Sports
Australia win maiden T-20 World Cup in style
Rex Clementine in Dubai
A terrific run chase by Australia thanks to half-centuries from Mitchell Marsh and David Warner saw them winning their maiden T-20 World Cup last night here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Aussies had won the 50 over World Cup on five occasions but the T-20 World Cup had eluded them and they made amends yesterday with a superb effort beating Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand by eight wickets and seven balls to spare.
The World Cup had seen two outstanding semi-finals and many had expected a close contest in the final too but the Aussies were too good making New Zealand’s spinners look ordinary. David Warner had come to form in the Sri Lankan game after being dropped by Kusal Perera early in the innings and he finished off the final with 53 runs in 38 balls with four fours
and three sixes. He finished as tournament’s highest run getter behind Babar Azam, who had scored 303 runs.
Warner had 289 while Sri Lanka’s Charith Asalanka was fifth with 231 runs. Warner was named Player of the Tournament. Man of the Match award went to Mitchell Marsh, the son of former Sri Lanka coach Geoff Marsh. The younger Marsh batting at number three remained unbeaten on 77 off 50 balls having reached his half-century off only 31 balls. He hit six fours and four sixes.
New Zealand had posted a competitive 172 but that wasn’t enough to end their white ball global title drought. Captain Kane Williamson had come up with a tremendous effort to help his team go past the 170 mark. While Marsh and Warner slogged to get their team over the line, Williamson, a touch player, just used the bowlers pace to score his runs. There were three sixes in his innings, successive one-handed ones off Maxwell and a flicked six that ended up in the stands off Mitchell Starc.
Hazlewood was pretty handy with the ball picking up three wickets and
conceding just 16 runs. A lot of Sri Lankan fans seemed to be backing the Kiwis after they narrowly lost the 2019 World Cup (50 overs). But as was the case during the 2009 Champions Trophy final at Centurion and 2015 50 over World Cup final in Melbourne, the New Zealanders failed to test the Aussies in another big game.
Under 19 Cricket
Off-spinner Lahiru Amarasekara produced a five-wicket haul as St. Joseph’s restricted Mahinda to 127 runs on day one of the Under 19 traditional cricket encounter at Galle on Monday.
Amarasekara was ably supported by spinner Yenula Dewthusa and Muditha Dissanayake who shared the other five wickets.
With wickets falling at regular intervals, batting opener Ranmina Hettiarachchi anchored the top order with a knock of 33 runs. Chandupa de Silva with 29 runs, Tharusha Dilshan (15) and Hiruna Gallalge (17) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures.
In their essay St. Joseph’s were comfortably placed at 132 for two wickets but back-to-back wickets in the last two overs placed them at 132 for four wickets at stumps.
At Welisara, Dinuka Tennakoon took five wickets but Maris Stella managed to post 268 runs as Shean Adithya top-scored with 83 runs. In reply Trinity were nine without loss.
Vihanga Nimsara and Rasindu Ilukshana were the heroes for Moratu Vidyalaya as their half-centuries helped them score 249 runs against St. Sylvester’s at Boyagane.
Match Details
At Galle: Mahinda 127, St. Joseph’s 132/4
Scores:
Mahinda
127 all out in 57 overs (Ranmina Hettiarachchi 33, Chandupa de Silva 29; Lahiru Amarasekara 5/34, Muditha Dissanayaka 2/23, Yenula Dewtusa 3/32)
St. Joseph’s
132 for 4 in 42.1 overs (Sadeesh Jayawardena 53, Naren Muralidaran 41; Shehan Hasaranga 2/39)
At Welisara: Maris Stella 268, Trinity 9/0
Scores:
Maris Stella
268 all out in 93.5 overs (Kaveen Fernando 26, Shean Adithya 83, Anshen de Silva 28, Ramith Bandara 33, Nethum Basnayake 26, Levin Fernando 22; Jayavi Liyanagama 2/40, Dinuka Tennakoon 5/74)
Trinity 9 for no loss in 4 overs
At Boyagane: Moratu Vidyalaya 249, St. Sylvester’s 5/1
Scores:
Moratu Vidyalaya
249 all out in 93.1 overs (Vihanga Nimsara 82, Rasindu Ilukshana 54; Isuru Gunasekara 2/28, Pansilu Bandara 2/50, Akila Wickramasinghe 3/48, Khanka Wickramasinghe 2/31)
St. Sylvester’s
5 for 1 in 4 overs.
Northern Badminton Championship 2023
T. Silvijan Dalima was crowned men’s singles champion while S. Sowmiya clinched a triple crown at the Northern Badminton Championship 2023 in Kilinochchi during the weekend.
At the Provincial Indoor Stadium in Kilinochchi, Silvijan met K Thusan in the final clash in which the latter retired in the second set with scores reading 21-14, 16-11 in favour of the champion. L Hentry and K Kajan were the losing semi-finalists.
Meanwhile, S. Sowmiya won all three of her open events, the women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles with respective partners.
Sowmiya clinched the women’s singles crown with a 21-15, 21-13 win over R. Ragavi in the final following her doubles title win with B. Oliviya. Sowmiya and Oliviya overcame Athmika and M. Kavinaya 21-9, 21-15 to seal the women’s doubles crown.
Earlier, Sowmiya and Silvijan, the best singles duo in the tournament, also won the mixed doubles title by defeating R. Sulacsan and S . Thanojana 21-12, 21-16 in the final.
The men’s doubles final was won by L. R. Reminsan and T. Thusyanthan who beat G. Thanukanth and R. Yuthakaran with a 21-13, 21-9 score line.
The tournament, organised by the Northern Province Badminton Association, was conducted under the guidance of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB). SLB President Rohan de Silva and a host of top officials were among the special guests at the presentation ceremony.
St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya teamed up with isotonic sports drink manufacturer Yeti, who will meet the hydration needs of the school tennis team during their upcoming Inter-School tournaments.
Yeti will provide the St. Peter’s Tennis Team with isotonic sports drinks to meet their hydration needs and as part of the partnership, the players will also have access to the elite Yeti portfolio of sports isotonic products.
This year, St. Peter’s will have a busy schedule as they are set to participate in several age group championships including the Inter-Schools Tennis Tournament, Inter-Schools Nationals and the Arjan Perera Tennis Tournament.
The Peterites had mixed fortunes last year as they emerged overall runners-up in the Inter-Schools Tournament and their Under-17 and Under-19 Teams reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Schools National Championships.
This time the Peterites are hoping for an improved performance with five coloursmen in the Under-20 side and four coloursmen in the Under-17 team.
Yeti isotonic fluid has been specially formulated to provide superior rehydration and provide the body the necessary water, minerals and energy lost during exercise.
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