Cricket news round-up – 28 October: PNG and Ireland qualify for World T20

Australia took a 1-0 lead against Sri Lanka. PNG and Ireland booked their spots in World T20. India proposed Day-Night Test at Eden.

Australia Thump Sri Lanka in first T20I

Australia started their home season with the biggest T20 International win against a hapless Sri Lankan side. David Warner made a great homecoming with his first international T20 hundred on his 33^rd birthday and Pushed Australia to a massive score of 233. There were also contributions from the captain Aaron Finch (64 off 36) and Glenn Maxwell (62 off 28) as none of the Lankan bowlers could stop the Australian master class. Lasith Malinga conceded 37 in his four overs and Kasun Rajitha went for an astonishing 75 runs in his four overs.

Sri Lankan chase had a terrible start as Kushal Mendis went for a duck in the first over. They were soon 13/3 and and finally limped off to 99/9 in their 20 overs. Dashun Sanaka top scored for them with 17. For Australia, Adam Zampa took 3/14 as Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins took two wickets each.

PNG and Ireland Qualify for World T20

Papua New Guinea qualified for their first ever appearance in the world stage after topping Group A of the Men’s World T20 Qualifier in UAE. They beat Kenya despite being 19/6 at one stage and ensured their top place. Netherlands’ win over Scotland also took them to 10 points but they are behind by net run rate and now will play the hosts UAE for a direct spot in the World T20 next year.

From Group B, Ireland qualified directly for the showpiece event after a shock win for Jersey over Oman. Three teams, Netherlands, Oman, and UAE finished on eight points in Group B and now Oman will meet Namibia for a direct qualification spot.

Eden may get a pink-ball test

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has confirmed the proposal of the Indian board regarding a Day-Night Test match for the upcoming India tour of Bangladesh. Bangladesh are scheduled to play three T20 Internationals and two Tests in India in November. If everything goes well then the second Test at Eden gardens can become India’s first ever Day-Night Test match.

The board will now discuss the matter with the players and the coaching staff before agreeing to this proposal. Till now both India and Bangladesh kept themselves away from the pink-ball Tests but with the new BCCI president Sourav Ganguly being a vocal supporter of such fixtures it may make its debut in India soon.

National Contract for Sri Lanka Women

Sri Lankan Cricket Board has offered the national contract to 20 players from the national team and 15 emerging players. The length of the contract is six months and three months respectively for these two groups. There are four categories for the national players as Chamari Athapaththu, Shashikala Siriwardene, and Inoka Ranaweera are placed in Group A category. There are five players each in Group B and Group D and rest seven players are in Group C.

Although no amount was mentioned for these groups, the players were selected based on the performance, availability, and future requirement. For the emerging players, there are no group division but they are expected to be paid in a fixed monthly rate and get attendance bonus.