Sri Lanka was involved in another nail-biting Test match once again during 2014 as the month of August began with Test wins for Sri Lanka and England over arch-rivals Pakistan and India respectively. The unstoppable Kumar Sangakkara regained his spot at the top of the ICC Test batting rankings following the astonishing 10th double-century in his Test career.
Collective Sri Lanka beat Rain and Pakistan
In Mahela’s farewell test in Galle, Sri Lanka registered a remarkable 7-wicket victory over Pakistan when they chased down a target of 99 in just 16.2 overs. Weather gods stood firmly by team Sri Lanka as they campaigned ferociously towards a win. The rain clouds threatened all the while over the Galle stadium but miraculously held on without falling till Sri Lanka scored their winning run which came off captain Mathews’ bat.
Rangana Herath’s six wicket haul in the Pakistan second innings turned the game on its head as they were bowled out for a paltry 180 in their second innings leaving just 99 runs for Sri Lanka to get to secure a win. Earlier in the Test, Pakistan posted a sizeable score of 451 with experienced Younus Khan top-scoring with 177 runs. Sri Lanka responded brilliantly as Kumar Sangakkara scored his 10th double ton to hold second spot to the Sir Don and give his country a lead of 82 runs as the hosts amassed 533 in their 1st innings.
England thrash India within 3 days
India were bowled out in less than 50 overs twice by the English seamers as the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the 5-match series beating India by an innings and 54 runs in the 4th Test played at Manchester. India was shot out for a paltry 152 in their 1st innings as skipper MS Dhoni top-scored with a fluent 71 with 15 fours. Broad and Anderson relished the extra bounce and lateral movement the pitch offered and tore into the Indian batting sharing nine wickets between them with Broad being the tormenter capturing 6 wickets for just 25 runs. Joe Root and Jos Buttler made fighting 70s as England posted 367 runs on the board in their batting essay after the Indian seamers shined with the new ball. The visitors struggled once again as they were bowled out for 161 in their 2nd innings with off-spinner Moeen Ali claiming 4 wickets.
Sangakkara reclaims number 1 spot in Test batting rankings
Sri Lanka’s batting giant Kumar Sangakkara has regained the number one Test batting spot in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following his 10th double century in the Galle Test which Sri Lanka won by seven wickets to lead Pakistan by 1- in a two-Test series. The 36-year-old has been enjoying a superb summer with the bat this year, having scored 1350 runs at an average of 84.37 in the longest format of the game. His 211 at the Galle International Stadium was his fourth century in 2014, to go with a triple century and century against Bangladesh at Chittagong and a 147 which got his name on the honours board at Lord’s.
Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews, who has been one of the best Test performers this year, sees himself break into the top five for the first time in his career. With a batting average of 94.85 this summer, Mathews has been an integral part of the Sri Lankan team that registered its first ever series win in England in June and took the island nation home against Pakistan scoring 25* from just 13 balls in the fourth innings last Sunday.
Saeed Ajmal reported for illegal action
Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during his side`s seven-wicket loss in the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium on August 10th.
The off-spinner must undergo testing within 21 days, an ICC media release said. Ajmal was previously reported in 2009 after two ODIs against Australia in Dubai, but his action was passed as legal after extensive testing. He will be allowed to continue playing during that period, with the second Test starting in Colombo on August 14th.
Lyon back in Australia ODI squad
Spinner Nathan Lyon has been recalled to the Australia’s squad for the tour to Zimbabwe after two years out of one-day international cricket. All-rounders Ben Cutting and Mitchell Marsh, as well as seamer Kane Richardson, were all included in the squad. Australia will face Zimbabwe and South Africa in a triangular series from August 25 on their first trip to the southern African country in a decade.
Full Squad: Michael Clarke (captain), George Bailey, Ben Cutting, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Shane Watson.
Uncapped Sanju Samson and Karn Sharma named in India ODI & T20 squad
19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson and leg spinning all-rounder Karn Sharma have been named in India’s 17-man squad for the five ODIs and one-off Twenty20 against England. Seamer Dhawal Kulkarni, who was picked in the ODI squad for the home series against West Indies last year but was then ruled out with injury, has been included once again.
Full Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain &wicket keeper), Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sanju Samson, Karn Sharma.
South Africa call up Rossouw, Shezi for Zimbabwe ODIs
The Proteas have named South Africa ‘A’ batsman Rilee Rossouw and seam bowler Mthokozisi Shezi in their squad for 3 one-day internationals against Zimbabwe later this month.
Fast bowler Marchant de Lange has also been drafted into the squad. The selectors have decided to rest Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, though they will return for the triangular competition, also involving Australia, which starts on August 25.
Full Squad: AB de Villiers (Captain), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Marchant de Lange, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Rilee Rossouw, Mthokozisi Shezi
