Sports
School girls fight for Asian Games berths in the women’s 400 metres
by Reemus Fernando
Men’s and women’s javelin throws and the 100 and 400 metres sprints are the main attractions when the postponed disciplines of the centenary National Athletics Championships are held at Diyagama today.
Sri Lanka Athletics had to postpone as many as 12 disciplines of the centenary National Championship to April 23 after almost the entire final day of the landmark event was affected by rain at Diyagama on April 10.
For the second consecutive national championship, school girls will be the closest rivals that defending champion Nadeesha Ramanayake has to compete against in the women’s 400 metres. In the 400 metres heats held on April 9th, Ramanayake clocked 53.73 seconds to win her heat. Apart from Ramanayake all others who clocked sub 56 seconds and the winners in the other heats were school girls. In the absence of Dilshi Kumarasinghe, who is nursing an injury, Ramanayake is the only senior contender. Kumarasinghe’s absence had forced athletics selectors to rethink fielding a mix relay team for the Asian Games.
The Sri Lanka Athletics had planned to field a mix relay team when the new discipline makes its quadrennial Games debut. But the injury to Kumarasinghe has raised concerns. Kumarasinghe’s training partner, young Tharushi Karunaratne of Ratnayake Central is currently punching above her weight and is expected to produce an interesting dual. It will be interesting to see whether she could deliver something special today. At the last Trial held in March Karunaratne turned tables on Ramanayake. Irrespective of the performances there is the prospect of a couple of school girls getting the nod for the Asian Games if Sri Lanka Athletics pick a women’s 4×400 metres relay team.
Jayeshi Uththara who returned a time of 54.96 seconds and Lakshima Mendis (55.74 secs) are the others who will be vying for honours in the women’s 400 metres.
The men’s 400 metres is heading towards an interesting finish with the Asian Junior Championship medallists Anura Dharshana and Pabasara Niku producing the fast performances in the heats. Niku clocked 46.99 seconds in the heats and the country’s fastest time this year belongs to Dharshana who clocked 46.37 seconds in the Trial held in March. Sri Lanka Athletics is however looking for sub 46 seconds to pick an athlete for the individual event at the Asian Games. The only athletes to run sub 46 seconds during the last five years are Dharshana and Kumarge. The latter running in the slowest heat of the day had a time of 48.09 seconds on April 10. Have they gained enough speed during the last 12 days to match the qualifying standards of 45.70 seconds is the big question?
Olympian Sumedha Ranasinghe is the only athlete to have reached locally set qualifying standards for the Asian Games in the men’s category. His 81.79 metres mark recorded in March is the third furthest throw in Asia this year. He will be eager to come up with strong performances today to further establish his place as an international medal prospect. Apart from Sumedha, the US based high jumper Ushan Thivanka is the only athlete in the men’s category to have reached qualifying standards for the Asian event.
In the women’s Javelin throw Dilhani Lekamge will be looking to reach the 58 metres mark and will be up against a field inclusive of up an coming H.D. Maduwanthi and Olympian Nadeeka Lakmali.
The men’s 100 metres heats were held without the two fastest men. While former national record holder Himasha Eshan remains suspended, current record holder Yupun Abeykoon is based in Italy. In their absence Chamod Yodhasinghe heads into today’s final rounds as the favourite. His was the fastest time in the heats.
The women’s 100 metres is expected to be a contest between Shelinda Jansen, Amesha de Silva and Medhani Jayamanne. De Silva is the favourite. She clocked 11.63 seconds in the heats and would be gunning for the 11.40 seconds to qualify for the Asian Games.
The men’s triple jump, women’s high jump, women’s shot put and the men’s 1,500 metres are the other events that will be held today.
Meanwhile the special trial will be held for the men’s long jump after athletes raised objections against the standard of the take off board used at the National Championships. An official said that the result of the men’s long jump at the National Championship will not be changed. The men’s long jump event will be held as a separate event and will only be considered for selections.
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]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
