Document 6536353

Friday 5th November, 2010
REX CLEMENTINE
REPORTING FROM
SYDNEY
S
Sri Lanka’s wicket-keeper Kumar
Sangakkara celebrates after dismissing Steve Smith of Australia
during their ODI cricket match in
Melbourne, Australia,
Wednesday Nov. 03, 2010. Sri
Lanka recorded a memorable one wicket win
to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
(AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)
Sri Lanka eye series win
REX CLEMENTINE
reporting from Sydney
Sri Lanka’s Captain Kumar
Sangakkara stressed that his
team needed to come up with an
improved performance if they
are to realise their dream of
recording the maiden series win
on Australian soil.
The Sri Lankans won the curtain-raiser in Melbourne in dramatic style thanks to a 132-run
ninth wicket World Record partnership between Angelo
Mathews and Lasith Malinga and
Sangakkara felt that Sri Lanka
needed to do better in fielding
and top-order batting to realise
their dream.
Sri Lanka have been regular
visitors to Australia, since gaining Test status in 1981, to play
One-Day encounters, but have
never been able to win a series
here. They twice reached the
finals of the tournament, in 1995
and 2006, but couldn’t make it
count and Sangakkara reminded
that if they are to make an
impression, they had to play
well.
“The win was an incredible
and very lucky one. I thought we
fielded very poorly today
(Wednesday). We made some
very poor decisions with our
batting, especially when (Xavier)
Doherty came on, we made it
really hard for ourselves. Lot of
things to work on for everything
to be in place, but I think if we
don’t repeat mistakes, we can
get there,” Sangakkara said.
Australia will be strengthened by the return of Capt.
Ricky Ponting, who missed
Wednesday’s game due to his
grandmother’s funeral at
Launceston. Middle-order bat
Shaun Marsh has been ruled out
with an injury and Callum
Ferguson has been named as
the replacement for the remainder of the series.
The hosts haven’t won in any
form of cricket since beating
Pakistan in July and with the
Ashes around the corner, many
feel that the time is running out
for the Australians. With the
Australians having one eye on
the Ashes and another on getting their ODI squad in order to
defend the World Cup in
February in the sub-continent,
the Sri Lankans seem to be
catching them off guard.
While the Australians have
nine more ODIs ahead of the
World Cup, the Sri Lankans only
have seven matches, but before
the World Cup, they will be keen
to record that elusive win in
Australia. With the Sydney track
traditionally assisting spin
bowlers more than any other
wicket in Australia, the indications were that all-rounder
Jeevan Mendis could get a game
replacing Chamara Silva in the
side. Mendis, who bowls legspin, adds variation to the
Lankan spin department that
predominantly bowls off-spin.
Teams Australia (From):
Ricky Ponting (Capt.), Shane
Watson, Brad Haddin, Michael
Clarke, Michael Hussey,
Cameron White, Steven Smith,
Nathan Hauritz, Mitchell
Johnson, John Hastings, Xavier
Doherty, Mitchell Starc, Peter
Siddle and Callum Ferguson
Sri Lanka (From): Kumar
Sangakkara (Capt.), Upul
Tharanga, T. M. Dilshan, Mahela
Jayawardene, Chamara Silva,
Chamara Kapugedara, Jeevan
Mendis, Angelo Mathews,
Thisara Perera, Suraj Randiv,
Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith
Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan,
Dhammika Prasad and Dinesh
Chandimal.
ri Lanka Captain Kumar
Sangakkara was ecstatic in
victory after his side beat
Australia against many odds in
the opening One-Day
International of the three-match
series at Melbourne Cricket
Grounds on Wednesday.
At the post match media conference, the Sri Lankan Captain
was asked whether it was the
most memorable win he has been
involved in in the shorter version
of the game for his country.
“Actually the second most
remarkable game I have been
involved in. In another game
against Bangladesh we were five
wickets down for six runs and we
managed to get home in that
game with Murali hitting 33 off 15
balls I think. But the thing is,
Bangladesh is one thing and the
Australians are another. This is
incredible,” he said.
He was also thrilled with the
efforts of Angelo Mathews and
Lasith Malinga, who were
involved in a 132-run partnership
for the ninth wicket to take Sri
Lanka within touching distance of
win and thanked the Sri Lankan
expatriates in Melbourne who
easily outnumbered the
Australian supporters.
“When we were eight down,
there was nothing much to think;
you can just hope. The way
Angelo batted, I thought he
showed lot of maturity. He’s coming after a tough couple of
months with the bat and he had
an injury and he can’t bowl. He
repaid for our trust today. Even
Lasith Malinga did the hard yards
in the bowling part and managed
to go out there and contributed
towards the win in a big way.
“Melbourne is the best place
for us to come and play. It’s like
playing at home and I think today
there were many more Sri
with the support, Australia’s
stand in Captain Michael Clarke
called for more support from the
Australians.
“I would have liked to see more
home support, but it’s great for
the Sri Lankan players. They have
such a good following in this
county. You will see plenty of
more Sri Lankan supporters at
the SCG and hopefully we can get
some Australian support as well.”
Former Australian Captain
Lankans than the Australians
here to watch the game and it’s
incredible to play here.
Sydney is also great and
Australia overall is a great place
to come to, but we haven’t won
enough here, so it’s good to get off
to a win,” he said as the Sri
Lankan supporters kept singing
bailas till late night outside the
stadium.
While Sangakkara was thrilled
Richie Benaud in television commentary praised the way Kumar
Sangakkara captained the side
and overall the 33-year-old has
won many admirers over here.
Since becoming the Captain of
the national team mid last year,
Sangakkara has fiercely stood up
for the introduction of new blood
and that seemed to be paying off
after Angelo Mathews and
Thisara Perera, both in their
early 20s, starred in Sri Lanka’s
win. While Mathews was named
Man of the Match, Perera became
the first Sri Lankan to pick up a
five-wicket haul against Australia
in Australia. In the T-20
encounter, the Man of the Match
was another young player, Suraj
Randiv.
“They have done that over
many times during the last one
and half years. I don’t back them
because they are young. I back
them because they are good.
If anyone is performing and
performing better than anyone
who had been there, I think they
deserve better recognition. They
have done that in first class and ‘A’
team cricket and for them to step
up to international arena against
tough sides is remarkable. That
shows character,” Sangakkara
said.
Clarke, meanwhile, was lost for
words after losing a game that
Australia should have never lost.
“It’s a weird feeling,” he said.
“I don’t know how to describe
how I am feeling to be honest. I
am very disappointed and asked
myself a lot of questions as to
what I could have done better. Full
credit to Sri Lanka anyway. I
thought they bowled well today.
Mathews’ innings was as good as
the best you would see in international cricket. Malinga was too
good for us with the bat today
which is something new. They
played really well and they
deserved the win.”
Wanniarchchi’s 2nd urine sample
not tested - Lt. Col. Weerasinghe
ROSHEN STEELMAN
the boxer now has rights to
receive documents regarding
Lt. Col. Hemantha
his urine test. Accordingly
Weerasinghe, secretary, the
Wanniarachchi has made a
Amateur Boxing Association
request to the Commonwealth
(ABA), who left for India on the
Games Federation regarding
doping allegation of the Gold
this matter.
medal winning boxer
Lt. Col.
Manju
Weerasinghe also said
Wanniarachchi’s secthe first urine test (‘A’
ond urine sample test
Sample) also had been
(‘B’ Sample), arrived
tested without proof of
here yesterday. He told
some documents.
‘The Island’ after
Therefore he made an
arrival that
indication that the disWanniarachchi’s secgraced boxer will be
ond urine test had not
freed from the doping
taken place as a result
allegation due to lack
of some problem relatof evidence.
ed to documentation.
After the National
“Documents
Olympic Committee of
regarding the second
Sri Lanka announced
urine test were not
Lt. Col. Hemantha on Oct 24 that
received by the laboraWanniarachchi’s first
Weerasinghe
tory on the due date
urine sample, provided
and therefore the botby the boxer, had contle which contained the ‘B’
tained ‘Nandrolone,’ a banned
urine sample was not opened,”
performance-enhancing drug,
said Lt. Col. Weerasinghe
the second urine sample test
He further added saying
was scheduled to be held last
according to the World Anti
Tuesday at the WADA office in
Doping Agency (WADA) rules,
New Delhi, India.
BY
Sehwag, Dravid hit centuries
as India dominates
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) Virender Sehwag and Rahul
Dravid produced centuries in
contrasting styles to help India
dominate the opening day of the
first Test against New Zealand on
Thursday.
Sehwag made a well-paced 173
while Dravid compiled a steady
104 as the home side reached a
commanding 329-3 after winning
the toss and asking the opposition to bowl on a good batting
pitch at the Sardar Patel Stadium.
Sachin Tendulkar (13) and V.
V. S. Laxman (7) were not out at
the close.
India was put in a position of
strength by Sehwag and Dravid,
who made the most of an unimpressive bowling attack that also
lacked support in the field as
three clear chances were spilled.
Sehwag smashed 24 fours and
a six off 199 deliveries for his
22nd Test hundred, during which
he dominated a 237-run stand for
the second wicket with Dravid.
Sehwag timed the ball well
from early on, stroking three
fours through the off side against
Chris Martin in the third over.
Colombo South, who won the U-15 Prima Inter-Provincial tournament, seen here with the Prima Cup at the NCC Grounds, yesterday. (Pic by Kamal Wanniarachchi)
Colombo South win Prima
Provincial Championship
ROSHEN
STEELMAN
BY
Left-arm spinner
Devind
Pathmanathan
picked up three
wickets for 28 runs
and Shanuka Dulaj’s
all-round performance too helped
Colombo South to
record a nine-wicket
victory over
Colombo North in a
thrilling final of the
U-15 Prima InterProvincial Championship
played at NCC Grounds,
Colombo yesterday.
Colombo South, put into bat
first, loss wickets at regular
intervals but reached 181 runs
in their allotted 50 overs and, in
reply, Colombo North were bundled out for 171 with just five
balls to spare.
Colombo North did their
part with the ball restricting
South for a low score but after
getting a good start in their run
chase, the middle-order collapsed allowing Colombo South
to make inroads.
The North opening pair,
Dilan Fernandopulle and
Kanishka Perera, put up a good
opening stand of 41 but they
lost wickets at regular intervals
thereon.
Brief Scores:
Colombo South 181 for 9
wkts in 50 overs (Uvin Bandara
23, Shanura Dulaj 26 n.o.,
Devind Pathmanathan 20,
Thilaksha Malshan 25, Hashen
Ramanayake 21, Chathuranga
Rajapaksha 21; Piyamal Perera
2/14, Minhaj Jaleel 2/30)
Colombo North 172 all out
in 49.1 overs (Kanishka Perera
33, Kavindu Kulasekara 35,
Piyamal Perera 23; Devind
Pathmanathan 3/28).
Published by Upali Newspapers (Private) Limited, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13 and Printed at 195/187, High Level Road, Homagama on Friday 5th November, 2010