Sports
Tharushi dazzles, Ameesha, Sachini, Mandini break records
by Reemus Fernando
Ratnayake Central, Walala athlete Tharushi Karunaratne delivered yet another outstanding performance as she reached qualifying standard for another World Junior Athletics Championships event on the final day of the second selection trial at Diyagama on Friday.
She beat her senior training partner and national record holder Dilshi Kumarasinghe in a tape finish in the 800 metres as she returned a time of two minutes and 6.99 seconds. Kumarasinghe skipped the last selection trial and was returning after an injury. With her personal best performance in the 800 metres Karunaratne has now achieved qualifying standards for two World Junior events. On Thursday she reached qualifying standards for the 400 metres.
On a day where none of the senior athletes reached set standards for the Asian Games, Sachini Perera’s national record in the pole vault, Karunaratne’s heroics in the 800 metres and Amesha Hettiarachchi’s National Junior record in the 400 metres hurdles were the highlights.
Asian Youth Championship medallist Hettiarachchi returned a time of 60.49 seconds to beat her own record in the 400 metres hurdles. In 2019 the former Viharamaha Devi Balika, Kandy athlete ran the event in a time of 60.57 seconds. With her record breaking feat she has now joined a host of other juniors who have reached qualifying standards for the World Junior Athletics Championship which will be held in Cali, Colombia in August.
In the women’s pole vault, Sachini Perera improved her own national record by five centimeters as she cleared 3.70 metres. The former gymnast cleared 3.65 metres at the last selection trail in February.
Meanwhile, in another notable feat by female athletes Nihinsa Mandini of Yatiyana MV broke her own National Junior hammer throw record with a feat of 39.57 metres.
Amesha Hettiarachchi established a new National Junior record and reached qualifying standards for the World Junior Athletics Championships.
With a number of leading athletes skipping the trial to concentrate on next month’s National Championship, the focus fell on the likes of Shreshan Dananjaya, thrower Dilhani Lekamge and hurdler Roshan Dhammika Ranatunga who were among the leading contenders for a place in the team for the Asian Games. However, the qualifying marks continued to elude them yesterday.
Hurdler Ranatunga won his heat in a time of 14.36 seconds but skipped the final. His time in the heats remained the fastest on the day.
Dananjaya cleared 7.57 metres to win the men’s long jump. That was some 39 centimetres behind the qualifying mark set for the Asian Games.
In the women’s javelin throw, Lekamge managed to throw a distance of 52.93 metres to win, while H.D. Maduwanthi was placed third with a throw of 52.20 metres. Olympian and National record holder Nadeeka Lakmali failed to clear 50 metres and was placed third.
For the first time in 19 matches, and nearly 15 years, England’s men experienced a Test victory in Australia as the MCG raced to the second two-day finish of the Ashes series. On a tough surface which will continue to come under the spotlight in the aftermath, England’s top order met their target of 175 with aggression and they eventually got home with four wickets in hand.
It was only the fifth time in Test history that a series had included multiple two-day finishes, and before this summer, there had only been two in history in Australia. Although more than 186,000 had attended the match across two record-breaking days, it left Cricket Australia facing another significant financial loss – the Ashes has proved a costly affair, and Ben Stokes acknowledged it was far from ideal, but England have avoided the risk of another whitewash down under.
Jacob Bethell who was recalled for this match, compiled 40 to give a glimpse at his potential, but his dismissal meant this would be the first Test in Australia without an individual half-century since 1932 and just the fifth overall. Bethell’s wicket was followed by a little wobble with the winning line in sight. Joe Root was lbw to Jhye Richardson and Stokes carved an edge off Mitchell Starc with ten need, but four leg byes finished the job to roars from the travelling support, although more muted celebrations from England.
Australia, who had earned a first-innings lead of 42 on the manic opening day which brought 20 wickets, could only manage 132 the second time around as Stokes and Brydon Carse shared seven wickets, while Josh Tongue added two more to his impressive match tally. It meant they were able to overcome the loss of Gus Atkinson to a hamstring injury early in the day.
Still, the target was comfortably the highest total of the match. But the intent from Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett was clear and they wiped off 51 inside seven overs. Duckett pinged Starc through the leg side first ball and Crawley launched Michael Neser down the ground in his first over to set the tone. Starc produced some gems, especially to Duckett, and came within fingertips of getting to a return catch from a leading edge.
Tellingly, though, the first ball that Alex Carey came up to the stumps against Neser, Crawley launched him straight down the ground for six and followed that with a blazing drive through the covers. Duckett also took on Neser, a top-edged hoick flying to deep third and then, most stunningly, a scoop going for six. Perhaps there was life in Bazball, after all.
The ball after Duckett cracked his fourth boundary behind point, Starc speared a full delivery through him, but the openers had shifted the mood. England pulled a trick, promoting Carse to No. 3, but he sliced down to deep third, which opened the door for Bethell to play what could prove a significant innings.
Bethell got away with a leading edge first ball, then drove Scott Boland confidently down the ground. He started the final session by reverse-scoping Boland over Carey, then nailed a cover drive.
Boland, who curiously had not been introduced until the 11th over by when England already had 70 on the board, conjured thoughts of another MCG burst from him when he trapped Crawley lbw and had Bethell caught at cover, but Australia didn’t have quite enough runs to play with.
Australia had resumed one over into their second innings with Boland having survived amid heady scenes the night before. He hung around for five more overs before Atkinson found the outside edge to remove a potential frustration for England. However, Atkinson’s day – and potentially series – was soon done when he walked off holding his hamstring at the end of his fifth over, leaving three frontline quicks.
The captain took on the task, Stokes striking in his first over when Jake Weatherald misjudged a delivery from around the wicket which he left alone at the last moment and was bowled. After his excellent first innings in Brisbane, returns have been lean for Weatherald, who faces a big outing in Sydney next week before Australia’s lengthy gap in Test cricket.
By now, the pitch was offering some uneven bounce as well as sideways movement. Marnus Labuschagne took two blows on the gloves before being drawn into poking outside off stump, edging to first slip in a manner that suggests his game is still not in top working order, although conditions provided some caveat.
Travis Head was playing as well as anyone had all game, latching onto anything loose but not breaking into the full-blown attack seen in the second innings in Perth. However, even someone who had survived more than an hour and a half could do nothing about the delivery from Carse, which jagged off the seam to take the top of off stump.
Three balls later, Usman Khawaja top-edged a well-directed short ball from Tongue to long leg. There was no rescue act from Carey this time as he steered a delivery to second slip, where England’s catching continued to be secure.
Either side of lunch, Steven Smith and Cameron Green held firm for nine overs, adding 31 runs, to tip the balance once again. Without ever looking entirely secure, Green again got himself set, as he had in the first innings before running himself out, but flashed an edge to second slip when he drove at a short delivery.
In the absence of Atkinson, Carse lifted impressively and clutched a sharp return catch, full stretch to his left, to remove Neser. Then, with the seventh delivery of the over after a no-ball, he had Starc edging to slip.
Smith showed no inclination to shield No. 11 Richardson (who has a first-class average of 20.70) and a crunched straight drive suggested it was a fair call, but Richardson carved Stokes into the off side to leave England with their target. The pubs, golf courses and Boxing Day sales around Melbourne could get an unexpected boost.
Brief scores:
England 110 in 29.5 overs (Harry Brook 41; Michael Neser 4-45, Scott Boland 3-30, Mitchell Starc 2-23) and 178 for 6 in 32.2 overs (Zak Crawley 37, Ben Duckett 34, Jacob Bethell 40; Mitchell Starc 2-55, Jhye Richardson 2-22, Scott Boland 2-29) beat Australia 152 in 45.2 overs (Michael Neser 35; Josh Tongue 5-45, Gus Atkinson 2-28) and 132 in 34.3 overs (Travis Head 46; Brydon Carse 4-34, Ben Stokes 3-24) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
Shafali Verma continued her superb form, cracking a 42-ball 79 as India brushed aside Sri Lanka once again to win the third T20I in Thiruvananthapuram and complete a series victory.
The template was familiar and ruthlessly executed: win the toss, bowl, restrict Sri Lanka, and then stroll through the chase. Just as in the first two matches, India were clinical. Renuka Singh spearheaded the bowling, with support from Deepti Sharma, to keep Sri Lanka to 112 for 7 before Shafali wrapped up the chase with 40 balls to spare.
Sri Lanka shuffled their opening combination, leaving out Vishmi Gunaratne and promoting Hasini Perera to partner Chamari Athapaththu. Perera showed early intent, striking two boundaries off Renuka, who returned to the XI in place of Arundhati Reddy, in the first over.
India introduced Deepti in the third, and Perera greeted her with another boundary. While Perera looked positive, Athapaththu struggled to find her rhythm, managing just 3 off 12 in a stand worth 25 – Sri Lanka’s highest opening partnership of the series. The pressure told in the fifth over when Athapaththu attempted a cross-batted swipe and top-edged to mid-on, handing Deepti her first wicket.
Renuka then turned the screws in her second over of the powerplay. After Perera pierced the infield early in the over, Renuka placed Deepti at short third, a move that paid dividends as Perera edged one straight to the fielder. She fell for 25 off 18, unable to capitalise on her start. Renuka capped off the over in style, having Harshitha Samarawickrama caught and bowled off the final delivery, swinging the powerplay decisively India’s way.
From there, the contest drifted into territory that had become all too familiar over the course of the series.
With Sri Lanka at 45 for 4 at the halfway stage, Imesha Dulani – coming into the XI for this match – combined with Kavisha Dilhari to add some much-needed runs for the fifth wicket. Dulani, reprieved on 8 when Shree Charani put down a chance, found the gaps, while Dilhari injected some intent, launching Kranti Gaud for a six.
The partnership, however, was short-lived. Deepti ensured it did not go beyond 40 runs, having Dilhari caught at deep midwicket for 20 en route to becoming the joint highest wicket taker in women’s T20Is.
India were not flawless in the field, putting down two more chances – Kaushini Nuthyangana on 4 by Gaud and Malsha Shehani on 5 by Deepti – but Sri Lanka failed to make India pay, drifting to 112 for 7 at the end of 20 overs.
Shafali set the tone for the chase immediately, launching Shehani for 6, 4 and 4 in the opening over. Smriti Mandhana struggled to find fluency at the other end, but it scarcely mattered with Shafali in full flow. She took on debutant Nimasha Meepage in the third over, picking up two boundaries, before Mandhana fell for 1 in the fourth, also burning a review in the process.
Shafali, meanwhile, continued to show her full range. In the fifth over, she took Meepage for 19 runs: starting with an uppish drive to the extra cover boundary, a back-foot whip that raced through midwicket, a full toss that was muscled for six over extra, and finishing the over by dropping to one knee to loft another boundary over cover. By then, she had raced to 43 off just 19 balls, bringing up her half-century in the following over from 24 deliveries. India, on the whole, were 55 for 1.
Shafali continued to dictate terms, scoring 68.7% of her team’s runs in a completed innings – which is a new national record – and rising to No. 4 on the list of India’s highest run-getters in women’s T20Is.
The win, along with a 3-0 lead in the five-match series, marked Harmanpreet Kaur’s 77th as captain, going past Meg Lanning to become the most successful captain in the format.
Brief scores:
India Women 115 for 2 in 13.2 overs (Shafali Verma 79*, Harmanpreet Kaur 21*; Kavisha Dilhari 2-18) beat Sri Lanka Women 112 for 7 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 25, Imesha Dulani 27, Kavisha Dilhari 20, Kaushini Nuthyangana 10*; Renuka Singh 4-21, Deepti Sharma 3-18) by eight wickets
(Cricinfo)
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