Sports
Amalka, Ananda guiding lights of country’s netball stronghold
Amalka Gunathilaka and Ananda Wannithilaka have been providing a yeoman service to country’s netball propelling Holy Family Convent Kurunegala to become the schools netball stronghold.(File Pix by Nishan S. Priyantha)
When satisfaction is the only reward for commitment
by Reemus Fernando
No school in the country has dominated schools netball like the way teams of Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala have done during the last one and half decades. The name of Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala has been so synonymous with the All Island Schools Netball Championships and the Milo Schools Championship titles to such an extent that one cannot remember a single year when they had settled for a trophy lower than the runner up title during the last decade.
Schools like Kalutara Balika, Musaeus, Girls High School, Kandy have challenged them to win age category titles but when it comes to overall championships, there had hardly been another contender. Like the trophies to the souvenir cupboard of the girls’ school of Kurunegala, there had also been a steady supply of talent to the youth national and national teams from this school during the last decade.
However the netball dominance HFC is experiencing today is a far cry from the early 2000s. HFC were not even a formidable force at Provincial level when Amalka Gunathilaka commenced training the youngsters.
Maliyadeva Balika and Kalutara Balika were the only schools to have won championship titles until HFC emerged as a force to be reckoned in the field of netball under her stewardship.
HFC became the Under-12 Milo Schools Netball champions in 2005, a year after she joined the school as a PTI. From then on the school went from strength to strength.
Few years after Gunathilaka took coaching reigns, HFC became unbeatable at almost all age category competitions at national level.
Certainly it was not the regular working hours of a PTI that propelled the school to be crowned as Sri Lanka’s netball queens.
“I would come early in the morning to commence training. Then I attend to regular teaching. When I leave the school after training it is very late in the afternoon. When competitions are around the corner I leave the school very late,” says Amalka whose commitment and contribution to netball in the country is yet to receive due recognition.
Beside Amalka her husband Ananda Wannithilaka, the former national volleyball player and coach provides much needed guidance in strength and conditioning to the team. The commitment of this husband and wife duo has gone a long way in HFC becoming the netball stronghold of the country.
However despite helping the team produce remarkable feats, Amalka is yet to be given a proper national job which she craved for years.
“First when I applied for the coaching job in 2011 I was told that I could not get it since my daughter was in the squad. Then I applied in 2013, 2015 and 2018. They would cite different reasons. And would select someone who has only paper qualifications but has never had performances to produce. I always had performances. I am a qualified coach. I did the advance course as well. I was informed that I had passed it. But I am yet to receive the certificate from the federation,” says Amalka.
While Dulangi Wannithilaka (her daughter), Rathna Victoria and Methma Jayaratne are some of her products who excelled at senior level, there are numerous others from Sajini Ratnayake, Sethmi Danoshi, Suseema Kumari, Nelumi Hapuarachchi to Nirmani Perera, who had donned the junior national jersey for Sri Lanka.
She got a couple of rare breaks when she was selected to accompany the team to World Youth Cup in Gaborone, Botswana in 2017 as assistant coach to Janaki Gunasekara and was named coach of the Under-16 team last year for the inaugural Under-16 South Asian Netball Championship in Nepal where she spent her own funds to function as the coach. Sri Lanka won the championship comfortably.
Amalka believes that the entire selection process not only of coaches but also of players needs to be overhauled with provincial level selectors making available the outstation talent for national consideration.
With the sport suffering a huge setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic and training at junior level in disarray, Amalka is interested in the junior national coaching job which she once cherished so much.
“At the moment I very much cherish what I do. I am content that I and my husband were able to make our contribution to netball. Each year the players we produce are ranked among the best at junior level. Netball has become an added advantage for those who join private sector firms after leaving school and those who seek higher education. We gain immense satisfaction when we see them succeed in different walks of life.”
After three one-sided, low-scoring encounters, the fourth T20I between India and Sri Lanka exploded into a run-fest in Thiruvananthapuram, with both sides posting their highest totals in women’s T20Is. India’s big score of 221 for 2 proved too much for Sri Lanka, who fell short by 30 runs, handing the hosts a 4-0 series lead with one match remaining. India missed two catching opportunities and a stumping chance, while Sri Lanka gave away three, but the batting dominance was decisive.
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma set the tone with blistering half-centuries to power India’s innings, while Chamari Athapaththu kept Sri Lanka in the chase with a fighting 52. Despite a few late cameo efforts, the visitors couldn’t overcome India’s dominant batting display.
Shafali and Mandhana delivered a masterclass in aggressive opening batting, putting together 162 runs off just 92 balls – the highest opening partnership for India in women’s T20Is. Shafali continued her purple patch with a third successive T20I half-century, while Mandhana, who had managed only 40 runs in the first three matches, roared back to form. The innings also saw Mandhana climb to the top of the charts for most runs (1,703) in women’s internationals in a calendar year, underlining her dominance.
India’s openers were relentless from the outset, racing to 61 without loss in the powerplay with 12 boundaries. Shafali’s innings was built on control and placement – her first six came only after her fifty, a loft over long-off in the 11th over – and she finished with 12 fours and a six.
Mandhana, meanwhile, struck 11 fours and three sixes, though her innings briefly dipped in tempo. After racing to 24 off 14 balls, she moved to 28 off 24 during a short lull before accelerating sharply to reach her half-century off 35 deliveries. From there, she cut loose, using the feet to loft the spinners and driving straight with authority.
The contest decisively tilted in overs 11 to 13, when India tore into the attack. The 11th over went for 15 runs, followed by a 20-run 12th and an 18-run 13th, each featuring two fours and a six. Any hopes Sri Lanka had of restricting the damage vanished as India surged from 85 for no loss to 120 in just two overs.
India brought up 150 in only 14.2 overs, making light of the Sri Lanka captain’s assessment at the toss that 140 would be a competitive total.
Sri Lanka had to wait 92 balls for their first breakthrough and struck again in the following over, the 17th, but any momentum was swiftly snuffed out by Richa Ghosh. With Harleen Deol replacing Jemimah Rodrigues, who was recovering from a mild fever, India promoted Ghosh to No. 3 for the death overs – a move that paid rich dividends. Having faced just one delivery in the series before this match, Ghosh made an impact, blasting 40 off 16 balls and adding an unbroken 53-run stand with Harmanpreet Kaur.
Ghosh announced herself by heaving her second ball over Nimasha Meepage’s head for four. After a relatively quiet 17th over, she found her range against the same bowler, striking two more boundaries. The onslaught peaked against Kavisha Dilhari, one of Sri Lanka’s more experienced bowlers, as Ghosh went into overdrive. She smoked three sixes and a four to plunder 23 runs from the 19th over, punishing anything in her hitting arc and underlining India’s ruthless finish.
Sri Lanka began their chase aggressively, with Hasini Perera taking charge. She tore into Renuka Singh’s first over, hitting three boundaries, while Arundhati Reddy, making a comeback in place of the rested Kranti Gaud, conceded 17 off the second over. By the end of four, Sri Lanka had raced to 52 for 0, with the opening stand between Perera and Athapaththu putting on 59 runs off 34 balls.
Athapaththu struck the chase’s first six, charging down the track and clearing long-off off Deepti Sharma in the third over. Both left-handers punished anything too full or short, though Perera fell in the sixth over, holing out to Harmanpreet at mid-off off Reddy’s offcutter.
Athapaththu kept the momentum going, adding 57 runs off 46 balls with Imesha Dulani for the second wicket. Athapaththu moved from 20 off 15 balls to fifty in the next 19 deliveries, hitting three sixes and as many fours. However, her innings ended when she mistimed a charge over the off side, gifting a catch to Mandhana at long-off off Vaishnavi Sharma. At that stage, Sri Lanka needed 106 runs from 42 balls. Despite a few late cameos, the chase fell short.
On a night dominated by big scores, Vaishnavi emerged as the standout bowler, picking up two crucial wickets for just 24 runs. Introduced into the attack after the powerplay, she began by floating the ball outside off stump to entice the batters before gradually attacking the stumps and testing the left-handers with clever variations.
After dismissing Athapaththu in the 13th over, she also removed Harshitha Samarawickrama for a 13-ball 20 in the 17th, when the batter looked threatening. Her disciplined lines and sharp changes of pace helped India keep Sri Lanka’s scoring in check.
Brief scores:
India Women 221 for 2 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 80, Shafali Verma 79, Richa Ghosh 40*, Harmanpreet Kaur16*; Malsha Shehani 1-32, Nimasha Meepage 1-40) beat Sri Lanka Women 191 for 6 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 52, Hasini Perera 33, Imesha Dulani 29, Harshitha Samarawickrama 20, Kavisha Dilhari 13, Nilakshika de Silva 23*; Arundhati Reddy 2-42, Vaishnavi Sharma 2-24, Shree Charani 1-46) by 30 runs
(Cricinfo)
A private function will be held on Monday, December 29 at Melbourne’s Spicy Wicket Restaurant to celebrate Asanka Gurusinha’s iconic Boxing Day century at the MCG, the first and still the only hundred by a Sri Lankan at the grand old ground that staged the game’s inaugural Test and has long been cricket’s festive showpiece in Australia.
Sri Lanka featured in the 1995 Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a match remembered as much for controversy as for courage. Umpire Darrel Hair repeatedly no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing in front of a stunned crowd of 55,000, turning the contest into a cauldron.
It was a one-sided affair dominated by Mark Taylor’s Australians. Forced to follow on, Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel before Gurusinha dug in to produce a back-to-the-wall 143. It was the left-hander’s career-best Test score and more importantly helped Sri Lanka avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat.
“Any Test hundred is a moment to remember, but to do it against Australia, facing McDermott, McGrath, Warne and Reifel at the MCG is very special,” Gurusinha told Telecom Asia Sport. “It didn’t sink in 30 years ago, but I know now why it’s special. I always enjoyed batting on pitches with bounce and seam and Australia was a place I loved playing.”
“Coming up against the best team in the world at the time and that formidable bowling attack is something that will stay with me forever,” he added.
Gurusinha also paid tribute to those behind the celebration. “I want to thank my good friends David and Cathy Cruse for organising this event. All my family will be there and it’s great to have Aravinda de Silva as chief guest. I played against him at school level for eight years and then alongside him for 12 years for Sri Lanka. He’s a dear friend.”
Gurusinha made his Test debut in 1985, straight out of school as a 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batter. His sound technique soon demanded promotion and he settled into the No. 3 slot, becoming the side’s human sandbag, valuing his wicket, batting time and wearing down attacks during marathon vigils that tested bowlers’ patience as much as their stamina.
A key member of Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning squad in 1996, Gurusinha willingly shelved his natural strokeplay to play the anchor’s role, allowing the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva to cut loose. He struck a vital half-century in the final against Australia, earning praise from captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who famously labelled him the unsung hero of Sri Lanka’s World Cup triumph.
Gurusinha retired prematurely at the age of 30 soon after that World Cup success, migrated to Australia and has since made Melbourne his adopted home, fitting, perhaps, that the city where he played his finest innings will now raise a glass to a knock that has aged like fine wine.
Royal scored a first innings win over Gurukula after they restricted the team from Kelniya to 215 runs in reply to their 302 in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ match at Reid Avenue on Sunday.
For the home team open bat Hirun Liyanarachchi scored back to back half centuries. He remained unbeaten on 56 in the second innings.
For the visitors Ohas Sadew picked up six wickets.
Scores
Royal 302 for 9 decl. in 80 overs (Hirun Liyanarachchi 50, Dushen Udawela 25, Ramiru Perera 60, Yasindu Dissanayake 41, Thevindu Wewalwala 36, Manuth Disanayake 42, Udantha Gangewatta
22n.o.; Ohas Sadew 6/101) and 130 for 2 in 39 overs (Hirun Liyanarachchi 56n.o., Rehan Peiris 59)
Gurukula
215 all out in 75.2 overs (Sahas Induwara 35, Denura Dimansith 79, Janith Mihiranga 44; Himaru Deshan 2/65, Ramiru Perera 2/58) (RF)
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