My daughter Mayura Kim and I were there to feast on a six-hitting feast from the Riverbank Stand! …. Six from the Strikers and NINE from the Scorchers …. but the STRIKERS won!
Category Archives: T20 Cricket
Australia stroll to Victory at the Gabba
Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, 29 October 2019
At least there were no unwanted records this time. At least the team total broke through to triple figures. And at least two batsmen made more than 20. Having been thumped by 134 runs on Sunday, these were the only minor improvements for Sri Lanka in the second T20I. Yet again, however, they were emphatically outplayed from the very beginning. A slow start, replete with regular wickets, coalesced into a total of 117 all out by the end of the 19th over. An imperious Australia then flew to their target with nine wickets in hand, and 42 balls remaining.
Australia 118 for 1 (Warner 60*, Smith 53*) beat Sri Lanka 117 (Kusal Perera 27, Zampa 2-20, Stanlake 2-23) by nine wickets
Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins celebrate Avishka Fernando’s wicket Getty Images
Sri Lanka’s “pop-gun” attack derided
Will Swanton in The Australian, October 29th 2019,
There’s never been a batsman like Glenn Maxwell. The stumps are scared to watch. Off puts its hands over its face and shrieks. Middle grimaces and braces for impact. Leg, rarely so exposed, is ducking for cover.His latest experimentation is a direct lift from the baseball playbook and acknowledgment of the fact that when the primary objective in T20 is to dispatch the leather out of the park, you cannot hit what you cannot properly see. Maxwell has sounded at his kooky best when he’s smashed 62 runs off 28 balls against Sri Lanka’s pop-gun attack and then credited it with getting “my right eye involved in the game a bit more”.
Sri Lanka flattened at Adelaide Oval
Daniel Brettig, in ESNcricinfo, 27 October 2019
A yawning victory for Australia, a pugilistic century for David Warner, Steven Smith not even required to bat? Do not adjust your browsers. ……………….. Australia 2 for 233 (Warner 100*, Finch 64, Maxwell 62) beat Sri Lanka 9 for 99 ( Shanaka 17, Zampa 3-14) by 134 runs
Glenn Maxwell brought out all the shots AFP
Aaron Finch‘s team set down a brutal marker for the start of their 12-month run to next year’s Twenty20 World Cup by swatting Sri Lanka aside with their highest-ever total on home soil and fourth highest overall, as the captain and a promoted Glenn Maxwell provided the perfect complement to Warner’s triumphant return home after a nightmarish tour of England.
Cricket Squads Feted in Colombo: Monies and Pictorials Galore
Pictures from Daily Mirror … and …. Daily News … where the headline = “Sri Lanka’s cricketing heroes rewarded with US$ 145,000″
Rumesh Ratnayake, Dasun Shanaka, Lahiru Tirimanne and Asantha De Mel with lesser lights
Selection Headaches for T20 Tour of Australia
Michael Roberts
There are some headaches that one welcomes. The magnificent performances generated by a raw Sri Lankan T20 squad in Pakistan this month is one such headache. Ashantha De Mel and Co are to be congratulated for their selections and for expanding the problems by giving fresh faces the chance to impress in the third ODI.
Oshada and Wanindu star in Sri Lanka’s Third Win
Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, October 10 October 2019, with this title “
Sri Lanka 147 for 7 (Fernando 78*, Amir 3-27) beat Pakistan 134 for 6 (Sohail 52, Hasaranga 3-21) by 13 runs
Sri Lanka’s crazy 2019 got even weirder on Wednesday, when they made five changes to the team that had won the first two T20Is against Pakistan, but still managed to pull off a whitewash – debutant Oshada Fernando producing the defining innings, before legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga took three wickets in his second successive match. Oshada hit 78 not out off 48 balls, overseeing Sri Lanka’s recovery from 30 for 3 after five overs, then 58 for 4 after eight. Very much the talisman in the innings – no other batsman made even 15 – he guided Sri Lanka to 147 for 7 on a slow Lahore surface.
Oshada thanks the gods
Bhanuka Shines: News Reports on Second T 20 at Lahore
News Item in Daily News, 10 October 2019
Sri Lanka’s match-winner in their series clinching second T20I win against Pakistan at Lahore on Monday, Bhanuka Rajapaksa praised the coaches for helping the team beat the no. 1 ranked side in the world. ”Not an easy task to come to Pakistan and beat the No. 1 side but the confidence from the coaches helped a lot,” said Rajapaksa after winning the man of the match award for his exhilarating knock of 77 off 48 balls. “Beating the No. 1 side, I would take it any day. It means a lot to me,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s T20 Shortcomings in Pakistan 2019
Michael Roberts
Sri Lanka’s convincing victories in the two T20 matches at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore should not obscure the serious shortcomings displayed in the field. I list them in point-form.
ONE: The running between the wicket was appalling and on occasions suicidal. If Pakistani’s fielders (Shadab Khan excepted) had not been equally appalling the results would have been worse. For instance, Bhanuka Rajapaksa would have been out 1/4th of the way through his scintillating innings in ODI Two. Better fielding sides such as Australia will dent SL’s batting severely if such crazy running is pursued.
Filed under performance, player selections, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket
Ruminations before the Second T20 at Lahore
Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcrcinfo, 8 October 2019, where the title is “Sri Lanka’s new stars chase rare T20I silverware””
BIG PICTURE: It was no real surprise that Sri Lanka rode an outstanding fifty from Danushka Gunathilaka to a competitive total in the first match. Were it not for injury and disciplinary issues, the opener would command a place in their first-choice limited-overs XI. He is among the more naturally gifted batsmen in any match.It was also no surprise that Dasun Shanaka helped Sri Lanka maintain their momentum through the later stages of the innings. He is one of the cleanest ball-strikers around.
Filed under memorable moments, performance, Sri Lanka Cricket, T20 Cricket