AUS vs SL | Kusal Mendis tests positive for Covid-19

Somya Kapoor

Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis has tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the T20I series against Australia away from home. Mendis had returned positive for Covid-19 in a routine Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) which was conducted on Monday (February 7, 2022) and it was later confirmed by an RT-PCR test. 

The Lankan Lions are slated to play five T20Is beginning from February 11, 2022. The first two matches will be played in Sydney while the third game will be held in Canberra. 

The final two clashes will be played in Melbourne. Mendis is currently in isolation. 

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BPL 2022 | All round show from Barishal sails them past Sylhet Sunrisers

Barishal breezed past Sylhet Sunrisers winning their reverse fixture by 12 runs in the Bangladesh Premier League on Tuesday, 8 February. Sylhet, tottering at the bottom of the table at the moment were relinquished from a double defeat against Barishal after their first match was washed out by rain earlier due to rain. Chasing a steep total of 199 runs, Sylhet showed more character than they have all season with Colin Ingram’s counter attacking 90 off just 49 balls. An innings studded with boundaries all around the ground, Ingram cleared the fence just once in his entire innings, but scored 16 fours to lay a great foundation for Sunrisers. However, it was not to be as a triple wicket jolt between 14th and 15th over derailed their chase and put off the fire Sylhet’s batting department had shown in the first 10 overs. Needing 69 from the last 5 overs, Sylhet tried their best but a good 17th over from Ziaur Rahman and the final over from Bravo made sure that the chasing side conceded enough dot balls to get out of contention from winning the game. The two spinners in Najmul Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan took two each, and Dwayne Bravo managed to pick tw prized wickets of Mohammad Mithun and Mosaddek Hossain. Needing 24 from the final over, they only managed to score 11 and lost the game by 12 runs. The first innings started with blazing intent from Munim Shariar who went after everything. He showed intent against every bowler, picking up their lengths and pace beautifully during his stay. The innings was very high in terms of impact considering Chris Gayle on the other end would have taken lots of time to get into his groove, something that has been constant over the past two three years. Shariar raced away to his 50 in just 26 deliveries. He got out in the 7th over trying to clear the long on boundary when the score was at 72 runs in 6.4 overs. After the opener’s dismissal, Barishal were slow for a few overs with another wicket of Nurual Hasan, but the reins were taken hold off by Shakib Al Hasan once again who is having a fantastic tournament with both bat and ball. Shakib smashed his way to a 19-ball 38 before getting out in the 13th over, but provided the exact impetus that was required in the middle overs stage. Shakib’s onslaught meant that the runrate came up from 8.5 to 9.5 in the next few overs and the stage was set perfectly for a late Caribbean attack. Post Shakib’s departure, Chris Gayle blasted a couple of sixes and then a late attack by compatriot Dwayne Bravo in the last three overs got Barishal to yet another big score. Bravo and Gayle scored 42 off the last 21 balls, where Bravo himself was responsible for 34 off those. Barishal did not lose more wickets and scored 199 courtesy Gayle (52 off 45) and Bravo (34 off 13). Barishal once again proved to be clutch in crunch moments of the game with the spinners provind breakthrough at a time when Sylhet were chasing the target at 10 runs per over. From there it was just about game management which was led by the experience of Dwayne Bravo. With the win, Barishal now have 11 points from 8 games and are currently on a 5-game winning streak. On the other hand Sylhet have confirmed their place at the bottom of the table and will take the wooden spoon this season.