lanka beat England by 9 runs
london: Sri lanka weathered a belligerent knock of 66 from Alex Hales to beat England by nine runs on Tuesday in its first Twenty20 international since winning the world title last month. Allrounder Thisara Perera smashed 49 off 20 balls to lift the Sri lankans to 183-7 after being put into bat in a night match at The Oval. Just as England was faltering midway through its reply, Hales gave his team hope with a 41-ball salvo that included seven fours and two sixes and revived memories of his brilliant 116 not out against the same opponent at the World Cup in Bangladesh. However, the big-hitting opener was clean-bowled by fast bowler lasith Malinga, who then only conceded four runs off Sri lanka’s next-to-last over to finish with match-best figures of 3-28. That helped Sri lanka sneak home in the first international match of its tour, with England finishing on 174-7 and Ravi Bopara stranded on 28 not out. Brief Scores: Sri lanka: 183/7 (Thisara Perera 49, lahiru Thirimanne 40, Kithuruwan Vithanage 38; Harry Gurney 2-26) beat England: 174/7 (Alex Hales 66, Ravi Bopara 28 not out; lasith Malinga 3-28) by 9 runs.
Uthappa enjoying opener’s role
Kolkata: Robin Uthappa is relishing his new role as an opener alongside skipper Gautam Gambhir in Kolkata Knight Riders team and feels “confidence and understanding” was the mantra behind the duo’s success in the ongoing IPl-7. Both Uthappa and Gambhir has been out of the Indian team for quite some time now and would be eyeing a berth in the national squad for the upcoming England tour riding on their performances in the ongoing IPl. “The confidence is good for both of us. Gautam and I understand each other very well. We play to our plan and we complement each other well. We run very well in between the wickets. We egg each other on. We don’t really think about pressure. We just think of going out there and doing our job,” said Uthappa, who guided KKR to an eight-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings last night.
Chaos in PCB, SC reinstates Ashraf
Karachi: The turmoil in the Pakistan Cricket Board continued today with a three-member bench of the Supreme Court suspending the Islamabad High Court’s earlier decision of reinstating Zaka Ashraf as chairman of the PCB. The three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Anwar Zahir Jamali gave its decision after hearing arguments of the counsel for the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) which had filed the petition against the reinstatement of Ashraf. Counsel Asma Jahangir told the bench that the IHC’s intrusion into cricket matters had undermined the sport and hit Pakistan’s image at home and abroad. The three member bench annulled the IHC’s decision given by Justice Nurul Haq Qureshi that ordered the reinstatement of Ashraf last Saturday. The Supreme Court has now issued notices to the concerned parties to appear before it on May 27 for further hearing and arguments of the petition. Today’s ruling means that the situation remains uncertain in Pakistan cricket as no one is sure what will happen at the May 27 hearing.
Team for Bangladesh by end of May
Mumbai: The Indian squad for the short visit to Bangladesh would be picked at the end of this month, according to BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel. “The team for Bangladesh would be selected at the end of this month, most probably in Bangalore (venue of IPl final on June 1),” Patel said on Wednesday. India are to play a short series of three ODIs in Dhaka between June 15 and 19, reaching Bangladesh on June 13 and leaving for home on June 20. Agencies