Sports
Sri Lanka bowled out for record low
Rex Clementine
in Durban
In a frenzied hour of cricket carnage, Sri Lanka hit rock bottom, skittled out for a paltry 42— their lowest Test score ever—on a dismal day in Durban. A cocktail of disciplined South African bowling and Sri Lanka’s reckless shot selection left the visitors in tatters, potentially derailing their hopes for a spot in next year’s World Test Championship final.
This debacle eclipsed their previous low of 71 all out against Pakistan at Asgiriya in 1994. Adding insult to injury, it also became the lowest total recorded by any team against South Africa. The innings unraveled in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 13.3 overs, leaving fans and pundits rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
The chief architect of Sri Lanka’s misery was left-arm seamer Marco Jansen, who ripped through the batting order like a tornado, claiming career-best figures of seven for 13. Bowling unchanged from one end, Jansen was on the money, while Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee picked up the crumbs, sharing the remaining three wickets.
Ironically, Sri Lanka’s bowlers had earlier done the heavy lifting, bundling out South Africa for 191—a total that should have set the stage for the batsmen to consolidate. With South Africa one bowler down following injury to Wiaan Mulder, the opportunity was there to milk the attack. Instead, Sri Lanka’s batsmen played recklessly, squandering their chance to grab the game by the scruff of the neck.
The unraveling began with Angelo Mathews chasing a wide delivery he had no business touching, gifting his wicket in a moment of madness. Dinesh Chandimal soon followed, dragging one onto his stumps, leaving Sri Lanka reeling at 16 for 4 and staring down the barrel.
Kamindu Mendis, the glue that has held Sri Lanka’s innings together in recent collapses, failed to rise to the occasion this time. Attempting a flashy drive to a ball begging to be left alone, he handed a straightforward catch to the slips.
Dhananjaya de Silva, the captain who should have steadied the ship, instead swung for the fences, only to inside-edge onto his stumps. With the score now 32 for 6, it was all but over. Kusal Mendis compounded the misery, trapped plumb in front for a duck, while the tail barely offered any resistance.
The shocking capitulation seemed to sap the team’s energy, as Sri Lanka took the field for South Africa’s second innings with all the enthusiasm of a deflated balloon. Shoulders drooped, and intensity waned, allowing South Africa to stretch their lead to 226 by the time this edition went to print.
The lone bright spot on an otherwise abysmal day was left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya. The wily tweaker etched his name in the record books, becoming the fastest Sri Lankan—and joint-fastest in the world—to 100 Test wickets. However, Jayasuriya’s milestone was cold comfort on a day when Sri Lanka served up victory to South Africa on a silver platter.
The final week of the year is like a Roman feast for the Test cricket fan, and Boxing Day this year promises mouth-watering contests in Melbourne and Centurion but look this way too, will you? Bulawayo is set to host Zimbabwe’s first Boxing Day Test 8n 28 years too, and with unpredictable Afghanistan on the other side, a real tussle is expected between the two teams, who despite their recent underwhelming performances, would feel like they’re favourites. After all, the last time either side won a Test was against each other.
But that was way back 8n 2021. Since then, they have not found a way to win. And one look at the Zimbabwe and Afghanistan squads for this two-Test series suggests that they’re both looking to change that by taking a different direction for 2025 and beyond. A splattering of Test debutants are expected – theoretically, there could be as many 15 debuts across the two XIs – and this series could very well be the one that births a new generation.
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Mahinda College, Galle took firm control of their two-day Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ cricket encounter as they reached 213 for nine wickets at stumps after restricting Moratu Vidyalaya to 96 runs at Galle on Wednesday.
After Arosha Udayanga grabbed five wickets to trouble the visitors, the home team topped 200 runs thanks to a century by open batsman Dulsith Darshana and a half century by Senuka Dangamuwa.
While Darshana scored 13 fours and a six in his 106 which came in 143 balls, Dangamuwa hammered nine fours and a six in his 50 which came in 51 balls.
Mahinda are in search of their first outright victory in the tournament proper after having earned first innings points in two out of the three matches in their group.
Moratu Vidyalaya too have completed three matches and have scored first innings points on one occasion.
Scores
Moratu Vidyalaya
96 all out in 45.2 overs (Sanjana Senavirathna 31, Shehara Fernando 20; Arosha Udayanga 5/35)
Mahinda
213 for 9 in 52 overs (Dulsith Darshana 106, Senuka Dangamuwa 50; Isuru Nidharshana 2/64, Nishitha Fernando 5/45)
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Athletics has suspended track and field official S. W. Nimalsiri for four years after a three member committee appointed by the sports governing body found him guilty of manhandling leading athletic official G.L.S. Perera within the Sri Lanka Athletics premises in Torrington.
“The executive committee of Sri Lanka Athletics decided to hand Nimalsiri a four year suspension after the three member committee concluded that he was guilty of manhandling the respected official,” Saman Kumara Gunawardhana, the secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics told The Island.
At the time of the suspension Nimalairi was a committee member of Sri Lanka Athletics and is the president of the Ace Athletics Club and secretary of the Colombo District Athletics Association.
The three member committee that inquired the incident involving Nimalairi and Perera was headed by retired district court judge Upali Samaraweera. Others in the committee were former director of sports Padma Siriwardana and disciplinary committee chairman of Sri Lanka Athletics Chandana Ekanayake.
Nimalsiri has also been suspended from officiating in track and field competitions.
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