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 5th July 1998 |
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 Royal’s linesout specialists had a field day by gaining possession in their 54th Bradby Shield game against Trinity to win by a record 42-11. Shane Seneviratne was there to still the action as Royal’s jumpers went into action. |
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Royal romp to record victoryFirst leg winners Trinity thrashed in home townBy Saif Izzadeen and Shane SeneviratneRoyal grit and glory prevailed at Bogambara yesterday. It was a blaze of blue and gold as the Royal XV made up for their first leg defeat when they scored a runaway 42-11 win over Trinity in the return leg of the 54th Bradby Shield rugby encounter in front of a 15,000 crowd. Royal entered the field with a two point deficit. They stamped their class from the start to outsmart and outplay Trinity to wrest back the Bradby after a three-year break. Trinity were not their usual self and didn't look a shade of the team which toppled Royal 20-18 in the first leg in Colombo a fortnight ago. It was Royal all the way and the crowd backed by the papare band kept on chanting Royal...Royal...Royal as they broke loose to score three tries, three goals and two penalties. Trinity answered feebly with a try, a penalty and a drop goal. Royal opened scoring in the second minute when fullback Rananjaya Gonaduwa put over a penalty. Eight minutes later Trinity made it 3 all through a 30 metre penalty when skipper Prasanna Jayawardena put over a penalty. Everybody present expected a fightback by Trinity. But it never came. Royal took command of the game with a vice-like grip by dominating play. They snatched back the lead in the 19th minute. Royal won a scrum midfield and then worked the line which saw scrum-half and captain Shanaka Perera going over for a try. The conversion was however fluffed by Gonaduwa. Royal took the lead at 8-3. Royal increased their lead to 15-3 in the 21st minute when winger Viraj de Silva broke away and covered 40 metres. When challenged he passed over to centre Kishan Samarasinghe who went over. The conversion was missed by Gonaduwa. Four minutes later Trinity earned a 35-metre penalty but it was fluffed by Trinity skipper Jayawardena. Then in the stroke of half time Royal shot into an unbeatable 22-3 lead. The ball came Royal's way through a ruck and winger Chamith Perera covered 30 metres and when he was challenged passed over to Gonaduwa who was close behind to score under the posts. Then during injury time of the first half Royal increased their lead to 25-3 through a 30 metre penalty by Gonaduwa. In the second half Royal went into a 30-3 lead through a try by Dinesh Rahim who scored off a forwards rush. The conversion was kicked astray by Gonaduwa. Trinity reduced the lead to 30-8 in the 20th minute of the second session. Royal won a scrum close to their own goal line and tried desperately to clear it. The kick was smothered by hooker Shing Nung Ching and a Trinity player fell over the loose ball. The conversion was missed by Prasanna Jayawardena Thereafter Royal scored two tries through Amila Namalarachchi. Royal were way ahead at 37-8 in the 25th minute when No. 8 Gemunu Dissanayake barged through after Royal won a scrum. Gonaduwa was successful with the conversion. Two minutes later Amila Namalarachchi scored again and Gonaduwa was on target to shoot Royal into an unassailable 42-8 lead. When Royal's victory was sealed Trinity's Shanaka Kumara pulled some of the burned chestnuts out of the fire with a beautifully executed drop goal to reduce Royal's huge lead to 42-11. Referee Asela de Silva. In the Under 17 game Royal beat Trinity 10-0. Mahinda Ratwatte, the former President of the SriLanka Rugby Football Union was the chief guest and gave away the award. Minister C.V.Guneratne was amongst the VIP's.
Scattered showersThere will be scattered showers in the Western, Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces and in the Galle District today. Isolated thunder-showers are likely in the Uva and Eastern Provinces during the afternoon.
Lanka favourites to enter nidhas trophy finalBy Marlon FernandopulleSri Lanka will be looking to rub salt on New Zealand wounds when the two teams meet in a crucial Singer-Akai Nidahas trophy tournament at the SSC grounds today in a match that will decide who will meet India in the final on Tuesday. After their 2-1 win in the Test series ,Sri Lanka outplayed the Kiwis in their first meeting in the Nidahas Trophy game and come out firm favourites today to repeat that performance. New Zealand will have to come out with an extraordinary performance today if they are to turn tables and oust the world champions from the final. The tournament which has been hampered by the rain has given the New Zealanders a semblance of a chance to play in Tuesday's day-night final.The Kiwis will have to beat the world champions today and also overtake Sri Lanka on the net run rate to qualify for the final.(See Inset story) Currently Sri Lanka and India have six points each while the Kiwis have collected only four points. Judging by the performance of the Kiwis todate it looks a tough hurdle for the New Zealenders to book a berth in the final.In the only game New Zealand played to a finish they were comprehensively beaten by Sri Lanka while four of their other games were washed off by rain. By virtue of that the Kiwis earned four points and are in contention for the final. Stephen Fleming's New Zealanders will be eager to conclude their seven week tour with a win.However their batsmen's inability to play the spinners well, has once again proved to be their downfall.Although coach Steve Rixon stated that the team focussed heavily on the slow bowlers during their tour preparations it was quite evident that most of the Kiwis failed to come to terms with the spinners.They tend to play from the crease and most often failed to read the bowlers arm which has led to their downfall. Sri Lanka on the other hand seems to have rediscovered their lost touch. They fought back gallantly to defend a modest total and beat India in their last encounter .The victory would have inspired Ranatunga's boys who lately have been lacking that killer instinct. Aravinda De Silva who notched up his 50th half century is once again batting to his true potential and will be Lanka's mainstay in the batting. Lanka's main worry is in their pace attack.With the experienced Pramodaya Wickremasinghe struggling to contain the initial onslaught and youngster Suresh Perera bowling well in patches Sri Lanka may again look to spinner Niroshan Bandaratilake to open the attack. New Zealand 's task todayIn a 50 over game If Sri Lanka bats first and scores 250 runs the Kiwis will have to reach the target of 251 in a minimum of 41 overs to beat Sri Lanka on the net run rate and enter the final.If the Kiwis bat first and score 225 runs they have to restrict Sri Lanka to 187 in 50 overs to win the match and enter the final. P W L NR P NRR India 6 1 1 4 6 +0.30 Sri Lanka 5 2 1 2 6 +0.20 N. Zealand 5 0 1 4 4 -1.02
HNB vs Access GroupBy Bernie WijesekeraIt's going to be cricket on July 11, at the SSC, when last year's 'A' division runner-up Hatton National Bank, take on the newcomers to MCA Top division, Access Group in the final. HNB will be led by Varuna Waragoda the left handed batsman now turning out for the Tamil Union. HNB will field a team including Nilantha Bopege, a free- scoring batsman who will be Waragoda's deputy and will open with Avishka Gunawardena, Russel Arnold, Kumar Dharmasena, Chanminda Handunettige are the others in the side. The bowling too will be handled by Sanjeewa de Silva, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Hemantha Boteju, Wendell Labrooy. Dharmasena, S. Weerakoon (left-arm spin) and Nimesh Perera. Access will be seen in action, with Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva to lead the team. The Access may not possess HNB's variety, but in the overs game it needs much line and length. They have in their fold Sri Lanka bowlers in Promodaya Wickremasinghe, Suresh Perera, Niroshan Bandaratilleke, Trevin Mathews and Sanjeewa Rupasinghe to contain the batsmen.
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