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Medal prospect Tharushi laments absence of coach Susantha at Walala

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Olympic Committee announces sponsorships for future prospects

by Reemus Fernando

Ratnayake Central Walala athlete Tharushi Karunaratne said that the absence of reputed coach Susantha Fernando at the premier Sports School has made her train by herself. She said that she was following Fernando’s schedules in his absence in reply to a query by The Island at a function organized by the National Olympic Committee to announce Crysbro Next Champ sponsorships for up and coming athletes  at the Foundation Institute on Thursday.

Fernando gave up on training at Ratnayake Central after completing  more than two decades of committed service a couple of months back. During his tenure Fernando guided many a school athlete to reach international level.

Incidentally, Tharushi’s brother Harsha too graduated under Fernando to win a silver at the Asian Youth Athletics Championship in Thailand in 2017. Officials of Ratnayake Central have been trying in vain during the last few months to obtain Fernando’s services again. In his  absence training of Ratnayake Central athletes remain interrupted.

Tharushi produced several record breaking performances at Junior National competitions last year. Fernando had earmarked her as a junior international medal prospect. She had been rightly picked by a selecting committee inclusive of Olympic medalist Susanthika Jayasinghe, former sprinters Shehan Ambepitiya and Ineka Cooray and Olympian Reshika Udugampola for the Crysbro Next Champ sponsorship.

The Selection Committee tasked with selecting 20 athletes for the Crysbro sponsorship announced names of the first five chosen athletes yesterday. Sprinter Sithum Jayasundara who also hogged the limelight last year making a clean sweep of Under 16 sprint events is the other track and field athlete to have been picked for the lucrative sponsorship. Two young weight lifters, namely, W.DK. Kumara and R.S.R. Laksarani and gymnast Milka Gihani were the others named by the Committee.

Explaining the selection criteria Ambepitiya said the probable list of athletes had been forwarded by respective Sports Associations. Their performances had been analysed against the medal deciding  performances at three last junior international competitions before picking them.

They are in the process of finalizing the next five athletes. Their names will be announced shortly.

The next ten athletes will be selected after various sports associations conclude their national level competitions.

 

 



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Afghanistan claim series victory after Rashid’s career-best flattens Zimbabwe

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[File photo] Rashid Khan finished with career-best figures of 7 for 66 in the second innings

It had to be Rashid Khan. After starring in each of Afghanistan’s previous three Test wins – in Dehradun, Chattogram and Abu Dhabi – he wrapped Zimbabwe up with a match haul of 11 for 160 in Bulawayo.  That included career-best figures of 7 for 66 in the second innings, with expectations of a thrilling finish being quashed only 15 deliveries into the final morning. Zimbabwe were 73 runs away from victory, with all hopes from their captain Craig Ervine. Afghanistan needed two good balls to finish the game off.

But even the short span of play on the fifth day was enough for plenty of drama. The day started with exactly what Afghanistan wanted: Rashid bowling to Zimbabwe’s No. 10 Richard Ngarava. Four balls into play, Afghanistan got exactly what they wanted – almost. Ngarava skied an attempted slice off Rashid, and the ball popped up behind the man at silly point. Hashmatullah Shahidi, placed at cover, moved to his right. Fareed Ahmad, at point, stepped to his left.With his attention divided between the dipping ball and the approaching Fareed, Shahidi dropped Ngarava. Rashid couldn’t hold back an angry expression towards his captain, who had stretched both his hands out, only for the ball to never stick. Ngarava survived, but for hardly any longer.

Ngarava did play out the remaining two deliveries of the over to ensure Ervine had the strike for the next. Starting on his overnight score of 53, and being the last recognised batter, he had a spread-out field to play with. After turning down two singles, Ervine decided he should go for the third. He drove Yamin Ahmadzai towards deep extra cover, where the man was placed only about three-fourths of the way to the boundary.

Shahidullah collected the ball while chasing it forward, and fired a flat throw at the wicketkeeper. Perhaps not expecting Ervine to go for the run that early in the over, Ngarava was late to take off. But Ervine was well down the pitch by that time, and wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai whipped the bails off with Ngarava miles short.

Last man Blessing Muzarabani defended the next two deliveries and left the third one alone. Ervine again took strike for the next over, with Zimbabwe having yet to add to their overnight score. Rashid went short for the first two balls, but pitched it much fuller the third time. The ball landed just outside off, turned in, and struck Ervine in front as he missed an attempted sweep.

Rashid and his mates went up right away, even as umpire Ahsan Raza’s finger took its time to show up. But it eventually did, although the first impression was of the ball missing leg stump. However, there was no DRS to turn to, leaving the Afghanistan players jumping and celebrating.

It was a come-from-behind win fashioned by centuries from Rahmat Shah and debutant Ismat Alam in the second innings, which Afghanistan had started 86 runs in the arrears. Not to be left behind with the bat, Rashid even contributed what turned out to be crucial innings of 25 and 23.

As a result, Afghanistan took the two-match series 1-0 after a high-scoring draw in the first Test, and left Zimbabwe with a series win across each of the three formats.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 157 in 44.3 overs (Rashid  Khan 25; Sikandar Raza 3-30, Newman Nyamhuri 3-42, Blessing Muzarabani 2-56) and 363 in 113.5 overs (Rahmat  Shah 139, AIsmat lam 101; Blessing  Muzarabani 6-95, Richard Ngarava 3-76) beat Zimbabwe 243 in 73.3 overs (Craig Ervine 75, Sikandar Raza 61, Sean Williams 49;  Rashid Khan  4-94, Yamin Ahmadzai 3-62, Fareed Ahmad 2-27) and205 in 68.3 overs  (Craig Ervine 53; Sikandar Raza 38, Ben Curran 38;  Rashid Khan 7-66, Zia ur Rehman  2-44) by 72 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Ervine fights but Rashid puts Afghanistan on brink of series win

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Rashid Khan picked up six wickets against Zimbabwe [Cricbuzz]

Rashid Khan stepped up when Afghanistan needed him to as Zimbabwe find themselves on the brink of losing the second Test and with that, the series as well, to the visitors. Rashid broke the back of the Zimbabwean middle order with a six-wicket haul and if not for Craig Ervine’s fighting half-century, Afghanistan would have already completed formalities by now. However, the Zimbabwean veteran has dragged this series into the final day with his side needing 73 runs for the win – a hard task given they have only two wickets in hand.

Kickstarting the day with a lead of 205, Afghanistan managed to add some vital runs before Blessing Muzarabani got rid of Rashid. However, Ismat Alam kept the home side at bay and managed to bring up a terrific hundred to stun Zimbabwe. His efforts dragged the lead to 277 – a commendable effort considering Afghanistan conceded a first innings lead of 86.

Zimbabwe then made a positive start to the chase with the openers laying an ideal platform with a 43-run stand. But once that partnership was broken, Afghanistan started striking at regular intervals to storm back into the contest. Rashid bagged the big wicket of Ben Curran for 38 before adding two more to his tally to reduce the hosts to 99 for 4. Sikandar Raza then stood firm alongside Ervine to steady the ship as Zimbabwe slowly recovered.

For someone who plays extravagant strokes in the shorter formats, Raza showed commendable application once again in this Test to follow up with his first-innings fifty. His patient 38 turned the tide once again before Rashid did his bit to stun the opposition. Raza hit one straight to cover to get dismissed and his wicket triggered a collapse. Sean Williams missed a slog sweep to get castled and two balls later, Rashid hit the timber again, this time to send Brian Bennett back to the pavilion.

Ervine hardly had time to process the destruction at the other end as Zia-ur-Rehman then added to Zimbabwe’s woes with one more wicket. 157 for 4 in no time became 178 for 8 as Afghanistan inched closer to a memorable win. Ervine then took charge and opened up to find the boundary twice against Rashid before smashing Rehman for a six. Richard Ngarava managed to stay put at the other end as Ervine’s aggressive approach resulted in him getting to his fifty before bad light ended play.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe
243 & 205/8 (Craig Ervine 53*; Rashid Khan 6/66) need another 73 runs vs Afghanistan 157 & 363

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Babar, Masood fight for Pakistan after South Africa enforce follow-on

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Shan Masood celebrates his hard-fought hundred [Cricinfo]

Pakistan posted their highest opening stand against South Africa as Shan Masood and Babar Azam put up solid resistance against the hosts on a flat track. Masood went past 30 for the first time in nine innings and went on to score his sixth Test hundred, and the first by a Pakistan captain in South Africa, while Babar, opening in place of the injured Saim Ayub, made 81 The pair took a significant chunk out of their first-innings deficit of 421. Pakistan are now 208 behind with nine wickets standing.

South Africa’s five frontline bowlers were made to toil on a surface that remains good for batting despite showing signs of turn. They also bowled 23 no-balls across the two innings so far – 10 in the ongoing second innings alone – and will be disappointed with their ill-discipline. Their only second innings success came late in the day when Babar chased a full, wide ball from Marco Jansen and edged to slip. Nightwatcher Khurram Shahzad accompanied Masood to the end of the day.

After dismissing Pakistan for 194 midway through the afternoon session, South Africa enforced the follow-on with an eye on wrapping things up early. But Kagiso Rabada and Jansen both erred on the side of too full and only created one chance between them. Rabada found Masood’s edge, with the Pakistan captain on 18 but the ball flew through the vacant third slip region, leaving Rabada on his haunches.

The change bowlers, Wiaan Mulder and Kwena Maphaka, barely threatened and Pakistan went to tea on 80 without loss. Rabada and Keshav Maharaj resumed for the evening session and while Rabada tried a short-ball tactic, Maharaj found turn but Pakistan played them both well. Masood’s fifty came when he pulled Rabada through mid-wicket and Babar’s came up with a drive off Jansen. It was the second time in the day that Babar raised his bat to a half-century after also getting to the milestone in the first innings, and his third successive fifty on this tour.

As both settled in, South Africa’s frustration boiled over and Mulder flung the ball back at Babar as he stepped out of his crease to defend. He hit Babar on the shin and words were exchanged before Umpire Dharmasena stepped in to cool things down. The only other bit of drama came when Rabada was convinced he had Masood lbw when he hit him on the knee roll and South Africa were considering a review but Rabada had overstepped.

Masood got to his century with a flick off Jansen and celebrated with a glance skywards. Babar seemed set to follow him but slashed at a slower Jansen ball and edged to Bedingham at slip, to give him his fifth catch of the day. Though Babar fell short of a century, he scored 108 runs in the day – 27 overnight and 81 in the second innings.

Pakistan resumed 64 for 3 under some cloud and found the early exchanges challenged. Rabada beat the beat, Jansen found extra bounce and though both made things difficult for Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, they were unable to remove them. Jansen hit Rizwan on the collar bone in the first 45 minutes as Rizwan attempted a one-armed pull but he recovered to hit Jansen for four and six in the same over.

Babar brought up the Pakistan hundred with an edge through the slips and his fifty off the next ball when he chopped Rabada over point. But when debutant Kwena Maphaka angled one down leg, Babar followed it in an attempt to flick it off his hips and edged to Kyle Verreynne. A joyous Maphaka took off Imran Tahir-style to deep third with his team-mates following in celebration. This was the third time since 2022 that Babar has been strangled down leg, the joint-most by a Pakistan batter in that time.

The Babar-Rizwan partnership was broken on 98, with responsibility falling to Rizwan to keep chipping away. Against the run of play, Rizwan advanced on Mulder and tried to smash him down the ground to reach his fifty, but under-edged onto his stumps. And then Salman Agha, who had lamented the lack of turn when he was bowling, was drawn forward by a Maharaj delivery that turned past the outside edge and was stumped.

Pakistan lost 6 for 76 either side of lunch, most of them to loose shots. Aamer Jamal was bounced out by Rabada when he could not resist a swivel pull and Khurram Shahzad could not keep a square drive down. It may not be up to those two to have done the work but, after the way Pakistan batted in the second innings, they may look back at their shot selection in the first with some regret, especially on this surface.

Though it is expected to start breaking up from the fourth day and there is turn on offer, it remains good for run-scoring. At 208 behind, Pakistan may not yet be thinking of making South Africa bat again, especially as the hosts only have to take eight more wickets. Ayub, who has an ankle fracture,was leave to London for treatment today [06].

Brief scores:
Pakistan 194 in 54.2 overs (Babar Azam  58, Mohammad Rizwan 46; Kagiso Rabada 3-55, Keshav Maharaj 2-14, Kwena Maphaka 2-43) and (f/o) 213 for 1 in 49 overs  (Shan Masood 102*, Babar Azam 81) trail  South Africa 615 by 208 runs

[Cricinfo]

 

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