Sports
Isipatana, St. Peter’s, Royal and Trinity book berths in rugby’s Super Round
By A Special Sports Correspondent
The first round of inter-school under 19 league rugby tournament concluded last weekend with the two unbeaten teams Isipatana and St. Peter’s along with Trinity and Royal booking their berths in the super round, which is set to commence soon.
Trinity reached the next stage of the tournament by default, because the Thomians lost their crucial encounter against Isipatana on Sunday. Man for man and when one considers the improvement made by the Thomian rugby players as the season progressed, the school by the sea is easily a few notches ahead of the Trinitians. The Thomian side can safely be placed as the fourth best side in the tournament even though they lost to Trinity in their opening match this season.
The beauty of school rugby is that alongside the tournament there are traditional rugby fixtures most schools engage in and these games have to be completed. Some of these rugby matches may not be part of the tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association. For the record the Thomians have to play against Royal, St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s; two of which are played for trophies while one is for a shield. Trinity have to battle it out against Royal (not once but twice for the Bradby Shield) while Isipatana have to grant Thurstan – the minnows in the league rugby tournament – a fixture because tradition has it that these two schools play each other for the Abdul Jabbar Shield. For the record, Thurstan are back in Division 1 Segment 1 one of the tournament after earning a promotion from Segment 2.
Back to the super round, each team which didn’t play the other two teams in the league tournament will have two games to complete before the eventual winners is found. Last year St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya emerged the victor by recording super round wins against St. Anthony’s (39-0) and Isipatana College (22-17). In the overall points table the Peterites finished first and were followed by Royal, Isipatana and St. Anthony’s in second, third and fourth places respectively. St. Peter’s were also the knockout champions last season.
Mention must be made of D. S. Senanayake College which has become a force to be reckoned with in school rugby. This season they finished in third place in their group in the league stage of the tournament. The side had wins against Dharmaraja (44-12), Trinity (14-10), St. Anthony’s (30-17), Sri Sumangala (76-10), Science (29-12) and went down fighting to Isipatana 27-24. Much is expected of this team in the president’s trophy knockout tournament which will be played after the league tournament.
The minnows in the tournament Sri Sumangala and Thurstan have to take their entrance to division one segment 1 as a learning experience. They received some hard knocks this season. Thurstan was humbled by the Peterites who ran down 18 tries against them in a mammoth score of 112 points which went unanswered by the opponents. Sri Sumangala suffered a heavy 76-10 defeat at the hands of D.S. Senanayake. But surprisingly, many thought that Sri Sumangala fared better in the tournament compared to Thurstan. One television channel erroneously made references to Sri Sumangala as a school from Panadura when showing highlights of one of their league round matches this season. This is despite the fact that the school playing rugby is in Katugastota and the other existing with the same name and producing cricketers is situated in Panadura. This goes to prove that earning a name in rugby is so hard even at junior or school level. Most schools which are big names in rugby went through the mill before establishing themselves in this robust sport.
A clinical performance with both bat and ball saw New Zealand beat South Africa in the second semifinal in Lahore to reach the Champions Trophy 2025 final. Centuries from Rachin Ravindra and Kane Williamson saw New Zealand post an imposing 362 on the board. Their spinners then delivered in unison to seal the deal in New Zealand’s favour but the margin of victory was significantly brought down to just 50 runs right at the end after David Miller went berserk for an unbeaten 67-ball ton – the fastest in Champions Trophy history.
South Africa were under the pump in the chase right from the outset. Matt Henry posed some questions and Kyle Jamieson began by bowling a maiden. The jittery start resulted in Ryan Rickelton falling early as he mistimed an off cutter from Henry to hit it straight to cover. Rassie van der Dussen started off with a boundary first ball and Temba Bavuma, who was batting on 3 off 18 at one stage, finally broke the shackles with a lovely on drive that reached the boundary.
Despite scoring only 36 from the first eight overs, South Africa redeemed themselves in that first PowerPlay with both Bavuma and van der Dussen collecting a few boundaries. While William O’Rourke was targetted, the South Africans just couldn’t put the spinners away. First, it was Michael Bracewell who kept bowling one tidy over after another. And when he was joined by Mitchell Santner, things got even harder for the batting side.
Despite the good start by the spin duo, South Africa were still in the game when both the set batters brought up their respective half-centuries. But the chase fizzled out when Santner removed both the batters in a matter of a few overs. Slowing down the pace considerably, Santner managed to eke out some turn from this surface to account for Bavuma’s dismissal before managing to breach van der Dussen’s defence.
At that point, South Africa literally needed something special from Heinrich Klaasen to pull off a spectacular win. However, the New Zealand skipper stood tall for his side yet again and came out on top of a much anticipated one-on-one clash against the maverick South African keeper-batter, who mistimed one straight to long on. From thereon, it was one-way traffic as Bracewell then rounded off his spell with a wicket before the likes of Ravindra and Glenn Phillips joined the party as well by combining for three more dismissals.
Any amount of substantial interest still left in the contest, which was dead and buried by then, was down to Miller potentially lighting up the skies with a few big ones. With just the tail to bat with, Miller stunned the opposition and the small crowd that was still present out there despite knowing the outcome. Batting on 47 off 43 by the end of the 46th over, Miller farmed the strike for the major part of the next 24 deliveries and took on Jamieson and O’Rourke for a flurry of boundaries. Needing 18 from the final six deliveries for a spectacular century, the South African finisher got the job done when he needed 2 from the final ball. His heroics significantly reduced the loss margin which at one stage looked like it would be beyond 100.
Earlier in the day, an efficient batting performance from New Zealand saw them put up a massive total. Ravindra looked in great touch right from the start and even though South Africa, for a brief period, pulled back the run rate after getting rid of Will Young, New Zealand regained control once Williamson got going.
Ravindra in particular was in a murderous mood as he kept finding the boundary with Williamson playing second fiddle. Keshav Maharaj, who put the lid on the scoring rate for a while, was taken apart by the duo eventually as they hit him for a six each. In the process, both batters brought up landmarks as Williamson got to his fifty off 61 deliveries whereas Ravindra reached three figures for the fifth time in his ODI career with all five of those tons coming in ICC tournaments.
Williamson then took charge after Rabada’s departure with Daryl Mitchell biding his time at the other end. The former skipper repeatedly brought out the scoop and fetched success as he took only 31 balls for his second fifty. However, it was that same shot that proved to be his undoing as New Zealand now went into the death overs without both the set batters. At one point, it did seem like South Africa would capitalise on it before Mitchell and then later on Phillips went berserk to hammer 83 runs from the final six overs which meant New Zealand already had one foot in the final.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 362/6 in 50 overs (Rachin Ravindra 108, Kane Williamson 102, Glenn Phillips 49*, Will Young 21, Daryl Mitchell 49; Lungi Ngidi 3/72, Kagiso Rabad 2-70) beat South Africa 312/9 in 50 overs (David Miller 100*, Rassie van der Dussen 69, Temba Bavuma 56, Aiden Markram 31; Matt Henry 2-43, Mitchell Santner 3/43, Glenn Phillips 2-27) by 50 runs
Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel has become the seventh batter in first-class cricket to be timed out. On day two of the final of the President’s Trophy, a domestic first-class competition in Pakistan, Shakeel, playing for State Bank of Pakistan, emerged late from the dugout after two wickets fell in two balls. Amad Butt, the captain of the opposition side PTV, appealed after Shakeel was not ready to take guard within the required three minutes.
ESPNcricinfo understands the swift fall of two wickets left Shakeel unprepared. He arrived at the crease to face the delivery, but Butt appealed, and the umpires agreed he had not been ready within three minutes, following which a timed-out appeal can be lodged. The most recent such dismissal in top-level cricket was also the highest-profile, when Angelo Matthews became the only cricketer to be dismissed in this manner during an international match. It happened during Sri Lanka’s 2023 World Cup match against Bangladesh, with Shakib-al-Hasan successfully appealing for timed out.
Umar Amin and Fawad Alam fell to fast bowler Muhammad Shahzad within two deliveries, leaving him on a hat-trick. Following Shakeel’s unusual dismissal, Irfan Khan came out to bat, and had his stumps knocked back first ball, giving Shahzad a hat-trick. It meant that State Bank of Pakistan went from 128 for 1 to 128 for 5 in the space of three balls.
The rare dismissal is not the only thing that makes the President’s Trophy final unusual. Owing to Ramadan, a period when devout Muslims do not eat or drink between sunrise and sunset, the PCB decided to play the entire tournament at night, with a day’s play running from 7:30pm to 2.30am, with tea and dinner breaks between sessions.
Shahzad’s hat-trick helped PTV dismiss State Bank of Pakistan for 205, with former Pakistan opener Imran Butt scoring 89.
(Cricinfo)
South Africa and New Zealand, the two best sides to have never won a World Cup, meet in a knockout match. Both have had their hands on this trophy all the way back when it was called the ICC Knockout and possibly meant something else in terms of its significance in the global game. So make no mistake: winning this will not take away the desire for the big one but it will help to tide things over until 2027, when South Africa co-host the event with neighbours Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Quietly, South Africa know they are actually building for that but the pressure to return home with something other than disappointment is ever-present. This is another chance to change that. New Zealand, after coming so close to the trophy at the 2019 World Cup, also carry scars but somehow seem less burdened by them. Perhaps a smaller population, with fewer socio-economic fractures that can be plastered over with sporting success helps them; maybe they’re just good at stoicism. Those are things to ponder later in the week when one of these two teams will play a final against a yet-to-be-decided opposition at a yet-to-be-decided venue. For now, they’ve both probably got the knockout they wanted.
Facing each other, rather than India or Australia, appears to give them both a better chance of progressing to the final. And doing it in Pakistan, though both teams travelled from Dubai at different times on Monday, likely suits them more. Conditions are good for run-scoring and both have line-ups capable of posting big scores which suggests fans will be in for a run-fest. Their attacks are similarly matched to the point where both were hit by injury-enforced absences amongst the quicks. Some of the more interesting narratives could be around which of the tall men – Marco Jansen and Kyle Jamieson – can extract the most with their height or which of the attacking bowlers, Kagiso Rabada or Matt Henry, has the most success.
A difference could come in the spin resources, where South Africa have chosen to operate with only one specialist in Keshav Maharaj but New Zealand have both captain Mitchell Santner and offspinner Michael Bracewell in their best XI. Maharaj had previously indicated he sees a spinners role as a more defensive one at this event so their economy rates are the numbers to watch here.
Overall, this match promises an even contest without the hype that comes with playing a big three nation even though there is plenty of history. New Zealand dumped South Africa out of both the 2011 and 2015 World Cups and though the likes of us will talk about it, it’s worth remembering that the last of those was ten years ago and much cricket has been played since.
Then, particularly for South Africa, the results seemed seismic. Now, ICC events happen annually and teams are dusting themselves off and starting again with much greater frequency. Does that mean it matters less if you lose at a crucial stage or even if you win? Ask one of these two, who have both spent the best part of the last three decades trying to win a major trophy and they’re likely to say no. Only one of them will have the chance to do it this time.
No one has quite said it yet but could this be the last time 35-year-old David Miller plays in an ODI tournament for South Africa? And if so, what kind of say will he have on it? He has limited opportunity in the tournament so far. He came to bat in the 43rd over against Afghanistan only to smash the winning runs against England, but has had almost-decisive knocks in both South Africa’s previous white-ball knockout games. At the 2023 ODI World Cup, Miller’s century gave South Africa something to defend in the semi-final after they were reduced to 24 for 4; at the 2024 T20 World Cup, he was looking good on 21 off 17 balls before being spectacularly caught on the boundary which could have taken South Africa within touching distance of the trophy. Miller has shown he enjoys the big occasion and has also indicated he is taking things year by year, so chances to play in knockouts are likely becoming fewer. After all his efforts, he will want to play a role in South Africa winning one
Kane Williamson has back-to-back ODI centuries against South Africa, albeit they were scored six years apart. He made 106* against them in Birmingham in June 2019 and 133* against them at this venue in the tri-series that preceded this tournament, though that was not against a full-strength South African side. Overall, Williamson averages 57.35 against South Africa, his best against any opposition other than Zimbabwe. Though New Zealand have a line-up of creative and crafty hitters, Williamson’s role in New Zealand’s side continues to be of utmost importance as evidenced by his 81 against India in Dubai, where he kept New Zealand in the fight in what was ultimately a losing cause.
Like many of the more experienced players at this event, at 34, Williamson may not get another opportunity to win an ODI trophy and will want to make the most of this one.
Openers Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi have both recovered from the illness that kept them out of the England game and are expected to be available for selection, but de Zorzi is expected to make way for Aiden Markram, who passed his fitness test on Tuesday. George Linde has been called up as a travelling reserve. The bowling make-up – two allrounders, one specialist spinner and two quicks – is expected to be unchanged.
New Zealand’s only question will be which one of Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway or Daryl Mitchell they will leave out. Conway sat out the India match for Mitchell, who played against Pakistan but not Bangladesh. Young and Ravindra both have centuries to their names at this competition which suggests the decision is between Mitchell and Conway, who has scores of 30 and 10 from his outings in the tournament.
South Africa (possible): Temba Bavuma (capt), Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
New Zealand: Will Young, Rachin Ravindra/Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will O’Rourke
[Cricinfo]
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