Sri Lanka show exit door to Afghanistan, qualify for Super 4s alongside Bangladesh
Pakistan survived a wonderful spell from an enraged spinner Wanindu Hasaranga to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in an intense Super 4 match to stay alive in the Asia Cup, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Players from the other teams who could push the Men in Blue to the limit.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle present Rediff's Most Valuable Player Index of Asia Cup 2025.
Against Bangladesh, Samson wasn't even considered good enough to come inside the top seven of the line-up and that begs a question as to what is he doing in the team if he isn't good enough to come ahead of Axar Patel.
Arshdeep Singh performing under pressure in the Super Over against Sri Lanka can be attributed to meditation and yoga that he practices regularly.
Tickets for the match on September 14 are in huge demand than for any other match. Most journalists are also arriving only in time for this match, even skipping India's opening match against the UAE on September 10.
England's right-handed batter Harry Brook has replaced his teammate Joe Root to reclaim the No. 1 Test batter's position in the world
India, for all their internal debates and external expectations, look like the one side that has clarity of purpose. And clarity, in high-pressure tournaments, often counts for more than raw talent.
But in their pursuit of glory, both leaders must find a way to address the issues at hand.
De Silva and veteran Angelo Mathews were not included in the 16-man T20 squad but there was a place for Hasaranga.
Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka led by example and smashed a belligerent hundred to set up a 49-run victory over a depleted Australia.
This is Sri Lanka's biggest victory over Australia in ODIs in terms of runs.
'It's better to have it in our control than anyone else's and watch that situation, so we've played good cricket to deserve to be in that situation, and we'll go out and try and play our best game of cricket tomorrow.'
The all-star team announced by the ICC features four players from Sri Lanka, three each from Pakistan and Afghanistan and one from the West Indies.
A rampant Mumbai Indians will present a stern test of character for the rattled Punjab Kings in a virtual semi-final when the two teams face-off in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
New Zealand seamer Jacob Duffy was adjudged player of the series for his eight wickets.
Spinner Maheesh Theekshana's hat-trick was in vain as New Zealand clinched the three-match One-Day International series against Sri Lanka with a game to spare after a 113-run victory in a rain-shortened second one-day international in Hamilton on Wednesday.
Mathews made his T20 comeback for Sri Lanka in January after a three-year gap.
Charith Asalanka's heroic innings secured Sri Lanka's place in the Asia Cup 2023 final,
Johnson is a coveted player on the T20 franchise circuit and took a million-dollar contract to play in the 2024 Indian Premier League.
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.
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 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.
Sri Lanka thrashed the Netherlands by a whopping 83 runs in an inconsequential final group D league game of the T20 World Cup.
Nortje outdid a spell of his own against Bangladesh back in the 2022 tournament in Australia, where he took 4/10 runs.
He praised the Sri Lankans for a good batting effort but said he always knew that the track would slow down as the game progressed.
Images from the 1st ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday.
Images from the ICC World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi, on Monday.
A dejected India captain Rohit Sharma admitted that his team should have got that solitary run off 14 balls but there was no consistent momentum during their innings
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.
Avishka Fernando scored a superb 96 and Dunith Wellalage took five wickets as Sri Lanka thumped India by 110 runs in Colombo.
Spinners became India's worst nightmare in their first bilateral series defeat against Sri Lanka since 1997.
'We understand nature of this surface, it gets really tough in the middle overs. You have to try to get as many as possible in the powerplay.'
Hasaranga too is returning from a chronic heel pain on his left leg, which forced him to miss the ongoing IPL.
IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match played between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, in New Delhi, on Monday.
Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand via the Super Over in the opening Twenty20 international on Sunday for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, as Charith Asalanka hit a half-century before guiding them home in the tie-breaker.
Sri Lankan skipper Wanindu Hasaranga admitted his team's shortcomings led to their early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, despite a convincing win over Netherlands in their final group stage match.
Suryakumar Yadav was clear that positive intent and fearless approach will be the template of his team going forward in the shortest format.
'Once I got my first wicket, that built up my confidence. Fortunately, I was able to take six wickets.'
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