LPL: Colombo to lock horns with Kandy in tournament opener
Colombo: Colombo will take on Kandy in the opening match of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota on November 26, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced on Sunday.”The match will start at 7.30 pm after the opening ceremony which is scheduled to be held from 3.30 pm onwards. Matches to be played on November 27 and December 4 will start at 8:00 pm,” the SLC said in an official statement.Every day will have doubleheaders till the semi-finals on December 13 and 14, 2020. The final will be played on December 16.In the LPL, five franchisee teams, named after Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla, and Jaffna, will compete in 23 matches.Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has signed a contract to play in the LPL for the Kandy Tuskers franchise.Kandy has West Indies legend Chris Gayle, local icon Kusal Perera, Sri Lankan T20 specialists Kusal Mendis and Nuwan Pradeep, and England right-arm fast bowler Liam Plunkett among others in the team. (ANI)
Ramanathan finishes runner-up
Berlin: India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan on Sunday finished runner-up at Eckental Challenger after losing 6-4, 6-4 to American seventh seed Sebastian Korda in the final.It was Korda’s first professional singles title at any level and it fetched him 100 ATP points. Ramanathan, meanwhile, picks up 60 points.Ramanathan, celebrating his 26th birthday on the day, had six aces and nine double faults in the match that lasted an hour and 23 minutes. Korda, 20, won nine points more than the 206th ranked Indian and and converted three of five breakpoints to make it a straight forward affair.The result remains Ramanathan’s best of the season, although he missed out a chance of winning a maiden title on the tour. He reached the final after beating Germany’s Marvin Moller 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday. Ramanathan’s previous best finish this season was when he reached the quarter-finals of the Bangkok Challenger II. (IANS)
Holding becomes MCC’s new patron
London:West Indies pace legend Michael Holding has been appointed patron of the MCC Foundation. The MCC Foundation is the charitable arm of the Marylebone Cricket Club, custodians of the game’s laws, and was created with the aim of enhancing lives through cricket. The 66-year-old Holding is a passionate advocate for equality in cricket and the wider community. Throughout a professional career that spanned 15 years, Holding, nicknamed Whispering Death, carved out a reputation as one of the best fast bowlers of all time. (PTI)