After a disappointing 22-run loss in a low-scoring game against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their campaign opener, Pune Warriors will hope for a better batting performance when they take on Kings XI Punjab in their second Pepsi IPL match in Pune on Sunday.
Pooran says the team is targeting the home series against India next month to restore pride.
Delhi Daredevils defeated Mumbai Indians by 37 runs in their Indian Premier League match at the Ferozshah Kotla. It was Delhi's first home win in 10 matches and in more than two years. After April 21, 2013, when they last won at the Kotla, Delhi lost nine matches on the trot at home.
Sri Lanka's slow bowlers spun a web around South Africa who collapsed for a meagre 126 to concede a significant first innings lead on a spin-dominated second day of the opening Test.
In the first Test in Kolkata, Herath bowled only eight overs in seaming conditions, but was required to send down 39 overs in the only innings that India batted in Nagpur, after which he complained of back pain.
Chasing 268 to go 1-0 up in the two-Test series, Karunaratne's 161-run opening stand with Lahiru Thirimanne (64) set the tone for a successful chase at the Galle International Stadium.
Twenty20 cricket is money-spinning and popular but for Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews, nothing comes close to the thrill of playing Test cricket.
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 skipper Angelo Mathews has promised `no mercy` for any teammate found guilty of misconduct after the country's Sports Minister raised allegations of drunken behaviour during New Zealand tour. Earlier, Dayasiri Jayasekera, Sri Lanka's Sports Minister had said that they would carry an investigation, amid allegations of players being involved in 'scandalous behaviour' during the tour. The 28-year old, who was neither denying nor accepting the allegations, revealed that an official probe had begun into the allegation that players had attended parties till late night, Sport24 reported.
Will India go into the 3rd T20I vs Sri Lanka with the same squad or will Sanju Samson and Manish Pandey get a look in?
Images from the IPL match played between Kings XI Punjab vs Pune Warriors in Mohali on Sunday.
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.
Sri Lankan police fired teargas to disperse hundreds of fans trying to force their way into a stadium where the home team were playing their fourth one-day international against Australia in Dambulla on Wednesday. About 300 fans tried to force their way into the 18,000-capacity Dambulla stadium after the authorities announced that all tickets had been sold and asked anyone without tickets to leave the area, a police official said.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Pune Warriors India and Kings XI Punjab on Sunday.
Opener Kusal Perera hit an explosive maiden half-century off 44 balls to steer Sri Lanka to a 17-run win over Bangladesh in a one-off Twenty20 international in Pallekele on Sunday.
Sri Lanka Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews has been named to lead the Pune Warriors India in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier league, commencing on April 3.
This property has all the hallmarks of being owned and occupied by Vijay Mallya. A fleet of supercars making their way down the drive, hordes of people descending to party all night long and a constant delivery of goods and services.
The visitors bowled India out to be in an advantageous position, resisted the Indian attack nicely and successfully called two DRS reviews
Sri Lanka's cricket selectors opted to rest Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga for one-off Twenty20 international, in Pallekele on October 30, against touring New Zealand. Both are currently playing in the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa. Off-spinner Ajantha Mendis, meanwhile, was overlooked as he is nursing a side strain he suffered during the World Twenty20.
'Even though the immediate past has not been good we are looking for a new leaf to start with'
Chasing an elusive dream of winning their first cricket Test in India, Sri Lanka will begin their gruelling tour with a two-day tour fixture against a depleted Board President's XI, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal dropped hints that unlike the five-pronged bowling attack, which yielded results against Pakistan in the humid conditions in the United Arab Emirates, he may revert to four-bowler theory against India.
Fast bowler Ishant Sharma was again involved in an altercation with Sri Lankan players during India's second innings on Day 4 of the third Test in Colombo, on Monday.
The off-spinner dismissed Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews with the final ball of his eighth over and returned to send back Nuwan Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal with the first two deliveries of his next to achieve the milestone in the first quarter-final of the World Cup.
Both the teams lost their opening matches but bounced back into reckoning after producing two of the tournament's biggest upsets so far.
India gained an upperhand in the second Test against Sri Lanka by taking a handy 87-run first innings lead despite a fighting century by rival skipper Angelo Mathews in Colombo on Saturday.
Australia finally have the chance to bring some cheers to their fans after an egregious 2018 when Tim Paine's men take on Sri Lanka at the Manuka Oval from Friday with a series victory beckoning the beleaguered hosts.
West Ham had lost their first three Premier League games to sit bottom of the table and their dismal start to the campaign had already sparked speculation among pundits as to whether new manager Manuel Pellegrini would see out the season.
Football great Diego Maradona has won a 30-year battle over tax evasion charges in Italy and will soon return to Naples, the scene of some of his greatest sporting triumphs, his lawyer said on Friday.
David Warner's unbeaten 90 went in vain as Sri Lanka beat Australia by five wickets in the first Twenty20 International on Saturday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
A century opening stand between Abid Ali and Fakhar Zaman guided Pakistan to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final One-Day International in Karachi on Wednesday. The victory enabled the hosts clinch the series 2-0.
Hinting that their ace pacer Lasith Malinga may miss their ICC World Twenty20 Super 10 opener against Afghanistan, Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews on Wednesday said they are yet to get a 'yes or no' about his availability. "We are yet to get yes or no from physio. He will have net session tomorrow. We will test his bowling on Thursday and will wait. "He bowled a couple of overs with short run-up. He will bowl with full runup tomorrow and we will take a call," he said. Concerned about his slow recovery from knee injury, the 2014 World T20 winning skipper handed the captaincy baton to the ODI and Test skipper Mathews just ahead of the tournament.
Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
Jason Roy made a brilliant 162 to lead England to a crushing six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international at The Oval on Wednesday.
Mahela Jayawardene will step down as captain of the Sri Lanka Test and One-day teams after the current tour of Australia and has backed Angelo Mathews to replace him.
Indian golfers Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri, who were lying inside top-five after the first round, were unable to start play in the second round due to the inclement weather that halted the proceedings at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei on Friday.
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 167 runs on the fifth day of the second and final Test to register their first Test victory in the island nation in 14 years, in Colombo, on Thursday.
South Africa opener Quinton de Kock's attacking 87 set up a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Dambulla on Wednesday, handing the tourists a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Skipper Virat Kohli scored his 30th one-day international century to lead India to victory in the fifth and final one-day match on Sunday as the visitors won by six wickets to complete a 5-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Sri Lanka, the 1996 winners, kick-started their bid for a place in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup semi-finals in dramatic fashion with a 20-run win against hosts England at Headingley. It took them to six points and off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva insists they can still finish in the top four of the group despite suffering a pair of washouts in Bristol.
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