For all his deadly yorkers and a great assortment of slower deliveries, Lasith Malinga is a gentle soul. Beneath that unruly curly mop lies a shrewd cricket brain, and a smile is never far away, not even when he is, on the rare occasion, being taken apart by the batsmen. Malinga seemed the least likely of individuals to steer Sri Lanka to a world title, but on Sunday (April 6) night at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, he managed what illustrious predecessors such as Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara couldn’t – lay his hands on a global trophy. In the Twenty20 International swansong for two of Sri Lankan cricket’s most celebrated sons, Malinga led the side from the front, marshalling his troops… Read More →

Cricket doesn’t accord too many of its practitioners fairytale endings. On Sunday (April 6) night in Mirpur, however, two of Sri Lanka’s favourite sons, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena, bid Twenty20 International cricket farewell in the best way possible, holding the world trophy aloft. For Sangakkara, the game was especially memorable as he carved an unbeaten half-century to see his side home. At the end of the day, however, a clearly emotional Sangakkara was just grateful for all that the game had given him. “I don’t think the game owes us, or any player, anything. Our job is to try and play it as best as we can, and walk away hopefully having made a positive impact. The game gives… Read More →

Match Report Having lost four finals in the last seven years, Sri Lanka finally broke the jinx in some style in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 2014, overwhelming hitherto unbeaten India by six wickets on Sunday (April 6) night. The scenes of unrestrained joy with the entire team tumbling on to the field once Thisara Perera had lashed R Ashwin over his head for the winning boundary showed just how the finals losses had hurt the Sri Lankans, and how desperate the team was for the sweet taste of success for the first time since it jointly won the Champions Trophy with India in 2002. In a low-scoring final that seldom flirted with the gripping, Sri Lanka was… Read More →

India – young, bold, brave and forceful, is within one win of becoming the first team to hold all three ICC trophies simultaneously. Sri Lanka is that very same win away from making the final Twenty20 International appearances of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena memorable for all the right reasons. Here is a look at the match facts ahead of the ICC World T20 final on Sunday (April 6).   Match Facts: Sri Lanka v India  Sri Lanka has won 40 of their completed 64 T20Is. Only Nepal (two wins and one defeat) has a higher win percentage. Sri Lanka also has the highest win percentage in ICC World Twenty20 matches, having won 20, lost nine and tied one of their 30… Read More →

Lasith Malinga did not set out to try and lead his team to glory at the ICC World Twenty20 2014. With Dinesh Chandimal at the helm, and the likes of Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews in the mix, Malinga would have arrived on Bangladesh’s shores expecting only to be wreaking havoc with the ball. But, as Sri Lanka stood one step away from a major world title, Malinga found himself at the receiving end of volleys, only of the verbal kind, fortunately, as he addressed the media on the eve of the final against India. The first matter he had to deal with was how Sri Lanka will tackle Virat Kohli, who lit up the Dhaka… Read More →