Sports
Schools rugby off with a bang, but black mark on discipline
By Special Correspondent
The inter school under 19 league rugby season started off with a bang this week with the game against Dharmaraja vs Trinity producing a memorable win for the former because the ‘lions’ are such a big name in the sport of rugby union.
Many rugby writers jumped to conclusions far too early this season and termed such a win a shock. They did just that when St. Anthony’s knocked the daylights out of the Josephians with a runaway 22-12 win at Bogambara on June 17 (Saturday). This writer’s argument is that this season is still in its infancy and if the losing sides are considered as favourites so early in the season then the writer is either biased or knows so little about the strengths and weaknesses of most teams.
School rugby is very professional in Sri Lanka and even the coaches are dedicated and educated in rugby union’s latest techniques and training methods; hence all games will be hotly contested and teams would certainly make progress as the season continues.
S.Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia led by centre Viyaan de Silva managed to start the season on a winning note beating Wesley 19-13 ; a feat which enabled the lads from the school by the sea to take home the Sir Oliver Goonatilake Shield which was on offer at the match. The Thomians had an average season last year and like one newspaper quite rightly said in a preview about the school that wears the blue-black jersey it is in search of past glories. One can remember the glorious run S.Thomas’ had from 1989 to 1991, then in year 2000 under Gavin Jayasekare and for the last time under Shawin Kapuwatte when they won the under 20 president’s trophy knockout tournament in 2009. There was one year (2013) when The Thomains were demoted to the B Division, but that year they produced one of their best teams under Devin Jayasinghe and won all their traditional games apart from earning a promotion to the A Division. Much is expected of them this season under the tutelage of coach Shamly Nawaz.
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- A Peterite player tries to hand off a Royal defender as he makes a determined run in the team’s inter-school Division 1 Segment A Group 2 rugby match which St. Peter’s won 11-5.
The Royal vs St.Peter’s game produced a cracker at Bambalapitiya with the host team pulling off the game by 11 points to 5. It was shocking to see some of the worst behaviors in school rugby at this game by the players, but fortunately the referee had a decent control of the game till the end. The worst point in the game came when the referee went up to the Royal skipper and gave the warning to him to control his players because there were complaints that Royalists were biting opponents in the scrum and maul situations (video evidence of this is available in social media). There was also footage on social media where a Peterite player was seen landing his knee into a Royal player as he ran into join the rest of the team to celebrate the victory. Peterite old boys have shown much concern in their comments on social media about having discipline at ‘home’ because we’ve never seen the Peterites showing aggression in this manner other than when playing clean hard rugby.
Isipatana are now a different quantity in rugby and play the game more with their forwards than before. We remember those marauding forwards whom they had last season, but the new faces in the side were equal to the challenge and lived up to expectations. Skipper Naveen Kanishka epitomised the true qualities of a skipper and controlled the game with his running and kicking skills on wet and slippery conditions at Bogambara. The winners ran in five glorious tries and led 20 nil at the breather. The beauty in Isipatana rugby is their support play and the very low margin they leave for errors. Coach Saliya Kumara has got a naturally motivate side and it’s interesting to see how they negotiate the bigger challenges that’ll come their way from sides like S.Thomas’, St. Anthony’s and new kids on the block D.S Senanayake who are back in Division 1 Segment A rugby after earning a promotion this season.
Vidyartha did well to open the season with a 26-19 win against Science at Bogambara on June 16 (Friday).
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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