long hop for four through deep backward square. But in the follow-through, the toe of his bat clipped the top of his leg stump, leaving Mathews to sink to his knees in despair.
Still, it was a tough day for the bowlers. Left-arm spinner Zia-ur-Rehman – also playing his first Test – put in some of the tightest spells on a pitch that had not begun to turn yet, but could not get a breakthrough from his 28 overs. Mohammad Saleem, the third debutant in this attack, could not quite finish off the day, walking off the field after delivering the first ball of his 13th over with a suspected leg injury.
It was the Mathews-Chandimal stand that drove Sri Lanka’s dominance on day two. Mathews had been tested by Nijat Masood’s short ball early in the day, but once he saw through that period, settled into one of his steady innings, finding frequent singles square of the wicket. He’d occasionally look for the big shots as well, particularly when a few dot balls had built. He hit each of the spinners for sixes in the second session, lofting Rehman into the sight-screen first, before launching Ahmed over long on much later, and adding another six – cow corner off Ahmed this time – in the third session.
His tempo rarely changed, right through his 259-ball innings. His first fifty came off 100 balls, his second off 85. And beyond those early battles with Masood, no one really looked like troubling him for long. This was his 16th Test hundred, which brings him up to fourth-equal on the Sri Lankan all-time list, alongside Tillakaratne Dilshan, Marvan Atapattu, and Dimuth Karunaratne.
Chandimal, likewise, did not have particularly difficult battles with the spinners, who did the bulk of the bowling after lunch. Where Mathews tended to stay in the crease, Chandimal was much more given to venturing out, as he looked for either singles down the ground, or the big shots inside out over extra cover, as well as over midwicket. His scoring areas were largely in front of the stumps, with very little coming through third man.
His century was quicker than Mathews’ coming off 168 balls. He was eventually out for 107, nicking an away seamer from Naveed behind, after Afghanistan had taken the second new ball. That wicket brought two more – that of Dhananjaya de Silva, who thought he had struck his first ball past Hashmatullah Shahidi at mid-off, only for Shahidi to make a diving stop, and throw down the stumps while still on the ground before de Silva even got close to recovering his ground (he had travelled three-quarters of the way of the surface and Mathews had not committed to the run). And then Mathews’ wicket meant Sri Lanka lost 3 for 30 to end the day.
Before Mathews and Chandimal took the game away, Afghanistan had had a decent first session, even if there was little chance of them preventing a significant Sri Lanka lead. Naveed had had Nishan Madushka caught to a leg gully trap in the third over, before Masood bounced Kusal Mendis out, having him caught at fine leg for 21.
Karunaratne ensured Sri Lanka’s total raced past Afghanistan’s though, finding easy singles, and proactively seeking boundaries, as he barreled ahead at better than a run-a-ball. Having started the day on 42, he strode to a half-century off the seventh ball he faced. He was out for 77 off 72, coming down the track to make an Ahmed delivery a full toss, but then promptly clipping it to short midwicket.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 410 for 6 in 101.2 overs (Nishan Madushka 37, Dimuth Karunarathne 77, Angelo Mathews 141, Dinesh Chandimal 107, Sadeera Samarawickrema 21*; Naveed Zadran 2-80, Qais Ahmed 2-93) lead Afghanistan 198 in 62.4 (Rahmat Shah 91; Vishwa Fernando 4-51) overs by 212 runs
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]
