Category: 6. Sports

As Sri Lanka gears up to host Bangladesh for a much-anticipated three-match T20I series starting July 10, the spotlight shifts sharply to Maheesh Theekshana, who will lead the Lankan bowling charge in the absence of the injured Wanindu Hasaranga. The series promises thrilling action across Kandy, Dambulla, and Colombo — and fans can catch all matches live at 7:00 PM IST on SonyLIV, FanCode, and the Sony Sports Network in India.

Why is Wanindu Hasaranga Missing the SL vs BAN T20I Series?

Sri Lanka suffered a major blow ahead of the T20I leg as Wanindu Hasaranga, their premier spinner and a consistent match-winner, was ruled out due to a hamstring injury sustained while batting in the third ODI. Hasaranga’s absence not only weakens the spin department but also removes a key all-rounder from the middle order. He was Sri Lanka’s top wicket-taker in the ODI series, bagging 9 wickets at a stunning average under 12.

Who is Leading the Charge for Sri Lanka in Hasaranga’s Absence?

Maheesh Theekshana steps up as the leader of the spin attack. Though wicketless in the third ODI, his economical spell of 0/18 in six overs played a pivotal role in defending 285. Theekshana has been in stellar form, finishing as Rajasthan Royals’ joint-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2025 alongside Hasaranga and Jofra Archer.

Currently ranked eighth in the ICC T20I bowling rankings, Theekshana will be expected to control the middle overs and strike at crucial moments — especially against a Bangladesh side hungry for redemption.

Where to Watch Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh T20I 2025 Live in India?

Live Streaming: SonyLIV and FanCode apps & websites

Live Telecast: Sony Sports Network TV channels

Match Timings: 7:00 PM IST on July 10, 13 & 16

Venues:

1st T20I – Pallekele International Stadium

2nd T20I – Rangiri Dambulla Stadium

3rd T20I – R. Premadasa Stadium

Can Bangladesh Bounce Back in the T20 Format?

After losing the Test (0-1) and ODI (1-2) series, Bangladesh faces a crucial test in the shortest format. Skipper Litton Das will need to rally a side that has talent but lacks consistency. With big hitters like Towhid Hridoy and pace threats like Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed, Bangladesh have the arsenal to challenge Sri Lanka — but execution will be key.

Who are the Players to Watch in the SL vs BAN T20Is?

Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka)

The skipper has been Sri Lanka’s batting mainstay across formats. With over 1200 T20I runs and a calm head under pressure, Asalanka will be vital at No. 3 or 4.

Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)

The left-arm pacer is Bangladesh’s death-overs specialist. With 134 wickets in 107 T20I innings, his variations could trouble even set batters late in the innings.

Maheesh Theekshana (Sri Lanka)

A spin wizard in the powerplay and middle overs, Theekshana’s ability to choke run flow while picking key wickets could define the series.

What Does History Say About SL vs BAN T20 Encounters?

In 17 head-to-head T20Is, Sri Lanka leads 11-6. At home, they’ve traditionally held the upper hand with superior spin options and more experience in crunch games. However, Bangladesh has improved significantly in T20s in recent years, making this series far more competitive than numbers suggest.

What Are the Match Predictions for the 1st T20I?

Scenario 1: Sri Lanka bat first

Powerplay: 40-50

Total: 155-165

Likely Result: Sri Lanka win

Scenario 2: Bangladesh bat first

Powerplay: 45-55

Total: 150-160

Likely Result: Bangladesh win

Toss will be crucial. The side batting first is expected to have an edge on Kandy’s slightly slower pitch.

What’s at Stake in the SL vs BAN T20 Series?

For Sri Lanka, a clean sweep will complete a dominant all-format series win and set the tone ahead of the Asia Cup. For Bangladesh, it’s a chance to salvage pride, experiment with fresh talent, and gain momentum heading into the T20 World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

BBC

If you watched any of the 2025 Wimbledon womens’ matches, you’ll have noticed many players donning a skort: a garment in which shorts are concealed under a skirt, or a front panel resembling a skirt.

You may even remember skorts from your schooling days, as they’re commonly offered in girls’ uniforms throughout Australia.

The skort (a portmanteau of skirt and shorts) has played a truly unique role in the history of women’s clothing. They were once a progressive item of clothing, as they afforded women the opportunity to partake in activities that would have been difficult in a skirt or dress.

Their role in contemporary society, however, is a bit more complicated.

Rebellious beginnings

The first garments resembling skorts were developed in the 1890s so women could ride bicycles without their skirt getting caught in the chains. While the puffy “bloomers” had already been invented a few decades earlier, women who wore them often faced ridicule.

Skorts were considered revolutionary at a time when men both figuratively and literally wore the pants.

Back then, they were usually a pair of loose pants under a front panel resembling a skirt. The aim was to retain the wearer’s femininity, and not offend those who thought pants were a purely masculine article of clothing.

The skort as we know it today, and as is seen across the sporting world, was popularised in the 1960s by American fashion designer Leon Levin.

This skirt was said to offer “the freedom of shorts and soft lines of a skirt”. The underlying message: even as women participate in traditionally “masculine” activities, they should be careful not to look too masculine.

Sport management academic M. Katie Flanagan argues women may be convinced that exercising in a skort achieves an acceptable gender performance. In other words, they are socialised to think they have to “perform” their gender by wearing the “correct” clothing.

Skorts in sport and school

In the sporting world, skorts are deliberately designed to be trendy and attractive, rather than purely functional.

One study on women golfers found they were more satisfied with their uniforms if they were happy with both the comfort and attractiveness, indicating women’s sportswear isn’t just about fit and practicality.

Skorts have historically also had class associations. As recently as ten years ago, sport skorts were an expensive item reserved for those from the middle and upper classes. Women from lower economic classes also tended to not have the time and/or resources to engage in the activities skorts were designed for, namely tennis and golf.

More recently, however, discount stores have made skorts accessible to those on a budget.

School skorts, a topic of my ongoing research, are particularly affordable at discount stores. A generic discount store skort may cost about A$10, compared to A$20–40 for one purchased directly from a school.

Some schools offer skorts to girls as the equivalent of sports shorts or as part of the everyday uniform. Other schools seem to prefer culottes as an alternative to a dress or skirt – shorts that are loose enough to resemble a skirt.

Many schools still don’t offer shorts to girls as part of the everyday uniform. Whether or not girls are allowed to wear the “boys’” shorts comes down to the individual school.

From rebellion to restriction

One 2019 review of school uniform policies in South Australia found 98.6% of public schools included shorts as a uniform option for girls, compared to just 26.4% of private schools.

Researchers Sarah Cohen-Woods and Rachel Laattoe found girls in private schools were often restricted in their choices, having to choose between skorts and culottes as an alternative to a skirt or dress.

Across Australia, all state and territory education policies – most of which came into effect between 2017 and 2019 – mandate public schools must offer girls the option of wearing shorts and pants.

However, the wordings of these policies differ widely. While New South Wales, Victoria and Norther Territory specifically mention shorts and pants must be offered to girls, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania specify schools must offer unisex or gender neutral items to all students.

South Australia’s and Australian Capital Territory’s policies further state uniform items should be categorised by type of clothing, or in non-gender specific terms.

However, in some states, including New South Wales, schools are free to interpret the policy as they wish, which is why some only offer culottes or skorts to girls. There is generally no oversight or enforcement of policies to force schools to offer actual shorts to girls.

A similar debate is happening in women’s sports. Ireland’s Camogie Association only ended the compulsory skorts policy in May, after years of complaints by players. Dublin captain Aisling Maher said she was “sick of being forced to wear a skort that is uncomfortable and unfit for purpose”.

“In no other facet of my life does someone dictate that I have to wear something resembling a skirt because I am a girl. Why is it happening in my sport?” Maher said.

A garment for the male gaze

In recent years, many stores have advertised skorts for fashion. Target, for instance, currently sells a tailored skort described as a “must have for any trendsetter looking to stand out in a crowd”.

There are conflicting arguments about whether skorts are progressive or regressive. On one hand, they allow women and girls to move freely during physical activities, without having to worry about their underwear being visible.

On the other, they set a precedent in regards to how women and girls ought to perform their gender, by avoiding looking too “masculine” – which makes them somewhat misogynistic.

The skort is an object of dual meanings: at once a skirt and a pair of shorts – at once progressive and regressive.

Novak Djokovic just took another step toward becoming the best grass-court player in tennis history.

The Serbian defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to his 14th Wimbledon Semifinal. It’s the most semifinals reached by one player in the tournament’s history.

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“It means the world to me that I’m still able at 38 to play the final stages of Wimbledon,” Djokovic said after the match.

He passed Roger Federer, who has made the final four of Wimbledon 13 times. Jimmy Connors has 11 appearances followed by Boris Becker with 9.

It’s another key record that adds to Djokovic’s case as the best player to ever grace Wimbledon Centre Court.

The win also gets him closer to breaking the record of all records: Federer’s eight Wimbledon titles. Djokovic has seven of his own and could tie his former foe with a win this year.

But to reach that illustrious mark, he’ll have to go through Jannik Sinner and then potentially Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic faces Sinner in the semifinals on Friday and if he comes out alive he’ll face the winner of Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz in the final.

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It’s a tall task for the Serbian who just lost in straight sets to Sinner at the French Open.

But the motivation for Djokovic to become the best player ever on grass could push him to do the unthinkable.

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“I would say we mainly focused on my movement and how I should stop before hitting the ball,” Swiatek said of her grasscourt-specific training. “For sure I’m just happy that the work that I’ve been doing, I can use it now.

“That was my goal this year, because I saw how I can play on practice courts. I was just not sure if I can do it on the match court.

“I kind of already did. I’m going to try to continue that.”

The Bad Homburg result propelled her back inside the WTA top four – yet too late to impact her Wimbledon seeding – and she has since achieved her best Wimbledon result, surpassing her quarterfinal run in 2023.

Interestingly, that last-eight appearance at SW19 came after she saved two match points to beat Bencic in the fourth round.

Two years later she confronts Bencic again, this time in a semifinal featuring two Wimbledon junior champions targeting their first women’s singles final.

“I still feel like in 2023 I had a great tournament, and I was playing good tennis, but it obviously wasn’t enough to go further,” Swiatek reflected.

“This year, I feel like I developed as a player, and I had time to practise a little bit more. Match by match my confidence, for sure, went up so that I can use it on this Championship.”

Swiatek plays Bencic in the second women’s semifinal on Centre Court on Thursday.

MILWAUKEE — Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren, who has been hospitalized in Wisconsin after a severe case of pneumonia, said in a post on social media Wednesday that he had undergone a double lung transplant and is in recovery.

Askren said during the Instagram video that he recalls very little of what happened over a monthlong stretch from late May through the first two days of July. His wife, Amy, had said in a series of social media posts that Askren was put on a ventilator in June and placed on the donor list for a lung transplant on June 24.

“No recollection, zero idea, no idea what happened,” Askren said of most of the past six weeks. “I just read through my wife’s journal. It’s like a movie. It’s ridiculous. I only died four times, where the ticker stopped for about 20 seconds.”

Askren said he lost about 50 pounds during the 45-day stretch.

“The thing that was most impeccable to me was all the love I felt,” Askren said. “It was almost like I got to have my own funeral.”

The 40-year-old Askren was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but has lived primarily in Wisconsin, where he runs a youth wrestling academy. He won back-to-back NCAA titles at Missouri and competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics for the U.S. before moving into MMA, where he fought for Bellator and ONE Championship before moving into the UFC.

Askren retired from MMA after a loss to Demian Maia in October 2019. He had a record of 19-2 with one no contest.

Askren made a brief return to combat sports in April 2021, when he fought social media star Jake Paul in a boxing match. Paul won by technical knockout in the first round of a fight that sold about 500,000 on pay-per-view.

London, UK — 10^th July 2025 — Today at Adobe Summit London, Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) and the Premier League announced a multi-year partnership to bring new AI-powered personalised digital experiences to fans around the world and provide new opportunities for fans to express their creativity. Adobe’s creativity, marketing and AI technology is central to the Premier League’s digital transformation and is unlocking new ways for fans to create and share Premier League content, engage with their Fantasy Premier League teams and enjoy more personalised digital experiences.

Adobe’s partnership with the Premier League will bring the League’s 1.8 billion fans around the world closer to their favourite clubs, players and moments through personalised experiences based on their unique interests. As part of the Premier League’s digital transformation, Adobe Express — the quick and easy content creation app powering fan engagement — and Firefly generative AI, will give fans new ways to create and share Premier League content and enhance their digital and Fantasy Premier League experience.

Adobe Express will be seamlessly integrated into the Premier League’s new website and app for the 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League season. Designed to be commercially safe, Firefly is only trained on a dataset of licensed content with permission, such as Adobe Stock, and public domain content where copyright has expired. Firefly features, powering Adobe Express, enables fans to easily design unique badges and kits for their favourite Fantasy Premier League teams and share their passion with the world.

Fantasy Premier League managers and Premier League fans will be able to showcase their passion beyond the game to create and share standout social content with exclusive Premier League templates in Adobe Express. Adobe Express takes fan-created content to the next level; easy-to-use AI-powered features, such as Generate Video and Clip Maker let fans create images and videos from a simple prompt, including long-form videos which they can automatically cut them down into short, attention-grabbing clips made for social. Fans can also edit their own images with AI, using Insert or Remove Object to add new elements to photos or to remove clutter.

As the most followed football league in the world, the Premier League is watched in 900 million homes across 189 countries. Each fan has their own unique connection to clubs and players — and their own preferred way of following the action on the pitch, on matchdays and throughout the season. With Adobe Experience Platform, AI Agents and applications including Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform, Adobe Journey Optimizer, Adobe Customer Journey Analytics and Adobe GenStudio for Performance Marketing, the Premier League will bring together a fan’s preferences from across its entire digital ecosystem. This will enable a richer, more connected understanding of every fan’s needs, giving the Premier League the ability to create and optimise the experience across every interaction.

“Adobe AI technology is empowering passionate fans to shape how they experience and share the unrivalled drama of matchday, through real-time news updates and fan-created content that stands out on social media, thanks to the creative magic of Adobe Express — the quick and easy content creation app,” said Rachel Thornton, CMO, Enterprise at Adobe. “Bringing the power of Adobe to the most watched football league in the world, fans have new AI-powered ways to engage and experience the moments that matter, and the creative capabilities to express their love of the game.”

“The Premier League is followed by millions of fans around the world — all of whom have very different reasons for doing so,” said Will Brass, Chief Commercial Officer at the Premier League. “Adobe is a global leader in digital experiences and creativity, and this exciting partnership provides us with the tools to better understand and deliver what our fans need and want digitally, ensuring we can provide the best of the Premier League directly to them. Our partnership aims to enrich the fan experience and providing them with new creative ways to express their passion for the league.”

All Blacks selectors Scott Robertson, Scott Hansen and Jason Ryan have named their team for the second test against France at Sky Stadium in Wellington.

 

Timoci Tavatavanawai will have the opportunity to earn his first All Blacks cap this Saturday night, becoming the fifth debutant this season so far. He has been named on the bench in one of three changes to the line-up that beat France in Dunedin last weekend. 

With Scott Barrett unavailable for the remainder of the series due to a calf injury, Patrick Tuipulotu comes in at lock and Ardie Savea [pictured] will captain the side. 

Caleb Clarke will make his first start of 2025 in the 11 jersey, while Rieko Ioane shifts to the right wing. 

“Test series are a unique and exciting opportunity. Both teams now have a better idea of what they’re going to get on Saturday night, and both will lift for this next occasion. We know where we need to improve,” Scott Robertson said. 

“It is also awesome to be part of a double-header with the Black Ferns, who will take on Australia at 4:30pm. We’ve enjoyed connecting with the team this week and know they will put on a spectacle for the fans at Sky Stadium, in their last domestic game before the Rugby World Cup.” 

All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps in brackets; * denotes debutant)  

1. Ethan de Groot (30)  

2. Codie Taylor (97) (Vice-Captain) 

3. Fletcher Newell (23)  

4. Patrick Tuipulotu (51) 

5. Fabian Holland (1) 

6. Tupou Vaa’i (39)  

7. Ardie Savea (95) (Captain)  

8. Christian Lio-Willie (1) 

9. Cam Roigard (11)  

10. Beauden Barrett (135)  

11. Caleb Clarke (29) 

12. Jordie Barrett (69) (Vice-Captain)  

13. Billy Proctor (3)  

14. Rieko Ioane (82) 

15. Will Jordan (42)  

Relacements: 

16. Samisoni Taukei’aho (31)  

17. Ollie Norris (1) 

18. Pasilio Tosi (8)  

19. Samipeni Finau (9)  

20. Du’Plessis Kirifi (1) 

21. Cortez Ratima (12)  

22. Timoci Tavatavanawai * 

23. Damian McKenzie (62)  

Unavailable due to injury: Tamaiti Williams (knee); Tyrel Lomax (calf); Wallace Sititi (ankle); Luke Jacobson (concussion); Sevu Reece (concussion); Scott Barrett (calf) 

MATCH FACTS  

• A win this weekend would see the All Blacks awarded the Dave Gallaher Trophy, for the first time since 2018. The trophy is named after the 1905–06 All Black captain who was killed in Belgium during World War I.  
• The All Blacks became the first international side to record 500 test wins last weekend, taking 652 matches to do so. France is the nation with the next highest number of test wins, with 460 out of 829. 
• This will be the 30th All Black test match Sky Stadium has hosted since opening in 2000. 
• France has never beaten the All Blacks in Wellington (but has in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin).