Tuesday 14th July, 2009 Another fiasco at Debutant Alam's hundred P. Sara Whenever Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club hosts a Test match, they seem to attract all the negative publicity. Two years ago, the appalling conditions at the media center dur- ing a Test match drew sharp criticism from makes Test even contest both the local and international media, forcing side to take the fight to the Sri Lankans. bat and pad to knock the Sri Lankan cap- the club to upgrade facilities to international First he added 85 runs for the first tain's off-stump. Sangakkara's 87 came in standards in a fortnight. But it seems that the wicket with Khurram Manzoor and then 150 balls with nine boundaries. club only improves things following criticism an unbroken stand of 93 with captain Tillekeratne Dilshan was out next and fixes problems only when matters are Younus Khan, who was unbeaten on 35 at when umpire Daryl Harper ruled him out exposed. stumps. caught behind to Ajmal for 20. The bats- Yesterday, club officials faced embarrass- It was a sensible knock by the young- man looked unhappy and by that stage ment when the International Cricket Council ster who hit just six fours throughout his with three crucial wickets, Pakistan had Match Referee Alan Hurst complained about a innings and when on 92 he hit Rangana fought their way back into the game. Herath for a six over wide long-on in the leakage on the roof of the Match Referee's Gul gave Pakistan further advantage penultimate over of the day and off the and Umpires' room. Hurst complained after with wickets off successive balls when he very next ball, he reached three figures by water from the toilet above the squash courts had Nuwan Kulasekara caught at first slip nudging the left-arm-spinner past point. dripped down to the room where the match and took a return catch to dismiss He became the 11th Pakistani to score officials were having lunch. Rangana Herath. a hundred on debut joining an exclusive Tamil Union officials were forced to close Sri Lanka took lunch on 226 for eight, by Rex Clementine club that includes the great Javed the toilet temporarily, but they could have Miandad, Saleem Malik and Younus. but it could have been nine down had avoided the embarrassment had they looked They were down and out on day one of Incidentally,both Younus and Malik made Manzoor not put a regulation catch off the second Test Match having been bowled their debuts against Sri Lanka and went Angelo Mathews down at second slip off into all relevant matters ahead of the Test out for their lowest total in Tests against onto make hundreds. Mohammad Aamer. The left-arm-seamer, Match rather than waiting for the start of the Sri Lanka and on day two when you It's amazing how the pendulum swings the most impressive Pakistani bowler in game. expected the tourists' spirits to be down in Test cricket. Sri Lanka started the Galle failed to take a wicket in the innings. The club's officials boast about its rich and Sri Lanka to nail them, Pakistan morning with a hand on the trophy and a Ajmal wrapped things up after lunch Pakistan's Fawad Alam raises his bat after history and take pride in the fact that the P. staged a remarkable comeback with both first ever series win against Pakistan, but with the wickets of Thilan Tushara and completing a century on the second day. Sara Stadium is the only venue in Asia where bat and ball to make the second Test an by the end of day two the Test had become Mathews, who was last man out for 27. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) the legendary Sir Don Bradman played cricket. even contest here at the P. Sara Stadium. wide open. With the game now in the bal- But they seem to be forgetting the need to Pakistan's 90 runs all out in the first ance and with Sri Lanka's batsmen strug- SCOREBOARD keep club's reputation in place. innings is also their fifth lowest total gling for runs in this series, a target of 220 against any opposition and after Sri on a turning track could make this an Pakistan 1st Innings: 90 Saeed Ajmal 31-5-87-4, Younis Khan 7-1-27-0 (1nb). Yesterday's incident took place less than Lanka reached 164 for three at stumps on even contest. Sri Lanka, 1st Innings (Overnight: 164-3) Pakistan 2nd Innings 24 hours after a major PR fiasco that confused day one, it looked like the hosts were head- It all started perfectly well for the Sri M. Warnapura lbw b Gul 11 Khurram Manzoor c Dilshan b Herath 38 many and eventually attracted strong criticism ing for a massive first innings total, but Lankans when Thilan Samaraweera drove T. Paranavitana c Akmal b Ajmal 26 Fawad Alam not out 102 from senior members of the club. impressive spells by Umar Gul and Saeed the second ball of the day stylishly for four K. Sangakkara b Gul 87 Younis Khan not out 35 In a media release on Sunday, the club Ajmal, both of whom picking four wickets off Younus. But soon disaster struck when M. Jayawardene c Manzoor b Ajmal 19 Extras: (1b, 1lb, 1nb) 3 announced a controversial new branding strat- each, helped Pakistan to do some damage Samaraweera hit one powerfully towards T. Samaraweera run out 21 TOTAL: (for one wicket) 178. egy under the brand name 'The Oval'. It said control. Although Sri Lanka took a first mid-off and set off for a single and T. Dilshan c Akmal b Ajmal 20 Overs: 53 that under the new branding, the club would be inning lead of 150, it soon evaporated as Mohammad Aamer's direct hit found him A. Mathews c Yousuf b Ajmal 27 Fall of wickets: 1-85. known as The Oval, making staunch supporters debutant Fawad Alam hit an unbeaten short of the crease. N. Kulasekera c Misbah b Gul 11 Still to bat: Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, century as Pakistan finished the day on of the club to wonder whether the club officials But it was Gul who brought Pakistan R. Herath c and b Gul 0 Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed 178 for one. Having wiped off the deficit, had decided to replace the name Tamil Union back into the game with an impressive they were 28 runs ahead with nine wickets T. Thushara lbw b Rauf 1 Ajmal, Mohammad Aamir, Abdur Rauf. Cricket and Athletics Club with 'The Oval'. in hand. spell. The 25-year-old had arrived in Sri A. Mendis not out 0 Bowling: However, four hours after the press Twenty two year old Alam, who was Lanka as the most experienced Pakistani Extras: (8b, 1lb, 8nb) 17 Kulasekera 9-2-25-0, Thushara 10-0-32-0, Mathews release, the club said it was withdrawing the bowler, but was a disappointment in Galle, made to open the innings in place of the TOTAL: (all out) 240. 6-0-20-0, Mendis 11-0-43-0 (1nb), Herath 16-1-53-1, release, apparently due to strong opposition where he went for runs and just picked up out of form Salman Butt came up with a Overs: 80 Paranavitana 1-0-3-0. from members of the club. two wickets. But here, he was a revelation. solid effort to put his side on par with the Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-82, 3-133, 4-177, 5-188, 6- Umpires: Simon Taufel, Australia, and Daryl Harper, Yesterday, club President Chandra Sri Lankans. A middle order batsman in Kumar Sangakkara had been hardly 203, 7-220, 8-220, 9-227, 10-240. Australia. Schaffter apologized for the confusion caused domestic cricket, Alam was opening the bothered during his knock of 87 and was Bowling: Umar Gul 18-1-43-4 (4nb), Mohammad TV Umpire: Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lanka. Match through the previous release, which had been innings for the first time and made it looking solid for a big knock, but Gul got Aamer 13-2-36-0, Abdur Rauf 11-1-38-1 (3nb), Referee: Alan Hurst, Australia. count with a timely knock that enabled his one to nip back and the ball went through signed by him. Subashini wins first medal for Sri Lanka Isipatana beat Wesley 29-5 Indrajith Subasinghe reporting tracks. Had they competed in middle tracks Sri Lanka was not sure of Shehan from Lisbon the results would have been favourable,” Ambepitiya’s participation in the 200 meters Chandrika Subashini won the first medal Badra Gunawardena, the lady chaperone as the 4x100 meters event was schedule to Isipatana beat Wesley 29-5 in a for Sri Lanka clocking 53.41 seconds to finish said. take place two hours after the 200 meter Milo Schools Rugby knockout third in the women’s 400 meters final at the Sri Lanka’s athletic prospect Shehan event. Ambepitiya equalled his personal best clock- Tournament semi final match second Lusofonia Games at 00.30 hours Sri played at Royal Sports Complex Lanka time (8pm Lisbon time on 12th) in ing 10.43 seconds and come second only to Lisbon Portugal yesterday(13). 2004 Athens Olympic Silver Medalist Francis Stadium at Reid Avenue yesterday. Running in the sixth lane Subashini was Obicwalo in the Men’s 100 meters to qualify A heated moment in the match is head to head with the formidable Brazilian for the final, but after was placed fifth in the captured by our photographer (Pic final with a time of 10.49 seconds.