Sports
Why not a ball was bowled at SSC yesterday!

When Royal and S. Thomas’ went to battle with four covers
by Reemus Fernando
Not a ball was bowled on day one of the 142nd Battle of the Blues at the SSC yesterday. But was it really due to wet weather?
The annual encounter which was postponed twice due to pandemic related issues was finally scheduled to start at 10 am behind closed doors yesterday. But despite rainy weather being forecast for all three days there were only four covers when match officials took control of the ground in the morning.
There was a shower of rain well before the start and it ceased around 9.40 am but sadly there was hardly enough manpower to bring the covers off and get the ground ready for this historic encounter. The Island could count some 15 grounds staff attending to the tough job of removing water and covers. According to ground sources only 16 ground staff had entered the bio secure bubble for this match.
Sources said that when matches of this magnitude are played at SSC, more than double that number are employed as ground staff. “You need around 15 men to move one cover without delay. If there is sudden rain you will need 60 men to bring four covers simultaneously to the middle.”
When the umpires inspected the ground finally, it was around 2.00 pm. But a delayed start was prevented by showers in the afternoon. However, there was no rain between 9.40 am to 2 .00 pm. At least one session of play would have been possible had there been enough covers to protect the ground.
There have been many instances of schools cricket matches involving underprivileged teams lasting the full distance despite rain interruptions due to the farsightedness of officials. Schools which are enthusiastic on their cricket transport their own covers to grounds where there are no facilities.
The Joint Organizing Committee could have just consulted their cricket teams had they needed knowledge in this regard as these two schools too have done the same on more than one occasion.
This severe lack of manpower and the lack of covers to protect the ground are likely to affect the remaining two days as rain has been predicted for both days.
Sports
New Zealand seal 2-0 whitewash despite Sri Lanka’s resistance

Despite a strong resistance by Sri Lanka’s lower order, three wickets apiece by Tim Southee and Blair Tickner helped bundle out the visitors for 358 to help New Zealand clinch the second Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington by an innings and 58 runs, on Monday. With the win, the hosts also sealed the two-match Test series 2-0.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 164 (Dimuth Karunaratne 89; Matt Henry 3-44, Michael Bracewell 3-50) & 358 (Dhananjaya de Silva 98, Dinesh Chandimal 62; Tim Southee 3-51, Blair Tickner 3-84) lost to New Zealand 580/4 decl. (Kane Williamson 215, Henry Nicholls 200*; Kasun Rajitha 2-126) by an innings and 58 runs
Sports
Sri Lanka counterattack despite faltering against short-ball ploy

Half-centuries by Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya De Silva notwithstanding, New Zealand maintained a dominant position at Lunch of Day 4 of the Basin Reserve Test, in Wellington. The hosts bagged three wickets in the morning session on Monday while Chandimal and Dhananjaya’s 126-run stand for the fifth wicket helped reduce the deficit to 167 as Sri Lanka attempted to revive their position in the contest.
Brief scores:(at lunch day 4)
Sri Lanka 164 (Dimuth Karunaratne 89; Matt Henry 3-44, Michael Bracewell 3-50) & 249/5 [f/o] (Dhananjaya de Silva 63*, Dinesh Chandimal 62; Blair Tickner 2-66) trail New Zealand 580/4 decl. (Kane Williamson 215, Henry Nicholls 200*; Kasun Rajitha 2-126) by 167 runs
Sports
An underdog, a positive approach and the victory no one saw coming

By Reemus Fernando
Royal beat the odds to register a stunning 180 runs victory against their arch-rivals S. Thomas’ at the 144th Battle of the Blues at the SSC on Saturday. It was a victory no one saw coming as the outfit trained by Rohan Soysa entered the annual battle as underdogs.
Royal’s back-to-back defeats at the hands of Trinity in the run up to the historic encounter were overshadowing even the couple of victories they had registered during the season and the fact that they had reached the quarter-finals at the end of the league stage. Reaching the last eight of the tournament was something their arch-rivals had failed to achieve. S. Thomas’ on the other hand had remained unbeaten though they failed to reach the business end of the tournament.
Both teams had wanted to bowl first under overcast conditions on day one and the Thomians had the ideal start to the annual battle as they took the first three wickets for just 19 runs. That was when Dasis Manchanayake came to the crease. The new ball was just eight overs old when he started the repair job with Ovina Ambanpola. Despite the early damage, the Royalists stayed positive. “Manchanayake’s approach was decisive,” said Royal coach Rohan Soysa following the victory.
Manchanayake rewarded for staying positive in adversity After being four wickets down for 63 runs at one stage, Royal recovered to post 326 runs for eight wickets declared thanks to the record-breaking partnership put on by Manchanayake and Ramiru Perera. The stage for victory was built on that partnership as the pair put on 229 runs off 293 balls. In the process the pair broke a 70-year-old partnership record for the fifth wicket. Manchanayake stayed there for five hours as they disappointed Thomians during an entire second session.
There was no turning back for Royal from then on as they won all sessions.Few expected Royal to declare on their overnight score under clear skies on day two morning. By lunch they had accounted for four top-order batsmen in the Thomian innings except for opener Senadhi Bulankulame. By tea on day two Royal were in complete command as they dismissed their opponents for 153 runs and they needed just 26 overs in the final session to amass 168 runs for the loss of four wickets.
Manchanayake entered the Battle of the Blues record books as the only Royal captain to score a century and a half-century in a match. In history only two batsmen had done that (M. Thotiwilage 95 and 108 in 2001 and Ganganath Rathnayake 75 and 111n.o. in 2011). What was more remarkable was the fact that the rare achievement coincided with victory. Ramiru Perera too could have earned the rare achievement had not Royal declared their innings on the overnight score on day three morning. Perera was unbeaten on 46 runs.
Incidentally, of the players who batted, Royal had only three batsmen reaching double figures in the first innings. And in the second innings apart from Manchanayake and Perera, Uvindu Weerasekara was the only batsman to top 20 runs. Royal’s Sri Lanka Under 19 player Sineth Jayawardena (1 & 4) failed in both innings.
Royal and two other schools had received exemptions from Sri Lanka Cricket to field their Sri Lanka Under 19 players in the weekend’s Big Matches despite Sri Lanka Under 19 leaving for UAE for a tournament. As expected pacemen played a crucial role in the match. Ranuka Malaviarachchi, Bulan Weerathunga and Sandesh Ramanayake accounted for ten wickets in the match with the latter becoming the third brother of the Ramanayake family to associate with a Royal victory.
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