Category Archives: T20 Cricket

Australian Implosion permits England Victory

ESPN Report, 4 August 2020, entitledEngland storm back to choke chase and take 1-0 series lead”

England 162 for 7 (Malan 66, Buttler 44, Richardson 2-13) beat Australia 160 for 6 (Warner 58, Finch 46, Rashid 2-29) beat by two runs

Australia imploded in their first international game since March at the Ageas Bowl, falling two runs short against England despite needed 39 from the final 36 balls with nine wickets remaining in their chase. David Warner and Aaron Finch had put on 98 for the first wicket in the space of 11 overs to break the back of the chase, before Steven Smith flew out of the blocks at No. 3. But four wickets in the space of 14 legal deliveries gave England a foothold, as Australia went 5.4 overs without a boundary.

Glenn Maxwell reacts to his dismissal AFP

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Filed under Australian cricket, English cricket, performance, T20 Cricket, taking the piss

kent and Middlesex in High-Scoring T20 Tie

209/4
(20 ov, target 210)
209/5

Match tied

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Filed under cricketing records, English cricket, performance, T20 Cricket

Ashantha’s Frank Thoughts on Team Selection

Champika Fernando, in Sunday Times, 5 April 2020, with this title Continuity’ – De Mel’s mantra

Chief cricket selector Ashantha De Mel often speaks of ‘continuity’ to give players a fair run in the team. The strategy seems to be bearing fruit. Sri Lanka’s 3-0 triumph against West Indies in the ODIs came against the backdrop of resolute selection, something that will be adhered to again as the team prepares for the World T20 qualifiers in Australia later this year.

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Filed under cricket and life, cricket governance, cricketing icons, Lasith Malinga, Mahela Jayawardene, memorable moments, performance, player selections, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket, unusual people

Ashantha’s Balanced Reflections on Sri Lanka’s T20 Cricket Squad

Saádi Thawfeeq, in Daily News, 11 March 2020, with this title  No need to panic we are on the right track says chief selector””

Sri Lanka’s 0-2 defeat at the hands of T20I world champs West Indies is not something to get too excited or worried about says chairman of selectors Ashantha de Mel. “I am not saying I am 100 percent satisfied but there is an improvement. We have a lot to go forward but from where we were we have come up. The structure is coming and there are little areas that we have to fine tune, our bowling and all that,” said De Mel reflecting on the ODI and T20I series.

West Indian Andre Russell hit six sixes off 14 balls against Sri Lanka in the second T20I at Pallekele.

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Appraisals: Women’s World T20

Mel Jones      Alex Blackwell

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Sri Lanka spring Surprise in Tuesday’s Round of Warm-up Matches — Womens’ T20

Daily News Report, 19 February 2020

Australia and India tuned up for Friday’s blockbuster ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 opener with hard-fought warm-up victories over South Africa and West Indies respectively. But by far the biggest shock of the day was Sri Lanka’s 10-wicket victory over England as Shashikala Siriwardana snaffled four wickets and Chamari Atapattu starred with bat and ball to earn an unlikely triumph.

Atapattu in full flight

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Filed under memorable moments, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket, unusual statistics, womens' cricket

Massacre! Sri Lankan Women annihilate England Women in Warm-Up Match

Michael Roberts ….. and I was present!

Excellent catching and smart work supported a good bowling performance with Sashikala Siriwardene snaring 4 wkts and Chamari Atapattu getting three wkts, and two run-outs being effected, saw England restricted to 122 runs for 9 wkts in their twenty overs.

Chamari Hasini Sashikala

The lefties Chamari Atapattu (78 n.o. in 59 balls) and Hasini Perera (29 n. o.) then hammered 123 runs in 12.3 overs to overhaul one of the top-rated Elevens in the T20 competition in the warm/up match at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide. Chamari’s tally included five sixes.

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Angelo Mathews talks to Rex about the Immediate Tasks in 2020

Rex Clementine in Island, 4 January 2020, where the title is “Mathews Ready for Reversed Role”

When Angelo Mathews limped off the field in Indore with a hamstring injury during Sri Lanka’s tour of India in 2017, the recovery took months. At that point, the selectors made a call that in a bid to prolong his career, Mathews will only play as a batsman. But 18 months later, the decision has been reversed.  Mathews was dropped from the T-20 squad in August 2018 and was told to get back to bowling in order to regain his place. Having fulfilled the requirement, the 32-year-old is back in India, the country where he won the admiration of adoring fans a decade ago.

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Filed under Angelo Mathews, performance, player selections, politics and cricket, Rex Clementine, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket, unusual people

Sri Lanka’s Cricket Schedule in Year 2020

Rex Clementine in Island, 3 January 2020,

The national cricket team has got a hectic schedule in 2020 where they will play nine Test matches, 12 ODIs and at least 16 T-20s. They will be playing more T-20s than the other two formats for the obvious reason that this year the World T-20 will be staged in Australia in late October. This is apart form the Asia Cup, also a T-20 tournament to be played in Pakistan.

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Filed under Lasith Malinga, politics and cricket, Rex Clementine, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket

When the Czech Cricket Team assailed the T20 Records

Sreshth Shah,in ESPNcricinfo, December 2019, where the title runs The day Czech Republic held four world records in cricket” …. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28367290/the-day-czech-republic-held-four-world-records-cricket

The Czech Republic now holds the record for highest T20I total Vojta Hasa

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