Sports
Brothers Murali and Prabu Empower Rural Nuwara Eliya with the Foundation of Goodness
Sri Lanka’s Nuwara Eliya District is famed for its picturesque views, flourishing tea estates and awe inspiring waterfalls. The colder climate also makes it a favourite destination among local and international visitors. However, among the beauty of this district are rural communities that struggle everyday to afford their basic necessities.
This district is home to some of the most under-served rural Sri Lankan communities, consisting mostly of tea estate workers and daily wage earners. Unfortunately, these communities are often marginalized with little or no support to elevate them from the vicious cycle of poverty that they are trapped in.
It is against this backdrop that the Foundation of Goodness recently established not just one but three Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres in Ragala, Kothmale and Hatton in the Nuwara Eliya District. These Empowerment Centres provide free educational, vocational and sports courses such as English Language training, dressmaking, computer training and STEM education, and act as the nerve centre of the village by empowering its population. These new skills provide a step up for rural beneficiaries to better their lives and open new doors of opportunity.
Recently, the Foundation of Goodness together with Founder Kushil Gunasekera and Centre sponsors, Trustee Muthiah Muralidaran, Muthiah Prabagaran and Snackings (Pvt) Ltd declared open the Kothmale and Hatton Centres.
“Murali is someone very passionate about giving and caring for the less privileged and since both Murali and his brother Prabu pledged to establish these productive village empowerment centres, they delivered their promise to match their word of honour. He is well aware of the prevailing circumstances in the tea estate communities and as such the numbers registered exceeding 4,000 is a record breaking achievement from all our 15 centres that demonstrates the need to provide facilities of this kind for their progress,” said Kushil Gunasekera.
The Centre in Ragala located in a tea estate will benefit 1150 rural villagers from 14 villages in the locality. The Kothmale Centre has registered over 1721 rural villagers from 20 villages while the Hatton VHE Centre will empower 1198 villagers from 11 villages.
In total, these Centres will benefit over 4,000 rural Sri Lankans from 45 villages, giving them access to opportunities brought by the Foundation of Goodness that go beyond educational and vocational training, such as educational scholarships, overseas competitions and mentorship.
The total number of Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres established across Sri Lanka by the Foundation of Goodness now stands at 14, empowering over 10,971 rural beneficiaries from 150 villages.
The Foundation of Goodness recognises the extraordinary contribution made towards growing our reach to the central highlands of Sri Lanka by Trustee Muthiah Muralidaran together with his brother Muthiah Prabagaran and Snacking PVT Ltd. Murali always keeps FoG in his heart and over the years, he has donated the entirety of many of his endorsement fees and has now launched his Cameo celebrity promotions exclusively in aid of FoG, ensuring that thousands of rural Sri Lankans across the island receive empowerment courses free of charge, urgent medical and welfare needs and helps improve rural sports development. He constantly promotes the Foundation of Goodness and truly believes in the vision for a better Sri Lanka.
The Foundation of Goodness was established in 1999 and has worked extensively to develop a one of a kind holistic rural community development model that seeks to bridge the urban-rural divide. In 2021 alone, despite struggles brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Foundation of Goodness delivered a wide range of programmes to over 68,000 beneficiaries from 900+ villages across Sri Lanka, free of charge. In addition to its flagship venue and project headquarters, the OYOB Centre of Excellence and Sports Academy in Seenigama, the Foundation of Goodness has also branched out to offer its key courses and resources to distant rural villages via Village Heartbeat Empowerment Centres which strive to empower disadvantaged communities so that they may have equal opportunities to excel in life. As the nerve centre of the village, the Village Heartbeat concept works to give underprivileged villagers access to skills that will enable them to develop to their full potential.
Two people taking part in Australia’s annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race have died in separate incidents, according to police.
Both crew members died in separate incidents after being hit by a boom – the large pole attached horizontally to the bottom of a sail.
The event’s organisers said the incidents happened on the Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline.
The first boats are expected to arrive in the city of Hobart, in Tasmania, later on Friday or early on Saturday. Several have already retired due to bad weather.
New South Wales (NSW) police said the first incident was reported to officers just before midnight on Thursday local time (12:50 GMT) by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in the country’s capital, Canberra.
Just over two hours later, at 02:15 on Friday, NSW police were told that crew aboard the second boat were giving CPR to the second person, which also had not worked.
Flying Fish Arctos had been sailing approximately 30 nautical miles east/south-east of the NSW town of Ulladulla, the organisers said.
Bowline, meanwhile, was approximately 30 nautical miles east/north-east of the town of Batemans Bay, also in NSW.
“Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased,” the organisers said in a statement.
“The Sydney to Hobart is an Australian tradition, and it is heart-breaking that two lives have been lost at what should be a time of joy,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The race, which began on Thursday, has continued.
It is not the first time there have been fatalities during the race, which was first held in 1945.
Six people, including British Olympic yachtsman Glyn Charles, died in 1998 after raging storms hit competitors.
[BBC]
Deepti Sharma turned in a superb all-round performance to help India seal the ODI series 3-0 in Vadodara. She first took 6 for 31 as West Indies folded for 162. Then with India in choppy waters, Deepti provided a calming influence with an unbeaten 39 to the team home by five wickets.
While Deepti dug in for the hard grind, aided with luck when she was dropped by Hayley Matthews at slip on 21, Richa Ghosh lent the finishing touches. Having walked in to bat with India 129 for 5, Ghosh allayed fears of a collapse by hitting one four and three sixes in her brisk 11-ball 23. This included back-to-back sixes off legspinner Afy Fletcher to see off India’s chase.
Under leaden skies, and on a surface that got progressively tougher to bat on with the odd ball keeping low and turning big, West Indies were left to rue another poor batting performance. Barring Chinelle Henry and Shemaine Campbelle, who put together 91 for the fourth wicket, there was little else of note from the batting unit.
The collapse began in the very first over when Renuka Singh removed Qiana Joseph, with a faint tickle down leg, and the in-form Matthews with a superb in-ducker four balls later. When Deandra Dottin was bowled attempting a hack into the leg side to Renuka, the visitors were 9 for 3 in the fifth over. Renuka with finish with a four-for eventually, coming back later to clean up the lower order amid the Deepti show.
Under the shadow of a collapse, Henry, playing her first ODI of the series, rebuilt the innings. She struggled to get bat to ball early on, pottering to 3 off 17. Then from nowhere, she brought out a release shot for six off debutant left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar to get going.
During the course of her third half-century, Henry played some neat little cuts and glides. At the other end, Campbelle showed positivity against spin. She took the attack early to legspinner Priya Mishra, hitting her for three boundaries in her second over. After using her feet to launch into two stunning drives – one down the ground and the other through cover – she rocked back to pull Mishra for a third as she dropped short.
This 91-run stand for the fourth wicket appeared to have revived the visitors as much as it frustrated India. This is when Deepti came into the game and made a telling contribution.
Campbell was consumed by a rush of blood as she was lulled into the big shot by Deepti, only for Pratika Rawal to take a comfortable catch at long-on. In the following over, Zaida James was caught superbly at slip by Harmanpreet as Deepti had her driving from the rough.
It could’ve been a triple-strike for India but for Renuka dropping the simplest of return catches via a leading edge to reprieve Aaliya Alleyne on 0. Alleyne would make only 21, though, falling to a tame chip to short midwicket. Alleyne’s wicket came hot on the heels of Henry’s dismissal for a third ODI half-century when she was out bowled by a straighter one. West Indies went on to lose their last 5 wickets for 21.
India’s reply began in nervous fashion as they lost Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol early in the power play against the moving ball. Pratika Rawal too missed out on a great opportunity to build on a solid foundation from her first two ODIs when she holed out to mid-on in an attempt to hit out against Matthews’ offspin.
India captain Harmanpreet then picked the pieces up and put together a fantastic exhibition of cover driving. Having begun with two fours off her first five deliveries, she went on to pierce a packed off-side ring to hit Dottin for three fours in the ninth over to quickly take to 23 off 13.
Harmanpreet looked in rip-roaring form when she played back to be bowled by a skidder from Afy Fletcher. The wicket briefly galvanised the visitors, but India weren’t to be denied as Deepti, Jemimah Rodrigues and Ghosh all played neat hands to see them home.
Brief scores:
India Women 167 for 5 in 28.2 overs (Deepti Sharma 39*, Harmanpreet Kaur 32, Jemmimah Rodrigues 29, Richa Ghosh 23*) beat West Indies Women 162 in 38.5 overs (Chinnel Henry 61, Shemaine Campbelle 46, Aaliyah /alleine 21; Deepti Sharma 6-31, Renuka Singh 4-29) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
Australia kept their vice-like grip around the MCG Test despite a fighting effort from Yashasvi Jaiswal as India went to stumps at 164 for 5, trailing the hosts by 310 runs. Scott Boland and Pat Cummins made that possible after Steve Smith scored his 11th Test century against India – the most by any batter against this opposition in the format.
Jaiswal shrugged off his four ordinary outings in Adelaide and Brisbane to get stuck into the Australian bowlers on Day 2 to carve out a fine essay. He was proactive with his feet movement against the pacers and negotiated Nathan Lyon with a lot of comfort in favourable batting conditions. He went after Mitchell Marsh too, setting himself up for a three-figure score. Kohli did well to buckle down and offer judgment to balls on the fifth stump channel as the Aussie quicks repeatedly tempted him to play at it with a populated slip cordon on their toes. Kohli, who was seen simulating this situation with Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna in the nets on the eve of the game, successfully let balls go. With edges not carrying either, the pacers bowled straighter at him that allowed Kohli to get his innings going with flicks and pulls.
But in the final hour of the day, a few minutes of indecisiveness saw both the batters back in the dressing room. First, Jaiswal fell for 82 to a run out after driving one to mid-on and dashing off for a single. Kohli wasn’t keen and stood his ground, leading to Jaiswal’s dismissal. Seven balls later, Kohli bit the bullet and edged a ball from Scott Boland – the kind he’d let go for majority of the session – to depart for 36. Boland dug his heels in further, dismissing nightwatchman Akash Deep and leaving India five down.
The home side’s advantage at the close of play on the second day was built on Steve Smith’s outstanding century in the morning. Smith overcame a mini-battle against Jasprit Bumrah and took runs off Deep at the other end to extend his team’s dominance that was well-established by the top-order on the opening day. Smith had several false shots against Deep but none came with the doom of his dismissal for him. He further rubbed it in by picking runs easily as Deep conceded 30 in his five-over spell. The change bowlers couldn’t stop the runs either as Siraj endured a forgettable outing with figures of 0 for 122 in 23 overs.
Smith and Cummins added quick runs in the first hour before Jadeja ended the Australian captain’s stay on 49. Smith however, got to his 34th Test hundred, fifth at the MCG, and shifted gears after to take on both Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Mitchell Starc didn’t hold back either, even hitting Jasprit Bumrah for a six towards the end of the session. The Lunch break came as respite for a misfiring India, who then struck early in the second session. Jadeja cleaned up Starc and Deep removed Smith with some luck – the centurion danced down for a big shot through the off-side, but the ball ricocheted off his leg and rolled on to dislodge one bail as he watched on. Bumrah wrapped up the innings soon but India’s riposte was once again found wanting.
Rohit Sharma opened the innings again but was swiftly sent back by his opposite number when he tried and failed to play a pull shot off a ball that wasn’t quite short. KL Rahul and Jaiswal started to build a stand but Cummins put the lid on that with an incredible ball that straightened off a length, squaring up and cleaning up Rahul at the stroke of Tea.
The difference between a fighting response and an underwhelming one for India was the health of the Kohli-Jaiswal stand, which promised to lead the way before being broken against the run of play. India lost three wickets for the addition of just six runs in this period, letting Australia maintain complete control of the game.
Brief scores:
India 164/5 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 82; Pat Cummins 2-57, Scott Boland 2-24) trail Australia 474 (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72; Jasprit Bumrah 4-99) by 310 runs
[Cricbuzz]
Two die in Sydney to Hobart yacht race
Deepti’s all-round heroics hand India series sweep
Australia maintain full control despite Jaiswal’s 82
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