Pakistan bowling came to the fore after Mohammad Hafeez's unbeaten fifty as they defeated World T20 defending champions Sri Lanka by 15 runs in their warmup match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday. Hafeez struck an unbeaten 70 from 49 balls to help Pakistan post 157/5 before they restricted Sri Lanka for 142/9 in front of a cheering crowd of more than 10,000. Sri Lanka were wayward with their bowling especially in the death overs and bowled eight wide balls, including five from Dushmantha Chamara, further helping Pakistan's cause.
Dinesh Chandimal-led Sri Lankan squad,on Wednesday arrived for their six-week tour of India, which starts here with the first of the three-Test series, beginning on November 16.
Sri Lanka suffered a stunning batting collapse as they suffered a crushing 226-run defeat in the first Test against West Indies in Port of Spain.
Sri Lanka's Twenty20 captain Lasith Malinga will not be part of the 24-member squad for the second residential training camp, starting June 22 in Kandy, it was announced on Thursday. A six-member unit of coaches and other support staff will work with the players during the camp at the Pallekele stadium.
Sri Lanka will arrive in South Africa on Saturday, with the first Test in Pretoria starting on Boxing Day. The second will be in Johannesburg from January 3.
Pakistan's teenage fast bowler Naseem Shah led the hosts' recovery against Sri Lanka on a riveting opening day as Test cricket returned to the country on Wednesday for the first time since a militant attack in 2009.
This is Tharanga's second ban in recent times after he suffered a similar two-match ban for slow over-rate in the Champions Trophy when he had led the side against South Africa in the absence of then-skipper Angelo Mathews.
India set Sri Lanka a daunting 410-run victory target and dented the tourists' top order to maintain their iron grip on the third and final Test on Tuesday.
Australia edged out Sri Lanka by two wickets to spoil Tillakaratne Dilshan's one-day farewell and go 2-1 up in the five-match series on Sunday. Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka were all out for 226 with four balls remaining, a total built around Dinesh Chandimal's gutsy 102 in an otherwise poor batting display by the hosts in the third match of the series. Dilshan's fluent 42 in his one-day swansong was the second highest score and the former Sri Lanka captain quit the format with 10,290 runs, including 22 centuries from 330 matches.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne missed out on a maiden double hundred but his 238-run stand with fellow centurion Dinesh Chandimal set up Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 484 on day two against West Indies in the opening test at Galle on Thursday.
Pacer Lasith Malinga, who led Sri Lanka to the World Twenty20 title in Bangladesh, has been rewarded with the team's captaincy in the shortest format of the game, as struggling batsman Dinesh Chandimal got the axe, on Wednesday.
Dhananjaya de Silva hit a maiden century and combined with Dinesh Chandimal to resurrect Sri Lanka's innings after a poor start against Australia on the opening day of the third and final Test on Saturday.
Already qualified for the Super 12s, Sri Lanka thrashed Netherlands by eight wickets in their final T20 World Cup first round match with the spin duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana bamboozling the opposition batters here on Friday.
Pat Cummins took a career-best 6-23 to help Australia crush Sri Lanka by an innings and 40 runs inside three days in the series opening day-night Test.
Trent Boult took two quick wickets after lunch to help New Zealand complete a 122-run victory over Sri Lanka on the fifth day of the first Test at University Oval in Dunedin on Monday.
Fiery home opener Kusal Perera had a wild swing at a delivery outside off stump and was caught by Joe Root high above his head at first slip for 6.
In another tweet, Akhtar said they expect reciprocation from Sri Lanka.
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.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continued to be the best-placed Indians in the batting chart, while off-spinner Ravichandra Ashwin held on to second spot among bowlers in the latest ICC Test Player ranking, release on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka were never going to chase 410, but did well enough to bat as many as 102 overs in the second innings, finishing at 299 for five before the captains mutually agreed to a draw.
Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal scored maiden Test hundreds as Sri Lanka took a strong grip of the first Test against Bangladesh on the second day.
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.
A reinvigorated India will look to pocket their second series win in as many weeks and build on the gains made from a drastic change in their batting approach in the second T20 International against Sri Lanka in Dharamsala on Saturday.
The absence of the team's established players, such as Virat Kohli and Rishbah Pant as well as KL Rahul, in the upcoming three T20 Internationals will definitely translate into more opportunities for the likes of Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson.
The 36-year-old Fernando, who last played for Sri Lanka way back in 2012, was included in place of T20 captain Lasith Malinga, who is recuperating from an injury.
Cornwall and Da Silva turned the tide of the Test again as the former took the attack to the bowlers and the latter proved the perfect foil in tiring the visitors' seamers
Sri Lanka will have to produce something special to halt England's juggernaut at Sharjah.
India beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 239 runs in the second Test in Nagpur after the touring side were bundled out for 166 shortly after lunch on the fourth day.
India completed a 3-0 clean sweep of Sri Lanka with an innings and 171-run annihilation in the third and final Test, bringing to an early end to one of the most lopsided series in recent years.
Three Sri Lanka players and India's Ishant Sharma were found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct in two separate incidents during the penultimate day's play in the third Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.
Harish Kotian/Rediff.com highlights what Virat Kohli needs to ponder about, after the Galle defeat
Joe Root returned to form with a fluent 93 to lead England to a crushing 122-run victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth and final one-day international in Cardiff on Saturday.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne frustrated West Indies with a patient unbeaten century to help Sri Lanka reach 250-2 on the opening day and stay on course for a big first innings total in the first Test at Galle on Wednesday.
The visitors never got going as spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (4/67) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/56) along with comeback-man Ishant Sharma (3/37) shared the spoils.
Ben Foakes marked his Test debut with a century and impressed with his glovework, too, as England bowled out Sri Lanka for 203 before stretching their lead to 177 runs on the second day of the opening Test in Galle.
It may be Kumar Sangakkara's farewell game but the Indian team is all focused on previous match's centurion Dinesh Chandimal with leg-spinner Amit Mishra vowing not to allow a repeat show by the Sri Lanka batman in the second Test, starting in Colombo on Wednesday.
Chasing 164 to win, opener Zak Crawley was dismissed in the second session before Dom Sibley and Jos Buttler took the hosts to victory.
Chasing 279 for victory, Sri Lanka overcame Woakes's triple strikes to reach 140-5 in 29 overs when heavy rain stopped play and England won the match under the scoring method governing such rain-marred matches.
Jonny Bairstow and debutant Dan Lawrence knocked off the 36 runs required on Monday, the last day of the first Test.
There was disaster for the visitors when captain Joe Root (1), who scored a superb 228 in the first innings, was run out by a direct his from wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella to leave England teetering at 14 for three.
