Sports
CH survive ‘yellow card drama’ to beat Police 18-12
by A Special Sports Correspondent
CH & FC survived giving away four yellow cards in their Division 1 Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament match against Police SC before pulling off a close 18-12 win at Race Course on Sunday (January 14).
This win was crucial for ‘Gymkhana’ Club because it is contesting to finish among the top four teams and play in the Cup Competition; which will have slots only for the top four teams in the points table. CH earned its points through three tries and one conversion; with all of the team’s points coming in the first half. CH’s first two yellow cards came in the 31st and 32nd minutes of play and Police capitalized on the 13-man advantage by earning a try through Hirantha Perera. CH had first half tries coming from Gihan Madusanka, Mohamed Absal and the third try coming off a forwards rush. CH’s Hirusha Nethmina slotted in a penalty in the first half to ensure his team led 18-7 at half time.
Police have only to blame themselves because they couldn’t make advantage of CH’s two other yellow cards which came in the 64th and 69th minutes of the second half. Police’s final try in the second half came before that ‘yellow card drama’ through the efforts of Mithun Hapugoda.
On Saturday CR & FC did pretty well to beat archrivals Havelocks SC by 25 points to 10 and clinch the Matthysz Trophy in their Division 1 Inter-Club league rugby tournament match played at Longden Place in front of an appreciative crowd.
The winners had to fight tooth and nail in the second half before restoring control of the game with a barrage of tries. CR produced four handsome tries in the second half through the efforts of Gemunu Chethiya, Manilka Ruberu, Kushan Indunil and Venura Kodagoda to make amends for their unsuccessful first half performance. Havelocks SC led 7-3 at half time through the efforts of a try coming from Udara Lakshan and the conversion coming right off the boot of Samuel Maduwantha.
CR’s marauding forwards were a bit too hot for the visiting Park Club side who simply outplayed their opponents using power and pace. It was heartening to see last season’s schoolboy rugby player Indunil jelling well with his experienced club mates and scoring a wonderful try. The last try by CR came through a forwards’ rush and hooker Kodagoda ( also a schoolboy prodigy from last season) found his way over the try line. Havelocks could manage just a penalty in the second half during which period they were forced to defend most of the time. The second penalty for Havies in the game came through Janith Chandimal; which was in the second half.
At Welisara, also on Saturday, Kandy SC made easy work of Navy SC before pulling off a comfortable 48 points to 7 win.
This result perhaps asks the question whether teams belonging to the forces can sustain the momentum they produce in the first half? Navy were in the game in the first session of play and restricted Kandy to three tries and earned one themselves. Kandy were slightly ahead of them (17-7) when the referee blew for half time. Navy’s first try in the game came off the efforts of Amith Madusanka while the conversion was well taken by Isuru Kongahawatte.
Kandy continued to gallop ahead of Navy in the second half after Lavanga Perera, Lasitha Attanagoda and Dhanushka Ranjan exploded in the first half with memorable touch downs. The second half tries for the winners came through Heshan de Silva, Heshan Jansen, Tharinda Ratwatte and K. Perera. The kicks at goal for Kandy were taken by Tharinda who chipped in with five conversions.
On Friday (January 12) Air Force did well to beat Army 17-14 at Ratmalana in a game that went to the wire. The winners collected their points through two tries, two conversions and a penalty while the losers responded with two converted tries.
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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