 Sisters row-the-boat ashore. Sisters Mithila Gunawardena (stroke) and Minoli Gunawardena (bow) with Mayanthi Amarasinghe (cox) of Colombo Rowing Club A won the Ladies Pairs final at the 15th National Regatta concluded at the Beira Lake yesterday. They were caught in action by Dunstan Wickremaratne. |
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The Sri Lanka 'A' team proved their dominance in the limited overs game, when they trounced the England 'A' side by 41 runs in the third unofficial one-day international at the Uyanwatte Stadium yesterday, to comprehensively win the three-match series.
Chasing Sri Lanka's modest 236/9, England 'A' were bundled out for 195 runs in 47 overs. All-rounder, Upul Chandana, once again proved his worth with a tantalizing spell of leg-spin bowling, to capture 5 wickets for 46 runs.
England openers, Nick Knight and Steven James went about the task of scoring the required 4.8 runs per over, by putting on 39 runs in 8.4 overs.
However, with the dismissal of Knight, and the introduction of Upul Chandana, England 'A' lost their way.
Chandana put the skids on the English side, to remove Mark Ealham and Steven James in his first spell, which left the visitors precariously placed at 100/3.
Later on, a defiant 61 run stand for the 6th wicket, between Darren Maddy (70) and Ashley Giles (26), lifted the spirits of the visitors.
However, part-time bowler, Mahela Jayawardena broke through, to have Giles well caught by Chandana, on the mid-wicket fence, and put the writing on the wall for the visitors.
Chandana returned for his second spell, and accounted for 2 more wickets, to finish with 5/46, and help Sri Lanka to a convincing victory.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka skipper Ruwan Kalpage won the toss and decided to take first lease at the wicket. Openers, Chandika Hathurasinghe (51) and Avishka Gunawardena (25), put on 51 runs in 11 overs. Gunawardena departed shortly after that.
In-form Russel Arnold came in next and got into his usual stride, with a few crisp strokes. He put on 58 runs with Hathurasinghe for the second wicket, as the Lankans reached 100 in 22.4 overs.
With the introduction of the English leg-spinner, Ashley Giles, England applied the brakes on the Lankan innings. Giles snapped up Arnold (32) and Mahela Jayawardena (14) in quick successions, as Sri Lanka were made to labour for their runs.
Hathurasinghe completed a fluent half century, before he was dismissed by a diving Huthchinson, at mid-on. Skipper Ruwan Kalpage struck 32 off 47 balls, after which Upul Chandana (17) and Pubudu Dissanayake (17 n.o) chanced their arms in the latter stage, to help Sri Lanka to a total of 236/9 in their alloted 50 0vers.
Left-Hander Hashan Tillekaratne's place in the final 16, to South Africa, is still in doubt, after the middle-order batsman failed to make any impression, when given the opportunity to compose himself against the touring England 'A' side.
However, The Sunday Times learns that the selection committee is divided over whether the experienced, but out-of-form Tillekaratne should be enrolled for the two Test matches against South Africa.
Since Sri Lanka will be playing a couple of three-day games prior to the Tests, they have decided to include a second- wicket-keeper, to their touring party. If Hashan Tillekaratne cannot find a place, as a batsman in the touring party, there is a possibility that he might be considered as the second wicket-keeper, for the tour. This will deprive a budding wicket-keeper of a chance to play in the highest level of cricket. Young Mahela Jayawardena looks certain to book his passage to South Africa, after his recent good fortune with the bat.
Arnold, who had a successful England 'A' tour, is strongly tipped to go as the the third opening batsman, while the place for a leg-spinner will be fought out with the experienced Don Arunasiri and Tamil Union's Niroshan Bandaratileka. Bandaratileka was a consistent wicket-taker for his club, and was the most successful Lankan bowler, in the unofficial Tests against England 'A'.
He has also proved that in the one-dayers, he is capable of picking up wickets and also keep the runs under check, making him a strong contender. Pace-bowlers C. Vaas, S. Silva and R. Pushpakumara, will be joined by a fourth bowler for the tour, which will be a toss-up between P. Wickremasinghe or Sri Lanka 'A' bowler, H. Boteju, who has already made his mark in the current England 'A' tour, and it will be interesting to see whether the selectors have faith in the youngster, or fall back on the experienced Wickremasinghe, when they meet this week to select the tour party. - MF
C. Hathurusinghe c Hutchinson b Maddy 51 (On drive caught by a diving fielder at Mid on) A. Gunawardena c Nash b Hutchinson 25 (Playing forward outside edge to wicket keeper) R. Arnold b A. Giles 32 (Attempted sweep) M. Jayawardena b Giles 14 (Attempted off drive) R. Kalpage c Hutchinson b Maddy 32 (Lofting ct longon) S. Silva c James b Ealham 17 (lofted drive to mid - on) U. Chandana c Shah b Cosker 17 (Attempted hit over mid wicket ct at boundary) R. Palliyaguru LBW b Giles 03 (Attempted sweep) P. Dassanayake not out 16 N. Bandaratilleka run out 02 (Attempted second run) I. Gallage not out 02
Extras (L'Byes - 7, Wides - 3, Noballs - 2) 22
Total for 9 wickets in 50 overs - 236
Fall of wickets - 1 - 51, 2 - 108, 3 - 122, 4 - 131, 5 - 166, 6 - 199, 7 - 207, 8 - 211, 9 - 221.
Bowling: - D. Brown 8-1-37-0, T. Hutchinson 8-1-27-1, A. Giles 10-4-34-3, Ealham 8-1-52-1, Maddy 9-0-52-2, Cosker 7-0-27-1.
S. James ct. Arnold b. Chandana 39 (Uppish drive on the off, ct. at extra cover) N. Knight ct. A. Gunawardena b. Gallage 24 (Lofted drive ct. at long-off) A. Flintoff ct. M. Jayawardena b. R. Paliyaguru 04 (Sqare cut ct. at cover point) O. Shah ct. Hathurasinghe b. Chandana 11 (Attempted off drive, outside edge to first slip) D. Maddy ct. Hathurasinghe b. Chandana 70 (Attempted off drive, ct. at cover point) M. Ealham ct. A. Gunawardena b. Chandana 00 (Square cut, top edge to cover point) A. Giles ct. Chandana b. Jayawardena 01 (Hit over mid-wicket, ct. on the boundary) D. Brown ct. Kalpage b. Jayawardena 01 (Pushing forward, ct. at mid-wicket) D. Nash run out 00 Attempted run, after glancing to short fine-leg) D. Cosker not out 10 P. Hutchinson ct. Gunawardena b. Chandana 00 (Uppish off-drive, ct. at mid-off)
Extras: (LB 7, W 1, NB-2)
Total (All out in 47 overs) 195
Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-48, 3-67, 4-78, 5-100, 6-161, 7-164, 8-165, 9-195.
Bowling: I. Gallage 8-0-22-1; R. Palliyaguru 6-0-36-1; N. Bandaratileka 10-0-33-0; U. Chandana 10-0-46-5; R. Kalpage 7-0-29-0; M. Jayawardena 6-022-2.
S. Thomas', Mt. Lavinia, for the first time, bagged the seniors fours event, defeating the high-riding Colombo Rowing Club 'A' team, at the 15th National Rowing Regatta, worked off at the Beira Lake last evening.
The Thomian team, comprising Aminda L. Jayaweera, Devaka .A. Seneviratne, Kavinda E. Seneviratne, Shamitha Ganegoda (Bow) and oxed by Rawin Vanithamby, beat the Colombo Rowing Club easily, in a time 6 minutes 22 seconds.
The Mount Lavinia lads also won the Intermediate Championships, and finished as overall champions, winning the Gerry de Silva Trophy, and also, the schoolboy Sculler, through Shamindra de Silva, who beat Shamintha Ganegoda in 4 minutes 34 seconds.
Royal 'A' won the Junior Pairs, through N. Thenuwara, C. Seneviratne, and S. Carrem, and sculls through C. Thenuwara, in times of 5 minutes 13 seconds and 5 minutes 41 seconds respectively.
Colombo University beat their counterparts from Moratuwa, by winning the Junior Fours event, in a time of 4 minutes 40 seconds.
The Colombo University team comprised, Anoj Dharmawardena, Tissa Kahandawallarachchi, S. Wickremasuriya, Chamil Dayajeewa and Asuntha Ellawela.
Not forgetting their male oarsmen, the oarswomen with Mithila Goonawardena and her sister Minoli and Mayanthi Amarasinghe, dominated the fours, pairs and scull, in the colours of the Colombo Rowing Club. Mithila and Minoli, both daughters of Ajit, was helped by Leeka de Silva, C. Wickremasinghe and M. S. Mayanthi. The President of the National Olympic Committee, Hemasiri Fernando was the chief guest and gave away the awards.
Havelocks SC rugby team may not possess big names but has the guts and determination to match any team this season - starting with the Carlsberg 'Sevens' championship next weekend.
Two of their players, who played for CR & FC last season are back with the Havies again. They are centre Harin Perera and Manoj Weerasinghe - the flanker. Last year Havies held their traditional rivals CR to an exciting draw.
The team has an experienced and knowledgeable coach in Tony Amith.
Players like Thusitha Peiris the captain, Thushara Jayalath, Gabriel Jackson, Peterite scrum-half De Zylva and many others are in training under Amith.
According to a knowledgeable source, Havies will give playing opportunites to talented young players from whatever quarter, who are disciplined and loyal to the club.
The 'Sevens' tournament, is the ideal barometer to judge the standards and plan for the 1998 season. - BW
Fiery boxing was seen when Seevali MMV Ratnapura with 22 points thrashed their way to be champions at the Junior Boxing championships conducted by the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka. The meet was concluded at the Depot Police Ring at Bambalapitiya.
England 'A' manager, Graham Gooch, expressed disappointment at his team's 3-0 defeat to the Sri Lankans, in the one-day series, but said that he was not ashamed to lose to Sri Lanka 'A'.
Speaking to the media during yesterday's game, the England manager said, "We are disappointed to have lost the one-day series, but it's no shame to lose to the world one-day champions. They have some very talented and exciting players".
Commenting on his side's 2-0 unofficial Test series triumph, Gooch said, "It was indeed a great achievement to beat Sri Lanka on turning wickets. - MF
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