Sports
St. Aloysius’ fight back to win as Kalana takes seven wickets
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
In a rare piece of new-ball bowling left-arm paceman Kalana Pathum picked up seven wickets to rattle St. Benedict’s for 47 runs as St. Aloysius’ fought back to record five wickets victory in the Under 19 cricket encounter at Kotahena on Tuesday.
St. Aloysius’ had a first innings deficit of 45 runs but after Pathum dismissed the home team for scanty 47 runs they had a target of just 93 runs to chase. He was on a hat trick twice.
Visitors were troubled early in their run chase by Mewan Dissanayake. They lost wickets at regular intervals but the sixth wicket pair of Vidura Lakshan and Induwara Udena posted an unbroken stand of 56 runs to seal the victory with more than a session to spare. Udena was aggressive as he hammered four sixes in his unbeaten 40 which came in 36 balls.
At Colts ground, Randul Samarahewa top scored with 85 runs for Dharmasoka to record a fist innings win over Lumbini.
Despite a six wicket haul by Sajitha Vithanage, Richmond managed to take first innings honours against Nalanda at Dombagoda as they posted 165 runs in 67 overs against Nalanda’s 158 runs for which they consumed 99 overs.
At Uyanwatta, Devapathiraja forced St. Thomas’ to follow on as they restricted the home team to 97 runs in the first innings.
At Kandana, put to bat, De Mazenod were rocked by Venusha Akash who took early wickets to place them wobbling at three wickets down for nine runs. Later they slumped further to be placed five wickets down for 47 runs before Sithum Fernando (55), Thareen Sanketh (41) and Maleesha Mihishan (31n.o.) made useful contributions for them to recover.
Match Details
St. Aloysius’ beat St. Benedict’s by
five wickets at Kotahena
Scores:
St. Benedict’s
151 all out in 46.2 overs (Sheron Kannangara 43, Arshan Joseph 23, Kojitha Himsara 24; Kalana Pathum 2/19, Dumindu Naveen 2/31, Induwara Udena 2/23, Kavindu Kesara 3/24) and 47 all out in 19.2 overs (Kalana Pathum 7/21, Dumindu Naveen 2/12)
St. Aloysius’
106 all out in 47 overs (Charya Paranavithana 20, Oshanda Devinda 30; Chamath Chathurya 2/22, Vihara Aththanayake 2/26, Mewan Dissanayake 2/23) and 94 for 5 in 23.2 overs (Vidura Lakshan 31n.o., Induwara Udena 40n.o.; Mewan Dissanayake 4/49)
Samarahewa shines for Dharmasoka
at Colts ground
Scores:
Lumbini
171 all out in 61.2 overs (Dhanitha Sandeth 26, Yasiru Yugath 47, Pasindu Mahisha 15, Malith Kawindu 18; Pathum Malitha 5/35, Chanaka Jananga 3/49, Senitha Halambage 2/26) and 117 for 7 decl. in 47.4 overs (Pasindu Mahisha 52; Pathum Malitha 3/19, Senitha Halambage 2/31)
Dharmasoka
28 for no loss overnight 195 all out in 56.3 overs (Randul Samarahewa 85, Chanuka de Silva 39; Dumindu Sewmina 2/38, Malith Kawindu 4/15) and 25 for no loss in 3 overs (Randul Samarahewa 21n.o.)
Richmond take first innings honours against Nalanda at Dombagoda
Scores:
Nalanda
158 all out in 99 overs (Rusiru Vilochana 29, Eranga Jayakody 33; Malsha Tharupathi 6/45) and 121 for 3 in 43 overs (Rusiru Vilochana 66n.o., Sadew Samarasinghe 29; Yuri Koththigoda 2/39)
Richmond
165 all out in 66.4 overs (Tharinda Nirmal 31, Kavindu Nirmana 21, Sharon Abhishek 39, Maheesha de Silva 33; Sajitha Vithanage 6/61)
Devapathiraja take major honours at
drawn encounter at Matara
Scores:
Devapathiraja
230 for 3 overnight 277 for 9 decl. in 75.3 overs (Sandaru Theekshana 97, Pawan Sandesh 25, Dinitha Prabanka 30, Jeewaka Shashen 89; Bhanuka Insamal 3/64, Navija de Seram 4/80)
St. Thomas’
97 all out in 38.4 overs (Shashindu Jayasekara 18; Pathum Shaminda 3/29, Irushka Thimira 5/21) and 126 for 2 in 34 overs (Dumindu Sakshara 31, Abdul Maajid 34, Pesandu Sanjan 39n.o.;
Middle order fight back after Akash trouble De Mazenod at Kandana
Scores:
De Mazenod
175 for 7 in 66 overs (Neshan Dias 23, Sithum Fernando 55, Thareen Sanketh 41, Maleesha Mihishan 31n.o.; Venusha Akash 3/28)
Royal
St. Anthony’s take upper hand against Thurstan at Katugastota
Scores:
St. Anthony’s
234 all out in 64.1 overs (Thisara Ekanayake 63, Lahiru Abeysinghe 26, Ravindu Kapukotuwa 65, Janith Rathnasiri 26; Gagana Perera 3/27, Thanuga Palihawadana 3/49)
Thurstan
65 for 5 in 31 overs (Charuka Ekanayake 2/07)
Todd Murphy is firming to play his first home Test, after the SCG’s head curator declared the pitch’s green covering would be near-irrelevant come day one.
With administrators still on edge after last week’s two day debacle in Melbourne, an extremely green SCG surface raised eyebrows in Sydney on Thursday.
But chief curator Adam Lewis insisted on Friday that should not be a concern, and he was hopeful Sydney would extend into a fifth day.
“You want to see green tinge three days out,” Lewis said. “If you’re not seeing any live grass three days out, then that’s when it’s a worry, … I’m really comfortable with where we’re sitting.
“We had a little bit of sun this morning. They’re saying a bit more sun tomorrow. That will take the greenness out of the pitch. We’re really happy with the pitches at the moment. We’re looking good.”
Lewis admitted he felt for MCG counterpart Matt Page last week, but said he felt no external pressure to ensure the fifth Test in Sydney went the distance.
It’s estimated that Cricket Australia (CA) has lost in the vicinity of AUD15 million in profits this summer, with the opening Test in Perth also finishing inside two days.
Even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joked at a function with teams on Thursday night that they had to ensure the game went to day three, in order to support the McGrath Foundation fundraiser.
One of the hardest grounds in the world to bowl on between 2014 and 2023, last year’s SCG Test was over in just two-and-a-half days.
Lewis said that his ground staff would go with 6mm of grass this year compared to 7mm last season, while also reducing its density. That in itself generally acts to flatten out the wicket and produce less movement, while also inviting the chance of spin late in the match.
“We just thought … we could thin our density out a little bit,” Lewis said. “That’s what we’ve done this year. We’ve practised that in the Shield matches and we’ve received very good marks.”
CA CEO Todd Greenberg said he too was confident the SCG Test would last the distance.
“I’ve had more phone calls and conversations about wickets and millimetres of grass than I thought I’d ever have,” Greenberg said. “But I’m hopeful and confident we will have a long and productive Test match here.”
All of which should spell good news for Murphy. Australia’s coaching staff had a prolonged conversation around the pitch on Friday morning, after leaving Murphy out and going with four quicks at the MCG.
Murphy then spent most of Friday’s training session bowling to Australia’s top order, while Alex Carey also had an extended run keeping to him.
With seven Tests to his name overseas, Murphy would be expected to come in for Jhye Richardson if he does play in Sydney.
England have promised to take the attack to Murphy, who played two Tests during the 2023 Ashes were he conceded 4.72 an over.
“Whoever plays, I think that’s the mantra of our team, is to try and put pressure on people,” opener Zak Crawley, said. “Todd’s a very good bowler, but I can envisage us trying to put some pressure on him, like we would all their bowlers.
That’s going to come with some risks, and if it’s turning it’s definitely going to be a threat. But I think we’ll try and put pressure on all their bowlers.”
The other question for Australia will be whether Cameron Green remains in the side, after Beau Webster was spotted fielding in the gully during slips training on Friday. Green has averaged 18.66 with the bat in this series. The SCG was the scene of Webster’s debut a year ago against India.
[Cricinfo]
Young Pramod Madushan has become the talk in cricket circles after he scored 42 runs in an over for Mercantile Services Cricket Academy against Sigi Cricket Academy at Ambalangoda recently.
In an over that contained nine deliveries, including two no-balls and a wide, Madushan cut loose hitting three fours and five sixes. In all, the over bowled by Bihandu Sandiv went for 45 runs.
The young cricketer from D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo shares the same name as Sri Lanka fast bowler Pramod Madushan. However, the 19-year-old is a wicketkeeper batter.
His knock of 103 came in just 38 deliveries and contained eight fours and ten sixes.
Australia batter Usman Khawaja will retire from international cricket following the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney this week.
The 39-year-old will play his 88th and final Test on the ground where he made his debut against the same opponents in January 2011.
Khawaja was born in Pakistan and became the first Muslim to play for Australia when he took the place of Ricky Ponting at the end of England’s 3-1 series win 15 years ago.
The left-hander has made 6,206 Test runs at an average of 43.39, with 16 hundreds.
He has played in six Ashes series – winning two, losing two and drawing two.
He was also part of the Australia team that won the World Test Championship in 2023.
The final Test at the SCG starts on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday).
Alongside Steve Smith, Khawaja is one of two remaining members of the Australia team beaten by England in their most recent series win in this country in 2010-11.
He needs 30 runs in his final Test to go above Mike Hussey and into 14th on Australia’s all-time run-scorers list, behind the great Donald Bradman in 13th.
Khawaja played the last of his 40 one-day internationals in 2019, having scored 1,554 runs at 42. He played in nine T20 internationals, scoring 241 runs at 26.77.
Now playing domestically for Queensland, Khawaja will end his career on the ground that was his home when he first played professional cricket for New South Wales in 2008.
Often in and out of the Australia team during his Test career, he found a home at the top of the order during the previous home Ashes in 2021-22.
However, his place has come under scrutiny during this series after he suffered back spasms in the first Test that prevented him from opening.
Travis Head took Khawaja’s place in the second innings and made a swashbuckling century to lead Australia to an eight-wicket win.
Khawaja subsequently missed the second Test with the back problem and was due to be left out of the third, only to receive a late call-up when Steve Smith fell ill.
He made 82 and 40 in Adelaide to retain his place for the fourth Test. Australia lead the series 3-1.
After the Ashes Australia will not play another Test until August, by which time Khawaja will be almost 40.
[BBC]
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