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Mohammad Rizwan, the leading run-scorer, jumped 116 places to 42nd in the batting list

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2021South Africa’s left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi has risen to a career-best second position in the ICC T20I rankings for bowlers, following his four-wicket haul against Pakistan in Lahore. Shamsi was the joint leading wicket-taker in the three-match series, picking up six scalps at an average of 10.16 and an economy rate of 5.08. He went past Adam Zampa, Adil Rashid and Mujeeb ur Rahman on the list, and is now just three points behind Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who occupies the top spot.Related

• Boucher praises 'bravery' as second-string squad falls short in Pakistan

• Miller fireworks can't save South Africa as Pakistan clinch decider

For Pakistan, wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan was the biggest mover, jumping up 116 slots to 42nd position in the T20I batting list. Rizwan was the leading run-scorer in the series, having hit 104*, 51 and 42 in the three matches. Rizwan had also been named the Player of the Series in the recently concluded Tests.The other Pakistan players to get a boost were Haider Ali (137th), Shaheen Afridi (11th), Hasan Ali (82nd), Mohammad Nawaz (64th) and Usman Qadir (92nd).Fast bowler Dwaine Pretorius, who shared the wicket-taking honours with Shamsi, also made a significant climb in the rankings, moving from 121st to 51st on the list; his previous best ranking was 107th. Reeza Hendricks’ 98 runs in the series lifted him to 17th in the rankings, while David Miller, who smashed an unbeaten 85 in the second match, gained seven places to take the 22nd position. England’s Dawid Malan is still the top-ranked batsman in the T20I list.Pakistan, despite winning the series 2-1, remained in fourth position in the T20I ranking list with 260 points, while South Africa stayed at fifth with 259.

The India captain praised his pace bowlers for their attitude on unhelpful home pitches

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2019Star Sports.On why India’s pacers have been effective in home conditions
“It’s all about the attitude. If the fast bowlers step out on the field thinking spinners are going to do all the work, then it doesn’t do any justice to them playing in the XI. I think the attitude and the mindset they have created for themselves, it’s been outstanding in the last two years. Even in India, they are looking to make a contribution. It’s not like it’s hot and humid and they give up. They would ask for shorter spells so that they can give 100%, which is communication that’s required from both ends. I think they have been brilliant in terms of doing that for the team.”You see guys like Shami, Ishant [Sharma], Jasprit [Bumrah] recently and Umesh [Yadav] in the past as well doing those important things in the game, which we want them to do. Even a couple of wickets in a spell help the spinners – who might be dominating from the other end – to get a bit of a breather. So it’s all about wanting to make a play for the team that’s setting them [the pacers] apart even when the conditions are difficult.”Mohammed Shami shows off a stump his delivery broke•Associated Press

On R Ashwin, Jadeja and Shami’s performances in Visakhapatnam
“Jaddu and Ash again – really, really good. Ash in the first innings was very good given the conditions. The pitch was flat, they got a few boundaries away but you have to accept that because we also got 500. It wasn’t like there were any demons in the pitch. We always knew it was always going to be a second-innings game. The fact that he picked up six [seven] in the first was a great effort from his end, and Jadeja in the second making those quick breakthroughs for us in that spell.”But Shami has been a strike bowler for us in the second innings consistently now. If you see all his four-five-wicket hauls, they come in the second innings invariably when the team needs it, the ball is reversing a bit, that’s his strength. All the guys stood up. The batting heroes were obvious but the bowlers had it tougher in this game, to keep going in these conditions. So they deserve a lot of credit.”

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On the pick of India’s batsmen in Visakhapatnam
“Rohit [Sharma] was outstanding in both innings, Mayank [Agarwal] along with him in the first innings was brilliant. And in the second innings as well he started off so well. [Cheteshwar] Pujara played with the tempo that allowed the rest of us to come in and get those extra runs so that we have ten, maybe 12 extra overs to bowl at the opposition. It was a hard grind, though, because of the conditions, especially the weather conditions and the pitch slowing down as well.”On the quality of SG balls
“This lot is much better than the last lot we played with. So some improvement has been made. We would like the ball to be hard and consistent throughout the 80 overs. If it softens up after 40-45 overs, you have nothing happening in the game, which is not ideal for Test cricket. The hard ball obviously kicks a bit more, makes it difficult for batsmen.”We would like to see that happen on a consistent basis, the ball remaining hard for at least 60 overs, if not 80. So that we are [all] in the game through and through, that’s the fun of Test cricket. Bowlers keep coming at you and trouble you, you need to be able to score runs then, and both teams are in the game. That’s the whole fun and essence of Test cricket.”

Ben Raine hit the second-fastest century by an Englishman – from just 41 balls – as Birmingham Bears suffered a shock at Edgbaston

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2018
ScorecardA brilliant century from Ben Raine lifted Leicestershire Foxes to a 102-run victory over Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast at Edgbaston.Former Durham all-rounder Raine smashed his way to 100 from just 41 balls, the second-fastest T20 century by an Englishman, on his way to a blistering 113 from 46 balls with eight fours and ten sixes.Leicestershire are desperate to keep Raine on their books, valuing his combative talents with bat and ball, but he is being pursued by a number of counties – and nights like this will not do anything to calm them down.His first century in any format for Leicestershire featured some magnificent straight hitting and lifted the Foxes to their record T20 total – 229 for five.

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Raine then took two wickets in his first over to leave Birmingham’s reply in early disarray 36 for three. There was no way back from that for the Bears who folded to 127 all out with five overs unused to leave the Foxes – the North Group dark horses – with their record T20 win and both teams with two wins and two defeats from four games in the North Group.Raine said: “It was one of those night when everything came off. You have got to back yourself and I am not worried when I come up against good teams like these. The coaches have come up with a lot of strategies for my white-ball game and I have come up with a method which has been working for me this season. “For me, it’s not a shock that an innings like this has come along. I knew I had it in me.”Put in, the Foxes were flying from the word go as Cameron Delport blasted 27 from 14 balls before sending up a skier off Olly Hannon-Dalby. Four balls later, Dom Sibley took a smart catch at cover to remove Neil Dexter but the fielder might soon have reflected that he’d have been better off dropping it as Raine launched his onslaught.He raced to 50 from 21 balls, reaching his half century in the midst of a barrage which brought 20 from four balls from off spinner Sibley.Raine sustained his punishment of a Bears team which was untypically ragged in the field. He dominated a third-wicket partnership of 142 in 66 balls with Mark Cosgrove (42, 41 balls, three fours, one six) and departed, having skied a return catch to Colin de Grandhomme, to a standing ovation from the home fans who appreciated the quality of Raine’s hitting even at the expense of their own team.Under immense pressure from the word go, Birmingham took 17 from the first over but that pressure soon took its toll. Ed Pollock (25, 14 balls) was bowled by Colin Ackermann’s third ball before Raine’s golden day got even better as his fourth and sixth deliveries removed Ian Bell and Sam Hain, caught at deep fine leg and extra cover respectively.Raine had not finished, taking a fine catch to remove the dangerous de Grandhomme, and when skipper Grant Elliott was stumped off spinner Callum Parkinson’s second ball, the Bears’ last vestige of hope disappeared.The Foxes’ perfect day ended with Parkinson rifling through the lower order for a T20 career-best four for 20.

Virat Kohli thinks it was a clear case of RCB losing rather than Pune winning, after they slumped to a 61-run loss to see their Playoff hopes take another massive hit

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2017After Royal Challengers Bangalore ambled to their second sub-hundred total and lost by 61 runs, a visibly disconsolate captain Virat Kohli conceded that his team lost the game rather than Rising Pune Supergiant winning it.”I think it is everyone for see. We lost that game. It is hard for a captain to stand here and speak after performances like these,” Kohli said after the side’s third successive loss. “But, [I have] got to embrace it, got to take it in the journey, take it in my stride and move forward and learn from these kind of games, these kind of days.”We are just not getting good performances together. It is lack of intent, guys fearful of getting out and failing and that’s never a good feeling. So, that’s all it boils down to. We lost the game rather than them winning it.Royal Challengers barely escaped being bowled out for the third game in a row after totals of 49 and 134 in their last two completed games. With the exception of Kohli – he made 55 of the team’s total of 96 for 9 – the other batsmen finished with single digits. Royal Challengers were on 49 for 5 at one stage and didn’t strike a single six until the 17th over. Kohli couldn’t point to any specific reason as to how how a batting line-up consisting of himself, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle could fail continuously.”Could be a few reasons, could be expectations, could be even looking at our side,” Kohli said. “We made the playoffs last year, good batting line-up, so all kinds of things play in your head. You can’t really pinpoint something unless you know as an individual. It could be hesitation to get out, hesitation to get runs, all those sort of things as batsmen, you know, they can creep in very quickly.”Mathematically, Royal Challengers could still make the playoffs, but Kohli didn’t rate their chances too highly. “We are almost not in the race for the playoffs now, pretty much All we can do now is just enjoy the four games,” he said. “Not worry about failing, not worry about not getting runs and just go out there and express ourselves.”Coach Daniel Vettori reiterated Kohli’s statements on staying focused for the next four games. “There are still four more games to go and they are really important for the pride of the franchise,” Vettori said. “We travel to Mumbai tomorrow. We need to play well there.”Vettori was pleased that Royal Challengers’ bowlers had restricted Rising Pune to 157. He was particularly appreciative of Pawan Negi, who conceded only 18 runs in his four overs and picked up Rahul Tripathi’s wicket. “Our bowling performances throughout the season have been exceptional. A real improvement from where we were last year and some of that is down to the wickets we have played on,” Vettori said.When asked about the batting failures, Vettori admitted that they had a different batting line-up in mind at the start of the season, but injuries to KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan forced a rethink in strategy. “A number of guys I suppose, aren’t in the form expected of them,” Vettori said. “Virat has led us exceptionally well, not only with the captaincy but with his batting. The group knows where we haven’t performed, that’s what we need to rectify.”Rising Pune, on the other, had no problems with either fear of failure or expressing themselves, as they completed their fourth win in five games. While lauding his team’s “complete” performance, captain Steve Smith singled out pacer Lockie Ferguson for doing everything asked of him.Ferguson, playing only his second game, finished with figures of 2 for 7 in four overs, including the wicket of de Villiers. “That’s a magnificent effort, isn’t it?” Smith said. “Three overs of dot balls from Lockie, hit good lengths and bowled good bouncers as well. He is an exciting player for the future.”Smith, however, admitted Rising Pune didn’t get the runs they were looking for. “We didn’t know what was enough at the halfway point, to be fair. The wicket was a little bit slow and obviously Bangalore players have some quality plyers in their line-up. I thought we came out and bowled really well. We executed our plans really well tonight.”

Defending champions Sri Lanka and heavyweights South Africa are both out of the World T20, meaning there is little at stake in the teams’ final group game in Delhi

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando in Delhi27-Mar-2016

Match facts

March 28, 2016
Start time 1930 local (1400 GMT)1:52

Manjrekar: Back South Africa to win this one

Big Picture

There were no visible tears when Sri Lanka were knocked out of the World T20, but to see Angelo Mathews and his men speak, and to read their tweets the next day, there is clearly some hurt. More than one member of the team has expressed a feeling of letting “the whole country down”. As doomed as this Sri Lanka campaign had always seemed, pain still struck when failure became tangible. For someone like Mathews, this is the first time in his career the team is exiting a world tournament before the knockouts have begun.South Africa’s exit was not as dramatic as their penultimate-ball loss to New Zealand in the World Cup last year, but they will be no less affected. Players like Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers are into their 30s now, and have limited chances to taste big-tournament glory – particularly now that the World T20 has switched to a four-year cycle. This time, at least, they will be saved the “chokers” tag. Despite their hoard of monumental talents, South Africa just did not get going in this tournament.As each team attempts to pick itself up to play for pride, South Africa do appear the better team. Sri Lanka’s top order did not play seam well against England, which is a weakness the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris, and – if he gets a game – Dale Steyn could exploit. With so many South Africans in the IPL now, it is difficult to say which team will be more comfortable in these conditions.Sri Lanka also have a little more than their self-esteem on the line: they are looking to snap their seven-match losing streak against Full-Member opposition.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: LWLLL
Sri Lanka: LLWLL

In the spotlight

In an up-and-down few months for South Africa, Imran Tahir has been among their most consistent performers. He has taken five wickets in his three games this tournament, and was excellent against West Indies, returning figures of 13 for 2. Sri Lanka’s right-handers have not fancied legspin in recent months, and what’s more, some of the players in this team will have bad memories of last year’s World Cup quarter-final in Sydney, which Tahir had excelled in. His bowling may define Sri Lanka’s middle overs.Picked, then dumped, then picked again, Jeffrey Vandersay has come into the side and been perhaps the find of Sri Lanka’s woeful tournament. He was outstanding against West Indies, delivering four gripping overs on a turning track. Though his control was slightly wonky in the next match, he still took 2 for 26, and showcased a venomous googly. A third good performance in a row will give the team and its fans hope that the future can be brighter than the present.

Teams news

South Africa may give Farhaan Behardien a match, with Aaron Phangiso also likely to retain his place. David Wiese could be rested.South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis (capt.), 4 Rilee Russouw, 5 AB de Villiers, 6 David Miller, 7 Farhaan Behardien, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Aaron Phangiso, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran Tahir.With Angelo Mathews likely to be ruled out with a hamstring injury and Dushmantha Chameera also having sustained a blow to a finger, both are likely to be left out for the dead rubber. Dinesh Chandimal is the likely replacement captain. Suranga Lakmal and Shehan Jayasuriya are likely to come into the XI.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dinesh Chandimal (wk)(capt.), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Milinda Siriwardana, 4 Lahiru Thirimanne, 5 Chamara Kapugedara, 6 Shehan Jayasuriya, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Dasun Shanaka, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Jeffrey Vandersay, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Pitch and conditions

There was a little slowness to the Kotla surface on Saturday evening, but batsmen who had their eye in were also able to play their shots. The weather is not expected to impede play.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have won three T20Is and lost two against Sri Lanka. Their World T20 head-to-head is even, at 1:1.
• Of batsmen who only played in the Super 10s stage of the tournament, Quinton de Kock has the third-highest run-tally, of 144 from three innings.
• This is only the second time in six World T20 tournaments that Sri Lanka missed out on a knockouts spot. The other occasion had been in the inaugural tournament in 2007.

Quotes

“We’ve got a lot to play for. You never want to leave the World Cup on a bad note. We are hoping we put things back together and come up with a good victory.””This year it was helpful for spinners. A lot of spinners have done well – especially the leg-spinners. Though we are out of the competition, we fight hard – that’s the Sri Lankan spirit.”

Peter Trego took his run tally in this season’s Yorkshire Bank 40 to 705 with an unbeaten 140 as Somerset boosted their hopes of a semi-final appearance with a three-wicket win over Yorkshire at Taunton.

15-Aug-2013
ScorecardPeter Trego took his List A tally this season to 705•Getty Images

Peter Trego took his run tally in this season’s Yorkshire Bank 40 to 705 with an unbeaten 140 as Somerset boosted their hopes of a semi-final appearance with a three-wicket win over Yorkshire at Taunton.The visitors posted 261 for 8 after losing the toss, Alex Lees, Jack Leaning and Adam Lyth being the main contributors. Adam Dibble returned career-best List A figures of 4 for 52 runs, while Alfonso Thomas claimed 3 for 49.Somerset reached their target with five balls to spare, Trego leading the way with an 85-ball ton to confirm his position as the competition’s leading runscorer. He was well supported by Craig Kieswetter and Alviro Petersen, who made 51 on the final appearance of his spell with the county.The result kept Somerset top of Group C with one fixture left against arch-rivals and fellow semi-final candidates Gloucestershire at Bristol on Monday week.Yorkshire’s innings was built around a third-wicket stand of 118 in 20 overs between Lees and Lyth, who came together with the total 39 for 2. Lees was first to his half-century, off 51 balls, with three fours and a six. Lyth soon followed, having faced 48 deliveries and hit seven fours.It was 157 for 3 in the 27th over when Lees was yorked by Thomas and two overs later Lyth was also back in the pavilion, caught by Thomas at long-on off legspinner Max Waller, who went for 52 off his eight overs.Leaning then assumed major responsibility for seeing the visitors to a challenging total, reaching the quickest fifty of the innings, off 42 balls, with four fours and a six. Strapping pace bowler Dibble accounted for him with a full toss in the penultimate over, having earlier dismissed Andrew Gale, Ryan Gibson and Rich Pyrah.Marcus Trescothick got the hosts’ reply going with a six off Iain Wardlaw, but departed for 10 to the next delivery, swishing his bat in frustration after driving a catch to mid-off. The skipper need not have worried. Trego and Kieswetter added 103 in 14 overs, mixing power and finesse in some sparkling strokeplay.When Kieswetter fell to a catch at mid-off to give young Ryan Gibson a wicket, Petersen came in to join the run feast, striking two successive sixes off Gibson in the 21st over, on his way to a half-century off 51 balls.For all that, it was Trego’s day. Occasionally riding his luck, the allrounder blasted 19 fours and two sixes in a memorable exhibition that rendered a late flurry of wickets meaningless and took his average in 11 YB40 games to a staggering 88.12.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Group 2 Super Eights World T20 match between India and Pakistan

The Preview by Sidharth Monga29-Sep-2012

Match facts

September 30, 2012
Start time 1930 (1400 GMT)With problems aplenty, no wonder MS Dhoni has greyed already•Associated Press

Big picture

There was a time when all an out-of-form Pakistan cricketer needed to do was turn up against India, and he would magically regain his touch. How India will be hoping they can do some of that when they play Pakistan in their middle Super Eight match on Sunday.Confused, low on confidence, playing as if with the weight of the world on their shoulders, India find themselves in a tight corner. Their trusted players are not performing, and some of the reserves provided by the selectors are not good enough. And for the first time there are questions around the captain’s place in the side: he strikes at 110 runs per 100 balls, has never scored a T20I fifty, and twice in India’s three last defeats he has hurt the side’s momentum, failing to score a run a ball in the latter half of the innings. One more defeat, and India won’t even have a backdoor entry left after their massive negative run-rate.India do seem to have turned the tables from the time Pakistan used to dominate this “rivalry”. Since the start of 2006, India have won 15 and lost eight internationals against Pakistan, but still trail the head-to-head 58 to 81. Pakistan, though, will be feeling good about their game after having pulled off an improbable win over South Africa. And their bowlers might not have had the best of tournaments until Friday, but they do remain a threat. They will also know from first-hand experience during the warm-up game that Indian bowlers can be bossed when put under the slightest of pumps.Pakistan have a statistic to set right, though: they have never beaten India in any 50-over or 20-over World Cup match.

Form guide (completed matches, most recent first)

India LWWLW
Pakistan WWWLW

Watch out for

Nasir Jamshed scored a fine century the last time Pakistan played India, but was denied a win by a superlative 183 from Virat Kohli. The two are the most promising young batting talents from the respective countries, both have been batting at No. 3 so far, and hold the key to a solid innings for their side.India’s opening – whether with the bat or with the ball – is now a matter of major speculation after the Irfan Pathan experiment with the bat and the R Ashwin one with the ball. Surely Irfan has got to get the new ball if he is to be used as a bowler? And surely India must want their specialist batsmen to get most of the overs?Umar Gul may have won the previous match with the bat, but where has Gul the yorker-bowler disappeared? In 10 T20 matches this year, Gul has conceded runs at 8.4 an over, as opposed to an impressive career economy-rate of 6.88.

Team news

After the England match, Dhoni said he had problems of plenty at his hand. Less than 35 overs of cricket later, he has plenty of problems. Does he stand by his decision of keeping Virender Sehwag out and playing five bowlers? Does he look at the place of Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma in that middle order? Will Manoj Tiwary ever get to play a live game? What does he do with an under-performing Zaheer Khan? What does he do with his own form? Only one thing might be certain at this time: Piyush Chawla’s yet other, inexplicable, comeback might have ended.India (probable): 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Rohit Sharma/Manoj Tiwary, 7 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Zaheer KhanPakistan will be questioning Shahid Afridi’s utility as a bowler who bats at No. 7. He has done his bit with the ball so far. He is the only Pakistan bowler other than Saeed Ajmal to have bowled all his overs in every match so far, and has conceded runs at only 6.33 an over. That should be enough to keep his place in the XI, but his six-or-nothing batting at No. 7 will remain a cause for worry.Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez (capt.), 2 Imran Nazir, 3 Nasir Jamshed, 4 Kamran Akmal (wk), 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Yasir Arafat, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Raza Hasan.

Pitch and conditions

Conditions at the R Premadasa Stadium now present an interesting dilemma. The curator has now begun to leave the pitch dry, which should make you want to bat first. However, with the ever-present threat of the rain you also want to exploit the Duckworth-Lewis anomaly and avoid the wet outfield.

Stats and trivia

• Shoaib Malik loves playing India. His overall international average is 31.67 over 282 matches, but in 38 matches against India he has scored four of those nine centuries and has averaged 46.41. In an unrelated incident he has married an Indian, tennis player Sania Mirza.
• Pakistan and India have never played each other in a T20 international outside the World Twenty20.
  

  Quotes

  “For me I think Virender Sehwag can be very dangerous. I hope he’ll play the next two games. I think it won’t be easy to play the next two games without him.”
  BBC”When we play India there is lot of pressure because our people always want us to win. The same is the case in India, so there will be pressure on both teams.”

Anura Ranasinghe, who died in his sleep on Monday night was one of
the finest all-round cricketers produced by Sri Lanka and the first
schoolboy to play in the World Cup

Sa'adi Thawfeeq18-Aug-2011Anura Ranasinghe, who died in his sleep on Monday night, was one of the finest all-round cricketers produced by Sri Lanka and the first schoolboy to play in the World Cup.Ranasinghe never had the chance to fulfil his potential to the full at the highest level, because eight months after Sri Lanka had played their inaugural Test with England in February 1982, he went to South Africa with a Sri Lanka rebel side and along with 13 other players who undertook that tour was banned for a period of 25 years.The ban virtually ended his career as a cricketer, and Ranasinghe was never the same again until six months ago, when his club Bloomfield appointed him as the coach of their Under-23 and division III teams.Ranasinghe accompanied Bloomfield to Galle for their U-23 23 fixture last weekend. He returned home on Monday and having foregone his lunch, went to sleep. He never woke up afterwards, according to his sister Rohini. He was only 42 years at the time of his untimely
death.Ranasinghe distinguished himself as a right-hand batsman and bowled left-arm medium-pace and slow spin. As an allrounder he was renowned for his fighting qualities, where on several occasions he had rescued his school Nalanda College and club from perilous situations with
both bat and ball. Renowned radio commentator Premasara Epasinghe and Nelson Mendis were Ranasinghe’s coaches at school through whom he learnt the rudiments of the game.Ranasinghe created history in 1975 when he became the first schoolboy to play in a World Cup when he represented Sri Lanka in the inaugural tournament in England at the age of 18 years. He played in all three matches against West Indies, Australia and Pakistan.He was unlucky not to make it to the final XI of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test against England at the Sara Stadium in February 1982 when another schoolboy from the rival school Ananda College, Arjuna Ranatunga got the vote ahead of him, and went on to score a maiden
Test fifty.Ranasinghe made his Test debut the following month against Pakistan at Faisalabad. He scored six and five (being caught on both occasions by Pakistan captain Javed Miandad) and sharing the new ball with Ashantha de Mel, captured the wicket of top scorer Ashraf Ali (58)
for 23 runs. He played one other Test – against India at Chepauk that year – scoring an aggressive 77, before undertaking the illegal tour to South Africa.Ranasinghe also appeared in nine one-day internationals scoring 153 runs (avg. 21.85) and taking two wickets (avg. 140.50) and toured England in 1981, when Sri Lanka were elevated to the ranks of a Test nation. He also captained the Sri Lanka Under-25 team to South India
and successfully regained the Gopalan trophy against Tamil Nadu and also led Sri Lanka U-19s in the series against Pakistan in 1975 and 1976.”Anura had rare qualities of being a top fielder and a dual purpose left-arm bowler,” said Bandula Warnapura, Sri Lanka’s first Test captain and former
Bloomfield stalwart. “He was a fighter to the core and took up any challenge. He was a tough guy on the field and was very outspoken.””He was a fine cricketer. Bloomfield has lost a good man,” added Bloomfield president Shelley Wickramasingha.Born in Colombo on October 13, 1956, Anura Nandana Ranasinghe was the fifth in a family of three brothers and three sisters. Two of his brothers – Lakshman Ranasinghe and Aruna Ranasinghe – were notable cricketers, representing Nalanda and Bloomfield.For a short period, Anura worked at Pelawatte Sugar Corporation. He married and has a son aged 12 years old.He is the second Test cricketer produced by Sri Lanka to depart, the first being Sritharan Jeganathan who passed away last year.The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka have undertaken the funeral arrangements. His funeral will take place at the general cemetery, Kirillapone tomorrow.