CUTTACK,
India, Saturday (AFP) - Sri Lanka's left-arm spinner Jayantha Silva bagged a
five-wicket haul today to boost his chances of playing in the first Test against
India next week.
Silva claimed five for 55 as the Board President's team slumped on the rain-hit second day of the three-day match at the Barabati Stadium here.
The home team, comprising young Test hopefuls, slumped from their overnight first-innings score of 180 for one to 294 all out shortly before close. Sri Lanka were three for no loss at stumps.
Play was delayed by two hours because of unseasonal rains. Almost three hours of play was lost on the first day on Friday.
Dropped Test batsman Venkat Laxman carried his score from 87 to 112, his sixth first class century, but none of the other batsmen made an impression on a drying wicket that assisted turn and bounce.
Silva, the third-choice spinner in the touring squad after Muttiah Murlitharan and Kumara Dharmasena, proved unplayable in helpful conditions.
Seamer Ravindra Pushpakumara, another candidate for the first Test starting at Mohali on Waednesday, took three for 63.
The Sri Lankans, who rested captain Arjuna Ranatunga and vice captain Aravinda De Silva for the warm-up match, are hoping for clear weather on Sunday to gain useful batting practice.
"We are still in the one-day groove," team manager Duleep Mendis said. "I think the boys will welcome a long stint in the middle."
The World Cup champions toured Pakistan earlier this month for a quadrangular one-day series where they were beaten in the final by South Africa.
Brief scores:
Board President's team: 294 (W. Jaffar 79, V. Laxman 112, J. Silva 5-55, R. Pushpakumara 3-63) Sri Lanka: Three for no loss.
NEW DELHI, Saturday (Reuters) - Indian selectors today recalled bowlers Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad for next week's opening test in a three-match series against the touring Sri Lankans.
Pace bowler Srinath had been sidelined from international cricket by a shoulder injury which forced him to quit a tour of the West Indies in March. Medium pacer Prasad had been rested for two months to avert a similar injury.
"Medical reports had declared Srinath and Prasad fit and they had also passed the test in a number of matches played by them," Jaywant Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), told reporters
spinner Anil Kumb-le, who was left out of two recent limited-over tournaments after indifferent performances in a tour of Sri Lanka last August, and opening batsman Navjot Sidhu were also named in the squad as the selectors opted for experience.
"Kumble had been rested to avert burn out," Lele said. "He has been among the wickets in domestic cricket."
The first test begins in the northern Indian city of Mohali next Wednesday.
Squad: Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Ajay Jadeja, Navjot Sidhu, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Azharuddin, Nayan Mongia, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Rajesh Chauhan, Venkatesh Prasad, Abey Kuruvilla, Nilesh Kulkarni, Debasish Mohanty.
MELBOURNE, Australia, Saturday (AFP) - New Zealand plunged to new depths when they were routed for their lowest total in Australia this century against Victoria in a cricket tour match today.
Just days after losing the opening Test by 186 runs to Australia, the Kiwis were dimissed for 82 by a Victorian line-up missing its Test bowlers, Paul Reiffel and Shane Warne, with the innings occupying just 50 overs and 200 minutes.
But the Victorians did not find batting on the lively Optus Oval wicket much easier and by the close of day two of the four-day match had reached 131 for seven, an overall lead of 49 with Darren Berry on 18 and David Saker two.
A result is now likely following Saturday's amazing turn of events, after Friday's opening day's play was washed out.
Only three players reached double figures for the tourists. But for a 20-run partnership, the equal best of the innings, for the last wicket between fast bowlers Shayne O'Connor and Geoff Allott the Kiwis would have registered their lowest ever score in Australia.
That was 64 way back in 1898-99 against New South Wales. As it was their 82 was their worst since their 89 against Queensland in 1913-14.
It was just the sort of batting the tourists did not need following their second innings collapse in the first Test against Australia in Brisbane, when they crumbled for 132 to give Mark Taylor's men a 1-0 lead in the three Test series.
Rusi Captain and S.De. Silva had the longest drives for men and women respectively at the AirLanka Golf Classic with 270 and 300 points on the first day at the Royal Colombo Golf Course yesterday.
In the competition for men, Captain scored 33 points with a best back 6 while De Silva has a nett score of 34, a point behind leader Anouk Chanmugam. The respective positions after the first day's events are as follows:
Men: L.F.de. Mel - 43, R.Robinson and I.S.Bawa - 41, Sjeord Grueter - 37, Mervyn Peiris 36, Y.Matsuda and W.N.D.Chandra-ratne 35 each, M.H.Macan Markar - 34, Gihan de Silva, S.Oguchi, Rusi Captain, B.K.Fonseka - 33 each.
Women: Anouk Chanmugam - 35, S. De.Silva 34, Mrs. Boo - 31, Shannon Kern 24 and F.De. Mel/K.Herath 23 each. Near to the Pin - Ronald E.Baklman - 79.
Eighty five golfers from India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Japan, USA, UK and 160 local players are in the fray.
Some participants arriving for the AirLanka Golf Classic were in for a rude shock when a taste of paradise turned into a sour note on their way to Colombo.
Golfers from US, who had arrived by Virgin Atlantic at London's Heathrow Airport to catch the connecting AirLanka flight to Colombo were off-loaded despite having confirmed seats...and coming on an AirLanka promotional exercise.
The golfers were not only put on an Emirates flight to Colombo some hours later, but were asked to carry their bags with them from one terminal to another. To add insult to injury, they were offered eight Pounds (Sterling) for lunch sufficient for a pint of lager and probably a chicken pie.
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