Sports
Trinity shock Richmond to win title
Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ Cricket Final
Trinity College stunned favourites Richmond as they posted 109 for four wickets after restricting the last year finalists to 123 runs to record a 41 runs victory according to D/L method in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ cricket final at Thurstan College ground on Friday.After Rahal Amarasinghe made 36 runs, Theeraka Ranatunga and Jayavi Liyanagama kept their wickets intact to reach 109 runs in the 24th over before bad light forced an early end.
Trinity won a vital toss and their bowlers did extremely well to justify the decision to bowl first. Manula Kularatne and Vibhavith Ehelepola bowled tight opening spells. Dinuka Tennakoon who came in as the first change bowler continued the trend and gave their first breakthrough. The trio contained Richmond to 21 runs in the first 10 overs.
Tennakoon was then joined by Theeraka Ranatunga, who struck in consecutive balls in his first over and Tharana Wimaladharma to take a firm grip as Richmond slumped to 42 for four wickets.
Ranatunga was not the only bowler to be on a hat trick as Jayavi Liyanagama joined him to rattle the middle order. Liyanagama accounted for danger man Malsha Tharupathi trapping him lbw for five runs before bowling Maheesha de Silva out for naught in the next delivery.They won the battle with the quick dismissal of the Sri Lanka Under 19 player Tharupathi who Richmond’s key player during the knockout stage.
Scores:
Richmond 123 all out in 40.1 overs (Thamindu Pradeeptha 19, Janeth Kaushal 28, Sharon Abhishek 33; Theeraka Ranatunga 3/24, Jayavi Liyanagama 2/10)
Trinity 109 for 4 in 24 overs (Rahal Amarasinghe 36, Supun Waduge 19, Theeraka Ranatunga 21n.o., Jayavi Liyanagama 10n.o.; Malsha Tharupathi 3/28)
Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) playoff chances took a serious beating after they lost their fifth game in a row, this time going down to Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets in Dharamsala. They remain fourth on the table with 13 points from 12 games, while the two teams just below them, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, have 12 points each with a game in hand.
MI were without their regular captain Hardik Pandya, who is still recovering from back spasms, and stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, who missed out due to personal reasons. In their absence, Jasprit Bumrah led them for the first time in the IPL and put PBKS in after winning the toss. The hosts rode on Prabhsimran Singh’s chancy 57 off 32 to reach 100 in 11 overs before Shardul Thakur’s four-for derailed them. They were 140 for 7 in the 17th over but Azmatullah Omarzai, Xavier Bartlett and Impact Player Vishnu Vinod ransacked 60 in the last 22 balls to lift them to 200 for 8.
Ryan Rickelton set up the chase for MI with his 23-ball 48. But it was Tilak Verma who played the pivotal role with his unbeaten 75 off 33. With 50 needed from three overs, he, with the help of Will Jacks, took MI over the line on the penultimate ball of the match.
Priyansh Arya opened his account with a second-ball four off Deepak Chahar and Prabhsimran picked up two fours off Bumrah in the following over. In all, the two combined to hit ten fours in the powerplay but there were plenty of dot balls and not a single six. To make things worse for PBKS, Chahar bowled Arya with a knuckleball in the final over of the powerplay, after which PBKS were 55 for 1.
Prabhsimran was on 10 off 11 balls at one point. He was dropped on 5 by Naman Dhir off Bumrah and then on 28 by Corbin Bosch off his own bowling. He made full use of those reprieves and slog-swept Raghu Sharma for back-to-back sixes. He brought up his fifty off 29 balls and took PBKS past 100.
Shardul turned the tide in the 12th over. Bowling cross-seam into the pitch, he had Prabhsimran miscue an aerial hit to deep third. Two balls later, he got another cross-seam delivery to straighten and ping Shreyas Iyer’s off stump. From the other end, Raj Bawa bowled Cooper Connolly for 21 off 22 in the next over. A little later, Shardul removed Suryansh Shedge and Marco Jansen, leaving PBKS on 140 for 7 in 16.2 overs.
PBKS were so down and out that they decided to bring in Vinod as Impact Player, and the move seemed to have paid off. First, Omarzai struck four sixes and two fours in a 17-ball 38. Then Vinod (15 not out off eight) and Bartlett (18 not out off seven) added 34 off just 12 in an unbroken stand for the ninth wicket to take the side to 200.
Arshdeep Singh started the chase with a two-run over, after which Rickelton took over. He showed a preference for the leg side; 34 of his 48 runs and all four sixes came on that side of the wicket. Of the 59 runs MI scored in the powerplay, 47 came from Rickelton’s bat, while Rohit Sharma was struggling on 12 off 15.
PBKS made a comeback after the powerplay. Omarzai removed Rickelton, Dhir fell to Jansen, and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Rohit to leave them 89 for 3 after ten overs.
While Tilak kept finding boundaries and moved to 22 off 11 balls, PBKS kept Sherfane Rutherford quiet. Jansen conceded just five singles in the 14th over and Arshdeep gave away only eight in the 15th, leaving MI with 72 to get from the last five.
Jacks and Tilak hit Jansen for two sixes and two fours in the 18th over. Arshdeep left Bartlett with 14 to defend in the final over but he started with a full toss, which Jacks hit over long-off for a six. A single and a dot brought it down to eight required from three. Tilak showed no nerves and smashed the next two balls for sixes to seal the win.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 205 for 4 in 19.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 25, Tilak Varma 75*, Ryan Rickelton 48, Sherfane Rutherford 20, Will Jacks 25*; Azmatullah Omarzai 2-36, Marco Jansen 1-55, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-32) beat Punjab Kings 200 for 8 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 57, Cooper Connolly 21, Azmatullah Omarazai 38, Vishnu Vinod 15*, Xavier Bartlett 18*; Shardul Thakur 4-39, Deepak Chahar 2-36, Corbin Bosch 1-42, Raj Bawa 1-11) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup-winning team will arrive in Kuala Lumpur today (Friday) for a series of events marking the 30th anniversary of their triumph that stunned the cricketing world. The tour, organised by Tourism Malaysia, Cricket Malaysia and the Royal Selangor Club, will feature several events spread across four days.
The highlight of the visit will be a T20 game involving the World Cup-winning side on Saturday, starting at 11:30 a.m. Sri Lanka time. The match will be telecast live on Dialog TV.
A gala dinner, coaching clinics for underprivileged children conducted by the former world champions and several fan engagement activities are also part of the programme.
Sri Lanka’s dependable number three from the 1996 campaign, Asanka Gurusinha and team physiotherapist Alex Kountouri, both based in Melbourne, had already arrived in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the event, while the rest of the squad were due to leave Colombo on Thursday night.
“I am really excited and looking forward to the event. It’s always fun to get together with the boys and relive the good old days. It’s going to be a cracking few days,” Gurusinha told The Island.
“Without us even realising it, 30 years have gone by since we became world champions. All the boys are still close to each other just like we were back then and as I said, it’s going to be an exciting few days,” he added.
The organisers have secured several sponsors for the occasion and hope the presence of Sri Lanka’s celebrated side will help generate greater interest in cricket in Malaysia.
Malaysia became an associate member of the International Cricket Council in 1967 and remains an active member of the Asian Cricket Council. Earlier this year, they appointed former Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore as Director of Cricket.
The country has previously hosted ICC events, including the Under-19 World Cup, but the national side has struggled to keep pace with emerging Asian teams such as Nepal, Oman, UAE and Hong Kong.
Badminton remains Malaysia’s most popular sport, accounting for ten of the country’s 15 Olympic medals. Football too enjoys a passionate following, leaving cricket fighting an uphill battle for wider appeal.
Rex Clementine
in Kuala Lumpur
Tilak Varma (c), Priyansh Arya, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (vc), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Kumar Kushagra (wk), Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur, Yudhvir Singh, Anshul Kamboj, Arshad Khan
Britain’s Health Secretary Streeting resigns as pressure on Starmer grows
National SME Strategy Framework 2026 is critical because it brings policy consistency and stability to the sector – PM
Giant new dinosaur identified from fossils in Thailand
Cuba says CIA chief visited Havana as energy crisis worsens
Showers about 150mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and showers above 100mm are likely at some places in Galle and Matara districts
Tilak Varma, Shardul Thakur hand Punjab Kings fifth successive defeat
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News5 days agoLanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai
-
News2 days agoEx-SriLankan CEO’s death: Controversy surrounds execution of bail bond
-
News6 days agoSLPP expresses concern over death of former SriLankan CEO
-
News6 days agoPolice inform Fort Magistrate’s Court of finding ex-CEO of SriLankan dead under suspicious circumstances
-
Features3 days agoWhen University systems fail:Supreme Court’s landmark intervention in sexual harassment case
-
Features3 days ago
High Stakes in Pursuing corruption cases
-
Midweek Review2 days agoA victory that can never be forgotten
-
News6 days agoPresident of Vietnam and delegation departs Sri Lanka