The Island, Friday 17th February, 2006 shock South Africa It has taken a while but in the 38th match of the tournament we have a shock: Nepal beat mighty South Africa by two runs in a thrilling finish. The Associate country, coached by for- mer Sri Lanka batsman Roy Dias, held their nerve to earn a place in the final of the Plate Championship on Saturday where they will face New Zealand. Nepal scored 214-8 with Kanishka Chaugai (59) leading the way before restricting South Africa to 212-5, despite Dean Elgar’s 66 from 65 The opener, playing in his third and balls. final ICC U/19 World Cup, faced South Africa required 16 from the 81 balls in a stay of 106 minutes, hitting final two overs, 10 from the last six deliv- six fours and a six during his . eries and three off the last ball but He added 67 for the first with Basanti Regmi and Mahesh Chhetri (15) and 38 for the sec- bowled superbly to earn their side a ond wicket with Sarad Vesawkar (19) famous win. and at 105-1 Nepal looked well placed for It is the second time in successive ICC a score of around 240. U/19 Cricket World Cups that Nepal have They were also helped by an injury to beaten the Proteas as they also overcame South Africa fast bowler Craig them by one wicket in Bangladesh in Alexander, who was only able to bowl 3.1 2004 overs before breaking down with a sus- Dias said afterwards: “That finish pected cartilage today was really tense but the boys han- But Nepal’s innings went into hiber- dled it well and I am very proud of them. nation with the appearance of spinners “I told them beforehand that South Jean Symes and Richard Das Neves in Africa would be under pressure after the attack as both men applied the looking at that last result and with our brakes in remarkable fashion. spinners well it was a great Left-armer Symes bowled his ten-over win.” ration at a cost of just 15 runs and also Elgar, the South Africa captain, was picked up three including gracious in defeat and said: “Our field- Chaugai, while off-spinner Das Neves ing let us down and they got 20 or 30 was barely less economical, delivering The victorious Nepal team pose after their two- win over South Africa in the Plate Championship semi-final of the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Colombo yesterday. more runs than they should have but his ten overs at a cost of just 25 runs Nepal now face New Zealand in Saturday’s final. – Pic. ICC there are no excuses. They were the bet- although he went wicketless. er. gradually squeezed the life out of the bowlers responded to his lead. – (ICC) ter side today.” No one went on to play a major Malla made an responsible, unbeaten South Africa innings through their spin- Nepal 214 for 8 wickets (K Chaugai Chaugai’s contribution, his second innings for Nepal and it was left to 46 in 71 balls with six fours but South ners and from 92-1 the Proteas slipped to 59, G. Malla 46 n.o.; Siboto 4/47, Symes fifty of the tournament, was crucial in Gyanendra Malla, whose 64 in the previ- Africa’s Malusi Siboto ensured Nepal 99-4. 3/15) ensuring Nepal more than held their ous match against Uganda was vital in were unable to break freeing the latter Basant Regmi led the way with the South Africa 212 for 5 (P. Daneel 32, own against their more illustrious oppo- helping his side to a defendable score, to stages of their innings. ball for Nepal. The left-armer bowled B. Thompson 31, D. Elgar 66 n.o, R. nents. once again hold the middle order togeth- Having got runs on the board, Nepal superbly to take 3-31 and the other Ramoo 38; Regmi 3/31) Valentine bash with Sri Lanka U-19 book a date with Bangladesh Rupasinghe’s ton gals stumps youth helps Nalanda by Reemus Fernando Scoreboard by Reemus Fernando all-rounder An unbroken 112-run partnership for Skipper Gihan Rupasinghe struck a useful 120 the third wicket between Hans Fernando Zimbabwe 1-0-5-0, Cooray 2-0-13-0 (1nb), Pushpakumara 4-0-18-0 including 8 fours and 4 sixes as Nalanda piled up F Kasteni c & b Gunasinghe 20 A Sri Lanka Under 19 all-rounder, who and Dilan Cooray helped Sri Lanka Under- 301 for 6 declared in their inter-schools match had done well in the ongoing World Cup KD Samunderu c Pathirana b Karunanayake 11 Sri Lanka 19 coast home to an 8-wicket victory over GS Balance c de Zoysa b Karunanayake 53 D Karunaratne c & b Cremer 53 against Wesley College which began at Campbell was sacked from the team on Wednesday Zimbabwe in their ICC Under 19 World K Meth lbw b Perera 91 S de Zoysa retired hurt 63 Park yesterday. on disciplinary grounds. Cup Super League play off semi-final SC Williams c Weerasinghe b Perera 10 A Priyanjan run out (Cremer) 23 In reply, Wesley were 47 for 2 at close. But, contrary to team management’s played at SSC ground yesterday. R Higgins b Weerasinghe 30 H Fernando not out 52 G Querl c & b Pathirana 7 D Cooray not out 53 Nalanda 301 for 6 declared (Gihan version that the Nalandian had skipped a Acting captain Sameera Zoysa and AG Cremer c Pushpakumara b Pathirana 13 Extras (lb 8, w 6, nb 1) 15 Rupasinghe 120, Tharindu Attanayake 53, L. practice session and hence he has been Dimuth Karunaratne compiled half cen- R Benade not out 5 Total (2 wickets, 47.2 overs) 259 Wickramasinghe 31, P. Perera 22, U. Bhagya 20 T Mahlunge not out 2 DNB: NLTC Perera, SS Pathirana, KPSP shown the door, ‘The Island’ reliably turies in an opening wicket partnership of n.o, U. Weerasinghe 23 n.o; D. Wijesinghe 2/16) learns that the presence of two girls inside 114 runs and laid the platform as Sri Extras (lb 3, w 9, nb 2) 14 Karunanayake, PM Pushpakumara, ARS Silva, DRF Total 8 wickets in 50 overs 256 Weerasinghe. Wesley 47 for 2 (C. Karunaratne 21, S. Lanka chased a testing victory target of his hotel room has actually put the player FoW: 1-39, 2-39, 3-170, 4-193, 5-200, 6-208, 7-248, 8- FoW: 1-114,2-147 Rupasinghe 15 n.o, L. Aponsu 2/25) in hot waters. 257. Then, Fernando and Cooray came 252 Bowling: Meth 4-0-22-0, Benade 6-0-37-0, Querl 4-0- Apparently, the all-rounder, who is the together to guide Sri Lanka to victory in Bowling: Gunasinghe 06-01-22-01 (3w), Perera 09-01- 29-0 (1nb), Williams 7.2-0-47-0 (1w), Samunderu 6-0- the 48th over. 49-02 (5w), Karunanayake 9-0-50-2 (1nb, 1w), 31-0 (1w), Higgins 10-1-44-0 (1w), Cremer 10-0-41-1 Fernando hits 137 in leading run getter for Sri Lanka in the Pathirana 10-0-44-2, Weerasinghe 9-0-52-1, Fernando competition, has celebrated St. The Africans first made 256 for Maris Stella’s 332/9 Valentine’s Day with the fair sex, paying 8, their highest total in the tournament Sri Lanka had only themselves to on 40 only to be reprieved when a throw to Channa Fernando with 24 fours clobbered a scant regard for rules and regulations Keegan Meth who won the Man of the blame for facing such a testing target as the bowler’s end was not gathered cleanly. valuable 137 as Maris Stella advanced from a dis- imposed by the team management. Match for his 91 runs and Gary Balance their fielding was, at times, ragged. Yesterday’s victory has confirmed Sri appointing 59 for 5 to a huge 332 for the lose of 9 He seems to be an incorrigible charac- who scored 53 runs put up a third wicket Meth was dropped at third man by Lanka a date with Bangladesh in the wickets on the first day of their match against Holy ter as he had been pulled up twice on stand of 131 runs and helped Zimbabwe Ashan Priyanjara when he had scored just Super League play off final to be played at Cross College, Kalutara which began at Negombo post a target of 256. previous occasions when on tour. 18 while Balance should have been run out SSC ground on Saturday. yesterday. Maris Stella 332 for 9 at close in 103 overs (Channa Fernando 137, Ashen Mayura 35, N. Kotikawatta 32; Heshan Aponsu 44 n,o; Malith B’desh protesters want Dilran 4/56, Supun Tharanga 2/118) vs Holy India win one-day series Cross Lankans to play in Dhaka MULTAN, , Feb 16, 2006 Scoreboard (AFP) Rahul Dravid hit a patient half- Siri Piyaratana record DHAKA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Hundreds of to soccer use. and paceman Rudra Pratap Pakistan c Raina b Pathan 3 eighth outright victory Bangladeshi cricket fans, led by a former skipper, Sri Lanka will play three one-dayers and two test- Singh grabbed four wickets as India c Dravid b Sreesanth 13 Siri Piyaratana College, Padukka recorded the protested in Dhaka on Thursday a decision to match series against Bangladesh in northern Bogra trounced Pakistan by five wickets in the c Pathan b Singh 9 eighth outright victory for the season when they exclude the capital as a venue for a home series and southeastern Chittagong. fourth one-day match on Thursday. Inzamam-ul Haq lbw b Tendulkar 49 beat Ananda Sastralaya by 74 runs in their match against Sri Lanka. Former skipper Naimur Rahman and Gazi Golam Dravid scored 59 as India overtook lbw b Singh 0 Mohammad Yousuf c Dhoni b Agarkar 25 concluded at Kotte on Tuesday. The protesters formed a human chain around the Dastagir, a senior official of the Bangladesh Cricket Pakistan’s modest 162-run target with Imran Farhat c Raina b Singh 14 Siri Piyaratana 115 (M. Pradeeep Kumara 36, Bangabandhu National stadium in the capital, carry- Board (BCB), participated in Thursday’s protest. 17.3 overs to spare at Multan stadium, c Dhoni b Singh 1 Rajith Madusanka 29; S. Janith 6/37, S. Devinda ing placards and banners asking: “Why not cricket in “Dhaka had been the Mecca of cricket in the giving the tourists an unbeatable 3-1 lead Naved-ul Hasan not out 13 c Agarkar b Pathan 11 4/45) and 255 (M.P. Kumara 60, Duglas Thilak 58, Dhaka?” country for more than 50 years, but the authorities in the five-match series. The inconsequential fifth and final Mohammad Asif c Dhoni b Pathan 6 D. Pathum 32; O. Dharshana 4/42, S. Devinda The Bangabandhu Stadium, Bangladesh’s tradi- intentionally left it unready ahead of the home series Extras: (w17) 17 match will be played in on 3/80) tional cricket venue, has recently been given entirely against Sri Lanka,” Naimur told Reuters. Total: 161 Sunday. Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-27, 3-29, 4-29, 5-97, 6-124, 7- Ananda Sastralaya 78 (R. Sanjeewa 23; Asela Dravid fortified India with a 85-run 126, 8-131, 9-147 Aluthge 6/24, D. Pathum 2/35, M.P. Kumara 2/10) third wicket stand with Yuvraj Singh (37) Bowling: Pathan 7.5-0-26-3, Sreesanth 8-1-30-1, and 218 (O. Dharshana 60 n.o, D. Suriyagoda 49, Singh 10-0-40-4, Agarkar 7-0-38-1, Tendulkar 9-0-27-1 Cricket’s first bowl-off gives Kiwis win after India lost Sachin Tendulkar Overs: 41.5 S. Ruwan 25; M.P. Kumara 6/40, S. Nilanga 2/64) (nought) and Gautum Gambhir (21) to India AUCKLAND, Feb 16, 2006 (AFP) - New Zealand ignited the Calypso Kings’ purple patch comeback paceman Mohammad Sami by G. Gambhir c and b Sami 21 beat the West Indies 3-0 in international cricket’s first which saw five wickets fall in eight overs for 28 runs. the sixth over. S. Tendulkar c Akmal b Sami 0 ever bowl-off after their series opener In the end, New Zealand needed 16 off the last R. Dravid lbw b Sami 59 Pakistan did raise some hopes when Y. Singh c Akmal b Naved 37 Musaeus College match ended with the scores tied at 126 each here over and it came down to a four by Shane Bond off Yuvraj fell to Naved-ul Hasan and M. Kaif c Inzamam b Razzaq 0 Thursday. the last ball to save the day for the home side and Mohammad Kaif (nought) to Abdul S. Raina not out 35 Sports Meet today After losing the toss and being sent into bat, the bring about a bowl-off, cricket’s equivalent of foot- Razzaq in the space of just one run and M. Dhoni not out 2 The Annual Sports Meet of Musaeus West Indies had struggled in their debut Twenty20 ball’s penalty shootout. Extras: (lb1, nb3, w4) 8 then Dravid in the 28th over to leg-before Total: (for five wickets) 162 College will be held today, from 12.00 international, losing wickets regularly as they tried to Bowling two balls each, the first three of five off Sami. But it proved too little too late. Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-29, 3-114, 4-115, 5-133 noon to 6.00 p.m at Reid Avenue Sports increase their scoring rate, and their 126 looked an bowlers from both sides all missed the stumps before With 29 needed for win, Suresh Raina Bowling: Asif 8-1-35-0, Sami 9-0-42-3, Naved 6-1-33- grounds. Mrs. Indrani Weeratunga, sec- easy target. Bond hit twice. Ian Bradshaw followed for the West (35 not out) and Mahendra Dhoni (two) 1, Razzaq 9-0-47-1, Farhat 0.3-0-4-0 retary, Ministry of Child Development Overs: 32.3 and Women’s Empowerment will grace With Lou Vincent striking boundaries at will, New Indies and failed to connect leaving a wicket from achieved the target in the 33rd over to Result: India won by five wickets to take an unbeat- Zealand raced to 73 for two in the 10th over when Styris on his first ball to give New Zealand 3-0 lead. seal yet another comfortable Indian win. able 3-1 lead the occasion as chief guest.

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