Sri Lanka’s last win in a bilateral ODI series against a full member was in November 2015 if their win over Ireland (who were recently granted full ICC membership) in June 2016 is not to be seriously considered.

Since that win over West Indies at home Sri Lanka has struggled to perform consistently in this format and it shows in their current rankings where they are placed eighth and struggling to avoid qualifying for the 2019 Cricket World Cup where only the top eight ranked teams automatically qualify and, the teams ranked lower than eight will have to come through a qualifying tournament.

A series win over Zimbabwe who are ranked lower than Sri Lanka will not fetch them many points but help them to marginally improve their points rankings as only three points separate Sri Lanka and seventh and sixth placed Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Today’s game is a must-win for Zimbabwe if they are to keep the series alive. They began on a high chasing down the highest total ever by a winning team in Sri Lanka – 317 in the first ODI at Galle by scoring 322-4, but have been outplayed in the next two matches with Sri Lanka raising their bar to win by seven wickets and by eight wickets.

“It’s very important for us to win this series. I don’t want any complacency creeping in and we want to finish it off,” said Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews.

“What we need is consistency. We can’t score 300 everyday. We can lose one or two games, but if we bat well every day that’s great. Some days we don’t do well. If we want to improve we need to be consistent,” he said.

Mathews praised the batting efforts of openers Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka who made their maiden ODI centuries in laying the foundation for Sri Lanka’s successful run chase of 311 with a double century partnership.

“It’s very pleasing to see the way they batted. Very encouraging to see them not getting 50s and 60s and throwing it away. They did exactly what the team wanted. Pity they couldn’t finish it through, but that was good job,” said Mathews.

“We have backed him to bat the way he wants. We have told him that when he gets a 30 or 40 to bat long and everyone will benefit. It looks like everyone is learning. Niroshan is a fearless cricketer and he wants to take on all the bowlers, great attitude to have.”

With the crosswinds and a flat batting pitch the bowlers of both sides had a tough day on Thursday. The conditions are not expected to change today and another high scoring game is on the cards.

Sri Lanka will be without Nuwan Pradeep their most consistent bowler in the series although his efforts are not reflected by the figures. Pradeep has strained his right quadricep during the seventh over of the 3rd ODI on Thursday and has been ruled out of the series. Veteran fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara has been drafted into the squad in his place along with another young fast bowler Asitha Fernando who impressed at the recently concluded Super Provincial tournament with 12 wickets in 6 games at 30.75. Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer blamed his bowlers for allowing Sri Lanka chase down 311 and win.

“On the bowling side we need to bowl better. I thought we bowled both sides of the wicket. We needed to go shorter or fuller. There’s not much you can change in one day. We will keep positives and try and stay positive. Try and restrict them,” said Cremer.

Zimbabwe were also let down by some crucial catches being dropped where Dickwella and Gunathilaka were let off early within the space of two balls. The positive for them was the return to form of opener Hamilton Masakadza who scored his fifth ODI century and laid the foundation for Zimbabwe’s total which in the end proved to be insufficient. – ST

The venue was the Galle International Stadium which was hosting its first ODI since 2000 and Zimbabwe made it a memorable one for them as they swept to an emphatic six wickets win with 14 balls to spare to go one-up in the five-match series yesterday.

Sikhander Raza rejoices a famous victory for Zimbabwe after making the winning hit – a six. AFP

Yesterday also happened to be chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya’s 48th birthday and what an anti-climactic birthday present he received from the team he selected.

The foundation for Zimbabwe’s dramatic win was laid by opener Solomon Mire who scored his maiden ODI century and Sean Williams (65). They shared a record third wicket stand of 161 off 133 balls to set Zimbabwe on course for this famous win in their rather chequered history.

Although both batsmen were dismissed 11 balls of each other by the golden arm of Asela Gunaratne, Zimbabwe who bat deep till number 10 didn’t lose any more wickets as Sikhander Raza (67 n.o.) and Malcolm Waller (40 n.o.) carried them to a win with an unbroken partnership of 102 off 80 balls.

Overall it was Zimbabwe’s eighth win against Sri Lanka in 51 ODIs.

Sri Lanka had only themselves to blame for the defeat as they spilled as many three catches – a malady which they are finding pretty hard to get rid of.

Mire and Williams were both missed and how costly it proved as Sri Lanka was to realize when the partnership between the two grew into ominous proportions. Centurion Mire was dropped twice at 17 by wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella off Amila Aponso and at 94 by Lasith Malinga at deep fine leg off Gunaratne. Williams was put down on 13 by Danushka Gunathilaka at point off Lahiru Madushanka. Had those chances been accepted Sri Lanka would have romped home quite comfortably but it was not to be their day. The lapses on the field hurt Sri Lanka deeply as Zimbabwe made capital out of them.

It was not only their fielding that let Sri Lanka down but also their bowling which was rather sub standard the way they bowled for an international side.

The chances of a defeat wouldn’t have entered their minds when Sri Lanka ended their innings at 316-5 after electing to bat first.

Two youngsters Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis laid the platform for that total with a 117-run stand. Both looked good to get hundreds but they perished playing some injudicious shots. Gunathilaka was out playing the reverse sweep and Mendis got a leading edge attempting to work the ball towards leg. Mendis made 86 off 80 balls and Gunathilaka 60 off 77. Mendis in the process became the second fastest Sri Lankan to reach 1000 runs in ODIs (28 innings) after Roy Dias (27 innings).

Upul Tharanga returning to the side after serving a two-match suspension for slow over rate held the innings for the rest of the overs to remain 79 not out forging two useful half-century partnerships with Angelo Mathews (49) and Gunaratne (28).

However all that effort was lost when Sri Lanka took the field for the Zimbabwe innings.

Mire was named Man of the Match.

The second ODI will be played at the same venue on Sunday.

Victory was made possible by aggressive batting, as promised by captain Angelo Mathews. The personnel who did that were Kusal Mendis (89) and Danushka Gunathilaka (76), who wasn’t even in the squad until an injury to Chamara Kapugedera on the eve of the game.

But it all changed quickly when when Gunathilaka pulled Umesh into the stands at the beginning of the eighth, signalling a shift in fortunes. Gunathilaka took charge with some glorious drives, particularly down the ground, while Mendis too started confidently, shifting the pressure on to India gradually.

But a good beginning is not even a job half done, as Sri Lanka found out the hard way against South Africa. The middle-overs batting was the most crucial phase of the chase, and how Sri Lanka handled Ravindra Jadeja was in particular important, given that it had crumbled against ’s leg-spin.

Mendis took that task upon himself and dismantled the left-arm spinner’s threat with smart batting. With only four fielders allowed inside the ring, Mendis targeted the mid-wicket boundary to perfection, getting past fifty with one such massive swipe into the crowd.

Jadeja conceded 36 from four overs, the partnership crossed 150, and India’s shoulders began to drop. It didn’t help that Rohit Sharma could not hold on to a very tough chance in the deep when Gunathilaka was on 70.

India’s desperation was evident when Kedhar Jadhav and Virat Kohli came on to bowl, but the breakthroughs came via run outs.

Australian captain David Warner celebrates his return to form with a timely century

Warner whose form on the tour has become a talking point had only 68 as his previous highest score but he made a timely return to form with the two T20 Internationals against Sri Lanka around the corner with a superb knock of 106 off 126 balls (9 fours) to propel his team to victory with seven overs to spare.

In the process Warner who was made Man of the Match became the first Australian batsman to score a one-day hundred in Sri Lanka.

Australia chased down Sri Lanka’s disappointing total of 195 all out in 40.2 overs by scoring 199-5 in 43 overs. A feature of Australia’s run chase on another slow surface was the partnership of 132 between Warner and George Bailey (44) that sealed the match for them after they had lost two wickets for 25.

Bailey in fact won the Hero of the Series award for his consistent batting where he scored 270 runs (avg. 67.50) in five matches.

Danushka Gunathilaka is bowled around his legs by Adam Zampa for 39 to start a familiar batting collapse

For the first time in the series Sri Lanka were given an excellent start by their openers Dhananjaya de Silva and Danushka Gunathilaka who put together 73 in 14 overs.

But once the initial breakthrough was made by James Faulkner who had De Silva chipping a simple catch to mid-on with his score on 34, the Lankan batting collapsed in a heap to be bowled out for under 200 runs, which was hardly a total for their bowlers to contain the Australian batting line-up.

Three top order batsmen De Silva, Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis made starts getting into the thirties but none stuck around long enough to make a big score.

Credit to the Australian bowlers who stuck to a good line and length and forced the batsmen into making false strokes.

Following the good start Sri Lanka lost three wickets for five runs in nine balls and from there onwards it was a downward decline with no one able to resurrect the innings.

Kusal Perera perhaps was rather unlucky to be ruled out lbw after challenging the onfield umpire’s decision to rule him out lbw to Trevor Head.

TV replays showed Perera getting an inside edge before the ball hit his pad, but the television umpire went along with the onfield umpire’s decision and ruled him out. It seems that there is room for human error even with the availability of slow motion replay technology.

Allrounder Milinda Siriwardana, who was in the squad for the first two games, was omitted in the only other change in the 16-man squad announced on Friday.

Kumara was part of Sri Lanka’s successful under-19 tour to England, where the youth test and ODI series were won recently. His teammate, batsman Avishka Fernando, was already in the senior squad as Sri Lanka looks to build a team for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Kumara, who has no first-class experience, took 19 wickets in both formats during the England tour.

Opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan will retire from ODI cricket after the third match in Dambulla, to give way for the team building. Dilshan has played 329 ODIs since his debut in 1999, and still ranks among the team’s best scorers.
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Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (captain), Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhanajaya De Silva, Angelo Perera, Avishka Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Amila Aponso, Lahiru Kumara.

Matthew Wade top-scored for the touring side with a fighting 76 but Sri Lanka’s biggest win over Australia in terms of runs means the teams move to Dambulla for Sunday’s third one-dayer with the five-match series level at 1-1. Australia needed a strong start to chase down such a big total but Thisara Perera (3-33) dismissed openers David Warner and Aaron Finch to reduce the tourists to 16 for two.

Skipper Steve Smith (30) rekindled Australia’s hopes of a fightback and Wade showed tremendous grit down the order but it was not enough to complete what would have been a record chase at the ground. Left-arm spinner Amila Aponso was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowler, claiming 4-18 in his second one-day international.

Sri Lanka posted 288 before being all out in the 49th over, losing their last five wickets for 27 runs. After opting to bat, Sri Lanka lost openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Tillakaratne Dilshan off successive deliveries inside the first 19 balls. Kusal Mendis (69) and Dinesh Chandimal (48) revived the hosts with a 125-run stand.

Mendis cruised to his second successive fifty but Adam Zampa (3-42) dismissed both batsmen. Kusal Perera (54) added 103 runs with skipper Mathews (57) to consolidate Sri Lanka’s position but Faulkner and Mitchell Starc (3-53) ripped out the lower order.

Faulkner trapped Perera lbw with the final delivery of his eighth over. The all-rounder dismissed Mathews with the first ball of his next over, caught at long-off, and bowled Thisara Perera with his next to become the sixth Australian cricketer to claim a one-day hat-trick.

England, its host for a majority of the tour, has comprehensively outplayed it in both Tests and ODIs so far, and in doing so, has claimed an unassailable lead in the new multi-format points system. So it is that when the two sides clash one final time in a Twenty20 International at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday (July 5), Sri Lanka will be fighting to avoid a clean sweep across formats.

After a 0-2 loss in the Tests and a 0-3 reversal in the ODIs, Sri Lanka will find it a struggle to boost morale. After the final ODI – a comprehensive 122-run loss in Cardiff – Angelo Mathews, the captain, found himself fending off questions about his captaincy, saying: “This is a tough time for me as a captain and for the whole unit. But you can’t run away from it.”

The hope was that the ODIs would help Sri Lanka emerge strong from its troubles in Tests, the hope stemming from the possibility of the shorter format narrowing the gap between the teams. However, England – a markedly different side in limited-overs internationals since Sri Lanka defeated it in the ICC World Cup 2015 – proved too strong once again, and apart from the first ODI which ended in a tie, was comprehensive winner in the remaining three completed matches.

The problem for Sri Lanka has been that its departments have struggled to work in tandem. The batsmen posted 305 for 5 in the fourth ODI, but the bowlers struggled to restrict England to below that score. Then, when England set it 325 to win in the fifth, its batsmen were contained to 202.

“I’m pretty sure if we keep improving day by day, we can come out of this hole,” said Mathews after the final ODI. “For the past two months, we’ve been having the same problems, either batting, bowling or fielding has let us down in every single game.”

Ahead of the final clash of what has been a tiresome series, Sri Lanka will hope to depart with its heads held high. A late cameo or a couple of miscues usually prove decisive in T20s, and Sri Lanka knows it has its best chance yet to put one over England. Recent form doesn’t favour Sri Lanka in that respect either – England reached the final of the ICC World T20 2016, while the Sri Lankans failed to get out of their group.

England, meanwhile, is expected to blood a few youngsters in the one-off clash, including Tymal Mills, the paceman. He comes with a reputation for searing pace, something that gained momentum after he roughed up Chris Gayle during the NatWest T20 blast last month. “I’d love to see him play. I won’t be the sole selector, but from my point of view, it would be great to see someone like that charge and give it everything,” said Trevor Bayliss, the England coach.

“It’s good to see some batsmen ducking and weaving.”

Eoin Morgan, the England captain, spoke before the ODIs of how much of a confidence booster it was for the side to reach the ICC World T20 2016 final, and warned of coping with bigger expectations. Those expectations would only have increased after its performances in the series so far.

Teams (from):

England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Sam Billings, Johnny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, David Malan, Tymal Mills, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, James Vince, David Willey.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Farveez Maharoof, Suraj Randiv, Seekkuge Prasanna.

Ireland, chasing a revised target of 293 in 47 overs, were dismissed for 216, with Sri Lanka ODI debutant Dasun Shanaka taking five wickets.

Sri Lanka, after losing the toss, made 303 for seven with Dinesh Chandimnal scoring exactly 100 not out before rain interrupted Ireland’s chase.

Sri Lanka have a well-earned reputation for being merciless against Associate nations. After an uncertain start, they added to that at Malahide, reaching 302 for 7 and exposing the lack of variety in Ireland’s attack. The upshot was that Ireland were left needing to chase more than 300 for victory, something they have managed against Full Members in the last two World Cups but never in a bilateral match.

For Sri Lanka, it was particularly heartening that two contrasting innings from ODI debutants helped lift them to their score. First Kusal Mendis, doughty as a novice No. 3 in the Test series in England, scored a half-century that exhibited finesse and some resplendent straight driving. Then Dasun Shanaka eschewed such subtlety in harrumphing 42 from 19 balls, including 24 in five deliveries from Max Sorensen.

Both forged substantial partnerships with Dinesh Chandimal, who reached his first ODI century for five years, and just his third overall.

That tally does scant justice to his talent, and Chandimal’s roar when he reached three figures hinted at his frustration that centuries have not been more forthcoming.

His innings contained some pristine drives, but mostly it was marked by impeccable placement, particularly on the legside. In a sense this innings was a throwback to the age before power hitting came to dominate ODI cricket: in making 102 not out from 109 balls, Chandimal scored only six boundaries by ten twos and 50 singles.

For Ireland, the day brought joy for a debutant of their own. Barry McCarthy owes much to Malahide. A testing spell to Ben Stokes in the net three years ago earned him a recommendation to Durham, and a professional contract. Last year, he became the first Irishman since the 19th Century to play in county cricket before making his international debut.

Many felt it overdue, and McCarthy took only two balls to vindicate them, when Danushka Gunathilaka edged to slip. “It’s a beautiful day,” belted out the tannoy system. Doubtless it would have felt that way for McCarthy, but it was not: the start had been delayed by a wet outfield, and several more rain showers threatened to curtail play. Many of an underwhelming crowd – Ireland are unfortunate that both these ODIs coincide with European Championship matches for Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland – were grateful that they had brought in their umbrellas, which should be compulsory for any Irish cricket fans.

McCarthy’s day became less wonderful later on, as he felt the wrath of Shanaka’s violent assault.

With Sri Lanka threatening to approach a near-impregnable score, Boyd Rankin reined them in, as the last four overs of the innings brought just 24 runs.

It was Rankin’s first ever ODI for Ireland here, though he played for England against Ireland here three years ago, and his extra pace and bounce was essential in an attack that otherwise lacked variety: the other four frontline bowlers were right-armers operating at around 80mph.

But Ireland have packed their batting, which, on a true pitch, will give them some hope of beginning a new era with a first ever win against a Full Member in Dublin.

It will help them clear their heads and concentrate on doing well out there in the middle with bat and ball. The visitors are a young team which has lost some stalwarts in the past two years and it has clearly affected them. However, there is some raw talent in this side which could spark to life any moment.

Ireland will miss the services of Leicestershire wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien who is injured and Stuart Thompson, who will miss both matches for personal reasons.

O’Brien is set to be out of action for four to six weeks after sustaining a grade-two tear of his left calf. O’Brien suffered his injury while batting against Warwickshire last week.

John Anderson and Max Sorensen have been called into the Ireland squad to replace them.

In Niall O’Brien’s absence Ireland will depend a lot on William Porterfield, Ed Joyce and Kevin O’Brien. These three players form the back-bone of the Irish cricket team. Joyce and Kevin O’Brien have been in particularly good form for their respective teams in the NatWest T20 Blast as well as the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Sri Lanka have dropped all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana for the ODIs. Kaushal Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella will also head back home along with Rangana Herath who has retired from the 50-over game.

Farveez Maharoof, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suraj Randiv, Seekkuge Prasanna and Upul Tharanga will join the side. Expect a lot of these players to feature against Ireland as they look to adjust to the prevailing conditions in this part of the world. Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne will be the key players for the Lankans.

These two sides have faced off just twice in this format and Sri Lanka have won both fixtures quite comfortably. Sri Lanka have a very good record against the ICC’s associate members and will look to keep their status intact against the hosts.

Cricket Ireland chairman Ross McCullum said that though the fan build up to the Sri Lanka series had been positive, commercial success was not the biggest priority for the series, but rather getting an opportunity to improve Ireland’s ranking on the 12-team ODI table.

“Hopefully, we’ll get good weather, good cricket and we’ll have a good day. The support for Ireland has always been pretty positive and pretty good, so hopefully that won’t change,” said McCullum.

“I know there has been a lot of support from the Asian community in Dublin, so hopefully we’ll get a large crowd there. For us, it’s always good to play in front of a good crowd, because it certainly adds to the atmosphere and adds to Cricket Ireland’s coffers, no doubt.”

Sri Lanka had three wickets in hand and required 13 off the last over by Grant Elliott at Mount Maunganui but could only manage 10 runs as they lost two wickets.

The result put the pressure on Sri Lanka to win the second and the final game in Auckland on Sunday or they will slip from first to third behind the West Indies and Australia in the world rankings.
New Zealand, sent into bat first at Bay Oval, made 182 for four in their 20 overs and Sri Lanka replied with 179 for nine.
Sri Lanka lost early wickets and were 86-5 at the halfway stage with top scorer Danushka Gunathilaka back in the pavilion after hitting 46 off 29 deliveries.

Tillakaratne Dilshan went at the start of the second over and Captain Dinesh Chandimal was out in the third over as they tried to force the pace against the bowling of Matt Henry and Trent Boult.
Milinda Siriwardana (42) and Thisara Perera (28) started to repair the innings with a stand of 49 in 27 balls for the sixth wicket and Chamara Kapugedera (17) and Nuwan Kulasekara (14) kept up the pressure.
But on the third ball of the final over Kulasekara was well caught in the deep by Boult and Kapugedera was run out on the next delivery.

Guptill and Kane Williamson gave New Zealand a flying start bringing up their century partnership at the start of the 11th over.
But they had no sooner passed 100 when Guptill was first to fall for 58 when he was run out by a side-on throw from Kapugedera on Williamson’s call for a quick single.
Williamson followed soon after for 53 off 42 while Colin Munro scored 36 and Ross Taylor was not out 22.
For Sri Lanka, Kulasekara took two for 26, while the leading bowlers for New Zealand were Boult with three for 21 and Henry with three for 44.