Sports
Junior National Championship starts today – Foreign exchange crisis could hurt athletes qualifying for World Junior Championships
by Reemus Fernando
The Junior National Athletics Championships starting at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo today will present an opportunity for numerous junior athletes to test their skills at the national level after a lapse of two years. The four-day championship will also be the final opportunity for the athletes in the Under 20 age category to reach qualifying standards for the World Junior Championships. But with the sports administrators finding it difficult to obtain the necessary funds to send teams for overseas competitions, it is doubtful whether even those who have already qualified would get the opportunity to represent the country at the world stage.
Some nine athletes have already reached qualifying standards for the World Junior Championships at different meets during the recent months but officials are considering sending a pruned down team due to the ongoing foreign exchange crisis.
“We will not be able to send all athletes who reach qualifying standards for the World Junior event due to the current economic crisis. We will try to send athletes whose performances are the highest ranked,” a senior official of Sri Lanka Athletics told The Island last week.
According to him the athletes who have bettered the qualifying standards by big margins are likely to get the go-ahead.
That will put pressure on a number of juniors who have bettered the qualifying standards by narrow margins to do better at the meet starting today.
Ratnayake Central, Walala runner Tharushi Karunaratne and Ambagamuwa Central hurdler Dhanuka Dharshana are among the leading contenders to make the team for the World Junior Championships which will be held in Cali, Colombia in August.
Sri Lanka Athletics had been sending all athletes who reach qualifying standards for the biennial event in recent years.
At the last championships in Kenya, Sri Lanka’s mix relay team reached the final where they were ranked fifth for a time of 3:26.39 secs. Incidentally, two of the athletes, Karunaratne and Sithum Jayasundara who were part of the team that toured Kenya have reached qualifying standards again.
A number of athletes who have not reached qualifying standards for the World Junior Championships will be trying their best to accomplish that target during these four days.
Sri Lanka Athletics was also looking forward to conducting the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Sri Lanka this year and the Junior Nationals were to be the final selection ground for that. But the present crisis has derailed many such plans.
Sports
Buttler nullifies Narine to orchestrate Rajasthan Royal’s thrilling win
Jos Buttler smashed a century – his second of the season – and nullified Sunil Narine’s first triple-figure score in the tournament to pave the way for the joint-highest run-chase in IPL history. Narine’s reprise of the opening role for KKR hit a new peak as the West Indian scored 109 off 56. KKR, backed up by their 200-plus total, looked set to usurp RR to the summit of the points table but were undone by a brilliant Buttler, and a six-over mania at the end in which RR got 96 runs.
The game reached a juncture where KKR had the upper hand. Buttler was still in the middle but wasn’t quite at his best, while RR were down to 128 for 6, needing 96 off 36 balls. This was the epicentre of RR’s turnaround. Varun CV, who’d bowled three good overs, was hit for four fours by Buttler to signify that this game was far from over. Rovman Powell joined in to reiterate that as he hit Andre Russell for a six in the 16th over, which also went for 17 runs, and then went 4 6 6 against Narine to put the pressure back on KKR. Narine hit back by trapping the West Indian leg before, leaving Buttler to find his way around with RR’s long tail.
Mitchell Starc was back with RR needing 46 off 18 and was thoroughly smashed around by Buttler. The over began with a six, had the run out of Trent Boult in it but ended with RR wiping out 18 more from the target. Harshit Rana, who has been one of KKR’s better death bowlers this season, missed his mark repeatedly against Buttler and was duly punished. Buttler hit two sixes and a four in the 19th over to drag the equation down to just 9 off 6. That became 3 off 5 when Buttler hit a six over long-on off Varun. The spinner tied the limping Buttler to his crease on the next 3 balls but the fifth was a full toss that fetched 2 runs. On the last ball, Buttler pulled away to complete a sensational victory.
Phil Salt was offered a reprieve first over – a dropped catch by Riyan Parag at point – and then sent packing by a blinder of a return catch from Avesh Khan but KKR once again had a fantastic start to their batting innings. KKR were at 26/1 in 4 overs but then flew off the blocks. Narine and the impressive Angkrish Raghuvanshi went hard, even against RR’s fantastic powerplay bowler Trent Boult to guide the side to 56/1 in 6 overs. Boult, who operated at an economy rate of 6.06 in the PowerPlay until this game, was hit for 24 runs in three overs. Narine went after Kuldeep Sen in the sixth over to get warmed up for the exceptional innings that was to follow.
KKR’s risk-taking opener maximised facing a bowler who he matches up well against in the middle-overs – R Ashwin. Heading into this game, Narine had hit 60 off 22 from Ashwin in the IPL. Tonight, he scored 34 off 17 – with four fours and two sixes. Ashwin set a packed off-side field with a long off, deep point and deep extra cover but the left-hander repeatedly pierced it. Ashwin even got a couple of dots by flirting with the wide line outside the off-stump. Even with those, he got the runs to dent RR in the middle.
Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Shreyas Iyer to move to 199 IPL wickets, but finished with his worst IPL figures – of 1 for 54, after being taken apart by Narine – particularly in his last over where he conceded 23 runs. Ashwin’s returns of 0 for 49 were his second-worst – also stretching his wicketless streak to five games this season. In the eight overs between them, they conceded 103 runs at an economy rate of 12.87.
After Narine brought up his century in the 16th over, the stage was set for Andre Russell to punish RR further. Avesh came back to deny the big West Indian a late flourish, getting him caught at extra cover by Dhruv Jurel for a 10-ball 13. Only seven runs came off that over, and the next from Boult, which also included the wicket of Narine. Rinku Singh and Venkatesh Iyer however, hit 25 off the last two overs to take KKR to 223/6.
Jos Buttler and Riyan Parag got the start the visitors needed in a chase as daunting as this one, as they amassed their best PowerPlay score of the season – 76/1. Yashasvi Jaiswal had another underwhelming outing and Sanju Samson fell after a couple of promising, but Parag continued to bring his audacious batting to the middle in the company of Buttler. Parag outpaced Buttler as he took down Harshit Rana, and Vaibhav Arora in a 23-run over in the sixth. Parag was particularly brutal against Rana but fell to the bowler’s slower one, with Andre Russell taking a good catch in the deep.
RR lost three wickets but still had 98 runs on the board in 8 overs, staying on course in the big chase. Sunil Narine then changed that by trapping Dhruv Jurel leg before in the ninth over. R Ashwin was once again promoted up the order, but he struggled to provide a push in the scoring while Buttler too went through a phase where he struggled to middle the ball. KKR spinners used the sticky pitch to make shot-making difficult as RR limped to 121/4 in 12 overs, needing 103 off the last 8 overs. Varun Chakravarthy, who was in the middle of a stirring spell, dismissed Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer off successive deliveries to put KKR on course to finish the night on top of the points table. Buttler, however, had other ideas.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 223/6 in 20 overs (Sunil Narine 109, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 30; Avesh Khan 2-35) lost to Rajasthan Royals 224/8 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 107*, Riyan Parag 34; Sunil Narine 2-30) by 2 wickets
Sports
Derek Underwood – a man who defied convention
by Rex Clementine
Derek Underwood, the man who mesmerized Sri Lankans with an eight-wicket haul in our inaugural Test match at P. Sara Oval 42 years ago, is no more. He passed away at the age of 78 on Monday.
Arjuna Ranatunga thrilled us all becoming the first Sri Lankan to post a half-century in Test match cricket. He was dismissed by Underwood. The manner in which the old fox, 37 at that time, set up the 18-year-old was a treat to watch indeed. Arjuna was cleaned up shouldering arms to the veteran, whose nickname was ‘deadly’.
Underwood took a five for in the first innings and finished with three wickets in the second essay. When he left Colombo, he was on 297 wickets. There was little doubt in us that he was going to get to the 300-wicket mark during the English summer just a few weeks away. He in fact needed only 11 more wickets to break Fred Trueman’s record for most wickets by an Englishman in Test cricket. But fate would have other ideas.
Dr. Ali Bacher, the South African supremo was masterminding a rebel cricket tour by an England team. He had roped in Graham Gooch, Geoff Boycott, John Lever, Bob Woolmer, Johny Emburey and many others. Underwood joined too. All were handed three-year international bans and that effectively ended many players’ careers.
West Indies were unforgiving for those players who toured apartheid South Africa. Sri Lanka too were somewhat rigid. England were far more lenient. Underwood played First Class cricket after the rebel tour.
Underwood’s fascination with Kent is legendary. He spent all his 24 years as a professional cricketer at Canterbury and that involved more than 900 games. He took 100 wickets for the season on ten occasions and the first time it happened was when he was just 17. After retirement, he went on to become the President of Kent County Cricket Club and later Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Underwood was unlike any of the other spinners that we have seen. Spinners usually are slow and flight the ball trying to beat the batters in the air. Underwood was more of a cutter fashion bowler. He had a long run up looking similar to a medium-pacer and he fired it in.
Most good spinners prosper when there is a solid wicketkeeper. Qadir had Bari, Warne had Healy, Murali had Sanga and so did Underwood. His partnership with Alan Knott went beyond England as they both played for Kent as well.
Kent renamed The Annexe Stand at their ground as the Underwood – Knott Stand to recognize the pair’s service to the county. The press box at Kent ground is in the Underwood – Knott Stand.
Underwood was a proper tail-ender as evident by his record – no half-centuries in Test match cricket. But that didn’t prevent him from coming in as nightwatchman during many games. This was at a time when the West Indies had Marshall and Holding while the Aussies had Lillee and Thomson. In sports, they say, it’s all about the guts you show.
One is reminded of the famous story of a Sri Lankan left-arm spinner. When Duleep Mendis wanted to spare his premier batsman Aravinda de Silva and ordered the spinner to get ready to go in as night watchman, the spinner apparently was hiding in the toilet.
Underwood will be remembered. Not just for scripting many famous wins for Kent and England, but for having the courage to be different, to move away from conventional spin and to stick to his strength. That made him the most successful spinner that England have ever produced.
Sports
Top dog Sri Lanka aims at top finish at Asia Rugby tournament
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Sri Lanka is excitedly getting ready for the Division 1 Asia Rugby 15-a-side Championship which will now be contested between Sri Lanka, India, Qatar and Kazakhstan in Colombo.
Asia Rugby decided to scrap the Division 2 championship after Iran and Pakistan pulled out of competing in this tournament. Hence Kazakhstan’s inclusion in the Division 1 tournament to fill the void created by Pakistan’s unavailability.
Undoubtedly this event sees host Sri Lanka taking the field as the top dog. The islanders enjoy a world ranking of 44 in 15-a-side rugby and should have it easy against India (ranked 87th in the world) in the second match of the tournament. This match is scheduled to take place on April 30 (Tuesday) at 19.00 pm after the curtain raiser to the tournament which is between Qatar (world ranked 94) and Kazakhstan (world ranked 64); scheduled on the same day at 16.00 pm.
This tournament gives Sri Lanka a golden opportunity to bring its national rugby team back into action after the bans it was slapped with by World Rugby and Asian Rugby. The island’s rugby players are raring to go after long period of ‘inactivity’ in the international stage. Sri Lanka did send a team for the last Asian Games, Asian Sevens Series and Commonwealth Games, but then the preparations that went into compiling the national team for these events were inadequate. The volatile environment present for rugby activities in Sri Lanka didn’t help either in preparing the national team for these events.
Now Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) is headed by Retd. Group Captain Nalin De Silva and ‘Himalayan’ efforts are being made to host this tournament at the Race Course-the country’s official venue to host international rugby events. De Silva was quoted saying Asia Rugby’s official website the following regarding the upcoming tournament: “Our players wish to display natural talents and skills and also to share and strengthen our deep-rooted cultural ties through rugby with the visiting Asia Rugby teams”. The inspiring news for Sri Lanka is that the islanders just finished their club rugby season and all the clubs have released their players to attend national pool training.
Sri Lanka’s participation at the Asian Men’s Rugby Championship has been inspirational at times, but heartbreaking too; especially when the islanders have had to face too many challenges off the field. Now the side is relegated to the Division 1 tournament having earlier played in the ‘Asia Men’s Championship’. Sri Lanka’s biggest worry has been the unavailability of players and some players refusing to perform in full capacity when playing for the country in overseas tournaments. The icing on the cake for Sri Lanka could be put this time by three coaches slotted into take charge of the national players. They are Sanath Martis, Dushanth Lewke and Nilfer Ibrahim.
Sri Lanka can only boast of past laurels when talking about the Division 1 tournament. Back in 2019, Sri Lanka, competing in the Division 1 tournament, finished as winners in the 3rd place playoff after winning a crucial game against the hosts, Chinese Taipei. The score read 72-17 in favour of Sri Lanka. In that tournament, Sri Lanka lost in the semis finals of the main competition when they went down fighting to Philippines 39-22.
Now the islanders get another opportunity to put their rugby in order. The Sri Lankans should have it easy against India, a side having a deep-rooted history in rugby like the host team, but going down in the annals of Asia rugby as a nation that never really blossomed in the international stage. Rahul Bose, the President of India Rugby, was quoted in the Asia Rugby official website saying, “As a national federation it is our consistent effort to create conditions for our players where they can put their best foot forward on the international stage”.
Qatar has been a force in the Division 1 tournament over the years. Its Rugby Union President Yousef Al Kuwar was quoted in the Asia Rugby official website stating, “Our 15-a-side programme is very important as we have aspirations to play at the highest level”. Qatar will be meeting Kazakhstan, a side which has also taken a dip in rankings and performance in the international rugby stage. Kazakshtan Rugby Union President President Aigul Jartybayeva has been quoted in the Asia Rugby web site stating, “We are very happy to participate in the Asia Rugby Division 1 Championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We are keen on building our men’s team programme and hope to participate and compete in an Asia Rugby tournament such as this. In time, our men’s team can replicate the remarkable success achieved by our women’s programme in both in 7s and 15s. I would like to wish all the athletes the best of luck.”
The focus on Asian rugby these days is on the 15-a-side tournament which will feature the best teams in the second tier of this region. The teams contesting the top tier or the Asia Men’s Championship are Hong Kong China, Malaysia, South Korea and UAE.
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