Southern Sharks walloped by many
The reconstructed St. Anne’s College ground in Kurunegala looked a picture and was a riot of colour as the first day of the 6th Carlton Super Sevens kicked off. Southern Sharks, last year’s winner of the local event, did not have things to their liking, going down in their first couple of games.
Northern Gladiators (in yellow) won the opening game in Kurunegala against Sabaragamuwa Stallions (in white) yesterday - Pic by Pushpakumara Jayaratne
The strong Western Warriors outfit led by Yoshitha Rajapaksa was surprised by an efficient Central Kings team marshalled by brother Rohitha. The Southern Sharks regrouped well and made amends later on, winning two matches and also running up the highest total of the day (42). Reshan Thiyagarajah, Damien Ratwatte and Mithun Hapugoda were the leading try scorers of the day.
Today the tournament will resume with the game between Northern Gladiators and Eastern Eagles. This will be followed by the Southern Sharks vs North Western Blacks, Western Warriors vs Jaffna Challengers and Sabaragamuwa Stallions vs North Central Typhoons games. The losers of these games will join Uva Vipers in Pool ‘C’ and Central Games in Pool ‘D’ respectively.
The standings at the end of day one were as follows.
Group A: 1. Northern Gladiators, 2. Western Warriors, 3. Southern Sharks, 4. Sabaragamuwa Stallions, 5.Central Kings.
Group B: 1. North Central Typhoons, 2. North Western Blacks, 3. Jaffna Challengers, 4. Eastern Eagles, 5. Uva Vipers.
Day 1 results
Northern Gladiators 24 beat Sabaragamuwa Stallions 5; Central Kings 33 beat Western Warriors 0; North Western Blacks 12 beat Uva Vipers 0; Jaffna Challengers 21 beat Eastern Eagles 12; Northern Gladiators 22 beat Southern Sharks 7; Sabaragamuwa Stallions 21 beat Central Kings 14; North Central Typhoons 24 beat North Western Blacks 14; Eastern Eagles 21 beat Uva Vipers 7; Western Warriors 24 beat Southern Sharks 5; Northern Gladiators 19 beat Central Kings 14; North Central Typhoons 31 beat Jaffna Challengers 10; North Western Blacks 19 drew with Eastern Eagles 19; Western Warriors 21 beat Sabaragamuwa Stallions 14; Southern Sharks 30 beat Central Kings 14; Jaffna Challengers 19 beat Uva Vipers 5; North Central Typhoons 36 beat Eastern Eagles 0; Northern Gladiators 28 beat Western Warriors 19; Southern Sharks 17 beat Sabaragamuwa Stallions 12; North Western Blacks 29 beat Jaffna Challengers 7; North Central Typhoons 29 beat Uva Vipers 15.