GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka has rewarded Kamindu Mendis for his profitable tour of England by moving him up the batting order for the two-test series against New Zealand starting on Wednesday in Galle.
Mendis reaped a century and two half-centuries from his fourth, fifth and sixth career tests over the past month in England, where he was Sri Lanka's player of the series lost 2-1. In his brief test career, he has three hundreds and four fifties.
It was time to move him from No. 7 to No. 5 in the lineup, Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya said on Tuesday.
“There was lot of discussion that Kamindu has to move up the order when we were in England. Too often he was batting with the tail and we felt that we need to make the best use of him,” Jayasuriya said.
Former captain Dinesh Chandimal, who occupied the No. 5 slot, has been moved to No. 3 and stripped of wicketkeeping duty. Kusal Mendis, no relation to Kamindu, will keep wickets and bat at No. 7.
Sri Lanka is expected to make two more changes from the side that beat England in the third test last week at the Oval. Seam bowlers Vishwa Fernando and Milan Ratnayake are expected to make way for spinners Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis.
“Our fast bowlers have done well, but it's horses for courses and we have to back spin in Galle,” Jayasuriya said.
Spin-friendly Galle favors the home team, but New Zealand has done well in these contests. Sri Lanka last won a series against the Black Caps in 2009. The last two series in Sri Lanka in 2012 and 2019 ended 1-1.
New Zealand has retired Sri Lanka great Rangana Herath on its staff to help its spinners, but the weather might be a bigger influence. The forecast across the test is not good.
The visitors will be used to that. Rain and a soggy outfield washed out all five days of New Zealand's scheduled one-off test against Afghanistan last week in Greater Noida, India. That was also to be New Zealand's warmup for this series.
“Disappointing, no doubt, but we cannot control the weather,” New Zealand captain Tim Southee said. “It would have been nice to have a test match against an ever improving side. However, we have had some good training and have spent time together both in India and in Galle.”
While New Zealand hasn't played a test since March, it won't be cold for long.
“Eight test matches between now and December is lot of cricket. We are excited," Southee said. "We are ranked three in the World Test Championship and it’s an opportunity for us to get some points and move forward.”
He has another personal milestone in sight, too. Southee needs 20 more wickets to become the second New Zealander to take 400 in tests after Richard Hadlee's 431.
“I have played for a long time and when you do that you come closer to these milestones,” said Southee, who has 100 caps. “We have a lot of tours ahead. Especially in this part of the world. Every game you are going out to do your role and take wickets for the side. It will be nice if I can achieve those milestones. But the focus is on winning games.”
Lineups:
Sri Lanka squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Oshada Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake.
New Zealand squad: Tim Southee (captain), Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Kane Williamson and Will Young.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis during day three of the Third Rothesay Men's Test at The Kia Oval, London, Sunday Sept. 8, 2024. ( John Walton/PA via AP)
Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis bats during day two of the Third Rothesay Men's Test match between England and Sri Lanka in London, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (John Walton/PA via AP)
An Israeli airstrike has cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road.
The airstrike Friday rendered the road unusable for cars, leaving people to go on foot to the Masnaa Border Crossing where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks.
On Tuesday, Israel began a ground incursion into Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group while also conducting strikes in Gaza. The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Here is the latest:
BEIRUT - Iran’s foreign minister warned Israel on Friday that if it carries out an attack on Iran, Tehran will retaliate in a harsh way.
Abbas Araghchi was in Beirut for meetings with Lebanese officials. His visit came three days after Iran launched at least 180 missiles into Israel, the latest in a series of rapidly escalating attacks that threaten to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.
“If the Israeli entity takes any step or measure against us, our retaliation will be stronger than the previous one,” Araghchi said after meeting Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said Friday its fighter jets struck an underground tunnel between Lebanon and Syria and areas around a key border crossing used by many in recent days fleeing Israel’s offensive.
Thursday’s strikes around the Masnaa Border Crossing effectively cut off the main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. Tens of thousands of people fleeing fighting in Lebanon have used crossing into Syria over the past two weeks.
The military said that its fighter jets had struck the 3.5 kilometer-long (2.17 miles) underground tunnel between Lebanon and Syria because Hezbollah has used it to smuggle weapons from Iran and other proxies into the country. It said it struck the sites around the Masnaa border crossing because they were being used as militant infrastructure.
There are half a dozen border crossings between the two countries, most of which are still open.
Hezbollah is believed to have received much of its weapons from Iran via Syria.
GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency says Israeli airstrikes overnight near the main border crossing where people have been fleeing from Lebanon into Syria has “put a halt on traffic” and closed the route to vehicles.
UNHCR spokeswoman Rula Amin said the border crossing between Masnaa, Lebanon, and Jdaidit Yabws in Syria has been the main thoroughfare between the two countries, even though three other border crossings remain open.
Amin, a spokeswoman for UNHCR’s Middle East and North Africa operations, also noted government figures that up to 1 million people have fled to places across Lebanon, and more than 185,000 have gone to Syria.
Speaking from Amman, Jordan, to reporters in Geneva on Friday, Amin said most of the nearly 900 government-established collective shelters in Lebanon were full, forcing many people to sleep in the open air -- including along Beirut’s famed seaside Corniche.
She said 60% of people who have crossed from Lebanon to Syria were children or adolescents, some of whom arrived alone.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Friday that a strike in Beirut the day before killed Mohammed Rashid Skafi, the head of Hezbollah’s communications division.
The military said in a statement that Skafi was “a senior Hezbollah terrorist who was responsible for the communications unit since 2000” and was “closely affiliated” with high-up Hezbollah officials.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department says some 350 American citizens, green card holders and family members have now left Lebanon on US-organized contract flights this week.
The department announced the new number — up by about 100 since Thursday — after another flight from Beirut landed early Friday in Frankfurt, Germany. The flight had the capacity to carry 300 passengers but only 97 people were aboard, it said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Thursday that the U.S. would continue to organize such flights as long as the security situation in Lebanon is dire and as long as there is demand.
More than 6,000 American citizens have contacted the U.S. embassy in Beirut seeking information about departing the country over the past week since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated. Miller said the department understood that some Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Lebanese nationals and long-time residents of the country, may choose to stay.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the country’s recent missile strike on Israel, state TV reported Friday.
Khamenei was leading Friday prayers and was to deliver a rare public sermon in the Iranian capital, Tehran, that was being watched for signs of what Iran might plan next.
In a 40-minute speech, he praised Tuesday's missile barrage against Israel as a shining job by Iranian armed forces. “It will be done in the future again if it becomes necessary,” he said.
There was a commemoration ceremony for the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah beforehand. Most high-ranking Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and the Revolutionary Guard’s top generals, attended the ceremony.
Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer and has sent weapons and billions of dollars to the group over the years.
Also on Friday, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut, where he was expected to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah with Lebanese officials. Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran sent its first shipment of aid to Lebanon, including 10 tons of food and medicine.
TOKYO — As Japan prepared to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon, the government also urged those in Iran to leave as soon as possible, while commercial flights are still operating.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters Friday that Japan’s embassy in Iran renewed its safety advisory to Japanese nationals this week after Iran fired missiles into Israel.
On Thursday, the Japanese Defense Ministry dispatched two C-2 transport aircraft to Jordan to stand by for an evacuation of about 50 Japanese nationals from Lebanon. Iwaya said the government has not decided whether to also dispatch defense aircraft to Iran, where about 440 Japanese citizens are based, but “we will do our utmost so that we can respond to any contingency in order to protect the safety of Japanese citizens.”
BEIRUT — Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut where he will discuss with Lebanese officials the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Iran is the main backer of Hezbollah and has sent weapons and billions of dollars to the group over the years.
The Iranian official arrived in Lebanon as Israel launched new airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon, including Beirut’s southern suburb, south Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Araghchi’s visit to Beirut came after Iran launched at least 180 missiles Tuesday into Israel, part of a series of rapidly escalating attacks that threaten to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says an Israeli airstrike has cut a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria.
The agency gave no further details about Friday’s airstrike that led to the closure of a road near the Masnaa Border Crossing, from where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks. It’s the first time this major border crossing has been cut off since the beginning of the war.
Lebanese General Security recorded more than 250,000 Syrian citizens and over 80,000 Lebanese citizens crossing into Syrian territory during the last week of September, after Israel launched a heavy bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon.
Dama Post, a pro-government Syrian media outlet, said Israeli warplanes fired two missiles and damaged the road between Masnaa Border Crossing in Lebanon and the Syrian crossing point of Jdeidet Yabous.
There are half a dozen border crossings between the two countries and most of them remain open. Lebanon’s minister of public works said all border crossings between Lebanon and Syria work under the supervision of the state.
Hezbollah is believed to have received much of its weapons from Iran via Syria. The Lebanese group has a presence on both sides of the border where it fights alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.
SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday condemned the Iranian ambassador’s comments praising a recently slain Hezbollah leader, but rejected opposition advice to expel the envoy.
Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi described Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by an Israeli missile strike in September in Lebanon, as a “remarkable leader" on social media.
“The government condemns any support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah. We condemn the ambassador’s comments,” Albanese told reporters in Sydney.
“Australia has maintained a relationship with Iran since 1968 that has been continuous. Not because we agree with the regime, but because it’s in Australia’s national interest,” Albanese added.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who could become prime minister at elections due by May, called for Sadeghi to be expelled over his post. Dutton described Sadeghi’s words as “completely and utterly at odds with what is in our country’s best interests.”
Sadeghi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Australia officially rebuked Sadeghi in August for endorsing Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin’s hope that “wiping out the Zionist plague out of the holy lands of Palestine happens no later than 2027."
A damaged is seen inside a car repair shop that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
In this photo released by Iranian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, is welcomed by a group of officials upon arrival at Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
In this photo released by Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi steps out of his plane upon arrival at Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
Residents run for cover following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during their meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man runs for cover as a smoke raises in the background following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese citizen Ali Zeineddine, left, greets his brother Hussein arriving from Lebanon, after an Israeli air strike killed various members of their family, at Sao Paulo International airport, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A volunteer of the Russian Cultural Center entertains displaced children at a school in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Flames and smoke rise from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, as Rafik Hariri International airport is seen in the background, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese citizen Ali Zeineddine, third from left, waits with family for his brother arriving from Lebanon at Sao Paulo International airport, after an Israeli air strike killed various members of their family, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Flames and smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Hezbollah paramedic walks between debris after an airstrike hit an apartment in a multistory building, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
