Opener Kusal Mendis struck an unbeaten 69 off 58 balls to help secure a consolation five-wicket victory for Sri Lanka, who fired with both bat and ball against Australia in the fifth and final Twenty20 international on Sunday.
New Zealand captain Tim Southee said playing two Tests at Galle, known as a spinner's paradise, was always going to be challenging.
Gus Atkinson scored a superb maiden century as England's lower order collected quick runs against a ragged Sri Lanka bowling attack to post 427
IMAGES from the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at The Oval on Saturday
Sri Lanka used the seamer friendly conditions at Kingsmead to reduce South Africa to 80/4 before rain stopped play on the opening day of the first Test
IMAGES from the Day 4 of the 1st Test between England and Sri Lanka in Manchester on Saturday
Jamie Smith's maiden Test century helped England take a 122-run lead on Day 3 in the first Test against Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka are building a robust all-round Twenty20 side with a rich blend of youngsters and experienced players as they dream of winning the 2026 World Cup on home soil, former white-ball captain Dasun Shanaka has said.
Kusal Mendis overcame injury to score a workmanlike half-century that helped Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by three wickets in their rain-shortened ODI.
Sri Lanka put themselves in a good position on the third day of the opening Test against New Zealand after Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal made half-centuries but the hosts lost some of their momentum to reach 237-4 at stumps in Galle on Friday.
Avishka Fernando scored a superb 96 and Dunith Wellalage took five wickets as Sri Lanka thumped India by 110 runs in Colombo.
Sri Lanka took complete control of the second Test against New Zealand on Friday as batting sensation Kamindu Mendis scored the fifth century of his young career and helped the hosts post a mammoth 602-5 declared on day two in Galle.
Pictures from the 2nd ODI between India and Sri Lanka being played in Colombo, Sri Lanka
South Africa were five wickets from victory as Sri Lanka finished the third day of the first Test on 103-5 in their second innings after being set a 516-run target on Friday.
Sri Lanka's decision to bat first backfired when they were all out for 236 on Day 1 of the first Test.
'Once I got my first wicket, that built up my confidence. Fortunately, I was able to take six wickets.'
Earlier on Sunday, bad light stopped play with the Lankans needing 125 more runs to secure a well-deserved turnaround victory in the third Test against England and avoid a 3-0 series whitewash.
Nortje outdid a spell of his own against Bangladesh back in the 2022 tournament in Australia, where he took 4/10 runs.
'Pathum Nissanka is easily one of the best batters to have come out of Sri Lanka in the recent past and he has delivered once again,' he tweeted with an applause emoji.
Joe Root scored his 35th Test century as he went past the legendary trio of Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and Younis Khan, who had made 34 centuries in their career.
Lockie Ferguson became the sixth New Zealander to take a T20 hat-trick as the visitors edged Sri Lanka by four wickets in a low scoring match in Dambulla.
Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took two overs to polish off the New Zealand tail and complete a five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka sealed a 63-run victory in the opening Test at Galle International Stadium on Monday.
IMAGES from the third Test played between England and Sri Lanka at the Oval on Sunday
Mendis made his debut for Sri Lanka in 2008 and last played in international cricket in 2015
Sri Lanka stayed on course for victory against New Zealand in the opening test in Galle despite Rachin Ravindra's unbeaten 91 on Sunday.
The second match of the series will be played at Lord's, starting from August 29 and the final Test match of the series will take place at Kennington Oval on September 6.
Off-spinner Nishan Peiris picked up a six-wicket haul on debut as Sri Lanka crushed New Zealand by an innings and 154 runs.
Real Madrid got their LaLiga title defence off to a limp start as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca.
If one has to analyse Ashwin the cricketer, it is very difficult to ignore Ashwin, the person, who had a very independent mind and a brain that probably ticked 24x7. He believed in de-construction of his art and became craftier one ball at a time.
India's newly-forged coach-captain combination of Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will look to make instant impact against a Sri Lankan team in disarray.
spinner Washinton Sundar was also in focus, especially during the Super Over, where he restricted the Sri Lankans to just two runs, which India won comfortably.
Mathews made his T20 comeback for Sri Lanka in January after a three-year gap.
Pant breaks into top-10, Rohit, Kohli slip
Hasaranga too is returning from a chronic heel pain on his left leg, which forced him to miss the ongoing IPL.
Jaiswal accomplished this milestone during his side's second T20I match against Sri Lanka at Pallekele.
In-form Sri Lanka right-hander Kamindu Mendis is another player on the move, with the 26-year-old improving five places to 11th and reaching a new career-high rating after he scored another century in the second Test of his side's recent series with New Zealand.
IMAGES from the 3rd ODI played between Sri Lanka and India, in Colombo, on Wednesday.
Anrich Nortje demolished Sri Lanka with career-best figures of 4/7 as South Africa exploited the bounce on offer to secure a six-wicket win in their T20 World Cup opener in New York on Monday.
SL executed their plans well against the Indian batters, who are not the cleverest performers on rank turners, while not many are though.
Sri Lanka's Dunith Wellalage and Harshitha Samarawickrama were named as the ICC Players of the Month for August 2024.
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