Three Sri Lanka players test positive for Covid-19 at Women's World Cup Qualifier

The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2021 in Zimbabwe suffered a blow after three Sri Lankan players were tested positive for Covid-19. The players have been put under isolation and have been provided with the medical care.

Apart from the three cricketers, other Sri Lankan players have tested negative but have been isolated as a precautionary measure. The ICC Head of Events Chris Tetley has said that the tournament will continue as per the schedule.

"We have playing squads of 15 at the event, which allows for injuries and illness, including COVID-19 to be managed, and in addition teams have had the option of bringing travelling reserves with them,” he said.

"As you would expect, the remainder of the squad are being closely monitored and they will all be re-tested ahead of taking to the field on Tuesday,” he added.

"The event bio-security plan provides us with protocols to manage positive tests effectively with the intention of enabling the event to proceed whilst keeping all other players and participants safe," said Tetley.

Sri Lanka are slated to play the Netherlands on Tuesday, 23 November in Harare and will then take on West Indies on Saturday and Ireland on Monday respectively.

Discover more

BAN vs PAK | 3rd T20I: Shahnawaz Dahani makes debut for Pakistan

Fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani is all set to make his T20I debut for Pakistan against Bangladesh on Monday in Dhaka. The right-hander was the most successful bowler in the Pakistan Super League this year as he was a part of the Multan Sultans in the tournament and was rewarded for the same after he was picked for the T20 World Cup by the selectors as one of the reserved players. Pakistan have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Earlier, all-rounder Shoaib Malik opted out of the final game as it was reported that he would be flying to Dubai due to an illness to his child. The Babar Azam-led side has been in some good form in the recent past. They had won all the matches in the group stage in the T20 World Cup before bowing out of the tournament in the semis and have continued the form against Bangladesh as well. The T20I series will be followed by a two-match Test series slated to begin on November 26 in Chattogram.

Jeremy Solozano to play no further part in Test; Shai Hope named as concussion substitute

Injured West Indian debutant, Jeremy Solozano has been ruled out of the first Test match against Sri Lanka. Solozano’s debut day was cut short by a horrific injury on Day 1 after he copped a vicious blow from Dimuth Karunaratne at short leg. He was taken for scans after looking dazed from the blow and West Indies has updated late on Sunday night that Solozano had not suffered any structural damage but would be kept overnight for further observation. After the 26-year-old got stretched off by the medical staff at Galle International Stadium in Colombo, Shai Hope fielded for the rest of the day and now, he has been named as the concussion substitute for the rest of the match as well. The rule states that teams would have to play like-for-like replacements for the injured player and the 28-year-old right hand batter has been approved as the same. Meanwhile, West Indies found early inroads into the Test match on Day 2 after being made to toil hard on the first day of the game. At the time of writing Sri Lanka were batting at 345-6 having batted 121.4 overs. Dinesh Chandimal (37 off 71) and Suranga Lakmal (6 off 32) were at the crease.

Karnataka top order topple early in the finals of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy

Sent to bat first after losing the toss, Karnataka were pushed to the backfoot by Tamil Nadu spinners in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final. Playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Karnataka lost their top order inside the powerplay overs inside the powerplay. R Sai Kishore was the prime factor behind Karnataka’s woes as he broke the back of the batting unit dismissing two of their most experienced batters. Sai Kishore removed Rohan Kadam with a traditional off spinner that drew the batsman forward and turned big on him and then returned to pick up Manish Pandey with a straighter one. Vijay Shankar’s persistence with the spinners paid off as Karnataka were reduced to 34/3 inside the powerplay with Pandey, Kadam and Karun Nair all back in the hut. At the time of writing Karnataka were rebuilding with BS Sharath and Abhinav Manohar on strike.

SMAT 2021 Final | T Natarajan returns back for title clash against Karnataka

Tamil Nadu’s left-arm fast bowler T. Natarajan was included in the playing XI for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final against Karnataka on Monday in Delhi. The pacer had played four games in this edition of the SMAT and scalped a total of five wickets during the course before he was rested. Natarajan had undergone a knee injury in April after which he hasn’t really been playing consistently. He was a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s playing XI for a couple of matches in the second leg while wasn’t picked for the T20 World Cup that happened in UAE recently. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu bowlers and especially R Sai Kishore thoroughly dominated the Karnataka batting line up in the power play overs after picking up three wickets. Kishore had bowled three overs and picked up two wickets for 9 nine runs in the first six overs while Sanjay Yadav was the second bowler who was among the wickets. The three wickets included the dismissals of Manish Pandey and Karun Nair. Tamil Nadu defeated Hyderabad in the semi-final to make a place in the final while Karnataka beat Vidarbha to march ahead.