Galle, Aug 18 (AP/UNB) — A ninth test century from captain Dimuth Karunaratne propelled Sri Lanka to a six-wicket win over New Zealand in the first cricket test on Sunday.

Chasing 268 runs to win the first test of a two-match series, Sri Lanka started the final day at 133 without loss and reached its target during an extended first session after Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne laid a solid platform for the victory with a 161-run partnership for the opening wicket.

New Zealand off spinner William Somerville finally ended the partnership after four hours and 362 deliveries trapping Thirimanne lbw for 64, the opener's first half-century in 12 innings.

Kusal Mendis hit a six and a boundary before being caught by Jeet Raval at mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel for 10 to have Sri Lanka at 174-2, still requiring 94 runs for victory.

Karunaratne brought up his deserved century with a boundary to long-on in the 66th over before he was out for 122, caught by wicketkeeper B.J Watling off seamer Tim Southee 11 overs later. The captain spent more than five hours at the crease, faced 243 balls and hit six boundaries and a six in his match-winning performance.

"We had a positive mindset," Karunaratne said about his team's approach to the difficult chase.

"We planned for the batsman who had taken a start to go for a big score, we started from where we left off yesterday and set ourselves smaller targets," Karunaratne said on how they paced the innings.

New Zealand captain KaneWilliamson said that the pitch was different to a traditional Galle pitch where the ball came slower rather than turning sharply.

"There are a lot of good bits, perhaps we were not good enough for long enough," he said.

"It would have been nice if we were more clinical but at the same time, in these conditions we knew things can happen quickly and a match situation can change as well.

"For us it is not looking too deep but just trying to be that much better and learn from some of those areas going into the next match."

Kusal Perera (23) was out with victory in sight, caught by Mitchell Santner off fast bowler Trent Boult.

Veteran Angelo Mathews scored the winning run and was unbeaten on 28 with Dhananjaya de Silva 14 not out as the hosts brought up a historic victory at a venue where the previous highest fourth innings winning total stood at just 99 runs.

On Saturday's fourth day, New Zealand was bowled out for 285 runs in its second innings after left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya took 4-99 while de Silva had 3-25.

The second match will be played at P.Sara Oval in Colombo from Aug. 22.

London, Aug 17 (AP/UNB) — Australia batsman Steve Smith was dismissed just short of his third straight century of the Ashes series after briefly retiring hurt after being struck on his neck by a hostile delivery from England paceman Jofra Archer on Saturday.

Smith made a battling 92 at Lord's before Australia was bowled out for 250 on Day 4 of the second test, eight runs behind England's first-innings total. Tea was taken at the end of Australia's innings.

In a gripping middle session at the home of cricket, Archer produced an intimidating spell of bowling — his deliveries reached speeds of up to 96 miles per hour (154 kph) — to pepper Australia's batsmen, with Smith the primary target.

The most alarming incident saw Archer knock Smith, who was wearing a helmet, to the ground with a rising delivery. England's players were quick to show their concern and after Smith received medical treatment, he left the field for further assessment to applause by spectators.

He bravely returned 40 minutes later to resume his innings on 80, and progressed to 92 before he was trapped lbw by Chris Woakes. Smith struck 144 and 142 in Australia's 251-run win in the first test at Edgbaston and has now scored a half-century in seven straight Ashes innings.

Archer had earlier struck the left foreman of Smith with a vicious delivery. Smith was in clear discomfort and had his arm strapped with protective padding by Australian medical staff.

Stuart Broad took the last wicket of the innings — Pat Cummins for 20 — to finish with figures of 4-65 off 27.3 overs. Archer had 2-59 on his test debut.

The draw was looking increasingly likely, with rain having wiped out the entire first day and two sessions on Friday.

Dhaka, Aug 17 (UNB) – Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) called 35 cricketers to join conditioning camp beginning on Monday (August 19) under National Team Strength and Conditioning Coach Mario Villavarayen.

Selected players have been asked to report team coach at 8:am on Monday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.  

Selected cricketers are: Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Kumer Das, Shadman Islam, Jahirul Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim,  Mominul Haque Sourab, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmud Ullah, Mohammad Mithun,  Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Shabbir Rahaman Roman,  Afif Hossain Dhrubo,  Masfrafe Bin Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed,  Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Shafiul Islam, Farhad Reza, Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi, Abu Haider Rony, Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hassan Miraz,  Ariful Haque, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Saif Hasan, Nayeem Sheikh, Nayeem Hasan, Shahidul Islam, Shafiqul Islam, Yasir Arafat Mishu, Mehedi Hasan and Aminul Islam Boplob.

Dhaka, Aug 17 (UNB)—The first match of the three-match one-day series between Emerging High-Performance (HP) teams of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, begins on Sunday at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) in Savar.

The Sri Lankan Emerging HP team arrived in Dhaka on Friday and made their first practice session on Saturday at the academy ground at Mirpur while Bangladesh Emerging HP team also started their practice for the series.

Earlier on Friday, BCB announced a 15-member Emerging HP squad for the one-day series against Sri Lanka HP team, naming Nazmul Hossain Shanto as captain.

“We are well prepared for the series. Most of the guys were busy with playing cricket around. So, we are confident to make a good result in this series,” Shanto told the media on Friday.

The 2nd one-day will also be played at BKSP on August 21 while the 3rd and last one-day will be held at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna on August 24.

After the one-day series, the first four-day match will begin on August 27 at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna while the 2nd and final four-day match will be held on September 3-6 at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox’s Bazar.

Bangladesh Emerging HP team: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Mohammed Saif Hassan, Naim Sheikh, Yasir Ali Chowdhury (Vice-Captain), Afif Hossain, Mahidul Islam Bhuiyan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Jaker Ali, Nayeem Hasan, Yeasin Arafat, Shafiqul Islam, Sumon Khan, Shahidul Islam, Minhajul Abedin Afridi and Tanvir Islam.

Stand By: Manik Khan, Zakir Hasan, Robiul Haque, Fardeen Hossain, Ifran Hossain, Sabbir Hossain and Mehedi Hasan Rana.

Dhaka, Aug 17 (UNB) - Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has sought two months from Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to think about the future of his ODI career.

BCB President Nazmul Hasan on Saturday said Mashrafe asked for two more months to decide the future of his ODI career while talking to the board today.

“Mashrafe came to the board for two reasons. We talked to him about appointing a new coach and then we talked about hosting a one-off ODI against Zimbabwe (featuring his retirement),” Nazmul said the media.

“But, he (Mashrafe) thinks it’s too early (to think for retirement). We don’t have any ODI before the next March. So, he wants two more months to think about his future plan. Now, he’s thinking on it and we agreed with him,” the BCB boss further said.

It was believed that the BCB tried to host a one-off ODI against Zimbabwe to set a platform for Mashrafe to wave his hands for the final time to the fans. But due to the reluctant demeanour of Mashrafe, the BCB has to cancel that plan.

Mashrafe had hinted before the World Cup that he would call his final time after the mega event. But during the World Cup, he said he would continue playing for Bangladesh and refused to say anything about his retirement.

The 36-year-old pacer retired from T20Is during Bangladesh’s Sri Lanka tour in 2017. Since then, it has been one of the big questions around cricketing fraternity when Mashrafe will say bye to ODIs.