{"id":110990,"date":"2023-03-24T06:32:27","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T06:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=110990"},"modified":"2023-03-24T06:33:52","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T06:33:52","slug":"ash-chandrasinghe-innings-divides-cricket-world-in-sheffield-shield-final-by-sam-goodwin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/ash-chandrasinghe-innings-divides-cricket-world-in-sheffield-shield-final-by-sam-goodwin\/","title":{"rendered":"Ash Chandrasinghe innings divides cricket world in Sheffield Shield final – By Sam Goodwin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ash Chandrasinghe innings divides cricket world in Sheffield Shield final – By Sam Goodwin<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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The Victorian opener batted the entire opening day against Western Australia for just 46 runs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Unudiya<\/a>
Ash Chandrasinghe batted the entire day for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield final against Western Australia. Image: Cricket Network\/Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Source :\u00a0au.sports.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Cricket<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0fans and commentators have been left divided over the value of a marathon innings from Ash Chandrasinghe in which the Victorian opener batted through the entire first day of the Sheffield Shield final. Chandrasinghe finished 46 not out off a whopping 266 balls as Victoria went to stumps at 8-194 against Western Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

The young opener faced 14 more balls on Friday and didn’t add to his score as Victoria were bowled out for 195. Chandrasinghe played an incredibly patient and stoic innings as wickets tumbled around him, refusing to give away his wicket cheaply like so many of his teammates did. But fans and commentators have been left to debate the wisdom of his go-slow approach given Victoria will likely need a win to claim the final, while Western Australia only need a draw.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Many praised Chandrasinghe for digging in and providing some stability to the Vic innings, but many more criticised his lack of ability to rotate the strike and get the scoreboard ticking over. It brought back memories of Peter Handscomb’s innings in the third Test against India earlier this month in which he made 19 off 98 balls.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Unudiya<\/a>
Todd Murphy and Ash Chandrasinghe leave the field after day one of the Sheffield Shield final between Victoria and Western Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Aussie great\u00a0Matthew Hayden was critical of Handscomb’s approach\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>and described it as “almost un-Australian”. Hayden said: \u201cHe was very, very defensive with his mindset. His strike rate of under 20 means that you are not going anywhere, and the scoreboard is not going anywhere, and that\u2019s a product of some really tough batting conditions \u2026 he was sort of like a sitting duck in many ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost un-Australian. I don\u2019t want anyone out there to think that I\u2019m overly criticising Pete, I\u2019m not. It\u2019s just not quite attacking enough. It\u2019s such a tricky balance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Handscomb, who is captaining Victoria in the Shield final, was among those to praise Chandrasinghe on Thursday. “To do what he did in challenging conditions and not go outside his bubble was very, very impressive. For him not to get flustered and play a big shot is awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The wicket has been tough to score on. For us to drag it out and get almost 200 today, I think can still put us in a position if we bowl well over the next few days to really challenge this game.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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Amazing in this short-form circuit era that a player like Ash Chandrasinghe has been able to rise to play the biggest game on the domestic calendar. He is such a curiosity.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) March 23, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n