Little-known Graeme Swann put in a superb all-round performance to help England pull off a tense two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the third one-day international on Sunday. The off-spinner grabbed four wickets in a disciplined spell and then made a crucial 25 as England achieved the revised target of 164 in a game reduced to 48 overs a side due to rain.
All-rounder Farveez Maharoof grabbed four wickets to propel Sri Lanka to an emphatic 119-run run victory over England in the first one-day international on Monday. Maharoof ripped through the top order after a positive start by England’s batsmen.
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/ 21 September 2007
Sri Lankan fighter jets bombed a Tamil Tiger military base in the rebel-held far north on Friday, triggering multiple explosions, the air force said, while a suspected rebel roadside bomb killed one civilian in the east. The air strike targeted top leaders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Sri Lanka’s prolific spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was on Thursday ruled out of the inaugural World Twenty20 Championships next month due to an elbow injury. ”Murali is affected by an elbow injury and he will be out for four to six weeks,” Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan said.
Veteran Sanath Jayasuriya grabbed four wickets as ruthless Sri Lanka thrashed Bangladesh by 39 runs on Wednesday to sweep the one-day series 3-0. The 38-year-old all-rounder picked up 4-14 in four overs to cap a series of dominating performances by the World Cup runners-up who had mauled Bangladesh by a 3-0 margin in the Test series as well.
All rounder Sanath Jayasuriya claimed his 300th one-day wicket to help Sri Lanka to a five-wicket victory in the second one-day international on Monday. Sri Lanka cruised to an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series after Bangladesh’s batsmen continued their disappointing form by being bowled out for 137 in 46.5 overs.
All rounder Sanath Jayasuriya claimed his 300th one-day wicket to help Sri Lanka bowl out Bangladesh for 137 in the second one-day international on Monday. Jayasuriya claimed four wickets for 31 runs from 9.5 overs to become the ninth player in ODI history to take 300 wickets.
Sri Lanka were 500-4 in their first innings at close of the third day’s play in the third and final cricket Test against Bangladesh on Friday. Sri Lanka, who bowled out Bangladesh for 131 on Thursday, lead by 369 runs with six wickets in hand at the Asgiriya Stadium.
Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took six wickets as Bangladesh were bowled out for 131 on the second morning of the third and final Test on Thursday. The start of play was delayed by rain but Sri Lanka still had time to finish off the Bangladesh innings, which resumed on 72 for four.
Bangladesh slumped to 72-4 on a rain-hit opening day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. The tourists lost the wickets of Javed Omar (8) and Habibul Bashar (18) before tea and then Rajin Saleh for a duck and Shariar Nafees for 29 in the final session.
Sri Lanka took charge of the second cricket Test after Bangladesh crashed to their lowest total of 62 on the opening day’s play on Tuesday. Fast bowler Lasith Malinga and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed four wickets each as Bangladesh, sent in to bat by Sri Lanka, were dismissed in the first over after lunch off 25.2 overs.
Sri Lanka pace bowler Lasith Malinga claimed four for 25 as Bangladesh collapsed to 62 for nine on the first morning of the second Test on Tuesday. Malinga ripped through the Bangladesh top order with the new ball after captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Bangladesh slumped to an innings and 234-run defeat in the first test on Thursday with Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claiming a match haul of 9-102. Bangladesh’s top order had resisted bravely on the third day but collapsed spectacularly at the start of the fourth, losing their five remaining wickets in just 4.4 overs.
Sri Lanka closed in on an innings victory in the first cricket Test after breaking Bangladesh’s dour resistance with the bat on Wednesday. Bangladesh, trailing by 488 runs on the first innings, were 233-5 in their second knock when bad light stopped play 10.3 overs early on the third day at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.
Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan claimed his 58th five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka overpowered Bangladesh on the opening day of the first cricket Test in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Monday. The wily off-spinner grabbed 5-15 runs as Bangladesh, sent in to bat in overcast conditions, were shot out for their third lowest total of 89 in 32.3 overs in the post-lunch session.
Sri Lankan troops killed about 30 Tamil Tigers in a clash overnight in jungle in the island’s restive east, the military said on Wednesday, hours after the navy said it had killed about 40 insurgents in a sea battle. The military said soldiers had captured a rebel bunker line during the fight in a swathe of landlocked eastern jungle called Thoppigala.
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a police commando truck with a roadside bomb on Monday just south of the capital Colombo, killing seven civilians and wounding 36 other people, the military said. Monday’s bombing came just days after suspected Tigers targeted an army bus near the entrance to Colombo port.
An upsurge of violence in the conflict between Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan government forces has claimed up to 45 lives in the past 24 hours, although an exact toll has not been confirmed. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam claimed they killed at least 35 sailors and lost four of their own men in an attack on a naval facility.
Sri Lankan troops killed nearly 40 Tamil Tiger rebels over the past week, the military said on Friday, after a spate of clashes in the island’s war-ravaged north and east. ”There have been several confrontations. There are 38 confirmed dead in the past week, but we think the number could be higher,” said military spokesperson Prasad Samarasinghe.
Sri Lankan children are being encouraged to raid their piggy banks in a bid to end a serious shortage of loose change in a country where inflation is making coins worth more than their face value. State-owned banks are offering colour pencils, felt pens, drawing paper and books to children who part with their savings in exchange for bank notes.
Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan soldiers held a truce as their national side marched to the cricket World Cup final, but sentries were forced to miss the match to keep a keen lookout, officials said. ”There were specific instructions to maintain a high alert and ensure that men who were on duty remained in their posts and did not scoot off to watch the match,” a military source said.
Clashes between Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil rebels in the island’s north have killed up to 30 people, the two sides said on Wednesday amid a spate of air raids, bus bombings and sea battles that has left scores dead in recent weeks. The government, meanwhile, said it had taken control of a key road in eastern Sri Lanka.
A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber tried to blow up an army camp in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, killing seven people a day after rebels carried out their first air strike since fighting began in 1983. The military said troops shot the suicide bomber as he tried to drive an explosives-laden tractor into the camp in the eastern district of Batticaloa.
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels took their separatist campaign to a new level on Monday with their first air raid. Their aircraft may be small in size and number, but the daring night-time bombing mission on a key air force base beside Sri Lanka’s only international airport strikes a significant psychological blow.
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/ 28 February 2007
Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene goes to the World Cup in the Caribbean hoping to erase bitter memories of the previous tournament. The 2003 World Cup in South Africa ended in a nightmare for Jayawardene, who scored just 21 runs in nine matches. His form was so poor that he did not once reach double figures.
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/ 27 January 2007
Sri Lanka’s navy attacked and destroyed three Tamil Tiger boats on Saturday as the rebels launched their first assault on the port of Colombo in 10 years, the Defence Ministry said. Naval craft blew up one boat after the three were spotted near a restricted zone before chasing and sinking the other two, leaving an unknown number of casualties, the ministry said.
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/ 26 December 2006
Outgoing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was deeply critical on Tuesday of Sri Lanka’s warring parties, blaming both sides for the violence that has slowed rebuilding after the 2004 Asian tsunami. In a statement he said the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels was making the reconstruction effort ”even more difficult”.
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/ 18 November 2006
Sri Lanka’s navy clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels off the island’s north-west coast on Saturday, each claiming to have sunk the other’s vessels, while the military said a rebel ambush on land killed three soldiers. The Navy said it sank three Tiger boats near the northern Mannar peninsula, while the rebels said they sank two navy boats and killed 10 sailors in the incident.
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/ 9 November 2006
Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees fled their camp in rebel territory in the island’s east on Thursday, survivors said, a day after the army bombed the location killing dozens of civilians. Rights groups and diplomats voiced outrage at Wednesday’s attack, which the military said was in retaliation for rebel fire.
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/ 8 November 2006
At least 65 civilians were killed and about 300 injured on Wednesday when government forces shelled a refugee camp in eastern Sri Lanka, Tamil rebels and medical sources said. A spokesperson for the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said the final toll could rise to 100.
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/ 25 October 2006
Holidaymakers on the beaches around Sri Lanka’s southern port of Galle seemed unconcerned about the recent Tamil Tiger suicide attack here, but industry professionals are shaking their heads. One day after five Tiger rebel boats tried to shoot their way into a key naval base in Galle, carefree foreigners frolicked in resort swimming pools or sunbathed on the area’s pristine white sands.
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/ 21 October 2006
Sri Lankan navy boats destroyed seven Tamil Tiger vessels in a sea battle, killing at least 35 rebels, a naval spokesperson said on Saturday, as President Mahinda Rajapakse appealed for peace. Sri Lanka has seen a surge in violence in the past few months, raising doubts about the success of peace talks.