Shikhar Dhawan continued his love affair with the ICC Champions Trophy with yet another elegant hundred, guiding India to an imposing 321 for six.
IMAGES from the EPL matches played on Saturday.
Kumar Sangakkara continued his awesome batting form in Bangladesh as Sri Lanka won the second One-Day International by 61 runs in Dhaka on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
'There is a difference where we want to be in the Champions League, but when you're a club like Manchester United, there's a need to be in the Champions League'
The Sri Lankan cricket team, led by veteran pacer Lasith Malinga, arrived in Guwahati on Thursday for the three-match T20 series against India amid tight security after the city witnessed widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Sri Lankan team headed straight to the team hotel amid a thick security cover. The members of the Indian team are expected to arrive in batches on Friday for the series opener on Sunday.
South Africa took 16 Sri Lanka wickets in a little over two sessions to secure a ruthless victory by an innings and 118 runs in the third and final Test at the Wanderers on Saturday.
Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews was on Wednesday dropped from their limited-overs squad to face England next month, two days after the country's cricket board asked him to relinquish his captaincy in the shorter formats of the game.
India dished out a clinical performance to beat hosts Sri Lanka by 34 runs and lift the Asian Cricket Council Under-19s Asia Cup title, in Colombo on Friday. Opting to bat after winning the toss, India Under-19s first posted a competitive 273 for eight in their 50 overs and then rode on its spinners fine bowling effort to bowl out Sri Lanka Under-19 to 239 in 48.4 overs at the R Premadasa Stadium. The first five batsmen, especially Himanshu Rana (71 off 790 and one-down Shubman Gill (70 off 92), were instrumental in laying the foundation for India's total, which in the end turned out to be too much for the islanders to overwhelm.
After dismissing India for 146 in 46 overs, the hosts raced to the victory target with 15.1 overs to spare.
James Rodriguez netted twice and Dominic Calvert-Lewin became the first Everton player to score in the opening four matches of a Premier League season as they beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 on Saturday to stay top of the table with a maximum 12 points.
Sri Lankan batsmen need to play more sweep and reverse sweep shots against Indian spinners to negotiate the turn and bounce if they wish to save the ongoing second Test in Colombo.
Sri Lanka ended the day at the score of 64/3, still trailing the hosts by 127 runs.
A round-up of Saturday's action in Serie A, La Liga and Bundesliga.
India amassed 600 in their first innings and returned to blow away the top half of the Sri Lankan batting order to tighten their grip on the first Test at the Galle International Stadium on Thursday.
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Thisara Perera and Jeevan Mendis combined for a 58-run partnership to give Sri Lanka a nervous four-wicket victory over Afghanistan in their World Cup Pool A match at University Oval in Dunedin on Sunday.
A spineless India slumped to their third heaviest Test defeat as Sri Lanka clinched the first Test by an innings and 239 runs with the spin combination of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis plotting the visitors' downfall in Colombo on Saturday. After enforcing the follow-on, Muralitharan (6 for 26) and Mendis (4 for 60) tore through the Indian batting order to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 138 to record Sri Lanka's biggest victory at home with a day to spare.
India captain Virat Kohli continued to top the ICC Test batsmen's ranking but his deputy Ajinkya Rahane slipped a place to ninth spot. Kohli has 928 points, 17 more than second-placed Australian run-machine Steve Smith, in the latest edition of the rankings released on Saturday.
Lasith Malinga is set to make a comeback to the Sri Lanka T20 and ODI team.
India would be desperate for the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to find some form ahead of the semi-final when they take on Sri Lanka in their last preliminary World Cup clash, in Leeds, on Saturday.
A dominant India on Saturday outclassed an injury-ravaged and out-of-sorts Sri Lanka by 304 runs in the opening Test to bury the ghosts of a humilating loss at the same venue, exactly two years ago.
A magnificent century by Moeen Ali proved in vain as England suffered a 25-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first of seven one-day internationals on Wednesday.
NorthEast United tasted their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Chennaiyin FC in an eventful Indian Super League football match that was marred by frayed tempers and violent conduct of players of both sides in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Imperious Liverpool extended their Premier League home winning streak against Arsenal to six on Saturday with an easy 4-0 victory that lifted them to second in the table.
The Senegal international, 26, joined Liverpool from Southampton in 2016 for 34 million pounds ($43.8 million) and has scored 40 goals in 89 games for the Anfield club.
All-rounder James Faulkner became the sixth Australian cricketer to claim a hat-trick in one-day internationals, achieving the feat in the second match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. The 26-year-old left-arm bowler got his first wicket when he trapped Kusal Perera leg-before with the final delivery of his eighth over.
Batsmen Mahela Jayawardene and Lahiru Thirimanne were named in Sri Lanka's 15-member squads for the Asia Cup and WorldT20 in Bangladesh next month following injury lay-offs, while strike spin bowler Rangana Herath was included subject to him proving his fitness.
India 'A' coach Rahul Dravid advised Virat Kohli to make Virender Sehwag's unbeaten 201 at Galle (in 2008) as a reference frame for facing the Sri Lankan tweakers.
South Africa need five wickets on Friday to secure victory in the first Test after Sri Lanka provided dogged resistance and were 240 for five at stumps on the fourth day at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth.
Chelsea moved into the Premier League's top four as Mason Mount's superb first-half goal earned them a 1-0 win at champions Liverpool who suffered a club-record fifth straight home league defeat on Thursday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Sri Lanka shot out the Netherlands for just 39 runs, the lowest ever Twenty20 International total, before winning the Super 10 match in the World Twenty20 by nine wickets, in Chittagong, on Monday.
Liverpool frustrated as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Brighton on Saturday
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.
Captain Graeme Cremer picked up three wickets with his leg spin to help Zimbabwe reduce hosts Sri Lanka to 293 for seven at the end of the second day in their one-off Test at the R Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.
Madrid were not at their best but moved three points clear of rivals Barcelona.
Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials. Bayern Munich scored three goals in the opening 26 minutes to defeat Mainz 05 3-1 away on Saturday and go two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with their sixth straight win.
Tottenham moved up to seventh place with 36 points from 22 games
Former Sri Lanka captain Duleep Mendis once remarked that 'Murali' could turn the ball even on concrete and it was no exaggeration.
Unchallenged by Sri Lanka so far, India would look to keep the foot on the pedal in their pursuit for a series whitewash when the two teams face off in the fourth and penultimate cricket One-dayer at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
The result moves Chelsea up to eighth in the Premier League table with 30 points, while Wolves are 13th with 23 points.
