London: Sri Lanka will play India in the Champion Trophy semi-finals after ousting defending champion Australia by 20 runs and overtaking New Zealand in the group standings on Monday.
Sri Lanka posted 253-8 on a turning pitch at The Oval due to Mahela Jayawardene's 84 from 81 deliveries and Lahiru Thirimanne's 57.
That meant Australia needed to eclipse the target in 29.1 overs to advance, a prospect that always seemed unlikely and proved increasingly so when they lost four wickets inside the opening nine overs. However, the Australian middle order and tail fought a thrilling rearguard action to finish on 233 from 42.3 overs.
While the Sri Lankans missed a chance to edge England to win Group A, the victory delivered a double knockout in eliminating both finalists from the previous Champions Trophy in 2009, Australia and New Zealand. The Kiwis would have advanced with a Sri Lanka loss. Instead, Sri Lanka plays on Thursday in the second semi-final in Cardiff, Wales. England meets South Africa a day earlier at The Oval....
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01:13 AM, Jun 18, 2013
Live updates from Game 12 of the ICC Champions Trophy fixture between Australia and Sri Lanka played at Kennington Oval, London. Defending champions Australia will have to put David Warner's bar brawl controversy and questions surrounding their team culture behind them when they take on Sri Lanka in their final league fixture here on Monday to decide the last of the remaining ICC Champions Trophy semi-final places. It will be...
04:43 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalalitha on Monday accused the Centre of not engaging with the Sri Lankan government in any dialogue to resolve the issue of attacks on fishermen from the state and maintaining a 'stoic' and 'apathetic' silence over it. "The External Affairs Ministry has continued to maintain a stoic and apathetic silence and there appears to be no effort to engage the Sri Lankan government in...
02:54 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Rameswaram (TN): Eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy near Katchatheevu, were on Monday remanded to judicial custody till June 27 by a court in the island nation. The fishermen, arrested yesterday, were produced before the judicial magistrate court in Mannar which sent them to judicial custody, officials here said, quoting information received by them. The eight were arrested along with their two boats by the...
09:05 AM, Jun 17, 2013
London: Defending champions Australia will have to put David Warner's bar brawl controversy and questions surrounding their team culture behind them when they take on Sri Lanka in their final league fixture here on Monday to decide the last of the remaining ICC Champions Trophy semi-final places. It will be a virtual quarter-final clash between the two sides at Kennington Oval but a lot will depend on the outcome of...
12:24 PM, Jun 16, 2013
Cardiff: England have found themselves at the centre of a tampering row after former captain Bob Willis accused them of scratching the ball. The alleged incident took place during England's seven-wicket Champions Trophy one-day international defeat by Sri Lanka at The Oval on Thursday when Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar and his New Zealand on-field colleague Billy Bowden ordered one of the balls in use to be changed while the Lankans...
06:23 PM, Jun 15, 2013
London: Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara described his match-winning unbeaten knock of 134 against England in the Champions Trophy as one of the best innings of his career. "Yeah, it has to be. And I am pretty happy about it and am all the more so as we won the match and we kept ourselves alive in the tournament," Sangakkara said when asked if it was one of his best...
08:35 AM, Jun 14, 2013
London: Kumar Sangakkara smashed an unbeaten 134 off 135 balls as Sri Lanka stunned England by seven wickets in a high-scoring thriller on Thursday to stay afloat in the Champions Trophy. The Islanders, chasing England's seemingly impregnable 293 for 7, launched a spirited chase in the day-night game at the Oval to surpass the target in 47.1 overs and throw open the semi-final race from group A. Sri Lanka, who...
01:20 AM, Jun 14, 2013
A buoyant England look hungry after their win over Australia, but it will be a battle of survival for Sri Lanka. The two teams have made contrasting starts to their campaign in the eight-team event, which is being played for the last time. While England thrashed defending champions Australia by 48 runs, Sri Lanka lost by a wicket against New Zealand in a low-scoring thriller. Going purely by how the...
04:35 PM, Jun 13, 2013
London: A buoyant England would eye the semi-final slot, but it would be a battle of survival for Sri Lanka, after a narrow opening loss, when the two sides clash in their second Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy here on Thursday. The two teams have made contrasting starts to their campaign in the eight-team event, which is being played for the last time. While England thrashed defending...
04:34 PM, Jun 12, 2013
London: Sri Lanka's batting coach, Marvan Atapattu, has backed the team to make the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals with victories in their remaining matches against hosts England and Australia. Sri Lanka narrowly lost to New Zealand in Cardiff on Sunday in a low-scoring match to leave Angelo Mathews' team needing to win at The Oval on Thursday and next Monday, but Atapattu was confident they could cast aside their poor...
04:06 PM, Jun 12, 2013
Colombo: Renowned Sri Lankan umpire K T Francis, who stood in islanders' inaugural Test match in 1982, has passed away after losing battle against acute diabetes, family sources said Monday. He was 73. Francis died in a hospital yesterday, they said. A Tamil, Francis along with Herbie Felsinger officiated in Sri Lanka's first-ever Test match against England here in February 1982. He was a member of the ICC international panel...
05:59 PM, Jun 10, 2013
Birmingham: Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene have been officially reprimanded for excessive appealing during their Champions Trophy match against New Zealand here. According to a statement from the ICC, Dilshan and Jayawardene were found to have breached Article 2.1.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "excessive appealing during an international match". The charges were laid by on-field umpires Bruce...
10:16 AM, Jun 10, 2013
Cardiff: New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum admitted they did panic during the tense chase against Sri Lanka but always had the confidence that his side would scrape through in a low-scoring Champions Trophy thriller here on Sunday. "Sri Lanka are always a dangerous side and we panicked a bit in the middle. It is very important to scrape through, we have enough experience to deal with situations like this, although...
11:04 PM, Jun 09, 2013
Cardiff: New Zealand held on for a dramatic one-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their Group A match at the Champions Trophy on Sunday. The Kiwis finished on 139 for 9 with 13 overs to spare after dismissing Sri Lanka for 138 in 37.5 overs. Despite the low run chase, New Zealand collapsed to 49 for 4 and then 80 for 6. Brothers Brendan and Nathan McCullum moved their team...
10:34 PM, Jun 09, 2013
Ahmedabad: The spot-fixing and betting scandal in Indian Premier League matches is unfortunate but IPL should not be scrapped, former Sri Lanka fast bowler Ashanta De Mel said. De Mel, who played 17 Tests and 57 ODIs besides serving in the Sri Lankan Cricket Board, said IPL has its positives. "It provided opportunity to the young cricketers to showcase their talent. It also enabled youngsters and promising players to learn...
05:21 PM, Jun 09, 2013
Live updates from Game 4 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at Cardiff With their morale sky high after a 2-1 series win over England, New Zealand would look to carry their good form into the Champions Trophy when they clash with Sri Lanka in a Group A match here on Sunday. Sri Lanka have an overwhelming record of winning 10 of their last 11 ODI matches and six in...
02:11 PM, Jun 09, 2013
Cardiff: New Zealand are preparing to face a spin barrage from Sri Lanka when the two sides meet in the Champions Trophy in Cardiff on Sunday. New Zealand go into the tournament after a morale-boosting 2-1 one-day series win over hosts England, but Brendon McCullum's side knows Sri Lanka will throw up new challenges. "We could conceivably be facing 30-35 overs of spin," Black Caps coach Mike Hesson said ahead...
10:10 AM, Jun 09, 2013
Chennai: Ruling AIADMK on Saturday accused the UPA government of having "step-motherly attitude" towards Tamil Nadu and acting in ways affecting federalism. The party Executive which met under its presidium chairman E Madhusudhanan and in the presence of the AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa "condemned" the Centre for acting in ways affecting the federalism. It adopted a resolution saying the Centre's steps such as not consulting states on forming the National Counter...
01:15 AM, Jun 09, 2013
