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| Sri Lanka's
Greatest Athlete Duncan White dead
White, who was a peerless athlete, became the first of his breed, produced by mother Lanka when he won the silver medal in the 400 meters hurdles at the London Olympics way back in 1948. Duncan White’s magical feat of winning the silver medal has been unparalleled for well over half a century in Sri Lankan track and field sports and that monumental feat of his skill continues to shine like a beacon to all track and field sportsmen in this country. His contribution could perhaps be best gauged by the fact that to date Sri Lanka is striving to produce another Duncan White even after 50 years have lapsed since his epoch-making achievement in London in 1948. Perhaps as a fitting tribute to relive those historic moments at the 1948 London Olympics. This is how it went... On the blocks his eagle reflexes arrowed a few feet in front, and as the starter’s shot rung through the air, Duncan the puma, was hot on the trail with Larsson of Sweden, Ault of U. S.A. Cochran of U.S.A., Missoni of Italy, and Cros of France, all in the initial clash to the first hurdle. Cochran the world record holder then was in lane 3, while our master Duncan ran in lane 5. At the half way mark Duncan was leading only to be over taken soon by Cochran, the world champion. Larsson, Ault, and Cros were all breathing down the neck of Duncan but his unflinching resolve and resolute was not giving way. In the last few meters our human Dynamo in full cry narrowed the gap between Cochran and himself, but the world champ was destined to win with his immense international experience. However Duncan White beat the rest of the field comprehensively to give Ceylon then its first and only Olympic medal. Late Duncan White was also honoured by the Sri Lankan government when he was conferred with the title of ‘Deshabandu’ as an appreciation of his deeds to the country and track and field of sports here. |
| Rain wrecks it again but
India goes to finals by Channaka de Silva Rain once again intervened to spoil Sri Lanka's Nidahas Trophy limited over cricket tournament yesterday and kept winless New Zealand's chances of entering the finals afloat. The abandoning of the match between India and New Zealand at SSC stadium meant that all three first round clashes between the two teams in the tournament had been washed off while India ensured their place in the finals through a superior net run rate. After yesterday's wet and abrupt end India and Sri Lanka were tied for the top spot of the points table with six points each while New Zealand finished with four points despite failing to win a single match. New Zealand will have to beat Sri Lanka in the final league match tomorrow if they are to qualify for the finals on Tuesday. A no decision or a defeat to New Zealand will put hosts in the finals while New Zealand who are currently lying at the bottom of the table, will have to win by a huge margin if they win tomorrow's match, in order to secure a final berth. According the latest calculations, India has the best net run rate of + 0.30 while Sri Lanka has a rate of + 0.20. New Zealand who have completed only a solitary match in the tournament have a poor net run rate of - 1.02 which means they will have to post a really big win over the Sri Lankans if they are to make it into the finals. New Zealanders batting first, were placed at 128 for 5 in 31.1 overs when rain stopped the match in the afternoon yesterday. Opener Bryan Young made 26, Nathan Astle made 15, skipper Stephen Fleming scored 20 in 27 balls, all rounder Craig McMillan made 26 while Chris Cairns was unbeaten on 19 when the match ended prematuarly. Off spinner Harbajan Singh captured two wickets.
New Zealand India - Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Nayan Mongia, Mohammad Azharuddin (captain), Ajay Jadela, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Robin Singh, Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Harbhajan Singh. • Match abandoned due to rain - both teams receive one point.
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| Calculations
to decide finalist By Bertie Wijesinghe Rain in bucket full! Gusting wind and storm-tossed waters saturated the SSC cricket grounds so as to cause the umpires to abandon the match after India had bowled thirty-one overs, in the course of which New Zealand laboured on to 12, having also lost five wickets. That, in a nut-shell, was what happened in this match which was crucial to either side. As it now stands I believe that India with the single point they gained from this inconclusive game are through to the final. Sri Lanka and New Zealand will have to battle it out, not only against each other but also against the ready-reckoner's dictates on the award of points. Sri Lanka will be asked to score 180, nothing less and New Zealand something like 240 in the 50 overs each team will hopefully have at their disposal. That is, if the weather permits a full 50 overs match. If the game is reduced to a lesser number of overs, the ready reckoner will once again be the judge. I hope I am right in this diagnosis of the points system. It is an intriguing situation which probably adds spice to the tournament, but all in all one could have done without the rain! New Zealand in their game against India yesterday were hard put to it to get going with the scoring. They could average only 4 runs per over bowled, and surely this run rate would not prove sufficient against the line-up of batting that opposed them. Their openers got along with it at six per over to start with, which prompted Azharuddin to bring on his spinners after the sixth over, with the score at 40 or thereabouts. The change put a brake on the scoring, Kumble, Harbajan Singh and Kamitkar reducing the scoring to singles. One immediately gave thought to the state of the wicket which took spin and cast doubts in the minds of the batsmen. The ball also stopped at times and would not come on to the bat as the batsmen wished. Astle who had been quite happy with the pacemen, frequently lofting the ball over the off-side field for fours attempted a drive which ended in the hands of Kumble who caught it an inch from the ground as he tumbled forward and rolled over. The ball was not there to be driven as Astle wished. Fleming was not happy with the wicket and his own handling of the bowlers. He lost patience and played a lofted drive to deep mid off where Tendulkar contrived to make the catch look simple. The ball was travelling fast. Harbajan Singh had had a chance off Fleming dropped by the wicket keeper in his previous over. The bowler then cleverly deceived Harne with a top-spinner going straight through. Horne stepped, out of his crease to drive, missed the ball and was stumped, Mongia thus making amends. McMillan played some forceful shots before he outdid himself going for a big hit only to be caught by Ganguly at mid-wicket. The ball appeared at first to be clearing the ropes. Young was beaten outside the off stump by Kumble and was also stumped. Then came the storm out of the blue or was it dark grey sky. The ground staff had no chance as the wind blew the covers all over the place before they could be weighed down. We are left then with the last match of the qualifying round - Sri Lanka vs New Zealand to be played. It is a game vital to each team. One hopes we'll see the match go the full length and be equally fair. |
| CH scrape through to 20-17
win By Jatila Karawita CH and FC indulging in a lacklustre game of rugby registered an unconvincing 20 points (1 goal, 2 tries, 1 penalty) to 17 (2 goals, 1 penalty) win over a vastly improved Petersons XV in their Carlsberg 'A' Division second round fixture at Longden Place yesterday. At lemons Petersons were in the lead at 10-7. In a game in which the Maitland Crescent club was expected to simply steamroll the opposition, the 'All Blacks' of local rugby put up a sterling display to go down fighting by a margin of only three points in the end. For CH No. 8, Shyam Subullah, scored two tries in either half whilst Samoan centre Paul Ioni too planted a try late in the second half, which originated following a classic three quarter move in the Petersons 22. Subullah converted one of the tries and put over two penalties as well. For Pertersons skipper and stand off Colin Denish touched down for their first try in the first half while Fijian Flanker Manasa Quoro, barged over to fall over for their second in the second half off a superb forwards rush. Shiyan Pradeep converted both tries besides firing across the sole penalty kick for the valiant losers. Referee- Orville Fernando. |
| Hathurusinghe
in squad to England All-rounder Chandika Hathurusinghe has been recalled to the Sri Lanka tour party to England which also sees two new faces in wicket-keeper batsman Prasanna Jayawardena and paceman Mario Villawarayan. However, veteran Roshan Mahanama has failed to find a place in a 18-member squad announced by the national selectors on Thursday. Hathurusinghe, aged (30), has evidently found the nod considering his dogged batting and his ability to swing the ball either way with his slow medium pace in seaming English conditions. The right hander who last toured with the Sri Lanka team to Sharjah in 1995, had been tapping on the door for recognition for some time following his three-year isolation, with some telling performances on the domestic scence. The omission of Mahanama which has found mixed reactions in cricketing circles, however was on the cards following youngster Mahela Jayawardena firmly establishing himself in the numbers three slot which pushed out Mahanama. However, there is conjecture that Mahanama, being one-day specialist, should have been in the squad in the face of the fact that Sri Lanka would be playing a solitary Test and face a heavier one-day schedule of a triangular tournament involving England and South Africa. At the same time the selection of six SSC players has also caused raised eye brows particularly the inclusion of the ineffective Pramodya Wickramasinghe who continues to find 'lady luck' smiling his way. What some observers cannot understand is the continuous 'blind eye' of the selectors towards the very promising Eric Upashanta who has failed to find due recognition despite being on the scene for a long time. * The squad: |
| Kiwi-Sri Lanka
Test series saw emergence of two new faces Aravinda de Silva rated as the best batsman in the World by Wisden and Sanath Jayasuriya who won the ceat. International Cricketer of the Year 1997-98 failed to live up to expectations with the bat in the recent Test series against New Zealand. Many a great batsman, has gone through a lean period in their cricketing career, that's what this game is all about. The exception was the legendary Sir Don Bradman. Yet he too failed when he was dismissed for no score in the second innings of his final Test in England, bowled by Hollies, it was a sad end to a memorable cricketing career. He left the cricketing arena with a fantastic batting average of 99.00 record which will not be broken as long as the game is played. In spite of the failure of Lanka's star batsmen Aravinda and Sanath Sri Lanka did well to out play the Kiwis in the second and third Test, and win the Test series two, one. It was a sad twist of fate that the dashing Aravinda fell short of reaching 5,000 runs in Test cricket. If he had reached this landmark he would have been the first Sri Lankan to do so. Yet there is much cricket left in him to attain greater heights. Credit should go to all the cricketers for having played as a team, led admirably by 'Captain Cool', the master tactician who knows how the wind blows. Much talent did surface during this tour. Two bright cricketing stars appeared in the firmement of Sri Lankan cricket. In batting the find was Mahela Jayawardene, he has the making of a great batsman, and has proved his capabilities in no uncertain terms. The other is Niroshan Bandaratilleke, who spun a web around the Kiwis batsmen, with his deceptive leftarm leg spin bowling, that baffled the New Zealand top order batsmen. Sri Lanka was desperately in need of a bowler of this type, to partner that wizard of spin Muralitharan, whose brilliant bowling and fielding won him the man of the series award. This spin combination, will be very much in the limelight in the arena of International Cricket. I wish to recall a statement made by the New Zealand coach. Steve Rixon, prior to the commencement of the tour, he made a remark to the effect that Murali was no threat to his batsmen and that he would get the same treatment that Shane Warne received at the hands of Tendulkar in India. This certainly was wishful thinking he was proved wrong by the brilliant bowling of Murali who had their top order batsmen all at sea,. They say he who laughs last laughs best. Murali certainly had the last laugh. With Sri Lanka winning the Test series 2 one the interest now centres around the Singer Akai Nidahas Trophy. The participating countries are Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand. Sri Lanka made a disastrous start to the tournament when they were completely out played by the Indians losing by 8 wickets. Their next encounter with the Kiwis, turned the tide in Sri Lankas favour when they beat them convincingly by seven wickets. The silver lining was the batting of Aravinda in the first encounter and Sanath in the second they have regained their confidence and are back in the runs again, which is of vital importance if we are to reach the top in the Singer Akai Nidhas Trophy. Lets hope that Arjuna and his team will keep the Sri Lankan flag fluttering with the winds of success at the all important finals of the tournament if we make it to the finals. — Rex Wijewardene |
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