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Chennai Super Kings, the IPL champions, and Mumbai Indians will be part of the same group in the Champions League Twenty20 starting September this year

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2011Chennai Super Kings, the IPL champions, and Mumbai Indians will be part of the same group in the Champions League Twenty20 starting September this year. The tournament, which runs from September 23 to October 9, will be preceded by a qualifier phase from which three teams will progress to the main round to compete with seven others. The qualifiers will be held in Hyderabad between September 19 and 21, while the main tournament will be spread across three cities – Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.The ten teams in the tournament proper will be divided into two groups of five, with Chennai, Mumbai, New South Wales Blues, Cape Cobras and one team from the qualifier phase comprising Group A. Group B includes Royal Challengers Bangalore, Warriors, South Australia Redbacks and two teams (ranked 1 and 3) from the qualifier round. Bangalore take on Warriors in the tournament opener at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals (in Bangalore and Chennai), and the winners play the final in Chennai.The teams in the qualifiers are divided into two groups of three. Kolkata Knight Riders, a team from England and Auckland, champions of the HRV Cup, form Group A. The Caribbean T20 champions Trinidad and Tobago, another team from England and one team from Sri Lanka make up Group B. The top teams in each pool followed by the next highest ranked team will progress to the Champions League.The new Future Tours Programme (FTP) includes an official window for the Champions League, enabling international stars to participate in the competition, jointly organised by the boards of India, South Africa and Australia.

Scotland experienced some hiccups in what was meant to be an easy chase, but held their nerve to beat Afghanistan by two wickets and sealed their place in the World Cricket League Division One final with Ireland

Cricinfo staff09-Jul-2010Scotland experienced some hiccups in what was meant to be an easy chase, but held their nerve to beat Afghanistan by two wickets in Rotterdam and sealed their place in the World Cricket League Division One final with Ireland.Through a combined bowling effort, they skittled out Afghanistan for 141. Left-arm spinner Ross Lyons bagged three wickets and was supported by seamer Gordon Goudie and the leg-spin of Moneeb Iqbal, who took two wickets each. Afghanistan had begun poorly, losing two wickets inside the first five overs and despite a middle-order resistance led by captain Nawroz Mangal, who top scored with 38, they collapsed to lose their last six wickets for 43.Opener Fraser Watts held firm for Scotland in their chase with his patient 46, and at 105 for 3 it seemed they were on track for a comfortable win. But Mangal, seamer Hamid Hassan and offspinner Mohammad Nabi caused a scare, nipping out five wickets in quick time, including the last three for just five runs. However, amid the stutter, Iqbal fought the pressure with a guarded 15, off 36 balls, to keep one end stable and help his team to victory with more than six overs to spare.Ireland completed their fifth consecutive win in the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 by beating the Netherlands by 39 runs at Amstelveen and entered Saturday’s final as the only unbeaten team in the tournament. The victory was made possible by Ireland’s middle and lower order, which led the team to 177, and their bowlers, who skittled the Netherlands for 138 in the 39th over.The stars of Ireland’s defense were spinners George Dockrell and Paul Stirling, who picked up four wickets each. Dockrell claimed 4 for 35 while Stirling’s four cost only 11 in 6.5 overs. They cut through the Netherlands line-up, preventing partnerships and stifling the run-rate. Peter Borren top scored with 47, and his 73-run partnership with Bas Zuiderant shepherded the innings from 59 for 4 to 132, giving the hosts hope. Borren’s dismissal, however, triggered a collapse and the last six wickets fell for six runs.Ireland had also suffered a collapse in their innings, that of the top order. They slumped to 59 for 5 before John Mooney anchored the innings with a half-century. Useful 20s from Andrew White and Nigel Jones propped up the innings. Mark Jonkman and Bernard Loots took three wickets apiece for the Netherlands.31-year-old Loots, who replaced Maurits Jonkman in the Netherlands side only on Thursday evening, was thrilled with his debut performance. “I heard on Tuesday that I may be playing and the clearance came through yesterday so it’s been exciting and also happened quite quickly,” he said. “I bowled decently although it was very disappointing to lose as that would have crowned the day for me. I’m realistic about my role in the side – I know I’m there more as a container than a striker but I only went for two runs an over today and I’ll settle for that and the three wickets were a great bonus.”In the clash of winless teams in Schiedam, Canada thumped Kenya by six wickets. Canada’s captain Ashish Bagai made his third half-century in five matches to guide the chase after the bowlers had restricted Kenya to 153.Such a one-sided encounter didn’t seem likely when Kenyan captain Maurice Ouma (38) and Collins Obuya (23) had steered them to 105 for 3 by the 32nd over. However, the Kenyan lower-order collapsed spectacularly, the final seven wickets going down for 48 runs, with the last five only collecting 13. New-ball bowler Harvir Baidwan was the most successful of the Canadian bowlers, taking three wickets.Canada were in a bit of a bother at 71 for 4, but Bagai and Zubin Surkari stitched together an unbroken 83-run stand to reach the target with more than 14 overs to spare. Bagai scored the bulk of the runs, hitting nine fours on his way to a 78-ball 61. The two sides face off again on Saturday to in the fifth place play-off.

Two black-soil surfaces are being prepared, but it isn’t clear yet which one will be used for the Kanpur Test

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-20242:23

Manjrekar: I will play Kuldeep Yadav for second Test

There is some uncertainty around the conditions that the second Test between India and Bangladesh will be played in with representatives from both teams admitting that they didn’t know which pitch will be used.”To be honest, I don’t know which surface we are going to play on yet,” India batting coach Abhishek Nayar said on Thursday afternoon, which followed similar thoughts expressed by Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe on Wednesday.”Yes I had a look at [the pitch],” Hathurusinghe had said, “But the groundsman has prepared two pitches. We don’t know on which we will play on. Tomorrow we will find out.”During Wednesday’s training session, India captain Rohit Sharma and coach Gautam Gambhir had a look at the two pitches that have been prepared for this Test match. They seemed to spend a little more time looking at the drier of the two black-soil surfaces.Related

• Green Park's C stand deemed 'unsafe' for India-Bangladesh Test

• Pant re-enters Test batting rankings at No. 6 after Chennai century

• Domestic grind prepares Akash well for the deep end

• Weather and pitch in focus as India, Bangladesh ponder three spinners

Indications are it might start as a good batting surface before taking slow and low turn from the third day onwards. But the weather in the week of the Test match might complicate matters. It’s overcast and there are thunder storms expected on the first three days of the game, which may slow down the natural wear and tear that helps subcontinental pitches become spin-friendly. There was some rain after India’s training session ended on Thursday as well and the groundstaff were quick to get the square covered.India, as a result, are waiting until the morning of the Test to finalise their XI, specifically whether they need an extra spinner instead of the extra seamer they used on Chennai’s red-soil surface.”Both the pitches look pretty good,” Nayar said. “Kanpur is always known to have good pitches. I am not sure about the bounce yet. I think, with the conditions and the forecast, it is going to be interesting as to how when we turn up to go in the morning, the conditions are. I think a lot will depend on that because as you know in Test wicket, conditions can be a huge factor in how the pitch plays. So it is too early for us to judge and decide or have any sort of thought process on the pitch or the conditions. But we are hoping we come in tomorrow to a sunny day and not an overcast Kanpur.”India lead the series 1-0 and if they go in with a spinner over a seamer, their choice will be between local boy Kuldeep Yadav, who had an outstanding series against England at the start of the year, and Axar Patel, whose ability to relentlessly attack the stumps can come in quite handy if there is low bounce. Axar joined R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the last Test that India played in Kanpur, against New Zealand in 2021, which went into the fifth day with the visitors holding onto their last wicket and drawing the game.

Fast bowler named in 15-player squad with England needing 3-0 win to take series

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2023Fast bowler Lauren Filer is in line for her England white-ball debut, in the wake of her fiery performance in the Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge last month, after being named in a 15-person squad for the three ODIs against Australia next week.Filer, who touched speeds in excess of 75mph at Trent Bridge to live up to her reputation as the fastest female bowler in the country, comes into the reckoning with England needing a 3-0 clean sweep of the ODI series if they are to reclaim the Ashes for the first time since 2015.With the onus on victory, Filer could conceivably be unleashed alongside her fellow quick, 21-year-old Issy Wong, who was overlooked for the Test and hasn’t featured for England since the T20I leg of their tour of West Indies in December.Also included is the opening batter, Tammy Beaumont, whose England-record 208 underpinned her side’s strong first-innings batting display in the Test match, which Australia eventually won by 89 runs to claim four points towards their Ashes defence.Beaumont underlined her strong white-ball form with a match-winning 83 not out from 62 balls for The Blaze against Northern Diamonds in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy last week, and having missed the T20I leg of the Ashes, is set to resume her place at the top of the 50-over batting order.England head into the ODIs with confidence after coming from behind to seal a thrilling 2-1 victory in the T20Is, Australia’s first loss in any series since the corresponding leg of the 2017-18 Ashes.That leg was played out in front of a series of crowds in the region of 20,000 at Edgbaston, The Oval and Lord’s, and Heather Knight’s team are hopeful of similar support at Bristol (July 12), Southampton (July 16) and Taunton (July 18), all of which are sell-outs.Head coach Jon Lewis said: “We were delighted with our T20 series win and look forward to the next stage of the Ashes with everything to play for.”We’re pleased to welcome Tammy (Beaumont) and Lauren (Filer) back into the group. Tammy showed her quality during the Test match with her double-hundred while Lauren offers us real pace in our bowling alongside Issy (Wong).”The support the team have received throughout the series so far has been incredible and it is fitting to finish with this deciding ODI campaign as the first sell-out series in England Women’s history.”We respect Australia and know that this part of the Ashes series will again be a big challenge. However, we take a great deal of confidence and belief from our recent T20 victories and will, as always, be trying to put on a great showing for our fans.”England squad: Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Issy Wong, Danielle Wyatt

Jamie Overton tops 90mph/145kph at The Oval, according to new speed-gun data

Matt Roller27-Apr-2022The leading fast bowlers on the county circuit are having their speeds tracked in the early stages of the Championship season as the ECB’s scouting and talent identification department look to improve the quality of data available before players are selected for England.While bowling coaches can use handheld guns that measure bowling speeds from a short distance away in training, it has historically been unusual for them to be recorded in county cricket outside of televised games.But this summer, the ECB are using three ‘radar’ speed guns – similar to those used in baseball – to track the speeds of England-qualified fast bowlers around the country.Related

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Last week, they were in use at The Oval – where Jamie Overton was clocked at a top speed above 90mph/145kph – as well as Wantage Road and Edgbaston. The ECB believes that there is a difference of around 3mph between bowlers’ speeds as measured by the radar guns and those used in televised games, meaning Overton’s true top speed may have been even higher.As well as fast bowlers’ average and top speeds, ECB scouts will take interest in the drop-off in pace during and between spells, which will help illustrate a player’s ability to sustain their top speeds across a four-day game.The data will also enable batters’ ability against high-pace bowlers to be evaluated more accurately, rather than relying on first-hand scouting reports or speeds from televised white-ball games.In the longer term, the ECB is working on a project to introduce ball-tracking technology in all county cricket, which it believes will be a major breakthrough for scouting and talent identification.That would involve umpires wearing small, GoPro-style cameras on their coats or hats, with trials held in ‘best vs best’ age-group fixtures at the high-performance centre at Loughborough last year.

The PCB also has the option to extend his contract till the 2023 50-over World Cup.

Umar Farooq12-Nov-2020Younis Khan will be Pakistan’s full-time batting coach, after he accepted a long-term deal from the PCB to train the national team at least until the 2022 T20 World Cup. The PCB also has the option to consider extending Younis’ contract for another term, till the 2023 50-over World Cup. In addition to his role with the national team, Younis will also run the Batsmen Development Program at the Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre in Karachi.Younis had travelled with the team to England during the summer on a short-term stint as a batting consultant, with the PCB keen to fully integrate him into the coaching system. His immediate assignment now will be to assist the team’s head coach Misbah-ul-Haq in New Zealand, as Pakistan will fly out on November 23 for a tour that includes three T20Is and two Tests.”I am pleased to join the Pakistan cricket set-up on a long-term basis,” Younis said. “I felt honoured when I was given the opportunity this summer and thoroughly enjoyed my time, and I now look forward to continuing the work with the same group of people on an important tour of New Zealand. I am particularly happy that my scope of work has been extended beyond the national duties.”I am equally interested and keen at working at the domestic level by identifying potential batsmen and then helping them improve their skills. However, I want to remind all fans and followers that there is a process to achieve excellence and while some improvements can be noticed quickly, this will require lots of hard work, perseverance and patience before the required skills are embedded and start producing consistent results.”Younis’ integration into the Pakistan coaching set-up hasn’t been straightforward, as the former batsman had turned down the PCB on two previous occasions. The board had earlier tried to rope him in to work at the development level at the NCA, but those talks didn’t materialise into anything concrete. Then, in May last year, Younis was close to taking up a role as the country’s Under-19 coach, but that plan, too, did not come to pass. One of the sticking points, ESPNcricinfo reported, had to do with finances, while the other was with the job profile, as the PCB had proposed for Younis to be only a mentor and coach, while the former captain wanted a bigger say in the national team’s selection as well.The PCB moved on and turned to other former players, with an aim of revamping the entire coaching structure. While Younis brings with him vast experience as Pakistan’s highest scorer in Test cricket, he has had a frayed relationship with the PCB over the years. However, a pep talk that he gave to the players on video during the Covid-19 enforced lockdown earlier this year, as well as his first stint as batting coach in England, seem to have mended some bridges. Younis even received positive feedback from the backroom staff for his role during the tour of England, where he had to deal with a large pool of players.”I am delighted that Younis will now be with us for, at least, the next two years as a batting coach,” Wasim Khan, the PCB chief, said in a statement. “The feedback we received about Younis’ impact in a short period of time in England was excellent. His work ethics, commitment and knowledge are second to none, and I am confident that his appointment will benefit a number of talented batsmen who have either recently broken into the national side or are knocking on the door of international cricket.”The PCB will also be utilising his expertise and skills when he’s not on national duty as he will help local batsmen hone their skills. This is part of the PCB’s strategy to appoint highly-qualified and respected coaches across all major centres of the country so that we can start producing cricketers who can represent Pakistan with distinction.”

A new CAC comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shanta Rangaswamy is expected to announce the next coach by mid-August

Nagraj Gollapudi29-Jul-20190:41

Everyone in the team shares mutual respect with Ravi ‘bhai’ – Kohli

A day before the window for the applications for India’s coaching staff closes, captain Virat Kohli has endorsed Ravi Shastri for continuing as the head coach. Shastri and the rest of the coaching staff’s tenure was originally until the World Cup, but the BCCI extended that till the end of India’s tour of the West Indies, which is scheduled to finish on September 3.”With Ravi , all of us have a great camaraderie, everyone in the team shares mutual respect [with him]. And we have done really well together as a group,” Kohli said at the pre-departure press conference for the tour of USA and West Indies. “Yeah, we will definitely be very happy if he is continuing as a coach, but as I said it is upon the CAC to seek my advice or opinion if they want. Right now, I haven’t been contacted at all. And I don’t know what is going to happen with the process.”Earlier this month, the BCCI put out an advertisement inviting applications for the entire coaching staff with July 30 as the deadline. It is understood that the next coach is likely to be announced by mid-August.While posting the advertisement the BCCI said Shastri and the rest of the existing coaching staff comprising Sanjay Bangar (assistant coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach) would get automatic entries during the recruitment process but will be interviewed if shortlisted.The interviews would be carried out by a three-person Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising former India captain Kapil Dev, former India batsman and coach Anshuman Gaekwad and former India women’s captain Shanta Rangaswamy. This CAC replaced the previous panel comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, which had picked the previous two India coaches: Anil Kumble in 2016 and Shastri a year later after the former decided to resign.According to Kohli, the new CAC had not yet contacted him, but he was open to give his opinion if sought. “The CAC hasn’t contacted me yet,” Kohli said. “If they tell me we want your opinion, yes, I’ll definitely go and speak to them.”Incidentally, before Kumble stepped down controversially, Kohli had been contacted by the previous CAC, which had tried to sort the differences between the pair. It is understood Kohli did not want to budge, which eventually resulted in Kumble opting to walk away.Shastri replaced him albeit after the CAC took some time to finalise its choice. Having conducted the interviews with Shastri and four other candidates, the CAC had then spoken to Kohli before the BCCI announced Shastri as the new coach.This time the CAC will have about two weeks to shortlist the candidates and conduct interviews. Although the CAC has not been given a deadline, it is understood the panel is likely to make its choice around August 14.Gaekwad, who was India’s head coach between 1997 and 1999, said that the CAC would look for a couple of specific criteria in the shortlisted candidates. “You need to have good man-management skills,” Gaekwad told ESPNcricinfo. “There is not much technically you can do [at this level], but surely you need to keep an eye on the players who can develop some kind of snag over a period of time which ought to be corrected immediately. So man-management and planning are the key elements.”

Dinesh Karthik has been picked as replacement, ahead of Parthiv Patel

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-20180:44

Quickinfo – Dinesh Karthik returns

A thumb injury sustained in the IPL has ruled India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha out of playing their Test match against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on June 14. Dinesh Karthik has been picked as replacement, ahead of Parthiv Patel.Having been struck on his right thumb by a Shivam Mavi bouncer on May 25, Saha faces an estimated recovery period of five to six weeks. He also missed six games for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL because of a shoulder niggle. The first Test in England starts on August 1 at Edgbaston.During India’s previous Test assignment in South Africa, both Parthiv and Karthik were added to the squad after Saha was sidelined with a hamstring niggle. It was Parthiv who was brought into the XI for the second and third Tests, but he managed only 56 runs in four innings. He had a particularly poor game in Centurion: dropped two catches and failed to attempt a third regulation chance.Karthik is set to play his first Test since 2010 and 24th overall since his debut in 2004. More recently, he captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL playoffs and was the top-scorer for the side with 498 runs in 16 innings at an average of nearly 50 and strike rate of nearly 150.Updated India squad: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur

Not so long ago, Mark Stoneman said he hated London and could never imagine living there. But, on this evidence, he seems to be settling in rather well

George Dobell at the Kia Oval07-Apr-2017
ScorecardNot so long ago, Mark Stoneman said he hated London and could never imagine living there. But, on this evidence, he seems to be settling in rather well.Stoneman, on his Championship debut for Surrey having made the painful decision to leave Durham, made a chanceless century to punish Ian Bell’s decision to bowl first (the toss was uncontested) and give his side a formidable platform in this game. He looked every inch a prospective England batsman.He may soon fall in love with London, too. Certainly on days like this – with the trees in bloom and a decent-sized crowd enjoying a perfect early-summer day – there is much to admire about the city, though it may be the benevolent nature of the pitch that consummates his relationship with his new club.Afterwards Bell admitted he had erred in his toss decision – “it was definitely a bat-first wicket,” he said, “isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?” – and Warwickshire might reflect that, in the first session, with the pitch damp, their bowlers failed to utilise any help that might have been available.But to focus on their shortcomings – and they were not awful by any means – would be to deny Stoneman credit for an almost flawless innings. Against one of the best spinners and left-arm swing bowlers in the county game, he demonstrated excellent judgement outside off stump, admirable patience (he had faced 16 balls before he hit a boundary) and a pleasing ability to be able to put away even half a bad ball. His treatment of the short ball, in particular, was merciless – 102 of his runs came from boundaries.”He didn’t give us a sniff,” Bell said. “We’re really impressed by him.”There may be mixed feelings about this innings in Durham, though. While the majority of those involved with the club – players, supporters et al – will celebrate Stoneman’s success, they will rue the fact that their financial plight led to his departure. As he put it: “Because of the financial situation at Durham, my contract was allowed to run into its final year. I decided to move to Surrey to further my career.”Few could blame him. A professional sporting life is not long and some desire for security and, yes, better remuneration is natural.He will have to replicate this innings a few times if he is to become a serious contender for the Test side. His career average – 32.99 before this game – is modest and there are several younger men (notably Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed) ahead of him in the fight for a place. But he has long been respected as one of the best openers in the county game by his fellow pros and can claim mitigation for that average with the demanding quality of the surfaces that he played on in Durham until the start of 2016.He also made a century in his final innings for Durham, meaning that he has scored two Championship centuries in succession. He is the first England-qualified player to make a century on Championship debut for Surrey since Mark Rampakash in 2001. Aaron Finch (2016), Kumar Sangakkara (2015) and Ricky Ponting (2013) are the three most recent men to do so for Surrey.Stoneman was given fine support in a first-wicket stand of 154 by Rory Burns. While Burns will be disappointed not to make a century that appeared to be his for the taking – something of a recurring theme in his career – he will be encouraged by the manner in which he saw off the new ball and took the attack to Warwickshire’s bowlers.”They never let us settle,” Jim Troughton, Warwickshire’s first-team coach said afterwards. “We probably got the toss decision wrong and there were too many boundary balls, but Surrey batted very well. We’ve known Stoneman was quality player for a few years and he showed everyone that today.”Warwickshire could also have regretted dropping Scott Borthwick, another recruit from Durham, on 4 (Barker was unable to cling on to a top-edged pull off Chris Wright) but he soon fell after flirting outside off stump.It might have been worse for them, though. At lunch, with Surrey 133 without loss after 31 overs and Jonathan Trott already employed as a bowler, it looked as if they were in deep trouble. But they dragged the run-rate back through the rest of the day and didn’t let the batsmen capitalise in the final session. However, Sangakkara remains – he played some drives so sweet he must have been tempted to light a cigarette as he watched them scurry to the boundary – and, with no heavy roller available for this game, the pitch may become more difficult for the side batting last.Earlier, Surrey included Jade Dernbach – his first Championship appearance since 2015 – ahead of Stuart Meaker and Gareth Batty, the captain, ahead of Zafar Ansari. Nor could they be blamed for doing so. While Ansari was deemed good enough to represent England only a few months ago, the decision to play T20 cricket in a block and cut the schedule has pushed the Championship ever further into the margins of the season. The counties will have played eight of their 14 Championship games before the end of June. There is no mystery in England’s continuing weakness in producing and playing spin bowling.

UAE will be looking to give a good account of themselves against a Sri Lanka side that will be boosted by the return of Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga

The Preview by Mohammad Isam in Dhaka24-Feb-2016

Match facts

Thursday, February 25, 2016
Start time 1930 local (1330 GMT)0:59

‘Lucky to have this kind of practice before WT20’ – Herath

Big Picture

After the 2-1 loss in India, Sri Lanka have a chance to ease their way into the Asia Cup by taking on the UAE in their first match. The return of the captain Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath and Nuwan Kulasekara will give the team a major boost as they look to start gathering themselves ahead of the World T20, where they have a title to defend.Sri Lanka have a well-balanced side for these two tournaments with an experienced batting line-up consisting of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal, Mathews and Chamara Kapugedara. The bowling attack has seam allrounders Dasun Shanaka and Thisara Perera, spin allrounders Shehan Jayasuriya and Milinda Siriwardana, as well as experienced spinners like Herath and Sachithra Senanayake. Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay is a newcomer and could be a surprise package.The game against UAE will give Sri Lanka an opportunity to figure out how they can balance their spin and seam allrounders, with special focus on Jayasuriya and Siriwardana. There is also the question of whether Kapugedara will be able to use his vast experience in Mirpur to Sri Lanka’s advantage.The match will be a major test for UAE as they look to continue their good form from the qualifiers, where they won all three matches against Afghanistan, Oman and Hong Kong. Some new match-winners have emerged, which could help them not be just another Associate participant among the big boys. Watch out for Rohan Mustafa, Muhammad Kaleem, Muhammad Usman, Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar.Sri Lanka have historically been ruthless against Associates, so there is danger of this game ending up as a no-contest early in the evening. That should be motivation enough for UAE to make sure they remain in the contest.

Form Guide

(last five completed matches)Sri Lanka LLWLL
UAE WWWWL

Watch out for

Lasith Malinga last played a T20 series against West Indies in November before injuring his knee. He is back in Sri Lanka’s leadership, and like the rest of the line-up, will slowly wade into action. His vast experience will be a test for UAE.UAE will have Rohan Mustafa tackling the likes of Malinga first up. Mustafa is one of the new UAE stars who can be expected to put up a fight as they look to give a good impression of themselves against a major opponent. His offspin, too, will be handy in his side’s bid to keep Sri Lanka down to a manageable total.

Team news

The big call for Sri Lanka is whether to play Herath ahead of their seam allrounders, given how Mirpur has been good for seam bowling on certain evenings. Sri Lanka could also be in a dilemma about Kulasekara, while Jayasuriya and Vandersay are handy spin options.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Niroshan Dikwella (wk), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Milinda Siriwardana, 6 Chamara Kapugedara, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Sachithra Senanayake, 10 Dushmanth Chameera, 11 Lasith Malinga (capt)UAE are unlikely to go with Zaheer Maqsood, Fahad Tariq and Farhan Ahmed unless there is an injury to one of the players who featured in the victory against Oman in their last qualifying match in Fatullah.UAE (probable): 1 Rohan Mustafa, 2 Muhammad Kaleem, 3 Mohammad Shahzad, 4 Shaiman Anwar, 5 Muhammad Usman, 6 Amjad Javed (capt), 7 Mohammad Naveed, 8 Saqlain Haider, 9 Ahmed Raza, 10 SP Patil (wk), 11 Qadeer Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

Mirpur had a green top for the Bangladesh-India encounter but it is unlikely that a similar pitch will be greeting Sri Lanka and UAE. A surface devoid of grass and with slower speed can be expected. There is rain in the forecast but nothing that should threaten the game.

Stats and trivia

• This is the first encounter between Sri Lanka and UAE in T20Is, although the teams have met in ODIs in 2004 and 2008.
• Shaiman Anwar made only 48 runs in the three qualifying matches, but he is UAE’s highest scorer in T20s.