New Delhi: Australia's cricketers hope to bring some "joy" to Sri Lanka, white-ball captain Aaron Finch said on Friday, as the island nation prepares for a seven-week tour while wrestling with an unprecedented economic crisis. The squad arrived Wednesday for their first all-format series against Sri Lanka in six years, at a time when fuel shortages, rolling blackouts and political turmoil have made life a misery for many. The tour has raised security concerns in the Australian camp after deadly unrest in Sri Lanka last month, but Finch said his team were excited to be in the country."We're here to play cricket and hopefully... we can bring some joy and some entertainment to Sri Lanka," he told an online press conference. "It's such a special place to tour. The hospitality that you get here, the friendliness, and their love for the game is unbelievable," he said. Australia will play three Twenty20 internationals, five one-day internationals and two Test matches during the tour, which ends July 12.The series-opening Twenty20 international will be played under lights on Tuesday in the capital Colombo, where residents have suffered through regular power cuts and waited in long queues for fuel. Last month, Cricket Australia boss Todd Greenberg said players were aware of the situation in the island nation and admitted a "level of discomfort around touring in conditions that contrast those faced by the people of Sri Lanka". Australia last toured the country in 2016 but has regularly played against Sri Lanka at home, including a Twenty20 international series in February that went 4-1 to the hosts. Finch said his team would keep their guard up during the upcoming series and expected strong showings from batsman Kusal Mendis and spinner Wanindu Hasaranga."If you just look at the top order, you've got Kusal there, who can be as damaging as anyone on his day, and obviously Hasaranga has had an unbelievable couple of years in T20 cricket," Finch said."We had a couple of close series against them... they are a very dangerous side," he added.Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comFinch said the 20-over series would help his top-ranked side prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup and he expects that spinner Ashton Agar, who is replacing Adam Zampa on the tour, will get plenty of chances to shine. "He's one of the best in the world in the Twenty20 format for Australia," Finch said.—AP

Australia's cricketers hope to bring some "joy" to Sri Lanka, white-ball captain Aaron Finch said on Friday, as the island nation prepares for a seven-week tour while wrestling with an unprecedented economic crisis.

Aaron Finch hopes Cricket series brings "Joy" to crisis-hit Lanka

Colombo: Australia survived an electric spell from leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (4/33) to beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in the second T20I and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at R Premadasa Stadium, here on Wednesday. Veteran wicketkeeper Matthew Wade (26 not out) handled the immense pressure of batting with the tail to secure victory with 13 balls to spare. Chasing a low total of 125 runs for win, openers Aaron Finch and David Warner came out intent on powering Australia to victory as quickly as possible. However, Hasaranga weaved some spin magic to turn the tables. The leg-spinner first took out Finch for a 13-ball 24 when the Aussie skipper hit to Danushka Gunathilaka at cover point and a flighted googly in his next over befuddled Mitchell Marsh, who committed far too early for his sweep and was trapped plumb leg before. Nuwan Thushara then got one skiddy delivery to hit Steve Smith on the front pad to leave Australia on 58 for 3. Sri Lanka had another spring to their step as David Warner fell to a run out caused by a round of yes-no calls with Glenn Maxwell. Marcus Stoinis threatened to deflate Sri Lanka's hopes quickly when he took on Hasaranga in the eighth over, but Chameera returned in the ninth over to dismiss his LSG teammate.Sri Lanka were still hamstrung by the lack of runs on the board but a double-wicket over from Hasaranga in the 12th put them marginally ahead and Australia well under pressure. He first got rid of Maxwell, who chipped a googly to mid-off and then followed Ashton Agar as a leg spinner breached the big bat-pad gateway to knock back the stumps on the next delivery. Australia were 99 for 7, the required 25 runs now seeming a bit distant. But Wade was able to steady the innings as he received solid support from fast bowler Jhye Richardson. The comfortable required equation meant Wade and Richardson had no reason to hurry or make a forceful attempt at picking the runs and Australia eventually coasted past the finish line in 17.5 overs.Earlier, Australia won the toss and opted to bowl. With star pacer Mitchell Starc sidelined for the match after suffering a finger injury, Maxwell was given the new ball and struck in the first over.The Lions stumbled to 7-2 before Charith Asalanka (39) and Kusal Mendis (36) batted together for 9.1 overs, amassing 66 runs for the third wicket to lay a solid platform for Sri Lanka to post a defendable total. But Maxwell ended the partnership in the 12th over with Asalanka skying a ball to Finch. Mendis' knock ended in bizarre fashion, departing after falling back into his stumps after being hit in the helmet by a delivery from Jhye Richardson, who came into the team in place of Starc. Then began the lower-order collapse as Sri Lanka lost five wickets for just 20 runs. Kane Richardson (4/30) and Jhye Richardson (3/26) ran through the line-up at the death as Sri Lanka could only muster 25 runs in the last five overs. Saturday's final match in Kandy will be a dead-rubber ahead of a five-match ODI series, starting on June 14. Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 124/9 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 39, Kusal Mendis 36; Kane Richardson 4/30, Jhye Richardson 3/26) lost to Australia 126/7 in 17.5 overs (Matthew Wade 26, Aaron Finch 24; Wanindu Hasaranga 4/33) by 3 wickets—IANS

Australia survived an electric spell from leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga (4/33) to beat Sri Lanka by three wickets in the second T20I and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series at R Premadasa Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Australia beat Sri Lanka by 3 wkts, take unassailable 2-0 series lead

Texas: The cricketing action in Major League Cricket (MLC) will get underway from July 13 with former Australian skipper Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Wanindu Hasaranga among top players featuring in the showpiece event. According to an official statement from Major League Cricket (MLC), the tournament will feature many of the best T20 players from around the world in its inaugural season playing alongside the strongest domestic talent in the United States. Overseas star players announced so far include Australia's Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis, South Africa's Quinton de Kock, Wayne Parnell, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen along with Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga. Meanwhile, Harmeet Singh, who was on the India U-19 squad that won the 2012 World Cup has also been picked to play in MLC. "I am really excited to be here. And also nervous at the same time. I played in Seattle in the Minor League. Now Major League Cricket. It cannot get better for me," Harmeet had said in a statement as per a press release from MLC. Also, MLC Tournament Director Justin Geale is excited to see which player from the showpiece event will receive the leading run scorer award this summer. "We can't wait to see which superstar player captures the Royal(R) Leading Run Scorer award this summer," Justin Geale said in the statement after Major League Cricket (MLC) joined hands with Royal(R) brand as an official partner of the league for its inaugural season this summer. "MLC is thrilled to welcome the Royal(R) brand onboard as an official partner. Royal(R) has proven to be a strong supporter of American cricket sharing MLC's long-term vision to build the sport for the vast community of fans of the game here in the United States," he added. The award for the "Royal Leading Run Scorer" will be given out on July 30, at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas. "We're excited to partner with Major League Cricket to bring the culture, cuisine and vibrant flavors of South Asia to cricket fans in the United States," said Abhinav Arora, president of LT Foods Americas, the global culinary enterprise behind the Royal(R) brand. The first-ever MLC match will take place on Thursday, July 13, under the lights at America's new premier cricket venue, Grand Prairie Stadium, near Dallas, Texas. Eighteen more matches will follow leading up to the inaugural MLC championship final on Sunday, July 30, with six teams set to compete: the Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings and Washington Freedom.—IANS

The cricketing action in Major League Cricket (MLC) will get underway from July 13 with former Australian skipper Aaron Finch

Finch, Stoinis, Hasaranga Among Top Cricketers To Feature In Major League Cricket From July 13

Uppsala: A ground-breaking investigation on the most recent evolutionary change in natural populations has been published by an international team of academics. Nearly 4,000 Darwin's finches make up one of the largest genomic datasets yet created for animals living in their natural habitat, which is used in this work. The study has identified the genetic underpinnings of adaption in this famous population. The journal Science has published the findings. Ever since Darwin wrote about the finches of the Galápagos Islands, biologists have studied these small songbirds to understand the mechanisms of evolution. One ancestral species has evolved into 18 different species in the last million years. The strength of Darwin’s finches as a study organism lies in what they can show about the early stages of speciation. Peter and Rosemary Grant (Princeton University) tracked nearly every individual on Daphne Major starting in the 1970s. Their work demonstrates that the finches of Daphne Major evolved in response to changes in the environment and interactions among species. An international team has sequenced the genomes of nearly every finch studied on Daphne and revealed the genetic architecture of adaptive change. “I think it’s a really exciting opportunity to tie together our understanding of evolutionary change in the deep past with observations in current time,” said Erik Enbody, the lead author of the study and former post-doctoral fellow at Uppsala University. “Genomic data is a powerful tool to take our observations of birds in the field and learn about the factors that have shaped their evolution,” adding that this kind of study at this scale couldn’t be possible without the decades of research on Galápagos.  “One of the remarkable things we found is that only a few genetic loci explain a great deal of the variation in the beak of the finch,” said Leif Andersson (Uppsala University and Texas A&amp;M University), senior author of the study. “It seems that one of the ways these genetic changes evolve is by bundling together multiple genes, which are then subject to natural selection as the environment changes.”  These results may surprise human geneticists, where many genetic variants are only responsible for a small amount of variation in human height, for instance.  Over the three decades studied, the beak of the Medium Ground-Finch has become smaller. Using the genomes of all the finches on Daphne, the researchers show that this results from genes transferring from the Small Ground-Finch through hybridization and periods of drought where individuals with smaller beaks survived better.  “This study highlights the value of long-term studies to understand the mechanism of evolutionary change,” said Peter Grant.  The researchers collected a drop of blood from the wing vein and banded each bird. This allowed them to track them and determine how long they survived, who they mated with, and their offspring. “By collecting blood samples throughout the study, we had the samples available for genomic study when the technology became available,” added Rosemary Grant.  The researchers studied not only the Medium Ground-Finch, but the entire community of four species of finches present on the island. The Common Cactus-Finch experienced a gradual change towards blunter beaks as conditions on the island changed and hybridization with the Medium Ground-Finch increased. This study paints a dynamic picture of how species adapt to changing environments through a combination of genetic changes of large phenotypic effects that are sometimes transferred between species. As the global environment continues to change, the finches of the Galápagos island will provide a valuable window into understanding how birds, their genetic constitution, and their environment interact to shape the future of wild populations. —ANI

A ground-breaking investigation on the most recent evolutionary change in natural populations has been published by an international team of academics

Genome Research Reveals 30 Years Of Darwin's Finch Evolution

Pithoragarh (The Hawk): In a heartening event for nature enthusiasts, the elusive Spectacled Finch bird has been spotted in Munsiyari, Pithoragarh, marking its appearance after several years. This sighting has sparked excitement among environmentalists and bird watchers, as the bird, typically a resident of the higher Himalayan regions, ventures into lower altitudes, possibly in search of food, highlighting the broader impacts of global warming on wildlife. The Spectacled Finch, known for its distinctive markings and preference for high-altitude habitats, is rarely observed in the lower regions. The recent observation was made in the Khaliatop area of Munsiyari, where both male and female specimens were seen, indicating a significant environmental shift. Surendra Pawar, a local enthusiast, noted this occurrence as a rare opportunity to witness these birds in less elevated areas, underscoring the potential changes in their natural habitat due to environmental factors. The bird, which typically resides at altitudes of around 2400 meters, has been forced to descend to altitudes between 1800 and 1900 meters in harsh winter conditions to find sustenance. This behavior, not recorded in the last five years, has raised concerns among conservationists about the bird's declining numbers and the overall health of their habitat. Experts believe that the presence of the Spectacled Finch in Munsiyari, a region celebrated for its rich biodiversity, is a positive sign for nature conservation efforts. The area's diverse ecosystem supports various rare wildlife species, making it a critical zone for conservation activities. The diet of the Spectacled Finch, primarily fruit seeds, points to the ecological significance of maintaining such biodiverse regions. In response to the increased vulnerability of wildlife during the winter months, when animals move to lower regions following snowfall in the Himalayas, the Forest Department has intensified its patrolling efforts. Awareness campaigns are being conducted to educate the public on the importance of wildlife and the need for its protection, especially in light of the hunting activities that tend to escalate during this period. Sub Divisional Forest Officer Jwala Prasad and Forest Range Officer Vijay Bhatt both affirm the significance of the Spectacled Finch sighting, viewing it as an encouraging indicator for environmental preservation in the area. The continuous efforts of the Forest Department to safeguard the region's wildlife underscore the ongoing commitment to conserving its unique natural heritage.

In a heartening event for nature enthusiasts, the elusive Spectacled Finch bird has been spotted in Munsiyari, Pithoragarh

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Aaron Finch hopes Cricket series brings "Joy" to crisis-hit Lanka

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The Hawk

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Aaron Finch hopes Cricket series brings "Joy" to crisis-hit Lanka

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Australia beat Sri Lanka by 3 wkts, take unassailabl ...

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Genome Research Reveals 30 Years Of Darwin's Finch ...

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