Sports
One-way traffic at rugby and a farewell to Guneratne
By a Special Sports Correspondent
The domestic rugby season commenced with the most likely results with the two Colombo based clubs CR&FC and Havelocks along with Kandy Sports Club (Central Province) producing wins in the first week of the inter-club league rugby season. Will such match results in the domestic scene take the interest away from the game? When the league tournament was launched at a well-attended media event the chief representative of rugby’s main sponsor- Nippon Paint-spoke about there being a prediction that the tournament this season would produce a new winner. Only ‘time’ will tell!
However, despite the thumping wins and point margins in these victories the keenness shown by some of the losing sides to stay competitive suggests that the top runners in the tournament will have a tough time as the tournament progresses. A good example is CH&FC. The players from the Maitland Crescent Club gave Kandy a hard time and the reigning champs had to draw strength from past experiences and the home turf advantage to make it look a comfortable win in the end. Kandy ran down four tries which came off the efforts of Thilina Bandara (2) and Nigel Ratwatte (2) who did the honours in the try scoring department. Even though the Kandy SC back line was bubbling with enthusiasm the eight member ‘pack’ was wanting in the scrums; an area where coach Fazil Marija will have to do much hard work. Kandy had no clue about how to steady that scrum and were lucky to be the winning side.
Senior referee Priyantha Guneratne called it a day with the whistle after officiating in the CH&FC vs Kandy SC game played in front of a large Sunday crowd.
Havelocks SC had an easy time at the Park and the only little contest that existed between the two teams was seen in the first half. At half time Havies had scored twice and the scores read 13-8 in favour of the host team. Debutante Dinupa Senewiratne produced a hat-trick of tries for Havies in a match where the host team crossed the Air Force goal line on seven occasions. Watching the second half was ridiculous as the players wearing the pink and chocolate jersey ran at will and made the opposition look like a schoolboy team. Sri Lanka Rugby cannot reduce gap in ability between the teams that are fancied and those which are not by offering additional help to less fancied teams. But the purpose of the tournament’s organizers to play matches under lights and attract more crowds for matches is defeated when the losing side simply folds up in the second half and allows the other team to have a ‘walk in the park’. The final score read 49-8 in favour of Havelocks SC.
Another team that had it easy in the first week of domestic rugby for the 2023/24 season was CR&FC which demolished Army SC by 55 points to 8 after leading 36-3 at half-time.
Referee Priyantha Guneratne is seen officiating
in his last game which was
between Kandy SC and CH & FC and
played at Nittawela on Sunday.
(Pic courtesy SLR media)
CR is still celebrating its hundred years and this win really boosted the morale of the Longden Place Club which is giving signs of finishing off on a high this season. Last season the Red Shirts finished second in the league tournament and won the prestigious Clifford Cup knockout tournament. By half time the fate of Army SC (the host team) had been decided. As many as eight tries were shared between seven players; which underscores the fact that more than half of the players in the CR&FC side have it in them to emerge as potential try scorers. Thenuka Nanayakkara was impressive during the game and slotted in five conversions apart from producing two tries. The Red Shirts are playing competitive rugby and much is expected of them this season.
Up in Nittawela last Sunday, senior referee Priyantha Guneratne called it a day with the whistle after officiating in the CH&FC vs Kandy SC game played in front of a large Sunday crowd.
Guneratne has made his contributions to rugby in the form of a coach and referee and is a respected individual in the rugby fraternity. He has officiated in crucial matches and done yeoman service to the Society of Rugby Football Referees in Sri Lanka (SRFRSL). He got his big break as a coach when he was selected as the assistant coach of the Sri Lanka national team when the islanders compiled a team to contest the Asian Junior Under 19 rugby tournament in Hong Kong. Guneratntne was presented with a memento at the match in Kandy by the SRFRSL President Dinka Peiris. Rugby will miss him, but the memories of the pint-sized Guneratne controlling 30 muscular men on the field with whistle in hand will never fade away!
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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