Sports
Eight-try Kandy clout Sri Lions before welcoming them into A Division rugby
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Kandy Sports Club led by utility player Srinath Sooriyabandara started the inter-club league tournament for the calendar year 2024/25 with a bang by beating new entrants to domestic rugby, Sri Lions SC, by 61 points to 14 at Nittawela Grounds yesterday (December 15).
Kandy SC faced some resistance from the visiting team in the first half. But the host team’s power and pace combined proved too much for Sri Lions as the game stretched into the second half. If Sri Lions SC thought that a first half performance of producing two tries and trailing 27-14 at half time was commendable, they were proved wrong as Kandy raked in five tries in the second half to bury them. The winners collected their points through eight tries, six conversions and three penalties while Sri Lions SC responded with two converted tries.
Kandy SC’s forwards were on the rampage and destroyed the Sri Lions SC ‘eight’; especially in the scrums. The host team’s second row forward Chathura Soysa was outstanding both in the set pieces and in the loose and even scored the team’s seventh try, late into the second half.
The other try scorers for Kandy SC in the second half were Tharinda Ratwatte (1), Dahan Wickremarachchi (1), Ethan Schneider Loos (1) and Tharindu Chathuranga (1). Fly half Ratwatte was outstanding with his kicking boots, slotting in six conversions and three penalties. Kandy SC hooker Dilshan Fareed was also outstanding for the winners and produced one of the three first half tries for Kandy SC. Scrum half Heshan Jansen, Dinal Ekanayake and Kavindu Perera also stood out for the winners.
Sri Lions SC showed guts and purpose in their first outing in A Division rugby. The side led by Kevin Dixon, despite losing, won the hearts of an appreciative Sunday crowd at Nittawela for trying so hard. Much is expected of this new side this season.
Many thought that referee Suranga Arunashantha controlled this hotly-contested game between Kandy SC and Sri Lions SC rather well.
On Friday (December 13) Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club (SLAF) did pretty well in their opening fixture of the Inter-club league rugby tournament for the calendar year 2024/25 by defeating CH&FC by 36 points to 15.
The winners collected their points through five tries, four conversions and a penalty while the visitors to Ratmalana responded with two tries, one conversion and a penalty.
On Saturday (December 14) Havelocks Sports Club (Havies) had to grind hard to beat Navy Sports Club in their opening game for the season. Though Havies were able to convert pressure into points whenever they applied themselves the game turned out to be a ding dong battle to the very end. Samuel Maduwantha and Jayathu Rajaratne dazzled for the winners, but Havies were checked time and again in the game by Navy who even took control of the proceedings briefly in the first half. Denuwan Wickremaratne was a cut above the rest with his power-play while Dimuth Perera also stood out with a touch down. Havies collected their points through six tries, five conversions and a penalty while Navy responded with three tries, a conversion and two penalties.
The game between Army SC and Police SC was called off due to heavy rain and fading light. The tournament’s officials and the referee were forced to decide against resuming the game after half time as a result of the adverse weather conditions. The match will be resumed from the point at which it was stopped on a future date. At half time Army was leading 8-5.
The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Rugby the controlling body for rugby union in Sri Lanka and sponsored by Mastercard. The tournament will run for nine weeks after which teams will be pooled into the Cup and Plate Championships keeping with their performances.
Tickets for the 2026 T20 World Cup will go on sale at 18.45 IST and Sri Lanka time (13.15 GMT) on December 11, with the tournament slated to begin on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.
Prices for phase one of the ticket sales start at INR 100 (USD 1.1) at some venues in India and LRK 1000 (USD 3.2), the ICC said on Thursday. The dates for phase two of the ticket sales will be announced soon. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.cricketworldcup.com.
“Phase I of ticket sales is an important milestone in our journey towards delivering the most accessible and global ICC event ever staged,” ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said. “Our vision for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 is clear: every fan, regardless of background, geography or financial means, should have the chance to access an in-stadia experience of world-class marquee cricket.
“With tickets starting from just INR 100 and LKR1000, we are putting affordability at the centre of our strategy. This is about opening the gates wide and inviting millions to be part of a global celebration of cricket, not as spectators from afar, but as active participants in the energy, emotion and magic that only a stadium can offer.”
The 2026 T20 World Cup will be contested by 20 teams and comprises 55 matches. The games start at 11am (0530 GMT), 3pm (0930 GMT) and 7pm IST (1330 GMT). The format for the tournament is the same as the previous edition in 2024, where the teams were divided into five groups of four each.
The first-round groups are as follows:
Group A: India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Sri Lanka, Australia, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman
Group C: England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal, Italy
Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada, UAE
The top two teams from each of the groups progress to a Super Eight phase, where they will be further divided into two groups of four each.
The Super Eight groups are as follows, assuming these teams qualify from the first round; if another team qualifies, they will take the place of the team from their group that failed to make it:
Super Eight Group 1: X1 (India), X2 (Australia), X3 (West Indies), X4 (South Africa)
Super Eight Group 2: Y1 (England), Y2 (New Zealand), Y3 (Pakistan), Y4 (Sri Lanka)
Each team will play the other three in their Super Eight group, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals. The two semi-finals are in Kolkata – or Colombo if Pakistan qualify – on March 4, and Mumbai on March 5. The final of the tournament will be played in Ahmedabad on March 8 – if Pakistan qualify, it will be held in Colombo.
[Cricinfo]
Despite a bright bowling performance from the West Indies seamers, half-centuries from New Zealand’s Devon Conway and Mitchell hay extended the hosts’ advantage after an absorbing second day of the Wellington Test. New Zealand secured a 73-run first-innings lead before a double-wicket burst from their quicks left West Indies still 41 behind with eight wickets in hand.
West Indies produced bursts of quality with the ball to keep pegging New Zealand back, and several home batters contributed to their own dismissals with loose shots. But the visitors also offered enough scoring opportunities for Conway and Hay to make valuable inroads.
Conway’s 60 – his first fifty against West Indies and 13th overall – anchored one end, while debutant Hay struck an enterprising 61 from No. 6. Their efforts allowed New Zealand to declare at 278 for 9, with the injured Blair Tickner not batting.
With the relatively new ball, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields and Anderson Phillip consistently challenged the batters as the ball swung both ways and occasionally jagged off the surface. Conway, however, punished the loose deliveries, hitting eight fours – mostly cuts and flicks – to keep New Zealand moving.
From the non-striker’s end, he saw Tom Latham (11) lose his off stump to a nip-backer from Roach from around the wicket, before watching Kane Williamson (37) have his off stump pegged back by an Anderson Phillip delivery that squared him up. After lunch, Rachin Ravindra – who made 176 in Christchurch – was caught behind off Roach while chasing a wide one. Conway himself was then caught down the leg side off a poor Justin Greaves delivery, thanks to a superb diving take from Tevin Imlach. At that stage, New Zealand seemed to be wobbling at 117 for 4.
A fifth-wicket stand of 73 between Daryl Mitchell (25) and Hay – the latter playing in place of the injured Tom Blundell – brought New Zealand closer to West Indies’ first-innings score of 205. Mitchell was conservative, while Hay leaned on his white-ball instincts to score his runs, producing strong cuts through the off side and, when tested with short balls, pulling confidently over the leg side.
Mitchell, like Conway, was eventually strangled down the leg side off Phillip. Hay later fell to the short-ball tactic: after striking back-to-back fours behind square leg, he miscued a pull off Shields straight to Roach at deep-backward square and walked back bitterly disappointed. At 213 for 6, New Zealand then leaned on Glenn Phillips (18) and the lower order to extend their lead.
West Indies continued to pepper Phillips with short balls in a cat-and-mouse exchange that brought body blows and top-edges over the keeper. Seeking a change, captain Roston Chase turned to spin for the first time in the innings, and needed only four deliveries to tempt Phillips into a slog that failed to clear deep midwicket.
Zak Foulkes then batted 43 balls and frustrated West Indies with deflections off the seamers’ through the gully region on his way to an unbeaten 23. Jacob Duffy added further runs with boundaries to long-off and long-on, and No. 10 Michael Rae joined a rare group of batters to begin their Test careers with five runs off an overthrow boundary. Rae reached 13 before the expensive Seales finally claimed his first wicket of the match, knocking back the debutant’s leg stump.
New Zealand’s batting may have been patchy, but their bowlers restored control with a sharp ten-over burst late in the day. John Campbell fell in the seventh over, beaten by a Rae delivery that zipped in to hit off stump. Next over, nightwatcher Phillip initially survived a DRS review for caught behind off Duffy, but a second look confirmed he was lbw instead. Brandon King (15*) and Kavem Hodge (3*) saw out the final few minutes, but West Indies still face a steep challenge when play resumes on Friday.
Brief scores:
West Indies 205 and 32 for 2 (Brandon King 15*; Michael Rae 1-4, Jacob Duffy 1-8) trail New Zealand 278 for 9 dec (Mitchell Hay 61, Devon Conway 60; Andeson Phillip 3-70) by 41 runs
[Cricinfo]
The International Olympic Committee says it will announce eligibility criteria for transgender athletes early next year, after months of deliberation as it seeks to find a consensus on how to protect the female category.
The issue has been a source of controversy, with no universal rule in place for the participation of transgender athletes at the Olympic Games.
The IOC, under its new President Kirsty Coventry, did a U-turn in June, deciding to take the lead in setting eligibility criteria for Olympic participation, having previously handed responsibility to the individual sports federations, leading to a confusing patchwork of different approaches.
In September, Coventry set up the “Protection of the Female Category” working group, made up of experts as well as representatives of international federations, to look into how best to protect the female category in sports.
“We will find ways to find a consensus that has all aspects covered,” Coventry told a press conference on Wednesday following an IOC executive board meeting. “Maybe it is not the easiest thing to do, but we will try our best, so when we talk about the female category, we are protecting the female category.”
Coventry said a decision would come in the first months of 2026.
“We want to make sure we have spoken to all stakeholders, taken adequate time to cross the Ts and dot the Is,” she said.
“The group is working extremely well. I don’t want to try to constrain the working group by saying they need to have a specific deadline, but I am hopeful in the next couple of months and definitely within the first quarter of next year we will have a clear decision and way forward, which I think we are all looking forward to,” said Coventry, a former Olympic swimming champion.
Before Coventry’s decision in June, the IOC had long refused to apply any universal rule on transgender participation for the Games, instructing international federations in 2021 to come up with their own guidelines. Under current rules, still in force, transgender athletes are eligible to take part in the Olympics.
Only a handful of openly transgender athletes have taken part in the Games. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a different gender category to that assigned at birth when the weightlifter took part in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Currently, some international federations have rules in place, but others have not yet reached that stage.
US President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in sports in schools in the United States, which civil society groups say infringes on the rights of trans people, as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Trump, who signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order in February, has said he would not allow transgender athletes to compete at the LA Games.
[Aljazeera]
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