Tag Futebol

While the opener smote his 14th ODI hundred, the allrounder made an impactful return with both bat and ball

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Jan-2019

Malinga earns 20% fine for slow over rate

Lasith Malinga has copped an over-rate fine in his first match as full-time captain, after Sri Lanka were found to be one over short of their target. Malinga will be fined 20% of his match fee, and his teammates 10% of theirs. More importantly, Malinga will face suspension if his team commits another over-rate offence over the next 12 months.
“Malinga pleaded guilty to the offence after the end of the match and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing,” the ICC release said.
Sri Lanka captains have repeatedly fallen afoul of over rates over the last few years, with Upul Tharanga, Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal all having suffered fines and demerit points.

Martin Guptill smote a 14th career ton, Kane Williamson cruised to 76 off 74, and James Neesham clubbed 47 not out off 13 – hitting five sixes in an over – to launch New Zealand to a monstrous total, which despite a valiant Kusal Perera hundred, Sri Lanka fell short of by 45 runs.Thanks to the start provided by Niroshan Dickwella, who made 76 off 50, and Danushka Gunathilaka, who joined him in a 119-run opening stand, Sri Lanka had the foundation to pull off an epic chase. Apart from Kusal Perera, however, no other batsmen responded. All four batsmen from Nos. 4-6 fell for less than 20, and struck at less than run-a-ball. In the end, too much was left to Kusal Perera, who despite an incredible hand, was battling an asking rate of over 15 when he got out in the 46th over. With him went all realistic chances of a successful chase, though hopes had been dwindling well before that.Although Guptill made by far the game’s biggest score, hitting 138 off 139 balls, it was Neesham – playing for New Zealand for the first time in over a year – who made the more impactful contributions. Having arrived late in the innings with the bat, he tonked Thisara Perera in the arc between the sightscreen and midwicket five times in one over – the bowler so emphatically rattled by Neesham’s hitting that he even bowled a waist-high full-toss halfway through. With 33 runs having been scored off the first five balls of his over, Thisara was at risk of bowling the most expensive ODI over ever. But the last ball, a low full toss, was only struck to long-on by Neesham.

Watch LIVE on ESPN+

Readers from the US can also watch the match LIVE here, on ESPN+

He did hit another six to finish the innings though, and then would come back and strike with the ball. He claimed the vital wicket of Dickwella, moving a wide length ball back off the seam slightly to draw an inside edge – the ball then ricocheting back into the stumps. He had earlier had Gunathilaka caught down the legside, and would later bounce Dinesh Chandimal out as well. In a game in which no other frontline bowler went at less than five an over, Neesham took three wickets and maintained an economy rate of 4.75 across his eight overs.Almost as good was legspinner Ish Sodhi, who took 2 for 53 from his 10 overs, and was instrumental in sucking the momentum out of the Sri Lanka innings, just as they were looking to accelerate into the death overs. This, despite struggling for control of his legbreak in the early overs, and battling a leg injury of some description, for which he spent some time off the field.Jimmy Neesham launches one over cow corner•Getty Images

Earlier, both Guptill and Williamson’s innings had been smooth from the outset, and it was their 163-run second-wicket stand that formed the spine of New Zealand’s innings. The boundaries came rapidly for Guptill through the Powerplay, and he was particularly severe when the Sri Lanka bowlers pitched wide, which they did too often.He practically skated through the middle overs, happily working Sri Lanka’s spinners into the outfield on a surface that was offering little turn. Whenever they offered him the chance to free his arms, he did so gleefully. There was an especially memorable six over extra cover off the legspin of Seekkuge Prasanna to bring up his fifty, then a swept six off Lakshan Sandakan a few overs later. As Guptill and Williamson’s scores swelled, the Sri Lanka spinners appeared more and more toothless. Neither created any clear-cut wicket chances.Williamson played another one of his effortless innings, scoring heavily behind square on the offside to begin with, before runs began to come for him right around the ground. He used his feet to the spinners, and had even less trouble turning the strike over than his partner. He had looked good for a century until Pradeep bowled an off-cutter that Williamson was slightly late on – the ball bouncing back on to the stumps. He made 76 off 74 balls.After Sri Lanka had been set their mammoth target, Dickwellla began to attack it in characteristic fashion, getting down on one knee to scoop the quicks over his head; slinking around the crease to make room to hit through the offside. He led the charge in the Powerplay, at the end of which Sri Lanka were 70 for no loss.For Kusal Perera, there were early signs he was in excellent touch. He crashed his sixth ball – a short one from Neesham – to the deep square leg boundary, and clubbed four more fours from his next 15 balls. On errors of length, he was brutal, flicking overpitched deliveries over midwicket, and slamming the short, misdirected ones past square leg.New Zealand were careful not to feed his punishing cut, though, which meant that he only occasionally scored through the offside. He raised his fourth – and perhaps best – ODI hundred by drilling Matt Henry through the covers, but by the end of his innings had scored over 75% of his runs to leg.In fact, it was a ball way outside off stump – one that he perhaps should have cracked past cover point – that was his undoing. Batting on 102 off 85 balls, he reached out to hit an angled delivery from Boult, and wound up only sending a top edge high into the gloves of debutant Tim Seifert, who had run towards point to complete the catch.Sri Lanka may be content with the fight they showed with the bat, but familiar woes have led to another ODI loss. Perhaps chief among those is lack of penetration through the middle overs. Neither Sandakan nor Prasanna could claim a wicket, allowing that giant Guptill-Williamson stand to flourish. New Zealand meanwhile, kept finding wickets through the middle overs, and ultimately claimed a comfortable victory.

Rain cut short the hosts’ progress in Jamaica

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2017Sunil Ambris celebrates his century•WICB Media

Sunil Ambris’ 106 powered West Indies A to a 300-plus score against Sri Lanka A on a rain-affected second day in Florence Hall, Jamaica.The overnight partnership of Vishaul Singh and Ambris was finally broken by Asitha Fernando, who bowled the former for 81. Three more wickets fell on the day, with Chamika Karunaratne dismissing centurion Ambris and Rahkeem Cornwall (36 off 64 balls) and Malinda Pushpakumara having Damion Jacobs (15 off 45 balls) stumped – it was keeper Sandun Weerakkody’s third stumping of the innings.Sheldon Cottrell (2 not out) and Keon Joseph (1 not out) were at the crease when rain stopped play in the day’s 44th over.

Hampshire’s Liam Dawson bagged three evening wickets but could not stop Lancashire, led by a fifty from Haseeb Hameed, from batting out for a draw at the Ageas Bowl

ECB Reporters Network07-Aug-2016
ScorecardHaseeb Hameed batted Lancashire to safety•Getty Images

Hampshire’s Liam Dawson bagged three evening wickets but could not stop Lancashire, led by a fifty from Haseeb Hameed, from batting out for a draw at the Ageas Bowl.Left arm spinner Dawson gave Hampshire hope of the win but Hameed and Liam Livingstone saw the visitors to the end.Hampshire remain cemented to the bottom of Division One, while Lancashire are in danger of being dragged in to a relegation dogfight with Surrey threatening to overtake them.Hampshire were given some early hope of clutching a victory from the off, as leg spinner Mason Crane found exaggerated turn.He took three of the six final Lancastrian first innings wickets with another tireless day twirling – bowling 48 and a half overs in the match.Will Smith, Hampshire’s captain, said: “In terms of the effort and desire to win was all we could ask. We probably created enough chances but that said you can’t fault the effort, we have fielded for 210 overs in a row.”Daws and Mason bowled 100 overs of them and bowled particularly well. We couldn’t force the win but there are a lot of positives.
“At times the pitch appeared docile but all of a sudden it would come to life. It was a wicket which suited us.”Every game is important now. We have to approach the next five with a winning mentality. If we can come out with two wins we can climb the table.”Crane had night-watchman Simon Kerrigan caught behind to the last ball of the days’ first over and later found a thick edge from Jordan Clark drop to Ryan McLaren at second slip.In the afternoon he wrapped up the first innings by tempting Croft out his crease, stumped by the increasingly impressive Lewis McManus.Ryan McLaren sent Liam Livingstone’s off stump cartwheeling before Crane’s spin twin Dawson grabbed tail scalps of Tom Moores and Kyle Jarvis.With Lancashire 12 short of the follow on, Will Smith forced them to bat again and were left frustrated by openers Steven Croft and Hameed.The pair retreated deeply within their shells – dot ball followed dot ball, as they used up 25 of the 58 remaining overs.Dawson managed to get one top pop up with the first ball after tea, and Croft watched sullenly as it dropped into Gareth Andrew’s paws at silly point – Dawson’s 100th Specsavers County Championship wicket.
Dawson managed to grab his fifth and sixth wickets of the afternoon – after only managing nine previously this season – soon after, as Lancashire threatened briefly to offer Hampshire a glimpse of winning the game.Luke Procter pushed to Tom Alsop at silly mid-on, before Alviro Petersen fell in an identical fashion six overs later.The stat that summed up the match, on a flat track, was the number of maidens bowled – over a full days’ worth of 98.But Hameed, unbeaten on 53 after his 142-ball half century, his second of the match, and Livingstone dropped anchor to avoid defeat – the captains eventually shaking hands with six left, the visitors still trailing by 63.

A seven-wicket haul from Yasir Shah helped Pakistan run through Sri Lanka’s second innings and romp to a 10-wicket win in Galle

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy21-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:15

Arnold: Sri Lanka’s approach after lunch was a shocker

A seven-wicket haul from Yasir Shah completed an emphatic turnaround from Pakistan, who took the Galle Test by 10 wickets after recovering from a precarious position at the start of the fourth morning. Pakistan had been five down and 182 behind Sri Lanka’s first-innings total at the time; few could have predicted then that their openers would waltz to a target of 90 at eight runs an over a day and a half later.The revival, sparked by Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq’s sixth-wicket partnership and carried forward by Yasir’s fizzing legbreaks on the fifth afternoon, also vindicated Misbah-ul-Haq’s decision to bowl first. With the first day washed out, Pakistan’s best chance of winning lay in batting just once. As it happened, they almost pulled off an innings win; Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad only needed 11.2 overs to polish off the chase.Last year, in a Test match between the same sides at the same ground, Sri Lanka took an 82-run first innings lead. At the start of the final day, Pakistan were 4 for 1 in their second innings. A draw looked the likeliest result, but Rangana Herath spun Pakistan out for 180 before Sri Lanka galloped to their target of 99 at a run a ball, with rain lurking around the corner.Now, the circumstances were neatly reversed, and Pakistan needed someone to step up and match Herath’s performance. Yasir showed the earliest possible sign that he would be that man; his first ball of the morning was a perfectly pitched topspinner. Dilruwan Perera, the nightwatchman, didn’t pick it, and shouldered arms. It went through with the angle and pegged back his off stump.From that point until lunch, Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne dealt with Yasir’s threat comfortably enough to suggest that the turn and bounce that had been in plentiful evidence on the second and third days had slowed down considerably. But their comfort level at the crease didn’t translate into easy runs. The bowling was probing throughout, and Zulfiqar Babar and Hafeez tightened the screws by giving away only 10 runs in seven overs as lunch approached.This spell of constriction may have had something to do with the shot Thirimanne attempted as soon as Wahab Riaz came on for his second spell of the morning, an ambitious on-the-up drive that resulted in an edge to first slip. Wahab produced extra bounce with that ball, but it was still an unwise shot under the circumstances.That became a theme during the second session. There was some controversy in the manner of Angelo Mathews’ dismissal, but it was the shot selection of the younger batsmen that hurt Sri Lanka the most. Karunatne gritted it out for 173 balls before getting stumped attempting an atrocious heave against Yasir. Trying to hit himself out of the vice-like grip exerted by the spinners, Kithuruwan Vithanage holed out at deep square leg. Had they stayed in for a further 20 overs, cumulatively, and scored an extra 50 runs, Pakistan’s fourth-innings task may have been a lot more challenging.But the Mathews wicket was still pivotal, both in terms of importance and timing. Wahab had dismissed Thirimanne minutes before lunch, and had broken a 69-run fourth-wicket stand; now Mathews was facing the second ball after lunch.Mathews was done in by the limits of two-dimensional replays to determine what happened in a three-dimensional world. The ball from Yasir slid on with the angle and as Mathews pressed forward to defend, it either brushed his inside edge or slid past it, before bouncing off his front pad into short leg’s hands.Umpire Richard Illingworth gave it out, and Mathews immediately reviewed. Split-screen replays suggested Mathews might not have edged it, with the ball appearing to have passed the bat while viewed from the square-on angle when bat and ball were closest together from the front-on angle. Whether that was conclusive evidence or not is debatable; the third umpire thought not, and Illingworth’s decision stood.Sri Lanka were now 144 for 5, effectively 27 for 5. Yasir, who had looked a little flat since dismissing Dilruwan with the first ball of the day, was re-energised. The zip was back, the ball was dipping on the batsmen when they came down the track, and ripping past their edge when they pressed forward to defend.Dinesh Chandimal was finding ways to score runs at one end, defending solidly and using his feet well when the ball was tossed up, but the lower order gave him no support. Dhammika Prasad ran down the track to Zulfiqar Babar, slogged, and missed by a mile. Herath slogged Yasir straight to deep midwicket.Eventually, Yasir produced one that was too good for Chandimal, drawing him out with flight and defeating him with dip and sharp turn. Chandimal groped in front of his body and tried to whip against the turn, to no avail. Sarfraz completed his third stumping of the innings, Yasir had picked up his first seven-for in first-class cricket.

Yuvraj Singh’s spell of left-arm spin upended England’s innings and then his burst of hitting smoothened India’s path to a comprehensive victory

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran20-Dec-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Yuvraj Singh showed why he is indispensable in limited-overs cricket•BCCI

Smart stats

• India’s win is their third in six Twenty20 internationals against England. However, it is their first win in home Twenty20 matches against England.

• The number of balls remaining after the win (13) is the highest for India in a successful chase of 150 or more. The target is also the fourth-highest chased by India.

• This is the second time that Yuvraj Singh has made a 35-plus score and picked up three or more wickets in the same game. Overall, there have been 13 such instances in Twenty20 internationals.

• Yuvraj’s 3 for 19 is the joint sixth-best bowling performance for India in Twenty20 matches. It is also the second-best performance for India against England after Harbhajan Singh’s 4 for 12 in Colombo earlier this year.

• The strike rate of 160 for Alex Hales is the highest for an England batsman against India (50-plus scores only).

Yuvraj Singh’s decade-long attempt to secure a permanent spot in the Test team may have been thwarted once again this month, but in the first Twenty20 against England he once again showed why he is indispensable in limited-overs formats. First, his spell of left-arm spin upended England’s innings and then his burst of hitting smoothened India’s path to a comprehensive victory.In the first international match at the Subrata Roy Stadium in Pune, Alex Hales and Luke Wright had muscled 68 in seven overs for the second wicket as England rattled along at more than 10 an over. Hales began with two powerful pulls for four in the first over, and then showed off his straight-hitting to sprint to a 26-ball half-century, his fourth for England. Unlike Hales, Wright hadn’t spent time in India with the England Performance Programme squad but he too played a fluent boundary-filled innings, not flustered by the change in conditions from the Big Bash League in Australia.Yuvraj’s introduction in the ninth over transformed the game. He was the seventh bowler MS Dhoni turned to as India desperately searched for ways to stall the runs, and he immediately delivered. Five of the previous six overs had been punished for 10 runs or more, but Yuvraj in his first gave away just five singles. In his next, he had Luke Wright caught at long-off. In his third, Hales was dropped by Dhoni, then bowled before England captain Eoin Morgan gave long-on a catch. The triple-blow sucked out the momentum from the innings, and by the end of his spell the run-rate was down to around seven-and-a-half.Ashok Dinda, leading India’s pace attack though he himself is fairly new to international cricket, delivered the perfect penultimate over, taking two wickets and giving away only two runs. Either side of that though, Dhoni’s go-to bowler in Twenty20s, R Ashwin, and debutant fast bowler Parvinder Awana were hit for two sixes in an over each as Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 33 lifted England to 157.That was a score India looked happy to concede on a good track in a stadium with short boundaries. Their task was made easier by the poor line of England’s new-ball bowlers, who gifted plenty of runs down the leg side. Ajinkya Rahane, a near-permanent fixture on the India bench, finally got a chance in the middle, and he jumpstarted the chase with a couple of straight sixes.Though Tim Bresnan got his first international wickets since September by removing both Rahane and Gautam Gambhir in the fifth over, Yuvraj kept the large crowd cheering with a 21-ball 38. That included an onslaught on left-arm spinner Danny Briggs, who was taken for 18 in his only over of the game. Soon after, Yuvraj top-edged a pull off Luke Wright for six and though he connected solidly on the next delivery as well, it soared too high and didn’t clear the rope, falling in the hands of Stuart Meaker.India were already 93 for 3 in the 10th over by the time Yuvraj was dismissed, and Suresh Raina and Dhoni weren’t unduly troubled as India knocked off the runs required to confirm victory in the 18th over.

Tony Greig the former England captain, will deliver the 12th MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s next year

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2011Tony Greig, the former England captain, will deliver the 12th MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s next year. Greig will become the second ex-England captain to deliver the lecture, after Geoffrey Boycott in 2005.The Spirit of Cricket lecture began in 2001 and was named after the late Colin Cowdrey, the former England captain and a past MCC president, who, together with another former president Ted Dexter, were instrumental in including the spirit of cricket as the preamble to the Laws of the game.Grieg played 58 Tests for England between 1972 and 1977 and was captain 14 times. He scored 3,599 runs at 40.43 and took 141 wickets at 32.20. Now 65, Greig is broadcaster for Channel Nine in Australia.”Fiercely competitive on the field and hugely insightful off the field, Tony Greig has had a wonderful career in the game,” said MCC president Philip Hodson. “Never one to shun the limelight or shy away from voicing his opinion, I am sure that his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture will be in keeping with the way he played the game.”I very much look forward to welcoming him to Lord’s to deliver one of the highlights in the MCC calendar, and listen to him tackle some of the key issues that currently surround the game.”This year Kumar Sangakkara gave a widely acclaimed Cowdrey lecture where he talked about controversial issues within Sri Lanka cricket and also about the importance of the sport in his country.

Round-up of the second day of the sixth round of Division Two of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2010Raheel Majeed’s career-best 162 resisted the impact of Mohammad Irfan’s five-wicket haul as Pakistan Television progressed to 325 before reducing Khan Research Laboratories to 160 for 5 at the Khan Research Laboratory Ground in Rawalpindi. Majeed and Yasim Murtaza (60) extended their partnership to 147 before PTV lost their last three wickets for the addition of no runs. KRL’s reply was steered by a run-a-ball 82 from captain Mohammad Wasim, but Saad Altaf and Mohammad Ali, who bowled unchanged for 36 overs until stumps, made regular breakthroughs at the other end to leave the game in the balance.Peshawar‘s batsmen stamped their authority on the second day at the Arbab Niaz Khan Stadium as Quetta lost ground following the bowler-dominated opening day. The visitors could only add 38 to their overnight 87 for 6, conceding a 87-run first innings lead. The wickets were shared around by the home seamers, with Imran Khan finishing with 4 for 50. Peshawar’s reply was driven by steady half-centuries from Ashfaq Ahmed, Sajjad Ahmed (1) and Tariq Khan. Quetta’s incisiveness was badly hampered by the absence of first-innings hero Arun Lal, who could bowl only three balls on the second day. Kashif Sattar picked up three wickets, but could not check Peshawar’s surge to an imposing 290 for 5 by stumps.It was slow progress all-round at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium where Abbottabad and State Bank of Pakistan were locked in an attritional battle for the upper hand. Resuming at 221 for 5, the hosts could not make much headway on the second day. Mohammad Naved, Ansar Javed and Nazar Hussain shared nine wickets to bowl Abbottabad out for the addition of 57 runs. SBP lost their captain Kashif Siddiq early in their reply and batted cautiously thereafter in search of the first-innings lead. Rameez Alam guided their reply to 150 for 3, and was unbeaten on an even 50 at stumps. Seamer Ahmed Jamal was responsible for all three breakthroughs.Karachi White‘s bowlers dismissed Lahore Shalimar for 139, gaining a 122-run first-innings lead at the Southend Club Cricket Stadium in Karachi. Asif Khan was the only batsman to come to terms with the all-round host attack. Azam Hussain and Atif Maqbool finished with three wickets apiece while the remaining four were shared by Sohail Khan and Ali Mudassar. Inspired by the bowlers, the home batsmen responded with a strong start to their second innings, with unbeaten half-centuries from Asif Zakir and Rameez Aziz guiding them to 180 for 3 by stumps.Lahore Ravi were firmly in control of their match against Hyderabad, with centuries from Junaid Jan and Fahad-ul-Haq lifting them to 254 for 2 at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Opener Mohammad Saad departed for 14, but thereafter it was a long fruitless day for the visitors. Fahad was the more aggressive of the pair, hitting 13 fours in his 103 off 160 balls. He perished after adding 164 for the second wicket, but Junaid stayed put till stumps, finishing unbeaten on 107 off 231 balls.

BJ Watling is in line for his Test debut after replacing Peter Fulton for the series-deciding third Test against Pakistan in Napier

Cricinfo staff07-Dec-2009The in-form BJ Watling is in line for his Test debut after replacing Peter Fulton for the series-deciding third Test against Pakistan in Napier from Friday. New Zealand’s selectors avoided wholesale changes after they were dismissed for 99 and 263 in the loss in Wellington on Sunday, with Watling the only new face in the 13-man outfit.”I had a fair idea I was in the mix but you are always shocked and excited when you get the call-up,” said Watling, who played two Twenty20 internationals in the UAE last month. He has performed well in the State Shield and scored 90 and 136 in the most recent rounds of the Plunket Shield. The selector Mark Greatbatch said Watling showed outstanding potential as a developing batsman.”He’s a quality young player with good technique,” Greatbatch said. “With the series at one-all we need to regroup and we believe Watling can add strength at the top.”There was a lot of discussion about the batting line-up, but this was not a time for wholesale change. We are aiming to give guys the opportunity to succeed.”Fulton managed 42 runs in the opening two games, which was only marginally worse than the return of Grant Elliott and slightly better than Tim McIntosh. Ross Taylor has been the key local batsman in the series, scoring 280 runs, including 97 in the second innings in Wellington.Greatbatch added that New Zealand might make some changes to their batting order, pushing Flynn – who batted at No.3 in Wellington – down the order, and Martin Guptill to No.3 from his opening slot.New Zealand squad Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori (capt), Daryl Tuffey, Iain O’Brien, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee.

Milan Rathnayake, who is uncapped in white-ball internationals, also receives a call-up but his involvement depends on fitness

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Jun-2025Left-arm fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka has returned to Sri Lanka’s ODI squad for the series against Bangladesh, having been unavailable for the Australia series in February due to injury. He replaces the now-injured Lahiru Kumara in the ODI squad.Also in the 16-member ODI squad is allrounder Milan Rathnayake, who has played five Tests but is uncapped in white-ball internationals. His involvement depends on fitness – he is out of the ongoing second Test against Bangladesh with a side strain, but is expected to have recovered by the time the ODIs begin, on July 2.Making a return on the batting front is wicketkeeper-batter Sadeera Samarawickrama, who last played for Sri Lanka in November 2024, and was dropped due to modest form. He essentially replaces Nuwanidu Fernando in the squad.Seamer Eshan Malinga also keeps his place, having had a good run with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2025. Asitha Fernando is the other fast bowler in the 16-member squad.The remainder of the squad is largely on expected lines. Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana lead the spin contingent, which also features legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay and left-arm spinning allrounder Dunith Wellalage. The likes of Avishka Fernando and Nishan Madushka are also competing for top-order spots, having been named in this squad.The first two ODIs will be played in Colombo, before the series moves to Pallekele on July 8. A three-match T20I series follows, with the first match on July 10 in Pallekele.

Sri Lanka’s ODI squad

Charith Asalanka (capt), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranaga, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake, Dilshan Madushanka, Asitha Fernando, Eshan Malinga

Head coach impressed with fightback, as Buttler-Salt partnership gives team new gear

Cameron Ponsonby20-Dec-2023Matthew Mott has said that England are “very close” to settling on their squad for the T20 World Cup next June.England are currently tied at 2-2 in their five-match series against West Indies, in a contest that has been enthralling throughout with over 100 sixes hit in four matches.The series has been invaluable preparation for England, with all of their group-stage fixtures for the World Cup next year expected to be in Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia.”We always said with this series we’ll go pretty close to the side we’re looking for, otherwise why would they be here?” Mott said, a day out from the series decider. “We don’t get many opportunities to play together before the World Cup. So this is a very strong team we’ve bought out here.”Of particular certainty is that the opening pair of Jos Buttler and Phil Salt is expected to continue, meaning Jonny Bairstow will have to find another route into the team, potentially at the expense of Will Jacks at No.3.”It’s looking pretty good, isn’t it?” Mott smiled when asked about the Buttler-Salt pairing that has put on back-to-back century partnerships in their last two innings. “We’ve got a lot of time between now and then. Obviously, Salty has put an undeniable case there and Jos is one of the greatest of all time. So how we get that top six or seven going will be an interesting thing.”There are currently 15 players out in the Caribbean, the same number that will be named for the World Cup squad, with Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer guaranteed to come back into the set-up, fitness pending.”I think that’s a given,” Mott said of whether the duo would would be in the mix for World Cup selection. “Ben, aside from his incredible match-winning ability in every department, gives us that ability to have a seam bowler in your top six that gives you so many options with your team balance…It makes selection a hell of a lot easier. So that’s a given.”In terms of Jofra, you’ve just got absolute box-office pace, change of pace, bowl any over in the innings. Bowl your Super Over, bowl your last over when they need to. Him on the park is massive, everyone would agree with that.”Related

• Ben Stokes opts out of England's T20 World Cup defence

• Jos Buttler: England content with Caribbean lessons despite T20Is defeat

• England have to be okay to not be okay with losing

• Salt calls IPL auction snub 'confusing': 'I expected to be picked up'

• Salt's second ton leads England to series-levelling victory

Mott confirmed that Bairstow is also within that group of players who will automatically return to selection discussion but was not asked about Mark Wood.Such a small squad leaves little chance for too many changes. Unless injuries strike, it seems likely that Ben Duckett and John Turner will be the first two names to drop out of the squad, with Gus Atkinson and Tymal Mills then left to battle it out if Wood returns, whilst Bairstow would have to come in for one of Jacks or Moeen Ali.That such big names are at risk of missing out is testament to the strength in depth of a group that, despite a torrid couple of months, have produced two superb performances to come back from 2-0 down and force a decider in Trinidad on Thursday.In game three in Grenada, England chased 223 thanks to a remarkable unbeaten century from Salt. Then, in Tarouba, they made their highest T20I total, 267 for 3, thanks to Salt’s second century, this time from 48 balls.”I enjoyed them both,” Mott said, when asked if he preferred one of England’s style of victories over the other. “Losing the toss over here, getting sent in, all the stats showed us [Tarouba] was a low-scoring ground. What we talked about after the last game was we had to play with that intensity, whether we’re batting first or chasing. That was the most pleasing thing from yesterday, is that it would have been easy to get a 180 score, 20 or 30 above par, but as soon as we got off to that really positive start, we just kept the foot down as if we were chasing a massive score.”Mott also spoke highly of the impact that Andrew Flintoff has had on the group, with a team meeting following England’s defeat to go 2-0 down sparking a change in approach.”There was a realisation that the game that West Indies were bringing to us was certainly a power game and talked about matching fire with fire.”A few people spoke. Jos spoke, Freddie spoke and I spoke about that. I’ve really enjoyed Freddie’s perspective, coming in as a guy who’s experienced the highs and lows of the game, to come in and he’s added a lot of fresh energy. It’s a great perspective, obviously what he’s been through in the last year or so. Sometimes it’s just a couple of words here and there, but essentially it came from within the playing group.”