Sports

Henry Shipley leads rout of Sri Lanka with maiden five-for

Published

2 months ago

2023/03/25

Priyan

Pathum Nissanka loses his leg stump to a Shipley inducker (pic Cricbuzz)

Sri Lanka crashed to 76 all out in pursuit of a target of 275, after Henry Shipley blasted out the their top order, eventually claiming 5 for 31. Where New Zealand had scrapped to 274 all out, their scorecard featuring a highest score of 51 – by Finn Allen – Sri Lanka succumbed meekly against the bounce that Shipley, Blair Tickner, and even Daryl Mitchell generated, on an Eden Park surface with plenty of carry.

Some Sri Lanka batters fell to the short ball, which New Zealand’s batters had also struggled to contend within their innings. Others were dismissed by full deliveries that seamed. And the run-out of opener Nuwanidu Fernando, who had charged most of the way down the pitch for a third even though his partner was not interested, set off the whole, sorry collapse.

Only three Sri Lanka batters got to double figures; their best individual score was Angelo Mathews’ 18.

Shipley, a tall bowler whose braced front leg in his delivery stride ensures a very high release point, did not merely generate awkward bounce on a helpful pitch, but was also good when he pitched the ball up. His best delivery was perhaps to Pathum Nissanka, whom he bowled through the gate, having jagged the ball into the batter off the seam. Later, he had Dasun Shanaka edging a fullish delivery to the slips as well.

His three other wickets were from the short ball, though – Kusal Mendis was rushed into a pull and sent the ball to the fine-leg fielder, Charith Asalanka nicked a wideish short delivery to the keeper, and Chamika Karunaratne holed out trying to bludgeon a pull, late in the game. This was Shipley’s first five-for in internationals, in just his fourth ODI. In fact, he’d only had three five-fors before this across List A and first-class cricket.

Tickner and Mitchell took two wickets apiece, and Matt Henry was unfortunate not to produce a dismissal, such was the quality of his bowling, and the haste with which Sri Lanka’s batters seemed to throw their wickets away. Sri Lanka were all out in the 20th over. This was their lowest total against New Zealand, and their fifth-lowest ever.

Mitchell had also contributed with the bat, as his 47 helped New Zealand progress through the middle overs. Allen’s 51 at the top of the innings had given the hosts their impetus, though, as he prospered against the seamers’ fuller deliveries initially, before later walloping Wanindu Hasaranga’s legspin for consecutive sixes.

Debutant Rachin Ravindra’s 49 off 52 was not particularly flashy, but was perhaps the most important innings of the match, as he kept New Zealand ticking in the late overs despite the fall of wickets at the other end. He and Glenn Phillips had come together with the score 152 for 5 in the 30th over, and proceeded to put on the only half-century stand in the game, producing 66 off 59 balls.

When Phillips was dismissed, holing out trying to thump Dilshan Madushanka over the square-leg boundary, Ravindra continued to accumulate meticulously in the company of the tail. He hit four fours and a six, before he himself holed out – a common dismissal for the New Zealand batters, who kept trying to clear the short straight boundary but were forced to do so against shorter lengths, which Sri Lanka’s bowlers utilised heavily. New Zealand left the last three deliveries of their innings unused.

Though Sri Lanka showed little spine with the bat, they displayed spunk in the field and with the ball.Chamika Karunarathne relied on short-of-a-length deliveries to fetch him career-best figures of 4 for 43 from his nine overs. Lahiru Kumara was rapid, and intense, as he took 2 for 46, with Kasun Rajitha also claiming two wickets. And Sri Lanka took the catches that came their way.

This defeat means automatic qualification for this year’s World Cup appears unlikely for Sri Lanka. If South Africa win their two matches against Netherlands, or Ireland win their three remaining games, those teams put themselves on 98 Super League points each (provided no over-rate penalties), which Sri Lanka now cannot reach even with two wins against New Zealand.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 274 (Finn Allen 51, Rachin Ravindra 49, Daryl Mitchell 47, Chamika Karunaratne 4-43, Kasun Rajitha 2-38, Lahiru Kumara 2-46) beat Sri Lanka 76 (Henry Shipley 5-31,Daryl Mitchell 2-12, Blair Tickner 2-20) by 198 runs

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First sprinter to run 100m in under 10 seconds dies

Published

31 mins ago

2023/06/6

Priyan

Jim Hines held the world record in the men's 100m for nearly 15 years (pic BBC)

US sprinter Jim Hines, the first man to run the 100m in under 10 seconds, has died at the age of 76.

He broke the record in 1968 when he recorded a hand-timed 9.9 seconds at the US Championships. Hines then broke his own record shortly after while winning gold at the 1968 Olympics, where an electronic timer in Mexico City recorded him at 9.95. His record held for nearly 15 years until Calvin Smith ran a time of 9.93 in 1983.

That is the longest length of time an athlete has held the record for the men’s 100m since the International Amateur Athletic Foundation began keeping track – 110 years ago.

His death was announced in a statement by World Athletics. The organisation said it is “deeply saddened” by the news. Both the Olympics and USA Track and Field shared tributes to Hines on Twitter. “The sport has lost a legend,” USA Track and Field said.

Hines was born in the state of Arkansas in 1946 but was raised in Oakland, California.

He had an early love of sport, namely baseball, but showed a real talent for sprinting as a teenager. He attended Texas Southern University where he ran for the Tigers track team before competing in national championships and the Olympics.

In addition to winning the 100m at the Mexico Olympics, he was also part of the US 4x100m relay team which won a gold.

He ended his sprinting career shortly after the Olympics and joined the NFL. He spent three years in the league, playing for the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs.

(BBC Sports)

Sports

Silverwood promises to address dot ball issue

Published

2 hours ago

2023/06/6

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rex Clementine
at Suriyawewa

Leading up to the World Cup Qualifiers starting in less than two weeks’ time in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka’s Head Coach Chris Silverwood promised to address the team’s dot-ball woes.

In the first ODI against Afghanistan which the hosts lost by six wickets here on Friday, there were 158 dot balls with the batters struggling to rotate the strike. That is a huge amount coming up to more than 25 overs. Although the number was cut down to 128 in the second game, Sri Lanka would like to do better than that.

“The dot ball issue is something that we are addressing. A lot of people are talking about it I know. We need to rotate the strike better and put the pressure back on the bowlers. The boundary percentage went up in the last game. Getting a balance between the two will help us to score above 300,” Silverwood told journalists.

Silverwood, the former England Head Coach, also welcomed the return of seniors Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne back into the side bringing more stability to the batting unit. Mathews was left out for game two, but that appears to be part of the team’s strategy to give everyone in the squad a go.

“Angelo was brought into the squad to boost the batting lineup and bring confidence into the side. He has experience of playing big matches. The fact is we must prepare the whole squad to cover ourselves to face any situation.

“Dimuth is making a comeback into the ODI side and he played superbly. He had a good Test series against Ireland. His tempo is very good. He gave us something to build on. The openers added 80 plus for the first wicket. Every partnership after that was scored at less than run a ball. It shows what we can do when we have a good start,” noted Silverwood.

Dhananjaya de Silva came up with a match-winning effort in the second game bowling his off-spin so well picking up three wickets that included the prize scalp of Ibrahim Zadran and earlier his less than run a ball 29 had helped Sri Lanka to a match-winning total of 323 for six.

“Dhananjaya is at six and has to adapt to situations whether it be setting a target or chasing one. The first game he played a superb inning. Today we saw him capitalizing after we had a great start. He kept the momentum going. Obviously scored quickly which is exactly what we need to get over 300. We want to keep pushing the barriers. When it comes to his bowling, he has been threatening to do it for a while.”

Sports

Tharushi dazzles with two golds

Published

2 hours ago

2023/06/6

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka’s mixed relay team with their medals. (from left) Jayeshi Uththara, Tharushi Karunaratne, Susantha Fernando (coach and manager), Shehan Dilranga and Vinod Ariyawansa.

Asian Junior Athletics Championship

by Reemus Fernando

Ratnayake Central, Walala runner Tharushi Karunaratne won back to back gold medals as Sri Lanka reaped a haul of three medals on day two of the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in South Korea on Monday.

Karunaratne won the gold medal in the women’s 800 metres before running the vital anchor leg for her team to clinch gold ahead of strong Indian and hosts’ teams in the 4×400 metres mixed relay.

Gold medals Sri Lanka won yesterday were its eighth and ninth since the commencement of the biennial championship in 1986.

Competing in her pet event, Karunaratne was hardly challenged as she led from the first 100 metres to finish in a time of 2:05.64 seconds. Karunaratne, had set an Asian (junior) leading time just outside the current national record to earn her ticket to the event in South Korea. “I am really proud of her achievement. I was not expecting her to run close to her personal best as she had given her best in the 400 metres,” Susantha Fernando her coach told The Island after she clinched her first gold. She won the silver medal of the 400 metres on Sunday.

In the mixed relay she started in the third position but when the Indian counterpart who had won the gold in the 400 metres individual event tumbled at the start she grabbed the opportunity to fight for the first place and there was no turning back for her from there on. Jayeshi Uththara who won the 400 metres bronze, Shehan Dilranga and Vinod Ariyawansa were the others to form the mixed relay team.

She finished in a new Sri Lanka record time of 3:25.41 seconds. She was also a member of the team that had set the previous national record at the World Junior Championships. While the country’s senior athletes are yet to run the mixed relay at an international event, the junior athletes’ performances had been considered as National Records.

Kahawatta Central triple jumper Malith Yasiru was the other medallist of the day. Yasiru cleared 15.82 metres, seven centimeters shy of his personal best, to win the bronze ahead of India’s Sukhpreet Singh. Japan’s Miyao Manato who was the only athlete to clear the 16 metres mark (16.08m) and China’s Ma Yinglong (15.98m) won the gold and silver medals respectively.

With the two gold medals won yesterday the country has nine gold medals against her name at these championships now. Sri Lanka’s first gold medals of these championships were won by Damayathi Dharsha (100m) and Susanthika Jayasinghe (200m) in Jakarta Indonesia in 1994. The country had to wait till 2012 when it hosted the event in Colombo to witness the next gold. Dulaj Madusanka and Shivanthi Kumari Ratnayake won golds in the men’s and women’s 400 metres at the Sugathadasa Stadium while also anchoring the 4×400 metres relay teams to bronze and silver.

At the last edition in Gifu, Japan the country won three golds with Aruna Dharshana winning the men’s 400 metres with a championship record time of 45.79 seconds. Dharshana also ran a vital leg to win the 4×400 metres gold. The other gold came in the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase when Parami Wasanthi clocked a National Junior Record time of 10:21.54 seconds to win.