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England head coach Brendon McCullum is impressed with white-ball captain Harry Brook for his deft handling of a recent controversy and leading the team to ‌a series victory in Sri Lanka ahead of ‌their campaign in ‍the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup. Brook has been in the eye of a storm since news emerged of his altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand late ‍last year. The 26-year-old apologised last month for the October 31 incident, which he felt caused embarrassment to him and his team. Under Brook, England won the one-day international series in Sri Lanka 2-1 and swept the T20 series 3-0, a timely boost as they build toward ‌the global tournament. “He’s had a hard time of late off the field, but he’s a tough lad to be able to put ‍that aside and still lead these boys ‌in the manner that he did, and show the tactical nous that he has as a cricketer was outstanding,” McCullum said after England’s victory in the final T20 match on Tuesday. “I do sometimes think that people think that Brooky’s not that clever. I couldn’t disagree with that more. He wears his intelligence lightly. He’s got a very good tactical cricket brain.” McCullum said Brook, who has been fined by the English cricket ​board for his conduct ‌in New Zealand, needed to improve his behaviour but stressed the mental-health pressures players face in a ‍relentless schedule. “He’s a work in progress off the field,” the coach said. “He’s not alone with that and that’s our job to help shepherd him through. But on the field, he’s certainly excelling at the moment. Cricket is such a unique game because ​it’s 12 months of the year ... It can be challenging mentally for a lot of guys and cricket’s got a history of issues in that space. So, our job as leaders and our job at English cricket is to make sure we look after these boys.” England will begin their campaign for a third 20-overs World Cup title with a Group C match against Nepal in Mumbai on Sunday. 

Spinners ‌Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks led the way as ‌England beat Sri Lanka ‍by 12 runs in a low-scoring match Tuesday to sweep their Twenty20 series 3-0 ahead of the World Cup. England posted a meagre 128-9 with the bat, their lowest ‍total against Sri Lanka in the format, as pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera bagged a five-wicket haul, but all-rounders Jacks (3-14) and Bethell (4-11) produced their best bowling performances in the format to restrict the hosts to 116. “We’ve shown we can adapt to surfaces... the way the spinners bowled, 16 overs against Sri ‌Lanka in their own conditions was an awesome effort,” England captain Harry Brook said.Ben Duckett was dismissed for a golden duck by Chameera, and ‍Bethell, Tom Banton and Brook fell cheaply, ‌leaving England struggling at 34-4 in the sixth over. Jos Buttler (25) was beaten by Maheesh Theekshana’s sharp turn off Kandy’s spin-friendly track, which found the gap between the England opener’s bat and pad to hit the stumps.Player of the match Sam Curran made a battling 58 to lift England to a respectable total and Luke Wood removed Kamil Mishara for a duck in the first over. The spinners then took over, with Liam Dawson getting Pathum Nissanka caught at cover for ​23 Adil Rashid bowled Pavan ‌Rathnayake, before Jacks worked through Sri Lanka’s middle order, dismissing Kusal Mendis (26), Kamindu Mendis (14) and Janith Liyanage (17) to reduce ‍Sri Lanka to 97-6 in the 16th over. Bethell took three wickets in the 18th over and with Sri Lanka needing 14 to win from the last over Theekshana’s attempt to hit Bethell for six got him caught as the hosts were all out with ​three balls remaining. ‘Great win to be part of’“Great win to be part of, the way the boys kept fighting to the end... the World Cup is here, so when we have the opportunity to play here we have the experiences to carry over,” Brook said. England, twice world champions in the format, will fly to Mumbai to begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Nepal in Group C on Sunday, the same day Sri Lanka face Ireland at Colombo in Group B. BRIEF SCORESEngland 128 for 9 off 20 overs (Curran 58, Chameera 5-24) beat Sri Lanka 116 off 19.3 overs (Bethell 4-11, Jacks 3-14) by 12 runs 

The death toll from Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka has risen to 159, with at least 203 people still missing.Sri Lankan media reported that floodwaters rose in parts of the capital, Colombo, Sunday, after Cyclone Ditwah left widespread destruction and claimed the lives of at least 159 people across the country.Sri Lanka's President  Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared a state of emergency last night to address the cyclone's aftermath and appealed to the international community for assistance.Sri Lankan's Disaster Management Centre reported that the northern part of Colombo is experiencing severe flooding, with the Kelani River continuing to rise.The Center noted that while rainfall has subsided across the island, many roads in the worst-affected Central Province remain impassable.The floods and cyclone have destroyed more than 20,000 homes and forced 122,000 people into temporary state-run shelters. Another 833,000 people required government assistance after being displaced by the floods.Sri Lankan officials reported that about a third of the country remains without electricity or water due to the collapse of power lines and desalination plants, and internet connectivity is also disrupted.At this time of year, Sri Lanka experiences heavy rainfall due to the northeast monsoon, which has intensified in recent days due to a low-pressure system affecting the eastern part of the island.

A torrential downpour once again called the tune in Colombo as the Women's Cricket World Cup fixture between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was abandoned after just 4.2 overs on Friday.Heavy rain refused to relent, leaving players and fans drenched in disappointment. It was the last game in the Colombo leg of the tournament.Of the 11 matches staged in the Sri Lankan capital, five ended in no-results, forcing teams to split points.Several other games too were rain-disrupted, prompting questions as to whether Colombo's monsoon-prone month was the right window to stage a global event.Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have borne the brunt of inclement weather, with three of their seven outings each washed down the drain.On Friday, the toss was delayed by more than three hours and the game was trimmed to 34 overs per side.Pakistan had reached 18 without loss when the heavens opened again. Despite the tireless efforts of the ground staff, match officials finally threw in the towel at 8:00 pm local time with parts of the outfield still under water.Sri Lanka climbed to fifth in the points table with five points, courtesy of one win and a point each from their three washed out games.They will stay there if England defeat New Zealand on Sunday, ensuring the islanders finish above the White Ferns. It's a commendable outcome for a side that had failed to qualify for the previous World Cup in New Zealand in 2022."We cannot control the weather. It has been very disappointing. We came into this tournament with lots of hope as we had beaten teams like India, New Zealand and South Africa in the recent past. But not much went our way in this campaign," Sri Lanka's captain Chamari Athapaththu said.Pakistan ended their campaign without a single win, finishing in seventh place, one ahead of Bangladesh in the eight nation competition with all their points coming through rain affected games."The weather didn't go in our favour. ICC must look into the best venues for World Cups. We are waiting for four years for a World Cup and it's disappointing to finish like this," Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said.

Pakistan kept their Asia Cup campaign alive with a hard-fought five-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a Super Four clash in Abu Dhabi Tuesday.With both teams having lost their opening fixtures of the second round, defeat wasn’t an option and Pakistan’s bowlers rose to the occasion tying Sri Lanka down to 133-8 on a featherbed of a pitch.Chasing what looked a modest target, Pakistan made heavy weather of it.After a brisk opening stand of 45, their innings went into free fall at 80-5.But a cool-headed 58-run partnership off 41 balls for the sixth wicket between Mohammad Nawaz and Hussain Talat steadied the ship and saw them home with 12 deliveries in hand.Nawaz struck a breezy 38 off 24 balls, while Talat anchored the innings with an unbeaten 32 off 30.Earlier, pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi set the tone with the new ball, nipping out Sri Lanka’s in-form openers inside his first two overs.The left-arm quick returned at the death to dismiss top-scorer Kamindu Mendis and closed with figures of three for 28 – a spell that put Pakistan on the front foot.Talat and Haris Rauf chipped in with two wickets apiece, while leggie Abrar Ahmed bowled with miserly precision, giving away just eight runs in his four overs and dismissing fellow leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga.Sri Lanka, unbeaten in the first round with three wins on the trot, have hit a brick wall in the Super Four, losing to Bangladesh on Saturday and now to Pakistan.With only India left to play, their chances of making the final are hanging by a thread.Put in to bat, Sri Lanka slumped to 58-5 and looked set to be bundled out inside 20 overs.But Kamindu Mendis dug in, compiling a fighting 50 off 44 balls with three fours and two sixes, his third half-century in T20Is.He stitched together a 43-run stand with Chamika Karunaratne for the seventh wicket, but the former champions were still left high and dry.BRIEF SCORES:Pakistan 138 for 5 (Nawaz 38*, Talat 32*, Theekshana 2-24, Hasaranga 2-27) beat Sri Lanka 133 for 8 (Kamindu Mendis 50, Afridi 3-28, Talat 2-18, Rauf 2-37) by five wickets

Kamindu Mendis' hard hitting dragged Sri Lanka over the line as they beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in the first of their Twenty20 series at Harare Sports Club Wednesday.Mendis blasted an unbeaten 41 runs off 16 balls to see the visitors to victory with five balls to spare after they had struggled earlier in their innings.Zimbabwe were put into bat and, with opener Brian Bennett scoring 81, reached 175-7 off their 20 overs, to which Sri Lanka replied with 177-6. Pathum Nissanka top scored with 55 runs.The second T20 international is also at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.BRIEF SCORESSri Lanka 177 for 6 (Nissanka 55, Kamindu 41, Ngarava 2-19) beat Zimbabwe 175 for 7 (Bennett 81, Chameera 3 for 30) by four wickets