Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Ranatunga sacked

In a surprising development, Sri Lanka Cricket chairman Arjuna Ranatunga was on Tuesday sacked for not "cooperating with the company or the players", and the interim committee headed by him stands dissolved with immediate effect.

Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge dissolved the SLC interim committee and appointed the secretary to the Ministry of Sports and Public Recreation, S Liyanagama, as the "competent authority" until further notice, a statement from Sri Lanka Cricket said.

"Arjuna Ranatunga has not been cooperating with the company or the players. We tried to sort it out but could not and he has been removed," Lokuge said.

"My permanent secretary in the ministry Liyanagama will be the competent authority till further notice," he said.

Lokuge said the present arrangement was likely to continue for one or two weeks after which a new committee will be appointed either through elections or otherwise.

According to informed sources, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited Arjuna Ranatunga for a meeting.

SLC sources said Ranatunga and Lokuge have been having differences for some time. The nine-member interim committee, including SLC secretary K Mathivanan and former batting ace Arvinda D'Silva, was also dissolved.

Airtel launch plans in Sri Lanka delayed

The launch plans of the Sri Lankan arm of leading Indian mobile operator, Bharti Airtel Lanka (Airtel), has reportedly been delayed as the Indian parent company "has still not granted sanction to start operations".

Airtel, rated one of the best performing companies in the world, was awarded last year the licence to provide 2G and 3G mobile services in Sri Lanka. The company announced early this year its commitment to investing approximately $200 million in setting up and expanding its operations in the country over the next five years.

"Airtel was looking at launching somewhere on Dec 23, and they said that this is a tentative date as the company still has not got approval from their head office in India for the launch date," the Sunday Times newspaper quoted a senior telecom industry official as saying.

Although Airtel officials were not immediately available for comment, the telecom industry official said that the widely-expected mobile service might be launched next year.

Airtel, which is the fifth mobile operator in Sri Lanka, cleared some issues with the existing operators such as Dialog, Mobitel, Tigo and Hutch on the interconnection charges last month.

The media report said that the increasing "cut throat competition" amongst the existing competitors has triggered a price war in the industry and Airtel's impending launch "has aggravated this situation".

Although the Sri Lankan market is small, it is crowded and according to latest statistics, of the total population of 20 million, six million have mobile phones.

The fixed line and mobile phone penetration in Sri Lanka is relatively high as no less than 40 percent of the households, other than the war-ravaged north and east, have access to a phone.

LTTE Rebels say 60 Sri Lankan soldiers killed, Government denies

Tamil Tiger rebels killed 60 Sri Lankan troops advancing towards their de facto capital, a pro-rebel report said, but the government denied on Sunday that many soldiers had died.

The insurgents struck as the soldiers were preparing an assault in Iranamadu village, just south of the guerrilla headquarters of Kilinochchi, and forced the troops to retreat from recently seized territory, the rebel-affiliated TamilNet Web site reported late on Saturday.

The guerrillas recovered 12 bodies of Sri Lankan soldiers, and 150 other troops were wounded, the report said. It did not provide the number of rebel losses.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said there were a ``few'' deaths and some soldiers were reported missing. But he dismissed the casualty figures reported by TamilNet and said soldiers were not in retreat.

``We have not pulled back, we are in the same locations,'' Nanayakkara said.

It was not possible to verify the rebel report because journalists are not allowed in the war zone.

Government forces have seized a large area of rebel-held territory in recent months and forced the Tigers into territory in the northeast.

However, troops have been locked in heavy battles at the edge of Kilinochchi for nearly two months amid heavy monsoon rains and stiff resistance by the rebels.

The guerrillas have claimed at least three major battle successes in recent weeks, the last being the reported killing of 170 soldiers near Kilinochchi on Tuesday.

Srilanka clinches a two wicket thriller

Fernando holds his nerve to seal a thriller

Sri Lanka's slick professionalism in the field, and Dilhara Fernando's composure in the final over, earned them a nail biting win over England in Antigua. Though Sri Lanka only compiled a relatively modest 236, England's middle-order fell away meekly before a thrilling fightback from Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara dragged down the required total to just 12 from the final over. It was two too many.

Fernando was thrown the ball for the final over, but his second ball was paddled - quite brilliantly - over short fine-leg by Bopara for four. Seven needed from four balls, but Bopara's crunching drive couldn't pierce the covers, picking up just two - enough, though, to register his first one-day fifty. A single off the fourth ball; another off the fifth but, with three needed from the final ball, Fernando cleaned up Bopara to end a memorable match. That England even got into a winning position owed much to Nixon, whose crafty 42 at a run-a-ball took them out of the woods and into the clearing.

Just an hour or so earlier, the match was England's for the taking, however. Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were cruising along in their commanding third-wicket stand of 90, regaining the momentum after losing Michael Vaughan and Ed Joyce cheaply. Pietersen, inevitably, took the game by the scruff, asserting his authority on Lasith Malinga with a front-footed pull and a fierce slap through the covers. Once he had lofted Chaminda Vaas for an effortless six, Pietersen was in complete control of proceedings.

Bell was less certain - although, next to Pietersen, most batsmen are. But he too found his fluency, clipping two fours off one Vaas over, one behind square and the other threaded through covers, before Sanath Jayasuriya affected a cruel run out. Pietersen pushed it back to the bowler who deflected it via his fingertips onto the non-striker's stumps. Bell appeared to ground his bat but replays showed it had lifted by a few millimetres. It was a stroke of fortune Sri Lanka needed, and they capitalised brilliantly.

Pietersen brought up an uncharacteristically sedate 74-ball 50 - before the magician, Muttiah Muralitharan, was brought on. His spell began quietly before he tossed down a doosra to Pietersen who, trying to work it to leg, got a leading edge ballooning it back to Murali. It was his 28th caught-and-bowled and with Pietersen departing at 126 for 4, England's hopes sunk. Andrew Flintoff scratched around for a couple of overs, skying Fernando's slower ball to Malinga at mid-on. And Collingwood ended what little hope of victory England had when he was trapped in front two balls later.

Enter Nixon, reverse-sweeping with furious intent, if not great success initially, nurdling singles with relative ease. An old head needed young legs though - and Nixon was joined by Bopara, whose maturity and proficiency has been a distinct, rare highlight for England so far this tournament. 67 balls later, the young-old combination had a 50-run partnership to their name. And without ever attacking the target with real intent, they chipped away to bring the required runs down to 32 from three overs.

Nixon then unfurled the shot of the day, a remarkable reverse-swept six off Muralitharan to raise hopes of unlikely victory. In the end, Sri Lanka's discipline in the middle overs proved the decisive factor.

England were no less impressive in the field earlier in the day, capping a one-day match in which, for once, the bowlers shone. The big fear was whether the nightmares of last summer - when Sri Lanka drubbed them 5-0, saving particular scorn for Sajid Mahmood - would haunt them. It didn't. James Anderson and Mahmood, the two opening bowlers in an unchanged lineup, were tight, controlled and impressively accurate in their opening spells.

With Jayasuriya falling cheaply, Sri Lanka's middle-order was opened up but Mahela Jayawardene's solid fifty from 61 balls provided much-needed fluency to an innings lacking momentum. How crucial it was in the end, too. His class with the bat and growing maturity as a leader - not to mention calmness under pressure - is a very reassuring sign for Sri Lanka's future and particularly for this tournament.

Sri Lanka take the two points, and were deserved victors, but England can take pride and encouragement from a far improved performance. They still lost, though, and their next game against Australia now takes on an even greater significance.