Hall of fame to honour sportsmen

By Tita Nathanielsz

The Genius

He learned the game with 2 or 3 discarded Golf Clubs which may have contributed to his exceptional skills and uncanny ability to improvise shots to move out of trouble spots. 

From 1985 Nandasena was showing signs of brilliance and he was very rightly encouraged to seek amateur status. The Sri Lanka Golf Union monitored the transfer of his status and in the same year or a few months later he gained amateur status. I now catalogue the story of his success picking title events in Sri Lanka and abroad. 

Amateur 

Matara calamity for Kenya

18 wickets tumble as Sri Lanka roar to innings victory

Bernie Wijesekera reporting from Uyanwatte Stadium, Matara

It was all over with 25 mts. to go in the final session, with a day to spare. It was a pathetic display by the Kenyans, who had the skills, but lacked the temperament and application said coach, Sandeep Patil. 

"No harm losing and winning, but I am disappointed the way they threw the game. No excuses, it was a shirt-front pitch good for batting. The Lankans applied themselves well to be in control and put tremendous pressure helped by weak-kneed batting, " said Patil.

There were two individual performances on either innings. Kenya's opener Ravindra Shah, stroked a perky 106 - his highest in first class cricket. His 'ton' included 15 fours made in 196 balls. He has the technique and drove the ball beautifully on either side of the wicket. In the first Test, he made 94. 

After a good start (overnight - 122/2) folded up for 220 after 3 overs after the luncheon break.

Upul Chandana, who scored a stroke-filled 194, spun a web with his leggies to dissect the Kenya middle-order. The spinners shared the 9 wkts. Upul, proved most economical, with 4 for 23.

Made to follow on, they fared no better and failed to bounce back on a pitch full of runs. They were all at sea against spin. 

The only scalp to fall for pace, was Otieno, to Perera, lbw whilst stretching forward for a duck. (There was another individual brilliant knock in this innings - 117, made by Steve Tikolo, (with 16 fours 2 sixes off 133 balls in 168 mts). 

He clubbed a huge six, over long-on off Chandana to complete his 'ton'. His effort didn't help the Kenyan cause, but it has to be an all-round team effort. Tikolo was involved in two fruitful stands - 3rd wkt 44 runs with Odumbe 23 (with 4 fours) and a last ditch 7th wkt. stand of 44 runs with Collin Obuye 14, which helped them to pass the 200 mark. The 'A' team capably led by Chandana, gave a superb team effort all round. 

Further, there was not much of unwarrented appealing on the field. Curator Lakshaman de Silva prepared a good pitch to last four days - if not to for Kenya's poor batting.
SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka 'A' 574/6dec. in 132.4overs,574mins.(U.A.Fernando 86, T.M.Dilshan 165 not out, U.D.U.Chandana 194, Obuya 3/123) 

Kenyans 1st innings (overnight 122/2 contd.) 
K.O. Otieno c Chandana b Herath 17
(Lured by the flight - caught in the slips)
R.D. Shah b M.Pushpakumara 106 
(Played the wrong line)
S.O. Tikolo c Pushpakumara b Herath 32
(Attempted a lofted drive, caught at point)
H.S. Modi c Silva b Herath 10
(Going forward caught bat,pad at forward short-leg)
M.O. Odumbe c Dilshan b Chandana 28 
(Tried to drive, thick out-side edge to first slip)
M.A. Suji c Dilshan b Chandana 5 
(Played a defensive stroke bat,pad catch)
A.O. Suji c Silva b Chandana 1
(Caught in front at forward short-leg)
C.O. Obuya c Jayawardene b Chandana 8
(Attempted to force on the off-side caught behind)
M. Sheikh c Jayawardena b Pushpakumara 6
(Attempted to sweep)
P.J. Ongondo not out 2
T.M. Odoyo (Injured did not bat) 0
Extras (b 2, lb 2, nb 1) 5

Total (in 79.1 overs in 296 mins) 220

Fall: 1-49 , 2-99, 3-123, 4-181, 5-201 , 6-203, 7-211, 8-212,9-220

Bowling: Perera 10-1-43-0, Nissanka 10-0-37-0 (1nb),Herath 21-8-41-3, Pushpakumara 20.1-4-70-2, Dilshan 2 -1-2-0, Chandana 16-5-23-4

Kenya second innings (following-on)

K.O. Otieno lbw b Perera 0
(Fully forward stretched out, but given out)
R.D. Shah c Pushpakumara b Herath 12
(Tried to square-drive, caught at backward point) 
S.O. Tikolo c Perera b Chandana 117
(Went on the back-foot and lobbed a simple catch) 
M.O. Odumbe c Dilshan b Chandana 23 
(Tried to sweep got a top edge)
H.S. Modi lbw b Dilshan 9 
(Played on the back-foot, ball kept low)
M.A. Suji c Fernando b Pushpakumara 1
(Tried to work on the leg, caught at leg-slip)
A.O. Suji lbw b Herath 3
(Played back and ball kept very low)
C.O. Obuya c Chandana b Pushpakumara 14
(Out side edge, caught in the slips)
M. Sheikh c Chandana b Pushpakumara 8
(Tried to off-drive caught in the slips)
P.J. Ongondo not out 12
T.M. Odoyo absent hurt -

Extras (b 1, nb 2) 3

Total (all out, 52.5 overs, 193 mins) 202

Fall: 1-0 , 2-25 ,3-69, 4-100, 5-110, 6-129,7-181, 8-183,9-202 

Bowling : Perera 5 -1-14 -1 (1nb), Nissanka 5-0 -26-0, Herath 11-0-52-2 (1nb), Chandana 16-1-50-2, Pushpakumara 13.5-4-55-3,

Dilshan 2 -0 -4-1

Royal save their skin

In reply to the Peterites score of 274 the Royalists resuming their overnight score of 26 for 3 were shot out for a mere 91. The Royalists who were made to follow on with a deficit of 183 runs struggled to save the game and were 198 for 7 at close.

St.Peter's - 274

Royal - 91 (V.Arunprakash 38, C.Kottehewa 16; S. Mendis 3 for 41, R. Fernando 3 for 15) and 198 for 7 (V.Arunprakash 17, N. Dias 44, S. Perera 52 n.o., D.Abeygunawardena 27 n.o, G.Ratnayake 22; I. Cooray 4 for 71)

Wesley on first innings

Isipatana - 195 and 125 for 7 at close (Amal Peiris 35, Saranga Perera 25 n.o; Farveez Mahroof 6 for 32)

Wesley - 216 (Farveez Mahroof 51, Anderio Toussaint 40, Isuru Fernando 46; Saranga Perera 4 for 64, N. Oshadee 4 for 65)

1st innings for SACK

Ananda - 123 and 160 for 1 at close (Mahela Uduwatte 99, Damidu Kularatne 53 n.o)

St.Anthony's - 193

Sebs on first innings

St. Benedicts - 196 and 94 for no loss (Lasitha Hettiarachchi 52 n.o.)

St. Sebastian's - 290 for 9 dec. (Sumalka Perera 116, Malshan Fernando 85)

First innings for DSS

Thurstan - 180 and 216 for 6 at close (O. Maharachchi 50 n.o., G.de Silva 37, S.Nishantha 36, S.Wijesundara 36)

DSS - 182 (P.Perera 44, K.Gunawardena 54, Y.Mihiranga 34; A.Umayangana 4 for 50, J.Chamikara 3 for 36)

Raddoluwa on top

Raddoluwa MV - 305 (Chamikara Silva 71, Namal Chaturanga 48, Nimantha Gunatileke 26, Gayan Fernando 41, Gayan Silva 48, Heshan de Silva 18; Vinod Kumara 5 for 54, Ishan Jayawardena 3 for 21)

St. Anthony's Wattala - 90 for 3 at close (Ronil Cooray 55 n.o., Upul Sanjeewa 31)

Australia clinch ICC Under-19 World Cup 

South Africa scored 206 for nine in 50 overs after winning the toss, but the confident Australians eased to 209 for three in 45.1 overs, opener Jarrad Burke top-scoring with an unbeaten 100. Burke was on 96 with just two runs needed for victory but the elegant left-hander guided his side home in style with the 11th boundary of his innings, an edged four wide of South African wicketkeeper Zwelibanzi Homani. Australia had earned the favourite's tag for the title after progressing easily through their group games and also in the Super League stage of the competition. 

Chasing 207 to win on Saturday, they were always comfortably up with the required rate until Burke and skipper Cameron White (22) increased the tempo with victory in sight. "We decided before the tournament that we would give it a fair dinkum crack and try our best and, if we could do that, there was every chance we would win," said White, who finished as the tournament's top run scorer. 

Palliyaguru 147

Chilaw Marians - 395 (Ruchira Palliyaguru 147, Priyankara Wickramasinghe 36; Rasika Priyadharshana 5 for 73, Sanjeewa Arangala 2 for 98)

Ragama CC - 191 (Sumedha Weerasiri 57, Dushantha Ranatunge 46, Asela Jayasinghe 28; Praneeth Jayasundara 4 for 53, Dhammika Perera 3 for 34, Ruchira Palliyaguru 3 for 30) and 73 for 3 at close (Dushantha Ranatunge 18; Lakmalka Fernando 2 for 30)