Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews was vindicated for surprisingly deciding to field after winning the toss when his fast bowlers skittled Pakistan for 165 in the first innings of the second Test in Dubai on Wednesday. Sri Lanka then lost opener Dimuth Karunaratne (32) before reaching 57 for 1 when bad light brought an end to the day's play.
Shehzad-Ali add 120 runs for second wicket as Pakistan trail by six runs with eight wickets in hand
Keshav Maharaj claimed a career-best eight for 116 to prevent Sri Lanka from making the most of a strong start and limiting them to 277 for nine on the opening day of the second and final Test on Friday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews defended the team's cricketers on Tuesday after recording a statement before police in connection with a match-fixing scandal that has led to the suspension of a bowling coach. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) handed Anusha Samaranayake a two-month ban on Monday over his relationship with net bowler Gayan Vishwajith, who allegedly approached national team players to under-perform during a test match against West Indies in October. "Sri Lanka Cricket has received several complaints regarding the close acquaintance of Anusha Samaranayake and the main suspect Gayan Vishwajith, who had approached several national players for the alleged illegal activities of match-fixing," the SLC said in a stateme
India return to place from where journey to glory began.
Sri Lanka recovered from losing opener Upul Tharanga to reach 99 for one in reply to Pakistan's 451 at close on the second day of the first Test on Thursday.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and paceman Dhammika Prasad pushed England to the brink of defeat as the home side, set 350 to win, slumped to 57 for five on the fourth day of the second and final Test on Monday.
Batting all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy realised his dream of playing international cricket for South Africa on Wednesday and could not be happier that his debut is against the country of his origin, India.
Kagiso Rabada claimed a six-wicket haul on Thursday as South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 224 in their second innings to win the second Test by 282 runs with a day and a half to spare and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Sri Lanka failed to last the first session of the fourth day at Newlands, having resumed on 130-4 and being dismissed after just over 100 minutes of play.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and debutant Dilruwan Perera narrowly missed centuries but guided Sri Lanka to a solid first innings total on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah on Friday.
Pakistan batsmen Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad scored fluent half centuries as the first Test against Sri Lanka ended in a tame draw on the fifth day in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
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.
England fast bowler James Anderson took five wickets to inspire the hosts to a crushing victory over Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs in the first Test in Leeds on Saturday.
Sri Lanka batsman Dilruwan Perera was caught on camera looking at the dressing room before he asked for a review to overturn an leg before wicket decision by onfield umpire Nigel Llong, on Day 4 of the first Test against India in Kolkata.
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal, on Thursday, came to under-fire Angelo Mathews' defence, making it clear that not only him but all other top order batsmen also need to perform.
A country which produced champion players of spin bowling such as Roy Dias, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, it has been sharp downward slide for Dinesh Chandimal's men, who have consistently failed against Indian spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
India's One-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni reckons the current Indian squad is very balanced' ahead of the three-match series against Sri Lanka and insisted that maintaining fitness will be a crucial factor for his side during next month's World Twenty20.
Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh scored unbeaten half-centuries to launch a strong response from Australia after Dinesh Chandimal's patient hundred pushed Sri Lanka's first-innings total to 355 on the second day of the third and final Test on Sunday.
Sri Lankan pitch curator Jayananda Warnaweera was on Wednesday suspended by the International Cricket Council for three years after he 'failed' to cooperate in an ongoing anti-corruption investigation against him.
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.
England picked up three early wickets as Sri Lanka struggled to 218 for six at lunch on the third day of the third and final Test at Lord's on Saturday.
Rishabh Pant became the first Indian and only the 12th player on record to hit a six as the first scoring shot of their Test career.
Cheteshwar Pujara marked his comeback with a gritty unbeaten century as India recovered from an early slump to reach a decent 292-8 in their first innings of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
India's Test captain Virat Kohli has dropped out of ICC's top-10 list for batsmen in the five-day format.
Statistical highlights on Day four of the opening cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, in Kolkata on Sunday.
- Mahela Jayawardene struck his seventh double hundred and Kithuruwan Vithanage reached his maiden century as Sri Lanka toyed with Bangladesh's toothless attack before declaring their first innings on a mammoth 730 for six in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq fell just short of his sixth Test century but his team clung on to their slim hopes of salvaging the second Test against Sri Lanka after a stirring rearguard action in Dubai on Saturday.
Images from the opening day of the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo, on Thursday.
As the beleaguered Indian cricket team start picking up pieces after a forgettable first Test, the spotlight is firmly fixed on team's senior-most pro Harbhajan Singh whose unimpressive show in the 63-run defeat has raised question marks about his future.
Kumar Sangakkara remained unbeaten after a sparkling half-century as Sri Lanka responded well to the challenge of scoring 370 runs in four sessions in order to win the first Test against South Africa on Saturday.
Hamilton Masakadza scored a run-a-ball century as Zimbabwe stunned Sri Lanka with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in a World Cup warm-up at Bert Sutcliffe Oval on Wednesday.
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.
Kumar Sangakkara celebrated his 350th one day international appearance with a career-best 169 on Saturday as Sri Lanka crushed South Africa by 180 runs at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
If KL Rahul is fit, Abhinav Mukund will be expectedly left out, a strange coincidence because he was the original back-up opener in this Test squad ahead of Shikhar Dhawan.
Murali Vijay celebrated his return to the India side with a hundred, while Cheteshwar Pujara continued his golden run with another century as India dominated the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur on Saturday.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, on Sunday, said he is in favour of batsmen taking help from dressing room in case he has doubts while going for a review.
India goes into the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday hoping to register their first series victory in the island nation in 22 years.
The veteran left-hander was unbeaten on 160 as Sri Lanka reached the close of play on 314 for five after captain Angelo Mathews had won the toss and opted to bat.
Potent England pace bowling after an unbeaten 155 from Moeen Ali put Alastair Cook's side in complete control on a one-sided second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Durham on Saturday.
'We are an experienced team now, we played good cricket. All bases were covered and I'm really happy with the way things went in this Test'
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