The Island, Tuesday 25th July, 2006 Rudolph and de Villiers light...
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by Rex Clementine South Africa opted for batting practice instead of a win in the three day warm up game against Sri Lanka 'A' which ended in a draw at the Colts Cricket ground in Colombo, yesterday. Despite enjoying a massive first innings lead of 302, the tourists didn't enforce the follow-on and yesterday they batted for two full sessions before declar- ing at tea with the score at 258 for eight. Had South Africa declared earlier, they could have pushed for a victory,but the tourists only wanted to give their batsmen more time in the middle. It was of course the perfect warm up for the Proteas where they amassed a massive 465 for four in the first innings and then shot out Sri Lanka's second string batting line up for a paltry 162. "We didn't want to spend more than 30- 40 overs on the field. Scoring wasn't as easy as it was in the first innings and all what we wanted was to give just seven over spells to our bowlers and help them to get their rhythm right. There's no point in going flat out with the Test match just two days away," South Africa's coach Micky Arthur said, reasoning out why he didn't opt to go for a win. The Sri Lankan selectors were keep- ing a close eye on proceedings, but there were hardly any positives for them, except for veteran Upul Chandana's efforts. He mdae a fighting unbeaten half- century in the first innings and then picked up three wickets with his leg-spin in South Africa's second innings. Andrew Strauss was appointed England captain on Sunday for the remaining three tests against Pakistan, one day after Andrew Flintoff was ruled out for 12 weeks with an injured ankle. Strauss, who is third-choice with Michael Vaughan sidelined long-term with a knee injury, became England's 77th test captain in the drawn match against Pakistan at Lord's last week. The second test starts Thursday at Old Trafford in Manchester. ''We're very disappointed to lose Andrew Flintoff as both a player and a captain,'' ECB chairman of selectors David Graveney said. ''The medical staff from both Lancashire and England had worked extremely hard to try and help him overcome the injury without recourse to surgery. ''His priority now will be to ensure he is fully fit for the Ashes in Australia.'' Strauss was also captain as England's one-day team lost 5-0 to Sri Lanka last month. The five-test Ashes series in Australia starts Nov. 23. (AP) Published by Upali Newspapers Ltd, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13. and Printed at 195/187, High Level Road, Homagama on Tuesday 25th July, 2006 The Island, Tuesday 25th July, 2006 TM by Revata S. Silva Sri Lanka finished third out of eight countries who took part in this year’s Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone, Group-III tennis, which ended last Sunday (23), at Manila Polo Club in Makati, Manila, Philippines. After losing to Iran on Saturday Sri Lanka beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 on Sunday in a battle for third place. According to the present Davis Cup format, only the first two teams go through to the next Group. But on Sunday too, Sri Lanka had do it on the back of an impressive performance by 20-year-old fourth year Davis Cup player, Harshana Godamanna. After Rajeev Rajapakse lost the open- ing match to F. Al Saad 6-3, 6-1, Godamanna had to play a decisive role in the other two crucial rubbers, the first singles and the doubles, as he did on two previous occasions. He defeated S. Al Rajeh 6-4, 6-2 and then partnered Rohan de Silva in the decider, to give Sri Lanka a satisfactory third place in Group-III, winning it 6-0, 6-2, against Saudi’s Saad and B. Al Megayel. Godamanna won six out of the eight rubbers he played this year. According to many who watched ‘Godda’ play, he is easily among the three best players in this year’s Davis Cup behind the two Philippine professionals, Cecil Mamiit and Frederick Taino. The final standings at this year’s Davis cup held from July 19-23 are as follows: 1. Philippines, 2. Iran 3. Sri Lanka 4. Saudi Arabia 5. Vietnam 6. Singapore 7. Bahrain, 8. Bangladesh. Philippines and Iran are promoted to Asia-Oceania Zone, Group-II in 2007 while Bahrain and Bangladesh will be relegated to Asia-Oceania Zone Group- IV next year. Sri Lanka defeat Saudis to earn third place PARIS (AP) – July 23. The highs and lows of Floyd Landis' nail-biter of a bike race ended with- out a hitch on Sunday as he won the Tour de France and kept cycling's most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year. The 30-year-old Landis, pedaling with an injured hip, cruised to victo- ry on the cobblestones of the Champs-Elys Dees, a day after regaining the leader's yellow jersey and building an insurmountable lead in the final time trial. "I kept fighting, never stopped believing," Landis said, shortly after he received the winner's yellow jer- sey on the podium, joined by his daughter, Ryan. See World View P III for full report Sri Lanka cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene was felicitated for his out- standing leadership and elegant bats- manship, at a ceremony held at Nalanda College, Colombo, Monday morning. The felicitation ceremony was organised by the Nalanda College Past Cricketer’s Association. Among those present at the occasion were Sri Lanka’s first Test captain, Bandula Warnapura, who is an old Nalandian, ICC Elite Panel Match Referee, Roshan Mahanama and Kumar Dharmasena. (Russ) Willows up for conquering dasher! Landis’ tour de force Injury-hit South Africa have been boosted by the news that Shaun Pollock will arrive in Sri Lanka on Thursday following the birth of his second child AFP reported on Monday. Pollock's wife Trish gave birth to the couple's sec- ond daughter, Georgia, in Durban on Friday and is expected to leave hospital later on Monday. Pollock had also missed a Test match when his first daughter Jemma was born during the fourth Test against England in 2003. "There was never a chance that Shaun could have arrived in time for the first Test," said Gordon Templeton, the team's spokesman. "But he will be here for the second game and also the one-day series." Pollock will reach Colombo on the same day that the first Test begins at the Sinhalese Sports Club grounds. However, he will have enough time to acclamatise to the hot and humid weather before he takes the field in the second Test from August 4. Pollock needs six more wickets to join the 400 club. He has toured Sri Lanka twice before, in 2000 and 2004, and has taken 21 wickets in five Tests at 21.00 apiece with a best of 4 for 48 at Galle in 2004. Pollock here on Thursday Strauss appointed captain for Pakistan series AC Milan appealed its ban from Champions League play Monday in Italy's match-fixing scandal. Verdicts by the sports tribunal are expected Tuesday, the deadline set by UEFA for Italian soccer officials to decide which clubs participate in European club competitions this season. Milan, which escaped demotion from Serie A, is seeking to overturn the July 14 ruling, which barred the club from Europe's top club competition and docked it 15 points. Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B. Juventus was stripped of its last two Serie A titles and penalized 30 points; Fiorentina was docked 12-points and Lazio seven. (AP) AC Milan appeal against ban Rudolph and de Villiers light up draw It was a very strong Sri Lanka 'A' team that was chosen to take on the South Africans, but none of the young players came up with any noteworthy contribu- tions. Above all, their decision to put the opposition in after winning the toss bemused everyone. Basically, the Sri Lankans were allow- ing the tourists to get used to the condi- tions and eventually they played into South Africa's hands as there were two big hundreds and four fifties by the tourists. Resuming at the overnight score of 43 for one, South Africa lost three wickets in the morning session. Mark Boucher and Ashwell Prince were promoted up the order ahead of Hashim Amla and Jacques Rudolph, the two centurions, but they fell cheaply with the wicketkeeper batsman making eight and the captain managing 20. A.B. de Villiers top scored with 75 with 11 fours before he was bowled by Jehan Mubarak while Rudolph made 58 before falling to Mubarak two balls before the the tea break. He added 78 runs for the eighth wicket with Andre Nel who scored 20 not out. South Africa 1st innings 465 for 4 decl (J. Rudolph 157, H. Amla 150) Sri Lanka A 1st innings 162 all out (U. Chandana 51, A. Nel 4/39) South Africa 2nd innings H. Gibbs b Perera 10 B. Dippenaar lbw b Zoysa 22 A. B. de Villiers b Mubarak 75 M. Boucher ct Jayawardene b Zoysa 08 A. Prince ct Samaraweera b Chandana 20 N. Boje lbw b Chandana 05 H. Amla b Chandana 05 J. Rudolph lbw b Mubarak 58 A. Nel not out 20 Extras (w 3, nb 15, lb 1) 19 Total for 8 wickets 245 Overs: 63.4 Did not bat: DW Steyn, M Ntini Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-55, 3-77, 4-136, 5-153, 6- 154, 7-167, 8-245. Bowling: Zoysa 9-0-29-2 (2nb) (1w), Perera 8-0-45- 1 (8nb, 2w), Ganegama 8-2-33-0, Chandana 22-1- 80-3 (2nb), Mubarak 12.4-2-44-2 (2nb) Samaraweera 4-0-12-0 (1nb). Sri Lanka 2nd Innings A. Gunawardene st. Boucher b Boje 37 M. Vandort not out 29 C. Kapugedara not out 11 Extras (w 5, nb 2, lb 5) 12 Total for one wicket 89 Fall of wicket: 1-72. Bowling: Ntini 5-2-21-0 (2nb), Steyn 5-2-15-0, Boje 5-1-27-1, Nel 4-0-21-0 (5 w), de Villiers 1-1-0-0. SCOREBOARD
Transcript of The Island, Tuesday 25th July, 2006 Rudolph and de Villiers light...
by Rex ClementineSouth Africa opted for batting practice
instead of a win in the three day warmup game against Sri Lanka 'A' whichended in a draw at the Colts Cricketground in Colombo, yesterday.
Despite enjoying a massive firstinnings lead of 302, the tourists didn'tenforce the follow-on and yesterday theybatted for two full sessions before declar-ing at tea with the score at 258 for eight.
Had South Africa declared earlier,they could have pushed for a victory, butthe tourists only wanted to give theirbatsmen more time in the middle. It wasof course the perfect warm up for theProteas where they amassed a massive465 for four in the first innings and thenshot out Sri Lanka's second string batting
line up for a paltry 162."We didn't want to spend more than 30-
40 overs on the field. Scoring wasn't aseasy as it was in the first innings and allwhat we wanted was to give just sevenover spells to our bowlers and help themto get their rhythm right. There's nopoint in going flat out with the Testmatch just two days away," South Africa'scoach Micky Arthur said, reasoning outwhy he didn't opt to go for a win.
The Sri Lankan selectors were keep-ing a close eye on proceedings, but therewere hardly any positives for them,except for veteran Upul Chandana'sefforts. He mdae a fighting unbeaten half-century in the first innings and thenpicked up three wickets with his leg-spinin South Africa's second innings.
Andrew Strauss was appointedEngland captain on Sunday for theremaining three tests against Pakistan,one day after Andrew Flintoff was ruledout for 12 weeks with an injured ankle.
Strauss, who is third-choice withMichael Vaughan sidelined long-termwith a knee injury, became England's77th test captain in the drawn match
against Pakistan at Lord's last week.The second test starts Thursday at
Old Trafford in Manchester.''We're very disappointed to lose
Andrew Flintoff as both a player and acaptain,'' ECB chairman of selectorsDavid Graveney said. ''The medical stafffrom both Lancashire and England hadworked extremely hard to try and helphim overcome the injury without
recourse to surgery.''His priority now will be to ensure he
is fully fit for the Ashes in Australia.''Strauss was also captain as England's
one-day team lost 5-0 to Sri Lanka lastmonth.
The five-test Ashes series in Australiastarts Nov. 23.
(AP)
Published by Upali Newspapers Ltd, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13. and Printed at 195/187, High Level Road, Homagama on Tuesday 25th July, 2006
The Island, Tuesday 25th July, 2006
TM
by Revata S. SilvaSri Lanka finished third out of eight
countries who took part in this year’sDavis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone, Group-IIItennis, which ended last Sunday (23), atManila Polo Club in Makati, Manila,Philippines.
After losing to Iran on Saturday SriLanka beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 on Sundayin a battle for third place. According tothe present Davis Cup format, only thefirst two teams go through to the nextGroup. But on Sunday too, Sri Lankahad do it on the back of an impressiveperformance by 20-year-old fourth yearDavis Cup player, HarshanaGodamanna.
After Rajeev Rajapakse lost the open-ing match to F. Al Saad 6-3, 6-1,Godamanna had to play a decisive rolein the other two crucial rubbers, thefirst singles and the doubles, as he didon two previous occasions. He defeatedS. Al Rajeh 6-4, 6-2 and then partneredRohan de Silva in the decider, to give SriLanka a satisfactory third place inGroup-III, winning it 6-0, 6-2, againstSaudi’s Saad and B. Al Megayel.
Godamanna won six out of the eightrubbers he played this year. Accordingto many who watched ‘Godda’ play, he iseasily among the three best players inthis year’s Davis Cup behind the twoPhilippine professionals, Cecil Mamiitand Frederick Taino.
The final standings at this year’sDavis cup held from July 19-23 are asfollows: 1. Philippines, 2. Iran 3. SriLanka 4. Saudi Arabia 5. Vietnam 6.Singapore 7. Bahrain, 8. Bangladesh.
Philippines and Iran are promoted toAsia-Oceania Zone, Group-II in 2007while Bahrain and Bangladesh will berelegated to Asia-Oceania Zone Group-IV next year.
Sri Lankadefeat Saudisto earn third place
PARIS (AP) – July23. The highs andlows of Floyd Landis'nail-biter of a bike race ended with-out a hitch on Sunday as he won theTour de France and kept cycling'smost prestigious title in Americanhands for the eighth straight year.
The 30-year-old Landis, pedalingwith an injured hip, cruised to victo-ry on the cobblestones of theChamps-Elys Dees, a day afterregaining the leader's yellow jerseyand building an insurmountable leadin the final time trial.
"I kept fighting, never stoppedbelieving," Landis said, shortly afterhe received the winner's yellow jer-sey on the podium, joined by hisdaughter, Ryan.
See World View P III for full report
Sri Lanka cricket captain MahelaJayawardene was felicitated for his out-standing leadership and elegant bats-manship, at a ceremony held atNalanda College, Colombo, Monday
morning.The felicitation ceremony was
organised by the Nalanda College PastCricketer’s Association.
Among those present at the occasion
were Sri Lanka’s first Test captain,Bandula Warnapura, who is an oldNalandian, ICC Elite Panel MatchReferee, Roshan Mahanama and KumarDharmasena. (Russ)
Willows up for conquering dasher!
Landis’ tourde force
Injury-hit South Africa have been boosted by thenews that Shaun Pollock will arrive in Sri Lanka onThursday following the birth of his second child AFPreported on Monday.
Pollock's wife Trish gave birth to the couple's sec-ond daughter, Georgia, in Durban on Friday and isexpected to leave hospital later on Monday. Pollock hadalso missed a Test match when his first daughterJemma was born during the fourth Test against Englandin 2003. "There was never a chance that Shaun couldhave arrived in time for the first Test," said GordonTempleton, the team's spokesman. "But he will be herefor the second game and also the one-day series."
Pollock will reach Colombo on the same day thatthe first Test begins at the Sinhalese Sports Clubgrounds. However, he will have enough time toacclamatise to the hot and humid weather before hetakes the field in the second Test from August 4.
Pollock needs six more wickets to join the 400 club.He has toured Sri Lanka twice before, in 2000 and2004, and has taken 21 wickets in five Tests at 21.00apiece with a best of 4 for 48 at Galle in 2004.
PPoolllloocckk hheerree oonnTThhuurrssddaayy
Strauss appointed captain for Pakistan series
AC Milan appealed its ban from ChampionsLeague play Monday in Italy's match-fixing scandal.
Verdicts by the sports tribunal are expectedTuesday, the deadline set by UEFA for Italian soccerofficials to decide which clubs participate inEuropean club competitions this season.
Milan, which escaped demotion from Serie A, isseeking to overturn the July 14 ruling, which barredthe club from Europe's top club competition anddocked it 15 points.
Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina were relegated toSerie B. Juventus was stripped of its last two Serie Atitles and penalized 30 points; Fiorentina was docked12-points and Lazio seven. (AP)
AC Milan appealagainst ban
Rudolph and de Villierslight up draw
It was a very strong Sri Lanka 'A' teamthat was chosen to take on the SouthAfricans, but none of the young playerscame up with any noteworthy contribu-tions. Above all, their decision to put theopposition in after winning the tossbemused everyone.
Basically, the Sri Lankans were allow-ing the tourists to get used to the condi-tions and eventually they played intoSouth Africa's hands as there were twobig hundreds and four fifties by thetourists.
Resuming at the overnight score of 43for one, South Africa lost three wickets inthe morning session. Mark Boucher andAshwell Prince were promoted up theorder ahead of Hashim Amla andJacques Rudolph, the two centurions, butthey fell cheaply with the wicketkeeperbatsman making eight and the captainmanaging 20.
A.B. de Villiers top scored with 75 with11 fours before he was bowled by JehanMubarak while Rudolph made 58 beforefalling to Mubarak two balls before thethe tea break.
He added 78 runs for the eighth wicketwith Andre Nel who scored 20 not out.
South Africa 1st innings 465 for 4 decl(J. Rudolph 157, H. Amla 150)Sri Lanka A 1st innings 162 all out(U. Chandana 51, A. Nel 4/39)South Africa 2nd inningsH. Gibbs b Perera 10B. Dippenaar lbw b Zoysa 22A. B. de Villiers b Mubarak 75M. Boucher ct Jayawardene b Zoysa 08A. Prince ct Samaraweera b Chandana 20N. Boje lbw b Chandana 05H. Amla b Chandana 05J. Rudolph lbw b Mubarak 58A. Nel not out 20Extras (w 3, nb 15, lb 1) 19Total for 8 wickets 245Overs: 63.4
Did not bat: DW Steyn, M NtiniFall of wickets: 1-25, 2-55, 3-77, 4-136, 5-153, 6-154, 7-167, 8-245.Bowling: Zoysa 9-0-29-2 (2nb) (1w), Perera 8-0-45-1 (8nb, 2w), Ganegama 8-2-33-0, Chandana 22-1-80-3 (2nb), Mubarak 12.4-2-44-2 (2nb)Samaraweera 4-0-12-0 (1nb).
Sri Lanka 2nd InningsA. Gunawardene st. Boucher b Boje 37M. Vandort not out 29C. Kapugedara not out 11Extras (w 5, nb 2, lb 5) 12Total for one wicket 89Fall of wicket: 1-72.Bowling: Ntini 5-2-21-0 (2nb), Steyn 5-2-15-0, Boje5-1-27-1, Nel 4-0-21-0 (5 w), de Villiers 1-1-0-0.
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