India go 2-0 up after narrow DLS win in low-scoring suspenser
New Zealand sweep aside Samoa to reach Women’s World Cup final
‘Clicky Ponting’ cheat-row cricketer banned from club cricket for two years
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi appointed Bihar captain
Wins for CDB, Fairfirst Insurance. Hayleys Group ‘A’ and HNB ‘A’ on Thursday
England arrived in Pakistan this month hopeful that the dynamics of a tri-series would give them the chance to experience the pressure of knockout games ahead of next year’s World Cup. Instead, Thursday’s fixture against Sri Lanka will evoke unwelcome memories of the 2023 edition, when they finished the tournament with a series of dead-rubbers after an early exit.
That is what happens when you manage to come out on the wrong side of an unloseable game – and not just once, but twice in three days. No team in ODI history has ever failed to win from the situations that England found themselves in last week: they reduced Sri Lanka to 24 for 2 chasing 430 in Rawalpindi, and then had Pakistan 154 for 9 chasing 242 in Lahore. And yet, they sit bottom of the table with three defeats out of three.
Those results left Harry Brook and his team-mates hoping that Pakistan could do them a favour by beating Sri Lanka on Tuesday to set up a straight shoot-out for the last spot in Saturday’s final. But with nothing to play for themselves, the tournament hosts collapsed to 110 all out against Dilshan Madushanka’s left-arm seam, and a straightforward chase sent Sri Lanka through with a game to spare.
That dominant eight-wicket win should give Sri Lanka belief that they are on the right track ahead of next year’s World Cup in southern Africa, not least with the injured Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga still to return. They are not a perfect side, and strong opposition will exploit their lack of a fifth frontline bowler, but they have clearly grown in confidence over the past fortnight.
As for England? It would be easy to write their two recent defeats off as freak occurrences, but they have developed an unwanted habit of losing close games under Brendon McCullum which dates back to his previous role as Test coach. They seemed finally to have made some progress in 50-over cricket after three consecutive series wins earlier this year, but have now won as many ODIs as they have lost (six each) in 2026.
There is some mitigation: they are without Jofra Archer (rested), Jacob Bethell (knee) and Jos Buttler (hamstring) in this series, and have played significantly better for long periods of games than their results in Pakistan would suggest. But they could use a consolation win to lift the mood ahead of their three-match series in Australia next month, which will provide them with another progress check.
Kusal Mendis has found peculiar ways to get out in this series (Cricinfo)
Kusasl Mendis’ last two dismissals have been utterly bizarre. Against England, he was run out backing up via Gus Atkinson’s fingertips before he had faced a ball; against Pakistan, he was bowled after hitting the ball into the crease, then onto his own stumps via the back of his bat. He will hope that his luck starts to turn on Thursday ahead of the final.
It was a breakout home summer for Jordan Cox, who earned a two-year central contract after impressing in his first four Tests and ably deputising for the injured Buttler in the ODI series decider against Sri Lanka at The Oval. But he has had a quiet tri-series to date: two dropped catches behind the stumps – one of them much tougher than the other – in England’s opening defeat to Pakistan, and scores of 18 and 6 with the bat. He could use a score.
Mendis suggested that his side will consider making “a couple of changes” after securing their progress, with Dushmantha Chameera and spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Sachindu Colombage among those waiting in the wings.
Sri Lanka: (possible) Kamindu Mendis, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (capt/wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Sahan Arachchige, Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage/Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga/Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka.
With nothing to play for, there is a case for England to rest their Test quicks – Josh Tongue, who has been struggling with a sore toe, and Gus Atkinson – and instead learn more about Sonny Baker and Henry Crocombe. The uncapped pair James Coles and Mason Crane are yet to feature in this series, and England will also weigh up a potential recall for Adil Rashid.
England: (possible) Tom Banton, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (capt), Jordan Cox (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran/Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Sonny Baker, Henry Crocombe.
Train crash in Spain kills at least 64 peopl
SLC to introduce random alcohol and drug tests
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
India 113 for 7 in 26 overs (Shreyas Iyer 30, KL Rahul 26*; Jacob Duffy 3-35, Kyle Jamieson 3-35) beat New Zealand 134 in 41 overs (Daryl Mitchell 55, Mitchell Santner 31; Gurnoor Brar 4-30, Anshul Kamboj 2-25, Axar Patel 2-28, Auqib Nabi 2-31) by four runs (DLS method
Rain taketh what rain giveth. Consistent rain on the eve of the second ODI between New Zealand and India, which continued on match morning, played a significant part in giving us a pitch that hosted a rare low-scoring thriller in Wellington, but rain on the night of the match also denied us an organic finish. When the rain arrived to put a premature end to the 47-overs-a-side contest, India had just lost their seventh wicket and had scored 113 runs in a chase of 135. They were only four runs ahead of the DLS par score, a measure of how close the match was.
It was like batting on a trampoline, the only half-century-maker of the match Daryl Mitchell said. It wasn’t just the steep bounce but the unevenness of it, plus the seam movement that made batting difficult. The very soul of ODI batting, the ability to work the ball into the gaps, was taken away. The lack of a pitch square in multi-sport New Zealand grounds made it even more difficult to place the ball in the gaps as it would just lose all the pace after bouncing in the lush grass.
With four fast bowlers in their XI, India didn’t go looking for wickets. They kept hitting the deck hard, the scoreboard moved slowly, and the batters had no choice but to eventually play low-percentage shots, which brought India wickets, four of them to Gurnoor Brar, his personal best returns.
New Zealand had four fast bowlers as well, but they didn’t have the cushion of runs. They had to go searching at times, and India’s batters were good enough to punish those balls for boundaries. In fact, India just took the Mitchell method to a higher intensity. Mitchell would get into power positions and swing hard at anything remotely loose while defending or leaving good balls. Every India batter did that, which shows in 78 runs in boundaries out of just 113.
Daryl Mitchell was the highest scorer on the trampoline-like pitch (Cricinfo)
By the time the New Zealand batters had enough measure of the pitch to formulate a method, they had already lost three wickets. This is what can happen when you keep losing the toss, now six out of seven during this tour. Tim Seifert ended up chipping Auqib Nabi to short midwicket after the first ten balls of the match had brought New Zealand no runs. If it was extra bounce that did Seifert in, Will Young was defeated by seam and bounce. Henry Nicholls, lucky to survive Anshul Kamboj’s accuracy early on was slightly unlucky in playing him on.
At 23 for 3, Mitchell and Tom Latham decided to be more cautious, but Latham chose the wrong ball to try to break the shackles. Brar was over the wicket and angling the ball across, which made the pull a dangerous shot. In the same over, Glenn Phillips fell to the same shot, but this short ball also jagged back in to take the top edge.
Mitchell Santner looked the most comfortable of all the batters on display as he added 59 with Mitchell for the sixth wicket. He had the advantage of getting to face spin, which India’s batters didn’t because New Zealand knew they would not need to bowl all their overs. However, Mitchell couldn’t take any advantage of spin, instead getting frustrated at not being able to get singles down the ground and managing just one run off six reverse sweeps. Having scored just 10 off 26 balls from Axar Patel . Mitchell finally gave him the charge and ended up being caught at long-off.
The hostile Brar ensured a swift end to the innings with relentless short-pitched bowling. Even when he went full after pushing batters back, it was only just good length. A bouncer from Kamboj resulted in a concussion for Blair Tickner, which brought Matt Fisher into the XI.
KL Rahul anchored India in a tricky chase (Cricinfo)
Despite a golden duck for Shubman Gill, India were much more urgent in attacking the loose ball than New Zealand. Rohit Sharma scored 20 of his 23 runs in boundaries, Virat Kohli drove the second ball he faced for four, Shreyas Iyer threw his hands at anything with width, and KL Rahul scored his first 14 runs in boundaries.
The two tall new-ball bowlers, Kyle Jamieson and Jacob Duffy, were still a handful. Duffy got Gill with seam and bounce, and Kohli with one that stopped on his cover-drive. Rohit did India a favour by facing 25 out of the first 27 balls that the menacing Jamieson bowled. Ten of those got the better of him but he still scored 21 runs.
Although Fisher got Axar in his first over, Smith and Fisher were not the same threat as some of the taller bowlers in the match. Or even Ticker might have been had he bowled. However, Santner didn’t stay in holding pattern for long and brought back his new-ball bowlers.
Jamieson took out Iyer with a nasty bouncer for 30 and Duffy had the wickets of Naman Dhir and Kamboj. The latter fell swinging hard at a length ball in what proved to be the last over of the match, leaving India precariously close to falling behind the DLS par. To be fair to Kamboj, though, the rain arrived without warning much like this low-scoring thriller in an era dominated by high scores.
India 113 for 7 in 26 overs (Shreyas Iyer 30, KL Rahul 26*; Jacob Duffy 3-35, Kyle Jamieson 3-35) beat New Zealand 134 in 41 overs (Daryl Mitchell 55, Mitchell Santner 31; Gurnoor Brar 4-30, Anshul Kamboj 2-25, Axar Patel 2-28, Auqib Nabi 2-31) by four runs (DLS method)
New Zealand’s women will hope it is fourth time lucky after defeating Samoa 32-0 to reach next Sunday’s Rugby League World Cup final.
It will be the Kiwi Ferns’ seventh successive appearance in the showpiece match, but having won the first three between 2000-2008, three trips to the final since then have all ended in heartache.
Three consecutive losses to Australia included a blowout 54-4 scoreline four years ago at Old Trafford and unless debutants Fiji spring one of the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history in the other semi-final, the Jillaroos are likely to again provide the substantial obstacle to New Zealand becoming four-time champions.
However, on Saturday, New Zealand made light of the blustery and difficult conditions inside Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium, in New South Wales, to make their case as potential winners.
Mackenzie Wiki’s try – less than two minutes into proceedings, off the back of a Samoa error – set the tone for the Kiwi Ferns.
As the storm clouds began to gather overhead, New Zealand’s dual-code international Stacey Waaka capitalised on some indecision from Samoa winger Mercedez Taulelei-Siala to collect and ground Raecene McGregor’s kick.
It was efficient and highly professional from New Zealand, who conceded just 24 points across their three group games and once again exhibited their defensive parsimony during a hard-fought first period.
A combination of that and Samoa’s inability to make the most of field position, with a smattering of handling errors thrown in as well, laid the platform for New Zealand’s triumph.
There were notable bright spots for the Samoa fans to enjoy.
Fanua Rimoni was a powerful and dominant presence at lock forward, while teenage winger Anastasia Leatupue produced a nerveless showing on her international bow.
Samoa’s biggest disappointment was that they could not get the ball into the hands of the 18-year-old in good attacking positions – with Pauline Piliae-Rasabale twice pulled up for forward passes on the right edge in an error-strewn display.
But just like in the first 35 minutes, they had no answer to New Zealand’s more potent attacking threat.
Waaka was again the beneficiary of a pinpoint McGregor kick as she crossed for her second try and Mele Hufanga held off the attentions of three Samoa defenders tfor her score.
It was a feat that was matched by Kaiyah Atai just over two minutes later as New Zealand went through the gears.
With Samoa’s resistance gradually waning, Waaka capped a fine individual display with her hat-trick and McGregor scored the try her performance richly deserved to round off a fine New Zealand display.
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya returned to Sri Lanka today (7 November 2026), following her participation in the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2026 held in Antigua and Barbuda.
The Prime Minister arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, following the conclusion of her official visit.
During her participation in CHOGM 2026, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya joined Commonwealth leaders in discussions on key global economic and development priorities, focusing on strengthening cooperation and partnerships among member states to address shared challenges.
The Prime Minister also held bilateral meetings with leaders and representatives of several Commonwealth member states, exploring opportunities to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
Searching for leadership: Can we bring back qualities of our golden years?
Private sector salaries surge ahead of public sector pay structures as National Budget looms
Social media backlash over Lankan cricket legend’s Ryanair ‘racist’ remark
SAARC: The regional dream that South Asia never quite built
President Inaugurates 63rd General Assembly of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
Showers above 50 mm are likely in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and Southern provinces and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts
Crypto firm Binance covers 90% of losses after $6.3bn hack
Warning for strong winds and rough seas issued to multi-day boats in the Bay of Bengal deep sea areas
Copyright © 2020 Upali Newspapers (Pvt) Ltd. Solution by LankaCom Privacy Policy
Loading comments…