Sports
Traditional fixtures that ‘shield’ camaraderie at school rugby
By A Special Sports Correspondent
The traditional rugby matches between schools have added spice to the ongoing competitive inter-school League rugby tournament and also opened a window for lesser-performing teams in the top and lower divisions to earn vital mileage.
St. Joseph’s and S. Thomas’ set the stage for such encounters this season with their traditional rugby game which is played for the Lady Jayatilake Shield. The Thomians did well and beat their rivals from Darley Road in a gripping encounter in which the score read 26-24 in favour of the hosts. The Thomians are led this season by Viyaan de Silva and have recorded three wins this season despite losing to Isipatana.
Looking back at the history of this traditional game it originated in 1955. That year the Thomians led by versatile sportsman Kumar Anandan beat the Josephians 8-6 and thus began a much looked-forward-to rugby encounter in the inter-school rugby scene. However, it was much later and in the year 1965 that the shield was introduced to this game. An old boy of St. Joseph’s Lucian Jayathilake donated the shield for the match in memory of his mother. Another factor is that shields are much rarer in usage compared to trophies and that makes such pieces of silverware much attractive when given away to the winners at a podium.
We also have the Bradby Shield given away at the Royal vs Trinity rugby encounter; which is a two-match affair. The Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association takes the result of the first encounter of the Bradby for the compilation of points for the school’s league rugby tournament. In fact, this encounter- which first attracted a few hundred spectators at first- has grown with the years and now promises a capacity crowd when the two teams clash. Former Royal College Principal E.L Bradby must be remembered for donating the shield for the game in 1945. The game is such a big event in the schools rugby calendar thanks to the sponsors of the rugby teams of the two schools, parents of the players, and well-wishers. The Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association would never have handled such a massive rugby event alone if it was given the organizing rights for the two-match rugby fixture. This season Royal are playing well and promise champagne rugby when they clash in the big one against traditional rivals Trinity on the 22nd. The previous week Royal beat Dharmaraja 36-18 while Trinity recorded a run-away 55-10 win over Science College; as both teams used these matches to warm up for the Bradby.
We also have the Abdul Jabbar Shield on offer when Isipatana clash with Thurstan. However, it must be pointed out that it’s these traditional encounters that give teams like Thurstan an opportunity to play against top teams despite playing in a lower division. The lads from Bullers Road are working their way up for promotion and battling in Division 1 Segment B after a relegation process that took place some years ago. Thurstan have done well this season winning all their matches in Division 1 Segment B this season and are knocking on the door for a promotion along with Sri Sumangala College Kandy, which has one more fixture left this season.
Thurstan was a top team in the Division 1 Segment A or top Division as we called it many years ago. We remember the side calling the shots in the years 1996 and 1997; Thurstan entering the knockout final and winning it in 1997 under the guidance of Coach Ajith Fernando, who today runs a successful rugby academy. Thurstan’s last rugby win this season was against Maliyadeva College. Meanwhile, Thurstan’s traditional rivals Isipatana had a close call against St. Anthony’s before recording a close 37-26 win in Colombo last Saturday.
We also have the Fr. Basil Weeratunga Shield which is on offer for the game between St. Peter’s and St. Joseph’s. The Peterites are aiming high this season and have remained unbeaten thus far. Their last win was against Zahira at Maradana where they recorded a run-away 56-7 win.
Traditional rugby games in the schools scene are the ones that draw a special crowd to venues. The ones who watch these games have pleasant memories of past matches and know the value of the spirit of the game and the importance of continuing friendly ties with everybody after the final whistle is blown in a game. Some female spectators have even found their future partners at these rugby matches. These pieces of silverware that are on offer at these matches are the ones that produce rugby memories that remain etched in the minds of both players and spectators for a very long time.
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Thailand and UAE triumph over Uganda and Netherlands in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier
Thailand and United Arab Emirates (UAE) registered thorough wins in Monday night’s matches of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier at Tolerance Oval and Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The wins kept alive the teams’ hopes of a place in the tournament’s semi-finals.
At Tolerance Oval, Thailand bested Uganda by nine wickets, while UAE claimed an emphatic, 10-wicket victory under the Zayed Cricket Stadium lights.
Both matches were dominated by the bowlers of the winning teams, who ripped through their opponents’ batting line-ups with superb pace and spin bowling displays.
Equally, UAE’s openers ensured that their bowlers’ hard work paid off, with a scintillating chase led by captain Esha Oza’s outstanding 66 not-out.
Uganda vs Thailand
Thailand’s bowlers proved their captain Naruemol Chaiwai’s decision of fielding first right, by producing a sensational bowling display that blew away the Uganda batting line-up. After a 17-run opening stand, Uganda collapsed to 62-all out in 17.4 overs.
Only three batters Rita Musamali (24), captain, Janet Mbabazi (14) and opener, Prosscovia Alako (10), reached double figures as Thailand’s bowlers kept making inroads.
All-rounder, Nattaya Boochatham, who shared the new ball with Chanida Sutthiruang, took two wickets for eight runs in 2.4 overs with her probing off-spinners. Pacer, Sutthiruang, was equally good as she returned her own pair of scalps for 10 runs in her four overs.
Left-arm spinner, Thipatcha Putthawong, maintained the stranglehold on Uganda’s batters, with two wickets.
Thailand chased down the target with consummate ease. Seasoned batter, Natthakan Chantham, played some delightful shots in her unbeaten 34 off 43 balls (five fours) to earn the Player of the Match award. She shared a 30-run opening stand with Boochatham (12) and an unbeaten, 34-run partnership with Nannapat Koncharoenkai, as the victory was achieved with 51 balls to spare.
Thailand have now won one and lost one match while Uganda have lost two out of their three matches, their only win was against UAE on Saturday. Sri Lanka are at the top of Group A, with Scotland in second place, both teams have won two matches so far.
Netherlands vs UAE
The Netherlands’ decision to bat first backfired as the UAE’s bowlers tore through their batting line-up. The Player of the Match in the win against Vanuatu, Sterre Kalis, fell for a first ball duck to Samira Dharnidharka in the opening over of the match. The loss of the star batter rattled the side as UAE’s bowlers tightened their grip.
Netherlands were reduced to 49 for four and seemed to recover well when they reached 82 for four in the 14th over.
The match took a dramatic turn however, when Netherlands lost four wickets for the addition of just three runs, 82 for four tripping to 85 for eight in a space of 11 balls. The last two wickets added 16 runs as Netherlands finished their 20 overs at a disappointing 101 for nine.
Dharnidharka was the pick of the UAE bowlers, her seam bowling earned her three wickets for 11 runs in four overs. Khushi Shamra and Vaishnave Mahesh took two wickets each, both conceded 16 runs in their three and four-over spells respectively.
Robine Rijke’s 44 (36 balls, five fours, one six) was the only notable performance with the bat for the Dutch.
UAE’s openers got off to an aggressive start in their batting reply, with Oza leading the way with a brilliant knock of 66 off 39 deliveries (nine fours, two sixes). The right-hander displayed her incredible shot range in a brisk innings which helped UAE improve their net run-rate considerably, following their defeats to Ireland and Zimbabwe in their opening matches. Oza finished the match with a big six over wide mid-wicket as UAE completed the chase with 49 balls to spare.
Oza’s opening partner Theertha Satish provided her wonderful support with an unbeaten 36 off 33 balls. Satish stroked five fours in her innings as the helpless Netherlands bowlers finished the innings wicket-less.
The big win keeps the UAE’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals from Group B alive. Netherlands, who defeated Vanuatu by 100 runs in their opening match, will now need to come out firing at all cylinders against Zimbabwe and Ireland, as the battle for the top two spots heats up.
Scores in brief:
Match 11:
Thailand beat Uganda by nine wickets
Uganda 62 all out in 17.4 overs (Rita Musamali 24, Janet Mbabazi 14; Thipatcha Putthawong 2-7, Nattaya Boochatham 2-8, Chanida Sutthiruang 2-10)
Thailand 64 for 1 in 11.3 overs (Natthakan Chantham 34 not out, Nattaya Boochatham 15, Nannapat Koncharoenkai 12 not out; Sarah Akiteng 1-18)
Player of the Match – Natthakan Chantham
Match 12:
UAE beat Netherlands by 10 wickets
Netherlands 101 for 9 in 20 overs (Robine Rijke 44; Samira Dharnidharka 3-11, Vaishnave Mahesh 2-16, Khushi Sharma 2-16)
UAE 104 for no loss in 11.5 overs (Esha Oza 66 not out, Theertha Satish 36 not out)
Player of the Match – Esha Oza
(ICC)
Two more matches were decided in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Abu Dhabi on Monday afternoon.
Ireland made a statement when they beat Zimbabwe by a comprehensive 56 runs, to rising to the top of Group B at Zayed Cricket Stadium, while Scotland put behind their disappointing 10-wicket loss to Sri Lanka on Saturday by outplaying the United States of America (USA) by 44 runs at the adjacent Tolerance Oval.
Ireland’s opening pair of Amy Hunter (71) and Gaby Lewis (69) shone for their side with a brilliant, 130-run opening stand, while Scotland’s captain, Kathryn Bryce, produced a memorable all-round performance, returning unbeaten for 57 with the bat and taking four for 17 with the ball spearheading her side to a comfortable win in the Group A clash.
Ireland vs Zimbabwe
Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis sizzled with a 130-run, opening partnership to help Ireland post their fifth-highest total in women’s T20Is. Hunter began the innings with a bang, slamming a hat-trick of fours from the first three deliveries from Josephine Nkomo, who came into the game fresh off a four-wicket haul.
With Lewis joining hands, Ireland got off to a flyer, racing to 59/0 inside the Powerplay. Lewis was the first to make a half-century, reaching the landmark off 36 balls. Hunter joined her soon, taking 34 balls for her fifty. It was Kelis Ndhlovu who finally put an end to the opening partnership when she had Lewis caught out for a brilliant 47-ball 69.
Nkomo sent back Hunter for 71 in the 17th over, but the damage was already done, by then Ireland had already crossed the 150-run mark and eventually finished on 176/3 in their 20 overs.
In Zimbabwe’s reply, Ava Canning struck twice in the Powerplay, sending back Sharne Mayers and Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano cheaply to give Ireland an even stronger grip on the game.
Skipper, Mary-Anne Musonda and Modester Mupachikwa combined to lift Zimbabwe out of trouble and at the end of 10 overs, the team moved to 65/2. Laura Delany broke the stand with the wicket of Mupachikwa (27), but Musonda (48) held on for as long as she could, finishing just short of her own half-century.
Zimbabwe went on to lose their next four wickets in the space of 22 balls and eventually finished on 120/8. They have one win in three games and will need a big one in their final game to stand a chance of making it to the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, with two wins in two games, Ireland are at the top of Group B and are favourites to make the semis now.
Scotland vs USA
Scotland’s skipper, Kathryn Bryce, led from the front to help them to a 44-run victory over the USA and make it to two wins in three matches.
Asked to bat first, Scotland encountered early jitters as they lost their openers Saskia Horley and Megan McColl inside the Powerplay, but it was the fourth-wicket partnership between Bryce and Ailsa Lister that steadied the ship for the team. The duo added 66 runs in just 39 deliveries to swing the momentum back into Scotland’s favour.
Lister’s knock of 34 (22) came to an end when she decided to step down the track against Aditiba Chudasama, only to be stumped by keeper Sindhu Sriharsha.
ICC Women’s Associate Player of the Decade, Bryce, held the innings together from her end, bringing up her ninth T20I fifty in 42 balls.
Her unbeaten knock of 57* along with Lorna Jack’s cameo of 20 (17) took Scotland to 149/6 in their 20 overs.
In the bowling department too, it was Bryce who made the headlines. Opening the bowling, she picked up a wicket from her first delivery, dismissing Gargi Bhogle without scoring.
She returned with her lethal in-swingers in her second over and snared two more wickets – first rattling Disha Dhingra’s stumps and then trapping Sriharsha in the front. Both batters departed for ducks.
USA could only manage 26 runs for the loss of four wickets at the end of the Powerplay.
Leg-spinner Abtaha Maqsood was brought into the attack to dismantle the middle-order.
Maqsood dismissed Jessica Willathgamuwa (10) and Geetika Kodali (3) to reduce USA to 50/7.
Isani Vaghela and Jivana Aras combined to stop the flow of wickets and added 39 runs in 45 deliveries. Vaghela played a crucial hand of 30 off 26 balls before Chloe Abel dismissed her while Aras remained unbeaten on 24.
USA could only manage 105/8 in their 20 overs, falling short by 44 runs as they recorded their second loss in a row in the Qualifier.
Along with an unbeaten fifty, Bryce finished with career-best T20I bowling figures of 4/17 to earn the Player of the Match award.
Scores in brief:
Match 9:
Scotland beat USA by 44 runs
Scotland 149 for 6 in 20 overs (Kathryn Bryce 57 not out, Ailsa Lister 34; Isani Vaghela 2-17, Aditiba Chudasama 2-25)
USA 105 for 8 in 20 overs (Isani Vaghela 30, Jivana Aras 24 not out; Kathryn Bryce 4-17, Abtaha Maqsood 2-16)
Player of the Match – Kathryn Bryce
Match 10:
Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 56 runs
Ireland 176 for 3 in 20 overs (Amy Hunter 71, Gaby Lewis 69; Kelis Ndhlovu 1-32, Josephine Nkomo 1-36)
Zimbabwe 120 for 8 in 20 overs (Mary-Anne Musonda 48, Modester Mupachikwa 27; Ava Canning 2-13, Laura Delany 2-19, Cara Murray 2-29)
Player of the Match – Amy Hunter
(ICC)
Having just hosted a run-fest where 262 was chased down with eight balls to spare, Eden Gardens reverted to a former template familiar to fans of its home team, and Kolkata Knight Riders returned to winning ways and moved to second place on the IPL table with a confident, net-run-rate-boosting seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals.
After a succession of flat pitches, Eden served up one with a little bit of grip, and KKR’s bowlers made full use of it after Capitals chose to bat first. Mitchell Starc and Vaibhav Arora took three wickets inside the powerplay, after which the spinners took over, with Varun Chakrawarthy and Sunil Narine combining for figures of 8-0-40-4. Reduced to 111 for 8 at one stage, Capitals set KKR a 150-plus target thanks to an unlikely, unbeaten 26-ball 35 from Kuldeep Yadav.
With Kuldeep and Axar Patel in their attack, Capitals had the tools to create a bit of pressure on this pitch, but KKR were well on their way to victory before either spinner had bowled a ball. Phil Salt made his fourth fifty in five home games this season, dominating a powerplay in which KKR rushed to 79 for no loss.
Axar Patel removed both KKR openers when he came on, but it was too little, too late for Capitals, as Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer put on an unbroken 57 off 43 balls to end the match with 21 balls remaining.
KKR now have 12 points from nine games, and a NRR of 1.096, the best of any team in the competition.
Jake Fraser-McGurk faced just seven balls on Monday night, and five of the seven were attempted yorkers, two of which ended up as full-tosses. The other two were banged into a hard length. The bulk of these balls were from Mitchell Starc, but Vaibhav Arora also stuck to the same plan with his two balls. This wasn’t two fast bowlers searching for swing from a fullish good length with the new ball. This was death bowling inside the powerplay, and as T20 batting leans more and more towards all-out attack, it’s likely we’ll see a lot more of it in the future.
On the day, Fraser-McGurk hit a four and a six and picked out deep square leg while looking to flick Starc for another six.
By then, Capitals had already lost Prithvi Shaw, who had begun ominously with three fours off Starc, off the first three balls of the match. He had fallen in innocuous manner, strangling Arora down the leg side.
Arora took one more wicket, delivering a peach that straightened off the deck to hit the top of Shai Hope’s off stump. That ball suggested the ball would grip for the spinners too, and so it proved.
Before this match, Varun had endured a difficult season, going at 9.72 while picking up eight wickets in eight games. While Narine had defied flat conditions, particularly in Kolkata, and prevented batters from accessing the boundaries, his spin partner had gone for plenty like every other bowler in KKR’s games.
Now, though, Varun had a bit of help from the pitch, and he could have struck first ball had Harshit Rana – who had just dismissed a dangerous-looking Abishek Porel in the previous over – not dropped a sitter off a Rishabh Pant miscue at short third. Pant, though, would go after Varun again in his next over – the 11th of the Capitals innings – and miscue again, with Shreyas Iyer pouching him safely in the covers on this occasion.
Varun was getting the ball to bite on the surface, and he quickly picked up two more wickets, of Tristan Stubbs and Kumar Kushagra – who came on as Impact Sub in a failed attempt to lengthen Capitals’ batting and stem the collapse. With Narine dismissing Axar Patel at the other end, Capitals were eight down inside the 15th over.
They managed to see out their 20, though, with Kuldeep getting them that far with a mixture of skill and luck. He hit two edged fours in his first four balls, and then hit a six off Starc that was very nearly a catch at deep backward square leg, and eventually finished with a control percentage of 41. They were important runs for Capitals, though, ensuring that they got to 150.
It was evident through the initial stages of KKR’s chase that the slower ball was gripping the surface and stopping on the batters, but it was also evident that Capitals’ quicks were offering frequent width to free the arms. With Salt and Narine in the form they were in, this was asking for trouble. And the trouble was compounded when Lizaad Williams, who went for 23 in the first over, dropped a straightforward chance off Khaleel Ahmed at the start of the second to reprieve Salt on 15.
The openers raced to 79 for 0 in the powerplay, with Salt, who had the bulk of the strike, reaching a 26-ball half-century in the sixth over.
Narine went after Axar’s first ball and perished, picking out deep midwicket in the seventh over while trying to hit with the turn, and Axar bowled Salt with a trademark, inward-angling skidder in the ninth. But KKR’s required rate was well below a run a ball, and it remained so even when Williams dismissed Rinku Singh with a good, hard-length ball in the 10th over.
KKR had a long, in-form line of batters still to come, and in the end didn’t require Andre Russell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi or Ramandeep Singh to bat, as the two Iyers ticked off the remaining runs with little fuss beyond a mix-up in the 16th over when the match was already all but won.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 153/9 in 20 overs (Kuldeep Yadav 35*, Rishabh Pant 27; Mitchell Starc 1-43, Vaibhav Arora 2-29, Varun Chakravarthy 3-16, Harshit Rana 2-28, Sunil Narine 1-24) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 157/3 in 16.3 overs (Phil Salt 68, Shreyas Iyer 33*, Venkatesh Iyer 26*; Lizaad Williams 1-38, Axar Patel 2-25) by 7 wickets
(Cricinfo)
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