Sri Lankan authorities are investigating a bid to persuade members of the national cricket team to underperform in a recent Test to ensure a surprise victory for the West Indies, the government said yesterday.
Sri Lankan Minister of Sports Dayasiri Jayasekera said a man linked to a bookmaker had approached wicketkeeper Kusal Perera and star bowler Rangana Herath to engineer a Sri Lanka batting collapse at a Test in Galle in October, which the hosts went on to win emphatically.
“After Kusal turned down the offer, the man approached Herath, who also rejected the offer and alerted the authorities,” Jayasekera told reporters.
“We have started a police inquiry in addition to an anticorruption probe by Sri Lanka Cricket,” he added in reference to the national cricket board.
Sri Lanka beat the tourists by an innings and six runs after left-arm spinner Herath took 10 wickets in the match.
Jayasekera also suggested that Perera’s recent failure in a doping test might have been because he raised the alarm over the match-fixing attempt.
“It is possible that something was slipped into his food or his urine sample was tampered with to get this result,” Jayasekera said. “We are doing our best to defend him.”
Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Ashley de Silva said the board could not discuss the case in line with International Cricket Council anticorruption regulations.
“Because of the anticorruption regulations, we cannot say anything,” De Silva told reporters.
However a source in the board confirmed that the organization was conducting its own investigation into the claims.
“The two players brought this to our notice,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Jesper Boqvist on Tuesday scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight NHL Stanley Cup banner, opened the defense of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, who got 17 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev on Monday said that he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub. In stifling conditions, world No. 54 Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year. A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
RSS