Sports

Rekindling memories of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test – 40 years on

Published

3 years ago

2022/02/17

Ranjan Madugalle top scored in the first innings with 65 runs and added 99 runs for the fifth wicket with Ranatunga as Sri Lanka recovered after a poor start.

By Dion Schoorman

Today, 17th February, is the 40th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test match and marked a special milestone in the history of Sri Lankan cricket. That game against England began at the Colombo Oval on 17th February 1982.

On the day of the inaugural Test, the country came to a virtual standstill, with everyone being at the game, including the then-President J. R. Jayewardene, Senior Minister and Cricket Board President Gamini Dissanayake and almost the entire Cabinet (of course the cabinet was not nearly as big as the present day!). Cricket administrators from around the world and former Sri Lankan ‘greats’ were all assembled in the main pavilion of the Colombo Oval – known today as the P Sara Stadium.

In attendance was also a spritely young Percy Abeysekera, who entertained everyone with his theme song of those days: ‘ICC, Sir, when can we call you friend?’ The song referred to Sri Lanka’s long struggle to gain Test status, and ended in typical Percy style: ‘NOW, we can call you friend!’

Late Bandula Warnapura faced Sri Lanka’s first ball in Test match cricket and scored the first run. He became the nation’s first Test cricketer.

There was a carnival atmosphere at the grounds – a special coin had been minted for the occasion and was to be used at the toss. The sponsors Hatton National Bank had produced a special range of souvenirs – the most popular one being the cap with the words “Inaugural Test Match – I WAS THERE!’

It was then time for action and Sri Lankan umpires Herbie Felsinger and Kandiah Francis strolled out to the middle signalling the start of play.

When play began, Sri Lankan captain Bandula Warnapura immediately notched up a set of unique records – he became the first skipper to win a toss, he then faced the first ball and scored the first run. He missed out on the chance to get the first boundary and then had the unfortunate record of being the first dismissal. Sadly, the two players involved in that first ball – the bowler Bob Willis and batsman Warnapura have passed away – Willis in December 2019 and Warnapura just four months ago in October 2021.

The Test followed England’s incredible Ashes triumph of 1981 and opening the bowling were the heroes of the famous Headingley Test – Bob Willis and Ian Botham. The pair bowled with great hostility and gave the Lankans a baptism of fire soon reducing the hosts to 34 for four, with the cream of the batting back in the pavilion, and the team’s two youngest members – Ranjan Madugalle and Arjuna Ranatunga – at the crease.

Old doubts began to surface… Was Sri Lanka ready for Test cricket? Can two schoolboys do what their more experienced seniors could not?

Thankfully, those doubts were soon dispelled, as Madugalle (65) and Ranatunga (54) first dug themselves in playing watchful but steady cricket. As they grew in confidence, the youngsters unfurled a range of attractive strokes all around the wicket. Madugalle hit Sri Lanka’s first six and added three more boundaries whilst Ranatunga struck seven fours as the pair notched up Sri Lanka’s first two half-centuries in Tests in a stand of 99 for the fifth wicket to lift the home spirits. The stand ended when Ranatunga shouldered arms to a ball from Derek Underwood which nipped back into the stumps. Ashantha de Mel (19), and wicketkeeper Mahes Goonetilake (22 not out) helped Madugalle add useful runs and Sri Lanka was eventually dismissed for a slightly disappointing 218. Left armer Underwood was the chief destroyer for England with five wickets.

Sri Lanka were 34 for four in the first innings having elected to bat
first in the inaugural Test match. Schoolboy Arjuna Ranatunga posted
the nation’s maiden half-century.

That score was made to look much bigger when the hosts – led by a fiery Ashantha de Mel – rocked England with some early strikes to have them at 40 for three. David Gower (89) and skipper Keith Fletcher (45) then added 80 for the fourth wicket to restore some order. However, the hosts were not about to give up. Showing great determination and character they maintained the pressure on their more experienced opponents and when Underwood was dismissed first ball England were 216 for nine and in real danger of conceding a first innings lead. That they were able to avoid that ignominy was thanks to wicketkeeper Bob Taylor who remained unbeaten on 31 as England crawled to 223 – a lead of just five runs. De Mel was the pick of the bowlers with four for 70, and was ably supported by veteran legspinner Somachandra de Silva and left arm spinner Asoka de Silva with three and two wickets respectively.

When Sri Lanka batted a second time, skipper Warnapura (38) struck five fours and shared a second wicket partnership of 83 with the elegant Roy Dias who weighed in with a typically silken 77 including 11 fours, and the hosts were strongly placed at 152 for 3, at the end of the third day. At the wickets were Duleep Mendis on 16 and first innings hero Madugalle who had just come in and was yet to open his account. The Sri Lankans clearly had the upper hand and their fans were jubilant and dreaming of a sensational win to mark their entry into Test cricket. Another 150 runs would leave the visitors a tough task on a wearing wicket.

Sadly for Sri Lankan fans, the fairy tale was not to be and instead the fourth day turned into a nightmare for the hosts. The day began well enough as the overnight pair of Mendis and Madugalle moved sedately along and took the score to 167 when suddenly everything started to go horribly wrong. Madugalle who had made just three off 52 balls edged Emburey to Cook and shortly afterwards the other first innings hero Ranatunga was snapped up by Fletcher off Emburey for two. Underwood then had Somachandra de Silva caught by Fletcher for one. Mendis who had made 27 with a six and two fours, tried to hit his way out of trouble but was caught by Willis off Emburey. The hosts lost their last seven wickets for a mere eight runs, to slide from 167 for 3 to 175 all out.

Off spinner John Emburey who went wicketless in the first innings, was virtually unplayable on a wicket assisting spin and grabbed a rich haul of six for 33 off 25 overs whilst Derek Underwood bagged three more wickets to add to the five he took in the first innings for a match bag of eight wickets. England were left a target of 171 for victory and although De Mel dismissed Geoff Cook for a duck, to briefly excite local fans, Chris Tavaré atoned for his first inning duck with a stolid 85 and Gower weighed in with 42 not out to ease their side to a seven-wicket win and break the hearts of the local fans.

Since that first Test, for the last 40 years our cricketers have caused a whole range of emotions over their performances – from gut wrenching disappointments to delirious ecstasies. There has been a lot of angst but there certainly have been magical moments of rapture as well.

(Dion Schoorman covered the nation’s first Test match 40 years ago. Later he went onto become the Bureau Chief of Reuters in Colombo)

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Sports

Therapuththa National School Amabalanthota reach finals of Under 19 division III Tier B limited over cricket tournament

Published

4 hours ago

2025/04/14

Priyan

The Therapuththa National School Under 19 cricket team with offficials

Therapuththa National School Ambalanthota reached the final of the Under 19 division III Tier B limited over cricket tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association

The Therapuththa team captained by N M Senura Daksitha was selected from P A Imanga Rashmika, M P Akash Udayanga, M B Senuth Daritha, J G Pramith Hasintha, A J A Senuth Kithmina, K G Pathum Dilshan, Jayasinghe Sathira, H W Ashan Chamika, U M Senuka Dineth Ransara, B G Didun Nethsara, J H Yasith Pinsara, A Y Rahal Lakkitha, U H Yashmin Ashinsana Kulathilaka, T H Malindu Prabashwara, O P Samudya Charunya, Nethindu Thamudina, P P G Sadeep Lakshan, and A L G Sanuth Sandera.

The team was coached by P A Leelananda Kumarasiri together with J M Kokum Induma and T G Kavindu Keshika.

As the Under 19 division III Tier B final between Therapuththta National School Ambalanthota and Nenamal Royal International School Kelaniya, which was to be played at the Army ground Diyagama on 10th April was abandoned without a toss due to rain, both teams were named joint champions. A total of 282 teams participated in this years Under 19 division III tournament

Sports

Mykolas Alekna shatters discus world record with 75.56m in Ramona

Published

5 hours ago

2025/04/14

Priyan

Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna improved his own discus world record by more than a metre with a sensational 75.56m [Subject to the usual ratification procedure] throw at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, in Ramona on Sunday (13).

Back at the meeting where he set his first world record of 74.35m last year, the Olympic silver medalist twice improved that mark – first setting a world record of 74.89m with his opening throw and then improving to 75.56m in the fourth round.

Australia’s Matt Denny, who threw 74.25m in Ramona on Thursday (10), also surpassed Alekna’s previous world record by launching the discus 74.78m.

In a competition of record depth, five athletes surpassed 70 metres and seven threw beyond 69 metres. USA’s Sam Mattis, who threw 70.08m to finish runner-up to Denny three days earlier, improved to 71.27m to finish third in Sunday’s contest and Germany’s Clemens Prufer threw 71.01m to finish fourth. Great Britain’s Lawrence Okoye finished fifth with 70.76m.

Alekna’s 74.35m in Ramona on 14 April last year had broken the longest standing men’s world record – that 74.08m having been achieved by Jurgen Schult in 1986, some 16 years before Alekna was born.

Now the 22-year-old has become the first athlete to surpass 75 metres.

The Alekna family has two of the top four men’s discus throwers in history, with two-time Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna – the father of Mykolas – now placed fourth on the world all-time list with his 73.88m from 2000.

Mykolas Alekna’s latest world record came the day after ValerieAllman threw a North American record of 73.52m in Ramona for the farthest women’s discus throw in the world since 1989.

[World Athletics]

Latest News

IPL 2025: Mumbai Indians survive Nair storm, snap Delhi Capital’s winning run in a thriller

Published

17 hours ago

2025/04/14

Priyan

The DC-MI fixture ended with three consecutive run-outs [BCCI]

Mumbai Indians snapped back to form with a thrilling 12-run win defending 205 against Delhi Capitals. Karun Nair’s 40-ball 89 had threatened to take the game away from MI after Tilak Varma’s 59 had headlined their innings. But the bowlers pulled things back dramatically in the second half of the defence to pocket a memorable win and clip the Capitals’ four-game winning start to IPL 2025

Where was the game won?

MI managed to keep their nerve even after the blistering assault upfront from Karun Nair. Through the second half of the innings, they kept striking in every over bar two to drag the game back in their favour. MI got the ball changed after the 13th over and it helped their two key architects of the win – Karn Sharma and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who picked four of the five wickets when Delhi collapsed from 119/1 to 160/6. They capped off that good work by three run outs in the penultimate over.

MUMBAI INDIANS

Powerplay – MI show intent but DC keep them in check
Phase Score – 59/1 (RR: 9.83; 4s/6s: 7/3)

A score of 59 was the result of a couple of big overs inside the PowerPlay for Mumbai Indians. Mitchell Starc, searching for swing, erred on the fuller lengths and was hit away for 30 runs in his first couple of overs by Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma. The former was adept at covering for the swing and launched a couple of eye-catching shots – a flick and a cover drive – to get going. Sharma, meanwhile, hit Starc through the offside and even attempted a lap which was a top-edge that went for a six. Mukesh Kumar, in comparison, was more difficult to put away from the hard lengths for MI and conceded 27 in his three overs in the PowerPlay. Additionally, legspinner Vipraj Nigam struck gold, getting Rohit Sharma LBW in his first over which went for just two. But Suryakumar Yadav, coming in at No 3 for this game, announced his intentions with a six off the first ball he faced complementing the aggressive Rickelton.

Middle overs – Tilak, Suryakumar keep MI going
Phase Score – 87/3 (RR:9.66; 4s/6s: 8/5)

Delhi threatened to come back into the game with the spinners coming into play. Kuldeep Yadav got the better of Rickelton with a googly, dismissing him for a 21-ball 45 soon after the PowerPlay was done. With the turn on offer, Delhi had a chance to squeeze MI more. But Tilak, like Suryakumar, got going with a boundary off his first ball. The duo managed to get at least one boundary in every over of their partnership – 60 off 33 balls. While Suryakumar struggled with the momentum initially, getting to 29 off 24 at one stage, he managed to up his strike-rate with a six and four off Nigam to get into the forties. But just as he was getting into the groove, Kuldeep Yadav hit back for Delhi getting Suryakumar caught at long off. Delhi had it even better when Nigam got Hardik Pandya similarly in the following over even as Tilak kept going strong at one end.

Death overs – Naman Dhir provides the finishing touches
Phase Score – 59/1 (RR: 11.8; 4s/6s: 6/2)

Kuldeep finished with exceptional figures of 4-0-23-2 and started the last five overs with a tight one giving away only eight. But Tilak got to his fifty – his eighth in the IPL – off just 26 balls and looked set to shift gears. However, it was his partner Naman Dhir that proved to be the biggest thorn in Delhi’s flesh. In a 62-run stand with Tilak, Naman Dhir was the aggressor hitting a 17-ball 38 that took MI past the 200-run mark. The young batter used the angles well, picking up useful boundaries with the lap shot as well to provide MI a good finish.

DELHI CAPITALS

Powerplay – Karun Nair makes a stunning appearance
Phase Score – 72/1 (RR: 12; 4s/6s: 10/2)

Playing the match as an Impact Sub after Faf du Plessis’ injury, Karun Nair, who had not played an IPL game since 2022, was required to come in just after the first ball of the innings. Jake Fraser-McGurk had chipped the first ball from Deepak Chahar straight to cover and Nair had to dig out a big inswinging yorker from Chahar first-up. He dealt with that and then proceeded to unleash a stunning attack on Mumbai’s No. 1 bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Nair got to a 22-ball fifty hitting eight fours and two sixes. 26 off his first 50 runs had come off just Bumrah whom he toyed with on both sides of the pitch. He started off getting three fours off Trent Boult, but the assault on Bumrah turned the PowerPlay on its head and left MI scampering.

Middle Overs – Nair explodes but MI’s spinners hit back
Phase Score: 86/4 (RR: 9.55; 4s/6s: 8/4)

Abhishek Porel provided an ideal foil, but he was only second-fiddle to Nair who found answers in boundaries to every question posed by Mumbai Indians. Against the spinners who came into play in the middle overs, Nair brought out a variety of sweeps to keep the momentum going in the chase. The 119-run stand for the second wicket appeared to have turned the game decisively in DC’s favour. They had notched up half of the target in half the overs with plenty of wickets in hand still. But Karn Sharma, MI’s Impact Sub, brought an end to it when he had Porel caught in the deep going for a second consecutive six. Inbetween, Nair continued to keep the heat on, hitting Karn for back-to-back boundaries and picking one of Mitchell Santner in the following over. However, against the run of play, Santner got one to turn big and past Nair’s bat ending a sensational 40-ball 89. Axar Patel got going with a couple of boundaries but he got a leading edge off Bumrah to give MI their third wicket in as many overs. It turned out to be four in four as Sharma got Stubbs to get a top-edge in the following over. Despite the clump of wickets, DC were still in the chase needing 47 from the last five overs with the in-form KL Rahul still in the middle.

Death Overs – Hat-trick of run-outs seal thriller
Phase Score: 35/5 (RR 8.75, 4s/6s: 3/1)

Karn Sharma had an outing to remember finishing with 4-0-36-3 with the last of those wickets being the big one of Rahul in the 16th over. Rahul top-edged a slog-sweep offering a simple return catch to Karn, who had now turned the game back on its head, leaving a tight chase for DC’s finishers against MI’s experienced attack. Trent Boult backed this up with six yorkers in the 17th over giving away only three runs leaving DC needing 39 off 18. DC managed 16 off the next over with Vipraj Nigam striking Santner for a six first ball. But the spinner hit back, getting the batter stumped to keep DC in check. The penultimate over bowled by Bumrah started off on a good note with Ashutosh Sharma squeezing two boundaries off Bumrah. But in a desperate attempt to keep strike, Ashutosh was run out going for the second run. Similar desperation for a second saw Kuldeep Yadav too run out off the next ball. MI capped this off with Santner’s glorious pick-up and throw from mid wicket off the final ball to have three run outs in as many balls and clinch MI a come-from-behind win.

Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indians 205/5 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 59, Ryan Rickelton 41, Rohit Sharma 18, Suryakumar Yadav 40, Naman Dhir 38*; Mukesh Kumar 1-38, Vipraj Nigam 2-41, Kuldeep Yadav 2-23) beat Delhi Capitals 193 in 19 overs (Abhishek Porel 33, Karun Nair 89, KL Rahul 15, Ashutosh Sharma 17, Vipraj Nigam 14; Deepak Chahar 1-24, Jasprit Bumrah 1-44, Mitchell Santner 2-43, Karn Sharma 3-36) by 12 runs

What next?

Mumbai Indians have a three-day gap after this game before they host the imperious Sunrisers Hyderabad while Delhi Capitals host Rajasthan Royals a day earlier on April 16.

[Cricbuzz]