West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales has been named as one of the three nominees for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for August.

The 22-year-old Trinidadian quick is in the shortlist after finishing with 12 wickets in the series against South Africa including nine in the second Test in Guyana that helped him attain a career-best 13^th position in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings and become the top-ranked bowler in the format from the West Indies.

Part of that nine-wicket match in Guyana was a career best 6-61 in the second innings, his second five-wicket haul in just his 15^th Test match.

Seales’ competition for the award will be South African spinner Keshav Maharaj and Sri Lankan all-rounder Dunith Wellalage.

Maharaj, who is in line for a second Player of the Month award after having won earlier in April 2022, was the Player of the Series in the two ICC World Test Championship matches against the West Indies with 13 wickets.

He grabbed four wickets in each innings of the drawn Test in Port of Spain, which included three of the top four batters in the first innings and four of the top five in the second. He chipped in five scalps in the second Test in Guyana that his side won by 40 runs.

Wellalage made it to the men’s shortlist for his performances in ODIs.

The left-hander was Player of the Series in his side’s 2-0 series win over India with scores of 67 not out, 39 and two. He also finished with seven wickets including a haul of five for 27 in the third match.

Dunith Wellalage and Avishka Fernando starred for Sri Lanka as they claimed a first ODI series win over India in 27 years following their 110-run triumph in Colombo. 

Fernando struck 96 from 102 deliveries to see the hosts score 248-7, leaving their opponents with an uphill task in difficult conditions at the R. Premadasa Stadium. 

And having struggled in the second Test with Sri Lanka's spin bowlers, India did so again as Wellalage posted figures of 5-27 to secure a landmark victory. 

Sri Lanka's opening three batsmen took the fight to India early on, with Pathum Nissanka (45), Fernando and Kusal Mendis (59) leaving them 183-3 in the 37th over. 

Riyan Parag took three wickets as the Lions gave their opponents a target of 249 to draw the series, a task they found difficult from the beginning. 

Captain Rohit Sharma (35) and Shubman Gill (six) fell early, with the Men in Blue's batting line-up crumbling to 82-6 by the 12th over. 

Washington Sundar's 30 from 25 deliveries offered hope of a comeback, but Wellalage confirmed the triumph in just 26.1 overs with the wicket of Kuldeep Yadav to end India's 13-game unbeaten ODI run. 

"We are in a really good mood right now, especially our coach," said Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka.

"He made a few changes in the team, and the boys really enjoyed the team environment."

Data Debrief: Sri Lanka end India ODI hoodoo

Sri Lanka's last bilateral ODI series victory over India was in August 1997, with India unbeaten in the next 13 such series, with 11 wins and two drawn series.

The win marked the Lions' first limited-overs series under new captain Asalanka and interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya after Chris Silverwood's departure. 

Sri Lanka held India to a draw in a thrilling finale to the first ODI of their series on Friday.

Charith Asalanka was the hero for Sri Lanka in Colombo, taking two wickets in the space of two balls to bowl India out for 230.

Pathum Nissanka (56) and Dunith Wellalage (67) led the way for Sri Lanka with the bat, propelling them to 230-8 from their 50 overs, with the pair plundering 18 boundaries between them.

India looked well set for the first 12 overs, until the dismissal of Shubman Gill (16) kick-started a mini-capitulation, with captain Rohit Sharma (58), Washington Sundar (five), Virat Kohli (24) and Shreyas Iyer (23) following in quick succession.

KL Rahul and Axar Patel appeared to have steadied the ship, but Wanindu Hasaranga (3-58) and Asalanka (3-30) struck in the space of seven deliveries to drag Sri Lanka back into it.

And the day ultimately belonged to Asalanka who, after being hit for four by Shivam Dube (25) in the 48th over, hit back with a pair of LBWs to leave the tourists stunned.

Data Debrief: India's dominance ended

India had won each of their last six ODIs against Sri Lanka, their joint-longest winning streak against them in the history of the format (along with a run between July 1998 and May 1999), but for the first time since a loss in Colombo in July 2021, they failed to get the job done.

This match did see the two form teams in ODIs take each other on. India (27) and Sri Lanka (22) have won more 50-over games than any other teams since the start of 2023.

The Colombo Stars opened their 2024 Lanka Premier League campaign with a win over the Kandy Falcons at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The Falcons, who opened their campaign with a win on Monday, put the Strikers in to bat after winning the toss.

Colombo made use of the opportunity, posting 198-7 from their 20 overs.

It was a collective effort with the bat for the Stars as Sadeera Samarawickrama, skipper Thisara Perera, Muhammad Waseem, Chamika Karunaratne and Shadab Khan all made solid contributions.

Samarawickrama led the way with 48 from 26 balls including seven fours and a six while being well supported by Perera (38 off 30), Waseem (32 off 18), Karunaratne (25* off 10) and Khan (20 off 17).

Falcons captain Wanindu Hasaranga took 2-30 from his four overs.

The Falcons got starts from Dinesh Chandimal, Hasaranga, Angelo Mathews and Andre Fletcher but they weren’t enough as their chase fizzled out, eventually being dismissed for 147 with one ball left in the 16^th over.

Chandimal made a top score of 38 while Hasaranga, Matthews and Fletcher made scores of 25, 25 and 24, respectively.

Shadab Khan led the way with 4-22 from his four overs including the tournament’s first hat-trick in the 15^th over.

Dunith Wellalage took 4-20 from 3.5 overs.

Full Scores:

Colombo Stars 198-7 from 20 overs (Sadeera Samarawickrama 48, Thisara Perera 38, Muhammad Waseem 32, Chamika Karunaratne 25*, Shadab Khan 20, Wanindu Hasaranga 2-30)

Kandy Falcons 147 off 15.5 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 38, Wanindu Hasaranga 25, Angelo Mathews 25, Andre Fletcher 24, Dunith Wellalage 4-20, Shadab Khan 4-22)

Action continues on Wednesday when the Dambulla Sixers take on the Jaffna Kings at 4:30 AM before the Colombo Strikers face the Galle Marvels at 9:30 AM (Jamaica Time).

Both games can be seen live on Sportsmax.