Sports
Tamil Union to support Debarawewa cricket for three years
Debarwewa Central College in the Hambantota district has a good cricketing heritage having produced a Test captain in Suranga Lakmal but has fallen on hard times trying to maintain their cricket activities. The school received a generous sponsorship from Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club for a three year period. The club will donate a sum of Rs. 250,000.00 to the school annually.
The Cricket team of Tamil Union, led by Lakmal visited Debarawewa Central College on a cricket development visit last week. Debarawewa Central is home to Lakmal and Test cricketer Dhananjaya de Silva.
The club also donated senior and junior playing equipment as well as playing kits for the 1st XI side for the upcoming season. This is part of Tamil Unions’ effort to support the development of Sri Lanka cricket from grassroots level.
The ceremony was followed by a friendly cricket match comprising of two mixed XI’s featuring both the cricketers of Tamil Union and Debarawewa Central College 1st XI. This match was played in front of the entire school comprising over 2,500 young boys and girls. This game has inspired aspiring young cricketers, both male and female, as they watched a proud product of the school take the field once more at the school grounds where his cricketing journey saw its humble beginnings.
Lakmal came to the club as a youngster and Dinal Philips (PC) was like a father figure to him looking after his every need. Soon, Janashakthi offered him employment and Lakmal went onto become Sri Lanka’s most successful fast bowler in Test cricket after Chaminda Vaas.
Lakmal has been with the club throughout his Sri Lanka career. He captained the club in 2015 when they won the League title and the one-day trophy in 2021.
This follows a long tradition at the Tamil Union C & AC in supporting cricketers from the south, commencing with Upul Sumathipala in the 1970s, to the Samarasekara brothers, Champaka Ramanayake, Upul Chandana and more recently Suranga Lakmal and Dhananjaya de Silva.
The principal of Debarawewa Central College Mr. W.A. Nimal in his address commended the Tamil Union in taking a raw talent and nurturing and developing him to become the captain of the Sri Lanka Test team. He also paid tribute to Lakmal for his achievements, and said it is an inspiration to all the boys and girls in the school. He concluded by thanking the Tamil Union for making this event a success and for their commitment to develop cricket.
Lakmal in his inspiring address encouraged the students to always march forward and achieve their goals. He expressed his gratitude to the school which had nurtured him, and to the club that has played an integral role in developing him as a cricketer.
Balan Asirwatham in his address emphasized that the Tamil Union which is the venue of the first ever Test match played on Sri Lankan soil has fostered cricket throughout generations irrespective of race and religion and has contributed immensely to the development of Sri Lanka cricket. Presently the Tamil Union operates as the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Women’s team, due to the wide range of facilities available at the club premises, including outdoor turf and cement nets, indoors nets, pool, and gym.
Incidentally, two long standing teammates at Tamil Union C & AC of Suranga Lakmal’s are World record holders in Test cricket. Muttiah Muralidaran the highest wicket taker in Test cricket history (800) and Rangana Herath the highest wicket taking left arm bowler in Test cricket (422).
The 123-year-old Tamil Union C & AC was officially represented by its Patron Former All Ceylon cricketing star Chandra Schaffter, President Ramesh Schaffter, General Secretary Balan Asirwatham, Former President and former Chairman Cricket Dinal Philips and several other club officials, along with members of the current cricket 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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