A bit surprised no Sam Konstas in the Champions Trophy squad either.
A captain’s knock of 127 by Charith Asalanka has helped Sri Lanka to beat Australia by 49 runs in the first one-day match in Colombo today. Brilliant seam bowling by Spencer Johnson, Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie and Nathan Ellis had reduced the home side to 8/135 in the 33rd over, before Asalanka put on a scoring spree, putting on 79 for the ninth wicket with Eshan Malinga (1 not out from 63 balls). Sri Lanka, which won’t feature in the upcoming Champions Trophy, were eventually bowled out for 214 after 46 overs.
Australia lost three early wickets in the run chase, however still managed to score quickly. In fact, Australia’s run rate actually passed Sri Lanka’s run rate after 25 overs, but lost their four remaining wickets in quick fashion.
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Not a result I saw coming. But good to see Sri Lanka get a win after the heavy Test defeats
(nb. Eshan Malinga’s sole run for SL came off 26 balls, still very unusual to see a scoring rate in an ODI, but served a purpose with Asalanka getting a century at the other end in what turned out to be a fairly low scoring game).
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Well we’re in for an exciting month of cricket with the WPL starting tonight.
It’ll certainly be on for young and old.
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Great, but that’s Xara Jetly.
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Australia’s preparations for the Champions Trophy has taken a huge hit, suffering back to back heavy losses to Sri Lanka in the two-match ODI series. In game 2 in Colombo, Australia were bowled out for 107, their lowest ODI score in Asia, losing to the home side by 174 runs. It is Sri Lanka’s biggest win over Australia in one-day internationals.
After winning the toss again, Sri Lanka batted first and made 4/281 from their 50 overs. Captain Charith Asalanka backed up from his century last match at the same ground with a superb 78 from 63 runs, while wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis scored 101. Australia made five changes to their team from game one, but the spinners made little impact against Sri Lankan batting, apart from Adam Zampa who took 1/47 from eight overs.
Australia struggled during the run chase, losing their last seven wickets for 28 runs and were bowled out in the 25th over. No one scored 30 runs or more. Wellalage and Hasaranga shared seven wickets between them.
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Okay something that puzzles me. Why is it that in publicity shot the Aussie players shirts a cleanskins?
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The Hundred franchises were sold this week for £975 million to predominately Indian interests who have connections with the IPL.
Its a complicated sale process, there’s an 8 week exclusivity/cooling off period where any unsold franchises can return to the open market and while the ECB sold 49%, it was the choice of the host clubs (counties) whether they sold any of their 51% share.
- Reliance Industries Limited, the Ambani-owned conglomerate who run Mumbai Indians, are buying a 49% stake in Oval Invincibles. Surrey will retain 51%.
- Knighthead Capital, a New York-based investment firm, are buying a 49% stake in Birmingham Phoenix. Warwickshire will retain 51%.
- Cricket Investor Holdings Limited, a consortium of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, are buying a 49% stake in London Spirit. MCC will retain 51%.
- Sanjay Govil, an Indian-American tech entrepreneur and the owner of Washington Freedom, is buying a 50% stake in Welsh Fire. Glamorgan will retain 50%.
- RPSG Group, Sanjiv Goenka’s conglomerate who run Lucknow Super Giants, are buying a 70% stake in Manchester Originals. Lancashire will retain 30%.
- Sun Group, the media conglomerate who own Sunrisers Hyderabad, are buying 100% of Northern Superchargers. Yorkshire will not retain a financial interest.
- Cain International, backed by Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehley, and Ares Management Credit, both private equity firms, are jointly buying a 49% stake in Trent Rockets. Nottinghamshire will retain 51%.
- GMR Group, the Indian conglomerate which co-owns Delhi Capitals, are buying a 49% stake in Southern Brave. GMR are also taking over host county Hampshire.
The expectation seems to be that in the 2026 season, there will be mass rebrandings to align with their IPL links.
Makes you wonder whether CA & the State Associations will look at selling off the BBL franchises in the future. Wonder if the IPL owners will try and put pressure on the ICC to encourage T20 (or 100 ball) be open to investment in the remaining few markets where they’re still largely linked to the cricket board/member associations.
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It’s an interesting thought. And maybe just the boost the BBL needs (as arguably the 4th ranked T20 tournament in the world right now). With all the journey-men around world cricket playing for a myriad of different teams, I wonder if in the future they’ll eventually just be contracted to one team (owner), but play in different markets.
For example, Trent Boult currently plays for the Mumbai Indians. MI New York and MI Cape Town.
What’s next? MI Melbourne?
In many ways it would make more sense. And much less complicated. We have all these tournaments with international players just doing the rounds - as highlighted by the fact last year we had a bunch of internationals representing Victoria solely because they were San Francisco Unicorns players (and some of them had never even stepped foot in Victoria).
I think the injection of money would work wonders for the game here. Certainly if you look at South Africa - where the Indian cash splash has worked wonders. The South Africans are even claiming they’ve overtaken the ECB to have the 2nd best competition in the world behind the IPL. They certainly pay more than the BBL!
Sydney Super Giants? Perth Royals? Sunrisers Brisbane? Sydney Super Kings?
Great idea. It’s just what the BBL needs and it’s the only way we can stay relevant and competitive on the international stage. If we try and go it alone, the BBL will end up just another Super Smash.
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I hope not. We do not need the BCCI to be the ones running the sport. The ECB ought to be ashamed of themselves for allowing the IPL to dictate how T20 is run by letting them invest. Priority should’ve been given to English investors.
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Australia’s total against England is now the highest by any team at the Champions Trophy, surpassing England’s 351 for 8 in the first innings. 352 is the highest successful chase in the history of ICC ODI tournaments. England’s Ben Duckett made 165, the highest individual score in CT history.
Josh Inglis made his first ODI century, becoming the second Australian cricketer this year (after Beth Mooney) to score 100s in all three formats.
The win also ended Australia’s four-match losing streak in all one-day internationals, going back to last year.
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Yeah hate the idea. The idea that T20 league around the world just being carbon copies if the IPL. Boring
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Australian squad: Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (captain), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
Left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff has announced his retirement from state cricket after 16 years at Western Australia. But he will continue to play on the T20 franchise circuit where he has enjoyed considerable success.
Behrendorff, who turns 35 in April, does remain available for national selection having played 17 T20Is with the last being against West Indies in Perth 12 months ago. He also played 12 ODIs from 2019-22.
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Good news for Matthew Kuhnemann.
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With their clash against South Africa washed out on Tuesday, Australia only need to beat Afghanistan tomorrow (Friday) to advance to the semi-finals.
UPDATE
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