Sports
Sri Lanka are cricket’s team who keep on giving
There is no loneliness in being a long distance Sri Lanka fan. At Kardinia Park on Sunday, surely not even 407 among the 16,407 who turned up to watch the opening match of the men’s T20 World Cup were there to support Namibia. When the game was over there might have been as few as 47 left to see the United Arab Emirates take on the Netherlands, and not only because a frosty spring evening had descended on Geelong.
The crowd would have lurched through a slew of feelings during and after the Namibians’ jolting win, but loneliness would not have been among them. There were thousands of shoulders to cry on, and to be cried on. And the Papare Band Melbourne, Sri Lankans all, of course, were there to apply balm to stung souls.
Of the Sri Lankan diaspora, estimated at more than 2-million spread around the world, 465,000 are in India, Australia and the United Kingdom – countries where Lankans are able to see their team in the flesh with semi-satisfying frequency. Another 1.63-million are in 25 countries whose cricket boards are associate members of the ICC. That’s the rest of the 2-million, and a few thousand more to spare.
Being able to play or watch cricket, or just know that its within reach, wouldn’t be uppermost in Sri Lankans’ reasons for leaving. But it can’t hurt to know that whatever else they have to forsake – hoppers, arrack, warmth, family, friends, living while brown in a part of the world where brownness comes standard – the game will be there to take the edge off the foreignness. Wherever it is that they end up, perhaps all that is left of home in their new reality is cricket. You might not be able to watch Sri Lanka play if you are in, say, Cyprus. But you will be able to hear bat on ball. Almost half of Australia’s Sri Lankan migrants live in Melbourne, 80km up the motorway from Geelong.
In 1996 Sri Lanka fans had their hearts warmed and their minds dazzled by the deeds of Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Chaminda Vaas, Pramodya Wickramasinghe and Muttiah Muralitharan. Then came Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga to keep the dazzling warmth alive. Sri Lanka reached the final in 2007 and 2011, but lost both times. In the T20 version they went down in the final in 2009 and 2012 and won it in 2014.
There have been swings and roundabouts, but until last year’s T20 World Cup they hadn’t had to qualify for the business end of a global tournament since the inaugural World Cup in 1979. And there Sri Lanka were in Geelong, scrapping it out with teams who had never beaten them in nine previous ODI and T20I meetings to nail down a place in the second round of the T20 World Cup.
Ignominy loomed when they lost to Namibia, but was averted with wins over the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands. That, mind, on the back of winning the Asia Cup in the UAE in September, a triumph achieved in the throes of mass protests at home over rampant inflation and energy shortages that led to a change of government and were quelled in a brutal crackdown.
Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the ODI series with a tense ten-run win over West Indies, thanks largely to a match-defining performance from Inoka Ranaweera.
After being asked to bat, Sri Lanka posted 240 for 6, built on half-centuries from Hasini Perera (61 off 86) and Harshitha Samarawickrema (66 off 105). Captain Chamari Athapaththu made 27, while useful middle-order contributions from Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari kept the innings moving at a controlled rate. A late cameo from Dewmi Vihanga, who struck 14 off six balls, ensured Sri Lanka pushed towards a competitive total in St George’s in Grenada.
But it was Ranaweera who tilted the contest. The experienced left-arm spinner returned figures of 4 for 44 from her ten overs. She removed the No. 3 Shemaine Campbelle cheaply, dismissed Chinelle Henry soon after, and then returned to break the dangerous stand of 89 between Stefanie Taylor and Jannillea Glasgow in the 40th over, just as West Indies were threatening to surge ahead. Ranaweera also accounted for Shawnisha Hector at the death.
Taylor’s 66 off 83 balls and Glasgow’s 50 off 67 had revived West Indies from early setbacks, and with Aaliyah Alleyne in the middle, the chase remained alive deep into the game. West Indies needed 18 from the last two overs, and 12 from the last six balls. However, Sri Lanka’s spinners held firm, with Dilhari finishing with three wickets, including two in the final over, to complement Ranaweera’s starring role.
West Indies were eventually bowled out for 230 in 49.4 overs. Sri Lanka have now won four of their last five ODIs against West Indies since 2017.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 240 for 6 in 50 overs (Harshitha Samarawickrama 66, Hasini Perera 61; Hayley Matthews 2-46, Karishma Ramharak 2-57) beat West Indies Women 230 in 49.4 overs (Stefanie Taylor 66, Jannillea Glasgow 50; Inoka Ranaweera 4-44, Kavish Dilhari 3-49) by ten runs
[Cricinfo]
Left arm spinner Sharada Jayaratne took bowling honours of the day’s Under 19 cricket encounters as he took six wickets for Ananda to restrict Richmond to 168 runs in the traditional match at Ananda Mawatha.
Richmond were strongly placed at one stage with Risinu Rupasinghe (40) and Senuk Dulneth adding 91 runs for the first wicket. But when skipper Kithma Widanapathirana broke the stand, Richmond collapsed. Kithma and Sharada shared all ten wickets to fall.
In response the home team were 37 for three wickets at stumps with Vihanga Mihiranga inflicting early dammage.
At Darley Road, Wesley had a promising start with openers Shamma Fernando and Rasheed Nahyan putting on 58 runs for the first wicket before Nushan Perera and Sri Lanka Under 19 spinner Vigneswaran Akash shared seven wickets between them to restrict the Campbell Park team to 161 runs.
In reply St. Joseph’s reached 74 for no loss at stumps. The Joes amassed those runs in just 12.1 overs with Aveesha Samash hammering an unbeaten 53 in 38 balls (6x4s, 4x6s).
At De Soysa Stadium, Moratuwa, Mahanama posted 350 for nine wickets declared against Prince of Wales as Dulnith Sigera (74), Eshan Withanage (71n.o.) and Sineth Veerarathne (59) made half centuries.
For the Cambrians Nethul Anuhas took five wickets.
by Reemus Fernando
Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews believes the islanders have unearthed a gem in Pavan Rathnayake, backing the 23-year-old middle-order batter to scale the game’s highest peaks.
Drafted into the World Cup squad at the eleventh hour, Rathnayake has wasted little time in justifying the selectors’ leap of faith. While much of the spotlight has rightly fallen on Pathum Nissanka’s match-winning heroics, the youngster has quietly gone about his business, compiling runs with poise and a range of strokes that suggest he belongs on this stage.
Rathnayake’s inclusion was no shot in the dark. Sri Lanka’s struggles against spin had been laid bare in the lead-up to the tournament and the think tank sought a batter who could milk the tweakers rather than get tied in knots. Rathnayake ticked that box emphatically, earning praise from batting coach Vikram Rathour for the way he used his feet to get to the pitch of the ball and employed soft hands to manoeuvre the field.
Mathews, who has long advocated fast-tracking the youngster into the senior set-up, said the signs were unmistakable.
“We are seeing someone special in Pavan Rathnayake,” Mathews told Telecom Asia Sport.
“I have seen him in close quarters and what impressed me most is his temperament. If he gets a start, he will go on to get a big hundred. I rate him very highly. The manner in which he plays spin is remarkable. He can both use his feet and rock back as well. He is a huge find for Sri Lanka and the world will start talking about him as we move on,” he added.
Mathews reserved special praise for the youngster’s mental steel, a trait he believes separates the run-of-the-mill from the truly elite.
“Pavan has a cool head and is so good to watch when he is on song. He is a man of few words, but mentally a very tough bloke and that’s what separates good players from great ones. I have no doubt he can go on to become a great,” Mathews said.
Sri Lanka became the first side to book their ticket to the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup after a stirring win over Australia, a result that sent fans into raptures and put the former champions back in the reckoning.
They begin their Super Eight campaign on Sunday against England, returning to a contest that promises high voltage and little margin for error.
On paper, Sri Lanka appear to have most bases covered. But the injury list has thrown a spanner in the works. Eshan Malinga, Wanindu Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana have all been ruled out, forcing the selectors into three replacements and leaving the bowling attack short on experience at the business end.
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