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Wiseman consumes Board XI after
lunch Off spinner Paul Wiseman produced a magnificent bowling performance after lunch yesterday which made him a strong contender for a debut test cap and sent the Sri Lanka Board XI crashing to 204 all out on the second day of the visiting New Zealand cricket team's three-day tour opener at P. Sara stadium. The 28 year old who made his international debut at the recent three nation Sharjah tournament, captured five wickets for the cost of 65 runs during a dramatic mid-afternoon session as none of the Sri Lanka's next generation managed to make an impression. Being 145 for three at lunch, the local team lost the last seven wickets within that second session for just 59 runs, to be all out for 204 by the tea giving the tourists a 70 run first innings lead. Wiseman's two brilliant spells after lunch gave him five of the seven wickets to fall in that session. In the first ball after the break, he had left hander Naveed Nawaz caught by Bryan Young for 23. Nawaz who batted confidently for 77 minutes striking three boundaries but his dismissal opened the floodgates. Just three balls later Wiseman removed the new man Manoj Mendis for a duck as the New Zealand fortunes changed dramatically with the double blow. Wiseman continued his assault taking the wicket of Sanjeewa Ranatunga another five runs later as the Board XI tumbled to 152 for 6. Ranatunga who enjoyed the good fortune of being dropped four times by the New Zealand fielders went on to make 39, the top score of the local innings. The experienced left hander's painstaking innings lasted for two hours, during which he hit two boundaries in 101 balls. Left arm spinner Daniel Vettori had wicket keeper batsman Prasanna Jayawardena's wicket on 186 to claim his third victim while Wiseman accounted for Niroshan Bandaratilleke for nine. Chris Harris who bowled his leg cutters with an astounding accuracy giving away just 11 runs from his 10 overs, captured the wicket of Tilan Samaraweera who held the late order together with a determined effort. Samaraweera batted cautiously for one and a half hours, facing 91 balls to make 22 with two boundaries. Wiseman then finished it off, taking the wicket of last man Ruchira Perera. Earlier, Vettori bowled splendidly in the morning, snapping up the wickets of both overnight batsmen Upeka Fernando and skipper Mahela Jayawardena in quick succession after the pair had put on 72 runs for the second wicket in the highest partnership of the innings. Opener Upeka Fernando who cracked a breezy 32 on the previous day made a hasty exit very early after they resumed on 60 for 1. The 18-year-old right hander added another boundary to his overnight score before Vettori shattered his stumps, breaking the stand which started the previous evening when the first wicket fell at seven. Fernando's 62 ball innings included eight boundaries Just five runs later, Vettori had Jayawardena caught by Young as the locals fell to 84 for 3. Jayawardena vying for a test place in the absence of Hashan Tillekeratne hit six boundaries in making 38 off 65 balls. Left handers Nawaz and Ranatunga then saw off the next 23 overs till the lunch to bring the team up to 145 in a 61 run stand. New Zealanders began their second essay confidently against the medium pacers before spinners Tilan Samaraweera and Niroshan Bandaratilleke stemmed the run flow dismissing Bryan Young and Craig Spearman within five runs after the openers put on 43 together. SCOREBOARD NEW ZEALAND First Innings 274 SRI LANKA BOARD XI First Innings (60 for 1 overnight) UPEKA FERNANDO b. Vettori 36 EXTRAS (b-10, lb-1, nb-2) 13 TOTAL (All Out, 80.4 overs, 298 minutes) 204 FALL OF WICKET : 1-7 (Hewage), 2-79 (Fernando), 3-84 (M.Jayawardena), 4-145 (Nawaz), 5-145 (Mendis), 6-152 (Ranatunga), 7-186 (P. Jayawardena), 8-197 (Bandaratilleke), 9-203 (Samaraweera) BOWLING : Simon Doull 7-5-10-1, Chris Cairns 4-0-33-0 (2nb), Dion Nash 2-0-13-0, Daniel Vettori 29-10-55-3, Chris Harris 10-4-11-1, Paul Wiseman 24.4-6-65-5, Craig McMillan 4-2-6-0. NEW ZEALAND Second Innings BRYAN YOUNG ct. P. Jayawardena b.
Bandaratilleke 14 EXTRAS (b-2, nb-2) 4 TOTAL (For 2 wickets. , 22 overs, 97 mts.) 77 FALL OF WICKETS : 1-43 (Spearman), 2-47 (Young) BOWLING : Mario Villavarayan 4-1-16-0, Ruchira Perera 5-2-11-0, Tilan Samaraweera 7-1-23-1, Niroshan Bandaratilleke 6-1-25-1 Informatics to sponsor MCA
‘C’ Div. cricket tourney Informatics (Pvt) Ltd, a leading IT company in Sri Lanka has decided to sponsor this year's Mercantile ‘C’ Division cricket tournament conducted by the Mercantile Cricket Association. This tournament is to be played for the glittering Informatics Challenge Trophy in 1998. At a recent press conference held at the MCA pavilion Gamini Wickremasinghe, Managing Director, Informatics Group of Companies handed over the sponsorship package to Berty Fernando, President MCA. This sponsorship would also include trophies and awards for ‘Best Batsman,’ Best Bowler of the tournament, "Man of the Match" at the finals, and a trophy for the runner-up team. The coveted Informatics Challenge Trophy will be awarded to the overall winning team. Speaking on behalf of the sponsors, Wickramasinghe said that Informatics (Pvt) Ltd, which began business in the year 1983 is no stranger to the local cricket arena. He said, "Informatics first played in the Mercantile cricket tournaments way back in the late 80's. Starting from division ‘H’ at the very bottom rung, we steadily climbed our way up, winning divisions such as ‘C’ and ‘B’. Hence, this year we are proud to be in the very competitive division ‘A’ pitted against some of the giants as cricket sponsors and in business. Berty Fernando, President, MCA said that his association, which had been involved in Mercantile cricket for such a considerable period of time in this country, felt extremely privileged to have received such a generous sponsorship package from a leading IT company like Informatics (Pvt) Ltd. Fernando expressed the hope that their sponsors would be involved with his association for many more years to come with a view to developing the budding cricketing talents of players who regularly take part in these cricket tournaments year after year. Also associated at this press briefing were Gahan Siribaddana Vice-President MCA, Brendon Kuruppu Credit Manager Informatics, Adel Hassim Assistant General Secretary MCA, and Kris Talagala Sports Secretary, Informatics. The ten teams taking part in this year's MCA ‘C’ division league tournament have been drawn into two groups. They are as follows: Group A
Group B
Blind cricketers shine brightly Visually handicapped cricketers from the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped scored a thrilling 3 wicket victory over the fancied Sri Lanka Council for the Blind XI in an exhibition match played at the School for the Blind grounds, Ratmalana, recently. The match was played to mark the visit to Sri Lanka of Mr. George Abraham, Chairman of the World Blind Cricket Council (WBCC) and also as a trial to select the team to represent Sri Lanka at the forthcoming World Cup cricket tourney for the Blind to be played in India later this year. After being put into bat, the Council for the Blind did well to score 157 for 6 wickets in the allotted 18 years. Young Chandana Kumara struck a glorious 57 studded with ten boundaries and a mighty six. Ajith Ranasinghe chipped in with 15. The Federation XI team snatched victory with two balls to spare scoring 158 for 7 wickets. Sarath Kumara hit a blistering 54 with seven cracking boundaries. The best knock came from Chrysantha Bandara who hammered a sparkling 51 with 8 boundaries and a huge six. The following were the best performers: Best Allrounder (Blind) - Nuwan Indika George Abraham, M.S.F. Sue Karunaratne, Squadron Leader Cyril Siriwardena, Rajiva Wickremasinghe (President and Secretary of the National Federation of Sports for the Disabled) distributed the awards. The match was sponsored by Liptons Ceylon Ltd. Sri Rahula-Devans in a no
decision The Under-17 Division II inter-school cricket match between Sri Rahula College and Maliyadeva Model School, Kurunegala ended in a no decision, due to bad weather. The match got off to a start only at 11.45. Rahula batting first scored 256 runs in 50 overs for loss of 9 wickets. Upul Samankumara the No. 4 batsman, who is the vice captain of the side, made a fine 61 runs with some good hits to the fence. He was well supported by the No. 3 batsman Dhanushka Kumara, who made an impressive 52 runs. D. Dissanayake bowled well to pocket 3 for 44. Maliyadeva Model School were struggling at 96 for 5, in 28.2 overs when play came to an end, S. Premasuriya was unbeaten on 30. Sri Rahula 256 for 9 in 50 overs — (Dhanushka Kumara 52, Upul Samankumara 61, Amila Ilangakoon 19, P. Vishnaka 27, M. Nairoosdeen 38 not out, T. Beligala 16, W. Adikari 2/43, D. Dissanayake 3/44.) Maliyadeva Model School 96/5 in 28.2 overs, (J. Siriwardena 25, S. Premasuriya 30 not out, Chinthaka Ratnayake 1/7, J. B. Ekanayake 1/17, M. Nairoosdeen 1/4, M. P. Damakge 1/14.) Thilina, Indika star in Sri Lanka's 9-2 triumph Paderbom, May 18 — Sri Lanka's No.1 seed Thilina Piyadasa produced his best form on tour so far to guide his country to a 9-2 triumph over the German Paderbom Table Tennis Club here today. Thilina unleashed a wide range of shots to upstage both the No. 1 in Paderbom, Bergschneider and No. 2 Winnemann in straight two setters respectively. Meanwhile, the Lanka Skipper, Indika Prasad summoned all his reserves to beat Bergschieder in a hard fought game 21-8, 19-21, 21-9. Indika then proceeded to notch up his second win against Wennemann 22-20, 22-20 to give Sri Lanka an early lead. The Sri Lankans earned the praise of the home spectators here with young Dinesh Deshapriya and Yohan Deshapriya also winning their matches. The only losses in the Lankan camp were that of Chalitha and Rohan Siresena. Sri Lanka's next outing will be against Sevelen II Club 200 k.m. away from Paderbom. Old Anandians to form Rugby Club All former Anandian ruggerites are requested to be present for a meeting at 5.30 pm today at college premises. Lakshman Wijesekera convenor of the meeting says meeting's intention is to form an Old Anandian Rugby Club. Intermediate boxing from May 21 The Intermediate Boxing Tournament conducted by the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka, will be held May 21, 22 & 23 at the Police Field Force HQ. Boxing Hall, Thimbirigasyaya, commencing at 5.30 p.m. on each day. All amateur boxers who are between 17 and 34 years of age and who have not won at the finals of either Layton Cup, Clifford Cup or National Championships are eligible to compete at this tournament. Since this is a qualifying meet, there will be no uncontested winners. Preliminary weigh-in preceded by the Medical Examination and followed by the draw of bouts will commence at 8 a.m. on Thursday May at the Police Sports Pavilion, Havelock Road, Colombo 5. Entries close today with Hony Secretary ABA/SL, Sunil Maligaspe at No. 16, Swastika Gardens, Kandy Road, Peliyagoda. Army, Air Force, Navy, Police, Prisons, Veyangoda BC, Arethusa BC, YMCA Colombo, Mirigama BC, Nugegoda BC, Kalutara District BC, Stanley Jansz BC, St. Michael's BC and many schools are expected to participate. AFC vice president promises sweeping changes
in soccer Vernon Manilal Fernando who was elected the first ever vice president Asian Football Confederation on arrival promised to bring sweeping changes from grassroot level to the game. Speaking to the media after a welcome reception at the KIA he said that he wants to start the soccer development from school level. "But I have found out that I can not do this as long as the school sports, are under the Ministry of Education. Some sports which come under the Ministry of Education are already dead. I suggest that the schools sports, should be given over to the Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake", he said. A jubilant Manilal, was on the opinion that soccer players are talented and only need proper guidance to deliver the goods. He refused to accept that the standard had declined despite the players surrendering their SAARC Gold Cup to India "losing a match here and there can not project the true image of our team", he said. Commenting on his election he said that Sri Lanka India, China, South Korea and Malaysia contested for the four AFC Vice President's posts. "But due to our regions mutual understanding India pulled out of the contest" he said. "If I come to a contest I always make it a point to win" he quipped. Asked to comment on the benefits Sri Lanka would get after his historic election, he said his appointment has already brought about many financial gains to the country. "World soccer boss Joe Havelange, soon after my election promised to donate one million US dollars for a period of four years", he disclosed. "In addition a further 3000 US dollars was promised to hire an international coach for the Sri Lankan team. We hope to utilize this money for a foreign coach to Sri Lanka soon", he added. Manilal who is also the youngest soccer boss in the country said his immediate aim would be to build a complete Football Headquarters. "We asked for the Pedris Park but with no avail. Now we are hoping that the authorities would give us the Campbell Park. I am quite confident that I could raise the money to build our headquarters", he said. The new AFC Vice President also promised to introduce semi professional soccer in Sri Lanka. "I am aware that Negombo, Kalutara, Kandy and a few banks are ready to field teams for this proposed tournament" he said. The Sports Minister S. B. Dissanayake who was at the airport to welcome Manilal said this achievement, was a rare honour for Sri Lanka. "Never in the history of Sri Lanka Sports, that we have achieved such an honour", he said. The Minister said that this appointment would be a great encouragement towards the development of the poor men's sport. "We now have the advantage of hosting internationals in Sri Lanka" he said. The Sri Lankan soccer public also had two more celebrations on the way. Former national player Nimal Wickramatunge who is now a fully fledged FIFA referee had the rare honour to officiating in the World Cup. An old boy of Dharmadutha College, Badulla he is tipped to blow in at least six games. Former President and Negombo FL player J. S. N. Anandaraja has been appointed as a match commissioner at the World Cup. ROYAL COLLEGE RUGBY POOL FOR 1998 If betting weren't considered sinful anymore, placing all moneys on Royal could be termed wise as school rugby is concerned. With no less than thirteen coloursmen in the team. Royal could also be the number one side when it comes to experience. It has been ten long years since the school really came into the limelight. And since that memorable year in 1988 - Royal won both the League and Knockout Tournaments - it once again looks like the Reid Avenue boys will bring home the goods. Led by that diminutive linkman, Shanaka Perera, the Royalists opened the season with a bang beating St. Anthony's (46/0), Lumbini (43-7) and St. Peter's (58-6). Their mobile pack, comprising of talented players in the calibre of Dinesh Rahim (hooker), flankers Pavithra Fernando and Ravindu Atukorala and Gemunu Dissanayake (number eight), seems to be the teams strong point eventhough the line too looks impressive with a star studded line up. Grouped along with arch rivals S. Thomas', Isipatana, Nalanda, Lumbini and Science College in the Western Province Zone I, the team also will play their traditional fixtures against St. Peter's and Trinity. Vying for the two prop forwards berths are Malik Induruwana, a senior player, and two freshers Inchira Koralagama and Chandreen Ranasinghe. Sri Lanka youth cap and third year player Dinesh Rahim will be the regular hooker. Senior players Nuwanga Perera and Suranjan Perera will bind as the two second row forwards. Freshers Sanjeewa Karunanayake and Janaka Kumarage are also available. Two seasoned campaigners Pavithra Fernando and Ravindu Atukorala will play as flankers. Third year players and vice captain Gemunu Dissanayake will lead the pack as number eight. Shanaka Perera, who has had the honour of captaining both the cricket and rugby teams this year, will operate from the base of the scrum and will partner Dev. Wijewardena (fly half) to form the halves combination. Junior players Rajiv Fernando and Ruzly Hussain are also fighting for the berth of fly half. Senior player Kishan Samarasinghe, who led Royal to win the U-17 Milo League Tournament in 1996, is assured of a centre three quarters position. Three juniors Rasika Wijewardane, Amila Namalarachchi and Buddhika Kulatunga will fight it out to fill the other vacant berths. The fleet footed Viraj de Silva will play on the right wing while the other will be a toss up between Shalindra Soysa and Chamith Perera who incidently happens to be the brother of Shanaka. Third year player Rananjaya Gonaduwa will play as fullback and will also be in charge of the spot kicks. Fresher Harin Kaluarachchi is on standby. Royal are coached this year by C. P. Abeygunawardena. Royal's main aim this year would be to regain the Bradby shield having not won it since 1994. Royal College Rugby Pool for 1998
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