If you do well at this level, selectors will notice: Dravid signals great opportunity for youngsters

ENG vs SL | 3rd T20I: Miserable Sri Lanka surrender yet again to suffer 3-0 whitewash

The same old story continued for the visiting Sri Lankan side in their tour of England as they went down by 89 runs in the final T20I to face a whitewash at the hands of the No 1 side in the T20I format. After losing the first two matches while batting first, Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Perera decided to chase but that didn’t change their fortunes. In the absence of Jason Roy and Jos Buttler, it was Dawid Malan who came out to open the innings with Jonny Bairstow. Malan did a commendable job in an unusual position for him and shared a 105 runs stand with Bairstow for the opening wicket. Both the batsmen struck some exceptional shots during their stay which set the foundation for the rest of the batsmen to go berserk in the last stretch of the innings. While Bairstow did take his time, Malan maintained an exceptional strike rate and reached his 2nd T20I fifty opening the batting. Bairstow was dismissed by a well-disguised slower delivery by Isuru Udana in the 12th over but Malan on the other end kept going. Liam Livingstone also looked in good touch but his wicket opened the floodgates for a collapse which was initiated by a super spell of fast bowling by Dushmantha Chameera. He varied his pace to perfection and reaped rewards in his second spell bagging 4 wickets for just 17 runs. From a position of utter dominance, England could only muster 180 in their allotted 20 overs in a belter of a wicket. The run-chase was a sorry tale as far as the visitors were concerned. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and could never really challenge the English score. David Willey and Chris Woakes broke their backbone bagging the two openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Perera respectively. Oshada Fernando struggled his way to 19 of 27 deliveries while Niroshan Dickwella and Binura Fernando were the two others who reached double figures. It was an embarrassing scorecard for the Lankans as they surrendered meekly. None of the English bowlers were too threatening but it was some ordinary batting from the visitors which led to their downfall. Willey ended as the pick of the bowlers with three while Sam Curran bagged a couple as the Lankans were skittled out for 91 in the 19th over handing the hosts a commanding 89 runs victory.

SL vs IND | Unrealistic to expect everyone to get a game, says Rahul Dravid

India’s coach on the team’s Sri Lanka tour has confirmed that every player cannot get a game, contrary to what people believed was the mantra of his coaching. The 48-year-old also differentiated between the international level and Under-19 and A level saying that at those levels it was possible to give opportunities to all, but right now the important thing is to win the series. “It’s slightly different. When you’re at the developmental level, the goal is different from this,” he said. “We have a really good squad here, 20 players. It will be unrealistic to expect everyone to get an opportunity in this short series,” Dravid added. This is the first time that the former India skipper is involved with the senior team as a coach and he feels that youngsters, even if they don’t get playing time, could learn a lot from senior guys. “We’ll come up with what we think is the best combination to win the series. There are plenty of youngsters, even if they don’t play, it’s a great opportunity for them to learn from seniors like Shikhar,” he said. Saying that “It’s very different worlds - Under19 and A team and this,” Dravid also emphasised that the treatment of this series is going to be different from what we have seen from Dravid so far. The Indian team will play three ODIs and an equal number of T20Is on its Sri Lanka tour starting with the first match on July 13 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

WI vs SA |1st T20I: Hosts annihilate Proteas after Test series debacle

Following a drubbing at the hands of the Proteas in the two-match Test series, the Caribbean team came roaring back to form in a format where they feel comfortable with. Courtesy impressive bowling performance from Fabian Allen a breezy knock of 71 by Evin Lewis, the hosts thrashed South Africa by 8 wickts to g0 1-0 up in 5 match T20I series. With the resounding defeat, the T20I skipper Temba Bavuma has to ponder upon the team selection that backfired. Before the start of this match, West Indies had previously chased down 160 plus scores in home conditions only once before but on this occasion, they chased down the target of 161 runs with 5 overs to spare. Windies skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and put the Proteas in. The skipper introduced the spinners right from the word go and though Kevin Sinclair conceded a few boundaries, Fabian Allen put the brakes on the Proteas as he bagged the wicket of Reeze Hendricks after a breezy start from the visitors. He bowled with guile and bamboozled the South African batting line-up with his impressive spell of 2/18 in his 4 overs spell. Quinton de Kock looked during his stay at the crease and was eventually dismissed on 37 of 24 deliveries by Andre Russell. Rassie Van der Dussen was South Africa’s top scorer as he stroked his way to a half-century as wickets fell around him. He struck 4 fours and a couple of sixes during his knock of 56 of 38 deliveries and was instrumental in taking the visitors overs the 160 mark. Allen and Dwayne Bravo were the pick of the bowlers with a couple of wickets each. The sort of start Evin Lewis and Andre Spiceman Fletcher provided to the hosts was more of a statement to the opposition about what they are capable of especially in this format. Both looked in a complete murderous mood and raced off to a 85 runs opening partnership in just 7 overs before the dismissal of Fletcher but by then the match was almost done and dusted. The hosts were bolstered by the return of Chris Gayle and Andre Russell and the two champion match-winner didn’t disappoint their fans. Gayle was at his usual self taking his time early on and then pressing on the launchpad. Evin Lewis on the other hand didn’t spare any of the South African bowlers and literally blew them away with an unbeaten knock of 71 of 35 deliveries. Lewis was eventually dismissed by Tabraiz Shamsi in the 12th over but the hosts needed just 30 odd runs and it was the big man Gayle and Muscle Russell who sealed the deal with 5 overs to spare. While Gayle remained unbeaten on 32, Russell was batting on 23 when the victory target was reached.

ENG W vs IND W: Shafali Verma becomes youngest Indian to feature in all three formats of the game

Indian Women opener Shafali Verma became the youngest Indian to feature in all three formats of the game after she was presented her ODI cap in the first game of the three-match ODI series against England. She is making her debut at 17 years and 150 days, which is the least for Indian cricketers, male or female. In the world, she is the fifth-youngest in a list that is topped by Afghanistan’s Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, who featured in all formats of the game when he was just 17 years and 78 days old. Haryana born Verma, was also the youngest Indian to play in a T20I when she made her debut against South Africa Women in September 2019, aged just 15 years and 236 days old. Since then, the right haded batter who reminds people of Viredner Sehwaga with her attacking batting has played 22 T20Is and a Test, scoring a combined total of 776 runs. She was presented her ODI cap by India Women skipper Mithali Raj and became the 131st women to represent India in ODIs. India were asked to bat after England skipper Heather Knight win the toss and decided to bowl first. A shocking decision was in the offing as well when India decided to bench Sneh Rana, the bowling all-rounder who saved the Test match single-handedly with her brilliant batting effort.