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Captures four wickets as New
Zealand make 274 in tour opener Left arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratilleke made a strong claim for a test berth, performing the best among young hopefuls as New Zealand opened their Sri Lankan tour scoring a rapid 274 on the first day of a three day cricket match against Sri Lanka Board XI which began at P. Sara Stadium yesterday. The promising Tamil Union leg spinner made the familiar conditions of his home grounds to the best use capturing four wickets for 80 while unfortunately none of the other bowlers managed to make a noteworthy impact. Schoolboy Upeka Fernando then humiliated the New Zealand bowlers in the final part of the day scoring a breezy 32 not out as the young Board XI made a solid 60 for 1 by stumps. Left arm paceman Ruchira Perera who bowled well early, had opener Bryan Young caught by skipper Mahela Jayawardena in the second over of the day before runs were on the board. But Perera was punished heavily later for his inconsistency with the line and length by the New Zealanders who scored 76 runs off the 12 overs he bowled. Nathan Astle and opener Craig Spearman wiped off the early blow's effect with a quick 69-run stand in 13 overs for the second wicket which finally turned out to be the highest alliance of the innings. Astle was particularly severe on Perera as he blasted five fours in making 42 off 35 balls before Bandaratilleke gave some respite to the locals trapping Astle leg before. Spearman who made 39 in 52 balls with five fours was the next to go when Bandaratilleke had him caught by Perera five overs before the lunch. New Zealand who won the toss were 108 for 3 at lunch. Craig McMillan who continued the New Zealand onslaught slamming a six and two fours for 34 in 49 balls departed in the third over after lunch at 122 when Bandaratilleke caught him off Perera. Chris Cairns made 18 and was bowled by off spinner Tilan Samaraweera at 159 while Chris Harris who replaced him also made 18 while partnering Adam Parore for 50 runs for the sixth wicket, which took the total up to 209 for 6. Skipper Jayawardena obtained the breakthrough removing Harris while Bandaratilleke shattered the stumps of defiant Parore in the first ball of the next over before any addition to the total. Parore who made a top score of 53, batted for two hours facing 93 balls while hitting a six and four fours. That double blow was a major set back for the New Zealand innings which promised much more earlier. Having taken tea at 220 for 7, they lost Daniel Vettori in the fifth over after tea while Bandaratilleke made Paul Wiseman his fourth victim at 252. Mario Villavarayan executed a brilliant run out from the covers to finish the visitors' innings while Dion Nash remained unbeaten on 28 in 58 balls with three fours. Schoolboy opening combination of Upeka Fernando and Pradeep Hewage failed to click when the 1998 Youth World Cup's best batsman Pradeep Hewage threw his bat at an outswinger of medium pacer Simon Doull to be caught behind for three. But the 18-year old S. Thomas' schoolboy Fernando showed scant respect for his international opponents, thumping powerful wristy drives past extra cover and top edges over the heads of the slip cordon while racing to 32 with seven boundaries in 45 balls. With him at the wicket by close was skipper Jayawardena unbeaten on 19 in 29 balls. SCOREBOARD NEW ZEALAND First Innings CRAIG SPEARMAN ct. R. Perera b.
Bandaratilleke 39 EXTRAS (lb-3, nb-6) 9 TOTAL (All Out, 74.1 overs, 327 mts.) 274 FALL OF WICKETS : 1-0 (Young), 2-69 (Astle), 3-98 (Spearman), 4-122 (McMillan), 5-159 (Cairns), 6-209 (Harris), 7-209 (Parore), 8-233 (Vettori), 9-252 (Wiseman) BOWLING : Mario Villavarayan 11-1-37-0 (4nb), Ruchira Perera 12-0-76-2 (2nb), Niroshan Bandaratilleke 28.1-8-80-4, Tilan Samaraweera 18-4-61-2, Mahela Jayawardena 5-2-17-1 SRI LANKA BOARD XI First Innings UPEKA FERNANDO Not Out 32 EXTRAS (b-4, nb-2) 6 TOTAL (For 1 wicket, 13 overs, 52 minutes) 60 FALL OF WICKET : 1-7 BOWLING : Simon Doull 4-3-2-1, Chris Cairns 4-0-33-0 (2nb), Dion Nash 2-0-13-0, Daniel Vettori 2-0-8-0, Chris Harris 1-1-0-0. TO BAT : Sanjeewa Ranatunga, Naveed Nawaz, Manoj Mendis, Tilan Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardena, Niroshan Bandaratilleke, Mario Villavarayan, Ruchira Perera AAA confident to settle Susanthika's doping
issue The Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) is confident that they would be able to settle Susanthika Jayasinghe's doping issue favourably to the country. Ariya Kannangara, President AAA said that he is very happy in the manner in which the two hearing sessions were conducted "I do not think we need to have an additional one," he said. "We are expecting the report of the hearing, next week and we will forward it to the IAAF with our recommendations" he explained. Kannangara also said that he and Vice President, J. C. Kariyawasam had withdrawn from the second hearing panel for the best interest of the athlete and AAA. "People will then know that we have no vested interest in this matter," he added. The AAA has also received an invitation to field six athletes and a marathon runner for the pre Commonwealth International Games meet from July 12 to 15 in Malaysia. Meanwhile, "The Island' understands that the underhand activities of the AAA, by way of not tabling letters at meetings is still going on. This conduct by a few officials of the AAA almost cost the Chinese Taipei tour. The Sports Ministry had written to the AAA on April 17 stating that they would not release funds for tours that are not of very high standard for which the Taipei meet does not fall in to. As usual the letter was not tabled and AAA never looked for finances expecting the money from the Sports Ministry. It was only at the eleventh hour that the AAA found out that the money was not coming from the Ministry and sponsorship were sought hurriedly. When the IAAF faxed to AAA to conduct an off season drug test on Susanthika Jayasinghe the AAA members knew about it only in March! |
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