Sports
Tharushi basks in Asian Games glory
Sri Lanka bounce back from mixed relay disappointment to bag four medals
By Reemus Fernando
From athletics administrators to so-called track and field experts who have been criticizing schools’ coaches for ruining the careers of budding athletes and have been placing the blame for the medal drought at international level on schools’ coaches during the last couple of decades. But finally, it was a schoolgirl trained by a schools coach who ended the decades long gold medal drought at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China yesterday.
Ratnayake Central, Walala prodigy Tharushi Karunaratne beat the experienced Chinese Olympian Wang Chunyu in the home straight in the women’s 800 metres final to deliver Sri Lanka’s first Asian Games gold medal in 21 years. In a tactically slow race Karunaratne sprinted in the last 60 metres to overtake the Chinese duo and etched her name in gold before returning in less than 50 minutes to anchor the women’s 4×400 metres team to bronze.
The athlete trained by Susantha Fernando clocked 2:03.20 seconds to win her third gold medal in the two lap race at Asian level this year. She commenced the gold medal hunt with the Asian Junior Championship gold and followed that up at the Asian Championship before beating a strong field inclusive of an Olympic finalist in Hangzhou yesterday.
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- The bronze winning women’s 4×400 metres team (from left) Jayeshi Uththara, Lakshima Mendis, Tharushi Karunaratne and Nadeesha Ramanayake.
She became the first Sri Lankan schoolgirl since Damayanthi Dharsha (1994) to win a medal at the Asian Games. The 18-year-old who was once refused entry to Digana Stadium for not paying entry fees for training is now among a selected number of Sri Lankans to have won gold medals at Asian Games. She is the seventh Sri Lankan to have won an individual gold medal at the Asian Games and only the third woman behind Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha to have accomplished such a task.
Sri Lanka won a total of three medals yesterday and concluded the track and field campaign with four medals, the highest number since winning three golds and two bronzes in 1998.
Tharushi also became the first athlete from Sri Lanka to win a medal in the 800 metres at these Games. Incidentally, 4×400 metres medal too was the country’s first in the Games history.
Sri Lanka were uncertain about fielding a women’s 4×400 metres team but the team’s success at the recent Asian Athletics Championships fueled new hopes forcing authorities to make late requests to field a team.
The team comprising of Nadeesha Ramanayake, Jayeshi Uththara, Lakshima Mendis and Tharushi did not disappoint as they established a new Sri Lanka record in winning the bronze in a time of 3:30.88 seconds. Tharushi played a crucial role in winning the medal after receiving the baton in the fourth position. She pipped the Vietnam team to the fourth place with a stunning final lap clocked at 51.06 seconds.
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- The bronze winning men’s 4×400 metres team (from left) Aruna Dharshana, Rajitha Rajakaruna, Kalinga Kumarage and Pabasara Niku.
The men’s 4×400 metres relay team anchored by Kalinga Kumarage did well to secure the third place behind India and Qatar. Two days on from missing the mixed relay silver medal for an infringement of a lane rule Aruna Dharshana and Kumarage did their part together with Pabasara Niku and Rajitha Rajakaruna to return a time of 3:02.55 seconds. India won the gold in a time of 3:01.58 seconds, while Qatar returned a time of 3:02.05 seconds.
It was the first time since 2006 that the country won a medal in the men’s 4×400 metres relay, a discipline Sri Lanka had medal success on three previous occasions.
The track and field team finished with one gold, one silver and two bronzes. The silver medal was won by Dilhani Lekamge on Tuesday. She threw the javelin to a distance of 61.57 metres to become the first Sri Lankan thrower to win a medal at Asian Games.
On a day where the Sri Lanka’s cricket team were beaten by Afghanistan in the quarter-finals, the track and field athletes who persevere thanks largely to the support they gain from the tri forces have kept the country’s flag flying high in Hangzhou.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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