Sports
Rizwan takes Pakistan to their first win after Amir-led quicks put on a big show
There was finally something at the T20 World Cup for Pakistan to be happy about as they produced a strong all-round show to record their first win of tournament, beating Canada by seven wickets in New York.
The win was set up by the fast bowlers, who combined to pick up six wickets to restrict Canada for 106 for 7 in their 20 overs despite an Aaron Johnson 44-ball 52 – that score was quick by the standards at the New York venue, and Canada’s total was not insignificant at all.
In reply, Pakistan stumbled in the powerplay.
They had brought in Saim Ayub in place of Iftikhar Ahmed, and Ayub walked out to open with Mohammad Rizwan, thus splitting the Rizwan-Babar Azam partnership up top. The decision did not pay dividends, though, as Ayub fell for 6 off 12 balls.
But Babar and Rizwan brought their experience into play, adding a 63-run stand off 62 balls for the second wicket. Babar fell with victory in sight, but Rizwan stayed put, crafting an unbeaten run-a-ball 53 to give Pakistan victory 15 balls to spare.
Babar won another crucial toss and had no hesitation in fielding first.
He would have hoped for “first-over Shaheen Afridi” to do his magic. But instead, it was first-over Aaron Johnson setting the stage alight. He flicked the first ball of the innings, a shin-high full toss, through mid-on for four, before pumping Afridi straight down the ground for four more next ball.
This was the first time the first two balls in a men’s T20 World Cup match had been hit for boundaries. The third ball would also have gone for a straight four if not for the sluggish outfield.
Johnson then smashed Naseem Shah over backward point with Pakistan looking off the boil.
Mohammad Amir was the only one who got his length spot on from the get-go and he was duly rewarded. Navneet Dhaliwal picked him for a four through point first ball but Amir exacted revenge by sending a searing in-dipper that flattened Dhaliwal’s middle stump.
Afridi and Naseem, too found their lengths soon. And though Johnson continued to play his shots, there were plenty of plays and misses. And Afridi changed his bowling end and had Pargat Singh edging to first slip as Canada reached 30 for 2 after six overs.
The most crucial moment of the Canada innings came in the seventh over, when Nicholas Kirton, their best batter so far in this competition, was run out by a direct throw from Imad Wasim from the covers.
Johnson stayed put, but Canada kept losing wickets at the other end after that.
Haris Rauf struck twice in three balls when he removed Shreyas Movva to claim his 100th T20I wicket and then had Ravinderpal Singh caught at slip – Canada, after their bright start, had slipped to 55 for 5 after ten overs.
Johnson deposited Wasim twice over the ropes in two overs, the second hit fetching him his sixth T20I fifty off 39 balls. But he failed to carry on, falling for 52, his stumps rattled by Naseem.
Canada failed to inject any momentum into their innings after that, as Pakistan only conceded 29 runs in their last five overs, which included two fours and a six. In all, Canada faced 76 dot balls, the most in an innings at the men’s T20 World Cup.
ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster gave Pakistan a 93% of winning the game at the halfway stage. But the pitches in New York have often disrupted calculations.
Kaleem Sana gave away five wides in the first over, but apart from that, Canada were really tight with their lines. Ayub tried his shots before edging Dilon Heyliger behind. Babar, at No. 3, then had a tense moment when an appeal for a caught behind down leg was sent upstairs. But replays suggested the ball had gone off his pad.
The only four off the bat in the powerplay was struck by Rizwan in the sixth over. In comparison, Canada had hit five fours in their first six overs.
According to ESPNcricinfo’s logs, 31 of the 36 deliveries from Canada in the powerplay were on a length or short of a length. And the Pakistan batters struggled to deal with them.
Junaid Siddiqui and Saad Bin Zafar had the Ireland batters in a spin in Canada’s previous game, but Babar and Rizwan weren’t having any of it.
Rizwan first swept Saad’s full delivery through deep-backward square-leg, before Babar walloped Junaid for a six straight down the ground. The two added 31 runs between overs six and ten, and put the chase right back on track.
They kept the scoreboard ticking over before Babar fell edging Heyliger behind the stumps. Babar walked off in disgust. But Rizwan ensured he stayed till the end. He reached his 29th T20I fifty off 52 balls. It was the slowest by a Pakistan batter in the format but such were the conditions, and the win was more important.
Usman Khan hit the winning runs as Pakistan reached home in 17.3 overs. The win did not lift their NRR above that of USA, but it wasn’t a bad start in trying to turn the qualification race in their favour somewhat after back-to-back losses.
Brief scores:
Pakistan
107 for 3 in 17.3 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 53*, Babar Azam 33; Jeremy Gordon 1-17, Dilon Heyliger 2-18) beat Canada 106 for 7 in 20 overs (Aaron Johnson 52; Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-21, Naseem Shah 1-24, Mohammed Amir 2-13, Haris Rauf 2-26) by seven wickets (Cricinfo)
91st Battle of the Saints
St. Joseph’s hold the edge when they meet arch rivals St. Peter’s in the 91st Battle of the Saints’ big match starting today. After having beaten Petes by nine wickets in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final at Polonnaruwa the Joes arive at the SSC ground to prove that the victory registered two months ago was not a fluke.
St. Joseph’s captained by wicketkeeper batsman Kenath Liyanage are concluding a successful season after having remained unbeaten until they were eliminated in the semi-final by St. Sebastian’s .
A strong batting lineup and a dynamic spin department are making them a formidable outfit.
Experienced campaigner Yenula Dewthusa and Demion de Silva with their left-arm spin and Aveesha Samash and Nushan Perera with off spin provide the Joes variety in the spin department. Dewthusa, Demion de Silva and Nushan Perera are their leading wicket takers. Spinners doing well at schools matches have not been effective at the SSC during the last few big matches. It will be interesting to watch as to how the spinners in these two teams would fare during the three days.
For pace the Joes will look to Maanasa Madubashana and Dunick Perera who are expected to share the new ball.
Abishek Jayaweera and Aveesha Samash will open batting, while Senuja Wakunugoda, skipper Liyanage, Dewthusa and Rishma Amarasinghe form the rest of the top order batting lineup.
St. Joseph’s registered three outright victories this season (beat St. Servatius’, St. Benedict’s and St. Peter’s) and remained unbeaten.
St. Peter’s under Oween Salgado’s captaincy did well to reach the business end of the Tier ‘A’ tournament. But the Petes were uncertain of Salgado’s participation in the big match as they were yet to assess his fitness yesterday morning. He was wounded during a match and the stitched wound had not fully healed according to team sources.
Petes beat Gurukula, St. Aloysius’ and Holy Cross this season. Their only defeat was at the hands of their arch rivals. They will look forward to avenge the defeat at the big match.
The Petes will rely on the likes of Dilana Damsara, Thareen Sanketh, Nathan David and Jason Fernando to take a greater share of batting responsibilities. The middle order batsman Sanketh is their leading batsman and has maintained an average of over 50 runs.
Speedsters Ethan Ransilige and Joshua Sebastian will share new ball duties for the Petes.
Lashmika Perera and Sanketh will share most of the slow ball duties.
St Peter’s are in the possession of the coveted Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy having last won the big match under the captaincy of Vinu Mohotty in 2016.
St. Joseph’s lead the series tally 12-10. They last won under Ruwantha Fernandopulle’s captaincy in 2008.
St. Peter’s College Team
(Seated from left) Harsha Prabath Perera (Asst. Physio/Trainer & Massuer), Thushara Maduhanka (1st XI Asst. Coach),
Nalin Wijesinghe (Head Coach), Priyadarshana Cooray (MIC – Senior & Junior), Oween Salgado (Captain), Rev. Fr.
Rohitha Rodrigo (Rector), Rev. Fr. Praveen Wijesekara (Priest in Charge – Cricket), Lashmika Perera
(Vice Captain), Dilana Damsara, Rohan Fernando (MIC – 2nd XI), Dinuka D. Godakanda (2nd XI Coach).
(Standing 1st row from left) Dinsara Rathnaweera, Dineth de Silva, Tharin Senvidu, Nathan David, Hiruka Silva, Thareen
Sanketh, Virul Amarapala, Yatheendra Jayaweera, Salith Gallage, Raphael Hettige. (Standing 2nd row from left) Jason Fernando,
Joshua Sebastian, Savi Fernnado, Ethan Ransilige, Asadisa De Silva, Sadeesha Kariyawasam, Enosh Peterson
by Reemus Fernando
120th Lovers’ Quarrel
The stakeholders of the Lovers’ Quarrel Big Match were still pursuing to make the historic 120th edition a reality on the eve of the match after Richmond authorities threatened to pull out citing that Mahinda had violated an accepted norm by included a newly recruited player in the big match team.
The historic edition was scheduled to commence as a three day encounter at the Galle International Stadium today. But the match remained doubtful at the time this edition went to press. The officials of both teams were unavailable for comments on the eve of the match. According to sources close to the two teams the joint big match committee was scheduled to meet in the evening yesterday to take a final decision regarding the match.
Richmond threatened to pull out after Mahinda included Charya Paranavithana in their big match team. Paranavithana captained St. Aloysius’ this season. He is not eligible to play matches that come under the purview of Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association as he is yet to be registered as a Mahinda player. Big Matches are not played according to SLSCA rules but Richmond authorities had raised concerns over the player registration citing that the two schools had honoured the norm even at the big match.
According to sources Richmond were threatening to pull out if Paranavithana’s name was included in the playing XI on the match day morning.
Mahinda concluded a highly successful season as the team captained by Kaveen Rukshan earned the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ promotion this year. They were also the joint champions of the Tier ‘B’ tournament with Thurstan. In contrast former Division I champions Richmond had to fight relegation scares. The team captained by Thamindu Pradeeptha later successfully retained their Tier A position by recording an outright victory.
Mahinda College Team
Seated left to right: T.D. Ajantha Kumara (Head Coach), Y. Nishantha Kumara (Master in Charge – Senior), L. P. Weeraman (Deputy Principal –
Sports), Kaveen Rukshan (Captain), Mr. Janaka Peduruheva (Principal), Arosha Udayanga (Vice Captain), Mr. M.W. Ajith (Prefect of Games), Mr.
Jagath Samarakoon (Master in charge – Junior), Mr. Sachith Lakmal (Asst. Coach)
Standing (Middle row) – left to right – Dineth Pahasara, Thiyon Helika, Vinupa Nethmira, Sahanjith Irugalbandara, Dulisth Darshana, Senuka
Dangamuwa, Sadew Nethmina, Manitha Rajapaksha, Vishmitha Sathsara, Charya Paranavithana, Randula Mabarana
Standing (Back row) – left to right – Sajeew Punsara, Sehas Ashinsa, Kaveesha Githmal, Thevindu Rashmika
by Reemus Fernando
CR & FC huffed and puffed before beating Havelocks Sports Club 25-24 in a keenly contested Clifford Cup semi final game worked off in Colombo yesterday before booking their berth in Sunday’s rugby final, scheduled to take place in Kandy.
In Sunday’s final, CR will meet Kandy SC, the winner of the first semi final.
CR dominated the first half, but Havies came from behind in the second half to be in contention of pulling the game off till the last minute. Havelocks’ chances were boosted with two powerful tries coming from Chathura Dilshan late in the second half. But unpardonable mistakes by the men in the pink and chocolate jerseys helped CR to slip away with the game. Havelocks gave away two yellow cards during extra time in the second half.
The winners collected their points through three tries, two conversions and two penalties while Havelocks responded with three converted tries and a penalty. The winners led 15-10 at half time. Referee Raveen Alexander controlled the game.
By A Special Sports Correspondent
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