Sports
The Indian CEO Forum Partners with the Colombo Rowing Club for the Madras-Colombo Regatta
The Indian CEO Forum (ICF) In association with LANKA IOC (LIOC) and POWER TECH Cement partnered with the Colombo Rowing Club for The Madras-Colombo Regatta’ which is considered to be the oldest regatta in the world between two cities of different countries. As per the tradition, The High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka H.E Gopal Baglay was the chief guest at this year’s edition held at the Colombo Rowing Club on Saturday the 26th November 2022.
This year it was the 81st edition of the event and was supported by the Indian CEO forum in Sri Lanka. Speaking at the event, the High Commissioner said that India will continue to row together with Sri Lanka in the race against common challenges and it is but natural for the people of India and the people of Sri Lanka to work together and build bonds. The Indian CEO forum stepping in to assist and partner with the Colombo Rowing club for this event is a clear example of how the neighbors encourage and support each other.
“The Indian CEO Forum along with two other member companies — Lanka IOC and Power Tech Cement — have come forward to sponsor this exclusive event and make it a success. This is a great boost for rowing in Sri Lanka, especially at a time the country is trying its level best to regain glory in all aspects,” said the President of the Rowing Club, Dimuth Gunawardena. “I am extremely thankful to Mr T S Prakash and Mr Kishore Reddy along with Mr Nagaraj who made this happen” Gunawardena added.
T S Prakash, the president of the ICF said “we are really happy that we are associated with this event and member companies are extremely happy that such a partnership was established”.
Kishore Reddy who is the vice president and Chairman membership of the ICF as well as the President of the Sri Lanka India Society said “The Madras Colombo Regatta has immense potential to be a permanent feature of the sporting calendar considering the history of the event and the traditions associated with it. We will work together with the Colombo Rowing Club to take this to the next level”.
“We are glad to be the sponsors of the event and were not really aware of an event with such history before Mr. Kishore Reddy mentioned it” said Manoj Gupta, Managing Director of Lanka IOC. “we look forward to supporting the Colombo Rowing club for the next event as well” he added.
Gaurav Mehta, the Managing Director of DHT cement and Power Tech Cement who were co-sponsors of the event mentioned ” we are happy that the newest brand of cement in Sri Lanka (Power Tech) has partnered with the oldest Regatta in the island. The event exceeded my expectation and we are proud that we are part of this and contributed to the success of the event”.
Sagala Ratnayake who was the guest of honour and also a past Oarsman who had rowed many times at the venue said that he was happy to see the partnership between the ICF and the Rowing Club.
The first-ever Madras-Colombo Rowing Regatta was held way back in 1898 and is considered the oldest sporting encounter held between India and Sri Lanka.This time, the rivalry resumed after a break of three years due to the pandemic.
Traditionally, the Madras Boat Club and the Colombo Rowing Club host the Regatta alternatively and this year it was the Colombo Rowing Club’s turn to host the Indian team. ” we are extremely thankful to the Colombo Rowing Club for hosting us and for their great hospitality” said the President of the Madras Boat Club Mr Subramanium. ” We will also try our best to match this hospitality, if not exceed when we host this event next year” he added.
The main event of the Regatta is the Men’s boat race which is considered to be the second oldest boat race in the world, second only to the famous Oxford-Cambridge boat race. The events were for men and women over a distance of 1000 metres. The winners of the Men’s event were Colombo and were awarded the prestigious Deepam Trophy while the Adyar Trophy was awarded to the Madras team who were the Women’s champions. The overall champions of the 81st Madras Colombo Regatta was Colombo Rowing Club.
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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