Sports
Did Petes find their lost identity at rugby?
By A Special Correspondent
Rugby at St. Peter’s has been feared for during the last decade or more for the reasons that the school’s rugby team can produce winners and also create surprises on the field.
They did just that last Friday (September 16) when they beat giant killers and runners-up at the League and President’s Trophy Knockout tournaments St. Joseph’s in their traditional rugby encounter played for the Rev Fr Basil Wiratunga Shield at Havelock Park.
The win for St. Peter’s might look nothing much to celebrate for outsiders who know little about rugby this season at the Bambalapitiya school. This team had just one victory this season (Against Dharmaraja in the league) before the match against Joes. The losses they suffered at the hands of many of their opponents left them ‘bleeding’ throughout the several months of training; where the boys were made to sweat and workout in a professional coaching environment. But still, there was hope to keep their heads held straight throughout the season without succumbing to the pressures building around them. Many believe that this was possible due to the strong Christian background in which education and sports are pursued at this academic institute. Praying before a game and during the day has enabled the boys to keep the grey matter inside the boys’ brains in functioning mode; especially at a time when outsiders gave up hope on these rugby players.
When the league tournament was nearing an end an opportunity arose for the Peterites to book a slot among the quarter-finalists for the President’s Trophy knockout tournament because two top teams pulled out of the running. But then came the second blow to the team. This came in the form of running into trouble for fielding in the side a player not eligible to represent the school at sports. There is speculation that the Peterite rugby team now runs the risk of being demoted to a lower segment of the tournament text season regarding the issue of fielding in the side this player who has stirred some controversy. However, the Peterite authorities have denied all allegations levelled against this player.
The Peterite side was not a weak one and gave a run to most of their opponents during the league season and even produce a draw against Wesley and went down fighting to S.Thomas’ College; the latter fixture being a traditional friendly. The side however showed that they had to work on line-outs and even passing skills among the players were not up to the level of First XV rugby.
But there was a transformation in the side at the match against the Joes. The Peterites as a whole showed no mercy to their opponents when tackling and displayed the guts of a burglar when confronted by obstacles. There were some casualties as a result, but the message was clear; the boys were in the mood to do or die.
The Peterites played good rugby at times, but they learned the hard way this season that other teams had made giant strides in the sport of rugby union (pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)
The Peterites played good rugby at times, but they learned the hard way this season that other teams had made giant strides in the sport of rugby union (pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)It was their last chance to prove their existence in school rugby this season. They were sure standing on thin ice. A loss against the Joes meant the circumstances would have swallowed them up. Coach Sanath Martis it seemed had worked on defence. The Joes’ big man, that brute of a hulk and the regular match winner Navin Marasinghe found it hard to run at will. For him, it was like running on a field laced with glue. But still, the first half produced a battering for the Peteries. The Josephians produced three tries which came through the efforts of Vihanga Randeepa, Vishika Fernando and Sachinthana Vidayanatha. The Peterites responded with a penalty in the first half and when the two sides went into halftime, surprisingly the mood in the Peterite camp was not damp at all.
Great martial artist and philosopher Bruce Lee once said that calmness is a great weapon; especially during adversity. And Coach Martis had it and showed it. What he told at the little chit chat he had with the boys at ‘lemons’ we don’t know, but it certainly worked. Martis knows the value of making it in life after a struggle. He exudes the message that ‘nothing is easy before it’s hard’. Leave alone the fact that it is not easy at all for players to satisfy him through even the best of performances. This performance by the boys probably brought drops of tear to his eyes, but a taskmaster and coach in the calibre of Martis might not show it. He has both a soft and a hard side to his character, but when the soft side is shown in a moment of a flash akin to lightning it’s beautiful. Only the alert ones might observe this.
The second half produced thunder. The game changed so dramatically and the Peterites came into the game showing the attitude of a street-smart kid. They scored their first try off the efforts of Pasindu Thakshila. The game was later stopped when the referee had to supervise the removal of an injured player and the entrance to the field of replacements. Martis seized the opportunity and was seen talking to the boys from the touchlines. He ‘probably’ spelt out to the boys to adopt a kick and chase tactic; probably sensing that the Joes would wilt under the pressure of the high ball. Joes were never ready for this tactic. Sudesh Jayawickrema scored first through this method after chasing a high kick that bounced into Joes ‘22’. The next to score in a similar fashion was Yumeth Sihara. Petes took the lead 22-21, but the Joes grabbed it back with a penalty by Ruchika Rodrigo.
But Vindya De Mel dropped a peach of a goal from 25 metres out to seal the game just before the final whistle and hand the Peterites victory.
The Peteries needed this win badly. Their rugby identity was at stake and the time till the next season arrives would have been like travelling inside a dark tunnel if not for winning the Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga Shield and taking it where the other silverware lies at the school’s trophy cupboard. They needed something to hold on to. The boys were seen posing with the shield and true enough there were photos taken from smartphones for posterity with the shield in hand. But what really gave them something to hold on to came in the form of finding self-worth which came through a collective team effort and a memorable victory.
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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