Sri Lanka probes bid to fix West Indies Test

Sri Lankan authorities are investigating a bid to bribe members of the national cricket team to under-perform in a recent Test to ensure a surprise victory for the West Indies, the government said on Friday.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said a man linked to a bookmaker had offered wicketkeeper Kusal Perera and star bowler Rangana Herath tens of thousands of dollars to engineer a Sri Lankan batting collapse at a Test in Galle in October, which the hosts went on to win emphatically.

“They wanted Sri Lanka to get out early for a very low score. This is a match Sri Lanka was expected to win, but if they lost, the bookie would have made a lot of money,” Jayasekera told AFP.

The minister said some 10 million rupees (around USD 70,000) had been offered to the players to lose the match.

Police had mounted a search for the suspect who was said to have approached the two players. “After Kusal turned down the offer, the man approached Herath who also rejected the offer and alerted the authorities,” he said.