Sports

New Zealand on top despite Karunaratne’s twin fifties

Published

3 months ago

2023/03/20

Dimuth Karunaratne brought up his second fifty of the match but was dismissed soon after

New Zealand’s bowlers propelled their side to the brink of a 2-0 series whitewash over Sri Lanka, picking up ten wickets on the third day, forcing a follow-on and leaving the visitors still 303 runs behind with eight wickets and two days of cricket still to go.

At the crease for the visitors were Kusal Mendis, unbeaten on 50, and Angelo Mathews on 1 – the pair that had so memorably saved a Test at the same ground back in 2018. Back then they had batted out the entirety of the fourth day before rain intervened on the fifth to help secure the draw, and Sri Lanka will certainly be hoping history repeats itself – with rain forecast over the coming days.

But even the help of the weather gods might not be enough if Sri Lanka repeat their poor batting display from the third day.While credit must go to New Zealand’s bowlers for sticking to their plans diligently and maximising the conditions on offer, Sri Lanka’s batters were undoubtedly guilty of far too often failing to put a price on their wickets.

While the nightwatcher Prabath Jayasuriya received a delivery he was far too ill-equipped to deal with, one that pitched on a length and seamed away taking his edge in the process, Mathews could have no such excuse, edging a similar – but wider – delivery when fending outside off. This left Sri Lanka four down for 34 with barely an hour played in the morning.

But that setback would be followed by a solid period of consolidation between Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal, with the Sri Lakna captain, in particular, looking in good touch. He was patient with deliveries outside off, but not averse to punishing any that were overpitched. Together the pair would put on 80 for the fifth wicket, and the hope heading into lunch was that they could continue to make steady progress having already got in.

What followed though was Sri Lanka’s most inexcusable period of the entire series, losing their final six wickets for just 55 runs in the period between lunch and tea.

It was Chandimal that would trigger the capitulation. Having swept Michael Bracewell, who was finding some extra turn and bounce for his offbreaks, for four, Chandimal would charge him just a delivery later only to have the ball turn through bat and pad and offer Tom Blundell a straightforward stumping. A brain fade at the most ill-advised moment.

This was followed by Dhananjaya de Silva coming down the track and chipping an easy catch straight to short midwicket – put in place for precisely such a stroke – shortly after.

At 116 for 6, this would see Nishan Madushka, the debutant, enter. He would string together a 40-run stand with Karunaratne at the other end, who was continuing unfazed despite the chaos around him. In this period, Madushka even produced some stellar stroke play, especially when driving through the offside. But eventually he too would fall, courtesy of the extra bounce the pitch was more consistently producing, edging through to second slip.

After Kasun Rajitha was run out, Karunaratne’s patience would finally wear thin, uncharacteristically looking to beat the man in the deep, and holing out at long-off for a 188-ball 89. Last man Asitha Fernando would not last much longer either, as Sri Lanka were bowled out 164, with Matt Henry and Bracewell taking three wickets apiece.

With a 416-run lead, Tim Southee then had little hesitation in enforcing the follow-on, and back out came Karunaratne for his second essay a little over 10 minutes after he had been dismissed.Sri Lanka’s second effort with the bat definitely fared better, but two wickets lost against the run of play may still come to haunt them.

Oshada Fernando, who’s had a tour to forget, ended up flicking one off his hips straight to square leg, but the wicket that will hurt the most is that of Karunaratne’s.

Having struck at a rate of 47.34 in the first innings, Karunaratne’s second outing ticked along at 61.44, showing a more proactive streak and an inclination to take on the New Zealand bowlers. Alongside a similarly positive Mendis, the pair frequently took on a splattering of short stuff served up by the seamers on an increasingly bouncy track.

It would be the relative comfort with which they handle pulling and cutting however that will likely grate Karunaratne as he looks back on his dismissal this evening, as it was an umpteenth short ball that he wound up top edging to deep midwicket. It having come after reaching his second fifty of the day would only have been salt in the wounds.

Mercifully for Sri Lanka, they would lose no further wickets, with Mathews especially happy to shut up shop during his 40-ball knock for just a solitary run, but the visitors will know they’ll need to do much better if they’re to survive the next two sessions, let alone the next two days. (cricinfo)

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First sprinter to run 100m in under 10 seconds dies

Published

2 hours 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

3 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

3 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.