Sri Lanka will be represented at the Malaysian tennis Nationals from the 15th to 20th November. The Team (L-R): U. Ranaweera, D. Subramaniam, Erangi Dias and Dilshad Abeygunawardena. Pix: Ranjith Perera

Premier League Cricket

Hashan plunders unbeaten 203

By Marlon Fernandopulle

Left hander Hashan Tilekaratne plundered an unbeaten double century as NCC set the stage for an outright victory against Sinha SC in an inter-club A Division Premier League game at Maitland Place yesterday.

Overlooked by the national selectors after the World Cup, Tilekaratne gave a grim reminder of his capabilities as a reliable middle order batsmen as he occupied the crease for over 5 1/2 hours striking 18 boundaries and 2 sixes in his score of 203. Together with former Benedictine Carman Mapatuna (125) the pair added 285 runs for the 4 th wicket to send the visitors on a leather hunt. Mapatuna struck 10 boundaries and 2 sixes as NCC reached a commanding 435/4 in reply to the Sinha first innings total of 110. Trailing by a massive 325 runs the visitors were 68/1 in their second innings.

A 79 run seventh wicket partnership between Priyantha Siriwardene (47) and Buddhika Ekanayake (84) helped Antonians SC to fight back against SSC.

Chasing SSC's first innings total of 362 the Antonians made a bold reply to be 241/7 by the close.

A solid half century from D.K. Ranaweera (71) helped Kurunegala YCC to 178/7 at the end of the first day's play against CCC.

At Maitland Place: NCC vs Singha SC

Sinha SC - 110

NCC - 148/3 overnight 435/4 decl. (Hashan Tilekaratne 203 n.o, Carman Mapatuna 125, Ruwan Kalpage 35 n.o; Thilan Thushara 3/127)

At Maitland Place: SSC vs Antonians SC

SSC - 362

Antonians SC - 241/7 (Priyantha Siriwardene 47, Buddhika Ekanayake 84, Udaya Hettiarachchi 22 n.o; Dilhara Fernando 3/66, I. Ratnaweera 2/38)

At Maitland Crescent: CCC vs Kurunegala YCC

Kurunegala YCC - 178/7 (M. Jayasinghe 26, D.K. Ranaweera 71, D Jayakody 29; H. Boteju 3/19, N. Rupasinghe 2/23)

First innings win for BRC

By Bernie Wijesekera

The new look BRC team led by Chaminda Handunettige earned a first innings points win over Sebastianites SC on the second day oftheir Premier Tournament opening match at Havelock Park yesterday.

Batting first BRC scored 300 all out with Handunettige making a top score of 75. In replythe visitors were bowled out for 196. Warsumanne scored an attractive 41 with three fours and a six. Malinda Warnapura bowled accurately to capture four for 54. BRC in their second essay were 94 for 3 at close.

At Havelock Park: BRC vs Sebastianites SC.

BRC - 300 (Chaminda Handinettige 75; L. Fernando 4 for 47) and 94 for3 (C. Handunettige 27, Chinthaka Jayasinghe 27 n.o).

Sebastianites SC - (7 for no loss overnight) 196 in 68.5 overs (S.K.Silva 24, S. Warusumanne 41, L.R. Fernando 20, D. Fernando 17 n.o, C. Liyanage 14; Sajeewa Weerakoon 3 for 49, W. Labrooy 3 for 61, Malinda Warnapura 4 for 54).

Jayantha cracks 182

Former Sinha DC batting star Saman Jayantha made a dream debut for the reigning P. Sara Trophy champions Bloomfield C&AC, when he hammered a stroke-filled 182 runs in 219 balls with 12 fours and five sixes,to help them amass 400 for 8 dec in reply to Matara SC's first innings total of 154 on the second day in their three-dat Premier Trophy tournament match at Reid Avenue yesterday.

Jayantha, who was on 100 n.o, overnight batted with charm and aggression to help Bloomfield dominate play in their first match of the season. Besides Jayantha Ruchira Palliyaguru weighed in with a spicy 56 to boost the total.

Matara in their second innings were struggling at 43 for 5 at close. Once again Priyankara Wickremasinghe caused the debacle with his wily leg spinners to capture 2 for 6. In the first innings Wickremasinghe caused the rout with five for 48. The match will be continued today with the Reid Avenue Club heading for an outright win.

At Bloomfied Grounds: Matara vs Bloomfield.

Matara SC - 154 (W. Nadiranga 57, S.M. Ramzan 55; P. Wickremasinghe 5 for 48) and 43 for 5 at close (P. B. Buddhika 22; H. Alles 3 for 16, P. Wickremasinghe 2 for 6)

Bloomfield - (overnight 149 for 2) and 400 for 8 dec (Saman Jayantha 182, Kumar Dharmasena 35, Ruchira Palliyaguru 56, D. Perera 29, P. Guneratne 26 n.o, P. Wickremasinghe 20 n.o; D. I. W. Jayasekera 3 for 79, S.M.Ramzan 2 for 134) B.W

Colts on first innings

A fine spell of bowling by Dinuk Hettiarachchi (5 for 35) helped Colts CC to gain a comfortable first innings points win over Police SC in their opening Premier Trophy match continued at Police Park yesterday.

Colts batting first were helped by a fighting 108 by tail-ender Dulip Liyanage to total 304. Police in reply made 176 all out thanks to an attractive top score of 72 by opener A. Priyantha. The match will be continued today.

At Colts Grounds: Colts vs Police.

Colts - 304 in 95. 5 overs (D.Liyanage 108; Priyantha Silva 3 for 54) and 56 for 1 at close.

Police - 176 (A. Priyantha 72, N.Soysa 22, A. Serasinghe 27 n.o; D.Hettiarachchi 5 for 36) B.W

Moors on first innings

Moors helped by a good bowling effort by Chaminda Hathurusinghe, snatched first innings points from Panadura in their inter-club A Division Premier League encounter at Braybrooke Place yesterday.

Hathurusinghe captured five for 62.

At Braybrooke Place: Moors vs Panadura

Moors - 296 for 8 overnight - 343 all out (R. Priyadarsha 52 n.o; I. Amithikeerthi 4 for 39, S. Kumara 2 for 48) Panadura - 195 (P. Wimalasena 54, S. Kumara 30, S. Jayawardena 25, S. Desabandu 17; Chaminda Hathurusinghe 5 for 62, Mahesh Palliyaguru 2 for 17, Primal Salgado 2 for 15).

Cricket final for Blind today

The School of Blind, Ratmalana will meet School of Blind Tangalle in their Visually Handicapped limited overs final at the Peterson's Playground at Wellawatta today Sunday November 14.

School of Blind Tangalle entered the final defeating the Galle Branch by 192 runs aided by a swashbuckling 187 by 15-year-old R. Samantha, comprising 34 fours.

Tangalle scored a mammoth 304 and in reply Galle was all out for 112. This tournament was conducted by the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped as part of their Silver Jubilee and sponsored by Ceylon Hardware Merchants' Association.

Cycling coaches Malaysia bound

The Cycling Trainers training course organised by the Asian Cycling Federation will be held in Malayasia from November 17 to 23.

The Cycling Federation of Sri Lanka has selected Leslie Rupasinghe, Upali Ratnayake, K.W. Edema, J. Athukorala and Mrs. K. Wickremaratne to attend this course.

The Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports S.B. Dissanayake has provided funds to purchase air tickets.

The request to allow Sri Lanka to participate has been due to the efforts of N. Karunaratne, President of the Cycling Federation of Sri Lanka who attended the Congress held last month in Italy.

Milo Awards

Two hundred and forty-one girls and boys will be awarded colours at the 9th Milo awards ceremony to be held on Monday, November 15 at the BMICH at 3 p.m.

Awards will be made to the most promising spostsman and sportswoman and two best performance trophies wll also be presented.

Colours will be awarded to Athletes (26), Basketball (7), Badminton (23), Boxing (9), Carrom (7), Cricket (11), Football (1), Gymnastics (14), Hockey (22), Judo (10), Kabaddi (4), Karate (3), Life Saving (3), Netball (35), Rugger (1), Bodybuilding (1), Swimming (38), Diving (4), Table Tennis (11), Tennis (8), Volleyball (1), Wushu (2).

The Deputy Minister of Education and Higher Education, Professor W.A. Viswa Warnapala will be the chief guest, with Rajiv Deraniyagala, the Marketing Director Nestles as Guest of Honour.

Lanka to stage Davis Cup tourney in February 2000

Sri Lanka has been honoured by the invitation to host the Asia / Oceania Zone 3 Davis Cup from February 7 to 13 at the National Tennis Centre Courts at Greenpath. The request has come from the top governing body International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Eight countries will participate in this championships in two groups with the champions and runners-up in each group qualifying to play Group 2 in the Asia/ Oceania Zone with the third and fourth placed countries being demoted to Group 4.

The countries playing and their groupings are,

Group A - Bangladesh, Qatar, Kuwait, Pacific Oceania.

Group B - Sri Lanka, Syria, Singapore, Tagikistan.

Sri Lanka in preparation for this tournament - the first of its kind to be played here have picked on a national pool of 11 players and invited three more players based abroad for training under coach Susantha Soysa.

Those picked are: Jayendra Wijeyesekera, Asiri Iddamalgoda, Rohan de Silva, Samitha Ranaweera, Rajiv Rajapaksa, Sanjeev Paramanathan, Dinuka Ranaweera, Dhevan Peiris, Chamara Wijesinghe, Roshan Peiris, Eran Weerakon, those invited are, Renouk Wijemanne, Vanaka Gunawardena, Dishan Kuruppu.

The Selection Committee comprising, P.S. Kumar as Chairman, Sanjaya Wijemanne and R. Subramaniam has laid down a criteria of selecting the final pool which will comprise six to 8 players and spelled it out to the players at a press briefing held on Friday evening at the SLTA Boardroom.

In order to qualify for selection for any other tours or competition, the committee has said that a player should have played a minimum of six tournaments (singles or doubles) during the preceding year.

This comprises two out of the three A Grade tournaments, two outstation tournaments and two others of the possible 12 tournaments lined up for next year.

If a player concedes a walkover without a valid reason (accepted by the Selection Committee) or without producing a valid medical certificate, that particular tournament will not qualify for the minimum requirements of 6 tournaments.

As the above criteria cannot be met for the selection of the year 2000 Davis Cup team, the selectors have made the participation of the Queens Club tennis tournament (mens singles and doubles) to be held from November 26 to December 5, compulsory for being eligible for selection.

Trials will also be conducted in December/ January to select the team.

In the case of locals based in foreign countries (Sri Lankans living / studying abroad) the criteria will be,

* They have to submit the past 12 months tournament record certified by the coach.

* Agreeing to play trials in Colombo, if needed.

* Be physically present in Sri Lanka 21 days before the tournament, or as specified by the Selection Committee.

The non-playing Captain of the Sri Lanka Davis Cup team is Suresh Subramaniam, with Sanjaya Wijemanne as Manager.

Sri Lanka is also billed to take part in the Federation Cup in Osaka, Japan from April 24 to 31.

The ITF South Asian under 14 championships will be held in Pakistan from January 30 to February 13 with three boys and three girls representing Sri Lanka.

The ITF East Asian Championships will be held April 2000.

Saranga Sangakkara and R. Dandeniya has informed the Selection Committee that they will be available for the Federation Cup to be held in Japan.

Rain dislocates play

The weather gods were absolutely unkind giving no chance for the successful conclusion of an extremely popular programme of events over the weekend.

In the previous week the contest was dislocated and the postponed events for last week were swept off with incessant and irritating rain on Sunday.

To suffer much was the lavish Premier Pacific Golf Trophy event presented by the Premier Pacific Groups whose Chairman is the golf fanatic Nimal Perera and whose beaver busy Public Relations Manager is that sprightly lass Nicki Shiek. The postponed trophy event will come up soon.

Clifford Cup

Inaugurated in 1913 to honour the then Governor Sir Hugh Clifford this event attracts very competitive attention over the 1st and 3rd rounds. Neil Chanmugam was out of contention in the first round but in the 3rd round he was absolutely devastating. On a sodden course his long hitting irons elegantly played strokes a carved a terrific nett 66. Against this splendid performance came the consistently good stroke player and popular Japanese personality T. Takata.

In the first round he struck 70 nett and in the 3rd round he was as good with nett 71. His total of 141 was adequate to beat Chanmugam by 3 strokes to take the Clifford Cup.

Centenary Trophy

That man again T. Takata completed 3 promising rounds of nett 70, 76 & 71 to total 217 and beat that little bright spark Amrith de Soysa the 13 year old prodigy by one stroke.

The little fellow had a poor 1st round of 82 but in the 2nd round he improved considerably to chalk nett 70 and in the final round he blazed through in astonishing style to strike nett 66 and receive a thunderous round of applause.

Annual Gold Medal

Y. Yasunaga played a quiet well disciplined and polished round of gross 75. An excellent player we will see much of his success on the course very soon. He won the Gold Medal comfortably from Laksiri de Mel who grossed 76. This event was inaugurated in 1886 and the records tell us that the winner in that year was F. A. Fairlie with a gross score of 99. That's when they played in coat and tie.

Here only the 3rd round scores are taken for the records. The 'hulk' Janak Hirdaramani who was sulking the previous week that his game had gone to pieces, gave himself a stunning shock when every shot went right and every putt too.

Meantime Neil Chanmugam was calling the shots in remarkable style. Pars came with monotonous regularity and when it was all over he had nett 66 to his credit equalling Janak's score.

A tie was announced and in the final reckoning Neil's rear nine was better aand Janak was decreed the runner-up. Both passionately fond of celebrating, the 19th was turned into a pleasurable hive of activity.

The rain on Sunday dislocated play and the 19th got soaking wet by those who came to play and eventually settled for Scotland's best largers of the world.

Rover Pinpoints...

Not cleared yet?.

A bowler very much on the sidelines now showed his disapproval to a coach appointed in a leading cricket club in Colombo. The bowler is in a spot as he has not been cleared of his suspect bowling action by the ICC, Rover learns.

Not active ?

A veteran's association has not yet held their annual general meeting. Only when foreign invitations come, does this association wake up and pick participants of their choice. Two such participants did the vanishing trick at the last championships in Japan and have not returned so far.

Double standards ?

A senior official of the Colombo Rowing Club had invited a TV station to a press briefing to announce the purchase of some boats and to speak about their development programme. The call was answered by the Bootlicker who told this official that they do not cover press conferences. How come the Arjuna press conference was covered? The management of the TV station should take notice of this.

Officials missing ?

The All Island under 13 rugby tournament which was a closely guarded secret organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Association at Nittawela last weekend was so badly organised that the tournament got underway late with some schools being informed on the morning of the tourney.

No doctor was present either . The responsibility of organising the tournament was given to the Kandy District, but the socalled organisers did not show up at the grounds at all.

To cap it all the Patron and President of the Schools Rugby Association was absent. Parents of the players were shocked by these incidents. Over to you Mr. Minister.

Rover scores again

Highlighting the playing of overage players, now comes the news that the schools concerned has suspended its team for six months.

Why no action from the School's Association. No point in suspending them for six months because no tournaments are held now.

Parents confused?

Parents of under- 13 rugby players are confused about allowing their children to play against overage players because the sport is a body contact game. Coaches should be taken to task for playing overage players, they say.

Why payment ?

Attending regular meetings, which are no doubt well attended has the suspicion of an allowance being paid from the sponsors money.

Fishy umpires

Rover learns that some cricket umpires officiating in domestic matches (schools and clubs) have sometimes got away after violating disciplinary codes as teams do not wish to submit reports concerning the conduct of match officials to the Umpires' Association of Sri Lanka.

Rover learns that some teams fear that unfavourable reports against umpires could put them (teams) at the "receiving end"

Workshop for Match Referees

Former Sri Lanka captain and a frontline match referee in the I.C.C. panel, Ranjan Madugalle will be conducting a workshop for prospective match referees in preparation for next year's Under 19 World Cup to be held here.

Sri Lanka will be hosting the junior World Cup in January 2000.

Madugalle, a keen student of the game, is being held in high esteem for his decision making in the international scene.

The workshop will be held on Nov. 20 starting at 9 a.m. at the Hotel Taj Samudra. All prospective match referees are requested to contact K.T. Francis on 681601-4 for further clarifications.

Workshop for Scorers

Group Capt. Sriyan Samararatne, the Chairman, Tournament Committee, will conduct a workshop on the application of the Duckworth-Lewis System.

It will be held at the BCCSL headquarters on Nov. 22, starting at 9 a.m. (B.W.)

Return to Sports Contents