Jaffna Stallions become Lanka Premier League champions with dominant final win

In a fitting conclusion to a season where they seemed the best side, Jaffna Stallions became the Lanka Premier League champions after defeating Galle Gladiators by a comfortable margin of 53 runs. The star of the show was Man of the Match Shoaib Malik whose 46 off 35 with the bat was backed up with figures of 2/13 in three overs to power his team to victory.

The Stallions won the toss and elected to bat first in Hambantota. They posted a highly competitive 188/6 in their 20 overs. Malik was the top scorer but there was also help from captain Thisara Perera who, in his usual style, played a dazzling cameo of 39* off just 14 balls.

The platform was well laid by the openers Avishka Fernando and West Indian Johnson Charles. The former scored 27 while Charles chipped in with a quickfire 26. The first-wicket partnership produced 44 runs in a mere 4.4 overs. Dhananjaya de Silva's 33 off 20 balls at no. 5 was also a valuable contribution.

All the Gladiators' bowlers went at an economy rate of 9 or more runs per over. Dhananjaya Lakshan was the most successful with three wickets.

In reply, the Galle team suffered a top-order collapse with all their top-3 batsmen out for single-digit scores. The team was reduced to 3/7 in the second over, effectively ending their chances of winnign the match.

Some resistance came from the no. 4 batsman and captain Bhanuka Rajapaksa who smashed 40 off just 17 balls with four sixes. Wicketkeeper Azam Khan also played a cameo of 36 in 17 balls with four sixes. But these two sparkling knocks were mere flickers in the larger scheme of things. The rest of the batting line-up crumbled.

Apart from Malik, parsimonious spells were also bowled by Suranga Lakmal - 1/12 off three overs - and Wanindu Hasaranga - 1/18 in four overs. Hasaranga was also declared Player of the Tournament.

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Smith appreciates Kohli for being with his wife for their first child’s birth

Steven Smith, former Australia captain, lauded Indian skipper Virat Kohli for deciding to leave the Test midway to be with his wife Anushka Sharma for their first child’s birth. Kohli and Smith were interacting as part of a cricket Australia initiative to make the start of the Test series in Adelaide, more interesting by involving two of the greatest players of modern-day cricket in a conversation and get the world talking about it. “Obviously it’s unfortunate that you are only here for the first Test, but credit to you for having made that decision of going back home to be with your wife for the birth of your first child. I think it’s a milestone,” Smith said while answering one of Kohli’s questions during the interaction, which has been uploaded on cricket.com.au’s official YouTube channel. “I am sure you have had a lot of pressure to stay and play, but you would be kicking had you not made that decision, after all, we are human beings and there is life outside of the game as well,” he added. Earlier in the chat, Smith thanked Kohli for standing in his favour when the Indian fans were booing him [for the sandpaper gate] during the Australia-India World Cup match in 2019. “I appreciate that,” Smith said referring to Kohli’s gesture of sportsmanship and camaraderie. “I think I had sent you a message that night saying ‘Mate thanks for that, that was top class’,” added the 31-year-old. Replying to it, Kohli said, “Look things happen on the field. You had come back after a long time, having realized what had happened. Obviously, you guys had gone through what you were supposed to. I feel people make mistakes and they learn from it. I just believe it’s not fair to target individuals personally.” “It was that feeling at the moment that I had and I instinctively told them not to boo. And as much as we play against each other, there is always a human side to things,” he added.

My father’s death changed my attitude towards the game: Kohli

Just ahead of the first Test, Cricket Australia made two of the most looked up to, discussed and famous batters in Steve Smith and Virat Kohli sit in front of each other and discuss at length, the things that led to the success that they have had in their careers. During the interaction, answering a question about when did the Indian skipper thought of cricket as a real career prospect, Kohli said, “I always knew I wanted to play the game at the highest level.” “I always wanted to have that Blue shirt on and win games for India. But the time that I really thought I was going to make this career is when my father passed away. That’s the time I realized that I have got to get serious about it,” the 32-year-old added. Continuing further, Virat Told Smith that it was in the year 2006 when he had just turned 18 and that’s when he decided that cricket needed a proper commitment. “I became single-minded to play for India. I didn’t even think that I was going to get dropped ever,” he said. Smith on his part, answering a question as to how his cricketing journey began said, “Since I was about four years old, this is all I ever wanted to do. Play cricket.” “Every afternoon after school, my old man [father] would bowl to me. Ever since I held a bat I always wanted to be a cricketer and progressed through the ranks,” added the 31-year-old.

Virat Kohli picks Hanuma Vihari to play pivotal role in the Test series

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has picked young and upcoming lower middle-order batsman and more than good enough bowling option, Hanuma Vihari to play a key role in the upcoming Test series against Australia for India. Kohli believes that Vihari has got a solid technique and could therefore be the game-changer. “Yeah look, most runs [for India] I don’t know really, it could be anyone, but I am quite excited to see how Jinx [Ajinkya Rahane] goes. I am sure he will enjoy the responsibility of captaining. It’s his time to step up and I think he will really relish that opportunity. But, the one guy that I am really looking forward to seeing bat here is Hanuma Vihari. I think he is quite a solid player and really up and coming,” Kohli said while answering a question during his interaction with Steve Smith, which was uploaded on Cricket Australia’s official YouTube channel on the eve of the first Test between the two sides in Adelaide. The interaction was in a question-answer format where both Kohli and Smith were given cue cards with a question to ask each other. One such question asked both the players to predict the highest run scorers and highest wicket-taker in this series. Vihari has so far impressed on the tour as he has scored a century in one of the Warm-Up games. So far in 9 Tests, he has scored 552 runs in 16 innings with one hundred and fifties at an average of 36.8 The Indian skipper while picking the bowler said that he would like most of the bowlers to perform well and would want the highest wicket being shared like the last time. Smith, while answering the same question was hesitant in naming one person, but said that he would like to be the one.

Front press: The reason behind rising cases of concussion, says Gavaskar

Former India opening batsman and a batting legend, Sunil Gavaskar has called the batsmen’s trigger movement of going forward at the time of delivery of the ball as the reason behind rising cases of concussion or the ball hitting players in the head. During a discussion with AllanBorder on Sony Six channel, Gavaskar said, "It's more to do today with the fact that everybody has got this front press, where they are technically moving forward, which is a little bit difficult, which is the reason why on bouncy pitches you have [batsmen struggling]." "They are so much onto their front foot, they are not able to transfer their weight and then get out of the way. As a batsman you tend to get a little bit locked," added the 71-year-old. Calling it a technical fault, Gavaskar who played without a helmet throughout his career explained saying, "Most of the times batsmen getting hit on the helmet are in between the crease: where their front foot is outside the crease and their back foot in the crease. You will very seldom find a batsman getting hit if both his feet are inside the crease, near the stumps, because it has given the batsman that extra yard to either duck under the ball or sway out of the way. But that is not what is happening and that is the reason I believe they are getting hit." Giving examples of how those batsmen who are generally playing back and across agave more time in hand, the septuagenarian said "See, Virat Kohli plays [the] bouncer so well. Why does he play the bouncer so well? Because he has got that back-and-across movement, so he is sort of waiting on the back foot for that short ball.” The man who played 125 Tests for India and was the first batsman to get past 10,000 runs in International cricket gave another example from which cricketers of the present generation can learn. “Rahul Dravid, he used to wait on the back foot [to play] back-and-across. Sachin Tendulkar had a minimal front press, not a big front press. Therefore, he was still balanced when he played the short ball," He said.