Sanga, Mahela SSC toppers

Watching Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene bat together is a sublime experience. They play as if there isn't a worry in the world. Delicate flicks and cuts are played with consummate ease. Gaps are found effortlessly and boundaries almost struck at will. Their running between the wickets is smooth and runs are scored without any fuss. The telepathic understanding of each others' game is clearly noticeable when they bat together.
One such instance was their 193-run partnership for the third wicket against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Tuesday. In terms of runs made it pales in comparison to the mammoth 624 they stitched together against South Africa at this venue four years ago or even the 437 against Pakistan in Karachi in February 2009, but in terms of helping establish control over proceedings on the second day it was highly effective and also a joy to watch.
Late in their partnership they ran into each other while completing a single. It was the only jarring note in their 208-minute stand. The rare misunderstanding was dismissed with a hearty laugh by Jayawardene and Sangakkara after the run was completed safely. Nothing, it appears, comes between their camaraderie and it is not often that bowling attacks get to break their partnership cheaply.
On Tuesday, they established their 12th hundred-run partnership in Tests. The Sanga-Mahela show is what has allowed Sri Lanka to bat out opponents regularly and comfortably.
They flourished as a pair only after they became regulars in the Sri Lankan side. In school cricket, Sangakkara and Jayawardene didn't bat together as the former came from Kandy and the latter from Colombo. At the club level they faced each other with Jayawardene playing for the Sinhalese Sports Club and Sangakkara wearing Nondescript Cricket Club colours. Hence there are no stories of them shredding bowling attacks in tandem at the school level or at the junior level. Those who coached Sangakkara in school and at private academies talk about him as a highly talented batsman but his ability to bat for long hours isn't something they noticed when he was younger.
Unlike the case in other teams from sub-continent, there are no tales of disharmony between the two star batsmen. It's good for the team that the predecessor, Jayawardene, has no qualms about playing under the successor as vice-captain. They are almost the same age but rather than having bloated egos they possess the maturity that brings the best out of them.
Jayawardene said that he and Sangakkara have become much more attacking in their approach in recent times and that has helped them tame bowling attacks.
Sri Lankan have had batting giants like Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva and Marvan Attapattu to name a few, but both Sangakkara and Jayawardene have gone ahead. They have a total of 51 centuries between themselves in Tests. Over the first two days of play at the SSC it was largely the finesse of these two, which made viewing a pleasure during sessions when the bat dominated the ball.
Sangakarra took the aggressive approach on the second day. He found boundaries through short extra cover and then past mid-wicket in the first two balls of the day from Abhimanyu Mithun. The Sri Lankan skipper got within touching distance of his double hundred by cracking four boundaries off left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha. Shortly Sangakkara reached his seventh double century. Jayawardene, who has six double hundreds against his name, looked well set to add to his tally during his 244-minute stay. But it was not to be.
Sangakkara, first with Tharanha Paranavitana and then with Jayawardene build significant partnerships, while Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera took the total well past 600. Not for the first time, Sri Lanka's batting twins were at the heart of another grand total.

Zimbabwe put Sri lanka to bat

Eliton Chigumbura won the toss in dead rubber but resisted the temptation of trying to bat first and win, something that hasn't been done in tri-series so far.He said,'he would love to chase as they have won only matches in which they have chased'.

Sri lanka was given a good start by its captain Tilakratne Dilshan but after he went to pavalion the lankans were made allout for mere 236 runs

Zimbabwe has to make 237 runs in 50 overs

Twenty20 international spices up Florida suburb

LAUDERHILL, Florida (Reuters) - With the smell of Jamaican jerk chicken and Indian biryani wafting through stands, New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 28 runs in the first official international between two test playing nations in the United States.

The Twenty20 match on Saturday provided an unusual sporting atmosphere for the suburbs of Fort Lauderdale, the flags and shirts in the crowd revealing supporters from Indian, Pakistani, English, South African and Caribbean backgrounds.

"It was nice to see so many Sri Lankans here, I know they have flown down from many different places in the States, unfortunately we couldn't do them justice with our performance here," said Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara.

The only element that would have jarred with supporters well used to watching cricket on television was scantily-clad cheerleaders entering the field of play, dancing at third man while the bowler was at his mark.

But there was no complaints from the fans, including a noisy contingent of Sri Lankans who had travelled down from the northern part of the United States.

"It's fantastic to see the team playing here in the States and to see people enjoying cricket," said Adusha Kotuwegoda from New York.

'SUB-CONTINENT FEEL'

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori felt the event had been a success.

"Obviously with a lot of Sri Lankans here it had a kind of sub-continent feel but it was a crowd that was entertained.

"I thought the entertainment off the field was good for the game and whilst it wasn't as high scoring as people wanted it was still a thrilling game," he said.

A slow and low surface and large field at the only ICC certified cricket stadium in the United States meant the crowd got to see few boundaries, with just two sixes and 13 fours.

New Zealand made 120 with Ross Taylor striking 27 and skipper Daniel Vettori a crucial 21 not out at the back end of the innings.

Sri Lanka never really got going in reply with New Zealand seamer Kyle Mills removing openers Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan cheaply.

Angelo Mathews top scored for Sri Lanka with 27 as they stumbled to 92 all out with two balls remaining, Scott Styris taking three wickets 10 ten runs in three overs.

The two teams meet again on Sunday at the same venue with a bigger crowd expected for a double-header featuring a clash between the United States and Jamaica.

Sri Lanka tour of Australia 2010/11 Schedule-Fixtures

Sri Lankan cricket team will travel to Australia for a short tour of three ODI and only one twenty20 international in the later part of October 2010.

Sri Lanka will begin their tour with three practice game. The first game they will play against Queensland on October 22^nd, and two against New South Wales on October 24^th and 27^th before playing the twenty20 international on 31^st of October at WCG, Perth.

Sri Lanka will play their first ODI at MCG on 3^rd of November, second ODI at SCG on 5^th of November and last ODI at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane on 7^th of November 2010.

Here are the complete Sri Lanka v Australia Series 2010 Fixtures (All timings are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Timing	Teams	Venue
Fri 22 Oct 05:00 AM	Tour Match – Queensland v Sri Lanka	Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Sun 24 Oct 05:00 AM	Tour Match – NSW v Sri Lanka	Sydney Cricket Ground
Wed 27 Oct 05:00 AM	Tour Match – NSW v Sri Lanka	Sydney Cricket Ground
Sun 31 Oct (D/N) 14:00 PM	Only T20I – Australia v Sri Lanka	Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth
Wed 3 Nov (D/N) 08:45 AM	1st ODI – Australia v Sri Lanka	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fri 5 Nov (D/N) 08:45 AM	2nd ODI – Australia v Sri Lanka	Sydney Cricket Ground
Sun 7 Nov (D/N) 08:45 AM	3rd ODI – Australia v Sri Lanka	Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth

Sticky wicket: Board pitching it all wrong

New Delhi: You name it and the Indian cricket board (BCCI) has a committee for it. Right from the more important Selection, Finance and Marketing committees, it also has one called the 'Museum Committee'.
The only one missing from an exhaustive list is the Ground and Pitches Committee, which the BCCI disbanded last December, holding it responsible for the Ferozeshah Kotla fiasco. More than five months have gone by, but the Board doesn't look like it's going to have one in the foreseeable future.
"We are neither thinking of reinstating the old committee, nor are there any plans to have a new one at the moment," said a top BCCI official.
That's quite astonishing given that the 50-over World Cup, which India is co-hosting with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, is about eight-nine months away and the health of the wickets at most of our World Cup centres, last put to use during the Indian Premier League, isn't too great.
Players complained on and off about the sluggish nature of wickets during the IPL, but here's a statistic that shows that the wickets are slowing down with an increase in the cricket. The success rate of the teams batting second dropped to nearly 46 per cent this IPL from a high 57 percent in IPL I. The wickets do need mending and while the odd consultant from abroad is brought in and local associations have their own set-ups that work according to their local needs, there's no controlling body to oversee matters or implement necessary changes.
"The May to September period is vital for relaying or mending wickets. If we don't work on the wickets now, there's little that can be done later. And given that the World Cup will happen at the end of the season (Feb-March) on worn out wickets, it will take great effort to keep them in right shape," a top state curator told Hindustan Times.
On how much help the International Cricket Council's curators, who occasionally visit the centres ahead of the World Cup, will be, he said: "The ICC representatives generally review the work on the wickets and also pass on advice to the local curators.
But they are in and out. Having our own central committee would have been of far greater help. " Besides, the disbanding of the committee has apparently put an end to seminars and workshops for the curators.
"Most of us found these workshops and seminars really useful. Apart from learning modern methods for the upkeep of wickets, we also learnt how to handle the equipment provided to us," said Sunil Chauhan, a curator with the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. Incidentally, the Dharamsala wicket turned out to be one of the best during the IPL.
Daljit Singh, chairman of the sacked committee, also felt the board should reconstitute the committee.
"I think the Grounds and Pitches Committee did a very good job over the years. It trained enough to people carry out the job even if the committee was not around. Personally, we should find some good hands and continue with it," he said. Ranjib Biswal, the tour manager for India's disastrous ICC World Twenty20, has reportedly recommended that India need to play on bouncy tracks to handle the rising ball - a major shortcoming in Barbados.
"We do feel that domestic games at least need to be played on fast wickets," said a national selector, "if the wickets for domestic games remain as dead as they are, where will youngsters learn".