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MAHELA JAYAWARDENA (4/29) CHOSEN
"MAN OF THE MATCH" Sri Lanka Board President's XI trailing by 44 runs on the first innings closed the final day at 82 for 1 wicket in the second innings at 4.30 p.m. as their three day match with New Zealand petered into a listless draw here at the Asgiriya Stadium yesterday. Sri Lanka Board XI in their second turn at the middle opened with Dulip Samaraweera and middle order bat Sajith Fernando who was promoted in the order ahead of skipper Jayasuriya who decided to give the youngster an opportunity to prove his worth in the opening slot. Both batsmen who came into bat in the mid afternoon session after the 'BLACK CAPS' had declared their first innings at 344 for 9 wickets made no worthy effort to accelarate the scoring rate. The fans who had come in greater expectation of witnessing some firework from the local batsmen were instead treated to dreary cricket by the homesters with the match itself being dead and buried as a contest at this stage. Samaraweera lastly held out to Chris Harris at mid on for an unimpressive 22 off the bowling of right arm off spinner Paul Wiseman to end an opening stand of 49 runs between himself and left hander Sajith Fernando. When the game was called off through mutual consent before the commencement of the mandatory overs, Fernando was unbeaten on a well made knock of 42, and wicket keeper batsman Lanka de Silva who came as the one drop batsman was 15 not out. Fernando's 42 which came off 89 balls, was studded with 5 fours. Earlier during the day's play New Zealanders continuing from their overnight score of 211 for 4 wickets batted till the midway into the afternoon before declaring at 344 for 9 wickets which gave the Kiwis a first innings lead of 44 runs over the Board XI. Middle order bat Craig McMillan led the way for them with a swashbuckling 71 which came off 100 balls with 9 neatly struck fours. McMillan's innings was a timely boost to the faltering Kiwis innings, as he and wicket keeper Adam Perore who struck a breezy 43 with 6 fours were involved in a superb fifth wicket stand of 89 runs to stem the rot on Saturday when the visitors lost four quick wickets for 37 runs after a great opening partnership of 124 runs between Mat-Horne (92) and Bryan Young (32). With the dismissal of Parore experienced all-rounder Chris Harris joins McMillan and they too continued to pummel local bowlers in similar vein which provided the much needed sparks on an otherwise dull day's cricket at the Asgiriya Stadium. Harris' quick-fire knock of 42 which proped up the Kiwis late order reply came off 45 balls with 5 fours and one gloriously lofted six off Malinga Bandara of the Board XI bowlers surprisingly enough batsman turned bowler Mahela Jayawardena returned the best figures of 4 for 29 off 16 accurate overs. It was indeed quite and admirable performance by young Mahela Jayawardena with the cherry as he followed up his first innings score of splendid 67 on Friday to walk away with the "Man of the Match Award" in this game. Legspinner Malinga Bandara who bowled well on the second day to pick up 3 for 68 runs failed to impress his followers here on the last day and ended with analysis of 3 for 100. The match which was the last practice game for the Kiwis before they go into the First Test match of a three match series. The New Zealand tour selectors could look into the performances made by Mat Horne, Brian Young, Mark Priest, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Adam Parore and off spinner Paul Wiseman before finalising their team for the Khettarama Test on Wednesday. For the Board XI besides skipper Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardena who gave sterling performances none of the others made any genuine impact with young Kalutara leg spinner Malinga Bandara showing promise for the future. SCOREBOARD SRI LANKA - BOARD PRESIDENT'S XI First innings 300-9 declared. ( S. Jayasuriya 83, M. Jayawardene 67 ) NEW ZEALAND First innings B YOUNG ct. Jayasuriya b Bandara 32 EXTRAS : (b-2 lb-3 w-3 nb-15) 23 TOTAL (for 9 wickets declared) 344 FALL OF WICKETS : 1-124, 2-143, 3-154, 4-161, 5-250, 6-307, 7-330, 8-339, 9-344 BOWLING : S Perera 19-4-53-2(2nb 2w), I Gallage 16-4-52-0(4nb), M. Bandara 28-5-100-3(5nb), P. Hewage 8-0-42-0(4nb), A Dalugoda 14-3-41-0(1w), S Fernando 5-2-6-0, M. Jayawardena 16.2-5-29-4, S. Jayasuriya 9-2-16-0 SRI LANKA BOARD XI Second Innings D. SAMARAWEERA c Harris b Wiseman 22 EXTRAS: (lb-3) 3 TOTAL: (for one wicket) 82 FALL OF WICKET: 1-49 Bowling: O’Connor 5-1-16-0, Nash 4-2-3-0, Wiseman 12-2-29-1, Priest 12-3-31-0 RESULT: Match drawn Army blast Petersons 18-14 Army blasted all barriers at last to record their first victory when they "pipped" Petersons 18-14 in an inter-club A division rugby fixture at Havelock Park yesterday. The forces team, having found reinforcements through the rugby famed country of Fiji,took a giant leap into the club rugby scene by finding a winning formula. Centre, Taniela Kunarara,and forward Maloni Thuruwa added "spice" to the Army moves as the soldiers fought a hectic battle to down their opponents. However it was Kunarara who cut a figure among the foreigners who were in action yesterday, by covering a distance of fifty metres to plant the teams first try. He broke free from the several pairs of hands which clung on to him and then sped through an open field which lay ahead of him. The try which came in the twenty seventh minute of play was goaled by Kapila Knowlton who contributed eight out of the eighteen points. Petersons who were still in the lead (8-7) even after that try, surged further ahead two minutes later when Thushara Thidieman landed a twenty five metre penalty. Peterson's lost a key player in Chanaka de Silva, who scored the teams only try,when he hobbled out late in the first half with a leg injury. Army's Knowlton brought the scores to close as 11-10 through a well directed penalty kick minutes before half time. Fijian Opethi Thuruwa put his golden kicking boots in to good use by landing a forty metre penalty twenty nine minutes into the second half, which surpassed Army's score which was brought to thirteen, two minutes ago. Army flanker Colin Rodrigo picked up a lose ball and ended up going over the line when Petersons link-man T. K. Bohoran failed to secure possesion from an own line out.The try went unconverted . Peterson's vice president, Rizly Iliyaz, speaking to "The Island" stated that they were protesting against the forces team fielding the two Fijians as the duo had violated the tournament rules which specify a period of seven days residence in Sri Lanka. However according to a senior Army official who spoke on behalf of the team, dismissed all objections made by the opponents saying that the two foreigners had spent the nessesary time in the country as they had arrived on May fifteenth. The match which was played yesterday after a post ponement was earlier scheduled for last Sunday (17 May). S. W. Chang refereed the match. Isipatana went on a rampage over D. S. Senanayake College as they crushed them by 53 points (5 goals, 3 tries, a penalty) to nil in their inter-school Rugby encounter at Longden Place yesterday. It was a one way traffic for green jerseyed lads who led 34/0 at the breather. They proved their class and superiority by producing some tantalising moves. Skipper Shamly Nawaz who played as number eight ran through four superb tries. Fly half Amila Costa touched down two tries while winger Himesh Gunatilake and prop forward Janaka Silva planted a try each. Charith Kodagoda goaled five tries while putting over the penalty. M. R. Dooray Refereed. (AN) Meet the rugby schools The sight of green jerseys on the field is enough to drive panic into the opposition. Whether its Sevens, Tens or a fifteen-a-side game, Isipatana, clad in their traditional attire which sports a dark shade of green still creates a sense of fear wherever they are present. Many schools dread meeting them. Some probably send out prayers daily and wish that their first fixture is not with the "Green Shirts". But even the bolder ones who believe in cchieving the impossible end up getting a "beating". And whats fascinating is that even on their off day the lads from Havelock town have their special way of bouncing back and stealing victory. It happened this year when arch-rivals Thurstan were leading 12-7 against them in the schools ten aside finals. With just two minutes to go flyhalf Charith Kodagoda changed the entire complexion of the game with a try and Thurstan were left to lick their wounds. Looking back into their performances last year, Isipatana bagged all trophies which were on offer and most importantly remained unbeaten throughout the season. The team led by Vajira Hewage commenced their run for the top spot by first bagging the "tens" tournament before finally crowning themselves as "champs' when they overcame Thurstan again in the knock out finals. Isipatana also registered memorable victories over Dharmaraja 65-0, D. S. Senanayake 60-0, St. Anthony's 50-0, St. Joseph's 49-0, St. Peter's 47-0, Royal 36-3, Trinity 29-0 and Thurstan 15-0 during the league season. Isipatana were blessed with the services of a knowlegeable coach in Kelum Gunaratne and Sisira Kumara, a hard working master in charge — who together moulded the set of youngsters into a match winning outfit. Gunaratne who is once again in charge of the boys stated that they will take match by match just like in the p revious year. "This year the tens came automatically to us and I hope that we can repeat last year's feats" said the former Police third row forward. The team is led this year by Sri Lanka youth skipper Shamly Nawaz who has eight other coloursmen doing duty for him this season. Isipatana commenced the season on a winning note when they outclassed Nalanda 37-0 and hometown rivals Lumbini 28-0 in two key league fixtures played recently. They are grouped along with Royal, S. Thomas' Lumbini, Science and Nalanda in Western Province Zone I and will also play their traditional fixtures against Vidyartha Trinity and Thurstan. Propping up the front row for Isipatana will be two talented players Janaka De Silva — a third year player — and fresher Mohamed Saleem, Rasika Ambagaspitiya will be on stand by. Duminda Pushpakumara completes the front row as hooker. Fourth year player Rifas Deen will be one of the second row forwards while Mohamed Rashmi seems to have impressed among the freshers and has moved into the vacant lock forwards berth left by last years Sanjaya Batuwantudawe. Two experienced players, Gayan Dulshara Ranasinghe and Rangana Senadheera will be the regular flankers. Skipper Nawaz with all his experience will lead the team as number eight. Lasantha Mallikarachchi, brother of CR player Sajith Mallikarachchi, will operate from the base of the scrum in the absence of the regular, Crishantha Chandran, who has under gone an operation on the shoulder. However according to coach Gunaratne, Chandran has made a speedy recovery and is expected to take the field very soon. Last years' full back, Charith Kodagoda, who is also the place kicker of the side, will occupy the vital fly halfs berth. Freshers Veediya Bandara and Dhanushka Perera will play as the insides. Vice captain Nishantha Kumara and last years highest try scorer Hamish Gunaratne who touched down on twenty one occasions will be the regular wing three quarters. Fresher Amila Costa competes the back division as full back. Isipatana M.V. rugby pool for 1998
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