7 Icon players appointed to each Provincial team

Sri Lanka were at the receiving end of brilliant batting and the fury of Mother Nature as Pakistanandnbsp; piled up runs with ease on a rain curtailed second dayandrsquo;s play of the second cricket Test here at the SSC ground yesterday.

Sri Lanka will press hard for an inaccessible 2-0 lead when they take on Pakistan in the second of the three match Test series starting today at the SSC ground.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday that more than 100,000 tickets for the ICC World Twenty-20 to be staged between September 18 and October 7 in Sri Lanka have been sold with the majority grabbed by locals.

Matches featuring Sri Lanka, semi-finals and final in big demand

Sri Lanka completed a comfortable 209 runs win with a day to go despite a resilient second innings fight back by the Pakistanis to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series which would be best remembered for the atrocious umpiring as well as Kumar Sangakkaraandrsquo;s unbeaten 199 at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.andnbsp;

Kumar Sangakkara and Alastair Cook have made impressive gains in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen which were released on Sunday after the completion of Sri Lanka-Pakistan and England-West Indies series, and the Ireland-Australia ODI that was washed out on Saturday in Belfast.

Pakistan coach Dave Whatmore yesterday called for the mandatory use of the Decision Review System (DRS) with or without the hotspot technology in order to avoid bizarre on-field umpire decisions but refrained from commenting on the controversial umpiring in the match.

After seven sessions of complete dominance, first with the bat and then with some excellent seam and spin attack aided by the horrors of umpiring decisions, Sri Lanka refused to go for the kill, as they puzzlingly decided to bat a second time despite a commanding 372 first innings lead on day three of the first Test here at the Galle International stadium on Sunday.

A bubbly Sri Lankan in Britain, a crusader for under-privileged children and homes for the aged, has been picked to carry the Olympic torch on July 17, ten days before the London Games commence.

Did Sri Lanka win the ODI series against Pakistan or did the visitors lose it? Judging by the manner the two games ended I will not be surprised to find Pakistan supporters carrying the latter view. Though personally I would want to think that Sri Lanka won two remarkable victories virtually coming from behind when everything was against him.

Kumar Sangakkara was stranded a run short of claiming his ninth double century, his third against Pakistan after Saeed Ajmal curtailed Sri Lankaandrsquo;s run feast on a deteriorating Galle pitch on Saturday.

Former captains TM Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara hit centuries, while skipper Mahela Jayawardane cashed in with an unfinished half century to help Sri Lanka reach a formidable 300 for 2 after electing to bat on day one of the first Test against Pakistan at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

Former secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka, S. Skandakumar, a gentleman par excellence, delivered a masterpiece straight from his heart that captivated his audience at the Sri Lanka-UK Society Birthday Banquet for Her Majesty the Queen at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo on June 17.

Sri Lanka will look to arrest their dismal Test record during the last three years when they taken on inconsistent Pakistan in the first of the three match Test series starting today at the propitious Galle International Cricket Stadium.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has been banned from the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle that starts on Friday as punishment for his team's slow over-rate in the final match of the one-day series.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has been suspended from this week's Galle Test after his side was found guilty of a serious over-rate offence during the fifth and last ODI against Sri Lanka at R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Monday.

The following squad has been approved by the Hon. Minister of Sports …

Angelo Mathews produced a masterpiece of batting brilliance as he single-handedly hauled Sri Lanka to victory over Pakistan out of nowhere in the fifth and deciding ODI at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday.

All-rounder Angelo Mathews struck an unbeaten 80 off 76 balls to lead Sri Lanka to a thrilling two wickets win over Pakistan with two balls to spare in the fifth and the final One-Day International played at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo on Monday.

Thisara Pereraandrsquo;s individual brilliance with the ball helped Sri Lankaandrsquo;s turn around and take the series lead 2-1 in the ODI against Pakistan at the end of the fourth match played at the Premadasa Stadium on Saturday.

Sri Lanka Cricket has netted TotalSportsAsia (TSA) as the new team sponsor for the ICC World T-20 for a hefty US$ 500,000, approximately Rs. 65 million which was almost double the base price.

Pakistan were strongly placed at 166-2 in the 38th over before they collapsed to 199 all out chasing a 244-run target in the day-night contest, with man-of-the-match Perera finishing with 4-42.

Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has ordered officials of one of the countryandrsquo;s top motor racing organizations, Air Force officers assigned to it and staff of Sri Lankan Airlines for a one-to-one thrash-out on how and why an under-privileged rider was not given his prize after he won the overall championships at an event in March this year.

Sri Lanka yesterday pulled out a bowler, Sajeewa Weerakoon, from near obscurity to line up for the third ODI against Pakistan at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo implying that its stables were depleted following the retirement of Muttiah Muralideran and an injury to Rangana Herath.

After the start they had at Hambantota in the first T 20 the next two outings for Sri Lanka has naturally been disappointing. While nothing can be taken away from the bowling skills of Pakistan much of the blame is with the Sri Lankan team too.

If the batting in the Sri Lankan camp was below par the bowling and the fielding amply made up for it. To win by 37 runs after scoring just 132 for 7 in 20 overs has to be ranked as a wonderful effort under any circumstances. And that was exactly what Sri Lanka did at Hambantota in the 1st T 20 game against Pakistan to come from behind and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Sri Lankan hurdler Supun Randeniya from Ranabima Royal College bagged the countryandrsquo;s fourth medal at the on-going Asian Junior Athletics championships when he won the Bronze at the 110 metres hurdles at the Sugathadasa stadium yesterday.

Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene yesterday said that the game of cricket has greatly evolved with the introduction of T20 cricket onto the world stage.

Coach Graham Ford yesterday said that all rounder Thisara Perera would be the biggest factor in Sri Lanka cricket in the future, just hours after the former St. Josephandrsquo;s College cricketer put up a magnificent all-round performance to set up a comfortable 76 runs win for Sri Lanka.