Sports
Kandy SC understands the supreme reality of rugby!
By a Special Sports Correspondent
Kandy Sports Club is riding on a high wave this season too and their presence in the domestic rugby scene has given the sport at home the much needed lift to attract attention of fans and sponsors.
Imagine being the only division 1 rugby playing club in the Central Province and having to compete against seven other teams which are scattered all over in another province which is 72 km away from Kandy! Till very recently Kandy didn’t see that easily their opposition at rugby and perhaps what happens in terms of preparations in Colombo. But now, thanks to a leading sports website, boasting of massive live coverage given to rugby matches, Kandy can follow move for move when the other top teams in the tournament clash in matches organized in venues in the Western Province. The same is true for other teams; you don’t a need video spy recording matches which feature other teams. This sports website is doing it for all the teams and you only need internet connection to keep yourself in the loop.
But still, Kandy SC is alone; and the players surely must be getting that feeling of being isolated in the central hills of this country. The players have ‘demi god’ status and probably their private lives also must be coming under the scrutiny of the public when they step into town. This is not an exaggeration when you consider that rugby in Kandy SC has the potential to close down the town and bring in the crowds to Nittawela in their numbers on match day.
Kandy as a town has got used to a few luxuries where sports are concerned. The list will be long if the number of sports practiced in Kandy is jotted down. But what is the supreme reality of sport one must understand when the individual continues practicing the discipline he or she chooses after leaving school? The answer is ‘can the individual engage in the sport for a living, pay his bills and survive 30 days of the month with what he makes as earnings’. I know this might be confusing because there is a question and the answer is also coming in the form of a question. If the answer after analyzing this question is ‘yes’ then it’s worthwhile doing sport at a competitive level or a semi professional level because then the sport seems to be looking after you. But here in the Central Hills or Nittawela to be precise the club takes good care of its players.
Kandy SC can be a too larger institute to enter into at first. Remember that Kandy SC is not restricting membership to players born in the Central Hills. So many players have left Colombo and moved to Kandy and furthered their careers. A few players who broke off from their Colombo roots and ended up in Kandy are the late Sajith Mallikarachchi, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Dhanushka Ranjan and Srinath Sooriyaarachchi. There may be more like them, but these four players did not only Kandy SC proud, but made their contributions to the country’s national team in both sevens and fifteen-a-side rugby. There were players who originally schooled in academic institutes in Central Province and moved to Western Province in search of greener pastures; choosing to go with Colombo based clubs. But the really good players virtually came back to the place of their birth and found Kandy SC to be like ‘Hotel California’; we remind readers of the line in that song which goes-you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’. Kandy SC shares similar sentiments!
In Colombo, players come and go and they are soon forgotten. But at the Nittawela club players in the likes of Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Lasantha Wijesuriya, Priyantha Ekanayake, Indrajith Bandaranayake, Sean Wijesinghe, Nalaka Weerakkody and Fazil Marija were honoured by the club by naming stands inside Kandy Sport Club in their names. This goes on to prove how big the rugby culture is in Kandy and underscores the fact that the club throws its weight behind players in making them brands or icons in the sport.
Marija is in charge of coaching the side he represented as a player for many seasons. This is the club at which he grew from a skinny lad playing the game to a beefy muscular thinking player. When he retired in 2018 he was given a majestic send off by rugby fans of Central Province at the Nittawela ground itself. That year Kandy SC managed to defuse a charge by Havelock Sports Club and eventually finished the season as triple champions. Havies finished as runners-up that season.
Marija has some seasoned campaigners in the likes of Jason Dissanayake, Tharinda Ratwatte, Nigel Ratwatte, Lavanga Perera, Srinath Sooriyabandara and Danushka Ranjan to carry their hopes this season. The club has added more strength to the coaching team by bringing in South African Johan Taylor; not a stranger to Kandy SC and also to the national rugby players. There is former Sri Lanka player Viraj Prashantha who has a slot in the coaching staff too.
Up in the cool climes of Kandy these players have the least distractions and can concentrate on their rugby. However the stakes are high when playing for Kandy SC because those in the starting line-up can see more hungry ‘foxes’ climbing up the hill to wear the white, red and blue jersey. This team just cannot lose at rugby; akin to the Indian national team making a cricket crazy nation weep every time they lose and bow out of a competition. Kandy SC can take a bow for establishing a loyal spectator base. We can see some of the most colourful faces at rugby matches cheering Kandy SC on; face paint and the waving of the ‘lion’ flag are now built in features of spectator behavior.
This season too Kandy SC has created that vibe that their prestige in rugby cannot be dented that easily. Four week into the inter-club league rugby tournament the side from Nittawela is heading the points table with four wins out of four outings. The ‘Lion’ in their flag reminds the Kandy SC players that the king of the jungle must stay alert; even if it calls for practicing eternal vigilance both on and off the field!
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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