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Returns fifth best test match haul of 16
wkts Off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan bowled Sri Lanka to a historic maiden 10-wicket Test victory over England yesterday as he ran through the entire English batting line up in the second innings bar a run out to finish with 9 wickets for 65 in a marathon 54 overs here on the fifth and final day at the Oval of the one-off Cornhill Test match. Needing 36 runs for victory in 14 overs, Sri Lanka made it in 5 overs. When the off spinner finally saw the stubborn Mark Ramprakash fall to his trap when he was well held on the leg side by Mahela Jayawardena for 42 to end a stubborn 9th wicket partnership between the right hander and Darren Gough who had resisted for over two hours, victory which had looked like slipping away looked a certainty with England 180 for 9 wickets. And the Sri Lankans did not have to wait long for the end of that road when Muralitharan clean bowled Gough to end his resistance as England folded up for 181 to finish with an astounding match bag of 16 wickets for 220 runs. Muralitharan went on to complete the best fifth match haul in test cricket The victory over the old masters of the game in this one-off Cornhill Test match marked a new chapter in Sri Lankan Test cricket . When England resumed at an overnight 54 for 2 wickets, Muralitharan struck to get rid of opener Steve James for 25 when he holed a catch to Mahela Jayawardena at silly point. Captain Alec Stewart then went when a bulls eye throw by substitute Upul Chandana for Aravinda de Silva broke down the stumps at the striker’s end to reduce England to 93 for 4. Muralitharan next clean bowled John Crawley for 14 and trapped Ben Hollioake next ball leg before for a duck and missed on a hat-trick which would have brought him his 220th test wicket. England 116 for 6 at lunch. Muralitharan soon had Dominic Cork for 8 when wicket keeper Romesh Kaluvitharana took a fine catch behind to celebrate his 200th wicket in test cricket soon after the lunch break. When he had Ian Salisbury trapped plumb in front of the wicket for a duck England had slipped to 127 for 8. But a defiant ninth wicket alliance that lasted over two hours between Ramprakash and Gough held up Sri Lanka in their victory thrust as the duo put on 53 invaluable runs which saved England the ignominy of an innings defeat. Opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya struck a breezy 24 inclusive of two sixes to give the final flourish to that great victory that spoiled what had otherwise been a fine summer for Alec Stewart’s Englishmen who had lifted English cricket from a long holocaust with their 3-2 test triumph over the mighty South Africans. SCOREBOARD England first innings 445 (J. Crawley 156 not out, G. Hick107, M. Ramprakash 53; M. Muralitharan 7-155) Sri Lanka first innings 591 (S. Jayasuriya 213, A. de Silva152, A. Ranatunga 51) England second innings M. Butcher st Kaluwitharana b
Muralitharan 15 Extras (b-7 lb-8 w-1 nb-14)
30 Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-25, 3-78, 4-93, 5-116, 6-116, 7-127, 8-127, 9-180. Bowling: Wickremasinghe 4-0-16-0,
Perera 11-2-22-0, Sri Lanka second innings S. Jayasuriya not out 24 Extras (lb-4) 4 Did not bat: Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillekeratne, Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Romesh Kaluwitharana, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Suresh Perera, Kumara Dharmasena. Bowling: Fraser 2-0-19-0, Cork 2-0-3-0, Hollioake 1-0-11-0 Result: Sri Lanka win by 10 wickets. National Schools Football Championships 1997 Thirteen new schools throughout the island have taken to football and will contest this year's Milo National Schools Soccer Tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Football Association (SLSFA) which got underway yesterday. It is sponsored for the ninth successive year by Nestle's Lanka Limited. This major event in the schools soccer calendar has drawn schools from the North and East except for Jaffna district. The new schools are S. Thomas', Gurutalawa, Inigala Muslim MV, Katugastota, Rahumaniya MV, Welippane, Navinna MV, Uluvitike, Bodhiraja MV, Pugoda, Dudley Senanayake MMV, Tholangamuwa, St. Mary's, Kotahena, Siri Dhamma, Labuduwa, C. F. F. Buddhist Vidyalaya, Mulleriyawa, Ulpane Udagama MV, Ulpane, Swarna Jayanthi MV, Kegalle, Bandaranayake MV, Hettimulla and Madeena National School, Siyambalagaskotuwa. This year's tournament is being conducted in the same format as last year with the under-16 and 18 consisting of three divisions while under 12 and 14 would be in one division. The under 16 and 18 schools will have a minimum of seven matches on a four at home and three away basis in the league tourney. The first eight teams in each division will qualify to play in the final round. As in the past, all winners of each division will be awarded the Milo Trophy with certificates and medals. A special award each for the highest goals scorer of the tournament both in under 16 and 18 age groups will also be on offer. TTSC
— Squash C'ships Trans Asia Hotel is favoured to win the championship at the Ninth Annual Squash Tournament which commences today at its courts. The championship comes to an end on Sept. 3. The tourney is sponsored by Trans Asia Hotel for the ninth successive year. They have won on all eight earlier occasions said the Secretary of the Travel Trade Sports Club Tyronne Perera at a press briefing held on Friday. The events to be worked off at this tournament are Open and Intermediate for Men and Women and Over 35 for men. The winners will be decided on a point basis which is introduced at this championship for the first time. The points system is based as follows all entrant receive five points, five points for winners in the first round, and five additional points winning an event. Six clubs from the Travel Trade Sports Society have entered the fray. The participating teams are Trans Asia Hotel, Colombo Hilton Hotel, Hotel Oberoi, Walkers Tours, Aitken Spence and K.L.M. Airlines. Last years participants Air Lanka has not confirmed its participation at this year's competition. Winners and runners up (teams and individuals) will be awarded with Trans Asia Challenge Trophy. Samantha Jayashantha is the top seed while Anura Hewage is slotted as bottom seed. Both represent Trans Asia Hotel. Women's national champion Shiranthi Kottage is the only woman competitor at this year's event. She will play along with men. E. Ravichandran a former national champion and former Squash Federation President Hiran Soysa and Wing Commander Wimal Fernando from Aitken Spence too battle for honours in the Intermediate category. Rufus Perera, General Manager Trans Asia Hotel will be the chief guest the final day. Lanka Bell entered the quarter-finals of the Mercantile "H" Division Cricket Tournament defeating Burns and Phillip on a faster run rate played at Health Grounds recently. Batting first, Lanka Bell scored a brisk 100 runs in 10-overs for the loss of six wickets. But rain intervened and the match was reduced to 10 overs per side. Bevan Ranasinghe top scored with a well compiled 44. But their opponents could not bat due to heavy rains again and Lanka Bell reserved a berth in the quarters on a faster run rate maintained throughout the tournament. • Scores: Lanka Bell 100 for 6 wkts. in 10 overs. (B. Ranasinghe 44, N. Dissanayake 23 n.o., Vijith 4/12). (AN) |
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