If you can remember,there was a time that we have, cricket has been abandoned.Some people and experts believed that we are nearly out from the cricket platform.Some people had stopped to watch the cricket matches.We also were disappointed in repeated circumstance.However this is a red letter day in  Srilankan cricket history.This is the time to Cheers for lions.

Chaminda is a level 2 qualified cricket coach- Cricket Australia and  currently  Head coach of Chrinside Park Cricket Club. And he is a former assistance premier coach in Sri Lanka.

He has been coach of Sri Lanka test player Niroshan Dickwella, Sadun Weerakkody and Sri lankan womens player Sripali Weerakkody. So he has vast experience across all sections of the game including womens and juniors.

Michael Smith

An extraordinary victory for Pakistan in the end. Mickey Arthur is elated on the balcony, as he should be. Pumped by India in the opener, his side are through to the final four. And make no mistake, they were cooked here at 162-for-7. But then, the twist: a stand of 75 for the eighth wicket, which never came.

They were helped along the way by Sri Lanka, who dropped Sarfraz twice off Malinga; the chance grassed by Thisara one he’ll never forget. The skipper finished with an unbeaten 61. It was frantic, he should have been run out a couple more times, but he is the man of the match.

“I can’t believe it,” he said at the presentation, lumping ample praise on his big quick Mohhammad Amir who showed poise and class with 28 unbeaten runs of his own from 43 deliveries.

For their efforts here they now stay in Cardiff to play England in the first semi final of Champions Trophy 2017 on Wednesday. The other final four contest is between India and Bangladesh on Thursday at Edgbaston. The decider: The Oval on Sunday.

Of course, you won’t miss a moment on the OBO. Thanks for your company today. It’s been quite the afternoon. Long live 50-over cricket. Until next time.

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.

After the franchises were allowed to retain two local players from the previous season, the two new franchises – Khulna Titans and Rajshahi Kings were given the chance to pick two each up front. While Khulna went for left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain and pacer Shafiul Islam, Rajshahi picked Nurul Hasan and allrounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz.

Among the foreign players, Carlos Brathwaite, who will be unavailable between November 10 and 28, was bagged by Dhaka, while Darren Sammy went to Rajshahi. Chris Gayle moved from Barisal Bulls to Chittagong Vikings for this season, while Kumar Sangakkara extended his stay with the Dhaka Dynamites by another season.

Sangakkara will be joined by fellow Sri Lankan, Mahela Jayawardene, who is part of the Dynamites’ squad, that also boast of a number of all-rounders like Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Bopara and Shakib al Hasan.

Other Sri Lankan players who will appear in the BPL are Dilshan Munaweera (Barisal Bulls), Chaturanga de Silva and Jeevan Mendis (both Chittagong Vikings), Thisara Perera and Nuwan Kulasekara (both Comilla Victorians), Sachithra Senanayake and Gihan Rupasinghe (both Rangpur Riders), Milinda Siriwardana and Upul Tharanga (both Rajshahi Kings).

While many Pakistan players joined various sides, Shahid Afridi moved to Rangpur Riders alongside Sharjeel Khan and Nasir Jamshed.

Squads:

Barisal Bulls: Rumman Raees, Dilshan Munaweera, Mushfiqur Rahim, Al-Amin Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Nawaz, Carlos Brathwaite, Shamsur Rahman, Abu Hider, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Nadif Chowdhury, Josh Cobb, Mahedi Hasan, Monir Hossain Khan, Shahriar Nafees

Chittagong Vikings: Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Nabi, Taskin Ahmed, Chaturanga de Silva, Grant Elliott, Imran Khan jnr, Abdur Razzak, Subashis Roy, Jahurul Islam, Nazmul Hossain Milon, Jeevan Mendis, Tymal Mills, Zakir Hasan, Saqlain Sajib, Shahidul Islam, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Jubair Hossain

Comilla Victorians: Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Ashar Zaidi, Imad Wasim, Thisara Perera, Mashrafe Mortaza, Sohail Tanvir, Nuwan Kulasekera, Rashid Khan, Rovman Powell, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan, Al-Amin, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Nahidul Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Jason Holder, Mohammad Sharif, Nabil Samad, Jasimuddin, Saikat Ali, Rasel Al Mamun

Dhaka Dynamites: Evin Lewis, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Ravi Bopara, Nasir Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Seekugge Prasanna, Wayne Parnell, Sanjamul Islam, Alauddin Babu, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Mehedi Maruf, Usama Mir, Mohammad Shahid, Irfan Shukkur, Tanveer Haider

Khulna Titans: Mahmudullah, Nicholas Pooran, Riki Wessels, Kevon Cooper, Mohammad Asghar, Benny Howell, Mosharraf Hossain, Lendl Simmons, Ben Laughlin, Shuvagata Hom, Ariful Haque, Abdul Majid, Alok Kapali, Andre Fletcher, Junaid Khan, Hasanuzzaman, Naeem Islam jnr, Noor Hossain Saddam, Taibur Rahman, Abdul Halim, Shafiul Islam

Rangpur Riders: Soumya Sarkar, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Shahzad, Gidron Pope, Mohammad Mithun, Babar Azam, Shahid Afridi, Dasun Shanaka, Arafat Sunny, Richard Gleeson, Nasir Jamshed, Sachithra Senanayake, Rubel Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Ziaur Rahman, Naeem Islam, Gihan Rupasinghe, Elias Sunny, Pinak Ghosh, Muktar Ali, Mehrab Hossain, Shahbaz Chouhan

Rajshahi Kings: Sabbir Rahman, Darren Sammy, Mohammad Sami, Nurul Hasan, Milinda Siriwardana, Upul Tharanga, Mominul Haque, Farhad Reza, Nazmul Islam, Raqibul Hasan, Samit Patel, Abul Hasan, Rony Talukdar, Salman Hossain, Ebadot Hossain, Mehedi Hasan Miraz.

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.