By now all Cricket
followers know that some Lankans have long names ~ you may not have heard of Pinnaduwage
Wanidu Hasaranga De Silva but likely to see him more !
At the time of posting
this in ODI 3900 at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua, WIndies
had slumped to 168/7 (43.3 ov) ~ on a day when all the 8 competitors are
playing a match in ICC Women WC – naturally I was glued to TV following India’s
fortunes at Derby – Mithali won the toss, every other person vouched this to be
a good batting wicket and a good toss to win, but Indians lost Smriti Mandana
early and crawled with runs hard to comeby.
Derby, is a city in Derbyshire, England. It lies on
the banks of the River Derwentin the south of Derbyshire, of which it was
traditionally the county town. Derby was settled by Romans – who established
the town of Derventio – Saxons and Vikings, who made Derby one of the Five
Boroughs of the Danelaw. Initially a market town, Derby grew rapidly in the
industrial era. Home to Lombe's Mill, an early British factory, Derby has a
claim to be one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution. Derby is a center for advanced transport
manufacturing, home to the world’s second largest aero-engine manufacturer,
Rolls-Royce, and Derby Litchurch Lane Works, for many years the UK's only train
manufacturer.
It is famous for horse
racing too. Aidan O’Brien won the Irish Derby for 12th time as Capri beats Cracksman in thriller. Wings Of Eagles, whose 40-1 victory in last
month’s Derby was the biggest surprise in the Classic since the 70s, has been
retired from racing less than a month after his Epsom success after he was
found to have fractured his left front leg when finishing third in the Irish
Derby here on Saturday. Wings Of Eagles finished just a neck and a short-head
behind Capri and Cracksman in Saturday’s Classic, having beaten Cracksman by
about a length when the two horses finished first and third in the Derby at
Epsom. Aidan O’Brien’s colt was not obviously lame after the race and was
prominent in ante-post betting for the St Leger in September, but a
career-ending injury was diagnosed on Sunday morning.
Downunder comes the news
that no Australian player will sign
contracts nor take part in the Australia A tour of South Africa unless an MoU
is agreed between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers Association,
but selected squad members have agreed to take part in a training camp in
Brisbane from Monday ahead of the proposed trip. The decision, reached by the
ACA's executive and a large gathering of male and female players in Sydney on
Sunday - the men's national team captain Steven Smith dialled in from holidays
in the United States - allows the two parties a little more time to find some
middle ground without players immediately withdrawing from pre-season plans. It
also confirms that all players, whether on multi-year deals with their states
or not, will refuse to play without an MoU.
Nearer home at Galle,
Hasaranga Desilva helped Lankans an easy win. Lankans beat Zimbabwe by 7
wickets. Two days after Sri Lanka's slow bowlers were crashed around at Galle,
two fresh spinners trussed up Zimbabwe's middle order, before Sri Lanka's
batsmen completed a largely unflustered chase of 156. Nineteen-year-old
legspinner Wanidu Hasaranga made the most dramatic contribution, becoming the
third debutant in ODI history to claim a hat-trick, when he wiped out
Zimbabwe's tail with the 14th, 15th and 16th deliveries
of his international career. But by that stage, Sri Lanka were already in
command, thanks largely to Lakshan Sandakan, who was sidelined for long periods
by the selectors but was deadly upon his return here.
In ICC Women WC, Aussie
women won by 5 wickets with 8 balls to spare at Bristol. England continued to make confident strides
after their defeat in the opening match of the tournament, as classy
half-centuries from Heather Knight and Sarah Taylor saw them to a comfortable
seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Taunton. Laura Marsh claimed a four-wicket
haul as Sri Lanka were limited to 204 for 8, before England cruised to their
target with almost 20 overs to spare.
South Africa dismantled
West Indies for the second-lowest total (48) in their history and sixth lowest in the
tournament's en route a crushing 10-wicket win, their second in three games, in
140 minutes. Less than a third of the overs in the game were bowled as South
Africa completed their chase of 50 in 6.2 overs. A third successive loss left
West Indies, runners-up of the 2013 edition, closer to elimination. Dane van
Niekerk, the South Africa captain, became the only bowler in cricket history to
take four wickets in an international without conceding a run, but the damage
was done earlier. Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail reduced West Indies to 5
for 16, with only one batsman - Chedean Nation - getting into double digits.
Watching India match at
Derby was not exacting encouraging for Indian supporter. Sandhu struck twice in one over to first trapped
skipper Mithali Raj for 8 in front of the wickets and two balls later removed
Deepti Sharma for 28. India were eventually left tottering at 111/6 at the end
of 37th over. Sushma Verma and Jhulan Goswami chipped in with a partnership of
34 runs before Goswami was undone by Sandhu. Verma’s cameo too ended soon for
33 after Diana Baig grabbed a brilliant catch in the deep. India were
eventually restricted to 161/9 in 50 overs. Nashra Sandhu scalped a four-wicket
haul in the process.
Pak had
bowled well and perhaps their best bowling performance against India. Indian
spin bowling attack scripted a magnificent win for their side beating Pakistan by 95 runs to bag their third
consecutive win in the tournament. Defending a total of 169, Ekta Bisht scalped
the first wicket when she trapped opener Ayesha Zafar in front of the stumps
for 1 while Jhulan Goswami provided India with the second breakthrough after
she dismissed Javeria Khan for 6.
Pakistan
then faced a flurry of wickets to get reduced to 6/26. Nahida Khan and skipper
Sana Mir tried to hold on to the innings but Nahida was undone by Harmanpreet
Kaur for 23. No other batter except for Mir and Nadira touched the double
figure mark. The Indian spinners were top their game as they shared a total of
7 wickets among themselves where Ekta Bisht returned with glorious figures of 12-2-18-5.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
2nd July 2017
@9.45 pm.