MELBOURNE Friday: Chamara Kapugedera smashed a four off the last ball to give Sri Lanka a thrilling five-wicket victory over Australia in their first Twenty20 international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

The win kept Sri Lanka unbeaten in four T20 internationals in Australia and followed their 2-1 series win over South Africa last month.

The pulsating win was made possible by a dashing 52 off 37 balls by Asela Gunaratne, who was named man-of-the-match for his match-turning innings.

Gunaratne slammed seven fours to share in a decisive 60-run stand with Milinda Siriwardana to put the Sri Lankans just 18 runs short of victory with 17 balls remaining. It was a tense finish with skipper Aaron Finch making fielding changes before every ball to prevent Sri Lanka from getting home.

But it was Kapugedera who stood up to the pressure and slammed fast bowler Andrew Tye’s final delivery through the covers to the boundary rope for the winning hit.

The win put Sri Lanka one up in the series with two matches to play in Geelong on Sunday and Adelaide on Wednesday.

For a time it looked as though the Australians, playing without their leading stars, Steve Smith, David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all on tour in India, would hold off the fast-finishing Sri Lankans.

The home side posted a competitive total of 168 for six off their 20 overs with skipper Finch smashing two sixes and two fours in his topscoring 43 off 34 balls.

Finch shared in an opening stand of 76 with T20I debutant Michael Klinger.

Klinger, making his debut at the age of 36 after starring with the Perth Scorchers in the domestic Big Bash League, hammered 38 off 32 balls with four boundaries.

Lasith Malinga, who has played virtually no cricket for nearly a year due to injuries, was an influential figure taking two wickets in two balls and taking two catches.

Malinga claimed the wickets of Travis Head for 31 off 24 balls and debutant Ashton Turner for 18 off 13 balls, both caught by Seekkugge Prasanna at deep mid-wicket.

Malinga finished with two wickets for 29 off his four overs.

Paceman Pat Cummins struck with the last ball of his opening over getting skipper Upul Tharanga to edge to wicketkeeper Tim Paine for a duck in the first over of the Sri Lanka innings. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa claimed the big wicket of free-scoring opener Niroshan Dickwella for 30 off 25 balls.

Dickwella, who slammed four fours and a six, looked to flick Zampa over mid-wicket only to lob a leading edge to Klinger at short third man in the ninth over.

Dilshan Munaweera smashed a breezy 44 off 29 balls with six fours before he hit a short ball from Zampa to mid-wicket where Finch took a head-high catch. But Gunaratne took charge and his half-century turned the tide to set up the thrilling victory for the Sri Lankans.

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.

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.”

England are 2-0 up with one Test to play, but the match starting on Thursday has more riding on it than it might appear for the hosts after recent series victories ended on a low note.

Last year, having won the Ashes, England suffered an innings and 46-run defeat by Australia in the fifth Test at The Oval.

There was a similarly heavy reverse in South Africa in January when, 2-0 up with one to play, England lost the fourth Test at Centurion by 280 runs.

Although they won the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chester-le-Street by nine wickets, there were warning signs for England during that success.

Sri Lanka, having become the first team since New Zealand in 1958 to be dismissed for under 120 in three successive Test innings, made 475 in the second knock in Durham — including a fine hundred by Dinesh Chandimal.

A typically good Lord’s pitch could make life harder still for fast bowlers in London, with the most even contest of the series so far in prospect.

– ‘Growing in confidence’ -”I expect them to continue improving,” England batting coach Mark Ramprakash said Tuesday of Sri Lanka.

“I thought they made a really good fist of it in that second innings — Chandimal was exceptional.

“They’re growing in confidence… The pitch will be better here, the conditions may be more to their liking.”

England’s two biggest doubts concern a pair of players who know Lord’s well as it is their Middlesex home ground.

Top-order batsman Nick Compton has been struggling for runs, and fast bowler Steven Finn for wickets.

With England having again selected a 12-man squad, it looks as if Compton will get another match at number three.

Finn’s place is under threat from uncapped seamer Jake Ball, although England appear ready to retain the Middlesex quick.

With England captain Alastair Cook now having completed the burdensome business of getting to 10,000 Test runs, the left-handed opener could be in the mood to make a major score at Lord’s.

Meanwhile England new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad, first and third in the world Test bowler rankings respectively, will look to maintain their standing.

Two years ago, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews scored a fine Test century in a thrilling draw at Lord’s where the match went down to the last ball.

For this fixture, Sri Lanka may make changes to their side.

Stylish wicket-keeper/batsman Kusal Perera — a late addition to the squad after his drugs ban was overturned by the International Cricket Council because of a faulty lab analysis in Doha — could end more than six months out by replacing injured all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana (twisted ankle).

Fast bowler Shaminda Eranga was reported for a suspect action during the second Test and is understood to have undergone tests at the England and Wales Cricket Board’s training centre at Loughborough University this week.

Although Eranga is still available to play, Sri Lanka could give a debut to uncapped 29-year-old left-armer Chaminda Bandara in the absence of the injured Dhammika Prasad and Dushmantha Chameera.

Sri Lanka, who had just two warm-up matches against two under-strength English Second Division counties in Essex and Leicestershire before the Test series started, may well head to Lord’s fuelled by a sense of unfairness.

Sri Lanka batsman Dimuth Karunaratne, who made a hundred against Leicestershire, was unimpressed.

“Some of the Division Two bowlers didn’t ask many questions,” he said.

“When we play that kind of opposition and all of a sudden play James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the Test match, the gap is huge. We tend to make more mistakes and get out cheaply.

“When England come to Sri Lanka, they play our A team as warm-up,” he added pointedly, in words the ICC and national boards ought to consider if they are serious about wanting more competitive Tests.

Perera tested positive test for a banned anabolic steroid, but his lawyers later raised concerns the amounts were so low that they could have been produced naturally by the body or formed in the samples after they were submitted.

And last month he was cleared to play again by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the laboratory withdrew its “adverse original finding” and replaced it with an “atypical finding”, and said no further investigation was warranted.

The wicket-keeper/batsman wasn’t allowed to take part in any formal cricket training during his suspension and missed this year’s World Twenty20, but an injury to seamer Dhammika Prasad created a space in Sri Lanka’s tour party.

“They haven’t told me if I’m playing yet,” Perera told reporters at Lord’s on Tuesday after a training session.

“If I do get to play, it’s a great opportunity to play at Lord’s. I was thrown into trouble and to come back from that at Lord’s would be great.”

Perera said belief in his own innocence had helped sustain him in the months he was banned from cricket.

“Even the time I was out of the team I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he said.

“I couldn’t really think about cricket much in those months, because my focus was on the problem I was facing. I didn’t have any time to think about whether I was in touch, or whether I could train, or even what was happening in cricket. I started training after the day I was cleared.

“I didn’t have a lot of centre-wicket training because of the rain (in Sri Lanka).”

Dominate

He added: “After six months your body needs to get used to training again. Your body starts to hurt –- but that’s normal. But what I’ve found is that because I’m coming into it quite fresh, I’m hitting the ball well, I’m seeing it well.” Sri Lanka are already 2-0 down in the three-match series, with their batsmen having struggled so far in English conditions against new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

But Lord’s, where no side has been dismissed for under 350 in three County Championship matches so far this season, promises to provide the best batting pitch of the series.

Perera, who could come in for injured all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana (twisted ankle), said he hoped forecast warmer temperatures than those the tourists experienced during a nine-wicket defeat in the second Test at Chester-le-Street would also benefit Sri Lanka later this week. “I watched the (England) attack and it’s mostly fast bowlers,” he said. “In London the conditions seem easier, because it must have been very cold in Durham.

“When it’s cold you are a bit stiff and your feet don’t work as well. With this weather and given the pitch as well –- which looks like it will be batting-friendly –- I think there’s a chance for us to dominate them.”

England are still firm favourites to win the Test and take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series but Sri Lanka finally showed some fight after being forced to follow-on 397 runs behind on the first innings.

Sri Lanka who were dismissed for 101 in their first innings are still 88 runs adrift of avoiding an innings defeat and they have another five wickets in hand to avoid that ignominy in successive Tests. They lost the first inside three days by an innings and 88 runs at Leeds.

A lot will depend on the sixth wicket pair Dinesh Chandimal and Milinda Siriwardana who have so far added 87 off 125 balls to deny England victory inside three days.

Chandimal was unbeaten on 54 scored off 98 balls with five fours and Siriwardana was on 35 not out scored off 57 balls with six fours at the close.

England who took the second new ball towards the end of the day will be looking to wrap up the Lankan innings as quickly as possible tomorrow unless the batsmen put up stern resistance as they have done today.

Leading Sri Lanka’s fight back was opening bat Kaushal Silva who played a workmanlike innings for 60 off 145 balls (6 fours).

Taking the cue from Silva was skipper Angelo Mathews who finally showed pleasing form to score an attractive 80 off 105 balls with nine fours and a six.

Chandimal and Siriwardana ensured the good work done by Silva and Mathews did not go waste by batting out the final session in brilliant sunshine.

Sri Lanka batsmen were more committed to their strokes and most impressive was their running between the wickets that prevented the English bowlers from maintaining a consistent line.

Silva and Mathews held the Lankan innings together after they had lost three wickets for 100 with a partnership of 82 off 130 balls – Sri Lanka’s first half-century stand of the series.

Mathews survived a catch at slip to Joe Root off Jimmy Anderson at nought and then a stumping chance to Jonny Bairstow off Moeen Ali at 36 to play a captain’s knock. He in fact had two reviews against him off the first four balls he faced.

Root signaled immediately that he had not taken the catch cleanly off Mathews’ bat but the umpires still went to the TV umpire to check and replays showed that Root was right.

Silva was out 18 minutes after tea when Steven Finn forced him to top edge a pull to Bairstow.

In comparison to Silva’s obdurate innings, Mathews attacked and took the fight to the England bowlers especially the off breaks of Moeen Ali off whom he scored 46 of his 80 runs that included one six and six fours.

The pitch did not assist the bowlers as much as it had done at Leeds and conditions for batting was not all that difficult provided the batsmen had the patience to pick and choose which balls to play and leave.

The last time England enforced a follow-on in successive Test matches was against Bangladesh in 2010.

England did not waste any time getting the last two Sri Lankan wickets in 17 minutes with Broad and Anderson picking up one apiece to finish with seven wickets between them.

Lahiru Thirimanne was the last man out for 19 after displaying some character in his batting hanging around for 80 balls. Sri Lanka dismissed for 101 in their first innings represented the first time a team had been bowled out for under 120 runs in three consecutive innings in a Test since 1958.

Of the six wickets Sri Lanka took during the day four were due to outstanding catches.

Skipper Angelo Mathews’ blinder of a catch at slip to send back Alex Hales for 83 was the top of the lot. The England opener offered a full blooded cut off left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana and as the ball flew off the edge Mathews dived to his right and held the ball one-handed.

Sri Lanka’s brilliant catching compensated for the Lankan bowling which was too friendly on the slow pitch where the odd ball kept low.

Dimuth Karunaratne picked up a fine catch at slip to send back Alastair Cook for 15, denying the England captain his milestone of becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs. Cook started the day requiring 20 to reach the landmark but fell short by five when he was dismissed for 15.

Unless Sri Lanka put up a good first innings total, and make England to bat again in the second innings Cook may well have to wait until the start of the third and final Test at Lord’s on June 9 to get to the milestone. At Leeds, England batted only once and won the Test by an innings to go one-up in the three match series. Suranga Lakmal who replaced the injured Dushmantha Chameera pulled off a stunning catch at deep square leg when Nick Compton offered a full blooded pull with his score on nine.

The fourth catch of the day was held by Lahiru Thirimanne at short cover when James Vince drove at Siriwardana and the fielder diving to his right pulled off a ripper.

Sri Lankan bowling in these conditions looked harmless but their persistency paid rich dividends as they managed to prize out six England wickets.

Joe Root was the other England batsman to miss out on a hundred when he popped up a simple catch to Kaushal Silva at cover with his score on 80.

Hales and Root added 96 and Root also shared another half century stand with Vince. But each time England looked like running away with the game Sri Lanka managed to pull back and pluck a wicket.

Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the Lankan bowlers finishing with three wickets for 69 including that of Jonny Bairstow the man of the match at Leeds with a career best 140. Bairstow fell to the second new ball attempting to slash at Pradeep and giving Dinesh Chandimal a straight forward catch after scoring 48 off 57 balls.

With Moeen Ali who was unbeaten on 28 at the close, Bairstow added 70 for the sixth wicket. Chris Woakes who replaced the injured Ben Stokes was not out eight.

Like Cook, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was also left seeking his 300th Test wicket. Herath created some problems for the batsmen with his guile and flight but England managed to overcame it and deprive him of the milestone. Herath is shy of one wicket from becoming the third Sri Lankan bowler to get to the mark.

Siriwardana considered to be the man with the golden arm justified his selection ahead of Dasun Shanaka with two wickets – both to excellent catches by Mathews and Thirimanne.

In the gloomy morning it looked as if Sri Lanka had got it all wrong when they left out Shanaka for the left-arm spin of Siriwardana, but later as the day progressed and the wicket started to get slow and keep low it seemed a good choice.

It seems the Lankans whose fielding had dropped drastically in recent times have worked hard in this area and the results are showing on the field.

The overcast skies gave away to bright sunshine during the final session of play. The forecast for the next two days is for good weather.

The squad will travel to Kandy today to continue training at a higher altitude ahead of the tour and will engage in training sessions. It will be followed by a two-day game at the Pallakelle International Cricket Stadium on Saturday and Sunday (April 23 and 24) whilst training sessions will be conducted concurrently at the nets.

Despite the rains in Colombo and suburbs, the weather in Kandy has remained favourable in the past weeks, and if long range weather reports are anything to go by, will remain so for the next few days giving the squad an ample opportunity to train.

Meanwhile, selection of the Test squad travelling to England is due to be finalized by April 27.

Sri Lanka will play a series of three Tests against England before moving on to the one-day format where they will take on England in five One-Day Internationals and in two Twenty20 Internationals.

The Test series starts at Headingley, Leeds on May 19 followed by the second Test at Durham from May 27 and the third and final Test at Lord’s from June 9.

The Test squad is due to arrive in England on May 4.

Angelo Mathews has been named captain and Dinesh Chandimal his deputy for all three formats of the game.

The preliminary squad selected consists of the following players:

Angelo Mathews (captain), Dasun Chanaka, Dinesh Chandimal (vice-captain), Dhammika Prasad, Dhananjaya de Silva,. Dilruwan Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Rajitha, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana, Niroshan Dickwella, Nuwan Pradeep, Rangana Herath, Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal, Tharanga Paranavitana, Vishwa Fernando.

Dual role for Chandrishan Perera

Sri Lanka Cricket has approached its former media manager Chandrishan Perera to take on the role of communications manager on tour for next month’s cricket tour of England.

SLC is in the process of putting into place the support staff for the team which is currently in transition and according to sources a communications manager has been considered a necessity especially when the team is on tour.

Recently SLC recalled former team manager Charith Senanayake as manager for the tour to England and for the home series against Australia.

There is also a possibility that Perera who is renowned for his high skill training may also be asked to assist with the team’s training during the tour.

Perera a top class ruggerite turned out for CH&FC and Sri Lanka and also played cricket for CCC. He is also a qualified fitness trainer and respected rugby commentator and columnist.

The full list of players short-listed for the auctions has been released. It includes 130 capped players, 219 uncapped players and two from Associate Nations.

Out of these, 230 are Indians and 121 foreigners. The list was trimmed down from the original list of 714 cricketers who had given their names for the IPL auctions.

29 Australian capped cricketers have been short-listed for the auction. They are followed by players from India (26), West Indies (20), South Africa (18), Sri Lanka (16), New Zealand, (9), England (7) and Bangladesh (5).

Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen, Ashish Nehra, Shane Watson, Ishant Sharma, Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny and Dhawal Kulkarni are among the cricketers who have been listed with a base price of Rs 2 Crore (the highest base price bracket).

Yuvraj, who was left out of Delhi Daredevils, had fetched the highest price in the last two IPL auctions. Having returned to the national fold ahead of the ICC World T20, he is likely to attract a high bid in the upcoming auction.

Delhi Daredevils, who have released some of their biggest buys from the previous season – Yuvraj Singh and Angelo Mathews have the heaviest purse going into the auction – Rs 37.15 crore. They are followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have Rs 30.15 crore going into the auction. The two new franchises – Rising Pune Super Giants and Rajkot are joint-third on the list with Rs 27 crore each in their kitty.

Kings XI Punjab (Rs 23 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 21.625 crore) and Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 17.95 crore) follow them on the list. Defending champions Mumbai Indians, seem settled with the unit that played last year. They released 10 players from the contract list and have Rs 14.405 crore going into the auction.

T20 captain Lasith Malinga is the only Sri Lankan retained by a franchise (Mumbai Indians) in the IPL.

Sri Lanka players –

Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Sachitra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Isuru Udana, Dilshan Munaweera, Seekkuge Prasanna

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.