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Shaheen Shah Afridi was rested again by the visitors

Hemant Brar03-Aug-2021Rain allowed only three overs to be bowled in the fourth and final T20I in Guyana, which meant Pakistan, courtesy of their win in the second game, won the four-match rain-marred series 1-0.After winning the toss on Tuesday, Babar Azam put West Indies in on a damp pitch on an overcast morning. With both sides unchanged from the last washout, Andre Fletcher and Chris Gayle once again opened the innings. Fletcher kicked off the innings by hitting two sixes off Mohammad Hafeez in the opening over and Gayle followed it up with two fours off Mohammad Wasim Jr in the next.

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West Indies were 30 for no loss after three overs when rain halted play. That was around 11.15am local time. When the rain eventually relented, the umpires had an inspection at 1.25pm and decided to resume at 2.00pm. The match was reduced to nine overs per side but just when play was about to restart, the rain returned to have the final say.At the toss, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard had said that this would be the last international game for Dwayne Bravo in the Caribbean and that his side wanted to give him a win. The weather though had other plans.

She hasn’t always started well but has managed to do the job by just hanging in there

Andrew McGlashan in Sydney04-Mar-20204:54

Katy Perry or Ellyse Perry – who does Heather Knight want to see in the World Cup final?

There’s never a bad time to hit career-best form, but finding it at a World Cup is especially handy. England allrounder Nat Sciver is playing as well as she ever has in the T20 format, having ended the group stage in Australia as the leading run-scorer in her new role at No. 3.Half of Sciver’s eight T20I fifties have come in her last six innings: one in the tri-series which preceded the World Cup and now three in four knocks in the tournament itself, against South Africa, Thailand and West Indies, the latter in the match that secured a semi-final berth for her team.Sciver picked out one of the key reasons behind her form as the volume of cricket she has played in the last few months – the WBBL for the Perth Scorchers (where she was coached by Lisa Keightley shortly before she took the England job) followed by a series against Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur before arriving in Australia.”Consistency of playing, it’s a bit like running in with the ball, you get a little bit of rhythm,” she told ESPNcricinfo. “I was lucky enough to play in the Big Bash which probably helped a little bit and through the winter we didn’t really stop. So been feeling pretty good and nice to get the results.”Before the series in Malaysia against Pakistan, Sciver had only batted at No. 3 five times in 66 T20Is. She briefly returned to No. 4 in the tri-series, in a match where she scored 50 against India, when Katherine Brunt was promoted to No. 3, a tactic they have sensibly shelved during the World Cup. The best players need to face the most balls in T20s and for England, Sciver is certainly one of those.Being self-critical, she believes there have been innings where she hasn’t got it quite right at the start but by not giving her wicket away has been able to catch up in the latter stages, something she admitted she can forget is in her armory.”I probably would have liked to get going a bit quicker in some of the innings but feel like I’m adapting and reading the game pretty well to play to the tempo the game needs,” she said. “I’ve been a bit guilty of not remembering that previously. It could be different on Thursday but at the moment it’s coming out of the middle nicely so need to look after that.”Half of Natalie Sciver’s eight T20I fifties have come in her last six innings•Getty Images

Her captain Heather Knight praised how Sciver has adapted to her new position by realising that she has the ability to hit through as well as over the field.”That’s been a key learning for her, I think previously when she’s gone in during the powerplay, she’s felt like she’s had to go mad and gone a bit too high risk,” Knight said. “In this World Cup, she’s been accepting that she might have a few more dots in the powerplay but can catch up. She’s a phenomenal striker of the ball and has been very calm, trusts her game, and think she has enjoyed having a few balls to face.”One of the innings where Sciver showed her ability to catch up the scoring rate was against South Africa where she went from 24 of 29 to 50 off 41 but it wasn’t enough as England lost in the final over. It gave their campaign an early jolt and, like the hosts, meant they could not afford another slip. Sciver admitted there were a few waves of doubt personally, but the team believed they were not far away from the level they needed to be at.”I think everyone was a bit deflated. As an individual, you probably have a bit of doubt,” she said. “Can we really do this? But in terms of everyone believing, in the team we weren’t far away. We knew if we’d done just a few things differently we would have got over the line. Even with not as many runs as we’d have liked we managed to take it to the last over. The language we used was no different to what we are using now, it was just a case of getting it done in the middle.”England’s reward for their three straight victories is a semi-final against India, who went unbeaten through their group. The defeat to South Africa could yet prove critical, though, with a poor forecast looming and a washout meaning group winners progress. “Not having a reserve day isn’t ideal, but so be it,” Sciver said.There is the prospect of a healthy crowd at the SCG and then the promise of something far greater if they can reach the final at the MCG with 60,000 tickets sold as of Wednesday. Sciver recalled the 2017 World Cup final Lord’s, when England beat India in front of a sellout crowd, a match where she made a crucial half-century.”I loved it,” she said. “You still get some jitters going out to bat or waiting to bat, but once I’m out there being in that noise lifted me a little bit so I’m looking forward to that energy if we are there.”England have a 5-0 record against India in T20 World Cups. Sciver could have a big role to play in making it 6-0.

Plunkett made his return against New Zealand in Wellington earlier this week but aggravated the problem he first suffered in the ODI in Sydney last month

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2018Liam Plunkett has been ruled out of the end of the T20 tri-series and the five ODIs against New Zealand with a recurrence of the hamstring injury he picked up in Australia.Plunkett made his return against New Zealand in Wellington earlier this week but aggravated the problem he first suffered in the ODI in Sydney last month. He has been diagnosed with a grade one tear and unlike when he stayed with the squad after the injury in Australia he will now be heading home.”An MRI scan today confirmed a minor hamstring strain and this will not recover in time to take part in the ODI series,” the ECB said. “A replacement for the ODI squad will be announced in the upcoming days.”Although England have been bolstered by the arrival of Ben Stokes the ECB said a replacement for Plunkett would be named in the coming days. One possible route is to retain Sam Curran, the Surrey allrounder, who was added to the T20 squad but is not in the one-day party.Captain Eoin Morgan has sat out the last two T20s due to injury with Jos Buttler leading the side.Australia’s record chase against New Zealand at Eden Park gave England a lifeline in the T20 series although they will still need to beat the hosts by a significant margin at Seddon Park to progress to the final in Auckland on February 21.

Visitors want to have training sessions instead, says CSA

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-20171:26

Chopra: Quality training sessions better than two-day warm-up match

India have opted for training sessions instead of a warm-up fixture in South Africa, in the lead-up to the first Test between the two teams from January 5 in Cape Town. A press release from Cricket South Africa on Monday announced India’s decision.Although the BCCI did not give any reason officially for dropping the warm-up match, it is understood the request was made by the team management well in advance. The board was told that the team management preferred to focus on training on their own as soon as it landed in South Africa on December 28. A team official confirmed the development, but declined to elaborating further, saying it was an “internal matter”.The Indian team management’s preoccupation with acclimatising the players to South African conditions even before they set foot in the country has been such that “lively greentops” were deemed the need of the hour through the Sri Lanka Test series at home.There had been some confusion over the schedule for India’s tour of South Africa, with both boards holding discussions since the beginning of the year. In August, the BCCI had made it clear to CSA that India would not arrive until at least the last week of 2017, because their home series against Sri Lanka ends on December 24.The BCCI wanted its players to take a short break before they departed for South Africa, ruling India out of the traditional Boxing Day Test, which South Africa will now play over four days against Zimbabwe. Eventually, even the New Year’s Test which is traditionally played from January 2 in Cape Town was pushed back to January 5. Incidentally, in September, an official involved in the discussions told ESPNcricinfo that India would “definitely play one practice match before the first Test”.Following the Cape Town Test, two more will be played in Centurion and Johannesburg, followed by six ODIs and three T20Is.

Auckland’s bowlers overcame a solid resistance from Canterbury’s middle order to pick up a 24-run win in a chase of 316 in Auckland

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2017Auckland‘s bowlers overcame a solid resistance from Canterbury‘s middle order in a chase of 316 to pick up a 24-run win in a well-fought Plunket Shield match at the Eden Park Outer Oval. Canterbury were 5 for 2 in the face of an opening burst from Auckland’s new-ball duo of Benjamin Lister and Matt McEwan. They recovered well through substantial partnerships, starting with a third-wicket stand of 85 between opener Chad Bowes (42) and Leo Carter (63). But Auckland’s trio of Danru Ferns, Michael Barry and Glenn Phillips struck at timely intervals to take seven wickets among them and send Canterbury packing for 291.Carter, Cole McConchie (42), Cam Fletcher (53) and Daniel Sams (33) made solid contributions in the middle order, but none could stay on to haul Canterbury to the finish. Andrew Ellis, their captain, kept Canterbury’s fight alive with 19, but Lister had him caught to seal 16 points for Auckland.With their third successive win of the competition, Auckland are now on third position with 59 points. Canterbury are one place behind but are stuck with one win after five games and have lost their last three matches.That Canterbury were set a stiff target was down to an electric second-innings century from Phillips – his second in first-class cricket, with Michael Guptill-Bunce (51), Robert O’Donnell (67) and Ben Horne (75) making for a capable support cast. Their efforts helped Auckland bounce back from a first-innings deficit of 30 and pile on 345 at 4.80 an over. Medium-pacer Fraser Sheat dismissed Phillips and finished with 3 for 45 while Daniel Sams, Will Williams and Andrew Ellis struck twice each.Both teams fared a lot worse in their respective first innings as 18 wickets tumbled on the opening day. Canterbury reduced Auckland to 39 for 4 after electing to bowl on a green pitch, before Mark Chapman’s arrival pushed them past 150. He was the ninth man dismissed, for 76 off 72 balls, as Auckland folded for 181. Medium-pacer Sams wrecked Auckland with career-best returns of 4 for 55, while Ellis took 3 for 50.Like Auckland, Canterbury were struggling, at 81 for 5, and were lifted by a late contribution. And it was Sams who again came to the fore, as he blasted five fours and three sixes on his way to a 51-ball 57. He fell with Canterbury 15 short of Auckland’s total, but contributions of 31 from the wicketkeeper Cam Fletcher and 21 from Tim Johnston gave them the lead. Despite the flurry of wickets, 375 runs were scored on the day and Canterbury went to stumps at 194 for 8.They folded in the ninth over of the second morning for 211 after Matt McEwan cleaned up Johnston for 21, leading a collective effort from Auckland’s bowlers with 3 for 49.

Mitchell Johnson said that Williamson’s combination of superior technique and even temperament had surprised him

Daniel Brettig at the WACA11-Nov-2015Australia’s fast bowlers underestimated Kane Williamson during the Gabba Test and have resolved not to make the same mistake a second time on what looks already to be a parched white WACA pitch.Lack of Tests between Australia and New Zealand over the past four years had one obvious drawback for the hosts, as they appeared to have missed Williamson’s emergence as one of the game’s best and brightest young batting talents.Mitchell Johnson said that Williamson’s combination of superior technique and even temperament had surprised him; a fact borne out by the freedom with which New Zealand’s No. 3 batsman was able to take Australia’s pace spearhead for runs. With the backing of what appears likely to be a decidedly rapid WACA surface, Johnson said the Australians would be keener hunters for Williamson’s wicket this time around.”It is a bit of a surprise to me the way he played – I hadn’t seen a lot of him,” Johnson said. “I knew about him [but] I didn’t realise what a good player he is. He can play all of the shots. He looked good in defence and I am really looking forward to playing him out here on a ground that I really enjoy bowling on and really test myself against him.”He is obviously in very good form and he is going to go into this game with a lot of confidence. We can bowl better to him. If we put some good balls on him and use our short ball, then I think we are going to be in the game a bit more. I think we have got a lot to improve on with our bowling. I thought we got better and better as the game went on. We didn’t start as well as we would have liked to in that first innings but I think we just got better and better.”He is definitely one who we will talk about in our team meeting today after training. He is very difficult to bowl to. If we build up enough good balls on him, he is going to be like any other player and nick off. I think it is just being a bit more patient. I think we played into his game a little bit. He is really good off the back foot as we saw and he scored some easy runs through that point region and backward point.”Another inattentive element of Australia’s Brisbane performance was a substandard fielding display. They dropped catches, including one that cost Johnson the chance to overtake Brett Lee on the list of Test wicket-takers. This will be an area for considerable work in the lead-up to Friday, as evidenced by a one-to-one session between the fielding coach Greg Blewett and Joe Burns, who dropped two chances at short-leg.”It’s disappointing at the time, especially when you’ve worked so hard on a plan, and you’re in your 30th or 40th over and you’re absolutely stuffed and a catch goes down,” Johnson said. “But look, we all drop them. I’ve dropped some simple ones and it’s not the nicest thing when you’re on the other end of it.”Something we pride ourselves on very much is our fielding, and I don’t think we fielded as well as we could have. New Zealand really did show us how it was done, just the way that they went about it, but I can’t sit here and worry about those things, otherwise I’d probably be bald.”Of less concern to Johnson and Australia was the bowling performance put in by Trent Boult, the left-armer, who was expected to do so much in the series. After recovering from back stress hot spots that afflicted him at the end of the tour of England earlier in the year, Boult looked short of rhythm and accuracy at the Gabba. Having prepared to face a more fluent Boult in Brisbane, Johnson was mindful of not relaxing against him here.”I was surprised with the way he bowled, full stop,” Johnson said. “We talked about him in our team meeting. He generally gets the ball nice and full and he has got good pace. I think in one- dayers you know you have got 10 overs and you can really go for it. He has probably been a bit underdone. He has come back from injury and he hasn’t had a lot of cricket. That was good for us that he has played the way he has.”From his point of view he wouldn’t have liked that. There was pressure on their two opening bowlers really; they are the two spearheads that they rely on so much, [Tim] Southee and Boult. Hopefully we can put that pressure on them here if Southee plays as well. He wold have been disappointed. It was certainly a surprise to us that he didn’t bowl the way he normally does so we are expecting him to bounce back and bowl well out here.”

The Rajasthan Royals, on their CLT20 debut, will play all their league matches in Jaipur and their captain Rahul Dravid, in his last appearance on a cricket field, will hope for a good sign-off after their troubled IPL 2013 season

Devashish Fuloria19-Sep-2013Overview
Rajasthan Royals have been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last few months but the Champions League offers them a chance to bring the spotlight back to their cricket. The corruption scandal that came to the fore towards the end of this year’s IPL took much of the gloss away from what had been an excellent season for the Rahul Dravid-led side. Royals were one of two teams this year to remain unbeaten at home and despite lacking in star value when compared to other IPL teams, players like Brad Hodge, Stuart Binny, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Ajinkya Rahane and the captain himself made their performances count.Royals have always been a personality driven team. From the days of Shane Warne to the current arrangement under a vocal version of Dravid, the team’s captain has remained the most visible part of it on the field. And understandably so – the biggest domestic player in the team Rahane is an introvert, so someone has to compensate to keep the young team buoyant.It will be the last time Dravid will be seen on the cricket field and after the sadness that came with the realisation he was sailing a ship with numerous holes, he would be looking forward to a good sign-off. Despite the heavy losses the team has incurred in terms of personnel, it still remains an efficient battery, with a cannon the size of Shane Watson. What’s more, they are playing all their league matches at their fortress.Key players
This IPL season, Shane Watson was intimidating with the bat, top-scoring for the team with 543 runs at a strike rate of 142.89, the highlight not being his century, but his 34-ball assault on Chennai Super Kings’ bowlers in seaming conditions. He also picked up 13 wickets, bowling for the first time after a gap of a few months. In the absence of Siddharth Trivedi he would assume a bigger role in the team’s bowling plans. Batting-wise, he is always a threat at this level, and his recent century against England will be a major boost to the team.Then there is Brad Hodge, the second-highest run-scorer in T20 cricket behind Chris Gayle, who brings that 196-match experience to lend stability to the batting line-up in the lower half. Add Rahane, the silent accumulator at the top, to the list and the batting has a sense of depth to it. The bowling will be led by Faulkner, who was second in the list of leading wicket-takers in IPL 6.Surprise package
Ashok Menaria featured in only one game in the IPL earlier this year, but he has struck rich form ahead of the tournament. Playing against New Zealand A, he picked up 10 wickets in three matches with his left-arm spin and scored a match-winning half-century as well. Along with Stuart Binny, he could form the backbone of the middle order.Weakness

In the IPL this year, Royals enjoyed the extra pace and bounce afforded by the Jaipur pitch and they will get the same home advantage in the Champions League. However, the teams they are going to play against include Perth Scorchers, Otago Volts and Lions, who would also prefer those conditions. In such a scenario, the absence of a quality spinner could hurt Royals. Pravin Tambe is the lone specialist spinner, but at 42 and with no first-class experience, his inclusion would always be a gamble.

Punjab’s bowlers, led by a resurgent Piyush Chawla, capitalised on Delhi’s woes to run to their third win on the trot, keeping their late-blooming campaign alive

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar15-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIrfan Pathan surprised everyone by rediscovering old-ball swing, but not much else changed for Delhi as they continued to flounder•Associated Press

The scorecard will say Paul Valthaty hammered 62 to power Punjab to an eventually match-winning 170, but that’s not even half the story. Through 50 balls of clueless flailing, Valthaty put on a display completely out of place in the beautiful setting that is Dharamsala. Delhi Daredevils matched his ordinariness with a shoddy show on the field, followed by the sort of batting display that can be expected from a one-man team, when that one man is missing. Punjab’s bowlers, led by a resurgent Piyush Chawla, capitalised on Delhi’s woes to run to their third win on the trot, keeping their late-blooming campaign alive.By all counts it was an average game of cricket, and the tone for the ordinariness was set right at the start. There was swing for Irfan Pathan, but not enough pace. There were swings of Adam Gilchrist’s bat, but not too many connections. At the other end, Morne Morkel’s other-worldly bounce systematically exposed Valthaty’s limitations. The pressure was on Punjab and the chances promptly followed, but Delhi graciously fluffed them. Yogesh Nagar and Irfan combined to mess up a straightforward run-out opportunity, before Venugopal Rao dropped a chance at slip. Delhi’s generosity was duly reciprocated by Punjab, as Gilchrist gifted his wicket soon after the botched run-out. It was like watching two football sides trying to outdo each other in an own-goal contest.Shaun Marsh’s advent sought to bring sanity to the proceedings – he began by charming Aavishkar Salvi over mid-on, before shredding him through point – but Valthaty’s methods continued to spoil the scenery. Initially he attempted on-the-up thumps, regardless of length, and often missed by ridiculously large margins. He later tried to counter the bounce with cuts, but rarely made contact. He then resorted to the pull, and it was soon evident why he doesn’t play that shot too often. On the one occasion when he managed to middle the ball, Varun Aaron at fine-leg ran in too far, and the ball sailed over the boundary.Valthaty eventually found his match against James Hopes’ trundle and ignited the innings with two violent sixes over the leg-side and an edged four through third man. Bowling listless lengths to Valthaty wasn’t Hopes’ biggest mistake of the innings though. He brought on S Sriram’s nondescript left-arm spin in the 13th over and Marsh indulged himself to some slog-sweeping violence. The over bled 25, including three big sixes over the leg side, as Punjab galloped from 70 for 1 in ten overs to 115 for 1 in 13.Delhi managed to contain the damage in the remaining overs, through Aaron’s pace, and Irfan’s surprising rediscovery of old-ball swing. Marsh and Valthaty perished to Irfan’s stock indippers off successive balls in the 15th over. Delhi could have taken control in the next over, but Naman Ojha grassed a chance to let off Dinesh Karthik, allowing Punjab to motor along to 170.Delhi’s chase followed a now-familiar template: David Warner’s shocking loss of form – he had cobbled up 47 runs in his last six innings before the game – and Virender Sehwag’s absence meant the innings lost steam quickly. Along with Naman Ojha, Warner played out ten successive dot balls early on, in the process giving Praveen Kumar his fourth maiden of the season. Ojha eventually found release by clouting Shalabh Srivastava for two sixes and a four in the sixth over, but it proved to be a false dawn. Ojha guided Srivastava behind in the eighth over for a run-a-ball 28, before Warner miscued the same bowler for a run-a-ball 29. Run-a-balls were, however, not going to be enough.Chawla has endured a rough time recently: he struggled for impact in the World Cup and his place in the team became a national debate; his struggles continued in the IPL, and he’s been left out for the West Indies ODIs. On Sunday, he finally came into his own with a sprightly spell, in which he refrained from his old failing of over-doing the googly. He accounted for Sriram, Rao and Hopes in successive overs, as Delhi went down with the setting sun in Dharamsala.

A round-up of the fourth round of games from the Stanbic Bank Twenty20 tournament in Zimbabwe

John Ward15-Feb-2010Mashonaland Eagles inflicted the first defeat of the tournament on the Namibia Vipers, by five wickets, in a final-over thriller at the Harare Sports Club. Their main hero was the former national player, Doug Marillier, whose superb 74 blazed the trail that led to victory.Vipers began unimpressive after Eagles won the toss and fielded. Raymond van Schoor was dropped from a hard chance to slip off the first ball of the match, and in the second over Gerhard Rudolph (1) drove a simple catch into the covers. By the seventh over they were 24 for 3, looking a fraction of the team that overwhelmed Rocks in their first match.Here, however, the improvement began. Norbert Manyande, the former Zimbabwean, joined Dwaine Pretorius and the pair rescued the side through good running and judicious big hitting. Manyande reached his 50 off 39 balls and next ball holed out at long-on. Pretorius quickly followed, caught in the deep for 34, but Tobie Verwey clubbed a couple of boundaries to carry the total to 142 for six.Eagles also made an indifferent start, losing two wickets for 22 before Greg Lamb joined the opener Doug Marillier. They combined well to lift the score to 60 for 2 after 10 overs, before Lamb skied a catch to depart for 19. Marillier upped the rate with a mixture of orthodox and unconventional strokes. On 41 he swept a six over square leg, and reached his 50 with another effortless six over long leg. The 100 came up in the 15th over, not yet quite up with the required rate, but with wickets in hand.With Eagles looking comfortable Elton Chigumbura was run out in a terrible mix-up for 15, and then Marillier quickly followed, trapped in front by Tony Palladino for a magnificent 74 (60 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes). It set up a tense finish with 15 needed from the final 12 balls. Forster Mutizwa and Regis Chakabva ran superbly to leave five required off the final over. The first ball was a full toss and Mutizwa pulled it superbly for four, and followed it with a single the next ball to take his team home.Meanwhile, in a sterling contest that brought 379 runs, Mountaineers held on by the skin of their teeth to beat Southern Rocks by a single run. Their heroes were Hamilton Masakadza, who scored 102, and Tatenda Taibu, while Rocks produced superb batting from Chamu Chibhabha and Steve Tikolo.Mountaineers banked on getting the best from a tiring track by batting first after winning the toss. After Bernard Mlambo was yorked attempting a wild swish at Blessing Mahwire for 6, it was one-way traffic as Masakadza and Taibu massacred the hapless Rocks bowling.They were on the charge immediately, Masakadza unfurling two crisp strikes for six over long-on and long leg. The 50 came up after six overs and the 100 in 13 – after which they decided to step up the pace. Masakadza gave a hard chance to long-on when he had 80, but in the final over he reached 100 with a straight six and an edged four in successive balls from Anthony Ireland. Masakadza ended with 102 off only 56 balls, including six fours and six sixes. Taibu had done his part, with his unbeaten 71 containing five fours and a six and the second-wicket partnership adding 179.With Rocks facing an imposing total the Mountaineers’ bowlers were a little too confident and Chamu Chibhabha at least was going down, if he must, with all guns blazing. 39 runs came off the first three overs, mostly to Chibhabha, but with seven wides also helping total. The 50 came up in the sixth over for one wicket, making victory still a theoretical possibility. Chibhabha enjoyed a narrow escape, a hard chance on the leg boundary on 48, but reached 50 off 35 balls. Steve Tikolo joined in with some fine strokes, and the 100 came up in the 12th over.With 48 needed off the last five overs, an incredible Rocks victory seemed very possible. But Prosper Utseya struck the vital blow by bowling Chibhabha for 70. This proved the turning point, arresting the momentum at a crucial time. Tikolo was still there and by the last over 15 was needed to win. Tikolo cut the first ball for four, but was then run out in another mix-up. Nine was needed off the last two balls and new man Ian Harvey could only manage only a single off the penultimate ball. In a final act of defiance Alester Maregwede hit the last ball for six but it was not quite enough.

The seam-bowling allrounder is the only change from the squad that faced New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2025Sri Lanka have named a squad largely unchanged from the one that toured New Zealand in January this year for the two ODIs against Australia at home later this week. The one change is that seam-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe is out as the squad has been trimmed from 17 for that New Zealand series to 16.From Sri Lanka’s point of view, there is no real context to the series, since they failed to make the cut for the upcoming Champions Trophy. But the two games are important for Australia, who will go straight to Pakistan for the eight-team tournament after these games.Sri Lanka wear a solid look, keeping in mind the venue for the games, R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Sri Lanka ODI squad

Feb 12 – 1st ODI in Colombo</b
Feb 14 – 2nd ODI in Colombo