Big gains for Chahal and Kuldeep in bowler rankings
Mathews dismissed suggestions that the episode has created bad blood between the sides.
Openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva struck patient half-centuries to help Sri Lanka secure a comprehensive nine-wicket victory against Pakistan in the second Test and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series on Sunday.
Tom Latham produced another masterful innings of patience and concentration as New Zealand turned the screw on Sri Lanka on the third day of the second Test at Hagley Oval, in Christchurch, on Friday.
Pujara stood tall in a defiant 47 off 102 balls even as Sri Lanka pacers made full use of the overcast conditions to run through the Indian batting line-up.
South Africa need six more wickets with two days still to play to win the second Test against Sri Lanka, who closed the third day at Newlands on Wednesday on 130 for four, still 377 runs behind the mammoth target set them. Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada both took two wickets in the Sri Lankan second innings as the home team closed in on victory and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. South Africa have ample time to whittle away the rest of the Sri Lankan batting while the visitors, set 507 runs to win, must survive six more sessions if they are to force a most improbable outcome.
Jonny Bairstow, restored to the England side but shorn of his keeping gloves, celebrated his return with a sparkling 110 to help them to 312 for seven on the opening day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.
England's Ben Foakes made a memorable debut to help the tourists recover from a terrible start and reach 321 for eight wickets on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's Kaushal Silva roared back into form with a century in the final Test against Australia on Tuesday, boosting the hosts' hopes of a 3-0 sweep against the world number one team at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo.
With just one win, Sri Lanka are currently at the sixth spot with four points and will have to win rest of their four matches to stay in contention for the semi-final.
Sri Lanka have not played a match at the World Cup since June 4, forced to split points with Bangladesh and Pakistan following two washed out games.
For all those who are likely to get a game, there will be just one target -- to make most of their chances as some of them might not get too many with just about 16 months left for the 50-overs World Cup.
Talent they say is over-rated but in Rohit Sharma's case, the word had been thoroughly used and abused till Mahendra Singh Dhoni made him an opener, who could be beautifully destructive.
The International Cricket Council is likely to incorporate air pollution in its 'Playing Conditions' clause, having taken a serious note of the plight of Sri Lankan cricketers during the recently-concluded Test match against India in New Delhi.
'They did the right thing if they were protesting against it. Medically there was no reason to continue the match; it must have been taken off'
Sri Lanka coach Nic Pothas, on Tuesday, again said that his players' 'discomfort (owing to pollution) speaks for itself' and wondered why the state cricket body, DDCA, sent a local doctor to test their players.
Cheteshwar Pujara stood tall amid ruins as Sri Lanka struck twice in the truncated morning session to reduce India to 74 for five before rain forced play to be called off early on day two of the opening Test on Friday.
England were reeling at 89-4 when Buttler somewhat steadied the innings before Curran clobbered six sixes in his blistering 64 to help them to a competitive score.
Opener Stephen Cook scored a career-high century to help South Africa build a massive 432-run lead over Sri Lanka despite rain delays on the third day of the first Test at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth.
Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
Any other result than India's resounding win looks highly unlikely, consdering the visitors' rampaging run in the preceding Test and ODI series, where they whitewashed the hosts 3-0 and 5-0 respectively.
Azhar Ali's hit a belligerent century on the final day as Pakistan pulled off a dramatic five-wicket victory in the final Test against Sri Lanka to level the three-match series 1-1 on Monday.
Statistical highlights on day one of the opening Test between India and Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
Burns, who had scored the last of his three Test hundreds against New Zealand in early 2016, was batting on 107, the first century by an Australian batsman since Usman Khawaja's 141 in the drawn Dubai Test against Pakistan last October.
Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada claimed four wickets each as South Africa ripped out Sri Lanka for 110 on the second day of the second Test.
Dhananjaya de Silva enhanced his rapidly-growing reputation with an unbeaten 43 as he kept South Africa's strike bowlers at bay to see Sri Lanka to 181 for seven in their first innings at the end of the second day of the first Test on Tuesday. The 25-year-old, who hit a six with his first scoring shot when he made his Test debut against Australia in July, brought Sri Lanka within 105 runs of South Africa's first innings total of 286 before bad light stopped play for the day.
A place in the final at stake, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would expect their batsmen to fire as they lock horns in a virtual semi-final of the Nidahas Twenty20 tri-series, in Colombo, on Friday.
Off-spinner Mark Craig grabbed three wickets after lunch as New Zealand completed a 193-run victory, and 2-0 series sweep, shortly before tea on the final day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve on Wednesday.
South Africa have slipped to number six in the world, behind fifth-placed Sri Lanka, and have a host of questions to answer, not least around a brittle top six and the balance of the side.
Fired four years ago following allegations of match-fixing, Ejaz Ahmed junior has been controversially appointed head coach of the Pakistan squad for the Asian Emerging Nations Cup, to be held in Karachi and Colombo in December.
England beat Sri Lanka by 42 runs in the third and final Test in Colombo, on Monday, to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
Sri Lanka paceman Suranga Lakmal took three quick wickets before Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed a 32-ball 59 to lead Sri Lanka to a tense one-wicket win in a rain-curtailed first one-dayer against West Indies.
Roshen Silva struck a combative fifty and expertly guided Sri Lanka's lower order to help the hosts gain a first-innings lead of 46 against England on the second day of the second Test on Thursday.
Sri Lanka were finally able to pose a challenge to India in the first Test after being hammered in the home series and that, according to chief coach Nic Pothas, was a huge positive.
Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul featured in a rollicking 166-run stand to help India erase the 122-run lead they had conceded to Sri Lanka on the penultimate day of the opening Test on Sunday.
Sri Lanka pacer Suranga Lakmal wrecked the high-profile Indian top-order in overcast conditions to leave the hosts reeling at 17/3 on a rain-affected day one of the first Test at EdenGardens on Thursday.
Just as they were about a kilometre away from the stadium, Taufel says, he heard something that sounded like firecrackers.
Playing their 100th Test, Bangladesh, were bowled out for 467 in the final session, leading Sri Lanka by 129 runs, after the 21-year-old Mosaddek became the final wicket to fall for 75.
Off-spinner Dilruwan Perera picked five wickets as Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 68 runs in the second Test in Dubai on Tuesday and won the series 2-0. Perera had figures of 5-98 as Pakistan, chasing 317 for victory, were bowled out for 248 in the second hour of fifth and final day at Dubai stadium.
Experienced Pakistan batsmen Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq both scored centuries to put their team firmly in control of the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
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