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South Africa ‘A’ gain major honours
in drawn game Sri Lanka Board President’s XI replying to South Africa A’s formidable first innings total of 471 for 7 declared reached 90 for 4 wickets at the close on the third and final day’s play in their three-day match which petered into a tame draw at the De Soyza Stadium Moratuwa yesterday. The main feature in an otherwise drab days cricket here at the Moratuwa Stadium on the final day’s play was the batting prowess displayed by South Africa ‘A’ late order batsmen M. Jaansweld who top scored with a superb knock of 96, and wicket keeper bat Nick Pothas who made an unbeaten 74 associating themselves in grand 149-run stand for the eighth wicket. Jaansveld who was the more aggressive of two hammered 14 fours in his 215 minute stay at the wicket facing up to 161 balls, whilst Pothas 74 came off 181 balls with 10 sizzling fours. Both batsmen batted in a very professional manner as the tourists enjoyed very good batting performance ahead of the Second Unofficial Test which starts in Kurunegala on Saturday. For the local XI former Ananda left arm leggie Dinuk Hettiarachchi returned the creditable figures of 6 for 120 off 48 lengthy overs. When the Board XI batted for their first innings, openers B. Ediriweera and D. Samaraweera put on a first wicket stand of 58 runs before a sudden clatter of wickets saw them end the match at 90 for 4 wickets. South African ‘A’ spinners Claude Henderson and Derek Crooker both grabbed two wickets each. SCOREBOARD SOUTH AFRICA ‘A’ FIRST
INNINGS MARTIN JAARSVELD b Hettiarachchi 96 EXTRAS (b-5, lb-1, w-2, nb-5) 13 FALL OF WICKETS 8-452. BOWLING: E. UPASHANTHA 14-2-53-1, H. RUSHDY 13-3-49-0,
H. BOTEJU 19-3-59-0, P. HETTIARACHCHI 48-14-120-6, BOARD PRESIDENT’S XI DULIP SAMARAWEERA c Jaarsveld b Henderson 29 EXTRAS (nb 2) 02 BOWLING: H. WILLIAMS 9-2-30-0, D. BENKENSTEIN 5-3-6-0, C. HENDERSON 17-6-33-2, D. CROOKES 13-6-21-2. South
African tours here South African Under-24 Cricketers, led by middle order batsman Dale Benkenstein, will take on their Sri Lankan counterparts in their second unofficial Test match at the picturesque Welagedera Stadium, Kurunegala beginning today (August 01) at 10.00 a.m. This will be the third South African first-class side playing in this venue for the last six years. South Africa, led by opener Kepler Wessels, played a three-day game against a Board XI in this venue in 1993. In that game, test openers Andrew Hudson (91) and Kepler Wessels (62) put on a record — breaking 162 runs for the first wicket with some lusty hittings. Hudson made 91 off 172 balls with 15 fours while his skipper Wessels made 62 off 144 balls (192 minutes) with 7 fours. Late order batsman Pat Symcox hit an attractive 77 spiced with 3 massive sixers and 6 fours off 108 balls out of a South African total of 333 for 9 declared in 104 overs. Kumara Dharmasena finished with 5 for 91 from 35 overs with his off cutters. Board XI led by test batsman Hashan Tillekaratne, made a bold reply scoring 291 in 105.4 overs. Hemantha Wickramarathe scored a solid 82 in 170 balls (200 minutes) while Duleep Samaraweera made 72 with 8 fours off 178 balls. These two put on 137 runs for the third wicket. Sanath Jayasuriya boosted the total with a well compiled 54 which included 2 sixes and 9 fours. Paceman Fannie de Villiers took 5 for 68 while Richard Snell captured 4 for 75. South Africans were 156 for 4 in 53 overs in their second innings, when the match was called off at 4.45 p.m. Jonty Rhodes made 50 with 4 fours in 105 balls. South Africa Under-24 side, led by Dale Benkenstein, played a four-day unofficial Test against a Sri Lanka Under-24 side led by Dulip Samaraweera from August 17 to 20 1995 at this venue, when the tourists recorded a fine eight wicket victory on the final day. Sri Lanka Under-24 won the toss and batted first scored 196 from 71.2 overs in 327 minutes. Naveed Nawaz scored 54 in 99 balls (174 minutes) with 8 fours. Paceman Lance Kluesner bagged 4 for 72 from 26 overs, and was ably supported by Nicky Boje (3/16). In reply, South Africa Under-24 made 338 in 126.2 overs. Gerhadus Libenberg hit a massive 168 with 12 hits to the ropes off 304 balls (494 minutes). This is the highest score by a visiting batsman in this venue in a first-class game. He and Skipper Benkenstein (61) put on 154 runs for the 4th wicket. Benkenstein faced 177 balls in 245 minutes for his 61. Spinner Jayantha Silva bowled best to capture 4 for 87 in 38.2 overs. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 174 in their second essay in 65.3 overs. Number eight batsman Manjula Munasinghe top scored with 31. Nicky Boje once again bowled best to capture 4 for 31 with his spin. South Africa made 35 for 2 in 9.5 overs to win the match by 8 wickets. Three players Skipper Dale Benkenstein, Mark Brayns and Nicky Boje are the survivors from that side which won the test series in 1995. Scores 1993 — SOUTH AFRICA 333 for 9 Dec. in 104 overs and 156 for 4 in 53 overs drew with BOARD XI 291 in 53 overs. 1995 — SRI LANKA UNDER-24 196 in 71.2 overs 327 minutes and 174 in 65.3 overs 291 minutes lost to SOUTH AFRICA UNDER-24 338 in 126.2 overs in 558 minutes and 35 for 2 in 9.5 overs by 8 wickets. Badulla
District win meet Badulla District emerged easy winners at the Uva Province inter-district track and field meet concluded at the Vincent Dias Stadium recently. Two districts, Badulla and Moneragala participated in this meet organised by the Ministry of Sports and the winners and runners-up will participate in the All-Island Meet scheduled to be conducted in September this year. Results: Men: 100 Mts. 1. Premasiri Ratnayake (Badulla time 11.5 Sec., 200 Mts. 1. M. I. M. Naleem (BD) time 23.4 Sec., 400 Mts. 1. P. Nuwan Deepal Perera (BD) Time 51.2 Sec., 800 Mts. 1 A. M. Sampath Kusumsiri (BD) Time 2m 02.4 Sec, 1500 mts. !Sunil Jayaweera (BD) Time 4 m. 01.8 Sec., 5000 Mts. 1. Rohitha Sampath (BD) Time 16m 39.6 Sec., 10000 Mts. 1. W. M. S. P. Dissanayake (BD) Time 33m 09.2 Sec., 110 Mts. Hurdles. 1. Thinesh Manjula Dissanayake (BD Time 17.9 Sec., 400 Mts. Hurdles, 1. G. Ratnayake (BD) Time., 52.6 Sec., Long Jump: 1 Aruna Prasad Ratnayake (Monera-gala) Dist 6.56 mts. Tourist Board
intent on promoting sports "Ceylon Tourist Board has come forward to promote the sports in a big way,"announced the Chairman of Ceylon Tourist Board H. M. S. Samaranayake at the press briefing conducted by Asian German Sports Exchange Programme at the Tourist Board last Wednesday. The chairman also stated that, many clubs were involved in the promotion of table tennis and as such we must give all facilities to improve the game. The Asian German Sports Exchange Programme is the best set up to channel support to promote especially table tennis, volleyball, football and badminton. So we must thank the Chairman of Asian German Sports Exchange Program Dietmar Doering who has extended his cooperation in a big way to promote sports. The chairman further said, 'we are promoting two other games tennis and golf in a big way. Every hotel comprises a tennis court and there are also many tennis associations and a large number of tennis players. We have two golf clubs in Colombo and Nuwara Eliya but those are not of international standard. So we have started a programme to build a new golf club in a 50 acre land in Mahaweli area. Football and rugby are two other games popular in Sri Lanka. If we provide necessary facilities and invite international teams such as Germany we could promote these games as well. There are 33 million Germans who are members of various sports clubs who wish to compete in other countries. Chairman Samaranayake also pointed out, 'we can provide immigration facilities to get visas and give them full security as these are very important for visiting teams to compete with Sri Lankans." Asian-German Sports Exchange Programme therefore suggests the very interesting and very stimulating idea that we should now in addition to promoting our tourism, promote sports in a very big way. We have done that in the case of golf, we have approved five golf courts and want to promote international golf players to come and play invitation tournaments. We also have provided facilities for tennis in every hotel and also organised in every resort tennis clubs. In addition, there are many tennis associations. But we do not have much facilities for table tennis, rugby and football in the hotels. So I want our Director in-charge of development, Selvam to encourage some of the hotels to provide those facilities. Of course we have TT clubs and also the TT tables in every hotel. But that is not noticed by any one. So now we can provide necessary facilities to promote the TT and we expect to provide these facilities in a big way. Dietmar Doering, Chairman Asian German Sports Exchange Programme said. Sri Lankan National TT team toured Germany last month with the assistance of our association. They played against 24 clubs. Our Asian-German Sports Exchange Programme is bent on promoting TT, tennis, volleyball, football, badminton and squash and tourism. We always invite the German teams to come here and also our teams to tour Germany. Visiting German teams will play in rural areas and in Colombo. That is very important to build up experience for Sri Lankans. The Asian German Sports Exchange Programme also offers scholarships for players. Indika Prasad is the second player who is expected to get this scholarship to Germany for one year. Christopher Arnolda has already benefited from such a scholarship. The Mayor of Willstad City invited Indika Prasad to join their club and that would be a very good opportunity for the young paddler to improve his skills. Jayantha Wickramasinghe, Director Marketing, Tourist Board, J. F. R. Perera Director General, Tourist Board, Angel Gurovski General Manager, Sri Lanka and India Balken Bulgarian Airlines and ex-president of TTASL Chandana Perera also graced this occasion. The
logic of our selectors In a press release published yesterday (not in 'The Island') Duleep Mendis, Chairman of the Selection Committee had stated that "it is the view of the selectors that Roshan Mahanama should seek advise and guidance of an expert ‘Batting Coach’ with a view of rectifying the technical defects in his batting... He should thereafter take part in competitive cricket in order for him to be considered for selection to the national squad." Of course, it must have eluded the mind of the Chairman that Mahanama: 1. Has a batting average of 30 in One-day and 29.2 in Test cricket and has scored the identical number of centuries (four) in both forms of the game as skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. Only difference being that Mahanama has achieved this despite playing in 29 tests and 46 One-day games less than the skipper. 2. Less than an year ago he became the co-holder of world's highest Test batting partnership whilst scoring a double century which also enabled Sri Lanka to establish the world highest total in Test cricket. 3. Has batted in 6 different positions within 2 years. 4. That whatever his contribution would be with the bat one can rest assured of his exploits on the field. If Mahanama, as Mendis states, has technical defects in his batting it is quite logical for his Committee to have excluded him from the tour squad of 18 for England. Then, on what logic was Mahanama picked AFTER THAT for the Nidahas Trophy final? Did the selectors want Sri Lanka to lose by playing such 'technically' unsound batsman? Doesn't it sound traitorous? Finally, Mendis is of the opinion that Mahanama should ‘seek advice and guidance from a batting coach’. Our present national coach is Roy Dias, and if my memory serves me right, he was an outstanding batsman and must be knowing more about batting than any other department of the game. Sri Lanka lost players of the calibre of Sidath Wettimuny and Asanka Gurusinha, to name just two, due to personality clashes and politics. Are we losing Mahanama as well? Lanka Cavaliers promote cricket at
Nawalapitiya Two fine half centuries by Dushan Soza (63) and Damian Fernando (51) for Lanka Cavaliers steered them to beat Lions Invitation XI in their 35-over limited over match played at Jayatilleke Park, Nawalapitiya, recently. Lanka Cavaliers led by former Sri Lanka captain Bandula Warnapura batting first made 222 for 7 wickets in their allotted 35 overs while Lions Invitation XI in reply were bundled out for a paultry 80 runs in 26 overs. Premalal Fernando captured 4 for 14 while skipper Warnapura took a wicket for a single run. Jerry Woutersz and Basil Perera captured two wickets each for Lanka Cavaliers. President and Manager of Lanka Cavaliers, Lakith Peiris said that this was the tenth Australian cricket fixture played by them. Before the match commenced a Coaching Clinic was conducted for the young cricketers in the area. Many school boys participated. Gamunu Sumathipala, Chairman, Nawalapitiya UC was the chief guest. At the conclusion of the match Lanka Cavaliers presented valuable cricket material to the Nawalapitiya Lions Club to be distributed among the schools in the area for development of the game. • SCORES • LANKA CAVALIERS 222 for seven wickets in 35 overs. (Dushan Soza 63, Damian Fernando 51, Bandula de Silva 29, Jayantha Seneviratne 15, Basil Perera 17 n.o., Bandula Warnapura 13 n.o., Hemal Kumara 2 for 26, Nishantha Perera 1 for 25, Manoharan 1 for 28, S. B. Yatawara 1 for 31). •LIONS INVITATION XI 80 all out in 26 overs. (S. B. Yatawara 14, Malinda Ratnayake 13, Premalal Fernando 4 for 14, Basil Perera 2 for 14, Jerry Woutersz 2 for 5, Bandula Warnapura 1 for 1, Ananda Gunasekera 1 for 16). The under-17 Division I inter school cricket tournament semi-finals conducted by Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association and sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka Limited will begin from August 1. The first semi-final will be between St. Joseph's College, Colombo and Ananda which will be played on August 1 and 2 at Ananda Mawatha. The other semi-final will be between S. Thomas, Mount Lavinia and Royal which will be played on August 8 and 9 at Mount Lavinia. The final is scheduled to be played on August 15 and 16, but the venue will be notified later. St. Sebastians, Moratuwa and Dharmaraja, Kandy were joint champions last year. (AN) Lanka Bell trounced Gestetner Ceylon Limited by 163 runs in their Mercantile "H" Division cricket encounter played at Campbell Park recently. Lanka Bell taking first lease of the wicket scored a formidable 236 for five wickets in 30 overs. Senaka de Silva top scored with an unbeaten 74. Gestetner in reply were skittled out for a paltry 73. Nalinda Dissanayake claimed six wickets for just eight runs. scores: LANKA BELL 236 for 5 wkts in 30 overs (P Rajapakse 55, S. de Silva 74 n.o., Shirley de Silva 52 n.o.) Gestetner Ceylon Limited 73 all out in 21 overs (U de Silva 10, N. Dissanayake 6/8, S de Silva (2/16) (AN) |
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