England Women name 16 member squad for ODIs vs India; Sophia Dunkley ready for ODI debut

ENG vs SL | 1st T20I, Preview: Searching for answers to many questions, Kusal Perera’s litmus test begins

Sri Lanka are going through probably their worst phase in limited-overs cricket in recent history. In their last 10 ODI series, they won just two and that too at home and against oppositions like Bangladesh and West Indies. On away tours to even those nations, they lost and lost badly. When it comes to T20Is, the condition is even worse as the team has been able to win just five out of the 22 games it has played in its last 10 series. It is not only the matters of losing but the manner of it. There has been too much chopping and changing of captaincy and the issue with not being offered sable contracts has also hampered the playing abilities of a lot of its players. The transition phase in which it lost greats like Kumara Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene hit Lankan cricket hard as the responsibility to guide the team lay on the likes of Angelo Mathews, Laistha Malinga and Dinesh Chandimal and more often than not, they were found lacking. Now, Kusal Perera, the wicket-keeper batsman and a destructive oper has been given the reins of the team and even after a disappointing 1-2 ODI series loss in Bangladesh, he has been trusted to deliver. Now, will he be able to do it is a question that shall be answered over the course of six games, starting with the first game of the T20I series on June 23. But the team that this Sri Lankan side would be up against is one of the firm favourites for the upcoming T20 World Cup. In their last 10 series, the team has lost only two, both against India at home and away. In those 10 series, they played 30 games and won 20 of them. However, Eoin Morgan’s men have problems of their own with allegations of racism and Test being given the second preference ahead of the limited-overs being levelled against the skipper, selectors and team. It is amidst all things un cricket that the English team would take the field and look to romp off authority to make cricket once again the talking point. England vs Sri Lanka: Match Details Match Number- 1st T20I Date and Time: June 23, 2021, 11:0 pm IST, 06:30 pm Local Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony Sports Network and Sony LIV Pitch Report A high scoring venue, Gardens has been home to England’s first limited-overs game of the summer for quite some time now. In fact, in the seven T20I games that the English sie has played here, they have won all of them. Amongst the wins, six have come chasing, suggesting that chasing has been the favoured decision of the skippers. Although England haven’t lost a game here, Sri Lanka can still take inspiration from Bangladesh’s shocking win over Australia in 2005, which headlined the venue. Weather and Toss With only a 2-6% chance of rain from 6 pm to 10 pm in Cardiff, this match seems to be showerproof, a relief considering how fans across the world have been disappointed and irritated with rain and bad light disturbing the play of the World Test Championship going on in Southampton. Captains winning the toss would definitely go for bowl first approach. Team News England The hots have selected a strong T20I squad comprising of heavyweights like Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and the Curran brothers alongside the skipper of course. It would be interesting to see the playing XI as players like Chris Woakes, Liam Dawson and David Willey have also been drawn into the squad. In all probabilities, the English team would go in with three pacers and two spinners option in which case Mark Wood, Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes could be the three pacers and Sam Curran could play as the second bowling all-rounder with Moeen Ali. Probable XI Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(wk), Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan(c), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood Sri Lanka As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, they would like to go in with proven talents in the shorter format like Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga as two spinning all-rounders and Lakshan Sandakan as a pepper chinaman options alongside three pace bowling options of Dushmantha Chameera, Isuru Udana and Dasun Shanaka. In batting, they might prefer Dhanushka Gunathilaka over Avishka Fernando at the top. Probable XI Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Perera(c), Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya De-Silva, Niroshan Dickwella(wk), Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Isuru Udana, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan Dream XI / Fantasy XI Team Kusal Perera, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(wk), Jonny Bairstow (c), Dawid Malan, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya De-Silva, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Isuru Udana, Lakshan Sandakan

WTC final | Day 5: Mohammed Shami, Tim Southee keep batsmen on edge to keep contest alive

‘The Ulitmate Test’ has reached its pinnacle on to the sixth and the reserve day on the back of persistent bad weather across the five days of the game and impressive cricket from sides, who did not give up an inch in pursuit of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship. At the end of the day’s play on a penultimate day, India were 64 at the loss of both openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma to the guile and variety of Tim Southee. The three-quarter seam delivery that he has developed in his armoury to deceive batsmen has paid him rich dividend son the tour of England and accounted for both Sharma and Gill on the fifth day. Cheteshwar Pujara carried on with his tried and tested approach of holding fort one end with the best possible defence while Virat Kohli was tested by Southee towards the fag end of the day after he walked to bat after the departure of Rohit Sharma. Earlier, New Zealand’s first innings was halted at 249 after they took a vital lead of 32 runs. Skipper Kane Williamson held on end strongly while valuable contributions from lower-order batsmen such as Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson carried over India’s first innings score of 217. The fifth day did not begin as the Blackcaps would have planned with India bowling tight lines in a similar display of discipline they had put on the third day. However, there was a definite change in their modus operandi as Mohammed Shami in particular switched to bowling fuller lengths. Ross Taylor was caught at mid-off by a diving Gill when Shami enticed him to go for a drive on the up while Henry Nicholls was done in by Ishant Sharm from round the wicket. Shami was not done for the day and found a perfect delivery to hit the top of BJ Watling’s middle stump to leave New Zealand rattled by the lunch interval. The post-lunch session began on an auspicious note as Shami trapped Colin de Grandhomme with a hooping inswinger and left Blackcaps in the lurch. However, the old nemesis of the Indian bowling lineup—the lower order batsmen stitched a valuable partnership with Williamson to frustrate Indians and took their side past the 212-run mark. Ishant Sharma got the big wicket of Kane Williamson and R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja gave much-needed relief to a tiring Shami and Ishant by cleaning up Neil Wagner and Southee. India have a lead of 32 runs and eight wickets in hands with 98 overs remaining to be bowled on the final day of the Test provided the weather god will finally be kind to the game and its fans.

ENG vs SL 2021: Eoin Morgan refuses to acknowledge discriminatory undertone of his controversial tweet

England skipper Eoin Morgan has refused to comment any further on his controversial tweet from 2018. The left-hander batsman said that the ‘Sir’ used by him in his tweet (which is no longer available) was to show respect, contrary to what most people interpreted it as being a discriminatory undertone on South Asian players’ English accent. Speaking during a pre-T20I series press conference in Cardiff, Wales, Morgan said, "I don't reflect on it a lot. If I call someone sir on social media it is a sign of admiration and respect. If that is taken out of context there is nothing I can control or do about it so I have not looked into it." The tweet in question is from 2018 when tagging Jos Buttler, his national team deputy and wrote, “Sir, You are my favourite batsman”. Quoting his tweet, former New Zealand captain and current chief coach of Kolkata Knight Riders had written, “@josbuttler Sir, you play very good Opening batting”. It is this tweet that sent out the racially discriminatory undertone. Amidst the storm in which England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to suspend Ollie Robinson for his abusive tweets, questions were raised over the conduct of many English players and Morgan was one of them.

Tim Southee picks 600 international wickets, stands behind only Daniel Vettori among New Zealanders

With the opening wicket of Shubman Gill in India’s second innings of the World Test Championship final, Tim Southee has reached a special milestone of becoming the only second New Zealand cricketer to have taken 600 wickets at the international level. Southee has taken 311 wickets in Test, 190 in the ODI ricket and 90 wickets in the T20Is so far in his career. He is behind only left-arm spinner and former captain Daneil Vettori, who has had 696 wickets at the international stage and the third man behind him is Sir Richard Hadlee, who had taken 589 wickets. Southee also made significant progress in his batting achievements as he surpassed former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on the list of leading six-hitter in the Test cricket. Southee has featured in 79 Test matches including the World Test Championship final since making his debut in 2008 against England. He has gone on to become the spearhead of the New Zealand pace attack over the last many years. He has taken 311 Test wickets at an average of 28.39 rusn per wicket and strike rate of 57.28 balls per wicket, while his 190 wickets in ODIs have come at an average of 34.51 and strike rate 37.87. He has not been able to crack the T20 code and has a career economy rate of 8.39 runs per over, but has taken 99 wickets at average of 24.82.