14 Thursday 1st October, 2009 New Zealand end Sri Lanka’s hopes ond semi-final at Wanderers, while Points table on Wednesday England will move to Centurion and (FIRST ROUND) play the winners of that game. Group A P W L T NR NRR Pts Scoreboard Pakistan 2 2 0 0 0 +1.606 4 England Australia 2 1 0 0 1 +1.000 3 A. Strauss c McCullum b Mills 0 India 2 0 1 0 1 -1.080 1 J. Denly b Bond 5 West Indies 2 0 2 0 0 -1.501 0 O. Shah c McCullum b Bond 3 P. Collingwood c Taylor b Elliott 40 Group B E. Morgan c Taylor b Butler 9 P W L T NR NRR Pts R. Bopara lbw b Bond 30 L. Wright c McCullum b Elliott 4 New Zealand 3 2 1 0 0 +0.782 4 S. Broad c & b Elliott 1 England 3 2 1 0 0 -0.487 4 G. Swann c McCullum b Elliott 11 Sri Lanka 3 1 2 0 0 -0.085 2 R. Sidebottom c Taylor b Vettori 20 3 1 2 0 0 -0.177 2 J. Anderson 4 Extras: (4b, 4lb, 9w, 2nb) 19 TOTAL: 146 Overs: 43.1 Fall of : 1-0, 2-10, 3-13, 4-50, 5- 80, 6-90, 7-95, 8-109, 9-117. Bowling: Mills 10-2-19-1, Bond 10-2-21-3, Franklin 6-0-31-0 (1w), Butler 8-1-34-1 (2nb, 3w), Elliott 8-0-31-4 (5w), Vettori 1.1- 0-2-1. New Zealand B. McCullum c Bopara b Broad 48 M. Guptill c Swann b Anderson 53 England’s batsman Luke Wright, left, leaves the crease after New Zealand’s N. Broom c Morgan b Sidebottom 17 bowler Grant Elliott dismissed him, centre, for 4 runs, during their Champions R. Taylor c Swann b Broad 1 Trophy match at the Wanderers stadium in , South Africa, G. Elliott c Morgan b Broad 3 Tuesday Sept. 29, 2009. (AP) G. Hopkins c Morgan b Broad 2 D. Vettori not out 10 wickets to spare registering their second South Africa, meanwhile, after losing Rex Clementine give up their hopes early after New J. Franklin not out 2 win in the first round. to Sri Lanka, beat New Zealand by five reporting from Johannesburg Zealand won the toss and put the opposi- It was an amazing turn around for the wickets, but lost their must win game to Extras: (7lb, 4w) 11 tion in and bowled them out for 146 in underdogs of the tournament at the end England by 22 runs at Centurion. TOTAL: (for 6 wickets) 147 ew Zealand secured the remaining 43.1 overs. of the Group ‘B’ matches as Sri Lanka It was Shane Bond who put New Overs: 27.1. semi-final berth of the ICC In reply, the openers added 84 runs for and South Africa, the two teams who Zealand on top by claiming three top Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-113, 3-114, 4-118, Champions the first , giving New Zealand a N were expected to go through to the semi- order wickets and then Grant Elliott Trophy, ending Sri Lanka’s hopes in solid start. Brendon McCullum survived 5-130, 6-140. finals from Group ‘B’, crashed early, but claimed career best figures of four for the eight nation tournament here at the a couple of leg before shouts before Did not bat: K. Mills, S. Bond, I. Butler. England and New Zealand, the under- 31. Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday. going on to post 48 runs. After a 29 run Bowling: Anderson 10-0-53-1, dogs, progressed to the last four. Stuart Broad gave England some hope The New Zealanders required to score stand for the second wicket between Sri Lanka started off in style when by claiming four for 39, but there was Sidebottom 6-0-32-1 (2w), Broad 8.1-1-39- 138 runs to qualify ahead of Sri Lanka (53) and Neil Broom (17), they beat hosts South Africa by 55 runs not enough support from the rest of 4 (1w), Collingwood 3-0-16-0 (1w). for the semi-final on a superior net run there was a rush of wickets as New in the curtain-raiser of the competition the bowlers in defending a meagre total Result: New Zealand won by 4 wickets. rate, but they went a step ahead, beating Zealand lost five for the addition of 27 at the Centurion, but on their return to and the Kiwis got home with more than Toss: New Zealand England by four wickets and emergied runs. Johannesburg, they performed badly los- 22 overs to spare. as the top team in Group ‘B’. But a target of 147 was too insuffi- Umpires: A. Rauf (Pak), D. Harper (Aus) ing to England by six wickets and then New Zealand will take on the losers of The Sri Lankans, who required cient to put any pressure on them and Third umpire: A. Dar (Pak) to New Zealand by 38 runs. the Pakistan-Australia clash in the sec- England to win Tuesday’s game, had to eventually they got home with three Match referee: R. Mahanama (SL)

87th National Athletic Championship Pushpakumara, Wijekoon and Subashini adjudged Best Athletes

The Best Athletes at the 87th National Athletics Championship, Rohitha Pushpakumara, Chaminda Wijekoon and Chandrika Subashini receive their awards akistan this time can keep their from the chief guest, Leisha de Silva Chandrasena, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Telecom pride intact, the pride of Asia or the at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Wednesday. Also in the picture is Major General PEast, which is a mystifying Palitha Fernando, President, Sri Lanka Athletic Association. (Pic by Kamal Bogoda) object, the oriental ‘binary- opposition’ of the prag- by Reemus Fernando Wijekoon slashed his own national matic, stereotype, and record with a time of 3:43.80, Tuesday. at times robotic, West Sri Lanka Air Force sprinter Rohitha In the women’s 400 metres final, or the Occident. A scene from the 2001 Ashutosh Pushpakumara and Sri Lanka Army’s mid- Chandrika Subashini won the gold with a Come next Monday Gowariker film ‘Lagaan’ (on left) dle distance runner Chaminda Wijekoon time of 53.96 seconds and beat Sri Lanka (Oct. 5), many will hope which centred on a game of cricket shared the Best Athlete award in the men’s Army’s Menaka Wickramasinghe who that the strange and played between an Indian peasant category, while Chandrika Subashini, also came in second. unpredictable Pakistan or team and the colonial British. of the Sri Lanka Air Force was the Best Meanwhile, one meet record was the mystical Indians can Women’s Athlete title at the 87th National equalled on the final day as Sri Lanka Above is the former Australian keep the hopes of the Athletics Championship which saw two Sri Navy’s Nadeeka Muthunaike cleared a whole of Asia alive at Richie Benaud (waving Lanka records being shattered at a floodlit distance of 14.24 metres, the same dis- his hand), in posh gentlemanly Sugathadasa Stadium, on Wednesday. tance she cleared in the Shot Putt event at Centurion, South Africa, Pushpakumara in the men’s 400 metres last year’s competition to equal the previ- when the Champions Trophy attire, with his deputy Neil and Wijekoon, who established a new Sri ous mark. She beat up and coming athlete final gets underway there. Harvey on their arrival in England for Lanka record on Tuesday, in the men’s 1500 W. T. K Fernando of the Sri Lanka Air By yesterday (Sep. 30) the 1961 Ashes series. (Files) metres collected 1056 points each for their Force (12.43m) and Devni afternoon, many Sri Lankan roared “Nooo”, as if to brand Murali a chuck- impressive performances to share the Best Madurapperuma of Colombo District AA cricket fans would have been Athlete’s title in the men’s category. (11.64m) who came in second and third, er. Equally deafening booing was heard at wishing earnestly that either Incidentally, Pushpakumara, who respectively. the Khettarama when Shane Warne came Pakistan or India would make it clocked 47.28 seconds in the semi final, During the three day National into bat, in an Australian losing cause, in the to that final, especially at the impressed with a time of 47.01 seconds in Championship two Sri Lanka records Aiwa Cup tri-sseries final in 1999. the final on Wednesday to beat former were established. While Wijekoon erased expense of the canny and level- ‘Unsporty’ and racist; such was the way champion Prasanna Amarasekara, who his own record in the men’s 1500 metres, headed Englishmen and also the the above impulsive reactions were named made a comeback at the National Mohamed Shameer established a new Aussies and the Kiwis. Sri Lanka is Championship. national record in the men’s decathlon. no longer in contention for the title in this ‘Gentleman’s’ game but surely the after England lost to the Kiwis last Tuesday East Vs West, Coloured Vs White, Mystery Vs competition got hotter, more thrilling and

(Sep. 29). Pragmatism or Flair Vs Mechanical still close-tto-llife because of those off-tthe-ffield lingers in this age-oold cricket discourse, that Interestingly, many local cricket fans like episodes. Cricket became more than a sport, Sharapova advances to quarters in Japan to believe that England intentionally didn’t too from top to bottom, from the erudite to its social implications spilled out of its sporty play their best cricket, at Wanderers against the ordinary, and from then to now, from Sir borders, and it suddenly became reflective of by Jim Armstrong Kleybanova broke back in the sixth game New Zealand, negating any possibility of Neville Cardus to Rahul Bhattacharya. a vital social consciousness. and held before Sharapova served to win Though some argue that such a division is making way for Sri Lanka to enter the com- In this era of the mundane capitalistic TOKYO (AP) - Maria Sharapova recov- the set. only of mere rhetoric value not having any “She started off really strong,” petition’s semi-ffinals. order, cricket is prone to be easy prey to a ered from a slow start Wednesday to practical, sensible reason, the stark envy advance to the quarterfinals of the Toray Sharapova said. “I was too slow in the “There was enough life in the pitch for Herculean system. And sans such broad between the two camps is always clearly evi- Pan Pacific with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over beginning. Nobody had much of a England to cause New Zealand a host of social reverberations heard during play, crick- warmup today, we kind of had to warm dent. That may be in the playing field or in compatriot Alisa Kleybanova. problems if they bowled well (when the Kiwis et will be a dull affair. Sri Lanka is back The former top-ranked Russian, who up in the first few games and she did a the media or, sometimes, amongst the play- chased a mediocre 146 to win in 50 overs), home today from S. Africa. But their fans will has been struggling since returning from much better job of that than me.” but it soon became clear which side was des- ers themselves. Sharapova, who broke the unseeded still be glued to TV screens, watching the a 10-month injury layoff, will face Iveta perate to win,” wrote one journalist in an When Muttiah Muralitharan bowled Benesova of the Czech Republic in the Kleybanova three more times in the final against the Aussies, after the home team, Champions Trophy, hoping either India or set before closing out the match, won her internet match report after New Zealand quarterfinals on Thursday. Benesova batting first, had lost three wickets for just Pakistan will win it in the end. Most of all, defeated Taiwan’s Chang Kai-chan 7-5, 6- first tournament as a professional at the beat England by four wickets to make cer- they will hope that the Englishmen or the 2. Japan Open in 2003 and won in Tokyo in tain that they booked a berth in the semis 10 runs, in the 2nd of the best-oof-tthree 2006 Sharapova, 25th in the world rank- 2005. With the top six seeds all out of the while sending the gritty Lions packing home, VB tri-sseries final round — facing a disgrace- Kiwis, who denied the Lankans a place in the ings, took control of the match in the tournament, she is positioned well for a disillusioned lot. ful first ever tournament defeat at home last four, pay their prize in the semis. Behind second set when she broke Kleybanova another shot at a title in the $2 million The inevitable polarization in the form of against the South Asian islanders — the its gentlemanly demeanour, these battles three times to open up a 5-0 lead. tournament at Ariake Colosseum. archaic Sydney Cricket Ground spectators continue to make cricket more interesting.