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Sangakkara replaces Yuvraj as Kings XI captain...
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2010-01-16 00:03:47 ] |
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The Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara has replaced Yuvraj Singh as the captain of Kings XI Punjab for this year's IPL. Speculation was rife over the past few weeks in India that Sangakkara was the man to take over the captaincy and Anil Srivatsa, the franchise's chief executive officer, confirmed the news today.
"Kumar Sangakkara is the new captain of Kings XI Punjab. We are hoping for good things to come out of it," he told reporters in New Delhi.
Under Yuvraj's captaincy in the inaugural IPL in 2008, Punjab had qualified for semi-finals.
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But in the second edition, held in South Africa last year, they failed to make it to the last four. Yuvraj was Punjab's highest run scorer in 2009 with 340 at 28.33, with two half-centuries, but that was not enough to lift their fortunes.
Srivatsa said the move would not take away from Yuvraj's importance as a star player, and that on the contrary the management hoped it would bring forth more runs from the allrounder. "Being taken off the leadership role does not diminish Yuvraj's standing in the team. Yuvraj's inputs are vital for us," he said. "He has done well for the team in the past two seasons and he has one more year with us. He did his job well enough. This has got nothing to do with all this."
Sangakkara said he had spoken to Yuvraj immediately after being told about the change of leadership. "I have enjoyed playing under Yuvraj, he is a very able captain. When everything was not concrete, I spoke to him and after that I decided that it was the right time to take up [the] captaincy.
"I don't think it would cause any problem. He is a very good friend. I had a long chat with him on this, everything was done very transparently. Moreover, Yuvraj is the most important player in our side. Any IPL team will be lucky to have him. He can change a match just like that. He is a matchwinner."
Sangakkara was second to Yuvraj in South Africa with 332 runs at 30.18, with two half-centuries. |
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Sri Lanka beat India...
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2010-01-14 01:32:27 ] |
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Sri Lanka beat India by 4 wickets to win the triangular series which was played in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a short while ago.
India batting first set a respectable score of 245 in 48.5 overs, with Suresh Raina contributing 106 off 115 balls. Nuwan Kulasekera was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers taking 4 wickets for 48 runs in his allotted 10 overs.
In reply, former captain Mahela Jayawardena led the batting with a well composed 71, to lead the Sri Lankan to victory. Harbajhan Singh picked up 2 wickets for 41 runs in his 10 overs. |
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Sri Lanka and India to make world record tomorrow ...
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2010-01-12 22:43:27 ] |
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Sri Lanka and India will make a world record tomorrow when they meet in the final of the Tri Series final in Bangladesh. This will be the 121st time the two teams meet each other in a One Day International and it will be most number of ODI matches between any two countries.
When the two teams met on Sunday in the second round match of the Tri Series, it marked the 120th time the two teams played against each other.
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| Australia and West Indies who have played each other 120 times hold the current record. |
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Tharanga and Jayawardene lead Sri Lanka to emphatic win...
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2010-01-08 20:13:36 ] |
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Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene struck centuries as Sri Lanka romped to a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the tri-series one-day tournament in Dhaka on Friday.
Tharanga was unbeaten on 118 off 126 balls, smacking 18 fours for his eighth ODI century, while Jayawardene made 108 off 117 balls to help Sri Lanka race past Bangladesh's modest 249 for nine with more than seven overs to spare.
Former skipper Jayawardene was first to reach his hundred with a boundary through cover point and was finally caught by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim off spinner Naeem Islam. |
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Jayawardene, who joined the squad after Tillakaratne Dilshan suffered a groin injury, clubbed 13 fours for his 12th one-day century.
Tharanga and Jayawardene shared 215 runs in the opening stand.
Thisara Perera, Suraj Randiv and Nuwan Kulasakera grabbed two wickets apiece to dent Bangladesh.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 47 while Roqibul Hasan and Imrul Kayes chipped in with 43 and 42 respectively.
Bangladesh took their batting powerplay in the 43rd over with 199 runs for four wickets on the board but added only 32 runs and lost five wickets in the next five overs. |
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Samaraweera, Perera take Sri Lanka to second successive win...
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2010-01-05 22:24:42 ] |
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Sri Lanka 283 for 5 (Samaraweera 105*, Sangakkara 60, Harbhajan 3-47) beat India 279 for 9 (Yuvraj 74, Sehwag 47, Welegedara 5-66) by five wickets.
Rarely does a centurion get overshadowed in a match of middling scores. But though Thilan Samaraweera finished with an accomplished unbeaten 105, the headlines were stolen by Thissara Perera, who celebrated his third cap with a power-packed 15-ball 36. From needing 54 off 39 balls when he arrived at the crease, Sri Lanka romped home with two overs to spare, as India's quest for yorkers merely resulted in one too many no-balls and full tosses.
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Chanaka Welegedara's five-wicket haul had killed India's batting momentum at crucial times, and with the dew playing such a factor in the evening, 279 was not quite enough.
After taking Zaheer Khan through cover to get off the mark, Perera transformed the game in Ashish Nehra's seventh over. He had been India's best bowler, but Perera pierced the off-side cordon, flicked behind square and then nonchalantly hoicked the free hit for six in the same direction. Samaraweera got to his hundred straight after, but was then more than content to watch the fun from the other end.
Zaheer was then carved through the covers twice, as he made light of being struck in the ribs, and a meaty club through wide long-on finished off matters well ahead of time. Sri Lanka had been given a brisk start by the new opening pair of Upul Tharanga and Lahiru Thirimanne, the debutant who replaced Tillakaratne Dilshan, but once India conceded just 16 in the five overs of bowling Powerplay, the onus was very much on the old hands to see it home.
Tharanga had set the tone with a casual loft for four off Zaheer, and then two then took 16 from an over that also featured wides down the leg side. With runs leaking, MS Dhoni gave the ball to Sreesanth, only for Thirimanne to reveal glimpses of his potential with three cracking drives through the covers. It was too good to last though. In Sreesanth's next over, he got into a tangle trying to pull off the front foot and the ball ballooned to midwicket.
Soon after, Harbhajan Singh was introduced and Tharanga chipped his fourth ball straight back. But Samaraweera came in and wrested the initiative with deft cuts and a paddle for four. And with Kumar Sangakkara unafraid to come down the pitch and chip over the infield, the innings quickly revived. By then the towels were out, and the Indian focus was as much on keeping the ball dry as it was on taking the wickets needed to win the game.
Samaraweera was the primary aggressor, scooping Sreesanth for four in an over that cost 16, and Sri Lanka were cruising when Sangakkara, who had eased to 60, stepped out and lofted Harbhajan Singh straight to cover. Thilina Kandamby then top-edged a wild swipe to midwicket and when Suraj Randiv backed up too far, they were in trouble. Perera, though, ensured that India would get no reprieve.
Earlier, Yuvraj Singh had marked his return to the XI with 74 from 84 balls, while Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja all contributed decent cameos after Virender Sehwag had played a typically effervescent hand. He cruised to 47 from 30 balls before playing too early at one bowled with fingers rolled across the seam from round the wicket, and after his exit, India had to build steadily on a surface where the ball didn't always come on to the bat.
Sehwag had announced his intentions from the outset, off-driving Welegedara for four, but there was an early setback for the Indians as he sneaked a yorker underneath Gautam Gambhir's bat and on to the base of leg stump. With Sehwag taking Suranga Lakmal for three fours in an over, and Virat Kohli playing a lovely straight drive, the 50 of the innings came in just the seventh over. The game changed, though, in the space of two eventful overs from Welegedara.
Sehwag had scythed two off-side fours and been caught behind off a no-ball by the time Kohli tried too cute a deflection to a ball pitched outside off stump. Having conceded 18 in that over, Welegedara came back in the next to have Sehwag caught at mid-off by Thirimanne. India had taken 76 from the first Powerplay, but only 13 came from the bowling one as the bowlers kept a leash on the new batsmen. Both Yuvraj and Dhoni clipped boundaries through point, but with Randiv getting pretty sharp turn, and Kandamby filling in with part-time spin, the runs were no longer coming at Sehwag pace.
When Muthumudalige Pushpakumara went off injured after a dive in the outfield, Sangakkara had to turn to his occasional bowlers, and Yuvraj quickly cashed in, pulling Samaraweera for four and then heaving Kandamby for two consecutive sixes to reach his half-century. At that point, Perara, deputising for Chamara Silva, was called on, and Dhoni's attempt to force the issue only found Sangakkara's gloves. Soon after, he induced a miscued pull from Yuvraj, and by the time the batting Powerplay was taken after 43 overs, there were only 225 on the board.
They took 14 from the first of those overs, bowled by Welegedara, but with Jadeja going four-six-four-four against Thilan Thushara, the innings finally had some energy. But back came Sri Lanka again, with Welegedara castling Raina and Zaheer, and Harbhajan playing a hideous stroke to point. By the time Jadeja holed out in the final over, all hopes of 300 had long since disappeared, leaving Sri Lanka with a chase that they timed to perfection. |
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