Sports
Perth has lost its old charm
Rex Clementine
in Perth
Covering cricket in Perth has been a pleasant experience. WACA considered the quickest pitch in the world tests batsmen’s technique, character, resolve and determination and the faint-hearted fade away here. It’s the battle-hardened men like Hashan Tillakaratna who succeed. The left-hander copped a few nasty blows on his way to a Test match hundred in 1995, becoming the second Sri Lankan to score a century in Australia. The former Test captain is also the first Sri Lankan to score a Test hundred in South Africa, on an equally fiery pitch at the Centurion in 2002.
There have been other big moments for Sri Lankan cricket here in Western Australia.
Sri Lanka played a T-20 in Perth in 2010, a game that they won. Needing 134 to victory, Sri Lanka were 119 for four in the 15th over and captain Kumar Sangakkara played down a maiden over. Ahead of the 17th over, the tourists were feeling the pressure. Thisara Perera was on strike and Australia called up a leg-spinner by the name of Steve Smith. Thisara wasted no time as he hammered two sixes and a four in the first three deliveries to end the show.
WACA is a venue where Sri Lanka have some happy memories. However, in 2018, cricket in Perth shifted to Optus Stadium from WACA, a stone’s throw from the old ground.
For all its charm and history, WACA had one major issue; the venue could host only 18,000 fans. The new ground, very much like the Gabba in Queensland can welcome over 60,000 fans and it’s the third largest sports stadium in Australia.
The new stadium is not exclusive to cricket, it hosts Australian Rules Football and a couple of years ago All Blacks took on the Wallabies here.
Despite its state-of-the-art facilities and massive media center, the new ground is a concrete jungle. You miss WACA for more than one reason. The nostalgic feelings are there but many in Australia agree that you have got to move on with time.
While cricket grounds like MCG, SCG, Adelaide Oval and Gabba had gone through major redevelopment works in the last 25 years, WACA had remained the same old stadium, close to the hearts of fans and players though. But the modern game has no place for romantics. They are a breed that’s in extinct.
Debutant Malki Madara’s three-for combined with two-fors from Kavisha Dilhari and Inoshi Priyadharshani set up a comfortable victory for Sri Lanka in the T20I series opener in Christchurch. Chamari Athapaththu’s unbeaten 64 off 48 balls then took the visitors home with seven wickets in hand. This was Sri Lanka’s first T20I win in New Zealand and second win overall against New Zealand in the format.
Emma McLeod (44) was New Zealand’s highest scorer but only two of her team-mates got into double figures, and there was only one partnership that stretched past 20 balls.
Despite Priyadharshani dismissing Georgia Plimmer early, the hosts got off to a decent start thanks to captain Suzie Bates’ 14-ball 21. Madara, Sri Lanka’s fourth bowling option, brought on in the fifth over, got the big wicket of Bates which dried up the scoring. The next two overs went for just five runs.
Dilhari, the seventh bowler, struck twice upon being introduced in the ninth over as New Zealand slipped from 39 for 1 to 52 for 4. Maddy Green being run out cheaply had New Zealand play with caution as illustrated by the next two partnerships which produced a combined 29 runs off 41 balls.
McLeod, who had three fours in her first five balls, finished without adding to that tally across her 46-ball innings. She was the last New Zealand batter to fall as Madara ended the innings in the penultimate over.
Athapaththu then hit seven fours and took Sri Lanka to 46 for 0 at the end of the powerplay. Jess Kerr removed Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama in successive overs while Dilhari’s innings was cut short by a run out. Sri Lanka slipped to 66 for 3 but that didn’t stop their captain from attacking.
She hit Eden Carson for four immediately after Dilhari’s exit and smacked two sixes and a four off Bree Illing, the first of the sixes brought up her fifty off 43 balls. It left the hosts no room to make an unlikely comeback as Sri Lanka romped to a victory with 35 balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 102 for 3 in 14.1 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 64*, Kavisha Dilhari 12, Nilakshika Silva 12*; Jess Kerr 2-18) beat New Zealand Women 101 in 18.5 overs (Suzie Bates 21, Emma McLeod 44, Jess Kerr 10; Sugandika Kumari 1-18, Malki Madara 3-14, Kavisha Dilhari 2-18, Inoshi Priyadharshani 2-25, Chamari Athapaththu 1-10) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka will field three athletes including sprinter Chamod Yodasinghe and hurdler Kaveesha Bandara for next week’s World Indoor Athletics Championship which will be held in Nanjing, China.
Sprinters Chamod Yodasinghe and Kalinga Kumarage and hurdler Kaveesha Bandara are the only Sri Lankan athletes to have reached qualifying standards for the global event according to Sri Lanka Athletics.
It is the first time all three athletes are competing at a global event at senior level. While sprint veteran Kumarage has competed at major international events including the Asian Game, the Indoor World Championship is the first major international senior level event at which both Bandara and Yodasinghe are taking part.
Yodasinghe who has the 2028 Olympics as his long term goal had this year’s Asian Championship as his major goal for the year but his impressive 6.63 seconds finish in the 60 metres at last month’s National Short Track Championship has positioned him in the 36th place in the World Athletics’ Road to Nanjing rankings to be eligible for the event.
Hurdler Bandara is ranked 31st in the World Athletics’ Road to Nanjing rankings by virtue of his 7.80 seconds performance at the National Short Track Championship held in February.
Of the three athletes Kalinga Kumarage is the highest ranked Sri Lankan in the ‘Road to Nanjing rankings’. In the 400 metres Kumarage is ranked 17th for his 45.93 seconds feat achieved at a championship in Japan last year.
Sri Lanka has not been a regular participant at these championships. The country had to skip major athletics events in the recent past due to the difficulty in obtaining visas for events taking place in Europe and the USA.
With the Indoor World Championship taking place in China the three athletes will be eager to produce their best in a bid to improve their world rankings in a world championship year.
Junior Davis Cup Asia Oceania Pre Qualifying Tournament
Sri Lanka boys reached the semi-finals of the Junior Davis Cup Asia Oceania Pre Qualifying Tournament as an unbeaten team. They are set to meet Indonesia today in the semi-final in the tournament conducted in Kunchi Malaysia.
Sri Lanka team booked their semi-final spot with a convincing 2-0 win over Mongolia in the quarter-final where Aahil Kaleel (beat Zolbadar Urnukh 6-4, 6-1) and Saha Kapilasena (beat Zolbayar Ganbold 6-0, 7-5) emerged victorious.
In the other encounters Sri Lanka recorded dominant victories. They beat Bhutan 3-0 and Maldives 3-0.
In the encounter against Bhutan, Mayooran Kubheran (beat Jurmi Khedrup 6-1, 6-2) and Saha Kapilasena (beat Dorj Tshering 6-0, 6-0) won the singles before Aahil Kaleel and Mayooran Kubheran joined to win the doubles with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Dorj Tshering and Urmi Khedrup.
In the matches against Maldives, Mayooran Kubherane (beat Mohamed Salaam 6-0, 6-1) and Aahil Kaleel (beat Neyaz Adam Aal 6-0, 6-0) won the singles before the latter was joined by Saha Kapilasena (beat Mohamed Salaam and Neyaz Adam Aal) to register victory in the doubles.
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