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 14th February 1999 |
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Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group 2 first round tieWesley salvage draw vs RoyalBy Ravi NagahawatteWesley managed to salvage a honourable draw against Royal after the lads from Reid Avenue fell short of 45 runs in achieving a challenging target of 161 in 22 overs as another encounter in their Sir Frank Gunasekare Trophy cricket encounter ended at Campbell Park yesterday. The Royalists boldly took up the tough task at their hands which had an asking rate of over seven runs an over, and went on the offensive from the start before finally ending the day on 116 for 5. Royal's openers, M.Thotuwilage (42) and J. Mubarak(16),made things look easy by scoring at will .But rash batting by the top order almost looked fatal when the side went skidding from 77 for 2 ,which came in ten overs of batting, to a hopeless 87 for 5 at one stage. D. Perera (15 n.o) and A. Perera (13 n.o ) later sized up the situation and went plodding along till the end. P. Chandrasekare and D. Jayakody had the run hungry Royalists on the defensive in a tight spell which saw them sharing four wickets between them. The Wesleyites made 228 for 6 in the second innings while Royal who continued their first innings from 157 for 7 in the morning ended up getting 192. The hosts who batted first on day one were skittled out for 124. Wesley - 124 all out (R.Wijetunge 17, D.Jayakody 11, D. Medagedare 41; Harshana Rajakaruna 4 for 41) and 228 for 6 dec. (R.Wijetunge 58, D.Jayakody 77, N.Balasuriya 25, D. Medagedare 33; R.Rajapakse 3 for 48) Royal - 192 all out (T.Amarasuriya 35, Harshana Rajakaruna 20, M.Thotuwilage 51; D.Jayakody 3 for 37, P. Chandrasekare 3 for 53) and 116 for 5 at close in 22 overs (M.Thotuwilage 42, J.Mubarak 16, T.Amarasuriya 19; P.Chandrasekare 2 for 26, D.Jayakody 2 for 27)
Lanka wilt under pressureBy Annesley FerreiraSri Lanka were humiliated by Iran 2-3 in their Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group 2 first round tie at the National Tennis Centre Courts, Greenpath yesterday. Iran won the doubles tie 3-2. The doubles pair of Jayendra Wijeyesekera and Rohan de Silva won the first two sets at 6-4, 7-6 and then wilted under pressure and fatigue and lost the third, fourth and fifth sets 5-7, 2-6 and 3-6 thereby losing the 'rubber' to the Iranian pair, Seyed Akbar Tahari Rahaghi and Mohammed Reza Tavakoli in a match which lasted three hours and 15 minutes. On Friday in the first singles, the Sri Lanka captain Wijeyesekera lost to Seyed Akbar in a five-setter which went on for three hours and 50 minutes, winning the first set at 6-3 and the fourth set at 7-5 and losing the second, third and fifth sets at 4-6, 1-6 and 0-6. The second singles saw Rohan de Silva go down to Mohammed Reza Tavakoli in three straight sets 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 in one hour and 15 minutes. The chances of Iran making a clean sweep is on the cards when the third and fourth reverse singles are played today starting at 9 am. There is a likelihood of Asiri Iddamalgoda playing in the third singles instead of the injured Rohan de Silva against Iran's No 1. Seyed Akbar Tehari Rahaghi while Jayendra Wijeyesekera will meet Mohammed Reza Tavokoli in the fourth singles. Sri Lanka will face relegation with this loss playing Kazakhastan or Thailand in March or April this year. Incidentally, Sri Lanka never had it so good during the period of Arjun Fernando and Umesh Waloopillai. Umesh went on to beat India's No 1 and presently ranked in the world, Leander Paes at the Asian Junior Championships in Sri Lanka.
Ninth wkt pair saves MahindaBy Saif IzzadeenA dogged partnership of 71 runs for the ninth wicket between Roshan Nalindra and N. Sumanasekera helped Mahinda to force a draw against Ananda in the Elephant Brand Lemondade cup Inter-School cricket match at Ananda Mawatha yesterday. Mahinda resuming from their overnight score of 68 for 2 began to lose wickets at regular intervals and were 141 for 8 at one stage and the crowd present at the ground thought that Mahinda will be asked to follow on. Mahinda were replying to Ananda's first innings score of 301 for 7 dec. However, their ninth wicket pair of Roshan Nalindra (73) and N. Sumanasekera (28 n.o) had other ideas and put on a fine stand of 71 runs and made sure that Ananda will bat their second turn as well. The Ananda bowlers tried every trick in their book to dislodge this pair but Nalindra and Sumanasekera faced the music and batted with great purpose and determination which saw them avert the follow-on. By the time the ninth wicket partnership was broken Mahinda were 212 for 9 and their captain Tushara Rupasinghe made the declartion. Dinusha Bandara (2 for 32) and Kasun Fernando (3 for 47) bowled well. Others who gave good support to Nalindra and Sumanasekera were B. Suneth 28, T. Rupasinghe 18, Rodney Pradeep 16, Ranil de Silva11. Nalindra in his innings of 73 had seven hits to ropers and one over it. Ananda batting in their second turn with a lead of 89 runs, got their innings into a rousing start through their openers Lakshan Fernando (45) and Dinusha Bandara (80) who put on 111 exciting runs. Then it was followed by a 38 runs stand for the second wicket between Dinusha Bandara(80) and Lahiru Chaturanga(23).These two partnerships helped Ananda to reach 231 for 6 at which stage stumps were drawn. M.Ambawatte bowled well to claim 3 for 58. Bandara with his innings of 80 has now made three half centuries in-a-row he made 52 against Zahira 79 in the first innings against Mahinda and now 80 in the second innings against the same opponents. Bandara had nine fours and three sixes in his innings. Bandara has recently crossed over from Dharmaraja to Ananda for his higher studies and has shown good form with the bat. Thilina Kandambi who is in the Sri Lanka youth team to tour India made a stylish 43 runs. Ananda - 301 for 7 dec and 231 for 6 at close in 48 overs (L.Fernando 45, D.Bandara 80, L.Chaturanga 23, T.Kandambi 43; M.Amba-watte 3 for 58) Mahinda - (68 for 2 overnight) 212 for 9 dec in 96 overs (R. Nalindra 73, N. Sumanasekera 28n.o, B. Suneth 28, T. Rupasinghe 18, R. Pradeep 16, R.de. Silva 11; D.Bandara 2 for 32, K.Fernando 3 for 47)
High scoring draw at WattalaFour half centuries featured in the inter school cricket match between Raddoluwa MV and St. Anthony's Wattala which ended in a high scoring draw at Wattala yesterday. Raddoluwa MV and St. Anthony's Wattala came into the match with strong batting line-ups This was amply proven as both teams scored over 300 runs. At end of the match a total of 673 runs were scored for the loss of 19 wickets in 194.1 overs. Raddoluwa MV batting first on a batsman's paradise made 341 for the loss of nine wickets before declaring. Dinesh Perera (73), Sanjeewa Aranagala (28), Dushantha Ranatunga (34), Chintaka Kulasinghe (50), T.Rowell (45) helped them to reach the score. Ruwan Amila (2 for 61), S. Lasantha(3 for 81) bowled well for the St. Anthony's Wattala. St. Anthony's Wattala replying to Raddoluwa MV's commanding 341 for 8 showed that their batting line up is not second to none when chasing big totals made 332. The foundation for their 332 was laid through two half centuries by J.Seevanasingham (50) and S.Lasantha(83).They were given support by R.Araskumar(34), R.Cooray (25), R.Perera (27), S.Perera(32) and R. Ishan(22).S.Paris (2 for 59) and Dinidu Marage(4 for 69) bowled well for Raddoluwa MV Raddoluwa MV - 341 for 8 dec in 74 overs (D. Perera 73, S. Aranagala 28, D. Ranatunga 34, C. Kulasinghe 50 , T.Rowell 45;R.Amila 2 for 61, S.Lasantha 3 for 81) St.Anthony's Wattala - 332 in 120.1overs (.Seevanasingham 50, S.Lasantha 83, R.Araskumar 34, R.Corray 25, R.Perera 27, S.Perera 32, R. Ishan 22; S.Paris 2 for 59, D. Marage 4 for 69)
Aussies champs againMelbourne, Saturday. The Australian team capably led by Shane Warne outplayed and outclassed England by 162 runs with 18.1 overs to spare making it 2-0 in the three-match Carlton United Series final to emerge champions for the second successive year here today. The night run chase proved an ordeal for the English batsmen when they lost four wickets for nine balls. McGrath was in a devastating mood in his second over when he removed Hick and Hussain in his fourth and fifth balls and was on a hat-trick, but Fairbrother averted it. Wells joined Stewart and made temporary repair to the innings, Stewart, pulling McGrath for two successive fours, played an agricultural shot to be caught by Dale off Julian for 32 (with five fours) - 5 for43. Wells, on 23, hit across the line to be bowled by Warne and the batting was in tatters: 7 for 72 SCOREBOARDAustralia A.Gilchrist c Knight b Croft 52 M.Waugh c Hick b Gough 1 R.Ponting c Fairbrother b A.Hollioake 37 D.Lehmann c Hussain b Wells 71 D.Martyn b Mullally 57 S.Law not out 20 S.Lee not out 20 Extras (lb-10 w-3 nb-1) 14 Total (for five wickets, 50 overs) 272 Fall of wickets: 1-11 2-92 3-104 4-216 5-244 Did not bat: B.Julian, S.Warne, A.Dale, G.McGrath Bowling: Gough 9-1-55-1 (nb-1), Mullally 10-1-53-1 (w-1), Ealham 6-0-41-0 (w-1), Wells 5-0-34-1, Croft 10-0-40-1 (w-1), Hollioake 10-0-39-1. England N.Knight run out 4 A.Stewart c Lee b Julian 32 G.Hick c Dale b McGrath 0 N.Hussain c Gilchrist b McGrath 0 N.Fairbrother c Gilchrist b Dale 0 V.Wells b Warne 23 A.Hollioake c Gilchrist b Dale 7 M.Ealham b Warne 12 R.Croft not out 13 D.Gough c Gilchrist b Julian 6 A.Mullally lbw Warne 9 Extras (w-1 nb-3) 4 Total (all out, 31.5 overs) 110 Fall of wickets: 1-9 2-10 3-10 4-13 5-43 6-50 7-72 8-88 9-100 Bowling: McGrath 6-0-26-2, Dale 10-1-27-2, Julian 6-2-18-2 (nb-3), Waugh 4-0-23-0 (w-1), Warne 5.5-0-16-3. . Australia win best of three finals series 2-0.
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