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Roshan Perera Player
of the Match Sri Lanka soccerites lacklustre performance and lack of professionalism deprived them of a certain victory in their opening encounter over Maldives in their Bristol Freedom Cup Championship at the Sugathadasa Stadium last night. In a match where chances were galore for Sri Lankans but only two of them were made use of by the hosts. The first was somewhat a gift via a penalty, which Roshan Perera converted, in the 23rd minute, to put them 1-nil ahead at the lemons. The Maldivian team coached by former Uzbekistan national player V. Solokho notched up the equalizer through a free kick inside the box taken by Ismail Asif who lobbed it straight to nets. The Sri Lankan coach P. D. Sirisena substituted ace striker M. Amanulla early. Much to the surprise of Isuru Perera. K. M. Kabeer, who was playing well too were replaced. However Manjula Sirisena who did not put up a good show carried in the full 90 minutes. Roshan Perera who missed some good scoring opportunities made up for every thing scoring the best goal of the tournament so far from a 30 year distance. But their joy was shortlived as Maldivians bounced back in the last minutes of the game to equalize. Adam A. Latheef picked up the ball from a mixup to score. Surdi Ismail controlled the game well while Nimal Wickramatunge and S. H. Gnanasena were the linesmen. The Maldivian coach said their team was young and they were nervous in the first half. "But we got ourself together in the second half," he added. India win The Malaysian outfit fielding their young pre Olympic squad found the net in the 35th minute of the match through the boot of Raul Bin Ahamed. In the second half the Indian team came up with a completely different battle plan and successfully put it in to practice. They banged in the equalizer, 5 minutes into the second half, when C. V. Pappachan put the final touches to a good midfield work. Twenty minutes later, K. Naushad put them ahead. Indians who has rested their key players in view of the December Asian Games, which they are participating after 15 years. In the twilight stages of the game Noel Wilson who was named as the best player of the match sealed the match with a pulsating goal. A. M. Yapa refereed while W. V. S. Jayaweera and C. A. B. Marasinghe were the two linesmen. The sponsors Ceylon Tobacco Company in a fine magnanimous gesture presented 100 footballs to the spectators. "We will be presenting 50 balls each to spectator at every match to commemorate 50 years of Independence" said Janaka Kiridena Brand Manager CTC. The stadium authorities must caution their employees not to grab the footballs meant for spectators. The organizers should also contact the Transport Ministry and have a bus service after the night matches. Today is the rest day of the event and tomorrow Sri Lanka encounters Malaysia at 6.30 p.m. while India take on Maldives at 4.30 p.m. Jayasuriya says opposition
worked on his style of play The usual trimmings of all the red carpet welcome was missing.There were no VIP’s to receive them.The Sri Lankan cricketers except for skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and vice captain,Aravinda de Silva,returned back home from their unsuccessful tour of Sharjah yesterday wehere they failed tro win a single match in the Champions trophy triangular. Opening batsman ,Sanath Jayasuriya ,answering a question by the press said that the side failed to deliver the goods due to certain weaknesses .Commenting on his poor form,Jayasuriya said that he had failed because the Indians and Zimbabweans had done their homework on his and other batsmen as to their strokes.Therefore he expected to work out a new strategy which he would start on shortly.He said that he was determined to ensure that the side lost no more tournaments again before the next World Cup in England next year. Poor batting performance
caused Lanka’s downfall — Arjuna The Sharjah Champions Trophy cricket tourney which commenced on Nov. 6 ended here on Friday No. 13 with India taking the Trophy for the sixth time beating Zimbabwe in the final. India were placed in the low order after the World Cup in 1996 has taken a upward trend. They have won many tournaments since the World Cup with an improved all round performance. Here too they put up a grand show in bowling and fielding in and addition to their strong batting. This helped them bounce world champions Sri Lanka twice in this tournament before entering the final Sachin Teldulkar was a tower of strength for India. His performance in the series brought him the Man of the Series and Man of the Final awards. India’s two wins over Sri Lanka saw the world champs bow out of the final. Zimbabwe also managed to overcome the champs with two good wins which closed all doors for Sri Lanka’s entry into the final. Teldulkar made it a historic event when he also carried away the award for the fastest fifty which he made in only 28 balls in the final and the award for most number of sixes. Tendulkar scoring two centuries took his tally of one day international centuries to 21. Speaking to media Teldulkar said "if I fail in one match I never take it seriously and I have always comeback with a good score in the next. I never play for personal glory or money. I think of my country", added Tendulkar. Mohamed Azharuddin addressing the press after the victory in the final said "our success was mainly due to team work. Every member of the team played their part well towards this and our next hope is the World Cup next year". This tournament became a memorable one for India skipper Mohamed Azharuddin when he made 94 runs against Sri Lanka to become the highest run getter in One Day Internationals. Desmond Haynes the West Indian was the man with the highest aggregate of runs in one dayers. Though everyone expected a India-Sri Lanka final it was never in sight with Sri Lanka’s first game when they went down to India. Arjuna Ranatunga Lankan skipper said batting performance of the team was the worst seen during his 17 year career. He further said though Aravinda played few good innings that was not sufficient to pull the side out of problems. Hashan Tillekeratne who played in the last game put up a good batting display. Hashan a batsman who collected runs at a slow pace played a complete different game to accumulate his runs. Sanath Jayasuriya who is expected to score runs freely in the first 15 overs continued with a new opening partner Avishka Gunewardena failed to deliver the goods for Lankans. Muralitharan’s absence demoralised Sri Lanka’s bowling department. Chaminda Vaas was the only bowler who was a threat to all batsmen. Nuwan Zoysa who partnered Vaas in the earlier games failed to live upto expectations but Pramodya Wickremasinghe bowled a good line in the last two games. Zimbabwe with two successive wins over world champions Sri Lanka got the full attention from the cricketing world. This also paved the way for them to enter a cup final for the first time. Alistair Campbell said that his team’s entry into the final is a dream come true. His also said that his team fielding was at its best and this became the vital point in beating Sri Lanka in both games. Zimbabwe with their performance proved that they could be a threat to cricketing nations at the next World Cup in England. Drawn game in Moratuwa Shammika Fernando (70) with 9 boundaries and Janaka Wannakuwatte (55) helped Prince of Wales College Moratuwa to take command with 260/6 when rain abruptly put end to the firstly day’s play in their inter-school cricket encounter against Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda played at Moratuwa. The Cambrian’s declaring at their overnight score sent in the Dharmasoka boys to bat on the second day scored 106 when rain halted play again. C. Sajeewa made 25 while E. Mendis made 20. Chief Scores: Mercantile Rugby
Sevens John Keells ‘A’ spurred on by winger Sanjeewa Jayasinghe who scored two dazzling tries emerged as the ’98 Mercantile Rugby Sevens champs, in the cup finals when they recorded a 17 points (7 goals, 2 tries) to 5 (1 try) win over defending champions, Hatton National Bank ‘A’ in the Mercantile Rugby Sevens tourney worked off at Havelock Park yesterday. At lemons the winners led 10-0. Then in the fourth minute Jayasinghe virtually repeated his first try when with good co-ordination from the threes he kicked the ball into the ingoal area to fall over by the left corner flag, to lead 10-0. During the second half HNB’s scrum half Champika Nishantha scored off a five metre scrum in the second minute for their only try in the game. With seconds to go for the full blast John Keells linkman Leonard de Silva scored a super try having collected the ball from a lineout when he ran some 40 metres in a solo run to add the icing on the cake for the victors. (JK) Sinha SC Ambalangoda gained first innings points over Old Mazenodians in the Div II cricket fixture which concluded yesterday. Old Mazenodians who made 105 in the first innings went on to reach 235 for 6 in the second essay with skipper Ruwan Laksiri scoring a swashbuckling 58 which included four sixes and three boundaries. Sinha SC were 88 for 8 at close. Ruwan Laksiri had a match bag of 9 for 63. Scores: OLD MAZENODIANS — 105 and 235 for 6 (P. Kularatne 20, Dinesh Silva 25, Felix Dias 45, Lanka Chinthana 60, Ruwan Laksiri 58, Nalin Kumara 3/73). (BP) Inspired while watching Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe Return Ye Brave Masters of the Bat
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