Asiri, Javed Bludgeon Thomians
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Friday 9th March, 2012 Dravid set 133rd Battle of the Blues to retire Indian batting superstar Rahul Dravid, the second- highest run scorer in Asiri, Javed bludgeon Thomians Tests, is set to announce his retire- ment from internation- collapse as Aluthge took three wickets three wickets and was on a hat trick ear- al cricket on Friday, within the space of 13 runs. Aluthge lier when he had Pathirana and reports say. accounted for skipper Sachin Peiris and Madushan Ravichandrakumar caught by The Press Trust of Wickramanayake in consecutive overs to Imal Liyanage and wicketkeeper Milan India and the Cricinfo Rahul Dravid place Thomians at 205 for four wickets. Abeysekara respectively in consecutive website both said the 39-year-old was Wickramanayake was out caught by balls. poised to call time on his career in the Devind Pathmanathan for 85 runs. He The Thomians declared after national team after a wretched Test faced 165 balls and hit 13 fours. Danush’s dismissal and saw Royal open- series in Australia, where India were Former Thomian skipper Chamodh ers Roanaka Ahangamage and Isuru whitewashed 4-0. Pathirana took the attack on Royalists Gunathilaka putting up a brave face Dravid, popularly known as “The Wall”, scored only 194 runs in eight from thereon with debutant Thilaksha with a solid first wicket stand of 53 innings and was bowled out in six of Sumanasiri. The duo added 56 runs for runs. Introduced to the attack as the them as Australian paceman Ben the fifth wicket. Pathirana scored 48 runs fifth bowler spinner Dilum Fernando Hilfenhaus repeatedly breached his once- in 55 balls and cracked six fours and two managed to break the partnership as he formidable defences. sixes, while Sumanasiri scored 28 runs. had Ahangama caught by Umesh India’s famous but ageing batting Fresher Danush Peiris helped the tail Fernando for 20 runs. stars Dravid, Virender Sehwag, V.V.S. enders add valuable runs. The left han- Gunathilaka and night watchman Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar are all der cracked 32 runs in 40 balls with six Poorna Aluthge were unbeaten on 31 under pressure, with the national team fours. He was out through a brilliant and naught respectively when umpires in crisis less than a year after it lifted the piece of fielding in the deep by Isuru decided to call off play for bad light World Cup on home soil. Gunathilake off the bowling of Chamika with six more overs remaining in the Dravid is to address a press confer- Karunaratne. Karunaratne picked up day. ence in Bangalore on Friday alongside Javed Bongso, who top scored with 97 runs in action on day one of the 133ed Battle of the the president of the Board of Control for Blues Big Match at SSC Ground yesterday. ((Pic by Manoj Ridimaliyadda) Cricket in India, N. Srinivasan, the Press Trust of India reported, citing a state- BY REEMUS FERNANDO Anupa Thilakaratne had Devin SCOREBOARD Royal College were 53 for one wicket Jayasinghe blw for one run in his second ment. S. Thomas’ 1st Innings 0-59-3, Poorna Aluthge 25-4-90-3, Devind The one-time India captain, lauded for at stumps after S. Thomas’ College rode over. But from then on it was Thomian Devin Jayasinghe blw Tillakaratne 01 Pathmanathan 11-0-54-1(3n). his sportsmanship and level tempera- on a record second wicket partnership domination on display.Both raced to A. W’manayake ct. Pathmanathan b. Aluthge 85 ment, retired from short formats of the between Asiri Wickramanayake and their half centuries before lunch as they Javed Bongso ct. Abeysekara b. Aluthge 97 Royal 1st Innings international game last year, but had Javed Bongso to post 325 for nine wickets maintained a run rate of over four to Sachin Peiris ct. de Silva b. Aluthge 08 R. Ahangamage ct. U. Fernando b. D. Fernando 20 vowed to continue in Tests. declared on day one of the 133rd Battle of take lunch at 130 for one wicket. C.Pathirana ct. Liyanage b. Karunaratne 48 Isuru Gunathilake not out 31 He was one of few players to emerge the Blues encounter at SSC Ground yes- Bongso was particularly aggressive Thilaksha Sumanasiri run out Poorna Aluthge not out 00 with any credit after India’s disastrous terday. against Gaurav Deva in his first spell Abeysekara/Tillakaratne 28 Extras: (2lb) 02 tour of England last year where he Umesh Fernando lbw Pathmanathan 04 Total (for one wicket) 53 defied the years to crack three hundreds Thomians lived up to their reputation scoring three boundaries in his fourth on day one as the left-handers over. Danush Peiris ct. Gunathilake b. Karunaratne 32 Overs: 16 in different innings. M.Ravichandrakumar ct. Abeysekara b. Fall of wickets: 1-53 Wickramanayake and Bongso shattered He was also the first to depart and it As speculation grew in India about his Karunaratne 00 To bat: Imal Liyanage, Milan Abeysekara, Heshan imminent retirement, tributes poured in. more than a six decades old batting was quite painful for Thomians as he fell Rishen Mathangaweera not out 04 Kumarasiri, Poorna Aluthge, Sampath de Silva, “Holding back my thoughts till I hear record for the second wicket. They put on three runs short of a century.Spinner Extras (1lb, 2w, 15n) 18 Chamika Karunaratne, Anupa Tillakaratne, Devind a formal announcement, but if he retires a robust 179 runs partnership either side Poorna Aluthge who bowled the bulk of Total (for 9 wickets declared) 325 Pathmanathan, Gaurav Deva. it will be an emotional moment for me,” of lunch and lowered the record mark of the overs troubled Bongso several times Overs 75.4 in 304 minutes Bowling: Chamodh Pathirana 5-0-20-0, Danush wrote leading cricket commentator 161 runs established by the Thomian duo and finally had him caught behind by Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-192, 3-202, 4-205, 5- Peiris 4-0-9-0, Rishen Mathangaweera 2-1-2-0, Harsha Bhogle on Twitter. of A.F. Molamure (113) and N.T. Milan Abeysekara. He faced 133 balls and 261,6-268, 7-296, 8-296, 9-325. Madushan Ravichandrakumar 3-0-16-0, Dilum Dravid was rumoured to be set to Wijesooriya (81) in 1941. hit 15 fours in his knock. Did not bat: Dilum Fernando Fernando 2-1-4-1. retire in January during the Australia Put to bat, Thomians had their first Their partnership lasted more than Bowling: Gaurav Deva 11-0-63-0(7n, 1w), Anupa Toss: Royal tour, but the reports were dismissed as Tillakaratne 15-2-58-1, Chamika Karunaratne 13.4- Umpires: Asoka de Silva, Raveendra Wimalasiri “baseless” by the team management. wicket down for just 13 runs as paceman 43 overs. His dismissal triggered a brief Sri Lanka sink in crunch final against Aussies ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Australia won the best-of-three finals Australia overcame the absence of injured series 2-1. Sri Lanka won by eight wickets captain Michael Clarke to win the deciding when chasing a higher total here on match in the tri-series final against Sri Tuesday to level the series after Australia Lanka by 16 runs on Thursday after bowl- won the first match in Brisbane last ing out the visitors’ previously potent bat- Sunday by 15 runs. ting lineup for 215. Lee took the first two wickets for The home side looked set to lose to the Australia on Thursday — man-of-the-series Sri Lankans for the fifth time in six match- Tillakaratne Dilshan on eight and Kumar es in the tournament which included India Sangakkara, 19 off nine balls. McKay dis- after scoring a modest 231 in its innings missed Dinesh Chandimal on five and cap- SCOREBOARD Australia Innings Upul Tharanga c Wade b Watson 71 Matthew Wade c Sangakkara b Herath 49 Chamara Kapugedera c Wade b McKay 7 David Warner c Sangakkara b Maharoof 48 Nuwan Kulasekera c Lyon b Lee 15 Shane Watson c Herath b Dilshan 19 Farveez Maharoof not out 18 Mike Hussey run out (Dilshan) 1 Rangana Herath b McKay 0 David Hussey lbw b Maharoof 19 Lasith Malinga b McKay 6 Peter Forrest b Herath 3 Extras: (9lb, 12w) 21 D Christian c Jayawardene b Maharoof 19 TOTAL: (all out) 215. Brett Lee b Kulasekera 32 Overs: 48.5. Batting time: 221 minutes. Clint McKay c Maharoof b Herath 28 Fall of wickets: 1-23 , 2-47, 3-52, 4-53, Xavier Doherty not out 5 5-113, 6-142, 7-172, 8-204, 9-205, 10- N Lyon c sub (S’nayake) b Kulasekara 0 215. Extras: (3lb, 3w, 2b) 8 Bowling: Brett Lee 8-0-59-3 (3w), Xavier TOTAL: (all out) 231. Doherty 8-0-49-0 (2w), Clint McKay 9.5-1- Overs: 49.3. Batting time: 216 minutes. 28-5, Shane Watson 7-1-13-2, Nathan Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-115, 3-119, 4-123, Lyon 8-0-36-0, Daniel Christian 8-1-21-0. 5-135, 6-151, 7-177, 8-217, 9-231, 10-231. Umpires: Asad Rauf, Pakistan, and Bruce Bowling: Tillekeratne Dilshan 10-1-41-1 Oxenford, Australia. (1w), Nuwan Kulasekara 9.3-0-40 (1w), TV Umpire: Simon Fry, Australia. Match Lasith Malinga 10-0-69-0 (1w), Farveez Referee: Chris Broad, England. Maharoof 10-0-40-3, Rangana Herath 10-0- Toss: Sri Lanka. 36-3. Result: Australia won by 16 runs. Sri Lanka Innings Series: Australia won 3-match finals Mahela Jayawardene b McKay 15 series 2-1. TM Dilshan c David Hussey b Lee 8 Player of the match: Clint McKay, Kumar Sangakkara c Watson b Lee 19 Australia.