Sports

Little known World Cup snippets

Published

2 years ago

2023/10/1

Thilina Walpola

Four World Cup winning captains; Kapil Dev, Sir Vivian Richards, Arjuna Ranatunga and Imran Khan.

by Rex Clementine

The Cricket World Cup is just around the corner and the national cricket team has enjoyed both unprecedented success and unexpected lows over the previous 12 editions of the competition. One-time champions, Sri Lanka were also runners-up on two occasions and semi-finalists on one other time.

Their campaigns in 1999, where as defending champions they were knocked out in the first round and the 1987 tournament where they failed to win a single game remain disappointments.

Some records like the Upul Tharanga – T.M. Dilshan partnership for the first wicket worth 282 runs still stands and so do the ten-wicket drubbing that Sri Lanka handed England in the 2011 quarter-final, Chaminda Vaas’ hat-trick in the first three balls in Pietermaritzburg and Kumar Sangakkara’s feat for most dismissals.

These are well documented stories but today we will take a look at some narratives that have hardly received the attention of the public.

The 2015 World Cup schedule was so tough that on one day Sri Lanka were playing in New Zealand and the next day they were in Australia before flying back to New Zealand and then back to Australia again.

Having won their game against Bangladesh at MCG, the team was rushing back to the team hotel to pack their bags to catch an early morning flight to Wellington across the Tasman sea.

Man of the Match T.M. Dilshan attended the press briefing and he was asked how tough it was for his team to constantly travel between the countries while some other teams didn’t have such demanding schedules. The task was made tougher given the strict quarantine laws in both countries.

As Dilshan was about to answer, team manager Michael de Zoysa (bless him), interrupted and said, “I know it’s tough, but we don’t care because we play England next. England is a bye.’

When England batted first and made 309, it looked as if Michael had to eat his words, but his boys made a mockery of the run chase reaching the target with nine wickets and plenty of balls to spare.

During the 1996 World Cup, Sanath Jayasuriya had ended the career of a few bowlers – Manoj Prabhakar of India and England’s Richard Illingworth and Dermot Reeve never played again.

India were so obsessed with Jayasuriya that their entire team meeting ahead of the semi-final was how to stop Jayasuriya. In the end, Jayasuriya was dismissed in the third ball, but Aravinda de Silva counterattacked to take the game away from India.

In the finals of that tournament, as Asanka Gurusinghe and Aravinda de Silva were building a nice partnership, a drinks break was coming along and coach Dav Whatmore called up 12th man Ravindra Pushpakumara and wanted some vital information passed onto the two batters. As if Whatmore’s advice weren’t enough, all the senior players too chipped in urging the 12th man to say various things to the two batters.

Pushpa listened attentively but as he walked onto the field he thought for himself the run chase is going so smooth and why would he interrupt it. So, the only thing he said to the batters was, ‘well played aiya’ and returned to the dressing room without passing on any message.

Sir Garry Sobers was Sri Lanka’s coach during the 1983 campaign. The team was training at Headingley and Ashantha de Mel was swinging the ball to deadly effect and not many were able to put bat to ball.

Amused by the batters’ struggle, Sir Garry, who was nearly 50 at that point, asked for a single pad, a pair of gloves and started smashing de Mel all over. He wasn’t even using a bat. He had taken out a stump! The players were marvelling his skills even at that age.

Another West Indies genius Brian Lara was caught behind in the 2003 World Cup encounter in Cape Town, but umpire David Shepherd turned the appeal down. The umpires then told the Sri Lankan fielders that it is Lara and they should know better that he walks if he nicks it.

During the drinks break when the Sri Lankans told Lara what Shepherd had said, he explained how it works. ‘I do walk yes, but I don’t walk when I am the captain maan.’

Sidath Wettimuny in his international career hit only one six. It came in a World Cup fixture against England in 1983 at Taunton. His girlfriend was coming to see the game. Sidath had told her that the moment he spotted her, he will be hitting a six towards her. Ian Botham was bowling and Sidath took a chance and for once the man who put a lot of emphasis on batting with a straight bat didn’t mind taking a chance with a cross batted heave towards mid-wicket. Things people do for love!

The inaugural World Cup in 1975 was a baptism by fire for the new kids on the block. They had been hammered by West Indies by nine wickets and Pakistan by 192 runs but against Australia they put up a far better show.

Chasing 329 to win in 60 overs, Sri Lanka were well placed with Duleep Mendis and Sunil Wettimuny being involved in a decent partnership. Ian Chappell, the Australian captain then called up his main weapon Jeff Thomson and both batters had to retire hurt after being hit by the quickest bowler at that time.

As Mendis was recovering from the nasty blow to his head in a London hospital, a policeman visited him in the ward and asked, ‘Excuse me sir. Do you want to press charges against this Thomson.’

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Sports

Six races, six golds – Klaebo’s historic Olympics

Published

1 hour ago

2026/02/22

Priyan

'Amazing!' - Klaebo sets record for most golds won at a single Winter Olympics

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, Norway’s king of cross-country skiing, broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics with his sixth of the Games.

Klaebo led a Norwegian sweep of the podium in the 50km mass start classic, with team-mates Martin Loewstroem Nyenget and Emil Iversen taking silver and bronze respectively.

The 29-year-old finished the brutal distance in two hours six minutes 44.8 seconds, 8.9secs ahead of Nyenget who takes his third medal of the Games.

“It’s been crazy, it’s a dream come true,” Klaebo told BBC Sport.

“I really think this Olympics has been perfect. Being able to crown the Olympics with the 50km was unbelievable.”

Klaebo breaks the previous record of five golds from a single Games, held by American speed skater Eric Heiden since the Lake Placid Olympics of 1980.

It also extends his own record for most Winter Olympic golds to 11, while he becomes the first athlete to win all six cross-country events at one Games.

Only US swimming great Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals, has more Olympic titles to his name.

Born in Oslo, Klaebo moved to Trondheim – a haven of cross-country skiing trails – as a young child, a move that has seen him become the greatest to ever do the sport.

No other man, active or retired, comes close to his record of 116 World Cup wins, while he is also a 15-time world champion, winning all six titles at last year’s edition on home snow in Trondheim.

“After the world championships last year, we knew that it was possible, but to be able to do it, it’s hard to find the right words,” he told reporters.

“[There were] so many emotions when I’m crossing the finish line.”

His sixth Olympic gold at Milan-Cortina adds to the titles he had won earlier in the Games in the skiathlon, sprint classic, 10km interval start free, 4×7.5km relay and the team sprint.

[BBC]

Latest News

India, South Africa meet in the final before the final

Published

3 hours ago

2026/02/22

Priyan

The Indian team and support staff go for a run during a training session [Cricinfo]

Some are calling this the final before the final. India were the clear favourites anyway, and South Africa have emerged unbeaten from the toughest group of the draw. Their easy win against New Zealand has sent warning signs.

A budding rivalry that began with the last T20 World Cup final, which South Africa lost despite bossing it for 35 overs, continued as they had their own back with a Test whitewash of India in India.

Throw in high stakes. This is no longer a match in which only India stand to lose something although they will not want to be the XI that breaks India’s winning streak of 12 at T20 World Cups. South Africa stand to lose a lot as well.

You lose this match, and the remaining two become must-wins but not a guarantee to make the semi-finals. It is a blockbuster start to the Group 1 Super Eight round. South Africa have been used to the Ahmedabad conditions having played three of their four matches there. India don’t need any more familiarity with Ahmedabad as every important match of any series or tournament invariably ends up there.

The last such game was the last T20I in the series against South Africa where India overcame the toss and buried South Africa by piling 231 runs. At that time, South Africa didn’t have any idea what their best XI looked like. Now they will hope to put up a much better fight against the all-conquering Indian side.

The two openers have been setting the tournament alight. Not long ago neither of them was opening. Ishan Kishan is a bolter thanks to his performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In December when South Africa last played India in Ahmedabad, Aiden Markram was batting at No. 5. Now they are the leading openers of the tournament having aggregated in 170s at nearly two a ball. A lot of time will be spent on them in the respective strategy meetings.

Arshdeep Singh expectedly returned for the last match, but India rested Axar Patel to give Washington Sundar a game. Axar should come back into the XI.

India (probable): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.

South Africa rested Lungi Ngidi in their last game, giving Kagiso Rabada time to attain full rhythm while also testing out Anrich Nortje. Ngidi, still their leading wicket-taker, should come back at the expense of one of the big quicks. This being a night game, Corbin Bosch is likelier to get the nod ahead of George Linde.

South Africa (probable): Aiden Markram (capt.), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada/Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

A campaign that’s brought the fans back

Published

7 hours ago

2026/02/22

Thilina Walpola

Sri Lanka’s final group game of the T20 World Cup was, on paper, a dead rubber. Zimbabwe had already punched their Super Eight ticket and so had the co-hosts. Yet, 24 hours before the toss, tickets were sold out. By the time the coin went up at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium, the access roads were chock-a-block, horns blaring, vendors shouting, fans draped in blue streaming in like it was a final.

For a so-called inconsequential game, it felt anything but.

When supporters turn up in numbers for a fixture with nothing riding on it, that’s not blind loyalty, that’s belief. Sri Lanka, after years in the wilderness, have given their faithful something to cheer about. They are no longer making up the numbers. They are back in the contest.

The moment that injected oxygen into this campaign was the night they showed Australia the exit door. For Sri Lankan fans, there is no sweeter soundtrack than the silence of an Aussie dressing room packing up early. The younger fan brigade may relish having a go at India, but knocking out Australia still carries its own flavour.

Now the focus shifts to the Super Eight. Three games. Win two and Sri Lanka could be boarding flights to Calcutta or Bombay for a semi-final berth. That would be a seismic moment. The national side has not reached the last four of a global event for 12 long years. In cricketing terms, that’s an eternity.

Sport, like life, moves in cycles. Between 2007 and 2015, Sri Lanka were serial semi-finalists and finalists, a golden era when reaching the knockouts of ICC events was routine business. England, in contrast, were perennial underachievers in white-ball cricket, often bundled out early and licking their wounds. But they went back to the drawing board, addressed their white-ball philosophy, and emerged as a different beast, fearless, methodical and consistent on the global stage.

Sri Lanka appear to be following a similar blueprint.

One of the burning issues identified was strike rate. Last year, Chairman of Selectors Upul Tharanga publicly called for urgency with the bat. Too many Sri Lankan batters were stuck in second gear, striking at 120 or 130, respectable in another era, but pedestrian in modern T20 cricket.

This tournament has told a different story.

Kamindu Mendis has been batting as if the fielders are mere ornaments, striking at a jaw-dropping 225. Dasun Shanaka has rediscovered his finishing boots, going at 200. Pavan Rathnayake has muscled his way to 177, while Pathum Nissanka, long seen as more accumulator than aggressor, has operated at a healthy 155.

Those are not cosmetic improvements. Those are match-defining numbers.

Sri Lanka’s bowling cupboard has rarely been bare. Spin has been their calling card, seamers their workhorses. But too often in recent years, the batting has misfired, leaving bowlers with too little to defend. Now, with Pathum anchoring, Pavan counter-punching and Kamindu playing the role of accelerator, the top order is beginning to hum. Charith Asalanka, meanwhile, is far too gifted to be warming the bench for long.

The Super Eight will provide sterner examinations. England have had the wood over Sri Lanka in recent meetings. Pakistan and New Zealand, however, are sides we have found ways to outfox. More importantly, the middle order, once the soft underbelly, is showing signs of steel.

There are, of course, absentees that could haunt them in the business end. Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana and Eshan Malinga would have been invaluable when the heat rises. Experience in global tournaments and franchise leagues like the IPL is currency you cannot easily replace. Hasaranga’s recurring hamstring troubles remain a concern and managing his fitness, including conditioning, must be a priority if he is to prolong his career.

Credit, too, must go upstairs. Sri Lanka Cricket have left no stone unturned. The appointment of Vikram Rathour and R. Sridhar, key lieutenants under Ravi Shastri during India’s successful run, has added tactical clarity. The involvement of South Africa’s Paddy Upton, a guru of the mental side of the game, has strengthened the team’s headspace.

The dividends are visible.

For now, the biggest victory may not be on the points table but in the stands. The blue flags are back. The roads are jammed again. The buzz has returned.

In Sri Lanka, that is often the first sign that a team has truly turned the corner.

by Rex Clementine