Fresh from his historic record-breaking performance in Rome, Rumesh Tharanga will be one of the headline attractions in the men’s javelin event at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting which will be held today.

‎Tharanga produced a sensational throw of 92.62 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Rome earlier this month, setting a new Sri Lankan record and achieving a world-leading mark for the season. His remarkable effort not only shattered the meeting record but also propelled him to eighth place on the world all-time list.

‎The achievement elevated the Sri Lankan star to the status of the second-best Asian javelin thrower in history and further strengthened his credentials as one of the leading contenders on the international circuit.

‎In Ostrava, Tharanga will extend the newly commenced rivalry with two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada. Peters finished second behind the 23-year-old in Rome, setting the stage for another highly anticipated contest between the two elite throwers.

‎However, Tharanga is not aiming for a big throw. “I am not prepared for a big throw in Ostrave. We are still not set for peak performances,” Tharanga told in an online interview conducted by Chathura Ranasinghe.

‎The women’s javelin competition is also expected to be of a high standard, featuring an impressive field led by two-time World Under-20 champion Adriana Vilagoš. She will be joined by Poland’s Maria Andrejczyk, the silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and Croatia’s Sara Kolak, the Olympic champion from Rio 2016.

‎With several of the world’s top javelin athletes in action, the Ostrava meeting promises an exciting showcase of throwing talent, with Tharanga aiming to build on the momentum generated by his career-defining performance in Rome.

Sri Lanka bounced back from the first T20I defeat by putting on an all-round show that earned them series parity in Kingston. Kamil Mishara’s unbeaten 61 at the top and Dasun Shanaka’s middle-order assault (58 off 24) powered Sri Lanka to a big total that the bowlers comfortably defended. Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga picked three wickets each as West Indies fell well short in chase.

‎Sri Lanka flew off the blocks via Kusal Mendis in the Powerplay, before he and Pathum Nissanka were dismissed in the space of four deliveries. Mendis’s 19-ball 31 did enough to give the visitors a strong start. Pavan Rathnayake fell on the otherside of the Powerplay, but from 43/3, Mishara and Kamindu Mendis began repair work. They stitched a fairly conservative stand – worth 45 off 35 balls, before all hell broke loose with the arrival of Shanaka.

‎The all-rounder launched his offensive against Roston Chase, starting with a six over the roof. He hit another six and a four in a 19-run 14th over. He took boundaries off Shamar Springer too, even as Mishara continued his circumspect essay. That turned too, in the death overs as he went from 22 off 23 to 61 off 40, taking on Matthew Forde with a couple of sixes and getting to his fifty with one off Romario Shepherd. The West Indies all-rounder conceded 19 runs in that over. In the following over, Shanaka reached his 19-ball fifty with a six off Springer as fours and sixes came easily in this period of play. The only reason Sri Lanka didn’t go comfortably past the 200-run mark was because Joseph pulled back with a stunning final over where he conceded only three runs and picked two wickets. Shanaka was one of the two, not before smashing 58 off just 24 deliveries – an innings laced with five fours and four sixes.

‎West Indies received an early jolt in chase as they were reduced to 9 for 2 in the second over, with both openers Shai Hope and Brandon King departing, to Dunith Wellalage and Chameera respectively. Shimron Hetmyer and Powell made a real attempt at turning it around as they put West Indies on par with the asking rate nearly till the halfway stage. They took 28 off two Eshan Malinga overs on either side of the Powerplay and picked 18 off a Maheesh Theekshana over. Hetmyer even survived a tricky stumping call, only to be run out just four deliveries later in a double-wicket 10th over that derailed West Indies.

‎Powell, who’d thrown his bat around until then, also perished – for a 26-ball 43. From 91/4, West Indies suffered a nosedive. The next six wickets came for just 66 runs as the middle and lower-order couldn’t consolidate the efforts of those before them. In the 19th over, West Indies folded for 157.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka

194/6 in 20 overs (Kamil Mishara 61n.o., Dasun Shanaka 58; Shamar Joseph 3-32)

‎West Indies 157 in 18.1 overs (Rovman Powell 43; Dushmantha Chameera 3/09, Wanindu Hasaranga 3/38) (cricbuzz)

After their disappointing outing in the curtain-raiser of the Women’s T20 World Cup in Birmingham, Sri Lanka have travelled south to Southampton and have been putting in the hard yards at the Rose Bowl ahead of their next assignment.

Chamari Atapattu’s side were no match for the hosts in the tournament opener as England romped to an emphatic 87 run victory, with precious little going right for the visitors.

England piled up a daunting 219 for one before bowling Sri Lanka out for 132, with not a single batter managing to post a half-century. It was a sobering reality check for a side that had arrived in England with plenty of momentum behind them.

Sri Lanka had enjoyed a productive build up to the competition. They had won bilateral series, breezed through both their warm-up games in Derby and prior to that had spent two weeks in a residential camp in Kandy fine tuning preparations. But all that good work counted for little as they turned in a below par performance in the opening game.

Head Coach Jamie Siddons conceded that the team had failed to do themselves justice, with the bowling and fielding standards falling well short of expectations.

“More than fielding, I put it down to poor bowling. Apart from that first over, we were simply not good enough,” Siddons told reporters in Birmingham.

“We are disappointed with our effort in Birmingham. We know we are much better than this and we will put up a better show in Southampton,” Siddons added.

Sri Lanka’s opponents in their second outing will be defending champions New Zealand. Another defeat would leave them with a mountain to climb despite having three games remaining. Only two teams from the group advance to the semi-finals and successive losses at the start of the tournament would make qualification an uphill task.

While the scheduling has done Sri Lanka no favours, pitting them against two former champions in successive games, the bigger concern is that they failed to compete in the opener. They will be hoping to put that right this week and show that Birmingham was merely a blip rather than a sign of things to come.

Rex Clementine

in Southampton