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 21st March 1999 |
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 WATCH THIS GO... Royal's Malinda Thotuwilage sweeps Thomian off-spinner Jayawardena to the ropes. Pic by Dunstan Wickremaratne. Contents |
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Lanka Cricket Board draws battle plansDuleep and DS to add extra muscleBy Marlon FernandopulleIn a bid to stall Sri Lanka's dwindling fortunes the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) has re-instated Duleep Mendis as cricket manager and D S de Silva as an additional coach for the current triangular tournament in India and the forthcoming World Cup in England.
It is understood that Ranjith Fernando will continue as Tour Manager while Duleep Mendis will be involved directly in cricket related aspects of the tour. Mendis who was Sri Lanka's Manager at the last World Cup returns to the similar position after a lapse of one year. He last managed Sri Lanka's tour to South Africa last year. The BCCSL is also exploring the possibility of bringing down the fielding coach of the Australian Cricket Academy to arrest the declining trend in fielding. If their bid is successful the Australian national will be in Sri Lanka next week.
Joes defeat Petes with record totalSt. Joseph's College created a new series record for the highest total when they registered a massive 270 for 6 to beat arch rival St. Peter's College by 37 runs in their 25th Batttle of the Saints limited overs cricket encounter at the Sara Stadium yesterday. Winning the toss and batting first the Josephians plundered runs at will against some disorganised Peterite fielding with opener Dilhan Ramanayake (64) and Dilanka Perera (62) smashing off 90 runs in a third wicket stand taking the score from 84 for 2 to 174 before parting company. But the end of the partnership spelt more disaster for the Peterites as Josephian skipper Roshan de Silva joined Perera to add a further 84 runs for the fourth wicket. The big burly schoolboy captain showed no mercy for the Peterite bowlers as he clobbered three fours and two huge sixes for a contribution of 47 before being bowled by medium pacer Suranga Pinto. The Peterites never looked like reaching the total and folded for 233 in 46.3 overs. The previous highest total in the series stood at 251 made by the Peterites under Malinda Warnapura's captaincy last year which gave them victory. But fortunes were dramatically reversed by the Josephians as they left no opening for the Peterites. Helped by some brilliant fielding, the Josephians strangled the Peterites from the initial overs and the result was a forgone conclusion although two batsmen Jehan Jayasuriya (58) and Malin de Silva (51) put up some resistance. The series tally now stands at 15 wins by the Josephians and 10 by the Peterites. De Silva capped a fine performance in the game when he wrapped up the Peterite innings in style to finish with figures of 3 for 31 which included the wicket of Malin Silva who was clean bowled. His first victim was the Peterite batting star Mahesh Perera who was adjudged leg-before for just one run. St. Joseph's College - 270 for 6 in 50 overs (Johannes Jayasuriya 15, Dilan Ramanayake 64, Ian Daniel 30, Dilanka Perera 62, Roshan de Silva 47; Suranga Pinto 2 for 41) St. Peter's College - 233 in 46.3 overs (Jereome Fernando 19, Jehan Jayasuriya 58, Suranga Pinto 25, Malin Silva 51, Gavin Ludowyke 20; Roshan de Silva 3 for 31)
Cullinan shines as S.Africa take controlWELLINGTON, Saturday (Reuters) - South Africa's Daryll Cullinan was dismissed for the first time in the series with an average of 427 as South Africa closed the third day of the of the third test against New Zealand on Saturday on 498 for eight. The tourists stretched their first innings lead to a daunting 276 runs and now have two days to dismiss the home side for a second time to force the victory they threatened in the first two tests but which were both drawn. Cullinan scored 152 before lashing a half volley straight back to part timer Nathan Astle who was bowling just his third over. After resuming on 56 not out in a total of 235 for two wickets in the morning, Cullinan raced to his eighth test century from a further 63 balls to reach 100 from 175 deliveries with 15 boundaries. He was just as severe after lunch reaching 152 from 272 balls with 22 boundaries at the Basin Reserve before departing to a standing ovation from a crowd of nearly 5,000. Cullinan's 427 average for the series is the highest ever for a series of three or more tests and is second only to the astonishing 563 that Wally Hammond managed in two tests in 1932-33, also against New Zealand. Hammond scored 227 and 336 not out in two innings. Ironically, New Zealand enjoyed their most successful day of the series with the ball, taking six wickets after claiming just six in the first two tests. Left arm spinner Daniel Vettori finished with 4-153 from a marathon 54 overs. The only casualty in the morning session was Herschelle Gibbs who resumed on 115 but added just five more runs before powerfully sweeping Vettori to deep backward square leg where Shayne O'Connor held a well judged catch. Gibbs, who took his series aggregate to 365 runs in three innings, for an average of 182.5, departed for 120 from 250 balls with 16 boundaries. Hansie Cronje's hard-hitting innings of 72, with 11 boundaries off 126 deliveries, ended when a fierce on drive against Vettori was well caught by Dion Nash at mid on while Jonty Rhodes top edged a sweep off the same bowler to depart for just three.
Tikiri Marambe heads selection committeeFormer Trinity, CR, Air Force and Sri Lanka rugby captain Tikiri Marambe has been appointed as the new chairman of the national selection committee. His appointment was made four days ago by Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake who sacked a previous selection committee headed by Lionel Almeida. The Committee was sacked following controversy over the selection of the team for the Hongkong Sevens tournament. Marambe was one of the finest rugby scrum-halves Sri Lanka produced and was a pillar of strength for Air Force's rugby team in the late 1970's and early '80's. Marambe heads the new selection committee along with Rohan Gunaratne (ex-Police), Nalin de Silva (ex-Air Force), Rohan Abeykoon (ex-CH) and Shyam Siddique (ex-CR) Takes Mustangs Trophy in traditional one-dayer
Royal avenge their big match defeat in styleRoyal avenged their big match defeat and earned a consolation victory when they beat S.Thomas's by seven wickets and took the Mustangs Trophy in their traditional limited over encounter at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds yesterday. The game never dished out the thrills and excitement usually associated with such encounters and dragged on to a lacklustre affair after Royal called the shots right from the beginning. They had the Thomians on the rack at 34 for 4 after Harshana Rajakaruna and Thushan Amarasuriya picked up two wickets each and ran through the top order. Only a fighting 34 run stand between Lakmal Fernando (16) and Gihan Fernando (12) saved the day for the Thomians. But with the 5th wicket stand broken by Rajakaruna, the rest of the batting caved into the Royal spinners as the Thomians were bundled out for 111 in 41.2 overs.Royal openers Ravi Peiris (25) and Malinda Thotuwilage (36) gave a solid start putting on 63 runs in 21 overs and ensured that victory was never in doubt for the Reid Avenue school. However the Royalists played it safe using as much as 36.4 overs before recording their 13th victory in the series. Skipper Thushan Amarasuriya provided the only sparks for the day when he stepped out and hit a couple of boundaries and finally hoisted spinner Melshad Peiris over mid wicket for six to complete a convincing victory. Chief Scores S Thomas's-111 all out in 41.2 overs (Shanaka Caldera 12, Lakmal Fernando 16, Gihan Fernando 12, Dilshan Gunawardene 10; Harshana Rajakaruna 3/17, Thushan Amarasuriya 2/15, Jehan Mubarak1/11, Harith Rajakaruna 1/17, Ruchira Jayasuriya 1/4) Royal-117/3 in 36.4 overs (Ravi Peiris 25, Malinda Thotuwilage 36, Thushan Amarasuriya 27 n.o, Jehan Mubarak10; Suranga Peiris 1/35, Dilshan Gunawardene 1/13)
Gunasekera scores hat-trick of goalsA hat-trick of goals by D.H.Gunasekera enabled S.Thomas' to beat St. Joseph's by 3 goals to nil in their Colombo District Inter-School boys under 19 hockey encounter played at the CR&FC hockey grounds at Longden Place. In another match of the same age group, Royal beat Prince of Wales by 5 goals to nil with K.Nimashulla and S.C.Gajanayake scoring two goals each and M.de. Alwis scoring the other. President's College beat S.Thomas' by two goals to nil in their under 17 clash with Dimundu Suren and Kosala Hiranya sounding the boards (one each). In another match of the same division, Prince of Wales beat St. Benedict's by 3 goals to 2. A.Alahakoon (2) and T.Premachandra (1) scored the goals for the Moratuwa lads while Lakshitha Dabare scored boats goals for the Bens.
Singer Super LeagueThe pre - quarterfinals of the Singer Super League football championships conducted by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka will be played on Saturday March 27. The Matara vs Playground match will be played on Monday March 22 at Matara. The remaining matches are: Kandy vs Jaffna in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya vs Air Force at Nuwara-Eliya, Colombo vs Negombo at the Sports Ministry Grounds Race Course, City vs Ampara at the City League Grounds, Wennappuwa vs Police at Wennappuwa, Kurunegala vs Nationalised Services at Kurunegala, Kalutara vs Mercantile at Kalutara. The quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, April 3 with the semi- finals fixed for April 17 and the finals for May 5. Air force won the title in 1996 with Kurunegala as runners up while Mercantile won the title in 1997 with Airforce as runners up. No tournament was held in 1998. The champions will be awarded Rs 50, 000/- in cash plus the Singer Trophy with the runners set to receive Rs 35, 000/-. The best player in the final will be awarded Rs 10, 000/- and the best goal keeper Rs. 5, 000/-.
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The
Sunday Times learns that former Sri Lanka leg spinner D.S. de. Silva will
assist Roy Dias in the spin department as Sri Lanka prepares to defend
the world title. The former Sri Lanka leg spinner was in England with Kumara
Dhrmasena for a brief stint to rectify his bowling action. According to
Cricket Board sources De Silva returned to the island after a successful
mission. D S is expected to fly to India early this week and join the Sri
Lanka team.