But an “independent inquiry committee” appointed by SLC has now recommended an “immediate lifting of [Gunathilaka’s] cricketing ban, allowing him to resume regular activities and return to national duty”. Gunathilaka, 32, has himself expressed a strong desire to return to training and cricket since being found not guilty in a Sydney court on September 23.

Sri Lanka’s batting has been lopsided in all their three World Cup games so far but it was only against Australia that it was truly exposed. After racking up a 125-run opening stand, they lost 10 wickets for just 84 runs. While it’s easy to say it was just a bad day, it would be

The Men’s 2023 ODI World Cup is underway in India and runs from October 5 until November 19. Each morning we will round up the latest action and news from the event and bring you the insights from our reporters on the ground. — Top Story: The Great Upset – Afghanistan bring World Cup to

Big Picture Even in a tournament with nine group-stage matches which allows room for a slip up or two, you don’t want to be 0-3 early in the competition. But that’s exactly the situation which will confront one of Australia and Sri Lanka after they face off in Lucknow in what already shapes as a

Sri Lanka’s team management confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Kusal Mendis will lead in Shanaka’s stead, as he has served as the team’s vice-captain for the past few months, and in fact led them in one of Sri Lanka’s warm-up matches, which Shanaka had missed. Team manager Mahinda Halangoda also said that despite Shanaka exiting the

Big picture It seems bizarre, given this is a World Cup game, but just three weeks ago Pakistan and Sri Lanka played an ODI that arguably mattered more. They battled it out to the final ball of a knockout match at the Asia Cup, with Sri Lanka stealing the win and booking a berth in

Sri Lanka will be without Maheesh Theekshana for their World Cup opener against South Africa, head coach Chris Silverwood has confirmed on the eve of the game, with the spinner not yet fully recovered from the hamstring tear he suffered in the Asia Cup. Sri Lanka, however, will have the services of both Kusal Perera

Bangladesh 116 for 5 (Saif 50*, Afif 23, Pavandeep 2-12) beat Malaysia 114 for 8 (Virandeep 52, Afif 3-11, Mondol 3-14) by two runs Afif varied the pace in each of the first three balls of the final over to frustrate Virandeep before lobbing one up outside his hitting arc. Virandeep tried to break the

Afghanistan 261 for 4 (Gurbaz 119, Rahmat 93) beat Sri Lanka 294 (Mendis 158, Samarawickrama 39, Nabi 4-44) by six wickets via DLS method After Afghanistan lost opener Ibrahim Zadran early in their chase of 295, Gurbaz and Rahmat played steadily and was unbeaten on 53 and 51 respectively, when rain halted the play in

Sri Lanka batter Danushka Gunathilaka has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a Tinder date through the act of “stealthing”. Judge Sarah Huggett acquitted the 32-year-old as he sat at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Thursday listening to the decision. He said he was looking forward to returning to playing after his acquittal.

It’s official – Sri Lanka will be without Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga at the ODI World Cup. Dasun Shanaka, whose role as captain had been under much speculation over the past few weeks, will lead the side in India through October and November. The rest of the 15-member squad has formed up as expected,

Sachithra Senanayake, the former Sri Lanka offspinner, has been granted bail by the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s court, the police media division has confirmed. Senanayake had been arrested on September 6 on charges related to match-fixing. Bail was granted on two sureties of LKR 5,000,000 each, while the previously court-imposed travel ban is still in effect.

Sri Lanka allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga may be out of the World Cup completely, and may even require surgery, after aggravating his hamstring tear over the past few days. There is a big question mark over Dushmantha Chameera‘s participation as well. The fast bowler is recovering from a pectoral injury and is unable to bowl ten

Sri Lanka 84 for 2 (Sanjeewani 32, Putthawong 2-21) beat Thailand 78 for 7 (Sutthiruang 31, Priyadharshani 4-10) by eight wickets Inoshi Priyadharshani‘s career-best returns of 4 for 10 backed up by a quick 32 from Anushka Sanjeewani helped Sri Lanka brush aside Thailand by eight wickets and advance to the semi-finals of the Asian

Sri Lanka Cricket has resumed its domestic cricket season, which was halted nearly three weeks ago, after coming to an understanding with the country’s sports ministry over a dispute surrounding the restructuring of the domestic tournaments. As such the Major Club three-day tournament and the Tier B Club three-day tournament will resume on Friday, September

Sri Lanka have announced a young squad for the 2023 Asian Games – essentially a Sri Lanka A side – with Sahan Arachchige set to lead the 15-member squad. A majority of the team have however appeared in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), so fans may not be completely unfamiliar with some of these names,

“But if we take today out of the equation, we’ve seen two youngsters put their hands up, in Dunith Wellalage, and Matheesha Pathirana. We’ve seen two of them really put up their hands on the world stage. Sadeera [Samarawickrama]‘s played some good knocks (he hit 215 runs at 35.83). [Kusal] Mendis has come back into

Rain was a constant in the Sri Lanka leg of matches at the Asia Cup, and the groundspersons in Pallekele and Colombo put in a heroic effort to ensure more cricket was played than might have been thought possible. From the winning India side, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, at different points in the tournament,

After Jasprit Bumrah went boom in the first over of the Asia Cup final, it was over to Mohammed Siraj. Bang, bang, bang, bang he went in the fourth, ripping out the Sri Lankan top order. It was just the fourth instance of four wickets going to a bowler in an over in men’s ODIs

Siraj continues with three slips3.1 Siraj to Nissanka, OUTA stunner from Jadeja. A length ball from Siraj, just outside off. Nissanka pushed at it, opening the face of the bat at the point of contact, and that meant the ball went squarer. Jadeja dived to his right and pouched it low with both hands Sadeera

Sri Lanka are the team you want to love, and why not? In 16 men’s Asia Cups – across ODIs and T20Is – they have made 12 finals and won six. They might not have the big guns of the past like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene or Muttiah Muralidaran, but in Dasun Shanaka, they have

Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana has been ruled out of the final of the men’s Asia Cup against India because of a hamstring injury, but he will “definitely be ready” for the World Cup starting next month. Theekshana injured himself in Sri Lanka’s last-ball win against Pakistan. While captain Dasun Shanaka said Theekshana had a

Sri Lanka 252 for 8 (Mendis 91, Asalanka 49*, Ifthikar 3-50) beat Pakistan 252 for 7 (Rizwan 86*, Shafique 52, Pathirana 3-65) by two wickets via DLS method In a game of multiple compelling storylines, it was Charith Asalanka who stood tall in the end as Sri Lanka edged Pakistan out by two wickets in

England 273 for 8 (Sciver-Brunt 120, Bouchier 92) vs Sri Lanka A stunning century from Nat Sciver-Brunt and 95 to Maia Bouchier led England to a commanding total in a rain-hit third and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Leicester. The pair rescued their side from 18 for 2 with a 193-run partnership for the

Big picture – India might rotate players Two weeks ago in Bengaluru, India’s Asia Cup-bound squad had exhaustive fitness tests to check their levels of preparedness for the cricket coming up over the next three months. On Tuesday, those fitness levels will be put to test as India return to the R Premadasa Stadium a

If Sri Lanka had aimed too high in their Super Four game against Bangladesh, they could have ended up with a sub-par score. These are the thoughts of Sadeera Samarawickrama, the star of Sri Lanka’s batting innings, who struck 93 off 72 balls. Across the match, Samarawickrama was the only batter to make more than

Asitha Fernando, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, has signed to play for Nottinghamshire in the final three rounds of the County Championship. Fernando, 26, has taken 35 wickets in 12 Tests at an average of 28.97 and is set for his first spell in county cricket, bolstering Notts seam-bowling options for the last few weeks

Sri Lanka know they have issues at Nos. 6 and 7 – their batters in those positions have been frequently unable to deliver big finishes. But those batters are working hard to provide that firepower, says coach Chris Silverwood. At the moment, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sri Lanka’s incumbent No. 6, averages 26.04 and strikes at

Big picture – Sri Lanka in sight of 13th successive win Sri Lanka are one win away from ODI eminence. If they beat Bangladesh in their Asia Cup Super Four game on Saturday, they will become the team with the second-longest winning streak in the format. Only the Australians of 2003 achieved a longer streak

Sri Lanka blew their hosts away by seven and eight wickets respectively to come back from 1-0 down and hand England their first T20I series defeat by a side other than Australia since 2010. Given that Sri Lanka are ranked six places lower than England and Pakistan two spots behind South Africa in the format,