SUNDAY 6 17 FEBRUARY 2019 SPPORTSORTS CHENNAI Vignesh replaces Natarajan in ‘JUST DOING MY JOB’, TN squad |NT Bureau| Chennai, Feb 17: : S Aniruda, Ro- SAYS ‘SUPERMAN’ PERERA hit Ramalingam and K Vignesh have been select- u ed to represent Helps Sri Lanka notch up epic win against SA the Tamilnadu State team in Durban, Feb 17 (AFP): to play it over by over and get us close, little by little. the Syed Mush- Vishwa told me: ‘I’ll hit the ball with my body, if noth- Match-winner Kusal Perera insisted ‘all I did was taq Ali Trophy ing else. You do what you can.’ I took a lot of strength my role’ after his epic 153 not out took Sri Lanka to a T20 League Tournament matches from that. Without any fear I took the single and gave dramatic one-wicket victory over South Africa in the to be held from 21 February to 2 the strike to him. He did a huge job.’ March at Surat, replacing Vijay fi rst Test at Kingsmead on Saturday. Perera scored 67 Plaudits poured in for Perera. ‘Kusal Perera !!!! WOW Shankar (Selected for India), T of his runs in an unbeaten 78-run last-wicket stand .... One of the greatest Test innings of all time,’ tweeted Natarajan (Injured) and V Athisa- with Vishwa Fernando which gave his underdog team former England captain Michael Vaughan. Dimuth yaraj Davidson (Injured). a sensational victory. Karunaratne, captaining Sri Lanka for the fi rst time, ‘When I was batting with the tail, I knew we couldn’t said: ‘We had to believe in Kusal. It was a fantastic win this match by just scoring singles,’ said Perera TN women knock against a really good fast bowling attack.’ Karu- after his career-best knock which was already being naratne said his team had gone into the match with hailed as one of Test cricket’s greatest innings. lose to Goa confi dence, despite being long-odds underdogs. ‘I was the last proper batsman left. When the time Sri Lanka had been mauled in series in New Zea- |NT Bureau| felt right for me, I took my chances.’ The left-hander land and Australia and had undergone upheavals in managed to keep most of the strike and played some Chennai, Feb 17: personnel, including the sacking of previous captain audacious strokes, including two sixes off fast bowler Dinesh Chandimal. Karunaratne said the tours of Dale Steyn and one each off Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Goa eased to a fi ve-wicket win New Zealand and Australia had helped Sri Lanka Olivier and Keshav Maharaj. ‘I tried to hit to the over Tamilnadu in the BCCI Elite prepare for South Africa. ‘We learned lots of things closest boundary,’ said Perera, who was described as C U-19 Women’s tournament in on how to play on these kinds of wickets, with pace ‘superman’ by opposition skipper Faf du Plessis. Margao on Saturday. After opt- and bounce,’ he said. He also pointed to Sri Lanka’s ing to bat fi rst, TN women were ‘It was a superman effort. He deserves all the ac- record in Durban. On two previous tours they had a restricted to 99 as Goa’s skipper colades,’ said du Plessis. Perera added: ‘I had really win and a draw against an 11-0 losing record on other Tejashwini Duragad was the pick wanted to hit two or three sixes off Steyn as we were grounds in South Africa. getting close. Thankfully I was able to do that. I think of the bowlers taking four for 19. ‘Everybody was keen to play here and to enjoy their my decision-making was really good.’ Perera paid trib- In reply, Goa reached the target game with clear minds to express themselves,’ he said. ute to Fernando who played his part in what was the with nearly 20 overs to spare and Sri Lanka made sure they could not lose the two-match highest last-wicket stand in a fourth-innings chase in fi ve wickets remaining. series but Karunaratne said they would be pushing for the history of fi rst-class cricket. Brief scores: Tamilnadu 99 in a series win in the second Test which starts in Port 45.5 overs (C Shushanthika 22, ‘I didn’t even look at the scoreboard when Vishwa Elizabeth on Thursday. Tejashwini Duragad 4/19, Savali came in and we had a lot of runs to get. I just tried Kolambkar 2/15, Diksha Gawde 2/6) lost to Goa 100/5 in 30.1 overs (Tejashwini Duragad 45) Focus on Mandhana as BPXI take on England

Mumbai, Feb 17 (PTI): Mandhana recently scored 196 this game to get acclimatised to the runs in the three- match ODI series pitch, weather and local conditions. Focus would be trained on in-form against hosts New Zealand, includ- The England eves also boast of opener Smriti Mandhana when she ing a 100 and 90. She would be keen some big names in Tammy Beu- leads the Board President’s XI in a to carry that form into the upcom- mont, Heather Knight and Danny warm-up match against the visit- ing home series and a good knock White, who had smashed the In- ing England women’s team here in the warm-up match will only dian bowlers during the T20 series on Monday. The match is being boost her confi dence. Apart from last year. The trio and others would Race walker played at the Wankhede Stadium Mandhana, BPXI wicket-keeper R be hoping to start the campaign on and Mandhana, who is being helped Kalpana is also in the ODI squad a positive note. by team coach W V Raman to build and she could also benefit from The following three-match ODI up her patience, would be keen to playing in the practice game. series, forming part of the ICC Irfan aims high put the lessons learnt into practice On the other hand, England Championship, will be played at before plunging into the series women are a force to reckon with in the same venue on the 22nd, 25th Chennai, Feb 17 (PTI): opener here this Friday. the 50-over format and they utilise and 28th of this month. Indian race walker K T Irfan Saturday said his aim was to do well in next month’s Asian Race Walking Championship in Japan MMessiessi ppenaltyenalty lliftsifts BarcaBarca and secure qualifi cation for the World Championships later this year. u GGriezmannriezmann eclipseseclipses TorresTorres wwithith 130th130th goalgoal ‘I am very happy to win a gold medal here (in the National Open Madrid, Feb 17 (AFP): Race Walking Championship). It win a gold though the timing was normal. ‘Yeah... race is good. Cli- Lionel Messi scored a penalty and missed another as La Liga leaders is my fi rst event of the season and Barcelona ground out an unconvincing 1-0 win over Real Valladolid, I have done well. Now my aim is to mate not so good.. Having trained in Patiala and then in Bengaluru while Antoine Griezmann surpassed Fernando Torres with his 130th do well in the Asian meet in Nomi goal for Atletico Madrid. City, Japan and gain qualifi cation where it was cold, the conditions were humid here and I was able Messi’s fi tness was again in the spotlight on Saturday after a niggling for the World Championship,’ he thigh strain in recent weeks, but he completed the full 90 minutes at told PTI here. to achieve normal training,’ he added. The walkers have only two the Camp Nou and hit the 30-goal mark at Barcelona for the 11th The Kerala athlete had won opportunities to qualify for the straight season. the 20 km race (Elite) for men Worlds to be held in Qatar in Sep- The Argentine coolly dispatched a spot-kick just before half-time, drill- in the 6th National Open Race tember but Irfan is not too worried ing beyond the reach of Jordi Masip after Gerard Pique was bundled Walking Championship in a after not being able to achieve it to the ground by Valladolid midfi elder Michel. Masip brilliantly tipped time of 1:26:18.00, well below the here and said he could do it in the over a Messi volley soon after the interval and Luis Suarez wasted a World Championship qualifi ca- Asian Championship next month. huge opportunity to double the lead shortly after replacing Kevin-Prince tion standard of 1:22:30. He said ‘I wanted to do it here.. but am Boateng with an hour gone. Japan was always good for him Messi found himself booked for dissent after an apparent foul on him as he had won a bronze medal in confi dent it can be achieved in went unpunished, and he then blew the chance to kill off Valladolid the Asian meet in 2017 and hoped Japan next month (during the when Masip kept out his second penalty of the night -- awarded fol- that this time he would be able to Asian meet),’ he added. The walk- lowing a trip on Philippe Coutinho. meet the qualifi cation standards. ers were missing the presence of The excellent Masip alertly gathered Messi’s follow-up header and ‘I am looking forward to the foreign coach Alexander Artsy- again denied Suarez late on as Barca pulled seven points clear of Asian Championship. Japan is bashev, whose contract ended in Atletico ahead of their trip to Lyon in the Champions League last 16. very good for me. I have always September last year. ‘We haven’t played well. The truth is it wasn’t a good match. The only done well there. I won a bronze Asked what the athletes were good thing is the victory,’ Pique, who made his 300th appearance in La medal in the 2017 Asian meet. I focusing on at the camp, Irfan Liga told Movistar. ‘Getting back on track with three points is impor- hope to win a medal there, though said they were concentrating on tant after two draws in the league. But we defi nitely have to improve. the competition will be tough,’ techniques, keeping in mind what We have to be better on Tuesday otherwise we’ll have a tough time.’ Irfan said. Having trained in happened at the Asian Games Patiala and Bengaluru prior to in Indonesia where the walkers Griezmann scored a second-half winner in Atletico’s 1-0 victory at this meet, he said the humid (Manish Rawat and B Soumya neighbours Rayo Vallecano to provide a timely boost going into next conditions here were a bit of a apart from him) were disqualifi ed week’s showdown with Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus. challenge, adding it was nice to due to technical violation. U Mumba Volley registers fi rst win

|NT Bureau| both teams knew it was a crucial a Super Serve by Verhoeff gave game and didn’t allow the other For the Spartans, Rudy them the advantage entering the Chennai, Feb 17: any leeway. Chennai Spartans got Verhoeff equalled his TTO. At 9-11, Chennai called for a U Mumba Volley defeated Chen- the fi rst advantage as they went Super Point but failed to convert. nai Spartans 3-2 (15-14, 15-8, 15- into the fi rst Technical Time Out U Mumba fi nally won the set 15-10 and obtained an unassailable 3-0 10, 10-15, 10-15) in the opening (TTO) with a spike from Rudy individual points record lead in the match. Chennai Spar- match of the Chennai leg of the Pro Verhoeff at 8-7. tans then played for the Set differ- Volleyball League here Saturday Chennai looked in good rhythm of 20 in a match ence points and in the penultimate to keep its hopes of a semifinal after that as they mounted a 13-8 set, an 8-6 lead for U- Mumbai spot alive. lead with the help of Naveen Raja it a 1-0 lead. U Mumba came out made them the favourites to clinch Skipper Dipesh Sinha was the top Jacobs Super Serve. U Mumba all guns blazing in the second set called for a Super Point at 8-13 the set but at 7-9 Chennai called scorer for U Mumba with 11 points and opened up a 4-0 lead. Skipper for a Super Point and converted (5 spikes, 2 blocks and 4 serves) and won the same. It was the Dipesh Sinha, Vinit Kumar and start of a comeback. At 14-10, it to level the score. Chennai fi nally and helped the team post its fi rst Coskovic did bulk of the scoring opened their account in the match win. For the Spartans, Rudy Ver- looked like Chennai would win the and the set ended 15-8 in their set. But, U Mumba astonishingly winning the fourth set 15-10. Chen- hoeff equalled his individual points favour as they took a 2-0 lead. nai fi nally got hold of the momen- record of 20 in a match (14 spikes turned the tide in its favour by In the third set, it seemed like a bagging fi ve consecutive points at tum and crusied past the visitors and 6 serves) but ended up on the similar story but Chennai wasn’t in the fi nal set with an identical losing side. the fag end. The late surge helped going down easily. From 2-6 down, it settle things at 15-14 and gave scoreline of 15-10 but U Mumbai It was a hard-fought battle as PPhoto:hoto: AARR JAYAKUMARJAYAKUMAR Chennai closed the gap to 6-7 when had the last laugh.