Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara in Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup squad, subject to fitness

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Neymar scored his eighth goal of the season in Ligue 1 as Paris Saint-Germain beat Brest 1-0 at the Parc des Princes on Saturday to extend their unbeaten start and reclaim top spot.The result, secured after Gianluigi Donnarumma saved a late penalty from Islam Slimani, means Christophe Galtier’s side have 19 points from seven games, two more than second-place Lens, who led the table after a 1-0 win over Troyes on Friday.

Marseille can go level on points with PSG if they beat visitors Lille later on Saturday.Brest came into the contest having conceded a club-record 16 goals in their first six games and were carved open in the 30th minute despite a bright start as Neymar fired in from a tight angle after being played through by Lionel Messi.

The visitors were lucky not to be reduced to 10 men minutes earlier. Christophe Herelle was shown a red card for scything down Neymar, but a review prompted the referee to reverse his decision as the PSG forward was offside before the tackle.The hosts turned the screw on their opponents and both Messi and Kylian Mbappe squandered clear opportunities either side of halftime before 17th-placed Brest were awarded a spot kick but Slimani’s tame 70th minute effort was kept out by Donnarumma.

“It was very difficult. It was important to win after the Champions League and we did that,” Donnarumma said, referring to last week’s 2-1 win over Juventus.

“We’re also happy for our fans who are always there for us and we wanted to win for them. It’s really important to be able to suffer together and we saw that today.”

Presnel Kimpembe, whose challenge on Noah Fadiga led to the penalty, went off injured late on to leave PSG with 10 men after they had used up their substitutes but experienced defenders Sergio Ramos and Marquinhos helped them see out the match.Donnarumma was instrumental in ensuring the home side got the win as he was called into action again with a diving save after the ball appeared to be going in at the near post off Slimani’s shoulder following a whipped cross from the left.

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Sri Lanka have shown faith with the group of players that won the Asia Cup, with the inclusions of fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara – who missed that tournament due to injury – the only change, as they named their 15-man squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

From the squad that toured the UAE, batters Dinesh Chandimal, Ashen Bandara and Nuwanidu Fernando, and left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama have been listed as standby players alongside left-arm quick Binura Fernando. This means Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando and Nuwan Thushara miss out.

The inclusions of Chameera and Kumara, however, are subject to them being passed fit. Kumara is recovering from a hamstring strain, while Chameera has been nursing an ankle injury – which spread into his calf and forced him out of the Asia Cup squad.Much of Sri Lanka’s hopes of going deep in the World Cup, on bouncy Australian pitches, will hinge on their fitness, with these two the only bowlers in their ranks capable of consistently hitting speeds in the 145kph range.

That said, in the 21-year-old Dilshan Madushanka and the 28-year-old Pramod Madushan, Sri Lanka have two stirring, if relatively green, seamers ready to step in if needed. The pair, both of whom had been uncapped prior to the Asia Cup, proved impressive deputies over the course of the tournament.

However, with both Madushanka and Madushan happier pitching it up and looking for swing, the likes of Chameera and Kumara offer the variety needed to succeed on Australian tracks; in Sri Lanka’s tour of Australia earlier this year, the latter pair found a lot of joy in hitting the deck hard.

While their injury concerns remain, they will nevertheless be a part of the squad that heads off to a training camp in Pallekele, Kandy, on September 25, to give them every chance to prove their fitness ahead of the World Cup.

Aside from the uncertainty in the fast-bowling ranks, the rest of the squad has virtually picked itself – not something commonly said about Sri Lankan teams in recent times.

Dasun Shanaka, who will lead the side, will have at his disposal a fairly settled batting unit. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis look to have locked down their places at the top of the order following a string of important stands in the Asia Cup, while the middle and lower order has the firepower of Shanaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Wanindu Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne.The only question marks remain in the crucial No. 3 and No. 4 spots, where the trio of Charith Asalanka, Danushka Gunathilaka and Dhananjaya de Silva will be vying for two places.

Asalanka had a poor Asia Cup by his standards, and found himself out of the side that beat Pakistan in the final. He was replaced by de Silva, who had been on the fringes for most of the tournament, but impressed with both bat and ball in the two games he came in for.While admittedly a small sample size, de Silva’s ability to bowl his flat offbreaks economically in the middle overs, while offering considerable heft with the bat, provides a versatility that neither Asalanka nor Gunathilaka provide. Gunathilaka, nominally an opener, however does offer the potential for explosiveness in the middle order – even if he didn’t showcase that as much as he would have liked at the Asia Cup.

On the spin-bowling front, Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana form an enviable pairing, while in Jeffrey Vandersay there’s an able deputy waiting in the wings.Sri Lanka will start their T20 World Cup campaign on October 16 against Namibia.

Sprinter Isuru Kaushalya Bans of Ananda Sastralaya, Matugama produced a stunning 46.96 seconds finish to win the Under 20 boys’ 400 metres and the best athlete title in the boys’ category as the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championships came to a close with Lyceum International, Wattala and Ratnayake Central Walala winning the boys’ and girls’ titles respectively at Diyagama on Friday.

Lyceum became the first International school in history to win the title of this meet which was once called the public schools championships. In the girls’ category Ratnayake Central were helped by their Under 20 girls’ to retain the title as they won points in relays and long-distance events. They capped the four-day event with their star athlete Tharushi Karunaratne running the anchor leg of the 4×400 metres to establish a new record (3:57.86secs).

Isuru Kaushalya’s performance fetched him the highest points in the World Athletics points table to be crowned the best athlete of the meet. The athlete trained by Dhanushka Rajitha Munasinghe came almost close to matching his personal best as he become the only athlete to have run 400 metres under 47 seconds at these championships. He shattered Ratnayake Central athlete Manoj Pushpakumara’s long-standing 400 metres record which had stood unchanged since 2003.

Hurdler Dhanuka Dharshana who is the fastest in the Under 20 category over that distance this year finished third with a time of 49.30 seconds while Sithum Jayasundara, who had almost quit athletics after being dumped from the World Junior Championships team made a return to win the second place with a time of 48.35 seconds.

The Under 18 boys’ 400 metres final witnessed Salamuthu Jayathilaka (48.49 secs) of Thurstan and Theminda Rajapaksha (48.57) of Sir John Kothalawala College, Kurunegala sharing the gold and silver respectively and reaching qualifying standards for the Asian Youth Athletics Championships to be held in October.

In field events, Razwin Carrim of Lyceum International, Panadura and Oshini Kodikara of St. Lawrence’s Convent, Wellawatta established new meet records.

Carrim created a new record in the Under 18 boys’ long jump. He cleared 7.20 metres to erase Richmond athlete Isuru Malinda’s 2016 record. Kodikara won the Under 16 girls’ triple jump with a new meet record distance of 11.64 metres yesterday. It was her second gold medal after having won the long jump earlier. In the 100 metres she was placed fourth.

The four-day event’s most promising performance in the girls’ category was produced by long jumper Nethmika Madushani Herath of Nannapurawa MV on day three. She cleared 6.09 metres, the best long jump performance by a Sri Lankan junior athlete in history. Her record-breaking mark will also be the new national junior record.  The premier athletics championship of the Sri Lanka Schools Athletics Association saw history’s highest participation as the event was held after a lapse of two years. However, the big numbers also resulted in delays in completing events during the first three days.

England bowlers rattled India’s top-order early to leave the visitors reeling in the series decider before eventually restricting them to a sub-par total that they chased down with ease in Bristol. India were down to 35 for 5 by the halfway stage and needed a late stand between Richa Ghosh and Pooja Vastrakar to take them past the 100-run mark. They got 122 for 8, which proved insufficient on the day.

Asked to bat first at the County Ground, India lost each of their top five batters for single-digit scores, including ducks for S Meghana and Hemalatha. Twice India tried to break free from the rubble – first through a fifth-wicket alliance between Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma and then between Sneh Rana and the latter, but on both occasions, England nipped it in the bud. India were down to 52 for 6 in 13 overs when Deepti was joined by Richa Ghosh.

The pair added 23 off the next 19 deliveries but Deepti fell next for a 25-ball 24, leaving India susceptible to a sub-100 total. But then came the best partnership of India’s innings – worth 28 runs for the eighth wicket between Richa and Vastrakar. But despite India hitting 16, 12 and 15 in the last three overs – thanks to Richa’s 22-ball 33 and Vastrakar’s 11-ball 19* – they finished with an underwhelming total of 122 for 8.

England openers Dunkley and Danielle Wyatt wiped out more than half their target with the first-wicket partnership. Sneh Rana gave India the first breakthrough in the 10th over and England stuttered briefly as they lost two wickets in the next two overs to go down to 79 for 3. Though Dunkley was gone – for a 44-ball 49 – out stepped Alice Capsey to take charge of the chase. She hit six fours on her way to an unbeaten 38 off 24 while Bryone Smith played perfect ally to her as the duo got the team over the finish line in the penultimate over.

India Women 122/8 in 20 overs (Richa Ghosh 33, Deepti Sharma 24; Sophie Ecclestone 3-25, Sarah Glenn 2-11) lost to England Women 126/3 in 18.2 overs (Sophie Dunkley 49, Alice Capsey 38*; Radha Yadav 1-14, Pooja Vastrakar 1-16) by 7 wickets

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