Sports
Petes’ presence in rugby was overwhelming this season!
By A Special Sports Correspondent
The schoolboy rugby players of St. Peter’s College proved beyond any doubt that they can handle pressure in the sport of rugby. This they did for the last time this season when they got the better of Isipatana in the Dialog sponsored inter-school under 19 rugby final played at Sugathadasa Stadium on September 10.
The Peterites were never rattled by the rough house tactics adopted by the Green Shirts from the time the two lined up in the ‘tunnel’ and then when the game began on the pitch minutes later. The lads from Bambalapitiya showed that when you are focused on the game you don’t have time or the necessity to indulge in activities that challenge the spirit of the game.
When the two teams met at Bambalapitiya in the league decider, hosted by St. Peter’s, the host team employed a riot squad apart from the services obtained by the police as measures taken for crowd control. The decision to strengthen security at the match in the league was done for obvious reasons. The knockout final was organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and there were concerns about security at the match. But all that depends on what happens in the middle of the pitch and referee Raveen Alexander must be given pat on the back for a job well done. The Greens Shirts were warned for unwanted play in the early minutes of the game following a complaint by the Peterite players for biting by the opposition and then the witnessing of feet up in a maul situation; another offense by Isipatana.
St. Peter’s responded to Isipatana’s aggression with three smashing tries with the first one scored by Sudesh Jayawickreme standing out. Jayawickreme’s try under the posts deflated the spirit in the Isipaana camp mainly because it was scored with the message given that ‘more high octane stuff’ was to come.
Hooker and utility player Dulaj Nawodya quickly exposed a defence that was cracking 18 minutes into the game and scored the second try in clinical fashion. The third try in the first half came through the efforts of Dineth Ranasinghe and by the 21st minute of the game St. Peter’s, leading 19-3, were giving the ‘Green Shirts’ lessons on how to play in a rugby final.
St. Peter’s head coach Sanath Martis is seen celebrating the team’s victory with his chargers at the President’s Trophy rugby final against Isipatana on September 10 at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
Isipatana must be given the credit for being a side that doesn’t surrender that easily. They knew they were up against an opposition mightier than them and when they settled in towards the tail end of the first half, they managed to breach the Peterite defence and score their first try in the game. Skipper Navin Kanishka scored that all important try and made the scoreboard look respectable from an Isipatana point of view.
The second half was evenly contested and Isipatana came back strongly with a try by their forwards. The rains threatened to slow the game and there was no help from the soggy pitch conditions for both teams. But the will to run the ball by both teams prevailed over the odds that threatened to spoil a much looked forward to schools rugby final.
Place kicker Yumeth Shihara was decently accurate with his spot kicks and booted through two penalties to swell the Peterite score in the second half. The only little hitch up that the Peterites had was the two yellow cards that were given away in the second half; one by the team’s skipper Ashain Madugasge. The Peterites playing twice in the second half with 14 men and not losing the game rubbed salt into Isipatana’s wounds. The only consolation Isipatana had this season was bagging the Sevens title. They were forced to finish as runners-up in the knockout and took third place in the league tournament.
St. Peter’s have much to owe coach Martis. The winning ways he has instilled in the St. Peter’s rugby set-up cannot be priced. To study the facial features of this coach, come to a decision and announce to the rugby world that behind his face lies a vicious and dangerous man would be a grave mistake. Few have observed a tender heart, the warmth of a
father to all and the rugby professionalism that runs in his blood to the very core. This man knows his rugby and when he gets players who are willing and able that combination can be dangerous on the field as shown this season by St. Peter’s.
Mention must be made of the Christian institution that St. Peter’s is and the way the authorities here mold the students and instill good values that can be shown when they represent their alma mater on the sporting field. Prayers said before the game starts and done on the field have sometimes posed the question from outsiders whether the authorities at this institute are making a show of religion in public. Prayers have done good for the boys and sparing a thought for the ‘All Mighty’ before a challenge in the sporting field has not only calmed the player’s nerves, but also driven the thought into them of fearing doing wrong and not the opposite team.
Georgia Wareham towered over the rest with an impressive all-round show to lead Gujarat Giants to an impressive opening match win over UP Warriorz.
Wareham’s unbeaten 10-ball 27 gave Giants the finishing kick they needed to nudge past 200, after a half-century from Ashleigh Gardner had laid the perfect platform. Then Wareham picked up the massive wickets of Meg Lanning and Harleen Deol to scupper Warriorz’s chase.
Phoebe Litchfield’s 40-ball 78 kept Warriorz in the hunt, but her dismissal proved decisive. Warriorz, however, managed to stem some net-run-rate damage courtesy a neat cameo from Asha Sobhana.
Sophie Devine briefly wrested the initiative in the powerplay, taking down Deepti Sharma in the fourth over, but a double-strike kept Giants in check. Beth Mooney was undone by a Sophie Ecclestone arm-ball in the fifth over, while Devine holed out to deep midwicket off Shikha Pandey for a 20-ball 38 in the sixth.
She exhibited this best when she danced down the track and got leg-side of the ball before lofting Ecclestone inside-out between cover and point for four. Gardner, initially measured, shifted gears decisively in the 13th over, carving Kranti Gaud for three boundaries.
She turned up the heat further, launching three sixes, off Asha and Ecclestone, across the 14th and 15th overs. Giants plundered 49 runs from overs 13 to 15, a burst that carried Gardner to her half-century off just 30 balls.Wareham walked in halfway through the 17th over, and had stamped her mark on the innings by the end of Giants’ innings. The highlight was her onslaught against Deandra Dottin, the former Giants allrounder, hitting for three sixes in the 19th over.
Wareham could have been dismissed on 13, though, had Gaud held on to a simple chance at cover point in the same over. Bharti Fulmali then showcased her hitting prowess, muscling Deepti for two sixes in the final over to take Giants past 200.
Warriorz lost Kiran Navgire in the first over, to Renuka Singh, but Litchfield looked in sparkling form from the outset. Her exhilarating strokeplay somewhat consigned Mrg Lanning to the background for much of their 70-run second-wicket stand before the floodgates opened, with Warriorz losing three wickets in four deliveries to go into a full-blown collapse.
At 74 for 4, Warriorz held back Dottin and promoted their lone retention, Shweta Sehrawat. And she made everyone go wow first ball, launching Renuka down the ground for six. If that was audacious, two consecutive sixes off Gardner in the following over were truly exhilarating.
Litchfield’s progress to her half-century in 29 balls was no less entertaining. She swept, reverse-swept, paddled, and moved across the stumps to mow length deliveries into the leg side.
Warriorz’s hopes rose through the course of a fifth-wicket stand of 69, but Litchfield’s dismissal, coming soon after that of Sehrawat who was bowled missing a slog-sweep off Rajeshwari Gayakwad, proved to be the clincher.
Asha’s cameo from there on merely reduced the margin of defeat.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Giants Women 207 for 4 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 13, Sophia Devine 38, Ashleigh Gardner 65, Anushka Sharma 44, Georgia Wareham 27*, Bharati Fulmali 14*; Shikha Pandey 1-29, Deandra Dottin 1-47, Sophie Ecclestone 2-32) beat UP Warriorz Women 197 for 8 in 20 overs (Meg Lanning 30, Phoebe Litchfield 78, Shweta Sehrawat 25, Deandra Dottin 12, Sophie Ecclestone 11, Asha Sobhana 27*; Renuka Singh 2-25, Sophie Devine 2-55, Ashleigh Gardner 1-37, Georgia Wareham 2-30, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 1-07) by 10 runs
[Cricinfo]
After a nail-biter slipped through their hands in the last over of the opening night of WPL 2026, defending champions Mumbai Indians bounced back with style and thrashed three-time table-toppers Delhi Capitals with bruising half-centuries from their experienced duo of Nat Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet Kaur, and a three-for from their fresh recruit Nicola Carey, Chasing an imposing 196, DC slipped to 33 for 4 in the sixth over and hardly ever looked like bouncing back, eventually falling short by 50 runs.
As is often the case for MI, the heavy lifting with the bat was done by Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet, especially in the absence of the injured allrounder Hayley Matthews. After the boundary-laden half-century from Sciver-Brunt and some late sixes from Harmanpreet powered MI close to 200, Carey’s early seam movement knocked over the off stumps of Shafali Verma and Laura Wolvaardt, before also accounting for Marizanne Kapp. From 33 for 4, DC stuttered to 86 for 6 as Amelia Kerr also chipped in with an economical spell and three wickets that rolled over DC for 145.
For the second game in a row, MI’s openers failed: Kerr fell for a duck while Gunalan Kamalini struggled to 16 off 19. After a scratchy 4 off 15 on Friday night in the season opener, Kerr edged her first legal delivery – an outswinger from Chinelle Henry – behind, as Lizelle Lee completed a diving catch on her second attempt. Kamalini also handed a diving catch to Lee, soon after she smashed Nandani Sharma for consecutive fours down the ground, but the debutant’s riposte earned her a maiden WPL wicket with Kamalini’s thick outside edge.
Sciver-Brunt then led MI’s innings and looked in top form, smashing three fours in her first four balls to different corners of the ground. She collected another pair of consecutive fours, again going after Henry, and took MI to 43 for 1 in the powerplay. While Sciver-Brunt went about finding the boundaries against the spinners too for a 32-ball fifty, Harmanpreet took her time to reach 15 off 17 before taking off.
The Harmanpreet act started when she dispatched Henry for six over long-on. She followed it with her trademark loft over the covers for four, to take MI past 100 at the end of the 13th over. Sciver-Brunt then outfoxed Minnu Mani with late adjustments for three fours in the next over, which went for 14, and even though the England batter was soon caught for 70 at cover, MI were set for a strong finish on 127 for 3 after 15.
Harmanpreet was not going after the bowlers by herself, however. She found a hard-hitting partner in Carey, who reverse-pulled for one of her four fours during her 21 off 12. But it was Harmanpreet’s clean striking that left the new DC captain Jemimah Rodrigues sweating, as the experienced MI leader played with the field, especially in the last over off Shree Charani. She hit four back-to-back fours to help MI collect 53 runs in the last four overs.
With Meg Lanning – the WPL’s second-highest scorer – released before the auction, DC had big shoes to fill at the top of the order. It didn’t happen on Saturday, at least, as Lee fell for 10 on her WPL debut.
Shafali and Wolvaardt then saw their off stumps pegged back as Carey seamed the ball into them, in the space of three balls in the fifth over. When Rodrigues fell to a one-handed stunner from Kamalini behind the stumps off Shabnim Ismail, DC had lost four wickets in the powerplay for the first time in the WPL.
DC still had hope with depth in their line-up, but when Kapp was also sent back by Carey, DC needed a stiff 150 runs from 78 balls. Chinelle Henry’s hitting from No. 7 was the only silver lining for DC. Her penchant for boundaries belied DC’s score as she went after the inexperienced Triveni Vasishta – on WPL debut – and even the experienced Kerr. While she collected boundaries, wickets fell at the other end, and the asking rate climbed from over 12 after the halfway mark to nearly 20 by the time four overs were left.
Henry brought up her second WPL fifty in eight innings with a big six over long-on, but once she fell for 56 with the score 133, DC lasted just 11 more balls for 12 runs, before going down in their season opener.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians Women 195 for 4 in 20 overs (GunalanKamalini 16, Harmanpreet Kaur 74*, Nat Sciver-Brunt 70, Nicola Carey 21; Chinelle Henry 1-32, Shree Charani 1-45, Nandani Sharma 2-26) beat Delhi Capitals Women 145 in 19 overs (Lizelle Lee 10, Marizanne Kapp 10, Niki Prasad 12, Chinelle Henry 56, Sneh Rana 11, Shree Charani 10*; Shabnim Ismail 1-14, Nat Sciver Brunt 2-29, Amelia Kerr 3-24, Nicola Carey 3-37, Sanskriti Gupta 1-09) by 50 runs
[Cricinfo]
The upcoming T20 World Cup, featuring 20 teams across a frenetic three-week carnival, has whetted appetites among fans, players and administrators alike. Scratch beneath the surface and the contenders fall neatly into three baskets. There are the heavyweights; Australia, England and India, with South Africa firmly in that front rank. Then come the dark horses: Pakistan, New Zealand and Afghanistan, sides capable of blowing hot and cold but dangerous on their day. And finally, the also-rans, teams largely battle-hardened through the qualifying grind.
As co-hosts, Sri Lanka would like to believe they belong in the second bracket, coming into the tournament as dark horses rather than merely making up numbers. But form, that most unforgiving of judges, tells a harsher story. Six months out from the World Cup, the former champions have looked closer to the third category than the second. In an era where 200 has become par for the course in T20Is, Sri Lanka are struggling to bat out their 20 overs, a red flag if ever there was one. Their opening skirmish against Pakistan in the ongoing series did little to lift the mood or the belief.
The obvious question is: what have Pakistan done right that Sri Lanka haven’t?
No one expects Sri Lanka to suddenly roll out a production line of express quicks to rival Pakistan’s fearsome fast-bowling arsenal. That cupboard is well stocked in Pakistan and admired by all and sundry. But their batting depth and spin options have not materialised overnight. They are the dividends of continuity and clarity, commodities Sri Lanka have been short of.
Take Kamindu Mendis. Across formats, he has been a reliable all-rounder, even if he hasn’t always set the world on fire. Yet the evidence is there: his skill set is good enough to win you games. Once you identify such a player, you give him a long rope. You don’t pull the plug after a couple of low scores.
Then there is the curious case of Kusal Janith Perera. It is hard to fathom how a player deemed good enough for the squad struggles to crack the playing XI. KJP is a destructive batter, a high-risk, high-reward operator. His methods won’t always win him admirers, but impatience with a proven match-winner smacks of short-term thinking.
Continuity, after all, is the bedrock of a successful cricket team. There was little logic in stripping Charith Asalanka of the T20 captaincy. Now low on confidence, he risks sliding out of World Cup contention altogether.
Selectors have also dusted off an old playbook by turning again to Dhananjaya de Silva. Before and during the last World Cup, he was tasked with batting through the innings to arrest collapses. The experiment failed and he was axed. Now, on the eve of another World Cup, he is back in the saddle. It feels less like strategy and more like musical chairs.
The other burning issue is the gaping hole in the lower order. Too many bowlers are passengers with the bat, leaving the tail exposed. Dunith Wellalage offers a partial solution, yet he has failed to cement his place. Yes, his bowling can be a weak link, but if he was identified as a future star, the onus was on the management to back him, build his confidence and tell him he belongs in the big league.
With the World Cup at home and conditions tailor-made for spin, an operator like Wellalage should have been banked on long ago.
Rex Clementine
in Dambulla ✍️
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