Sports
Coach Ibrahim impressed with rugby squad
by a Special Sports Correspondent
Sri Lanka expects to send a squad comprising experience and budding youth for the rugby sevens event of the next edition of the Commonwealth Games, according to Coach Nilfer Ibrahim.
The soft-spoken Ibrahim has followed rugby in Sri Lanka for many years and knows the players inside out. “I’ve watched them grow up and make that transition from school rugby to club rugby and eventually the national side. There is just one player in this squad who is new to me and the others are known to me,” said the Sri Lanka coach whose appointment was ratified by Sri Lanka Rugby very recently.
Sri Lanka, or for that matter all other teams, doesn’t know who their opponents will be in the pool stage of the tournament because the teams haven’t been grouped as yet. That could be because most of the giant rugby-playing nations are, at present, contesting the ongoing World Series Sevens with the latest stop being England (May 28-29). Sri Lanka could be an unknown quantity at the Commonwealth Games and that could be an advantage too because strong teams love to study other opponents. Sri Lanka’s success records in rugby sevens are just a few. Their last appearance was at the Dialog Asian Sevens Series in 2021 where the islanders finished overall sixth.
Speaking about his appointment Ibrahim said that he accepted the offer made to him to coach the side largely because it’s a short-term assignment. “I love rugby and taking up coaching roles offered to me in the sport. I started coaching teams starting around 2007 and have been coaching to date. I have a personal dream as a coach and that is to see Sri Lanka qualify to make the quarter-final stage in an international rugby sevens tournament,” he said.
Sri Lanka might have a long way to go in the international sevens scene. Most players in Sri Lanka are semi-professional and others are doing day jobs. “Getting the players to contest an international event is a challenge in itself. We have just about two months to prepare, but we have to remind ourselves that the Commonwealth Games is a tournament where the standard is very high. The sevens version of the game features big in the world rugby calendar and I’ve observed that the top players now kick less in seven-a-side rugby. We have to adopt that theory and first focus on the pool games,” said the Sri Lanka coach.
The Sri Lankan squad comprises some experienced players in the likes of Reza Refaideen, Buddhima Priyaratne, Danush Daya, Nigel Ratwatte, Tharindra Ratwatte, Adeesha Weerathunga, Iroshan Silva, Srinath Sooriyabandara and Methun Hapugoda. There is also Ovin Hettiarachchi who is a 19-year-old player. There are several other promising youth players in the squad. According to Ibrahim the majority of players in the squad age around 25. Scrum half Sooriyabandara is tipped to lead the side.
Nilfer said that his focus on the initial days with the squad will be to focus on areas like the restarts, defence and rucks. “I was happy when I attended the first trial because I observed that the players are skilled and knowledgeable. I think we are living in an era of information and that has not only helped the game a lot but will also make my job a lot easier,” said the coach.
Sri Lanka’s appearances in the last few editions of the Commonwealth Games have produced fighting performances in pool matches, but there has been a drought in terms of producing a single victory at rugby sevens in the pool stages of the tournament. The appearance where they were able to bring back a piece of silverware from the games was at the 2014 Games in Gold Cost where they managed to win the newly introduced segment- ‘Shield Competition’- by beating Barbados Trinidad and Tobago 43-7. Earlier in the day the islanders had beaten Papua New Guinea to book their berth in the final. But this was after losing all their matches in the pool stages of the tournament.
This time around the rugby matches will be played from July 29-31. There will be women’s segment in the rugby sevens event and Sri Lanka is expected to field a team.
The men’s national squad comprises 20 players and finally, only 12 will take flight to England.
Ibrahim is quite optimistic that the players will gel together and do justice to their skills. The Sri Lanka coach underscored that one positive feature in the side is that none of the players is carrying injuries.
According to rugby sources, Rohan Chintaka is tipped to be the manager of the team.
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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