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Injury puts Aravinda out of first two one-dayers
Australia 'A' down Sri LankaMELBOURNE, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Australia A beat Sri Lanka by five wickets on Friday in a warm-up match overshadowed by a leg injury suffered by the tourists' leading batsman and stand-in captain Aravinda de Silva. De Silva is likely to miss the world champions' first two matches of the triangular limited overs series, which starts on Sunday when Australia play England in Brisbane, after injuring his thigh while batting.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat but succumbed for 180 in 49 overs, de Silva top scoring with 45 before retiring hurt.
The Australian shadow team needed the same number of overs before reaching 181 for five after some tight bowling by paceman Chaminda Vaas.
The win meant Australia A took the three-match warm-up series 2-1.
Sri Lanka manager Ranjith Fernando said de Silva would undergo a scan on the injury and hoped the right-hander would be only be out for between seven and 10 days.
'It is a big blow particularly as Aravinda has been batting so well. It's going to be a big handicap to us,' Fernando told reporters.
De Silva, named as captain in place of Arjuna Ranatunga, is now likely to miss Sri Lanka's opening two matches against England in Brisbane on Monday and then against Australia in Sydney on Wednesday.
De Silva earlier halted a slump in which Sri Lanka lost their first three wickets for 14 runs.
He stumbled as he ran through for his 45th run and fell to the ground clutching his left leg. De Silva left the field and was unable to resume his innings.
Australia A were briefly in trouble after losing captain Greg Blewett for 43 and Damien Martyn for 32 to be 93 for four in the 28th over.
All-rounder Andrew Symonds however steered the home side to victory with an unbeaten 46.
Scoreboard Sri Lanka
A. Gunawardane c Martyn b Lee 19
R. Kaluwitharana c Symonds b Nicholson 22
M. Atapattu c Campbell b Lee 10
A. de Silva retired hurt 45
R. Mahanama lbw b Lee 9
H. Tillekeratne c Blewett b Harvey 35
R. Perera run out 7
U. Chandana c & b Lee 9
C. Vaas not out 4
M. Muralitharan run out 3
N. Zoysa c DiVenuto b Harvey 3
Extras (b-1 lb-6 w-6 nb-1) 14
Total (all out, 49 overs) 180
Fall of wickets: 1-42 2-55 3-56 4-85 5-154 6-166 7-168 8-175 9-180
Bowling: Nicholson 6-0-35-1 (w-2 nb-1), Denton 10-1-28-0, Lee 9-0-27-4 (w-1), Harvey 10-0-27-2 (w-2), Young 10-0-38-0, Symonds 4-0-18-0 (w-1)
Australia A
G. Blewett c & b Chandana 43
R. Campbell c Kaluwitharana b Vaas 5
M. DiVenuto b Vaas 8
D. Martyn c Kaluwitharana b Perera 32
B. Hodge c Chandana b Zoysa 39
A. Symonds not out 46
S. Lee not out 0
Extras (lb-2 w-4 nb-2) 8
Total (for five, 49 overs) 181
Fall of wickets: 1-10 2-29 3-91 4-93 5-180
Did not bat: Ian Harvey, Brad Young, Matthew Nicholson, Gerard Denton
Bowling: Vaas 10-2-24-2 (nb-2), Zoysa 10-0-40-1,
Muralitharan 10-0-33-0, Perera 6-0-34-1 (w-1), Chandana 10-0-36-1 (w-3), Tillekeratne 3-0-12-0.
St. Joseph's College, Colombo were 180 for the loss of nine wickets at stumps in their inter school cricket fixture against St. Benedict's at Darley Road yesterday.
After dismissing Bens for a paltry 101 runs, Joes batsmen did well to take a lead of 69 runs by the close.
Bens who batted, first failed to read the off spin bowling of Asanga Fernando. Fernando bowled a fine spell to claim four vital wickets for nine runs. Opening bowler R. de Silva put the skids earlier in the Bens innings by capturing two wickets for 35 runs.
Joes in reply had a poor start with opener Johanas Jayasuriya out for a brisk 20. After his departure they lost few quick wickets. Dilan Ramanayake (32) and Danuka Pathirana steadied the innings to pull them out from the doldrums. SCORES:
SBC 101 (C. Devabandu 15, J. Savarinmuthupulle 25, J. Jeremey 24, R. de Silva 2/35, A. Fernando 4/9).
SJC 180 for 9 wkts at close (J. Jayasuriya 20, I. Danial 20, D. Ramanayake 32, R. de. Silva 16, D. Pathirana 45, I. Hettiarachchi 25, A. Gunatilake 2/34, S. Perera 4/63). - (AN)
Thomian schoolboy in World Cup pool
Thomian schoolboy Upeka Fernando has been named in a provisional 30-member Sri Lanka pool for the forthcoming World Cup picked by the National cricket selectors on Thursday.
Fernando, a hard-hitting right batsman captained S. Thomas' last season and was vice captain of the National Under 19 side which too part in the Junior World Cup held in South Africa. He also turns for SSC in the Premier Division championship.
This pool is expected to be pruned to next month after the Selectors monitor the performances of each player in the squad.
Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Roshan Mahanama, Hashan Tillakaratne, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana, Promodaya Wickremasinghe, Suresh Perera, Nuwan Soysa, Avishka Gunawardena, Tilan Samaraweera, Ruchira Perera, Mahela Jayawardena, Russel Arnold, Ruwan Kalpage, Mario Vellawarayan, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Eric Upashantha, Chamara Soysa, Indika de Seram, Bathiya Perera, Jeewantha Kulatunga, Sajeewa de Silva, Upeka Fernando, Prasanna Jayawardena and T. M. Dilshan.
At the School Nets
Thomians packed with 8 coloursmenBy Dhammika Ratnaweera
S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, packed with eight coloursman, has one of the most experienced sides this inter-school cricket season. They have a well balanced outfit and are led by fourth year coloursman Naren Ratwatte.Last year's skipper Upeka Fernando is the most experienced member of the squad. A hard hitting right hand batsman, Fernando will undoubtedly lead their batting charge once again. He amassed 900 runs from only nine matches last season and also represented the Sri Lanka Schools under 19 team in the Junior World Cup tournament held in South Africa.
Fernando and newcomer Dilshan Gunawardena open the batting. Gihan Fernando, Meshad Pieris and Shanaka Caldera, are the other strokemakers in the side. Upeka Fernando is in good nick this season too, having slammed a century in their victorious match against Dharmaraja.
Skipper Ratwatte and Lakmal Fernando open the attack with spinners Suranga Pieris, Harshana Jayawardena and Meshad Pieris supplementing them.
The Thomians, who are the reigning Coca-Cola knock out trophy champions, expect to defend their title successfully under the guidance of new coach Dinesh Kumarasinghe. Rohan Ekanayake, the master-in-charge, and B.S.J. Perera, the second XI coach, provide the boys all encouragement.
S. Thomas' will meet traditional rivals Royal College in the 'Battle of the Blues' on March 11, 12 and 13 at the SSC grounds.
Following are the pen-pix of the Thomian squad:
NAREN RATWATTE (captain): Fourth year coloursman. Right hand batsman and right arm medium paceman who opens the attacks. Last season he took over 40 overs, including a five-wicket haul. He also represented the national under 19 team at the Mini-World Cup tournament held in South Africa.
SURANGA PIERIS (vice captain): Fifth year coloursman. Right hand batsman and left arm orthodox leg spinner. Captured over 50 wickets last season, including a five-wicket haul. Also scored over 250 runs as a middle order batsman.
UPEKA FERNANDO: Fifth year coloursman. Captained the side last season. Aggressive right hand opening batsman. The most experienced member of the side. He was vice captain of the National under 19 team at the Mini World Cup tournament held in South Africa last year.
Last season he played only nine matches, being away on national duty. However, he score 900 runs, inclusive of two centuries against St. Peter's and D.S. Senanayake College.
He also represented SSC in the premier division one tournament and was selected to the Sri Lanka 'A' pool. He is also a useful right arm medium paceman.
GIHAN FERNANDO: Second year coloursman. Right arm medium paceman. Opens the attack with his skipper. A hard hitting batsman.
ZAKIR KANAKA: Second year coloursman. Right hand batsman and wicket keeper of the side.
MESHAD PIERIS: Second year coloursman. Right hand batsman and right arm leg spinner.
SHANAKA CALDERA: Second year coloursman. Right hand batsman and useful leg spinner.
DILSHAN GUNAWARDENA: Fresher. Right hand opening batsman.
RAVIN PERERA: Fresher. Left hand batsman.
HARSHANA JAYAWARDENA: Fresher. Right hand batsman and useful right arm off-spinner.
LAHIRU WICKREMASINGHE: Fresher. Left hand batsman and right arm off-spinner.
DENHAM WILLIAMS: Fresher. Left hand batsman and left arm leg spinner.
MILINDA GUNARATNE: Fresher. Right hand batsman and right arm medium paceman.
CHAMARA PERERA: Fresher. Right hand batsman.
RAJIV GUNAWARDENA: Fresher. Left hand batsman and left arm leg spinner.
COACH: Dinesh Kumarasinghe.
MASTER-IN-CHARGE: Rohana Ekanayake
40 expected for junior international tennis meet
By Shirajiv Sirimane
The 16th International Junior Tennis Championship (Group Four) will be held in Colombo from January 25 - 31 at the SLTA courts.At a press conference in this regard held on Wednesday, D. L. Seneviratne, referee, said that 40 foreign players are expected to compete in this event. 'This is a stepping stone to junior players to reach international heights,' he said.
John Rajapakse, President, SLTA said that Ericsson Lanka Ltd. will be the principal sponsor while Pepsi and Grand Oriental Hotel are the other sponsors. The event is estimated to cost around Rs. 500,000.
He thanked Ericsson for being involved in this event in a major way. Dunlop Balls will be utilized while matches will be played on 12 of SLTA's clay courts.
This tournament is scheduled in the World Junior Ranking Tournament calendar and has attracted participants from 29 countries. Junior tennis champions from Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Doha, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyraghistan, Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, UAE and UK are billed to take part. Matches will be worked off at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts.
The tournament is open to boys and girls born between 1st January 1981 and 31st December 1986. It is an International Tennis Federation World Ranking Tournament (Group IV) where winners, runners-up and losing semi-finalists will earn points according to the accepted ITF scale. Winners and runners-up of all main events will be awarded trophies. The events of the tournament are:
Boys (18 and under): singles
Girls (18 and under): singles
Boys (18 and under): doubles
Girls (18 and under) doublesThere will also be a Consolation Event for first round losers in both boy's and girls singles events.
Notice of the tournament has been forwarded to all National Tennis Associations affiliated to the International Tennis Federation. Entries close on 22nd January, and the draw for the matches will be held on 24th January.
Officials at the tournament will be D. L. Seneviratne (Referee), J. C. Kariyawasam (Tournament Chairman), Aruna Seneviratne (Tournament Secretary), Gihan Dalpadadu (Secretary and Media and Coordination Officer), and John Rajapakse (Chief of Umpires).
NCC fail to cope with Rangana's spin
Rangana Herath's superb bowling feat which brought him six wickets helped Moors SC restrict NCC to a total of 162 in their Inter Club Premier Championship encounter at NCC grounds yesterday.
At close Moors were 67 for 2 with Sampath Perera unbeaten on 26.
Kumara Sangakkara (35) Pradeep Hewage (30) and Jaminda Sigera (31) made useful contributions for NCC. Moors skipper Chandika Hathurusinghe with 2 wickets supported young Herath.
BRC out for 155
Bloomfield after bundling out BRC for 155 made 55 for 3 wicket at close.
Colts 222
Jeevantha Kulatunga struck a fine half century to help his side Colts to reach 222 against CCC at CCC grounds. At close CCC were 21 for no loss. Kulatunge's knock of 81 included eleven boundaries and two sixes.
Tamils amass 333
Tamil Union amassed the highest score for the day in the Inter Club Premier Championship match yesterday against SSC at Maitland Place. Vajira Wijegunewardene top scored with 80.
Mahela Jayawardene was the most successful bowler with three wickets.
SCORES:
At BRC groundsBRC 155 (Duminda Perera 51, Suminda Rajapakse 28, Deepal Madurapperuma 36, Pulasthi Gunaratne 3/18, Hemantha Alles 2/43, Batheesha de Silva 2/60, Priyankara Wickramasinghe 2/12).
BLOOMFIELD 55 for three wickets at close. (Taraka Gunaratne 11, Sajika Abeynayake 14 n.o., Buddika Mendis 13 n.o., Chamikara Mudalige 2/21).
* At NCC grounds
NCC 162 (Kumar Sangakkara 35, Pradeep Hewage 30, Priyantha Rajapakse 14, Asela Pathirana 22, Jaminda Sigera 31, Chandika Hathurusinghe 2/19, Rangana Herath 6/49).
MOORS 67 for two wickets at close (Sampath Perera 26 n.o., Lindal Hanible 2/18).
* At CCC grounds
COLTS 222 (Chaminda Mendis 37, Indika de Saram 43, Jeewantha Kulatunga 81, Indika Gallage 2/42, T. Sanjaya 3/26).
* At SSC grounds
TAMIL UNION 333 for nine wickets at close (Vajira Wijegunawardane 80, Gayan Wijekoon 48, Niroshan Wijekoon 40, Mahela Jayawardane 3/36) vs SSC. - (DR)
By Dhammika Ratnaweera
Indika Prasad, a National Table Tennis captain, who got a scholarship from Germany last September, performed well during his first season by winning 10 matches out of 14.Prasad, the bottom seed paddler representing the TTC Willstatt Club in Germany as a professional player, played against 10 Clubs. He won against Riedbutringen, Stockach, Mulhawsen, Feriburg, Iffezheim, Furtwangen, Wiehre Freibury, Zell and Rammersweier.
Indika pairing with Blohorn in the doubles, won seven matches out of 10.
Prasad, 23 year-old former Isipatanian received this two-year scholarship from Asian-German Sports Exchange programme. He is the second player to receive this scholarship. Christopher Arnolda was awarded the first time.
Prasad, who also won a bronze medal at the seventh SAF Games in the doubles event partnering Deepika Rodrigo.
He told 'The Island' this scholarship was very important for him. In the first season, Willstatt Club donated one and half lakhs for me and they hope to give their maximum support to build up my skills.
Indika will return to Germany on Sunday for his second season.
